Yes it’s the same as the Russian version that we put up a week or two ago but it IS different as it has English writing of The Thing! Here’s the UK poster. If you missed the new featurette that I put up yesterday, you should check that one out too and it’s a good’n.

The 2011 movie is directed by Matthijs van Heijningen Jr. and stars Mary Elizabeth Winstead​, Eric Christian Olsen, Joel Edgerton, Adewale Akinnuoye-Agbaje​, Ulrich Thomsen​, Kim Bubbs.

Antarctica: an extraordinary continent of awesome beauty. It is also home to an isolated outpost where a discovery full of scientific possibility becomes a mission of survival when an alien is unearthed by a crew of international scientists. The shape-shifting creature, accidentally unleashed at this marooned colony, has the ability to turn itself into a perfect replica of any living being. It can look just like you or me, but inside, it remains inhuman. In the thriller The Thing, paranoia spreads like an epidemic among a group of researchers as they’re infected, one by one, by a mystery from another planet. Paleontologist Kate Lloyd (Mary Elizabeth Winstead) has traveled to the desolate region for the expedition of her lifetime. Joining a Norwegian scientific team that has stumbled across an extraterrestrial ship buried in the ice, she discovers an organism that seems to have died in the crash eons ago. But it is about to wake up. When a simple experiment frees the alien from its frozen prison, Kate must join the crew’s pilot, Carter (Joel Edgerton), to keep it from killing them off one at a time. And in this vast, intense land, a parasite that can mimic anything it touches will pit human against human as it tries to survive and flourish. The Thing serves as a prelude to John Carpenter’s classic 1982 film of the same name.

The Thing is released in the UK 2nd December.

This morning has been full to the brim of new UK exclusives with a new Tintin trailer, the new Wuthering Heights poster and now Universal Studios have released this great new featurette from their movie, The Thing. In the featurette, we get to find out exactly how the new prequel to John Carpenter’s 1982 movie, The Thing. In this 2011 prequel, we get to find out exactly what happened to the base before Kurt Russell and his team show up later.

I this great featurette, we get to see interviews with all the principle cast who explain what we can expect from the movie and how everything links together.

The 2011 movie is directed by Matthijs van Heijningen Jr. and stars Mary Elizabeth Winstead​, Eric Christian Olsen, Joel Edgerton, Adewale Akinnuoye-Agbaje​, Ulrich Thomsen​, Kim Bubbs.

Antarctica: an extraordinary continent of awesome beauty. It is also home to an isolated outpost where a discovery full of scientific possibility becomes a mission of survival when an alien is unearthed by a crew of international scientists. The shape-shifting creature, accidentally unleashed at this marooned colony, has the ability to turn itself into a perfect replica of any living being. It can look just like you or me, but inside, it remains inhuman. In the thriller The Thing, paranoia spreads like an epidemic among a group of researchers as they’re infected, one by one, by a mystery from another planet. Paleontologist Kate Lloyd (Mary Elizabeth Winstead) has traveled to the desolate region for the expedition of her lifetime. Joining a Norwegian scientific team that has stumbled across an extraterrestrial ship buried in the ice, she discovers an organism that seems to have died in the crash eons ago. But it is about to wake up. When a simple experiment frees the alien from its frozen prison, Kate must join the crew’s pilot, Carter (Joel Edgerton), to keep it from killing them off one at a time. And in this vast, intense land, a parasite that can mimic anything it touches will pit human against human as it tries to survive and flourish. The Thing serves as a prelude to John Carpenter’s classic 1982 film of the same name.

The Thing is released in the UK 2nd December.

Source: Yahoo UK

I really don’t know what to make of The Thing.

It’s a prequel with the same name as the film it is supposed to precede, John Carpenter’s sci-fi/horror classic casts a loooong shadow, yet the trailers and clips so far look pretty effective and the creature effects in particular leave me cautiously optimistic. Certainly what we have so far gives enough cause for positivity.

