Disney has released the first trailer for the big screen adaptation of Confessions of a Shopaholic. Isla Fisher stars as Rebecca Bloomwood, “a sweet and charming New York City girl who has a tiny, little problem that is rapidly turning into a big problem: she’s hopelessly addicted to shopping and drowning in a sea of debt.”

“While Rebecca has dreams of working for a top fashion magazine, she can’t quite get her foot in the door—that is, until she snags a job as an advice columnist for a new financial magazine published by the same company. Overnight, her column becomes hugely popular, turning her into an overnight celebrity. But when her compulsive shopping and growing debt issues threaten to destroy her love life and derail her career, she struggles to keep it all from spiraling out of control…and is ultimately forced to reevaluate what’s really important in life. Isla Fisher (“Wedding Crashers”) stars in the film from producer Jerry Bruckheimer and director P.J. Hogan (“My Best Friend’s Wedding”), based on the best-selling series of books by British author Sophie Kinsella.”

When I first heard about this project, a couple friends pitched the book at me as a “Devil Wears Prada”-like tale about shopping. Fisher has shown nothing but promise, and Prada ended up being one of those unexpected guilty pleasures. But I’m not impressed by the trailer for Shopaholic in the least. Probably because it doesn’t seem like anything beyond the typical chick flick. Am I wrong? Tell me what you think in the comments below!

Confessions of a Shopaholic hits theaters on February 13th 2009.

Related Stories

• First Look: Isla Fisher in Confessions of a Shopaholic
• Book to Movie: Is Confessions of a Shopaholic the next Devil Wears Prada?
• Disney Announces 2009 Release Schedule
• Movie Review: Definitely, Maybe is “Definitely So-So”
• Dr. Seuss’ Horton Hears a Who Movie Trailer
• Definitely, Maybe International Movie Trailer

Director John Moore’s wish of a PG-13 Max Payne has been granted. We get the following news from the man himself thanks to the following interview with Game Daily via ropeofsilicon:

In a new interview with GameDaily he gives the following message regarding the film finally getting the required PG-13 rating:

I must say, and that’s what’s a little bewildering about this, I didn’t have to change much. We trimmed some frames more for the sake of trimming frames than anything, but we got the rating without any major changes at all. I’m a little surprised that we changed their minds, effectively, but I’m happy about it. It proves that if you stick to your guns and you have the creative, and dare I say moral sense, that you’re in the right, that you can get the right thing done.

I’m not sure if this is good news or bad news for this film. When a story revolves around gun violence - I personally would like to see an R rating. If you have a film that seeks to revel in violence, it seems peculiar to me not to let it gush forth, under the umbrella of an R rating.

According to the source article John Moore recently slammed the MPAA; he assumed they would give him a hard time with his project (he wanted a PG rating). His previous fears appear to have been all for naught. It would seem that he made the PG-13 cut without much trouble at all.

I can see why they would want the PG-13 rating for a video game film. It will allow the game’s demographic to buy tickets, I just worry that reining in the violence will be detrimental to Max Payne the movie. From what I have seen in the trailers my hopes certainly aren’t high; and a PG 13 rating isn’t helping the situation.

/Film reader Christopher Edwards sends along word that Shaun of the Dead and Little Britain actor Matt Lucas is playing both Tweedledee and Tweedledum in Tim Burton’s 3D adaptation of Alice in Wonderland. Lucas revealed the news on BBC’s Friday Night with Johnathan Ross.

I saw the concept art for the characters last week at the Disney Showcase, and they are completely stylized like upward pointing missiles (imagine the Disney animated version above without the round belly). If I were to guess, I would say that the character will likely be performance captured.

The characters appeared in Lewis Carroll’s Through the Looking-Glass, as two fat brothers who complement each other’s words and never contradict each other, even when one of them, according to the famous nineteenth century nursery rhyme, “agrees to have a battle”. Alice in Wonderland is scheduled to hit theaters on March 5th 2010.

