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The stories of messy production schedules are not new in Hollywood. Over the years, many movies have seen an arduous filming process where everything goes South. Such a film was the 1996 sci-fi horror, The Island of Dr. Moreau, inspired by the H.G. Wells novel and starring Marlon Brando and Val Kilmer. From the very start, it was a cursed project that hardly went well for anybody on set.

Marlon Brando in The Island of Dr. Moreau | New Line Cinema

Interestingly, The Island of Dr. Moreau‘s mess was so monumental, that an entire documentary titled Lost Soul: The Doomed Journey of Richard Stanley’s Island of Dr. Moreau was made to reveal everything that occurred on that cursed project. According to the reports, none of the co-stars had good working ethics with each other or the director. However, Val Kilmer has a different story to narrate as he felt that...

A new episode of The Black Sheep video series has arrived online this morning, and with this one we’re looking back at one of the most fascinating “doomed productions” ever, the 1996 version of The Island of Dr. Moreau. (Watch the movie Here.) To find out why we think this one deserves more love than it gets, check out the video embedded above!

Based on an 1896 novel by H.G. Wells, the film was originally going to be directed by Richard Stanley, who was becoming a popular name in the horror genre at the time. Unfortunately, the production was a mess from the moment the cast and crew arrived on set. Stanley was fired, cast members quit, co-stars Marlon Brando and Val Kilmer exhibited strange behavior while dealing with tragedy and heartbreak. John Frankenheimer was brought on to replace Stanley at the helm, but he couldn’t save the sinking ship…...

Will WWE icon Edge retire this Friday?

The Rated-r Superstar says he’s still mulling it over.

There’s been rampant speculation that the 49-year-old Canadian wrestler, born Adam Copeland, will hang up his tights after Friday’s SmackDown show in his hometown of Toronto when he squares off against Sheamus.

Read More: Chris Jericho Was About To Quit Wrestling Before Joining Aew: ‘I Was Already Thinking About Doing Other Things’

Edge’s longtime trainer, Ron Hutchinson, said the bout — being billed by WWE as Edge’s “25th anniversary special” — will be his “last match,” reports veteran wrestling journalist Dave Meltzer, as per WrestlingNews.

Speaking this week with Et Canada’s Carlos Bustamante, Edge revealed that while Friday’s match will in fact be the last match on his current contract, he isn’t entirely sure whether it’ll be the final match of his career.

“Here’s what I can honestly say,...

Coco Chanel was a style icon, one of the most world-known designers. Her style embodies an entire era, recognized by elegance, minimalism in the use of accessories, and convenience. This article discusses the top five films that describe this woman’s life.

Chanel Solitaire, 1981

Directed by George Kaczender and starring Marie-France Pisier, Timothy Dalton, Rutger Hauer,

The film tells about the life and love of the amazing and unique Coco Chanel. It is a romantic story full of sadness, longing, and beautiful music. Interestingly, one-seventh of the total budget (one in seven million dollars) was spent on costumes for this film.

The film is built as a memory of the life of a young, successful, but unhappy Gabrielle Chanel, in which every person, be it Etienne Balsan, Arthur Capel, or Adrienne – all influenced Coco and her life.

Gabrielle Chanel. La Permanence d’un style. 2001

The film mainly describes the period of Coco Chanel’s activity,...

The Island of Dr. Moreau is getting rebooted for the small screen. In the works from Gunpowdery & Sky's sci-fi label Dust, the project is said to put a modern spin on the classic novel by H.G. Wells. Simply titled Moreau, the series will be written by Zack Stentz, whose prior writing credits include X-Men: First Class, Thor, Jurassic World Camp Cretaceous, and Terminator: The Sarah Connor Chronicles.

"The double helix wasn't even a twinkle in Watson & Crick's eye when H.G. Wells first wrote The Island of Dr. Moreau, but his 1896 novel proved astonishingly prescient about how unlocking the secrets of DNA would open the door to humanity playing God with the natural world in strange and frightening ways," Zack Stentz said in a statement.

Providing some details about his new take on the classic story, the writer adds, "And now, in the shadow of the Crispr revolution, it felt...

Exclusive: Jai Khanna, former Brillstein Entertainment manager, has teamed with New York, I Love You producer Marina Grasic to form Oakhurst Entertainment, the new fund-based indie media company which will generate film and television properties.

Khanna spent two decades at Brillstein representing artists and packaging content across books, film, and TV. Grasic, who also served as an executive producer on the Oscar-winning film Crash, is former entertainment attorney and previously was COO of Sidney Kimmel Entertainment.