The new Russian poster and trailer look like more of the same, creepy, atmospheric, claustrophobic, bloody. The poster is, mercifully, not a rehash of all that has been better done before and the trailer saves a wonderfully unsettling shot for right near the end. I don’t speak Russian and this is dubbed rather than subtitled, so most of us won’t pick up anything new beyond the affecting and arresting images on display.

Who knows, this might yet be one to enjoy and savour.

Sources: IMP and Twitch.

Liking this a lot!! Here’s the brand new red band (seriously freaky) trailer for the brand new movie, The Thing which is a prequel to John Carpenter’s 1982 version which starred Kurt Russell. The 2011 movie is directed by Matthijs van Heijningen Jr. and stars Mary Elizabeth Winstead, Eric Christian Olsen, Joel Edgerton, Adewale Akinnuoye-Agbaje, Ulrich Thomsen, Kim Bubbs.

Universal Studios have released this new trailer through IGN and it’s a seriously freaky one. Please bear in mind, this is a red band trailer for a reason!

Antarctica: an extraordinary continent of awesome beauty. It is also home to an isolated outpost where a discovery full of scientific possibility becomes a mission of survival when an alien is unearthed by a crew of international scientists. The shape-shifting creature, accidentally unleashed at this marooned colony, has the ability to turn itself into a perfect replica of any living being. It can look just like you or me, but inside, it remains inhuman. In the thriller The Thing, paranoia spreads like an epidemic among a group of researchers as they’re infected, one by one, by a mystery from another planet. Paleontologist Kate Lloyd (Mary Elizabeth Winstead) has traveled to the desolate region for the expedition of her lifetime. Joining a Norwegian scientific team that has stumbled across an extraterrestrial ship buried in the ice, she discovers an organism that seems to have died in the crash eons ago. But it is about to wake up. When a simple experiment frees the alien from its frozen prison, Kate must join the crew’s pilot, Carter (Joel Edgerton), to keep it from killing them off one at a time. And in this vast, intense land, a parasite that can mimic anything it touches will pit human against human as it tries to survive and flourish. The Thing serves as a prelude to John Carpenter’s classic 1982 film of the same name.

The Thing hits UK cinemas December 2nd.

That’s a terrible pun and I’m actually genuinely sorry. But hey – it’s gets better because we’ve finally got a clip from the prequel to The Thing, called The Thing.

Following the creepy as heck poster and a trailer which did a good job of teasing Matthijs van Heijningen Jr’s film and this new clip sort of spoils a relatively early but crucial plot moment.

It is a brief clip but there’s something in the tone of the piece that appears to evoke the spirit of the John Carpenter film nicely which is encouraging. We also get a glimpse of the monster as it first appears, though of course it won’t stay in that form for too long, but considering where it comes from in the clip it’s a pretty firm bet that this is its original form. Let’s hope that’s the most we see of it, we don’t need a look at what it was as we’re concetrating on what it becomes.

Even now, picturing the twisted Bosch-like creatures of Carpenter’s film reminds me that we’ve not seen anything quite like it since, and the digital molasses of the CG monster movies of recent times cannot compete. Here’s hoping The Thing is still The Thing.

This came from MTV (who blocked it in the UK) but an enterprising Youtuber uploaded it. Thanks Youtuber.

Apparently the UK is going to have a longer wait for Matthijs van Heijningen’s prequel to The Thing, which is also called The Thing, as a new release date has been announced of the 2nd of December 2011.

The film’s Facebook page served up the bad news but did offer us a few images of the film which we’ve not had up on the site before as slight recompense and one of them does include a flamethrower. If you’ve not seen the trailer then click here and enjoy.

Mary Elizabeth Winstead and Joel Edgerton lead the cast which includes Adewale Akinnuoye-Agbaje, Eric Christian Olsen, Kim Bubbs, Stig Henrik Hoff, Jonathan Walker and the film is directed by Matthijs van Heijningen Jr.

