Excalibur (Singer remake) - New, Rumors, Cast, Etc.
 

WB, Singer to lift 'Excalibur'
Duo ready remake of Boorman film
By MICHAEL FLEMING

Bryan Singer will develop a remake of 1981's 'Excaliber' for Warners.

Warner Bros. has closed a deal to remake the 1981 John Boorman-directed "Excalibur," with Bryan Singer producing and developing the picture as a potential directing vehicle.

The deal comes as Singer gets serious about making the New Line-Legendary co-production "Jack the Giant Killer" his next directing effort.

WB and Legendary Pictures have labored for months to pull together the rights to the film, which Singer will produce with Julie Yorn. Also a producer is Polly Johnsen -- who was Polly Cohen when she was the WB exec who presided over the Singer-directed WB/Legendary collaboration "Superman Returns."

Inspired by Thomas Malory's 15th century work, and scripted by Rospo Pallenberg and Boorman, "Excalibur" explores the myth of King Arthur, complete with the Knights of the Round Table, Merlin the wizard and the quest for the Holy Grail to save Arthur's life. The original picture broke such talent as Helen Mirren (who played the evil Morgana), Liam Neeson (Sir Gawain), Gabriel Byrne, Patrick Stewart and Ciaran Hinds.

Singer hasn't set a writer yet.

Matt Reilly is overseeing for WB, Erik Olsen for the Yorn shingle, and Singer’s former partner Alex Garcia is overseeing for Legendary Prods.

Singer recently signed on to develop to direct and produce "Battlestar Galactica" at Universal; he'd been eyeing that project since he originally made a deal to godfather a series revival in 2001. At the same time, Singer has been flirting with directing "X-Men: First Class," a 20th Century Fox spinoff that got a first script draft by "The OC" creator Josh Schwartz.

It looks like his next directing assignment might well be "Jack the Giant Killer," a riff on the Jack and the Beanstalk legend that was developed by New Line with scripters Darren Lemke and Mark Bomback and producer Neal Moritz. The story revolves around a young farmer who leads an expedition into the land of the giants to recover a kidnapped princess.

Singer is repped by WME.

Re: Excalibur (Singer remake) - New, Rumors, Cast, Etc.
 

No Carmina Burana, no sale.

Re: Excalibur (Singer remake) - New, Rumors, Cast, Etc.
 

This will be excellent if for no other reason than we may get a proper OAR release of Boorman's movie on DVD finally as a build up to the release.

Re: Excalibur (Singer remake) - New, Rumors, Cast, Etc.
 

I love the original hate all remakes.

Whats the original OAR? Would be nice to see a decked out SE of this one.

Re: Excalibur (Singer remake) - New, Rumors, Cast, Etc.
 

:thumbsup:

I thought Boorman was busy in another film adaptation of 'Wizard of Oz'?

Re: Excalibur (Singer remake) - New, Rumors, Cast, Etc.
 

Says the guy with 3:10 to Yuma in his DVD collection. :lol:

Re: Excalibur (Singer remake) - New, Rumors, Cast, Etc.
 

Don't know about the rest of you, but I'm pretty excited about this. Loved the first, love Singer. Win win for me.

Re: Excalibur (Singer remake) - New, Rumors, Cast, Etc.
 

First a Highlander remake and now this. Enjoyed the original and will see this.

Re: Excalibur (Singer remake) - New, Rumors, Cast, Etc.
 

The original is a classic, and hands down not only the best King Arthur film ever made, but the only one worth a damn.

Remake? Ehhh. Watch Singer populate it with a bunch of 20 year old rejects from the CW and go for a safe PG-13. Not that I'm gonna go all chris_sc77 on this, but what made they original so fantastic was that it was an uncompromising R in its depiction of sex, violence, gore, and depravity. Anal nathrack, indeed. Even the actor who played King Arthur was 35 years old while playing a teenager. And not for nothing but Singer would have to try damn hard to make me forget Nicol Williamson and Helen Mirren. Remember how smokin Helen Mirren was? She could parade around in gossamer any time... even now. Lookin GOOD for an older broad. People forget was a phenomenal piece of ass she was (and still is). I know many of you might think that lusting after a woman in her 60s is passe but think about the accumulated knowledge, life lessons, and skilled prowess. That must be something. You know who also looked hot in that movie? Boorman's daughter, playing Igraine. That was one impressive dance scene. Thanks for the mammaries. OK I can leave now

Re: Excalibur (Singer remake) - New, Rumors, Cast, Etc.
 

