What's Gonna Come Of The Man Of Steel?

I've had a great tip off that traces back to a decent source with links within Warner Bros. It reveals quite a bit of exciting info about how The Man of Steel is going to go down when Brian Singer steps back behind the camera next year.

Apparently, Singer and Mike Dougherty have crafted a killer pitch and 'concept draft' that had the suits eating out of their hands and even had a knock-on effect for the plans for JLA (I'm told). Several key story points were made clear by the pre-production conceptual art, and here are some SPOILERY details of what those images revealed:

There's a new Kryptonian character coming to Earth as a result of Supes' pilrgimage to Krypton that took place before Returns.

Lex makes a deal with "a new villain" (I read this as new to the films, not new to the mythos, and indeed I have some idea who it is...) in order to have Superman eradicated. This villain double crosses Lex and takes over Lexcorp (yep - sounds like Brainiac to me too). What's more, Jason is a key part in the plot to trap Superman and...

Poor little Jason. He's snuffed out. That should have some of you cheering, you fiends.

So, there's a basic draft of the script (a scriptment?), pre-production art and several sequences storyboarded and, as far as I've been told, it's all going down very well with the execs. Nothing's gonna stand in the way of this film, I'm sure. And, reportedly, this one is really quite action packed with a threatening, smart double team of villains. Can't fail.

Treat this as rumour, sure. If you must. I'm buying it entirely because I know where it comes from.

[And if you don't find this exciting, maybe the big, big Buffyverse splash of the day will float your boat...]

Oi, Pilot! Your Name's Not On The List, You're Not Coming In

ABC have now decided which of it's series will be comissioned as full series and two film ick favourites were hanging in the balance.

The bad news is that, according to The Hollywood Reporter at least, Football Wives, with a Brian Singer pilot, is not on the list. Perhaps it was more like the execrable UK original than I'd hoped.

The better news is that, again according to the same list, The Cashmere Mafia has been picked up. The pilot was directed by Peyton Reed, one of the most underrated of studio filmmakers, and even if the series is a wash-out overall, I'm looking forward to Reed's installment very much.

It looks like the Mr. and Mrs. Smith spin-off has been left out in the cold too. Probably where it belongs.

And meanwhile over at Fox, the Terminator spin-off The Sarah Connor Chronicles has been given the nod. I blame all those wound-up insomniacs googling Lena Headey images - but let's see how long it lasts before Fox axes it. Three episodes? Four?

Script Review: Brian Singer's Next, Valkyrie

Simon Reynolds has completed another of his brilliant script reviews. This time he's only gone and made me jealous by reading Valkyrie, the script for the next film to be directed by Brian Singer. Christopher McQuarrie is, without a doubt, one of my favourite screenwriters, so this really has me excited. Over to Simon...

A look at Tom Cruise’s slate of upcoming films makes for interesting reading. There’s ensemble drama Lions For Lambs; Men, an Allan Loeb comedy; a possible Spike Lee joint; a surely ill-advised Hardy Boys remake with Ben Stiller (though the pair were hilarious in that MTV M:I spoof.); and Valkyrie, a Bryan Singer directed period thriller scripted by Christopher McQuarrie and Nathan Alexander. Cruise is certainly making some diverse choices.

In Valkyrie, he’ll will play Colonel Claus von Stauffenberg, a German officer who becomes integral in a plot to assassinate Adolf Hitler and stage a coup to establish a new German government towards the tail-end of World War II. The story is based on real events, one of the numerous attempts to end Hitler’s life.

An Internet search for “Operation Valkyrie” will reveal much of the film’s plot and the main players for both Hitler and the Stauffenberg ledresistance. Consequently there’s not much point in going into great analysis of the plot since it’s already out there - but most of you will want to know exactly what “Valkyrie” is. So here’s a quick summary: Operation Valkyrie refers to the mobilisation of the German Reserve Army in the event of a national emergency. It’s main purpose was to crush any insurgency in the event of Hitler’s death. Stauffenberg, Ludwig Beck (Former Army Chief of Staff), Friedrich Oldbricht (Chief of Berlin Army Office), Carl Goerdeler (former Mayor of Leipzig) and Erwin Von Witzleben (ex-field marshal of the Military District) lead the resistance and hatch a plan to kill the Fuhrer and take Berlin using Reserve Army. They’ll then quickly establish a new government led by Beck in the hope of calling a truce with the Allies and stop Germany being bombed into oblivion.

