Dan Lin

Steven Spielberg in Talks to Direct Biblical Epic GODS AND KINGS

by Matt Goldberg    Posted: November 15th, 2011 at 11:10 am

In September, we learned that Warner Bros. and producers Dan Lin and Matti Leshem were aiming to get Steven Spielberg to direct the biblical epic about the life of Moses, Gods and Kings.  According to Twitch, this lofty aspiration has surprisingly led to formal talks with the legendary director.  I can understand the appeal for Spielberg who likes going big with his movies, and Gods and Kings would present him with the challenge of measuring up to Cecil B. Demille’s 220-minute Moses epic, The Ten Commandments.  While most studios today would never allow an almost four-hour movie into theaters, I’d be interested to see if Spielberg could get away with it (assuming he wanted to make a four-hour movie).

Michael Green and Stuart Hazeldine‘s script covers “the life of Moses from birth to death.”  Hit the jump for a great recap of the major episodes in Moses’ life.  Spielberg’s next two films, The Adventures of Tintin and War Horse, are due out next month, and he’s prepping to go into production on his Abraham Lincoln biopic, Lincoln, starring Daniel Day-Lewis.

Shane Black to Direct Adaptation of Japanese Manga DEATH NOTE

by Matt Goldberg    Posted: January 13th, 2011 at 10:02 am

Shane Black (Kiss Kiss, Bang Bang) has signed on to helm an adaptation of the Japanese manga Death Note for Warner Bros.  Deadline reports that Black, who was once one of Hollywood’s highest-paid screenwriters (and rightly so), will oversee a script written by Anthony Bagarozzi and Charles Mondry.  Bagarozzi and Mondry are also writing the script for Black’s adaptation of Doc Savage for Sony.  Black says he’s uncertain about which project he’ll do next.

Hit the jump for what he had to say about Death Note along with a brief synopsis of the project.

Warner Bros. Buys Spec Script for THE RABBIT with Chris Tucker Attached to Star

by Dave Trumbore    Posted: December 6th, 2010 at 3:15 pm

Looking for his first major role since the Rush Hour Trilogy, Chris Tucker is slated to star in The Rabbit, a spec script recently picked up by Warner Bros. The project, written by Micah Barnett, is being produced by Dan Lin (Sherlock Holmes). According to Deadline, The Rabbit will have a similar plot line to the 1988 Midnight Run, a buddy comedy in which Robert DeNiro plays a no-nonsense bounty hunter sent to bring in Charles Grodin, a mafia accountant with an annoying personality. Three guesses as to which character Tucker would play.

Hit the jump for a quick look at Tucker’s movie history and just how versatile his roles have been.

Exclusive Interview: Writer/Director Phil Lord Talks LEGO Movie, 21 JUMP STREET, CLOUDY Sequel

by Steve 'Frosty' Weintraub    Posted: July 6th, 2010 at 10:20 pm

Last week we reported the guys who directed the wonderful Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs (Phil Lord and Chris Miller) were attached to write and direct the Lego movie at Warner Bros.  Since the original report had very little information about how they planned on bringing Lego to life, I used some connections to get Phil Lord on the phone for an exclusive interview.  Since he’s also hard at work developing the 21 Jump Street movie at Sony, he also gave me an update on that project and what’s the status of the Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs sequel.  Here’s some highlights:

21 Jump Street

• Plan is to shoot at the beginning of the year
• Script is being written by Michael Bacall with Neal Moritz producing
• Confirms it’s a big live-action R-rated movie
• Talked about going to the Santa Monica High School Promo recently to do research for the film
• Says it’s 2D and the movie “winds up becoming this really sweet coming of age story except the guys that are coming of age are in their early 20’s instead of 17 and 18.”
• They’re still casting who will play the other cop alongside Jonah Hill
• They’re watching a ton of action movies right now in preparation for the movie
• Not sure who is shooting the movie (Director of Photography)
• They don’t know who is doing the music yet

Cloudy Sequel

• They’re working on a treatment with a writer who Lord says is, “way smarter and funnier than us.”