At an Antarctica research site, the discovery of an alien craft leads to a confrontation between graduate student Kate Lloyd and scientist Dr. Sander Halvorson. While Dr. Halvorson keeps to his research, Kate partners with Sam Carter, a helicopter pilot, to pursue the alien life form.

Here are your pics,

 In fine marketing tradition a few days ago we had the first poster for the prequel to The Thing, confusedly called The Thing, and now there’s the first trailer for Matthijs van Heijningen Jr directed film.

It is the same as the leaked trailer which found its way onto the internet last year and it’s a great return to the world of Carpenter’s film, which incidentally holds up magnificently today, and this prequel looks to have captured the isoparanoia* perfectly.

Flamethrowers, beards and furry collars – sign me up. This one lands in October.

MSN Movies had it first, here’s your trailer.

*this is a word.

UPDATE BELOW

We’ve not heard that much about the forthcoming prequel to The Thing, the Matthijs van Heijningen Jr directed The Thing (more on this later…), but here’s what purports to be the first poster for the film.

AICN posted the image which isn’t the best quality but it’s an appropriately stark effort nonetheless. The tagline isn’t quite as catchy as Man is the warmest place to hide, and it does still have the October release date on it, which begs the question as to the whereabouts of the trailer? We saw a leaked version back in October last year but nothing has been seen or heard since.

And I’ve only just realised that as a prequel to The Thing, calling your film The Thing is a little odd, but I’m still hopeful for the film as the cast is decent and I love the idea of seeing more of the world Carpenter created (or reimaigned), though I still hold out a distant wish that they will use practical creature effects.

It’s a blurry photo, and there’s an excellent chance Universal will request that this one comes down, but one of the film’s stars, Mary Elizabeth Winstead just tweeted the following to Harry Knowles,

which perhaps points to it being the real thing.

UPDATE

It is. Universal hve released the high quality version and it reveals something nasty in the stark image we’re presented with. Click on it, and take a closer look.

Here’s the poster,

Teaser Trailer.com had this one.

It’s been a while since we saw anything from the Matthijs van Heijningen Jr directed prequel to The Thing. Let’s remedy that shall right now, shall we?

Here’s a picture of Joel Edgerton who plays Sam Carter in the film alongside Mary Elizabeth Winstead,  Adewale Akinnuoye-Agbaje, Eric Christian Olsen, and Kim Bubbs, and Edgerton has come a long way from the Star Wars prequels with his part in the acclaimed Animal Kingdom standing out in particular.

Rather than roll out another remake, this film sets its scene before the events of John Carpenter’s 1982 version in a similar vein to how Ridley Scott was planning to do with his Alien prequel before the Prometheus idea took over.

Loads of other Thing Prequel pics are available here, some with flamethrowers, some not.

Here’s the new pic, love those furry collars.

Where did we find this? Why, Shortlist via Daily Dread of course.

Thanks to a lukewarm box-office performance and a near-universal mauling from critics, it looked like Carrie Bradshaw’s reign of bad punnage was mercifully over. A recent flurry of rumours, however, suggest that those involved are reluctant to let this once-hot property go.

First, studio bosses were reported to be considering a franchise prequel which would drop the ensemble in favour of a Bradshaw-centric (oh dear God) movie and most likely adapt Sex and the City author Candace Bushnell’s latest best-seller, Summer And The City, which revolves around a 19-year old Carrie’s move from Connecticut to New York City.

With /Film recently reporting that Blake Lively, of Gossip Girl fame, had been tipped to replace Sarah Jessica Parker atop the vintage Manolo Blahniks, it seemed we were set for “SATC: The Early Years”, in which we presumably learn what happened to turn Ms. Bradshaw from bona-fide human being into a spoilt, soulless succubus. Who knows, maybe Natalie Portman died in childbirth again? According to insiders:

“There are no plans to bring SJP and the other girls back together in the old format. The prequel is about breathing new life into the story and exploring Carrie’s first few months in NYC and the beginning of her relationship with an older man.”

