Stephen Fry is GOD !!

Last week I reported on the upcoming BBC drama detailing the furore surrounding the release of Monty Python's Life of Brian. 

Well I have just found out in the past hour that Stephen Fry is to play God in the one off film and will be recording his voice parts today so I am assuming that his role will be animated.

It will be great to see Stephen in this adaptation and I can't think of a better 'character' for him to portray, seeing as most of the UK think he is a god anyway.....................and he is !!

UPDATE: As you can clearly see from the picture below, Stephen won't be animated in the Python drama as his 'God' like dress shows.

I got hold of this picture from Stephen's Twitter account earlier today and he really looks the part. I'm guessing green screen will be used quite heavily for this production as I read the other day it will feature quite a lot of animation, which I hope will be in the same style as the fantastic Terry Gilliam vignettes from the Python series years ago

Deathly Hallows London Premiere to stream on YouTube

Warner Bros. have announced that the Worldwide Premiere of "Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows Part 2" will be streamed on the Harry Potter YouTube channel on July 7 live from London's Leicester Square and Trafalgar Square.

Daniel Radcliffe, Emma Watson, Rupert Grint as well as many other stars of all the HP films will be there alongside the film makers themselves for the exclusive event.

Click HERE for the Harry Potter YouTube channel and don't forget to mark the date in your diary.

The film opens worldwide on July 15.

Steven Spielberg's "War Horse" - First Look

"War Horse" tells the story of a young man named Albert and his horse, Joey, and how their bond is broken when Joey is sold to the cavalry and sent to the trenches of World War One. Despite being too young to enlist, Albert heads to France to save his friend.

Filmed entirely in England the film stars Benedict Cumberbatch (Sherlock), Eddie Marsan (Dissapearance of Alice Creed, Little Dorrit) and David Thewlis (Black Beauty, Dragonheart) and is based on the children's book of the same name by Michael Morpurgo and the stage adaptation by Nick Stafford.

The screen adaptation is written by Richard Curtis (Love Actually, Blackadder, Nottinghill) and Lee Hall (Billy Elliot) and is produced by Steven Spielberg, Frank Marshall and Kathleen Kennedy, directed by Steven Spielberg with music by John Williams.

The trailer looks beautiful and from what I have heard about the book and stage show, you may need to bring some tissues to the theatre for this one !

Brad Lewis leaves Pixar.......Joins Digital Domain

In June I reported that Digital Domain were building a huge studio complex in Florida and branching out into film production. They were putting most of their money by employing two ex-Disney staff to make them stand out in the feature animation world and now they have taken that one step further by employing Brad Lewis from Pixar for their new 'Tradition Studios' company in Florida

Brad joined in Pixar in 2001 and became the Producer of "Ratatouille" and also wrote and Co-Directed "Cars 2". He had previously been at PDI Dreamworks for 11 years where he was producer for "Antz"

So why leave Pixar just as your Directorial debut hits theatres ? Well it's no secret that "Cars 2" has not been as well received as previous Pixar outings. For a start it was meant to be solely directed by Lewis but John Lasseter was brought on to help with 'developmental problems'. Although "Cars 2" is performing well at the box office and merchandise sales alone will be excellent it has at the time of writing a 34% rate @ Rotten Tomatoes which is the lowest score any Pixar film has ever had. I am guessing that it was an amicable decision for all parties given that Brad's relationship with John Lasseter was reported to be very strong.

I wish Brad all the best at 'Tradition' and I look forward to seeing what he can produce.

Disney Revives Philip K Dick's "King of the Elves"

Disney have announced plans to revive a Philip K Dick short story titled "King of the Elves". They had previously shelved the animated feature way back in late 2009 but have today announced  "Horrible Bosses" writer Michael Markowitz will now be penning the script.

The story tells of a band of elves and one dwarf that live in the Mississippi Delta who name a human as their king after saving them from a troll.

"Bolt" Director Chris Williams will act as Producer for the project which has been revived, after many changes to both writers and directors over the past 2 years, thanks to John Lasseter. Disney have also confirmed that "King of the Elves" will be a computer animated feature and not hand drawn and is slated for release at the end of 2013. 

I look forward to Disney's take on a Dick short story. I am a huge fan of his work and I applaud Disney for taking what some may view as a bit of a gamble.

Mission Impossible: Ghost Protocol - Teaser Trailer

This is the first trailer for the fourth instalment of the Mission Impossible franchise titled "Mission Impossible: Ghost Protocol".

Once again Tom Cruise reprises his role as special agent Ethan Hunt and takes on writing and producing duties with long time friend J.J.Abrams. This is the first live action film from Director Brad Bird, best known for his work in animation with classics such as "The Iron Giant", "The Incredibles" and "Ratatouille"

The film is due for release on Dec 26th in the UK but US audiences will get it 2 weeks earlier from Dec 16th.

I have to admit to being quite excited after seeing this trailer !

Check out the official site HERE

A 'Brave' Move for Pixar - Brand New Teaser Trailer Released

The trailer above is for Pixar's next animated feature, "Brave" which tells the story of 'Merida', a young Scottish Princess who defies her parents by defying an old age custom sacred to the lords of the land.

This film will be Pixar's first fairytale and its first film to feature a female lead. It was originally titled "The Bear and the Bow" and was also originally going to be directed by Brenda Chapman (Little Mermaid, Road to Eldorado) but has now been replaced by Mark Andrews (One Man Band, Jack Jack Attack) and although Brenda Chapman is no longer working on the movie she will be credited as co-director.

It's good to see Pixar giving the lead to a female character. Kelly McDonald is supplying the voice of Merida. She has replaced Reese Witherspoon. The official line from Disney/Pixar with regard to the replacing of Reece was due to scheduling conflicts but I am not so sure. Recording voice characters is not quite the same as filming is it ? I think it was more of a case of Reese not being able to portray a believable Scottish accent. Regardless of that the cast list looks strong featuring the acting talents of Robbie Coltrane, Julie Walters, Emma Thompson and Billy Connolly.

Brave is released in June 2011. Keep an eye out here at 'The Production Diaries' for more information and art as we receive it. So far though it looks pretty good to me.