Arabian Nights

FilmDistrict Acquires LOOPER, ARABIAN NIGHTS, PLAYING THE FIELD; Sets Angelina Jolie’s IN THE LAND OF BLOOD AND HONEY for December 23

by Brendan Bettinger    Posted: May 15th, 2011 at 9:14 am

No studio has kept busier over the past few days then FilmDistrict.  On Thursday, FilmDistrict announced the acquisition of U.S. distribution rights to Arabian Nights, the 3D period action adventure led by Liam Hemsworth, and Playing the Field, the little league soccer comedy starring Gerard Butler and Jessica Biel.

Today the studio announced two more pickups: the time travel thriller Looper and Angelina Jolie’s directorial debut In the Land of Blood and Honey.  Looper is the latest from writer/director Rian Johnson (The Brother’s Bloom), and we’ve geeked out about the production pretty extensively here at Collider — good to know it has distribution secured with Tri Star.  Joseph Gordon-Levitt, Bruce Willis, and Emily Blunt star.

Today FilmDistrict also gave Jolie’s Bosnian Civil War drama a title and a release date: In the Land of Blood and Honey is scheduled for an Oscar-friendly December 23 release.  More on all four movies after the break:

Dwayne Johnson up for the Role of Sinbad in ARABIAN NIGHTS

by Brendan Bettinger    Posted: September 29th, 2010 at 11:05 pm

When it was first announced that Chuck Russell (The Scorpion King) will direct a 3D period epic with Liam Hemsworth (The Last Song) at the center, it all sounded a bit silly.  But then Anthony Hopkins signed on and… well, it still sounded silly, but mostly because his character is described as “an evil sorcerer who killed Sinbad’s love, a mermaid, and is looking to amass more magic for himself.”  Production Weekly reports that Dwayne Johnson has been “mentioned” for the role of Sinbad in the film.  The news doesn’t pull Arabian Nights too far away from “silly,” but it gives the film a weighty push toward “fun.”

Should he sign on, Nights would reunite the former wrestler with the director who gave him his big break on The Scorpion King: I hope the film amounts more than Johnson returning a favor, but I’m skeptical at this point.  Johnson will next be seen in Faster starting November 24th (check out Steve’s set report here), followed by the Fast and Furious sequel Fast Five on June 10, 2011.

Anthony Hopkins to Play Mermaid-Killing Sorcerer in ARABIAN NIGHTS

by Matt Goldberg    Posted: May 9th, 2010 at 9:58 pm

It looks like Anthony Hopkins is going to keep running with crazy roles.  After mauling all the scenery in The Wolfman, he’s playing Odin in Marvel’s Thor, will star as a rebel exorcist in The Rite, and now Heat Vision reports that the actor is in final negotiations to play the villain in Chuck Russell’s action-adventure Arabian Nights.  The film stars Liam Hemsworth as young commander, “who, after his king is murdered in a coup, joins forces with Sinbad, Ali Baba and the Genie from the magic lamp to rescue the queen, Scheherazade.”

Then Heat Vision sells me on this movie completely with this sentence: “Hopkins will play Pharotu, an evil sorcerer who killed Sinbad’s love, a mermaid, and is looking to amass more magic for himself.”  That should be the tagline.

Liam Hemsworth Set for Breakout Role in Chuck Russell’s ARABIAN NIGHTS

by Bill Graham    Posted: March 9th, 2010 at 10:49 am

Liam Hemsworth (The Last Song) is set to star in the classic tale of Arabian Nights by Chuck Russell, who claims directing credits on The Mask and 2002′s The Scorpion King. That means this is fairly familiar territory for Russell, but will be the first real break for the 20-year-old sibling of Chris Hemsworth (Thor). Set to shoot at the end of the summer, Arabian Nights is written by Russell and Barry P. Ambrose, with the following plotline:

“The period epic centers on a young commander (Hemsworth) who, after his king is murdered in a coup, joins forces with Sinbad, Ali Baba and the Genie from the magic lamp to rescue the queen, Scheherazade.”

Unsurprisingly, the movie is slated to be in 3D and is being funded by Inferno Entertainment, who recently premiered The Kids Are All Right at Sundance. Stay tuned for most casting details as we get them. [Heat Vision Blog]

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