Warner Brothers may found someone to lead a Moses pic to the big screen. Twitch Film has reported director Steven Spielberg and Warner Brothers have entered formal negotiations for Spielberg to helm “God and Kings.” The film tells the story of Mose’s life from birth to death and all the events in between, including freeing the Hebrew slaves, the Ten Commandments, the Ten Plagues of Egypt and the Burning Bush. “Gods and Kings” is based on the Book of Exodus and other stories from the Old Testament. The film will be penned by Michael Green and Stuart Hazeldine. Green recently wrote the screenplay for the comic book film “Green Lantern.” He wrote for many television series, including “Kings,” “Heroes,” “Everwood” and “Smallville.” Hazeldine has a few writing credits, including “Paradise Lost,” “Exam” and “Riverworld.”Source: Twitch...
- 11/16/2011
- LRMonline.com
The battle of heaven and hell may be between Benjamin Walker’s Michael against Bradley Cooper’s Lucifer. Deadline is reporting that Legendary Pictures is in negotiations with Walker to play the archangel Michael in the action film “Paradise Lost.” The film is inspired by the John Milton poem about the Angelic War and the temptations of Adam and Eve. Deadline described the film with “cutting-edge visual effects that will make these battles resemble ‘300’ meets ‘Lord of the Rings.’” The script was originally written by Byron Willinger and Philip de Blasi. The later drafts were contributed by Stuart Hazeldine (“Exam,” “Riverworld”), Lawrence Kasdan (“Star Wars: Episode V – The Empire Strikes Back,” “Raiders of the Lost Ark”) and Ryan Condal. The film’s director Alex Proyas discussed certain plot details with Deadline. Proyas explained there will be three major battles in the film—one in Heaven, another in Hell and the last one in Eden.
- 8/4/2011
- LRMonline.com
When he's not busy scripting Hollywood blockbusters for the likes of Alex Proyas and Scott Derrickson, UK based screenwriter Stuart Hazeldine is wringing his hands menacingly and plotting his own directorial career. Allusions to cartoonish super-villainy aside, Hazeldine has crafted a diabolical debut in Exam, which sees a DVD release in the Us on Tuesday, November 16th through IFC. It is a taut meditation on survival and ambition that takes place entirely in one room in real time. I recently spoke with Stuart about once and future projects, the industry, and how a British filmmaker became one of Hollywood's most sought-after script doctors.
Joshua Chaplinsky: I know Exam was released On Demand back in July. Did it have a theatrical run stateside as well?
Stuart Hazeldine: No, not in the states. It's funny, because IFC picked it up before some good things happened- I got BAFTA nominated, we...
Joshua Chaplinsky: I know Exam was released On Demand back in July. Did it have a theatrical run stateside as well?
Stuart Hazeldine: No, not in the states. It's funny, because IFC picked it up before some good things happened- I got BAFTA nominated, we...
- 11/16/2010
- Screen Anarchy
Are you bored of the same old TV shows? Tired of the mainstream? Then check out this round-up of alternative movies and series showing on UK television tonight…
8.05pm Stealth Fighter (Movies4Men +1)
An elite fighter pilot must fix the CIA’s failed attempts to retrieve a stolen stealth bomber before a madman and his cartel execute a lethal guerrilla strike on the Us. Starring Ice-t, Costas Mandylor, and Erika Eleniak. Directed by Jim Wynorski.
8.35pm Riverworld (Movies4Men)
An astronaut is killed when his space shuttle is hit by debris only to find himself resurrected on the shore of a mysterious world. Searching for answers he becomes caught in a struggle for power. Based on the books of the same name by Philip Jose Farmer.
9.00pm Stakeout (Film4)
John Badham’s crime-comedy stars Richard Dreyfuss and Emilio Estevez as Chris Lecce and Bill Reimers, two detectives assigned to keep...
