Sony Pictures

CHRONICLE Director Josh Trank to Helm Video Game Adaptation SHADOW OF THE COLOSSUS

by Adam Chitwood    Posted: May 23rd, 2012 at 2:17 pm

Director Josh Trank turned quite a few heads when his found-footage superhero pic Chronicle was a critical and box office hit earlier this year.  Understandably, he was quickly flooded with offers to some big name properties.  He’s currently developing a reboot of Fantastic Four at Fox, an adaptation of Red Star at Warner Bros., and the Spider-Man spinoff Venom for Sony, but he’s now become attached to yet another high profile property.  Deadline reports that Trank has signed with Sony to direct a feature film adaptation of the video game Shadow of the Colossus.  Hit the jump for more.

Aaron Sorkin Says Steve Jobs Film Won’t Be a Standard Biopic; Apple Co-Founder Steve Wozniak Hired as a Consultant

by Adam Chitwood    Posted: May 18th, 2012 at 10:18 am

Score one more for Sony’s Steve Jobs biopic.  The studio announced earlier this week that Oscar-winning screenwriter Aaron Sorkin (The Social Network) will be penning an adaptation of Walter Isaacson’s biography Steve Jobs—giving the project a major leg-up in contrast to the Ashton Kutcher-fronted indie biopic Jobs—and now the production has the involvement of a key Apple player.  Moreover, Sorkin revealed that the film won’t be the standard biopic that some are expecting:

“I know so little about what I am going to write. I know what I am not going to write. It can’t be a straight ahead biography because it’s very difficult to shake the cradle-to-grave structure of a biography.”

Hit the jump for more, including the nature of Apple co-founder Steve Wozniak’s involvement on the project.

Channing Tatum in Talks for Roland Emmerich’s WHITE HOUSE DOWN

by Adam Chitwood    Posted: May 14th, 2012 at 4:01 pm

Channing Tatum continues to ride a wave of successful film choices, as he’s now looking to star in a good ol’ fashioned Roland Emmerich disaster pic.  Tatum has been turning heads following solid turns earlier this year in Haywire and 21 Jump Street, and now Variety reports that the actor is in advanced talks to topline Sony’s White House Down.  The film is described as Die Hard in the White House and follows a secret service agent who must save the president following a parahijacking of the White House (only in a Roland Emmerich movie…).  James Vanderbilt (Zodiac, The Amazing Spider-Man) wrote the screenplay, and production is on track to begin later this summer.  Hit the jump for more.

Alex Kurtzman and Roberto Orci Tapped to Rewrite THE AMAZING SPIDER-MAN Sequel

by Adam Chitwood    Posted: April 24th, 2012 at 12:02 pm

It’s commonplace nowadays for studios to get a jump on the sequel to big budget properties before the first film hits theaters, and Sony got a very good head start on the follow-up to The Amazing Spider-Man by setting James Vanderbilt to pen the sequel back in March of last year.  The Amazing Spider-Man 2 is already dated for May of 2014, and now it appears that the studio would like another pass on the script.  So who do you get to pen a high priority, big-budget summer movie?  Alex Kurtzman and Roberto Orci, of course.  Hit the jump for more.

Sony Plans BOY NOBODY Adaptation as Potential Franchise for Jaden Smith

by Adam Chitwood    Posted: April 20th, 2012 at 2:03 pm

Get ready for Jaden Smith: Action Star.  Following a dramatic turn with his dad, Will Smith, in The Pursuit of Happyness and the blockbuster success of The Karate Kid, Jaden Smith is poised to have a franchise of his own.  Variety reports that Sony is in early talks to acquire the rights to the teen assassin novel Boy Nobody by Allen Zadoff, and they’re planning on developing it as a star vehicle for Jaden.  Boy Nobody is the first book in a planned trilogy and centers on a brainwashed teenage assassin who starts to regain his emotions.  The book isn’t in stores yet, but it’s planned to hit shelves next spring.

The protagonist of the story is described as a young Jason Bourne; a teen soldier developed to do what he’s told without those pesky emotions getting in the way.  Jaden is still relatively new to Hollywood, but the true test to see if he can handle heavy action should be the sci-fi pic After Earth.  Jaden stars in the M. Night Shyamalan-helmed thriller alongside his father, Will, and the project is currently in production.  Though he does seem poised to be “the next big thing,” I’m not ready to jump the gun just yet.  Taylor Lautner’s Abduction is still fresh in my memory.  Never forget.