With Russia pressing forward from the east and the Allies invading Normandy, Germany is desperate. Yet the delusional Hitler won’t budge, and his terrified inner circle won’t tell him their army is taking a battering. When Stauffenberg is promoted it gives him the perfect opportunity to get close to his target.

McQuarrie and Alexander start Valkyrie slowly in the first act as so many characters need to be introduced that it becomes very easy to get lost. Though it’s being pitched as an ensemble movie, it really belongs to Cruise’s character. Stauffenberg is introduced in North Africa where he becomes horrendously disfigured. Don’t expect the matinee idol Tom Cruise, his character has facial scars, loses an eye (though he occasionally sports a cloudy glass one), and ends up without his right hand and only three fingers on the left!

Whereas McQuarrie juggled several characters in The Usual Suspects, here we get a lot of characters who drop in and out to support Stauffenberg -most of them are a little too thinly sketched.

You’d expect Hitler to be the main villain of this story, but he’s not, McQuarrie and Alexander keep him concealed and at arm’s length for most of the script. General Freidrich Fromm is the character who generates the most contempt.

As a whole, Valkyrie is well constructed - each scene moves the plot hurtling forward to it’s inevitable conclusion and . It does an excellent job of building tension, particularly in the scene where Stauffenberg constructs briefcase bomb and slides it next to Hitler and as the coup begins to take shape towards the end.

It’ll be interesting to see how Singer casts the rest of Valkyrie. Will he support Cruise with high profile stars or perhaps cast lesser known European actors? The role of Beck is brief but would be a great part for an older, distinguished actor. Beck is a gravely ill man looking for redemption, to do one thing that’ll make amends for being a servant to the Nazis. Sean Connery would be great, not only would he be able to unleash his patented “Scottish will do for any accent” accent but if he is indeed retiring it’d be nice to see him go out on something, anything but The League of Extraordinary Gentlemen. Failing that, Singer could reunite with Frank Langella or Sir Ian McKellan.

Valkyrie could well re-energising the careers of the key creative players. Cruise has a meaty, challenging role he can get to grips (and possibly a run at an Oscar) and McQuarrie is at last getting a project out of development hell.

Also, after ten years playing in the studio toy box, Singer is finally making a “real” movie. For a director who exploded onto the scene with so much promise, it’s been slightly disappointing that he’s been exclusively making superhero films recently.

I have no problems with the genre, in fact I love a good superhero film. After Superman Returns, however, it’s a good move for him to veer away from that franchise. Singer is an excellent director but he comes across as too much of a cynic. That’s ideal for X-Men but not the bright and sunny Superman. He’s miscast as the Man of Steel’s director, as was Richard Lester. Can anyone honestly say that Lester is a worse director than Richard Donner? Yet the latter seemed to have a better grasp of Superman and his world.

Valkyrie, though, is right up Singer’s street and it could very well be his best film since The Usual Suspects. The script clocks in at less than 120 pages, which is rare at this point in time. Many films seem to be bloated and go way over 2 hours when there isn’t a need to. The script tells a fascinating story and it does so with intelligence, style, edge-of-your-seat-suspense and a close eye on the history books.

Wolverine Script Review

First of all, let me stress that in my review of the Wolverine script I expressed a very, very strong opinion. A very, very stongly negative opinion. If you were to ask me what I thought of the Wolverine script, I'd have shaken my head, told you how bad I felt X-Men 3 was and then expressed how Wolverine was another, even bigger, step down in quality for the franchise. I'd tell you how it seemed to me that the thing just didn't hang together at all well.

To appease a couple of other folks involved in film ick, I have temporarily removed the Wolverine review that once existed at this URL. We know that Fox didn't have a leg to stand on, but some folks didn't want to spend the time necessary to prove it. Until these people's relationship with film ick is over, the review will be removed - at least, from this page. I might be the most active film ick person, but look at the list of contributors: I'm not the only one. And why would I want to upset my friends? If they say remove it, I'll do so, until restoring it could no longer effect them.

