Sci Fi Down Under

Sherlock: Quick Review

2011-05-23T20:32:00.001+12:00

Wow a modern update of a classic character that actually works!! Should I watch it. Depends on what you think about Stephen Moffat, Dr Who's best writer by far. The two offspring and The Cook thought it was the best thing they have seen all year. Quite frankly I agree, shame the actor that played Sherlock turned down the chance to play Dr Who... he would have been so much better.

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Vin Diesel linked with Terminator 5?

2011-04-25T10:56:00.002+12:00

Fast & Furious 5 arrives in cinemas in the UK this weekend, ahead of its roll-out in the States this week, and that means that director Justin Lin has been doing promotional duties on the movie. And inevitably, one of the questions he's been asked is about his possible involvement in Terminator 5.

Lin has been widely linked with taking on the franchise, and conversations have taken place about him doing so. And when pressed on the matter by Moviehole, Lin also hinted that there might be room for Vin Diesel in his potential Terminator movie.

Lin has already nattered to Arnold Schwarzenegger about the project, but when asked about Diesel, he said, "Vin's been a really great partner on this franchise. We've talked about the [Terminator] mythology ... he's a great guy and a great actor. I really like working with him, so anything I do I usually talk to him about."

When pressed particularly about whether we could expect Vin Diesel to pop up in Terminator 5, Lin simply added "you never know".

That doesn't say a lot, granted, but it does plant the seed in our mind of a Vin Diesel vs Arnold Schwarzenegger showdown. We do wonder if that's the kind of thing best suited to an Expendables sequel, rather than a Terminator film, though...

Johnny English Reborn

2011-04-25T10:54:00.001+12:00

Oh dear............. Starring: Rowan Atkinson, Gillian Anderson, Dominic West, Rosamund Pike, Daniel Kaluuya.

Atkinson returns to the role of the improbable secret agent who doesn’t know fear or danger in the comedy spy-thriller. In his latest adventure, the most unlikely intelligence officer in Her Majesty’s Secret Service must stop a group of international assassins before they eliminate a world leader and cause global chaos.

Peter Jackson confirms Ian Holm will be back as Bilbo in The Hobbit

2011-04-25T10:41:00.002+12:00

With Martin Freeman playing Bilbo Baggins in The Hobbit, you'd think there'd be no place for Ian Holm, who played Bilbo in the Lord of the Rings trilogy. (Especially since The Hobbit will take place 60 years before The Fellowship of the Ring.)

But it looks like we'll be seeing Holm's old Bilbo again, as Peter Jackson's found a place for him in the prequel.

As Jackson posted on his Facebook page:

One comment that came up from the recent video blog was the Bilbo voice at the end—many of you assumed it was Sir Ian Holm. Whilst Ian will be returning as the older Bilbo Baggins in The Hobbit, that recording was actually Martin Freeman's voice, taken from a script read through we recorded when the cast first arrived. I have to admit, I wasn't sure who it was when I first heard it, either.

Alien Prequel 'Prometheus' Will Have Aliens

2011-04-25T10:40:00.000+12:00

........in some form anyway.

From 'Alien Prequel News':

"Though security on the set is very tight with the good weather, dock doors have been open and cast and crew have been enjoying lunch outdoors.
I can confirm seeing 3 aliens having lunch. Not the whole costume but blueish costumes and the unmistakable heads hanging around their shoulders"

"The alien heads were the same shape but no markings, only a plane bronze colour. As for the suits black boots and shoulder pads the rest was a Chelsea blue body suit could be for SFX, all the sets around the back of the bond stage have huge green chromokey maybe that's a clue.
I have witnessed foam cut outs of unmistakable aliens all cut in half lengh ways so they could be in the floor walls etc and very much from the original film."

If you are a Alien fan this is a great site to keep up to date with the latest news.

Elizabeth Sladen RIP

2011-04-21T06:46:00.001+12:00

Elizabeth Sladen aka Sarah Jane Smith, probably The Doctors best companion, has passed away at 63 from cancer.

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Shatner: The Review

2011-04-10T22:05:00.001+12:00

William Shatner. You'll either know him from Trek, Boston Legal, his numerous z grade flicks post Trek our his outrageous 'musical' endeavors. We started with a small, intimate Q&A in the Wintergarden for about 20 min with Shat, his lovely wife and with Mike Hosking guiding proceedings. The audience had a chance to ask a dozen or so questions with yours truly getting to ask the last one, without completely making a dick of myself.
Then it was upstairs, a small break and onto the show proper.
Now, to be perfectly clear, what ever you may think of Mike Hosking personally he is a damn good interviewer so why some retards in the audience booed him is beyond me. This is why Aucklanders are regarded as wankers. The boys were on stage for about 3 hours with a 20 minute brake. If you have read any of his books, a lot of the banter would have been familiar but that didn't matter as it was coming from the man direct. Hosking asked the questions and just let him answer without butting in like the talking heads on morning tv would have. If I still have the same speed of whit as The Man when I am 80 I will be more than happy. Finished with a standing ovation. There could have been nothing less.

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Our first official look at the new Wonder Woman IN COSTUME

2011-03-19T15:04:00.000+13:00

Sorry but I do still prefer Linda Carter.

Lots has been said about David E. Kelley's new take on DC's pre-eminent superheroine, and little of it has been good. But all of those opinions have been based on little more than casting sheets and illicitly obtained copies of the pilot script. But how we've got our first eyeful of Diana, Princess of Themyscera. And ...

This could be much worse. Sure, the costume is a little too shiny, the colors are a bit too bright and poor Adrienne Palicki is gonna sweat to death in all that latex.

But there are no stars on her underpants, and I'm glad they retained some of the bustier-feel of the Lynda Carter Wonder Woman while making the outfit something that a lady could, conceivably, kick some ass in.

Awesome in-depth graphic explanation of BSG's many timelines

2011-03-08T17:32:00.000+13:00

As we continue to salivate over Battlestar Galactica: Blood & Chrome—as well as slowly get over the cancellation of Caprica—it's nice to be able to look at a single image and get the totality of BSG's twisty storytelling, and how everything impacts everything else.

As anyone who followed Battlestar Galactica over the course of its four-season run can attest, the idea that "all of this has happened before, and all of this will happen again" was a recurring theme, underscored and hammered home over and over.

This chart makes that circular logic manifest, tracking the events that transpired as humans, Cylons and hybrids collided and conspired over millennia.

Click to enlarge

Arnold Schwarzenegger teases us about his big comeback role

2011-03-08T17:30:00.000+13:00

The ex-governor has been silent since announcing that he'd directed his agents to start looking for acting roles, but that hasn't stopped speculation about what'll be next for the former Biggest Star in the World. The man himself has finally decided to weigh in about the scripts on his desk—and fans of Predator, Terminator and Running Man will want to pay attention.

Every year, Schwarzenegger holds a sports festival called the Arnold Classic, and it kicks off with the also-modestly-named Arnold Seminar, in which he answers questions from attendees. A correspondent from a site called Arnold Fans asked what the star was choosing from for his return to the pop-culture stage.

"Well, first of all it's more [than] 15 films, obvious ones from The Terminator to remakes of Predator and The Running Man and all of those things. Then also a lot of original stuff too. But I am also packaging a Comic Book character right now. I'm going to announce that sometime by the end of March or the beginning of April."

We're not entirely sure what "packaging a comic book character" means—is he going to be playing an established character on the big screen or is he lending his likeness to an actual comic?—but if he's actively weighing returning to the franchises he started, he'd do well to check out our open letter from a while back.

Del Toro may not direct At the Mountains of Madness after all

2011-03-08T17:28:00.002+13:00

We've been looking forward for what seems like forever to Guillermo del Toro's big-budget, R-rated, epic adaptation of H.P. Lovecraft's At the Mountains of Madness, with James Cameron producing. Well, now it looks like the project may not get off the ground anytime soon—and del Toro himself may have to move on.

Although a seemingly erroneous report went online earlier today that the movie was going to start shooting in June with Tom Cruise confirmed for the lead role, the story rapidly took a downward turn from there. According to Deadline, Universal Studios, which has been developing the movie with the director, is hesitant to commit $150 million to an R-rated horror film—even with Cruise interested in starring and fans everywhere salivating over the prospect of del Toro finally making his dream project after 12 years of development.

It seems that the movie would have to make the kind of coin that The Lord of the Rings or Inceptionhauled in—we're talking hundreds of millions—in order for the studio to make back its money, which execs see as a difficult prospect with that R rating keeping teenagers out of the theater. Del Toro has said all along that the movie has to have an R rating to be done right.

Meanwhile, with the years going by since his last movie hit screens (Hellboy 2), del Toro is now thinking of bailing on his baby and directing a film called Pacific Rim. The movie is being produced by Legendary Pictures—the people behind The Dark Knight, among others—and is said to be a large-scale alien invasion film written by screenwriter Travis Beacham, with whom del Toro almost worked on previous projects (see our earlier report on this film here).

The betting money right now says that del Toro will direct Pacific Rim, while he and Cameron try to save At the Mountains of Madness by having another studio pick it up for after Pacific Rim is finished. One possibility? Fox, since Cameron has made a few dollars for that company in the past couple of years. Universal, however, reportedly wants to hold onto it and see if they can make it work.

We've been wanting to see del Toro's take on At the Mountains of Madness for so long that this newest development is a bummer, but at the same time, the man needs to get behind a camera again soon. Pacific Rim sounds cool enough, and hopefully he can still make At the Mountains of Madnessthe way he wants to. Ah, Hollywood...

Die Hard 5 Has A Director

2011-02-18T08:06:00.002+13:00

Die Hard 5 has been threatening to happen for a while now. And though we’ve been through the usual rounds of false starts, script drafts and unproven rumours, it would seem that 20th Century Fox and Bruce Willis have finally settled on someone to bring the film to the screen. And that someone is Noam Murro.

"Who?" you may be asking... Well, he doesn’t have the longest film CV in the world, with just one feature credit – 2008’s Dennis Quaid/Sarah Jessica Parker comedy Smart People – under his belt and a few TV assignments.

But according to Deadline, what really impressed the studio bods was his work in commercials. He’s crafted award-winning ads, most recently for the Halo games.

As for Willis, he hasn’t locked in a formal deal to return, but as he’s been keen to point out in the past, it’s not like the studio is in any rush to replace him. He’s also talked up his enthusiasm to return to the role of John McClane, the world’s unluckiest police officer.

Skip Woods’ name is on the most recent draft of the script, though Vulture reported that the studio was planning to look for writers to carry out an almost total rewrite.

There has been no official confirmation of this just yet, so for now, so we’re classifying it as a rumour. But it looks like Fox is closer than ever to getting McClane back on the screen.

Rumor of the Day: Olivia Wilde is the new Lara Croft

2011-02-18T08:05:00.000+13:00

Someone in Hollywood must have done the math and realized that the videogame series Tomb Raider hasn't produced a big-budget movie since Tomb Raider: Cradle of Life, all the way back in 2003. Eight whole years without a Lara Croft movie? It's reboot time!

Evidence is thin on the ground, but rumor has it that Olivia Wilde may be stepping into the role of our favorite female archaeologist.

TheFanCarpet writes:

A source close to the project said "This would be a far darker and more serious Tomb Raider movie, the idea is to get a top director and an intelligent script and make this an empowering character for women as well as a popular one with men. Olivia is just one of the names being suggested for the lead role. She would appear to be ideal."

Photos of Olivia Wilde have surfaced showing her dressed in Lara's signature fingerless gloves and gun holster, but ComicBookMovie says these stills have come from the set of television show House, where she plays the enigmatic Dr. Remy Hadley (known to her boss as "Thirteen"). (See below.)

Still, with her looks and ability to handle herself in a fake fight—she played Quorra in Tron: Legacyand has a role in the upcoming Cowboys & Aliens—Wilde has what it takes to play the athletic Lara.

