Mike Newell

Production Begins on Mike Newell’s GREAT EXPECTATIONS; Robbie Coltrane, Jason Flemyng, Sally Hawkins and More Join Cast

by Matt Goldberg    Posted: October 5th, 2011 at 9:25 am

Filming on Mike Newell’s adaptation of Charles Dickens’ Great Expectations will begin its ten-week UK shoot on October 10th, and more casting on the film has been announced.  In addition to confirming Jeremy Irvine (War Horse) as Pip, Helena Bonham Carter as Miss Havisham, and Ralph Fiennes as Magwitch, the film will also star Robbie Coltrane (Harry Potter), Jason Flemyng (X-Men: First Class), and Sally Hawkins (Happy Go Lucky).  Additionally, Holliday Grainger (The Borgias) will play Estella, the young woman trained in the art of breaking Pip’s heart over and over again even as he receives a great fortune from a mysterious benefactor.

Hit the jump for the full press release.

Ralph Fiennes in Talks to Play Magwitch in Mike Newell’s GREAT EXPECTATIONS; BOND 23 Talks Still Ongoing

by Matt Goldberg    Posted: April 22nd, 2011 at 8:42 am

Ralph Fiennes is in talks to join Jeremy Irvine (War Horse) and Helena Bonham Carter in Mike Newell’s adaptation of Great Expectations.  Daily Mail reports that Fiennes is up for the role of the mysterious Magwitch, but also notes that Fiennes is currently set to play Prospero in Trevor Nunn’s version of The Tempest at the Theatre Royal Haymarket.  Because Newell plans to shoot in London starting in August, if Fiennes takes the role, he would have to shoot his scenes during the day and then do his stage performances in the evening.

As we reported back in February, Fiennes is also in talks to join Sam Mendes’ untitled James Bond flick and those negotiations are still ongoing.  He’ll next be seen in theaters this July playing some guy named “Voldemort” in Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows – Part 2.  Hit the jump for a synopsis of Great Expectations.

Jeremy Irvine and Helena Bonham Carter May Star in Mike Newell’s GREAT EXPECTATIONS

by Matt Goldberg    Posted: April 14th, 2011 at 9:40 am

In February, we reported that director Mike Newell (Prince of Persia) had signed on to direct a new adaptation of Charles Dickens’ Great Expectations.  Today, Showblitz reports that Jeremy Irvine and Helena Bonham Carter are in talks to play Pip and Miss Havisham, respectively.  The role of Pip could be another huge opportunity for Irvine who is making his feature debut in Steven Spielberg’s upcoming drama War Horse.

For those unfamiliar with the novel, Great Expectations is about a poor orphan who is tormented by the manipulations of Miss Havisham’s niece Estella before being elevated to the upper class by an anonymous benefactor.  Filming on Great Expectations is slated to begin in fall for a 2012 release, which will mark Dickens’ bicentennial.Hit the jump for a full synopsis of Great Expectations.

Rowan Joffe to Adapt Non-fiction Novel AGENT ZIGZAG for Director Mike Newell

by Matt Goldberg    Posted: February 16th, 2011 at 11:04 am

Writer-director Rowan Joffe (Brighton Rock) will pen the adaptation of the non-fiction novel Agent Zigzag for director Mike Newell (Prince of Persia: The Sands of Time)  Per Deadline, “Agent Zigzag tells the true story of Eddie Chapman, a suave thief/seducer who became a double agent during WWII working for both Germany and Britain.”  I love that “seducer” is on the same job title as “thief” and “double-agent”.  I hope Mr. Zigzag put that on his resume.

In addition to Brighton Rock, Joffe also wrote the screenplay for The American and 28 Weeks Later.  In September, we reported that he has been hired to adapt Steve Watson’s debut novel Before I Go to Sleep. Last week, Newell signed on to direct a new adaptation of Charles Dickens’ Great Expectations.  Hit the jump for a synopsis of the novel.

Mike Newell to Direct Adaptation of GREAT EXPECTATIONS

by Matt Goldberg    Posted: February 7th, 2011 at 9:48 am

Director Mike Newell (Prince of Persia: The Sands of Time) will direct an adaptation of Charles Dickens’ Great Expectations.  From what I gathered about the tale when South Park adapted it, it’s about an old woman who uses the tears of men to power her Genesis device.  Of course, the more famous adaptation is David Lean’s 1948 film and the book was adapted again in 1998 with Alfonso Cuaron at the helm and starring Gwyneth Paltrow, Ethan Hawke, Anne Bancroft, and Robert De Niro.  Strangely, neither Lean nor Cuaron’s versions featured the Genesis device.  THR reports that Newell will have a “fresh take” on the material, but doesn’t specify if Newell will go classic like Lean’s version, modern like Cuaron’s, or absurd like South Park.

Newell’s Great Expectations will be part of the Dickens’ bicentenary in 2012.  Hit the jump for a real (read: no Genesis device) synopsis of Dickens’ classic novel.

