From comingsoon.net (via Entertainment Weekly): Entertainment Weekly talked to Spider-Man 3 director Sam Raimi, star Kirsten Dunst, and Sony’s President of Production Matt Tolmach about a possible fourth installment and what would happen if Raimi took on The Hobbit.
On the eve of what is expected to be the biggest Spider-Man yet, Entertainment Weekly learns that director Sam Raimi is seriously considering directing The Hobbit—a choice that could potentially leave Spidey 4 without a director and, says Kirsten Dunst, a leading lady.
Raimi’s name has been floated in connection with The Hobbit ever since a very public dustup between Peter Jackson and New Line chairman Bob Shaye left the Lord of the Rings prequel without a director. Raimi went on the record for the first time about his potential involvement in the project during an exclusive interview with EW’s Steve Daly for the magazine’s Summer Preview issue, on stands Friday: “Peter Jackson might be the best filmmaker on the planet right now. But, um, I don’t know what’s going to happen next for me right now. First and foremost, those are Peter Jackson and Bob Shaye’s films. If Peter didn’t want to do it, and Bob wanted me to do it—and they were both ok with me picking up the reigns—that would be great. I love the book. It’s maybe a more kid-friendly story than the others.”
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BOSTON (Reuters) – Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer Inc. is raising hundreds of millions of dollars to produce sequels to some of its most popular films, such as The Terminator and The Pink Panther, at a time Wall Street investors are eager to pay for movie making in Hollywood, the company’s chairman said…”We are putting together a fund to finance our franchise movies — James Bond, The Pink Panther, The Terminator and The Hobbit,” MGM Chairman Harry Sloan told reporters, explaining the financing may be raised in more than one single fund. [More]
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Veteran actor Ian McKellen’s much anticipated first turn in the lead role in Shakespeare’s King Lear is set to reach Australia this year. Among his generation’s greatest actors, McKellen has been confirmed to lead the renowned Royal Shakespeare Company in productions of the theatre classics King Lear and Chekhov’s The Seagull for a limited 10-performance run at the Arts Centre in Melbourne from July 28. The tour will reunite McKellen with director Trevor Nunn for the first time in 17 years. [More]
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Alis writes: Elijah Wood is currently filming “The Oxford Murders” with co-star John Hurt. Here is a report with photos about my day on set as an extra in the film. [More]
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Director James Cameron, hard at work on his sci-fi extravaganza Avatar, is the latest person to comment on the increasingly nasty legal battle between Peter Jackson and New Line over profits from The Lord of The Rings. Jackson, for those who haven’t been keeping up with current events, accused New Line of deceptive accounting practices and demanded that the company submit to an audit. The resulting lawsuit managed to nix any chance of Jackson directing The Hobbit for New Line under their current management and time is running out for the film to be put into production before the rights switch hands again. Already there are rumors that Sam Raimi will be taking over the project before the contract expires in 2009. Premiere Magazine spoke with Cameron about the controversy because Cameron is planning to use Jackson’s Wellington studio to shoot parts of Avatar. [More]
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New Line’s option to make The Hobbit expires in 2009; maybe they don’t think Peter Jackson can get the movie made in time. The company is also already turning its attention to another mega-budgeted fantasy franchise, the His Dark Materials trilogy. But the studio’s motivations became more clear in January, when New Line co-CEO Robert Shaye couldn’t refrain from a retort.
“I do not want to make a movie with somebody who is suing me. It will never happen during my watch,” he said, and then referred to Jackson as “misinformed” and “myopic.” [More]
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