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Movies | Homepage

Lionsgate to Distribute The Last Exorcism

Variety reports that Lionsgate has picked up the U.S. distribution rights to the horror film The Last Exorcism. The film is shot in cinema verite style and was produced by Eli Roth and Strike Entertainment.
Helmed by German director and AFI grad Daniel Stamm, pic was originally titled "Cotton" and stars Patrick Fabian as a troubled evangelical minister who allows his final exorcism to be filmed by a documentary crew.

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Project, which shot in Louisiana, has had horror fan sites salivating for months at the prospect of a scary, shaky-cam-style film shepherded by "Hostel" helmer Roth.

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"It's always great to work with our friend Eli, who has played a key role in establishing Lionsgate in the vanguard of the horror genre," said Jason Constantine, Lionsgate's prexy of acquisitions and co-productions. "'The Last Exorcism' feels as close to a real exorcism as anyone would ever want to get -- audiences are going to find this movie scary as, well, hell."
Horror movies are hot acquisitions now, especially if the budgets aren't too big.

Posted on February 11, 2010
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Trailer Snip: M. Night Shyamalan's The Last Airbender

The full trailer for M. Night Shyamalan's The Last Airbender will air during the Superbowl. Here's a very small clip from the trailer -- it's too short to judge much of anything, but the special effects and sets look awesome. Take a look:



Posted on February 4, 2010
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Avatar, District 9 Nominated for Best Picture Oscar

Screenshots from Avatar and District 9


For the first time ever, two science fiction films have been nominated for the Best Picture Oscar. Both Avatar and District are nominated in that category. Avatar is up for nine awards, including Best Director for James Cameron. It did not receive any nominations for acting or writing, however. District 9 also received nominations for Best Adapted Screenplay, Film Editing and Visual Effects. Star Trek received nominations for Sound Mixing, Sound Editing, Makeup and Visual Effects.

Coraline, the film based on the bestselling book by Neil Gaiman, is nominated for Best Animated Film. Director Henry Selick said of the nomination: "It's nice to be taken seriously."

You can see the full list of Oscar nominations here.

Posted on February 2, 2010
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Avatar Now Highest Grossing Film of All Time

James Cameron's Avatar topped the box office again this past weekend. The film is now the highest grossing film of all time, beating out James Cameron's Titanic. Variety reports:
Fox said final figures won't be available until Tuesday, but with weekend numbers for "Avatar" totaling $1.838 billion worldwide, pic's expected $15 million domestic earnings should give the pic enough steam to sail past "Titanic" with a global cume of $1.842 billion.

This latest record comes just after "Avatar" made history over the weekend, grossing $1.29 billion at the international B.O. to tackle "Titanic's" $1.24 billion.
Cameron is now the only man in Hollywood that could get pretty much anything he wants greenlighted. He seems happy about the idea of an Avatar sequel and with these box office numbers, it's pretty much inevitable.

Posted on January 25, 2010
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Trailer for Iron Man 2

The new trailer for Iron Man 2 is out and it looks great. Robert Downey, Jr. returns as Tony Stark/Iron Man and Gwyneth Paltrow is Tony's loyal assistant, Pepper Potts. Mickey Roarke is clearly having the time of his life wielding dual bullwhips in his role as the new villain, Ivan Vanko/Whiplash. We only see a bit of Scarlett Johansson is Natasha Romanoff/Black Widow in the trailer. Don Cheadle replaces Terrence Howard as Col. James 'Rhodey' Rhodes/War Machine. Take a look:



Posted on December 17, 2009
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Avatar Racks Up Four Golden Globe Nominations

The Hollywood Foreign Press Association showed some real love for James Cameron's Avatar. The Golden Globe nominations were announced yesterday and Avatar raked in the nominations.

James Cameron was nominated for Best Director. The film was nominated for Best Picture - Drama. James Horner was nominated for Best Original Score. And the film got a Best Original Song nod for "I See You," music by: James Horner and Simon Franglen, lyrics By: James Horner, Simon Franglen and Kuk Harrell.

Interestingly, the none of Avatar's actors received nominations, nor did the screenplay get nominated. Early reviews say Avatar is visually stunning, but that the script is the weakest part of the film.

Posted on December 16, 2009
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Creature From the Black Lagoon Remake Being Considered

Creature from the Black Lagoon


Variety reports that Universal Pictures and Carl Erik Rinsch are talking about a Creature From the Black Lagoon remake.
Strike Entertainment's Marc Abraham and Eric Newman will produce with Gary Ross.

