Although principal photography commenced on director Kenneth Branagh’s Jack Ryan a short while ago, Paramount has now officially announced the production.  We previously brought you set photos of Chris Pine as the title character, his CIA liaison as played by Kevin Costner and even a shot of Branagh as the film’s villain.  Jack Ryan also stars Keira Knightley, who Steve had a chance to talk to about the film while at the Toronto International Film Festival.  Be sure to check out Jack Ryan, the latest Tom Clancy adaptation which hits theaters Christmas Day, 2013.  Hit the jump for the press release. 

I’m not sure if it’s possible for a director to misunderstand his own script.  If it is possible, then David Koepp has accomplished this feat with his new film, Premium Rush.  Koepp sees his story as one of mischievous imps who ride through the streets of New York.  But the characters aren’t impish.  They’re rebels, they’re outsiders, and they’re the kind of people who will take a chain to your driver’s side mirror if you fuck with them.  Koepp has taken his rough-and-tumble world and pushed it through a slick filter of fun visual effects, quick maneuvers, time jumps, and other flourishes that give his movie a pulse, but not much of a heart.  For all of Koepp’s obsession with bringing the world of bike messengers to life, he forgets that what really pushes a movie forward is a strong character in a compelling story.

Universal has decided to go ahead with their sequel to Snow White and the Huntsman with a lot less Snow White (Kristen Stewart) and a lot more Huntsman (Chris Hemsworth). With the departure of screenwriter David Koepp, the studio is now envisioning more of a spin-off with Hemsworth leading the charge.  There is also no confirmation one way or the other on whether director Rupert Sanders will return. Though we try to stay out of the gossip end of this business, the well-publicized affair between Stewart and the married Sanders would make it awkward at best for a reunion.  The studio declined to comment on that front.  Hit the jump for more on this developing story.  [Update: The story has prompted a response from Universal on the state of Stewart's involvement.  Hit the jump to see what they had to say.]

The Television Critics Association Summer Press Tour kicked off on July 21^st with the PBS portion, and Collider will be covering all of the networks and cable channels through August 3^rd.  While there, I felt very fortunate to speak with acclaimed and accomplished actor/director, and recently knighted, Sir Kenneth Branagh for his BBC television series Wallander, adapted from Swedish novelist Henning Mankell’s Kurt Wallander detective novels.

We will run what Branagh had to say about the third series of films, premiering on PBS in September, closer to their air date, but wanted to share what he said about the next Jack Ryan film – an origin story that allows the audience to understand how Jack Ryan (played by Chris Pine) develops into a CIA analyst – which he is both directing and playing the villain in.  In this exclusive interview with Collider, he talked about the appeal of taking on such a strong and complicated character, how he came to the decision to both direct and star in the film, that he expects to shoot from the beginning of September until Christmas, that he thinks it’s unlikely he will shoot in either IMAX or 3D, and more.  In addition, he talked about his desire to do an IMAX 3D Shakespeare film.  Check out what he had to say after the jump.

While Rupert Sanders’ Snow White and the Huntsman continues to battle for more box office earnings, Universal is already moving forward with the sequel.  With the “origin” story in the Snow White franchise thus set up, it only goes to follow that the next chapter will be fast-tracked.  Universal has set David Koepp (Spider-Man) to write the script.  Hopefully, the sequel will have a more cohesive storyline, better dialogue and provide a payoff to its promises, something we discussed at length on last week’s podcast.  Sanders may or may not be back, but stars Kristen Stewart and Chris Hemsworth are optioned for two more films.  Hit the jump for more on the sequel to Snow White and the Huntsman.