Although Lively has since put these rumours out to pasture, Parker has nevertheless waded in (“I was like, Wha-a-a-a-t?”) with her fears that any such prequel would create two conflicting histories, adding, ” I don’t think we can pretend to go back.” She instead proposes that the quartet returns for a third instalment, evidently to cover the multitude of storylines untouched by six seasons and two movies.

“I would go back, I think there’s one more story to tell. I know there is. I’d definitely tell that [third] story, and I know Michael [Patrick Kind] would do it right. But maybe not now. Maybe in five years, you know? It’s not that I want to get away from [SATC]. In a million years, who could get away from it it?”

I’m not sure what sounds worse: the prospect of another contrived plot that sees Bradshaw unfulfilled by her happily ever after, or the possibility of a new franchise that ditches the relatively inoffensive supporting cast and devotes even more screentime to SJP’s iconic empathy vacuum?

Source: LA Times

Missing presumed dead: have you seen this man?

Answers to the name of Freddy Krueger. Recognisable by his scarred face, stripy jumper and blade encrusted glove. In 1984 was considered a scary serial killer but has since mysteriously disappeared and been replaced with a desperately poor imitation.

Horror fans across the globe would be grateful for Freddy’s immediate return.

Sadly, poor Freddy Krueger is one of the many victims of a deadly plague sweeping the world of cinema. Death by sequel is a nasty way to go.

From Spider Man to The Matrix, from Men in Black to Halloween, the rise of the sequel is a trend which is getting scarily out of control. One only needs to take a look at the key cinematic releases for the next three years to see the mindboggling number of sequels which are lurking in the wings, waiting to be unleashed on a not always willing film going public. There seems to be a distinct lack of understanding when it comes to knowing what cinema viewers want, with studio bosses under the delusion that we want yet another stale installment of Friday the 13th.

Of course, no one is claiming that a sequel is always a bad thing. Some of the greatest cinematic achievements of all time have been a series of films like Star Wars, The Godfather and Alien. These films were all so brilliant that they cried out for a another film to continue the story. But somehow the sequel has become an expectation rather than a rarity bestowed on only the most worthy films. Seeing terrible and completely unnecessary sequels is becoming an all too familiar event.

The fundamental problem facing a sequel is the need to up the ante on the original. A sequel needs to be bigger, better and more spectacular. There needs to be more violence, more action, a higher body count and even more outlandish set pieces. The sequels of the past work so perfectly because they were working on films which in retrospect were surprisingly low key. Apart from the famous ‘chest bursting’ sequence, Alien is actually not the action packed film many believe it to be. So when all hell broke loose in the thrilling Aliens, the audience was amazed and excited as the series had attained a new height of enjoyment. The sight of Ripley battling the alien with ludicrously huge weapons was effective as it did not happen in the first film.

However, when it comes to the modern day sequel, there often isn’t an ante to be upped as the whole bag of tricks was used up in film one. The Pirates of the Caribbean franchise is an unfortunate testimony to this. The first film was a swashbuckling romp of fun and enjoyment, where Johnny Depp’s portrayal of Jack Sparrow was nothing short of genius. Fast-forward to two dull films later, and the action has been cranked up to the point of lunacy, with Sparrow now an irritating caricature who makes the audience want to slap him rather than adore him, and yet still the ghost of Sparrow lives on with a forth film due out next summer. Any film where an actor of Orlando Bloom’s calibre has jumped ship warrants deep caution indeed.

It is perhaps for this reason that the horror genre has become the biggest victim of ‘death by sequel’. Who cares about a good script or decent acting when all that is required is monumental amounts of blood and a body count running into double figures? Well, anyone who has sat through Freddy vs. Jason can attest to the fact that it is a problem. The horror film can be revved up to extraordinary levels as the very nature of the genre requires a certain suspension of disbelief, but the real shame is that as Freddy, Michael and Jason continue to charge through cinema on their eternal rampage of bloody death, any effectiveness they once possessed has long since died alongside their many victims. It’s hard to believe that back in 1978, Michael Myers was the epitome of evil who terrified cinema goers throughout the land. After countless tired sequels you cannot help but wish he had actually died the first time Dr. Loomis shot him.