Deal would be the second big U picture for Rinsch, who will make his feature directing debut on "47 Ronin," the epic samurai swordsmen tale that takes place in 18th century Japan, and is set to star Keanu Reeves. That picture is expected to begin production next year.
We will see if they are able to remake Creature From the Black Lagoon without it being campy. 47 Ronin with Keanu Reeves certainly sounds appealing.

Posted on December 14, 2009
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Universal Soldier Returns

Fans of the classic SF Jean Claude Van Damme film Universal Soldier will be thrilled to know that there will be a new film in the series, which will star Jean Claude and Dolph Lundren. The new film is called Universal Soldier: Regeneration which certainly explains how Dolph Lundren's character is returning. The film will go straight-to-DVD. Alas, Roland Emmerich won't be back to direct. But who cares? Take a look:



Posted on November 27, 2009
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Captain Nemo Movie Dead in the Water

Variety's Mike Fleming reports that the Captain Nemo movie which was to be directed by McG is dead in the water at Disney. The film has been put on hold and McG has moved onto other projects.
The studio confirmed that the studio won't proceed with the film for now, and reps for the director confirmed he has withdrawn. McG will concentrate on other projects that include Dead Spy Running, a Warner Bros. drama that Stephen Gaghan is writing. McG is also attached to Terminator 5, though that movie is on hold indefinitely as the Terminator franchise works its way through bankruptcy court. McG just teamed with Borat helmer Larry Charles on a new NBC comedy.

McG, who last directed Terminator Salvation, had been attached to Captain Nemo: 20,000 Leagues Under the Sea since last January. The Bill Marsilli-scripted pic is an origin story about how Nemo constructed his warship, the Nautilus.
No one had been cast as Captain Nemo, although Will Smith was rumored to be up for the part.

Posted on November 17, 2009
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Video Clip: The Road Starring Viggo Mortensen and Charlize Theron

The film version of Cormac McCarthy's post-apocalyptic tale The Road stars Viggo Mortensen and Charlize Theron. Viggo's character and his son set out on a journey towards a better life after the apocalypse comes. Their hellish road trip is filled with all kinds of horrors, including being chased by gangs of cannibals. It's not light reading. In this clip we see a bit of the man's life with his wife before the tragedy hit. Take a look:



Posted on November 16, 2009
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DreamWorks to Adapt Ghost in the Shell

Ghost in the Shell


DreamWorks has hired Laeta Kalogridis (Shutter Island) to write a screenplay based on Ghost in the Shell. Variety reports that plans are for a live-action 3D film. The manga series is a futuristic thriller about a covert cyborg police which specializes in fighting technology-related crimes. You can read more about the manga series here.

Posted on October 25, 2009
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James Cameron, Benevolent Tyrant

The New Yorker has a long piece about director James Cameron and his tyrannical ways on the set of his new SF film, Avatar.
The director James Cameron is six feet two and fair, with paper-white hair and turbid blue-green eyes. He is a screamer—righteous, withering, aggrieved. "Do you want Paul Verhoeven to finish this motherf*****?" he shouted, an inch from Arnold Schwarzenegger’s face, after the actor went AWOL from the set of True Lies, a James Bond spoof that Cameron was shooting in Washington, D.C. (Schwarzenegger had been giving the other actors a tour of the Capitol.)

Cameron has mastered every job on set, and has even been known to grab a brush out of a makeup artist's hand. "I always do makeup touch-ups myself, especially for blood, wounds, and dirt," he says. "It saves so much time." His evaluations of others' abilities are colorful riddles. "Hiring you is like firing two good men," he says, or "Watching him light is like watching two monkeys f*** a football." A small, loyal band of cast and crew works with him repeatedly; they call the dark side of his personality Mij--Jim backward.
Mij -- he sounds kind of like Sybil, only he only has two different personalities. Avatar has had so much hype that we are really wondering if it can really live up to the colossal expectations. It is costing around $230 million to make and will hit theaters on December 18. We can't wait to see it, of course.

Posted on October 19, 2009
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Roland Emmerich Talks Asimov's Foundation

Sci Fi Wire reports that Roland Emmerich (2010) will direct the film version of Isaac Asimov's Foundation trilogy. And he promises not to ruin it.
Emmerich says the challenge facing him and screenwriter Robert Rodat (Saving Private Ryan) is finding a throughline for the film. "There's not one character going through, so Bob Rodat came to me and said, 'I'm like a fanatic reader of ... Foundation,' and I ... talked with him. ... He said, 'We have to consolidate the characters.' And that's what we did, and that's what's worked really, really well in the context. And I think that if Asimov ... would have ... conceived this as a science fiction trilogy or series from the very beginning, he would have done that, too. But he didn't. ... I think in spirit [the movie is] totally Foundation, but it has consolidated characters which go through the three movies."

