A while back came the word that Arnold Schwarzenegger's first post-"Expendables 2" project would be a stripped down action thriller called "Black Sands". Turns out it won't be as stripped down as we thought.
The previous report had Arnie playing a loner who wages war against a ruthless weapons manufacturer and his private army in the American Southwest.
Now called "Black Sunday", the film is being described as a cross between "Commando and Constantine". Schwarzenegger tells The Arnold Fans that "I’m a kind of angel. I cannot currently say more about this film.”
Scott Waugh and Mike McCoy ("Act Of Valor") are directing from a script by Sergio Altieri and Kevin Elders which Skip Woods ("A Good Day To Die Hard") performed re-writes on. Filming begins in April.
The previous report had Arnie playing a loner who wages war against a ruthless weapons manufacturer and his private army in the American Southwest.
Now called "Black Sunday", the film is being described as a cross between "Commando and Constantine". Schwarzenegger tells The Arnold Fans that "I’m a kind of angel. I cannot currently say more about this film.”
Scott Waugh and Mike McCoy ("Act Of Valor") are directing from a script by Sergio Altieri and Kevin Elders which Skip Woods ("A Good Day To Die Hard") performed re-writes on. Filming begins in April.
- 12/30/2011
- by Garth Franklin
- Dark Horizons
A while back came the word that Arnold Schwarzenegger's first post-"Expendables 2" project would be a stripped down action thriller called "Black Sands". Turns out it won't be as stripped down as we thought.
The previous report had Arnie playing a loner who wages war against a ruthless weapons manufacturer and his private army in the American Southwest.
Now called "Black Sunday", the film is being described as a cross between "Commando and Constantine". Schwarzenegger tells The Arnold Fans that "I’m a kind of angel. I cannot currently say more about this film.”
Scott Waugh and Mike McCoy ("Act Of Valor") are directing from a script by Sergio Altieri and Kevin Elders which Skip Woods ("A Good Day To Die Hard") performed re-writes on. Filming begins in April.
The previous report had Arnie playing a loner who wages war against a ruthless weapons manufacturer and his private army in the American Southwest.
Now called "Black Sunday", the film is being described as a cross between "Commando and Constantine". Schwarzenegger tells The Arnold Fans that "I’m a kind of angel. I cannot currently say more about this film.”
Scott Waugh and Mike McCoy ("Act Of Valor") are directing from a script by Sergio Altieri and Kevin Elders which Skip Woods ("A Good Day To Die Hard") performed re-writes on. Filming begins in April.
- 12/30/2011
- by Garth Franklin
- Dark Horizons
Everyone seems to be referring back to '70s Clint Eastwood westerns this morning: Wolverine director James Mangold is all about The Outlaw Josey Wales, and now Deadline report that Arnold Schwarzenegger's next project (following Kim Ji-woon's The Last Stand) will be Black Sands, a film along the lines of High Plains Drifter.What they actually say is that Black Sands will be tonally similar to Hpd and Man On Fire, so we're not actually looking at a film in which Arnold plays a ghostly avenger who persuades some townfolk to rename their homestead Hell, while searching for a precocious kidnapped girl.Rather, Black Sands is about "a loner who wages war against a ruthless weapons manufacturer and his private army in the Southwest." The current draft of the screenplay is by Skip Woods, who wrote The A-Team, Hitman, Swordfish and, most recently, A Good Day To Die Hard.
- 10/31/2011
- EmpireOnline
Arnold Schwarzenegger is set to star in the dramatic action feature "Black Sands" at Qed says Deadline.
Arnie will play a loner who wages war against a ruthless weapons manufacturer and his private army in the American Southwest.
Scott Waugh and Mike McCoy ("Act Of Valor") are directing from a script by Sergio Altieri and Kevin Elders which Skip Woods ("A Good Day To Die Hard") recently performed re-writes on.
Al Ruddy and Paul Hanson will produce and shooting is slated to kick off April 1st.
Arnie will play a loner who wages war against a ruthless weapons manufacturer and his private army in the American Southwest.
Scott Waugh and Mike McCoy ("Act Of Valor") are directing from a script by Sergio Altieri and Kevin Elders which Skip Woods ("A Good Day To Die Hard") recently performed re-writes on.
Al Ruddy and Paul Hanson will produce and shooting is slated to kick off April 1st.
