April 4, 2006
Director Doug "Mr. & Mrs. Smith" Liman has now lined up the cast for his next film, "Jumper", a teen, sci-fi drama based on the 1992 novel by Steven Gould.
Screenplay is by David S. Goyer, Simon Kinberg and Jim Uhls.
"Jumper" will be produced by Lucas Foster, Joe Hartwick Jr., Simon Kinberg, Arnon Milchan and Jay Sanders.
Shooting begins in June at Toronto's Cinespace Film Studios.
Premise of the book focuses on a youth from a broken home, who can 'teleport' from one place to another. In his quest to find the man that caused the death of his mother, the boy attracts the attention of the 'National Security Agency' and another kid with the same 'jumping' abilities.
Tom "Being Julia" Sturridge stars alongside Jamie "Billy Elliot" Bell and Teresa "The Grudge 2" Palmer.
Fox-financed producers New Regency Pictures hope to have a trilogy springing out of the first film.
April 3, 2006
Director Darren Lynn Bousman of horror thriller "Saw II" notoriety will be back in Toronto to helm "Saw III", for Saw III Canada Productions Inc.
Bousman contributed to the screenplay, written by Leigh Whannell, based on the story by James Wan.
Actor Tobin Bell will reprise his role as creepy 'John Kramer', aka 'Jigsaw', with Shawnee Smith as 'Amanda'.
Producers of "Saw III" are Mark Burg and Oren Koules. Executive producer is Daniel J. Heffner and Stacey Testro, original music by Charlie Clouser, Cinematographer is David A. Armstrong and Production manager is Greg Copeland.
Shooting runs May 1 to June 12.
Saw 3
In Theaters
October 27, 2006
April 3, 2006
Sir Richard "Jurassic Park" Attenborough will be in Toronto May 3 to June 9, to produce/direct the romantic drama "Closing The Ring".
Besides Toronto, other locations for "Closing The Ring" include Belfast and Cave Hill, County Antrim, Northern Ireland, UK .
Screenplay for "Closing The Ring" is by Peter Woodward.
Premise of the film, beginning in 1943, focuses on a dying WW II bomber pilot who gives his ring to a local to return to his girlfriend in America. Fifty years later, another man finds the ring and attempts to find the woman.
"Closing the Ring" stars Attenborough, Mischa Barton, Chris Evans, Shirley MacLaine, Christopher Plummer and Pete Postlethwaite.
WW II movies are no stranger to Attenborough, who starred in British RAF service films during the 1940's and is fondly remembered as the character 'Squadron Leader Roger Bartlett' aka "Big X", in director John Sturges 1963 feature "The Great Escape".
April 2, 2006
Director Mikael Salomon, an accomplished cinematographer and noted episodic TV director of Playtone's "Band Of Brothers" and the Toronto-filmed mini-series "The Grid", continues his Toronto-shoot of the Sony Pictures Television pilot "Runaways", March 27 to April 11, at Toronto Film Studios for the CW Network.
Starring Donnie Wahlberg, executive producer of "Runaways" is Darren Star, prolific creator of multiple hit TV series including "Sex and the City", "Melrose Place" and "Beverly Hills, 90210".
Producer of "Runaways" is Lynn Raynor.
March 28, 2006
CBC-TV has named film/TV producer Fred "Bram Stoker's Dracula" Fuchs, the former president of director Francis Ford Coppola's American Zoetrope, its new head of arts and entertainment programming.
Over a 25-year career, Fuchs produced a range of TV programs and movies, with credits including children's TV series "Faerie Tale Theatre" and "The Godfather: Part III".
After more than a dozen years working with Coppola at American Zoetrope, Fuchs left in 1998 to start a San Francisco independent film, TV and new media production company.
He then re-located to Canada to work in the Canadian independent production community.
Fuchs's recent credits include working with Brad Peyton on "What It's Like Being Alone", a stop-motion family series, scheduled to air on CBC-TV later this year.
During his time in Canada and in his past work with the CBC, Fuchs said, he has observed one of the public broadcaster's main challenges: "both producing great Canadian programming for Canadians and bringing more Canadian viewers to it."
Fuchs said he was looking forward to working with the "remarkable array of talent" in Canada and felt "honoured" to become one of those upholding the CBC mandate.
February 14, 2006
Natalie Portman and Dustin Hoffman will star in "Mr. Magorium's Wonder Emporium", a family feature from Stupid Zebra Productions.
The Toronto location shoot will run March 27 to June 6.
Produced by Richard Gladstein and Jim Garavente, executive producers are Joe Drake and Nathan Kahane.
Portman will play 'Molly Mahoney', manager of toy store 'Mr. Magorium's Wonder Emporium', who is bequeathed the store by 'Mr. Magorium' (Hoffman), a 243 year-old eccentric.
But once Molly assumes ownership of the premises, a dark and ominous presence begins to take control over the establishment.
February 9, 2006
The province of Ontario has extended a tax credit for foreign film productions.
Culture Minister Madeleine Meilleur announced that the 18 per cent tax credit for foreign productions is being extended for another year, until March 31, 2007.
Meilleur says this will ensure Ontario will be able to boost the number of movies and television series filmed in the province.
Meilleur said film and television brought just under $1 billion to Ontario's economy in the past year.
January 19, 2006
Opening April 21, 2006, Toronto producer Don "The Boondock Saints" Carmody's TriStar horror thriller "Silent Hill", an Ontario-shot, big screen video game adaptation, directed by Christophe "Brotherhood Of The Wolf" Gans, focuses on 'Rose', desperate to find her child 'Sharon', who suddenly becomes trapped in an alternate dimension.
Rose follows her daughter's silhouette to the town of 'Silent Hill', smothered by fog, and overcome by a living 'Darkness' that transforms everything it touches.
Joined by 'Cybil', a local police officer, Rose searches for her daughter, realizing that Sharon is a pawn in a much larger game.
Silent Hill
In Theaters
April 21, 2006
January 18, 2006
Clive "Sin City" Owen, Monica "Brotherhood Of The Wolf" Bellucci and Paul "Cinderella Man" Giamatti will be in Toronto, the end of January to shoot the 'dark' feature "Shoot 'Em Up".
Written and directed by Michael Davis, premise of the film focuses on a man named 'Mr. Smith' (Owen), who delivers a woman's baby during a shootout, then called upon to protect the newborn from an army of gunmen.
January 10, 2006
Filming continues at Toronto Film Studios on the Double Agent Productions' feature "BREACH".
Starring Chris "Adaptation" Cooper, Ryan "Crash" Phillippe and Laura "Kinsey" Linney, "BREACH" is written/directed by Billy "Shattered Glass" Ray.
The film is produced by the late Bobby "Training Day" Newmyer (who died December 12, 2005 of an apparent heart attack while working out in a Toronto gym), Scott "The Last Samurai" Kroopf and Scott "Mindhunters" Strauss.
Executive producers are Adam Merims, Sidney Kimmel and William Horberg.
Inspired by true events, based on the book "The Eleventh Hour" by Adam Mazer/Bill Rotko, "BREACH" is a thriller set inside the FBI.
"This is a story about lying in the pursuit of truth," said Ray.
"It's also about how our mentors can teach us even as they are betraying us."
Filming in both Toronto and Washington, DC locations, "BREACH" is set for a wide release later this year.