Rodat keeps promising to deliver the script to Emmerich soon, the director said. "He kind of keeps calling me and saying, 'It's fantastic, Roland! I've never written such a good script.' And I say, 'Well, maybe you should send it to me so I can, like, read [it]?' ... I love him, he's a great, great guy. But I think I get it soon. He promised me, ... he said, like, before 2012 comes out [on Nov. 13]. I said, 'Oh, that's good.'"

In an exclusive interview, Emmerich talked about what inspired him about the series. "Well, it's the same thing that Asimov was inspired by," he said. "Just the downfall of a great civilization and how you can stop it. And you cannot stop it, it's just inherent. ... As a civilization crumbles, it falls."
Emmerich said that he knows fans of Asimov hated the film version of I, Robot and that he is respectful of the material. He says he's a total sf geek and has always preferred science fiction movies to disaster movies (which he is most famous for). We'll be interested to see what Emmerich comes up with.

Posted on October 14, 2009
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Star Trek Movie Blooper Reel

Here's some of the blooper reel from the Star Trek movie. It's really funny. This will be on the upcoming DVD release of the film. Do wait around until you hear Zachary Quinto's inappropriate Irish accent. Take a look:



Posted on October 12, 2009
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Summit to Reboot Highlander Franchise

Summit, the producer of the Twilight films, is going to reboot the Highlander films. No, really.
Summit Entertainment is going to reboot the popular Highlander film franchise by handing the reins to Justin Lin, director of Fast & Furious. He will direct from a script to be written by Iron Man writers Art Marcum and Matt Holloway.

The reboot will reportedly deal with an immortal Scottish swordsman who must confront a murderously brutal barbarian, who lusts for a fabled prize (or Prize?). Unclear how much, if any, of the previous franchise's mythology will figure into the reboot.
We can't even imagine how this is going to sort out. But the Highlander films have a long and troubled history. The TV series became the best part of the franchise, mostly due to Adrian Paul's portrayal of Duncan McCloud.

Posted on September 22, 2009
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Harrison Ford Ready For Fifth Indiana Jones Movie

Indiana Jones Bridge Scene


Access Hollywood reports that Harrison Ford says he is ready for a fifth Indiana Jones movie if the script is good. He says the story for the fifth movie is already taking shape.
"The story for the new 'Indiana Jones' is in the process of taking form," Harrison told France's Le Figaro, as reported by People.

The 67-year-old actor reportedly told the mag that another movie all depends on the script.

"Steven Spielberg, George Lucas and myself are agreed on what the fifth adventure will concern, and George is actively at work," he said. "If the script is good, I'll be very happy to put the costume on again."
We are also ready for a fifth Indiana Jones film and a sixth and a seventh if possible. Critics attacked the last film, but it was very entertaining.

Posted on September 14, 2009
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Tron Legacy Gets Release Date

Tron: Legacy has a release date now: it's December 17, 2010. That's a bit earlier than expected. Reelzchannel says that weekend will also see the opening of The Green Hornet and The Smurfs.
Green Hornet was recently pushed back into the December 17 slot, and considering Sony owns both Hornet and The Smurfs, it's likely that one might be moved to another weekend.

Tron: Legacy is the sequel to the 1982's Tron, which starred Jeff Bridges as a computer programmer sucked into a video game to fight the master control program. Legacy will follow Bridges's son (Garrett Hedlund) as he is sucked into the video game to fight the program alongside his father.
We can't wait to see Tron: Legacy. Putting it up against The Green Hornet seems unwise, although we'll take Tron over Seth Rogan playing a superhero any day.

Posted on September 8, 2009
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Wild Rumor of the Day: Justin Timberlake Will Star in New Battlestar Galactica Movie

Photo of Justin Timberlake


JustJared.com reports that Justin Timberlake just had lunch with Bryan Singer, who is going to direct and produce the film version of Battlestar Galactica. Jared thinks that Justin may get a part in the film, which is just mind-boggling.

But hey, why stop there? How about Lady Gaga as a Cylon, Beyonce as Commander Adama (in a bit of gender bending) and Britney Spears as the new Starbuck? It's Hollywood. It could happen.

