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Upcoming Movies in April
April 2, 2004
April 7, 2004
April 9, 2004
April 16, 2004
April 21, 2004
April 23, 2004
April 30, 2004
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Envy
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Godsend
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Laws of Attraction
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Mean Girls
Upcoming Movies I Want to See
Envy
April 30th
Cast: Jack Black (Nick Vandemark), Ben Stiller (Tim Dingman), Rachel Weisz Amy Poehler, Ving Rhames, Christopher Walken, Cayden Boyd (Wolf), Ariel Gade (Lula Dingman), Lily Jackson (Nellie Vanderpark), LisaRaye, Connor Matheus (Nathan Vanderpark)
Premise: When one of them (Black) becomes mindblowingly, quite-literally stinking rich by selling an invention, a pair of life-long best friends and neighbors (they even work at the same company) finds their bond breaking as the other guy (Stiller) starts to go crazy with... envy (Weisz plays Stiller's wife).
Breakin' All the Rules
May 14th
Cast: Jamie Foxx, Gabrielle Union, Morris Chestnut (Evan), Jennifer Esposito, Bianca Lawson, Peter MacNicol, Jill Ritchie (Amy); other cast not announced yet.
Premise: After he's dumped by his fiancee (Lawson), a man (Foxx) writes a book about how to deal with the repercussions of the "breakup" process, which becomes a bestseller.
Shrek 2
May 21st
Cast: (voices) Mike Myers (Shrek), Eddie Murphy (Donkey), Cameron Diaz (Princess Fiona), Antonio Banderas (Puss-in-Boots), Julie Andrews (Fiona's Mother, the Queen), John Cleese (Fiona's Father, King Harold), Rupert Everett (Prince Charming), Larry King (The Ugly Stepsister), John Lithgow (Prince Farquaad), Jennifer Saunders (The Fairy Godmother), Conrad Vernon (The Gingerbread Man); other voice cast not announced yet.
Based Upon: This is the sequel to the $250+ million hit film (possibly the #1 film of 2001), Shrek, itself based upon the children's book by William Steig.
Series Notes: (2/16/04) DreamWorks is already thinking ahead towards a possible 'Shrek 3.' If it happens, the storyline the third time around would be a spoof of the legend of King Arthur and the Knights of the Round Table.
Premise: Picking up exactly where the first movie left off, this movie takes us to the kingdom of Far, Far Away (which looks a lot like Beverly Hills), as Shrek and Fiona return to her homeland to tell her parents (Cleese, Andrews) the good news. Not everyone is happy to find her married to an ogre, with the most irate in this group being Prince Charming (Everett), who was supposed to be the one who lifted Fiona's curse. We're also introduced to the mysterious Fairy Godmother (Saunders), and a bar called the Poison Apple, where the villains of the fairy tale world hang out, including the great ogre-slayer... Puss-in-Boots (Banderas).
Soul Plane
May 28th
Cast: Kevin Hart (Dakwon), Dwayne Adway (Jerome), Tom Arnold (Mr. Hunkee), K.D. Aubert (Giselle), Angell Conwell (Tamika), Godfrey Danchimah, Snoop Dogg, Yolanda Gill, Brian Hooks, D.L. Hughley, Arielle Kebbel (Heather Hunkee), Loni Love, Method Man (Muggsy), Mo'Nique, Ryan Pinkston (Billy Hunkee), Missi Pyle, Sofia Vergara (Blanca), John Witherspoon
Premise: When Dakwon (Hart) wins $600 million in a lawsuit from an airline because of an incident that killed his dog, he decides to launch his own airline called N.W.A., especially designed to appeal to an African-American customer base. Things get a little crazy on the maiden flight (with Snoop Dogg playing the pilot), however, when a white family (headed by Tom Arnold) is accidentally rerouted to fly on it by another airline.
