The Playlist

Duncan Jones To Direct 'World Of Warcraft'

By Edward Davis
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January 30, 2013 7:47 PM
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11 Comments

News

Sam Raimi bailed on it last summer, but Blizzard Entertainment and Legendary Pictures soldiered on, quickly hiring "Blood Diamond" writer Charles Leavitt to punch up the script (presumably the same one that left Raimi disatisfied with the prospect of directing the movie). They vowed to keep "World of Warcraft" afloat and they have done so by hiring "Moon" and "Source Code" filmmaker Duncan Jones to direct the live-adaptation of the popular video game. While "Source Code" was ambitious and bigger in scope then the intimate, small-scale sci-fi film "Moon," Jones will really be diving in head-first to big budget tentpole status with this one.

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'Moon' Helmer Duncan Jones' Next Project Is Biopic Of 007 Creator Ian Fleming, Film Shoots This Year

By Oliver Lyttelton
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May 19, 2012 8:59 AM
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17 Comments

News

Duncan Jones is a man who's had his fair share of suitors. The one-time commercials helmer made one of the most exciting directorial debuts in recent memory with 2009's "Moon," and followed it up with last year's hugely enjoyable sci-fi thriller "Source Code," a film that managed to be a pretty modest little hit ($150 million worldwide on a $30 million budget. And as such, he's been courted for some pretty major Hollywood projects, taking meetings to direct "Man Of Steel," "The Wolverine" and "The Hunger Games" sequel "Catching Fire," but ultimately not taking any of them. Indeed, things have been quiet on the Jones front: the actor's been developing passion project "Mute" and an secret sci-fi project inspired by "Blade Runner," but all we've seen from him in the last year was a commercial for a bank.

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It Looks Like Francis Lawrence Is Going To Direct 'Catching Fire'; Tomas Alfredson, Joe Cornish, Duncan Jones & Cary Fukunaga Were Also Shortlisted

By Kevin Jagernauth
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April 19, 2012 9:31 PM
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15 Comments

News

...and then there was one. The hunt for the director to take the helm of "Catching Fire" looks to be nearing an end. Just a couple days after we reported that Francis Lawrence and Bennett Miller were in the hunt for the job, it now looks like Lionsgate has decided on their man.

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Watch: 'Moon' Director Duncan Jones Heads Back To Outer Space With Virgin Money Ad Scored By Daft Punk

By Kevin Jagernauth
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January 9, 2012 2:43 PM
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2 Comments

News

While we wait to see what the next feature helmed by "Moon" and "Source Code" director Duncan Jones will be, his latest gig has found him heading back in outer space. Richard Branson is now moving into banking with Virgin Money and Jones has directed by the first ad, and it finds him taking a brief trip back in time.

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Duncan Jones Confirms He's Meeting With Fox To Discuss Directing 'The Wolverine'

By Kevin Jagernauth
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April 11, 2011 9:30 AM
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2 Comments

With "The Wolverine" now defanged a bit thanks to Darren Aronofsky leaving the director's chair and the tragic earthquake and tsunami in Japan where the film was supposed to shoot, Fox has put the brakes on the highly anticipated sequel which apparently boasts a strong script from Christopher McQuarrie. While Hugh Jackman and the studio are eager to right the many wrongs of "X-Men Origins: Wolverine" they are wisely not rushing to get the film moving again. However, last week, intel burbled up that Fox was beginning to look at directors to take on the film with David Slade -- who pretty much had the gig prior to Aronofsky's arrival -- and Duncan Jones being mentioned as contenders and it now it looks like meetings will be taking place.

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Weekend Box Office: 'Hop' Defeats Four Newcomers; 'Your Highness' Flops Loudly And Rudely

By Gabe Toro
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April 10, 2011 4:48 AM
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12 Comments

Earlier in the year, the tepid box office returns were something to be ignored, as 2011 was competing with the previous year, with both “Avatar” and then the anomaly of “Alice In Wonderland” each raking in a cool billion. Well, it’s April, and it’s time for Hollywood to panic. There have been no genuine out-of-the-box hits so far this year and lots of flops, and the two (barely) $100 million grossers considered underperformers (“Rango” and “Just Go With It”). Let’s face it, part of it is a failure of marketing, but the blame must be laid on inadequate product. Even when it comes to the early year doldrums, this has been a banner year for garbage.

David Slade & Duncan Jones In The Mix To Direct 'The Wolverine'?

By Kevin Jagernauth
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April 6, 2011 7:02 AM
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11 Comments

Fox has played it smart since Darren Aronofsky left "The Wolverine." Instead of a rush of shortlist candidates hitting the web, and studio and its star, Hugh Jackman, have kept cool, insisting they want the right person for the job. But it appears we've just seen the tip of the iceberg of potential candidates.

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Jake Gyllenhaal Says There's A 'Source Code' Alternate Ending We May See On The DVD & More

By Edward Davis
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April 1, 2011 4:31 AM
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2 Comments

9 More Revelations From Michelle Monaghan, Vera Farmiga & The Film's Burgeoning Action StarDuncan Jones' suspense-filled sci-fi-ish time-twister, "Source Code," starring Jake Gyllenhaal, Michelle Monaghan, Vera Farmiga and Jeffrey Wright, isn't particular hard to follow, but if you haven't seen the film, you might not quite understand the conceit yet. Essentially it's like "Groundhog's Day" only set within the framework a sci-fi thriller. In the film (and all of this is taken from the official Apple trailer synopsis, so do not cry spoilers, please) decorated soldier Captain Colter Stevens (Jake Gyllenhaal) wakes up in the body of an unknown man and he discovers he's part of a mission to find the bomber of a Chicago commuter train.

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Q&A: Duncan Jones Says 'Source Code' Was A Sensible Career Move To Control His Own Creative Destiny

By The Playlist
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March 31, 2011 4:00 AM
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0 Comments

British Filmmaker Talks His 'Superman' Meetings With Christopher Nolan & Wanting To Stick To His Original ProjectsOnly an elite few group of filmmakers get offered a chance to meet with Christoper Nolan to discuss potentially directing the new "Superman" film he's producing, let alone first time filmmakers, but that's exactly what happened to Duncan Jones. Though he bowed out of the running on his own volition and Zack Snyder got the gig, it's a rather huge testament to Jones' unique filmmaking aesthetic that he was even allowed in the front door. But after Jones' low-key sci-fi debut "Moon" hit at Sundance 2008, the British director (and son of David Bowie), became an instant auteur and a cause celebre for the geek crowd who felt his melancholy and textured lunar-based drama did not receive the mainstream push that it deserved.

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Duncan Jones Explains Why His Sci-Fi Film 'Mute' Is Such A Difficult Movie To Make

By Cory Everett
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March 27, 2011 8:05 AM
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3 Comments

Lead Character Won't Speak At All In Film -- Hence The TitleWith his sophomore effort "Source Code" set to open Friday, director Duncan Jones is in the midst of some serious press promotion rounds. The filmmaker is currently traveling around the country to introduce advanced screenings of the sci-fi actioneer everywhere from SXSW (where we first caught the film) to last Friday at the Museum of the Moving Image in Queens. After the screening, Jones was asked about the status of his long gestating film "Mute," which was recently announced to be made into a graphic novel. Jones gave a variation on the same answer he's been giving recently, but explained exactly why his future noir is a very difficult film to find financing for, even getting into a few minor spoilers, but as our subhead suggests, the title of the film -- and the semi-known logline -- does tend to give things away a bit.

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