Hit the jump for all the Lego info and the full interview:

SHERLOCK HOLMES 2 on December 16, 2011; Rachel McAdams to Return

by Matt Goldberg    Posted: May 27th, 2010 at 1:34 pm

Warner Bros. has set December 16, 2011 as the release date for Sherlock Holmes 2.  Heat Vision reports that Warner Bros. chairman and CEO Barry Meyer spoke to investors today provided the film’s release date along with other movies on their 2011 slate (although most of these dates had already been revealed).  Sci-Fi Wire also spoke with producer Joel Silver who said that Rachel McAdams would be “present” as Irene Adler, but wouldn’t be the leading lady in the sequel.  Silver once again confirmed that Moriarty would be the antagonist this time around.  Shooting is set to begin this fall.

Producer Dan Lin told Steve last year that the rumors of Brad Pitt cameoing in the first movie as Moriarty was just Internet chatter and that he was not in that movie.  We recently spoke with screenwriters  Michele Mulroney and Kieran Mulroney talked about whether or not Pitt would be in the sequel.

Legendary Pictures Nabs GODZILLA Rights; Sets Sights for a Destructive 2012

by Bill Graham    Posted: March 29th, 2010 at 12:08 pm

Godzilla, the fire-breathing behemoth that loves to terrorize Japan and fight giant moths, will make a return to U.S. cinemas soon. Last August, we reported that Legendary Pictures was eyeing the monster franchise and today we received a press release stating that Legendary has finally struck a deal with Toho for the rights to create a new film with Warner Bros. co-financing and co-producing the picture, with a planned 2012 release. Those familiar with the franchise might recall that the last major reboot of Godzilla was directed by Roland Emmerich in 1998, and many can only pray that the gamma radiation emitted from Godzilla’s body doesn’t drive Legendary Pictures crazy enough to give him the film again. Surely, if this happens, Emmerich’s global doomsday scenario in 2012 might just occur…or maybe small riots of Godzilla fans.

For the full press release, including a few choice quotes from those involved, hit the jump.

SHERLOCK HOMES DVD and Blu-ray Info and Cover Art

by Steve 'Frosty' Weintraub    Posted: January 29th, 2010 at 12:57 pm

Warner Home Video has just announced director Guy Ritchie’s Sherlock Holmes will be hitting DVD and Blu-ray on March 30.  While James Cameron’s Avatar has dominated the box office and news the past two months, Sherlock Holmes has quietly made almost $400 million at the worldwide box office and it’s still making money.  For a movie that cost around $100 million to make, Holmes is one of the big success stories of 2009.  That’s probably why the studio is moving forward with a sequel as I type these words.

Hit the jump to check out the cover art and the info we were provided about the DVD and Blu-ray:

Exclusive Interview: Producer Dan Lin on SHERLOCK HOLMES; Plus he Addresses the Brad Pitt Rumors

by Steve 'Frosty' Weintraub    Posted: December 23rd, 2009 at 10:12 pm

With Guy Ritchie’s Sherlock Holmes about to get released, it’s time for the final segment of “7 Days with Producer Dan Lin”.  Over the past week we’ve covered all the various projects Lin is developing like the Lego movie and Gangster Squad, his thoughts on the Terminator Salvation ending and what’s up with future movies, what’s up with Bone and Tom and Jerry,  and yesterday was  about the Justice League movie, Suicide Squad, and Stephen King’s It.  But for tonight’s article, we finally get to the reason I got to speak with him in the first place: Sherlock Holmes.

As I have said many times, I loved the film.  It’s got a great script. Fantastic performances from everyone involved.  Amazing chemistry between Jude Law and Downey Jr.. A third act that doesn’t suck.  Action scenes that sell why Sherlock Holmes is Sherlock Holmes.  If you can’t tell…I’m really recommending the film.

Anyway, in tonight’s article, Lin talks about how he went from being a development executive to a producer.  He also talked about what the differences are between being a producer/executive producer and a development exec.  If you’re curious how Hollywood works, it’s great stuff.

