Shawn Levy

Fox Moves LIFE OF PI Up to November 21; THE INTERNSHIP Starring Owen Wilson and Vince Vaughn Set for June 28, 2013

by Adam Chitwood    Posted: May 23rd, 2012 at 6:18 pm

Following the big release date shakeup of Paramount moving G.I. Joe: Retaliation to March 2013 and Ted taking the film’s June 29th slot, 20th Century Fox has announced two release date shifts of its own.  Briefly:

• Fox moves Ang Lee’s 3D adaptation of Life of Pi up from December 21st to November 21st.
• Director Shawn Levy’s comedy The Internship, starring Owen Wilson and Vince Vaughn, will open on June 28th, 2013

Hit the jump for more on each film.

Shawn Levy to Direct Adventure Novel Series Adaptation THE 39 CLUES for DreamWorks

by Dave Trumbore    Posted: May 10th, 2012 at 5:26 pm

The adaptation of adventures novel series The 39 Clues is now in the hands of director Shawn Levy (Real Steel).  The feature rights to the on-going 15-volume series were acquired by DreamWorks as a project originally intended for Steven Spielberg. When that didn’t pan out, Brett Ratner stepped in to direct with Spielberg staying on as a producer, but that must have fallen through as well.  That’s good news for the series, in my humble opinion, as DreamWorks is envisioning The 39 Clues as a family-friendly, action/adventure film franchise.  Levy already brings experience in that realm, citing the Night at the Museum films.  Then again, Levy is attached to damn near everything at the moment, including the Vince Vaughn and Owen Wilson team-up comedy, Interns, which shoots this summer.  After that, who knows.  Hit the jump for more on Levy and The 39 Clues.

Shawn Levy Acquires Masculinity Guide, MAN MADE; Jake Kasdan to Direct

by Dave Trumbore    Posted: April 17th, 2012 at 3:41 pm

Shawn Levy (Real Steel) has daddy issues; or, at least, the protagonist of his next project does.  In a recent  acquisition by Fox 2000 and Levy’s company, 21 Laps Entertainment, author Joel Stein’s upcoming book, “Man Made: A Stupid Quest for Masculinity,” has been set up for production.  The story is a non-fiction account of a man’s journey to discover his masculinity in reaction to learning that he’s about to have a baby boy.  His journey takes him on a 24-hour shift with L.A. firefighters, basic training sessions with the  US Marine Corps and even into the octagon with UFC fighter, Randy Couture (The Expendables).   Though Levy is on board to produce, director Jake Kasdan (Bad Teacher) will be behind the camera for Man Made.  Hit the jump for more.

Vince Vaughn and Owen Wilson Hired for Shawn Levy’s THE INTERNSHIP

by Dave Trumbore    Posted: April 12th, 2012 at 5:25 pm

Wedding Crashers fans, lock it up.  Stars Vince Vaughn and Owen Wilson are reuniting for the 20th Century Fox comedy, The Internship.  Directed by Shawn Levy (Real Steel) and based on an original script by Vaughn, The Internship finds Vaughn and Wilson playing two old-fashioned salesmen who haven’t kept up with the digital age.  When they suddenly become unemployed, they attempt to remake themselves by interning at a major tech company.  Steve sat down with the director for a recent interview in which he talked about the project, previously titled, Interns. Levy’s 21 Laps Entertainment and Vaughn’s Wild West Picture Show will produce with shooting scheduled to begin June 25th.  Hit the jump for the press release.

Shawn Levy Talks NIGHT AT THE MUSEUM 3, GEPPETTO, CANNONBALL RUN, and THE FIGHT BEFORE CHRISTMAS

by Adam Chitwood    Posted: February 23rd, 2012 at 10:10 pm

Today we’re sharing our final portion of Steve’s wide-ranging interview with director Shawn Levy.  Steve recently got the chance to sit down with Levy in order to talk a bit about the visual effects work in Real Steel in lieu of the film’s Oscar nomination for Best Visual Effects.  Over the past few days, we’ve been bringing you various portions of the interview in which Levy gave updates on the many, many projects he currently has in development as:

