1.<\/a> Kings<\/a><\/i>, the TV series that puts a quasi-modernized spin on the biblical story of Saul and David, has definitely been cancelled, according to producer Bradford Winters. Only five of the show\u2019s dozen-or-so episodes have been aired so far, but the DVD containing all of them is already listed at Amazon.com<\/a>, albeit without a release date. \u2014 Image<\/a><\/i>, Bible Films Blog<\/a><\/span><\/p>\n 2.<\/a> Jim Caviezel will star in William Tell: The Legend<\/i>, which promises to be a \u201cfact-based\u201d film that shows how Tell \u201cchallenged the Hapsburg monarch Hermann Gessler\u201d and thereby \u201cignited an uprising against the Austrian government which led to the formation of Switzerland.\u201d It is not clear whether this is the same movie that was announced six months ago, under the title Ironbow: The Legend of William Tell<\/a><\/i>, or a different movie altogether. \u2014 Hollywood Reporter<\/a><\/i><\/p>\n 3.<\/a> Speaking of possibly rival productions, two different films based on The Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde<\/i> were announced in the last couple weeks. One, simply titled Jekyll<\/i>, will star Keanu Reeves. The other, called Jekyll and Hyde<\/i>, will star Forest Whitaker and Curtis \u201c50 Cent\u201d Jackson and will be directed by Abel Ferrara<\/a>. But wait, there\u2019s more! Universal, the studio behind the Keanu Reeves movie, is also developing another<\/i> version of the story with Guillermo Del Toro \u2014 but he\u2019ll be so busy with The Hobbit<\/a><\/i> and various other projects for the next few years, these other films will almost certainly be out of his way by the time he finally gets around to putting his own spin on this tale. \u2014 Hollywood Reporter<\/a><\/i>, Variety<\/a><\/i><\/p>\n 4.<\/a> The villain in Guy Ritchie\u2019s Sherlock Holmes<\/a><\/i>, starring Robert Downey Jr. and Jude Law, will be \u201can occult-dabbling Satanist\u201d based on Aleister Crowley. Meanwhile, co-star Rachel McAdams has confirmed that the film will probably omit some of the character\u2019s signature elements, such as the deerstalker cap and the catchprase \u201cElementary, my dear Watson.\u201d \u2014 USA Today<\/a><\/i>, MTV Movies Blog<\/a><\/p>\n 5.<\/a> If you saw the documentary Lost in La Mancha<\/i> (2002), then you know all about the forces that sabotaged Terry Gilliam\u2019s previous attempt to film The Man Who Killed Don Quixote<\/i>. Last week, Gilliam announced that he\u2019s ready to give it another go, hopefully some time next year, and he\u2019s talking to Johnny Depp about playing the lead again; this time, however, Depp has become such an in-demand actor that he might not be able to squeeze the movie into his schedule. The film \u201cwill revolve around a filmmaker who is charmed into joining Don Quixote\u2019s eternal quest for his ladylove, becoming an unwitting Sancho Panza.\u201d \u2014 Variety<\/a><\/i>, Hollywood Reporter<\/a><\/i><\/p>\n 6.<\/a> Kung Fu Panda<\/a><\/i> co-director John Stevenson is attached to direct The Minotaur Takes a Cigarette Break<\/a><\/i>, in which the titular mythical creature \u201csurvived Theseus\u2019 attack in the labyrinth and walks among us today. He\u2019s a short-order cook in a Midwestern diner not far from his trailer-park home who falls for a waitress named Kelly.\u201d Stevenson is also attached to direct Grayskull<\/i>, the new live-action version of He-Man and the Masters of the Universe<\/a><\/i>, the script for which was recently assigned to a new writer. \u2014 Hollywood Reporter<\/a><\/i> (x2<\/a>)<\/p>\n 7.<\/a> Norwegian filmmaker Tommy Wirkola is developing Hansel and Gretel: Witch Hunters<\/i>, in which the title characters grow up to become \u201cspecialized bounty hunters looking to put down the cackling black-hat set.\u201d Adam McKay, who is producing the film with Will Ferrell, said: \u201cIt\u2019s a hybrid sort of old-timey feeling, yet there\u2019s pump-action shotguns. Modern technology but in an old style. We heard it and we were just like, \u2018That\u2019s a freakin\u2019 franchise! You could make three of those!'