Besides, it makes economic sense to cast her. Although we don't have the figures on how much Wilde earns per movie, it's clearly less than former Lara Croft, Angelina Jolie ... aka the woman who charged $20 million to appear in Salt.

Chewbacca Coming to Star Wars: The Clone Wars

2011-02-18T07:47:00.002+13:00

Another iconic part of Star Wars history is being brought into The Clone Wars, with the introduction of a certain beloved wookie.

The New York Times has revealed that none other thanChewbacca will make his debut on the series, in a two-parter that will end Season 3. The storyline will find Chewbacca teaming with Ahsoka Tano, Anakin Skywalker's padawan.

Taking part in the creation of these episodes – titled "Padawan Lost" and "Wookiee Hunt" – is Peter Mayhew, who played Chewbacca in the original Star Wars trilogy and Revenge of the Sith. The Times spoke to Mayhew about how he met with Clone Wars supervising director Dave Filoni and his collaborators, to discuss the character.

Says Mayhew, "They had maquettes and drawings. But remember that Chewie has a peculiar walk which is unique to me. The whole body language is there, even the head movements and eye movements especially. When he's mad, the eyes come open and the jaw starts working, and consequently you can't do this unless you've actually got it on tape, to watch it, slow it down and animate it."

In addition, for the first time, Mayhew's own voice will be heard among Chewbacca's famous growls.

In the past, when asked if wookies might be introduced on The Clone Wars, Filoni had been coy – and noted the difficulty when it came to animating fur for the computer animated series. Clearly, that obstacle has been defeated.

UPDATE: Tarkin will also be introduced soon.

Adrienne Palicki will play Wonder Woman in NBC's reboot series

2011-02-18T07:32:00.000+13:00

After an exhaustive search that nobody heard much about, other than the casting sheet that circulated yesterday, David E. Kelley's Wonder Woman TV series has landed its leading lady. And if you were a fan of the stellar Friday Night Lights, you'll be rather pleased with the choice.

Adrienne Palicki, who stole hearts as Dillon High's social magnet in Friday Night Lights—and who probably hopes you've forgotten her role as the pregnant mother who survives an angel fight in the eminently forgettable Legion—has landed the multifaceted role of Diana Prince/Diana Themyscira/Wonder Woman in NBC's pilot.

Yasi

2011-02-02T21:06:00.001+13:00

Our prayers go out to our friends in Queensland tonight as Cyclone Yasi is due to hit land in approximately 4 hrs. If you want to see how bad it is, there is a live feed on Ustream coming from Halifax St in Townsville.

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TRON:Legacy Review

2010-12-04T15:03:00.000+13:00

CHUD have a review of this much awaited movie. Do you want to read it, be upset, have all of your hopes dashed........or is it really great and equals or surpasses that legendary original. If you don't want to know, well avoid reading..........

Clever

2010-12-04T14:53:00.002+13:00

San Franciscans will tilt their heads and recognize this as home sweet home. Photographer Håkan Dahlström tilted his camera until the surface of a hill appears level, and the house climbing that hill juts sideways into the sky.

Nazi scientists were working on orbital death ray

2010-12-04T14:52:00.000+13:00

Turns out those flying saucers weren't the only sci-fi weapons the Nazis were hoping would help them take over the world. German scientists were also planning to launch a giant orbiting mirror that could have used the sun's rays to wage war.

According to an article in the July 23, 1945, issue of LIFE magazine:

In Germany last month, U.S. Army technical experts came up with the astonishing fact that German scientists had seriously planned to build a "sun gun," a big mirror in space which would focus the sun's rays to a scorching point at the earth's surface. The Germans, the Army reported, hoped to use such a mirror to burn an enemy city to ashes or to boil part of an ocean. ...Plausible schemes to build a station in space were engineered on paper long before the war. European rocket enthusiasts, including Dr. Hermann Oberth, who may have been the designer of the V-2, had planned to use the space station not as a weapon but as a refueling point for rockets starting off on journeys into space. ... The only major obstacle: constructing a rocket powerful enough to reach a point where a space station could be built. If the modern German scientists had been able to make such a rocket, they might have ben able to set up their sun gun. Whether the sun gun would have accomplished what they expected, however, is another matter."

So the next time we start complaining we don't have our promised jetpacks yet, we'll remind ourselves that there are some sci-fi devices we're better off without!

Disney already planning TWO Pirates of the Caribbean

2010-12-04T14:49:00.002+13:00

Eager to keep the money train going—and to keep costs down—Disney is planning to shoot Pirates 5 and 6 as one big film, just as they did with Dead Man's Chest and At World's End.

Shooting multiple films in one big production surge is nothing new: Back to the Futureparts 2 and 3 were shot that way, as were The Matrix Reloaded and The Matrix Revolutions; while the entire Lord of the Rings trilogy followed suit. The reasoning is simple: It's cheaper to keep a film going than it is to start one. It's like financial inertia—a production in motion tends to stay in motion, while a production at rest has to be injected with Red Bull and bagels, flown halfway around the world and cattle-prodded to get off its bum.

So it's no wonder that, as Hitfix is reporting, Disney has been telling the cast and crew of director Rob Marshall's Pirates of the Caribbean: On Stranger Tides to set aside a big chunk of time in the near future to shoot 5 and 6 together. When that time will be is unclear, as Depp is committed to film both Tim Burton's Dark Shadows and Gore Verbinski's Lone Ranger reboot in 2011.

Is this really what the alien in J.J. Abrams' Super 8 looks like?

2010-12-04T14:48:00.000+13:00

The Star Trek director is famous for the secrecy with which he shrouds his films while they're in production. So is this truly the concept art of his Big Alien Bad?

The Paramount logo and Bad Robot name in the indicia lend some validity to this image, which comes from an IMDB user who had this to say about where it came from:

"So, my friend's brother's wife works for a company that does marketing for films, video games, music, etc. Occasionally she'll get chain mails from these companies, which aren't supposed to go to them. A few days ago she received a chain mail intended for the production staff within Paramount."

Is it the real deal? Who knows? As Movieweb put it: "We'll only know if this is authentic by how soon we are told to take it down." But if it IS the genuine article, I kinda wish it didn't look so much like something out of Ben 10.

1st look at Robert Downey Jr. and Jude Law in Sherlock Holmes II

2010-11-27T11:17:00.002+13:00

Sure, the Doctor Who-like series Sherlockis a blast, but what we're really waiting for is the return of Robert Downey Jr. in that big-screen Sherlock Holmes sequel. Well, Warner Brothers just gave us our first sneak peek.

Take a look below at Noomi Rapace as Sim, Robert Downey Jr. as Sherlock Holmes and Jude Law as Dr. Watson in our first official pic from Sherlock Holmes II (a movie in desperate need of a better title).

We'll have to wait a year to see the film itself, because it's currently scheduled for release Dec. 16, 2011.

The eerie poster for the docu-style lunar horror flick Apollo 18

2010-11-27T11:15:00.000+13:00

Produced by the Russian filmmaker who directed Wanted and Nightwatch, Apollo 18 will use Cloverfield-style "found footage" to tell the story of a moon landing that went very, very wrong.

Directed by Spanish filmmaker Gonzalo Lopez-Gallego and funded by the Weinstein Company, Apollo 18 is sprinting to theaters, coming out just five months from now, ahead of the similarly docu-styled Area 51, from director Oren Peli (Paranormal Activity), which won't be out until later in 2011.

As for what Apollo 18 is about, details are being kept as secret as the film's shadow-mission to the moon. But looking at the poster—and the beastly footprint next to the astronaut's—I wonder if there's not some werewolfiness at work. And, if so, I wonder how different it'll be from 2005's Full Moon Fever, a lunar-set graphic novel that reminded readers that it's always a full moon on the moon.

First look at Karl Urban in the new Judge Dredd costume

2010-11-24T08:00:00.000+13:00

Snagged during rehearsals, this shot shows that director Pete Travis' flick, which
was written by 28 Days Later's Alex Garland, won't take any major liberties
with the Dredd costume — but it's also not going to be the shiny happy
disaster that Stallone's was. Comic artist Jock, who also did some production design
for Dredd, tweeted the link to this earlier today. Hope he doesn't get into trouble.

The Dark Knight Rises will be Christian Bale's last Batman film

2010-11-24T07:49:00.002+13:00

After shooting the third Caped Crusader flick for Christopher Nolan next year, Christian Bale will hang up the cape and cowl for good.

While out doing press for The Fighter Bale let slip that The Dark Knight Rises will be his final go-round as the protector of Gotham City: "I believe, unless Chris (Nolan) says different, this will be the last time I'm playing Batman."

Which also leads us to believe that The Dark Knight Rises will be Nolan's final film in the Batman franchise as well, as we can't imagine the director continuing without his frequent collaborator. Not that Bale knows much of anything Bat-related:

"Chris will let me know what I need to know when I need to know it. I probably know a little bit more than some other people out there, but I think most people would be surprised at how little I do know."

Steven Soderbergh Heading to U.N.C.L.E.?

2010-11-17T17:29:00.002+13:00

Steven Soderbergh is the latest name to be associated with a proposed big-screen adaptation of the 60's spy series The Man From U.N.C.L.E., according to a story at The Hollywood Reporter.

David Dobkin was most recently attached as a director on the project and the article suggests that he will remain aboard as producer along with John Davis and Jeff Kleeman. Scott Z. Burns, who worked with Soderbergh on both The Informant! as well as the director's next, Contagion, will likely do a rewrite on the script.

Robert Vaughn and David McCallum starred in the original NBC series as Napoleon Solo and Illya Kuryakin, respectively. They were agents of United Network Command for Law Enforcement (U.N.C.L.E.), who fight the forces of Technological Hierarchy for the Removal of Undesirables and the Subjugation of Humanity (T.H.R.U.S.H.).

del Toro and Battlestar producer reimagining The Hulk for TV

2010-11-17T17:28:00.000+13:00

As part of Marvel's big push onto the small screen, the Hellboy director and the Battlestar Galactica producer are teaming up to bring the Not-So-Jolly Green Giant to ABC in the fall of 2012.

This new Hulk series will be likely be an origin story, featuring an energized, twentysomething Bruce Banner. And while the various movie Hulks were entirely CGI beasts, the series will use a mixture of prosthetics, puppetry and CGI to realize

Banner's alter ago, the design of which will be overseen by Del Toro. The two men will develop the pilot episode's story together, with Eick doing the scripting and Del Toro directing—if he's free from his other 94 commitments.

"I have always been attracted [by] the combination of comic-book heroics and monsters, Jack Kirby's Demon or Kamandi or DC's Deadman or Marvel's Dr. Strange, Morbius, Metamorpho, Mike Mignola's Hellboy, etc," said Del Toro, who tried to get The Hulk up and running as a feature almost a decade ago but focused on Blade II instead.

The Hulk would most likely premiere in fall 2012, on the heels of Joss Whedon's The Avengers. If there's anyone in geekdom who knows the inner workings of the misunderstood monster, it's Del Toro.

Is The Thing in trouble? Producer comes clean about delay

2010-11-17T17:26:00.001+13:00

One of the producers for The Thing, the upcoming prequel to the 1982 John Carpenter classic, has spoken out about the reason for the film's abrupt disapperance from its April 2011 release date.

Producer Marc Abraham told Hitfix that The Thing was bumped from its April 29 release date to give the filmmakers enough time to do some additional shooting on the film. As Hitfix put it, the work involved may "enhance existing sequences ... make crystal clear a few story beats ... (or) add punctuation marks to the film's feeling of dread."

The producer stressed that he was not concerned with the release date change, but more interested in getting the film right and not disappointing fans of the Carpenter original. Word around the Web says it's now possible that The Thing could move to a late 2011 date, perhaps around Halloween, which would allow it to tap into the usual seasonal thirst for horror and monster movies.

Abraham also affirmed his confidence in first-time director Matthijs van Heijningen Jr. and his cast, which includes Mary Elizabeth Winstead, Joel Edgerton and a whole bunch of Norwegian dudes. Winstead and some of the other cast members are expected to take part in the additional shooting, and there will be more effects work shot with the Thing itself.