Jonathan Demme, Matt Reeves, Mike Newell, Neil Marshall, and More Join List of Potential Directors for PRIDE AND PREJUDICE AND ZOMBIES

by Matt Goldberg    Posted: October 19th, 2010 at 2:37 pm

The list to direct the adaptation of Seth Grahame-Smith’s horror-comedy parody novel Pride and Prejudice and Zombies is growing after David O. Russell left the project at the beginning of the month.  As we previously reported, David Slade (The Twilight Saga: Eclipse) is on the list.  Deadline updated their original story by reporting that Mike Newell (Prince of Persia: The Sands of Time) and Neil Marshall (Centurion) are also in the running.  TheWrap is also throwing out some interesting names circling the project: Jonathan Demme (The Silence of the Lambs), Matt Reeves (Let Me In), Mike White (The Year of the Dog), and the directing team of Phil Lord and Chris Miller (Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs).  Hit the jump for more details on these potential helmers.

PRINCE OF PERSIA: THE SANDS OF TIME Blu-ray Review

by Andre Dellamorte    Posted: September 14th, 2010 at 6:11 am

Every summer studios produce weekends full of “A” titles, summer blockbusters that are meant to wow us and make piles upon piles of money. These are the prestige titles of the day, and though they may be stupid, no expense is sparred in the making of them. Of course this doesn’t mean the people behind or in front of the camera are the best in the business, but they have the potential to deliver an audience by their star appeal, and their knowledge of what works. Hopefully.

On Paper, Disney’s Prince of Persia sounds like it could be something. It’s produced by Jerry Bruckheimer, it stars Jake Gyllenhaal – who hasn’t set the box office on fire, but is a respected actor – with Bond Girl turned it girl Gemma Arterton. The director is Mike Newell who directed one of the best of the Harry Potter franchise, and the film is based on a successful video game, one that serves only as a basis for an action adventure story. But all those details add up to one terrible movie, and Prince of Persia: The Sands of Time is a pretty terrible film. My review of Prince of Persia on Blu-ray after the jump.

Screenwriters Doug Miro and Carlo Bernard Video Interview PRINCE OF PERSIA: THE SANDS OF TIME

by Steve 'Frosty' Weintraub    Posted: May 23rd, 2010 at 7:08 pm

For fans of the video game Prince of Persia, this is a really big week.  That’s because next weekend, Walt Disney and producer Jerry Bruckheimer’s Prince of Persia: The Sands of Time is finally getting released. And unlike every other movie based on a video game, I think this is finally going to be the one that breaks the video game movie curse.  The reason I think this is the one is Disney spent a small fortune bringing Prince of Persia to the screen and it’s loaded with great action set pieces and a lot of moves and moments gamers will love.

Anyhow, a few days ago I got to sit down with screenwriters Doug Miro and Carlo Bernard and they talked about how they got involved in the project, what they did to prepare for writing the movie, how much did the game play into the script, working the sands of time effect into the movie, is a sequel on the boards, what it was like to film in Morocco, and a lot more.  If you’re an aspiring screenwriter or just curious how Prince of Persia got made, it’s a great interview.  Hit the jump to check it out:

PRINCE OF PERSIA Movie Clips – 6 Clips from Disney’s Action/Adventure Starring Jake Gyllenhaal, Ben Kingsley, Gemma Arterton

by Steve 'Frosty' Weintraub    Posted: May 8th, 2010 at 9:24 am

Disney has released 6 clips from producer Jerry Bruckheimer’s Prince of Persia: The Sands of Time and you can check them out after the jump.  Starring Jake Gyllenhaal, Ben Kingsley, Gemma Arterton, and Alfred Molina in a Mike Newell film, Disney is clearly trying to mimic the success of their Pirates of the Caribbean franchise with Prince of Persia.  Also, Disney is trying to break the video game to movie curse, as most would agree no video game has been successfully adapted into a great movie.  But with mega producer Jerry Bruckheimer on board, this might be the one that finally gets it right.

So if you’d like to get a glimpse of Prince of Persia, hit the jump for the clips.  And if you missed all the new images we posted, click here.  Prince of Persia: The Sands of Time gets released May 28, 2010.

Tons of New Images from Walt Disney’s PRINCE OF PERSIA: THE SAND OF TIME in High Resolution

by Steve 'Frosty' Weintraub    Posted: May 5th, 2010 at 4:00 pm

Walt Disney has sent over a ton of images from their upcoming video game based movie Prince of Persia: The Sands of Time.  While we’ve posted a number of them in the past, there are a bunch of new ones mixed in.  Rather than just post the new ones, I’ve put them all together and in high resolution after the jump.