Related Stories

• Johnny Depp Cast in Burton’s Alice, The Lone Ranger and Pirates of the Caribbean 4
• Rumor: Is Johnny Depp The Mad Hatter in Tim Burton’s Wonderland?
• Casting Rumor: Who is Alice in Tim Burton’s Wonderland?
• First Look: Mia Wasikowska as Tim Burton’s Alice
• Page 2
• The Dark Knight Sets Monday Box Office Record. Also: Strange Audience Observations, Why This Film Matters, and Online Snobs

Movie Blog reader Johnathan sent me an interesting story today revolving around Oscar winner Forest Whitaker and his upcoming film “Winged Creatures”.

Turns out the film almost got sunk and that Whitaker was almost removed from the movie because one of the film studio’s originally behind the film thought that Whitaker was “ugly, black and unbankable”. This comes to us from the folks over at LiveNews:

Despite having “the hottest ensemble cast in town”, including Guy Pearce, Kate Beckinsale, Dakota Fanning, Jeanne Tripplehorn and Jennifer Hudson, Woods said the company who owned the script wouldn’t accept Whitaker as a leading man.

“The initial finance fell through when I stuck with Forest Whitaker for the role of Charlie,” Woods (the director) said. “An executive told me straight: `Even if he wins the Oscar he’s ugly, he’s black and he’s unbankable.’”

Ok, now I admit that on the surface that quote appears horribly insensitive and outright racist. But before taking a comment out of context and assume the worst, let’s just for a moment choose to believe that the unnamed studio executive was speaking as a studio executive. Let’s assume for a moment that he didn’t have a problem with Whitaker being black because he hates black people, but that because he believes (rightly or wrongly) that black leading men (aside from Will Smith) aren’t as marketable or “bankable” as some other potential stars. Or that perhaps he made the comment because the script didn’t call for the character to be black.

I’m going to play devil’s advocate here for a moment and defend what the executive said (at least the PRINCIPLE of what he said). Keep in mind, he is the money guy. The movie doing well or doing poorly directly effects how much money his company gets. If he (for whatever reason) doesn’t believe that Forest Whitaker is capable of drawing in a large audience… doesn’t he have a right to object to his casting?

Ok, so he finds Forest ugly (I don’t), don’t pretend like you’ve never called someone that before. Ok he mentioned he’s black. Well… if he thinks that will have an impact on his bottom line, then he has the right to object. He thinks Whitaker is unbankalbe. Can we say he’s wrong about that? How many $100+ million movies has Forest headlined? None.

Forest Whitaker is one of the best actors out there, no doubt, but when you’re talking to the people who will be investing money, you also have to show them that getting a certain actor will also increase the potential for them to make money on their investment. If this guy (for whatever reason) thought Whitaker was a bad investment, can we blame him for fighting to get him out of the movie?

Personally, I’d put Forest Whitaker in as Dorothy in my “Wizard of Oz” remake if he wanted the role (I think he’s that good), but I can’t judge this studio exec for making… well… a business decision. Just my two cents worth.

Our friends at FirstShowing caught up with producer Donald De Line, who revealed that a new draft of The Green Lantern has been turned in, and while nothing is “confirmed” they’re “gearing up to start shooting early spring.”

I have to admit that while I’ve read comics over the years, Lantern isn’t one of them. I’ve never found the character to be that interesting, but have a lot of friends who disagree. Our friends at Latino Review got their hands on the script a couple weeks ago, and El Mayimbe called it “one of the most solid first draft superhero screenplays EVER”. Talk about high praise. One thing is for sure, DC needs to bring their A game to compete with the onslaught of Marvel projects coming up.

Discuss: Are You Excited About The Green Lantern Movie?

Related Stories

• Green Lantern Movie on Fast Track? Justice League Back in Development?
• Seth Rogen to Star in Jody Hill’s Observe and Report
• The Green Lantern Gets a Director

Paramount Pictures has signed a deal with Marvel Entertainment to distribute the studio’s next five self-produced film projects:

• Iron Man 2 (May 7, 2010)
• Thor (July 16, 2010)
• The First Avenger: Captain America (May 6, 2011)
• The Avengers (July 15, 2011)
• Iron Man 3 (Date Not Yet Announced)

The deal is an extension of the original agreement for Iron Man, and includes worldwide distribution.