Oakhurst has set its inaugural projects with Hotel Tehran, written by Emmy winner Ron Hutchinson, as well as Bot, a sci-fi thriller trilogy from screenwriter Tedi Sarafian (Tank Girl)

The former is inspired by real-life CIA undercover operative Bazzel Baz. His experiences in hostage rescues, as well as methods and techniques for use in clandestine activities, has earned him the prestigious Intelligence Commendation Medal.

The original Halloween from the mind of John Carpenter and late producer Debra Hill is still a landmark in the horror genre that now celebrates its fortieth year with a new sequel.

In David Gordon Green’s recent effort, we return to Haddonfield, Illinois and are introduced to an adult Laurie Strode. Laurie’s been a woman haunted by the demon of her past and has waited for her time to fight back. Her clan’s expanded with her daughter played by Judy Greer and newcomer Andi Matichak, the young granddaughter who seems to be the chosen one groomed to be the next “Final Girl” in the retconned franchise.

So far, Halloween‘s making a literal financial killing at the box office and it’s mainly due to the return of fan favorite iconic killer, Michael Myers, who’s now being portrayed by James Jude Courtney, a professional stuntman who...

Screenwriter Ron Hutchinson reveals the bizarre truth behind one of the Hollywood giant’s final films, The Island of Dr Moreau

He was one of cinema’s biggest stars, but Marlon Brando behaved like a “monster” and seemed “hell-bent on sabotaging” The Island of Dr Moreau, one of his last films, according to its screenwriter.

When Ron Hutchinson was asked to work on a film with The Godfather star in 1996, he could not believe his luck. In adapting Hg Wells’s science fiction novel about a renegade scientist who creates an island of monsters, Hutchinson would be working with one of his great acting idols, as well as the acclaimed director John Frankenheimer. There was the added bonus of spending a couple of months on the Great Barrier Reef and in the rainforests of northern Australia.

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Wearing produced Boys from the Blackstuff, Pride and Prejudice, Edge of Darkness and many more.

Michael Wearing, producer of iconic television dramas including Boys from the Blackstuff and Edge of Darkness, has died aged 78 (reports Broadcast).

Wearing (right), who held a number of senior positions across drama at the BBC, died on Friday 5 May following a stroke. Wearing is survived by his three children, Sadie, Ella and Ben.

After studying anthropology at Newcastle University and a short career in the theatre, Wearing joined the BBC’s English regions drama department as a script editor in 1976.

Reporting to David Rose, who went on to become founder of Film 4, at the BBC’s Pebble Mill base in Birmingham, Wearing worked with writers including Alan Bleasdale and Ron Hutchinson on a number of Play for Today scripts.

He also worked on series including Stephen Davis’ Trouble With Gregory, which aired as part of BBC2’s Playhouse strand, Hutchinson’s six-part...

Exclusive: Steve Rabineau has just jumped from UTA to join Wme as a partner in the agency's Motion Picture Literary department. Rabineau, who represents directors and writers, has a strong list that is expected to follow him. That includes Oscar-winning Gravity helmer Alfonso Cuaron, Roger Donaldson, Todd Graff, Gavin Hood, Ron Hutchinson, Phillip Noyce, John Romano, Don Roos, Brad Silberling, John Waters and Simon West. Rabineau had been a partner at UTA, where he spent…...

Jean-Luc Godard's 39th film, the 3D "Goodbye to Language" was chosen as the Picture of the Year by the National Society of Film Critics. Oscar frontrunner, Richard Linklater's "Boyhood" was a runner-up alongside "Birdman" and "Mr. Turner."

But "Boyhood" received two awards including Best Director for Linklater and Best Supporting Actress for Patricia Arquette.

Here's the complete list of winners of the 2015 National Society of Film Critics:

Picture: .Goodbye to Language. (25)

Runners-up: .Boyhood. (24); .Birdman. and .Mr. Turner. (tie, 10)

Director: Richard Linklater, .Boyhood. (36)

Runners-up: Jean-Luc Godard, .Goodbye to Language. (17); Mike Leigh, .Mr. Turner. (12)

Actor: Timothy Spall, .Mr. Turner. (31)

Runners-up: Tom Hardy, .Locke. (10); Ralph Fiennes, .The Grand Budapest Hotel,. and Joaquin Phoenix, .Inherent Vice. (tie, 9)

Actress: Marion Cotillard, .The Immigrant. and .Two Days, One Night. (80)

Runners-up: Julianne Moore, .Still Alice. (35); Scarlett Johansson, .Lucy. and .Under the Skin. (21)

Supporting actor: J.K. Simmons, .Whiplash. (24)

Runners-up: Mark Ruffalo, .Foxcatcher. (21); Edward Norton, .Birdman. (16)

Supporting actress: Patricia Arquette,...

