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Paul Verhoeven Finds Backing And A Writer For Controversial Jesus Christ Movie

By MIKE FLEMING JR | Tuesday June 19, 2012 @ 5:24pm PDTTags: Joe Eszterhas, Mel Gibson, Paul Verhoeven, Ridley Scott, Steven Spielberg
Mike Fleming

Jesus Of Nazareth MovieEXCLUSIVE: As Darren Aronofsky’s Noah gets ready to set sail and iconic directors Ridley Scott and Steven Spielberg forge ahead with epics about Moses leading the Israelites out of Egypt, faithful Biblical epics are flourishing in Hollywood. It looks like there is even room for one that takes the most controversial look at the life of Jesus Christ since Martin Scorsese’s The Last Temptation Of Christ. 

Paul Verhoeven Jesus ChristI’m told that Muse Productions’ Chris Hanley, whose credits include American Psycho, has stepped up to finance development of a film about Christ. It will be based on Jesus Of Nazareth, a book that director Paul Verhoeven co-wrote after immersing himself in the history and researching the subject for nearly two decades. Verhoeven plans to direct the film, which will be written by Roger Avary. Avary shared the Academy Award for Best Original Script with Quentin Tarantino for Pulp Fiction.

Verhoeven’s take on the life of Jesus Christ discounts all the miracles that inform the New Testament. That includes the virgin birth and the resurrection. Verhoeven doesn’t believe any of them happened. I wrote about Verhoeven’s ambitions in spring 2011, as he and his reps at ICM first tried to find funding — no small feat given some of the theories he put forth in the book.The most controversial: that Jesus might have been the product of his mother being raped by a Roman soldier, which Verhoeven said was commonplace at the time, and that Jesus was a radical prophet who performed exorcisms and was convinced he would find the kingdom of Heaven on earth, and did not know he would be sentenced to die on the cross by Pontius Pilate. That, and the discounting of the miracles that pepper the New Testament, has made this a daunting project to set up. READ MORE »

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HOT WEEKEND! Both ‘Madagascar 3′ And ‘Prometheus’ On Fire For $59.6M/$49.5M

By NIKKI FINKE, Editor in Chief | Sunday June 10, 2012 @ 1:37am PDTTags: 'Madagascar 3', 20th Century Fox, Box Office, Prometheus, Ridley Scott

June 8-10 Weekend Actuals

1. Madagascar 3 (DreamWorks Anim/Paramount) NEW [4,258 Theaters] PG
Friday $20.7M, Saturday $22.6M, Sunday $17.1M, Weekend $60.3M

2. Prometheus (Fox) NEW [3,396 Theaters] R
Friday $21.5M, Saturday $16.0M, Sunday $13.6M, Weekend $51.1M

3. Snow White & The Huntsman (Universal) Week 2 [3,777 Theaters] PG13
Friday $7.5M, Saturday $8.9M, Sunday $6.7M Weekend $23.1M (-59%), Cume $98.5M

4. Men in Black 3 (Columbia/Sony) Week 3 [3,792 Theaters] PG13
Friday $4.3M, Saturday $5.6M, Sunday $3.9M, Weekend $13.9M (-51%), Cume $135.9M

5. The Avengers (Marvel/Disney) Week 6 [3,129 Theaters] PG13
Friday $3.3M, Saturday $4.5M, Sunday $3.4M Weekend $11.2M (-45%), Cume $572.3M

6. Best Exotic Marigold Hotel (Fox Searchlight) Week 6 [1,298 Theaters] PG13
Friday $940K, Saturday $1.4M, Sunday $938K Weekend $3.3M (-27%), Cume $31M

7. What To Expect When You’re Expecting (Lionsgate) Week 4 [2,087 Theaters] PG13
Friday $924K, Saturday $1.1M, Sunday $756K, Weekend $2.8M (-37%), Cume $35.8

8. Battleship (Universal) Week 4 [1,954 Theaters] PG13
Friday $694KK, Saturday $918K, Sunday $664K, Weekend $2.3M (-55%), Cume $59.8M

9. The Dictator (Paramount) Week 4 [1,651 Theaters] R
Friday $714K, Saturday $849K, Sunday $679K Weekend $2.2M (-52%), Cume $55.3M