• The visual effects of Real Steel and the status of a Real Steel sequel.
• Updates on Interns starring Vince Vaughn and Owen Wilson, Fantastic Voyage, and Frankenstein.
• The adaptation of The Ten Best Days of My Life starring Amy Adams and the time travel pic Home Movies.
• Animated King Kong re-imagining Kong and adaptations of the childrens books The Devil You Know and Fancy Nancy with Tina Fey.
• Table 19 with Jeffrey Blitz, Kodachrome, and the hold-up on the Mr. Men movie.
• A mysterious project from Lost’s Carlton Cuse starring Hugh Jackman, How to Talk to Girls, Deadliest Warrior, Henchman, Neighborhoord Watch, and why Interns is probably his next project.

In our final portion of the interview, we’ve got updates from Levy on Night at the Museum 3, The Fight Before Christmas (which is being rewritten by Jeremy Garelick), The Cannonball Run and The Three Misfortunes of Geppetto (which Levy may not direct after all). Hit the jump to see what he had to say.

Shawn Levy Talks Carlton Cuse/Hugh Jackman Project, HOW TO TALK TO GIRLS, DEADLIEST WARRIOR, HENCHMAN, INTERNS, and NEIGHBORHOOD WATCH

by Adam Chitwood    Posted: February 22nd, 2012 at 1:30 pm

We’ve been bringing you a multitude of updates from director/producer Shawn Levy regarding his upcoming projects over the past few days, and today we’ve got some fascinating info on a couple more films in development.  Steve recently sat down for an extended interview with Levy in which he talked about a Real Steel sequel, Frankenstein, Fantastic Voyage and Interns, The Ten Best Days of My Life starring Amy Adams and Home Movies, the animated re-imagining Kong, The Devil You Know and Fancy Nancy, and yesterday we brought you what he had to say about Table 19, Kodachrome, and Mr. Men.

Today we’re sharing what Levy had to say regarding his untitled Hugh Jackman project that’s being written by Lost co-showrunner Carlton Cuse, an adaptation of How to Talk to Girls, Henchman starring Bill Hader, a Deadliest Warrior movie, Neighborhood Watch, and Levy reveals what’s likely to be his next directorial project and discusses the difficulty of getting Frankenstein and Fantastic Voyage into the production stage. Hit the jump to see what he had to say.

Shawn Levy Talks TABLE 19 with Jeffrey Blitz, KODACHROME and MR. MEN; Describes TABLE 19 as BREAKFAST CLUB with Adults at a Wedding

by Adam Chitwood    Posted: February 21st, 2012 at 6:10 pm

Throughout the past few days, we’ve been bringing you updates on pretty much every upcoming project on director/producer Shawn Levy’s plate from his recent interview with Steve.  We’ve already run what Levy had to say about a Real Steel sequel, Frankenstein, Fantastic Voyage and Interns, The Ten Best Days of My Life starring Amy Adams and Home Movies, and just yesterday we shared Levy’s updates on the animated re-imagining Kong, and his adaptations of The Devil You Know and Fancy Nancy with Tina Fey.

Today we’ve got Levy’s comments on Table 19 (described as The Breakfast Club with adults at a wedding being written by Jeffrey Blitz), the intimate family drama Kodachrome, and a disappointing status update on Mr. Men. Additionally, Levy clarifies that Family Album was a pilot he directed last year that was not picked up, and he talks briefly about an adaptation of Steve Martin’s novel The Pleasure of My Company. Hit the jump to see what he had to say.

Shawn Levy Talks Animated KING KONG Re-Imagining KONG, THE DEVIL YOU KNOW, and FANCY NANCY with Tina Fey

by Adam Chitwood    Posted: February 20th, 2012 at 12:00 pm

Over the past few days, we’ve been bringing you excerpts from Steve’s wide-ranging interview with director Shawn Levy. We’ve already shared what he had to say about the Real Steel sequel, Frankenstein, Fantastic Voyage, and Interns, and just yesterday we shared updates on The Ten Best Days of My Life starring Amy Adams and Home Movies, a time supernatural family comedy.

Today we’re bringing you what Levy had to say about Kong, an animated adaptation of the King Kong story being developed at Fox Animation, the visual effects-heavy family comedy Devil You Know (which was written by Parks and Recreation creator Michael Schur), and his adaptation of the popular Fancy Nancy series with Tina Fey.  Hit the jump for more.