(Photo: Screenshot from Justin Timberlake's new Givenchy fragrance ad)

Posted on August 14, 2009
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Rain is the Ninja Assassin

Korean pop star Rain plays one of the deadliest assassins in the world in his new movie, Ninja Assassin. Rain play Raizo, who was taken from the streets as a child and turned into a killer by a secret society called the Ozunu Clan. When he is betrayed, he ends up on the run looking for vengeance. Works for us. Take a look:



Posted on August 1, 2009
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Video: Kristen Bell Talks Astro Boy and the Veronica Mars Movie

Entertainment Weekly's Michael Ausiello talks to Kristen Bell and Freddie Highmore about their next film, Astro Boy. Kristen is an old hand at Comic Con, so she talks about cons gone by and the status of the proposed Veronica Mars movie. She says they want to make it, but they have to convince Warner Bros to make the film. Take a look:



Posted on July 24, 2009
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An American Werewolf in London to be Remade



Dimension Films is remaking An American Werewolf in London. Sean and Bryan Furst will produce the remake of the 1981 movie which starred David Naughton, Griffin Dunne and Jenny Agutter.
Pic, which won an Oscar for makeup, centers on a college student going on a rampage after surviving an attack by a werewolf on a Yorkshire moor. The Furst brothers produced "Daybreakers," a pic set in a world conquered by vampires and to be released in January.
There is no writer, no director and no one has been cast in the film. John Landis, who wrote the original horror comedy classic, will executive produce and consult on the project.

Posted on June 30, 2009
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Another Transformers 2 Trailer

As the U.S. premiere date of Transformers 2: Revenge of the Fallen approaches, the studio is releasing more trailers. Here's the latest one. The film opens in wide release on June 24. Take a look:



Posted on June 15, 2009
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Finding the Easter Eggs in the Star Trek Movie

Trekmovie.com has compiled a list of all the inside jokes, Easter eggs and other references in the J.J. Abrams Star Trek movie. R2D2 even made an appearance in the film -- which we totally missed.
R2-D2 LOCATION ANSWER (**SPOILER ALERT**)

During the Drill Machine sequence as the Enterprise comes out of its barrel role amidst destruction of the other Federation ships above Vulcan, we cut to an interior Enterprise bridge over the shoulder of Kirk that is looking out through the front viewscreen. In space, R2-D2 is floating in the debris from about the top middle of the screen to the bottom right.
See the rest of the list here. We did catch most of those, but not all.

Posted on June 11, 2009
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Leaked Avatar Concept Art

Avatar Concept Art


Above is some leaked concept art for James Cameron's 3-D adventure Avatar. It is impressive looking. If you look closer at the art on Marketsaw - which warns of spoilers - you can see a man inside the huge robotic exoskeleton (power suit).

(via Vulture)

Posted on May 31, 2009
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The Onion Takes Aim at Star Trek

The Onion pokes a bit of fun at hard core Star Trek fans with its report on J.J. Abrams' reboot of the series, which opens with screenings tonight. Take a look:


Trekkies Bash New Star Trek Film As 'Fun, Watchable'


Posted on May 7, 2009
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Stiller's Clone Comedy Gets Another Look

Hollywood Reporter says the Used Guys script is getting another look. The film was originally supposed to star Jim Carrey and Ben Stiller and was about two no longer needed pleasure clones in a world run by women. Fox pulled the plug on the version. Hollywood Reporter says the new version of the film starring Ben Stiller and Reese Witherspoon will focus more on the relationship between the clone (Stiller) and the clone's owner (Witherspoon).
The current take at Fox focuses more on the relationship between Stiller's character and Witherspoon's clone owner. Roach will remain a producer on the project along with Stiller's Red Hour Films.

Dave Guion and Michael Handelman ("The Ex") wrote the Roach-Carrey version of the project, which was to co-star Emily Mortimer, based on an original draft by Mickey Birnbaum. The film had a start date of June 11, 2006, and a release date of June 15, 2007.

But in May 2006, as the project was entering preproduction, Fox pulled the plug on it as too costly an enterprise, with a $112 million budget and Roach, Stiller and Carrey reportedly accounting for 27% of the backend profits. At the time, the studio portrayed the decision as merely a delay because of the stars' scheduling conflicts
We hope this version is good. The Stiller-Carrey version sounded like it could have been funny.