10. Moonrise Kingdom (Focus) Week 3 [96 Theaters] PG13
Friday $466K, Saturday $637K, Sunday $456K Weekend $1.6M, Cume $3.7M

SUNDAY 1:30 AM, 5TH UPDATE: Any worries about a Summer 2012 domestic box office slump are officially gone. Because overall moviegoing was a whopper weekend: $175M, or +32% from last year.  To Hollywood’s surprise, Prometheus (3,396 theaters) edged Madagascar 3: Europe’s Most Wanted (4,258 theaters) in a  dog fight for #1 on Friday. But the toon came back with a +8% kiddie bounce on Saturday to end its opening weekend with a fierce $59.6M.  By contrast, the scifi thriller plunged -22% from Friday to Saturday but still ended with a big $49.5M weekend result.

No one least of all Twentieth Century Fox expected its R-rated original playing in less theaters to outgross DreamWorks Animation‘s PG-rated family threequel on opening day. In fact Fox execs kept predicting no more than a $30M-$35M weekend result in a blatant attempt to lower expectations. But Prometheus in North America debuted to an overperforming $3.561M in midnight screenings at 1,368 locations, shooting its Friday gross to $21.4M. The tantalizing combination of Alien‘s Ridley Scott as director and Lost‘s Damon Lindelof as screenwriter, plus Fox’s Avatar-savvy teaser marketing that also kept Prometheus under wraps, really motivated moviegoers. But audiences only bestowed a so-so ‘B’ CinemaScore on Prometheus – because of huge plot holes big enough to drive Mack trucks through. And that did hurt word of mouth just as I predicted and drpped to $16.4M on Saturday. So the film should end the weekend closer to $49M than $50M. Which is stil a solid result for a film the studio claims cost only $125M because of UK tax credits and low CGI costs. (By the way, that ‘R’ rating was blamed on one really gross scene.)

Fox will update overseas numbers later this morning, but the actioner was on fire when it opened internationally a week earlier. Coming into Friday, Prometheus already had amassed $51M from territories that opened last weekend and posted strong opening day numbers out of Australia, Korea and Taiwan.

Audiences loved Madagascar 3 and gave it a straight ‘A’ CinemaScore as usual. And the toon distributed by Paramount took in $20.4M Friday and $22M Saturday to win the weekend with one of DreamWorks’ best results. Toon benefitted from pent-up demand because of the lack of family movies in the marketplace for some time. Madagascar 3: Europe’s Most Wanted also stampeded out of the gate with early box office results internationally Friday. Read More »

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‘Prometheus’ Begins Foreign Run: #1 France

By NIKKI FINKE, Editor in Chief | Wednesday May 30, 2012 @ 10:06pm PDTTags: Prometheus, Ridley Scott

EXCLUSIVE: Ridley Scott’s scifi thriller won’t debut in the U.S. or Canada until June 8th but it’s already started selling movie tickets in France. Fox’s Prometheus opened with $1.5M (Euros 1.12m) for #1 in the market and 40% market share. It was the … Read More »

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‘Blade Runner’ Scribe Hampton Fancher Returning For Ridley Scott-Directed Sequel

By MIKE FLEMING JR | Thursday May 17, 2012 @ 3:46pm PDTTags: Alcon Entertainment, Big Deals Film, Blade Runner, Ridley Scott
Mike Fleming

BREAKING: Hampton Fancher is in talks to join director Ridley Scott in developing a new version of Blade Runner for Alcon Entertainment. Alcon is acknowledging the film is a sequel, and that it takes place some years after the first … Read More »

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20th Century Fox Spins ‘Wool’ For Scott Free And Film Rites

By MIKE FLEMING JR | Friday May 11, 2012 @ 7:11pm PDTTags: Film Rites, Ridley Scott, Scott Free, Steve Zaillian, Wool
Mike Fleming

BREAKING: I’m hearing that 20th Century Fox is the frontrunner to acquire Wool, a self-published e-book that has become an internet sensation and is being called the sci-fi version of Fifty Shades of Grey. Ridley and Tony Scott’s Scott Free … Read More »

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Cameron Diaz Joining Ridley Scott’s Killer Cast For ‘The Counselor’

By MIKE FLEMING JR | Wednesday May 9, 2012 @ 8:25am PDTTags: Cameron Diaz, Michael Fassbender, Ridley Scott, The Counselor
Mike Fleming

Cameron Diaz Cast CounselorBREAKING: Cameron Diaz is in final negotiations to join the spectacular cast of The Counselor, the Ridley Scott-directed drama based on the original script by Pulitzer Prize-winning author Cormac McCarthy. She will join Michael Fassbender, Brad Pitt, Javier Bardem and Penelope Cruz. It is a strong supporting role she’ll play, named Malkina. Fassbender plays the title role of a respected lawyer who thinks he can dip a toe into the drug business without getting sucked down, which proves to be a life-threatening decision.