- 10/30/2011
- by Garth Franklin
- Dark Horizons
Exclusive: Arnold Schwarzenegger is set to star in Black Sands, an action film that will be directed by Scott Waugh and Mike McCoy. Financed by Bill Block’s Qed, the film will begin production April 1, 2012. In the script that Skip Woods has rewritten, Schwarzenegger will play a loner who wages war against a ruthless weapons manufacturer and his private army in the Southwest. The tone is Man On Fire meets High Plains Drifter. Block will be selling worldwide territories starting today. Woods scripted A Good Day To Die Hard, which Fox is readying for production. Waugh and McCoy most recently directed Act Of Valor, an action adventure that features actual Navy SEALs. That film was acquired at an auction for distribution by Relativity Media, which paid a $13 million minimum guarantee and a $30 million P&A commitment, and scheduled the film for release on February 17, which is President’s Day Weekend.
- 10/28/2011
- by MIKE FLEMING
- Deadline
Echelon Conspiracy
Stars: Shane West, Edward Burns, Ving Rhames, Martin Sheen, Jonathan Pryce, Tamara Feldman, Sergey Gubanov | Written by Michael Nitsberg, Kevin Elders | Directed by Greg Marcks
Max Peterson (West) is an It security consultant who travels the world installing security systems for companies who need their secrets secret and their information secure. However on his latest job he receives an anonymous gift – a top of the range mobile phone. But this is no oridinary phone, Max soon starts receiving text messages that enable him to win a fortune in the casinos of Prague. However his good fortune soon has him under the watchful eye of casino security, the FBI and a group of mysterious hit men. Realising that everything may not be as it seems, Max must figure out who is sending him the mysterious messages. What he doesn’t realise is that he is part of a huge...
Stars: Shane West, Edward Burns, Ving Rhames, Martin Sheen, Jonathan Pryce, Tamara Feldman, Sergey Gubanov | Written by Michael Nitsberg, Kevin Elders | Directed by Greg Marcks
Max Peterson (West) is an It security consultant who travels the world installing security systems for companies who need their secrets secret and their information secure. However on his latest job he receives an anonymous gift – a top of the range mobile phone. But this is no oridinary phone, Max soon starts receiving text messages that enable him to win a fortune in the casinos of Prague. However his good fortune soon has him under the watchful eye of casino security, the FBI and a group of mysterious hit men. Realising that everything may not be as it seems, Max must figure out who is sending him the mysterious messages. What he doesn’t realise is that he is part of a huge...
- 10/3/2010
- by Phil
- Nerdly
If you judge .Echelon Conspiracy. as a straight-to-video knockoff amalgam of .Eagle Eye. and the .Bourne. films, you might just enjoy this moderate B-movie that coasts on comparably slick production values, a brisk pace and solid supporting work from Ving Rhames, Ed Burns and Martin Sheen. Apparently cued up for a full-blown theatrical release, Paramount and Dark Castle came to their senses (once seeing the Spielberg-produced similarly-plotted .Eagle Eye. beat .em out of the gate) and threw the film in a couple theaters this past Spring where its now finally found it.s rightful home in the unassuming, less expectant home vid market. The film, scripted by newbie.s Michael Nitsberg and Kevin Elders, takes a few pages from...
- 7/22/2009
- by Frankie Dees
- Monsters and Critics
See clips from the Paramount Home Entertainment-distributed "Echelon Conspiracy," starring Starring Shane West, Edward Burns, Ving Rhames, Jonathan Pryce, Tamara Feldman and Martin Sheen. Greg Marcks helms from the writing by Kevin Elders and Michael Nitsberg. The film was produced by Alexander Leyviman, Steve Richards and Roee Sharon. When Max Peterson (Shane West) receives a series of mysterious cell phone messages that promise him untold wealth, he soon finds himself the victim of a deadly international plot. Chased by a lethal team of government operatives...
- 7/14/2009
- Upcoming-Movies.com
Cannes film review, Market screening
Mr. Peterson's got a better cell phone than you. His cool gizmo tells him winning slot machines, leads him to babes, alerts him to hot stocks. That's the too-good-to-be-true premise of this taut sci-fi/horror thriller, which cagily meshes new technology with proven genres.
The Gift is a male-fantasy story trip that blasts through international hot spots, techno-charged with quick cuts, sound salvos and testosterone-fueled action. It may score solid numbers overseas with the teenage action crowd, but in the U.S. it seems best fit for an outlet such as cable channel Spike TV, whose viewers will be pleased with its cut-to-the-chase, cut-the-chit-chat storytelling.
