Friday, April 10, 2009

Kristen Stewart`s Men In Prison Movie Still Happening

Jason Mewes, better known to most as Jay to Kevin Smith’s Silent Bob, is teaming up with Twilight sensation Kristen Stewart for a prison comedy. And if that’s not weird enough, Kristen Stewart will play a dude!
We actually first hard about this project back in November. Jason Mewes toplines the film while Stewart co-stars with fellow Twilighter Nikki Reed. Both undergo gender transformation for their roles. It’s directed by Kristen Stewart’s mother Jules, which I guess explains how they landed one of the hottest commodities in Hollywood to show up for it. The update here is that this isn’t just some crazed fantasy after all, it’s really happening.
Jason Mewes stopped by Moviehole today and talked to them about the movie, being called K11. He says their start date in January slipped, but they`re shooting in August or September. This may have something to do with Stewart’s commitment to the Twilight sequel New Moon which is due out in November and should by this time, be heavy into production if they plan to have it ready by fall 09.
As for Mewes, it’s always great to see him getting more parts outside of Smith’s View Askew universe. With his willingness to go full testicle for a role, he’s the perfect choice for any prison shower scene. Click over to MH for more on Jason’s role in K11.
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Keyword:Queer As Folk, The L Word ,Prison Break

2009 TV Preview: 'The Prisoner' reborn

Next up on our non-stop TV tour of 2009 is one of the most culty cult shows ever.
The Prisoner is returning to screens next year more than 40 years after the original in a new joint remake from ITV and American broadcaster AMC.
Jim Caviezel (The Passion of the Christ) takes on the iconic role of Number Six, a man who is kidnapped and held as a prisoner in a strange village. Veteran actor Sir Ian McKellen stars as Number Two, the villainous chief of the village.
How faithful will the new version be to the original? Will Rover be bounding back too? Tube Talk spoke to executive producer Michele Buck to find out. Does this new version have the same overarching plot as the original?"The original series was 17 hours and we're only making six, but it does have an overriding story. He's in the village and he wants to get out of the village - that was the conceit of the original series and that's the same with our version. Why is he in the village and how is he put in the village? All of that you'll have to watch to find out. But the overall rules are same, yes."
How do you think fans of the original will take to the new version?"I hope really well! We'd be bonkers if we thought we were going to make something they wouldn't like. We have obeyed the rules of the first series so I'm hoping it will work for them... in an updated way."
Was it difficult trying to juggle the expectations of what The Prisoner should be with trying to make the new version feel fresh and distinctive?"I think if you're a drama maker, you're always reinventing the genre or trying to find the next turn. Even in classic adaptations you're trying to do something different. This isn't just a classic adaptation, this was an iconic series originally and actually to have another spin of the dice is a huge challenge.
The Prisoner has no rules; it's unconstrained in that way. It was modern and rule-breaking in its time and hopefully we've done the same here."
Perhaps the most iconic part of the original series was the giant blimp. Is it returning? "Ahh, you mean Rover? I'm not going to comment on Rover. You'll have to watch to find out! What I will say is that I hope in our version of The Prisoner, we've identified the trigger points from the first run of what the audience wanted and liked, where it was surreal, where it was weird, and have reinvented those same beats."
The cast is led by James Caviezel and Sir Ian McKellen. What characters do they play and what do the actors bring to the roles? "Jim is clearly playing Number Six, the Patrick McGoohan part. Ian is playing Number Two, who's in
charge of the village and is the big baddie, really. The thing with this is that we're making it for both the American audience and the British audience. Jim is very much an applauded American actor that we're really lucky to get. He's a good looking alpha male. Ian McKellen is the other half of the casting for the British audience. He's probably our most important British actor. To get him to commit to do a TV series is a fantastic achievement." 2009 TV Preview: 'The Prisoner' reborn Were they both familiar with the original audience? "Ian knows it very well and clearly wanted to do it because it resonated with him. I think the premise for Jim was a new thing. I would be very surprised if he was familiar with it before we gave him the call. But we gave him the call, he read the scripts and was very excited." Originally this project was in development for Sky1 and Christopher Eccleston was a rumoured Six. What changes resulted from the move to ITV/AMC?"It was never going to be with Christopher Eccleston. At the time we announced we were doing The Prisoner, as with Doctor Who previously, the press was always second guessing and decided Christopher Eccleston was doing it. I can categorically say it's never been him. It was always going to be an American lead, because it's an American-British co-production and the split we decided on was an American Number Six and a British Number Two."
Have you planned beyond the first series?"The original Prisoner was 17 one-hours and we've made six. Let's see whether the audience will accept it or not. I'm hoping they will and believe they will!"
Additional reporting by Simon Reynolds Add your comments to this entry below!
Next up on our 2009 TV Preview: Robin Hood series three.

Prison Break series finale dated

Fox's Prison Break has been on its own break for quite some time now, but that's about to change later this month as the show's final episodes begin their home stretch. The network is moving the drama over to Friday nights at 8 p.m., where it will be paired up with Dollhouse.
The series finale will get a proper two-hour sendoff and air on May 15. Fox's description of the finale is fairly simple: "Familiar faces return to help Michael end his quest to bring down The Company once and for all."
But EW.com has some more details with non-specific spoilers (i.e. events are described, but names aren't given; read on at your own risk). The site says there will be two major deaths and four old characters returning for the wrap up.
Prison Break lasted much longer than it was intended to (it was originally supposed to be a mini-series), and developed a solid fan base over its four seasons.