It doesn't matter anyway. The review lives on elsewhere. And in an increasing number of places too. And it will reach many, many more - and Fox will never have a chance to stem it. The thing will spread like a virus - partly to teach them a lesson, perhaps.

If you have the review and you want to post it anywhere, anywhere at all, feel free to put a link in the comments below. Get yourself some extra traffic, maybe. And if you have the script itself, I certainly wouldn't discourage you from mailing that around either. The more reviews the merrier, I say.

And just remember: the full review at least told you why I didn't like the script, gave you more of a chance to disagree. All that remains now is a simple statement: I read the Wolverine script and I absolutely hated it.

Taking Sides: I'm Backing Singer Over Van Sant

Variety (yep, them again) are reporting that Gus van Sant is now gearing up for a biopic of Harvey Milk. As well you know, Brian Singer has been planning his own, The Mayor of Castro Street, for some time.

While we're taking sides, I'm going to back Singer all of the way. The Usual Suspects, X2, Public Access, Apt Pupil... and so on. Up against what? Gerry, Elephant, Finding Forrester, Last Days...

Cut. And dried.

Apparently, the producers of the Singer film are pushing to get it into production after Valkyrie wraps, and before the next Superman episode. That sounds perfect to me.

The final draft of The Mayor of Castro Street is being written by Christopher McQuarrie; the van Sant version by Dustin Lance Black and has yet to find a home.

Not Moving House

Channel 5 have coughed up half a million pounds - that's almost a million dollars - for each episode of House season four. That's over 11 million pounds.

Both ITV and Sky were looking to nab the series, but Five retained the first run rights. Of course, it is easily the best thing on their channel - by some 1000 percent, at least. Hopefully they won't keep postponing the kick-off of season four the way they did with season three (we in the UK should have had eight episodes screened by now, instead it has only been three).

Superbloom

According to Just Jared, Orlando Bloom met with Jon and Mindy Peters and Brian Singer to discuss a role in the next Superman film. That's really all there is to the story, but Bloom was apparently eyeballed and... well... he fits. He definitely fits.

Lots of observers spotted a pattern in the Superman Returns casting. Bloom fits that pattern.

Ahem.

Valkyrie

The Guardian have revealed that Brian Singer's Let's-Get-Hitler film is to be named Valkyrie, just the same as the actual real-life plot it depicts.

Script Review: Nottingham

Courtesy of Simon - who may well end up being quite a regular contributor to film ick - here is a script review for Nottingham, the Robin Hood project with Russell Crowe attached. Enjoy.

The character of Robin Hood has been around for hundreds of years, and because of that pretty much every story that can be told about him has been. He’s appeared as a vibrant, technicoloured Errol Flynn, as a talking Disney fox, and as Kevin Costner, in a film that was used as a vehicle to sell a Bryan Adams song.

Sooner or later, Hollywood was bound to take another crack at England’s favourite outlaw, and Ethan Reiff and Cyrus Voris, the writers behind TV drama Sleeper Cell have done just that. Their spec script, titled Nottingham, is Robin Hood reversed - setting up the Sheriff as the hero and Robin Hood as the antagonist. Russell Crowe will pocket $20 million to play the Sheriff and Ridley Scott, Sam Raimi, Bryan Singer and Jon Turteltaub have all been linked with the directors’ chair. Rumours are that the project will lens in New Zealand later this year.

The general thinking behind this new interpretation of Robin Hood is that perhaps the Sheriff of Nottingham wasn’t such a bad guy after all, instead he has been distorted into a villain as the Robin Hood yarn has been passed down from generation to generation. The script for Nottingham bears the tagline “There are two sides to every legend…”, and, in Nottingham, Reiff and Voris decide to give the Sheriff’s testimony.

The writers obviously have a keen eye for history with events and characters thrown into a loose historical timeline, something that’s quite refreshing to see in what is essentially a period popcorn film. King Richard’s capturing of Cyprus is used to set up the Sheriff’s background, we get a small but substantial role for Eleanor of Aquitaine, and a huge battle at Nottingham Castle, which is based on a real event, plays a part in the third act.

