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It’s probably not a great sign that the release of Michel Gondry’s upcoming Be Kind Rewind, starring Jack Black and Mos Def, has been pushed back to the icy winter wasteland of late January. With major critics too busy in the proceeding weeks to see much beyond Oscar hopefuls before heading off to Sundance, it’s traditionally the portion of calendar where movies destined to draw bad reviews go to hide. But even if that one’s a wash, Gondry’s next project sounds really, really cool. He tells MTV News:

I am working on an animated film with my son…We’re translating our relationship into a futuristic story with a dictator and a rebel. He’s the dictator in the story [and] it will be based on [his] art.

The MTV story doesn’t specify which son Gondry’s talking about–he has two–but according to Director’s File, it’s Paul Gondry, who is 16. He recently made an animated music video for The Willowz. You can watch that here; I’ve pasted a still of it above.

For a slice of the father-son relationship ostensibly inspiring this new project, check out this interview Paul conducted with his dad for INTERVIEW Magazine last year, around the time Michel’s The Science of Sleep was released in the U.S. In the interview, Gondry said he cast Gael Garcia Bernal in that film’s lead role because “he looks like [Paul] a little bit.” Paul said, “It’s hard for me to watch your movies sometimes because they’re always based on everything you went through and I was there with you in a way.” Michel responded, “Same for me.”

[Via Twitch]

• It’s hard to pick a single line to isolate from this Variety story about the soon-to-be-in-production fourth Terminator flick–I LOLed throughout. Is the the part where the film’s budget is described as “event-sized”? Maybe the part where the producers shamelessly hint that Governor Schwarzenegger will make a cameo? Or, maybe the meticulous breakdown of the Terminator chronology, ending with financier Derek Anderson’s insistence that “this is set in the future, in a full-scale war between Skynet and humankind” (phew!) Actually, everything you need to know is contained in the proposed title: Terminator Salvation: The Future Begins.
• Brad Silberling will direct Will Ferrell in a big-screen adaptation of Land of the Lost. The project, which is categorized as an “event comedy” (when did ‘event’ become an adjective?) is set up at Universal, who took a bath on their last “event comedy”, the bloated Evan Almighty. Thus, the Lost budget “was recalibrated from $125 million to $100 million in order to earn its start date.”
• Rejoice! Fred Durst’s directorial debut The Education of Charlie Banks is FINALLY coming to theaters and DVD! Caption that photo however you see fit.

Warner Brothers’ Jeff Robinov responds to Nikki Finke’s allegations that he’s put the kibosh on producing movies starring women. Anne Thompson writes:

Warner production prexy Jeff Robinov insists he is moving forward with several movies with women in the lead. Indeed, he is offended by rumors of his cinematic misogyny.

Action features starring women remain a hard sell for many moviegoers. But Robinov said he is still willing to put a femme star into an action role. “But, like any other movie, it has to be the right movie with the right actor and the right filmmaker at the right time,” he said.

Much more at the link, but like I said: the news wasn’t that the studio was turning away from (mis)casting female movies stars in action movies; the news was that they cast a bunch of Oscar-winning actresses over 30 in poorly conceived genre fare, and then dropped the ball on marketing. The real news nugget within Robinov’s protestation is that heavy reservation, “the right movie with the right actor and the right filmmaker at the right time.” The optimistic read on this is, “we’re taking a conscious step away from producing movies like The Invasion and The Reaping that bleed money, misuse high-caliber talent, embarrass just about everyone and please almost no one.”

I’ll leave the less optimistic readings to others. At the end of the day, the studio’s slate of projects is going to speak for itself.  Nikki hasn’t yet responded, but you know it’s coming.