Which Alexander the Great pic would you rather see?

©brad · April 24, 2003, 10:43:47 AM

The Boston Globe had an article by Hugh Hart about the upcoming "chariot pics". It says Oliver's "Alexander the Great" take was influenced by Robin Lane Fox's 1973 book "Alexander the Great". Perhaps, since the article also talks to Moritz Borman, head of Intermedia that is financing it. He credits the success of "Gladiator" and the new CG abilities with making it possible. "Six years ago, if you wanted to make a film like "Alexander", it would probably be undoable financially. Building whole cities and duplicating 10 horses into 2000 and creating a landscape behind it that you shot half a year before somewhere in the Himalayas - you couldn't have done that before and make it look real".

And the News Corp. website in Australia (http://entertainment.news.com.au) has a April 21 article about the dueling Alexanders. Says Stone is expected to start shooting in Sept. (those background shots don't count) and Baz Luhrrman in Nov. BUT the general consensus is that only one of those productions will survive, because both are aiming for June '04 summer release. So it's still possible that if the Baz production continues, Oliver's backers might blink and scuttle it, or vice versa. We're not out of the woods yet.

Pwaybloe · April 24, 2003, 12:42:27 PM

Quote from: cbrad4d...both are aiming for June '94 summer release.

Damn. 91 years.

I'll be, like, starting to get old.

snaporaz · April 25, 2003, 04:53:44 AM

in my opinion, stone's version will be a mature, literary-type of work, while luhrmann's will be something teenagers will enjoy. whatever that means. i just hope stone doesn't use the crazy richardsonesque photography like he did with any given sunday, which didn't even have richardson in it.

children with angels · April 25, 2003, 05:26:14 AM

I don't know - you can't always rely on Stone to be mature: not to mention Any Given Sunday, let's not forget the ridiculous spectacle that is Natural Born Killers... I quite like it, but it is the most over-the-top, unsubtle piece of satire...

Probably being a bit unfair: the MTV style did have a point there (to be MTV style) - I doubt he'd use it for a period film.

Or would he...?

snaporaz · April 25, 2003, 05:53:17 AM

Quote from: children with angelsI don't know - you can't always rely on Stone to be mature: not to mention Any Given Sunday, let's not forget the ridiculous spectacle that is Natural Born Killers... I quite like it, but it is the most over-the-top, unsubtle piece of satire...

Probably being a bit unfair: the MTV style did have a point there (to be MTV style) - I doubt he'd use it for a period film.

Or would he...?

well...i don't want to say shit because i didn't watch all of any given sunday, nor do i want to. some subjects just aren't appealing to me...

and why does everyone hate natural norn killers because it threw subtelty out the window? having two anti-heroes like mickey and mallory presented as comic book icons was really fun. also...how can you say you like it when you have so many bad things to say about it? a ridiculous spectacle...well...it is a ridiculous spectacle...which is exactly what it was making fun of. i also find it funny how lots of "groups" and what not claimed the film glorified violence, yet other people say the satire was too obvious. i guess it wasn't obvious enough to some...

i don't know. having the media and it's effects on society being made fun of so blatantly was actually quite refreshing, in my opinion.

snaporaz · April 25, 2003, 05:57:39 AM

Quote from: children with angelsProbably being a bit unfair: the MTV style did have a point there (to be MTV style) - I doubt he'd use it for a period film.

Or would he...?

are you talking about his "mtv style" in any given sunday?

i never said he was mtv in that one. i said richardsonesque, which i think is quite different. if any given sunday was mtv-ish, i might actually bring alot more humour into the film. but from what i've seen, i think the richardson shit was played out alot more than the mtv stuff.

blah.

©brad · April 25, 2003, 06:21:29 AM

i thought visually AGS was one of Stone's best, but that's just me. can't deny that some of the football sequences are pretty damn spectacular.

RegularKarate · April 25, 2003, 12:42:47 PM

my prediction is that both these movies will come out and everyone will start comparing them and it will be just as boring as this thread has been so far and then in five years people will say "Hey remember that year that two Alexander the Great films came out? " "Yeah, neither was really that good"

Pwaybloe · April 25, 2003, 12:55:31 PM

Quote from: RegularKaratemy prediction is that both these movies will come out and everyone will start comparing them and it will be just as boring as this thread has been so far and then in five years people will say "Hey remember that year that two Alexander the Great films came out? " "Yeah, neither was really that good"

Yeah, and five years from now, people will say:

"Remember Xixax.com?"

"Yeah. Newbies suck."

children with angels · April 25, 2003, 02:53:02 PM

I enjoy Natural Born Killer's - it's fun and funny (partly because of how over-the-top it is, a lot because of Downey Jr's performance), I'm just using it as an example of how Stone can't necessarily be relied on to be "mature"... And I know that's the point - that kind of style doesn't come about by accident.

And - I have to come clean - I haven't actually seen Any Given Sunday either, and was kind of crossing my fingers that my reference to it would be appropriate... Apparently not! Sorry...

Sigur Rós · April 25, 2003, 02:56:39 PM

Stone

....I'm actually wathin' U-Turn rite now

EL__SCORCHO · April 25, 2003, 08:17:43 PM

I'd like to see Stone's version better. I like Lhurmann and all, but I think Stone's better suited for the material.

MacGuffin · April 27, 2003, 12:36:43 PM

Colin Farrell Talks Alexander the Great

Colin Farrell talked to BBC Radio 1 about his starring role in Oliver Stone's Alexander the Great, the 20 year-old King of Macedonia some 2,300 years ago. He's due to start filming in June and Colin says Stone has written such a phenomenal script he can't wait to start shooting.

"Everything is in it. There's greed, there's jealousy, there's love, there's pain, there's hope, there's desperation, there's pride, there's friendship, there's betrayal. It's an amazing, amazing story."

"There's so much in it - it's so dense that it nearly reads like bad fiction. Obviously bisexual - which wasn't even an issue back then."

"There was no term for bisexuality - it was just the way society was. People made love to men and women. It was only later on you had to pick one side of the fence. It's amazing."

©brad · April 27, 2003, 01:34:02 PM

should make for some interesting sex scenes.

MacGuffin · May 05, 2003, 09:20:34 AM

Anthony Hopkins Joining Stone's Alexander

Anthony Hopkins is negotiating to star alongside Colin Farrell in Intermedia's Alexander, says Variety. The epic will be distributed by Warner Bros.

Hopkins, reteaming with his Nixon director Oliver Stone, will play the role of Ptolemy, the last surviving general in the army of Macedonian conqueror Alexander the Great who went on to become the Pharoah of Egypt. A younger actor will be cast to play Ptolemy in battle scenes.

Intermedia is in a race with the rival Baz Luhrmann-Leonardo DiCaprio project at Universal and DreamWorks, produced by Dino De Laurentiis. In a surprise move, Intermedia has established Morocco as its primary shooting location, the locale Luhrmann said he had abandoned for his home turf Australia because he couldn't get insurance for his actors. The Stone film will now take advantage of all the amenities that had been offered to its rival.

Part of Alexander will also be shot in London. Stone has already done some shooting near the Himalayas, and principal photography is on course to begin in July. Filming will stop for a month in August and resume in September.