Film Junk Weekend Wrap-Up: March 16, 2008

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Lots of interesting movie-related scuttlebutt this week, and although we didn’t have time to cover it all, some of the biggest stories of the week included the arrival of the new Incredible Hulk trailer (and the controversy over the rumoured Ed Norton/Marvel feud), an Attack of the Killer Tomatoes remake, and a new Muppet Movie possibly in the works from an unexpected source. Another surprise was the announcement of a new animated film based on Heavy Metal magazine, although slightly less surprising was news of yet another Tom Perrotta novel getting optioned for the big screen.

Top Headlines
Jason Segel and Nicholas Stoller to Create new Muppet Movie
Final Harry Potter Book Will Be Divided Into Two Movies
Attack of the Killer Tomatoes Remake In The Works
Neil Marshall’s Next Movie Will Be A Western
Kurt Wimmer to Write and Possibly Direct Metal Gear Solid?

New Trailers
Incredible Hulk
The Lost Boys 2: The Tribe
Deal

Some Stories We Didn’t Cover
David Fincher Among Directors Contributing to New Animated Heavy Metal Movie
Ed Norton and Marvel Battling over Final Cut of Incredible Hulk
Tom Perrotta’s The Wishbones Headed to the Big Screen
Fame Remake Gets A Director
Wolfgang Petersen to direct Uprising
Study Finds Less Profanity Means Higher Profits for PG Movies
Alejandro Amenabar to Direct Agora
Brett Ratner to Direct Harbinger
Len Wiseman Directing/Producing Shell Game
Bone Movie In The Works
Paramount Launches New Facebook App for Sharing Movie Clips
Luke Wilson and David Koecher in New Comedy Tenure



  • “Never let an actor write a script,” one insider commented. “Marvel made a mistake letting the wolf into the hen house.”

    I think Norton is a hell of a lot more intelligent and talented than most actors so this is a pretty laughable statement, IMO. Also, I think most of the comments on that other blog labor under the delusions of the “auteur theory,” whereby the director is some singular genius who envisions the entire world of the film. Sometimes that is the case, but most films are a hugely collaborative effort, particularly on the part of the producers and financial backers, not to mention the DPs, so this whole “actors shouldn’t be allowed to destroy the director’s vistion” crap is dumb.

  • The feud is being reported by the same assbitch who reported the ridiculous Warner Bros. statement about hating women.