If you look at all the films that have recently been announced, how many of them are you anticipating? How many of them do you want to see get made right away? How many of them do you wish the studio would wait on so they can be made better and with a writer on hand should things need to be rewritten?
Yeah, if you are anything like me that last question really sticks with yah. Variety has posted a rather lengthy article taking a look at the status of several films from the majority of the studios giving an update on where they stand and what we should expect. We are talking about films like Angels and Demons, Transformers 2, Tony Gilroy’s Duplicity, G.I. Joe, Nottingham, X-Files 2, Justice League and Wolverine. All of these films are expected to go into production inside the next six months, but should this strike continue perhaps you will only see half of them when you were expecting too.
First things first, the films that are expected to start on schedule include Angels and Demons with Ron Howard and Tom Hanks back for the sequel to The Da Vinci Code, Duplicity with Julia Roberts and Clive Owen, Wolverine and G.I. Joe. While Tony Gilroy says he could shoot his script word-for-word, he does say that “it’s not ideal any way you look at it. This is all an experiment. I’m happy I don’t start shooting till March.” However, later start dates may not matter in some cases.
Transformers 2 is currently moving forward as the project is far enough along to go into pre-production, location scouting and advance VFX work, but will face serious issues if the strike continues for several months. TF2 is not set to start filming until June, but I am guessing if the strike lasts too long it could be in serious jeopardy.
Angels and Demons has a script, a director and a star, but nothing else. Akiva Goldsman rushed the script to meet the November 1st deadline, but nothing is known of its status. Word out of Columbia is that the Tony Scott and Denzel Washington remake The Taking of Pelham 123 is also having script issues.
As for G.I. Joe, Stuart Beattie, John Lee Hancock, Brian Koppleman and David Levien teamed up to finish the script, which producer Lorenzo di Bonaventura says is a shootable script. However, while Paramount insists it is going to meet its February start date I have to wonder if a studio would actually move forward on a $100-million film with only a “shootable script” since no one will be around to polish it up during the shoot.
Wolverine and X-Files 2 are expected to move along without a hitch as well as Fox’s The Day the Earth Stood Still with Keanu Reeves, Jennifer Connelly and Kathy Bates remaking the 1951 sci-fi classic.
Finally, the superhero ensemble that even the fanboy sites have stopped talking about, Justice League, remains uncast and is a crucial potential franchise boasting popular DC Comics characters. Apparently if the strike goes beyond February the studio will have to re-evaluate the film.
The Variety article mentions several other films, read the complete article here.
