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2009 | 2008

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"Excalibur": Behold The Sword Of Power

22 December 2009 9:05 AM, PST | SneakPeek | See recent SneakPeek news »

Director Bryan "Superman Returns" Singer is attached to remake director John Boorman's 1981 fantasy feature "Excalibur" retelling the legend of 'King Arthur'.

The original "Excalibur" screenplay was written by Rospo Pallenberg and Boorman, as an adaptation of Malory's "Morte d'Arthur" (1469-70), with 'Arthur' presented as a 'wounded king', whose realm becomes a wasteland, then reborn thanks to the 'Grail'.

"The film has to do with mythical truth, not historical truth," Boorman said. "The coming of Christian man and the disappearance of the old religions which are represented by 'Merlin'. The forces of superstition and magic are swallowed up into the unconscious."

Several new elements were added to the film's story including 'King Uther' wielding the 'sword of power' before the birth of Arthur and and the concept of the world as 'the dragon'.

Music soundtrack is by Trevor Jones, including works from Carl Orff's "O Fortuna" played during battle sequences. »

- Michael Stevens

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Singer Attending "X-Men: First Class"

19 December 2009 5:40 AM, PST | SneakPeek | See recent SneakPeek news »

Director Bryan "Superman Returns" Singer will take on the Fox feature "X-Men: First Class" for producers Lauren Shuler Donner and Simon Kinberg, based on a script treatment Singer wrote for the film.

Screenplay is by Jamie Moss.

In Toronto, Singer directed Fox' first "X-Men" film in 2000. Two subsequent "X-Men" sequels were filmed in Vancouver.

"X-Men: First Class" will focus on the back-story of the famous Marvel Comics' mutant super-hero team, during their formative years, revolving around 20-something "X-Men" mutant leader 'Xavier' and his nemesis, 'evil' mutant 'Magneto', revealing how their relationship took a 'wrong turn', to the detriment of mankind.

Singer also confirmed there will be a romantic element, with some of the original mutants from the "X-Men" team entering into the scheme of things, as well as 'new mutants' and a new villain.

Fox continues to develop a dedicated feature revolving around "Magneto", a sequel to "Wolverine »

- Michael Stevens

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Mirren Awarded Life Achievement @ Wftv

7 December 2009 12:21 PM, PST | SneakPeek | See recent SneakPeek news »

The 19th annual U.K. Women in Film and TV Awards were held December 4 @ London's Park Lane Hilton Hotel with actress Helen Mirren receiving a lifetime achievement award.

To her credit, Mirren has also won an Academy Award, four SAG Awards, four BAFTAs, three Golden Globes and four Emmy Awards during her career.

She was born 'Helen Vasilievna Mironov' in Hammersmith, West London in 1945, her paternal grandfather a Russian nobleman, tsarist colonel and diplomat who was stranded in England during the Russian Revolution.

At age eighteen, she auditioned for the National Youth Theatre and was accepted leading to numerous professional stage performances in the UK and North America.

Mirren has appeared nude in many of her films including earlier work in "Caligula" and "Excalibur" as well as her recent work in "Calendar Girls".

During her film career, she has portrayed three British queens, including 'Elizabeth I' in the »

- Michael Stevens

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John Madden Set to Direct My Fair Lady Remake

1 December 2009 7:18 PM, PST | FusedFilm | See recent FusedFilm news »

John Madden, no not the animated and legendary football commentator, rather the Academy Award winning British director behind Shakespeare In Love is set to direct the remake of the classic Lerner and Lowe musical, My Fair Lady, a 1964 Academy Award nominated film.

Madden is currently completing production on the Helen Mirren film The Debt for Miramax and Marv Films, will ramp up the search for his leading lady and man in the new year. It was recently reported that Keira Knightley was still attached to the project after circling the project for some time, however there is no formal agreement for her to play Eliza.

Joe Wright was also attached to direct previous to Madden’s now involvement. The pic is being produced by Duncan Kenworthy and Cameron Mackintosh, who have been attached to the project since its start. Variety who broke the news says that this remake will draw »

- Kevin Coll

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Helen Mirren to be honored with Career Achievment Award at Psiff

1 December 2009 1:22 PM, PST | Pretty/Scary | See recent pretty-scary news »

The 21st Annual Palm Springs International Film Festival (Psiff) will present Helen Mirren with the Career Achievement Award! The Festival runs January 5-18, 2010.

Helen Mirren starred as Morgana le Fay in the dark fantay film Excalibur, appeared in an episode of the 1970's TV series Thriller and the 1980's Twilight Zone, as Caesonia in the cult film Caligula, as Tanya Kirbuk in the sci-fi sequel 2010, and as the star of the Prime Suspect thriller/crime film and its 6 sequels...