8.05pm Stealth Fighter (Movies4Men +1)
An elite fighter pilot must fix the CIA’s failed attempts to retrieve a stolen stealth bomber before a madman and his cartel execute a lethal guerrilla strike on the Us. Starring Ice-t, Costas Mandylor, and Erika Eleniak. Directed by Jim Wynorski.
8.35pm Riverworld (Movies4Men)
An astronaut is killed when his space shuttle is hit by debris only to find himself resurrected on the shore of a mysterious world. Searching for answers he becomes caught in a struggle for power. Based on the books of the same name by Philip Jose Farmer.
9.00pm Stakeout (Film4)
John Badham’s crime-comedy stars Richard Dreyfuss and Emilio Estevez as Chris Lecce and Bill Reimers, two detectives assigned to keep...
- 6/23/2010
- by Phil
- Nerdly
Like the SyFy Channel’s latest attempt to resurrect Philip Jose Farmer’s “Riverworld” novels into a new ongoing series (see what I did there?), I get the feeling their attempts at bringing back The Ghost Who Walks will be just as unsuccessful. Thus, we have a 4-hour mini-series that will act as a backdoor pilot, premiering later this month on June 20 at 7 p.m. Et/Pt on the SyFy Channel. In case you were still not sold on the new Phantom yet, or you wanted to be sure it was something you had no interest in, here are a new gallery of pics from SciFiWire. Here’s the trailer from last year for those who missed it: Ryan Carnes stars as Kit Walker, aka the new Phantom. The movie co-stars the lovely Sandrone Holt (“Resident Evil: Apocalypse”) as Guran, Isabella Rossellini as Dr. Bella Lithia, Cas Anvar as Raatib Singh,...
- 6/14/2010
- by Nix
- Beyond Hollywood
The mind of Philip Jose Farmer is a dangerous place to play around. Author of dozens of science-fiction novels, winner of as many awards, and general legend in his own time, Farmer has created some of the most mesmerizing worlds in print, and some of the most compelling characters you'll find to populate them. Syfy's Riverworld is a kind of mashing of the original work, and the final result is the kind of show that can't figure out who it might be for at all. The story ends up only distantly related to the original, so Farmer fans will watch it, but aren't particularly likely to be happy about the fact. The uninitiated are likely to be skeptical going in, and the shows ditches so much of the character play that made the books work, that it's decidedly hard to get into from ground zero.
- 4/13/2010
- by Marc Eastman
- AreYouScreening.com
Back in November, we brought you the trailer and synopsis to Stuart Hazeldine's thriller Exam , which opened in the UK on January 8. Screen Daily reports that IFC Films has acquired Us rights. "In recent years IFC Films has earned a reputation for selecting the best British independent films and bringing them to North American audiences and we are thrilled to be one of their chosen few this year," said Hazeldine, who wrote, directed and produced Exam . Hazeldine penned the Sci-Fi Channel series Riverworld and is in development on The Tripods . He's also at work on Paradise Lost for director Scott Derrickson ( The Exorcism of Emily Rose ). Synopsis: Eight talented candidates have reached the final stage of selection to join the ranks of a mysterious and...
- 2/11/2010
- shocktillyoudrop.com
Stuart Hazeldine's thriller Exam is making its UK debut on January 8, 2010 and we've got a look at the trailer and plot synopsis. Hazeldine penned the Sci-Fi Channel series Riverworld and is in development on The Tripods . He's also at work on Paradise Lost for director Scott Derrickson ( The Exorcism of Emily Rose ). Synopsis: Eight talented candidates have reached the final stage of selection to join the ranks of a mysterious and powerful corporation. Entering a windowless room, an Invigilator gives them eighty minutes to answer one simple question. He outlines three rules they must obey or be disqualified: don't talk to him or the armed guard by the door, don't spoil their papers and don't leave the room. He starts the clock and leaves. The candidates turn over their...
