News

Alien Covenant

Australian actor Alex England ("Gods of Egypt," "Wild Boys," "The Beautiful Lie") has become a late addition to the cast of Ridley Scott's "Alien: Covenant" at 20th Century Fox. Filming is slated to kick off next month.

Specifics of his role are unknown. He joins a cast that includes Michael Fassbender, Katherine Waterston, Billy Crudup, Demian Bichir, Danny McBride, Jussie Smollett, Amy Seimetz, Carmen Ejogo and Callie Hernandez. [Source: Deadline]

Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon: Sword of Destiny

Released last Friday in China, the fantasy sequel "Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon: Sword Of Destiny" has grossed $32 million - more than double the lifetime gross of Ang Lee's first film in China. The take comes ahead of the international rollout with Netflix making the film available on the streaming service and in select cinemas from today in over 190 countries. [Source: Bom]

It's a Small World

Tim Rasmussen & Vince Di Meglio ("License To Wed," "Meet The Fockers...

Exclusive: Disney has set the scribe team of Tim Rasmussen & Vince Di Meglio to script It’s A Small World, a family film based on the 50-year-old theme park attraction. The scribes, whose credits include License To Wed, Smother and Marmaduke and who wrote on Meet The Fockers and The Girlfriend Equation, board a project that has Jon Turteltaub attached to direct. It got started when Jared Stern pitched the Small World project and wrote a draft. The Lego Movie‘s Dan Lin is…...

Let's call it "nerd love." According to The Hollywood Reporter, Walt Disney Pictures acquired a pitch based on a story that appeared on Public Radio International’s “This American Life.” The film “The Girlfriend Equation” is based on a true story of a Harvard grad student who used complex math formulas to identify and attract the love of his life. The story was first told by NPR reporter David Kestenbaum in 2009. Click here to listen to the full conversation on “This American Life” web site. (Thanks to ComingSoon.net for this link.) The script will be written by Tim Rasmussen and Vince Di Meglio (“License to Wed,” “Marmaduke”). Andrew Panay (“Wedding Crashers,” “Van Wilder”) will be producing through Disney’s Panay Films with “This American Life” host Ira Glass as an executive producer. No production schedule has been released at this time.Source: The Hollywood Reporter...

Star Wars

George Lucas says that he has "fifty hours" (very likely meaning fifty episodes scripted) for his proposed live-action "Star Wars" TV series. However the whole project is on hold until shooting is more economically feasible.

Lucas says the show will have to be shot for at most around one-tenth of that of the feature films and they're currently looking for "a different type of technology we can use" that will allow them to do this. [Source: G4TV]

The Girlfriend Equation

Disney Pictures has acquired "The Girlfriend Equation", a pitch based on the story of a MIT grad student who attempted to identify and woo the love of his life through complex math equations.

Vince Dimeglio and Tim Rasmussen will pen while Andrew Panay is producing. [Source: The Hollywood Reporter]

Let It Snow

Paramount Pictures-based Fake Empire has acquired "Let It Snow", a pitch package which includes film rights to anthology of three intersecting...

Disney is developing a romantic comedy called The Girlfriend Equation. The film will be based on a pitch that the studio acquired. Vince Dimeglio and Tim Rasmussen have been hired to write the story, which first appeared on Public Radio International’s This American Life. Pinay Films' Andrew Panay is producing with This American Life host Ira Glass serving as executive producer.

According to THR, The Girlfriend Equation is "loosely inspired by the true story of an MIT grad student who attempted to identify and woo the love of his life through complex math equations."

Panay has been developing a number of comedy projects at Disney. He and Underground Films has a teen comedy project called Something Cliqued in the workd. He's also developing Father Figures, a comedy spec script by Laurie Craig about a father and stepfather who misplace their son.

Dimeglio and Rasmussen have experience with romantic comedies,...

Walt Disney Pictures is planning to develop a feature called The Girlfriend Equation , inspired by a 2009 episode of "This American Life," says a story at The Hollywood Reporter . The story (which you can listen to by clicking here ) deals with a Harvard physics student who modified the Drake Equation (the scientific formula used to estimate the number of hypothetical extraterrestial civilizations) to apply to his love life, estimating the odds of finding his romantic match. Vince Dimeglio and Tim Rasmussen ( Marmaduke , License to Wed ) will provide the screenplay with Andrew Panay, Alex Ankeles and Ira Glass producing.