It continues the charmed track the film has been on since McCarthy surprised his ICM agents by delivering his first spec script late last year, with Nick Wechsler and Chockstone’s Steve and Paula Mae Schwartz (who produced the screen adaptation of McCarthy’s The Road) buying it preemptively. It has been a magnet for talent, particularly after Scott cleared the decks to direct it next, and set his Prometheus star Fassbender to star. The director’s Scott Free came aboard to produce with Wechsler and the Chockstone duo. That gave Fox first crack at the film, and the studio recently closed a deal to release the picture. Next came commitments from both Pitt and Bardem (who won his Best Actor Oscar for the Coen brothers-directed adaptation of McCarthy’s No Country For Old Men), and subsequently Cruz. Read More »

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Fox Confirms R Rating For Ridley Scott’s ‘Prometheus’

By MIKE FLEMING JR | Tuesday May 8, 2012 @ 8:19am PDTTags: At the Mountains of Madness, Prometheus, Ridley Scott
Mike Fleming

Prometheus Movie RatingWhen I spoke to director Guillermo del Toro recently, he noted the similar circumstances between Ridley Scott’s Prometheus and At The Mountains Of Madness, the film del Toro was set to direct with Tom Cruise until Universal … Read More »

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Film Afrika Worldwide To Hang L.A. Shingle

By NANCY TARTAGLIONE, International Editor | Thursday May 3, 2012 @ 6:02am PDTTags: Chronicle, Josh Trank, Ridley Scott

The South African production company on Josh Trank’s Chronicle is cozying up to Hollywood. Film Afrika Worldwide CEO David Wicht will head up the new LA office where he’ll facilitate productions shooting in South Africa and develop original material … Read More »

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Hot International Trailer: ‘Prometheus’

By THE DEADLINE TEAM | Sunday April 29, 2012 @ 5:52pm PDTTags: Charlize Theron, Prometheus, Ridley Scott

A new international trailer (UK) for Ridley Scott’s Prometheus appeared today and we’re passing it along. Mixed with some of what we’ve seen before, the new bits tease just enough to keep fanticipation high. Opens June 8th in North America.

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‘Prometheus’ Robot Promo Featuring Michael Fassbender: Video

By THE DEADLINE TEAM | Tuesday April 17, 2012 @ 6:22pm PDTTags: Fox, Michael Fassbender, Prometheus, Ridley Scott

Is it real or Ridley Scott? It’s actually Michael Fassbender as David the robot and is the latest tease from Fox for Prometheus, Scott’s return to space. In this clip, Fassbender shows us what the latest generation of robots is capable of, both physically and emotionally. This is just the one slice … Read More »

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Ridley Scott Drafts Brad Pitt And Javier Bardem For ‘The Counselor,’ With Fox Circling

By MIKE FLEMING JR | Thursday April 12, 2012 @ 11:52am PDTTags: Brad Pitt, Cormac McCarthy, Javier Bardem, Michael Fassbender, Ridley Scott, The Counselor
Mike Fleming

EXCLUSIVE: Back in February, Deadline revealed that Ridley Scott was aiming high for a nemesis to play alongside Michael Fassbender in The Counselor, with Brad Pitt and Javier Bardem on the wish list. I’m told now that Scott is on the verge of getting both actors into the movie. … Read More »

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Report: James Cameron Wants To Return To ‘Aliens’ Mode With ‘Prometheus’ Sequel?