The press junket for Prince of Persia is this weekend in London, which means you can expect tons of movie clips and info on the film to hit the net very soon.  Until then…

Walt Disney Announces WonderCon 2010 Lineup – PRINCE OF PERSIA: THE SANDS OF TIME, THE SORCERER’S APPRENTICE and TOY STORY 3

by Steve 'Frosty' Weintraub    Posted: March 12th, 2010 at 3:55 pm

Walt Disney has announced their WonderCon 2010 lineup and it’s going to focus on their summer 2010 movies.  According to the press release Disney sent over, they’ll be pushing Prince of Persia: The Sands of Time, Toy Story 3, and The Sorcerer’s Apprentice.  And while you might think they’ll just show some footage and the presentation will be short, they’re treating this like Comic-Con and bringing along some big names like Jake Gyllenhaal, Jordan Mechner, Nicolas Cage, Jay Baruchel, Teresa Palmer – plus Filmmakers Jerry Bruckheimer, Mike Newell, Jon Turteltaub and Lee Unkrich. If you’re going to WonderCon in San Francisco, it sounds like you’ll see some cool stuff.

Disney says their panel is Saturday April 3rd.  Here are the times:

• 12:15 – 12:45 PM     PRINCE OF PERSIA: THE SANDS OF TIME
• 12:45 – 1:15 PM       THE SORCERER’S APPRENTICE
• 1:15 – 1:45 PM          TOY STORY 3

Hit the jump to read the press release.  A lot of the other studios will be at WonderCon.  We’ll post updates as we get them:

PRINCE OF PERSIA: SANDS OF TIME Will Play in International IMAX Theaters

by Brendan Bettinger    Posted: March 10th, 2010 at 11:40 am

If you were looking forward to seeing a stubbly, shirtless Jake Gyllenhaal do parkour in summer tentpole Prince of Persia: The Sands of Time, you now have the opportunity to do so in IMAX.  The May 28th wide release now includes slots in international IMAX theaters.  As produced by Jerry Bruckheimer and directed by Mike Newell, Prince of Persia has a very good shot at being the best video game adaptation of all time if it can top . . . I don’t know, Lara Croft: Tomb Raider?  Resident Evil?  Seriously though, if they nail the tone, Prince of Persia has the makings of a fun Pirates-style romp, and the vast spectacle of the desert setting seems well suited for the IMAX treatment, at least for our friends abroad.  No word yet on an upconversion to 3D per the “Avatar Effect”.

Check out the full press release after the jump.

PRINCE OF PERSIA: THE SANDS OF TIME Featurette: Creating an Epic

by Steve 'Frosty' Weintraub    Posted: February 19th, 2010 at 10:03 am

Walt Disney has released a Prince of Persia: The Sands of Time featurette called Creating an Epic.  As you might imagine with that title, the featurette shows what the production and actors went through to bring the movie to life.  What’s great about the video is not only does it show behind the scenes footage from Morocco and the massive sets that were built, it’s got new footage from the movie.

While many have tried and failed to make a great movie based on a video game, I think this is going to be the first one that works.  Hit the jump to check out the video:

Director Mike Newell to Helm Film Based on True Story of Murdered Former-KGB Agent

by Matt Goldberg    Posted: February 12th, 2010 at 4:35 pm

Mike Newell, director of Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire and the upcoming Prince of Persia: The Sands of Time, will write and direct a film based off the poisoning and mysterious death of former KGB spy Alexander Litvinenko.  According to Variety, the project is based on Alan Cowell’s book The Terminal Spy, but even though the film is “in an advanced stage of development,” no actors are currently attached.

Just as a refresher, Litvinenko’s death remains a mysterious.  The ex-Russian spy was poisoned in 2006 with polonium-210 and on his deathbed accused ex-Russian President (and current Prime Minister/de-facto leader) Vladimir Putin as the culprit.  Litvinenko’s murder prompted international investigations and triggered post-Cold War tensions between England and Russia.  This could turn out to be a pretty good flick.

Michael Mann was also developing a Litvinenko project with Litvinenko’s wife over at Sony, but that project has stalled over the past few months.

Steve Watches the PRINCE OF PERSIA: THE SANDS OF TIME Trailer

by Steve 'Frosty' Weintraub    Posted: October 29th, 2009 at 11:54 am

The other day I was invited, along with a number of other video game and movie sites, to Jerry Bruckheimer’s office in Santa Monica to watch the “Prince of Persia: The Sands of Time” trailer. While the trailer will be online and in theaters very soon, Disney decided to premiere the trailer to our lucky group and they also gave us twenty minutes with Jerry Bruckheimer and “Prince of Persia” creator Jordan Mechner. While I’ll have a transcript of what they said next, I can tell you what I thought about the trailer right now.

My quick thought is we’re finally going to get an awesome movie based on a video game. Up to now, every video game based movie has been treated by Hollywood as a joke. They never have a budget. The scripts have been terrible. Also, after you see the movie, you lose respect for the game it’s based on. But from the two minutes of awesome that is the “Prince of Persia” trailer, I think more people are going to want to play the game because it looks so cool. And don’t get me started on how awesome it looks when Jake Gyllenhaal uses the Dagger of Time. More after the jump:

Copyright ©2005 - 2012. All Rights Reserved. California web design