Live Action AKIRA! JOHN CARTER OF MARS!! KING CONAN! LOONEY TUNES!! Here\’s the news from A.P., Variety, Hollywood Reporter etc. Stephen Norrington(Blade), once attached to the ill-fated GHOST RIDER, has 2 new comic book adaptations on the burners. Norrington is set to film THE LEAGUE OF EXTRAORDINARY GENTLEMEN this summer, casting is moving ahead now, with Sir Sean Connery already in place as Allan Quartermain, and David Thewlis and Eddie Izzard among hopefulls for other parts, including the Invisible Man, and Dr.Jeckyll/Mr.Hyde. Norrington has also been named to be the man behind the camera on the long awaited live-action version of Japanese manga hit AKIRA. Paramount Pictures has announced the purchase of rights to JOHN CARTER OF MARS, an 11 volume novel series written by Tarzan creator Edgar Rice Burroughs. Plans are to forge ahead immediately on a planned trilogy starting with the book \"A Princess of Mars\". Scripts have been contracted and leads are already being considered. Vin Deisel is rumored to be on \"a very short list\" of contenders to play Kon, son of Conan, in the upcoming KING CONAN : CROWN OF IRON. The film is currently in preproduction with some rewrites on the script to be finished. Arnold Shwarzenneger will reprise the role he made famous, but not until he has finished TERMINATOR 3, which is filming now. Diesel can be seen this summer in XXX and will return in the sequel to PITCH BLACK, THE CHRONICLES OF RIDDICK, which will commence shooting in July. Joe Dante (GREMLINS) has been signed to helm the upcoming Looney Tunes movie for Warner Brothers. Production begins on the big budget movie in July for a planned Thanksgiving 2003 release. It will be an Action/Adventure Comedy with Looney Tunes characters in a live action world. David Duchovny will play hardboiled Crime novelist James Ellroy (writer of the novel LA Confidential) in MY DARK PLACES, based on Ellroy\’s memoirs of the same name. The story follows Ellroy\’s investigation into the unsolved 1958 murder of his own mother. Mark Wahlberg can be seen this spring starring in Jonathan Demmes remake of CHARADE, titled THE TRUTH ABOUT CHARLIE. He has also just signed to star in a remake of the classic British crime caper THE ITALIAN JOB. The original film, starring Micheal Caine and Benny Hill, was famous for chase scenes featuring Mini Coopers, a very small and very popular car at the time. The remake will be released in conjunction with BMW releasing their new version of the Mini, which will feature largely in the new film. Ozzy Osbourne was given a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame. In a presentation M.C.\’d by shock rocker Marilyn Manson, the 53 year old Ozzy was immortalized in cement at the corner of Hollywood Blvd. and Highland Ave., right in front of the Ripleys Believe or Not! museum. Osbourne and his odd family have become the new stars of MTV, via their new \’reality\’ TV show smash THE OSBOURNES.