If so many sequels are both bad and unnecessary, why do studios keep churning them out at a relentless rate? It seems that the worthiness of a sequel is now determined by money rather than whether the film actually warrants further viewing. Any film that makes a significant amount of money is now green-lighted a sequel, whether the audience wants it or not. Two of this summer’s blockbusters, Clash of the Titans and Prince of Persia, already have sequels in pre-production, despite extremely lacklustre reviews from critics. But the release of a sequel means yet another slew of lunchboxes, figurines, t-shirts and anything that can be branded will hit the shops. It is money rather than quality which determines the sequel; the creation of a franchise, however poor, is big business.

Of course it is far too cut and dry to declare that all sequels are bad news. We only need to look at the quality of this year’s highest grossing film to date, Toy Story 3, to see that a sequel can be brilliant. But this sequel worked because there was still life in the characters and a genuine desire from the audience to see what happened next to Woody and Buzz. Is there honestly anyone left on earth that cares as to what Jack Sparrow will do next? Swagger a bit, slur his words, get slapped by the girls in Tortuga – basically exactly what he’s already done three times already.

The sequel, prequel, franchise and series is not always cause for alarm, but it is rapidly spiralling out of control and resulting in increasingly lazy and lacklustre films. For every Godfather Part II there is a Spider-Man 3, and more beyond. It is with a mixture of fear and trepidation that we await the sequels to Kick Ass and The Hangover, great films that run the risk of being the next victims of the cinematic parasite that long ago killed Jason, Freddy and Michael. Let us hope that the producers are thinking along the lines of Toy Story 3 and aiming for quality rather than quantity; in 10 years time none of us want to be reviewing Avatar Part 12: The 3rd Generation.

Written by Natalie Holmes

Universal Studios (via Hitfix) have debuted some rather nice new images from the prequel to John Carpenter classic movie, The Thing. The new movie stars Mary Elizabeth Winstead, Joel Edgerton, Adewale Akinnuoye-Agbaje, Eric Christian Olsen, Kim Bubbs, Stig Henrik Hoff, Jonathan Walker and is directed by Matthijs van Heijningen Jr.

IMDb Synopsis: At an Antarctica research site, the discovery of an alien craft leads to a confrontation between graduate student Kate Lloyd and scientist Dr. Sander Halvorson. While Dr. Halvorson keeps to his research, Kate partners with Sam Carter, a helicopter pilot, to pursue the alien life form.

The Thing prequel is scheduled for release some time in 2011.

Prequels are the next big thing, with Ridley Scott going back to the future to follow the exploits of the Space Jockey in his Alien prequel, Andy Serkis and James Franco showing us how it became the Planet of the Apes, Zack Snyder returning to a pre-300 Xerxes, The Hobbit hopefully rolling before the cameras before long – and now Empire have posted a brief interview with one of the stars of the forthcoming prequel to The Thing.

Currently breaking hearts and starting fights as Ramona Flowers in Edgar Wright’s Scott Pilgrim Vs. The World, Mary Elizabeth Winstead is clearly taking a Ripley-esque route in the Matthijs van Heijningen directed film, which leads directly up to the events of the 1982 John Carpenter film.

Here she talks about the shift in dynamic as a result of her presence in the male dominated world created by Carpenter, as well as teasing a few flamethrower moments.

Here’s the video, and if you missed the first teaser poster for the film, click here to rectify that.

Now go and see Winstead in Scott Pilgrim Vs. The World!

Sylvester Stallone has tipped that John Rambo might return.

During a fan-letter-interview hosted by Aint It Cool News, Stallone admitted to entertaining the notion of a prequel to First Blood, the first Rambo movie.

I certainly think this is worth pondering because it’s intriguing to find the whys and wherefores of how people have come to become what they are…The traumas, the loss and the tragedy of being in Vietnam would certainly be a great challenge for a young actor and it would be ironic that Rambo directs younger Rambo after having played it for 20 plus years.

