Fraser and Rock Join G.I. Joe

Latino Review brings us news this afternoon that the ridiculous cast of G.I. Joe has potentially added two more to its ranks. Brendan Fraser has apparently already finished filming a cameo as "Gung Ho," and Dwayne Johnson has been offered the role of "Shipwreck," a large Latino Navy SEAL. Yep, sounds about right. As others have pointed out, this move makes sense because director Stephen Sommers has directed both of these actors before in The Mummy Returns, so it's legit that he would call in a favor like this.

So far the cast includes the likes of Sienna Miller, Joseph Gordon-Levitt, Marlon Wayans, Channing Tatum, Dennis Quaid, Arnold Vosloo, Ray Park, Rachel Nichols, and Jonathan Pryce, not to mention these new additions and any other last-minute casting decisions they might make. Written by Stuart Beattie and directed by Stephen Sommers (Van Helsing, Deep Rising), G.I. Joe comes to theaters on August 7th, 2009. Unfortunately, it's probably going to suck.

O'Donnell Cast In Max Payne

That's what I'm talkin' about. Everyone's favorite live-action Robin is taking a break from rom-coms to star opposite Mark Wahlberg and Mila Kunis in the film adaptation of Max Payne.

Entertainment Weekly says O'Donnell is set to play "executive Jason Colvin," whose character I don't recognize from the video games. I'm just psyched for the opportunity to see some CO'D action up on screen again. Some potentially bad news for this flick though - I hear they're trying to make it PG-13.

Stuart Beattie Writes Halo Spec Script

Latino Review brings word that one of my favorite Hollywood writers, Stuart Beattie (Collateral, Pirates of the Caribbean: Curse of the Black Pearl, the upcoming G.I. Joe film), is such a big Halo fan that he's written his own spec script to try to sell to the studios. The Halo movie has been put off for quite some time now, ever since the original project (with Peter Jackson attached as a producer) was put into development hell.

Beattie's script, called Halo: Fall of Reach, is the first of a three-part series intended for the big screen. This first installment sounds like a futuristic version of 300, following the Master Chief character from childhood into the fighting soldier fanboys love. If all goes according to plan, the next film will deal more with the Covenant and take place on the Halo ring, and the third film will return to Earth in a storyline mirroring the third video game.

I'm not the biggest Halo fan ever, but they would probably make some cool-looking movies. Sounds like good summer fun to me. Of course, my bias allows me to hope they go with Beattie's version - they should either do that or abandon the project completely.

Joel McHale Returns To Movies!

That's right, folks - our favorite comedy host will be coming back to the big screen, this time opposite Matt Damon in a Steven Soderbergh-directed flick called The Informant. McHale will play an FBI agent working with Damon's character to "stop a price-fixing scam in agri-business." I don't know what that really means, but it doesn't matter - Joel McHale is back! Could this be the push he needs to boost himself into enough popularity to become a contender for the future 2016 Election? Shooting starts this month.

Scattered Updates

In an unbearably slow news week, I figure I'll give you guys a few hits of what's been going on lately. I'm leaving town for the rest of the week, but hopefully the quantity of news that I deem worthy will increase dramatically when I get back.


Julie Benz (of Showtime's Dexter and Stallone's Rambo) will be headlining Saw V. Production began on St. Patty's Day, and the movie comes to theaters on October 24th. This lady kind of bothers me, so I'm not too thrilled about this news. Maybe they'll kill her off in the first half hour - that might make it a little better.


Elizabeth Banks (40-Year-Old Virgin; Definitely, Maybe; Zack and Miri Make a Porno) is in final negotiations to play First Lady Laura Bush opposite Josh Brolin as Dubya in Oliver Stone's biopic of the President. The movie is called W, and there's rumor it'll be pushed through for a release in November, right around election time. I've seen a few Oliver Stone movies and most of them have been pretty good, so until I see a trailer for this that looks terrible, I'm going to assume it'll be pretty good as well.


Sir Ian McKellan says he'll return as Gandalf for The Hobbit films should director Guillermo del Toro have him back. Good news, if you ask me. I'd hate to see them try to bring back the same characters featured in LOTR and replace them with different actors. Man up and pay the originals to come back. It'll be worth it.


Hugh Jackman is signed on to star in Neil Marshall's Drive. From the director of The Descent (horror) and Doomsday (post-apocalyptic) comes a new genre piece following a Hollywood stunt driver who moonlights as a Transporter-esque getaway driver. I absolutely love movies like this (with the Transporter series and BMW's The Hire series being foremost in my mind), and I think Jackman will be perfect in this type of role. Hopefully we won't have to wait too long before this comes out.

Sweet Videos

Granted, this has nothing to do with upcoming films in any way, but I didn't think it belonged anywhere else. I took these from a site that did a post just like this one, but I just grabbed my favorite ones to show you guys. Check these out; they're pretty cool.

Stealing Our Ideas...Again

These people must have come across The Epic: Quest For Schneider when it was released, because (I kid you not) there's a movie coming out about Zombie Nazis.

It's Finnish, and the story follows an American/Finnish platoon who goes a little too far into battle, and has to retreat slightly, only to be attacked by the same enemy soldiers they just killed. A direct quote - "Death is no longer the final frontier." I don't have the ability to embed the trailer (which has no dialogue, by the way) directly into this page, but you can check it out at this link if you're interested.