The Day After Tomorrow
May 28th
Cast: Dennis Quaid (Professor Adrian Hall), Jake Gyllenhaal (Samuel Hall), Emmy Rossum (Laura), Sela Ward (Lucy Hall), Joe Cobden (Zack), Jared Harris, Rick Hoffman, Perry King, Kenneth Moskow (Bob), Austin Nichols, Nestor Serrano, Arjay Smith, Tamlyn Tomita (Janet)
Premise: This movie takes a big-budget, special-effects-filled look at what the world would look like if the greenhouse effect and global warming continued at such levels that they resulted in worldwide catastrophe and disaster, including multiple hurricanes, tornadoes, earthquakes (I don't quite get the science of that one), tidal waves, floods and the beginning of the next Ice Age. At the center of the story is a paleoclimatologist (a scientist who studies the ways weather patterns changed in the past), Professor Adrian Hall (Quaid), who tries to save the world from the effects of global warming while also trying to get to his son, Sam (Gyllenhaal), who was in New York City as part of a scholastic competition, when the city was overwhelmed by the chilling beginnings of the new Ice Age. In addition to all of the other challenges Dr. Hall faces, he's also going against the flow as humanity races south to warmer climes, and he's nearly the only one going north... (Rossum plays Gyllenhaal's wheelchair-bound girlfriend; Ward plays Quaid's wife and Gyllenhaal's mother; Serrano plays Quaid's boss)
Coming Someday
Garfield
Release Date: June 11th, 2004
Cast: Bill Murray (voice of Garfield the Cat), Breckin Meyer (Jon Arbuckle), Jennifer Love Hewitt (Dr. Liz Wilson), Nick Cannon (voice of Louis the Mouse), Alan Cumming (voice of Persnikitty the Cat), David Eigenberg (voice of Nermal the Cat), Brad Garrett (voice of Luca the Doberman Pinscher), Jimmy Kimmel (voice of the Pit Bull), Debra Messing (voice of Arlene the Cat), Mo'nique (voice of The Rat), Stephen Tobolowsky (voice of Happy); other cast not announced yet.
Based Upon: This is the live-action movie version of the comic strip character "Garfield" created, written and illustrated by Jim Davis since 1978, as syndicated to newspapers by Universal Press, and reprinted in dozens of books. This movie is preceded by a series of animated TV specials.
Premise: This film depicts the comic adventures of an overweight orange tabby cat, Garfield (voiced by Bill Murray), who competes with a dog named Odie for the affection and attention of their human master, Jon Arbuckle (Meyer), when Odie is introduced into their home much to Garfield's disgust. When Odie is kidnapped by a mean dog trainer, however, Garfield feels responsible, so he gets off his favorite spot and gets into action to rescue his fellow pet... (Jennifer Love Hewitt plays Liz, Garfield's veterinarian and romantic interest; Cannon plays a "city mouse" who helps Garfield in his search; Messing voices Arlene, Garfield's girlfriend)
Here's how 20th Century Fox puts it:
"He's cynical, lazy and, literally, a fat cat. Now, Garfield, America's favorite feline, is about to become a major motion picture star, in a film with broad-audience appeal. The live action / CGI picture is adapted from the syndicated cartoon strip read in 2600 newspapers by 260 million readers around the globe. In his film debut, Garfield's owner, Jon, takes in sweet but dimwitted pooch Odie, turning Garfield's perfect world upside down. Now, Garfield wants only one thing: Odie out of his home and life! But when the hapless pup disappears and is kidnapped by a nasty dog trainer, Garfield, maybe for the first time in his life, feels responsible. Pulling himself away from the TV, Garfield springs into action."