- 11/28/2009
- shocktillyoudrop.com
Looking for a sneak peek at Syfy's new mini-series Riverworld, starring Dollhouse's Tahmoh Penikett? You're in luck. Distributor Rhi has released the first trailer for the mini-series (itself a backdoor pilot for an ongoing series), which also stars Laura Vandervoort, Mark Deklin, Peter Wingfield, and Alan Cumming, among others. The project was written by Robert Hewitt Wolfe (The Dresden Files) and directed by Stuart Gillard (90210). Here's how Syfy described the four-hour mini-series: "Tahmoh Penikett (Battlestar Galactica/Dollhouse) and Laura Vandervoort (Smallville) star in Riverworld, based on the popular award-winning series of novels by Philip Jose Farmer. Penikett stars as Matt Ellman, an American war zone reporter who has witnessed the worst of humanity first-hand yet still grasps on to an optimistic spirit. When a suicide bomber kills both Matt and his fiance Jessie, played by Vandervoort, they awaken, separated in a mysterious world where everyone who has ever lived on Earth,...
- 9/29/2009
- by Jace
- Televisionary
There are two films of the "strangers who find themselves in trouble in a room" genre that I'm really looking forward to seeing in 2009. The first is Jonathan Liebesman's The Killing Room which has already premiered at SXSW but which we've seen nothing from (except for a couple of stills). The second is a highly original British thriller, Exam, which has one of the most intriguing plots I've read in a while.
Synopsis:
Eight talented candidates have reached the final stage of selection to join the ranks of a mysterious and powerful corporation. Entering a windowless room, an Invigilator gives them eighty minutes to answer one simple question. He outlines three rules they must obey or be disqualified: don't talk to him or the armed guard by the door, don't spoil their papers and don't leave the room. He starts the clock and leaves.
The candidates turn over their question papers,...
Synopsis:
Eight talented candidates have reached the final stage of selection to join the ranks of a mysterious and powerful corporation. Entering a windowless room, an Invigilator gives them eighty minutes to answer one simple question. He outlines three rules they must obey or be disqualified: don't talk to him or the armed guard by the door, don't spoil their papers and don't leave the room. He starts the clock and leaves.
The candidates turn over their question papers,...
- 5/13/2009
- QuietEarth.us
SciFiWire, the web arm of The Sci Fi Channel, is dishing out new concept artwork from the cable net’s upcoming mini-series (aka backdoor pilot for a regular TV series) Riverworld, based on Philip Jose Farmer’s series of novels. I still remember the other backdoor pilot they did a few years back, starring Brad Johnson, actually. This new one looks entirely different, though. In the new Riverworld, Battlestar Galactica and Dollhouse’s Tahmoh Penikett will play Matt Ellman, an American war reporter who is killed, along with his fiancee Jessie (Smallville’s Laura Vandervoort) by a suicide bomber. They awaken in separate locations, but on the same mysterious world where everyone who has ever lived on Earth seems to have been “reborn” along the banks of a seemingly endless river. Matt’s quest to locate his beloved Jessie is joined by 13th-century female samurai warrior Tomoe (Jeananne Goossen) and...
- 4/8/2009
- by Nix
- SciFiCool.com
The Sci Fi Channel’s two newest offerings, Riverworld and The Phantom (based on the comic book and, as far as we can tell, completely different from the movie starring Billy Zane), have found their leads. For Riverworld, based on Philip Jose Farmer’s series of fantasy novels, former Battlestar Galactica star Tahmoh Penikett and Smallville’s Laura Vandervoort will play the show’s leads, a war correspondent and his wife who both die and are resurrected on Riverworld, a mysterious world populated by everyone who has ever lived (and died) on Earth. Meanwhile, THR’s Live Feed also reports that relative unknown Ryan Carnes (pictured, right) has been cast as the lead in the Sci Fi Channel’s resurrection of the Phantom comic book character. The cable net will re-introduce the purple tights wearing hero to the world in a four-hour movie intended as a backdoor pilot for a TV series.
