LATEST NEWS (KEVIN SMITH AND BOND)

[Guest THE HEAVY METAL MANIAC]

KEVIN SMITH GETS STUNG BY 'THE GREEN HORNET'

Finally. The planets are aligned. All those throw-away wishes are

coming true. Someone in Hollywood finally put Kevin Smith in charge of

a comic book movie.

 

Of course, that someone is Smith's longtime collaborator Harvey

Weinstein and his studio Miramax Films. The film is none other than The

Green Hornet. Harvey explained his decision to hand over his company's

most important property to a guy without an action flick on his resume,

"Kevin's tremendous work on our upcoming Jersey Girl, has demonstrated

his continued growth as a filmmaker and we have no doubt that he will

tackle this franchise for us in a compelling and entertaining way. In

addition to being a great writer and director, Kevin knows more about

comic characters, books and the creative process than anyone else I

have ever met."

 

Kevin added, "Long-time comics geek gets to make comic book movie? This

is a dream come true. I'm still reeling! You don't know how in love

with Harvey Weinstein I am right now."

 

For those of you less geeky when it comes to comic books, The Green

Hornet follows the adventure of Britt Reid, a millionaire playboy who

moonlights as a masked crime fighter, and his kung fu toting chauffeur

Kato. Or as Kev puts it, "I dig the fact that he kicked off a run of

billionaire playboys who decided to put on a mask and fight crime, and

that he was Batman before there was a Batman.

 

Casting is underway, although none of the principal roles have been

filled as of yet. Shooting is scheduled to begin this Summer with an

August 2005 release targeted.

 

Previously, Kevin featured comic books heavily in Mallrats and Chasing

Amy. His characters Jay and Silent Bob made it their mission in Jay And

Silent Bob Strike Back to thwart a movie that was being made based on

their comic book alter egos Bluntman and Chronic.

 

As a result of this new development, Kev's other two announced

projects, Fletch Won and Ranger Danger And The Danger Rangers, have

been pushed back a year. In other Smith news, his latest movie, Jersey

Girl, has been pushed back another week to March 26th.

 

....................

 

LOOKS LIKE BROSNAN WILL BE BACK AS BOND

Pierce Brosnan had originally said that Die Another Day was going to be

last in the role of James Bond. It now looks like Pierce is back in

double-oh-business.

 

MGM has renewed its agreement with Irish DreamTime, the production

company headed by Brosnan and Beau St. Clair. That big, roaring lion of

a movie studio has the first look for films Irish DreamTime produces.

That will include Mexicali and a sequel to The Thomas Crown Affair.

They have already produced the first Thomas Crown movie (well, the

remake that is) and Evelyn for MGM/United Artists.

 

In exchange, Brosnan will most likely be back as 007 for James Bond 21,

the tentative title for the Die Another Day follow-up. MGM is already

eyeing a Nov. 18, 2005 release date for the flick.

 

"Obviously, we have a great relationship with Pierce from the Bond

films," said MGM COO Chris McGurk. "But he and Beau are very talented

producers as well, and we're excited to continue our work with them in

that capacity. They have some great projects in the works."

 

The mutual admiration continued from St. Clair, "MGM has been our home

for a while now, and we've developed great relationships with the

production and marketing teams," he said. "We're really pleased to

continue our partnership with the studio and look forward to working on

more good movies for both MGM and United Artists."

 

 

 

WILD