Movies

Looks like ESPN is really giving it a go with this whole ESPN Films thing.  The latest news is the hiring of Robert DeNiro to play Vince Lombardi in the creatively titled Lombardi.

The film will focus on the years that Lombardi rebuilt the Packers into a gridiron powerhouse, and five-time champions, between 1959-67. The producers plan to release the film in late January 2012, between the AFC and NFC conference championship games and the Super Bowl.

De Niro and Jane Rosenthal’s Tribeca Prods. is producing along with ESPN Films, Andell, the NFL and Chris Olsen.

“There are few actors who could accurately portray the fire, passion and grit of Lombardi, and we’re thrilled to have Robert De Niro on our team,” said NFL vp programming Charles Coplin. “With the addition of De Niro, Eric and Tribeca Prods., we have a deep bench to produce a film worthy of the legendary coach and American icon.”   [via risky business]

The script is being written by Eric Roth who has already dabbled in the biographical sports movie section with the Oscar nominated Ali.  Definitely a bit skeptical of this as DeNiro hasn't done good work in years and the ESPN Films banner is still relatively unproven when trying to play with the big boys.  Should be interesting to see who they get to direct the project with Roth and DeNiro officially on board, we'll keep you updated.

In other DeNiro reliving the past news comes the following tidbit from Deadline, apparently they are going to make a sequel to the awesome Midnight Run.  Unfortunately the sequel will be without the unbelievably curmudgeonly fantastic Charles Grodin who retired from acting years ago to be a professional brodcast journalist.  I guess that's the kind of thing you have to deal with when you try and make a sequel more than 20 years later.  No word yet on the plot but Role Models writer Tim Dowling has been hired to pen the script.

So they are going to remake Police Academy.   You should be used to this sort of crap by now, but at least find solace in the fact that there is no writer or director on the project, just the producer of the originals Paul Maslansky.  No word yet on how desperate Maslansky is for money.

New Line is looking for recruits for a relaunched "Police Academy" movie. Original producer Paul Maslansky is back for the new iteration, which has no writer or director attached.

"It's going to be very worthwhile to the people who remember it and to those who saw it on TV," Maslansky said. "It's going to be a new class. We hope to discover new talent and season it with great comedians. It'll be anything but another movie with a numeral next to it. And we'll most probably retain the wonderful musical theme."

Hollywood sure has a fancy way of saying remake now.  Hard to be too hopeful at this point, but we'll keep you updated.  My guess is on Kevin James getting involved.  *fart sound*  [via thr]

Mike Fleming over at Deadline Hollywood is reporting something that flirts with awesome but lives across the tracks.  The fact that they are making Smurfs: The Movie holds down the non-awesome segment while the recent hiring of a Mr Neil Patrick Harris as the lead live action character gets the awesome nod.  As it seems to be the case with most horrible movie adaptations of old cartoons, all the Smurfs will be of the CGI variety. 

Normally I'd try and find a way to get excited about this and I already have my angle.  The report by Fleming has very little details, so let's hope and pray that Harris has been hired to be a live action normal sized human Gargamel that hates smurfs.  I'm pretty sure he is an admitted magician anyway, which isn't really all that different than a wizard when you get down to it.  That's what she said. 

And then you find out Raja Gosnell is directing and check out his IMDB page and question the sanity of Hollywood.  His resume as a director is anything but flattering.

• The Smurfs (2011) (filming)
• Beverly Hills Chihuahua (2008)
• Yours, Mine and Ours (2005)
• Scooby Doo 2: Monsters Unleashed (2004)
• Scooby-Doo (2002)
• Big Momma's House (2000)
• Never Been Kissed (1999)
• Home Alone 3 (1997)

Um wow.  That is a lot of stink coming from one direction.  Stinson for Gargamel please, I don't know if I can handle it otherwise.  Seriously, check out this resume.

Looks like James McAvoy won't be with cancer after all.  shooting began on the film last month, but unfortunately the actor was forced to leave the project for personal reasons and has since been replaced by Joseph Gordon-Levitt.  Not a bad replacement with so little notice as shooting is set to resume on March 8th.  Seth Rogen had this to say about the switch.

It’s incredibly unfortunate that circumstances outside of everyone’s control have taken James away from the project, but, with James’s blessing, we were able to have Joseph step in to take on the role of Adam. We all look forward to working with James in the future. [via mtv]

Joining Rogen and Gordon-Levitt for the project are Up In The Air's Anna Kendrick and Ron Howard's daughter and specifically The Lady In The Water Bryce Dallas Howard.  The story for the film is that of Rogen's friend, screenwriter Will Reiser, and his diagnosis and subsequent battle with cancer.   [via /film]