Movie Trailers, News & Rumors Thread

When Michael Bay isn't tinkering with giant f****** robots, he seemingly spends his time scouting out old-school horror projects to repurpose for his Platinum Dunes production company.

To date, Platinum Dunes has brought us The Texas Chainsaw Massacre remake, The Amityville Horror, TCM: The Beginning, and The Hitcher. And they're plotting redos of Friday the 13th and A Nightmare on Elm Street, as well as Hitchcock's The Birds. Now comes word that another classic film from the horror genre may get Bay-ified.

ShockTillYouDrop.com reports that Platinum Dunes is in talks with Paramount about a potential update of Rosemary's Baby, the 1968 Roman Polanski film based on Ira Levin's novel of the same name.

Producers Brad Fuller and Andrew Form are reportedly looking for a writer, sources tell the site.

Starring Mia Farrow, Rosemary's Baby is the horrifying account of a woman who believes she has been impregnated by Satan himself.

You've all probably heard by now that Vin Diesel and Paul Walker will be back behind the wheel for The Fast and the Furious 4. It's also been reported that hottie Jordana Brewster will be reprising her role in the high-octane street racing franchise. Now, there's word of another babe joining the cast.

Rumor has it that newcomer Gal Gadot, who reportedly narrowly missed being cast as a Bond girl in Quantum of Solace, has snagged a part in the fourth Furious flick. Said rumor comes courtesy of israelenews.com website.

The 22-year-old model is a former Miss Israel and an aspiring actress. Not only is she stunning, but she's got skills... Until recently, Gadot served in the Israeli Defense Forces as a fitness instructor. She reportedly beat out six other actresses for the Furious role.

Justin Lin and Chris Morgan are expected to return to write and direct the still-untitled flick.

The Fast and the Furious 4 is expected to film this March in Los Angeles, Mexico and the Dominican Republic.

Since playing the lead in 2002's The Transporter, Jason Statham has made his mark as an action star. With a new film, The Bank Job, about to up his genre cred even further, Statham is already thinking about the future. But for him that's going to mean revisiting the past... in the form of sequels. Statham recently sat down with IGN, knocked us out cold with a flick of his pinky finger, and waited for us to come to before talking about his upcoming plans. Here's what he had to say...

Q: Are you stoked for Crank 2?

JASON STATHAM: It's hard to talk about this script because you look at The Bank Job, a true story that is full of intrigue, surprise and deceit, and Crank is just like from the f****** stratosphere. It's so out there. It's so wacky. It's so unbelievable, but at the same time it's the Neveldine and Taylor edgy, mad filmmaking that they do so well. It's fun. It's entertainment. Some people think it's sheer horse s***, but every person that I've met has actually said it's terrific. I'm sure there's some people who don't like it. You can't please everybody. And I, particularly, love it.

Q: Are you excited to get back to playing Chev?

STATHAM: Yeah, I said to the chaps or they said to me, "You know we've written Crank 2?" And I said, "There's no way." And they literally sent it over. They write very, very quickly. They sent me it and I was thumbing through it with a box of tissues just laughing and crying going, "This is absolutely silly! When do we make it?"

Q: What's the other film you're doing?

STATHAM: Transporter 3. It's pretty much done. We'll be on a plane to Paris.

Q: Will the third one reflect the tone of the first one?

STATHAM: It's -- you know what -- I'm not going to say too much about it, but it's in a spot where I'm very happy with it, if that makes sense. It's got a bit for everybody in it. I think it's a decent script.

Q: Are there any other franchises you'd like to be a part of?

STATHAM: Yeah, there's quite a few. I'm not going to name them. It starts to sound like sour grapes that you haven't got them. Or, "Why didn't I get that part?" Or, "You said I'd get that part!" But there's a couple of things that I know I'd be really good for. There's a possible chance that they might come my way. If they do, both have a great potential to be great franchises. It's always great to do franchises. Sly's done a few. They work well. The Die Hards and the Lethal Weapons. You get a good one and you can keep them going.

Q: What's up with the Italian Job sequel?

STATHAM: You know, I've been talking about that for two years: The Brazilian Job. I think somebody should just erase it from IMDb. Save us all a problem, and put it back on there when it's fully due and ready. I don't know. It's one of those things that's just sitting around.

Q: It sounds like your schedule's pretty slammed. How about a vacation?

