It’s a very slow news day so far but there have been a couple of little nuggets of information that I wanted to pass along.
First, despite saying that his new film Prometheus, would be a standalone film, rumors have emerged that both the Space Jockey and the Xenomorph will appear. According to one inside source the Space Jockey is actually being built on the studio set and that a spaceship in the film is piloted by a gigantic head which indicates biomechanical technology.
Now the question is whether the film truly is a prequel to Alien, or if it’s just an elaborate fan boy wish for those hoping to still see the Alien prequel? We will find out is the film it’s closer to its summer 2012 release.
After his cameo appearance as David Brent on last night’s episode of The Office, some are speculating if Ricky Gervais is the one who will replace Steve Carrell from the office when he departs later this season. While this would seem a long shot to me, I have to admit it would be interesting and a dynamic choice.
Judy Dench has confirmed that she will be returning as M in the next James Bond film rumored to be titled Red Sky at Night.
For those interested in spoilers, head over to bloodydisgusting.com if you want to get a glimpse of the aliens and the pending invasion film Battle L.A.
That’s it for now, and I’ll be back on Monday with all the news that’s fit to print.
1-27-11
Looks like filming of The Hobbit is been delayed yet again, this time due to director Peter Jackson having surgery for a perforated ulcer. Jackson is expected to make a full recovery.
The popular PlayStation three game Heavy Rain is being adapted into a film and they hope to take advantage of the gritty noire look to the game.
Dark Horizons reports that Cloverfield 2 is still many years away from happening says director Matt Reeves as he is focusing on smaller projects.
Michael Fassbender has also confirmed to play an android in the film Prometheus which was scheduled to be Alien prequel but is now a standalone film. It will make its debut summer 2012.
Will Ferrell will be introduced on The Office as another difficult manager as part of the transition of Steve Correll from the series. While Ferrell is not the likely replacement he is seen as a transitional character.
Javier Bardem is the new lead in The Dark Tower, Ron Howard’s adaptation of the Stephen King series.
Moviehole reports that Skins” star Luke Pasqualino has been cast to play the young William Adama in the new battle star like a series.
1-26-11
Well here we are one day removed from the Oscar nomination announcements and sadly Hollywood seems to have gone into a collective shall in regard to any news of substance coming through the normal channels. The usual flood of press releases and rumors have been reduced to nothing more than self-congratulatory articles about who didn’t get nominated, who deserves to win, and how certain films came to be.
And while this may be highly interesting for those in the industry and for those involved with the film I would think the average fan would find it about as exciting as watching paint dry so therefore we’re going to be light on news today because I definitely believe in the concept of less is more and I am not going to fill a full page of news if there is nothing of merit.
As expected the fate of Tron 3 will depend largely on how well the DVD and Blu-ray sales go.
Mc G is rumored to be directing the pilot episode of Wonder Woman for NBC which had originally passed on the series as did all of the other networks due to concerns over price and the failure of recent shows such as the Bionic Woman and Dollhouse.
James Wan and Leigh Whannell who created the SAW franchise have learned that their new film Insidious has been given a PG-13 rating much to the chagrin old or fans. It’s been reported that the film is very scary and effective in simply does not go overboard on the gore. I was very lucky to meet the duo right after the press screening for the original SAW film and have occasionally chatted with one of them over the years since then. I have my curiosity piqued to say the least.
Since he’s not busy shooting James Bond until later, Daniel Craig reportedly will take the male lead in the English language version of the Girl with the Dragon Tattoo.
Fans of 3-D may find it interesting that news I reported a couple of years ago after talking with Jeff Katzenberg of DreamWorks is coming true. Katzenberg had stated that the company was so convinced that 3-D was the wave of the future that they were in talks with leading manufacturers of eyewear to make fashionable sunglasses that also doubled as 3-D glasses.
The original pairs are set to ship at around $80 from various high-end fashion designers. The only problem is that while they will work in theatrical releases apparently there are differing technologies for 3-D televisions and some may not be compatible with all versions.