Saturday afternoon, the National Society of Film Critics, "made up of many of the country’s most distinguished movie critics," announced the winners of its annual "Best of" vote. Critical darlings came out on top, with Jean-Luc Godard’s 3-D film "Goodbye to Language" prevailing in the Best Picture category. The Nsfc’s picks offer a selection of Oscar sure-things and outsider alternatives. After debuting at Cannes, "Goodbye to Language" trickled in to a few American theaters. Without any Best Foreign Language Film representation (France went with "Saint Laurent"), the film was destined for place on the fringes of the season. Leave it to Nsfc to come through for art. On top of Best Picture, Godard’s film earned love in the Director and Cinematography categories. With Patricia Arquette and J.K. Simmons picking up their 18,000th Supporting Actor wins, Timothy Spall, under-lauded for his work in "Mr. Turner," won Best Actor.

The group composed of critics from around the U.S. said today that it has chosen Goodbye To Language as the best movie of the year. The 3D pic shared the Grand Jury Prize at Cannes, marking 84-year-old director Jean-Luc Godard’s first win on the Croisette. The National Society of Film Critics also cited Richard Linklater as Best Director for his 12-year saga Boyhood and gave Wes Anderson the Best Screenplay nod for The Grand Budapest Hotel. Timothy Spall followed up his win at the Capri, Hollywood Film Festival on Friday with the Best Actor prize for his lead role in Mr. Turner. Marion Cotillard took Best Actress for a pair of films: The Immigrant and Two Days, One Night.

Here is the full list of winners:

Picture

Goodbye to Language

Director

Richard Linklater, Boyhood

Actor

Timothy Spall, Mr. Turner

Actress

Marion Cotillard, The Immigrant and Two Days, One Night

Supporting actor

J.K. Simmons,...

The National Society Of Film Critics has voted Jean-Luc Godard’s Goodbye To Language best picture of the year 2014.

The group’s 49th annual poll (January 3) at the Film Society Of Lincoln Center in New York also brought joy for best director Richard Linklater for Boyhood, best actor Timothy Spall for Mr. Turner and best actress Marion Cotillard for Two Days, One Night and The Immigrant.

The 59 members voted via a weighted ballot process, without nominations, on any film or performance that opened in the Us in 2014. Scrolls are sent to the winners.

Scott Foundas of Variety was elected to succeed David Sterritt as chairman for 2015. Liz Weis remains executive director.

Full list of winners including votes:

Best Picture

*1. Goodbye To Language 25 (Jean-Luc Godard)

2. Boyhood 24 (Richard Linklater)

3. Birdman 10 (Alejandro G. Iñárritu)

3. Mr. Turner 10 (Mike Leigh)

Best Director

*1. Richard Linklater 36 (Boyhood)

2. Jean-Luc Godard 17 (Goodbye To Language)

3. Mike Leigh 12 (Mr. Turner)

Best Non-fiction Film

*1. Citizenfour 56 (Laura Poitras)

2. National Gallery 19 (Frederick Wiseman...

Plays about writing are bores or lies or both. The drama of the process, entirely internal and largely concerned with semicolons, can’t be staged, so a different drama has to be manufactured. Usually this involves clichéd obstacles and a sort of deus ex typewriter for the climax, justifying yet somehow invalidating everything that came before. You could argue that the vicissitudes of writing movies instead of prose — the collaborators, the studios, the test audiences, the Hays Office — offer a dramatist many ways around the problem, which is why there’s a mini-genre of comedies about screenplays. Indeed, those things did help Ron Hutchinson’s Moonlight and Magnolias, which in 2004 hitched a ride on the back of Gone With the Wind, telling the story of its emergency plot transplant at the hands of David O. Selznick, Victor Fleming, and Ben Hecht. The resultant play wasn’t awful; for that we...

Vintage film discoveries are in the news, from the unearthing of a long-lost 1911 Mary Pickford short to the unveiling of a Three Stooges two-reeler in Technicolor that hasn’t been seen in 80 years. As icing on the cake, Warner Home Video is about to unveil an extensive restoration of the studio’s landmark 3-D feature House of Wax on Blu-ray next week. Who knows what other goodies may be on the horizon? This weekend at Manhattan’s Film Forum, the Vitaphone Project’s Ron Hutchinson will introduce the re-premiere of Hello Pop!, a 1933 MGM short starring Ted Healy and his Stooges in two-color Technicolor. This long-lost short was discovered in the hands of a private collector in ...

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Special Event!

