John August

Projects

More Charlie goodness

Charlie, Projects

[wonka small](http://pdl.warnerbros.com/wbmovies/charlie/flashsite/index.html)A sharp-eyed reader wrote in to point out that the [flash site](http://pdl.warnerbros.com/wbmovies/charlie/flashsite/index.html) for Charlie and the Chocolate Factory is now open for business. You can find a lot more downloads, but still no “Cast and Crew” section yet. Ahem.

Also, the [full trailer](http://www.apple.com/trailers/wb/charliechocolatefactory/) is now up at Apple, without any of that AOL baggage that the [AICN](http://aintitcoolnews.com) folks complain about.

Holy Buckets! It’s the Charlie and the Chocolate Factory trailer!

Charlie, Projects

[wonka trailer](http://movies.channel.aol.com/franchise/exclusives/charlie_and_the_chocolate_factory_movie)The full trailer for Charlie and the Chocolate Factory is finally here in all its Quicktime glory. For now, it’s exclusively at Moviefone, but you can see it in theaters starting on Friday. It should be attached to Madagascar most places.

Official Charlie site updated

Charlie, Projects

veruca ticketA helpful reader named Ethan pointed out that the [official site](http://chocolatefactorymovie.com) for Charlie and the Chocolate Factory has been updated with new graphics and photos.

Unfortunately, a quick mousing-around reveals that way too much of it is still “coming soon.” But at least there are now placeholders for some crucial omissions, such as filmmaker bios (ahem) and the upcoming full trailer — which should be out by the end of the month.

The MPAA logo at the bottom of the main screen shows that Charlie has been rated PG, for “quirky situations, action and mild language.” The rating is news to me, since I didn’t think we’d even submitted for a rating yet. But PG is where we should be. The movie is goofy, but never terrifying. Any kid who can watch the Harry Potter movies can safely see Charlie.

An afternoon at E3

Prince of Persia, Projects

E3 logoYesterday, I went to the giant videogame confab [E3](http://www.e3insider.com/index.aspx) with my friend [Jordan Mechner](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jordan_Mechner), who created [Prince of Persia](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Prince_of_Persia:_The_Sands_of_Time) and is writing the movie version for Disney. We were there to see footage from the next Prince of Persia game — which looks damn good, what with the chariots and Babylonian rooftops and all. (And no, I’m not breaking any non-disclosure agreements. I saw exactly what anyone on the convention floor would have seen.)

For those who don’t know, E3 is huge. Huge. Everywhere you looked, you saw flashing screens and guys with laptops waiting in lines to buy overpriced sandwiches. As Jordan put it, “It’s like a giant airport, and every flight just got cancelled.”

You often read about how the videogame and movie industries are such close cousins, but the movie industry doesn’t have anything that really compares to this. Sure, there’s the [Cannes Film Festival](http://www.festival-cannes.fr/) and other international film markets, but those are really geared towards distributors. The target audience here was the hard-core gamer, the super-consumer whose tends to be the opinion-leader. Unlike a film festival, they’re not just showing you a trailer for the game, they’re putting a controller in your hands. They want you hooked.

It’s like Crack Con 2005.