Warner Bros. Pictures and Silver Pictures are quietly in the process of buying a Wonder Woman spec script from newcomers Matthew Jennison and Brent Strickland, says The Hollywood Reporter.

The studio and producer Joel Silver have been developing a big-screen version of the DC Comics superhero, with "Buffy the Vampire Slayer" creator Joss Whedon writing the script and attached to direct.

The trade says the purchase is a pre-emptive measure aimed at taking the script off the market to protect itself against the possibility that any similarities between the scripts could be fodder for future legal action.

It is understood that the Jennison-Strickland script is set against the backdrop of World War II, while Whedon's script is set in the present day.

Silver has no interest in making a period Wonder Woman, however. But as the spec script made the rounds, it landed at Silver Pictures, and executives there were impressed by Jennison and Strickland's writing.

Source: The Hollywood Reporter

Read the original story here

Posted by Michael Seidelman at 11:50 PM | Permalink

Reality TV producer Mark Burnett (Survivor, The Apprentice) and legendary film director Steven Spielberg have joined forces on a new Fox/CTV reality series airing this spring.

The show, where 16 directors will compete for a seven-figure development deal at DreamWorks, is accepting applications from both US and Canadian filmmakers until Feb 16. After that, the producers will hold invitation-only casting calls.

Casting will take place in Toronto in March. Applicants from Western Canada will be sent to Seattle.

"Canadians have a great track record of competing with the best from around the world, both on reality TV and otherwise," said Burnett in a statement. "We look forward to seeing what Canada has to offer."

CTV is the first foreign network to pick up the series and announced the deal on the floor at NATPE in Las Vegas.

The host and judges for the show have not been announced. The show is produced by Mark Burnett Productions, DreamWorks Television and Amblin Television.

More in Playback Magazine
Details of how to enter at the On The Lot website

Posted by Mike Laverdiere at 1:51 PM | Permalink

A Chinese state-run distributor has rejected Martin Scorsese's hot crime thriller The Departed - in which Boston gangsters try to sell computer technology to ethnic Chinese villains.

China Film Group, China's major film importer told the film's Hong Kong distributor, Media Asia, that the hit movie is unsuitable for Chinese audiences but negelected to give a reason.

"They sent us a letter to us saying this movie is inappropriate so they won't import it," says Chan Ka-li, Media Asia's marketing manager. "If they've seen the movie and they don't think it's appropriate then there's probably nothing we can do."

Yuan Wenqiang, a vice president at China Film Group says, "After [their sales staff] watched it, they thought it wasn't suited for the mainland Chinese market." He added, "They didn't give concrete reasons."

It's not unusual for China, which only allows 20 imported films a year, to reject a Hollywood film. But in this case, The Departed was rejected before being submitted to censors.

Media Asia has no plans to lobby for a reversal of the decision.

Posted by Mike Laverdiere at 4:06 PM | Permalink

It's a big year for Canadian film at the 2007 Sundance Festival in Park City, Utah. BC also has a very strong presence this year with an unprecedented showing of its new films.

While he couldn't confirm whether this was the largest Canadian contingent at the festival, Earl Hong Tai, Telefilm's western regional director said it was "a very good showing, not only in terms of numbers but in the terms of the quality of projects."

Canadian director Sarah Polley's film Away From Her, which already played across Canada, had a gala screening in Salt Lake City. It's based on the Alice Munro story The Bear Went Over The Mountain about a woman, played by Julie Christie, who forgets her husband, played by Gordon Pinsent.

Other Canadian films screening at the festival include: Manufactured Landscapes, about photographer Edward Burtynsky; How She Move by Ian Iqbal; Fido, a love infested zombie movie by Vancouver's Andrew Currie which played at the VIFF this year; Hot House, Shimon Dotan's film about the tendency of Israeli jails to breed future Palestinian leaders; On A Tightrope, about a Chinese Muslim communities ability to produce highwire performers; and S. Wyeth Clarkson's Sk8 Life, about Vancouver skateboarders. The BC-shot The Nines, about a troubled actor and videogame designer, starring Hope Davis and Ryan Reynolds, written and directed by John August, is also showing.

Last year only one Canadian film, Julia Kwan's Eve and The Fire Horse , showed at Sundance. The previous year, only one as well Shake Hands with The Devil.

Sarah Polley's Away From Her will open in Canada and the US on May 4, up against Spiderman 3. But she is apparently not too concerned.

More at Canada.com

Posted by Mike Laverdiere at 3:31 PM | Permalink