Latest news with #Koepp
Wales Online
9 hours ago
- Entertainment
- Wales Online
Steven Spielberg was ‘deeply involved' in Jurassic World: Rebirth
Steven Spielberg was 'deeply involved' in Jurassic World: Rebirth The 78-year-old director helmed the original 1993 film Jurassic Park Steven Spielberg (Image: Mike Marsland/WireImage ) Jurassic World: Rebirth writer David Koepp has said Steven Spielberg was "deeply involved" in making the movie. The 78-year-old director helmed the original 1993 film Jurassic Park, its 1997 sequel The Lost Work: Jurassic Park and has served as an executive producer on the Jurassic World series ever since, and Koepp - who wrote the first movie and its follow-up - revealed one of the main reasons he returned for Jurassic World: Rebirth was because Spielberg was "very involved" in it. Speaking to Deadline about Spielberg, the 62-year-old scribe said: "Oh, he was very involved. "That was one of the reasons I most wanted to do it. Because Steven was deeply involved from the beginning, and for the six months that we were working on the script, it was really just him and me. "I'd send him my ideas, and we'd work on them, and when you have Steven's full attention, the results can be pretty spectacular." Jurassic World: Rebirth - which stars Scarlett Johansson, Jonathan Bailey, and Mahershala Ali - follows a team of covert operatives on a mission to stop a rogue biotech organisation from unleashing weaponised dinosaurs around the world. Article continues below As the chaos escalates, the team uncovers a dark secret connected to the original Jurassic legacy. Koepp previously said Jurassic World: Rebirth - which was directed by Gareth Edwards and releases on 2 July 2025 - would capture the "spirit of the first movie". He told TheWrap: "[We were trying to evoke] the spirit of the first movie, which is the tone that we would like to get closest to." The writer added it was "the idea of starting afresh" which convinced him to return to the Jurassic series. He said: "You don't often get that chance, where they give you very few guidelines, except there must be dinosaurs in it." Even so, before he agreed to come back for Jurassic World: Rebirth, Koepp had a list of demands he gave to Universal Pictures that the studio had to meet. He explained: "Number one was – the events of the previous six movies cannot be denied or contradicted, because I hate a retcon. "[Number two was] all science must be real. [Third was] humour is oxygen." Reflecting on returning to the Jurassic series, Koepp said it was "weird and trippy" for him to step back in time for Jurassic World: Rebirth. He explained: "It even smelled the same. It felt low pressure, even though Universal might be horrified to hear that." Looking back at Jurassic Park and The Lost World, Koepp said "writing those first two movies were some of [his] favourite experiences in [his] career so far". He added: "The combination of grand adventure and real science is right up my alley. And it was fun to be able to decide on a new tone, because every three movies seems like a good time to change tone and characters in a franchise. Article continues below "It was great to be able to work solely with Steven and make up a story and think of all new characters and all in a different tone."
Perth Now
11 hours ago
- Entertainment
- Perth Now
Steven Spielberg was ‘deeply involved' in Jurassic World: Rebirth, says writer David Koepp
Jurassic World: Rebirth writer David Koepp has said Steven Spielberg was 'deeply involved' in making the movie. The 78-year-old director helmed the original 1993 film Jurassic Park, its 1997 sequel The Lost Work: Jurassic Park and has served as an executive producer on the Jurassic World series ever since, and Koepp - who wrote the first movie and its follow-up - revealed one of the main reasons he returned for Jurassic World: Rebirth was because Spielberg was 'very involved' in it. Speaking to Deadline about Spielberg, the 62-year-old scribe said: 'Oh, he was very involved. 'That was one of the reasons I most wanted to do it. Because Steven was deeply involved from the beginning, and for the six months that we were working on the script, it was really just him and me. 