Epic Muhammad movie in pipeline

An epic movie about Islam’s Prophet Muhammad is in the pipeline, backed by a producer of the Lord of the Rings.

American Barrie Osborne, who also produced The Matrix, told Reuters the film would be an “international epic” aimed at “bridging cultures”.

In accordance with Islamic rules, the Prophet cannot be depicted on screen. Images of the Prophet are considered blasphemous by Muslims.

The $150m (£91m) English language film should go into production in 2011.

2010 talks

Qatari media company Alnoor Holdings, which is behind the plans, said it wanted to attract the “best international talent” for the film.

“The film will educate people about the true meaning of Islam,” Osborne said.

Raja Sharif, vice president of international projects at Alnoor, told Reuters he expected to conclude deals next year.

I’m really curious as to how they’ll have a movie about somebody, yet not have that person shown in it.  I can think of three ways right offhand:

1)  Have it filmed as though literally seen through Muhammad’s eyes.  Unless there’s a mirror or something like that, then there would never be any representation of Muhammad himself.

2)  Always have Muhammad just offscreen, with perhaps only occasionally his shadow or a bit of his robe or something entering view.

3)  Blur out the image.

I think that any approach would be a bit of a challenge.

It was made for about $20,000.  It’s been “out there” for about two years waiting release. It was screened at a film festival or two.  It was shown at a con (scifi/fantasy convention) or two.  But up until very recently there was no release date and only those few lucky people who caught its few screenings had seen it.

Steven Spielberg is a fan and is said to have suggested the ending the film now has.

It was released a few weeks ago in the U.S. to very limited markets.  Something like 50 cities.  They were mainly university areas where the population of the young demographic of the movie was dense.

It was one of the first movies that you could “demand it” to have it come to your city.  They had a website where you could click to “demand it”.  If one million people demanded it they would release it nationwide.

Last week the movie opened nationwide.  (There were two theaters in Spokane showing it, but not our local theater.)  This week it is local here.

It has set all sorts of box office marks for making money on such a limited release.  Basically, the initial release sold out every show on every screen it was shown on.  (Those first 50 theaters.)  The next week it did about the same in a wider release.

As of this writing the movie has made $40 million at the box office.  (Go back up to the first point - the film was made for $20,000 - and be amazed.)

So I went and saw it tonight.

It is really good.  It is a well told story.  It’s very much a Blair Witch type thing where the creepiest/scariest things are usually what you don’t see.

The acting is pretty darn good for two wanna be actors who could barely get acting jobs before they made this movie.  The special effects (what was there) were good and well done.  Simple but effective things.

If you get a chance see it.  If you can go see it in a theater with a bunch of people, do it.  About 90% of the audience with us were between the ages of 17-23 or so.  The jumps, screams and nervous laughter (from the audience) really added to the experience.  (The rude comments and talking through most of the slowish beginning did not add to the experience.)

First up is trailer two for Hellboy 2: the Golden Army.  (Trailer one has been out for a while and is a teaser.  Trailer two kicks it up a few notches and makes it look even better.)

I enjoyed Hellboy so much.  It was a really fun movie.  And, having never read the comics/graphic novels, there wasn’t any potential disappointment from preconceived notions for me.  And this movie looks like it will be just as good and as much fun.  If not more so.

They called me an angel. Maybe it was the wings, maybe it was because I saved them or maybe it was just wishful thinking but I didn’t bother to correct them. The Reverend told me that I was a gift from god but he also says that about the smallest things in life, I owe him my life as he took me in after he discovered me huddled in a smoking crater in the courtyard of the church. He has supported me throughout my new life here, I say ‘new’ life when I’m not even sure if I had an old one. My oldest memory is waking to the touch of the old mans hands on my forehead, checking my temperature as I lay in the small shack outside the church and hearing his cracking voice muttering to himself “...falling from Lord-knows-where straight out of the sky and wings that disappear straight into his back and barely a mark on him, I’d call him an angel but his eyes show to be far more human then that, Christopher you’d of wished to see this!” From then on I started working under him, doing odd-jobs that needed to be done.

It was at this time when my strength became evident and my presence had been noticed by the citizens of the town so Reverend Nayder had to think up a way to pass me off as someone that wouldn’t draw much attention and from then on I became Christopher Nayder II, taking the name of his late elder brother and pass myself off as his son. But both me and the Reverend realised that my gifts could be used for something much greater than a simple odd-jobs man, I could be someone that could make a difference in the world, I could be a hero.

My first adventure could of gone a lot better, I underestimated my opponent for he showed no outside signs of power but as I told him to drop what he had taken from the safety deposit boxes I felt a deep chill running through my veins and my own body buckle as his icy blast stabbed into my skin like a thousand dull daggers. As my vision started to blur the robber stepped up to me, his skin shedding as if a simple disguise revealing blue skin underneath with blonde hair changing to neon yellow and eyes turning a bright red that glowed with an inner light. Then he spoke, his voice possessing it’s own chill “Don’t try your luck against Cold Snap, got it Wings?” And as if someone had just flipped a switch everything went black.

That was six months ago, I still haven’t had much luck tracking down this ‘Cold Snap’ but I have had successes elsewhere, using an abandoned church building just outside of town and the help of Reverend Nayder I hope to make my mark on this city and for them to see me as I hope they do. As someone who can make a difference in this world. A Saviour.

Assassin’s Creed II comes out November 17th (in the United States) and to help set up the story, Ubisoft is making a set of live-action short films called Linage.  The first one is up here.

Having really enjoyed the first game, I can’t wait to play the second one.

For those of you just as excited as I am about the tv series being adapted from Terry Goodkind’s Wizard’s First Rule, here is the trailer for the series. It’s slightly corny but I don’t care. I can’t wait!

Is it legal to sell your “name” to someone else to put on your copywrited material?  Just something that’s been going through my head lately.

Tennant, Pegg, Landis Team For “Burke”

David Tennant (TV’s “Doctor Who”) and Simon Pegg (“Star Trek,” “Shaun of the Dead”) are teaming for the lead roles in the period comedy “Burke and Hare” for Ealing Studios according to an announcement at the Spooky Empire convention this weekend in Florida reports Bloody Disgusting.

Based on the true story about the famous graverobbers, ‘Burke And Hare’ follows the hapless exploits of two men (Pegg as Burke, Tennant as Hare) as they fall into the highly profitable business of providing cadavers for the medical fraternity in 19th Century Edinburgh, then the centre of medical learning which was always short of bodies.

In real life the case became known as the West Port murders. Hare’s wife ran a lodging house where Burke stayed and whenever a patron looked to be on their death bed they would accelerate the process.

Legendary “An American Werewolf in London,” “Animal House” and “Coming to America” Director John Landis will helm the project, his first narrative feature film since 1998’s “Susan’s Plan”.

Source

We’ve gotten all of the first season through Netflix because we don’t have HBO (I told Erik I want to get it so I don’t have to wait a year to see season 2). 

Obviously this is NOT something to watch with the children.  There is a horrific amount of sex and it’s fairly explicit but needs to be since this is part of the reason specific characters behave the way they do.  It’s addictive and I have REALLY loved the first season.  I really hate that I now have to wait for the next season!!!!!!!!!

LaMa mentioned this in another unrelated thread: Vampires Were People Too and in the same thread Charybdis gave the HBO url:  http://www.hbo.com/events/trueblood/

Anyone else watching???