Originally titled War of the Dead (similar to Day, Dawn, Shaun, Diary, and Dance), this film was recently renamed Stone's War. It's supposed to have a US release sometime this year. What a bunch of hacks. Where's our check?

Anton Yelchin in Terminator 4?

The kid from Alpha Dog and Charlie Bartlett is in negotiations to star as Kyle Reese in the new Terminator film. If you're a little rusty on your Terminator lore, Reese is the soldier who is saved by John Connor in the war against the machines, and then, years later, offers to return to the present time to save Sarah Connor from Schwarzenegger. He then impregnates Sarah Connor, becoming John Connor's father in the process. [Yes, I'm aware that was a strange sentence. I'm leaving it.]

This news doesn't really interest me THAT much. I like Anton Yelchin, so I guess it'll be good for his career if it goes through. With Christian Bale as John Connor, I don't think they can do any wrong on this project. Although it is being directed by a guy named McG, so then again...

Eastwood is Back in the Game. UPDATED!

According to Variety, Clint Eastwood has come out of retirement. The last time he acted in a film was Million Dollar Baby, but they say that he is set to direct and star in a film called Gran Torino, set to be released in December.

This announcement caught the internet by storm, since no one has ever even heard of this project and it's slated to hit theaters in nine months. Even the storyline has been kept a secret (so far).

Eastwood will now have two movies he directed in theaters at the same time this winter, with the Angelina Jolie-starring Changeling arriving in theaters on November 7th. IMDB says that story revolves around "a mother's prayer for her kidnapped son to return home is answered, though it doesn't take long for her to suspect the boy who comes back is not hers."

The old codger is one of my favorite directors, so I'm psyched that he's getting behind the camera again. He's also one of my favorite actors, so the news that he's coming out of acting retirement for something called Gran Torino (which can only lead me to assume he'll be rolling around in a sweet ride) is fantastic. Consider me fired up.

UPDATED! The semi-reliable people at AICN found out a short time ago (again, from an unnamed source) that says that Gran Torino is actually Dirty Harry 6!! If this is true, I can't tell you how happy I'd be. Here's what the tipster's email said:

“I recently advertised my 1974 ford grand torino classic original for sale in the local here, and within 24 hours had someone from Village Roadshow Pictures interested in having a look at it. He came. He wasn’t interested for numerous reasons (probably the modifications). He told me they were looking for the right car for a new Clint Eastwood movie.

He said it was a thriller about a killer that drives a certain torino. His 1972 Ford Gran Torino is the only thing the police have on him. A retired police lieutenant, one Harry Callahan, makes it his mission to track down the culprit when two young police officers, one Callahan’s grandson, are shot and killed by the guy.”

All Saint's Day Finally Greenlit?

After years of legal issues and delays, Troy Duffy has announced that Sony Picture Studios will back the production of The Boondock Saints: All Saint's Day and filming is set to begin this summer. (Happy St. Patrick's Day!) Duffy, the writer/director of the first film, has made claims like this before, but legal troubles have always gotten in the way of it actually getting done.

[If you haven't yet seen the original cult classic, I can only say it depends on what kind of person you are whether or not you'd enjoy it. It features pretty serious violence and is easily in my "Top 3 Movies That Drop The Most F-Bombs." If that sounds appealing to you, then I'm pretty sure you'll enjoy it.]

Duffy made this announcement through a YouTube video which has subsequently been taken off the site for unknown reasons. Some people are still skeptical that this project will actually happen, but 10 years after the first film's release, it's looking like it might get made. The original cast (except for Willem Dafoe) is set to return for this sequel.

Crank 3...in 3-D!

They haven't even started filming Crank 2 yet, but a third movie is already on the minds of Mark Neveldine and Brian Taylor, the duo behind the 2006 Statham original. AND - they told Collider the third movie is going to be shot in 3-D!

Not only that, but they've built a moving bullet-time rig that will see some action in Crank 2 when they start shooting in six weeks. It's like the Matrix rig, but instead of being confined to a green-screen-only room where the cameras are stationary, these guys have come up with one that can be used on the move. Sweet.

If you're a fan of the Crank films, I'd suggest checking out the full interview. They also mention their upcoming release (Game, starring Gerard Butler) will start with a two minute long shot of Butler going through a war zone firing off 52 rounds with 250 extras. I love these guys.

Smith's Kids Gettin' Jiggy Wit' Amulet

Variety reports Jayden and Willow Smith, son and daughter of Will and Jada Smith, have signed on to star in an adaptation of a children's graphic novel. The first of the films (or maybe all of them, I'm not certain) is called Amulet.

The story follows a brother and sister who move into their late great-grandfather's house after their dad passes away. They must use his amulet to rescue their newly-single mother and save her from the beast that lures her into an underground world of danger.

I know her husband just died, but come on - a grown-ass woman being lured into an underground world by a beast? Call the cops, or the zoo, or pest control or something - why are you gonna follow some evil monster ANYWHERE underground? That amulet better pack a punch.

"Drop It, Or There Will Be - Trouble"

According to a press release found by the scoopers at AICN, the brass at MGM has approved a remake of Robocop.

