McG

Lea Michele in Talks for SPRING AWAKENING; Scott Eastwood to Join Clint Eastwood in TROUBLE WITH THE CURVE

by Adam Chitwood    Posted: February 9th, 2012 at 1:16 pm

We’ve got a couple of casting stories to share with you today. First up, Glee star Lea Michele may finally get her wish of reprising a Broadway role in the feature film adaptation. Michele was previously up for the role of Eponine in Tom Hooper’s movie musical Les Miserables (she starred as Young Cosette on Broadway and as Eponine at the Hollywood Bowl), but stage star Samantha Barks ultimately won the part. Now the actress is apparently in talks for the movie version of Spring Awakening. Michele originated the female lead in the smash hit Broadway musical, and director McG recently told E! Online that he’s in talks with the actress to reprise the role for his feature adaptation.

The This Means War director stressed that they have to see if Michele’s Glee schedule interferes with his shooting schedule, but he’s hopefuly things will work out. Steve sat down with McG recently and the director gave updates on all of his upcoming projects, including Spring Awakening. He said that he’s planning on putting a Baz Luhrmann-esque spin on the movie. No word on how soon filming will begin, but I sincerely hope Jonathan Groff reprises his Broadway lead in the film as well. Hit the jump for casting news regarding Clint Eastwood’s baseball drama Trouble with the Curve.

McG Gives Updates on SPRING AWAKENING, TINK, PUZZLE PALACE and More; Says He’ll Take a Baz Luhrmann Approach on SA

by Adam Chitwood    Posted: February 6th, 2012 at 1:36 pm

Director McG has had quite the versatile career. He began by working in music videos before making his big screen debut with 2000’s Charlie’s Angels. The pic was a big success, and led McG down a career path that’s included dramas (We Are Marshall), television (pilots for Chuck and Fastlane), and a stab at the Terminator franchise with Terminator: Salvation. McG is now trying his hand at the romantic comedy genre with an action bent in this month’s This Means War starring Reese Witherspoon, Chris Pine, and Tom Hardy. Steve recently got the chance to speak with the director about the film, but McG also gave updates on pretty much every single upcoming project listed on his IMDb page.

The director talked about his adaptation of the Broadway musical Spring Awakening (his passion project), Dead Spy Running with Stephen Gaghan, the Tinkerbell update Tink, his Die Hard-esque project Puzzle Palace, The Girl Who Conned the Ivy League starring Amanda Seyfried, and more. He also informed Steve that his feature version of Ouija doesn’t seem likely to happen anytime soon.. Hit the jump to see what he had to say about his upcoming slate.

6 Clips from THIS MEANS WAR Starring Chris Pine, Tom Hardy and Reese Witherspoon

by Adam Chitwood    Posted: February 4th, 2012 at 8:30 am

We’ve been provided with six clips from the upcoming action-comedy This Means War to share with our readers. Directed by McG, the film stars Chris Pine and Tom Hardy as two CIA operatives who realize they’re dating the same girl (Reese Witherspoon). Rather than giving up and allowing one of the two to continue seeing Witherspoon, Hardy and Pine put their CIA gadgetry and know-how to work in order to derail each another’s relationship with the girl.

Hit the jump to check out the clips and look for interviews with the cast and McG soon. This Means War opens February 14th.

TV Pilot News: NBC Greenlights Ryan Murphy Comedy THE NEW NORMAL Starring BOOK OF MORMON’s Andrew Rannells; McG to Direct and Produce GUILTY

by Adam Chitwood    Posted: January 27th, 2012 at 12:46 pm

Ladies and gentlemen, welcome to pilot season. Networks are busy greenlighting pilots left and right in order to boost their Fall 2012 schedules, and we’ve got news concerning two of the more high profile shows being developed. First up, Deadline reports that NBC has given a pilot order for The New Normal. The half-hour comedy was created by Ryan Murphy and Ali Adler and revolves around a blended family of a gay couple and a woman who becomes their surrogate. Book of Mormon breakout Andrew Rannells is set for one of the three leads in the single-camera half-hour comedy, while the other two roles have yet to be cast. Hit the jump for much more, including news concerning a pilot for McG.

