Warner Bros. writer Will Fetters has signed on to write the screenplay for the studio’s adventure film Crazy for the Storm.

The movie is based Norman Ollestad’s memoir of the same name, which Warner Bros. obtained the rights to in the spring. The memoir has already spent over a month on the Los Angeles Times best-seller list.

Crazy for the Storm focuses on the complicated relationship between Ollestad and his father, who pushed him to participate in extreme sports. At the age of eleven, Ollestad and his father were involved in a plane crash over the San Gabriel Mountains that killed Ollestad’s father, and left the boy stranded in the mountains.

Fetters has the good luck of being presented with plenty of material to work with that should translate well to the screen. This, coupled with the skill that is quickly making Fetters one of Warner Bros. go-to writers, should result in a high-quality script for Crazy for the Storm.

Unless you’ve been living under a rock during 2009, you know the economic situation in the world is not the best. The film industry is now feeling the effects of the global economic crisis, particularly as the U.S. dollar continues to lose value against other currencies.

This situation has forced Warner Bros. Pictures to pull out of filming Green Lantern in Australia, since the current exchange rate between the U.S. dollar and the Australian dollar would increase production costs by over $20 million. Warner Bros. will likely move production, which is set to start in November, closer to home, shooting in either Canada or Mexico.

The unfortunate but necessary move by Warner Bros. comes as a stark contrast to the release of Where the Wild Things Are, which was filmed in Australia. The film could have easily stirred interest in using Australia as a filming location, but the financial issue faced by Warner Bros. will no doubt deter other studios from shooting in Australia.

The Australian film industry is clearly prepared to deal with the the economic problems that might keep studios from working in Australia, as they’ve already created the “Make it in Australia” campaign in L.A. to promote Australia as a film location.

Although Warner Bros. has pulled Green Lantern from production in Australia, the company is still backing two animated films currently in production in Sydney.

PHILIP BARRETT: What’s ironic about Where the Wild Things Are happens to involve a conversation I had with fellow critic Anders Wright of San Diego’s City Beat before the film. I kindly asked him what his expectations for the film where. “You know, Philip,” he said, “I’ve learned not to set the bar too high or too low for anything to avoid being disappointed.” After Spike Jonze’s latest venture ended, I started to wish I’d listen to him. While an admirable effort, Where the Wild Things Are is missing something that makes it worthy of the pre-buzz it received.

MATTHEW SNIDER: My expectations were set so high on this film to begin with, nothing could of met them. I wanted something to change the way I viewed the world around me, the way I relived my childhood from time to time. The movie flopped, ONLY due to my expectations being so high. As Philip said, I should of gone in with a set of lower expectations and been suprised, rather than wanting to say 7 out of 5 and in reality being disappointed. While the movie was somethings pecial, it was missing a few key things to make it exceptional. But how does one take 10 sentences of a children’s book and stretch it into a 91 minute movie without missing something?

PHILIP: And that’s the thing, they do honor the book well. This isn’t a cheaply made cash-in, in fact you can tell there’s a lot of love going on here. The heart is in the right place, but there’s something missing. Is it boring like some have claimed? I wouldn’t say that, but the film does drag and follows it’s own structure. Again, that’s fine but it offsets the pacing of the entire film. Yet that’s not my biggest complaint. There’s something else at work that’s really keeping me from proclaiming “BEST MOVIE EVAAAAR!!!***!!!!”

MATTHEW: The pacing is my biggest issue. Minus the last twenty minutes, I was wanting more. I wanted more from the film based on the beloved book. I wanted this film to become a beloved film based on a beloved book. This is not the case in my eyes. This movie IS something special, the Wild Things are an awesome feat from Jonez. But the story lacks what the Wild Things bring. The portion of the story NOT surrounding the Wild Things is dull and lacking any substance. The portion of the film with the Wild Things drags on in what they are trying to accomplish with Max as the king.
Sitting here I have no idea how to fix a 91 minute movie and its pacing, but that is my biggest issue. I wanted to leave the theater asking for more, but was ready to leave when it was over.

Mind you what was in front of us IS something special. The Wild Things are done very very well and they jump to life right from the pages of the book. The directing, the cinematography, the sets/locations are all done very very well. It’s only downfall is the pacing. Something I can’t see a fix for.

PHILIP: It’s certainly one I’ll come back to in IMAX (and eventually Blu-ray) because the story is there. Ironically, the film could have shaved off a few minutes and maybe the pacing would have been fixed. Yes it would have brought the runtime down to around 85-88 mintues but great films don’t need to be six and a half hours if they’re told right. I disagree with Matthew and say that the portions before the Wild Things help to build Max’s character and his relationship with his mother and sister. In fact, it’s touching yet heart-breaking to see Max destroy his sister’s room and break something he made her. It also doesn’t hurt that Max Records is absolutely perfect as a kid trying to find his place in life.