Chicago – How do complete disasters like “Marmaduke” get made? Shouldn’t there be some sort of quality insurance and when a studio sees that a film is this execrable, they are allowed to pull some sort of last-minute ripcord and make sure it’s never inflicted on paying customers? Wouldn’t that be a good use of our tax dollars?

Blu-Ray Rating: 1.0/5.0

The most remarkable thing about “Marmaduke” is that it has No target demographic. This is lazy, boring, forgettable mass-market entertainment that doesn’t appeal to little girls, is too sentimental for little boys, and could cause dog lovers to write letters about the mistreatment of animals. There’s simply no audience for junk this horrendous.

There are awful family movies released every year that would still appeal to the little ones, but when did they start letting kids write them? “Marmaduke” is the story of a lovable-but-huge Great...

By Kevin Crust

HollywoodNews.com: A soft May could turn into June gloom at the box-office if the pre-”Toy Story” (June 18) releases all fail to break out. Four new movies debut this week, but will all likely fall behind the ogre who looking to three-peat at number one.

Get Him To The Greek

A spinoff of “Forgetting Sarah Marshall” from producer Judd Apatow and director Nicholas Stoller, the raunchy comedy features Russell Brand’s naughty rock star character Aldous Snow being shepherded to L.A.’s famous open-air ampitheare by record company flunky Jonah Hill for a concert. Sean ‘P. Diddy’ Combs, Rose Byrne of “Damages” and “Mad Men’s” Elisabeth Moss co-star along with the usual array of Apatow stock company cameos. Stoller scripted.

Despite the high raunch factor, “Greek” is earning surprisingly good reviews. The sentiments of the Chicago duo of Roger Ebert of the Sun-Times and...

Marmaduke

Opening Date: June 4

Cast: Owen Wilson as the voice of Marmaduke, Lee Pace, Judy Greer, and William H. Macy, plus the voices of: Steve Coogan, Sam Elliott, Fergie, George Lopez, Christopher Mintz-Plasse, Emma Stone, Kiefer Sutherland, and Marlon Wayans

Director: Tom Dey

Writers: Tim Rasmussen and Vince Dimeglio, based on the comic strip created by Brad Anderson and Phil Leeming

Official Synopsis: Marmaduke, the world’s most lovable Great Dane, leaps from comic strip fame (appearing in 600 newspapers in over 20 countries) to big screen stardom. In this family comedy event, the “Duke” is living large in Orange County, California. But fitting in with his new four-legged friends – and a potential romantic interest — isn’t always easy for a super-sized teenage dog.

Read more on 20th Century Fox summer preview…...

Owen Wilson has signed on to voice the famous Great Dane "Marmaduke," Fox's live-action/CG adaptation of the popular comic strip. Tom Dey is directing and John Davis is producing the family comedy. The film is set for a June 2010 release date. The film follows a family named the Winslows who move from Kansas to Orange County with their dog Marmaduke, a mischievous dog who creates chaos wherever he goes. Tim Rasmussen and Vince Di Meglio will write the script based on the comic strip created in 1954 by Brad Anderson and Phil Leeming.According to The Hollywood Reporter, Judy Greer, Lee Pace and William H. Macy play the humans, while Fergie, Emma Stone, George Lopez, Christopher Mintz-Plasse,...

"Marmaduke," the long-running comic strip is about to bark into theaters near you! And Owen Wilson will lend a helping hand.

The actor will voice the rambunctious Great Dane for Fox. The live-action CG movie tells the tale of the Winslows who move from Kansas to Orange County with their dog Marmaduke.

Based on the comic strip created in 1954 by Brad Anderson and Phil Leeming, the script is written by Tim Rasmussen and Vince Di Meglio. There is going to be a Mutts vs. Pedigrees war (fun!), and Marmaduke will even fall in love. Awww...

The humans will be played by Judy Greer, Lee Pace, and William H. Macy; Fergie, Emma Stone, George Lopez (he sure loves voicing animals, he was just in "Beverly Hills Chihuahua), Christopher Mintz-Plasse, Steve Coogan, Damon Wayans, and Marlon Wayans will provide the voices.

