More Marvel Films From Fox Studios?
First is a Young X-Men project of a type that will be familiar to fans of the 2000-2003 animated series X-Men: Evolution, wherein all the main characters were teenagers. Is this a good idea? Well, possibly not: either they stick with the continuity of the other films and don’t include the likes of Wolverine (in which case what’s the point?) or they confuse everyone and have younger versions of all the same characters, or they go with a spin-off team like the New Mutants, who never really fired the public’s imagination. Unless it’s like an X-Men Muppet Babies, in which case bring it on!
Secondly there’s the possibility of a spin-off of a spin-off, with Deadpool being mooted. For those of you not au fait with your Marvel masked assassins, Deadpool’s a wise-cracking mercenary with similar powers to Wolverine but better one-liners. Ryan Reynolds (a good fit for the role) is set to play him in X-Men Origins: Wolverine, so would hopefully take the role again in any spin-off. From the spin-off. They could call it X-Men Origins: X-Men Mates: Deadpool.
And third and most radically, there’s the possibility of a Daredevil reboot. As one of the few publications that didn’t hate the first one, that doesn’t seem immediately necessary (and a reboot didn’t work for The Incredible Hulk).
- from Empire
Zak Penn to pen ‘Argonauts’ film for Fox
Hollywood’s latest love affair with the toga, which heated up after DreamWorks-Universal’s “Gladiator” nabbed $458 million worldwide at the B.O. and a best picture Oscar, is starting to rival the output of the 1950s when such pics as “The Robe,” “Quo Vadis” and “Ben-Hur” hit the bigscreen.
Now, Zak Penn is taking a stab at Greek life. The scribe, who is best known for adapting such comicbook properties as “The Incredible Hulk” and “The X-Men” for the bigscreen, is writing and will produce “The Argonauts” for 20th Century Fox.
In the wake of the success of “300,” sword-and-sandals pics have become a hot commodity.
Warner Bros. is moving forward with a “Clash of the Titans” remake, with Louis Leterrier at the helm, as well as a “300″ sequel.
- from Variety
Gary Fleder says ‘Good-by’
Gary Fleder soon could be saying hello to “The Deep Blue Good-by.”
The director of “Runaway Jury” and “Kiss the Girls” is in talks to direct the Fox project, based on the first title in crime novelist John MacDonald’s prolific Travis McGee series.
The 21 McGee novels, most of which were written in the 1960s and ’70s and all of which feature a color in their title, could be turned into a franchise by Fox. They feature McGee, a free-living bachelor and reluctant hero who lives on a houseboat in Florida and works as a “salvage consultant,” recovering property and money for clients and taking half the fee in return.
“Good-by” centers on McGee’s efforts to track down a treasure that a solider escaped with and hid after World War II.
- from THR
Can Fox stay on top?
Ask production folks around Hollywood which studio is the most well-oiled machine, and you hear a unanimous answer: Fox.
Ask agents, managers and lawyers which studio is the most difficult to deal with and you also hear one answer: Fox.
The Twentieth Century Fox studio has been the market-share leader this year with successful, ultra-commercial fare — “Alvin and the Chipmunks” and “Horton Hears a Who.” But while it has major tentpoles set for next year, its summer slate seems a bit chancy. And insiders are wondering whether, in a business that’s proven cyclical by nature, Fox’s remarkable consistency can be upheld.
Fox Filmed Entertainment has been on a winning streak since Jim Gianopulos and Tom Rothman were named co-chairmen eight years ago, posting an average operating profit margin of 17.2%. That figure, which was reported by Bernstein Research, might be common for health insurance companies, but it’s a feat for a studio. Even competitors praise Fox’s shrewd choice of product as well as its marketing prowess.
Yet it also creates a burden of high expectations. That’s why many took notice when News Corp. announced results recently showing that the film division’s operating net dropped 36% in the most recent quarter to $261 million, from $410 million a year earlier. “Juno” and “Alvin” reaped plenty of coin, but while the studio absorbed marketing costs for “Jumper” and “Horton Hears a Who,” their revenue will be booked in future quarters.
- From Variety