That old horror storyline staple -- that man's hubris leads him to scientific creations that will turn on him -- is "The Gift's" solid story infrastructure. In this case, the U.S. National Security folk have created a veritable monster through cyberspace -- Big Brother will be everywhere, unless our hero and a cadre of F.B.I. specialists can thwart the system.
Greg Marcks' apt fast-forward direction is invigorated by the sharp technical team's aesthetic expertise and the crisp lead performances of Shane West, Edward Burns and Ving Rhames. The Gift blazes over plot holes and holds aloft its cyber mumbo-jumbo narrative. As the National Security chief, Martin Sheen's sonorous barking lends credibility to the film's urgent premise.
Cast: Shane West, Edward Burns, Ving Rhames, Yuri Kutsenko, Sergey Gubanov, Martin Sheen, Steven Elder. Director: Greg Marcks. Screenwriters: Kevin Elders, Michael Nitsberg. Producers: Alexander Leyvinan, Steve Richards, Roee Sharon. Director of photography: Lorenzo Senatore . Production designer: Antonello Rubino. Costume designer: Alison Freer, Maria Mladenoza. Editor:Joseph Gutowski .
Dark Castle Presents a Mobicom Entertainment Production
Sales: Hyde Park International.
No MPAA rating, 119 minutes.
Mr. Peterson's got a better cell phone than you. His cool gizmo tells him winning slot machines, leads him to babes, alerts him to hot stocks. That's the too-good-to-be-true premise of this taut sci-fi/horror thriller, which cagily meshes new technology with proven genres.
The Gift is a male-fantasy story trip that blasts through international hot spots, techno-charged with quick cuts, sound salvos and testosterone-fueled action. It may score solid numbers overseas with the teenage action crowd, but in the U.S. it seems best fit for an outlet such as cable channel Spike TV, whose viewers will be pleased with its cut-to-the-chase, cut-the-chit-chat storytelling.
That old horror storyline staple -- that man's hubris leads him to scientific creations that will turn on him -- is "The Gift's" solid story infrastructure. In this case, the U.S. National Security folk have created a veritable monster through cyberspace -- Big Brother will be everywhere, unless our hero and a cadre of F.B.I. specialists can thwart the system.
Greg Marcks' apt fast-forward direction is invigorated by the sharp technical team's aesthetic expertise and the crisp lead performances of Shane West, Edward Burns and Ving Rhames. The Gift blazes over plot holes and holds aloft its cyber mumbo-jumbo narrative. As the National Security chief, Martin Sheen's sonorous barking lends credibility to the film's urgent premise.
Cast: Shane West, Edward Burns, Ving Rhames, Yuri Kutsenko, Sergey Gubanov, Martin Sheen, Steven Elder. Director: Greg Marcks. Screenwriters: Kevin Elders, Michael Nitsberg. Producers: Alexander Leyvinan, Steve Richards, Roee Sharon. Director of photography: Lorenzo Senatore . Production designer: Antonello Rubino. Costume designer: Alison Freer, Maria Mladenoza. Editor:Joseph Gutowski .
Dark Castle Presents a Mobicom Entertainment Production
Sales: Hyde Park International.
No MPAA rating, 119 minutes.
- 5/16/2008
- The Hollywood Reporter - Movie News
Having held his own masterfully opposite Jean-Claude Van Damme in 1997's "Double Team", thespian rebounder Dennis Rodman has above-the-title billing all to himself in "Simon Sez", a martial arts action-comedy that's as bad as it wants to be.
While Rodman ponders his next career move, this endlessly irritating, flat-footed clunker will do his resume no favors. To be fair, the filmmakers have seen fit to surround him with so many shrill, over-the-top characters and performances that he comes across as practically demure by comparison.
Simon sez, "Go swiftly to video".
Rodman is the Simon in question, a tough-guy operative with a yellow motorcycle who gets roped into a purported kidnapping case by a bumbling private investigator Nick (Dane Cook), a classmate of Simon During's their Interpol days.
It turns out the hostage in question (Natalia Cigliuti) not only is unaware of having been kidnapped, but she has no desire to return to her wealthy American executive father, preferring to remain with her French boyfriend (Filip Nicolic).