Wilson's director from "Shanghai Noon," Tom Dey, is set to helm...

Owen Wilson will voice the big lummox of a dog, Marmaduke, in the new animated film based on the classic comic-strip dog for 20th Century Fox. Wilson joins Fergie, the lovely Emma Stone, George Lopez, Christopher Mintz-Plasse, Steve Coogan, Damon and Marlon Wayans.

Marmaduke will follow the Winslow who family who moves from Kansas to beautiful Orange County, CA with their jerk of dog that constantly gets into trouble. Our favorite dog lands in the middle of a turf-war between the Mutts and the Pedigrees who attempt to woo the idiot to their respective side.

The story was penned by License to Wed writing team, Tim Rasmussen and Vince Di Meglio and directed by Tom Dey (Shanghai Noon).

This isn’t the first voice-work Wilson has signed on to. He also provided the voice for Disney Pixar’s Lightning McQueen in Cars.

Marmaduke will hit theaters during the summer of...

The last time we saw actor Owen Wilson playing with dogs, it was in the 2008 adaptation of John Grogan's touchingly heartbreaking book "Marley & Me." In this latest bit of news, we learn that Wilson will move from playing with dogs to simply playing one.

Wilson is locked to star in "Marmaduke," a big-screen adaptation of Brad Anderson's long-running newspaper comic strip. The adaptation had itself been revealed a couple of weeks ago, but this final bit of news puts the finishing touch on a cast that includes William H. Macy, Judy Greer, Lee Pace as the titular great dane's human family and Fergie, Emma Stone, George Lopez, Christopher Mintz-Plasse, Steve Coogan, Damon Wayans and Marlon Wayans as the voices of Marmaduke's pals in the animal kingdom.

The story, penned by "License to Wed" writers Tim Rasmussen and Vince Di Meglio, sounds like a canine-infused take on "West Side Story.

Owen Wilson has signed on to voice the rascally Great Dane Marmaduke , Fox's adaptation of the long-running comic strip, says The Hollywood Reporter . The film follows a family named the Winslows who move from Kansas to Orange County with their dog Marmaduke, a slobbery pooch who creates chaos wherever he goes. In adapting the strip created in 1954 by Brad Anderson and Phil Leeming, the script by Tim Rasmussen and Vince Di Meglio sees Marmaduke navigate a volatile Mutts vs. Pedigrees turf war, woo the purebred of his dreams and overcome a fall from grace. Judy Greer, Lee Pace and William H. Macy play the humans, while Fergie, Emma Stone, George Lopez, Christopher Mintz-Plasse, Steve Coogan, Damon Wayans, Marlon Wayans supply the voices. Tom Dey is directing the family...

Owen Wilson signs on to voice the Great Dane Marmaduke in Fox's adaptation of the famous long-running comic strip, joining Lee Pace and Judy Greer.

The strip, created in 1954 by Brad Anderson and Phil Leeming, is scripted by Tim Rasmussen and Vince Di Meglio. The story follows the Winslow family, who move from Kansas to Orange County with Marmaduke, their slobbering Great Dane who delivers chaos wherever he goes. Marmaduke winds his way into a volatile turf war between Mutts and Pedigrees while trying to gain the loving affections of a purebred and attempting to overcome his own fall from ordered grace.

Along with Wilson, Greer and Pace, the impressive cast of borrowed voices includes Amanda Seyfried, Ron Perlman, Jeremy Piven, Christopher Mintz-Plasse, Steve Coogan, Stacy Ferguson, William H. Macy, Damon Wayans Jr., George Lopez, David Walliams and Finley Jacobsen.

The film, set to be directed by Shanghai Noon helmer...

I think it's the nose. Owen Wilson has signed on to play the voice of everybody's favorite  Great Dane, Marmaduke, in Fox's upcoming live action/CG adaptation of the comic strip. The script "sees Marmaduke navigate a volatile Mutts vs. Pedigrees turf war, woo the purebred of his dreams and overcome a fall from grace." Blame Tim Rasmussen and Vince Di Meglio for that. The film will be directed by Shanghai Noon(I actually liked that!)/Failure to Launch helmer Tom Dey. Wilson actually bears a slight resemblance to the mischievous dog, but that certainly doesn't soothe my soul about this project existing. Despite how perfect Bill Murray was for Garfield, that movie still ended up being a huge mess (and don't forget he made two of them!). The cast also includes Lee Pace, Judy Greere, and William H. Macy as the humans, and "Fergie, Emma Stone, George Lopez, Christopher Mintz-Plasse,...

