It was over a year ago that we reported that Eddie Murphy had been signed on to provide the voice of the titular crime-fighting dog for Warner Brothers’s live action/CGI adaptation of the 1970s cartoon Hong Kong Phooey. Since then, I had forgotten all about the project, probably because it sounded like a bad idea. Well, some test footage has shown up online that reinforces that notion.

Director Alex Zamm has posted some of his test footage online and I can’t say that I am all that impressed. Technically the footage looks fine, but the humor in it just seems so lazy.

The footage is coupled with some test footage that Zamm developed for a live action/CGI Marvin The Martian feature. Storytelling-wise it is a bit better, but I’m still not convinced that this would have been a good film either.

It should be noted that the Marvin The Martian feature has long since been cancelled. Does its coupling with the Hong Kong Phooey test footage indicate that that project is cancelled as well?

Via Bleeding Cool.

Universal has announced that they have signed Josh Gad and Ryan Dixon to develop the screenplay for their comedy Triplets. A sequel to the 1988 comedy Twins, the new film will find genetic twins Arnold Schwarzenegger and Danny DeVito discovering that they have another sibling – Eddie Murphy. Hilarity hopefully ensues. Gad and Dixon will work together on the treatment and then Dixon will take over for sole screenwriting duties.

Gad is perhaps best known for his Tony Award-nominated turn in the smash Broadway musical The Book Of Mormon, but he is also the co-creator and co-star of the upcoming Presidential comedy 1600 Penn, premiering in January on NBC. Gad will also appear in the upcoming Steve Jobs biopic starring Ashton Kutcher playing Apple co-founder Steve Wozniak.

Dixon oversees operations at screenwriting analysis website ScriptShark, This is his first scriptwriting job.

Honestly, I never thought Twins was all the funny. I found it a pretty thin premise to begin with (“They’re twins, but they look different! Get it?!”) and adding a third person into the equation just feels like they’re stretching it even further. Now while I am a fan of Gad’s work in Book Of Mormon and as a former infrequent correspondent on The Daily Show, I suppose we’ll have to wait until the premier of 1600 Penn before we have a better idea of how he may be as a writer.

Via Hollywood Reporter.

1. John Carter (Disney, 3,749 Theaters, 132 Minutes, Rated PG-13): Schadenfreude is the pleasure derived from the misfortunes of others. I don’t know if a movie can qualify as one of those “others,” but if it can, then this film is a shining example of the term in action. There’s a lot of pre-schadenfreude going on here. A lot of people are actively rooting for this film to fail.

To be fair, the film is calling a lot of the schadenfreude upon itself. It is a $250 million dollar film based on a character celebrating his 100th birthday this year. It has a writer/director with no live-action film experience, an unproven lead, and it’s a sword-and-sorcery concept melded with science-fiction that doesn’t usually set the world on fire.

However, that writer/director is Andrew Stanton, who has two, count’em, two Oscars for his work at Pixar (for Wall*E and Finding Nemo) and four other Oscar nominations.  That unproven lead is Taylor Kitsch, an actor who is playing a lead or co-lead in three huge pictures this year (this one, Battleship in May, and Savages in July), so it’s not that Hollywood doesn’t have faith in him. And that character and concept was created by Edgar Rice Burroughs (of Tarzan fame) who has lasted this long by building generation after generation of fans.

I’m typically negative here, but I’ll tell you what–I’m pulling for this film. I’m rooting for it. I hope it’s great and it pulls the audiences in. Try anti-schadenfreude sometime. It’s fun.

2. Silent House (Open Road Films, 2,124 Theaters, 85 Minutes, Rated R): For a horror film, this one has a lot going for it. It has Elizabeth Olsen, who probably should have gotten an Oscar nomination last year for her work in Martha Marcy May Marlene. And the film was shot as one continuous take–no editing. That is a great technical accomplishment.

However, it is a horror/suspense film. So, not being edited might not be the best thing for the film. You can build a lot of tension with a jump cut here and there. And the plot–a young women is sent to close up her familiy’s lakeside retreat, but while she is there, evil things starts to happen, would be totally conventional if it wasn’t for the continuous shot gimmick.

Who knows? The gimmick might work. But it might not.

3. A Thousand Words (Paramount/Dreamworks, 1,890 Theaters, 91 Minutes, Rated PG-13): Remember a couple months ago, when Tower Heist came out? You couldn’t swing a dead cat without hitting some article stating that Eddie Murphy was back to his raunchy comedy film self. Those writers should have held off on publishing those articles until this film came out, because it has more in common with The Nutty Professor than 48 Hours or Trading Places.

Murphy plays a man who screws over a guru and becomes cursed. Whenever he says a word, a leaf falls off a tree in his yard. When the last leaf falls, he dies. The rest of the film involves him trying to make amends as quietly as he can so he can save his own life.

