Universal Pictures Chairman Adam Fogelson and Co-Chairman Donna Langley—along with Jeff Gaspin, Chairman, NBC Universal Television Entertainment and Angela Bromstad, President, Primetime Entertainment, NBC & Universal Media Studios—today announced that Universal Pictures and NBC Universal Television Entertainment have acquired the rights to produce three films and a television series based on the seven epic novels, short stories and comic books from Stephen King’s The Dark Tower.
Ron Howard will direct the first film and the first season of television, which will be written by Goldsman. Goldsman will produce the film through his Weed Road Pictures with Howard and Grazer for Imagine Entertainment. Howard, Grazer and Goldsman will executive produce the television series for Universal Media Studios. Kerry Foster will executive produce the first film for Weed Road Pictures along with Todd Hallowell and Erica Huggins for Imagine Entertainment.
“I’ve been waiting for the right team to bring the characters and stories in these books to film and TV viewers around the world,” said King. “Ron, Akiva, Brian along with Universal and NBC have a deep interest and passion for theThe Dark Tower series and I know that will translate into an intriguing series of films and TV shows that respect the origins and the characters in The Dark Tower that fans have come to love.”
The Dark Tower is Stephen King’s opus of seven bestselling novels with, to date, more than 30 million copies sold in 40 countries. The novels incorporate themes from multiple genres including fantasy, science fiction, horror and adventure. After the series was completed, a prequel of comic books based on one of the characters was also published.
“Building a franchise home for The Dark Tower is an exciting opportunity for this studio, and we’re thrilled that Stephen has entrusted us to bring his beloved novels to the big screen,” said Fogelson.
“Stephen King is a brilliant storyteller who creates imaginary worlds that resonate with the broadest audiences across ages and demographics,” said Gaspin. “We are thrilled to partner with our colleagues in the film division and Brian, Ron and Akiva to bring Stephen’s vision to the largest audience possible through this innovative multi-platform collaboration.”
Howard, Grazer and Goldsman are planning for the first film in the trilogy to be immediately followed by a television series that will bridge the second film. After the second film, the television series will pick up allowing viewers to explore the adventures of the protagonist as a young man as a bridge to the third film and beyond.
“We are excited to have found partners at Universal who understand and embrace our approach to King’s remarkable epic,” said Howard. “By using both the scope and scale of theatrical filmmaking and the intimacy of television we hope to more comprehensively do justice to the characters, themes and amazing sequences King has given us in The Dark Tower novels. It might be the challenge of a lifetime but clearly a thrilling one to take on and explore.”
“The worlds of Stephen King’s The Dark Tower series are richly detailed, inter-locking and deeply connected,” said Goldsman. “By telling this story across media platforms and over multiple hours—and with a view to telling it completely—we have our best chance of translating Roland’s quest to reach TheDark Tower onto screen. We are proceeding with tremendous excitement, fidelity to the source material and, quite frankly, no small amount of awe at this opportunity.”
“King has created the most visually enthralling places and characters in The Dark Tower,” said Grazer. “The synergy created across all the media divisions of our partners at NBC Universal to tell this remarkable story is ground-breaking and invigorating. This project will be one of the most exciting and challenging that I will have ever worked on and I am thrilled to be a part of it.”
Simon Pegg (Shaun of the Dead, Star Trek) has signed on to reprise his role as Benji Dunn for Mission: Impossible 4.
THR reports that while the project has yet to be officially greenlit, director Brad Bird has been reading actors this week and production will likely begin in early September 2010.
Paramount Pictures signed Tom Cruise to reprise his role as Ethan Hunt in M:I-IV earlier this year, where he will reprise his role as Ethan Hunt.
Mission Impossible 4 is being developed for an announced December 16th 2011 release.
A bootleg version of the trailer hit the web last week but now Paramount Pictures has released the official high definition trailer for the Steven Spielberg-produced JJ Abrams-directed super secret project Super 8.
The official website for the Steven Spielberg-produced film is located at www.Super8-movie.com.
‘Super 8′ is slated to start shooting this fall and will hit theaters in the summer of 2011.
Watch the trailer in High Definition on Apple and weigh in with you thoughts on JJ Abrams upcoming project!
The teaser for director J.J. Abrams‘ secret project Super 8 has leaked online. You can catch the official trailer in theaters before Iron Man 2. Be sure to check it out right away, since it’s a bootleg it won’t stay online for too long.
An official version should rear it’s head within the next few days, but this will surely peak your interest! Check out the trailer below and be sure to weigh in with your thoughts on the super secret project!
An official website for the Steven Spielberg-produced film popped up earlier today at www.Super8-movie.com.
‘Super 8′ is slated to start shooting this fall and will hit theaters in the summer of 2011.
Tom Cruise will reprise his role as Special Agent Ethan Hunt for Mission: Impossible 4, according to Deadline.com.
Cruise will produce the film along with J.J. Abrams. Screenwriters Josh Applebaum and Andre Nemec will be working on the script for the fourth installment of the franchise. The duo will taking over the screenwriting duties for Mission: Impossible IV from Alex Kurtzman and Roberto Orci.
A director for the film has yet to be announced, but shooting for the film will begin this summer. Paramount Pictures is currently aiming for a Memorial Day Weekend release in 2011.