STATHAM: I'm gonna do Transporter 3, and I'm gonna do Crank, and then have a little holiday after that.

I found some early screening reviews of Ben Stiller's latest comedy project, Tropic Thunder:

http://www.aintitcool.com/node/35691

I just love the premise of it: A-list Hollywood dummies having to actually deal with the subject matter they're meant to act out. The cast of Stiller, Jack Black, Robert Downey Jr. and Tom Cruise (whaaa? ) sounds hilarious too. Should be some good, Zoolander-esque fun.

Michelle Rodriguez has signed on to reprise her role of Letty in Universal Pictures' "The Fast and the Furious 4" reports ComingSoon.net.

The former "Lost" star joins Vin Diesel, Paul Walker and Jordana Brewster who're all returning to the franchise.

The story has Brian (Walker) and Dominic (Diesel) team up to help the feds stop a heroin importer known as Braga.

Brian - and ultimately Dominic - wins a place on the criminal's team, where he and his flashy Nissan plan to catch the man red-handed.

The film hits theatres June 5th 2009.

Judd Apatow has tapped Adam Sandler, Seth Rogen and Leslie Mann to star in the next comedy he'll direct, reports Variety.

The untitled film will be a co-production of Universal Pictures and Sony Pictures Entertainment, with production to start in late summer or early fall.

Apatow, the sole writer on the project, is keeping the plot under wraps. While the studios will split the costs, Universal will distribute worldwide.

OMG, I just found something else for Tropic Thunder. Check out Robert Downey Jr. in the photo in this article:

http://www.ew.com/ew/article/0,,20182058,00.html

Wow, absolutely hilarious. And that's Jack Black behind them, too. I doubt those shades are army-issue, lol! Sorta reinforces the premise about them being arrogant celebs filming a ridiculous big budget war epic.

As previously reported, the Max Payne film adaptation started shooting this month, and we already have the first candid shot of Mark Wahlberg on set, courtesy of Dark Zero. Cast in the titular role, it looks like Wahlberg almost has that classic anti-hero/constipated grimace down, but perhaps just a little more practice is in order.
In other Max Payne film news, Variety reports that Mila Kunis -- who you may recall from such roles as Jackie in That 70's Show, Meg in Family Guy and a lot of random voice-work in Robot Chicken -- has been cast in the film opposite Wahlberg. She'll play an assassin who teams up with Payne in order to avenge the death of her dead sister (presumably Payne's slain wife).

We know what you're thinking: nearly every game-to-film adaptation has been a complete failure, with the rest being only minor failures. But the Max Payne games were always heavily influenced by cinema (hell, the sequel even had the inexplicable subtitle "A Film Noir Love Story," despite every indication pointing toward it being a videogame), so a film adaptation does at least seem a little more natural in this case.

Still, there's just something about that first look at Wahlberg in the role that doesn't feel quite right. Something's... missing.

Now check this out! A site called Bauer-Griffin got the first behind-the-scenes shots from Universal

First Shot of Wahlberg as Max Payne



First Look Behind New Wolf Man!

im more stoked about benicio as pablo escobar!

Writer/Director Troy Duffy has revealed in a video announcement up at Slashfilm that a sequel to "The Boondock Saints" is finally happening.

After years of speculation he says that "The Boondock Saints: All Saints Day" will begin filming this Summer and original cast members Sean Patrick Flanery, Norman Reedus and Billy Connolly are excited to return.

Duffy adds that he's just closed a deal with Sony Pictures who'll handle distribution.

There was a lot of excitement back in January when it was announced that New Line Cinema was moving forward with plans for two films based on J.R.R. Tolkien's "The Hobbit" which Peter Jackson would produce and Guillermo del Toro ("Pan's Labyrinth," "Hellboy") was the favorite to direct.

Then of course the Tolkien Estate filed a lawsuit against New Line Cinema, whilst New Line found itself being folded back into its parent company Time Warner. That left many asking what would happen to the films and are they still going ahead?

del Toro himself spoke with TheOneRing.net about that today - "At this stage anything I say is of no consequence for I am not yet signed to do "The Hobbit." Negotiations advance but are still ongoing."

Despite the legal issues to be sorted, word is that Warners is very keen to move forward with these films. del Toro himself is taking the job very seriously - "All I can say is that I am diligently going through all Tolkien material related to Middle-earth but only as a way of bridging a gap in my reading. I still respond the strongest to 'The Hobbit,' but as an avid reader of Mythology I find a lot of his other writings fascinating. A perfect Cosmology forged from very eclectic sources."

