{"id":297,"date":"2009-04-05T23:37:00","date_gmt":"2009-04-05T23:37:00","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/filmchat\/2009\/04\/newsbites-the-reimagined-characters-edition\/"},"modified":"2009-04-05T23:37:00","modified_gmt":"2009-04-05T23:37:00","slug":"newsbites-the-reimagined-characters-edition","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/filmchat\/2009\/04\/newsbites-the-reimagined-characters-edition.html","title":{"rendered":"Newsbites: The reimagined characters edition!"},"content":{"rendered":"<!DOCTYPE html PUBLIC \"-\/\/W3C\/\/DTD HTML 4.0 Transitional\/\/EN\" \"http:\/\/www.w3.org\/TR\/REC-html40\/loose.dtd\">\n<html><head><meta http-equiv=\"content-type\" content=\"text\/html; charset=utf-8\"><meta http-equiv=\"content-type\" content=\"text\/html; charset=utf-8\"><\/head><body><p><span style=\"font-family: georgia\"><a name=\"1\" class=\" decorated-link\" target=\"_blank\">1.<\/a> Two \u2014 not one, but two \u2014 movies about the Easter Bunny are now in the works. Universal is developing <i>I Hop<\/i>, a live-action film about \u201can out-of-work slacker who, while driving home late one night, runs over the Easter Bunny. When the bunny can\u2019t hop because his leg is broken, the slacker must train to take over the job and save Easter.\u201d Meanwhile, Sony Animation has picked up <i>Hip Hop<\/i>, in which \u201cthe Easter Bunny decides to retire and hides out as a pet with a suburban family, turning their lives upside down.\u201d \u2014 <i><a href=\"http:\/\/www.variety.com\/article\/VR1118002121.html?categoryid=13&amp;cs=1&amp;nid=2562\" target=\"_blank\" class=\" decorated-link\" rel=\"nofollow\">Variety<\/a><\/i>, <i><a href=\"http:\/\/www.hollywoodreporter.com\/hr\/content_display\/film\/news\/e3if8bcecb2de71aac34ae3fe6715364488\" target=\"_blank\" class=\" decorated-link\" rel=\"nofollow\">Hollywood Reporter<\/a><\/i><\/span><\/p>\n<p><a name=\"2\" class=\" decorated-link\" target=\"_blank\">2.<\/a> Emma Stone is in talks to star in <i>Easy A<\/i>, a modernized high-school version of <i>The Scarlet Letter<\/i>. The film \u201ccenters on a student who sees her life paralleling Hawthorne\u2019s heroine Hester Prynne after she pretends to be the school slut in hopes that she\u2019ll benefit from the notion she\u2019s promiscuous.\u201d \u2014 <i><a href=\"http:\/\/www.variety.com\/article\/VR1400001190.html?categoryid=13&amp;cs=1&amp;nid=2562\" target=\"_blank\" class=\" decorated-link\" rel=\"nofollow\">Variety<\/a><\/i><\/p>\n<p><a name=\"3\" class=\" decorated-link\" target=\"_blank\">3.<\/a> NBC is developing <i>Dorothy Gale<\/i>, a modernized version of <i><a href=\"http:\/\/filmchatblog.blogspot.com\/2008\/11\/newsbites-myth-and-fantasy-edition.html#4\" class=\" decorated-link\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow\">The Wizard of Oz<\/a><\/i>. The show will follow \u201cthe story of Dorothy, a girl from Kansas who tries to tackle modern-day Manhattan (her version of the Emerald City). Dorothy finds a job in the art world \u2014 and must deal with a wicked boss.\u201d \u2014 <i><a href=\"http:\/\/www.variety.com\/article\/VR1118002139.html?categoryid=14&amp;cs=1&amp;nid=2565\" target=\"_blank\" class=\" decorated-link\" rel=\"nofollow\">Variety<\/a><\/i><\/p>\n<p><a name=\"4\" class=\" decorated-link\" target=\"_blank\">4.<\/a> Emily Blunt, who is playing the Princess of Lilliputia opposite Jack Black\u2019s Lemuel Gulliver in the upcoming <i><a href=\"http:\/\/filmchatblog.blogspot.com\/2009\/01\/newsbites-comics-and-remakes-edition.html#1\" class=\" decorated-link\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow\">Gulliver\u2019s Travels<\/a><\/i>, says the film will show how Gulliver \u201ccontemporizes the whole palace setup\u201d when he comes to Lilliput. \u2014 <a href=\"http:\/\/moviesblog.mtv.com\/2009\/04\/02\/emily-blunt-on-how-jack-black-will-stir-up-gullivers-travels\/\" target=\"_blank\" class=\" decorated-link\" rel=\"nofollow\">MTV Movies Blog<\/a><\/p>\n<p><a name=\"5\" class=\" decorated-link\" target=\"_blank\">5.