The stars aligned last night (October 17th, 2009) for Spike TV’s “SCREAM 2009!” The 4th annual event commemorating all things sci-fi, fantasy, horror and comic book will feature the hottest films, TV shows, comics, actors, creators, and icons who have influenced and shaped these genres.
The will premiere on Spike TV on Tuesday, October 27 (10:00 PM-Midnight, ET/PT). ”SCREAM 2009″ will also feature World Premieres from some of the most anticipated theatrical and television releases. Read on for the winners…
Most Anticipated Fantasy Film – Alice in Wonderland
Best Sci-Fi Actress - Megan Fox — Transformers 2
Break-out Performance Female – Isabelle Lucas — Transformers 2
Best Villain – Alexander Skarsgård — True Blood
Break-out Performance Male – Taylor Lautner – Twilight
Best Comic Book Writer – Jeff Jones
Best Comic Book Movie – Watchmen
Rock Immortal Award - Keith Richards
Best Horror Movie – Drag Me to Hell
Best Horror Actor Male – Stephen Moyer – True Blood
Best Horror Actor Female – Anna Paquin – True Blood
Best Director - JJ Abrams – Star Trek
Best TV Show – True Blood
Best Fantasy Movie - Twilight
Scream Mastermind Lifetime Achievement Award - George A. Romero
Comic-Con Icon Lifetime Achievement Award – Stan Lee
The stars are aligned for Spike TV’s “SCREAM 2009!” The 4th annual event commemorating all things sci-fi, fantasy, horror and comic book will feature the hottest films, TV shows, comics, actors, creators, and icons who have influenced and shaped these genres. “SCREAM 2009″ will also feature World Premieres from some of the most anticipated theatrical and television releases. The show tapes on Saturday, October 17 at the Greek Theatre in Los Angeles, CA and will premiere on Spike TV on Tuesday, October 27 (10:00 PM-Midnight, ET/PT).
Continuing its tradition of presenting World Premiere footage, “SCREAM 2009″ will feature “Twilight” star Taylor Lautner as he unveils exclusive footage from “The Twilight Saga: New Moon.” The show will also feature never-before-seen content from the upcoming “Star Trek” DVD release. “SCREAM 2009″ will debut exclusive content from Martin Scorsese’s upcoming thriller “Shutter Island” starring Leonardo DiCaprio. “SCREAM 2009″ will also show a sneak peek of the highly-anticipated new television series “V” with Elizabeth Mitchell.
As previously announced, “SCREAM 2009″ will honor the godfather of the modern horror film, George Romero with this year’s Scream Mastermind Award. Quentin Tarantino has been tapped to present Romero with this prestigious honor. In addition, the cast of “The Big Bang Theory” including Johnny Galecki, Jim Parsons, Kaley Cuoco, Simon Helberg and Kunal Nayyar will be on hand to present the “Battlestar Galactica” cast reunion farewell tribute.
Fan favorites added to this year’s star-studded talent roster include Megan Fox, Tobey Maguire, Hugh Jackman, Jennifer Carpenter, Eliza Dushku, Jackie Earle Haley, Jaime King, Sam Raimi, Eli Roth, Liv Tyler, Karl Urban, Elijah Wood, cast members from “The Vampire Diaries” including Nina Dobrev, Ian Somerhalder and Paul Wesley, stars of the upcoming “Cirque Du Freak: The Vampire’s Assistant” featuring Josh Hutcherson, Chris Massoglia and John C. Reilly, “Drag Me To Hell” cast members Reggie Lee, David Paymer, Dileep Rao and Lorna Raver, along with previously announced talent featuring Stan Lee and the cast and creators of “Battlestar Galactica” and “True Blood.” Additional guest appearances will be announced shortly.
JJ Abrams’ sci-fi action-adventure “Star Trek” tops the “SCREAM 2009″ list with 17 nominations including the categories of The Ultimate Scream, Best Science Fiction Movie, Best Director, Best Ensemble, Holy Sh*t Scene-of-the-Year and a nod in the all-new Fight-Scene-of-the-Year category. Comic book-inspired blockbusters “X-Men Origins: Wolverine” and “Watchmen” each nabbed 13 nominations, big screen adaptation of Stephenie Meyer’s best selling novel “Twilight” received 10 nominations, while HBO’s vampire-themed television series “True Blood” garnered nine nominations. Fans can log onto scream.spike.com until Saturday, October 17 to vote for their favorites.
A new pair of writers who have worked with J.J. Abrams are being tasked with the screenplay for. Variety reports that Josh Applebaum and Andrew Nemec, are currently working on the next chapter of the Mission: Impossible series which will be co-produced by Abrams and Tom Cruise.
The duo will taking over the screenwriting duties for Mission: Impossible IV from Alex Kurtzman and Roberto Orci. Kurtzman and Orci are currently working on Fringe and the sequel to Star Trek. No director has been confirmed for the picture at this time.
Mission: Impossible IV is currently aiming for a 2011 release. More as this develops…
Simon Pegg (Shaun of the Dead, Star Trek) has signed on to reprise his role as Benji Dunn for Mission: Impossible 4.
