Ron Howard

Started by Xixax, January 25, 2003, 07:35:39 PM

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MacGuffin

'Dark Tower' by Ron Howard, Brian Grazer and Akiva Goldsman (exclusive)
Source: Hollywood Reporter

J.J. Abrams' Bad Robot shingle, which has long sought to crack Stephen King's "The Dark Tower" book series as a television series, no longer has the rights to one of the author's biggest properties.

Bad Robot has returned the rights back to the best-selling author. Now Ron Howard, Brian Grazer and Akiva Goldsman are teaming up to tackle the fantasy Western.

The three are in discussions on a scenario that would see an adaptation begin as a movie, to be written by Goldsman and directed by Howard, that would lead to a TV series produced by Imagine's small-screen division.

"Tower" is not set up, nor has any option deal been made, but insiders say Universal, home to Imagine, would be the studio that will release the movie.

That would be a contrast to the vision drawn up by Bad Robot, which had been eyeing their potential series as a reunion with "Lost" exec producers Damon Lindelof and Carlton Cuse. Because of the comprehensive nature of the project, the creators wanted to wait until "Lost" was over to give it their attention. When they realized they wouldn't be able to do an adaptation justice, they gave the rights back to King.

King's magnum opus, "Tower" encompasses not just a narrative about the Man in Black and Roland, the Gunslinger, that spans seven lengthy books (and one short story), but also the entire universe of King's fiction. Characters from his other novels flit in and out of "Tower" in minor and major ways.

Envisioned when King was still in his teens as his own take on spaghetti Westerns and the world of Tolkien's "Lord of the Rings," "Tower" has also spawned a series of graphic novels from Marvel Comics, with the latest issue hitting shelves May 19. The property's expansive nature and direct connection to King's other works make it one of the biggest, ripest franchise possibilities in entertainment.
"Don't think about making art, just get it done. Let everyone else decide if it's good or bad, whether they love it or hate it. While they are deciding, make even more art." - Andy Warhol


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RegularKarate

"Hey, remember how we were going to build that house you've been wanting for a while?"
"Yeah"
"And we were going to bring in an expert architect and some very skilled builders and electricians?"
"Yeah"
"Well, those guys said the house was too dangerous to build so we hired a bunch of bumbling ding-dongs to come build it.  Their faces are covered in smiles, their hands are full of loose nails, and they're really excited about the new Hammer Loops they had installed on their tuxedos."
"That doesn't sound safe"
"You still have to live there"

polkablues

If they cast Nicolas Cage as Roland, I'm leaving the planet.
My house, my rules, my coffee

MacGuffin

Ron Howard Says 'The Dark Tower' Will Shoot Spring 2012, Remains Cagey About Javier Bardem
Source: The Playlist

With a plan to stretch over three films and television series, Ron Howard and Akiva Goldsman's adaptation of Stephen King's "The Dark Tower" is certainly ambitious, so much so, that rumors swirled earlier this month at Universal was getting cold feet about the project. Alas, the project is still set up at the studio, but undergoing some revisions as the cautious studio looks like slim down the budget with the filmmakers getting more time to get the story and approach right. EW recently caught up with Howard and he was quite candid about the latest developments, including the involvement of Javier Bardem who isn't quite seured just yet. "We had to pull back to our September start date due to budget delays and ongoing story development and logistical issues, but Dark Tower is moving forward," Howard said. "We're thinking of starting in early spring now. I can't really say who'll be in it yet, but Javier Bardem has shown a great deal of interest. We'll know by the end of the summer, when our flashing green light goes solid." That's quite a different tune, especially since Bardem was reportedly signed on last month. However, with the budget getting trimmed and the story getting adjusted, perhaps the actor wants to see where the direction goes before fully committing and that seems fair enough. But it also opens a window for Bardem to take another look at "James Bond 23" which will shoot this fall. As you might recall, the actor was offered a villain role in the film which would've have initially conflicted with "The Dark Tower." But with the fall now free and clear, could Bardem take another peek? We hope so. As for why the mega-franchise will roll out on both the big and small screen, Howard has a simple explanation. "There are elements of the 'Dark Tower' saga that are more personal and can be best dealt with on television," he said. "TV allows you to roll out details of the characters in a more methodical way." And by details, we're sure the "Arrested Development" producer means more Mayon-egg, right? No word yet on how the production shift will affect currently slated May 17, 2013 release date, but we imagine that will be shifted to later the same year. But in this age of rushing films to find a release date, it's kind of nice to see one blockbuster taking a pause to make sure all of its moving parts make sense.
"Don't think about making art, just get it done. Let everyone else decide if it's good or bad, whether they love it or hate it. While they are deciding, make even more art." - Andy Warhol


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MacGuffin

Sorry Henry Selick, Ron Howard Is Now In Talks To Direct Neil Gaiman's 'The Graveyard Book'
Source: Playlist

You gotta kind of feel for Henry Selick. The man behind "Coraline" didn't have a great 2012, with his Disney/Pixar project "Shadow King" getting scrapped and shelved when no other studio wanted it. And while he was attached to direct Neil Gaiman's "The Graveyard Book" last spring, it seems the turn of the events of the studio has seen that job go to someone else as well.

Ron Howard is now in talks to helm the adaptation, and instead of being animated as was the previous plan, it will be a live action feature. The 2009 Newberry Medal award winning book, is essentially a ghoulish riff on Rudyard Kipling's "The Jungle Book," with a young orphan boy growing up in a graveyard surrounded by ghosts, vampires and other things that go bump in the night. While this may have seemed like perfect Selick material, Howard is a less obvioius choice. However, given how hard he was pushing for his ambitiously sprawling multi-film and TV series version of Stephen King's "The Dark Tower" to get made, it seems there's a fantasy itch he really wants to scratch (he also just signed on to helm "All I've Got," a supernatural drama for J.J. Abrams).