<\/a> Photos of Nicolas Cage in his modernized <i><a href=\"http:\/\/filmchatblog.blogspot.com\/2009\/03\/newsbites-supernatural-stories-edition.html#1\" class=\" decorated-link\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow\">Sorcerer\u2019s Apprentice<\/a><\/i> garb surfaced on the internet recently, prompting some people to compare his get-up to Hugh Jackman\u2019s outfit in <i><a href=\"http:\/\/filmchatblog.blogspot.com\/2008\/01\/newsbites-trek-genies-bush-cleanflicks.html#7\" class=\" decorated-link\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow\">Van Helsing<\/a><\/i> (2004). \u2014 <a href=\"http:\/\/www.cartoonbrew.com\/disney\/sorcerersapprentice.html\" target=\"_blank\" class=\" decorated-link\" rel=\"nofollow\">Cartoon Brew<\/a>, <a href=\"http:\/\/justjared.buzznet.com\/2009\/03\/26\/nicolas-cage-abracadabra-amazing\/\" target=\"_blank\" class=\" decorated-link\" rel=\"nofollow\">Just Jared<\/a><\/p>\n<p><a name=\"6\" class=\" decorated-link\" target=\"_blank\">6.<\/a> Vanessa Redgrave has joined the cast of Ridley Scott\u2019s <i><a href=\"http:\/\/filmchatblog.blogspot.com\/2009\/03\/newsbites-historical-and-biblical.html#5\" class=\" decorated-link\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow\">Robin Hood<\/a><\/i> as Queen Eleanor of Aquitaine, mother of Kings Richard and John; the character was famously played by Katherine Hepburn in <i><a href=\"http:\/\/filmchatblog.blogspot.com\/2006\/07\/peter-otoole-as-henry-ii-double.html\" class=\" decorated-link\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow\">The Lion in Winter<\/a><\/i> (1968).  John himself is being played by <a href=\"http:\/\/filmchatblog.blogspot.com\/2006\/11\/nativity-oscar-isaac-bonus-quotes.html\" class=\" decorated-link\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow\">Oscar Isaac<\/a>, who played Joseph in <i><a href=\"http:\/\/filmchatblog.blogspot.com\/2005\/01\/nativity-story-article-archive.html\" class=\" decorated-link\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow\">The Nativity Story<\/a><\/i> (2006). Meanwhile, Russell Crowe recently revealed that he has cut off the hair that he had been growing for the title role. \u2014 <i><a href=\"http:\/\/www.hollywoodreporter.com\/hr\/content_display\/film\/news\/e3i21fd82b8e716e6710cff1b08aa636a73\" target=\"_blank\" class=\" decorated-link\" rel=\"nofollow\">Hollywood Reporter<\/a><\/i>, <a href=\"http:\/\/www.imdb.com\/news\/ni0725831\/\" target=\"_blank\" class=\" decorated-link\" rel=\"nofollow\">WENN<\/a><\/p>\n<p><a name=\"7\" class=\" decorated-link\" target=\"_blank\">7.<\/a> The lobbying by <i><a href=\"http:\/\/filmchatblog.blogspot.com\/2009\/03\/newsbites-supernatural-stories-edition.html#4\" class=\" decorated-link\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow\">Nightmare of Elm Street<\/a><\/i> fans has paid off: Jackie Earle Haley, most recently seen as Rorschach in <i><a href=\"http:\/\/filmchatblog.blogspot.com\/2009\/03\/watchmen-and-jar-jar-binks-meme.html\" class=\" decorated-link\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow\">Watchmen<\/a><\/i>, will play Freddy Krueger in the remake of Wes Craven\u2019s 1984 horror film. \u2014 <i><a href=\"http:\/\/www.variety.com\/article\/VR1118002124.html?categoryid=13&amp;cs=1&amp;nid=2562\" target=\"_blank\" class=\" decorated-link\" rel=\"nofollow\">Variety<\/a><\/i>, <i><a href=\"http:\/\/www.riskybusinessblog.com\/2009\/04\/nightmare-has-its-new-freddy.html\" target=\"_blank\" class=\" decorated-link\" rel=\"nofollow\">Hollywood Reporter<\/a><\/i><\/p>\n<p><a name=\"8\" class=\" decorated-link\" target=\"_blank\">8.<\/a> Ellen DeGeneres will play Mother Nature in an original comedy being developed by Walden Media, in which the character \u201cwill return to Earth for the first time since the planet\u2019s creation.\u201d \u2014 <i><a href=\"http:\/\/www.hollywoodreporter.com\/hr\/content_display\/news\/e3i9195894d101675e392414c157feabeea\" target=\"_blank\" class=\" decorated-link\" rel=\"nofollow\">Hollywood Reporter<\/a><\/i><\/p>\n<\/body><\/html>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>1. Two \u2014 not one, but two \u2014 movies about the Easter Bunny are now in the works. Universal is developing I Hop, a live-action film about \u201can out-of-work slacker who, while driving home late one night, runs over the Easter Bunny. When the bunny can\u2019t hop because his leg is broken, the slacker must [&hellip;]<\/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-297","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized"],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v21.1 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/wordpress\/plugins\/seo\/ -->\n<title>Newsbites: The reimagined characters edition!