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While I was one of the first to note that Peter Jackson had acquired to the rights to Alice Sebold's novel The Lovely Bones and was looking for a studio to get behind a film adaptation, I'm bummed that my sleeping late this Saturday morning cost me in finding out that DreamWorks has sunk $65 million into the project just to get the rights to it so far.
Makes you wonder if everyone else balked at such a high price tag for such a low concept film, and honestly this sounds like a rather large risk on what I consider to be a good director but only a marginal piece of the machine.
While everyone else was drooling over Peter Jackson while he churned out hit after hit from the Lord of the Rings trilogy, I was sitting back grinding my teeth at people acting like this was stunning original material. It wasn't, folks, J. R. R. Tolkein wrote this story, not Peter Jackson, and not his two nepotistic friends that adapted the screenplays.
Jackson is as talented as any director, but talented directors do not make good films alone. If the original source material isn't already made for success, the project will fail.
Practically any fool could have directed LOTR, frankly, and gotten away with a profit in the theaters. That they did as well as they did is a testament to his skill above many others, but let's be honest for a moment because this is critical to understanding why this film is going to tank. Jackson got lucky scoring LOTR. He made exceptional material just a little bit better, but got all the credit.
No such luck with this adaptation, which sounds like a real snoozer. In fact, it sounds exactly like a book, which it is.
"Bones," with its heart-wrenching storyline, is closer in tone to Jackson's 1994 "Heavenly Creatures." Sebold's book tells the story of a 14-year-old who has been raped and killed, and now watches over her family and killer.
Jackson got a free ride on this deal, and Kong, because of moderate talent mixed with unprecedented luck. Don't expect that string of good fortune to continue after this bad choice bombs in the theaters.
Felicity Huffman defends Lindsay Lohan's unacceptable, unprofessional, peril behavior on the set of Georgia Rule.
Spike Lee thinks his film Malcolm X inspired American Taliban John Walker Lindh...but in a good way.
Did you know that most of the commercials you see during prime time television were sold and scheduled months earlier? The upfronts are where networks present their schedule and advertisers buy commercial time, and it's coming May 14th. Variety has a piece on how DVRs are changing the dynamic and advertisers are finally getting the numbers they really care about.
Turns out that the FCC report on TV violence calling for congressional regulation is a piece of partisan Republican garbage after all.
TV ad sales are up this year; networks need to quit killing shows for lack of ratings.
The new (2007) remake of The Incredible Hulk has its two stars set: Edward Norton (Bruce Banner) and Liv Tyler (his dame.)
