Joe Cornish, who gained an enthusiastic fan following for his film, Attack The Block, has signed on to write and direct an adaptation of Neal Stephenson‘s seminal cyber-punk novel, Snow Crash. The cult book was first published in 1992 and, “is set in the near future, when the U.S. exists as a patchwork
of corporate-franchise city-states, and private enterprise and the mafia
control everything. The plot involves a computer virus that is
manifested as a drug called Snow Crash that is transmitted visually from
computer screens to unsuspecting users, frying their brains. Hiro
Protagonist – that’s the character’s name – a computer hacker/samurai
swordsman/pizza delivery driver who investigates and tries to stop the
takeover of postmodern civilization.”
Kevin Smith is falling back on his steady paycheck with Jay and Silent Bob’s Super Groovy Cartoon Movie, an animated feature through his SModcast Pictures label due next year. According to Smith, “We’re cartoon whores here at SModCo.”
Legendary director Martin Scorsese is partnering with the Weinstein Company to present Daniel Espinosa‘s Easy Money (aka Snabba Cash), a Swedish crime thriller based on the book by Jens Lapidus. “The movie interweaves the stories of three key players who are related to a Swedish drug trafficking ring.” According to Scorsese, “I was deeply impressed by Daniel Espinosa’s Easy Money — by
the harsh, elemental style, which reflects the milieu and the lives of
the characters; by the powerful sense of fate, of well-meaning people
who take one wrong turn and end up paying a terrible price; by the
frightening and surprising evolution of the hero.” The film stars Joel Kinnaman, Matias Varela, Dragomir Mrsic, Dejan Cukic and Fares Fares.
The upcoming Kim Peirce-directed Carrie remake has a couple of new castings: Portia Doubleday will play Chris Hargensen, the role originated by Nancy Allen and Judy Greer will play
Betty Buckley‘s gym teacher character, Miss Desjardin.
Hideo Nakata, director of Ringu will direct the adaptation of IDW Publishing‘s graphic novel, The Suicide Forest. “The first in a series of four graphic novels written by El Torres with
artwork by Gabriel Hernandez, the thriller revolves around Aokigahara, a
vast forest outside Tokyo which is called the most famous suicide spot
in the world. Legend that spirits of past suicides roaming among the
trees. An American ex-pat living in Tokyo must enlist the help of a
forest ranger in Aokigahara to help free him from the clutches of an
evil spirit haunting him from the Suicide Forest.”
Maroon 5 singer Adam Levine will join Keira Knightley, Mark Ruffalo and Hailee Steinfeld in the film, Can A Song Save Your Life for director John Carney, who previously directed the film, Once. “Knightley plays a woman who moves with her boyfriend (Levine) to New
York to pursue music careers. After he dumps her for a solo contract,
she is discovered singing at a local bar by a down-on-his-luck record
producer (Ruffalo).”
