The A-Team

[MacGuffin]

"A-Team" Movie Ramping Up

We love it when a plan comes together.

The long in the works big-screen version of the 1980s action series The A-Team is moving closer to megaplexes.

The show's mastermind, Stephen J. Cannell, and The A-Team movie's home base, 20th Century Fox, have hired veteran James Bond screenwriter Bruce Feirstein to pen the script, the studio confirmed to E! Tuesday.

The film has been in development for years, but Cannell says that the project is now gaining momentum.

The popular one-hour series, which ran from 1983 to 1987 on NBC, followed the high-octane adventures of a group of Vietnam vets ready to right the wrongs committed against the innocent while on the run for a crime they didn't commit.

According to Cannell, the A-Team flick will be updated to reflect current political issues. The film will also forego the cartoonish nature of the tube version in favor of more serious action à la Die Hard and Lethal Weapon.

"Not to denigrate the TV show, but nobody ever died," the producer says in Variety. "We drove cars off cliffs and people got out and walked away. We're not going to do that [in the movie]. In this the tone is more dangerous-you can really die. It's very tense and exciting."

Cannell, who's producing the movie with Spike Seldin and Mark Silvestri, says he wants to bring new fans into the A-Team fold without alienating those who grew up watching the show. He hopes the hiring of Feirstein will accomplish that.

A contributing editor for Vanity Fair, Feirstein played a key role in relaunching the 007 franchise and updating Ian Fleming's martini-swilling superagent for the '90s with his scripts for 1995's Golden Eye, 1997's Tomorrow Never Dies and 1999's The World Is Not Enough.

Feirstein has also written for the New York Times and New Yorker and pens the "Diary" column in the New York Observer.

Still no word who'll direct The A-Team, and casting has yet to get underway.

But don't expect to see the original stars reprise their roles.

George Peppard, who played the crew's wise-cracking, cigar-loving leader, Colonel John "Hannibal" Smith, died in 1994. Meanwhile, Dirk Benedict (Lieutenant Templeton "Face" Peck) and Dwight Schultz (Captain H.M. "Howling Mad" Murdoch) have only worked sporadically in recent years, doing voiceovers for videogames and the occasional, usually forgettable feature.

But there's a possibility that The A-Team's most popular performer, Mr. T, aka 52-year-old Laurence Tureaud, might put in an appearance. Mr. T shot to icon status thanks to his role as Mohawk-sporting muscleman B.A. "Bad Attitude" Baracas and the trademark phrase "I pity the fool," before fading into has-been status as a 1-800-COLLECT pitchman.

"Mr. T and I had lunch last week, and I'd really like to have him in the movie, although we haven't begun casting," Cannell tells Variety. "I always think it's nice to see the stars of the old show in cameo roles in the movie. But obviously he won't be playing B.A. Baracus."

While Feirstein gets to work on The A-Team, Cannell's is also busy adapting his Gen-X police drama 21 Jumpstreet into a feature film (though it's unlikely Johnny Depp would reprise the role that made him a Tiger Beat pinup). The producer, who also created The Rockford Files, Wiseguy, The Commish and Hunter, also has a deal with MGM to turn his novel King Con into a movie.

[MacGuffin]

Singleton Confirmed for The A-Team
Source: ComingSoon

Director John Singleton has confirmed to BlackVoices.com a rumor that first appeared at LatinoReview.com and IESB.net - he is directing the big screen adaptation of TV series "The A-Team."

The series, which ran from 1983-87 and starred George Peppar, Mr. T, Dirk Benedict and Dwight Schultz, followed an unofficial team of Vietnam vets who will stop at nothing to get the bad guys. Sent to prison by a military court for a crime they didn't commit, these four commandos escaped from a maximum-security stockade and now survive in the Los Angeles underground as soldiers of fortune.

The new version will be updated from the Vietnam era and reflect contemporary issues and politics. Stephen J. Cannell, who created the show, will produce the movie with Spike Seldin. Mark Silvestri will executive produce.

Singleton added that he will not be directing Executive Order: Six, as was previously reported.

[MacGuffin]

Fox assembles 'A-Team'
Carnahan, Scotts join remake set for 2010
Source: Variety

Twentieth Century Fox has assembled a creative team to transform 1980s TV series "The A-Team" into a summer 2010 film.

Studio has set Joe Carnahan to direct and Ridley Scott to produce, with Tony Scott exec producing through their Scott Free banner.

Also producing are Jules Daly and Stephen J. Cannell, the latter of whom created the original TV series.

Carnahan will team with Brian Bloom to polish a script by Skip Woods ("G.I. Joe"). The intention is to start production by June for a June 11, 2010, release.

Fox has struggled to find a way to exploit the branded TV show while avoiding the series' campy tone. Director John Singleton had most recently been attached to such an attempt before dropping out. Woods came in and started over.

"Tony and I feel that marrying this Scott Free project with Joe's sensibility will result in a fast-paced, exciting franchise, one we hope will be around for years to come," Scott said.

Carnahan and the Scott brothers say they will use the original premise of the series as the template for an action film. In the original, four Vietnam vets convicted of armed robbery escape from military prison and became do-gooder mercenaries.

