Oren Uziel

Nick Schenk to Write ROBOCOP Remake; MORTAL KOMBAT Writer Oren Uziel Sells Action-Comedy

by Brendan Bettinger    Posted: January 31st, 2012 at 7:43 pm

Director José Padilha said that when he signed on to remake RoboCop, he didn’t read any drafts left over from the Darren Aronofsky era because he “wanted to focus on my own thing and do my take.”  To create that vision, Padilha has turned to Gran Torino writer Nick Schenk.  Heat Vision makes no mention of Josh Zetumer’s reported involvement with the script, but MGM was initially looking at a February or March start date, so I don’t imagine Schenk will have to start over from page one.  Yet despite the hubbub over Michael Fassbender‘s candidacy to play the cyborg police officer, no cast is locked in.  So Schenk should have some time to craft a solid shooting script in time for a production later in the year.

Hit the jump for details on the pitch Oren Uziel (Mortal Kombat: Rebirth) sold to Neal Moritz (Fast Five).

MORTAL KOMBAT Screenwriter Oren Uziel to Adapt FORGOTTEN Starring Hailee Steinfeld

by Matt Goldberg    Posted: October 27th, 2011 at 8:56 am

Screenwriter Oren Uziel has signed on to write the adaptation of Cat Patrick‘s recent sci-fi novel Forgotten.  Hailee Steinfeld is set to star as a 16-year-old who loses her memory at 4:33 every morning, but she can still remember the events from her future.  It’s a neat premise although I will be in no way surprised if there’s a scene where she flunks a test but she remembered she was going to flunk it.  No director is currently attached, but the book was picked up by Paramount back in February as a starring vehicle for the young Oscar-nominee. Steinfeld is also attached to a spec script based on Sleeping Beauty and she’s in talks to star in the Romeo & Juliet re-imagining, Rosaline.

Uziel has been on a hot streak lately.  He’s set to write the reboot of Mortal Kombat and his script The Kitchen Sink was picked up by Sony with  Jonah Hill set to direct.  Hit the jump for a synopsis of Cat Patrick’s Forgotten.  [THR]

New Line Cinema Moves Forward with MORTAL KOMBAT Reboot

by Matt Goldberg    Posted: September 29th, 2011 at 1:50 pm

Somehow it all started with what was basically a fan-film, but Mortal Kombat will be getting a live-action reboot feature film.  In January 2010, we reported that Warner Bros. was considering a new Mortal Kombat movie and hired Oren Uziel to write the script.  In June, director Kevin Tancharoen (Fame) teamed with Uziel to put together an unauthorized viral short film as a calling card to reboot the franchise.  That short film blossomed into the ten-part web-series Mortal Kombat: Rebirth, written by Uziel and directed by Tancharoen.  Now the web-series has finally brought forth the film reboot.  Deadline reports that New Line Cinema, which is owned by Warner Bros., has picked up the movie.  Fittingly, Uziel will write the script and Tancharoen will direct.  While Tancharoen’s take was a little too serious for my tastes, it’s neat to see the journey of this movie and how their dedicated effort has come to fruition.   The LA Times adds that Warner Bros. is aiming to release the reboot in 2013 and hopes to have it coincide with the release of the next Mortal Kombat video game.

Now we’ll see if cast members Michael Jai White (Jax), Jeri Ryan (Sonya Blade), Matt Mullins (Johnny Cage), Ian Anthony Dale (Scorpion), and Lateef Crowder (Baraka) will make it to the feature film.  Plot details are currently under wraps and I’m curious to see if Mortal Kombat: Rebirth will serve as a prequel, get expanded into a feature, or will be set aside altogether.  No matter what direction the reboot takes, it’s time to brush up on your fatalities.

Jonah Hill in Negotiations to Make Directorial Debut With THE KITCHEN SINK

by Adam Chitwood    Posted: March 1st, 2011 at 6:04 pm

Actor Jonah Hill may soon be getting behind the camera. Hill is currently in negotiations to make his directorial debut with The Kitchen Sink for Sony Pictures. The script, by Oren Uziel (upcoming Mortal Combat reboot), landed on last year’s Black List of the top unproduced screenplays making the rounds. The film tells the story of a high-school aged vampire, a zombie, and a human who team up to defend their town from invading aliens (yep, that’s just about everything but the kitchen sink).

Deadline reports that Matt Tolmach (The Amazing Spider-Man) will produce the flick. Hill is currently busy prepping for 21 Jump Street with Channing Tatum, from a script that Hill co-wrote. He’s got David Gordon Green’s The Sitter coming out on July 12^th, and the Brad Pitt starrer Moneyball slated for a September 23^rd release.

Interview with MORTAL KOMBAT: REBIRTH Director Kevin Tancharoen; Talks About What He Wants to do in a Feature Version!

by Steve 'Frosty' Weintraub    Posted: June 9th, 2010 at 7:31 pm

If you’re a Mortal Kombat fan, yesterday was Christmas.  That’s because an awesome short film called Mortal Kombat: Rebirth hit the net and it featured a gritty, real world approach to the material.  Featuring Michael Jai White, Jeri Ryan, martial artists Lateef Crowder, Ian Anthony Dale and Matt Mullins, the short film has been getting nothing but positive write-ups across the cyberspace.  You really should check it out.

But the big story was what was the purpose and who made the short.  Some guessed it was for an unannounced feature film, and others thought it might be for a new Mortal Kombat game.

When word got out it was directed by Kevin Tancharoen (Fame), I was kind of stunned. After all, who would have thought the guy who made Fame would have directed an awesome Mortal Kombat short.  Thankfully, I had Tancharoen’s email and reached out to see if he wanted to talk about how the short came together and why he wanted to make it.  If you’d like to know a lot more, hit the jump to either read or listen to our interview.  I’ve also included some highlights as bullet points:

Warner Bros. Hitting Reset Button on MORTAL KOMBAT Movies; New Writer Hired

by Matt Goldberg    Posted: January 25th, 2010 at 9:04 pm

Bloody-Disgusting reports that Warner Bros. is inserting a fistful of quarters into a reboot of the Mortal Kombat movies.  The first movie adaptation of the controversial (at the time) video game came out in 1995 and holds the distinction of being one of the less-bad video game adaptation to date.  Then Mortal Kombat: Annihilation came out two years later and was the kind of terrible we expect from video game movies.

Thirteen years later, Warner Bros. is going retro and giving the almost twenty-year-old franchise another chance with Oren Uziel handling the script.  Uziel’s Shimmer Lake made the 2009 Black List (the list of the best unproduced screenplays in Hollywood).  Hopefully Warners will give him free-reign to make a movie that acknowledges the reason the MK series caught on in the first place was the level of violence never seen in video games up to that point.  I don’t really care about the “Outworld” or any of that crap.  I expect to see a character rip off someone’s head with the spinal cord still attached.  The movie doesn’t need stars.  It doesn’t need cutting-edge special effects.  It needs spinal cords.

And remember: ABACABB.

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