Owen Wilson has jumped from one dog movie to another as he signs on for "Marmaduke". Having been seen portraying the owner of a hyper-actively handful Labrador in "Marley & Me", the 40-year-old actor will provide the voice of the titular character, which happens to be a Great Dane.

With the signing in, Wilson joins the likes of Stacy Ferguson aka Fergie, Emma Stone, George Lopez, Christopher Mintz-Plasse, Steve Coogan, Damon Wayans and Marlon Wayans who will supply the voices. He is following the steps of Bill Murray in voicing famous comic strip animal. Murray lent his voice to the lasagna-loving cat "Garfield".

"Marmaduke" is adapted by Tim Rasmussen and Vince Di Meglio from Brad Anderson's comic strip about the Winslow family who moves from Kansas to Orange County with their chaos-ensuing dog Marmaduke. The movie will follow Marmaduke as he navigates a volatile Mutts vs. Pedigrees turf war, woos...

Owen Wilson has signed on to voice the Great Dane Marmaduke for 20th Century Fox's adaptation of the long-running comic strip, according to The Hollywood Reporter.

The actor's attachment to the project marks the last piece of the puzzle for the live-action/CG movie.

The trade reports that the story contains elements of Fox's Marley & Me (which also starred Wilson), and will follow a family named the Winslows who move from Kansas to Orange County with their dog Marmaduke, a slobbery pooch who creates chaos wherever he goes.

In adapting the strip created in 1954 by Brad Anderson and Phil Leeming, the script by Tim Rasmussen and Vince Di Meglio sees Marmaduke navigate a volatile Mutts vs. Pedigrees turf war, woo the purebred of his dreams and overcome a fall from grace.

Judy Greer, Lee Pace and William H. Macy play the humans, while Fergie, Emma Stone, George Lopez, Christopher Mintz-Plasse,...

Owen Wilson has signed on to voice the rascally Great Dane "Marmaduke," Fox's adaptation of the long-running comic strip.

Wilson's boarding is the last piece of the puzzle for the live-action/CG movie, which has shades of Fox's surprise smash "Marley & Me" and follows a family named the Winslows who move from Kansas to Orange County with their dog Marmaduke, a slobbery pooch who creates chaos wherever he goes.

In adapting the strip created in 1954 by Brad Anderson and Phil Leeming, the script by Tim Rasmussen and Vince Di Meglio sees Marmaduke navigate a volatile Mutts vs. Pedigrees turf war, woo the purebred of his dreams and overcome a fall from grace.

Judy Greer, Lee Pace and William H. Macy play the humans, while Fergie, Emma Stone, George Lopez, Christopher Mintz-Plasse, Steve Coogan, Damon Wayans, Marlon Wayans supply the voices.

Tom Dey is directing, and John Davis is producing the family comedy,...

We've added new images in from Screen Media Films' comedy "Smother," starring Dax Shepard, Liv Tyler, Diane Keaton, Mike White, Rachel Cannon, Ken Howard, Don Lake, Steven Christopher Parker and Ron Butler. Vince Di Meglio directs and writes the film alongside Tim Rasmussen. Di Meglio made his directorial debut on 2000's "Deadfall." See all the images in the gallery. Marilyn Cooper (Academy Award-winner Diane Keaton) is one of those mothers- the kind who’ll call at 6:30 in the morning, or tell embarrassing stories about her son Noah (Dax Shepard) to complete strangers. When she suspects her husband is having an affair, she decides it’s time to “take a break”, and shows up on Noah’s doorstep with bags and five foster dogs in tow. Already having lost his job, hosting an unwelcome houseguest (Mike White) on his couch, and facing pressure from his wife Clare (Liv Tyler) to...