Fox Moves THIS MEANS WAR Starring Chris Pine and Tom Hardy Up to Valentine’s Day

by Adam Chitwood    Posted: January 18th, 2012 at 4:02 pm

If action-packed love triangles are your thing, Fox may have just switched up your Valentine’s Day plans. The studio announced today that they’re moving up the release of McG’s action-comedy This Means War. The film stars Chris Pine and Tom Hardy as two CIA operatives who find out they’re dating the same woman (Reese Witherspoon). They then proceed to utilize their super secret CIA skills (explosions and dart guns) to battle for Witherspoon’s affection. The trailer looked pretty ridiculous, but I’m still holding out hope that the full film delivers. The cast is enticing and the premise could be a lot of fun if executed right, so we’ll see if McG has a winner. The film’s biggest Valentine’s Day competition is The Vow starring Channing Tatum and Rachel McAdams, which opens on February 10th. I’m gonna go out on a limb here and bet that most guys will be partial to the one with explosions.

Writers Set for McG-produced Con Artist Story THE GIRL WHO CONNED THE IVY LEAGUE Starring Amanda Seyfried

by Adam Chitwood    Posted: November 9th, 2011 at 12:18 pm

Writers have been set to pen an adaptation of the Rolling Stone article The Girl Who Conned the Ivy League. Variety reports that Chris Shafer and Paul Vicknair will write the screenplay for producer McG. The 2009 article by Sabrina Rubin Erdley tells the true story of a woman who create a fake ID and conned her way into Columbia University, and the manhunt that ensued. The project was first announced back in March of last year, and Amanda Seyfried is attached to star. McG will produce alongside Mary Viola and Michael Nardelli.

McG is currently in post-production on his action-romantic comedy This Means War starring Reese Witherspoon, Chris Pine, and Tom Hardy, while Seyfried is gearing up to star as Linda Lovelace in the biopic Lovelace alongside Peter Sarsgaard. No word on how soon production on The Girl Who Conned Ivy League will begin.

McG in Talks to Direct Cop Drama PUZZLE PALACE for Summit

by Adam Chitwood    Posted: October 25th, 2011 at 5:57 pm

Director McG is currently in negotiations to direct the cop drama Puzzle Palace. Deadline reports that Summit Entertainment acquired the project as a pitch earlier this year from David Guggenheim, who then penned the script. No other plot details are given other than the fact that the project is a “cop drama.” Wyck Godfrey and Marty Bowen, who were producers on the Twilight series, are onboard as producers. McG was in line to direct Ouija, based on the board game, as his next project but Universal ultimately passed on the film so it’s now back in development. The director recently wrapped the action comedy This Means War starring Chris Pine, Tom Hardy, and Reese Witherspoon.

Guggenheim recently penned the drama Safe House, which stars Denzel Washington and Ryan Reynolds and is slated for release in February. He also just sold a pitch for the superpower-centered pic 364 to Universal which Ron Howard is poised to direct.

McG Talks AIM HIGH, THIS MEANS WAR, Upcoming TV Projects, TERMINATOR: SALVATION Deleted Scenes and More

by Christina Radish    Posted: October 18th, 2011 at 3:05 pm

A self-admitted lover of technology, it’s no surprise that McG is producing the new media series Aim High, premiering on Facebook and Cambio on October 18^th, and mixing the quality of any television series or big screen feature with interactive content. Using technology to break down the wall of separation between the viewer and the show, Facebook will incorporate the pictures from your profile into the six-part first season, while looking to do the same with your personal music for a possible second season.

