Beatles coming to “Rock Band”
Apple Corps Ltd., Harmonix and MTV Games have announced that songs of the Beatles will be included in an upcoming “Rock Band” type game. The game will be “experiential progression through and celebration of the music and artistry of The Beatles,” according to the release.
The game was conceived with input from surviving Beatles Paul McCartney and Ringo Starr, along with Yoko Ono Lennon and Olivia Harrison, each of which endorse the project.
Giles Martin, co-producer of The Beatles’ LOVE project, will serve as music producer.
See the full release after the break.
Tennant to step down as “Doctor Who”
The Associated Press reports that David Tennant will step down as the Doctor on “Doctor Who” in 2010. He’s starred since 2005.
From the AP:
LONDON (AP) — Britain’s best-known time traveler is ending his journey.
The BBC has announced that Scottish actor David Tennant will leave long-running science fiction series “Doctor Who” in just over a year.
Tennant has played the show’s time- and space-traveling alien hero since 2005. He will appear in a Christmas special and four hour-long episodes to be aired in 2009 and early 2010. But he said Wednesday that when the series returns for a full season in 2010, “it won’t be with me.”
“This show has been so special to me,” Tennant said. “I don’t want to outstay my welcome.”
“Doctor Who” was first broadcast in 1963 and is one of the BBC’s longest-running and most popular programs. Tennant is the 10th actor to play the title character, who has the power to regenerate in a new body.
Classically trained Tennant, 37, is currently starring in Shakespeare’s “Hamlet” for the Royal Shakespeare Company.
Retro Thursday: Peter Cullen aka Optimus Prime
I talked to Peter Cullen, voice of the animated Optimus Prime, in late 2006 as anticipation for the “Transformers” live-action film was building. We talked about his time on the TV show and his role in the live-action film. It was exciting to talk to Cullen, who, as the voice of Optimus Prime, was a definite childhood hero of my brother and me. This interview ran on the cover of Weekend Look on Nov. 10, 2006.
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Twenty years ago, “Transformers: The Movie” hit motion picture screens. This week, a 20th anniversary DVD rolled out. Voice actor Peter Cullen, who played Optimus Prime in the original cartoon series and 1986 animated movie, talked about his role as the robot disguised as a semi truck who led the Autobots. Cullen is slated to reprise his role in next year’s live-action “Transformers,” directed by Michael Bay. In it, Cullen will voice the computer-generated Prime.
Cullen was already a successful voice actor, with stints on “G.I. Joe” and “Voltron.”
Cullen showed up at a general casting call and looked at the character sketch.
“I was used to doing animated characters, and here we have a truck,” he said.
But after he read the short bio of Prime, he began to get an idea of how to portray the Autobot leader.
“The character breakdown for Optimus Prime was pretty straightforward,” Cullen said. “The writers were … excellent. I got a sense of Optimus Prime having integrity and honor and courage and conviction.”
That courage and conviction, as evidenced in Cullen’s vocal portrayal, was inspired by Cullen’s brother Larry, a former Marine captain who served in Vietnam.
“I think I got a lot of Optimus Prime from my brother. Certainly, the control and the honor and definitely the spirit of command. Soft-spoken, sensitive but willing to kick a- – like a Marine can do.” Cullen said. “I tried to keep him cool under all conditions, and authoritative and convincingly powerful.”
Cullen found out about his character’s death in the 1986 movie while reading through the script with Frank Welker, who portrayed Megatron, the Decepticon leader.
“I looked at Frank Welker, and I said, ‘Did you read this? I’m getting whacked! I’m getting rubbed out, and you’re doing it,’ ” Cullen remembered. Cullen said he understands the business reasoning at the time, which was to introduce the new product line.
“It’s (toymaker) Hasbro, and it’s Hollywood, and it’s business, and that’s the way they operate. They don’t take it personally, and I don’t really.”
Optimus Prime’s cool leadership qualities made him a Gen X hero. But Cullen didn’t know about his influence until years later, when, on the insistence of his daughter, he attended a Transformers convention.
“My eyes were opened wide,” he said. “I was shocked, and I was surprised. The little information that I had was on such a minimal basis, you really couldn’t get an overall picture on how big it was. It still is kind of a surprise to me. I think about it, and I think gosh, it’s an honor.”