While there are undoubtedly individuals that are excited at this prospect, it is difficult to imagine what material there is left for a prequel to mine. While the most recent Rambo was by no means a bad movie, the franchise to date has already incorporated flashbacks showing the titular hero’s torture in Vietnam.

It is also true that Rambo, like Rocky, is so intrinsically Stallone that the role might not survive being recast, any new actor unbelievable in their performance. Whether or not this is the case, with the latest Rambo earning $1 million worldwide, we will unlikely have long to wait to find out.

Reported by Steven Neish

Both Trekkies and (now thanks to the release of last year’s geek/mainstream crossover prequel) non-Trekkies alike will be interested to read that Bruce Greenwood (Captain Pike), had this to say to Hollywood.com at a premiere this week, when he was asked about the shooting of the next film:

“I just know that the plan is to film it in January, more than that, I don’t know.”

His reply as to whether he’d make an appearance was less certain:

“I’m hustling for it…we’ll see…”

The character of Captain Pike appeared initially in the first series of Star Trek in the 60’s, but as last year’s film introduced the idea of a new alternative timeline, it doesn’t necessarily mean that Greenwood’s involvement is guaranteed.

It would be a shame if he didn’t crop up in again as he was a strong and welcome addition in the reboot, adding a bit of gravitas to the proceedings.

Still, at least now with a tentative start time for production and  a summer 2012 release scheduled, there is the knowledge that we’ll have a quality product when that stardate comes around!

The prequel to John Carpenter’s ‘The Thing’ is definitely an intriguing idea and one that every fan of the original movie must be curious about as we get to see what happened in the events that led to them Norwegian chaps chasing the dog at the start of the 1982 classic.

It’s currently filming in Canada and due for release in April 2011 and stars Mary Elizabeth Winstead (Scott Pilgrim, Deathproof), Joel Edgerton (Attack of Clones, Smoking Aces), Adewale Akinnuoye-Agbaje (Lost, Oz) and Eric Christian Olsen (Dumb & Dumberer, Back up Plan) who are being directed by Matthijs van Heijningen Jr. who hasn’t done much else.

Today the official synopsis has been brought to us by Bloodydisgusting.com and although it doesn’t give to much away it seems to stick very close to what made the original one of the best and tense horror films of all time which can only be a good thing although slightly unoriginal. We know how it’s going to end the ride getting there will no doubt be full of blood, gore and ribcage hand eating mutations. Check it out below.

Antarctica: an extraordinary continent of awesome beauty. It is also home to an isolated outpost where a discovery full of scientific possibility becomes a mission of survival when an alien is unearthed by a crew of international scientists. The shape-shifting creature, accidentally unleashed at this marooned colony, has the ability to turn itself into a perfect replica of any living being. It can look just like you or me, but inside, it remains inhuman. In the thriller THE THING, paranoia spreads like an epidemic among a group of researchers as they’re infected, one by one, by a mystery from another planet.

Paleontologist Kate Lloyd (Mary Elizabeth Winstead) has traveled to the desolate region for the expedition of her lifetime. Joining a Norwegian scientific team that has stumbled across an extraterrestrial ship buried in the ice, she discovers an organism that seems to have died in the crash eons ago. But it is about to wake up. When a simple experiment frees the alien from its frozen prison, Kate must join the crew’s pilot, Carter (Joel Edgerton), to keep it from killing them off one at a time. And in this vast, intense land, a parasite that can mimic anything it touches will pit human against human as it tries to survive and flourish.”

I presume that the entire group of scientists will only be fluent in Norwegian due to the incommunicable conversation at the start of the original between the Americans and the Norway alien dog hunters which set up the film so well and that this will be adhered to in this prequel but obviously magically translated so we get American dialect spoken.

Definitely one to look forward to.

More Hobbit news for those keeping track of this quagmired film.

