Screen Junkies » Overbrook

The Chances Of A ‘Risk’ Movie Have Improved

Wookie Johnson — Thu, 09 Jun 2011 22:28:46 +0000

Risk seems to be pulling itself out of the depths of Development Hell by assigning a writer and it’s a good one too!! As most movies tend to need a script, producers at Sony and Overbrook Entertainment saw fit to hire screenwriter John Hlavin to move the game pieces across the board in a dramatic fashion. The writer is best known for his Black List approved script, The Gunslinger. That film remains to be produced but you can see his work when Underworld: New Dawn opens next year.

You may be quick to dismiss this project due to the fact it is based on a board game. But did you know that the game itself was invented by film maker Albert Lamorisse, the French director of The Red Balloon? Plus, the material could very well loan itself to an exciting storyline. So please, I urge you, hold your judgment until it is announced they are shoe-horning aliens into the plot. (Deadline)

Oscar Watch: Justin Bieber To Play Young Ashton Kutcher?

Geoffrey Golden — Thu, 31 Mar 2011 00:42:05 +0000

With talks of Ashton Kutcher and Justin Bieber headlining the same movie, it looks like the stars are aligning. Or are those asteroids headed to earth to destroy us? *Looks Through Telescope.* Yup, definitely asteroids. My bad.

Bieber may spread his deadly fever into the world of scripted comedy, as he’s in talks to star in What Would Kenny Do? with Kutcher, a movie about a 17-year-old boy who’s visited by the hologram of his adult self to help guide him throug high school. I’m sure the Razzie nominating committee is planning a lavish celebration at their offices if the deal goes through, and I hear critics are already scribbling lines for their reviews in their notebooks for when the film actually comes out. Lines like, “I didn’t need my future self to tell me this would be the worst thing ever.”

Bieber’s intense tour schedule will probably stop this madness from happening, but I guess I should never say never.

The Sony film will be produced by Will Smith’s Overbrook Entertainment, who is currently seeking a new writer and director. Apparently they’re unhappy with the original Black List script by Chris Baldi and the rewrite by Scott Neustadter and Michael Weber (500 Days of Summer). (LA Times)

Tim Dowling To Settle Who’s Smoother: Denzel Or Will

Wookie Johnson — Thu, 24 Mar 2011 20:39:46 +0000

All the terrible pieces are coming together. Will Smith’s long-stalled remake of Uptown Saturday Night looks to be gearing up to be so, so meh. Just Go With It writer Tim Dowling has been hired to update the script for Fred Claus director David Dobkin.

Though the plot of the remake will likely be updated as to not include ridiculous hats, the original follows Bill Cosby and Sidney Poitier as two estranged friends who go on a quest to find a lost winning lottery ticket.

The project has been in the works with Overbrook Entertainment since 2002 with the belief that it will eventually star Will Smith and Denzel Washington. Given this casting, might I suggest that instead of a lost lottery ticket the duo needs to stop a runaway nuclear train before it prevents Kevin James from finding the love of his life? I can’t?? Oh, okay then. (Variety)