But the boyfriend's father (Henri Courseaux) happens to be a bagman for a diabolical arms dealer (Jerome Pradon) eager to get his hands on a valuable piece of computer software that falls into Simon's hands. Thus, the shenanigans ensue.
Under the novice direction of writer-producer Kevin Elders (the "Iron Eagle" movies), the picture doesn't lack energy, and some of the fight sequences are well-choreographed.
On the other hand, the plot-deprived, shtick-heavy script, credited to former actors Andrew Miller and Andrew Lowery, keeps rearing its ugly head.
As for Rodman, despite there being enough metal hooked into his face to fill a tackle box, his performance remains surprisingly wooden given his colorful on- and off-court persona.
It's still preferable to the intended comic-relief turns of his improvising cast mates. As his hyper partner in crime-fighting, muggy comedian Cook makes for the most annoying sidekick since Jar Jar Binks. And John Pinette and Ricky Harris quickly overstay their welcome as undercover, high-tech monks who make like a third-rate Abbott and Costello.
SIMON SEZ
Independent Artists
A Signature Films production
Director: Kevin Elders
Screenwriters: Andrew Miller & Andrew Lowery
Story: Moshe Diamant & Rudy Cohen
Producers: Moshe Diamant, Ringo Lam
Executive producers: Rudy Cohen, Dan Frisch, Kevin Jones
Director of photography: Avraham Karpick
Production designer: Damien Lanfranchi
Editor: Alain Jakubowicz
Music: Brian Tyler
Color/stereo
Cast:
Simon: Dennis Rodman
Nick: Dane Cook
Claire: Natalia Cigliuti
Michael: Filip Nicolic
Macro: John Pinette
Ashton: Jerome Pradon
Micro: Ricky Harris
Bernard: Henri Courseaux
The Dancer: Emma Sjoberg
Running time -- 90 minutes
MPAA rating: PG-13...
While Rodman ponders his next career move, this endlessly irritating, flat-footed clunker will do his resume no favors. To be fair, the filmmakers have seen fit to surround him with so many shrill, over-the-top characters and performances that he comes across as practically demure by comparison.
Simon sez, "Go swiftly to video".
Rodman is the Simon in question, a tough-guy operative with a yellow motorcycle who gets roped into a purported kidnapping case by a bumbling private investigator Nick (Dane Cook), a classmate of Simon During's their Interpol days.
It turns out the hostage in question (Natalia Cigliuti) not only is unaware of having been kidnapped, but she has no desire to return to her wealthy American executive father, preferring to remain with her French boyfriend (Filip Nicolic).
But the boyfriend's father (Henri Courseaux) happens to be a bagman for a diabolical arms dealer (Jerome Pradon) eager to get his hands on a valuable piece of computer software that falls into Simon's hands. Thus, the shenanigans ensue.
Under the novice direction of writer-producer Kevin Elders (the "Iron Eagle" movies), the picture doesn't lack energy, and some of the fight sequences are well-choreographed.
On the other hand, the plot-deprived, shtick-heavy script, credited to former actors Andrew Miller and Andrew Lowery, keeps rearing its ugly head.
As for Rodman, despite there being enough metal hooked into his face to fill a tackle box, his performance remains surprisingly wooden given his colorful on- and off-court persona.
It's still preferable to the intended comic-relief turns of his improvising cast mates. As his hyper partner in crime-fighting, muggy comedian Cook makes for the most annoying sidekick since Jar Jar Binks. And John Pinette and Ricky Harris quickly overstay their welcome as undercover, high-tech monks who make like a third-rate Abbott and Costello.
SIMON SEZ
Independent Artists
A Signature Films production
Director: Kevin Elders
Screenwriters: Andrew Miller & Andrew Lowery
Story: Moshe Diamant & Rudy Cohen
Producers: Moshe Diamant, Ringo Lam
Executive producers: Rudy Cohen, Dan Frisch, Kevin Jones
Director of photography: Avraham Karpick
Production designer: Damien Lanfranchi
Editor: Alain Jakubowicz
Music: Brian Tyler
Color/stereo
Cast:
Simon: Dennis Rodman
Nick: Dane Cook
Claire: Natalia Cigliuti
Michael: Filip Nicolic
Macro: John Pinette
Ashton: Jerome Pradon
Micro: Ricky Harris
Bernard: Henri Courseaux
The Dancer: Emma Sjoberg
Running time -- 90 minutes
MPAA rating: PG-13...
- 9/27/1999
- The Hollywood Reporter - Movie News
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