And when we got to talking about Sherlock Holmes, he talks about how the project came together, are they planning sequels, what was it like for him when he found out Robert Downey Jr. wanted to play Holmes, and we also talked about whether or not a certain big movie star (Brad Pitt) makes a surprise appearance.  Much more after the jump:

Producer Dan Lin on the JUSTICE LEAGUE Movie, SUICIDE SQUAD, and Stephen King’s IT

by Steve 'Frosty' Weintraub    Posted: December 22nd, 2009 at 11:08 pm

Over the past few days I’ve been posting “7 Days with Producer Dan Lin”.  As I explained in the previous articles, I spoke at length with the Sherlock Holmes producer about not only his latest film, but everything he has in development.  Since the conversation ran so long, I’ve decided to break up the interview into many smaller parts.  I’ve already posted what he said about the Lego movie and Gangster Squad, as well as his thoughts on the Terminator Salvation ending and what’s up with future movies, and yesterday was about the Bone and Tom and Jerry movies.  For today’s article, I’ve got him talking about the Justice League movie, Suicide Squad, Hiding in Time, The Chaser and Stephen King’s It.

Want to know more…hit the jump:

Exclusive: Producer Dan Lin on the Live Action/Animation TOM AND JERRY Movie and BONE by Jeff Smith

by Steve 'Frosty' Weintraub    Posted: December 21st, 2009 at 10:14 pm

Over the past few days I’ve been posting “7 Days with Producer Dan Lin”.  As I explained in the previous articles, I spoke at length with the Sherlock Holmes producer about not only his latest film, but everything he has in development.  Since the conversation ran so long, I’ve decided to break up the interview into many smaller parts.  I’ve already posted what he said about the Lego movie and Gangster Squad, as well as his thoughts on the Terminator Salvation ending and what’s up with future movies.  For today’s article, I’ve got him talking about the Tom and Jerry movie and the animated Bone movie – which is based on the comic by Jeff Smith.

Regarding Tom and Jerry, Lin says it’s going to be live action/animation hybrid and he compared it what was done on Alvin and the Chipmunks and Scooby-Doo.  He also said it would be a “different tone, obviously” with “CGI creations of the cat and the mouse.”

On Bone, Lin said Justin Monjo is writing the script and they already did a test with Animalogic (who did Happy Feet and Guardians of Ga’Hoole). He went on to say “it really looks like a mix of Shrek as far as the three Bone characters and their comedy, their Looney Tunes or Marx Brothers comedy set in a Lord of the Rings world. We’ve met with several directors and we hope to come to a director decision by January and Jeff Smith has been very intricately involved in the development process with us.”

Much more after the jump:

Producer Dan Lin on the Future of the TERMINATOR Franchise and the Ending of TERMINATOR SALVATION

by Steve 'Frosty' Weintraub    Posted: December 17th, 2009 at 9:05 pm

Last night I posted the first of my “7 Days with Producer Dan Lin”.  As I explained yesterday, I spoke at length with the Sherlock Holmes producer about not only his latest film, but everything he has in development.  Since the conversation ran so long, I’ve decided to break up the interview into many smaller parts.  Yesterday we covered the Lego movie and Gangster Squad, and today it’s about the Terminator franchise.

As one of the executive producers of Terminator Salvation, I decided to ask Lin what he thought about the ending they released versus the one that got shelved due to it leaking on the internet.  I also asked him what’s the status of future Terminator movies and was Salvation a profitable experience for all parties.

Hit the jump for what he had to say:

Exclusive: Producer Dan Lin on the LEGO MOVIE and GANGSTER SQUAD

by Steve 'Frosty' Weintraub    Posted: December 16th, 2009 at 11:51 pm

I think the following week should be called “7 Days with Producer Dan Lin”.  That’s because when I was in London a few days ago, I spoke at length with the Sherlock Holmes producer about not only his latest film, but everything he has in development.  Trust me, if you’re interested in anything on Dan Lin’s IMDb page, over the next few days I’ll be able to provide an update.  But since it was such a wide ranging interview, I’ve decided to post it over the next week as separate articles almost every night.  At least that’s the plan.

