Video Clip: Michel Gondry’s Interior Design
Cannes2008 has the first video clip from Michel Gondry’s “Interior Design”, a 30-minute short film which is part of the upcoming three part anthology project Tôkyô!, a triptych film in the same tradition of New York Stories or Paris, je t’aime from directors Bong Joon Ho (The Host), Leos Carax (Bad Blood) and Michel Gondry (Eternal Sunshine). Each director tells an odd little story set in Japan’s capital. The film just sold at Cannes to Liberation Entertainment for North American distribution.
Written by Gondry and comic author Gabrielle Bell, Interior Design is based on Bell’s comic book “Cecil and Jordan in New York” from “Kramer’s Ergot #5”. The surreal fable of a young couple who moves to Tokyo in search of a future. While the boy’s ambition is clear - be a movie maker- the girl drifts gradually apart. Both of them will be drowned in the imensity until the girl [Ayako Fujitani, Steven Seagal’s Japanese daughter], feeling alone, discovers something strange … she eventually turns into a chair. Watch the video clip below.
The Hobbit: Peter Jackson Returns
The rumors are true: Lord of the Rings trilogy filmmaker Peter Jackson and New Line have come to an agreement, and will band together to bring The Hobbit to the big screen, split over two live-action films. MGM and New Line will co-finance the project, with New Line handing North American distribution, and MGM handing the International. It is currently believed that Peter Jackson will not be available to direct either of the two films, as his schedule is full. The announcement says that Peter Jackson and Fran Walsh will serve as Executive Producers of two films, which will be shot simultaneously.
Spider-Man director Sam Raimi has been anxiously watching this project, and his future schedule is pretty much clear. Raimi has said that he wouldn’t be involved unless Jackson produced, and it looks like the perfect situation is now in place. I wouldn’t be surprised if we see the Raimi announcement before Christmas.
Said Peter Jackson, “I’m very pleased that we’ve been able to put our differences behind us, so that we may begin a new chapter with our old friends at New Line. ‘The Lord of the Rings’ is a legacy we proudly share with Bob and Michael, and together, we share that legacy with millions of loyal fans all over the world. We are delighted to continue our journey through Middle Earth. I also want to thank Harry Sloan and our new friends at MGM for helping us find the common ground necessary to continue that journey.”
Principal photography is tentatively set for a 2009 start with a production budget of $150 million per film. They are currently eyeing release dates in 2010 and 2011. It has been previously rumored that the film would be shot and released in 3D, although Jackson and New Line are keeping mum at this time.
Lionsgate Gets Conan
Nu Image/Millennium Films has inked a deal with Lionsgate for the North American distribution rights for a new film series based on the Robert E. Howard-created character Conan the Barbarian. The new film will be written by Sahara scribes Thomas Dean Donnelly and Joshua Oppenheimer. So if you had any hope for this new action fantasy epic, go rent A Sound of Thunder (or better yet, don’t).
Conan was created long before the original 1982 movie was produced. The original character was created by Robert E. Howard in a series of fantasy pulp stories published in Weird Tales in the 1930s.
When the project was set up at Warner Bros, the studio pitched the project to Matrix creators Larry and Andy Wachowski, and Robert Rodriguez. The studio eventually had to pass on Rodriguez, who was interested, after he quit the Directors Guild of America so he could co-direct Sin City with Frank Miller.
The producers hope to begin production later this year, but a start date will depend on when a screenplay can be completed. And if you didn’t know, the screenwriters are currently on strike. But Nu Image/Millennium chief Avi Lerner is currently in discussions to make an individual deal with the WGA similar to the deal made with United Artists.