STEVEN Spielberg and Tom Cruise will bring The War of the Worlds to the big screen.
Cruise is expected to star in the the movie, a remake of the 1952 film of H.G. Wells' classic sci-fi novel. With Spielberg now on board, it looks like it will get the green light.
Orson Welles' radio show of the War of the Worlds in 1938 ignited a nationwide panic in America when listeners didn't realise it was fiction and believed they were about to be invaded by aliens.
I have not seen the original movie, but I have heard it was crap.
I have the radio play (updated 1980's version, not original 1930's version) on CD and it is very cool. My mum bought it when I was about 12 and she used to play it while she was doing housework.
I might have to look around for it and listen again now. Been a while since I heard it.
HOLLYWOOD — An update of "The War of the Worlds," starring Tom Cruise and directed by Steven Spielberg, has been put on the fast track at Paramount Pictures, due to the delay of Cruise's "Mission: Impossible 3."
The science-fiction thriller is scheduled to start filming in November.
Spielberg has become available with the delay of his film dealing with the aftermath of the terrorist attacks at the 1972 Munich Summer Olympics.
"MI3," which had been scheduled for next summer, has had director difficulties. It is now set to shoot next summer, with J.J. Abrams, who created television's "Alias" and "Felicity," set to make his feature directorial debut.
They're billing it as the most expensive movie ever made. So many billion being spent on it. *fingers crossed* A lot of good old stories have been ruined by being made into movies lately, hope this one doesn't end up on that list.
Hopefully they will use that much money in a good way. Not overdo it on special effects and action, make a good story first .
"Why do you persist?"- Agent Smith
"Because I choose to" -Neo
"impressive, most impressive" -Darth Vader
"Do not take me for some conjurer of cheap tricks!!" - Gandalf
"This party's over" -Mace Windu
"Well why not" Nicholas Cage, the Rock
"Red light, Green Light" Tom Cruise, Mission Impossible
"I'm back, I'm back from the future" Michael J. Fox, Back to the Future
" I guess this is where we shake hands" Samuel Jackson, Unbreakable
A Close Encounter cruise breaks from movie to meet fans
They watched, they waited, and waited some more. But of the hundreds who skipped work and school Friday to glimpse anything related to Steven Spielberg's "War of the Worlds" being filmed at the former Uniroyal Chemical plant, only a few were chosen by star Tom Cruise for an impromptu meet-and-greet.
And one young man from the borough was chosen to watch today's second day of filming.
Around 3:30 p.m., about 30 people were calling out to Cruise from the back yard of a Ward Street house. A production staffer asked them to quiet down, and then asked for their names. The crowd then was told to go to Elm and Ward streets, where another production staffer met them and ushered them to the area across from the old plant's northern gate for a photo and autograph session.
"He's hot. He's real hot. He's so hot," said Michelle Clabaugh, 17, as she held her autographed notebook page. "He still had pretend dirt on his face and cuts," she said. "I didn't think he was that short."
Mary Bialek was thrilled -- Cruise signed her pay stub. "He was so nice," she said. "He was hugging babies, and he told the crying girls they could relax."
Local police today will continue to guard Elm Street, Ward Street and the Water Sewage Treatment Plant and keep onlookers from getting anywhere near the set.
A few spectators got a little too close to the action Friday when they tried to walk along the Metro-North Railroad tracks north and south of the set. Metropolitan Transit Authority police apprehended 12 people by 1 p.m. and drove them off the property with a warning, MTA Officer Raymond Russell said.
MTA officers will issue $136 tickets to anyone they pick up today, Russell said.
While most residents will need to be satisfied with being hundreds of yards from what sounded like battle scenes -- three 20-second bursts of "weapons fire" pierced the mid-afternoon air -- 17-year-old Naugatuck resident Michael Shove will have a chance today to see filming on the set.
After his father, Ken Shove, spoke with borough Mayor Ron San Angelo and employees of Crompton Corp. -- which owns the former Uniroyal site -- Paramount Pictures granted the request for the father and son to watch filming.
Michael Shrove, a senior at Holy Cross High School in Waterbury, has cystic fibrosis, the chronic disease that primarily affects the lungs and pancreas.
His father said his son's condition was probably a factor in the decision.
"My son wants to go into film production, and it's his dream to see Mr. Spielberg," Ken Shove said. "I don't know what the plan is for when we're on the set, but we can hope for the best."
Michael was at swim practice Friday night.
San Angelo said even he was turned away from the set, but he hopes for a chance to watch some movie magic today.
He said the filming has brought the borough favorable attention. "The best benefit by far has been the free publicity," he said.
"I've been able to sell this town to every media source in the state that it's a great place to do business."
Most spectators saw very little excitement throughout the chilly day.
At the corner of Ward and Spencer streets, Naugatuck Police Sgt. Joshua Bernegger kept an eye on a cluster of fans who stared at the plant's smokestacks and oohed as a puff of black smoke rose from the set.
They were civil throughout the day, he said.
Helen Cosume of New Britain sat shivering on a white blanket nearby. She started her morning at 7:30, having taken the day off from her job as a bookkeeper in Farmington, and waited two hours in a parking lot on South Main Street to see two helicopters land on the southern end of the set.
After police asked her and others to leave the parking lot, Cosume made her way to the other side of the Naugatuck River and waited for something to happen.
"I'd like to have a picture taken or get an autograph with Tom Cruise," she said. "I wouldn't be able to speak to him."
Holding a copy of the December 2004 issue of GQ magazine, with the pouting Cruise on the cover, Anthony Covino said he was ready with two markers.
"I'm a huge movie fan in general," the 26-year-old Waterbury resident said.
The film's publicist, Deborah Wuliger, said the studio needs to keep fans away from the set for privacy, and that unapproved picture-taking on the set is forbidden.
"We're trying to shroud this in mystery," Wuliger said. "We want people to be surprised when they see the movie."
The $128 million film is due for release next June.
03-18-2004 06:31 AM
this is true.