Terminal
Release Date: June 18th, 2004
Cast: Tom Hanks (Victor Navorski), Catherine Zeta-Jones (Amelia), Chi McBride, Stanley Tucci (Frank Dixon), Diego Luna, Michael Nouri, Zoe Saldana, Jude Ciccolella, Eddie Jones, Kumar Pallana (Gupta Rajan) Premise: An immigrant (Hanks) fleeing the war that ravages his tiny Eastern European homeland finds himself stuck in the terminal of one of New York City's airports when the time of his landing coincides precisely with the point at which the war causes his nation of origin to no longer exist, meaning that his passport and paperwork are no longer valid. As a man without a home, he takes up residence in the terminal itself, befriending the staff of the airport, and falling in love with an airline flight attendant (Zeta-Jones)... (McBride plays a baggage carousel worker who uses his job to run a private business on the side; Tucci plays an Immigration and Naturalization Dept. representative; Nouri plays CZJ's love interest)
White Chicks
Release Date: June 25th, 2004
Cast: Marlon Wayans, Shawn Wayans, Rochelle Aytes, Jennifer Carpenter, Jessica Cauffiel, Faune Chambers, Terry Crews, Brittany Daniel, Anne Dudek (Tiffany Wilton), James King (Heather Vanderbilt), Lochlyn Munro, Busy Philipps, Drew Sidora, Eddie Velez, Maitland Ward (Brittany Wilton)
Director: Keenan Ivory Wayans (Scary Movie, Scary Movie 2, I'm Gonna Git You Sucka, A Low Down Dirty Shame)
Premise: After messing up a major drug bust in New York City, two African American FBI agents (who are also brothers), Marcus and Kevin Copeland (Shawn and Marlon Wayans), try to impress their boss by volunteering to protect the Wilton Sisters, Tiffany (Dudek) and Brittany (Ward), the heiresses of a hotel empire, from a kidnapping scheme during a short trip from JFK to the Hamptons. Deciding to change the strategy drastically, the brothers use themselves as bait, wearing lots of pale makeup and dresses to pass as the Wilton sisters, while the real sisters are hidden away, safe from harm. Now, the agents just have to convince the world (including their coworkers who are now protecting *them* and the Wiltons' friends and family) that they're actually young, rich, white heiresses. Shenanigans and misunderstandings surely ensue. (Aytes plays Shaun's girlfriend; Chambers plays Marlon's wife; Munro and Velez play a pair of rival FBI agents.)
A Dirty Shame
Release Date: July, 2004 (limited release, at least at first)
Cast: Tracey Ullman (Sylvia Stickles), Chris Isaak (Vaughn Stickles), Selma Blair (Caprice Stickles), Johnny Knoxville (Ray-Ray), Patricia Hearst (Paige), Mink Stole (Marge the Neuter), Susan Allenback (Betty Doggett), Jeffrey Auerbach (Baby Bear), Lance Baldwin (Larry), Paul DeBoy (Wendell Doggett), David A. Dunham (Mama Bear), Kosha Engler (Lu-Anne), Michael Gabel (Mr. Pay Day), Jonas Grey (Warren the Mailman), Jackie Hoffman (Dora), Wes Johnson (Fat F**k Frank), Dave Moretti (Papa Bear), Scott Morgan (Neuter Yuppie Man), Jewel Orem (Loose Linda), Richard Pelzman (Paw-Paw), Mary Vivian Pierce, James Ransone (Dingy Dave), Kevin Reese (Ronnie the Rimmer), Susan Rome (Messy Melinda), Suzanne Shepherd (Big Ethel), Alan J. Wendl (Officer Alvin), Lucy Newman Williams (Neuter Yuppie Woman), Michael Willis (Tony the Tickler)
Premise: When the owner of a Baltimore working class convenience store, Sylvia Stickles (Ullman), suffers a concussion, the injury causes a drastic change in her sexual drive, turning her into a sex addict with crazy, wild and urgent desires and compulsions, much to the joy and then frustration of her husband (Isaak) who has trouble keeping up with her, as her new personality threatens to tear apart the remnants of what wasn't an entirely perfect family to begin with. Director John Waters has described this movie (as quoted in "Variety" on 6/16/02) as his "cunnilingus concussion comedy." Echoing Waters, producer Ted Hope told the same trade (6/10/03) that this is "a cunnilingus comedy for the whole family, which might be just what these times need."