'I'd send him my ideas, and we'd work on them, and when you have Steven's full attention, the results can be pretty spectacular.' Jurassic World: Rebirth - which stars Scarlett Johansson, Jonathan Bailey, and Mahershala Ali - follows a team of covert operatives on a mission to stop a rogue biotech organisation from unleashing weaponised dinosaurs around the world. As the chaos escalates, the team uncovers a dark secret connected to the original Jurassic legacy. Koepp previously said Jurassic World: Rebirth - which was directed by Gareth Edwards and releases on 2 July 2025 - would capture the 'spirit of the first movie'. He told TheWrap: '[We were trying to evoke] the spirit of the first movie, which is the tone that we would like to get closest to.' The writer added it was 'the idea of starting afresh' which convinced him to return to the Jurassic series. He said: 'You don't often get that chance, where they give you very few guidelines, except there must be dinosaurs in it.' Even so, before he agreed to come back for Jurassic World: Rebirth, Koepp had a list of demands he gave to Universal Pictures that the studio had to meet. He explained: 'Number one was – the events of the previous six movies cannot be denied or contradicted, because I hate a retcon. '[Number two was] all science must be real. [Third was] humour is oxygen.' Reflecting on returning to the Jurassic series, Koepp said it was 'weird and trippy' for him to step back in time for Jurassic World: Rebirth. He explained: 'It even smelled the same. It felt low pressure, even though Universal might be horrified to hear that.' Looking back at Jurassic Park and The Lost World, Koepp said 'writing those first two movies were some of [his] favourite experiences in [his] career so far'. He added: 'The combination of grand adventure and real science is right up my alley. And it was fun to be able to decide on a new tone, because every three movies seems like a good time to change tone and characters in a franchise. 'It was great to be able to work solely with Steven and make up a story and think of all new characters and all in a different tone.'
Yahoo
18-03-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
Historic home of one of Carmel's leading architects for sale. Sweeping ocean views offered
Sitting on a hill with sweeping views of the Pacific Ocean, a Carmel home that renowned architect Guy O. Koepp built as his personal residence in 1935 has hit the market for $4.45 million. Koepp's style influenced much of the charming Northern California town's architecture in the late 1920s and 1930s. His most significant work is the La Rambla building, which he designed in 1929 for Carmel resident Josephine Baber. La Rambla, today a mix of retail spaces and apartments, is known for its courtyard and location near Ocean Avenue. Jennifer Nazareno and Sterling Malish, who now own the Koepp house, bought the home in 2023 for $3.935 million, according to public records, and enhanced the property by turning a hill of dirt and wildflowers into a beautifully landscaped and terraced backyard that is ideal for entertaining. 'When we first saw the backyard, it was nothing more than a mountain of dirt — but we saw limitless potential,' the sellers said in an email. 'After the renovation, it became an incredible outdoor sanctuary, perfect for everything from cozy movie nights with our daughters to lively birthday celebrations and large family gatherings.' They created a seamless flow between the kitchen, deck and backyard. The Spanish-style house unfolds across 2,755 square feet with four bedrooms and four full bathrooms. Listing agent Mark Peterson of Compass said the location of the home is notable, both for its orientation and the little-known neighborhood where it lies. 'The Carmel Woods area of Carmel is often overlooked as people don't even know it exists,' Peterson said in a statement. 'But just above the Village of Carmel-by-the-Sea is this gently sloping southwest exposed area of homes. The climate is ideal as it basks in a little more sunshine and is protected from the prevailing northwest winds. Views of the iconic Point Lobos are found in these homes.' Koepp purchased one of the earliest lots for sale in Carmel and knew what he was looking for, Peterson said. 'This home is positioned perfectly to maximize daylight and warm sun exposure,' the listing agent added. 'It has views of Carmel Bay, Point Lobos and over the Del Monte Forest of Pebble Beach. The character and tasteful updates over time complement the original home. This is an authentic California Spanish Revival home.' Inside, the chef's kitchen contains La Cornue range, Brazilian granite countertops and custom cabinetry. Original refinished hardwood floors run through the interior living space, complemented by Turkish limestone in the bathrooms and lower level. Custom Spanish tiles adorn the risers on the stairs going up to the second level' Outside, the re-imagined backyard became a relaxing retreat that connects multiple seating areas and outdoor spaces. A separate guest house was once a Spanish carriage home and boasts its own spectacular ocean views. 'A rare gem in Carmel, this estate captures the essence of coastal luxury with history, elegance, and panoramic ocean vistas at every turn,' the property listing states. The home is located at 24410 S San Luis Ave. The sellers — Nazareno is a public health academic and Malish is a physician — decided to sell because they are relocating, according to a representative for Compass real estate firm.
