Jason Bourne Goes to South America?
Producer Frank Marshall revealed to IESB plans to begin shooting a fourth Jason Bourne movie next Summer, for release in 2010. Universal announced the project back in February, with director Paul Greengrass and star Matt Damon set to return. Marshall also confirmed that they will probably be creating an original story for the fourth film, since author/creator Robert Ludlum wasn’t involved in the later books in the series.
“There was a fourth book written, but it was not by Mr. Ludlum. So we’re probably going to take our own direction and we’re working on what that storyline’s gonna be right now.”
And where will this new adventure bring us? Marshall is predicting that Bourne will journey to “South America.”
Moonlight: Click - VIDEO
(S01E14) “Then you know how I’m going to handle this.” Josef to Beth about Dean Foster
Things are really starting to heat up in important ways. I know that a lot of fans thought last week’s episode was phenomenal, especially because of the scene between Josef and Mick, but this episode was even better. There are two reasons for this: First, that the plot really worked, moved quickly, created suspense, and second that the plot actually had ramifications for Mick’s future (and Beth’s, and their possible future together). That’s called synergy, and I like it.
Let’s also talk about what was better this week: Jason Dohring wasn’t stiff at all. He was both funny and dangerous, just exactly what he needs to be. Eric Winter was also better, pensive, and not such a prick. But everybody looks stupid with those bluetooth earpieces. Why can’t all actors wear the wired earpiece like Jason Bourne? I am just not even going to comment on Beth’s wig apart from saying that I suppose I am just going to have to live with it. I am going to be Switzerland about the wig.
Car chase! The budget for this show has definitely increased. Yay, car chase at the beginning of the show! I loved having Mick mutter under his breath, “You cannot die. You can’t die.” Very nice sense of humor. Mick seems to be coming to terms nicely with his return to vampirism. Maybe because he chose it this time? And for a greater purpose? He may have felt that he indirectly endangered Beth when she was a child, because if he hadn’t been a vampire Coraline wouldn’t have kidnapped her. But now, being a vampire was the only way to save her.
Forgive me, but I like a little plot with my vampire porn, so I appreciated the investigation this episode actually required. Having Mick investigate Tierney’s murder, smelling her stateroom to figure out what happened (too bad he can’t actually tell who was there by their scents lingering, too) and question witnesses was great. Of course, questioning people depends on their honesty, as we discovered with Jason the film producer lying to Beth. But, of course they figured it out with further probing.
Too bad we aren’t going to get to see more of Beth’s new Buzzwire boss. His Philip Seymour Hoffman imitation may have rankled some people, but I found it sort of hilarious. He was a breath of fresh air and I would have liked to see that element continue. How can Beth afford to live in Hollywood and just quit her job, by the way? I mean, I understand her devotion to Mick and her intentions, but what is she going to do now?
Mick and Beth need to figure out other ways to date besides going out to dinner and having Mick watch Beth eat. They could go for hikes; go miniature golfing; go to the beach again; perhaps later in the day; go clubbing; go see some shows, or maybe just rent a video. I find it hard to believe that they haven’t slept together yet, but I’m willing to overlook it in the name of Television Building Sexual Tension. Mick the vampire has never slept with a human? Really?
It was excellent to see Mick vamp out at the paparazzi just to have them vamp out in return. Loved how Mick scolded them for it, too. I was amazed at the scene in which they tore Dean Foster apart like wild animals. That was really exploring a side of vampirism that the show hasn’t shown us yet: How feral, how dangerous they can really be. There are a lot of different ways they could have handled Dean Foster, but they chose one of the most elemental. It was excellent– we need to see more of this kind of scene on this show. Not only because it’s really cool, but also because it reminds us that Mick really isn’t a human anymore, so his relationship with Beth is seriously complicated. His mission in life is to protect her, and he could be really dangerous to her.
Of course, now we have the real complications that may keep Beth and Mick apart: Talbot has the photographs of Mick getting up and walking away from the car accident. So, he is going to try to figure out why. Also, Beth and Josef did the unspeakable by having Foster killed to protect Mick. Mick wouldn’t approve of that at all. He is going to find out: Will he forgive them for it? Will he forgive Beth? I mean, it’s sort of in Josef’s history to behave that way, but not Beth. The fact that she would have a man killed to protect Mick: Wow. Wow. That is sinister in ways that the show has not yet fully explored. I hope they investigate it in the future and don’t make it just simple and easy for her to have done.
So, we have the dual complications of Beth’s secret and Talbot’s investigation, which could ultimately result in Mick having to disappear.
Here’s hoping for a second season.
Jack Bauer heads to Africa
To tie us over until 24’s seventh season premieres in January 2009 (it’s closer than we think), Fox is appeasing us with The Rookie, five-minute webisodes following the adventures of American Counter Terrorism agent Jason Blaine, played by Jeremy Valdez. Check out Keith’s post about The Rookie here.
It all ties in with the TV series. Blaine was first seen in 24’s fifth season aboard a Russian sub. “If Jack Bauer and Jason Bourne had a love child, it would be Jason Blaine,” says co-writer Kevin Townsend in an Associated Press story. “He’s a younger, more ambitious, less experienced — but no less talented — version of those two characters.”
