‘Bone’ Adaptation Lands ‘The Little Prince’ Director
Studios have long tried to find a way to adapt Jeff Smith’s beloved, Eisner Award winning comic series Bone into a feature film, but little progress has been made. Capturing the tone of the comic series, which follows three “Bone cousins” on separate journeys to a valley of immense beauty and fantastic horrors, is no easy feat. Director Mark Osborne might just be the man for the job. After international success with another difficult to adapt IP, The Little Prince, Osborne has been tapped to helm the long gestating Bone movie along with screenwriter Adam Kline (Artemis Fowl). Osborne has had massive success in the world of animation; Kung Fu Panda, which he also directed, was nominated for a Best Animated Oscar back in 2008, on top of a Best Animated Short nomination in 1999. Difficult as Bone might be to get just right, if anyone can do, Osborne can.
Forest Whitaker Set for Tupac/Biggie Murder Drama
Pre-production for the Brad Furman (The Infiltrator) directed drama LAbyrinth, which delves into the unsolved mysteries of rappers Tupac Shakur and Christopher “The Notorious B.I.G.” Wallace murders, is moving right along. Johnny Depp is already on board as an LAPD detective whose failure to solve the case haunts him and, now, Forest Whitaker (Arrival) has been tapped to play a journalist who teams up with the detective to try to solve the puzzle. Based on the book by Randall Sullivan, LAbyrinth also explores LAPD corruption and the climate of racism that surrounded the pair of murders, which may or may not be related. Hopefully the film will reignite interest in the cases, which have gone down as the most famous unsolved mysteries of the modern era.
(Deadline)
Netflix Looks to Acquire Jared Leto Vehicle ‘The Outsider’
Netflix is making more moves against the traditional studio system. In just a few short years they’ve led some surprising coups against the traditional distribution model, landing such films as 13th and David Ayer’s upcoming sci-fi epic Bright, starring Will Smith. Now, the streaming service is said to be eying the Jared Leto (Suicide Squad) starring crime drama, The Outsider. The film follows an army deserter who joins the Yakuza in post-World War II Japan. While no deal is finalized, Netflix has repeatedly shown their willingness and ability to outbid traditional distribution studios, and landing The Outsider would be a major victory for their model. The film is currently being filmed in Japan with director Martin Zandvilet (Land of Mine).
(Variety)
‘Kong: Skull Island’ Reveals New Trailer
If you’re going to revisit King Kong, a legendary movie monster who’s had several remakes, spinoffs, and crossovers over the decades, go big or go home. That, at any rate, seems to be the mantra for Kong: Skull Island. The latest trailer takes us deeper into the terrifying island home of The King and it’s shockingly hilarious? I guess John C. Reilly is probably going to be hilarious no matter where you put him, and I suppose there’s an argument to be made that his hilarity has more to do with what seems like years of living relatively isolated on Skull Island, so it’s less hilarious than it is sad and scary. Still, that’s kind of a bizarre tone to take. Also, it seems kind of clear that Legendary Pictures has less of a vested interest in King Kong than they do with setting up the inevitable/already announced showdown with Godzilla, who got a reboot of his just a few years ago. Giant monsters, man’s hubris, and American ignorance are all portrayed well here, as are the actual villains, giant kaiju like monsters with whom Kong does battle. Looks dumb. Also looks kind of awesome. Why do we think the two are mutually exclusive? Kong: Skull Island is expected on March 10, 2017.
(Jimmy Kimmel Live/Legendary Pictures)