First Screenings In 80 Years Of “Hello, Pop!,”

1933 Color Stooges Short Discovered In Australia, Plus Other Amazing Archival Discoveries

At Film Forum, September 29 & 30

“Lost… Now Found,” a program of archival discoveries highlighted by Hello Pop! (1933), a Technicolor musical short starring the Three Stooges that was long thought lost, will screen at Film Forum on Sunday, September 29 at 3:00 and Monday, September 30 at 3:00 and 6:30.

Following an MGM vault fire in 1967, in which its negative and all existing prints were thought to have been destroyed, the two-reel backstage musical Hello, Pop!, starring Ted Healy “and his Stooges” Moe, Larry and Curly, was long considered the sole lost Three Stooges short.

But in December 2012, The Vitaphone Project, a group devoted to restoring early sound vaudeville and music shorts, was contacted by an Australian film collector in possession of a two-strip Technicolor nitrate print rescued from a landfill. The Project’s...

Twenty-seven writers including John Gatins, Quentin Tarantino and David O. Russell were named finalists in nine categories for the 39th annual Humanitas Prize. The writers will compete for $95,000 in prize money to be handed out at the annual luncheon September 20 at the Montage Beverly Hills. The Humanitas Prize was created to honor TV and film writers for telling stories, which “truly and deeply explore the human experience in a way that both entertains and enlightens,” the org says. Of the finalists, executive director Cathleen Young said, “These gifted storytellers made us laugh and cry and ultimately, brought us closer together as a family by deeply exploring what it means to be human!” Click over for the full list of nominees: Feature Film Category Flight Written by: John Gatins Django Unchained Written by: Quentin Tarantino Silver Linings Playbook Written by: David O. Russell Sundance Feature Film Category Fruitvale Station Written by:...

Chicago – “The Jazz Singer” has become something of a hot-button drama over the years due to its use of black face. The new, three-disc Warner Bros. Blu-ray release for the historic film doesn’t shy away from this aspect of the movie but does an amazing service to film fans by placing the work in the context of when it was released. With a stellar documentary about how sound came into the medium (“The Jazz Singer” was the first talky) along with 4 hours of shorts from the day, it’s much easier to appreciate this film for the important chapter it represents in the history of the form.

Television Rating: 5.0/5.0

Is “The Jazz Singer” a great movie? It’s certainly a better movie than I remembered and the perfectly balanced transfer from Warner Bros. certainly helps make the film feel less like a history lesson than you might expect. It...

Blu-ray Review

The Jazz Singer

Directed by: Alan Crosland

Cast: Al Jolson, May McAvoy, Warner Oland

Running Time: 1 hr 37 mins

Rating: Nr

Due Out: January 8, 2013

Plot: Jakie Rabinowitz (Al Jolson) is the son of a Jewish Cantor who must defy his father in order to pursue his dream of becoming a jazz singer.

Who’S It For? Are you desperate to see where film came from? Then you should be required by law to see this film. Plus, you’ll see the roots for every father/son story Hollywood has recreated, and plenty of Jewish guilt.

Message from Warner Bros.

The Jazz Singer, the first feature-length film with completely synchronized dialogue and musical sequences, will mark another milestone January 8 when Warner Home Video releases the Blu-ray commencing the 2013 year-long 90thAnniversary of Warner Bros. Studios.

Official WB Shop Link: http://bit.ly/YZ0P8Z Images: http://warnervideo.com/art Like...

Robert Harris is set to pen the screenplay for an adaptation of his soon to be published novel, The Fear Index. The Telegraph reports that Harris has already begun writing the screenplay for the book, which arrives on shelves next month. Harris had this to say jokingly about the project, "I just hope that the capitalist system doesn't collapse before publication date."

The screen rights were snapped up by Rupert Murdoch's Fox film corporation after he had only written six of its 19 chapters. Paul Greengrass (United 93 and The Bourne Ultimatum) is already on board to direct.

Harris' book The Ghost was turned into The Ghost Writer from Roman Polanski. Harris co-wrote the screenplay with Polanski , but will write The Fear Index's on his own. He has become a lot more hands on after his bestselling novel, Fatherland, turned out poorly after it was adapted by Stanley Weiser and Ron Hutchinson.

Twenty years ago, five avid collectors of vintage records, who also happened to be old-movie buffs, created an informal organization called The Vitaphone Project. Their goal was to pool (and catalogue) their resources, namely 16-inch soundtrack recordings for Warner Bros’ Vitaphone short-subjects of the late 1920s and early 1930s, and find archives that held the corresponding 35mm negatives. In other words, they wanted to make some long-lost short subjects “whole” again. They have succeeded beyond their wildest expectations—and we have been the lucky beneficiaries. As co-founder Ron Hutchinson writes in the latest issue of the Vitaphone News, “Begun at a…...