\u201d \u2014 Hollywood Reporter<\/a><\/i><\/p>\n 8.<\/a> Marcus Nispel<\/a> is in talks to direct The Last Voyage of Demeter<\/i>, which is based on a chapter in Bram Stoker\u2019s Dracula<\/i> \u201cdescribing the arrival of the vampire count in England on a cargo ship that has crashed into the rocks at Whitby with no crew and the dead captain lashed to the steering wheel. Stoker tells the story via the captain\u2019s log of the voyage, which begins in Bulgaria and becomes increasingly disjointed as members of the crew disappear.\u201d \u2014 Variety<\/a><\/i><\/p>\n 9.<\/a> The makers of the Underworld<\/a><\/i> movies (2003-2009) are now developing a film based on the comic book I, Frankenstein<\/i>, which \u201cbrings together classic monster characters, including Frankenstein\u2019s Monster, the Invisible Man, Dracula and the Hunchback of Notre Dame, in a contemporary film noir setting. The Monster, for example, has evolved, learned how to control his anger and now acts as a private investigator. Dracula, meanwhile, is a kingpin of crime, and the Invisible Man is a secret operative.\u201d \u2014 Hollywood Reporter<\/a><\/i><\/p>\n 10.<\/a> Wake the Dead<\/i>, a modernized version of the Frankenstein<\/i> story, may have hit a speed bump or two, as many of the people who were designing the characters over at WETA have been busy with The Hobbit<\/i>. \u2014 MTV Splash Page<\/a><\/p>\n 10.<\/a> Amanda Peet has joined the cast of Gulliver\u2019s Travels<\/a><\/i> as a \u201cpotential romantic interest\u201d for the title character, who is being played by Jack Black. \u2014 Hollywood Reporter<\/a><\/i><\/p>\n 11.<\/a> The cameras are rolling on Ridley Scott\u2019s Robin Hood<\/a><\/i>, and an early photo of Russell Crowe in costume has some people quibbling that (a) his Robin Hood looks too much like his character in Gladiator<\/a><\/i> (2000), which was also directed by Scott, and (b) such haircuts would have been unlikely in the Middle Ages, especially for those living on the lam in a forest somewhere. Meanwhile, it is rumoured that Tom Stoppard has been hired to rewrite the screenplay. \u2014 USA Today<\/a><\/i>, Jeffrey Wells<\/a> (x2<\/a>), Roger Friedman<\/a><\/p>\n 12.<\/a> Vanessa Hudgens will star in Beastly<\/i>, \u201ca retelling of \u2018Beauty and the Beast<\/a>\u2018 set in modern-day New York\u201d in which \u201can arrogant 17-year-old\u201d is \u201chideously transformed in order to find true romance.\u201d \u2014 Variety<\/a><\/i><\/p>\n 13.<\/a> MGM has picked up North American rights to Bunyan & Babe<\/i>, a modernized version of the Paul Bunyan story in which \u201cthe folklore icons join with two children to save their town from an unscrupulous property developer.\u201d \u2014 ComingSoon.net<\/a>, Hollywood Reporter<\/a><\/i><\/p>\n 14.<\/a> Monica Bellucci has joined the cast of The Sorcerer\u2019s Apprentice<\/a><\/i> as \u201cVeronica, a sorceress and the long-lost love of Nicolas Cage\u2019s character, Balthazar Blake\u201d, while Toby Kebbell has joined the cast as \u201cDrake Stone, a celebrity illusionist who joins forces with Alfred Molina\u2019s evil sorcerer, Horvath, to gain ultimate powers.\u201d Photos from the set have begun to pop up online, and the New York shoot was recently marred by two separate car accidents. \u2014 Variety<\/a><\/i> (x2<\/a>), The Bad & Ugly<\/a>, Hollywood Reporter<\/a><\/i><\/p>\n<\/body><\/html>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" 1. Kings, the TV series that puts a quasi-modernized spin on the biblical story of Saul and David, has definitely been cancelled, according to producer Bradford Winters. Only five of the show\u2019s dozen-or-so episodes have been aired so far, but the DVD containing all of them is already listed at Amazon.com, albeit without a release […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1116,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-246","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized"],"yoast_head":"\n