- 4/7/2009
- by Nix
- SciFiCool.com
SyFy Channel (going to take me a while to get used to that) has returned to the world of recently deceased author Philip Jose Farmer’s “Riverworld” novels. The network made a pilot way back in 2003 but they are ready again to take a dip back into the story of where we really go when we die. It will start as a 4 part miniseries but could be expanded into a full series. Syfy also announced miniseries treatments for “The Phantom” and “Alice In Wonderland”...
- 3/23/2009
- by endymi0n
- SciFiCool.com
Sci Fi has greenlighted a trio of miniseries fantasy projects, including two that will serve as potential series pilots, and two of which are based on classic titles.
The network has ordered a retelling of "Alice in Wonderland"; a fresh take on the comic-book hero "The Phantom"; and "Riverworld," from a series of fantasy books by Philip Jose Farmer. All the projects are four-hour movies from prolific production company Rhi Entertainment.
"Riverworld," about a photojournalist transported to a mysterious world occupied by everyone who has ever lived on Earth, and "Phantom" will air as backdoor pilots -- titles under consideration for a series order contingent on drawing a large enough audience. It's the programming model the network has used with success before, as in the case of "Battlestar Galactica."
"The four-hour format allows us to command large dollars around the world for our shows that puts about ($4 million-$6 million) of...
The network has ordered a retelling of "Alice in Wonderland"; a fresh take on the comic-book hero "The Phantom"; and "Riverworld," from a series of fantasy books by Philip Jose Farmer. All the projects are four-hour movies from prolific production company Rhi Entertainment.
"Riverworld," about a photojournalist transported to a mysterious world occupied by everyone who has ever lived on Earth, and "Phantom" will air as backdoor pilots -- titles under consideration for a series order contingent on drawing a large enough audience. It's the programming model the network has used with success before, as in the case of "Battlestar Galactica."
"The four-hour format allows us to command large dollars around the world for our shows that puts about ($4 million-$6 million) of...
- 3/22/2009
- by By James Hibberd
- The Hollywood Reporter - Movie News
Here’s the trailer for the British film “Fifty Dead Men Walking” from Kari Skogland (”Riverworld”, “Chicks with Sticks”), starring Jim Sturgess as a British intelligence mole in 1980s Northern Ireland, and Ben Kingsley as his government handler. Rose McGowan is also in there somewhere, although I don’t think I saw her in the trailer. The film is based on the biography of Martin McGartland, which means it’s a true story. Inspired by Martin McGartlands incredible autobiography, Fifty Dead Men Walking is the stunning new action thriller by Kari Skogland about a secret agent working undercover for British security services in Northern Ireland in the late eighties. Over the course of four years, until his betrayal and subsequent discovery, it was estimated that McGartland was responsible for saving the lives of up to fifty men. Starring Ben Kingsley, Jim Sturgess, Kevin Zegers, Natalie Press, Rose McGowan, Tom Collins,...
- 3/17/2009
- by Nix
- Beyond Hollywood
Chicago – This 22-image slideshow contains the available press images for Summit Entertainment’s “Knowing,” starring Nicolas Cage, Rose Byrne, Chandler Canterbury, and Lara Robinson. The film, written by Alex Proyas, Stuart Hazeldine (“Riverworld”), Ryne Douglas Pearson (Mercury Rising), Juliet Snowden & Stiles White (The Need, Boogeyman) and Richard Kelly (Southland Tales, Donnie Darko), and directed by Proyas, opens on Friday, March 20th, 2009.
Synopsis: “Academy Award® winner Nicolas Cage (National Treasure: Book of Secrets, Leaving Las Vegas) stars in Knowing, a gripping action-thriller of global proportions about a professor who stumbles on terrifying predictions about the future and sets out to prevent them from coming true.
Rose Byrne (Troy, “Damages”), Chandler Canterbury (The Curious Case of Benjamin Button, Repossession Mambo) and Lara Robinson (“Saved”) also star in director Alex Proyas’ (I, Robot) riveting feature about a father’s desperate battle to save his child—and the world.
In 1958, as part of the...