Shawn Levy Talks THE TEN BEST DAYS OF MY LIFE Starring Amy Adams and HOME MOVIES; Says Tom McCarthy is Currently Writing Script for HOME MOVIES

by Adam Chitwood    Posted: February 19th, 2012 at 5:27 pm

Having successfully created a very popular franchise with the Night at the Museum films, director Shawn Levy is quickly becoming a prolific multitasker both as a director and a producer.  Steve recently got the chance to sit down with the director for an exclusive interview regarding Real Steel’s visual effects Oscar nomination, but the extended conversation covered a number of upcoming projects.  We already brought you the portion of the conversation dealing with Real Steel’s effects and the prospects of a sequel, as well as updates on the upcoming directorial efforts Interns, Fantastic Voyage, and Frankenstein.  Throughout this week we’ll be bringing you different portions of the wide-ranging interview, and today we’ve got news regarding The Ten Best Days of My Life and Home Movies.

Levy confirmed that he’s developing an adaptation of Adena Halpern’s novel The Ten Best Days of My Life with Amy Adams attached to star as a woman who finds herself in heaven following an unfortunate car accident. Additionally, Levy talked about the time travel-esque pic Home Movies and revealed that Win Win writer-director Tom McCarthy is currently at work penning the script. Hit the jump for more on these two projects.

Exclusive: Shawn Levy Talks INTERNS, FANTASTIC VOYAGE & FRANKENSTEIN; Says INTERNS Might Shoot This Summer

by Adam Chitwood    Posted: February 14th, 2012 at 5:36 pm

Coming off the success of Date Night and Real Steel, director Shawn Levy has a number of high-profile projects on his plate. He’s been attached to a 3D remake of Fantastic Voyage for quite a while, with James Cameron onboard as producer, and he’s set to take on a new iteration of Frankenstein. While Levy became involved in both of these projects last year, we haven’t heard much about their status as of late. Steve recently got the chance to sit down for an exclusive interview with Levy regarding the Best Visual Effects Oscar nomination for Real Steel, and the director talked quite a bit about what he has coming up. Yesterday we ran the portion of the conversation where Levy discussed the visual effects in Real Steel and the status of the Real Steel sequel, and today we’ve got updates on a few more of his upcoming projects.

Levy revealed that he’ll be using motion-capture SimulCam for the monsters (plural) in Frankenstein, and he also talked about how they’re tweaking the development status of the film in response to the competition project I, Frankenstein starring Aaron Eckhart. In addition, Levy talked about his ambitious practical effects approach to Fantastic Voyage, and revealed that he may actually film the comedy Interns with Vince Vaughn and Owen Wilson this summer. Hit the jump for much more.

Shawn Levy Talks REAL STEEL, the Visual Effects, SimulCam, and Practical Robots; Plus an Update on the Sequel

by Adam Chitwood    Posted: February 13th, 2012 at 9:54 pm

When director Shawn Levy’s Real Steel opened last October, it surprised quite a few people.  For one, the so-called “robot boxing movie” packed a whole lot of heart.  While some may have been expecting wall-to-wall robot fights, they soon found out that buried beneath this sci-fi adventure was an emotional father-son story.  Secondly, audiences discovered that Real Steel featured some of the best visual effects of the year. I nstead of relying solely on CG for the numerous robot-boxing matches, Levy opted for a nuanced blend of practical effects and cutting-edge motion capture technology.  What resulted was some of the most seamlessly blended effects in recent memory.   When it came time for the Oscars to announce the contenders in the Best Visual Effects category, it was no surprise that Real Steel popped up on the list.

As we’re just a few weeks away from the Academy Awards, Steve got the chance to sit down with Levy earlier today to talk about the visual effects in the film.  In addition to musing on the hybrid effects approach, the SimulCam technology that made the effects possible, and what sets Real Steel apart from the other VFX nominees, Levy also provided a few updates on the Real Steel sequel, specifically talking about how their approach to Real Steel 2 was directly influenced by what demographics responded to Real Steel most passionately.  Hit the jump to watch the full interview.