We've added new images in from Screen Media Films' comedy "Smother," starring Dax Shepard, Liv Tyler, Diane Keaton, Mike White, Rachel Cannon, Ken Howard, Don Lake, Steven Christopher Parker and Ron Butler. Vince Di Meglio directs and writes the film alongside Tim Rasmussen. Di Meglio made his directorial debut on 2000's "Deadfall." Marilyn Cooper (Academy Award-winner Diane Keaton) is one of those mothers- the kind who’ll call at 6:30 in the morning, or tell embarrassing stories about her son Noah (Dax Shepard) to complete strangers. When she suspects her husband is having an affair, she decides it’s time to “take a break”, and shows up on Noah’s doorstep...

We've added new images in from Screen Media Films' comedy "Smother," starring Dax Shepard, Liv Tyler, Diane Keaton, Mike White, Rachel Cannon, Ken Howard, Don Lake, Steven Christopher Parker and Ron Butler. Vince Di Meglio directs and writes the film alongside Tim Rasmussen. Di Meglio made his directorial debut on 2000's "Deadfall." Marilyn Cooper (Academy Award-winner Diane Keaton) is one of those mothers- the kind who’ll call at 6:30 in the morning, or tell embarrassing stories about her son Noah (Dax Shepard) to complete strangers. When she suspects her husband is having an affair, she decides it’s time to “take a break”, and shows up on Noah’s doorstep...

By Neil Pedley

If the old maxim "What I really want to do is direct" still holds true, this week's releases confirm that the filmmaking game is more open than ever. Anyone can have a crack at it; actors, teachers, digital artists, preachers. Perhaps you should have a go yourself. Hell, if Paul W.S. Anderson can get work doing it...

"The Amazing Truth About Queen Raquela"

Offering up the most unlikely fairytale you're ever likely to see, Icelandic filmmaker Olaf de Fleur Johannesson draws on his documentary background with this endearing low-budget, semi-improvised Cinderella story. As a young Filipino lady-boy, the spunky, pre-op sex worker Raquela longs to be the belle of the ball as she trawls the Internet looking for love. When an American suitor pledges to be her Prince Charming and proposes a meeting in France, Raquela departs for her long-awaited date with destiny under the glittering Paris skyline.

Comedies don't get much lamer than License to Wed. Working from a flawed premise with characters lacking credibility and plot turns more moronic than funny, the movie flatlines in about five minutes. Yes, it does star Robin Williams, but this is the cloying Williams who turns up in such movies as Patch Adams and Jack. And for Mandy Moore, the film reps a step backward into nondescript fluff after proving herself capable of sterner stuff in Dedication at January's Sundance Film Festival. This License should expire a week after opening.

Williams plays an overheated if not mentally unbalanced minister who puts engaged couples through a relationship torture test before he will agree to marry them. So the movie asks us to accept a man of the cloth illegally bugging a couple's bedroom with minimicrophones, having the bride drive down a street blindfolded and encouraging the groom to pick fights with his future in-laws. Another of his great ideas is twin robotic babies that scream and defecate to simulate what having children is like. (Which, of course, ignores all the joys of real parenthood.)

Moore and John Krasinski of NBC's The Office play the put-upon couple, but nothing in Kim Barker, Tim Rasmussen and Vince Di Meglio's belabored screenplay (from a story by Barker and Wayne Lloyd) explains why they put up with any of this nonsense. Moore is therefore forced to play her character as too dumb and insensitive to notice, and Krasinski is a guy who will go along with anything including allowing the reverend to break his nose.

The most obnoxious character -- though just barely -- belongs to child actor Josh Flitter, who plays the reverend's henchman, Choir Boy. He does all the breaking and entering, electronic spying and remote controls on the berserk Robo Babies. He is made to look positively evil and is, we are told, a "minister in training." God help the parishioners of that church.

Christine Taylor and DeRay Davis play the thankless roles of Moore's divorced sister and Krasinski's best friend, respectively, each charged with delivering nothing but bad advice. Meanwhile, Peter Strauss looks stiff and unhappy as Moore's aloof dad.

For the record, no less than a dozen people took some sort of producing credit on this film.

