Roundup 5/1

Dear readers, I know you missed me. But don't fret - I'm back with a vengeance from LA. You know what that means: we've got a hell of a lot of catching up to do. Onward!

• Christian Bale has revealed that he is signed on for a third Batman film whether Christopher Nolan returns or not. Interesting. I'm guessing Bale is praying on a nightly basis that Nolan decides to come back and the sequel doesn't end up in the hands of someone less qualified. Because let's face it - if your name isn't Christopher Nolan, you shouldn't be directing a sequel to The Dark Knight.

• Speaking of Nolan, two more have joined the cast of his next film Inception. The "sci-fi actioner set within the architecture of the mind" will now feature Joseph Gordon-Levitt (replacing James Franco due to scheduling conflicts) and Michael Caine. Freaking brilliant. They join the already-stellar cast of Leo DiCaprio, Marion Cotillard, Ellen Page, and Cillian Murphy. If the cast, writers, and director are any indication, this is shaping up to be one of my favorite science fiction movies of all time.

• And back to speaking of Bale, he has apparently joined the cast of The Fighter. No, not the sequel to that Channing Tatum movie. The Fighter is a movie that tells the tale of "Irish" Mickey Ward, a Boston boxer coached to the world title by his half brother. This film has gone through some serious changes recently: Matt Damon and Mark Wahlberg were originally going to star as the brother and the boxer, respectively. I think I remember Wahlberg saying he's been training for two (maybe three) years. Brad Pitt then jumped in to replace Damon. The latest has Bale replacing Pitt and Wahlberg staying on board. Visionary director Darren Aronofsky (The Fountain, The Wrestler) was set to direct for a long time, but left the project due to creative differences. David O. Russell (who?) has stepped into the director's chair to fill the void, but what a void to fill. Can't imagine this will be as good without DA behind the camera.

• These pictures are a bit old, but still worth posting. To your right is the first look at Megan Fox in the new Jimmy Hayward western Jonah Hex, based off the comic book cowboy. If you needed another reason to see this movie besides the cast of Josh Brolin, John Malkovic, Will Arnett, and Michael Shannon, Megan Fox-y (see what I did there?!?!?!) just gave it to you.

• And finally, Oliver Stone and Michael Douglas have signed on for Wall Street 2. This is actually good news in my opinion, as I found the original to be a fantastic film and I think that Stone is better off tackling this kind of film than another war movie. Plus, it has the chance to be topical (i.e: the current economy) and not be too preachy - the fault of many of the war-based films of the past few years. Added bonus: Shia LaBeouf is in talks to take on a Charlie Sheen-esque role in this edition. (Sheen played the fresh faced youngster in the first film.) Gordon Gekko is the man.
  

Trick 'R Treat Might Have Release Date

Spooky. I was sitting in my room, recouping from a screening of Crank 2: High Voltage (which was disappointingly terrible), changing my desktop background from the Crank poster to get the bitter taste out of my mouth. I scrolled through all the pictures I've used in posts on this site, and quickly stumbled across a pic of Anna Paquin from this Trick 'R Treat post a while back. I sighed and shook my head, wondering why we would never get to see the film whose trailer was attached to 300 way back in March of 2007.

Well, the horror gods must have heard my disappointment, because literally an hour later I checked Slashfilm and they have an update about Trick 'R Treat. Spooky, indeed. The gist of it is that on a new trailer for the movie, it ends with "Coming to Blu-Ray & DVD This October." They are dubious of a theatrical release, but I don't care - as long as I get to see the freakin' movie soon, I'll be happy. I've seriously been jonesing for this flick for two years, and I still think it has the potential to be one of my favorite horror films. I'll let you know what happens with this, and hopefully you'll be seeing a review come October.

This is the last post before my trip to LA (I leave early in the morning), so posting will be nonexistant for the next week. Feel free to check out the archives if you're bored, or keep up with This Week in Comics over at The Solar Sentinel and the recent resurgence in sports posts over at The Playing Field.

Who Will Direct Pirates 4?

Gore Verbinski, director of all three Pirates of the Caribbean films, has announced he will not return to the director's chair for the recently announced Pirates 4.

Johnny Depp has signed on to return as Captain Jack Sparrow, and no other details are known for sure about this project as of yet. I've heard rumors over the past few months that the story will revolve around Geoffrey Rush's Barbossa character and Captain Sparrow searching for the Fountain of Youth, and that Orlando Bloom and Keira Knightley will not return.

So what's next for Verbinski? He's working on a film adaptation of the video game BioShock, which is supposed to be pretty awesome from what I can gather. I'm glad he's decided to step down, since I'm sure he watched just like the rest of us as that series was run into the ground. He's probably sick of it, even though he must have made massive bank from the record breaking numbers it earned at the box office. Perhaps he'll return in a producing capacity or something; either way, the next film should be much better without the return of Will and Elizabeth.

Inception Adds More To Cast

Christopher Nolan's Inception, the mystery project he's directing next, has some more big names attached to it.

Cillian Murphy (a Nolan favorite), Marion Cotillard (upcoming Public Enemies), and Ellen Page are in talks to join Leonardo DiCaprio in the sci-fi action flick. Fantastic news, as I am a fan of all of the above. More on this as it arrives.

The Hangover

I don't normally post trailers on this site, but this one is my most anticipated comedy of the summer (at the moment). Check it.

It's Alice! In 3D!

To appease the fans (cough Becky Ashley cough), it's time for a little Alice in Wonderland update.

Tim Burton's newest film has been confirmed for an IMAX 3D release. This will surely excite the legions of fans for this sure-to-be-insane movie. Mark your calendars, Crispin Glover fans - March 5th, 2010 can't come soon enough for you.

More Ong Bak 2

To appease the fans (cough, Mikey Boze Branz, cough), I'm showing this kick-tacular clip featuring the one and only Tony Jaa. Ong Bak 2 is sure to be immaculate, and I'll let you know when it is going to be released over here in the States. Honestly, I don't even care if it hits theaters or not - as long as I can see it in some form (DVD, Blu-Ray, Dick Tracy Watch Viewer, etc.), I'll be happy.