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.