All I can say is that I recently watched Robocop for the first time and it definitely did NOT stand the test of time. Does that mean it warrants a remake? I don't think so, but apparently they feel like they can suck another dollar from the pockets of the male 18-25 demographic by doing it. Will this remake trend ever die out?

Lucas' Red Tails in 2009?

George Lucas, hated by some and loved by many, spoke with ComingSoon recently and told them his new project, Red Tails, might be in theaters as early as 2009. The story follows the Tuskegee Airmen in World War II, the first all-black pilot squad of that war.

"We're getting towards a script, and probably start shooting before the end of the year, and it should come out next year, maybe. That's probably going to be the last movie I do, apart from my own movies, but my own movies are going to be more esoteric and probably will come and go in a week and be in one or two arthouses. It's basically the same as what Francis (Ford Coppola) is doing."

This sounds like the beginning of the end for Lucas. He's got Star Wars: The Clone Wars coming out this summer (animated!) and of course everyone's favorite whip-cracking hero returns to theaters on May 22nd, but Red Tails sounds like the last decent project he's currently got lined up. But it doesn't sound like he's even directing Red Tails - I think he's signed on as a producer - so what else does he really have to do? How hard can it be to produce films if you're George Lucas? Whatever - maybe he'll just stick to comic conventions after this...

Man of Steel Status

There has been a lot of speculation about whether director Bryan Singer would come back for Man of Steel, the follow-up to his much-hated Superman Returns. IESB has heard from studio sources that he will be back, and Brandon Routh will be back to star.

As FilmWad points out though, the writers are still in question. Dougherty and Harris, the writing team behind Superman Returns, has chosen not to come back for the sequel. However, Roberto Orci and Alex Kurtzman, the writing duo who wrote The Island, Transformers, Mission: Impossible 3, and the upcoming Star Trek film, are in talks to write for Man of Steel. Sounds good to me - maybe Superman will actually throw a punch this time around.

Apatow's New Cast

Hollywood comedy SuperProducerDirector Judd Apatow has signed three players for his newest film. Seth Rogen, Leslie Mann, and Adam Sandler will star in Apatow's newest directorial effort, which has also been written solely by Apatow himself. The plot for this one has been kept completely secret so far, and production begins in late fall or early summer.

I guess it's good that Adam Sandler might be in something funny again. I've never really been a big fan of his, so maybe working with Apatow on something other than You Don't Mess With The Zohan will bring laughs instead of groans to audiences. Leslie Mann is REALLY annoying to me, and I kind of hope she never appears in another film again. [Note: I just found out/maybe remembered that she's married to Apatow, so my hopes are probably dashed on the spot.] And is anyone else kind of getting tired of Seth Rogen? The Pineapple Express looks kind of questionable, if you ask me.

Mila Kunis Is In Payne

Max Payne, that is. Variety reports the starlet has signed on to star opposite the (perfectly cast) Mark Wahlberg in the video game adaptation.

She will play an assassin who teams up with the titular character to avenge her sister's death. If they follow the game's outline (which they should), her character's name will be Mona Sax. I think if they transcribe the game into a movie like Sin City was done, with heavy reliance on the source material, this could be a great noir. And with Sin City 2 on the back burner, I'm happy for any noir incarnations hitting the big screen until then. For my fellow noir fans out there, get psyched for Assassination of a High School President - Bruce Willis is in it, and it comes to theaters in August.

AVP 3? Probably.

Will the infamous Alien Vs. Predator series continue? ShockTillYouDrop says another sequel is a "certainty" at this point. Apparently the most recent installment left it wide open for another film in the franchise, and for this third feature they will "take the action back into space."

I own the first one (it was pretty bad, but enjoyable), and I still haven't seen AVP: Requiem. My assumption is the third film will only be enjoyed by people under the influence of some sort of drug when they see it.

4 Fast - Cast Updates

No surprise here - Michelle Rodriguez and Jordana Brewster have signed on to reprise their roles in the not-yet-titled 4 Fast 4 Furious. And we're in luck: we have a plot summary too! ComingSoon describes the story below.

"Brian (Walker) and Dominic (Diesel) team up to help the feds stop a heroin importer known as Braga. Brian – and ultimately Dominic – wins a place on the criminal's team, where he and his flashy Nissan plan to catch the man red-handed."

Beautiful. Now we just have to wait until June 2009 until we "race" to see it in theaters.

[Editor's Note: While this post was rife with sarcasm, I do think this movie will be better than its predecessor, Tokyo Drift. And yes, I'm going to see this in theaters because I've invested too much in this franchise not to. Like the Saw movies, they've hooked me.]

Robert Downey, Jr. Is A Black Guy

Yep, that's Iron Man in the middle of Ben Stiller and Jack Black.

Entertainment Weekly scored this first look photo* of Tropic Thunder, a Ben Stiller-directed comedy set to come out in August. From what I've heard, it sounds pretty awesome so far. A brief synopsis: "A team of self-indulgent stars cast in the modern equivalent of Apocalypse Now… but when the film's director (Steve Coogan) and writer (Nick Nolte) get fed up with their prima donna cast, they drop them into the jungle to fend for themselves. The actors think they're doing some sort of full-immersion filmmaking, but the danger they're in is very real."