She directed a short segment in the comedy/sci-fi anthology On The Edge called "Happy Birthday" in 2001.

She will appear in the 2010 Shakespearean adaptation of The Tempest as Prospera. The film is directed by Julie Taymor (also director of the futuristic 1999 film Titus.) In Taymor's version, the gender of Prospero has been switched to the female Prospera. You'll also see her in the upcoming thriller Brighton Rock.

Festival chairman Harold Matzner commented, »

- Superheidi

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Photos: New Shot of Tony Stark in Iron Man 2; First Look at Liam Neeson’s Zeus in Clash of the Titans

2 October 2009 5:18 PM, PDT | Slash Film | See recent Slash Film news »

When Paramount and Jon Favreau brought footage of Iron Man 2 to Comic Con, we saw a scene where Tony Stark (Robert Downey, Jr.), mostly in his Iron Man suit, has a conversation in a donut shop with Nick Fury (Samuel L. Jackson). Now we've got a shot from that scene, sadly only featuring Stark. Fury must have been ordering another couple crullers. You can see the full shot after the break, along with some shots of Liam Neeson/Zeus and his Silverhawks armor from the new Clash of the Titans. That's well and good, but check out Liam Neeson as Zeus in Clash of the Titans. Like I said, holy Silverhawks! (I know, there are other things Zeus's armor resembles, and to a lot of people it will cry Excalibur -- which Neeson was in, of course -- but Silverhawks came to mind and I'm running with it.) I'm »

- Russ Fischer

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Singer On 'Giant Killer' and Niccol Tackles Meyers' 'Host'

23 September 2009 1:35 AM, PDT | Rope of Silicon | See recent Rope Of Silicon news »

First off, The Hollywood Reporter brings word Bryan Singer will direct Jack the Giant Killer for New Line Cinema and Legendary Pictures. The film is described as a fantasy adventure written by Mark Bomback (Live Free or Die Hard), telling a story set in motion when a princess is kidnapped, threatening a long-standing peace between men and giants. A young farmer is given an opportunity to lead a dangerous expedition to the giants' kingdom in hopes of rescuing her. Darren Lemke penned the original draft of the script taking a more adult angle at the popular Jack and the Beanstalk tale. The film is most likely going to be Singer's next movie. The project has no start date but is being fast-tracked. Beyond this Singer is attached to Battlestar Galactica and a remake of John Boorman's 1981 Oscar-nominated King Arthur tale Excalibur. Secondly we have word Andrew Niccol (Lord of War »

- Brad Brevet

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Tiff '09 Review: 'Solomon Kane'

14 September 2009 9:02 AM, PDT | FEARnet | See recent FEARnet news »

Mounting any sort of "medieval" action epic must be a really daunting task. First off, it's a period piece (obviously), which means you have to buy a lot of swords, costumes, and horses. Then you face the problem that plagued flicks as varied as The 13th Warrior, In the Name of the King, Pathfinder, Outlander, etc, and that problem is this: Laughability. By that I mean it's really easy to look silly in this sub-genre if you're not firing on all cylinders. I do not offer this early set-up to imply that Michael J. Bassett's Solomon Kane is the second coming of John Boorman's Excalibur (clearly it is not), but merely to indicate that ... holy moley, this movie is a whole lot more "polished" than one has »

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The Week in Film: Woodstock, Wintour and remembering Dominick Dunne

28 August 2009 6:01 AM, PDT | AfterElton.com | See recent AfterElton.com news »

Starting this week, we're introducing a brand new weekly movie feature. Every Thursday, movie critic Alonso Duralde will guide you to what's new at the box office that a gay or bi guy (and our gay-friendly straight readers) might want to check out! Alonso will also have news about coming movies, trailers from coming attractions, pictures from the week's premieres and much more! 

And now on with the show, er, column!

Opening This Week:

Taking Woodstock

The obvious place to start is with Ang Lee’s Taking Woodstock, a comic look behind the scenes at the legendary rock concert. (Am I alone among Gen-Xers in having grown tired of glassy-eyed nostalgia for this event sometime around 1981?)

It’s Lee’s first comedy since The Wedding Banquet in 1993, and Taking Woodstock confirms that the man behind Brokeback Mountain and Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon doesn’t have the lightest touch when it comes to wit and whimsy. »

- ADuralde

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Warren Ellis's King Arthur project different to Singer's Excalibur

27 August 2009 1:33 PM, PDT | The Geek Files | See recent The Geek Files news »

The Arthurian legend is proving its timeless appeal in Hollywood at present, with several writers and filmmakers gathering at the Round Table.

In the most recent news, it was announced that X-Men and Superman Returns director Bryan Singer is to produce and direct a remake of John Boorman's 1981 classic Excalibur, for Warner Bros.

