The Movie Spew: Spielberg and Moses, Together At Last

Warner Brothers has been nursing along their biblical epic Gods And Kings for quite some time. Initially the movie was supposed to be based on Exodus (aka Old Man Moses with a Santa Claus beard) and Darren Black Swan Aronofsky was supposed to direct.

Warner Brothers Wants Steven Spielberg to Make a Moses Movie

However, that’s all changed and now a Green Lantern screenwriter has expanded the script into Moses' full life story and the WB has set their sights even higher for the potential director. They want none other Steven Spielberg (and no, they won’t accept his non-union Mexican equivalent Senor Spielbergo).
It’s a bold choice, but one that just might capture Spielberg’s imagination. After all, the guy grew up in an age when biblical epics ruled the big screen and the last major director to take on the Moses tale was none other than the great Cecil B. DeMille. I’m sure Spielberg is well aware of the cinematic potential of the movie and would appreciate the opportunity to create the film as an homage to the biblical epics of his youth.
Whether or not he accepts the gig remains to be seen, but even as an atheist I would love to see what Spielberg and a near limitless budget could do with the Moses tale. Hopefully the guy signs on and, more importantly, hopefully someone other than Leonardo DiCaprio plays Moses. We shall see.

Ridiculous Fees Are Reduced and Now The Lone Ranger Might Get Made
A little while ago Disney suddenly pulled the plug on their planned Lone Ranger movie starring Johnny Depp. It was a weird decision given that it seemed like an absurdly commercial movie and the announcement came shortly after Pirates Of The Caribbean 4 brought the company over $1 billion dollars last summer.

Stephen King Is Writing a Sequel to The Shining (Now With Vampires)

The studio got cold feet about the proposed $260 million budget and the general concern that contemporary Westerns just don’t make much money (I’m sure the lackluster box office of Cowboys & Aliens didn’t help). However, it looks as though the film might still be made.
Apparently Johnny Depp, producer Jerry Bruckheimer, and director Gore Verbinski (who directed the first three Pirates movies) have met and agreed to lower their fees and now the budget has been reduced to $216 million and the film might still get made. I’m not sure how $200 million is required to revive a genre that was once the cheapest to produce in Hollywood, but there you go. Isn’t it nice to know that those three guys collectively were going to make an extra $44 million in fees that they are willing to just throw away? Ugh…
Stephen King Is Writing a Sequel to The Shining (Now With Vampires)
Finally this little slice of news gold might not be directly film related, but let’s face it — if it’s true, a movie is inevitable. Apparently horror icon Stephen King is writing a sequel to his classic novel The Shining. Shining 2: Psychic Bugaloo will be about that lovable psychic boy Danny from the original who is now all grown up.
Very little is known about the book so far, but during a recent public appearance King read an excerpt from the novel that involved Danny Torrance and a roving group of vampires called The Tribe. Obviously there are no vampires is in the original Shining, but it was rumored for a while that King was working on a Salem’s Lot sequel, so perhaps King’s latest book will revive several of his beloved early creations. Maybe Carrie and the clown from It will be happily married in this new book, with their child ready to start her first day of high school primed for a killing spree.
Okay, that’s going too far, but the concept of a Shining sequel with vampires should have horror fans frothing at the mouth with delight. A movie adaptation is almost inevitable given the enduring popularity of Stanley Kubrick’s original. (Which King hates by the way; he produced his own TV mini-series adaptation to set things right. I’m pretty sure he’s the only one who prefers that version though.) Stay tuned.