Reshoots or additional shooting are a routine part of Hollywood productions these days—even Peter Jackson did extra photography on each segment of The Lord of the Rings. They can be a sign that a production is in trouble or just that it needs a little more work to get it right or fill in a blank.

Now THIS is Old School

2010-11-17T17:23:00.000+13:00

Back in the 1980s, special effects maestro Phil Tippett created amazing stop-motion animation for movies likeThe Empire Strikes Back, Robocop and Dragonslayer. He switched over to CGI for 1993's Jurassic Park, but he did some of the film's pre-visualization work with old school stop-motion. He's posted one of these stop-motion sequences on his official Youtube page, and it's fascinating to see this famous scene accomplished with old-fashioned effects techniques. It doesn't have the absolute realism of the finished film's CGI, but it's quite effective in its own right.

This MAY be the first official image from J.J. Abrams' Star Trek 2

2010-11-10T20:43:00.002+13:00

Is this image our first look at Star Trek 2? Make that a definite maybe. We're not 100 percent sure whether it's meant to promote the movie, a game or a toy, or where exactly it came from, but it does seem to be legitimately connected to the J.J. Abrams sequel.

The image was leaked to Collider by someone who works at a company referred to only as "(removed for obvious reasons)," and it was NOT created by anyone at Paramount or Bad Robot. The poster (if that's what is is) appears to have been assembled to help promote some long-lead merchandising tie-in.

Whatever it is, it suddenly has us forgetting all about 2011 and looking forward to summer 2012. How about you?

McKellen Not Signed for The Hobbit

2010-11-04T17:21:00.002+13:00

Sir Ian McKellen is waiting, Mr. Jackson.

The actor, who played the wizard Gandalf in the Lord of the Rings trilogy, tells Broadway World that he "is not under contract" to appear in Jackson's two-part adaptation of The Hobbit.

"I'm not going to say any more than that because it might complicate things! So, I would say - at the moment - no, I am not under contract," said McKellen. He added, laughing, "I'm not saying any more than what I've said!"

Oh, but of course he did say more than that. McKellen added cryptically, "I'm keeping myself open for offers for 2011. I gather The Hobbit starts shooting in February."

And we gather McKellen either wants to know for sure he's onboard for it or move onto his next gig. Consider yourselves warned by the great Gandalf, powers-that-be!

Ghostbusters 3: set to shoot in May 2011?

2010-11-04T17:18:00.002+13:00

We keep wondering if the planned reboot of the Ghostbusters franchise has managed to die a quiet, slow death. Yet, every time we think it might just have shuffled away, along comes another snippet of information that seems to have it back on the schedules.

To be fair here, it's probably never been off the Sony roster. Yet, over the past year, we've had Bill Murray making his views fairly plainly known on the project, and we've also, more recently, had the news that Dan Aykroyd is overseeing the script for the project. Dan Aykroyd's film work has given us much pleasure over the years, but we still can't help but feel a little nervous as to how all this will turn out.

What's been a common theme throughout all the chatter bouncing around the web is that there's been little sign of an actual start date for the film. Yet, thanks to an update over at Production Weekly, we're getting the first hints that cameras may be rolling within the next six months. The Tweet reads, simply: "Hearing that @SonyPictures is planning to put Ivan Reitman's "Ghostbusters 3" into production in May 2011."

Production Weekly is the entertainment industry's guide to projects being prepared for production, and it's broken similar news of film start times in the past quite reliably. Appreciating that things nonetheless have a habit of changing, its update would, at the very least, point towards the fact that Ivan Reitman will be directing once more.

We also noted on the latest Production Weekly update that it's citing Dungeons & Dragons 3 as an upcoming project. Yikes.

We will, of course, keep you alerted as to any progressions in the Ghostbusters 3 project. And we'll be all over it if Bill Murray gives another one of his interviews....

Roland Emmerich to direct low budget alien invasion movie The Zone?

2010-11-04T17:17:00.002+13:00

As the world's cinemas brace themselves for an unprecedented attack of alien invasion movies, it's just been announced that disaster movie specialist, Roland Emmerich, is also joining the fray. Again.

Having last explored the destructive possibilities the sci-fi genre affords in 1996‘s Independence Day, Emmerich is now reportedly about to make a similar film called The Zone.

But in an unexpected twist, Emmerich, who's more normally used to having nine figure budgets to play with, is going to make the film for just $5 million. Following in the footsteps of movies such as Paranormal Activity, Cloverfield or the forthcoming Monsters, The Zone will be a 'found footage movie' filled with wobbly cameras and improvised dialogue.

It's the second low key movie that Emmerich has been attached to. He also has a project called Anonymous in the works, a political thriller set in the time of Elizabeth I, slated to appear next September.

Personally, we think Emmerich should combine the two films. An alien invasion movie set in the 15th Century, with ruffles, William Shakespeare and exploding buildings? Now that really would be a movie worth watching.

Terra Nova troubles: Spielberg's series fires its writing staff

2010-11-04T17:14:00.002+13:00

Steven Spielberg's time-traveling sci-fi epic Terra Nova, which had its Comic-Con presentation canceled and its premiere on Fox pushed back from January until fall 2011, now has a new set of woes—most of its writers have just been given the pink slip.

20th Century Fox Television laid off most of the writing staff, including former X-Files writer Chris Brancato. FlashForward's Brannon Braga, remains in charge as show runner.

Does this mean the long-gestating series is in trouble? Not according to unnamed insiders who claim this is merely a necessary cost-cutting measure brought about due to the delay of the series premiere.

Los Angeles Times reports:

But because that pushed the bulk of episode production back until next summer, 20th Century Fox Television was faced with the prospect of paying a lot of writers to do not very much over the next few months. Instead, it decided to hand out a pink slip to any writer it did not have an overall deal with. ...
"These are expensive writers," one insider said.

The studio will either rehire the writers next year—if they are available—or scout new talent.

So what do you think? Do we need to start worrying about Terra Nova? Or should we just chalk it up to the way life works in Hollywood?

Shakespeare goes sci-fi in Michael Caine's post-apocalyptic Henry5

2010-11-04T17:13:00.002+13:00

Apparently, Michael Caine and Ray Winstone are heading up the cast of Henry5, a sci-fi take on Shakespeare's classic historical drama. Where the heck do we sign up?

Details are a bit sketchy on Henry5: This particular band of brothers includes Caine, Winstone, Vinnie Jones, Gerard Depardieu and Derek Jacobi. It's being directed by Michael Anderson, who's been a cinematographer on a host of ads done by Ridley Scott Associates, and it'll touch on the events of both Henry IV and Henry V.

The film's official website gives the following synopsis:

"In an age of apocalypse, in a land without a leader, a dissolute prince finds redemption when he crushes a rebellion that threatens to destroy his father's kingdom. But upon assuming the throne himself, he immediately engineers a war against a neighboring state to slake his lust for power.
"Despite his enemy possessing weaponry rendering their forces almost invincible, the newly crowned king seizes a glorious victory from the jaws of defeat by ruthlessness and cunning. But for all his wiles there's one thing the young monarch has overlooked. Just as he's prepared to do whatever it takes to ensure victory, so is his enemy ... "

Alien's Ellen Ripley almost played by Meryl Streep

2010-11-04T17:12:00.002+13:00

As hard as it is to imagine everyone's favorite alien-ass-kicking action heroine, Ellen Ripley, played by anyone other than Sigourney Weaver, it almost happened—and the other actress who almost got the role in 1978 was none other than Meryl Streep.

That's what Shadowlocked discovered in the Charles De Lauzrika Alien franchise documentaries on the new Alien Anthology Blu-ray release. The site reports that:

Alien franchise producer Gordon Carroll says, in an interview segment that never made it into the main documentaries either on the DVD or Blu-ray editions, that "We had a casting girl working for us named Mary Goldberg—she told us that there were two women we should see in New York that she thought would be perfect [for 'Ripley']. One who had done some films, but had not broken through as yet, and the other was a young girl who had not made a movie as yet. The first woman was Meryl Streep. Meryl's long-time companion had just died, and I did not feel that she should be asked to come in from the country. It had just happened the day before ... we could see her another time. The other woman was, of course, Sigourney Weaver."

While we're sure Meryl Streep would have been fantastic—as the most Oscar-nominated actress in history always is—but an action heroine? Though Streep is a wonderful actress, we do have a difficult time imagining anyone else in the role of Ripley other than Sigourney Weaver, who played the character for a total of four films. It's like imagining what Indiana Jones would have been like if Tom Selleck had played the character, as was originally planned instead of Harrison Ford; or what Back to the Future would have been like with Eric Stoltz in the role of Marty McFly instead of Michael J. Fox; or Burt Reynolds as Han Solo instead of Ford again; or even Clint Eastwood as Superman instead of the beloved late Christopher Reeve.

In the end Streep may not have ended up with the Ripley role, but the actress made a rather interesting cameo of sorts in Alien 3, because:

On the Anthology Blu-ray, prosthetic masters Alec Gillis and Tom Woodruff note, in a segment excluded from the original De Lauzrika documentaries, that the face to which the face-hugger is seen attached in the opening credits of Alien 3 is actually that of Meryl Streep ...
If we squint our eyes really, really hard we can almost see Meryl Streep there ... maybe.

Rumor of the Day: Is Disney making a Discworld movie?

2010-11-04T17:11:00.002+13:00

There's a hole in the Mouse House's 2014 schedule—could it get filled by an adaptation of Terry Pratchett's fourth novel in the Discworld series?

According to the animation rumor mill, directors Ron Clements and John Musker—responsible for Disney hits like The Little Mermaid, Aladdin and The Princess and the Frog—are preparing storyboards for a hand-drawn adaptation of Pratchett's 1987 fantasy Mort, which tells of a young man who gets a job interning for Death.

Bear in mind, this is all still rumor. And even if it were true, Clements and Musker are prepping those storyboards to pitch the higher-ups on the viability of a feature. It's not a done deal.

Still, it's nice to see that Disney hasn't given up on traditional animation, and they've still got the talent in house to make it sing.

2010-10-16T14:22:00.001+13:00

It's official boys and girls, Sir Peter has been confirmed to direct The Hobbit. Filming to commence in Feb in NEW ZEALAND! (I hope, fingers crossed)

Read the Herald story here:

http://m.nzherald.co.nz/movies/news/article.php?c_id=200&objectid=10681008

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- Posted using BlogPress from my iPhone

Photos of an elephant dressing up as the bantha from Star Wars

2010-10-15T21:09:00.000+13:00

The Tusken Raiders' bantha in Star Wars: A New Hope was portrayed by Mardji, an Asian elephant who frequently tried to shuck off her hot costume. Here are photos of the pachyderm becoming a blue-milk-producing pack animal.

Alec Baldwin Joining Men in Black III?

2010-10-15T07:34:00.002+13:00

Pajiba reported a rumor yesterday that Alec Baldwin, Gemma Arterton and Sharlto Copley are in negotiations to join Columbia Pictures' Men in Black III.

We've done some checking of our own and have learned that out of those three names, Baldwin looks most likely to be joining the cast that also includes Will Smith, Tommy Lee Jones, Josh Brolin, Jemaine Clement and Emma Thompson. We're not sure about Arterton and Copley's status, but those two are definitely not yet on board.

The site said that Baldwin would play the head of MiB in 1969. Thompson is playing the boss in modern day.

Filming was recently pushed back slightly to November 18 for a May 25, 2012 release in 3D and 2D theaters.

Breaking news: Tom Cruise signs up for Top Gun 2?

2010-10-15T07:32:00.002+13:00

In line with the current mania for anything hailing from the 80s, we’ve just learned that a belated sequel to 1986’s awesomely brash aerial epicTop Gun is set to roll out of a hangar somewhere in Hollywood.

