Who can forget the classic story of "A Christmas Carol," with characters so iconic they've become veritable archetypes: Ebenezer Scrooge, Bob Cratchit, Tiny Tim...Santa Claus.
Wait, what? "You don't remember Santa Claus?" 12-year-old actress Sammi Hanratty squealed when we caught up with her at a recent red carpet. "It was in the movie; you have to watch it again!"
The world at my fingertips and, for the life of me, I can't find a single adaptation of Dickens' classic novel that includes any mention of ole St. Nick. But that's all gonna change when Robert Zemeckis brings his interpretation to the big-screen next year, Hanratty insisted. Read more...
Matthew McConaughey has already fallen in love with his wedding planner, had ten days to make a woman fall for him, and been fooled by a woman into moving out of his parents' home. And in case his fans haven't already had their fill of high-concept romantic hijinks, he'll soon be haunted by a group of women who moan for all the wrong reasons.
"I've got 'The Ghost of Girlfriends Past' with Matthew McConaughey next," reported director Mark Waters recently, talking about the romantic comedy king's next flick. "It's a take-off on 'A Christmas Carol,' about a guy who sleeps with lots of women and breaks their hearts."
"He basically has a magical comeuppance on Christmas, where he learns the error of his ways like Scrooge," grinned Waters, director of "Mean Girls" and the upcoming fantasy "The Spiderwick Chronicles." "It's Scrooge, but with hot chicks." Read more...
It's a new week, and that brings a fresh round of hot-off-the-presses movie news. Read on.
- Disney's "Escape to Witch Mountain" gets re-imagined courtesy of "She's the Man" director Andy Fickman. (Hollywood Reporter)
- Is the "Back to the Future" team reuniting for "Christmas Carol"? (Jim Hill Media)
- Stanley Tucci tapped to play a killer in Peter Jackson's "The Lovely Bones." (Hollywood Reporter)
- More "Watchmen" casting leaks, which we write about here. (Cinematical)
- Tom Cruise gets fingered as Russian sleeper spy. Told ya so. (Variety)
- Ninja extraordinaire Jackie Chan takes serious turn in immigrant drama "Shinjuku Incident." (Variety)
- Steve Guttenberg tag teams Jessica Simpson for "Major Movie Star." (Hollywood Reporter)
As the holiday ends and the week wraps up, more tidbits from Hollywood's A-listers, including Michael Bay, Brad Pitt, Peter Jackson and more.
- Michael Bay is up for "Transformers" sequel. (EW)
- After "Beowulf," Robert Zemeckis will tackle "Christmas Carol" with Jim Carrey. (Empire Online)
- We reported it a month ago, but "Sex and the City" movie is officially a go. (Variety)
- Keith David will voice the villain in Disney's first black-led princess cartoon. (Hollywood Reporter)
- Brad Pitt to remake Steve McQueen's "Bullitt"? (M&C)
- Jason Lee-fronted "Alvin and The Chipmunks" gets a (fill in the blank here) poster. (Slash Film)
- Peter Jackson and Edgar Wright say goodbye to the famed Alamo Drafthouse in a very amusing video. (Matt Dentler)
