11.14.08 New Watchmen trailer, Eastwood goes to the Hereafter, and more

THE ZOMBIE WAR BEGINS

Max "son of Mel" Brooks wrote a Studs Terkel-influenced oral history of World War Z – you know, the zombie war.  It is, according to my wife and many others, fantastic, so of course Hollywood has come a-knockin'. Quantum of Solace director Mark Forster will take the helm of the Paramount film, which is being produced by Brad Pitt's company Plan B.  It used to be Brad Pitt and Jennifer Aniston's company, but, well... (Variety)

FRIDAY TRAILERAMA

• The new trailer for The Watchmen is here, and it's beautiful.  There's some fanboy ire about the fact that the characters appear to refer to themselves as "The Watchmen," which is not actually the name of the group in the graphic novel.  But to me that seems a minor issue; heck, even the fact that movie's ending differs from the book's doesn't matter, as long as the general intent remains intact (as reportedly it does). The look, tone, and (most of) the acting seems spot-on.  Anticipation cranked to 11.

• The "trailer" for Lake City is terrible, with poorly written voiceover, melodramatic music, unjustified histrionics... a real mess.  However, as the first title card shows, this clearly isn't meant to be shared with the public.  My guess is that it's a (possibly unfinished) promo from the recent American Film Market, but hey, I may be wrong. So if you love Sissy Spacek, don't watch this.  Wait for something more polished to come down the line.

ODDS AND ENDS

• Clint Eastwood may direct a a Sixth Sense-type supernatural thriller entitled Hereafter for Dreamworks. Some are surprised by this, but a supernatural thriller isn't so far removed from the heavy dramas Eastwood specializes in.  Color me curious.  (Variety)

• EW has the first photo of Ed Norton as twins in Leaves of Grass, a "comedic thriller" about two very different brothers. "One's an Ivy League professor, and one grows hydroponic weed,'' says Norton.

• Underworld guy Len Wiseman is set to direct Motorcade, about an assassination attempt on the President.  I guess this one came from the "Hey, everyone's thinking it, I'm just saying it" column of production justification. (Empire)

• The first official photos from Kick Ass have shown up, and look... promising?  Hard to say.  The project, about a High School Kid turned costumed vigilante, is based on a comic by Mark Millar, who also wrote the comics that last sumer's Wanted was based upon.

• Glimpse a bit of film history over at Flickr, where user Michael Heilemann has posted a bunch of early Star Wars storyboards, done a a time when the film was still quite a bit different from what would end up on screen.  (via io9)

• Judd Apatow's dominance of the modern film comedy faces its biggest challenge with Funny People, a Seth Rogan/Leslie Mann/Adam Sandler film about stand-up comedy.  Cinematical has the first poster, along with details of how you can win a walk-on role in the film.

• This is a shout out to Ross Katz, whom I worked with back in the day.He's been producing terrific independent films for a number of years (Lost in Translation, In The Bedroom) and has just landed his first theatrical feature directing gig with The Amateur American, a political thriller. Congrats, Ross! (Variety)

• We may have gotten used to the title Quantum of Solace, but that doesn't make it any less odd.  Well Wordsmith has 18,258 alternate titles, all anagrams of Quantum of Solace. "Macaque Flu Snoot", anyone? (via Boing Boing via Ape Lad)

• They can't figure out how to make Cloverfield 2. (MTV)

• Michael Moore's new documentary about foreign policy will now be a documentary about the economy.  Whoop, there it is.  (THR via The Playlist)

• Eli Roth (Hostel) is directing the "film within a film" portions of Quentin Tarantino's Inglorious Basterds (sic). (The Quentin Tarantino Archives via /Film)