According to sources close to the New York Times blog, Vulture, Tom Cruise is prepared to reprise his role as Lieutenant Pete 'Maverick' Mitchell, with original producer/director pairing Jerry Bruckheimer and Tony Scott already signed up to resume their respective positions.

Screenwriting duties will be handled by The Usual Suspects scribe Christopher McQuarrie, who’s just written the script for the forthcoming Wolverine 2.

It’ll be interesting to see exactly what McQuarrie can do with a property so inextricably keyed into the mood of the 80s. As Jerry Bruckheimer himself has admitted, “the aviation community has completely changed since we made the movie a long time ago,” and, indeed, so has the movie industry.

Was there a UFO in New York City yesterday?

2010-10-15T07:30:00.000+13:00

Witnesses and videocameras caught a glimpse of some UFOs zooming over New York City yesterday. What were they? No word yet - though officials are, predictably, calling them balloons.

12 awesome behind-the-scenes pics from The Empire Strikes Back

2010-10-15T07:25:00.000+13:00

The Empire Strikes Back premiered 30 years ago, and the humongous The Making of Star Wars: The Empire Strikes Back was just published to celebrate the anniversary, putting us in a VERY nostalgic mood. While we head out to buy ourselves a copy, check out a dozen of the book's behind-the-scenes pics.

We loved looking at Harrison Ford sitting around behind an X-Wing, at Carrie Fisher laughing on the set of Cloud City between takes with Ford and Billy Dee Williams, and Mark Hamill sharing a laugh on set with the great Sir Alec Guinness.

But it's seeing how they filmed one of the most famous scenes in history—where Darth Vader (David Prowse) tells Luke, "I am your father"—with Hamill hanging from a pinnacle almost 30 feet up in the air with mattress-covered cardboard boxes down below that makes our day.

Add to that the iconic pic of director George Lucas hanging with Hamill, Fisher and Ford on the set ofEmpire Strikes Back and, well, once you take a look, we're sure you'll start to get a little nostalgic, too!

It's OFFICIAL: Doctor Who is now IMMORTAL

2010-10-14T17:54:00.000+13:00

What was only a teaser last week has suddenly become fact. Doctor Who's regeneration limit of 12, long a part of the Time Lord's canon, is going away. And, strangely, it won't be treated as a big deal, either, as the whole matter will be resolved in a simple passing comment.

Not only that, but the BBC will deal with the situation NOT in a Doctor Who episode, but rather in its spinoff series The Sarah Jane Adventures, starring Elisabeth Sladen as former Doctor companion Sarah Jane Smith, in the two-part episode titled Death of the Doctor, which will air in the U.K. Oct. 25 and 26.

According to the Guardian:

While the Doctor and Clyde Langer, played by Daniel Anthony, are in the process of outwitting spooky vulture undertakers the Shansheeth, Clyde asks how many times he can regenerate. The Doctor indicates that there is no limit. The action continues.

While perhaps the manner in which the event will happen is a tad underwhelming (OK, maybe a lotunderwhelming), it's also a strange move on the part of the BBC to have decided to deal with this very important event in Doctor Who lore in a spinoff for children, on the CBBC no less, rather than on the main show itself—or at the very least on the upcoming Doctor Who Christmas Special.

And because SJA no longer airs in North America (though we hope this may change), it also means that many Doctor Who fans will not be able to see the famous episode and the moment in question until the DVD comes out.

As well, some won't be happy that changing something so fundamental as Time Lords having a limit of 12 regenerations will only be mentioned in passing instead of getting a more significant scene.

But with a show as successful as Doctor Who, they needed to address the issue sooner rather than later, and we all knew that it would lead to some sort of explanation or event that would definitely have the Doctor regenerating more than 12 times—we are, after all, up to Matt Smith's 11th Doctor already, with only two more regenerations left for the Time Lord!

That likelihood must have seemed far away back in 1976, when the powers that be came up with this storyline in The Deadly Assassin, with Tom Baker's fourth Doctor, but now it's no longer viable, since the Doctor is heading toward the end of his "life" and the show is giving every indication that it plans to go on long after the 13th Doctor.

Damon Lindelof delivers Alien script, Natalie Portman may star

2010-10-14T17:53:00.002+13:00

Lost's Damon Lindelof just turned in his rewrite of Ridley Scott's Alien prequel, the brain trust at 20th Century Fox is thrilled—and Natalie Portman is at the top of everyone's list to star.

Details are very hard to come by on what we're calling Alien: Year One—the project doesn't have a name yet, and Untitled Alien Project is just boring—but according to theVulture blog, the plum role in Scott's film is a female Colonial Marine general. Portman is currently the favorite, with Noomi Rapace, star of THE ORIGINAL The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo, in the runner-up slot.

Lindelof's rewrite of Jon Spaihts' original script doesn't bring down Alien: Year One's budget, which was a sticking point between Scott—who wanted $150 million—and Fox, who wanted to spend less. But it does bring it more in line with Fox's desire for a PG-13 film.

A source close to the project doesn't think that a more family-friendly rating means that Alien: Year One couldn't have teeth: "If the original Alien were released today, minus the F-bombs, you could still get a PG-13. Alien is a very Jaws-ian movie: There's no sex, and while there's lots of violence, most of it is off-camera. Maybe you'd have to cut away from certain scenes two seconds earlier, but it could be done."

Three other things are clear: 1) This film won't reboot the Alien franchise, but it will return it to its horror roots, 2) the origin of the Space Jockey will definitely be explained, and 3) there won't be a Predator within spitting distance.

Starship Enterprise hidden in Battlestar finale

2010-10-14T17:51:00.002+13:00

Morgan Freeman insists Rendezvous With Rama WILL get made

2010-10-14T17:48:00.002+13:00

Morgan Freeman has been trying to get an adaptation of Arthur C. Clarke's first-contact classic Rendezvous With Rama made for almost 20 years—with David Fincher on board to direct—and the Oscar-winner says he's closer than ever.

While doing press for his upcoming action-comedy Red, Freeman let slip that he's still very much committed to getting his longtime passion project—in which a massive spacecraft, dubbed the Rama, enters the solar system—off the ground.

Carrie Fisher admits she did cocaine during Empire Strikes Back

2010-10-14T17:47:00.002+13:00

Looking back at her time in the Rebel Alliance, the former Princess Leia admits to using cocaine while shooting The Empire Strikes Back—part of a drug-fueled spiral she pokes fun at in her new one-woman show, Wishful Drinking.

"We did cocaine on the set of Empire, in the ice planet," Carrie Fisher told the Australian Broadcasting Corporation, while declining to reveal exactly who "we" was. "I didn't even like coke that much, it was just a case of getting on whatever train I needed to take to get high."

And that train led her to join John Belushi's cocaine coterie—while shooting 1980's The Blues Brothers, the actor took Fisher under his wing and exposed her to more narcotics than she was comfortable with: "Slowly I realized I was doing a bit more drugs than other people and losing my choice in the matter."

ronically, Fisher says that her ongoing addiction to hard drugs probably saved her life. "Because my drugs were illegal—or the amounts I wanted to do were illegal—it made it more difficult for me to get in trouble," she says. "If I'd been addicted to booze, I'd be dead now because you just go out and get it."

Judge Dredd

2010-10-03T13:21:00.001+13:00

During a great article in the NZ Herald On Sunday, Kiwi actor Karl Urban ('Bones' in the revamped Trek) confirmed he has taken on the iconic role of 2000 AD's Judge Dredd. Due to be released in 2012, don't take the helmet off and let either ILM or Weta do the effects. I personally think the Stallone version captured the feel of the comic perfectly. Just make a film true to the nature of the comic.

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Sherlock Holmes 2 finds its Moriarty, Russell Brand also to star?

2010-09-30T10:14:00.001+13:00

It was inevitable, given how heavily he was teased throughout Guy Ritchie's Sherlock Holmes movie, that Moriarty would be taking a more prominent role in the soon-to-shoot sequel. But the original speculation that Brad Pitt was being lined up for the role has proved very wide of the mark.

Instead, joining the cast that already includes Robert Downey Jr, Jude Law and Stephen Fry will be Jared Harris. He's the son of the late Richard Harris, and will be taking on the role of Moriarty in the new film, although how extensive the part is remains to be seen. Right now, you can see Jared Harris plying his trade in Mad Men, where he plays Lane Pryce.

The Daily Mail, meanwhile, is suggesting that Russell Brand may be joining the production too, although it seems to be based thus far on a visit by Brand to director Guy Ritchie's house. The Mail seems to think it was with regards to a role in Sherlock Holmes 2, although inevitably, there's no confirmation or formal word on this. We'll keep you posted.

Batman 3: Warner Bros to force Christopher Nolan to make it in 3D

2010-09-30T10:13:00.001+13:00

Christopher Nolan, right now, is one of the few mainstream directors who has the power to do close to what he wants. Think about it: could any other director on the planet, save for perhaps James Cameron or Steven Spielberg, persuade Warner Bros to stump up $200m for a non-franchise, risky sci-fi movie such as Inception? Probably not.

At the time of the film’s release, Nolan was asked about whether he’d been tempted to make the film in 3D, and refreshingly, he seemed a bit non-plussed by it all.

In fact, he said at the UK press conference for Inception – which you can read a report of here – that “3D is something we’re looking at, but I see at the moment significant technical limitations to the presentation format, mostly with the dimness of the image and the fact that you have to wear the glasses. The post-conversion process can be done very effectively, actually - we did tests for this film, but decided we didn’t have enough time to get it to the standard that we wanted.”

Furthermore, he told Contact Music earlier in the summer that "Until we get rid of the glasses, or until we really massively improve the process, I'm a little wary of it … But we'll be looking at it, and if that's what audiences are demanding from blockbusters - and we're making blockbusters - then it's something we'll address."

The time to address it? It may well have come.

For it’s being reported that Warner Bros is exerting heavy pressure on Christopher Nolan to shoot the next Batman film in 3D. And having held the studio off when it tried to push him to convert Inception to 3D earlier this year, this may be a battle too many for Nolan.

HollywoodInHiDef is now suggesting – and this has been denied by Warner Bros – that Inception is being prepared for a 3D retrofit, so that it can be screened on HBO’s upcoming 3D on-demand channel in the States.

And worryingly, the article also notes that “prevailing opinions at Warner are that Nolan will not enjoy the luxury of taking a pass on 3D for the new Batman movie, which will surely be set up for 3D from the beginning.”

This falls into line with suggestions around the summer that Warner Bros was keen to explore 3D for the next Batman film, having seen the likes of Clash Of The Titans– in spite of its crappy 3D job – have its box office boosted by the premium that can be charged.

Christopher Nolan, it should be noted, has said nothing on this, nor, from what we can tell, has Warner Bros. We’d be fascinated to see, however, iif it can and will force Nolan to embrace 3D for Batman (they wouldn’t call it Batman 3D, would they?), and whether Nolan would be willing to give it a try.

Fox making 'documentary style' sci-fi show about hunting aliens

2010-09-30T09:58:00.001+13:00

Writer Brian K. Vaughan (Lost, Y: The Last Man) is teaming up with producer Sam Raimi (whose awesome bonafides are well-verified) for Smokers, about a band of space-based extra-terrestrial threat removers.

Conceived and written by comic book and TV writer Vaughan (Lost, Y: The Last Man,Smokers is about a crew of documentarians who follow a team of blue-collar guys (and, presumably, girls) who exterminate alien threats in deep space. Raimi's Stars Road Entertainment is gonna produce. Given that Raimi knows his way around genre material, and Vaughan was instrumental in Lost's best seasons (and knows his way around a comic-book cliffhanger), our interest is officially piqued.

But ... a science fiction series, set in deep space, following a bunch of working-class joes. On Fox. I really, really hate to say it—as Smokers sounds promising — but we should probably start the cancellation watch now.

The Star Wars Saga is Coming in 3D!

2010-09-30T09:56:00.000+13:00

Lucasfilm Ltd. announced today that the live-action "Star Wars" saga will be converted to 3D.

