- Rumours abound of a sequel to Pixar’s Cars. Please, NO! Cars was their first genuinely average film, so please don’t subject us to more. Continue cranking out original concepts for us in defiance of Hollywood rules, I implore you!
- The teaser trailer for The Dark Knight is announced as debuting before The Simpsons Movie, with a probable screening at Warner Bros’ panel at Comicon on the same day. OH YES!!!
- Michael Moore suggests that his next documentary will take on right-wing Christian anti-gay nutjobs – YEAH!!!
- David Duchovny again mentions that a new X-Files movie is forthcoming. He is supposedly receiving a script next month and filming will begin in November for a summer 2008 release – woah! If true, that’s fairly late to announce a summer release date in this day and age. And I maintain that any new X-Files movie will be a big flop. I honestly can’t see why Fox would greenlight it. Even the original, released at the height of X-Files fever, only grossed $137 million. Maybe it’ll be lower-budget or something so that it can turn a profit. Still, I’ll be amazed if this even gets made.
- A Young Ace Ventura movie has been announced. Oh please GOD!
- Director of South African flick Tsotsi and the upcoming Rendition, Gavin Hood, is announced as director of the Wolverine solo film. Bizarre choice, but an encouraging one, as Fox finally remembers that going to a proper filmmaker pays the best dividends for superhero flicks (except for Superman Returns).
- Alex Proyas is reportedly being courted for a Silver Surfer solo flick. Is this just old word that predates FF2’s mediocre box-office performance and has only now surfaced, or is this still a possibility? I’d be very surprised if Proyas did another Fox film after complaining bitterly about his experience with them making I, Robot.
- In other Proyas news, the long-mooted Dark City Director’s Cut is still coming, with a reportedly greater overhaul than anyone expected, including new effects. Hmm...
- Knocked Up star and Judd Apatow rep player Seth Rogen is announced as writer of The Green Hornet with partner Evan Goldberg, which will adapt of the radio series and TV show that starred a then-unknown Bruce Lee. Kevin Smith was previously attached but backed out in fear of the massive directorial challenge. Rogen may even star as the Hornet, and he wants Kung Fu Hustle director and star Stephen Chow to appear as Kato. What a strange project.
- Avi Arad confirms that Hilary Swank and Samuel L. Jackson are cameoing in Iron Man, lamenting that the secret is out, particularly since Jackson’s appearance as Nick Fury was supposed to be “the biggest secret of all”. While it will only get fanboys and audiences more pumped for the film, it’s a shame that we couldn’t have found out on screen as we were supposed to.
- Matt Damon says that he’s not up for the Kirk role in Star Trek XI, and that they are casting younger, around 20-ish.
- Several rock-solid Watchmen rumours appear in quick succession, including Jackie Earle Haley confirmed as Rorschach (great choice), Matthew Goode as Ozymandias, and the relatively unknown Malin Akerman as Laurie, known only for a couple of token blonde roles in Harold and Kumar Go to White Castle and Entourage. The word is that Zack Snyder has been forced to accept a reduced budget, which perhaps priced Jude Law out of the film (although he’s such a huge fan that I’d have thought he’d do it for virtually nothing – the guy even has a Rorschach tattoo). Snyder’s pledged to use the limitation as an asset to force him to be more creative, but the casting of Akerman is a little concerning. She hasn’t shown any particular aptitude in her roles thus far. Did she sufficiently wow Snyder in her audition that he’d be comfortably pairing her with Crudup and Wilson? Or has he been forced to eat studio shit? Regardless, we’ll know for sure at Comicon, although if they are true, all the major casting has now been leaked. Hopefully the panel will yield some new info though.
- Rome’s Ray Stevenson is pseudo-announced by the very-reliable Latino Review as the new Frank Castle in the Punisher sequel (they also broke the Akerman story and other sites are taking both stories as rote). Stevenson’s a great choice, and suits Castle’s age and demeanour far more than Thomas Jane. Hopefully director Lexi Alexander (Green St Hooligans) will deliver a more satisfying instalment than the panned original. I wonder if this one will ignore the first film like The Incredible Hulk is….
- Todd McFarlane continues to talk up a new Spawn film, hinting that he’ll even finance it himself if need be. That may actually get it released, as a studio could acquire it for a song, since they certainly won’t develop one on their own. Superheroes may be huge at the moment, but Spawn is utterly a product of the 90s. Despite a recent Vertigo-esque revamp of the comic that has drawn good reviews, the world has largely moved on.
- Disturbia director DJ Caruso and writer Carl Ellsworth are announced as helming a film version of Brian K. Vaughan and Pia Guerra’s stunning Vertigo series Y: The Last Man for New Line. Considering that Disturbia star Shia LaBeouf has been publicly keen on the role, this news joins quite a few dots. Don’t be surprised if LaBeouf is announced as the star. There could be worse Yoricks, and he’s got charisma to spare. If Yorick’s distinctive sense of humour is preserved in the script, he could be ideal.
- Oh my god!!! Southland Tales has a release date! It’ll bow on November 9. Who knows how it’ll do, but at least it’s coming out. A trailer should be here soon.
- Check out the spectacular 3:10 to Yuma poster. In an age of one-sheets that merely group headshots together, it’s refreshing to see such an elegantly designed piece of promotion.
- After the commercial flop of Equilibrium and the every-aspect-flop of Ultraviolet, Kurt Wimmer could be crawling back with the sale of a spec script to Columbia with Terry George (Hotel Rwanda, the upcoming Reservation Road) in talks to direct and Tom Cruise up for starring. Edwin A. Salt is about a CIA operative accused of being a Russian sleeper agent by a defector.
- Bryan Singer’s Valkyrie begins filming in Berlin, and my colossal scepticism about Tom Cruise playing this part was alleviated significantly by this comparison shot of the real Von Stauffenberg and Cruise in the hair and makeup he’ll wear for filming. Spooky, huh? If he can do a decent accent this might not be so inappropriate. The release date is confirmed as August 8, 2008.
- HBO renews Big Love for a third season. No word yet on John from Cincinnati, which started a week earlier…
- Another week, another potential Ridley Scott project. Scott Free Productions acquires the rights to a trilogy of vampire novels by Jordan Ainsley that begins with The Passage. This guy sold the trilogy to Ballantine for $3.75 million based solely on a 400-page partial manuscript and an outline. The first book doesn’t even come out until summer 2009. The film rights are already sold. Bastard….
- Naomi Watts joins Clive Owen on Tom Tykwer’s The International.
- In a charming display of consumer contempt, Warner Home Video announces on the bare-bones Zodiac DVD that a 2-disc director’s cut with numerous special features will be released in 2008. Bet everyone who bought that felt VERY grateful.
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