At a press day for the web series, McG spoke to Collider for this exclusive interview about the appeal of working on such a cutting edge project, assembling such a strong cast, the challenge of getting such a quality product done in such a small time frame (less than two weeks) and without a great deal of money, and why he thinks mixing acne with espionage is a winning formula. He also talked about juggling so many projects at once, in both film and television, how fun it is to create something that touches the world, knowing when to move on from something that isn’t working out, and his hope of someday releasing a DVD cut of Terminator: Salvation with the extra footage from the film. Check out what he had to say after the jump.

First Trailer and Promo Poster for McG’s THIS MEANS WAR Starring Chris Pine, Tom Hardy, and Reese Witherspoon

by Matt Goldberg    Posted: October 13th, 2011 at 12:00 pm

The first trailer for McG’s action-romantic-comedy This Means War has gone online.  Chris Pine and Tom Hardy play covert operatives who are also best friends, but resort to their special-ops training when they compete for the affections of the same woman (Reese Witherspoon).  As you’ll see in the trailer, it’s a gross misuse of CIA resources, but that’s not my big problem with what I’m seeing.  McG seems to have gone all-in on the action and almost completely forgotten the comedy.  It’s an inherently absurd premise that two CIA agents would use their special-ops training for a silly romantic entanglement.  But McG looks like he’s taking it absolutely seriously.  Maybe the juxtaposition works better in the context of the whole movie, but this trailer is somewhat disheartening.

Hit the jump to check out the trailer along with the promo poster (which is just the logo, but whatever).  This Means War opens February 17th.

Exclusive: McG Talks OUIJA, Future Film and TV Projects, and the Possibility of a TERMINATOR: SALVATION Director’s Cut Release

by Christina Radish    Posted: October 5th, 2011 at 9:12 pm

At the press junket for the new interactive web series Aim High, starring Jackson Rathbone (Jasper in The Twilight Saga) and Aimee Teegarden (Friday Night Lights), executive producer McG was there to express his passion for the cutting edge project that will incorporate viewers’ personal Facebook profiles into the story of a high school student (Rathbone) living a double life as a government operative while dreaming of the most popular girl in school (Teegarden).

While we will run that portion of the interview closer to the web series’ October 18^th premiere, we did want to let you know what he had to say about what else he’s currently juggling. In post-production on the action-comedy This Means War (starring Reese Witherspoon, Tom Hardy and Chris Pine) and with six television series currently in development for next season, McG said that he’s looking at a few films right now and will probably decide what he’ll focus on next before the holidays. With so many things on his plate, not everything will end up actually getting made, which he said may be the case with the Ouija board movie that Universal dropped from their production schedule. And, while he knows they did a lot of things right with Terminator: Salvation, he also knows that they did a lot of things wrong, so only time will tell whether or not that director’s cut with all the additional footage will ever be released on DVD/Blu-ray. Check out what he had to say after the jump.

Universal Passes on the OUIJA Movie

by Brendan Bettinger    Posted: August 23rd, 2011 at 10:01 pm

Universal disappointed the movie blog community twice this year when it had to pass on Guillermo del Toro’s At the Mountains of Madness and the ambitious adaptation of The Dark Tower.  But there’s another side to that coin—caution also led the studio to pass on oft ridiculed board game adaptations like Clue, Monopoly, and Magic: The Gathering.  According to Vulture, you can add Ouija to that list now that Universal has paid a $5 million penalty to Hasbro to back out of the development deal.  Producer Michael Bay and director McG (Terminator Salvation) will shop the project—envisioned as a big-budget family fantasy—to other studios next week .  Paramount might seem like the natural candidate, given their previous success with Bay and Hasbro on the Transformers series.  However, Vulture hears the studio passed on the proposal.  Maybe this thing really is dead.  Who, other than McG, would mourn the passing of the Ouija movie directed by McG?

Universal hasn’t abandoned all Hasbro properties just yet.  Battleship is scheduled for release in summer 2012, the first true test of the viability of these movies amid the modern rush to adapt board games.  And as far as we know, Universal is still working on Stretch Armstrong with Taylor Lautner and a Candy Land movie, though neither project seems as safe as it did yesterday.