Cullen was moved by a young man who stood to speak to him at a question-and-answer session at the convention.
“He said, ‘Mr. Cullen, when I was a kid, you raised me. … You had such a great impact on my life. I didn’t have a father, and you became my father, every day. And I’m very grateful to you for that. You mean a lot to me.’
“I don’t think there’s any words to express the way I feel now, and did then. Ultimately, it was an obligation and a responsibility to never let that kid down.
“I found out subsequently that there were other young boys at that time in their life that felt the same way, because that’s been repeated to me. And without sounding as if I’m — it’s more of a humble reaction than it is anything else. It takes me back, and I get a little churn in my stomach when I hear that, and when I think about it, too. It affects me very deeply.”
Cullen said the hard-core Transformers fans are to thank for his reprisal of the role in the upcoming big-budget film.
“(The filmmakers) were thinking more Hollywood big names,” Cullen said. “They did start to consider the original voice actors because of the enthusiasm and the … stubbornness of the fan base. God, I’m grateful for those guys,” he said.
Cullen was called in to audition for Michael Bay at his offices in Santa Monica, Calif.
He was asked to read a scene with Optimus Prime and Ironhide, a gutsy Autobot who was a close friend of Prime’s, also played by Cullen in the original series.
“The script assistant was there, and she started reading for Ironside,” Cullen said.
“I said, ‘Excuse me, dear, do you mind if I read it?’ Because I actually played this character.’ ”
Cullen completed the read-through reading for both characters.
Cullen received a callback. This time, Cullen was called to act out a more personal, one-on-one scene.
“The reason for that was, they wanted to find out if I in fact could act,” he said.
“Optimus steps out of his normal frame, and becomes … a little more human.”
Shortly later, Cullen heard from his agent that he was again cast as Optimus Prime.
“And I said, ‘Oh, fantastic,’ and that’s when I started to get involved,” he said. “It started getting exciting, and it’s remained that way ever since.”
“Preacher” to Columbia
The Hollywood Reporter indicates the rights to “Preacher” have been optioned by Columbia, after the planned HBO series fell through. Sam Mendes is attached to direct. The Vertigo series was written by Garth Ennis and drawn by Steve Dillon.
Previous efforts to film “Preacher” have included the series, the pilot of which was written by Mark Steven Johnson (”Ghost Rider”), and a film adaptation through Kevin Smith’s View Askew, which had Oklahoma’s James Marsden attached in the title role.
– Matt Price
Downey Jr. in “Avengers”
As reported by Variety, Robert Downey Jr. has signed on for Iron Man 2 and 3, and “The Avengers” as well. NewsOK has a report. Jon Favreau will also be involved in “The Avengers,” as an executive producer.
Who is the Iron Patriot?
“Who is the Iron Patriot?” asks this Marvel promo that comes with no other information.
– Matt Price
Q&A: Toby Wilkins
Here’s a few more questions with Toby Wilkins, director of “Splinter,” beyond what we could fit in the newspaper.
Matt Price: Has the reaction to Splinter been what you were expecting?
Toby Wilkins: We screened it twice now, for an audience. At Screamfest was the first time I had seen it with an audience, and I was blown away by the reaction. It was a really great mix. Screamfest being a horror festival has this hardcore horror audience who are there to watch and love horror movies. And then the other half of the audience were people I’d invited, people from the industry and friends of mine who don’t necessarily watch horror movies all the time.
And it was a great blend of audience to see it for the first time with, horror fans cheering at all the right gory moments and the stuff that they love, and the less experienced horror audience screaming at all the right moments and laughing at all the right jokes. It was a really great experience, I can’t imagine a better audience to have seen it for the first time with.
MP: What can Oklahoma City fans who attend your screening expect?
TW: I’d guess there’d be an introduction and a Q&A afterwards. I would imagine or hope some of the local crew and cast will be able to attend. But basically they’re in for a roller coaster ride of a horror movie!
MP: And you’re also distributing “Splinter” in kind of a new way.
TW: The way theatrical distribution is going, with a third more independent films launching each year, something like 600 movies per year, the number of theaters you can actually get a movie into is becoming greatly reduced. And there’s a huge audience for horror movies and especially independent horror movies, people are really excited to see them. So it’s a great, cutting-edge type of distribution that Magnet have been able to secure for “Splinter.” You can actually see the movie right now, before it releases in theaters on Halloween, if you don’t live in one of the four cities, New York, Los Angeles, Austin or Oklahoma City, where the movie is being released, you can watch it through your cable’s on-demand service, for basically the price of a movie ticket.