The deal with RD Jr. as the black dude? He plays one of the actors, and the role he's supposed to play was originally written for a black man. As a serious actor, he thinks he should play the character they way it was intended. ''If it's done right, it could be the type of role you called Peter Sellers to do 35 years ago,'' Downey says. ''If you don't do it right, we're going to hell.''

*I'm normally not a fan of these "first look" pictures that leak onto the internet all the time, because I fear that they'll give away too much of the movie. I'm breaking my normal quota and posting this one because I think it's funny.

Ellen Page Drops Out of Hell

Hollywood starlet Ellen Page has just dropped out of Sam Raimi's Drag Me to Hell, a horror film in the vein of the director's earlier famous works.

But there is good news for people who care about this project - Alison Lohman (pictured) is taking over as the "woman who is the unwitting recipient of a supernatural curse." You may remember Lohman as the capable actress who played the daughter in Matchstick Men opposite Nicholas Cage. Personally, I think she'll do just as fine of a job (if not better) than the Pagemaster would have. I also think this movie is probably going to suck, but whatever.

Coens' Next Film Coming in September

Ethan and Joel Coen, the writer-directors who just won a few Oscars for No Country for Old Men, are hard at work on their follow up film, and it sounds awesome so far.

The dark spy-comedy is called Burn After Reading, and it follows two D.C. gym employees who find an ex-CIA agent's memoir and try to exploit it. Listen to this cast (in case you haven't heard already): George Clooney, John Malkovich, Frances McDormand, Brad Pitt, and Tilda Swinton. There are at least three Academy Award winners here and three more nominations among that cast. Plus, it's being shot by the guy who did Children of Men. I'm looking forward to this one.

Focus Features is distributing, and the movie will open nationwide on Friday, September 12th.

Huey Lewis Adds New Theme Song To Resume'

It has just been confirmed to movieweb that Huey Lewis will be singing the theme song to the upcoming stoner comedy Pineapple Express. Director David Gordon Green says,

"Huey Lewis just finished our theme song for us. It is called 'Pineapple Express,' cleverly. Our only input was, we told him we wanted it to sound like his 80's work that we loved so much. And we wanted to have the plot in it. And we wanted to have him say the title as many times as he could. There is a lot of alto sax. It is kind of like that 'other' Back to the Future Huey Lewis song. Not 'Power of Love' but 'Back in Time'. Yeah."

Sounds great to me. This could be a high point (pun intended) for a movie that looks pretty average so far. I'm just glad Huey is still getting work. I saw one of his concerts a few years ago and it was awesome. Pineapple Express stars Seth Rogen and James Franco, and is set to open August 8th.

New Line Cinema "Dead" at Age 41

New Line Cinema has bitten the big one. Ever since Lord of the Rings, the studio has been bombing nasty style left and right, and it's finally caught up to them. The huge failure of The Golden Compass and the recent legal troubles regarding the rightful payment to the heirs of Tolkien seem to have been the proverbial last straw.

So what's going to happen now? The studio (which has always been owned by Time Warner) will now be folded under the Warner Brothers label. This means it will go on making films, but at a severely decreased rate. Plus, the movies it makes will now be more genre-based than we would normally see from them. For right now, the studio still technically exists, although some analysts predict that as soon as all of the films that have already been produced by New Line hit theaters, Warner Brothers will get rid of them altogether and just acquire what remaining assets they have left.

Step Up 3-D Coming Next

Yes, you read that correctly. Disney has decided the newest sequel in the Step Up franchise will be done in 3-D. It's going to be called Step Up 3-D. No reasons were given, but Disney execs were quoted as saying, "People need to see other people 'being served' in 3-D. It's way more insulting to the dancers and much more fun for the high school girls that go to see our films!"

In related news, Disney execs were actually not quoted as saying that, since I made it up. But I wouldn't be surprised if that was to come out on a press release sometime soon.

Curses - Justice League is Back

This is another project I wish the strike would have killed. Unfortunately for comic book fans, the big screen adaptation of Justice League is now back on schedule, and being pushed through for a 2009 release. Variety says the cast is continuing their superhero training after being put on hold for a while last month, and the writers are polishing up the script. Director George Miller is already in pre-production in Australia, where the majority of the filming will be done.

The cast still consists of Adam Brody, Megan Gale, and Armie Hammer, Jr. If you have a confused look on your face and are asking yourself, "Who are these people?" fear not - you're not the only one.

TRANSPORTER 3!!!

YES! The news of the Bourne series returning is now completely overshadowed (in my eyes, anyway) by the much more important announcement that the one and only Jason Statham is officially returning for Transporter 3. Was there any doubt? Man, I'm pumped for this already.

The only potential bad news is that director Louis Leterrier, who directed both the first and second installments, has been replaced by someone named Olivier Megaton. But with a name like Olivier Megaton, how can you go wrong? Needless to say, I'll be at the midnight showing regardless of who is directing. The film will shoot for 16 weeks in Russia and France, but no release date has been set yet.

Bourne is Back

The day I have feared since August is finally here. Matt Damon and Paul Greengrass have signed on for another Bourne movie.