Doesn’t seem as bad as some of Murphy’s worst movies, but that’s not saying much.

It’s been a eventful week for Brett Ratner and, by proxy, the Oscars A week that resulted in a complete overhaul of the Oscar telecast.

It all started last Friday when Ratner’s latest film, Tower Heist was released. Ratner participated in a Q&A after a screening. When asked if he rehearsed with the cast before shooting certain scenes, Ratner replied, “Rehearsal is for fags.”

The comment was picked up by all the entertainment news outlets, and a video of Ratner saying the slur was briefly uploaded to YouTube. This led Ratner on Monday to issue an apology to film blog, The Wrap:

“I apologize for any offense my remarks caused. It was a dumb way of expressing myself. Everyone who knows me knows that I don’t have a prejudiced bone in my body. But as a storyteller I should have been much more thoughtful about the power of language and my choice of words.”

The apology was timely but wasn’t enough. GLAAD issued the following statement:

“This apology is a good start, but we’re working with Ratner’s people for more action, to clearly send a message to Hollywood that the anti-gay slurs used by bullies and bigots have no place in the world of entertainment, or anywhere else.”

Apparently, the “more action” GLAAD was working for was Ratner stepping down as Oscar telecast producer, because that was what Ratner did the very next day.  Ratner once again released a statement, explaining why he stepped down.

An Open Letter to the Entertainment Industry from Brett Ratner

Dear Colleagues,

Over the last few days, I’ve gotten a well-deserved earful from many of the people I admire most in this industry expressing their outrage and disappointment over the hurtful and stupid things I said in a number of recent media appearances. To them, and to everyone I’ve hurt and offended, I’d like to apologize publicly and unreservedly.

As difficult as the last few days have been for me, they cannot compare to the experience of any young man or woman who has been the target of offensive slurs or derogatory comments. And they pale in comparison to what any gay, lesbian, or transgender individual must deal with as they confront the many inequalities that continue to plague our world.

So many artists and craftspeople in our business are members of the LGBT community, and it pains me deeply that I may have hurt them. I should have known this all along, but at least I know it now: words do matter. Having love in your heart doesn’t count for much if what comes out of your mouth is ugly and bigoted. With this in mind, and to all those who understandably feel that apologies are not enough, please know that I will be taking real action over the coming weeks and months in an effort to do everything I can both professionally and personally to help stamp out the kind of thoughtless bigotry I’ve so foolishly perpetuated.

As a first step, I called Tom Sherak this morning and resigned as a producer of the 84th Academy Awards telecast. Being asked to help put on the Oscar show was the proudest moment of my career. But as painful as this may be for me, it would be worse if my association with the show were to be a distraction from the Academy and the high ideals it represents.

I am grateful to GLAAD for engaging me in a dialogue about what we can do together to increase awareness of the important and troubling issues this episode has raised and I look forward to working with them. I am incredibly lucky to have a career in this business that I love with all of my heart and to be able to work alongside so many of my heroes. I deeply regret my actions and I am determined to learn from this experience.

Sincerely,
Brett Ratner

I’m sure that there are many who read the slur Ratner  used and said, “What’s so wrong about that? It just a word.” It seems obvious from Ratner’s sincere statement above that he did not intend it to be as derogatory as it turned out to be. But the slur in question compared a task that Ratner found no value in to homosexuals using an insulting term. Looking at it that way, it’s easy to see how Ratner’s words could hurt people.

Anyway, from there, it became a question as to whether or not Eddie Murphy would stay on as Oscar host. The conventional wisdom was that he would, but, as the Academy would find out the next day,  it turns out that Murphy and Ratner was a package deal:

“First and foremost I want to say that I completely  understand and support each party’s decision with regard to a change of  producers for this year’s Academy Awards ceremony. I was truly looking  forward to being a part of the show that  our production team and writers were just starting to develop, but I’m  sure that the new production team and host will do an equally great  job.”

The search for a new host would begin just as the search for a new producer was ending, as it was announced later that same day that Academy Award winning producer Brian Grazer would step into fill Ratner’s shoes.

The search for a replacement host last just over 24-hours as well as it was announced today by the Academy (and confirmed by Crystal himself via Twitter, just to prove he’s hip enough for the job) that eight-time host Billy Crystal will be returning for a ninth time hosting. The last time he hosted was in 2004.

While most of the message board posters have been a bit snarky about Crystal’s return (general consensus–he’s too old/not trendy enough), as a long time Oscar watcher and fan, I can tell you I am ecstatic about this.

