Live-Action Akira Not Dead Yet
A live-action version of the classic anime Akira has been bouncing around Hollywood for years and nothing has ever come to fruition. For all intents and purposes, the project seemed dead in the water. Now comes word that it may have a beating heart after all, as a “trusted source” had divulged to Steve Weintraub of Collider that writers Mark Fergus and Hawk Ostby were brought on board to flesh out the script. Marcus and Hawk are best known for the science-fiction movie Children of Men.
Also, while I couldn’t get a lot of info about what changes are being made from the anime to make the feature film work, I did confirm the story is still set in post-apocalyptic Manhattan in the near future. I also confirmed the famous motorcycle is definitely a part of the film, but that bit of info shouldn’t surprise anyone.
From what I could gather, the movie is still a priority for the studio, and if the script meets with approval from key people, the movie could go into production in 2010 with a release date in 2011. Also, this isn’t going to be some mid-range budget movie. If the film goes into production, it’s going to be one of those BIG event movies.
Sam Raimi Directing Warcraft Probably Won’t Change ‘Movies Based on Videogames Suck’ Law
So, Sam Raimi is slated to direct a movie based on World of Warcraft. Half of me is excited at the prospect, the other half is pretty confident the movie will suck. As a fan of the first two Evil Dead films and a moderate fan of the first Spider-Man movie, there is hope that Raimi can find some point to a Warcraft movie. I quite enjoyed his latest movie, Drag Me to Hell, but that had independent sensibilities that found Raimi in his element.
But World of Warcraft? Ugh. As an inspiration for a live-action film, I find World of Warcraft comes up pretty short. Its plots, characters, quests and backstory are pretty derivative and generic. Nothing I haven’t read before in countless fantasy novels. Whoever has been given the thankless task of locating a valid plot-thread in World of Warcraft and translating said thread into cinematic gold has a hell of a hill to climb.
But there I go again, thinking Hollywood cares about making a solid movie with a good plot. This isn’t about plots and characters. This is about cashing in on a huge fan-base, nothing more. It’s about milking the World of Warcraft brand. If you’re a fan of WoW, then you will have to put your full faith and trust in Sam Raimi, but even here there could be significant problems. Blizzard, like Disney, are very protective of their brand and as such, will have tight reigns over Raimi’s creative ideas. Besides, Rami has some real clunkers in his past like Darkman and, more recently, the horrific Legend of the Seeker series. Which Raimi will show up?
For more details, read the Variety article.
Hollywood Redefines Stupid - Asteroids: The Movie
Just when you thought movies about asteroids couldn’t possibly get any more lame than Michael Bay’s Armageddon, along comes a project that simply baffles the mind: Asteroids. As in, the 1979 version of the classic videogame Asteroids. The game where you shot asteroids. That’s it. You shot asteroids into smaller pieces and then shot those as well. Sometimes the plot would be spruced up with an intermittent spaceship. Sometimes it would be the real small one that was difficult to hit. That’s Asteroids in a nutshell.
Now imagine 90-minutes of film wasted on that concept.
My balls just shriveled.
With Ridley Scott’s Monopoly movie in the works, Candyland and Battleship in development, Bazooka Joe in pre-production, you can just smell the pungent scent of crap wafting over the brain-trust of Hollywood.
Universal Studios is the one to blame for this latest nonsense, actually winning a bidding war to secure the rights, if you can believe that b.s.
All the sad details can be found at The Hollywood Reporter.
AMD ships 50 millionth ‘Hollywood’ graphics processing chip for Wii
Filed under: News
A recent AMD press release brought word of yet another hardware milestone for Nintendo — earlier today, AMD shipped its 50 millionth “Hollywood” chip, the graphics processor for the Wii. With such a large number of units sold, the “Hollywood” has become AMD’s most successful (and likely most profitable) gaming console chip in the company’s history.
It’s safe to assume by AMD’s missive that Nintendo has manufactured around 50 million Wiis — though their most recent LTD numbers place the console’s sales around 45 million. Since Wiis stay on store shelves an average of fourteen seconds, this can mean only one thing: Someone, or something, has stolen five million Wiis. As usual, we blame the Nazis.
AMD ships 50 millionth ‘Hollywood’ graphics processing chip for Wii originally appeared on Joystiq Nintendo on Wed, 11 Mar 2009 16:30:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
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