Why are they doing this? The Bourne Ultimatum tied the franchise together so well, and now they're going to ruin it by continuing on with a series that is perfectly fine as is. This probably won't be filmed for a couple of years since both the actor and the director have busy schedules ahead of them, but my initial response toward this film is one of disdain and disgust. Is money all they are thinking about? Doesn't art count for anything anymore? (Not to mention the three existing films were the only ones based on Ludlam's books, and some new jackleg is writing them now. Apparently they suck, so we have THAT to look forward to.)

When a franchise grosses $945 million worldwide, I guess the "logical" thing to do would be to continue it, as I'm sure they're going to do with Pirates of the Caribbean in the next couple of years. Maybe they'll come to their senses as it gets closer to production and realize that they don't really need to make this sequel.

Oscar Winners

Overall, I was pretty pleased with the way the Oscars turned out. I wish I could have seen a count of how close some of those votes were, because I think there were some REALLY close calls this year. The Academy could have chosen any of the Best Picture nominees and they would have done fine by me, since they were all really quality films (with the exception of Atonement, which I haven't seen, so I can't vouch for). No Country For Old Men earned their award, but I think the Academy might have picked There Will Be Blood if the tone was a LITTLE more serious. Having people laughing unintentionally throughout a supposedly serious film probably isn't a good sign. I still liked TWBB, but I think No Country better described the feelings of Americans at this point in our history - there will always be good and evil, and no matter what sacrifices we make, evil will still be there in some form.

Transformers was totally screwed in the sound editing and sound mixing categories, losing to The Bourne Ultimatum. You've gotta be kidding me - Bourne didn't have near the impact that giant freakin' robots did when it came to sound. And Transfomers was absolutely ROBBED in the Visual Effects category! I can't believe that some of the "most complex renders in ILM history" didn't hold up against The Golden Compass.

DDL took it down for Best Actor, and he definitely deserved it. His performance is already iconic (they're going to remember him for this one) and the movie just came out a few months ago. Javier Bardem was pretty clutch in No Country, so I guess he deserved his Best Supporting Actor, but I thought Casey Affleck stood a great chance to upset him with his performance in The Assassination of Jesse James By The Coward Robert Ford. That's one of those where I'd like to see the final tally sheet. His quiet, almost peaceful, performance was pretty impressive if you ask me.

It kind of sucked that Ellen Page didn't win Best Actress for Juno, but historically the Academy doesn't like giving awards to young people. I guess they think they'll have time to deliver a better performance later in their career, and I think we'll see that happen to Ellen (she just turned 21! Hell of an acting job in Juno for a 20-year-old). I'm glad Diablo Cody got some props for her Juno screenplay; hopefully we'll be seeing some more good stuff from her in the future.

In other news, Eddie Murphy and Lindsay Lohan ravaged the Razzies this year, breaking records in the process. Eddie Murphy is the first actor to ever win three of the four Worst Acting trophies in a single year for Norbit, and Lohan's I Know Who Killed Me broke the record for total number of Razzies with a staggering 8 wins from 9 nominations. Daddy Day Camp was the only film to win a Razzie that was not affiliated with the Murphy/Lohan flicks - it won in the Worst Prequel or Sequel category.

Fanboys Altered, Probably Going To Suck

Fanboys sounded like it had a lot of promise. The story was supposed to be about a group of die-hard Star Wars fans who try to grant their dying friend one last wish. The wish is to get a copy of Episode I before it came to theaters (the film is set before Episode I came out, obviously). You can check out the trailer here.

The movie was supposed to come out a few months ago, but had been inexplicably pushed back by the Weinstein Company. Now, news drops that the studio has re-shot a lot of the film, re-edited it, and completely removed the "dying friend" storyline, replacing it with "nudity, lots of F-bombs, the whole works." The studio even changed directors after shooting was finished, and credit the guy who came in and did clean-up shots as the real director. Superman II, anyone?

It's a shame when studios get their hands on a finished product and then decide it's not "mainstream" enough to make them the profit that they so desperately crave. From the sound of it, this could have actually been decent with its original premise; now, I'm not so sure. Plus, they still haven't set a release date. Bah.

Anime/Comic Book Updates

For the record, I haven't read any of the source material for anything I'm about to post, so I have no realistic idea of what to expect with these movie versions when they finally come out.

Two live-action adaptations of Akira have been greenlit, set in a rebuilt New Manhattan 31 years after it has been destroyed. Apparently it involves motorcycle gangs that roam the streets after a nuclear war and one gets implanted with psychokinetic powers (whatever that means). Leonardo DiCaprio's Appian Way Productions is producing the film, and there's a rumor that he will star as the franchise's main character, Kaneda. Another rumor regarding these films is that Joseph Gordon-Levitt has been cast as Tetsuo, the motorcycle gang member who gains the previously mentioned powers through a government experiment. The pitch to the studio was that it was like "Blade Runner meets City of God." City of God is in my top 30 favorite movies, so anything thematically similar I'm sure I'll enjoy, especially if it stars DiCaprio and JGL as motorcycle gang members.