Collateral
Release Date: August 6th, 2004
Cast: Tom Cruise, Jamie Foxx (Max), Paul Adelstein, Javier Bardem, Bodhi Elfman, Dennis Farina, Irma P. Hall (Max's Mother), Bruce McGill, Mark Ruffalo, Jada Pinkett Smith (Annie); other cast not announced yet. Premise: Max (Foxx) is a failed comedy writer living in Los Angeles who makes a living as a cab driver. This movie focuses on one very tumultous day for Max, as he figures out that the fare (Cruise) he's been driving around all day is a contract killer, committing a series of hits. Now, it's up to him to somehow stop the killer from executing the last witness... as well as himself. (Farina and Ruffalo play police detectives tracking down the hired killer; Jada Pinkett Smith plays an assistant state attorney who is on Cruise's hit list.)
The Cookout
Release Date: September 3rd, 2004
Cast: Storm P (AKA Quran Pender) (Todd Anderson), Eve (Becky), Frankie Faison (Jojo Anderson), Farrah Fawcett (Mrs. Crowley), Danny Glover (Judge Crowley), Queen Latifah (Security Guard), Jenifer Lewis (Em), Tim Meadows (Leroy Lady), Vincent Pastore, Ja Rule (Bling Bling), Jonathan Silverman (Wes), Godfrey (Jasper), Meagan Good (Brittany), Maria Soccor (Young Nettie), Ruperto Vanderpool
Premise: When Todd Anderson (Storm P) is chosen as the #1 professional basketball draft pick and signs to play for his home team, the New Jersey Nets, for $30 million, he finds that his newfound wealth means his relationships with the people in his life is bound to change. This becomes evident when he decides to throw the sort of family/neighborhood cookout his family has always had during the summer at his new house in a stuffy white neighborhood, which means that there's going to be more than one type of culture clash, between his new and old friends, and those who like him for him, and those who like him for his money. The event is timed to coincide with Todd's first endorsement deal announcement, which only accentuates the difference between his roots and his newfound fame. Watching over the proceedings is the neighborhood association's security guard (Queen Latifah), who's there to make sure none of their rules get broken... although that is certainly guaranteed with Todd's rowdy family and friends in attendance.
The Last Shot
Release Date: September, 2004
Cast: Matthew Broderick (Steve Shats), Alec Baldwin (Joe Divine), W. Earl Brown (Willie Gratzo), Toni Collette (Emily French), Calista Flockhart (Val), Judy Greer (Fanny Nash), William H. Macy, Tim Blake Nelson, James Rebhorn (Abe White), Tony Shalhoub (Tommy the Black), Kevin Chamberlin (Jay Gillman), Glenn Morshower (McCaffrey), Amy Smallman (Heidi Katz)
Based Upon: This film is reportedly based upon the true story of a 1987 Providence, Rhode Island sting operation focusing on two mobsters who were members of the John Gotti crime family. I don't yet (2/22/03) have the details of who was involved, which newspaper reported it, etc., except that the original case actually involved two young film school graduates, not just one director/writer (their $3 million movie didn't get made; and the sting didn't catch anyone).
Premise: The focus of this ensemble comedy is a struggling filmmaker whose dream of directing his script by working outside the traditional Hollywood system comes true (as long as he films in Providence, Rhode Island)... until he discovers that his miracle producer (Baldwin) is actually an undercover FBI agent who is just using the production as part of a sting operation designed to connect reports of union manipulation with... the mafia. (Collette and Flockhart play actresses; Shalhoub plays one of the mobsters).