Posted on May 5, 2009
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Cast Reveals Whether They Are Star Trek Fans

During press interviews the cast and director of Star Trek were asked if they were Star Trek fans before they signed on to do the movie. Only John Cho and Karl Urban give appropriate answers. The rest are horrifying. Also, J.J. Abrams explains the whole William Shatner debacle. Take a look:



Posted on April 29, 2009
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Eric McCormack Talks Alien Trespass

Eric McCormack Urp


Will & Grace star Eric McCormack plays an astronomer possessed by an alien in the film, Alien Trespass. The movie spoofs science fiction movies from the 50s. McCormack talked to New York Magazine about what is was like playing Urp.
I think my first instinct was to make him more alien, sounding like Mr. Spock, and [writer-director R.W. Goodwin] wanted more innocence — like a lilting, childlike inflection. So the image I used was that Urp is on another planet and has to steal a vehicle. And that vehicle happens to be my body. So the walk, the hands, the voice, and of course the erection that keeps happening, those were all just somebody trying to understand a machine that it needs to get around.
Here's a trailer. It looks hilarious. Alien Trespass opened in limited theatres on April 3rd.



Posted on April 6, 2009
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The Trailer for Wall-E, Done Watchmen Style

What if the trailer for Wall-E was done Watchmen style? Well, for one thing, it certainly makes Wall-E seem like a very different kind of movie than the one we saw. It's pretty funny, take a look:



Posted on March 25, 2009
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Sorcerer's Apprentice Gets a Release Date

Disney has set a release date for the family film, The Sorcerer's Apprentice. The film will be released on July 16, 2010. Jerry Bruckheimer is producing.
Also on Thursday, Warner Bros. made additions and changes to its 2009 calendar. Studio will open James McTeigue's "Ninja Assassin," instead of horror pic "The Box," on Nov. 25, with "The Box" now bowing Oct. 30. Studio originally intended to open "Ninja" in 2010. Dating of "Sorcerer's Apprentice" gives the Mouse House three event pics in summer 2010. The other two are "Prince of Persia: The Sands of Time" (May 28) and "Toy Story 3" (July 18).

Jon Turteltaub is directing the live-action pic, based on the famed "Sorcerer's Apprentice" segment in Disney's "Fantasia." Modern-day update stars Nicolas Cage and Jay Baruchel. Lensing begins this month.
They say it's based on the Sorcerer's Apprentice section of Fantasia (which is based on the Goethe poem about the apprentice who gets in over his head with magic). So how does Jerry Bruckheimer approach this kind of source material? We're thinking there will be lots of exploding brooms and perhaps some exciting chase scenes around sorcerer's workshop.

Posted on March 23, 2009
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Mickey Roarke to Play Villain in Iron Man 2

Mickey Roarke has signed on to play the Russian villain in Iron Man 2. There had been rumors of Roarke's involvement, but reportedly the pay they offered him was so low it was embarrassing. Then Roarke was nominated for an Oscar and won a Golden Globe for his turn in The Wrestler. So Robert Downey, Jr. -- who knows a thing or two about being given a second chance in life -- took matters into his own hands.
While his ICM rep, David Unger, battled for more dough, Rourke's encounters with "Iron Man" star Robert Downey Jr. on the awards circuit sealed his participation in the film. Rourke won the Golden Globe and was Oscar nominated for "The Wrestler" and Downey got Golden Globe and Oscar nominations for "Tropic Thunder," so Downey used each occasion to recruit Rourke.

When Downey, Rourke as well as actors including Frank Langella and Anne Hathaway took part in a roundtable discussion with Newsweek's David Ansen, Downey interrupted the proceedings, reached across the table and flat out asked Rourke to do "Iron Man 2." Rourke also met with Jon Favreau and scribe Justin Theroux and got to be part of the development of his character. He'll play Whiplash, a character that includes elements from that comicbook villain and Crimson Dynamo, another Russian baddie.
Marvel won't confirm the casting, but Variety says it's a done deal and that Roarke is getting a decent paycheck. Scarlett Johansson is said to be the favorite so far to play the Black Widow.

Posted on March 11, 2009
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Christopher Nolan to Direct Inception

Batman director Christopher Nolan has signed on to direct Inception, a sf action thriller for which Nolan is writing the screenplay. That means no sequel to The Dark Knight for at least two years.
The sci-fi action film "set within the architecture of the mind" aims to begin shooting this summer and hit theaters in summer 2010, according to studio. In case anyone's forgotten, Knight was a box-office monster, scoring the second-highest gross of all time. Additionally, deceased star Heath Ledger has scored a Best Supporting Actor prize in nearly every awards show this season, with only the Oscars to go.

