Screen Junkies » billy ray

J.J. Abrams Prepping A New Mystery Project. Must Be A Day That Ends In ‘Y’

Penn Collins — Mon, 03 Oct 2011 17:33:07 +0000

Not a lot is known about the project that will team J.J. Abrams and in-demand screenwriter Billy Ray, but the announcement alone should represent the green flag for everyone to start speculating about it…RIGHT NOW!

According to those old so-and-so’s at Deadline, the project will be a mystery adventure and both Abrams and Ray worked on the pitch together. One couldn’t expect it to be undertaken too soon, with Ray working on the script for Pan (which should be nearing completion), the 24 film, which seems to have gotten some traction as of today, and The Secret in Their Eyes, which he will also be directing.

Outside of his perennial producing duties, Abrams’ schedule appears more open, beholden only to directing the Star Trek sequel.

There is some speculation that this project could be the Cloverfield sequel or prequel, but I find it unlikely that Ray would bring his considerable talents the Abrams’ brainchild, rather than a new concept altogether. Perhaps it’s a Baby Geniuses reimagining, where the babies are grittier… and darker.

Yeah, that sounds about right.

Elizabeth Banks To Increase Adult Male Interest In ‘Hunger Games’?

Geoffrey Golden — Tue, 19 Apr 2011 01:57:15 +0000

I’m not too interested in seeing these Hunger Games that all the tweens are talking about, but I’ll tell you what I’m talking about: the hotness of Elizabeth Banks. Not only is she a very funny actress, who stars in”30 Rock,” Role Models and The 40-Year-Old Virgin, but she’s also very, very easy on the ol’ eyeballs I am now somewhat more intrigued by this movie. Somewhat.

Banks is in talks to star as Effie Trinket in The Hunger Games, alongside Jennifer Lawrence and Josh Hutcherson. Trinket is a beaurocrat, an escort for futuristic death-match participants and a bubbly airhead who regularly changes her hair color. All three of those are listed on her business cards.

Mere hours ago, we learned that Amandla Stenberg and Dayo Oekniyi will play Rue and Thresh. Do with that information what you will. Based on the first of several novels by Suzanne Collins, Gary Ross will direct this adaptation of The Hunger Games, written by Billy Ray. (Variety)

Kiefer Sutherland Will Make ’24′ Movie By Any Means Necessary

Geoffrey Golden — Fri, 21 Jan 2011 04:57:33 +0000

Despite rumors, the movie version of Fox’s retired hit drama 24 is not dead. It’s just been sitting in a basement, tied to a chair, waiting for Jack Bauer to waterboard the shit out of it.

In a recent interview, Kiefer Sutherland said that shooting on the 24 film would begin next December or January. Though the last pass on the script by writer Billy Ray (State of Play) has been rejected, now we learn a new script is being worked on — and worked over with electric shock treatment — according to Sutherland.

So why has the wait been torturously long? Sutherland explains:

It’s a very difficult thing to take something that you’ve done for eight years, almost 200 episodes, and try and find a story that’s going to be unique and yet service the history of the show as well… So we start shooting hopefully by next December or January.

So Jack Bauer may just make it to theaters after all. Unless the terrorists have their way, but as long as America is awesome, I guarantee you they will not. (/Film)