Unchain My Heart: The Ray Charles Story
Release Date: October 29th, 2004
Cast: Jamie Foxx (Ray Charles), Regina King (Margie Hendrix), Kerry Washington (Della Charles), Curtis Armstrong (Ahmet Ertegun), Patrick Bauchau (Dr. Hacker), Warwick Davis (Oberon), Aunjanue Ellis (Ruth Brown), Rick Gomez (Tom Dowd), Terrence Howard (Guitar Slim), David Krumholtz (Milt), Harry J. Lennix, Usher Raymond (Jackie Wilson), C.J. Sanders (Young Ray), Richard Schiff (Gerald "Jerry" Wexler), Larenz Tate (Quincy Jones), Ralph E. Tresvant (Sam Cooke), Robert Wisdom (Jack Lauderdale), Denise Y. Dowse (Marlene Andres), Chris Thomas King (Lowell Fulsom), Afemo Omilami (Mr. Johnson), Elizabeth Omilami (Mrs. Johnson)
Based Upon: The true story of how Ray Charles Robinson (b. 9/23/30) overcame blindness and poverty to become one of the most famous musicians of the 20th century. Premise: This is a story of how a young man, Ray Charles (Foxx), from a poor family in Albany, Georgia, who went from glaucoma at the age of 6, overcame the obstacles life placed in his way and became a famous pianist and rock and roll performer. Getting out of Albany was just the start, however, as Charles had to deal with racism, romantic letdowns, and his own heroin abuse. The two loves of his life that this film will most focus on are his wife, Della (Washington), who stood by his side even as Charles cheated on her with his long-time mistress, Margie Hendrix (King), who had a child by him before eventually dying of a drug overdose. (Krumholtz and Wisdom plays Charles' managers; Schiff plays his record company boss; Armstrong plays famed producer Ahmet Ertegun)
Hating Her
Release Date: Fall, 2004 (estimate) (probably limited)
Cast: Johnny Knoxville (Everett Stone), Bridget Moynahan (Meredith Morton), Steve Zahn (Ben Stone), Selma Blair (Julie Morton), Blythe Danner (Sybil Stone), Donald Sutherland (Kelly Stone), Maura Tierney (Susannah Trousdale-Stone), Hill Harper (Patrick Thomas), Logan Marshall-Green (Thad Stone), Paul Schneider (Brad Stevenson)
Premise: When Everett (Knoxville), their "favorite" son, brings his uptight girlfriend, Meredith (Moynahan), home for Christmas, with plans of proposing to her there, the eccentric Stone family (headed by Sutherland and Danner) gives her a hostile reception, prompting her to go to her sister, Julie (Blair), for support, which ends up making the situation even more complicated... (Zahn plays Everett's gay brother, who is also deaf; Hill Harper plays Zahn's boyfriend; Logan Marshall-Green plays the youngest brother of the three, who is the only one besides Everett who doesn't "hate" Meredith.)
Sahara
Release Date: Fall, 2004
Cast: Matthew McConaughey (Dirk Pitt), Penelope Cruz (Dr. Eva Rojas), Steve Zahn (Al Giordino), Dayna Cussler (Kitty Mannock), William H. Macy, Glynn Turman, Lambert Wilson; other cast not announced yet.
Based Upon: The 1992 novel, Sahara, by Clive Cussler, which is the 11th entry in his Dirk Pitt sea-based adventure series. Although Cussler is a bestselling author whose action-packed novels seem custom-made for film, this is only his second adaptation, after 1980's Raise the Titanic (which he called "awful from beginning to end"), also a Dirk Pitt novel. Crusader also has the rights to the other Dirk Pitt novels, and have plans to make this the first of a franchise (though it's odd they're starting with a later entry rather than an early one; the first was The Mediterranean Caper in 1973). The latest entry, #16th, was 2001's Valhalla Rising. Cussler has been quoted as saying he hopes Inca Gold is one of the next books adapted.