"There are few movies that lend themselves more perfectly to 3D; from the Death Star trench run to the Tatooine Podrace, the 'Star Wars Saga' has always delivered an entertainment experience that is completely immersive," said the statement.

Presented by Twentieth Century Fox and Lucasfilm Ltd., the "cutting edge conversion" will be supervised by Industrial Light & Magic.

Star Wars: Episode I The Phantom Menace is expected to be released theatrically in 2012. A release date has not yet been determined.

"Getting good results on a stereo conversion is a matter of taking the time and getting it right," said John Knoll, Visual Effects Supervisor for Industrial Light & Magic. "It takes a critical and artistic eye along with an incredible attention to detail to be successful. It is not something that you can rush if you want to expect good results. For Star Wars we will take our time, applying everything we know both aesthetically and technically to bring audiences a fantastic new Star Wars experience."

The Hobbit: Martin Freeman, possible January start, new ending rumours

2010-09-15T17:16:00.001+12:00

Following the reports last Thursday that Martin Freeman may be set to smoke the pipe of Bilbo Baggins after all, more news has arrived aboutThe Hobbit courtesy of The One Ring.

Reporting on the contents of what are said to be genuine casting and production notes for The Hobbit, the site has revealed that Freeman was the first choice for the role of Bilbo, and has been so since last year.

According to The One Ring's sources, The Hobbit could go into production as early as next January, if the negotiations with Freeman are successful, with shooting expected to last about a year.

What's most interesting about these latest details, however, is a hint in The Hobbit's production notes that the ending of the movie could be rather different from the conclusion in Tolkien's source novel. "Although[...] he doesn't have huge courage he does become, particularly in the last battle, very brave," the notes reportedly state.

Now, if the "last battle" is, indeed, The Battle of Five Armies, readers of the original novel will know that, in that spectacular final confrontation, Bilbo Baggins played no part, having been knocked unconscious before it had even begun. If the sentence is taken at face value, the movie adaptation of The Hobbit could have a rather different conclusion, with Bilbo playing a far more active role in its climactic battle.

Like everything about The Hobbit's production, this is all decidedly up in the air and could well change in the run-up to the film's shoot in January. Nevertheless, it's an interesting piece of news, and likely to cause controversy among dedicated fans of Tolkien's novel.

ILM TURNS 35 AND ENCORE HAS A DOC TO CELEBRATE THEM

2010-09-15T17:12:00.002+12:00

Leslie Iwerks is the documentarian behind the Emmy-nominated The Pixar Story and the Academy Award nominee Recycled Life, and now she has pointed her camera at the story behind the CGI monolith, Industrial Light & Magic.

We all know ILM. It's a company that famously began as the VFX department on the original Star Wars films and has since grown to be the most well-recognized visual effects company in the world. While the company has had its ups and downs, they are responsible for some of the most interesting moving images to come out of Hollywood in the history of the art. At the same time they're also responsible for some of the most invisible enhancements we'll never notice.

The documentary is narrated by Tom Cruise and has a pretty long list of director interviewees including Spielberg, Abrams, Lucas, Favreau, and Ron Howard. Jon Lasseter, Bruckheimer, Samuel L. Jackson, and Robin Williams are also included.

I hope the doc pays more than lip service to the struggle for CGI to find its place in storytelling, as opposed to just being a showreel. Some of my favorite documentaries are concerned with filmmaking craft (Visions of Light, The Cutting Edge) and they manage to tell the story of cinema by focusing on one small part of it. While this documentary focuses on one company specifically, there is still the potential to get an interesting look at modern movie-making and the conflicts that have marked it. Iwerks' The Pixar Story is a solid documentary about the history of the animation company, and I imagine similar care will be taken with ILM's even longer history.

The documentary will air 8:00pm (E) November 14th on Encore.

CRAP I HOPE THIS GETS SHOWN ON SKY IN NZ OR RELEASED ON DVD!!!

Dr Who's Companion

2010-09-15T17:09:00.000+12:00

OK.............

True Lies is being developed as a TV series

2010-09-15T17:07:00.002+12:00

Deadline is reporting that James Cameron's Lightstorm Entertainment and 20th Century Fox TV are developing a television adaptation of True Lies, and it "is about to be taken out to the networks."

Cameron will serve as the executive producer of the show, which will have a very similar plot structure to the original film. The only other experience he has in television is with his show Dark Angel, which aired in 2000 for two seasons to only mild success despite being pretty popular with sci-fi fans.

Dark Angel executive producer Rene Echevarria is going to work on this one, too, as the primary writer of the program.

Whether you love Cameron or hate him, most people agree that True Lies is a great film. It's got everything going for it: action, sexiness and Arnold. One hurdle that may prevent this thing from actually being good would be if it does in fact get bought by one of the major networks. The amount of censorship would be limiting and would make it difficult for the show to capture the raw nature of the original.

Epic Firefly easter egg in Battlestar Galactica

2010-09-15T17:06:00.000+12:00

Note : Serenity appears about 16 minutes into the Battlestar Galactica premiere episode.
Same VFX team over at Zoic Studios that created the effects for Firefly also did Battlestar Galactica. It’s likely their little tribute.

J.J. Abrams may create a new villain for the next Star Trek movie

2010-09-15T17:02:00.002+12:00

Filmmaker J.J. Abrams and writers Roberto Orci and Alex Kurtzman talked about their plans for the next Star Trek movie, and while they remained maddeningly vague about it, they say there's a very real possibility that we'll see another new villain introduced to the franchise. And we may see our old friends the Klingons, too.

The information comes from SFX magazine, which talked to the famous (or, to some, infamous) trio. These individual quotes come from TrekMovie and appear to be snippets from the print article.

Abrams: The universe that Roddenberry created was so vast. And so it's hard to say there's one particular thing that stands out as what the sequel must be. Which is on the one hand, a great opportunity. On the other hand it's the greatest challenge - where do you go? What do you focus on? But I'm incredibly excited about the prospects.

Orci: Introducing a new villain in the sequel is tempting because we now have this incredible new sandbox to play in. On the other hand, some fans really want to see Klingons and it's hard not to listen to that. The trick is not to do something that's been seen before just because you think it will be a short cut to likeability.

Kurtzman: Starting at a premise of what you want to see and then working a story around it is not how we do it. You have to start with what is the right story. And that if you can say "That's a story that Khan fits into", that's how you get to that. Not deciding on a menu list of items and then seeing if you can't string them all together.

Also, if you enjoyed the goofy humor Simon Pegg brought to the first reboot movie, you're in luck, because they said you can expect to see more of him in the next one. In fact, the writers said that humor will always be a part of their new Star Trek:

Orci: Humor is part of the franchise and I think it's critical, certainly to the Bones-Spock relationship. It's definitely a big part of the Bones-Kirk relationship. So, I don't see any world where humor doesn't play a part.

Marvel plans to fill Captain America film with super easter eggs

2010-09-03T09:29:00.000+12:00

Marvel's grand plan to release a bunch of individual superhero movies leading up to the ensemble adventure of Joss Whedon's Avengers film apparently involves hiding easter eggs all over the place.

ComicBookMovie.com talked to director Joe Johnston to ask him about his plans forCaptain America, and he let fans know they should keep an eye out for hidden gems.

"There are links between all the Marvel films, mostly ones that only the fans will pick up on. We have several subtle references to certain elements in Thor, but since Captain America is a period picture taking place in the '40s, there are fewer opportunities for contemporary links to the rest of the Marvel universe. We can, however, create events in our story that will be paid off in Avengers and other Marvel pictures."

Marvel, of course, has a long history of planting easter eggs in its films, such as showing a prototype of Captain America's shield in Tony Stark's lab.

Figured Out 'Lost' Yet? This Guy Has!

2010-09-03T09:27:00.000+12:00

Well, it would be awesome if he had, and his explanation is waaay better than any that the powers that be have come up with.
Read it all here.

So who’s directing Wolverine 2?

2010-08-25T17:36:00.002+12:00

With all the attention in the world of X-Men shifting towards Matthew Vaughn's First Class movie at the moment, things have gone a little quiet on Wolverine 2. The film, which was reported a while back as being due to shoot in January, is to be set in Japan, and will pick up from where the muted X-Men Origins: Wolverine left off.

That first Wolverine film was a muddled beast, one that, sadly, managed to suck much of the life out of a terrific character. And there were plenty of murmurings at the time - not confirmed, we might add - that it wasn't a happy production.

So, what's the deal with the sequel? Well, it's notable that the director of the first Wolverine film, Gavin Hood, hasn't been mentioned as a possibility for the sequel. And instead, Vulture is reporting that there are two candidates in mind.

The first is David Slade, off the back of this summer's Twilight: Eclipse, as well as 30 Days Of Night and Hard Candy. And the other helmer in the frame is Robert Schwentke. He's just finished up directing Bruce Willis and Helen Mirren in Red, and he also has The Time Traveler's Wife and Flightplan on his resume.

Furthermore, Vulture reports that Slade is the likely choice. Both, according to the site, have been given the thumbs-up by Fox, and a meeting is due in the next week or two to rubber-stamp the decision. "[Hugh] Jackman will ultimately be the one to make the call," it reports.

Wolverine 2 is, if it's still holding to the original schedule, set to line up in the summer of 2012, where it's going to be up against new Star Trek, Spider-Man and Batman movies. No pressure there, then...

Star Wars live action TV show shelved because it costs too much

2010-08-05T17:25:00.002+12:00

If you've been holding your breath for that live-action Star Wars TV show, it's time you stopped—because the guy who should know better than anyone has said the series he's been working on for at least five years won't be happening anytime soon.

The series was meant to be (depending on whom you listened to) either 100 episodes set between Star Wars: Episode III—Revenge of the Sith and Star Wars: Episode IV—A New Hope or a massive arc of somewhere around 400 episodes focused on non-Jedi or Sith characters.

But during a special reception held as part of digital screenings of Star Wars—Episode V: The Empire Strikes Back at Chicago's Field Museum a couple of months back, George Lucas spoke to 102 people who paid $200 apiece for the privilege and let them know it was unlikely they'd see ANY of those episodes soon.

Here's what he had to say (and we can't believe we missed this until now):

The live action TV show is kind of on hold because we have scripts, but we don't know how to do 'em. Because, they literally are Star Wars, only we're going to have to try to do them ... a tenth the cost. And, it's a huge challenge ... lot bigger than what we thought it was gonna be.

So are you upset because a live-action Star Wars TV series is proving impossible? Or relieved?

How has Inception changed the X-Men: First Class movie?

2010-08-04T11:16:00.002+12:00

On June 3rd 2011, Matthew Vaughn will be bringing to the big screen the latest X-Men movie, First Class. This is the project that tells of the early days of Professor X's school, and with production starting soon, the movie's cast has slotted into place. There's James McAvoy, Michael Fassbender, Kevin Bacon, Nicholas Hoult, Jennifer Lawrence and a whole lot more lined up, and you'd imagine that planning for the film is at a very advanced stage.

However, ever since Matthew Vaughn went to see Inception, those plans have hit a problem. For as Vaughn told the Los Angeles Times, "I saw Inception, which I loved."

However, for Vaughn, there's something of a downside. He went on to say, "My heart sank when I saw that a few of the ideas we had were up [on the screen]. So it's either leave it in and look as if you're copying or change things. We completely ripped out about 12 pages of the script and the storyboards."

So, what has Vaughn taken out of the film? According to the director, a sequence involving spinning rooms and physics bending has been chopped, given their similarity to some of the ideas in Inception. And that means last minute changes to a script that needs to be ready pretty damn quickly. We'd wager that's keeping a few people busy.

This Lunar astronaut art is going up in the final space shuttle flight

2010-08-04T11:12:00.002+12:00

There's something almost unbearably sad and touching about this bright piece of art, depicting astronauts on the Moon. It's going to be included on the very last space shuttle flight, the end of the space program that gave us Apollo.