<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"1. Two -- not one, but two -- movies about the Easter Bunny are now in the works. Universal is developing I Hop, a live-action film about &quot;an out-of-work\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/filmchat\/2009\/04\/newsbites-the-reimagined-characters-edition.html\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Newsbites: The reimagined characters edition!\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"1. Two -- not one, but two -- movies about the Easter Bunny are now in the works. Universal is developing I Hop, a live-action film about &quot;an out-of-work\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/filmchat\/2009\/04\/newsbites-the-reimagined-characters-edition.html\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"FilmChat\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2009-04-05T23:37:00+00:00\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Peter T. Chattaway\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"Peter T. Chattaway\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"2 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/filmchat\/2009\/04\/newsbites-the-reimagined-characters-edition.html\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/filmchat\/2009\/04\/newsbites-the-reimagined-characters-edition.html\",\"name\":\"Newsbites: The reimagined characters edition!\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/filmchat\/#website\"},\"datePublished\":\"2009-04-05T23:37:00+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2009-04-05T23:37:00+00:00\",\"author\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/filmchat\/#\/schema\/person\/5759ddf28b81af08b29eb15b4e071fde\"},\"description\":\"1. Two -- not one, but two -- movies about the Easter Bunny are now in the works. Universal is developing I Hop, a live-action film about \\\"an out-of-work\",\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/filmchat\/2009\/04\/newsbites-the-reimagined-characters-edition.html#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/filmchat\/2009\/04\/newsbites-the-reimagined-characters-edition.html\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/filmchat\/2009\/04\/newsbites-the-reimagined-characters-edition.html#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/filmchat\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"Newsbites: The reimagined characters edition!\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/filmchat\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/filmchat\/\",\"name\":\"FilmChat\",\"description\":\"\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/filmchat\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":\"required name=search_term_string\"}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/filmchat\/#\/schema\/person\/5759ddf28b81af08b29eb15b4e071fde\",\"name\":\"Peter T. Chattaway\",\"image\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/filmchat\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/9c4b809df092b410d749a6995bcf4f3e?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/9c4b809df092b410d749a6995bcf4f3e?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"caption\":\"Peter T. Chattaway\"},\"description\":\"Peter T. Chattaway was the regular film critic for BC Christian News from 1992 to 2011. In addition to his award-winning film column for that paper, his news and opinion pieces have appeared in such publications as Books &amp; Culture, Christianity Today, Bible Review and the Vancouver Sun. He has also contributed essays to the books Re-Viewing The Passion: Mel Gibson\u2019s Film and Its Critics (Palgrave Macmillan, 2004), Scandalizing Jesus?: Kazantzakis\u2019s The Last Temptation of Christ Fifty Years on (Continuum, 2005) and The Bible in Motion: A Handbook of the Bible and Its Reception in Film (De Gruyter, 2016).