LICENSE TO WED

Warner Bros. Pictures

Warner Bros. Pictures in association with Village Roadshow Pictures presents a Robert Simonds/Phoenix Pictures production

Credits:

Director: Ken Kwapis

Screenwriters: Kim Barker, Tim Rasmussen, Vince Di Meglio

Story: Kim Barker, Wayne Lloyd

Producers: Mike Medavoy, Arnold W. Messer, Nick Osborne, Robert Simonds

Executive producers: Bradley J. Fischer, David Thwaites, Kim Zubick, Dana Goldberg, Bruce Berman

Director of photography: John Bailey

Production designer: Gae Buckley

Music: Christophe Beck

Co-producers: Christine Sacani, Louis Phillips, Trevor Engelson

Costume designer: Deena Appel

Editor: Kathryn Himoff

Cast:

Rev. Frank: Robin Williams

Sadie Jones: Mandy Moore

Ben Murphy: John Krasinski

Lindsey: Christine Taylor

Carlisle: Eric Christian Olsen

Choir Boy

Josh Flitter

Joel: DeRay Davis

Running time -- 90 minutes

MPAA rating: PG-13...

Variety reports that Diane Keaton, Dax Shepard and Liv Tyler have signed on to topline Smother for Bill Johnson and Jim Seibel's Inferno Distribution. The indie film, written by Tim Rasmussen and Vince Di Meglio, centers on a recently unemployed guy whose meddling mom moves in with him and his wife. Di Meglio makes his directorial debut with the $15 million project. Inferno will produce with Jay Roach and Johnson Chan; Jennifer Perini and Matt Berenson are on board as executive producers.

Christine Taylor has been cast in License to Wed, a Warner Bros. Pictures/Village Roadshow Pictures comedy being directed by Ken Kwapis. She joins the already cast Robin Williams, Mandy Moore and John Krasinski. The story revolves around a young couple (Moore, Krasinski) whose wedding plans are interrupted when the pushy minister (Williams) of the bride's family church orders the pair to complete a marriage preparation course. They must pass the class if they want to marry in his church. Taylor will play Moore's older sister. Vince DiMeglio and Tim Rasmussen did the latest rewrite of the script.

The team behind Wedding Crashers is reuniting for another comedy, this time at Warner Bros. Pictures. Director David Dobkin and Tapestry Films have sold an untitled comedy pitch to Warners that will be written by Tim Rasmussen and Vince DiMeglio. The studio acquired the pitch in a bidding war. Sources said Dobkin could receive a paycheck in the neighborhood of $7 million, while the writers' deal was in the low-seven figures, though neither the studio nor the artists' reps would confirm that.

Writers Tim Rasmussen and Vince Di Meglio have set up two projects at Columbia Pictures, one with producer Kevin Misher and the other with producer Laura Ziskin. The studio has picked up Strutter in turnaround from Universal Pictures. The project is a comedy about the Olympic sport of race walking. Misher will produce the tale about an aging race walker who's fending off younger competitors. Matt Tolmach serves as the executive on the project. With Ziskin producing, the duo also has boarded How I Paid for College: A Novel of Sex, Theft, Friendship & Musical Theater, based on the book by Marc Acito that is due later this year. It follows a New Jersey teenager in the early 1980s who goes about raising money to attend Juilliard in the most unscrupulous of ways. Shannon Gaulding is overseeing for the studio. Rasmussen and Di Meglio, whose first professional assignment was a rewrite on Meet the Fockers, also are working on Smother, which Jay Roach is attached to produce at New Line Cinema. Both writers are repped by UTA and Mosaic Media.

Barbra Streisand, who hasn't appeared on film since 1996's The Mirror Has Two Faces, is returning to the screen. She is in final negotiations to play Ben Stiller's mother in Universal Pictures' Meet the Fockers, the sequel to the 2000 comedy hit Meet the Parents. Fockers is being directed by Jay Roach and produced by Jane Rosenthal, Robert De Niro and Roach. Stiller, De Niro, Blythe Danner and Teri Polo are returning in their original roles. Dustin Hoffman was cast as Stiller's father in January. In the sequel, Greg Focker (Stiller) and his fiancee, Pam Byrnes (Polo), have won over Byrnes' parents, Jack (De Niro) and Dina (Danner). But when the tightly wound Byrnes family is introduced to Greg's parents, the hyper-relaxed Fockers, there's an immediate clash. Fockers is written by Jim Herzfeld, Tim Rasmussen and Vince DiMeglio. The executives overseeing the project are Mary Parent and Holly Bario. Streisand won a best actress Oscar for 1969's Funny Girl and was nominated in the same category for 1973's The Way We Were. She is repped by ICM and Martin Erlichman Associates.