After a disastrous financial year, New Line Cinema are in need of a boost. And the good thing is, our first look at their next mass audience attempt after THE GOLDEN COMPASS, looks like it might be a hit. The studio's biggest movie of next year is INKHEART another fantasy movie with a bankable cast that includes Brendan Fraser, Paul Bettany, Jim Broadbent, Helen Mirren (a surprising second kids turn for her, with NATIONAL TREASURE upcoming) and from the looks of things the villain is none other than Andy Serkis. Finally Gollum is getting a massive role in a movie where we can actually see his real face!
I didn't realise he would have such a prominent part in this and I love it! The movie is based on the successful 2003 novel of the same name written by Cornelia Funke in which a young girl who is an avid book worm, bizarrely begins to bring to life events and characters from the novels she is reading. It's JUMANJI meets HARRY POTTER, in it's most ignorant of terms. Anyway, the plot seems pretty simple from the trailer... I would recommend watching the HD version here. Funke has since wrote another tale in the series with one more due in 2009. New Line see this as a big potential franchise and are hoping to cash-in on some of the money HARRY POTTER fans will have lying around as that series begins to come to an end. I really like the look of this. I like the atmosphere, I like the tone and there appears to be some interesting characters here with a great cast that Brit director Iain Softley (K-PAX, THE SKELETON KEY) has put together. Hope this is as smart as STARDUST. Look for this in the strange end of March release date. Well I guess May is pretty packed, will an early season gamble pay off?
Matt Holmes is the co-founder of What Culture, formerly known as Obsessed With Film. He has been blogging about pop culture and entertainment since 2006 and has written over 10,000 articles.
