Sofia Coppola Swims Away From The Little Mermaid

She's no longer directing the live-action Universal tale

One day, someone will finally crack and make a documentary called Creative Differences where they sit directors and executives down, inject them with truth serum and have them explain exactly what that means in each case. The term is being bandied about again as Sofia Coppola has dropped out of making The Little Mermaid. 

It’s the latest director departure for the Universal and Working Title project, which as already seen Pan man Joe Wright considering the job and then move on. Coppola was reported as interested in March, but apparently deciding that her vision didn’t match the studio’s ideas.

Undaunted, Working Title’s Tim Bevan and Eric Fellner are pushing on with the idea, with Caroline Thompson re-writing the script based on the classic Hans Christian Andersen tale – brought to memorable, Oscar-winning animated life in 1989 by Disney – in which a young mermaid falls in love with a human prince and makes a tragic deal to live on land. 

Coppola, meanwhile, will focus on editing her current project, a Christmas special featuring Lost In Translation’s Bill Murray for Netflix. Yes, he’s finally found a party even he can’t crash – because he’s hosting.

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Romance! Babies! Secrets! Here's Everything You Need to Know About Royal Pains' New Season

Royal Pains kicks off its seventh season this week, but producers already have their eyes on the finish line. The USA drama was renewed for two eight-episode seasons last November, and executive producers/showrunners Andrew Lenchewski and Michael Rauch say the show's future beyond Season 8 is

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Dwayne Johnson Ready To Rustle Up Big Trouble In Little China

Fox is hot for the remake

Clearly undeterred by the wave of negativity and the endless development limbo cycles that have afflicted the attempt to reboot Escape From New York, 20th Century Fox thinks it has the right team to remake another cult John Carpenter/Kurt Russell film. The studio has Dwayne Johnson negotiating to star in a reboot of Big Trouble In Little China. 

Writers Ashley Miller and Zack Stentz – who worked on X-Men: First Class for the studio – are on script duty for the film, which would see Johnson take over the role as Jack Burton, a trucker dragged into a centuries-old battle in San Francisco’s Chinatown.

Though it has a reputation as perhaps being not the best of the Russell/Carpenter joints, Big Trouble still has a warm reputation among fans of cult ‘80s cinema. It also happens to be one of Dwayne Johnson’s favourite movies, so we can see why he might be interested in bringing his charisma to the role. Given his connection to Russell from the most recent Fast & Furious film, there’s a hope in our hearts that he’s already sought out the man’s blessing to take over one of his iconic roles. 

Coming off a box office personal best with San Andreas, Johnson has several projects on the go, including comedy Central Intelligence, voice work on the Disney pic Moana and Ballers, the HBO series he stars in that starts airing later in the month.

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Chad Michael Murray Announces the Birth of His Son in the Most Anti-Climactic Way

Chad Michael Murray and his wife Sarah Roemer have welcomed a son, the actor shared, well sort of, on Twitter.

Sry I'm missin @JimKellyInc charity this year in Buffalo. My fav event 2 attend, but we've been blessed with a son. Gods greatest gift.

— Chad Michael Murray (@ChadMMurray) May 31, 2015

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Terminator Genisys Clip Drives Online

Everything has changed...

With the release date now just a little more than a month away, the team behind Terminator Genisys are following the barrage of trailers, posters and imagery with a clip from the film. Chances are you’ve seen a little of it already, but take a look... 

The scene finds a confused Kyle Reese (Jai Courtney) trying to figure out just what the hell is going on. Sent back to 1984 by John Connor (Jason Clarke) on a mission to save his mother Sarah Connor (Emilia Clarke) from Termination at the metallic hands (or gun sights) of a marauding T-800 (Arnold Schwarzenegger), Kyle arrives to discover that nothing is quite what he expected. Sarah is a warrior woman years ahead of her time and, most disturbingly, there’s an Arnie-style Terminator lurking in the back of her truck. But before he can get some clear answers, he attacks the cyborg and… Well, you’ll see.

This latest trip to the Terminator universe features a lot of that time-hopping, chronology twisting stuff plus a driven new Terminator (played by Byung-hun Lee) hunting our heroes down.

With J.K. Simmons, Courtney B. Vance, and Matt Smith also in the cast, Terminator Genisys arrives here on July 3.

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24 Spin-Off In Development

With a new hero as the focus

It would appear that Jack Bauer is ready to clock out. 20th Century Fox Television is busy developing a spin-off for 24, and this one will focus on a younger hero instead of Kiefer Sutherland’s gruff, gun-slinging main man.

TV Line tracked down co-creator Howard Gordon, who confirmed that the spotlight will be on someone new, but who keeps up the tradition of hunting terrorists and other criminals while reporting to an older, seasoned female operative. There’s no indication on what the new character’s trademark, network-appropriate swearword might be, but the phrase “Collywobbles!” is still available, so 24 veterans Manny Coto and Evan Katz, who are overseeing the new show, should take note. 

And don’t worry if you think this truly means the end of the line for Jack: the plan is apparently for him to pop up in the story from time to time, probably to torture someone while sweating. Right now, Coto and Katz are working up a Live Another Day-style limited series with which to launch the new hero, maintaining the real-time concept. If it’s a success, expect the new 24 to turn into a long-term idea for the network. 

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New Poster For The Hunger Games: Mockingjay – Part 2

Down with President Snow!

We’ve already had one showy, flaming motion poster for The Hunger Games: Mockingjay – Part 2, which you can find at the bottom of the page. This new image, static though it may be, also has a message to deliver, and does that through the time-honoured medium of destruction and graffiti. {Hunger Games Mockingjay 2 Revolution Poster} 

Following on from the first Mockingjay, the second part of the story finds Katniss Everdeen (Jennifer Lawrence) and the rebels making the final push against Donald Sutherland's scheming President Snow and the Capitol, with lives on the line and sacrifices to be made. The new movie should boost the action quotient as the bigger beats are to be found lurking towards the end of Suzanne Collins’ third tome. 

With Francis Lawrence again directing and Lawrence joined on screen by Josh Hutcherson, Liam Hemsworth, Julianne Moore, Sam Claflin, Elizabeth Banks, Willow Shields, Stanley Tucci, Woody Harrelson, Jena Malone and more, The Hunger Games: Mockingjay – Part 2 flaps into our cinemas on November 20.  

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