Writer Warren Ellis has pointed out that the Singer project is nothing to do with his own Arthurian screenplay for Hollywood Gang productions, despite that project also being known as Excalibur.

Ellis wrote on his website to explain the two were not in any way connected and that the Excalibur name was just a 'shorthand' for the planned film, not necessarily its theatrical title.

There are other King Arthur remakes in the pipeline too. John Woo is set to direct Calber, a retelling of the story set in the Wild West and based on a Radical »

- David Bentley

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From Bryan Singer To Warren Ellis—Comic Creators Take On King Arthur And 'Excalibur'

26 August 2009 10:28 AM, PDT | MTV Splash Page | See recent MTV Splash Page news »

Bryan Singer's plate is pretty darn full. Even if he doesn't return to the "Superman" franchise, he's currently attached to some other high-profile properties—potentially including the "X-Men: First Class" directing gig. Recently, he added yet another project to the pile with a re-imagining of John Boorman's classic King Arthur film "Excalibur."

But it isn't the mere fact that Singer is looking to produce and direct a King Arthur-era movie that's worth noting here. For some reason, there seems to be a surprising amount of comics-savvy creators flocking to the Arthurian legend in some way, shape or form.

Just last month, it was revealed that "Transmetropolitan" writer Warren Ellis is scripting a currently untitled King Arthur movie. Ellis noted on his blog that his project is different from Singer's, effectively dispelling any hopes that the one-time "X-Men" director and the "Astonishing X-Men" writer would be in cahoots on the same film. »

- Josh Wigler

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Singer Develops "Excalibur" Remake

24 August 2009 11:48 AM, PDT | www.ohmygore.com/ | See recent OhMyGore news »

Bryan Singer is developing a remake of the 1981 John Boorman-directed fantasy classic "Excalibur" for Warner Bros, Pictures says The Hollywood Reporter. The project, a retelling of the King Arthur legend, is in early stages with the remake rights only just tied up. Singer's involvement is still in the talking stage and it certainly won't be his next project which will likely be the action fantasy "Jack The Giant Killer" for New Line or the "Battlestar Galactica" film at Universal Pictures. Legendary Pictures may come aboard the project. Singer, Julie Yorn and Polly Johnsen will produce. »

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Singer and WB for 'Excalibur' Remake

24 August 2009 7:29 AM, PDT | IFTN | See recent IFTN news »

John Boorman's 1981 'Excalibur', a film that launched the careers of many actors including Liam Neeson, Gabriel Byrne, Ciaran Hinds, Helen Mirren and Patrick Stewart, is set for a remake by Warner Brothers and producer/director Bryan Singer (The Usual Suspects, Superman Returns). Industry reports say the film film, is likely to be produced by Irish resident Boorman as he shares the remake rights with WB. 'Excalibur' follows the epic story of King Arthur and the Knights of the Round Table. Whilst the project is still in the initial stages of development Legendary Pictures are linked to the project, if this deal materialises Alex Garcia, an executive at Legendary and Bryan Singer's former partner at Bad Hat, would oversee »

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Gerard Butler reportedly linked to Captain Britain role

23 August 2009 6:04 PM, PDT | The Geek Files | See recent The Geek Files news »

Gerard Butler is being lined up to play Marvel Comics' hero Captain Britain, it is being claimed.

The 39-year-old Scottish actor played King Leonidas in Spartan war movie 300 and is currently starring opposite Katherine Heigl in chick flick The Ugly Truth.

He is now said to be the frontrunner to play the British crusader, who wears a Union Jack costume.

Celebrity site ShowbizSpy quotes a Hollywood insider as saying: "This would be a different angle on the usual superhero movies and not just because it is set outside of the Us.

"It will be darker and grittier than movies like Spider-Man and Iron Man - kind of like Marvel's answer to The Dark Knight.

"There are few British actors who could take the title role but Gerard is the clear favourite. He's perfect for it."

Captain Britain - Marvel Comics' UK equivalent of Captain America - first appeared in 1976 and featured in several monthly collections, »

- David Bentley

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Bryan Singer May Remake Excalibur

22 August 2009 11:59 AM, PDT | Reelzchannel.com | See recent ReelzChannel news »

Writer-director-producer Bryan Singer has had many ups and downs in his career. After he received critical acclaim for directing The Usual Suspects, a taut crime thriller with a surprise ending, Singer became a fan favorite with X-Men and X2.

Lately, however, his films have not been very well received. Singer has been blamed for the demise of the Superman franchise thanks to his meddling with the character's mythology in Superman Returns and the poor box-office results it generated. His last film, Valkyrie, was poorly received, opening in fourth place and inciting protests in Germany for casting Tom Cruise in the title role.