Observer
15-03-2025
- Entertainment
- Observer
It takes a spy to hunt a spy
'Black Bag' is the third movie written by David Koepp and directed by Steven Soderbergh that's been released since 2022 and it's a banger. It's also sleek, witty and lean to the bone, a fizzy, engaging puzzler about beautiful spies doing the sort of extraordinary things that the rest of us only read about in novels and — if we're lucky — watch on screen. It's nonsense, but the kind of glorious grown-up nonsense that critics like to say they (as in Hollywood) no longer make. That's true to a great extent, despite exceptions like Koepp and Soderbergh, even if they're too playfully unorthodox to be prototypically Hollywood. The filmmakers' latest duet stars Cate Blanchett and Michael Fassbender as Kathryn and George. Cozily and happily married, the couple lives in austere luxury in a town house in London, where they keep long, eventful hours working for a British intelligence agency, the (real) Government Communications Headquarters. As spies go, the two certainly look and speak their roles, or at least the fictional versions of them: They're cunning, suave and as enigmatic as the title suggests. Unlike their famed counterpart James Bond (he's at MI6), though, they put in serious face time at the office. Inside a glass tower, they watch and are watched in turn, tracking enemies and sometimes eliminating them. The setup involves an explosively dangerous threat in the form of malware called Severus, presumably named after the despotic Roman emperor. There appears to be a mole in the agency and George is among a select few trying to identify the culprit. He has a list of five possible candidates, all of whom work in the agency's power ranks. Among the suspects is — ta-da! — Kathryn. Because this isn't a problem that George can take to a marriage counselor — even if one of the main characters is an agency shrink — he does what he's trained to do: He spies on her. It gets tricky. It also gets funny and predictably violent, with some of the sharpest, nastiest scenes unfolding across a family dining room table. Koepp and Soderbergh are virtuosos of genre and 'Black Bag' is right in their wheelhouse. Each has made a range of films (Koepp also directs) and they last collaborated on the ghost story 'Presence,' which came out earlier this year. If the two excel at thrillers, it's partly because, I imagine, high-stakes intrigues give filmmakers room to push norms to extremes and even ditch them. Koepp and Soderbergh's 'KIMI' (2022) is another tight genre piece that embraces and detonates conventions. Its myriad influences include films about trapped women as well as claustrophobic paranoid thrillers from the 1970s like 'The Conversation' and 'Three Days of the Condor,' reference points that also inform 'Black Bag.' To judge from George's chic glasses and turtlenecks, the filmmakers revisited some older Michael Caine movies, too. Fassbender doesn't have Caine's charms and he's less persuasive as a romantic foil. 'Black Bag' has its share of intentionally outlandish moments, some giddily funny (there are more ticklish moments than thrills), but among the less convincing plot points is George and Kathryn's oft-stated devotion to each other. On screen, Fassbender and especially Blanchett have an otherworldly quality that makes them reliably interesting to watch, but it's one that can feel like a membrane separating them from more ordinary souls. They both draw you to them, but unlike, say, Brad Pitt, they don't necessarily invite you in. Whether these nagging doubts about George and Kathryn's relationship are intentional, they work in a movie that teases you with secrets and weapons, border-crossing and misdirection and is filled out with a note-perfect supporting cast that includes Regé-Jean Page, Naomie Harris, Tom Burke and Marisa Abela. Even as the story heats up and starts to get crowded, George remains the intrigue's central question mark. He prowls into the movie like Henry Hill strolling into the nightclub in the famously long take in 'Goodfellas,' a scene that slyly suggests that George isn't to be trusted. He may be hot for Kathryn, but there's something 'bloodless and inhuman' about him, too, as Le Carré wrote of his famous spy, George Smiley. Throughout 'Black Bag,' Soderbergh has fun with the persistent romance and glamour of espionage or, more truly, spy movies. Bombs explode and so do people here, but the violence is flashily diversionary and absent of the soul-hurting, fantasy-bursting brutality of real-world power and statecraft. The players in this world never get too dirty; when a spot gets on George's otherwise immaculate, perfectly pressed white shirt, he merely changes it. That's how it goes for him and the missus, who are as sleek and polished as the stars playing them. By the time Pierce Brosnan shows up, you may find yourself giggling at the whole meta-deliciousness of this enterprise. You may also find yourself feverishly hoping that when it comes time to revive the Bond series, someone has the brains to call Koepp and Soderbergh. — NYT