Evan Spiliotopoulos to Rewrite McG’s QUIJA

by Adam Chitwood    Posted: April 19th, 2011 at 4:53 pm

Screenwriter Evan Spiliotopoulos (The Lion King 1 ½) has been brought in to work on the script for Universal’s adaptation of the board game Quija. Edward Kitsis and Adam Horowitz (Tron: Legacy) were initially set to pen the screenplay, but Heat Vision reports that Spiliotopoulos will be doing a rewrite.

McG (Terminator Salvation) is set to direct the flick, which is said to be a family adventure story in the vein of The Mummy and Indiana Jones. However, with the addition of Spiliotopoulos, it sounds like this could very well end up being much closer to Jumanji. The scribe has worked on a number of Disney straight-to-DVD releases in the past, with his most recent being Tinker Bell and the Lost Treasure. However, Spiliotopoulos also did a draft of Wanted 2 and worked on the comic book adaptation Agnes Quill. Ouija is set to be released on November 9^th, 2012.

Fox Sets Release Dates for McG’s THIS MEANS WAR and the Supernatural Drama CHRONICLE

by Matt Goldberg    Posted: April 12th, 2011 at 7:53 am

20th Century Fox has announced release dates for its upcoming films This Means War and Chronicle.  According to Box Office Mojo, This Means War is set for February 17, 2012.  Directed by McG, the film is an action-romantic-comedy that stars Chris Pine and Tom Hardy as former black-ops agents who go to war with each other when the fall for the same woman (Reese Witherspoon).  The other films currently set for the Presidents’ Day weekend are Ghost Rider 2 and Studio Ghibli’s Arrietty which was written and produced by Hayao Miyazaki.

As for Chronicle, the film recently cast Dane DeHaan (In Treatment) as one of three teenagers who develop superpowers after they’re exposed to a mysterious substance.  The film is the feature debut of Josh Trank and comes from a script by Max Landis (Masters of Horror).  Chronicle is slated for February 3, 2012, and currently has no competition at that date.

McG to Produce Untitled Sci-Fi Pitch for 20th Century Fox; David Callaham to Write Screenplay

by Matt Goldberg    Posted: March 14th, 2011 at 2:28 pm

20th Century Fox has picked up a pitch for an untitled sci-fi adventure project that Terminator Salvation director McG will produce and possibly direct. Deadline reports that details on the plot are scarce, but David Callaham has been hired to write the screenplay.  Callaham’s previous credits include Doom and The Expendables, but I’ll try not to let my negative feelings towards those films sour me on this new endeavor since I don’t know how much of Callaham’s script ended up on screen.

If McG chooses to direct this untitled project, it will be a while before it heads into production.  While he recently wrapped on the action-romantic-comedy This Means War starring Reese Witherspoon, Chris Pine, and Tom Hardy, McG is also attached to direct the board-game movie Ouija, which is currently set for release on November 9, 2012.

McG to Direct NBC’s WONDER WOMAN Pilot?

by Jason Barr    Posted: January 25th, 2011 at 5:55 pm

In a not-so-surprising trip around the rumor mill, reports are filing in that NBC wants McG to direct the David E. Kelley-penned pilot for their recently acquired Wonder Woman television series.  Although the two parties have yet to meet with regards to the project, Tv Line is reporting that the director’s chair for Wonder Woman‘s first episode is McG’s to lose.

In addition to helming two feature adaptations of the classic ABC series Charlie’s Angels, McG also has extensive ties in the television world due to the fact that he produces four currently-running shows (Chuck, Nikita, Supernatural, and Human Target).  While his television production credits run a mile long, though, his only TV directorial work has come via the Chuck pilot and the short-lived Fastlane.  McG most recently directed the romantic-action-comedy This Means War starring Tom Hardy, Reese Witherspoon, and Chris Pine.  He has also agreed to helm Universal’s board-game adaptation Ouija.

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