Synopsis: “Academy Award® winner Nicolas Cage (National Treasure: Book of Secrets, Leaving Las Vegas) stars in Knowing, a gripping action-thriller of global proportions about a professor who stumbles on terrifying predictions about the future and sets out to prevent them from coming true.
Rose Byrne (Troy, “Damages”), Chandler Canterbury (The Curious Case of Benjamin Button, Repossession Mambo) and Lara Robinson (“Saved”) also star in director Alex Proyas’ (I, Robot) riveting feature about a father’s desperate battle to save his child—and the world.
In 1958, as part of the...
- 3/9/2009
- by adam@hollywoodchicago.com (Adam Fendelman)
- HollywoodChicago.com
Philip José Farmer’s website reports the author has passed.
“Philip José Farmer passed away peacefully in his sleep this morning.
“He will be missed greatly by his wife Bette, his children, grandchildren, great-grandchildren, friends and countless fans around the world.
“January 26, 1918 - February 25, 2008. R.I.P.
“We love you Phil.”
Best known for creating Riverworld, Farmer has written science fiction, fantasy and dabbled in other genres. His concept of metafiction, bringing in characters from other authors’ worlds in many ways led to birth of the fan fiction universe. His Tarzan Alive and Doc Savage: His Apocalyptic Life blended elements from across fiction and reality, leading to the introduction of the final publication of Riverworld concept: everyone who ever lived wound up resurrected in an afterlife located on a river that circled an entire world. The concept was developed for a series on the Sci Fi Channel but never went beyond the pilot.
“Philip José Farmer passed away peacefully in his sleep this morning.
“He will be missed greatly by his wife Bette, his children, grandchildren, great-grandchildren, friends and countless fans around the world.
“January 26, 1918 - February 25, 2008. R.I.P.
“We love you Phil.”
Best known for creating Riverworld, Farmer has written science fiction, fantasy and dabbled in other genres. His concept of metafiction, bringing in characters from other authors’ worlds in many ways led to birth of the fan fiction universe. His Tarzan Alive and Doc Savage: His Apocalyptic Life blended elements from across fiction and reality, leading to the introduction of the final publication of Riverworld concept: everyone who ever lived wound up resurrected in an afterlife located on a river that circled an entire world. The concept was developed for a series on the Sci Fi Channel but never went beyond the pilot.
- 2/25/2009
- by Robert Greenberger
- Comicmix.com
Producer Robert Halmi Sr., who celebrates his 85th birthday today, is getting a belated gift. On Sunday, his latest big-budget miniseries, "The Last Templar," premieres on NBC, marking his return to the Big Three broadcast networks after a three-year absence.
The year 2009 is special in another way: It's been 30 years since his first TV movie, "My Old Man," premiered on CBS. But instead of planning a celebration, Halmi -- the Hungarian-born former photographer who emigrated to the U.S. in 1950 with $5 in his pocket and a still camera around his neck -- is busy ramping up a slate of miniseries.
It includes three projects for Sci Fi Channel that have been greenlighted for production: "The Phantom," "Riverworld" and "Alice," a contemporary retelling of "Alice in Wonderland."
Halmi also has a couple of minis in development at ABC, including "Planet Earth Conspiracy," a globe-spanning drama tackling climate change, and a possible...
The year 2009 is special in another way: It's been 30 years since his first TV movie, "My Old Man," premiered on CBS. But instead of planning a celebration, Halmi -- the Hungarian-born former photographer who emigrated to the U.S. in 1950 with $5 in his pocket and a still camera around his neck -- is busy ramping up a slate of miniseries.
It includes three projects for Sci Fi Channel that have been greenlighted for production: "The Phantom," "Riverworld" and "Alice," a contemporary retelling of "Alice in Wonderland."
Halmi also has a couple of minis in development at ABC, including "Planet Earth Conspiracy," a globe-spanning drama tackling climate change, and a possible...
- 1/22/2009
- by By Nellie Andreeva
- The Hollywood Reporter - Movie News
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