But we'll see how it all plays out. Howard is negotiating, and a new script will have to be commissioned, so this is a couple years away at least.  Howard's next effort "Rush," will theaters on September 20th.
"Don't think about making art, just get it done. Let everyone else decide if it's good or bad, whether they love it or hate it. While they are deciding, make even more art." - Andy Warhol


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MacGuffin

Ron Howard To Helm Authorized Beatles Docu On British Invasion Years
BY Deadline
   
Ron Howard will direct a feature documentary on The Beatles. The focus will be the period from 1960-1966 when the mop-topped quartet took Europe and then the United States by storm with a flurry of 166 concerts in 15 countries and 90 cities. By the time they finished the last concert in San Francisco's Candlestick Park in 1966, they were as big a band as Elvis Presley was a solo artist. The film has been authorized by the band's holding company, Apple Corps Ltd, and will have the full cooperation and support of surviving Beatles Paul McCartney and Ringo Starr, as well as John Lennon's widow, Yoko Ono Lennon, and George Harrison's widow Olivia Harrison. The docu will be a co-production between Apple, White Horse Pictures' Nigel Sinclair and Scott Pascucci, and Imagine Entertainment, whose principals Brian Grazer and Howard will produce with Sinclair and Pascucci. Imagine's Michael Rosenberg and White Horse's Guy East will be exec producers. They expect to have it ready sometimes next year, and don't be surprised if there is a sequel, covering the band's politicization and eventual break-up.

The film begins with the band honing its chops in Liverpool's Cavern Club, to its first road trip shows in Hamburg, Germany, and other European countries in 1963, right before they came to America for an appearance on The Ed Sullivan Show. That appearance, on February 9, 1964 sparked a generation of future musicians like Eagles leaders Don Henley and Glenn Frey to make their parents rush out and buy them musical instruments.

Howard was turning 10 and was halfway through his run on The Andy Griffith Show when he saw the Sullivan broadcast, one of those cultural zeitgeist moments where people remember exactly where they were when it happened. "Not only did I see the Ed Sullivan Show along with everybody else, the only thing I wanted for my tenth birthday was a Beatles wig, which I got.," Howard told Deadline. "I'd never thought about bands before, only Elvis. These guys looked and sounded different, and were absolutely explosive to watch. The girls were screaming. It was this flash of genius and uniqueness, but they were also relate-able. Seeing them on The Ed Sullivan Show was right up there with the 1969 Apollo 11 moon landing, in terms of images from the television set that I'll never forget, and that were pivot points of what was possible."
Sinclair has produced music documentaries on Bob Dylan, The Who, Foo Fighters and the Martin Scorsese-directed George Harrison: Living In The Material World. The latter brought a relationship with Apple and he broached the idea of a Beatles docu as he, Howard and Grazer worked on the Chris Hemsworth-Daniel Bruhl Formula One film Rush. Sinclair glimpsed the British invasion from the other side of the pond. He said it was even more profound.

"It was more pervasive in Britain, all Beatles, all day, from August till December, 1963," he recalled. "There were eight national newspapers, and every one of those papers during that period had a Beatles story on the front page, every day. The Beatles were 22 and 23, and there was no culture of celebrity and stars then. The Beatles pioneered the idea of the meta-celebrity and the idea that so many people could be thinking and feeling the same thing at the same moment, listening to the same record. And then they dissolved in 1970, a short span compared with many groups. There is something unique about their lifestyle, their point of view and the way they assimilated their experiences and shared them back with society. It changed society, and certainly changed things in Britain."

They have begun pulling together footage of appearances and concerts, and are working with docu editor/director Paul Crowder, who last teamed with Sinclair on the Billy Joel docu Last Play At Shea. That film that included McCartney singing Let It Be, a touching homage to the Beatles first 1965 appearance at Shea Stadium. That film was made just before Shea was torn down.

Howard, who's finishing the survival tale Heart Of The Sea, most recently directed the musical docu Made In America, about Jay-Z organizing the Budweiser Music Festival. The narrative will be very different here, he said.

"Made In America was stylistically a bit more like Nashville, these snapshots of individuals," he said. "The focus on the touring years of the Beatles creates a natural narrative shape, and it's more like an adventure story. These remarkable individuals throw themselves out into the world, on this remarkable journey. At the end, both they and we changed in a lot of ways, but are steadfastly the same in other ways. Looking at it from the perspective of The Beatles as geniuses who are venturing into new territory, at a time of transformation that affected and influenced them, is a remarkable opportunity. Looking at them from our perspective, the difference between an individual from 1960-66 was likely to be very significant. Those are great story lines to be able to follow."

The cooperation of the band's members and estates give the film another undeniable benefit. Already, collectors are coming out of the woodwork with footage and soundboards of concerts, and the film will go heavy on performances that were previously unseen by most people.

"That footage is so valuable to me as a director, being able to offer the audience an experience," Howard said. "Applying digital technology to this 8mm and Super 8 footage that has been located and continues to be found, that has never been seen before, and combining that with what has also been collected, these mixes, these tracks from these soundboards, will allow us to synch up these Super 8 and 8 millimeter images, those home movies, and create this very intimate concert experiences for audiences. We get to tell the story and offer this very visceral, exciting, emotional experience for people who go see the film. "
"Don't think about making art, just get it done. Let everyone else decide if it's good or bad, whether they love it or hate it. While they are deciding, make even more art." - Andy Warhol


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