Since Guillermo del Toro had to step away from the protracted production names of potential successors have been spinning around the ether and sooner or later you’ll see every eligible director see their name linked to the movie before long. The vacant director’s chair also leaves the situation open to fans to place their own favourite in the top spot, imagining what take they will have on the classic tale.

Whomever Peter Jackson and the studio end up picking, they will have to step firmly into a job which has been overseen thus far by the solid team of Jackson and his cohorts and del Toro himself, so the directing gig may well be a relatively superfluous one. What they need is someone who can take an established creative team, along with a CG heavy vision and shepherd it to the screen. So, the name which has been thrust to the fore today, that of Harry Potter’s David Yates, seems to fit very well.

This is a rumour, from all over the internet, Production Weekly have the news and there’s much ado on the internets right now, and the first name out of the pointy hat may not accept the job, even if he has been offered it. On a recent Mouth Off podcast Brendon Connelly espoused the merits of Fran Walsh, citing  her second unit direction on the Lord of the Rings trilogy as some of the best in the films as another potential. You will probably have your own favourite.

Who knows who will be chosen?  Yates has the credentials, and his work on Potter will keep him busy until 2011 at least, so there’s plenty of time for the money machine behind The Hobbit to get started again.

Last week we reported the sad news that Guiillermo del Toro will no longer be directing The Hobbit.

Following the previous brief announcement, del Toro has posted a longer statement on the One Ring Forums on how he feels leaving the project that he has worked on for so long.

You can read it below or head over to the One Ring forum to check it out.

It’s very sad reading this as del Toro obviously had a lot invested in the project and he is clearly very upset to be leaving it all behind and pass it on to another director. He does confirm that pre-production is still moving forward but there is no word on a new director. Any new director has big shoes to fill but hopefully this is a project that could still turn out well.

So, here I am again. As promised, I am posting a longer message before the week’s end.

I have to thank those of you that have supported me from the start as well as those that converted along the way. And even say farewell to those that never did convert or believed.

I will miss Mr. Crere, the faith of Compa and Sir DennisC, the wisdom of Voronwe, the joy of Grammaboodawg, the support of Kangi Ska and so many, many others

Now, Pasi, et al- that is what is quite uncommon even on big films. Pete and co stuck to LOTR for years, I’ve developed films for years and I have shot many a movie on location… but rarely do you relocate for such massive amount of time specially when you have to do major ironclad agreements to put in deep freeze other contractual obligations with multiple studios.

My commitment to the project demanded enormous sacrifices both in personal and professional terms. The consequences of which will ripple for years. I relocated my entire life and family to New Zealand and first came on board in 2008.

So- while the cited delays, contractual complexities or obstacles, cannot be attributed to a single event or entity – you will simply have to believe that they were of sufficient complexity and severity to lead to the current situation. Trust me on this, Pasi- leaving NZ and the Hobbit crew is extremely painful.

As stated before- a wealth of designs, animatics, boards and sculptures is left behind representing accurately my ideas for Mirkwood, Spiders, Wargs, Stone Trolls, etc, etc and everyone (PJ, FW, PB and myself) has the same goal in mind: to try and ensure the best possible transition of the movie to a new director.

I believe these films will happen. Preproduction continues as we speak. The writing team of PJ,FW,PB and myself will keep moving the screenplays forward.

Perhaps even sooner than we may anticipate we will all look at the finished film and then- I will tear up whenever I recognize a set or a creature or a quirk created under my supervision. Everyone on these boards will get two movies. Me? I will be watching filmic family albums. Photos of my children from far away.

I hope you will understand how delicate the subject is for me.

I will drop by now and then, I will read the boards with interest and do hope to see some of you around at SDCC and many other places.

I am not here, however, to provide a blow-by-blow of what happened, but to assure you, as I have, that it has been the toughest situation of my life.

Beyond that- I am simply no longer an official voice for these projects. Be good, be well- and I invite you all to follow me into the next phase of my filmmaking journey.