MATTHEW: Blu-ray will be a must purchase for me. I honestly will need to see this movie a few more times before a final verdict is put in. I have had issue from the start of the movie till now on what I wanted to say about the movie and it still is odd for me to make decisions on only seeing it once.

I do agree that the story of max and his family issues is necessary, I thought it was jumpy and sometimes strong and other times very week in actual story telling. The destroying of the Sister’s room was necessary and well done, but the story behind his costume, his outbursts, the way he treats his mother, the story behind the stories he tells and more could of been visited ever so breifly to round out the story more.

PHILIP: I actually feel they give us enough, as the themes of family continue one he gets to the island with the Wild Things. Afterall, all of the Wild Things are really an extension of Max, which is the right way to take Maurice Sendak’s story. As for the start of the film, I loved how it had writing over the studio cards as well as just a straight cut to “WHERE THE WILD THINGS ARE” with a close-up on Max.

I also want to say that this isn’t a kids film, although kids may enjoy it. This is an adult film that has a kid as it’s leading character.

MATTHEW: Overall I would recommend this movie to most adults. No children at all. This ia deep, darker movie than what is portrayed via the trailers and even the TV Spots. This movie is somethings pecial in many ways, it just falls flat in some areas that may make it less appealing to more than the average moviegoer.
I look forward to seeing it again and hopefully admit I was wrong in some areas.

PHILIP: I still recommend the film to everyone as well. Reactions are all over the map which has to say something about what this film is. It’s an admirable effort no doubt, and there’s much that it’s going to mean. The film is shot incredibly well and I was really taken with the visual style and overall story. At the risk of hyperbole, don’t be surprised if Max Records receives an Oscar nod for his performance. Yet still, something was lost, be it the pacing or something that keeps this from being the ‘instant classic’ we all wanted it to be.

Philip’s Rating –

Rating: ★★★☆☆ 

Once again Entertainment Weekly scoops up brand new pictures, these particular couple coming from the most recent comic book adaptation from Warner Bros Pictures called The Losers. The World War II based DC comic film stars Zoe Saldana, Jeffrey Dean Morgan, Chris Evans and many others. The story is about members of a CIA black ops team, after being betrayed and left for dead, rooting out those who targeted them for assassination. Poised to be released on April 9th, 2010, the feature is knee deep in filming. Take a look below at a couple of the set pics:

This October’s Empire Magazine comes out with their latest issue that includes brand new pics of Sam Worthington and all of his manliness from Clash of the Titans. This film joins the list of many remakes of the same title, with its original being a 1981 live action and stop motion animation feature. The Greek action fantasy stars Terminator Salvation’s Sam Worthington as the mythical human Perseus who travels at great lengths and battles all sorts of beings in order to save the Princess Andromeda (Alexa Davalos). Get your swords and shields ready for this March 26th, 2010 release date. Here are the pictures from this upcoming Warner Bros and Legendary Pictures feature:

Michelle Monaghan gets ready for labor as she climbs onboard the new Warner Bros Pictures film Due Date. She joins up with co-star Robert Downey Jr. and Zach Galifianakis. Monaghan will portray the pregnant wife of a guy (Downey) who races home in hopes of arriving before she delivers their first child. He takes on a mismatched traveling companion (Galifianakis). (Variety)

This is the first picture for comedy director Todd Phillips after his sleeper summer hit The Hangover blew up in theaters. The script is penned up by Alan R. Cohen, Alan Freedland and Adam Sztykiel with Phillips producing under Green Hat Films. Due Date will stroll into theaters on November 5, 2010 with filming starting up this fall. Robert Downey Jr. continues his big screen streak in his latest film Sherlock Holmes that comes out this Christmas Day.

There is never a dull moment for Matt Damon as he lands the starring role in Clint Eastwood’s latest project Hereafter. No actual description of the storyline has been released yet from Warner Bros Pictures but they are saying the project is a thriller in the vein of ”The Sixth Sense.” (Variety)

Eastwood will direct the project along with producing it, with Peter Morgan penning the script. Morgan’s more recent script work includes Frost/Nixon and The Last King of Scotland.No word yet on who will co-star along with Damon and when this film will be released. Matt Damon currently stars in Steven Soderbergh’s The Informant! which was just released into theaters everywhere today.

Warner Bros Pictures cropped up some wonderful individual posters of our favorite cuddly and terrifying monsters from Spike Jonze’s film Where The Wild Things Are. The film stars Max Records and including the voice talents of Catherine O’Hara, James Gandolfini, Forest Whittaker and many others. Take a look at the banners below, and this children’s book adaptation will come howling to a theater near you on October 16th.