The acrylic painting, which won an art contest, is the work of 14-year-old Lake Orion, MI student Justin Pavliscak. Pavliscak described his work thusly:

It's an astronaut that's standing on the moon with a flag kind of representing when they put the flag on the moon... Someone came and picked it up from school. It had to be weighed with NASA because of all of the specifications and things like that.

The flag on the Moon sports the letters "LO," for Lake Orion. Pavliscak, who won the Donte Curry Attitude Award in 2005 for his positive attitude, spent a lot of time getting the shadows, highlights and reflections in the astronaut's helmet right. Shuttle crew member Andrew Feustal, who also went to school in Lake Orion, will bring the artwork with him.

BBC confirms 13 new eps of Doctor Who will air next year

2010-08-04T11:09:00.000+12:00

Not that we ever had any doubts, but the BBC just made it official—Doctor Who WILL be back for a sixth season. And Steven Moffat will continue as executive producer of the Time Lord's adventures, writing five of the 13 episodes when Matt Smith returns. (Yes, all those rumors of Smith abandoning the show were false.)

"The last year has been extraordinary," Moffat said about a schedule that had him splitting his time between Doctor Who and his other BBC series, Sherlock. "I've had about four days off, and that includes Christmas day. I work every weekend, I get up early in the morning, I go to bed late at night. There is no way of balancing it."

However, you shouldn't pity Moffat, because—

"It's extraordinary, but it's great fun too! Great fun, so long as it doesn't kill me!"

Harry Potter's Tom Felton Joins Rise of the Apes

2010-07-18T17:59:00.002+12:00

Tom Felton ("Harry Potter's" Draco Malfoy) has joined the cast of 20th Century Fox's Caesar: Rise of the Apes. He'll play Brian Cox's son, co-owner of an ape facility.

James Franco, John Lithgow and Freida Pinto star in the Rupert Wyatt-directed sci-fi action adventure. Andy Serkis will do motion capture for the Caesar character.

Effects house Weta Digital – employing certain of the groundbreaking technologies developed for Avatar – will render, for the first time ever in the film series, photo-realistic apes rather than costumed actors.

Set in present day San Francisco, Caesar: Rise of the Apes is a reality-based cautionary tale, a science fiction/science fact blend, where man's own experiments with genetic engineering lead to the development of intelligence in apes and the onset of a war for supremacy.

The film is scheduled for a June 24, 2011 release.

Neveldine and Taylor Confirmed for Ghost Rider 2

2010-07-18T17:58:00.002+12:00

Nicolas Cage will return for a Ghost Rider sequel to be helmed by Neveldine/Taylor, the actor confirmed tonight on "The Late, Late Show with Craig Ferguson."

"There's gonna be a new one," Cage told Ferguson after the host presented him with a model of a flaming skull, "I just made the deal today."

He also confirmed the recent rumor that Mark Neveldine and Brian Taylor (Crank, Gamer) will direct the film, still rumored to be called Ghost Rider: Spirit of Vengeance.

Olivia Wilde strikes a pose for justice: the best Tron banner yet!

2010-07-18T17:57:00.000+12:00

A new Tron Legacy banner shows Olivia Wilde totally ready for action — which we're totally ready to witness. The almost kabuki pose, except with a deadly light disk instead of a fan, is stunning. And there's a spoilery synopsis!

The synopsis and the new banner come via HeyUGuys in the UK. Click the image above to make it bigger (or right-click and select "save link as" to save.) And for an even more ginormous version head over to HeyUGuys.

Here's the synopsis:

Sam Flynn (GARRETT HEDLUND), a rebellious 27-year-old, is haunted by the mysterious disappearance of his father Kevin Flynn (Oscar®- and Golden Globe®-winner JEFF BRIDGES), a man once known as the world's leading video-game developer. When Sam investigates a strange signal sent from the old Flynn's Arcade-a signal that could only come from his father-he finds himself pulled into a digital world where Kevin has been trapped for 20 years. With the help of the fearless warrior Quorra (OLIVIA WILDE), father and son embark on a life-or-death journey across a visually-stunning cyber universe-a universe created by Kevin himself that has become far more advanced with never-before-imagined vehicles, weapons, landscapes and a ruthless villain who will stop at nothing to prevent their escape.

Typical Hollywood

2010-07-18T17:41:00.000+12:00

Gary Wilkins kindly sent me this link a while ago (sorry have been on holiday) regarding the 'creative' accounting practises.
As he say's "Ever wonder why Peter Jackson lost patience with these arseholes? Now you know."

Thanks Gary, sorry about the delay in posting it.

That Stargate Universe/Stargate Atlantis crossover is GO!

2010-07-18T17:26:00.002+12:00

n what's got to be the biggest Stargate-related news of the year, Joseph Mallozzi, executive producer for both Stargate Universe and Stargate Atlantis, announced details about an upcoming crossover between the two series, while at the same time teasing us with a big mystery.

Here's what Mallozzi had to say:

With word from producer John G. Lenic that the deals have been closed on thoseAtlantis alums, we can now move forward on the script, secure in the knowledge that both extra-special guest stars will actually be on hand to say the dialogue written specifically for them. Great news for fans of the old series. There was a reluctance to move ahead with an SGA crossover, particularly on my part, because the feeling was it would step on the timing of the SGA movie, Stargate: Extinction, the events of which directly proceed the Atlantis series finale, Enemy at the Gate. But given the delay on the movie front and the ideal premise pitched out by Remi Aubuchon and Brad Wright, it was decided to go ahead with the crossover.

Which makes us go, "Hooray!"

But it also makes us go—"Hey! Which Atlantis stars are you talking about?"

Unfortunately, we won't be finding out exactly which "extra-special guest stars" will be popping up onSGU until Syfy makes its official announcement. But that gives us a great excuse to speculate, because Mallozzi promises answers to the following questions:

Are Sheppard and Nancy rekindling their relationship? Are McKay and Keller married yet? Has Carson completely adjusted to the life he left behind? Are Rodney and Radek still having it out on a daily basis? Is Torren teaching his fellow pre-schoolers how to stick fight? What's going on with Ronon and Amelia? Was Woolsey happily reunited with his yorkie? Did Major Lorne come out with any personal revelations? Again, stay tuned.

Sylvester 'Doctor Who No. 7' McCoy could play Bilbo Baggin

2010-07-18T17:24:00.002+12:00

Sylvester McCoy, who was edged out by Ian Holm for the role of Bilbo Baggins in theLord of the Rings trilogy, may get a chance to show us his furry feet after all. An inside source has confirmed that McCoy will play "the second biggest lead" in the upcomingHobbit prequel opposite Ian McKellen and Andy Serkis.

Glen Ferris of screenrush bumped into McCoy at the theater last night, and though the actor apparently was mum about the rumor, Ferris did make it sound (if we're reading his report correctly) as if he was made aware DURING the outing that McKoy had been cast for a major role in The Hobbit. So who was that inside source? A friend of McCoy's who was also at the theater?

Ferris doesn't say. And McCoy's agent would only respond with an enigmatic "no comment." But since McCoy had been a close second to Peter Jackson's final choice of Bilbo, Ian Holm, Ferris believes that the former Time Lord will be given a second shot at the role, "perhaps as an older version of Baggins recounting the adventures of his early years."

What do you think are the chances of this happening? And if it did happen—would you like it?

British tabloid says Matt Smith plans to leave Doctor Who

2010-07-18T17:23:00.002+12:00

Another unreliable source is saying that Matt Smith may already be on his way out as the new Doctor Who. First U.K. bookies lowered the odds of Smith sticking with the show, and now the British tabloid The Sun says Smith wants to leave the show after he completes filming his second series as the Doctor.

MATT SMITH is ready to quit as Doctor Who as early as next year - to crack Hollywood. And he certainly looks relaxed about his future, judging by his happy demeanour alongside 21-year-old model girlfriend Daisy Lowe.Matt, 27, has told pals he wants to go after just two series of the BBC1 sci-fi show so he can try his hand at movies. The actor is currently filming this year's Christmas special with Karen Gillan, who plays his sidekick Amy Pond, and opera star Katherine Jenkins.
He will then go straight into production on the new series, which will air next year.
But a pal said: "Matt plans to quit after the next series.
"He is eager to try new things and thinks Hollywood beckons."

Also according to The Sun, the BBC has nothing to say about Smith's role in the show beyond the second series:

The BBC said: "Matt is filming the Christmas special and then goes on to film the second series."Beyond that, the BBC and Matt won't speculate on things."

On the other hand, Matt has been quoted numerous times saying he loves the role and would like to continue with it for a long time, so hopefully for Who fans these are just rumors.

New Old Avengers Rumors

2010-06-25T10:04:00.003+12:00

Everything old is new again when it comes to Marvel movie rumors.

ComicBookMovie.com claims that a source close to Marvel Studios has informed them that Firefly's Nathan Fillion "is in final negotiations" to play Dr. Hank Pym, a.k.a. Ant-Man/Giant-Man, in The Avengers. As you know, Firefly creator Joss Whedon is directing the film.

Furthermore, the site says that Desperate Housewives star Eva Longoria will indeed play Pym's wife, Janet Van Dyne a.k.a.Wasp, as was first rumored in 2008.

"At this point, they may only be playing S.H.I.E.L.D. scientists. No word on whether any of their super powers will be seen in the first Avengers or not," according to CBM. "Their relationship has not been clearly defined either: simply co-workers and/or husband and wife are all still on the table."

The Avengers begins filming early next year for a 2012 release.

Martian Chronicles Movie Buzz

2010-06-25T10:03:00.003+12:00

The producer of Predator, Alien vs. Predator and I, Robot is reportedly eying one of science fiction's most celebrated works as a feature film adaptation.

According to The Los Angeles Times, producer John Davishas optioned the screen rights to Ray Bradbury's 1950 short story collection The Martian Chronicles.

The collection of 28 short stories follow humans' attempts to colonize Mars after Earth has been devastated and their conflicts with the Martians.

The Martian Chronicles was previously brought to the small screen as a 1980 miniseries starring Rock Hudson, Roddy McDowall, Darren McGavin and Nicholas Hammond.

In addition to the first two Predator films and the AvP series, Davis has also produced Marmaduke, Eragon, Waterworld, Grumpy Old Men, Richie Rich, Daylight, Doctor Dolittle, Paycheck, Garfield, Fat Albert, and Norbit.

Rumor Quickies

2010-06-25T10:00:00.000+12:00

Inception:

Part of the Rolling Stone review of this Christopher Nolan film has leaked out, and it's ultra-positive, calling the film a dreamworld into which the audience can project its own secrets. It may be too clever and cerebral for stultified movie audiences though.

Rise Of The Apes:

John Lithgow, who already has lots of primate experience after Harry & The Hendersons, has joined the cast of this film. Lithgow will play the Alzheimer's Disease-stricken father of James Franco's protagonist. Franco's character wants to find a cure for Alzheimer's, so he tests it on an ape, Caesar, who evolves rapidly until Franco takes him home and shelters him from the medical establishment.

The Hobbit:

Forget those rumors that Neill Blomkamp might step in and direct this project. He hasn't even been approached about it, his reps say. And he's still hard at work on his second film, which is apparently titled Elysium and is set on another planet. And there's dire speculation that Brett Ratner might end up taking over the Shire. Although it's mostly just speculation, I think.

M. Night Shyamlan's untitled next project:

A few more details about the film that Shyalaman is supposedly going to film afterThe Last Airbender. Bradley Cooper would play a father who uses supernatural powers to search for his missing child. Bruce Willis and Gwyneth Paltrow are also loosely attached to this film

Buy the Terminator's scorched cyber-arm from the original movie!

2010-06-25T09:55:00.000+12:00

In one of those "life imitates cyber-awesomeness" moments, an art director on the original Terminator movie rescued this cyborg arm from a special-effects explosion - just the way Cyberdyne did in T2. And now it's for sale!