Ok, that’s kind of a creepy way to put it, but we get it. Now in its third phase, titled Day 3 - Extraction, the web series finds Blaine sent to Mexico City to rescue his mentor, Alton Maxwell (Eric Beck), who’s been kidnapped by drug czar, Estaban Salazar. Remember him? The Salazar brothers were introduced to us in 24’s third season.
The webisodes can be seen at http://www.DegreeRookie.com, or on-demand through Comcast and DirecTV. Yes, the webisodes feature embedded advertising for Degree Men deodorant. The idea is to make marketing look like entertainment, but they’re not fooling us. It’s advertising. Ok, with some entertainment thrown in to keep us coming back. They’ve even included a Degree spokesman — Chad Johnson of the Cincinnati Bengals — who appears as an FBI surveillance expert.
The real 24 went into production on April 22 in Los Angeles. Eight episodes of season seven were completed in late 2007 prior to the writer’s strike, including a shoot in Washington, D.C.
Here’s what we know: Jack Bauer (Keifer Sutherland) is being investigated by the Senate for crimes against humanity (Excuse me? Hasn’t he saved the world 153 times?). While in Washington, FBI agent Renee Walker brings him in to deal with a series of possible terrorist attacks instigated by former CTU agent Tony Almeida, previously presumed dead (hmmm). “Jack’s thrust into this mystery of how Tony is still alive, and why is he trying to bring down this country?,” explains 24 executive producer Manny Coto.
A two-hour prequel TV movie is expected to air this fall, which will bring Bauer to Africa and lead him — and us — into season seven. “He’s a soul in turmoil and has been moving from place to place trying to find somewhere he can be at peace,” Coto says. “But he winds up in Africa in the middle of a military coup.”
Meanwhile, Bauer is subpoenaed to appear before the Senate hearing while in Africa, but he’s reluctant to go. “He’s not running away from anything,” Coto says. “It’s because they’ve taken everything from him, but they won’t let them take his freedom.”
It’s amazing to think about where this series started and how it continues with the same intensity year after year (we hope). But are the webisodes and the 2-hour movie enough to keep us hooked? Do you think the series will lose viewers by the time it comes back in January? Will you be watching? And more importantly, do you think Tony Almeida is still alive?
Director Doug Liman Talks Time Travel, Intergalactic Plot For Jumper 2
Word of mouth on Jumper isn’t too positive, but the general consensus is that the premise still kinda rocks. Moreover, the image above is worth a hundred sci-fi strike-outs like Next, and hey, it’s not a remake. But the film, which opened to $38 million over the long weekend, has long been keyed in as the first in a so-trendy trilogy, and now director Doug Liman (The Bourne Identity, Swingers) has discussed a sequel with Collider’s Frosty in a super-caffeinated interview. The possibilities for Jumper 2 would seem boundless, from time travel to extraterrestrial teleporting to career longevity for Rachel Bilson.
“I actually have a ton of ideas for the sequel because this is whole new arena for me and so my mind was in overdrive the whole time and most of the ideas I came up with we either could tease or just save it for a sequel and so it’s…this power can be used to leave this planet, this power can be used ultimately to go back in time, this power can be used if you go and work for the government you’d be the ultimate Jason Bourne.”
What follows is a spoiler-ish quote from Liman, so I’m going to, er, jump it. But I have to say that unlike a flick like The Chronicles of Riddick, I hope this entire vision is seen through. He also discussed his (possibly 3D?) to-the-moon project with Jake Gyllenhaal, and his Valerie Plame biopic so just cruise through Spoilerville for that.
“…Rachel Bilson’s character learns how to teleport in the 2nd book…In this case [the teleportation powers] are taught and it’s, you know, one of the things that may sort of…things we toyed with on this movie is do we actually need to do the obligatory rule scene, where you lay out everything the power can and can’t do. We ultimately decided to say we’re changing so many other sort of aspects of this genre like let’s not do the rule scene because the rules don’t ultimately…the limitations of this power aren’t ultimately…don’t factor into the finale…”
“Well, you know the kind of jumping that we’re showing in the movie which is a kind of worm hole jump which is why those scars are left behind, if you can travel through space through a worm hole from a scientific Einstein point of view, you could also travel through time. So you know that’s not quantum teleportation which is featured in the film, so I’m very specific to show those scars and to show that you’re leaving a worm hole and in fact that’s what Rachel Bilson gets pulled through in the end, so it’s….I’ve left myself open…I’ve left the door open to time travel because of the specific kind of teleportation that I chose to portray in this film.”
End spoiler.
Either way, it seems that Jumper 2 will not be next for Liman, who’s prepping two projects: the Untitled Valerie Plame Biopic starring Nicole Kidman, which Liman curiously says would be the “most radical and revolutionary move of my career,” calling his take on the material “art”; and his 2009 Untitled Moon Project with Jake Gyllenhaal.
“One of them is with Jake Gyllenhaal about a private expedition to go to the moon present day. And I think when the United States of America put a man on the moon in 1969 that was one of the greatest accomplishments mankind has ever done. And rather than tell that as a historic movie I was like can I make this relevant to a modern audience, can I have modern characters today follow the blueprint of Apollo and re-create the Apollo mission today using parts stolen from the Smithsonian Museum.”
He goes on to say he might “throw in some 3D for the hell of it” on that project or a future one.