This Sunday, David Phelps and John MacKay, Professor of Slavic Languages and Literatures and Chair of Film Studies at Yale, will be presenting a double feature followed by a discussion at UnionDocs in Brooklyn. I cede the floor to David:

Two unsung masterworks: Jean-Luc Godard's Kids Play Russia (1993) is a personal history of Soviet montage, and Vsevolod Pudovkin's Storm Over Asia (1927) is one of its great exemplars. In both, against the voice of a lone renegade, the West invades the East to capture it — that is, in images of its stereotypes. Sight makes might? In these spectacular assaults on spectacle, Pudovkin stresses the imperialists' lives led "for appearance sake," and Godard argues that Western cinema will only see things by its code. And yet both, shooting documentaries in "the land of fiction" and editing them as dramas, redeem fiction as a possible, documentary reality; Godard starts seeing echoes...

Laguna Beach, CA -- What happens when three Hollywood hotshots undertake the daunting task of rewriting the script to Gone With the Wind—in only five days? Find out when The Laguna Playhouse presents the Orange County premiere of Moonlight And Magnolias, October 6 – November 1, 2009. The play is written by Ron Hutchinson and directed by Andrew Barnicle.

Famed film producer David O. Selznick decides to stop the filming of Gone with the Wind three weeks into production because he wants a rewrite of the unwieldy script. He hires Ben Hecht to do the job in only five days. Only one problem: Hecht has never read the novel! So, Selznick summons Hecht and Gone With the Wind director Victor Fleming to his office and locks the door. Subsisting on a diet of bananas and peanuts, the three men spend five days crafting a screenplay for what will become one of the most successful films of all time.

Terrence Howard ( Iron Man , Hustle & Flow ) has partnered with Radical Media to develop a TV drama based on the life of undercover Lapd detective Ronald Farwell, reports Variety . "Pigs and Panthers" will be set in 1960s and early 1970s Los Angeles, when Farwell infiltrated the Black Panthers. The trade says the project will draw from the story of Farwell and his wife, an L.A. Sheriff's deputy, as he soon finds himself on the wrong side of the Black Panther Party, the FBI and the Lapd itself. Howard's production company, A Huge Quality Film, is developing the project and will produce with Radical Media. Ron Hutchinson ("The Tuskegee Airmen") is writing the pilot. "That time in our lives had a tremendous impact on our society, which can be felt...

According to Variety, actor Terrence Howard (Hustle & Flow) and Radical Media are teaming to put together a television drama about the life of undercover Lapd detective Ronald Farwell.

Titled Pigs and Panthers the film is set in the 1960s and early 1970s Los Angeles. During this time Farwell became a mole in the Black Panthers. The story is based on Farwell and his wife, a Los Angeles Sheriff's deputy, as the detective soon found himself up against both the Black Panther Party, the FBI and the Lapd

Ron Hutchinson (The Tuskegee Airmen) is writing the pilot.

"That time in our lives had a tremendous impact on our society, which can be felt even today," Howard stated. "We've put the right creative team in place to tell this fascinating story."...

ABC and producer Robert Halmi Sr. have lined up an international cast led by Dougray Scott, Omar Sharif, Naveen Andrews, Mia Maestro and Linus Roache for The Ten Commandments, a big-budget four-hour miniseries that retells the classic biblical tale of Moses. Production on the Hallmark Entertainment special effects extravaganza, whose budget is estimated at more than $20 million, is slated to begin May 23 in Ouarzazate, Morocco. The premiere of the two-part epic, written by Ron Hutchinson after months of biblical and historical research, is targeted for next season. Robert Dornhelm is directing the project, which will present the story of Moses and the Israelites' exodus from Egypt in 13th century B.C. (HR 1/13). Halmi is exec producing. Scott, who worked with ABC and Halmi on Arabian Nights, will portray Moses.

ABC is teaming with veteran TV movie producer Robert Halmi Sr. for The Ten Commandments, a four-hour miniseries that will retell the classic biblical tale of Moses and the Ten Commandments.The Hallmark Entertainment special-effects extravaganza, whose budget is estimated at more than $20 million, will be written by Ron Hutchinson (USA Network's Traffic), with Robert Dornhelm (USA's Spartacus) on board to direct. Halmi is quick to point out that the mini will not be a remake of Cecil B. DeMille's 1956 movie starring Charlton Heston but will rely on extensive biblical and historical research for a realistic, truthful presentation of Moses and the Jewish people's exodus from Egypt and their travel to Mt. Sinai, where, according to the Old Testament, God descended to deliver the Ten Commandments.