This is the arm from the original T-800 Terminator model that was blown up at the end of the flick, and it was rescued from the wreckage by assistant art director Shay Austin. He kept the arm in a box of prop memorabilia, not realizing that the movie was about to become one of the most iconic SF tales of the late twentieth century. In fact, he's one of the few people who saved anything from the movie that became a franchise, and that's why this arm is so valuable that it's being auctioned off by Heritage Auction Galleries on July 17 as part of the "Signature Music & Entertainment Memorabilia Auction."

According to Suvudu:

The metal arm measures approximately 24" in length and is partially articulated. One of the fingers has separated over time due to the soft-wiring of the endoskeleton's parts, done to allow it to fragment properly during the explosion. The arm was also aged by the art department of the film to look properly scorched in the explosion.

Auction geeks are guessing the arm will probably sell for around $15,000. Last year, another T-800 arm from the original movie sold for $20,000.

Pirates Of The Caribbean 4 story details revealed

2010-06-25T09:46:00.002+12:00

As the fourth Pirates Of The Caribbean movie readies itself for production, Disney has released a few new details about what we have in store. The film, entitled Pirates Of The Caribbean: On Stranger Tides, was reportedly based on the book On Stranger Tides by Tim Powers. Yet, the synopsis that Disney has released doesn't seem to cross over too much with Powers' words, save for the inclusion of a fairly crucial plot device (hence Disney's decision to fork out for the rights, presumably).

It reads thus:

"Pirates of the Caribbean: On Stranger Tides captures the fun, adventure and humor that ignited the hit franchise - this time in Disney Digital 3D.

In this action-packed tale of truth, betrayal, youth and demise, Captain Jack Sparrow crosses paths with a woman from his past (Penelope Cruz), and he's not sure if it's love - or if she's a ruthless con artist who's using him to find the fabled Fountain of Youth. When she forces him aboard the Queen Anne's Revenge, the ship of the formidable pirate Blackbeard (Ian McShane), Jack finds himself on an unexpected adventure in which he doesn't know who to fear more: Blackbeard or the woman from his past. Geoffry Rush reprises his role as the vengeful Captain Hector Barbossa, and Kevin R. McNally returns as Captain Jack's longtime comrade Joshamee Gibbs. Sam Claflin stars as a stalwart missionary, while Astrid Berges-Frisbey is transformed into a mysterious mermaid."

So there you have it.

The film is earmarked for release on 20th May 2011, with Rob Marshall directing. And as soon as we have shots from the shoot, we'll bring them your way.

Who Might Play Professor Moriarty in Sherlock Holmes 2?

2010-06-25T09:45:00.000+12:00

SuperHeroHype is reporting that director Guy Ritchie is hoping to get Daniel Day-Lewis to play Sherlock Holmes' arch-villain Professor Moriarty in Warner Bros.' Sherlock Holmes 2, which will start shooting soon for a December 16, 2011 release date. The site adds that if that doesn't work out, other names that have been bandied about as being in consideration include Sean Penn, Javier Bardem and Gary Oldman.

Two more details about the upcoming 11-minute LOST epilogue

2010-06-25T09:41:00.002+12:00

Michael Emerson stunned us all with news that when the complete series is released on DVD and Blu-ray, it will include an 11-minute epilogue focusing on Ben and Hurley as they continue to protect the Island during the the post-Jack era.

We still don't know whether purchasers of the season-six DVD and Blu-ray will be getting the short, or whether it will be exclusive to the Complete Collection set (both of which will be released on Aug. 24), but here are a couple of things we DO know, thanks to g4tv.

The title given to the cherry on top of the season finale is "The New Man in Charge." While we assume the series creators mean Hurley, who knows what they have in store for us? For all we know, Ben Linus will get to be top dog for a few of those 11 minutes.

Also, The New York Post's Jarett Wieselman—of whom we're VERY jealous right now—has actually seen the first of those 11 minutes and reported: "Let me tell you—the long wait is worth it!"

Crank team taking on Ghost Rider 2?

2010-06-17T09:20:00.002+12:00

News arising this morning suggests that Sony may have worked out which way to go with its planned sequel to its 2007 hit Ghost Rider. Or, at the very least, in whose direction to pump the project.

The original film starred Nicolas Cage and was directed by Mark Steven Johnson. Johnson won't be back for the second film, and Sony needs to get Ghost Rider 2 into production shortly, otherwise the rights will revert back to Marvel (and thus Disney).

As such, the studio is reportedly courting Mark Neveldine and Brian Taylor, the pair behind the two Crank movies as well as Gamer. Heat Vision reports that the pair are in negotiations for the project, and that Nicolas Cage, too, is in talks to reprise his role as Johnny Blaze.

The news of Cage's involvement isn't the foregone conclusion it once was, too. Cage has committed to shoot National Treasure 3 at the end of the year, and it was unclear whether that gave Sony time to press ahead with the actor on-board. The studio has, it's been revealed, looked at the possibility of recasting the role.

However, it seems full steam ahead now, and with David Goyer's script for the film in place, Ghost Rider 2 should be shooting - assuming everyone signs on the dotted line - in the next 12 months.

Shatner plans to direct a documentary about Captain Kirk

2010-06-17T09:17:00.000+12:00

William Shatner announced that he's going to direct a documentary called "The Captains" about Capt. Kirk, which is to say a documentary about Capt. Shatner. Shatner has never been shy about talking about himself, and now he gets to direct and executive-produce himself as well. Here's more:

"A feature documentary following the life and career of William Shatner, The Captains will explore Shatner's Montreal roots and his early career in Stratford, Ontario, as well as the extraordinary change in circumstances caused by the serendipitous casting for the role of Captain James T. Kirk. The film will be directed by Shatner, who will also executive produce with David Zappone and Craig Thompson."

The Thing prequel gets a pretty good 2011 release date

2010-06-17T09:15:00.002+12:00

As huge fans of both versions of The Thing, we're tentatively kinda sorta excited about the idea of a prequel. Now we know how long we have to wait to see it: until April 29, 2011.

According to Coming Soon, that date puts it one week before Thor, and just ahead of the summer movie season, which is probably a good place for it, because we don't see this competing head to head with any big films out there.

Here's info on what you'll see when it does debut:

Antarctica: an extraordinary continent of awesome beauty. It is also home to an isolated outpost where a discovery full of scientific possibility becomes a mission of survival when an alien is unearthed by a crew of international scientists. The shape-shifting creature, accidentally unleashed at this marooned colony, has the ability to turn itself into a perfect replica of any living being. It can look just like you or me, but inside, it remains inhuman. In the thriller The Thing, paranoia spreads like an epidemic among a group of researchers as they're infected, one by one, by a mystery from another planet.
Paleontologist Kate Lloyd (Mary Elizabeth Winstead) has traveled to the desolate region for the expedition of her lifetime. Joining a Norwegian scientific team that has stumbled across an extraterrestrial ship buried in the ice, she discovers an organism that seems to have died in the crash eons ago. But it is about to wake up.
When a simple experiment frees the alien from its frozen prison, Kate must join the crew's pilot, Carter (Joel Edgerton), to keep it from killing them off one at a time. And in this vast, intense land, a parasite that can mimic anything it touches will pit human against human as it tries to survive and flourish.

Cartographer creates actual map of LOST island

2010-06-17T09:13:00.000+12:00

click to enlarge

Eccleston left Doctor Who because it was "wrong"

2010-06-17T09:08:00.000+12:00

We always wondered why Christopher Eccleston, who took on the role of Doctor Who when the Time Lord was reinvented in 2005, quit after one season.

And the actor's reasons became even more mysterious when the BBC stated, as part of its announcement that Eccleston would be leaving, that the actor was afraid of being typecast and had found the series grueling—causing Eccleston to respond at the time that this was not the case. (The BBC later admitted that its announcement had been incorrect and that it had released it without speaking to Eccleston.)

"They handled it very badly, but they issued an apology and I dropped it," the actor said.

But we finally know the real reasons for Eccleston's departure. The actor, who is about to star in the BBC Four movie Lennon Naked, said that "I didn't enjoy the environment and the culture that we, the cast and crew, had to work in," BBC News reported.

"I was open-minded but I decided after my experience on the first series that I didn't want to do any more," he said. "I thought if I stay in this job, I'm going to have to blind myself to certain things that I thought were wrong. ... I think it's more important to be your own man than be successful, so I left."

That doesn't mean Ecclsteon isn't pleased with what he had accomplished by reinvigorating Doctor Who. For him, getting to play the character was "the most important thing," far more important than the fact of his having left after a single season.

"I really feel that, because it kind of broke the mold and it helped to reinvent it," he said. "I'm very proud of it."

Those two Alien prequels? Ridley Scott tells us more!

2010-06-17T09:05:00.000+12:00

The only thing cooler than Ridley Scott doing another Alien movie is Ridley Scott doing TWO Alienmovies. They never even asked him to do a sequel, so James Cameron did Aliens and so on and so on. Now that 20th Century Fox need to reboot one of their best franchises, they're happy to have Scott back for a prequel, and a second prequel, both to be shot in 3-D.

At the Los Angeles Times' Hero Complex film festival, Scott gave a Q&A in between screenings of Alienand Blade Runner. He told the audience more details about his plans for a new Alien. He'd already said his first prequel will be about the "space jockey," that huge statue Kane (John Hurt) stumbles upon in the first film. It looks like the carcass of an alien giant.

"I think beneath that carcass isn't a carcass," Scott teased on June 13 in Hollywood. "That's a suit, but inside the suit is a being."

Whoa! So once we meet that being, we're not going to want to stop at just one movie. "What we want to do is try and squeeze in two prequels, because if you explain who he was and where did he come from, then that will deal with the savagery of this version, which is pretty savage," Scott continued. "Then you may want to find out where they came from, so you may want to go to the place where his people come from."

Scott is sort of pulling a James Cameron on this one. He's spending time with real NASA scientists who do research at the bottom of the ocean, to simulate conditions in space. They've given Scott some ideas of real planets where he can set his prequel. That would show that the colonies Ripley (Sigourney Weaver) visited evolved from our own universe.

"They got me going about this wonderful planet which is out near the big gas, you know those massive gas columns that we discovered about 20 years ago," Scott said. "Just to the side of that, there's this wonderful planet called Europa. Around that is Io and Zeta II Reticuli. We're going back to Zeta II Reticuli."

Alien was about a team of blue-collar workers on a salvage ship in the future. It was just their job, and they happened to encounter an extraordinary beast. Now Scott wants to bring the Alien world even closer to our reality. He's taking our real space programs and only going a little bit further.

"This is going to go further into that world of terraforming," Scott said. "We're thinking about doing it. In fact, if Kennedy had been allowed to continue on his space program, we would have probably been on Mars now, with maybe a population of about 9,000 people. Take that on board, that's how far we should have gone and should have come. The argument was always 'Why spend so much money out there when we've got enough problems down here?' That's what's turned it around and stopped it. So we're going to a world which is already out there."

The part that's still science fiction is traveling light-years away and sustaining human life for the journey. Scott's going to take the real science of that and make it scary. "Actually, you're dematerializing and rematerializing, because light speed is that. You can't travel in that space of time, so you have to think about 'How do I mathematically change my matter, material presence?' It sounds like magic, but if we said in 1900 that I was going to have a cell phone, I'd be able to pick this up and talk to London, they'd put me in jail or a lunatic asylum. That's how far we've come. I think the closer it is to the truth and the closer it is to technological feasibility, it becomes that much more interesting. If it's a film like I'm going to do, it's going to become that much more frightening."

The Alien prequel will be Scott's first sci-fi movie since 1982's landmark Blade Runner. Now he's on a roll. He's planning two prequels and also developing a movie version of Joe Haldeman's book The Forever War. Scott says he has a screenwriter working on a fourth draft of the adaptation. His vision for that film is philosophical and romantic.