Billy Crystal simply works well as Oscar host. Yes, he’s a comedian from the old school, but in this case, that’s not a bad thing. He’s one or two generations removed from the era of comedy where being a good master of ceremonies was an essential attribute. He knows how to keep a show moving, how to keep the viewers entertained, and how to keep the broadcast sharp. And he’s done job before! Eight times! He could probably do the show in his sleep! And, really, if you say you don’t think he’d be better than the Hathaway/Franco debacle of last year, I’ll say you’re lying.

In replacing the team of Ratner and Murphy with the team of Glazer and Crystal, the Oscars might have lost an element of hipness and danger. But it gained competence and skill in return. In my opinion, Ratner’s week of speaking without thinking is the best thing that could have happened to this year’s telecast. I’d be watching either way, but now I can actually look forward to the show instead of being cautiously optimistic.

1.Tower Heist (Universal, @3,200 Theaters, 104 Minutes, Rated PG-13): The buzz about this film should be about two comedy icons who help define film comedy in two different decades–Eddie Murphy from the 1980s and Ben Stiller from the 1990s–coming together on screen for the first time. Or it should about the plot, about a bunch of laid off workers planning to steal from the fat cat that cost them their jobs, a plot made even more relevant by the themes of the “Occupy (Insert City)” protests. In other words, buzz that would get people in the seats.

However, the thing about the movie that got the most press, here and at other film sites, is the plan from Universal to release the film on Video on Demand three weeks from now, Cinemark reponding to the news by dropping the film, other independent theater owners joining suit, causing Universal to scrap the idea.

The controversy made for an interesting story. I mean, it’s a crap shoot to tell if people will spend $10 on a Stiller or Murphy film, let alone the $60 Universal planned to charge for the VOD, but the smaller theater chains were forced to act because it meant the first salvo in the battle for their continued existence. However, this kind of “bad press” isn’t the kind that would entice people into the theaters.

2. A Very Harold And Kumar 3D Christmas (Warner Bros./New Line, @2,800 Theaters, 90 Minutes, Rated R): There are several things that amaze me about the Howard and Kumar franchise. One is the way it rose from its humble beginnings to become a franchise in the first place. I’m always fascinated when that happens.

Another is how far the cast has come. When the first film was released, the cast was living in obscurity–two unknowns and one former sitcom star. Now, mostly because of that first film, John Cho has taken over the iconic role of Sulu in the Star Trek film franchise, Neil Patrick Harris has once again become a TV icon as Barney from How I Met Your Mother, and Kal Penn, for me most impressive of all, has gone on work for the Obama Administration as the Associate Director in the White House Office of Public Liaison.

But was is most amazing the fact that the three princpals have returned for this sequel. Lord knows they didn’t have to, but it rocks that they did.

This film seems like more of the same, as the search for a replacement tree for the one owned by Harold’s father-in-law that Kumar accidentally burned acts as the framework for their wacky adventures. In 3-D no less. I’m not a fan of 3-D, but I do admire the way that the makers of this film have tried to come up with the schlockiest effects to take advantage of the 3-D process.

The action comedy Tower Heist looks to be a return to form of the type of films that Eddie Murphy first built his movie career on in the1980s and early 90s. But while out doing the publicity rounds for the upcoming film, he put to rest the idea that he might be revisiting one of his classic earlier movie characters one more time.

Rolling Stone has a big interview piece with Murphy coming up in their next print issue and they teased it online today with a quote where Murphy rules out the possibility of fourth Beverly Hills Cop film. Instead, he states that he would like to see the franchise transition to television and focus on a hitherto unseen son for his Axel Foley character.

They’re not doing it [Beverly Hills Cop IV]. What I’m trying to do now is produce a TV show starring Axel Foley’s son, and Axel is the chief of police now in Detroit. I’d do the pilot, show up here and there. None of the movie scripts were right; it was trying to force the premise. If you have to force something, you shouldn’t be doing it. It was always a rehash of the old thing. It was always wrong.

Is Murphy also obliquely referring to some of the broad family comedy films that he’s done in recent years that haven’t performed so well at the box office when he states “If you have to force something, you shouldn’t be doing it”?

Possibly, as Murphy went on to say -

I don’t have any interest in that [family films] right now. There’s really no blueprint, but I’m trying to do some edgy stuff. And I only want to do what I really want to do, otherwise I’m content to sit here and play my guitar all day. I always tell people now that I’m a semiretired gentleman of leisure, and occasionally I’ll go do some work to break the boredom up.

This is great news as far as I’m concerned. As a teenager in the 80s, an Eddie Murphy film meant you were getting a certain blend of action and comedy in films like Beverly Hills Cop and 48 Hours or the straight up comedy of Trading Places.

