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Leaked Paramount Email Exposes Full Slate of Future Projects

by Ethan Anderton
August 18, 2010
Source: The Wrap

Yesterday we reported on a new Bad Robot project from the mind of J.J. Abrams with "Lost" series director Jack Bender on board to helm the project which takes the make-out game 7 Minutes in Heaven and gives it a deadly twist. Well, that project turned out to be one of dozens of projects in a leaked email from inside the offices of Paramount Pictures which was uncovered by The Wrap. The email itself is just a list of projects the studio is working on with brief updates, and while many just confirm previous news, there's interesting developments involving Will Smith, World War Z, Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles and much more.

Priority Projects

Triple Frontier:
Last we heard about this project from The Hurt Locker team of director Kathryn Bigelow and writer Mark Boal was that the high stakes ensemble project was going to start shooting early next year. It looks like the plan is to get it off the ground by December or January, but the best news is that Bigelow has been meeting with Christian Bale and Will Smith for roles. In addition, the previously rumored meetings with Javier Bardem and Sean Penn are confirmed, but no mention of Denzel Washington.  This sounds like an Avengers-style collection of A-List actors, so I can't wait to see who finally gets cast.

Young Adult:
Paramount is looking to pick up this next new collaboration between director Jason Reitman and writer Diablo Cody with Charlize Theron attached to star. Deals are being finalized with Mandate to figure out financing/producing responsibilities and they're hoping to start production in October or November. That pretty much confirms that this will be Reitman's very next project.

My Mother's Curse:
We've only heard about this wacky new comedy briefly before, and there was no reason to suspect it was coming down the road anytime soon. But apparently it's a priority for Paramount with Seth Rogen and Barbara Streisand starring in what we previously heard was a road trip comedy. Anne Fletcher (The Proposal, 27 Dresses) is set to direct, and Paramount is hoping for a November start date.

World War Z:
Director Marc Forster and Brad Pitt are still very much on board to direct and star in this adaptation respectively, but the good update here is that the studio loves the new draft of the script from Matthew Michael Carnahan (The Kingdom, State of Play), so it won't be too long before some solid progress is made.

Twilight Zones:
Though we weren't aware of a title when this project was mentioned earlier this year, "The Sopranos" creator David Chase's coming-of-age rock drama (with apparently no relation to the seminal sci-fi series?) is moving forward with casting completely unknowns to play the young guys who form a rock band in the 1960's.

The Dictator:
We already heard about this new Sacha Baron Cohen project back in April, but now it has a title and the studio is just waiting on a script. If you don't recall, this comedy will see Cohen playing two different wacky characters: a goat herder and a deposed foreign dictator who gets lost in the United States. Apparently it's "in the spirit of Coming To America meets Trading Places." That sounds just fine to me.

Meanwhile, other priority project updates include casting discussions (but with no names mentioned) for Tommy Wirkola's Hansel and Gretel: Witch Hunters dark project, as well as Mission Impossible 4 (though it's listed as MI3 for some reason). Writing updates see Star Trek 2 in the midst of its first draft while the Chris Pine led Jack Ryan reboot Moscow is looking for a new writer to re-write the script before getting the greenlight. Also, we just heard Stephen Sommers would return for the sequel, but apparently Paramount loves the G.I. Joe 2 script written by Zombieland's co-writers Rhett Reese and Paul Wernick.

Other Projects In Development

Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles:
Back in May we heard Michael Bay's Platinum Dunes was taking over development on the new live-action adaptation, and now it looks like John Fusco's script wasn't all that great. A new writer is being sought as quick as possible since this is a huge property for the studio.

Hasbro Factory:
This project was first uncovered by Pajiba back in May, but the prospect sounds like such a shitty way to sell more toys through a shoddy narrative that we just didn't care about it (back then or now). Apparently this project is a reality, though, that's described as Night at a Museum in a toy factory. Obviously there's going to be some Toy Story elements, too, but does anyone really care?

What Men Want:
This sequel will see Cameron Diaz in the same shoes as Mel Gibson (hopefully not in real life) where her character will end up hearing the inner-most thoughts of men. The script needs to be polished but there's no mention of a director yet.

Nevada Smith:
Though the project sounds like it might be a parody of Indiana Jones, the project is actually a remake of a 1966 film following a guy who tracks down everyone who has wronged him. Apparently it's like The Fugitive meets Taken. Jamie Linden (We Are Marshall, Dear John) is currently writing the script.

Other projects in the writing phase include Zoolander 2, Max Steel (without Taylor Lautner, apparently) and sadly that aforementioned comedic Baywatch movie is also waiting on a first draft of the screenplay.

There's plenty of other projects on the list which you can see in its entirety over at The Wrap, but it sounds like Paramount is pretty well set on its production slate for the next couple years, with a very wide variety of projects covering a lot of genres that sound both awesome and awful. While some certainly seem intriguing, I'm personally only mildly interested in most of them (with the exception of World War Z, Triple Frontier and Mission Impossible 4 - which I'm definitely excited about). I guess we'll have to see how these projects pan out as they develop, so stick around for any updates. Which projects interest you guys the most?

Filed under Movie News, Opinions

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