TV Casting Call: John Stamos Joins Fox’s LITTLE BROTHER; Ellen Barkin Co-Starring in Ryan Murphy’s NEW NORMAL

by Ethan Anderton    Posted: February 10th, 2012 at 11:52 am

Though his TV efforts may never quite measure up to the glory that was Uncle Jesse on Full House, the forever young John Stamos is going to try his hand at leading yet another comedy series. Deadline has word that Stamos will lead Little Brother, the new comedy pilot on Fox that also features comedian T.J. Miller. Coming from Mike Royce (Everybody Loves Raymond) and director Shawn Levy, the series follows Stamos as a man who finds out that he has a half-brother (Miller) he never knew who also happens to be an ex-con. Honestly, pairing Stamos with a hilarious comedian like Miller sounds like a great move, but Fox loves killing decent shows, so even if it’s good, the effort may be all for nothing. We’ll keep our eye on this one.

Details on Ellen Barkin joining Ryan Murphy‘s new NBC pilot after the jump.

Vince Vaughn and Owen Wilson Reunite for INTERNS; Shawn Levy Directing from a Script by Vaughn

by Brendan Bettinger    Posted: February 7th, 2012 at 7:38 pm

Wedding Crashers buddies Vince Vaughn and Owen Wilson are set to reunite for Interns, with Shawn Levy (Real Steel) directing.  As a producer, Levy is currently in post-production on the Vaughn-led comedy Neighborhood Watch.  Levy was hoping to make Frankenstein next, but Vulture hears that he’ll have to cut the $80 million budget before Fox is willing to consider the project.  Vaughn is in a similar position since The Inane Laws is reportedly having trouble getting off the ground over at Universal.  (The rumor mill whispers that Vaughn is still demanding a Wedding Crashers-era paycheck in the wake of The Dilemma.)  The serendipity led Vaughn and Levy back to Fox to pitch Interns, a comedy that Vaughn wrote about fortysomething friends who get laid off: “Convinced they’ve gone about managing their careers entirely wrong, they resolve to become interns at a Google-like dotcom and start anew.”  Hijinks ensue when Vaughn and Wilson compete against “wily, fresh-faced 22-year-olds” to advance in the company.

Vaughn and Wilson have shown interest in re-teaming, but 2 Guns somehow transformed from a Vaughn/Wilson vehicle to an actioner starring Mark Wahlberg and Denzel Washington.  Interns sounds like a suitable replacement, with a fruitful premise for their style as a comedy duo.

REAL STEEL Blu-ray Review

by Andre Dellamorte    Posted: January 30th, 2012 at 6:00 am

There’s nothing inherently wrong with a formula picture, the problem is with filmmakers not investing in the formula. There’s just too many big budget movies these days – like the Pirates or Transformers films – where the characters and what they do don’t make sense, and it’s near impossible to care about anything that happens to them. So it’s strange that director Shawn Levy managed to make a formula picture right. Best known for the sub-par Night at the Museum films, Levy came across as a hack. But Real Steel knows exactly what it’s doing and works you over. Hugh Jackman stars as a washed up boxer trying to make his living fighting with robots. Enter his abandoned son (Dakota Goyo) and a special robot that might be able to take them to the top. Our review of Real Steel on Blu-ray follows after the jump.

THE PROPOSAL Director to Helm THE FIGHT BEFORE CHRISTMAS for Producer Shawn Levy

by Adam Chitwood    Posted: November 14th, 2011 at 4:11 pm

Director Anne Fletcher (The Proposal) has been tapped to direct the family-centered comedy The Fight Before Christmas. The pic, which was scripted by Adam Sztykiel (Due Date) is being produced by Shawn Levy. Variety reports that while no casting decisions have been made, they’re considering a number of actors. Chief among the thespians being considered is Bradley Cooper, who is apparently circling the project (as well as every other movie currently in development). No specific plot details are given other than it’s a “family-centered comedy”, though we can safely assume the pic takes place during the holidays.

I wasn’t the biggest fan of The Proposal, and Due Date was a bit of a misfire, so I don’t have the highest of hopes for this one. Fletcher recently helmed the comedy My Mother’s Curse starring Seth Rogen and Barbara Streisand, which is set to hit theaters November 2012.

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