Movies
Jack Black Leaves ‘Man-Witch’ Out of Concern?
I’m constantly switching back and forth when it comes to Jack Black, one day I hate him, the next I love him. One project of his that I was pretty stoked for was Man-Witch, which not only rocked the cool title, but also had a rad plot. A male schoolteacher who abruptly discovers he’s got witchlike abilities that lead him to be taken in by a coven of real witches. They send him to “witch school,” where he is the lone adult male, surrounded mostly by little girl witches-in-training. It was reported this evening that Black will not be part of the project anymore, details inside.
Jack Black has fallen out of “Man-Witch,” Todd Phillips’ supernatural comedy that’s set up at Warner Brothers.
When the star was attached last year, it was hailed as notable because it was the first collaboration between the boxoffice-drawing comic actor and the force behind such comedy powerhouses as “Old School” (which Phillips wrote, directed and produced) and “Borat” (which he wrote.)
“Man-Witch” centered on a man who discovers he’s a witch and then heads off to teach at a female witch school; Phillips was set to produce and, likely, to direct.
Sources said that the decision this week to part ways may have originated from Black’s camp, which had questions about Phillips’ commitment to direct the picture ahead of “Hangover,” another comedy said to be close to the helmer’s heart. That project is also set up at Warners.
Warners confirmed the departure but declined to provide further detail. A spokesperson for Black said the star had no comment. A spokesperson for CAA, which reps Phillips, had yet to comment by press time.
The actor’s departure has not affected the status of the movie, which remains in active development. Warners and Phillips are said to be combing a list of stars to replace the funnyman.
Black stars in the upcoming comedy ensemble “Tropic Thunder” as well as in the Judd Apatow-produced “Year One.”
The Black-voiced “Kung-Fu Panda” was the top-grossing movie at the boxoffice last weekend, surpassing expectations by earning more than $60 million domestically.
Movies
Todd McFarlane Reveals He’s Sitting on Unreleased Animated ‘Spawn’ Movie Starring Keith David
While updates on the Spawn movie from Blumhouse have stalled, Todd McFarlane surprised at San Diego Comic-Con this weekend with the reveal that he’s been sitting on an animated film.
Moreover, the comic creator revealed to Comic Book that his unreleased animated Spawn film is mostly completed, and stars Keith David and Mark Hamill.
McFarlane explained to the outlet that he’s uninterested in expanding upon the 1997 live-action film in series form. That’s when he revealed his animated feature: “I don’t know if I’ve ever said, we developed, we were in the process of developing the return of this Spawn animation a while back. And then we, I got in a fight at the very end with the production and the lawyer, so I just bought it all back.”
The film is mostly ready to go, too.
“So I actually have a 90-minute animated show that’s all been drawn, minus the cells. All the voices have been done. Everything, like, we’re ready. All we need is a little bit of Foley, which is sound effects and stuff, and then hand it to a studio to actually draw, right? We’re like, it’s just been sitting in a box waiting to go. I have just been sitting on that going, no, I think I need to get like the movie out, and then boom, once the movie comes out, if there’s any success, then come out with that, but it’s sitting there. So anybody that wants to do animation, the first thing I’m going to do is say, hey, I’ve got this ready to tee up,” McFarlane said.
McFarlane also confirms that Keith David voices Spawn, while Hamill takes on a detective named Twitch.
It’s been a long, hard road out of development hell with his brand new Spawn feature, which Todd McFarlane had originally planned to direct. Jamie Foxx had been attached to play the title character at one point, but we have no idea if that’s still the plan as it’s been a couple of years since the last update.
Perhaps this mostly completed animated Spawn feature will see release first?