Future Films (part 3)

By Vives Anunciacion
(unpublished)

Can’t get enough of Hollywood in one year? Here are some more movies baking in the movie city’s back lots, or in their overseas counterparts. Again, there’s no assurance all of these will be distributed locally.

Hopefully within the year we’ll see…

Aeon Flux (Paramount Pictures) – Charlize Theron plays the sexy leather-clad secret agent in the live-action adaptation of the futuristic MTV cartoon.

Bewitched (Sony Pictures/ Columbia) – when a producer decides to remake the classic fantasy TV series, he didn’t expect to cast a real witch for the role. Nicole Kidman is the witch and Will Ferrel plays the guy she marries on the show.

Land of the Dead (Universal Pictures) – legendary filmmaker George Romero adds another zombie flick to his endless list of the living dead movies.

The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy (Touchstone Pictures) – promising to be the funniest space comedy since Space Balls, this is the movie adaptation of Douglas Adam’s celebrated novel-turned radio series-turned TV show.

The Fountain (Warner Brothers) – Hugh Jackman stars in this philosophical drama about the search for the fountain of youth. Directed by Darren Aronofsky (Pi, Requiem for a Dream).

Unleashed (Focus Features/ Rogue Films) – Jet Li stars in an action drama (that’s right, drama) about a slave fighter who becomes enlightened when a blind piano tuner (played by Morgan Freeman) teaches him the meaning of life.

Untitled Munich Olympics project (Universal Pictures/ DreamWorks) – during the 1972 Munich Olympics, a group of Palestinian extremists assassinate Israeli athletes. Steven Spielberg directs Eric Bana who plays the Mossad agent out to track the killers.

The Brothers Grimm (Dimension Films) – folklore collectors Jake and Will Grimm (Matt Damon and Heath Ledger) travel from village to village pretending that they can cast away enchanted creatures, which supposedly plague the towns. A magical curse in a haunted forest puts the con artists to a real test of courage.

V for Vendetta (Warner Brothers) – Natalie Portman plays a young woman rescued from the secret police by a vigilante known only as “V” (played by James Purefoy) in this adaptation of the Alan Moore anti-totalitarian sci-fi graphic novel.

The New World (New Line Cinema) – the clash of cultures and principles between the British and the Native Americans in this 17th century drama featuring John Smith and Pocahontas. Directed by Terrence Malick (The Thin Red Line) starring Colin Farrel and Christian Bale.

The following titles are in various stages of production, so it’s a good chance we can see them around 2006:

Xmen 3 (directed by Matthew Vaughn), Superman Returns (d: Brian Singer), A Scanner Darkly (d: Richard Linklater), Cars (the last Disney-Pixar animation), Ice Age 2, Marie-Antoinette (d: Sofia Coppola), Rent (d: Chris Columbus), Wonder Woman (d: Joss Whedon), Ghost Rider (with Nicolas Cage), James Bond movie #21, The Da Vinci Code (with Tom Hanks), Indiana Jones 4, Rush Hour 3, Pirates of the Caribbean 2: Dead Man’s Chest, Mission Impossible 3 and finally, Hellboy 2.

In 2007 and further…
Spider Man 3, Shrek 3, The Hobbit. Yup, there’s no Hulk 2 or Catwoman 2 in sight.