By MIKE FLEMING JR | Monday April 2, 2012 @ 10:36am PDTTags: Alien, Big Deals Film, James Cameron, Prometheus, Ridley Scott
Mike Fleming

UPDATE: Insiders at the studio tell me that James Cameron might have made a slightly humorous off handed comment about a Prometheus sequel on the red carpet, but it’s not true he’s planning a Prometheus sequel; this falls … Read More »

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Hot Extended Trailer: ‘Prometheus’

By THE DEADLINE TEAM | Saturday March 17, 2012 @ 6:52pm PDTTags: 20th Century Fox, Prometheus, Ridley Scott, WonderCon

The WonderCon crowd down in Anaheim today saw an exclusive extended trailer for Ridley Scott’s sci-fi epic Prometheus that was introduced by Scott, co-writer Damon Lindelof and stars Charlize Theron and Michael Fassbender. Fox is among the majors on the convention schedule looking to drum up support for its … Read More »

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‘Prometheus’ To Get IMAX 3D Release

By THE DEADLINE TEAM | Thursday March 8, 2012 @ 2:02pm PSTTags: IMAX, Prometheus, Ridley Scott

Prometheus IMAXPrometheus, Ridley Scott’s return to sci-fi terror territory he explored with 1979′s Alien and 1982′s Blade Runner, gets the full IMAX treatment, including 3D and the company’s proprietary IMAX DMR (digital remastering). The 20th Century Fox feature will … Read More »

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VIDEO: Ridley Scott’s ‘Prometheus’ Hits The Lecture Circuit In Clever Promo

By THE DEADLINE TEAM | Tuesday February 28, 2012 @ 1:17pm PSTTags: Guy Pearce, Prometheus, Ridley Scott

The video is not from Ridley Scott’s Prometheus but was conceived by Scott and Damon Lindelof to be shown at the TED conference running now in Long Beach. Luke Scott directed the elaborate bit, which shows Guy Pearce’s character Peter Weyland addressing the annual thinkers confab in the “year of … Read More »

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Ridley Scott And Fuji TV Team For ‘Japan In A Day’

By BRIAN BROOKS | Monday February 27, 2012 @ 5:12pm PSTTags: Life In A Day, Ridley Scott

The one-year anniversary of the Japanese earthquake and tsunami is March 11. In memory of the disaster, Fuji Television and Ridley and Tony Scott’s Scott Free London are embarking on Japan In A Day, a 24-hour self-portrait of … Read More »

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Top Actors Lining Up For Villain Role In ‘The Counselor’

By MIKE FLEMING JR | Friday February 24, 2012 @ 10:58am PSTTags: Cormac McCarthy, Javier Bardem, Jeremy Renner, Michael Fassbender, Ridley Scott, The Counselor
Mike Fleming

The hot role that actors are lining up for is the villain in The Counselor, the Ridley Scott-directed Cormac McCarthy-written thriller that will star Michael Fassbender. I’m hearing that The Bourne Legacy‘s Jeremy Renner and No Country For Old Men‘s Javier Bardem are among the actors circling. I’ve been hearing … Read More »

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TOLDJA! Michael Fassbender Commits To Ridley Scott-Directed ‘The Counselor’

By MIKE FLEMING JR | Tuesday February 21, 2012 @ 12:01pm PSTTags: Cormac McCarthy, Michael Fassbender, Ridley Scott, The Counselor
Mike Fleming

EXCLUSIVE: Michael Fassbender has committed to star in The Counselor, the Cormac McCarthy-scripted thriller that Ridley Scott is making his next film. Deadline told you February 9 that Scott went right to Fassbender, who stars in Prometheus for Scott and 20th Century Fox. Scott has landed one of the hottest actors in Hollywood, is eyeing a May 1 start date, and talking to a number of high-profile actors to take part in a film that insiders are describing as “No Country For Old Men on steroids.” The Counselor is reminiscent of the rough-and-tumble world depicted in the Oscar-winning adaptation of McCarthy’s novel No Country For Old Men. The protagonist is a respected lawyer who thinks he can dip a toe in to the drug business without getting sucked down. It is a bad decision and he tries his best to survive it and get out of a desperate situation. Read More »

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Hot International Trailer: ‘Prometheus’

By MIKE FLEMING JR | Thursday February 16, 2012 @ 3:12pm PSTTags: Charlize Theron, Fox, Michael Fassbender, Prometheus, Ridley Scott
Mike Fleming

There’s a new international trailer for Prometheus, Ridley Scott’s return to the terrain he explored in the science fiction classic Alien. It’s making the web rounds on sites like Aint It Cool News. Harry Knowles says there isn’t too much new in this trailer, and while he has the geek … Read More »

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