A new trailer for the thriller Premium Rush has gone online.  The film was initially slated to open in January of this year before being pushed back to August, so we saw the first theatrical trailer way back in September.  Joseph Gordon-Levitt stars as a New York bicycle messenger who has a routine delivery turn into a life or death situation.  I’m a big fan of both Gordon-Levitt and Michael Shannon, who plays the film’s antagonist, but I’m unable to muster any real enthusiasm for this pic.  The trailer plays up the film’s high-octane thriller aspect while singling out a lot of bike stunts, but I can’t help but feel like Premium Rush would have been more relevant/enticing during the X-Games boom in the 90s. That said, with Gordon-Levitt and Shannon in the cast I’m willing to give the film a shot.

Hit the jump to watch the trailer.  Co-written and directed by David Koepp (Secret Window), the film also stars Jamie Chung and Dania Ramirez.  Premium Rush opens on August 24th.

With Men in Black 3 opening in theaters this weekend, screenwriter David Koepp can set his sights on other pursuits.  It’s being reported that one of those pursuits is the top-secret, sci-fi film The Wind, which Koepp wrote and will produce.  The plot details are locked down at the moment, but Wind is known to take place in a space colony.  The studio has taken a somewhat uncharacteristic route in tapping commercials helmer, Nic Mathieu, to make his directorial debut on The Wind.  Mathieu’s track record in the industry boasts a long line of execs that were impressed with his work, notably his reported mastery over CG.  Hit the jump to see what else is on Koepp’s plate and for some examples of Mathieu’s work.

In keeping with the trend of studios jumping the gun on potential franchises, Universal is looking to get a script going for a sequel to this summer’s Snow White and the Huntsman.  The studio is apparently already in discussions with David Koepp (Spider-Man) to get to work on a sequel to the highly anticipated fantasy epic.  Apparently Universal is hoping to fast track the project so they can make it director Rupert Sanders’ next film.  The trailers have actually been quite impressive for the dark take on the classic tale, and Sanders looks to have crafted a decidedly unique and epic film.  Hit the jump for more.

Sony Pictures has moved David Koepp’s small-scale action-thriller Premium Rush from January 13, 2012 to August 24th.  The movie stars Joseph Gordon-Levitt as a bike messenger who has a routine delivery turn in to a life-and-death situation when he picks up a package wanted by a corrupt cop (Michael Shannon).  Sony must think they have something if they’re moving the film out of the January wasteland to the summer movie season.  The movie joins Men in Black 3, The Amazing Spider-Man, and Total Recall as Sony’s summer 2012 fare.  The Kevin James comedy Here Comes the Boom was previously slated to be in that group but was recently moved to October 12, 2012.

Box Office Mojo reports that Premium Rush currently has no competition on the August 24th date.  Hit the jump to check out the trailer.

The first trailer for co-writer/director David Koepp’s (Ghost Town) action/thriller Premium Rush is now available online. Starring Joseph Gordon-Levitt, Michael Shannon, Jamie Chung, Dania Ramirez and The Daily Show‘s Aasif Mandvi, the film centers on Wilee (Gordon-Levitt), a New York bicycle messenger who has a routine delivery turn into a life or death situation. Based on the trailer, Premium Rush looks to be a stylish thriller and while some of the dialogue may seem a little heavy-handed, I’m willing to take a chance on anything that features both Gordon-Levitt and Shannon.

Check out the trailer for yourself after the jump. Premium Rush hits theaters on January 13, 2012.

Screenwriter David Koepp (Spider-Man) has been tapped to write Rob Marshall’s adaptation of Dashiell Hammett’s The Thin Man starring Johnny Depp.  The 1934 novel follows retired detective Nick Charles who is trying to happily live his life with his charming wife Nora and their dog Asta.  However, when one of Charles’ former client Clyde Wynant goes missing and his secretary turns up dead, Nick is reluctantly drawn back into the case and the web of intrigue created by Wynant’s terrible family. Also, everyone in the book, particularly Nick and Nora, drinks like a fish but hardly anyone gets drunk.  Hammett’s novel was successfully adapted into a franchise starring William Powell and Myrna Loy although Hammett only wrote one novel featuring Nick and Nora.