David Fincher (Fight Club, Zodiac) is set to direct a movie version of the 12-issue Black Hole, written for the screen by Neil Gaiman (Stardust) and Roger Avery. This one sounds pretty strange - set in the 1970's, it follows a group of high school students who spread "the Bug," which is a STD that has no cure. They develop bizarre mutations and become social outcasts, so the movie will likely center on the themes of adolescence, growing up, social shunning, etc. Could be interesting, I guess. We'll see.

The one that really grabs my attention is an adaptation of The Boys, a comic created by Garth Ennis (who co-created Preacher, which I suggest you read if you don't mind violence and swearing) and Darick Robinson. The comic is about a CIA faction (nicknamed "the boys") that keeps its eye on the rising superhero segment of the population and keeps them in check if the need arises. This sounds vaguely similar to Hancock and Watchmen, two other projects regarding the "reality" of superheroes in the world, so maybe that's a new trend to watch for.

All of these movies are set to come out in 2009 or later, with Akira getting the fast-track to summer 2009.

New Street Fighter Gains Cast Members

I was kind of hoping that this movie would fade away because of the writer's strike, but Variety says it has done the opposite and moved forward by adding more members to the cast.

Here's a run down of who's involved so far:

Kristin Kreuk (Smallville): Chun-Li
Michael Clarke Duncan (The Green Mile): Balrog
Chris Klein (American Pie): Nash
Rick Yune (Fast and the Furious): Gen

Moon Bloodgood (Pathfinder, Daybreak), Taboo from the Black Eyed Peas, Edmond Chen from Singapore and Hong Kong's Cheng Pei Pei are all playing unknown roles.

The movie is called Street Fighter: Legend of Chun-Li, and filming begins in March.

Ryan Reynolds as Deadpool? Definitely, Maybe.

Excuse the title pun, but word hit the interwebs today that Ryan Reynolds (Blade: Trinity, Waiting...) is rumored to play the role of Deadpool in the X-Men spinoff X-Men Origins: Wolverine. Don't get too pumped - this comes from AICN and still falls under the "rumor" umbrella (...ella, ...ella), since it hasn't been officially verified yet.

Deadpool is an extremely dangerous assassin in the Marvel universe (check out his Wikipedia profile here), and he's known for being a fast-talking smart ass. His nickname is "The Merc With The Mouth." So basically this is perfect for Ryan Reynolds, who, along with Shia LaBeouf, is custom made for these types of roles. And while LaBeouf isn't LaBuff enough to play this particular part, Reynolds has got the muscle to make combat believable.

X-Men Origins: Wolverine stars Hugh Jackman as he reprises his famous role, along with Liev Schreiber as Sabretooth. Rumors of other characters involved with this entry to the X-Men mythos are appearances by The Blob, Gambit, and Silver Fox. The movie comes to theaters May 1st, 2009.

Stallone in a Sequel to Cliffhanger?

Man, the rumors lately are getting out of control. First, we have Pacino as a possible Bond villain, and now we've got a fresh rumor that Sylvester Stallone is reprising his role as Gabe Walker from the 1993 hit Cliffhanger in a sequel supposedly called Cliffhanger 2: The Dam.

PR-Inside reported the story (who the heck are they?), but they cite no sources and don't attempt to explain where they got their information. That's the kind of journalism I like to see. So spread the word, kids - Stallone could be continuing his comeback streak with another sequel to a classic action film. If it's as good as Rocky Balboa and Rambo were, then I'm absolutely down with this, but that title makes it seem a little far fetched. What's he gonna do? Rapel down the Hoover Dam and plug a hole with his bicep while he waits for help?

Page and Murphy To Star in Peacock

Ellen Page (Juno, Hard Candy) and Cillian Murphy (Red Eye, Sunshine) are set to star in an upcoming film entitled Peacock for Mandate Pictures.

The psychological thriller involves Murphy's character having split personalities and Ellen Page as a young mother who holds the key to his past. She "sparks a battle between the personalities," and we can only imagine what happens from there. Filming starts in May.

Paramount Push-Backs!

Paramount has decided to move a bunch of their slated films back a few months. I don't know why, so don't bother questioning it. Here we go...

J.J. Abrams' Star Trek is moving from its initial Christmas release to a "stardate" of May 8th, 2009. Ben Stiller's summer comedy Tropic Thunder is dropping a month from July to August 15th, 2008. Scorsese's recently-renamed Shutter Island (starring one of my favorite actors, Leonardo DiCaprio) will now hit theaters on October 2nd, 2009. There are some other additional films that have been moved back - but they involve the likes of Eddie Murphy, Renee Zellweger, and the Wayans Brothers (respectively), so I won't be mentioning them here.

Pacino as Bond Villian?!

Nice hair, chief.

The fanboys over at Ain't It Cool News aren't necessarily the most reliable sort, but this rumor is too good to pass up.

They say that word leaked that Al Pacino is set to play the mastermind behind the events of Casino Royale and Quantum of Solace. Apparently, he'll have a brief cameo role in QoS and (I assume) be featured more heavily in the third movie of this rebooted franchise. I think this could be really cool if it's actually true. We all know that Pacino plays the same character in every movie anyway, so why not bring that maniacal raised voice to the role of master Bond villian? I like it.

In the meantime, check out The Solar Sentinel's recent post on the new teaser poster for the newest James Bond film, Quantum of Solace.