I think independent film in general needs to find a more efficient way of reaching an audience. Because even if you do what in independent film is considered a very wide release of 100 screens, that still cuts out a huge section of an audience who may be responsive to a film. With the internet as a distribution method, things like iTunes rentals and downloads, and video on demand, which is obviously becoming very popular, there are great opportunities to release movies to a much wider audience.
Splinter: If you go
What: “Splinter” screening
Where: Oklahoma City Museum of Art’s Noble Theater, 415 Couch Drive
When: 7:30 p.m. Thursday with director Toby Wilkins; additional screenings at 5:30 p.m. and 8 p.m. Friday and Saturday.
Price: Tickets are $8 for adults, $6 for seniors and students and $5 for museum members
Information: 278-8237 or www.okcmoa.com/film
“Splinter” gets Oklahoma City premiere
There’s a mysterious creature roaming through the woods of Oklahoma – but that’s actually good news for the state.
A combination of elements conducive to the script and incentives from the Oklahoma Film Commission drew director Toby Wilkins to Oklahoma to shoot “Splinter.” The horror film gets an Oklahoma City premiere Thursday at the Oklahoma City Museum of Art.
The state is “one of the few places you can still find isolated, rural pockets of civilization, like gas stations in the middle of forests, which is a key element of the script,” Wilkins said in a phone interview. “And I don’t want to spoil the movie, but for various reasons having very warm summer nights played a part in how the script worked.”
The key roles in “Splinter” are filled by Shea Whigham (”Wristcutters: A Love Story”), Jill Wagner and Paulo Constanzo. Whigham was the first aboard, Wilkins said, as escaped convict Dennis Farrell.
“With the 15 or more movies that he’s done, (he brought) an enormous amount of weight to the casting process.”
Wilkins hadn’t been familiar with Wagner’s genre background in “Blade: The Series,” but he said once he learned of it, it was a nice bonus. She and Constanzo play a couple who take to the woods for an amorous anniversary.
Wagner provided “a strong, powerful female lead who is a take-charge and confident character at the beginning of the movie, but still has access to the vulnerability that’s needed for the scares in a horror movie to work,” he said.
And Costanzo, best-known for his role on the “Friends” spin-off “Joey,” was interested in attacking something in another genre.
“The nervous energy that Paulo brings to the character of Seth is really what I was looking for from the beginning,” Wilkins said.
Wilkins said he was pleased with the talent of the local crew, which included many Oklahomans. And it’s not only Wilkins who is pleased with the finished work. The film won six awards this month at the eighth annual Screamfest horror movie festival in Hollywood.
“It’s a record-breaking sweep,” Wilkins said. “I’m so blown away that the crew involved in putting the movie together and creating it and making it what it is are getting the recognition they deserve.”
From Wednesday’s The Oklahoman
By Matthew Price
“Splinter” infects viewers with horror
In Toby Wilkins’ “Splinter,” a couple who just wants to spend their anniversary camping come upon an unexplained terror from the woods. Jill Wagner (”Blade: The Series”) plays Polly, a capable woman taking her somewhat nerdy boyfriend Seth (Paulo Constanzo, “Joey”) out for an sexy outdoor rendezvous on their anniversary. But after a tent mishap, the two decide to head for a motel. Along the way, they stop to pick up a woman (Rachel Kerbs). But it turns out she and her just-released-from-prison boyfriend (played by Shea Wigham, “Tigerland”) want to hijack their SUV, with them still in it.
After the truck hits a raccoon – infected by a strange plague – the foursome are stuck in a rural Oklahoma gas station. And that’s where the “splinter” plague intends to pick them off.
While plot-wise, it’s not that different from many a horror movie, this movie shines in the acting and execution. This movie is absolutely trying to scare you – and despite some gory scenes, it’s not doing it with only gore. There’s psychological suspense and creeping dread. While monster fans might be disappointed that, for much of the film, there are only glimpses and quick looks at the monster, it’s an effective way of sharing with the audience the uncertainty and fear of the characters.
- Matthew Price
From Wednesday’s The Oklahoman