Batman lovers should be used to exercising patience, though. Three years passed between the first Christian Bale-fronted venture, 2005's Batman Begins, and last year's The Dark Knight. During that span Nolan released the fantasy thriller The Prestige, starring Bale and Hugh Jackman as rival magicians.
It's never a good idea to go too long between sequels, but two years isn't a terrible lag.

Posted on February 11, 2009
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Orlando Bloom to Star in The Cross

Orlando Bloom has signed on to play the lead in The Cross which will be directed by Andrew Niccol (Lord of War). The SF adventure film will also star Olga Kurylenko from Quantum of Solace and Vincent Cassel.
Set in a border town, "Cross" returns Niccol -- Oscar-nommed for writing "The Truman Show" -- to his favorite domain: the near future. Bloom plays a man seeking to cross a mysterious border, something no one else has achieved; Cassel limns the guard who will go to any lengths to foil him. Kurylenko takes the femme lede.
Pre-production has already started and the filming will begin this July in Australia.

Posted on February 6, 2009
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The New Star Trek Trailer Stars...Will Ferrell?

SputnikAnimation has created a new Star Trek trailer, only this one stars images and voices of Will Ferrell, Vince Vaughn, Stephen Colbert and Samuel L. Jackson. We're ready to see this movie. Take a look:



Posted on January 30, 2009
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Lara Croft May Return to the Big Screen

Lara Croft has been on plenty of missions in the video game world but she hasn't been on the big screen since 2003. The Hollywood Reporter says the film series may soon get a reboot.
Warners Bros. and producer Dan Lin are in early development on a a reboot of "Tomb Raider," the popular video game action franchise.

"Tomb Raider," which was published in 1996 by a London-based video game company called Eidos, was a wildly popular game that involved the daredevil archaeologist Lara Croft on a series of global missions. Several spinoff games have been published since, with a 10th-anniversary edition of the game released in 2006.

Paramount previously made the two movies based on the game, but the rights have since reverted to Eidos. When Time Warner upped its stake to 19.92% in Eidos in December, films rights to the property were included as part of the deal.

Lin will produce the project via his Lin Pictures banner while Stephen Gilchrist will co-produce; Ian Livingstone of Eidos will exec produce. Matt Reilly is overseeing for Warners. Lin is the producer behind Warners' upcoming Guy Ritchie-directed update of "Sherlock Holmes" and the adventure film "Jonny Quest."
The Hollywood Reporter says planning for the film is still in its early stages and an actress to play the Lara Croft role won't be named until a writer and director are attached to the project.

British gymanst Alison Carroll is currently the face of Lara Croft's video games. Take a look:



Posted on January 28, 2009
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Roland Emmerich to Direct Film Based on Asimov's Foundation

FoundationVariety reports that Roland Emmerich is being given the opportunity to direct a film based on Isaac Asimov's Foundation after Columbia won screen rights to the film in an auction.
Emmerich and his Centropolis partner Michael Wimer will produce the film. The deal was mid six-figures against low seven figures.

Originally published as a series of eight short stories in Astounding Magazine beginning in 1942, "Foundation" is a complex saga about humans who are scattered on planets throughout the galaxy, living under the rule of the Galactic Empire.

A psycho-historian who can scientifically read the future sees an imminent empire collapse, and sets to work preparing to save the knowledge of mankind.

The emergence of Sony and Emmerich at the controls of "Foundation" is a surprise development, and one that owes at least a bit to the animosity between Warner Bros. and Fox over "Watchmen."
Emmerich also has a film that's supposed to be coming out this summer. It's the mega disaster movie, 2012, which will be out July, 2009.

Posted on January 16, 2009
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Ian McKellan Talks The Hobbit

Ian McKellan told reporters that he definitely will be involved in The Hobbit film. He was just heading off to dinner with director Guillermo del Toro.
"I'm having supper with Guillermo del Toro this evening," McKellan said in a group interview on Jan. 8 in Universal City, Calif. "You're asking me about 12 hours too early."

Preproduction on The Hobbit is underway. "I've been promised I am [going to be involved]," McKellan said while promoting his upcoming AMC miniseries The Prisoner. "And as Guillermo del Toro's directing it, I should be so lucky. And in New Zealand, a place I love, so it's almost an ideal job for me."