Screen Gems Picks up and Sets Release Date for THE MORTAL INSTRUMENTS Starring Lily Collins

by Matt Goldberg    Posted: April 4th, 2012 at 8:21 am

Sony Pictures’ genre arm Screen Gems has acquired the Harold Zwart‘s adaptation of The Mortal Instruments starring Lily Collins.  Based on the first book in Cassandra Clare‘s young adult novel series, The Mortal Instruments: City of Bones, Collins will play Clary Fray, “a young woman who discovers she is the descendant of a line of secret cadre of half-angel warriors locked in an ancient battle to protect the world from demons.”  Sony had been circling Mortal Instruments back in February, but decided to pass.  According to Deadline, Constantin Film has come on board to partner on the movie, so it now has the financing to move forward.  We previously reported that filming was set to begin August 15th in Toronto.

According to Box Office Mojo, Screen Gems will release the film on August 23, 2013.  The movie currently has no competition on that date.  Hit the jump for the official synopsis.

D.J. Caruso to Direct Sci-Fi Disaster Film INVERTIGO; Release Date Set for March 7, 2014

by Adam Chitwood    Posted: March 29th, 2012 at 2:53 pm

Coming off the failed franchise-starter I Am Number Four, director D.J. Caruso is looking to take another stab at sci-fi. The director is now in final negotiations to direct the sci-fi disaster film Invertigo. The story concerns a long-lost NASA space probe under the influence of “dark energy” that mysteriously crashes on earth and proceeds to disrupt and reverse the pull of gravity. Skyscrapers and bridges are ripped from the ground and rivers “rain from the sky” as a team mounts a mission into upside-down Manhattan to avert the planet’s destruction. Hit the jump for more on this ludicrous premise.

Sony Pictures Picks Up Jonathan Kasdan’s Sundance Film THE FIRST TIME

by Adam Chitwood    Posted: March 21st, 2012 at 2:38 pm

A few months out from the festival, acquisitions of films that premiered at Sundance 2012 haven’t let up. Sony Pictures Worldwide announced today that they’ve acquired U.S. and Canadian rights to Jonathan Kasdan’s (In the Land of Women) The First Time. The film takes place over the course of one weekend and follows two high school students who fall in love. Though the logline may sound trite, the film picked up considerable notice at Sundance and drew comparisons to John Hughes’ filmography. Kasdan wrote and directed the pic, which stars Dylan O’Brien, Britt Robertson, Victoria Justice, and Craig Roberts.

Hit the jump to read the full press release, and if you missed it check out Steve’s interview with Kasdan in which the filmmaker discusses the influence of Richard Linklater’s Before Sunrise, injecting his personal experiences into the film, and more.

Jake Kasdan to Make a SEX TAPE with Jason Segel

by Matt Goldberg    Posted: March 21st, 2012 at 2:24 pm

Bad Teacher director Jake Kasdan is in talks to re-team with Jason Segel for the high-concept comedy Sex Tape.  Per Variety, Segel will star “as half of a happily married couple who use a night off from their parental duties to spice up their love life by making a sex tape. When they awake the following morning, they discover the tape has gone missing, prompting them to figure out who took it and how to get it back.”  Nicholas Stoller (Forgetting Sarah Marshall) was previously attached to direct, but dropped out due to scheduling issues.  Last October, Reese Witherspoon, Amy Adams, Emily Blunt, Rose Byrne, and Jennifer Garner were in the mix to play the female lead, but there’s currently no word on which actresses (if any) are still circling the role.

Sony Pictures paid in the low seven figures for Kate Angelo‘s script, but the success of Bad Teacher likely helped Kasdan into the director’s seat for such a high-priority project.  I’ve enjoyed all of Kasdan’s films (Walk Hard is downright brilliant), and his participation along with Segel definitely makes Sex Tape a flick to keep on my radar, although I’m curious to see who will be cast as the female lead.

David O. Russell Attached to Direct AMERICAN BULLSHIT

by Adam Chitwood    Posted: March 21st, 2012 at 2:04 pm

As The Fighter director David O. Russell puts the finishing touches on his next film, The Silver Linings Playbook, it appears he’s looking for his next project. Variety reports that Russell is now attached to direct the Black List script American Bullshit for Sony Pictures and Atlas Entertainment. Written by Eric Warren Singer, the stranger than fiction story is based on a real-life undercover sting operation set up in the 1980s by a con artist working for the FBI who rooted out corruption in Congress. Ben Affleck was previously considering the project before he signed on to next tackle The Stand, but I think Russell is a suitable replacement. He definitely knows how to do strange (I Heart Huckabees) and I imagine he won’t be taking a straight-forward procedural approach to the material. Hit the jump for more on the crazy story.

