Cinematical

• Interview: 'Valkyrie' Producer and Writer Christopher McQuarrie
  

  Filed under: Thrillers, MGM, United Artists, Podcasts, Celebrities and Controversy, Tom Cruise, Interviews, War

  
  
  Best known as the writer of The Usual Suspects, Christopher McQuarrie has an impressive number of films on his resume (including his criminally overlooked directorial debut, The Way of the Gun), but Valkyrie -- opening nationwide this week -- saw him also serve as a producer alongside director Bryan Singer and star Tom Cruise. A thriller about the 1944 plot inside the German military to try and assassinate Adolph Hitler, Valkyrie turns one of history's nightmares into a taut modern thriller -- a...
  



• Tom Cruise and Christopher McQuarrie, Together Forever
  

  Filed under: Action, Drama, Foreign Language, Thrillers, Deals, Mystery & Suspense, United Artists, Warner Brothers, Scripts, Newsstand, Tom Cruise, Comic/Superhero/Geek, Remakes and Sequels, War

  Okay, maybe Tom Cruise and Valkyrie screenwriter Christopher McQuarrie won't be together forever ... but they are in for a very long haul. Variety reports that McQuarrie is penning no less than three projects for Cruise to star in.
  
  The first up is likely to be The Tourist, which has Cruise and Charlize Theron attached as the leads. A...
  



• Christopher McQuarrie Lands 'The Champions' and 'The Monster of Florence'
  

  Filed under: Action, Drama, Sci-Fi & Fantasy, Thrillers, Deals, Mystery & Suspense, United Artists, Scripts, Newsstand, Remakes and Sequels

  As William Goss noted yesterday, Guillermo Del Toro must be allergic to sleep. He's moving forward with another producing project on his insanely busy slate -- The Champions, a big screen version of the British television series of the 60s. Variety reports that Christopher McQuarrie will be penning the script for United Artists, and acting as a producer alongside Del Toro, Tom Cruise, and Paula Wagner. Del Toro optioned the project last November,...
  



• 'Valkyrie' Update: No Cruise Photoshopping
  

  Filed under: Drama, Thrillers, United Artists, Celebrities and Controversy, Tom Cruise, Movie Marketing, Images, War

  Tom Cruise may be guilty of some odd public antics -- but he isn't guilty of photo fudging. Last week, we reported on Slate's little expose, where they examined a publicity photo released by United Artists. According to their graphic experts, the photo of Claus von Stauffenberg had been altered to better resemble Tom Cruise.
  
  However, Yahoo! Movies now says Slate has been forced to retract the story. It turns out they were comparing the wrong photos -- they used one...
  



• Was Tom Cruise Photoshopped into Claus von Stauffenberg?
  

  Filed under: Drama, Thrillers, United Artists, Celebrities and Controversy, Newsstand, Tom Cruise, Movie Marketing, Images, War

  
  
  

  Tom Cruise and Valkyrie just cannot stay out of the press -- and alas, the press has rarely been good. Well, here comes a bit more controversy: There have now been claims from German press that United Artists doctored a photo of hopeful Hitler assassin, Claus von Stauffenberg. In the interests of historic representation, journalistic credibility, and a chance to see how weird Cruise's career can get, Slate took the above photo (released by United Artists) to their design...
  



• David Cronenberg Digging the 'Timecrimes' Remake?
  

  Filed under: Foreign Language, Horror, Sci-Fi & Fantasy, Sundance, Magnolia, United Artists, Fantastic Fest, Remakes and Sequels

  The last time I saw my awesome amigo Nacho Vigalondo, it was at a Sundance party during which he was A) very thrilled to have his film play the festival, B) mega-elated that writer/producer Steven Zaillian would be involved in the English-language remake of his film (Timecrimes), and C) seriously drunk and hanging out with an overworked karaoke machine. When I pressed him for additional details, he said something to the effect of "I don't know yet, but .... Steve SALE-IAN, man!...
  



• The Man Behind 'Battlestar Galactica' Starting Sci-Fi Trilogy
  

  Filed under: Sci-Fi & Fantasy, Deals, United Artists, Fandom, Scripts

  Ronald D. Moore, the main creative force behind the TV show Battlestar Galactica, has signed with United Artists to write a major sci-fi trilogy. The studio is not releasing any details, but I bet that this is nonetheless exciting news for the battalions of Galactica fans out there. It's good news for everyone else, too, because it isn't often that we get an original science-fiction vision on the big screen: almost everything is a sequel, or a remake, or an adaptation. I'm psyched for something epic and new.
  
  I'm sadly not familiar with Battlestar Galactica,...
  



• 'Children of Men' Screenwriter Takes On 'Timecrimes' Remake
  

  Filed under: Foreign Language, Deals, United Artists, Philadelphia Film Festival

  One of my favorite films at this year's Philadelphia Film Festival, which is wrapping up now, was the Spanish time-travel thriller Timecrimes. (Yes, yes, I know, all of you saw it months ago at Fantastic Fest, or Sundance, or whatsuch. Bully for you.) We've known for a while that an American remake is in the works, courtesy of United Artists, and having seen the film, it's obvious why -- it's a brilliantly conceived, perfectly high-concept crowdpleaser. And now the remake seems to have revved up in earnest: The Hollywood Reporter says that Children of Menscreenwriter...
  



• Bryan Singer's 'Valkyrie' Pushed to 2009
  

  Filed under: Drama, MGM, United Artists, Box Office, Fandom, Distribution, DIY/Filmmaking, Newsstand, Tom Cruise

  
  
  What in the world is going on now? Valkyrie (recently criticized by Fox's Roger Friedman, who said the film "is set up for not only failure, but ridicule") has just shifted release dates yet again (according to The Hollywood Reporter); this time moving from October 2008 to President's Day Weekend 2009. You might remember that the flick was originally supposed to hit theaters this June, before the first release date shift was made. Some claimed MGM and United...
  



• More Bad News for Tom Cruise and 'Valkyrie'
  

  Filed under: Drama, United Artists, Tom Cruise, Movie Marketing, War

  So we all know that Tom Cruise jokes are getting a little old, but you can't deny it's been fascinating to watch one of the most powerful guys in movies have a "freak out" and be forced to watch all his star-worship fade away. According to Fox News' Roger Friedman, it's not looking good for Bryan Singer's historical drama, Valkyrie. According to Friedman, "Valkyrie is a set up for not only failure, but ridicule." Friedman goes on to take shots at Cruise's attempts at a German accent and even Singer and