Though it may have been too long since McKellan's last book report to quote specific passages from The Hobbit, he still can't wait to speak wizard again. "He's got the best lines, hasn't he?" McKellan asked.
We can't wait to see McKellan reprise his role as the wizard Gandalf once again.

Posted on January 9, 2009
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Garrett Hedlund and the Tron Conundrum

Photo of Garrett Hedlund


Tron fans are not happy with the casting of newcomer Garrett Hedlund as the lead in the new Tron movie. We don't understand why he was cast, either. We tried slapping his head on one of the old Tron costumes, but it's still not working for us. Maybe he gave an amazing audition? And really, so long as it's not Shia LaBeouf, we're willing to wait and see.

Posted on January 8, 2009
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New Photos From Transformers 2

Screen shot from Transformers 2


New photos are out from the set of Tranformers 2: Revenge of the Fallen, starring Shia LaBeouf and Megan Fox. You can see all the new photos here. Shia LaBeouf just had the second surgery on his hand to help restore full function after his car crash earlier this year. His bandaged hand was written into the film: he had the first surgery while the film was still in production.

The film is set for a June 26, 2009 release.

Posted on December 30, 2008
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Frank Miller Meets Buck Rogers

Frank Miller wants to bring Buck Rogers back to the silver screen.
Miller will write and direct his own big-screen take on the comic serial; while the creator has only begun to sketch ideas, it's expected to be a darker take, with many of Miller's signature visual elements and themes, such as corruption and redemption.

It's likely to be a priority project for Miller, though he has been mulling a Sin City sequel.
Frank Miller doing a remake of Buck Rogers is a very interesting proposition. Will it have that Spirit/Sin City look? Will Josh Hartnett be Buck? The mind boggles.

Posted on December 19, 2008
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The Day the Earth Stood Still International Trailer

The Day the Earth Stood Still opens in wide release this weekend. So far, reviews have been mixed, but most seem to agree that Keanu Reeves is perfectly cast. The CGI looks amazing. Here's the -- rather lengthy -- international trailer for the film:



Posted on December 12, 2008
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Is Kevin McKidd the New Highlander?

Photo of Kevin McKidd


Kevin McKidd, who is best known as Lucius Vorenus from the award-winning HBO series Rome has reportedly been asked to star in the new film reboot of the Highlander franchise.
JoBlo reader 'Lynchy' tells us that actor -- and actual Scotsman -- Kevin McKidd (HBO's Rome, Dog Soldiers) was just on Dublin radio, and mentioned he'd been approached by the production company about starring in the film. We don't know much more than that, but the producers did previously mention they would include medieval Scotland in their version of the story. And McKidd may have some time on his schedule after the termination of his Journeyman series.
This is just a rumor, but it's certainly an interesting one. We like McKidd -- he was great in Rome and was underserved by the writers in his canceled series Journeyman. The series just got more and more infuriating and there was only so much McKidd could do with the ridiculous plot. For one thing, anyone who time travels should return exactly to the moment they left. The way the writers set it up, he'd beam out in traffic and then the car would crash. It was just unbelievably annoying.

Posted on December 5, 2008
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New Star Trek Trailer Features Leonard Nimoy

Perhaps worried about the fan reaction to the original trailer, J.J. Abrams released a new trailer to Ain't It Cool News. This is similar to the first trailer, but Leonard Nimoy makes an appearance at the very end. He's been made up to look very old, but that distinctive voice is the same. Take a look:



Posted on November 27, 2008
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Star Trek Goes IMAX

J.J. Abrams' Star Trek wasn't shot in IMAX format, but it will be converted into IMAX format so that fans can see the film in two versions when it is released in May, 2009.

The last film we saw in IMAX was Beowulf; that film really needs to be seen in IMAX to get the full effect.

Posted on November 24, 2008
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New Star Trek Trailer is Here

The new trailer for Star Trek is out and it's intense. Some fans are furious at the changes to canon, such as Kirk being a daredevil in his youth whereas in the original series Kirk said he was "positively grim" when he was at the Academy: he was a real bookworm. Uhura takes off her shirt. Spock tries to kill Kirk, etc etc. We have seen every episode of every Star Trek show made and have seen all the movies. We say: wait and see. We'll not pass judgment until we see the finished product. That hits theaters in May, 2009. Here's the trailer:



Posted on November 20, 2008
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Screaming Teens Stoke Twilight Mania