Throw another Vampire Movie on the Pile: Sony Picks up Pitch for Dracula Origin Story

by Matt Goldberg    Posted: February 27th, 2012 at 2:23 pm

Of the many vampire projects in development, at least one has to be good, right?  Maybe it will be the untitled pitch screenwriter Jason Keller (Mirror Mirror) just sold to Sony.  According to Deadline, the studio paid high six figures against seven for “a period origin story on the Dracula mythology.”  Thank goodness.  No one’s doing that except for Dracula: Year Zero, Harker, and The Last Voyage of the Demeter.  And that’s not even mentioning all the non-Dracula vampire projects in development.  For a refresher on those, hit the jump.

Robbie Pickering to Direct Vampire/Zombie/Alien Film THE KITCHEN SINK

by Adam Chitwood    Posted: February 7th, 2012 at 2:52 pm

Natural Selection director Robbie Pickering has been tapped to direct the creature mash-up The Kitchen Sink for Sony Pictures. Academy Award nominee Jonah Hill (that’s fun to write) was previously eyeing the project as his directorial debut, but he’s since moved on and now Deadline reports that Pickering will take the helm. The story centers on a high-school aged vampire, a zombie, and a human who team up to defend their town from invading aliens. It combines everything that’s so hot right now into one movie, so Sony is presumably hoping they’ve got a hit.

The script was written by Oren Uziel [Correction: Matt Tolmach is the producer] and landed one of the top spots on the 2010 Black List. While the logline could easily be turned into a lazy, teen-aimed comedy, the addition of Pickering gives me hope that we’re in for something more adventurous. It’ll be interesting to see what approach they take with the creatures, and I’m hoping they try to use as many practical effects as possible. It’s been a long time since we’ve seen a creature feature that doesn’t rely on CGI for its monsters, and I’d love to see some seriously inventive makeup work. No word on how soon production will begin, but hopefully we hear more soon.

New Trailer for THE AMAZING SPIDER-MAN Will Debut Tonight at Midnight

by Adam Chitwood    Posted: February 6th, 2012 at 1:04 pm

A few lucky fans across the globe are currently enjoying a sneak peek at some footage from Sony’s The Amazing Spider-Man, but us common folk won’t have to wait long to see more from Spidey. Sony announced today that a new trailer for Marc Webb’s reboot will go online tonight (or tomorrow, technically) at 3 AM EST/12 AM PST, so if you’ve got a hankerin’ for Peter Parker, plan on staying up late. The new trailer is two and a half minutes in length, and hopefully fans will get a good look at Rhys Ifans as villain Lizard.

Be sure to check back here on the site later today for our full write-up from the Spider-Man preview event, and we’ll also have the trailer up here once it’s online. Hit the jump to revisit the first trailer for the film, as well as the full press release regarding the new trailer debut. The Amazing Spider-Man opens in 3D on July 3rd.

Adam Sandler to Star in and Co-Write CANDY LAND for Sony

by Adam Chitwood    Posted: January 31st, 2012 at 12:49 pm

Serious news alert: Adam Sandler is starring in the Candy Land movie. Hot on the heels of yesterdays news that Relativity will release a Taylor Lautner-free Stretch Armstrong in April 2014 comes word that Sony Pictures is in final talks to develop the Candy Land movie. The film was previously set up at Universal along with multiple other Hasbro board game movies, but the studio apparently realized this was a terrible idea and has been dumping Hasbro properties left and right. The only property they’re keeping is Battleship, which hits theaters this summer. Hit the jump for more, including what famous SNL scribe is writing the screenplay alongside Sandler.

Sony Sneaking Previews of THE AMAZING SPIDER-MAN in Select Cities February 6; Official Synopsis Released

by Adam Chitwood    Posted: January 27th, 2012 at 6:02 pm

Warner Bros. did it with The Dark Knight Rises, and now Sony is going the sneak preview route with The Amazing Spider-Man. The studio is hosting special preview screenings of footage from Marc Webb‘s upcoming Spider-Man reboot in a few select cities around the world in a couple of weeks. Projections have apparently been going up in a few cities, hipping audiences to the website TheUntoldStoryBegins.com where tickets for the previews are being given out. Unfortunately, the list of participating cities is extremely limited (New York and Los Angeles are the only ones in the US). The footage will be previewed on February 6th, well-ahead of the film’s July 3rd release date. Hit the jump for more, including the official synopsis for the film.

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