As much as I love Sydney, there's quite a few things that piss me off as well about my hometown. Next-to-no late night shopping or dining, one of the least-friendly bar scenes of any first-world city I've ever experienced, and being behind the U.S. by months (in some cases years) in regards to TV shows, films, gadgets and cars - and even then paying twice as much for the same product.

More pertinent though is the unnecessary arrogance and stubborness of the local film industry bodies and their Government regulators. As the world heads toward economic recession, a few key bureaucrats seem to prefer sticking their heads in the sand rather than actually trying to diversify and/or compete on an international level - something the actual workers on the sound stages and in the FX & technical labs have been successfuly doing for many years.

A few years ago that close-minded cowardice saw two young Aussie filmmakers have to go to the U.S. to get their little indie film "Saw" made - and in the process losing out on one of the most profitable (albeit not particularly prestigious) film franchises in recent history. Today came another blow as the George Miller-directed $200 million "Justice League" movie looks like it will have to be shot overseas (probably Canada or Eastern Europe) after it was refused the Federal Government's new film production rebate.

Under the new system, films deemed "significantly Australian" are eligible for a 40% rebate. At present 'League' is under a 15% rebate deal - but with the American dollar falling so quickly on the market, the Australian dollar has become so strong that a 15% rebate is worth practically nothing. Because almost all of the cast and crew involved in the film's making are Australian, the production hoped to get that 40% rebate - until it was turned down this week.

According to The Sydney Morning Herald, the decision over the project - which will now be entitled "Justice League Mortal" - has made Miller understandably upset - "A once-in-a-lifetime opportunity for the Australian film industry is being frittered away because of very lazy thinking. If that's going to be the final decision, they're throwing away hundreds of millions of dollars of investment that the rest of the world is competing for and, much more significantly, highly skilled creative jobs."

Opponents have lobbied against the film's eligibility since its halt of production in January, claiming that it should not be available for big-budget movies not developed by Australian filmmakers from inception. Miller (and I very much support him on this) says that the industry needs movie franchises, even if they were not identifiably Australian, to boost production, improve skills and draw talent back from overseas - "New Zealand built up their franchises through Hercules and Xena into Lord of the Rings. Now they're doing three Tintin films, two more Hobbit films and Halo. They've got work for 15 years in that country" he says.

In other 'League' news, "Heroes" star Stephen Tobolowsky is rumored to be playing Alfred Pennyworth, Bruce Wayne's loyal butler.

Since the project's announcement earlier this week, speculation has been rife about Clint Eastwood's "Gran Turino" project scheduled for December.

Most of the talk revolved around an e-mail from an L.A. source which was sent out to at least three sites including Dark Horizons within hours of the announcement.

I put it aside for later - the content of the e-mail sounded reasonable enough but the source, even though they provided their own information, didn't reveal any corroborating evidence or important details for further fact checking. Certainly Warners won't confirm anything about the project, short of the date, just yet.

AICN and at least one other site however did post it that day and since then the idea has spread like wildfire, many are now already set in their minds that this is the next film in Eastwood's "Dirty Harry" series with Callahan hunting down a serial killer who drives that model car and killed his grandson.

Don't count on it. Filmjerk says that according to one of their regular sources, this is "a drama about a rural bigot (Eastwood) who finds his outlook on life changed after a family of Hmong (South Chinese) immigrants move in to the home next to his own, striking up a friendship with the family's teenaged son over the older man's now-classic car."

A new Harry Callahan movie sounds a far more enticing prospect than that I must admit, and resurrecting old action hero franchises seems to be all the rage now, just don't commit to the idea of Callahan's return just yet.

"Supernatural" and "House of Wax" hunk Jared Padalecki is in final negotiations to star in the remake of "Friday the 13th" for Platinum Dunes, New Line and Paramount Pictures says The Hollywood Reporter.

The original "Friday" in 1980 revolved around a serial killer stalking a group of teen camp counselors at Crystal Lake. It was revealed to be the revenge-seeking Mrs. Voorhees, the mother of a young disfigured child named Jason who seemingly drowned as child many years beforehand in the lake whilst the counselors who were supposed to be supervising were busy having sex.