1-25-11
What a difference a day make. Yesterday the net was all abuzz about a rumored fourth and fifth film in The Matrix series, and today we learned that the source of the rumor Aint It Cool News ran the news that apparently came from a fan rather than verified sources.
Moviehole has reported through their sources that there are currently no plans for the sequel, and that the alleged meetings in the story did not take place.
The site also reports that Simon West is looking to make a sequel to his megahit Con Air and that Bruce Campbell is still anxious for his pal Sam Raimi to get the long gestating Evil Dead remake made.
In a banner day for Moviehole they also reported that James Cameron has confirmed that Avatar two and three will be his next films and they are currently looking for a 2014 and 2015 release as the films may be shot back-to-back. Cameron and Fox have also agreed to give a share of the profits to various ecological causes in support of the film.
The very popular Star Wars exhibit will be coming to the Pacific Science Center in March which should only heat up the future releases of the film series in 3-D and on Blu-ray.
The nominations for the 2011 Oscars are out and the nominees are below…
The King’s Speech
Toy Story 3
True Grit
Black Swan
The Social Network
The Fighter
Inception
127 Hours
Winter’s Bone
The Kids Are All Right
BEST ACTRESS
Annette Bening in “The Kids Are All Right”
Nicole Kidman in “Rabbit Hole”
Jennifer Lawrence in “Winter’s Bone”
Natalie Portman in “Black Swan”
Michelle Williams in “Blue Valentine”
BEST ACTOR
Javier Bardem
Jeff Bridges
James Franco
Colin Firth
Jesse Eisenberg
BEST SUPPORTING ACTRESS
Amy Adams
Helena Bonham Carter
Melissa Leo
Hailee Steinfeld
Jacki Weaver
BEST SUPPORTING ACTOR
Geoffrey Rush
Christian Bale
Jeremy Renner
Mark Ruffalo
BEST DIRECTOR
Darren Aronofsky
David O. Russell
Tom Hooper
David Fincher
Joel & Ethan Coen
1-24-11
Warner Bros. has announced a pending digital series for Mortal Kombat. In conjunction with the release of the next game in the series, Warner Bros. has announced that Kevin Tancharoen, known for his popular unofficial fan short Mortal Kombat: Rebirth which garnered over 10 million views online, will direct the series which will delve into the back history of the several of the popular and iconic characters.
In a shocker at Sundance Flm Festival, director Kevin Smith paid himself $20 to the rights for his film Red State and announced he would be distributing the film himself. Smith will embark on a road trip through several cities to screen the film in advance of its October 19 release.
Smith then said he would follow up his or film with the previously announced hockey comedy Hit Somebody, but then shock the audience by saying that would be his last film as a director.
I’ve always found Kevin to be a very decent and upright guy and a very straight shooter let’s hope that if that is indeed what he wishes for his career that he will find success in. As a fan though, I would love to see more of his unique style of filmmaking in the future.
As much as I wish this was untrue, The Matrix four and five are in the planning stages to be released in 3-D. A draft for the film was reportedly shown to Keanu Reeves around Christmas and he was impressed with what he saw. This news was reported by AICN and Moviehole.
I was not overly impressed with the film series the first time. While I did enjoy the original film I did not think it was nearly as good as people made it out to be and the one trick pony of bullet time effects got old very quick for me. I was very disenchanted with the second sequel and found the third film to be borderline unwatchable.
Moviehole also reports that Chris Hemsworth who plays Thor in the upcoming film has said the script for The Avengers is incredible.
In more comic book news, Dark Horizons reports that Don Cheadle said a treatment for a spinoff film based on his Iron Man 2 character War M and achine is in the works.
And in news from us, a sequel to The Green Hornet is being looked at and he of course is dependent upon the box office numbers. The film took a dip from its first place opening but is it on pace to earn back its reported $120 million budget. Naturally the foreign market were the source material for the character is virtually unknown, as well as DVD, cable, and pay-per-view will figure prominently in the film’s final bottom line which in turn will ultimately decide the fate of any sequels.