Related Stories

• Marvel Logo Line-Up: Iron Man 2, Thor, The First Avenger: Captain America, The Avengers
• Marvel Studios Announces Release Dates For Iron Man 2, The Avengers, Thor, The First Avenger: Captain America
• The /Filmcast: After Dark Ep. 17 (GUESTS: Eric D. Snider and Alex Billington)
• Rumor: Marvel Wants Leonardo DiCaprio For Captain America. Or Brad Pitt.
• Marvel Studios Too Cheap To Pay Jon Favreau For Iron Man 2?
• Jon Favreau on the Future of Iron Man

Here is your 335th installment of The Movie Blog Uncut recorded September 26th. Don’t forget that the next LIVE installment of The Movie Blog Uncut starts right here at 8pm EST (5pm PST). Make sure to come back and join in the live show with us and get your questions and comments on air!

You can download or listent to the audio only version of the show here:

We have the new Seven Pounds trailer for you to check out. It is sopping wet with drama and emotion. The only thing that could add greater drama to this trailer would be a wide shot of 10 000 doves, followed by a close up slo-mo shot of one single dove in flight. Someone get Woo on the phone.

We have some picture of Jason Voorhees with and without mask to show you today thanks to our friends at comingsoon:

I am very skeptical about this remake, but have been pleased with what I have seen of the legendary villain thus far. It looks like they are staying true to form with his signature look, and this makes me glad. For the rest of the photo set make sure to check out comingsoon.

This weekend I received an e-mail from /Film reader Tanner C. informing me that one of the screenwriters of Eagle Eye was working on a screenplay for Blade Runner 2. I spent the weekend trying to get confirmation, and thanks to my friend Frosty at Collider who was able to get in touch with a second person who was also at the event, I was able to confirm this to be true. But before you throw a hissy fit. let me fill you in on all the details and assure you that nothing is being developed by the studio itself, or with the studio’s involvement. Here is the original email:

“I recently attended a Q&A session with one of the writers of ‘Eagle Eye’ after a free screening organized by the magazine Creative Screenwriting. During the Q&A, the writer said that he and whomever it was that helped him co-write the ‘Eagle Eye’ screenplay were in the process of writing a sequel to Blade Runner, and had already contacted the producers of the original, etc., etc. This is probably a load of empty words/wishful thinking on his part, but I for one am appalled by just the notion of a Blade Runner sequel, and thought you’d be as well, so I thought perhaps you’d like to look into this yourself and perhaps use your soapbox to get some fanboys a little pissed, as well. If not, then at least you have a scoop.”

Okay first of all, lets make sure we know who exactly we’re talking about. The screenwriters in question are not Alex Kurtzman or Roberto Orci, but instead Eagle Eye co-writer Travis Wright (who was at the event) and his Eagle Eye co-writer John Glenn.

Wright produced a 2005 animated movie which spoofed disaster films, called Disaster! The Movie. While at UCLA, Wright won the Jack Nicholson prize in screenwriting for his WWII drama Hunting the Wolf. At one point Wright and Glenn were attached to write a remake of The Warriors for Tony Scott/Paramount and Louis Leterrier’s remake of Clash of the Titans.

Wright revealed at the Creative Screenwriting event that they have been working on various treatments for a Blade Runner sequel over the last couple years. And there is also the claim that recently the duo have been working with Blade Runner co-executive producer Bud Yorkin on the project. It should be noted that Yorkin likely doesn’t control the rights to a Blade Runner sequel, and all of this is being developed outside of the studio. But this isn’t just some small side project, Travis also claims that they are already working with a previsualization team on some of the hunter action sequences for their eventual pitch with the studio. I don’t believe that Ridley Scott is involved, but the screenwriting team has worked directly with his brother Tony Scott on projects, so their might be a possible connection.

All of this really scares the hell out of me. Blade Runner is one of the most beloved sci-fi films of all time, and it is a movie that doesn’t need a sequel. If Scott had an idea, and really believed it was worth making, then maybe MAYBE. But we certainly don’t need a sequel written by the second teir team of Eagle Eye. Lets hope to God this doesn’t happen.

Related Stories

• Raiders and Empire Screenwriter Lawrence Kasdan Remakes Clash of the Titans
• Movie Playlist: Andrew Stanton
• Cool Stuff: Atomic Tarantula Sci-Fi T-Shirts
• Page 2 for May 4th
• Cool Stuff: Tyler Stout’s Blade Runner Movie Poster