\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/filmchat\/author\/peterchattaway\"}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"Newsbites: The reimagined characters edition!","description":"1. Two -- not one, but two -- movies about the Easter Bunny are now in the works. Universal is developing I Hop, a live-action film about \"an out-of-work","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/filmchat\/2009\/04\/newsbites-the-reimagined-characters-edition.html","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"Newsbites: The reimagined characters edition!","og_description":"1. Two -- not one, but two -- movies about the Easter Bunny are now in the works. Universal is developing I Hop, a live-action film about \"an out-of-work","og_url":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/filmchat\/2009\/04\/newsbites-the-reimagined-characters-edition.html","og_site_name":"FilmChat","article_published_time":"2009-04-05T23:37:00+00:00","author":"Peter T. Chattaway","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_misc":{"Written by":"Peter T. Chattaway","Est. reading time":"2 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/filmchat\/2009\/04\/newsbites-the-reimagined-characters-edition.html","url":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/filmchat\/2009\/04\/newsbites-the-reimagined-characters-edition.html","name":"Newsbites: The reimagined characters edition!","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/filmchat\/#website"},"datePublished":"2009-04-05T23:37:00+00:00","dateModified":"2009-04-05T23:37:00+00:00","author":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/filmchat\/#\/schema\/person\/5759ddf28b81af08b29eb15b4e071fde"},"description":"1. Two -- not one, but two -- movies about the Easter Bunny are now in the works. Universal is developing I Hop, a live-action film about \"an out-of-work","breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/filmchat\/2009\/04\/newsbites-the-reimagined-characters-edition.html#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/filmchat\/2009\/04\/newsbites-the-reimagined-characters-edition.html"]}]},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/filmchat\/2009\/04\/newsbites-the-reimagined-characters-edition.html#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/filmchat"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"Newsbites: The reimagined characters edition!"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/filmchat\/#website","url":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/filmchat\/","name":"FilmChat","description":"","potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/filmchat\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":"required name=search_term_string"}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/filmchat\/#\/schema\/person\/5759ddf28b81af08b29eb15b4e071fde","name":"Peter T. Chattaway","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/filmchat\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/","url":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/9c4b809df092b410d749a6995bcf4f3e?s=96&d=mm&r=g","contentUrl":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/9c4b809df092b410d749a6995bcf4f3e?s=96&d=mm&r=g","caption":"Peter T. Chattaway"},"description":"Peter T. Chattaway was the regular film critic for BC Christian News from 1992 to 2011. In addition to his award-winning film column for that paper, his news and opinion pieces have appeared in such publications as Books &amp; Culture, Christianity Today, Bible Review and the Vancouver Sun. He has also contributed essays to the books Re-Viewing The Passion: Mel Gibson\u2019s Film and Its Critics (Palgrave Macmillan, 2004), Scandalizing Jesus?: Kazantzakis\u2019s The Last Temptation of Christ Fifty Years on (Continuum, 2005) and The Bible in Motion: A Handbook of the Bible and Its Reception in Film (De Gruyter, 2016).","url":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/filmchat\/author\/peterchattaway"}]}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/filmchat\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/297","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/filmchat\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/filmchat\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/filmchat\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1116"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/filmchat\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=297"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/filmchat\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/297\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/filmchat\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=297"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/filmchat\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=297"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/filmchat\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=297"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}