Hit the jump for more on this story and my thoughts on adapting The Thin Man.

We have another installment in our ongoing series “things Ron Howard may or may not be directing in the near future.” Yesterday, we brought you a pair of items in which he displayed optimism for his Dark Tower adaptation before diving into early talks to helm the Formula 1 racing biopic Rush. Now, the Oscar-winning filmmaker has his name attached to a Spy vs. Spy film adaptation over at Warner Bros. John Kamps (Ghost Town) will pen the script which is described by Deadline as a “highly visual action comedy.” Howard will also produce the pic alongside David Koepp and his Imagine Entertainment cohort Brian Grazer.

Those concerned about what Spy vs. Spy could mean for Howard’s ambitious Dark Tower take needn’t worry as the project is believed to be a “down the line” pic for the director. In case you’ve forgotten about the perpetually feuding rivals that make up Spy vs. Spy, you should know that the Antonio Prohias-created property first appeared in 1961 as part of Mad Magazine #60. While I don’t have any memories of Spy in magazine format, I’ll always have a special place in my gaming heart for its NES game. If Howard’s eventual take ends up being half as satisfying as that relic of my youth, then I will consider the whole thing a success.

It looks like Paramount really is serious about getting their Jack Ryan reboot right. The studio has now brought in screenwriter David Koepp (Jurassic Park) to rewrite the script for the franchise reboot starring Chris Pine. Originally, Steven Zaillian, who wrote the script for the Jack Ryan flick Clear and Present Danger, was brought in to rewrite, but he subsequently had a change of heart.

Lost’s Jack Bender is still on board to direct, and Deadline reports that the studio is aiming for a January start-date on the flick, after Pine finishes filming Star Trek 2. The problem with that, though, is that the Star Trek sequel still doesn’t officially have a director. J.J. Abrams is expected to return, but he’s awaiting a final script, which is still being tweaked by Roberto Orci, Alex Kurtzman and Damon Lindelof. Last we heard, Paramount was hoping to get Star Trek 2 rolling this fall in order to meet the June 29th, 2012 release date, but Pine moving on to the Jack Ryan reboot in January seems a bit premature. We’ll see if all goes according to plan.

Barry Sonnenfeld’s Men in Black III has had an unorthodox production schedule.  The film started shooting in November with an incomplete script, scheduled a hiatus from December to mid-February to fix the rest of the script, and then pick back up and finish the movie.  According to The Hollywood Reporter, Sony Pictures took this bizarre route because they wanted to take advantage of tax breaks in New York City and spring weather.

However, the hiatus has now passed and the script still isn’t finished.  As we reported last week, screenwriter David Koepp (Spider-Man) has been brought in to fix the script by Etan Cohen (Tropic Thunder) and later Jeff Nathanson (Rush Hour 2).  But THR reports that those re-writes aren’t going smoothly as the project is caught between Sonnenfeld, producer Walter Parkes, and star Will Smith.  Hit the jump for more details.

Production on Barry Sonnenfeld’s Men in Black III went into its planned hiatus last November to handle issues with the script.  That hiatus was set to finish in February, but was recently pushed back to March 28th.  According to Deadline, blockbuster scribe David Koepp (Spider-Man) has been brought in to work on the script for the next several weeks.

The story for the third involvement involves the movie’s villain (Jemaine Clement) traveling back in time to kill Agent K (Tommy Lee Jones), but that assassination will set off a chain of events that will destroy the world.  Agent J (Will Smith) must travel back in time to protect Agent K and the universe.  Etan Cohen (Tropic Thunder) wrote the original draft of the script, and then Jeff Nathanson (Rush Hour 2) was brought on board to punch up the time-traveling scenes.  There are no details on what parts of the script require Koepp’s attention, but Sony insists that the 3D film will make its May 25, 2012 release date.  The movie also stars Rip Torn, Alice Eve, Emma Thompson, and Josh Brolin.