MGM may not be doing so well these days, but the studio has hired Saw (four out of the seven) writers Patrick Melton and Marcus Dunstan to write an feature adaptation of The Outer Limits. The original ABC sci-fi series aired from 1963-65. [Variety] Read the full story

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With MGM’s high-profile financial woes still ongoing, reports came out in April that production on the Sam Mendes-directed Bond 23 had been suspended indefinitely. Now, I don’t think many of us would have had any major concerns that the film would not see the light of day. This is, after all, James Bond we’re talking about. One of the biggest franchises in cinema, and after being completely reinvigorated in recent years there was not much chance of it being consigned to history just yet. Read the full story

It’s just sad, that’s all. A once great movie studio reduced to less than nothing. News comes (via AICN, Cinematical) that the next James Bond film, delayed for some time (as is everything else MGM-produced) due to MGM’s never-ending money issues, is officially off the production table and back in a drawer somewhere. What was an official indefinite suspension has become an official cancellation.

The film, which Peter Morgan was once writing for Sam Mendes to direct, will need a new home before it gets into production, let alone into theaters.

Furthermore, Ian McKellen told New Zealand’s “Good Morning” Show that he’s not simply waiting around for a decision on The Hobbit to be made:

“Well, I’m not under contract and my time is running out and I’m enjoying working in the theater and frankly, I would like to race after doing ‘Waiting For Godot,’ get on with doing another play but we’ll have to see. I don’t give the producers the impression that I’m sitting waiting.” [The Playlist]

Recall that McKellen is the same man who once said shooting on the film(s) would start rather soon. It seems even he has lost hope.

It’s all bad news I’m afraid. And with MGM’s back catalog, who could afford to buy them out these days? Certainly bad news on the whole.

What do you think of this? Will The Hobbit get made? When will we see Bond in action again?

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Or as I like to call it, Redder Dawn: 2 Red, 2 Furious.

This is Hollywood screenwriter Stuart Beattie‘s directorial debut, an adaptation of the 2006 John Marsden novel of the same name, which tells the story of a group of young friends who, returning from a camping trip, discover their home town destroyed and its inhabitants imprisoned by an outside enemy force. They proceed to take the force on guerilla style.

Beattie has been in the business of scripting movies for some time now. Much like Akiva Goldsman (A Beautiful Mind, Batman and Robin), the man represents the best, and worst, of what Hollywood has to offer. He’s been credited with Pirates of the Carribean: The Curse of the Black Pearl and Collateral, but also with Pirates of the Carribean: Dead Man’s Chest, At World’s End and G.I. Joe: The Rise of Cobra.

This new film may look and feel slightly original, but it screams Red Dawn, starring C. Thomas Howell, Patrick Swayze and Charlie Sheen. That film actually was remade by MGM, but the update may now never see movie theaters.

All studio turmoil and narrative similarity aside, Beattie’s a reliable writer who certainly deserved a chance at the director’s chair. It’ll be interesting to see what he’s come up with.

Check out the trailer below [/Film]:

Read the full story

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News comes to us today from THR (via The Playlist) that MGM is once again causing problems for upcoming films. First the delated Bond 23, then pushed Del Toro away from The Hobbit, Red Dawn delayed, and now we learn than Joss Whedon’s The Cabin In The Woods will likely not make its January 2011 release. MGM has done nothing with marketing, no trailers at all. THR assumes “it will be pushed to later release dates.” Read the full story

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When Guillermo del Toro dropped out of directing The Hobbit just a few weeks ago, most people (including me) were greatly disappointed by his departure. He seemed like the perfect person to go and tackle Middle Earth, with that Pan’s Labyrinth-vision of his.

That plus MGM’s continual fallout, it would seem the project’s lost. But according to Gandalf himself, we can expect to see the movie begin production sooner than we initially thought. [GordonandtheWhale]

Speaking to Australian radio station NovaFM, Mr. Ian McKellen said this:

Read the full story

Sadly, recent reports of The  Hobbit being green-lit for pre-production were not true after all. Guillermo del Toro who was giving a press conference for Splice, which he executive produced, delivered the bad news:

“It’s not greenlit,” said del Toro, “That’s categorical… We’ve been caught in a very tangled negotiation… There cannot be any start dates until the MGM situation gets resolved. They do hold a considerable portion of the rights.” (ComingSoon)

MGM studios is in great financial debt and have been in negotiations for other parties to purchase the studio and its properties. There is still no buyer as yet and the situation has halted any progress on the Hobbit films. Del Toro suggested that the likely scenario would be for MGM to share the rights to the films or sell them outright to another studio.

Although this means that The Hobbit might not start filming until next year, Del Toro remains optimistic that they will be made and made well:

“We have designed all the creatures,” he said, “We’ve designed the sets and the wardrobe. We have done animatics and planned battles sequences…. We are very, very prepared for when it is finally triggered.”

He also added that while 3D remains a possibility, is has only been discussed “literally once” and has not been included as a factor in the current production budget.

For fans the good news is that MGM won’t be able to delay much further in finding a potential buyer to settle their debts and when they do news of The Hobbit won’t be far behind.

When do you think The Hobbit will start filming?

We will have to rely on Jon Favreau, Steven Spielberg and Jim Sheridan for our Daniel Craig fix the next few years. James Bond 007 producers, Michael G Wilson and Barbara Broccoli of EON Productions have announced that production on the 23rd Bond film has halted. It was set to be released next year or 2012. Check out their quote below via ComingSoon. Read the full story

With recent news that MGM is on the chopping block and the current debate on what the company will head/who it will turn to in the near, dire future, the overall change that seems to be going on in Hollywood (and in the world of film entertainment altogether) shines more and more apparent – that is, what it means (and costs) to make movies these days.

Whether it’s Tom Cruise buying United Artists the same year a Tom Cruise-headlined movie did NOT make $100 million domestic or Paranormal Activity grossing over $100 million domestic with a budget of 15 grand and an ad campaign costing not much more, the tides have seemed to turn over. Big studios continue to go big ($200 million tentpoles) but no longer rely on domestic B.O. numbers. Sure, the $65 million take Sony’s 2012 took in in the States was nice, but it was the $160 million from other countries it was always counting on. Moviegoers overseas are less-jaded with the spectacle of cinema, and the people behind the big desks in Los Angeles know this. Read the full story

And the Red Dawn remake just got interesting.

Latino Review is reporting that screenwriter and director Tony Gilroy (Michael Clayton, the Bourne series) is rewriting MGM/UA’s Red Dawn remake. The film is scheduled to begin filming in September under the direction of Dan Bradley, the Second Unit director on the Bourne films.

The remake was drafted by Carl Ellsworth and Jeremy Passmore, based on the original 1984 film. The film follows a group of teenagers after their hometown is invaded by Chinese and Russian troops. You can watch the folks at Latino Review giving their take on the earlier draft here.

Red Dawn stars Chris Hemsworth, Josh Peck and Adrianne Palicki. It’s scheduled for release September 24, 2010.

How does Tony Gilroy penning the script change your perception of the remake? Is Red Dawn a film that can have any resonance today?