But as he transitioned over to family films, and often times not very good ones at that, he seemed to dilute his brand. Even appearances in good films like Bowfinger and Dreamgirls couldn’t totally polish up his tarnished image. Hopefully by picking and choosing his projects more carefully, we can avoid such things such as Pluto Nash and Meet Dave.

Now if he can just explain how doing the voice for Hong Kong Phooey is part of the “edgy stuff.”

It’s looking like Cinemark’s refusal to book the upcoming comedy Tower Heist in response to Universal Studios’ plan to make the film available via Video On Demand services just three weeks after its theatrical opening might just be the opening salvo in a new battle between theater owners and Hollywood studios.

Yesterday, a group of independent theaters joined with Cinemark in boycotting the comedy which stars Ben Stiller and Eddie Murphy. The Los Angeles Times is reporting that Galaxy Theatres, Regency Theatres, Emagine Theatres and a small number of cinema’s representing another 50 screens have all vowed to not screen the film.

“We just feel it’s a time to draw a line in the sand,’’ said Rafe Cohen, president of Galaxy Theatres, which operates 106 screens in California, Washington, Nevada and Texas. “This is virtually a simultaneous release that we don’t think will be helpful to anyone. We’re standing on principle that it’s best to preserve the theatrical window.”

For its part, Universal is only making Tower Heist available on a total of 500,000 homes in two markets – Atlanta and Portland,– at the price of $59.99 as part of what studio execs are calling “a test.”

But theater owners are seeing the move as just the first crack in a dam that, if burst, would entice audiences to stay at home and not head to theaters to see the latest releases. Theater owners have already expressed anger of a deal that four studios struck earlier this year with DirectTV to make certain titles available 60 days after their theatrical premier for $29.99.

I anticipate that there will be more theaters announcing their own boycotting of the film in the coming days.

Eddie Murphy will be hosting the 84th annual Academy Awards show next spring. Murphy was chosen by the show’s producer Brett Ratner, whom had just finished directing Murphy in this November’s action comedy Tower Heist.

The last time Murphy was seen at the Oscars was in 2007, pouting because the Dreamgirls co-star lost the Best Supporting Actor award to Alan Arkin.

The Academy Awards have long had a tradition of being hosted by comedians that started with Will Rogers and includes George Jessel, Jack Benny, Bob Hope, Johnny Carson, Billy Crystal, Steve Martin, Whoopi Goldberg, Chris Rock and Jon Stewart. And in his peak, Murphy was a powerhouse comedian and comic actor. But hits such as 48 Hours, Coming To America and Beverly Hills Cop gave way to disappointments such as Vampire In Brooklyn, and Beverly Hills Cop 3. In the past two decades, Murphy probably has only turned in one comedy performance worthy of his reputation and that was in Steve Martin’s Bowfinger.

Here’s hoping that while working with Ratner and co-star Ben Stiller on Tower Heist, Murphy somehow tapped into the comic actor he used to be and that will carry over to his work at the award ceremony.

Alcon Entertainment is hoping that Eddie Murphy can be their number one superguy. The production company has signed the comic actor to voice the lead character for Hong Kong Phooey, a hybrid live-action/CGI animation family film they currently have in development based on the 1970s Hannah-Barbera cartoons series.

Murphy will play Henry, a police station janitor who is also the karate-chopping detective superhero Hong Kong Phooey. And no one seems to notice or care that Henry/Hong Kong Phooey is a dog. Nor does anyone ever seem to connect that they are the same dog.

Murphy has some rather big shoes to fill here, as the original voice actor to play the character was the distinctive Scatman Crothers. Additionally, he’ll be competing with himself as his most popular work in the last decade or so has been his voiceover work as Donkey in the Shrek films.

Another hurdle that the film will overcome is something more out of Murphy’s hands – the low quality we’ve seen from a number of cartoons that have gotten the live action/CGI treatment. Movies like Yogi Bear and The Smurfs have a built-in audience that guarantees tickets will be sold, even when it appears that the filmmakers have forgotten that they need to entertain those ticket buyers once they’re in the theaters. Not helping matters is that the film will be directed by Alex Zamm, whose last theatrical film was the Carrot Top “masterpiece” Chairman Of The Board. He also has a number of direct-to-video- cheapie sequels like Inspector Gadget, Dr. Doolittle: Million Dollar Mutts and Toothy Fairy 2 to his credit.

In the meantime, here’s the original cartoon’s opening titles and theme song sung by Crothers himself.

A couple of trailers hit the web today. One is a project that producer George Lucas has been trying to get made for some time, the tale of the Tuskegee Airmen in World War Two Red Tails. The other may just mark Eddie Murphy’s long overdue return to being funny in films. (I only say “may,” as the director of Tower Heist is Brett Ratner whose films I do laugh at, though not always for the reasons he would wish I would be laughing.)