So to kick off “7 Days with Producer Dan Lin,” let’s start with the Lego movie and Gangster Squad.  The big info is he thinks both of these projects are moving forward very quickly in the development cycle.

Regarding Lego, Lin says they’re “talking to several directors right now.”  He also says the film should be rated PG, he hopes to be making it in 2010, and he describes how the Denmark company is involved in the film, plus a few more details on the movie.

On Gangster Squad, Lin says they are getting a draft of the script the first week of January and it’s based on the series of L.A. Times articles by Paul Lieberman.  According to Lin, “It’s something based off of a real-life story. Will Bell, an ex-LAPD cop, is writing it. And it’s about when the gangsters had taken over the east coast. They’d taken over New York. They’d taken over Chicago. Bugsy Siegel was a big gangster at the time and they sent out Mickey Cohen to take over L.A. And Gangster Squad is about a group of rag-tag cops that were put together to take down the mob and take down Mickey Cohen. And their motto was ‘justice or just us’.”  Much more after the jump:

37 High Resolution Images from SHERLOCK HOLMES. Plus Steve Says the Film is Great

by Steve 'Frosty' Weintraub    Posted: December 11th, 2009 at 9:38 am

While Warner Bros. released the final batch of images from Guy Ritchie’s Sherlock Holmes yesterday, due to being in London covering the Avatar premiere last night, I’m a bit late posting them.  But while I may be a bit behind, I have another reason for posting the images today…I wanted to say what I thought about Sherlock Holmes as I saw the film and loved it.  While I was nervous about Robert Downey Jr.’s accent, I couldn’t have been more wrong.  Not only does he sound the part, he’s absolutely kick started the Holmes franchise and I would be shocked if they aren’t making a sequel as soon as possible.

Also, even though I love to nitpick movies, this is one of the rare films that I walked out completely satisfied.  Great script. Fantastic performances from everyone involved.  Amazing chemistry between Jude Law and Downey Jr.. A third act that doesn’t suck.  Action scenes that sell why Sherlock Holmes is Sherlock Holmes.  But more than anything, the film is just a lot of fun.  Trust me, this movie is going to be huge and people are going to love it.

But enough of my ramblings, check out all the new high resolution images from Sherlock Holmes after the jump.

New SHERLOCK HOLMES Trailer

by Steve 'Frosty' Weintraub    Posted: November 4th, 2009 at 11:03 am

A new trailer for Guy Ritchie’s “Sherlock Holmes” has been released and it looks fantastic.  If you weren’t excited after watching the first trailer all those months ago, this trailer is going to get you.  It’s loaded with new footage and it really showcases the action.  Also, we get to see some great bromance between Robert Downey Jr. and Jude Law.

The only thing I’m still nervous about is Downey’s accent.  While it’s not terrible, there is something about it that isn’t working for me. I’m just hoping when I finally see the movie his accent isn’t a distraction.  Check out the trailer after the jump and tell me this doesn’t look like a fun ride.  “Sherlock Holmes” gets released Christmas Day.

Next TOMB RAIDER Movie Will Be a Prequel

by Matt Goldberg    Posted: May 26th, 2009 at 1:11 pm

Ever wonder how Lara Croft got in the tomb raiding business?  Of course not.  She’s clearly just a spoiled rich girl who steals artifacts and keeps them for herself rather than donating them to museums.  Also, she’s a bit of a psychopath because what archeologist brings guns to excavations?  Oh, that’s right: she has to kill bears and T-Rexes.  She discovers a dinosaur that’s been extinct for millions of years and her instinct is to murder it while doing backflips.

But why tomb raiding instead of an eating disorder like most spoiled rich girls?  Was she driven mad by constant field trips to the museums?  Was she pummeled by artifacts as a child?  Whatever the reason, producer Dan Lin wants us to know!  He also wants a younger Lara Croft instead of a real, adult woman but I’m sure that has nothing to do with it.  But hopefully, if we get that younger Lara, we can get a scene of her getting breast implants which make her unreasonably top-heavy.

Click here to watch About.com’s interview with Lin.

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