Karina on SpoutBlog

Under discussion:

Children of Men  (2006)

Timecrimes  (2007)

Twitch has linked to a Spanish-language interview with Nacho Vigalondos, in which the Timecrimes director says David Cronenberg is in the running to direct the English-language remake of his time travel film–-that is, since Mario Bava is not available. Vigalondos also says Timothy J. Sexton, one of the writers of Children of Men, is writing the English language adaptation, and that if he were to have his dream cast, it would involve Joan Allen, Adam Brody, and either Bruce Willis or Kurt Russell. After the jump, you’ll find Babelfish’s translation of the relevant portion of the interview. Linguistics are funny! See also Kevin’s review of Timecrimes and interview with Nacho from Sundance.

What seems to you the election of Timothy J. Sexton like scriptwriter of remake American?

Here I am not a film director, nor anybody of the industry. I am fan as you can be. I assure to you that I am living all this with the emotion on a boy. Or with the one of a guest of “Surprise, Surprise” to which they let to him estechar the hand to his ídolos. Children of Men seemed to me one of the guessed right films more of the last times, so you can be imagined. On the other hand, the election of a scriptwriter as he makes shake thinking me about the dimension of the director. It is going to be a great film, and I cannot feel prouder.

What American actors you would like that they interpreted remake?

Kurt Russell or Bruce Willis of protagonist. The scientist, Adam Brody. The wife, Joan Allen and the girl… Since she repeats Barbarian No?

Since you have said the actors whom you would like to see in remake of your film, we go with the director.

Sight, if the rumor that that is confirmed it is going it to make Cronemberg, I retire to me. If my film meant its return to the science-fiction, I operate of pride and AIM. Another director who was very present in the running was the Brian de Palma of Body Doublé. You imagine? And if it could revive to deads, Mario Bava, by God. To Hitchcock nor I mention to him because it would give shame me.

It may seem like a waste of space to beat this dead horse too heavily, but since we did devote time to analyzing why the bombing of Speed Racer is likely to have a detrimental effect on the future of the blockbuster, it’s relevant. Turns out, the film made even less money than Warner Brothers estimated––about 8% less, dropping its 3-day gross from $20.2 million to $18.6 million, and dropping the film from second place for the weekend, behind the unbeatable Iron Man, to third behind the flash-in-the-pan What Happened in Vegas.

What’s to account for the discrepancy? Apparently, when WB released their numbers on Sunday morning, they were estimating Sunday’s final take based on a typical weekend’s metrics, without accounting for the fact that this past Sunday was Mothers Day––ie: the single day of the year when parents are least likely to pander to their kids’ whines about going to see a hyper-active live-action cartoon. The other studios called bullshit, and by late Monday the real numbers came to light.

The real question is: why didn’t Warners foresee that Mothers Day was going to be a black hole for a film that apparently only appeals to eight year olds and contrarian aesthetes?

Under discussion:

Fraggle Rock [TV Series]  (1983)

• The Variety headline: “Production Resumes on [David O'Russell's] Nailed,” which had been shut down due to the production company’s failure to pay union fees last week. The real story: ThinkFilm, and its financial backers, Capitol Films, are having trouble paying the bills. Not only did Alex Gibney threaten a bankruptcy lawsuit after a promised bonus for his Oscar win for Taxi to the Dark Side never materialized, but the mini studio is apparently in a such a cash crunch that they’re having trouble paying for newspaper ads for their current releases, and are expected to stay out of the buying fray at Cannes.
• Another day, another sign that I should stop eating bagels whilst reading the trades, lest I choke to death: The Weinstein Company is making a live-action feature version of Fraggle Rock.
• Steve Martin has sold a pitch to Paramount for a comedy called From Zero to Sixty, which would star he and Diane Keaton. Also, Pink Panther 3 is coming! You can exhale!