"[Haldeman] thought instead of writing the book about Vietnam, he'd write a book about a future idea of this perpetual war that seemed to be perpetual if you were a soldier serving in Vietnam. Why on earth were we there? What were we doing? What's the ultimate target? How do we get out? In a word, that reflects the whole tenor of the book. So it's philosophical and, in a funny kind of way, romantic. Romantic in the sense of I think 2001 was romantic and Star Wars is romantic, the first Star Wars, George Lucas', by far the best of the Star Wars, the one he directed, I think. That's the kind of romantic view. Romantic, I don't mean love story. I mean there's a vision there which elevates the idea."

The first Alien prequel is due out in 2011.

Ward joins the cast of Pirates of the Caribbean : On Stranger Tides

2010-06-14T14:09:00.000+12:00

Australian model Gemma Ward has won a role in "Pirates of the Caribbean : On Stranger Tides", The Courier Mail reports today.

Ward, who appeared in the acclaimed Aussie film "The Black Balloon" but is best known for her many performances on the catwalk, will play a mermaid in the Blockbuster Disney prequel.

"Gemma's focus is definitely on acting," a friend of the model cum actress tells the paper. "She's spent the past year studying the craft full time in New York."

It's believed Ward's part is only a small role.

Johnny Depp, Geoffrey Rush, Penelope Cruz and Ian McShane star in director Rob Marshall's "Pirates of the Caribbean : On Stranger Tides", in theaters 2012.

Writers, Director tapped for Clash of the Titans 2

2010-06-14T14:08:00.001+12:00

Writers Dan Mazeau (the upcoming "The Flash") and David Leslie Johnson (currently-lensing "The Girl with the Red Riding Hood,") have been tapped to write Warner's sequel to this year's headache-inducing "Clash of the Titans" remake, says Heat Vision.

Mazeau and Johnson will join WB fave Greg Berlanti (the TV soapie creator - he's the man behind "Everwood" and "Brothers & Sisters" - cum comic-book movie 'go to guy'; Berlanti is currently working on both "The Green Lantern" and "The Flash" for Warner Bros) on the treatment before tackling the screenplay sans their Yoda.

Jonathan Liebesman ("The Texas Chainsaw Massacre: The Beginning") is in line to direct the flick which, unlike the first film, will actually be 'shot' in 3D- as opposed to simply having the gimmicky add-on overlayed upon it's frames in post-production.

"Clash of the Titans 2", starring Sam Worthington and Gemma Arterton, is expected to be ready for a 2012 release.

Transformers 3 to be in 3D after all

2010-06-14T14:05:00.000+12:00

Hmmm. After publicly berating the processing of adding post-production 3D to movies earlier this year, and nixing the idea of using 3D cameras to shoot his action sequences, all signs were that Michael Bay's third and probably final Transformers movie wasn't going to be in 3D at all.

In case you missed what he said, he told Deadline that "You go to the screening room, you are hoping to be thrilled, and you're thinking, huh, this kind of sucks. People can say whatever they want about my movies, but they are technically precise, and if this isn't going to be excellent, I don't want to do it. And it is my choice."

He went on to say, "This conversion process is always going to be inferior to shooting in real 3D. Studios might be willing to sacrifice the look and use the gimmick to make $3 more a ticket, but I'm not. Avatar took four years. You can't just shit out a 3D movie. I'm saying, the jury is still out."

So, it's all come as something of a surprise then to learn that Paramount has confirmed Transformers 3 will indeed be released in 3D in the summer of 2011. There's been no confirmation as to whether the film - which is currently before the cameras - is being shot in 3D, or whether it'll be a post-production bolt on. Just that in 3D it shall be.

Bay, meanwhile, has also held his hands up to some of the problems with the second film. We don't remember him being so candid back when he was promoting the movie, but he's told USA Today, "I'll take some of the criticism ... It was very hard to put (the sequel) together that quickly after the writers' strike."

He also revealed that Transformers 3 will have a few changes. "One thing we're getting rid of is what I called the dorky comedy," pretty much confirming that the Twins would be disappearing from the movie. And he also strongly suggested thatTransformers 3 would offer some finality to proceedings. "This one really builds to a final crescendo. It's not three multiple endings... As a trilogy, it really ends. It could be rebooted again, but I think it has a really killer ending," the Baymeister said.

Finally, Shockwave has been confirmed as the villain of Transformers 3, a film that's going to centre around the USA/USSR space race.

Here's the full piece at USA Today.

David Tennant to star in Fright Night remake

2010-06-14T14:04:00.002+12:00

he upcoming Fright Night remake we reported on the other day has had a further development, with former Doctor Who actor David Tennant taking on a major role.

According to news from the BBC, Tennant is set to fill the role played by Roddy McDowell in the 1985 original, though from what we've read, the character will be changed from an eccentric late-night television host to a Las Vegas magician.

It has also been reported that Christopher Mintz-Plasse, who recently appeared inKick-Ass and Superbad, will also be joining the cast, which includes Anton Yelchin in the lead as school boy Charley Brewster, Toni Collette as his mother, and Colin Farrell as the villainous bloodsucker described, enigmatically enough, as "a Jaws-like vampire" by writer Marti Noxon.

Die Hard 5 to be a John McClane/Jack Bauer crossover?

2010-06-14T14:03:00.000+12:00

The Hollywood rumour mill throws out some bizarre stories on occasions. Over the last day or two, an unnamed source told Aint It Cool News that the title for the fifth John McClane action saga would be, oddly, Die Hard 24/7.

The story goes that Bruce Willis was so inspired by Sylvester Stallone'sThe Expendables ("He went gaga for it," Sly reportedly said), that it has encouraged him to press on with a new Die Hard film with the harder edge of the earlier trilogy.

Now, further rumours have surfaced that Fox was considering making a John McClane/Jack Bauer crossover adventure, which explains the thinking process behind the curious/shit Die Hard 24/7 title.

It's a plausible story, and the thought of seeing Bauer and McClane's characters teaming up for a joint adventure is an appealing one, but is there any truth to behind the rumours? Only time will tell.

Producer sets record straight on all those Indy 5 rumors

2010-06-14T13:56:00.000+12:00

Remember that "major" Indiana Jones news from a couple of days ago, when everybody reported how the next film would be about the Bermuda Triangle and give Harrison Ford an "emotional and exciting" ending? Remember?

Well, it looks like we were all had. How do we know? Because Frank Marshall tweeted about it, and if anyone would know, he would know.

Marshall, who was a producer not just of Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull, Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade, Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom and Raiders of the Lost Ark, but a string of hits including Poltergeist, Back to the Future and The Sixth Sense, took to Twitter to respond to what we've all been abuzz about.

Wrote Marshall:

"The rumor about INDY 5 is completely false. Nothing has changed, we are not shooting next year and still in the research phase... "

Del Toro left The Hobbit to direct ... Van Helsing 2?

2010-06-14T13:54:00.002+12:00

With The Hobbit now firmly behind him, director Guillermo del Toro has a stack of backlogged projects he can dive into. And one of the projects the acclaimed filmmaker is developing is a new Van Helsingmovie, according to pajiba.

Now before we all scream, "He left The Hobbit for this?", let's take a closer look. The project is apparently NOT a sequel to the (let's just say it) wretched Van Helsing movie from 2004 that starred/embarrassed Hugh Jackman and Kate Beckinsale. Instead, Universal Pictures wants to take an entirely different approach to the famous vampire hunter and archenemy of Dracula, and has enlisted del Toro to write a treatment for what is described as "an action horror story."

Del Toro is also named as a producer on the movie, but there's no word yet on whether he'll write the full screenplay or sit in the director's chair. He certainly has experience with vampires, having directedBlade 2 and having co-written the epic bloodsucker novel The Strain (with two more volumes on the way). Plus his feel for the Gothic might bring some credibility back to the character.

So just like anything else the workaholic del Toro attaches himself to, this one has grabbed our interest even though it's a long way off from actually hitting the screen. The problem is that he has so much on his plate, including adaptations of Frankenstein, Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde, Dan Simmons' Drood, H.P. Lovecraft's At the Mountains of Madness and possibly a new spin on The Wizard of Oz. And that's just the movies he may direct! He's also producing and/or writing a pile of other pictures, including the spy thriller Champions and the apocalyptic horror story Hater.

Michael 'Ben Linus' Emerson explains Lost's finale in 14 words

2010-06-14T13:52:00.000+12:00

Poor Michael "Ben Linus" Emerson is still answering questions about the Lost finale, which despite many clarifications continues to confuse a lot of people. If you're one of them, read on and all will become clear. If you haven't seen the Lost finale yet, go away, don't read this!

"Everybody was dead, but the plane really crashed, everything on the island really happened."

You can't put it much more simply than that! He also said:

"It's such a good finale, you know, humane and soulful. The antechamber to the afterlife. It's what people fantasize about."

Sherlock Holmes vs. Ethan Hunt and the Chipmunks

2010-06-04T09:20:00.002+12:00

Warner Bros. Pictures announced today the studio will release Sherlock Holmes 2 on December 16, 2011. That happens to be the same day as Paramount's Mission: Impossible IV and Fox's Alvin and the Chipmunks 3D are scheduled to hit theaters.

Sherlock Holmes 2 will again be directed by Guy Ritchie and star Robert Downey Jr. and Jude Law as Holmes and Watson.

The first film, made for about $90 million, earned an impressive $516.8 million at the worldwide box office. Domestically, the movie took in $209 million and the international sum was $307.7 million.

Logan's Run remake to be shot in 3D

2010-06-04T09:13:00.000+12:00

It seems as though Hollywood is announcing a new remake of an ageing premise every week lately, and following reports last week that former ad director Carl Erik Rinsch had agreed to direct a new version of the 1976 Logan's Run film, producer Joel Silver has revealed another detail about the project, following another popular tinseltown trend, the remake will be shot in 3D.

"I'd like to make Logan's Run [in 3D]," Silver said in an interview with MTV. "It's a movie I've always been intrigued with, excited by. We're writing a script now and that should be a big 3D movie and it should be devised and shot in 3D. I think if we can pull it together, then it would be."

Originally based on William F. Nolan and George Clayton Johnson's 1967 book of the same name, Logan's Run was set in a dystopian future society where population numbers are controlled by killing citizens when they reach the age of 30.

Hollywood's obsession with both remakes and 3D shows no sign of abating, with director Rinsch already signed up to direct reboots of 47 Ronin and The Creature From The Black Lagoon, while Silver has said he's interested in making an adaptation of the comic book Lobo in - you guessed it - 3D.

Amazing Star Wars prank: Astronomy dome turned into giant R2-D2

2010-06-04T09:10:00.002+12:00

Students at Minnesota's Carleton College turned the school's observatory into a giant R2-D2 as a prank. They'd better get an A+ for this.

First pics of Chris Hemsworth wielding the hammer of Thor!

2010-06-04T09:09:00.002+12:00

China's 'live' coverage censored astronaut's bloody reentry

2010-06-04T09:08:00.000+12:00

China's first astronaut, Yang Liwei, was happy and smiling after having orbited Earth 14 times in theShenzhou 5 back in 2003—at least that's how he was seen in the official picture above.

But it turns out that's not how Yang actually looked when he first emerged from his capsule. Xia Lin, a top official at Xinhua, the state news agency, revealed in a speech that the G-forces were so excessive during reentry that the astronaut's lip was split and his face drenched in blood, a far cry from the cheerful photo above.

"All of my organs seemed to break into pieces," the astronaut said of his experience during takeoff.

According to the New York Times, Xia stated that to make sure the moment would be one of unblemished triumph, workers mopped up the blood, strapped Yang back in his seat and closed him up with the capsule once more. Yang then exited a second time, giving the appearance that the landing had gone off without a hitch.

How is the Chinese government dealing with this disclosure? All postings about Lin's lecture, titled "Understanding Journalistic Protocols for Covering Breaking News," were deleted, as you can seehere, and officials at Xinhua and Tianjin Foreign Studies University did not return calls seeking comment.

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2010-06-02T17:05:00.000+12:00

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