Despite The Proposal earning $315 million on a $40 million budget, Disney nixed plans for a sequel earlier this year.  But not to fear: Universal is bringing back the feature talent and entire creative team for another project.  Pete Hammond is already calling it “the best idea since fire.”

Sandra Bullock and Ryan Reynolds are reuniting on a new action comedy, tentatively titled Most Wanted. The project, a pitch from The Proposal screenwriter Peter Chiarelli, was purchased by Universal Pictures on Friday [for $1 million following a bidding war].  They are currently negotiating with The Proposal director Anne Fletcher to helm the film. The storyline for the movie revolves around a criminal (Bullock) being escorted to court by a U.S. Marshall (Reynolds). Both are ambushed on the way and are forced to go on the run.  [EW]

I can imagine how this pitch went down:

PROPOSAL WRITER: So… do you remember The Bounty Hunter?

UNIVERSAL CEO: (*IMDB’s The Bounty Hunter on Blackberry*)
Of course I do.  Go on.

PROPOSAL WRITER:  It’s that, but with likable actors.

UNIVERSAL CEO: (*hands Proposal Writer a million dollars*)  BUTLER! FETCH MY COCAINE!

Semi-related: The most patronizing Sandra Bullock gif in the history of the world:

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(That damned eagle is back!  Now he’s stealing Ryan Reynolds’ shirt!)

Rich Ross took over as president of Disney studios late last year, and though I don’t know much about him, he seems pretty gangster, and I like that.  First he killed Wild Hogs 2, then a horrible-sounding Robin Williams comedy called Wedding Banned, and now plans for The Proposal 2.  As a corporate suit his heart may not be in the right place, but as they say in church, the road to heaven is paved with bad intentions.  I dunno, something like that, it was hard to hear with the priest’s hands over my ears while I was blowing him.

The studio behind the original hit has told the producers that it’s not interested in making a follow-up to one of its biggest 2009 hits. It’s all part of Disney’s new edict to make, essentially, only two kinds of films: The $150 million-plus blockbuster with lots of CGI and merchandising (i.e., anything that was once a ride at Disneyland or already a Disney title; anything old or new from Pixar; or a major character at Marvel Studios, for which it paid $4 billion last year) or the $30 million project with young, cheap, on-the-cusp movie stars.

The franchise-intensive mantra came after Disney CEO Robert Iger admitted publicly and unflinchingly that 2009 had been “awful”: Having started the year with Confessions of a Shopaholic (domestic gross: $44 million) in the worst recession of all time, it then summered with the costly $150 million rodent flop G-Force (domestic gross: $119 million), and spent the end of the year eating turkey upon turkey: The Bruce Willis action flick Surrogates (domestic gross: $38 million) was laughable; the comedy Old Dogs (domestic gross: $48 million) was not. [Vulture]

So yeah, a guy who wants CGI franchises may not always be quality’s best friend, but no one complained when the Commies killed Hitler either.  Meanwhile, sources say that the news has left Pete Hammond suicidal.  Luckily, an eagle stole the knife that he cuts with.

Skip, shuffle, slide, aaaand…. Jazz pistols!

If it’s a trailer with a story arc you’re after, look no further than Jean-Claude Van Damme’s THE EAGLE PATH.  Damn that’s an awesome title.

A military veteran and former mercenary, Frenchy (Van Damme) works as a taxi driver, hiding somewhere in East Asia, haunted by his past. After his driving shifts he often frequents the Eagle’s Nest, a seedy bar that houses a caged eagle [so it's not just a catchy name]. In the midst of the chaotic Asian traffic Frenchy picks up a beautiful female passenger who will change him forever. [Twitch]

I love how the trailer begins with “I’m looking for a lady,” and ends with “I love a woman for da first time in my life!”   See?  There’s no reason trailers can’t have a story too.  In fact I would’ve been much more inclined to see Ghosts of Girlfriends Past if at the end of the trailer Matthew McConaughey had screamed “SHE TAUGHT ME HOW TO LOVE AGAIN!” before going down in a hail of gunfire.
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