The Middle East will replace Vietnam as the place the four did their tour of duty, but Carnahan said the origin story is the jumping-off point.

"You can ... make a film that reflects on the real world without losing the great sense of fun and the velocity of action in a classic summer popcorn film," Carnahan said.

Carnahan has put his Pablo Escobar film "Killing Pablo" on the back burner. The project was complicated by the bankruptcy filing made by the Yari Film Group.

"I am determined to make that movie there or elsewhere, but it's an interesting time in Hollywood, and you have to be aware when you get the opportunity to step into a business model that is working," Carnahan said, noting that many of the top-grossing studio films are based on branded properties.

"This was a coveted property, and reimagining a show that I remembered as a kid was tough to turn down," Carnahan said. "Fox hired me to make it as emotional, real and accessible as possible without cheesing it up."

[pete]

camera will shake. 

[MacGuffin]

Liam Neeson in talks for 'A-Team'
Actor negotiating for 'Hannibal' role in Fox film
Source: Variety

Liam Neeson is in negotiations with 20th Century Fox to star in its long-gestating bigscreen adaptation of "The A-Team" as Col. John "Hannibal" Smith. Bradley Cooper is in early talks to play Lt. Templeton "Faceman" Peck in the Joe Carnahan-directed pic based on the 1980s TV series.

Production begins in late August for a June 11, 2010, release.

Ridley Scott is producing with Jules Daly and series creator Stephen J. Cannell, with Tony Scott exec producing through Scott Free. Carnahan and Brian Bloom polished a script by Skip Woods, whose recent script credits include "G.I. Joe: The Rise of the Cobra" and "Wolverine."

Neeson is in talks to play Hannibal, the role originated by George Peppard, while Cooper would play "Faceman," the role played by Dirk Benedict.

Neeson and Fox are working out money issues. He is coming off the global hit "Taken" and most recently completed "Chloe" and "Clash of the Titans," playing Zeus in the latter.

Cooper has established himself as a commodity after his starring role in Todd Phillips-directed hit "The Hangover." He just completed playing the title role opposite Sandra Bullock in "All About Steve."

Carnahan, Fox and Scott Free have kept the series premise -- four war vets wrongly convicted of armed robbery escape from a military prison to become do-gooder mercenaries -- but they've replaced the campy nature of the series with a tone closer to those of "Mission: Impossible" and "Ocean's Eleven."

Still to be cast are the roles of Capt. "Howling Mad" Murdock, played by Dwight Schultz in the original, and Sgt. "B.A." Baracus, the role that made Mr. T an '80s icon.

[Gold Trumpet]

Joe Carnahan directing Liam Neeson in the A-Team? I'll be honest in saying this could be fun. Also, no fault to Liam Neeson for taking this role. As Kevin Bacon says, do one for the reel and then one for the meal. Good actors will not always be considered lucrative so they should reap the money when they can get it. The trick is not to become Nic Cage with role selections. If Liam Neeson was directing this and forfeiting two years of his life, then I'd have a problem.

[diggler]

bradley cooper is PERFECT for face.

so is joe carnahan just going to make smokin' aces movies now?

[MacGuffin]

Jessica Biel, Sharlto Copley in negotiations for 'A-Team'
Source: Hollywood Reporter

Sharlto Copley, the star of this summer's breakout hit "District 9," is in final negotiations to portray "Howling Mad" Murdock in Fox's "A-Team" feature film. Jessica Biel is also in negotiations to join the production.

Copley and Biel will join Liam Neeson, Bradley Cooper and Quinton "Rampage" Jackson to round out the special forces team convicted of a crime they didn't commit and on the run from government forces. Joe Carnahan is directing the adaptation of the 1980s television show, while Ridley and Tony Scott produce.

Copley seemingly came out of nowhere to star in "District 9," landing the role in the movie due to childhood friend Neill Blomkamp's fondness for Copley's improvisational skills, skills which will be ideally suited to the Murdock character.

Murdock was the wild card of the group, the Army's best chopper pilot who is also suffering, in an over-the-top manner, from delusions, memory loss, and hallucinations. Dwight Shultz originated the role in the TV series.

Biel would play the former love of Faceman (Cooper), an Army general who is now pursuing the team.

"A-Team" begins production later this fall in Vancouver.

[MacGuffin]

The First Official Photo From 'The A-Team'
Source: Cinematical

We've had a lot of unofficial parparazzi shots of The A-Team and their van, but now you can go into your weekend having seen the real deal, courtesy of Salon Del Mal. Try to contain your excitement, as no one around you is going to understand it. Just keep the joy to yourself, and then when a coworker or friend says "Oh my God, did you see that official photo of The A-Team?", you can talk freely.

[diggler]

i'm surprised how much neeson looks like hannibal. i wonder if he's going to attempt the voice.

[SiliasRuby]

Bad asssss! I'm all of a sudden filled with antici.....pation.

[MacGuffin]

Trailer here.

[RegularKarate]

Damn it, it's gone already.

I can't find the trailer anywhere.

[Stefen]

You didn't miss much. Just a bunch of ridiculousness.

[RegularKarate]

You didn't miss much. Just a bunch of ridiculousness.

But that's EXACTLY what I want to see!!!!