http://www.californiachronicle...rticles/yb/138179171

quote:

Nov. 24--Movie crews will soon be shooting the film "Prisoners" in the Valley, with the bulk of shooting in Derby.

Derby Mayor Anthony Staffieri said his office has received "unofficial" word from Alcon Entertainment, in conjunction with Warner Bros., that a major portion of the movie will be filmed in Derby.

The movie will be directed by Antoine Fuqua, who directed Denzel Washington in the film "Training Day."

Staffieri said about 80 percent of the movie will be filmed in Derby. Casting for the film is still under way, but officials said Hugh Jackman of "X-Men" fame is expected to star in it...

Filming for the movie, which has a budget of about $40 million, is expected to start in late January or early February and last about six months, O'Malley said...

I did some research on "Prisoners" -- and here's a plot synopsis:

quote:

Guzikowski's dark tale centers on a small-town man who, after his daughter and her friend are kidnapped and the cops fail to solve the crime, takes matters into his own hands, holding hostage the person he suspects committed the crime. He also comes into conflict with the big-city detective assigned to the case. The story has drawn comparisons to a number of hit thrillers involving distraught or grieving parents, including Taken and Mystic River (as well as the aforementioned Silence of the Lambs and Se7en).

Read more: http://www.firstshowing.net/20...-spec/#ixzz0XmxYd4Ry

More buzz --

It looks like that this was one of the hottest spec scripts ( written by newcomer Aaron Guzikowski) which came out early this year and had a lot of people very excited about it. At one time, the buzz was that Christian Bale and Mark Wahlberg were to play the two-hander roles ( the detective and the father) and that Bryan Singer was supposed to direct. But the script was sold to Warner Bros-based Alcon Entertainment which has recently obtained the services of Antoine Fuqua ( who directed Denzel Washington in his Oscar-winning role in "Training Day") to direct it. It is also said that is being fast-tracked for release in October 2010.

As indicated in the above newsreport, filming is likely to take place in Connecticut ( Derby and the Valley).

If The Unbound Captives does not materialize after ASR, could this be a real possibility for Hugh? I am reminded of THE PRESTIGE - a surprise project which was filmed for 4 months in early 2006 and actually released within the same year ( was that November 2006?)??

Who knows???

But it does sound like a very interesting role and movie project - a dark vengeance thriller. I wonder which role he will accept, if there is some truth to the news on this report?

Jo

This message has been edited. Last edited by: jo,

I had hoped that UC would not be delayed, but it unfortunately looks as though that is the case now. This one sounds a bit too much like such recent releases as TAKEN and LAW-ABIDING CITIZEN, of which only the first was a solid hit. In the right hands, though, it could provide some intense moments for Hugh on screen.

Someone asked him the other day at the stage door what he's doing next, and he said he wasn't sure. Quite a change from September, when he said he'd be doing UC.

Ellen

http://boxofficemojo.com/sched...1&showweeks=5&p=.htm

According to Box Office Mojo, the movie is already booked for a WIDE RELEASE by Warner Bros on October 22, 2010!

That will take some fast-tracking, although Antoine Fuqua has been attached to the project since September/October, it seems.

Jo

I know everyone's excited about Unbound Captives, but to me this story-line seems more interesting. I personally would like to see it done over the other one. Now feel free to throw things at me. lol

- Alicia

I am no going to throw anything at you If UC should be delayed (and it looks like it will be) this looks intersting enough. I like the idea and it is another one of these scripts that everybody wanted.
And, Mark Wahlberg was interested which makes it interesting. That guy can´t act but seems to get meaty roles...

Oh God! Where did that came from? It does sounds interesting and the role (the small-town man) has potential. Who knows? Hugh is full of surprises. When everyone was expecting him to return to Broadway with 'Houdini', he did ASR completely out of the blue. Now that we expect him to do UC, maybe tomorrow we'll read in the news that he'll start shooting 'Prisoners' on January. You never know with Hugh!

quote:

That guy can´t act but seems to get meaty roles...

Haha! That's true!

Wow! This sounds good and...who knew??? Well if it's coming out in Oct 2010 that's the earliest release date we've heard for anything yet. It will still be almost a year & a half since seeing him up on the big screen. I need my Hugh fix!

Hugh, I surrender!!! I give up trying to figure out what you're doing. I'm just going to wait till I know it's time to get in line to buy my ticket to see you in whatever new movie you end up in! Just please make it ASAP.

quote:

Originally posted by birchie:
Wow! This sounds good and...who knew??? Well if it's coming out in Oct 2010 that's the earliest release date we've heard for anything yet. It will still be almost a year & a half since seeing him up on the big screen. I need my Hugh fix!