Singer is looking to get back on track, but he seems mired in controversy. The recent announcement that he was going to produce and direct a big-screen version of Battlestar Gallactica, a property that he planned to relaunch before the Syfy Channel series, was met by the fan community with equal parts enthusiasm, »

- BrentJS Sprecher

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Bryan Singer to Remake ‘Excalibur’

21 August 2009 7:37 PM, PDT | newsinfilm.com | See recent newsinfilm news »

Bryan Singer is producing and possibly directing a remake of Excalibur for Warner Bros and Legendary Pictures.  The 1981 original made movie stars of Liam Neeson and Patrick Stewart, while a young Helen Mirren became a sex symbol.

Grrr.  Nooo.  Ahhh, remake.  There, now that’s out of the way.  Singer hasn’t picked a writer yet, so a movie is a ways out.

Excalibur tells the story of a young boy who pulls a magical sword from stone to become King Arthur, learns from the wizard Merlin, establishes Camelot and the Knights of the Round Table, battles with Lancelot over Guenevere, and searches for the Holy Grail.  There have been over 40 film adaptations of the classic Arthurian legend.

The once original filmmaker has declined in favor recently after a mixed response to Superman Returns and Valkyrie, plus Singer is producing an oddly-timed film based on the original “Battlestar Galactica” series. »

- Jeff Leins

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Singer To Revisit King Arthur's England For Excalibur Remake

21 August 2009 6:26 PM, PDT | WENN | See recent WENN news »

X-men and Valkyrie director Bryan Singer is set to revive the legend of King Arthur by remaking John Boorman's epic Excalibur.

The moviemaker has signed up to produce the medieval blockbuster for Warner Brothers and may direct the project, according to Daily Variety.

Boorman's 1981 Excalibur was adapted from Thomas Malory's bestseller and featured Helen Mirren, Liam Neeson, Gabriel Byrne and Patrick Stewart. Nigel Terry played King Arthur in the original. »

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What Happened To You, Bryan Singer?

21 August 2009 6:03 PM, PDT | Cinematical | See recent Cinematical news »

Bryan Singer, I'm worried about you. I mean no disrespect in saying that, nor do I mean to be just another snarky critic who wants to complain about Superman Returns. To the contrary, I think you're a talented filmmaker, you're ambitious, and it's resulted in a lot of solid work. Even if I didn't care for Returns, I admire the work that went into it, and I applauded your defense of it at my first ComicCon.

But all of a sudden, you're the remake guy! Of course, that's a really glib assessment of your pre-production slate, but in one week you've become attached to two remakes: a big-screen retelling of Battlestar Galatica, and a remake of John Boorman's Excalibur. Both are absolutely inexplicable and even ill-advised, especially in regards to the Battlestar remake / reimagining. I mean, it does take major cajones to attempt something like that on the heels »

- Elisabeth Rappe

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Warners Wields Excalibur

21 August 2009 2:02 PM, PDT | HollywoodNorthReport.com | See recent HollywoodNorthReport.com news »

Warner Bros. will remake director John Boorman's 1981 fantasy-adventure Excalibur with Bryan "Superman Returns" Singer attached to produce with Julie Yorn and Polly Johnsen. Excalibur is the name of the magic sword, drawn from a stone, that was wielded by England's legendary 'King Arthur', according to the 15th century works of author Thomas Malory. Boorman's film presented a polished version of the 'Knights of the Round Table', 'Merlin' the wizard, Arthur's father 'King Uther', his evil half-sister 'Morgana', the love between 'Lancelot' and 'Guinevere' and the quest for the Holy Grail. Matt Reilly will supervise the redo for Warners, Erik Olsen for Yorn and Alex Garcia for Legendary Prods. Sneak Peek the final battle scene from director John Boorman's 1981 feature Excalibur »

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X-Men helmer pulls the Excalibur sword

21 August 2009 1:21 PM, PDT | Corona's Coming Attractions | See recent Corona's Coming Attractions news »

X-Men and Superman Returns director Bryan Singer will direct a remake of the 1981 fantasy movie Excalibur for Warner Bros.

The project is in development with Legendary Pictures, the same production house that produced Superman Returns with the director. According to Variety, Legendary and WB have been working for months to secure the rights to the original movie which are partially owned by the director, John Boorman. Boorman's film was based on the story written in the 15th century by Thomas Malory.

The '81 movie retold the legend of King Arthur and how he came to be ruler of Camelot and war with his half-sister Morgana. It starred a plethora of British stars just starting out in their film careers such as Helen Mirren, Gabriel Byrne, Liam Neeson, Patrick Stewart and Nicol Williamson as Merlin.

However, don't expect Singer to make the new Excalibur as his next film as the project doesn't have a screenplay yet. »

- Patrick Sauriol

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2009 | 2008

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