Great. Thanks for changing my mind ;) Seriously. Even though I'm a huge fan of Singer, maybe this is not for him. The movie needs to be dark and adult like the original. If Singer can pull that off, o.k. But I can see it being a mainstream film with him at the helm. The original was an instant classic IMO. Cannot wait to get that mother on BD. Wait, that's Warner Brothers, isn't it? Nevermind, they'll fuck up the PQ.

Re: Excalibur (Singer remake) - New, Rumors, Cast, Etc.
 

Singer did great work in Valkyrie and I'm one of the few people on the planet that likes Apt Pupil. However, I think he'd be better off as producer.

Like Hokeyboy said, "what made they original so fantastic was that it was an uncompromising R in its depiction of sex, violence, gore, and depravity." That's as true to the source material as you can get. If you don't think so, read Le Morte D'Arthur, the book that was the basis for Excalibur. I don't think Singer has it in him to go there.

However, will we ever see another pairing Nicol Williamson and Hellen Mirren ever again? Those two hated each other in real life and yet they made such a great on screen pairing of lovers/rivals.

Re: Excalibur (Singer remake) - New, Rumors, Cast, Etc.
 

When Helen Mirren said, "MORE.... I want MORRRRRRRE..." as she was learning magic from Nicol Williamson (while trying to trap him), I had to pause the movie and TCB. She beyond rules.

Re: Excalibur (Singer remake) - New, Rumors, Cast, Etc.
 

Eew! But I know exactly what you mean. ;)

Re: Excalibur (Singer remake) - New, Rumors, Cast, Etc.
 

Does Singer have a hard-on to do re-imaginings of stuff from the late 70s/early 80s?

He's done Superman, he was considering Battlestar Galactica, and now this.

Re: Excalibur (Singer remake) - New, Rumors, Cast, Etc.
 

I dont know if he has a hard-on from reimaginings. But man oh man oh Manischevitz, Helen Mirren is so HAWT she'd give Bryan Singer wood.

Re: Excalibur (Singer remake) - New, Rumors, Cast, Etc.
 

I wonder if they'd get her to be in the remake? That would be awesome. :up:

Re: Excalibur (Singer remake) - New, Rumors, Cast, Etc.
 

She MUST do this film! If only just a cameo. In fact, the film better have many many of the British elite actors. Wouldn't be the same otherwise.

Re: Excalibur (Singer remake) - New, Rumors, Cast, Etc.
 

:lol:

Thanks for that. Laughed so hard I snorted.

Re: Excalibur (Singer remake) - New, Rumors, Cast, Etc.
 

Yeah. In an ideal scenario, we'd get Nigel Terry, Nicol Williamson, Helen Mirren, Liam Neeson, Patrick Stewart, and Gabriel Byrne back (even if only as bit parts and/or cameos) plus any and all of their remaining contemporaries to round out the cast. Casting for the roles those actors previously portrayed would require that the potential actors show an equal mastery of acting ability. Sure, that'd probably mean the movie'd never get made... but what if it does? :drool:

This'd be the British equivalent of The Expendables! :D

Re: Excalibur (Singer remake) - New, Rumors, Cast, Etc.
 

It was posted elsewhere ... but here it is again for your viewing pleasure ... http://sprinkledinpink.files.wordpre..._fair_1995.jpg

Re: Excalibur (Singer remake) - New, Rumors, Cast, Etc.
 

I like the way you think. It's really sad Nicholas Clay died in 2000. He'd also make a terrific cameo. Other English actors I'd like to see in this are: Ian, McKellen, Jeremy Irons, David Thewlis, David Morrissey, Tom Hollander, Kristin Scott Thomas, Charles Dance, Hugh Dancy, Julie Christie, Charlotte Rampling, Clive Owen, Ray Winstone, Rachel Weisz, Emma Thompson. To name a few....

Re: Excalibur (Singer remake) - New, Rumors, Cast, Etc.
 

Can we just all agree that this woman is the ultimate cougar?

Re: Excalibur (Singer remake) - New, Rumors, Cast, Etc.
 

Re: Excalibur (Singer remake) - New, Rumors, Cast, Etc.
 

Yes, yes, YES!

I'd also love to see Jim Carter (he has such an awesome voice), Ian McShane, Timothy Spall, Alan Rickman, Ciaran Hinds, Bill Nighy, and Steve Mackintosh in it as well.

Quick! Someone kidnap Brian Singer and everyone else involved in this production to force them into offering all these actors obscene amounts of money so that they can make this happen.

-other-

Um... Excuse me while I... I just need some time alone... Preferably with her... :hump:

Re: Excalibur (Singer remake) - New, Rumors, Cast, Etc.
 

I love Excalibur. I think Singer's a pretty good director but I don't know if he suits the material. He seems to like to go for restraint, while the original, if anything, was bombastic and ballsy as hell.