In the following sequels, the now adult Jason himself stalked the various teenage victims. During the third film he donned a hockey mask from one of the victims which became his signature.

The remake will have Jason and his hockey mask serving as the killer. Padalecki will play the lead, who investigates what happened up at Crystal Lake.

Marcus Nispel is directing from a script by Damian Shannon and Mark Swift. The film is currently scheduled for a release on Friday February 13th 2009.

In the film, Favino plays a Vatican detective who helps Robert Langdon (Hanks) in his investigation. Just click the links above to view the photos!

In the Dan Brown novel, Langdon's character is summoned to a Swiss research facility to analyze a cryptic symbol seared int the chest of a murdered physicist. What he discovers is unimaginable: a deadly vendetta against the Catholic Church by a centuries-old underground organization - the Illuminati. Desperate to save the Vatican from a powerful time bomb, Langdon joins forces in Rome with the beautiful and mysterious scientist Vittoria Vetra. Together they embark on a frantic hunt through sealed crypts, dangerous catacombs, deserted cathedrals and the most secretive vault on earth... the long-forgotten Illuminati lair.

The studio is planning a May 15, 2009 release.

ComingSoon.net/Superhero Hype! talked to "Spider-Man" franchise director Sam Raimi this week and got his thoughts on making more sequels.

"James Vanderbilt is writing the script and I'm excited to read it. I think it's going to be done in a few months," Raimi told us, adding, "I'm hoping it's as great as our discussions were about it and I'm hoping it feels right for me because I love Spider-Man. I'm hoping I'm well rested enough to embrace it and I'm hoping Sony wants me to do it. If all of those things come together, I would love to do it. There are a lot of unknowns about the future."

And how does he feel about re-casting key players if needed? "I'd hate to re-cast anybody in the future, I can't imagine that."

I got a chance to catch up with Sam Raimi this afternoon for a little rumor control.

The director tells us there is still zero movement on the proposed Evil Dead remake that was first announced when Ghost House Pictures was formed. As he told me during our last meeting, he's just too busy focusing on other projects to mull over Ash's return to the screen. "We still want to do it," he says. "We still think it's worth trying and I've still not done a single thing about it."

On the 30 Days of Night tip, Raimi dismisses any recent news headlines concerning a sequel to last year's vampire frenzy, further confirming what Steve Niles relayed to us last week...no follow-up.

Raimi is currently directing a new horror endeavor entitled Drag Me to Hell.

Various outlets visited the set of "Observe and Report", a new comedy from Jody Hill ("The Foot Fist Way") starring Seth Rogen and Ray Liotta.

Whilst on-set, both Rogen and producer Donald De Line got talking about their upcoming projects - namely "Green Lantern", "Green Hornet" and "Guardians of Ga'Hoole".

In terms of "Green Lantern", De Line says it's still stuck in development and awaiting Greg Berlanti's first draft of the screenplay. He re-iterated that Jack Black was NOT attached and the film is more of a "classic character origin piece" dealing with Hal Jordan he tells Collider.

As for "Green Hornet", Rogen tells Superhero Hype that the film will be a "very intense" PG-13 action film. The project has NOT yet been greenlit, but he has been meeting with directors and things look to be moving forward and "would probably shoot sometime after [the Judd Apatow untitled project] so we're kind of leaving that slot open." Sony Pictures apparently responded well to a draft they turned in three weeks ago.

Finally talk turned to "Guardians of Ga'Hoole", an animated adaptation of the 14-book bestselling kids series that Zack Snyder ("300," "Watchmen") is helming. De Line says when not working on "Watchmen", Snyder has been busy on character designs and a screenplay to get the project ready for its 2010 release date. Also the first three books will constitute the first movie.

Bruce Willis is in negotiations to star in Lionsgate's video game adaptation "Kane & Lynch" reports the trades.

The game follows Adam 'Kane' Marcus (Willis), a mercenary on death row who, along with a schizophrenic killer named Lynch, is sprung to retrieve a stolen and very valuable microchip.

The pair, along with Kane's former teammates, travel to Los Angeles, Japan and Cuba in order to save his wife and daughter.

Veteran stunt coordinator and second unit director Simon Crane will helm from Kyle Ward's screenplay. No word on who'll play Lynch.

Daniel Alter and Adrian Askarieh ("Hitman," "Hack/Slash") are producing with shooting to begin this Fall.