The story begins in late 12th century Cyprus with Sir Robert Tornham battling in the Crusades. He’s a good soldier, a leader, and his reward from King Richard is to be appointed the Sheriff of Cyprus. Tornham’s stay is short-lived, however, when a letter from Richard notifies him he’s to be the new Sheriff of Nottingham. Tornham and his Squire, Thomas (a role seemingly written for Michael Caine) pack up and head to England.

In Richard’s absence, England is ruled by Prince John and the city of Nottingham, second only to London in size, is in crisis. There’s a Norman/Saxon divide, a mysterious hooded outlaw causing trouble and a recent gruesome murder involving a pair of young Nobles. Sir Guy of Gisbourne suspects Robin Hood (formerly Sir Robin of Locksley, a Nobleman who was outlawed for defending a man accused of killing one of the King’s deer) is behind the murders and the new Sheriff begins the manhunt.

Tornham meets Marian, Robin’s fiancé, and is immediately smitten. The pair become close, Marian is a fine archer and attempts to coach the slow-to-learn Sheriff, but both know that their relationship has no future. Marian is devoted to Robin and they will wed once his title is restored by King Richard, and the Sheriff ultimately wants to track down Robin and bring him to justice.

Nottingham is certainly an in interesting script but it doesn’t quite live up to the hype. The first act is all set-up and lengthy exposition - what we get is a lot of scenes introducing us to familiar characters… and a medieval police procedural TV show with Tornham trying to figure out entry/exit arrow wounds and such other things that are more David Caruso’s field.

That said, things pick up once Robin Hood appears at around the 40 page mark. As Tornham rides in Sherwood Forest he becomes lost and is ambushed by Robin and his Merry Men - there is no Will Scarlet, by the way, or Friar Tuck (though his name is mentioned), and Little John gets a fleeting cameo. Despite being less than white Robin’s character is far from a traditional villain - he is charismatic and confident, a Robin in the Errol Flynn mould.

One of the problems with this story is that by making Tornham the “anti-Rickman” you take away much of what makes the character great. He is far more watchable when he’s cancelling Christmas and being an evil bastard… this Sheriff is somewhat dull. Robin Hood is a great myth because you have the romantic notion of the outsider fighting the corrupt system. In Nottingham that is true of both Robin and the Sheriff. However Robin lives in exile in Sherwood Forest and the Sheriff is in Nottingham Castle trying to make things better by being a part of the system. Who really wants to side with a guy who is part of the status quo?

Nottingham isn’t a bad script but it feels like a missed opportunity. Reiff and Voris wanted to re-invent something familiar and I applaud them for doing so, but they seem to be holding back, not quite going the whole nine yards for fear it they might go too far. If they made Robin Hood the real bad guy and the Sheriff the hero then maybe it would’ve worked better - at least for me, anyway. It’s clichéd, of course, but the real world isn’t black and white but shades of grey. That’s the colour used to paint this Robin Hood tale and unfortunately it just isn’t as exciting as a good old-fashioned battle of good vs. evil.

Tom Cruise Plotting To Kill Hitler

Variety have dished on Brian Singer's next and it sounds even more intriguing than this time last week.

In brief: Tom Cruise is to star. Nathan Alexander co-wrote with Christopher McQuarie. The plot revolves around an attempt to kill Hitler by his own generals.

ReUnited Artists

The Cruise/Wagner UA have greenlit their sophomore effort, and it looks like a doozy. As yet untitled, the film is a World War 2 thriller with a screenplay by Christopher McQuarrie - and is to be directed by Brian Singer. Round up The Usual Suspects indeed.

Apparently, Singer and McQuarrie went directly to Cruise and Wagner who stumped up the bucks without missing a heartbeat. Wise.

Of course, this stalls Singer's Harvey Milk biopic The Mayor of Castro Street, as well as his Superman Returns sequel - perhaps even killing it outright. Only time will tell, but I wouldn't be surprised to see Warners appoint a different director to Superman now.

Singer's Football Wives pilot is well underway, however, and should air later this year.