Premise: Adventurer Dirk Pitt (McConaughey) works for NUMA (National Underwater and Marine Agency), a government agency working to protect all things water-related. An encounter on the Nile with a beautiful U.N. medical investigator and neurologist, Dr. Eva Rojas (Cruz), trying to find the cause of a strange epidemic (that is driving North Africans to madness) leads them to suspect a vast pollution problem on the continent that threatens to kill much of the world's marine life, and thus, the entire planet's ecosystem. Pitt leads a special team of experts on a super-equipped yacht on a race against time, and the plans of a money-hungry billionaire and his ally, a violent West African tyrant. Their search takes them through the Sahara Desert, to a vast gold mine run by slave labor, and perhaps even the answers to two of the greatest mysteries of all time... the vast post-Civil War plot to assassinate Abraham Lincoln (and its tie to a missing "Ironclad" battleship, The Texas), and the disapparance of a famous 1930s female pilot...
Here's how Simon & Schuster describe it:
"1996, Egypt. Searching for a treasure on the Nile, DIRK PITT thwarts the attempted assassination of a beautiful U.N. scientist investigating a disease that is driving thousands of North Africans into madness, cannibalism, and death. The suspected cause of the raging epidemic is vast, unprecedented pollution that threatens to extinguish all life in the world's seas. Racing to save the world from environmental catastrophe, Pitt and his team, equipped with an extraordinary, state-of-the-art yacht, run a gauntlet between a billionaire industrialist and a bloodthirsty West African tyrant. In the scorching desert, Pitt finds a gold mine manned by slaves and uncovers the truth behind two enduring mysteries -- the fate of a Civil War ironclad and its secret connection with Lincoln's assassination, and the last flight of a long-lost female pilot.... Now, amidst the blazing, shifting sands of the Sahara, DIRK PITT will make a desperate stand -- in a battle the world cannot afford to lose!"
The Ringer
Release Date: November 5th, 2004
Cast: Johnny Knoxville (Steve, AKA Jeffy), Brian Cox, Katherine Heigl, Zen Gesner, Jed Rees, John Taylor; other cast not announced yet.
Based Upon: (8/10/03) Michael Fleming of "Variety" reported recently that after years of working on the script, the production has now received approval from the Special Olympics board to use their name, and presumably, film at their events, using their athletes. The reason that the board was willing to sign on to what might seem at first like a movie that could be mocking the mentally handicapped is that the "script doesn't draw its laughs at the expense of any group. In fact, it turns out the competitor can't beat the Special Olympians, and they quickly discover he's an imposter."
Premise: This comedy is about two guys who decide to rig the Special Olympics to pay off a debt by having one of them, Steve (Knoxville), pose as a contestant in the games, hoping to dethrone reigning champion, Jimmy. Mentally-challenged high jinks and hilarity surely follow. (Brian Cox plays Knoxville's uncle.)
Skipping the Holidays
Release Date: November 24th, 2004
Cast: Tim Allen (Luther Krank), Jamie Lee Curtis (Nora Krank), Dan Aykroyd (Vic Frohmeyer), Jake Busey, Cheech Marin, M. Emmett Walsh; other cast not announced yet.
Based Upon: The novel "Skipping Christmas" by John Grisham.
Premise: "Imagine a year without Christmas. No crowded malls, no corny office parties, no fruitcakes, no unwanted presents. That's just what Luther (Allen) and Nora Krank (Curtis) have in mind when they decide that, just this once, they'll skip the holiday altogether. Theirs will be the only house on Hemlock Street without a rooftop Frosty; they won't be hosting their annual Christmas Eve bash; they aren't even going to have a tree. They won't need one, because come December 25 they're setting sail on a Caribbean cruise. But, as this weary couple is about to discover, skipping Christmas brings enormous consequences-and isn't half as easy as they'd imagined."
More specifically, the central complication that disrupts the Kranks' plans is the surprise arrival of their daughter, who expects them to be celebrating Christmas like usual. (Dan Aykroyd plays a neighbor who organizes the street's Christmas lights who gets mad at the Kranks for not participating.)
Danny the Dog
Release Date: TBA 2004
Cast: Jet Li (Danny), Morgan Freeman, Bob Hoskins (Bart), Kerry Condon (Victoria), Silvio Simac; other cast not announced yet.