The Twilight madness continues. Every teen in the Westwood area of Los Angeles was hounding her parents for tickets to the Twilight premiere. They eventually allowed 2,000 screaming teens to see the flick. No, really. They were actually screaming.
Last night, the way to show you were a big shot in Hollywood was to get tickets for your daughter and all her friends to the "Twilight" premiere. The preem had what one exec called "the nag factor": many, many teenage girls telling their parents they had to attend or they would die. To accommodate demand, Summit Entertainment filled both the Village and Bruin theaters with 2,000 attendees. "It reminds me of the 'Batman' premiere in 1989," said Summit co-chair Rob Friedman, who was an exec at Warners at the time. "I haven't felt this energy in Westwood since then."
There has been a lot of screaming associated with Twilight, most of it directed at the film's star Robert Pattinson. Pattinson himself seems a bit bemused by all the attention, but has gamely been giving lots of interviews and showing up at premieres with a phalanx of bodyguards. After all, there's nothing more frightening that a horde of hormonal pre-teens screaming your name.

Posted on November 17, 2008
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Terminator Salvation Concept Artwork

Terminator Salvation Concept Art


Some scary new Terminator forms in the concept artwork above that is for the upcoming Terminator Salvation movie. The film is out in May, 2009 and stars Dark Knight star Christian Bale. One of the Terminator forms is a motorcycle with red eyes. NextAutos.com has more on the Moto-Terminator motorcycle.
Production director Martin Laing was responsible for envisioning some of the near-future killing devices, and has created (among a lot of other scary looking metal) this Moto-Terminator motorcycle. The bike seems to be the chilling Terminator character we know and love in motorcycle form (note the signature red "eyes"), replete with plenty of new mean toys attached.
We are enjoying the Terminator: The Sarah Connor Chronicles tv series so much that it is hard to focus on a film that will have different actors but it looks like they are going all out on the varieties of forms the Terminator machines will take. You can see more images here on Quiet Earth.

Posted on November 14, 2008
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Scream Awards 2008 Winners

Scream Awards 2008In case you missed them here are the winners of Spike TV's 2008 Scream Awards which were totally dominated by The Dark Knight. Spike's official Scream awards website can be found here.

Posted on November 5, 2008
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Pulitzer Prize Winning Playwright May Scribe Spidey 4

Pulitzer Prize-winning playwright David Lindsay-Abaire is in negotiations to be the screenwriter to write Spider-Man 4. Tobey Maguire will star and Sam Raimi will direct.
Lindsay-Abaire, who won a Pulitzer in 2007 for his drama "Rabbit Hole," is in final negotiations to write "Spider-Man 4" for Columbia. Sam Raimi and Tobey Maguire are back as director and star, respectively, as are series producers Laura Ziskin and Avi Arad. Kirsten Dunst also is expected to return for the latest movie featuring the Marvel Comics character. Plot details are under lock and key.

Columbia always has gone off the beaten path during the development process when hiring writers for the "Spider-Man" movies. Alvin Sargent, a veteran scribe best known for 1973's "Paper Moon" and 1980's "Ordinary People," served as a writer on the second and third films. Michael Chabon, another Pulitzer winner, also worked on "Spider-Man 2."

*****

Lindsay-Abaire has said in interviews that his plays tend to be "peopled with outsiders in search of clarity," which would put his work on sympathetic terms with Peter Parker, who in his classic incarnation is the perpetual outsider. The choice of scribe also signals that that filmmakers are intent to focus on character, something that critics said got lost in the third installment.
Well, he certainly knows how to do great dialog. We'll see how he is at writing a great action scene.

Posted on October 31, 2008
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Frank Miller Talks Spirit Movie

Frank Miller talked to Sci Fi Wire about the feel of the new Spirit movie, which is based on the Will Eisner comic about a young cop who becomes the hero called the Spirit.
"It's romantic, but as in Sin City, you don't know what date it is," Miller said in an interview on the red carpet for Spike TV's third annual Scream Awards on Oct. 18 in Hollywood. "It's a very urban/Zorro story. I tried to make it as timeless as possible, so you will see cell phones and vintage cars and not really know where you are."

Miller added: "It's my solo directorial debut, so of course that's exciting." Miller shared a director's credit with Robert Rodriguez on Sin City in 2005, which was based on Miller's own graphic novel.

"I learned everything I know about directing from Robert Rodriguez. Everything," Miller said. "Mainly, I learned never to waste anyone's time. When the cameras are ready to roll, then the actors are ready to go [and so on]. No one gets tired, everyone steps lively, and I think it makes for a better movie."
The Spirit opens in wide release on December 25, 2008.

Posted on October 20, 2008
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