Sincerely

GDT

Fans of shouting half naked Greek warriors are in for a treat as Frank Miller and Dark Horse Comics have revealed the first piece of art from Frank Miller’s prequel to 300, Xerxes.

The massive success of Zack Snyder’s film adaptation of 300, and Miller’s own subsequent critical drubbing following his movie The Spirit, means that the time for another trip back in time is on the cards.

Whether the publication of Xerxes will hurry along a Snyder-helmed film, but recently he spoke to ComingSoon regarding the project,

I’m waiting on Frank for the sequel to ’300,’ and there’s a really good chance that will be the thing [I direct next].

I didn’t tell Frank what to write the first time, and I’m not telling him what to write this time. I’ll take it and I’ll adapt it and make it into a movie and I’ll write a screenplay, but I want him to do whatever he thinks.

Miller himself gives this synopsis of the comic book, and the first image of Xerxes himself is below,

The story will be the same heft as ’300′ but it cover a much, much greater span of time — it’s 10 years, not three days…This is a more complex story. The story is so much larger. The Spartans in ’300′ were being enclosed by the page as the world got smaller. This story has truly vast subjects. The Athenian naval fleet, for instance, is a massive artistic undertaking and it dwarfed by the Persian fleet, which is also shown in this story. The story has elements of espionage, too, and it’s a sweeping tale with gods and warriors.

The time frame begins 10 years before ’300′ and the story starts with the Battle of Marathon, which was killer to draw, by the way, even if it was a lot of work…The lead character is Themistocles, who became warlord of Greece and built their navy. The story is very different than ’300′ in that it involves Xerxes search for godhood. The existence of gods are presupposed in this story and the idea is that he well on his way to godhood by the end of the story

Pulling the rug from under the feet of those looking forward to the two film, big screen adaptation of JRR Tolkien’s The Hobbit tonight is the news that co-writer Guillermo Del Toro will not be directing the films.

Many fans of Jackson’s work with The Lord of the Rings were overjoyed to hear that Del Toro had agreed to co-write and direct the films, and with Jackson and his team in a scriptwriting and Exec Producing capacity we were promised the best of both world – Del Toro’s visual imagination and Jackson’s proven capability with the material.

Sadly though it was not to be. Del Toro and Jackson broke the unexpected news to the epic Tolkien fansite TheOneRing,

In light of ongoing delays in the setting of a start date for filming “The Hobbit,” I am faced with the hardest decision of my life…After nearly two years of living, breathing and designing a world as rich as Tolkien’s Middle Earth, I must, with great regret, take leave from helming these wonderful pictures.

The blessings have been plenty, but the mounting pressures of conflicting schedules have overwhelmed the time slot originally allocated for the project. Both as a co-writer and as a director, I wlsh the production nothing but the very best of luck and I will be first in line to see the finished product. I remain an ally to it and its makers, present and future, and fully support a smooth transition to a new director”.

Jackson echoed the sentiments,

We feel very sad to see Guillermo leave the Hobbit, but he has kept us fully in the loop and we understand how the protracted development time on these two films, due to reasons beyond anyone’s control – has compromised his commitment to other long term projects…The bottom line is that Guillermo just didn’t feel he could commit six years to living in New Zealand, exclusively making these films, when his original commitment was for three years.

[O]ur writing partnership will continue for several more months, until the scripts are fine tuned and polished…New Line and Warner Bros will sit down with us this week, to ensure a smooth and uneventful transition, as we secure a new director for the Hobbit. We do not anticipate any delay or disruption to ongoing pre-production work.

The sound which followed was that of thousands of jaws and smiles dropping at this news, while there were recent reports that the project was still stuck in the quagmire of MGM’s fallout and no greenlight had been passed into production there was an overwhelming feeling that production on The Hobbit was a certainty, and with Del Toro at the helm.

So, the search for a new director is on, and while Del Toro’s hand will still be felt in the work on the design and development he has already undertaken there’s a part of me that would love to have seen his take on this classic.