Legal Troubles

A lawsuit was filed yesterday against New Line Cinema by The Tolkien Trust, a foundation that manages the estate of the famous writer, and publishing company HarperCollins for $150 million dollars they claim they never received after the success of the Lord of the Rings trilogy. More importantly for fans, though, is a clause that states if The Tolkien Trust wins this case, then they can take back the rights that New Line has to make any further works based on Tolkien's writings. The most obvious implication here is that the new Hobbit movie that's supposed to be directed by Guillermo del Toro will be put on hold indefinitely until another studio can somehow acquire the rights to the project.

I've heard some pretty shady things about New Line over the last few months. The studio supposedly took a huge hit from the box office failure of The Golden Compass, and it had to push back Pride and Glory to an unconfirmed 2009 release date instead of it's initial date of next month. Pride and Glory, a cop drama in the vein of We Own The Night and The Departed, stars Edward Norton and Colin Farrell (trailer here). Farrell recently told the media that the studio is in a bad place and they "literally don't have the money to market things" after the Golden Compass debacle. We'll see what happens with the studio in the coming months, but they are going to need some sort of miracle if they are going to make it out of this mess.

In separate legal news, 20th Century Fox is suing Warner Brothers, saying they have the right to develop, produce, and distribute a "Watchmen" film. Zack Snyder (300) is already in production with his big screen version of Watchmen right now, so why is Fox just now coming out with this? Watchmen is one of the most anticipated comic book films of all time because of its legendary source material, so there's no way that Fox DIDN'T know it was in production. Jumping in now and trying to stop it seems childish and a little desperate, if you ask me. Hopefully this doesn't delay the production of Snyder's film and Fox crawls back in their hole and just sucks it up for losing the rights they once had 17 years ago. This kind of crap just pisses me off.

Ellen Page in Sam Raimi's Horror Flick

Sam Raimi, director of the Spider-Man series, is returning to his roots. His next project is a low-budget horror movie called Drag Me To Hell, and he just picked up current Hollywood "it-girl" Ellen Page to play the lead role.

I'm sure fans of Raimi's will be glad to hear that he actually wrote this script (with his brother, Ivan) back in 1992, so the movie should have the same feel as his early horror flicks like Evil Dead and Army of Darkness. This is also a good chance for Ellen Page to get back into something a little more edgy and avoid being typecast from her success in Juno. Production begins on St. Patrick's Day.

Hahaha...YES

Paramount Vantage has sent out packages to some members of the press. Inside the envelope, they sent a coupon for a free milkshake at Cold Stone and a piece of paper that says "I drink it up!"

I'm really glad that the studio that brought us There Will Be Blood is jumping on the pop culture phenomenon that it created.

Another Mortal Kombat?!?

Are you freakin' kidding me? Moviehole reports that mink (yes, he doesn't capitalize the first letter of his name) is directing a reboot of the Mortal Kombat franchise. This may be the stupidest idea I've ever heard.

Not only has that game not been relevant in 10 years, but the first two movies were SO AWFUL that they don't warrant even talking about, let alone a reboot to remind everyone about them. Here's just a little of what mink (slaps forehead) had to say: "Today's audience is a savvy involved group so the film must be 'A plus plus' in every area in order to capture the magic of the first film."

I might kill myself. "The magic of the first film?" Is THIS the magic he's talking about?





Thankfully the film is still in preproduction, so it has a chance of getting canned before it actually gets made. Dear Lord, I hope this project never sees the light of day. Oh, and by the way - mink also directed the stunningly bad 2005 Steven Segal "action" film Into the Sun.

Scorsese Will Direct A Bob Marley Doc

The next musical documentary from Scorsese will concentrate on the life of the legendary Bob Marley. Scorsese has just finished work on a Rolling Stones documentary entitled Shine A Light, and this Marley doc will be filmed using the same production team.

Ziggy Marley, Bob's oldest son, told Variety: "I am thrilled that the Marley family will finally have the opportunity to document our father's legacy and are truly honored to have Mr. Scorsese guide the journey."

I'm looking forward to this. I don't know that much about Bob Marley, so having Scorsese theatrically inform me will be a pleasure. The release date of the currently-untitled piece is February 6, 2010, which would have been Bob's 65th birthday.

Josh Brolin MAY Be The New Terminator

Strange as it sounds, Josh Brolin could take up where Arnold left off as a new Terminator when the fourth movie hits theaters.

In a recent interview, director McG (We Are Marshall, Charlie's Angels) was asked who his "dream Terminator" would be, and he mentioned Russell Crowe and Eric Bana, but grinned and said "Josh Brolin is a very exciting actor - so we'll see."

Granted, this confirms nothing (as indicated in the giant MAY in the title of this article), but at least we know that John Connor is being played by Christian Bale. There were rumors of John Connor's involvement in the film being little more than a cameo, but McG quashed those, saying that Connor "plays a major role." Terminator Salvation: The Future Begins is set for a Summer 2009 release date.

I think they've pretty much got me with Christian Bale as John Connor (perfect casting, says I), so they could have almost anyone play a Terminator and I'd still go see it. My personal suggestions? Daniel Baldwin, Jessica Biel, Brummitt, and Joel McHale. In that order.