Hugh, I surrender!!! I give up trying to figure out what you're doing. I'm just going to wait till I know it's time to get in line to buy my ticket to see you in whatever new movie you end up in! Just please make it ASAP.

Well, I'm with you.

quote:

It will still be almost a year & a half since seeing him up on the big screen.

Er...you didn't see how the legend of Wolverine came about??? And all that nudity onscreen


Jo

We don't know for sure if this is going to be a Hugh project, but here are more details on the plot from The Hollywood Reporter Risky Biz Blog, when Bale was still rumored for the project --

http://reporter.blogs.com/risky/christian-bale/


SPOILERS ALERT***SPOILERS ALERT

.

quote:

Endeavor is putting together the package and plans on shopping it after a director is officially attached, with insiders stressing the project isn't financed and saying the Wahlberg-Bale combo is fragile. This one's all about making the numbers work for the players, who typically command hefty paydays.

We took a look at the script to see what was getting studio execs so piqued and found plenty to be excited about.

Here's the basic idea: After his 6-year-old daughter and her friend are kidnapped, a small-town carpenter butts heads with a young, brash detective in charge of the investigation. The father is a Bible-reading, deer-hunting survivalist. The cop, meanwhile, can’t wait to get to the city. Feeling failed by the law, the father captures the man he believes responsible and begins to torture him in a desperate attempt to find out what he did with the girls, whom he’s convinced are still alive.

That's the basic setup. There's a lot more there, but we won't spoil it except to say the two leads have great arcs and the supporting players, especially the mothers, have juicy parts. The script is dark -- Disney ain’t touchin' this one -- and a real page-turner.

What makes the blog also interesting was that in the past ENDEAVOR ( now WME) was packaging it. If this is still true, then maybe the link to Hugh Jackman is actually more credible now.

Jo

This message has been edited. Last edited by: jo,

quote:

Originally posted by jo:

quote:

It will still be almost a year & a half since seeing him up on the big screen.

Er...you didn't see how the legend of Wolverine came about??? And all that nudity onscreen


Jo

Yes, of course! May 2009-Oct 2010 is almost a year & a half...1yr5mos but when you need a Hugh fix it's a year & a half.

LOL - I thought you meant it's been a year and a half since you have last seen him onscreen

My fault

He was away for so long from the movies when he was doing TBFO (the wait was from summer of 2003 -XMEN2 till summer of 2006 (XMen3), and voila, he filmed back to back -- and we ended up with 6 movies released in one year!

Late 2004 - filmed The Fountain
June 2005 - filmed Scoop
Late Summer/Autumn - filmed XMEN 3
January 2006 - filmed The Prestige
Somewhere in between - voiced over Happy Feet and Flushed Away.

All released in 2006!

Let's hope the wait is shorter this time

Jo

Jo -

You forgot Van Helsing on 2004. Or was that deliberate... LOL!

And thanks for the info on 'Prisoners'. Hell, that sounds like a great script! Let's hope the rumors are true and Hugh does this.

Oops... Yes that was released in 2004! Now I remember - he was so glad to be woken up by Deb to be told that Van Helsing topped the box office and then told that he had won a TONY nod for TBFO - that was the second Monday/Tuesday of May in 2004 -LOL!

I liked Van Helsing ( although I didn't care too much for the CGIs and the screeching brides) - loved his hairstyle there...and I did like the baroque atmosphere/look of the film, plus I enjoyed "Daisy" Wenham's junior monk portrayal...had a sentimental attachment to Shuler Hensley because of Oklahoma!...and also liked Kate Beckinsale. I guess I like all Hugh Jackman stuff - not a very discerning person, am I

Jo

This message has been edited. Last edited by: jo,

You tell me! I felled in love with Hugh Jackman the instant he appeared as Van Helsing on the screen! That was the very first film I saw with him. I had never heard of Hugh Jackman's name. I had no idea what Wolverine and the X-men were!! It was after VH that I became a huge fan of both the movies and the comics (specially the Wolverine series) and of course of Hughie

I had such a serious crush on Van Helsing! Oh, memories...

.
For you, Martha





Jo

Oh!!!!! That was sweet!!! I'll keep that image in my mind now that I'll go to bed, finally (hehe! It's 5:11am overhere!!)
See ya!

This sounds good. Hugh is well known for surprise projects and he on everyones wish list. We will just have to wait and see.

Hugh Hugs, Nancy B

Jo, your spoiler post just made me more excited for this movie. It sounds really interesting. I'm really hoping he does it now.

Since Christian Bale and Mark Wahlberg were supposed to play the detective and father roles, who do you think should play the detective role opposite Hugh?

- Alicia