Premise: Set in Scotland, this is the story of Danny (Li), a slave who has lived his whole life without any sort of normal human education, with the mind and personality of a young child, with only one lesson learned: how to fight. Treated like a dog by his owner/boss, Bart (Hoskins) (which includes having to wear a collar), Danny has been raised to be a lethal fighting machine who fights in illegal gladiator-style fight clubs, where he earns lots of money for Bart as the undisputed champion. After a car accident that lands Bart in a coma, however, Danny meets a kind elderly blind piano tuner (Freeman) on the run because he knows secrets some bad guys don't want known, who uses music to teach Danny some things about the world and about being human.
Press Your Luck
Release Date: Unknown; it will depend upon when/if production eventually starts.
Cast: Bill Murray (Michael Larsen); other cast not announced yet.
Based Upon: This is the true story of Michael Larsen, a contestant on the game show, Press Your Luck, that aired on CBS from 1983-1986, and ran in incessant reruns on the USA Network from 1987-1995. Larsen taped every single episode of the show, studying it until he had "cracked" the six basic board patterns (though there were actually 1,300 separate parts) that would allow him to beat the system. Travelling to California with nearly no money, he went on to have a streak that won him over $100,000 in a single episode, becoming the most successful game show contestant ever at that point. Eventually, of course, his scheme was discovered...
Premise: This is the true story of Michael Larsen (Murray), an unemployed former ice cream truck driver in the 1980's who studied the CBS game show, Press Your Luck, to the point where he was able to control his winnings well enough to accrue over $100,000, winning more than any previous TV show contenstant. Of course, his success didn't go unnoticed...
The First King
Release Date: Unknown; that will depend upon when filming is eventually scheduled to start.
Cast: Jet Li (The First King); other cast not announced yet.
Based Upon: In addition to being based upon the first King of China, this project started with a story idea by Jet Li, who is starring in another movie about the first Emperor, Hero.
Premise: The first King of China (Li) and his royal court are brought back to life in modern times in this action roller-coaster ride that is compared to The Mummy and Indiana Jones.
The Tibetan Monk in New York
Release Date: Unknown; that will depend upon when (if) filming actually does get started.
Cast: Jet Li; other cast not announced yet.
Premise: This is the comedic story of what happens when a Tibetan monk (Li) wins a trip to New York City. Soon, he's bringing peace (and probably some high-flying kung fu kicks) to an inner-city neighborhood. Variety quoted Li thus, "I look forward to bringing a story of compassion and kindness to the worldwide audience."
Mr. President
Release Date: Unknown; that will depend upon when (if) filming actually does get started
Cast: Chris Tucker (The President of the United States of America); other cast not announced yet.
Premise: This mockumentary follows the political career of a flamboyant young black man (Tucker) who becomes President of the United States. High jinks and hilarity ensue.
Gates of Fire
Release Date: Unknown; that will depend upon when (if) filming actually does get started.
Cast: None announced yet, but it's a good bet that George Clooney will have a role, possibly as King Leonides, since he's producing as well.
Based Upon: The 1998 novel of the same title by Steven Pressfield, based upon the true story of 300 Spartans who, along with about 7,000 allied Greeks, held back an army of over 2 million Persians (you read that right) for several days in 480 B.C. at the Battle of Thermopylae. Though they lost the battle, they held back the Persians long enough for the Greek states to rally together. The key to success were the "Gates of Fire", a narrow pass in the mountaintops where the Spartans positioned themselves, acting like a valve, keeping the Persians from passing, even as their own dead served as shields.
Premise: This is the Battle of Thermopylae ("Gates of Fire") as seen by the only survivor, Zeones. Told in flashback, the film follows the story of the young slave (aka, a "helot", a servant), starting with his childhood, through his Spartan military training, ending with one of the most famous battles ever, as the relatively tiny band of Spartans holds back an army of thousands of Persians. Facing armies that numbered over in the millions, the Spartans obviously knew they would ultimately lose, but they fought on, regardless. If the Persians had conquered Greece that early on, Western culture as we know it probably would never have happened...
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