Casey Affleck Goes Noir

2007 saw an explosion in the popularity of Casey Affleck, fueled by solid performances in TAOJJBTCRF and Gone Baby Gone. It would seem that this work has paid off for the actor, since Variety now reports that he is set to star in a 1930's-set film noir entitled The Kind One.

"[The story] centers on an amnesiac (Affleck) who finds himself working for a mobster - a sadistic killer given the nickname 'the Kind One' - and falling in love with the thug's girlfriend."

The movie will be based on a recently released novel written by Tom Epperson, who will direct the film as soon as the strike ends.

Amy Adams in Night at the Museum Sequel

Amy Adams, most known for her role in Disney's Enchanted, has signed on to be a part of the newest Night at the Museum movie alongside Ben Stiller.

Variety says her character will play an "undetermined historical figure" who has a crush on Ben Stiller's character. The plot revolves around artifacts from the museum being shipped to the Smithsonian and Ben Stiller's night guard character somehow goes along with them, only to discover chaos once again. Director Shawn Levy returns for the sequel.

(Sorry, it was a slow news day.)

Venom Spin-Off?

According to ISEB, Marvel Studios has met with "several A-list writers" to prepare a Venom spin-off film. Keep in mind that Marvel Studios is one of many recently to make interim deals with the WGA, which translates into them getting to work on this as quickly as possible without having to wait for the strike to end.

I'm a fan of Venom, but I think they covered all the bases in Spider-Man 3. The competition Eddie Brock has with Peter at the Daily Bugle, the belltower scene, all of that: they already did it, so how can they make an entire spin-off movie about it? Granted, one of Spider-Man 3's main problems was they threw in one too many villains, so they could have fleshed out the details a little more with Venom, but I feel like they've already talked about everything that's worthy to mention with this character. And with Spider-Man 4 now in the works, are they going to try to compete with that film over who gets Carnage as a villain? Let's hope not. Keep in mind, no one has been hired yet, so this project still has the possibility of completely falling through.

Spidey 4 Has Found A Writer

Stop the presses - the announcement some of you have been waiting for is here. Spider-Man 4 is now officially in motion. James Vanderbilt, screenwriter of the 2007 sleeper Zodiac, has signed on to write for the film that doesn't have a director or stars attached to it yet. Here's what he said:

"I went in on that. I really loved the films," Vanderbilt said. "It's sort of an odd process because you're sitting down with the people who made the first three and going, 'Well, let me tell you what to do.'

"But I was lucky enough that they were interested in me and I'm a huge fan of those movies, so we closed that up right before the strike. Once the strike's over I get to go to work," he added.

Expect casting and director news after the strike ends.

Across The Hall To Be Feature Length

In 2006, a director named Alex Merkin made a short film called Across The Hall that was a 25 minute tale of deception, betrayal, love, and desperation. Adrian Grenier (from Entourage) played the main character. Now, Merkin has been given the greenlight to extend his short film into a feature length movie, this time starring Mike Vogel (Cloverfield) and Brittany Murphy. I'm looking forward to this because I've seen his original short - and it's really well done. I posted it below, so if you've got a little time to kill, check 'em out. NOTE: I think the third movie posted is actually the true ending to the film, which makes slightly more sense than the abrupt ending of the second video. You might have to jump ahead a little in the third video so you don't watch the same thing twice, but whatever.

Big Thunder Mountain Movie On The Way?

Are you kidding me? Is Disney going to make ALL of its rides into movies? That same movie guy who knew about the National Treasure sequels is saying that Disney registered more domain names recently: BigThunderMountainMovie.com, ThunderMountainMovie.com, BigThunderMountain-Movie.com, and ThunderMountain-Movie.com. This is getting ridiculous.

No plot details are known yet, but one can only guess it'll be a rip-roarin' ride through mine shafts and train stations on a search for gold in the Arizona desert. It's a pity Brer Rabbit won't be there to enjoy the ride. Maybe that'll happen in 2017 when Splash Mountain - The Movie finally comes out.*

The Haunted Mansion, the Pirates franchise, The Country Bears, the Tower of Terror made-for-TV film, that Jungle Cruise movie they had in development - seriously, Disney: WTF?

*As far as I know, there is NOT a Splash Mountain movie in development...yet.

More National Treasure To Be Found

Disney registered two domain names yesterday - NationalTreasure3DVD.com and NationalTreasure4DVD.com. This can (pretty much) only mean that back to back sequels are in the works.

National Treasure 2 (which I found to be extremely sub-par and nowhere near the coolness of the original) has already made $365 million worldwide even though it was released a paltry six weeks ago. Impressive. When money like that is being made, it's a good bet the studios will be salivating for a sequel (or two, apparently).

There's a movie guy who seems to know a lot about the inner-workings of Disney, and he says he knows an early plot summary of NT 3:

“which would supposedly send the Gates family off to Easter Island and beyond in search of Atlantis. More importantly, the pure, clean power source that was supposedly lost forever when this ancient civilization sank beneath the sea. Which — were it to be harnessed today — would immediately put an end to global warming. Not to mention making gas & oil obsolete.”

Dear Lord - if the second one was as bad as it was, I can't imagine three and four being any good. Hopefully Jerry Bruckheimer can get his act together and produce a quality film again.