New York Times
13-03-2025
- Entertainment
- New York Times
‘Black Bag' Review: Blanchett v. Fassbender
'Black Bag' is the third movie written by David Koepp and directed by Steven Soderbergh that's been released since 2022, and it's a banger. It's also sleek, witty and lean to the bone, a fizzy, engaging puzzler about beautiful spies doing the sort of extraordinary things that the rest of us only read about in novels and — if we're lucky — watch onscreen. It's nonsense, but the kind of glorious grown-up nonsense that critics like to say they (as in Hollywood) no longer make. That's true to a great extent despite exceptions like Koepp and Soderbergh, even if they're too playfully unorthodox to be prototypically Hollywood. The filmmakers' latest duet stars Cate Blanchett and Michael Fassbender as Kathryn and George. Cozily and happily married, the couple lives in austere luxury in a townhouse in London, where they keep long, eventful hours working for a British intelligence agency, the (real) Government Communications Headquarters. As spies go, the two certainly look and speak their roles, or at least the fictional versions of them: They're cunning, suave and as enigmatic as the title suggests. Unlike their famed counterpart James Bond (he's at MI6), though, they put in serious face time at the office. Inside a glass tower, they watch and are watched in turn, tracking enemies and sometimes eliminating them. The setup involves an explosively dangerous threat in the form of malware called Severus, presumably named after the despotic Roman emperor. There appears to be a mole in the agency, and George is among a select few trying to identify the culprit. He has a list of five possible candidates, all of whom work in the agency's power ranks. Among the suspects is — ta-da! — Kathryn. Because this isn't a problem that George can take to a marriage counselor — even if one of the main characters is an agency shrink — he does what he's trained to do: He spies on her. It gets tricky. It also gets funny and predictably violent, with some of the sharpest, nastiest scenes unfolding across a family dining-room table. Koepp and Soderbergh are virtuosos of genre, and 'Black Bag' is right in their wheelhouse. Each has made a range of films (Koepp also directs), and they last collaborated on the ghost story 'Presence,' which came out earlier this year. If the two excel at thrillers, it's partly because, I imagine, high-stakes intrigues give filmmakers room to push norms to extremes and even ditch them. Koepp and Soderbergh's 'KIMI' (2022) is another tight genre piece that embraces and detonates conventions. Its myriad influences include films about trapped women as well as claustrophobic paranoid thrillers from the 1970s like 'The Conversation' and 'Three Days of the Condor,' reference points that also inform 'Black Bag.' To judge from George's chic glasses and turtlenecks, the filmmakers revisited some older Michael Caine movies, too. Fassbender doesn't have Caine's charms, and he's less persuasive as a romantic foil. 'Black Bag' has its share of intentionally outlandish moments, some giddily funny (there are more ticklish moments than thrills), but among the less convincing plot points is George and Kathryn's oft-stated devotion to each other. Onscreen, Fassbender and especially Blanchett have an otherworldly quality that makes them reliably interesting to watch, but it's one that can feel like a membrane separating them from more ordinary souls. They both draw you to them, but, unlike, say, Brad Pitt, they don't necessarily invite you in. Whether these nagging doubts about George and Kathryn's relationship are intentional, they work in a movie that teases you with secrets and weapons, border-crossing and misdirection, and is filled out with a note-perfect supporting cast that includes Regé-Jean Page, Naomie Harris, Tom Burke and Marisa Abela. Even as the story heats up and starts to get crowded, George remains the intrigue's central question mark. He prowls into the movie like Henry Hill strolling into the nightclub in the famously long take in 'Goodfellas,' a scene that slyly suggests that George isn't to be trusted. He may be hot for Kathryn, but there's something 'bloodless and inhuman' about him, too, as Le Carré wrote of his famous spy, George Smiley. Want all of The Times? Subscribe.
