The Hobbit Begins Shooting in 2010

Guillermo del Toro's The Hobbit will begin shooting in 2010, and though most productions shoot for about three or four months, this shoot will last an astounding 370 days.

Granted, the movie will eventually be split into two films (and probably released a year apart), but this is still a ridiculously long shoot. Those 370 days are just shooting days, not to mention the post-production work that is involved with a project of this nature.

Guillermo also hinted at some of his plans for mixing animatronics and CGI effects for Smaug the dragon and some of the other creatures featured in the story. Unlike his puppet-esque work from Hellboy II, this will rely more on computer work to create a new type of creation that we've never seen before on camera. He sounds pretty psyched about it, and if Peter Jackson's not directing this movie, I can't think of anyone else that is a better fit.

Ben's Video Roundup 11/23

Roundup 11/23 from Ben Pearson on Vimeo.

Jonah Hex Needs New Director

Mark Neveldine and Brian Taylor, the guys who created Crank, have dropped out of the Jonah Hex project with Warner Brothers. Jonah Hex, a cowboy gunslinger comic book character, was set to hit the big screen with these guys writing and directing and Josh Brolin in talks to star, but things have fallen apart because of creative differences with the studio.

This kind of sucks, because (needless to say) I really like these guys and it would have been awesome to see their take on a western, no matter how supernatural it got. Word is that Brolin is still attached to the project, but the studio is quickly trying to find replacements for Neveldine/Taylor.

Roundup 11/13

I'm back from the DC trip, so we've got some catching up to do. Giddy up!

• Ridley Scott is directing a movie based on the board game Monopoly. Conflicting quotes state he wants to give the movie a futuristic look (ala his own Blade Runner) or make a family oriented humor-based comedy. Either way, I'm almost positive it's going to be absolutely awful.

• It's well known that I love Will Smith (as I'm sure 95% of America does), but this one is just a bad idea. His 10-year-old son Jaden (Pursuit of Happyness) is starring in a remake of The Karate Kid. The story will be moved from America to Beijing but keep many of the same story elements, which makes it even worse. Not only are they remaking it, but they're giving it to the Chinese? Come on...

• Beyonce apparently had a meeting with some execs at Warner Brothers to talk about being Wonder Woman in the long-developing movie that can never seem to get off the ground. Honestly, I could care less about this project because Wonder Woman has never been of any particular interest to me personally, but I'm sure a lot of younger girls would find Beyonce's casting empowering and inspirational. The movie will probably suck, but what can you do?

• Marvel has officially announced a director for The First Avenger: Captain America: Joe Johnston, the director of one of my favorite movies, The Rocketeer. I think this is a great choice, and Kevin Feige (big time exec at Marvel Studios) mirrors my confidence in him with this quote. "This is a guy who designed the vehicles for Star Wars, who storyboarded the convoy action sequence for Raiders of the Lost Ark. From Rocketeer to October Sky to The Wolfman, you can look at pieces of his movies and see how they lead to this one."

• Dear Lord - it's happened. The universe is going to collapse onto itself. Aside from the upcoming Wayans production Dance Flick (which follows in the shoes of Epic Movie, Date Movie, Disaster Movie, etc), there is a film in production called Not Another Not Another Movie. It's a spoof...on spoof movies. It stars Chevy Chase (just retire already), Burt Reynolds (he's still alive?), and Vinnie Jones (why would you do this? They can't possibly be paying you enough), and the plot makes me want to cry. It's hard to believe crap like this is still being shoveled into theaters, but ONLY YOU can stop the studios by not seeing these movies in any context, whether that be in theaters, DVD, or HBO (ahem...Joe).

• I was going to save this spot for the link where you can watch Midnight Meat Train for free online, but it's been taken down. What I DID find, however, is something much more to your liking - a link for Leprechaun 5: In The Hood starring Warwick Davis, Coolio, and Ice-T. I want to say I saw Back 2 Da Hood, but missed this one. Let me know what you think if you actually take the time to watch this.
  

This Sounds AWESOME

"I've got at least one more in me."

I'm leaving for DC for like five or six days, so the site will be a little slow for a while, but I couldn't resist making this my last post before I hit the road.

Sylvester Stallone will write, direct, and star in a movie called The Expendables, co-starring (are you ready for this?) Jet Li and Jason Statham.

The film follows a group of "expendable" mercenaries trying to take down a South American dictator and free the oppressed population. Filming starts in February, and I couldn't be happier about it.

Universal Soldier 3

The Muscles from Brussells, Jean Claude Van Damme himself, is coming back for a third (technically fifth) entry into the Universal Soldier series.

But for what kind of role? He says he'll only be acting with the project for 10 days, which is a remarkably short time for a lead but slightly longer than just a cameo. Timecop director Peter Hyams will be the director of photography for the movie, and no one is sure whether it's getting a theatrical release or going straight to DVD.

Unfortunately, Dolph Lundgren will not make an appearance. Oh, and in case you're wondering about the story - fear not. It's depth can only be imagined after this convincing quote. Van Damme says "it has to do with something in the past."

Roundup 11/4

I hope you went out and voted today - I know I did. Wait, you thought I was talking about the National Election? I meant for the Branzy Awards. You better vote now, because the polls for this election are closing in like a week. Get your votes in (and hopefully you voted in the National Election as well). On with it!

• A prequel to Joe Carnahan's Smokin' Aces has been greenlit. No word on whether or not it will be direct-to-DVD. I don't think anyone really cares, anyway.

• Universal has won the rights to a movie adaptation of another yet-to-be-released property, this time a video game (huh?). The game will be a version of the epic poem "Dante's Inferno." I can't imagine that the game will be good (unless it's like Grand Theft Auto in hell), and the movie can't be much better. But there was a huge bidding war among the studios, so I guess Universal knows something we don't.

• Joaquin Phoenix, known for his roles in Gladiator and Walk The Line, has retired from acting in favor of his newfound music career. Let me know how that turns out for you, buddy.

• The Farrelly Brothers (who used to direct funny stuff like Dumb and Dumber but now direct crap like The Heartbreak Kid) have announced that they are going to make a Three Stooges movie set in current times. I guess this has been in the works for upwards of five years now, but this can't be a good idea.

• Road to Perdition is one of those movies that nobody really talks about, but was pretty solid. Solid enough for two sequels, though? The co-writer of the original source material (a comic book) has signed on to write and direct two movie sequels, concentrating on the character of Tom Hanks' son. The films will be called Road to Purgatory and Road to Paradise.

• And in my favorite news of the day, Charlize Theron and Tom Cruise will be working together for a thriller called The Tourist. Charlize will play an Interpol agent who uses a tourist to lure an elusive criminal out of hiding. I really enjoy both of those actors so I'm definitely interested in this project.