The Exorcist, not only one of the greatest horror movies ever made but one of the greatest movies, has a lingering power that may well be impossible to replicate.
Time and time again, Hollywood has failed to get a remake off the ground (but have seen no shortage of rip-offs) because this is a movie that can't be copied and likely can't be bettered.
The solution, it seems, is to not make a movie at all.
The Dictator conquers the box office this week.
A writer at the peak of his literary success discovers the steep price he must pay for stealing another man's work.
Come on, admit it, we were all kind of surprised to see that the trailers for the sequel to G.I. JOE: THE RISE OF COBRA, namely G.I. JOE: RETALIATION, actually looked pretty promising. Sure, the film will never win awards for being high art, but the mix of tongue-in-cheek action and actual character peril the trailers suggested meant that a sizeable audience was getting pretty damn interested in seeing it.
Now comes the news that Paramount have shifted the release date by NINE MONTHS in order to give the film a 3D conversion. Please pardon me while I sigh. It's far too late to be doing this, Paramount! Not all that many people care about 3D. It's not all that great. It darkens everything. It takes you out of the story and the moment. It makes for expensive tickets and annoyed customers.
Avengers who? While Warner Bros. shied away from competing with Marvel's mightiest heroes, they are safe to launch their marketing blitz without fear of Iron Man siphoning off their hype.
On top of the posters released this week (here and here), we have eight brand new stills, courtesy of Batman News. The images include behind the scenes images, including director Christopher Nolan, and also highlight Batman, his arch-nemesis Bane and the feline femme fatale Catwoman.
The G.I. Joe: Retaliation marketing carried an air of confidence about it. It basically told us, "Yes, this movie is going to be silly but there's no shame in silly." You don't position a ninja-rappel-battle as the punchline to your trailers if you are not defiantly proud of your stupid movie.
I love silly, I love stupid, my heart was ready to love G.I. Joe: Retaliation. Paramount have decided to take that away from me, moving the release date from June 2012 (August in the UK) to March 2013.
Debuting on Facebook earlier this week, we have the brand new poster for Christopher Nolan’s final instalment in his Batman trilogy, The Dark Knight Rises.
The marketing campaign has been lacklustre for The Dark Knight Rises so far. This is the sign of a franchise with very little to prove, they know people will turn out and so far marketing has merely been a reminder that the film exists. That all changes now.
Thor 2 is looking for a new villain. I have my issues with the first movie but they got the villain aspect perfect with Tom Hiddleston's Loki, a character with a more deliberately mapped out arc than the star of the movie, but after menacing Thor and The Avengers it's time for something new.
Loki will still be involved in Thor 2 but he will not be the primary antagonist of the film there is still room to flesh out and explore the dysfunctional family angle but as a key antagonist he has run his course for now. It's time for new blood.
The first trailer and poster for F. Scott Fitzgerald’s seminal American novel The Great Gatsby have been released. This new adaptation will be directed by Baz Luhrmann, a man who knows how to create a lavish spectacle or two and stars the likes of Leonardo DiCaprio, Tobey Maguire, Joel Edgerton, Carey Mulligan and Isla Fisher.
