** MOVIE NEWS **
HELLBOY
More images from Guillermo Del Toro's Hellboy movie have been released (below
and below-right),
and all look very promising for fans of the comic-book series my Mike Mignol.
ALEXANDER
Val Kilmer has joined the cast of Alexander, effectively leaving Michael
Mann's Collateral in doing so. Collateral stars Tom Cruise as a contract
killer who takes a cab driver (Jamie Foxx) hostage and forces him to
drive him around town on a series of hits.
ALIEN 5
Ridley Scott was interviewed by 'DVD Rama' and stated he has been in
contact with 'Fox' about returning for Alien 5: "'Fox' and Sigourney
Weaver have contacted me; they want to conclude this series with the one
who has begun it. But there are not even serious talks."
"I don't really know what I could do... unless I go back to the
questions stated in the first episode. Where does the crashed ship on
the planet with this mysterious extra-terrestrial come from? We could
wonder whether massive destruction weapons, which could threaten the
Earth, had been used or not. I could be inspired by The War Of The
Worlds..."
ALIEN VS PREDATOR
'Variety' reports that actor Lance Henriksen has signed onto the
crossover movie, to be directed by Paul W.S Anderson (Resident Evil).
Henriksen will play an evil billionaire industrialist - but it's not
known if there will be a link to his role as android Bishop in Aliens
and Alien 3.
BEWITCHED
'Upcoming Movies' received word on the plotline for the movie adaptation
of TV series Bewitched. The movie, written by Nora Ephron, has Samantha
(Nicole Kidman) as a witch from a magical world arriving on Earth to
escape the bother of her family. Once there, she's hired as an actress
in a TV sitcom about a witch who falls in love with a mortal man called
Darrin Stephens.
BLADE - TRINITY
Actress Parker Posey (Scream 3) has joined the cast of Blade Trinity as
a vampire. David Goyer - writer of the first two films - will write and
direct this final instalment of the vampire action series starring
Wesley Snipes.
THE BROTHERS GRIMM
Monica Bellucci (The Matrix Reloaded) has signed to play the Evil Queen
in Terry Gilliam's whimsical The Brothers Grimm, now shooting in Prague.
CATWOMAN
The first image of Halle Berry in the new Catwoman suit has been
revealed and it looks, er, ridiculously dated, frankly! But we'll see
how it looks onscreen... (see right)
DIE HARD 4
'The Z Review' suggests that Vin Diesel is being considered as the
villain in the fourth Die Hard movie with Bruce Willis.
THE FANTASTIC FOUR
'Upcoming Movies' reports that the character of Johnny Storm (a.k.a The
Human Torch) in the Fantastic Four movie - now due for release in 2005 -
will only "flame on" his hands to keep the budget down!
LOGAN'S RUN
Director Bryan Singer (X-Men 2) is apparently involved with a planned
remake of classic '70s sci-fi adventure Logan's Run...
MAGNUM, P.I
That's right; the '80s series starring Tom Selleck is to be adapted into
a movie by Austin Powers co-writer Michael McCullers. The film will
focus on "a former Naval intelligence officer hired to head security at
the estate of wealthy absentee owner Robin Masters. Magnum uses the
mansion as a base to work his own detective cases, employing the
resources of the estate owner that included the signature red 308 GTS
Ferrari."
THE MATRIX REVOLUTIONS
'The Maverick Records' soundtrack to The Matrix Revolutions will be
released on 4 November - one day before the movie's release. The
soundtrack comprises over an hour of music, including "In My Head" by
Pale 3, which plays in the Merovingian's Hell Club (3:46), two cues that
feature Don Davis' collaboration with Juno Reactor, a 9 minute end
credit re-mix of Don Davis' "Super Burly Brawl" music by Juno Reactor,
and 45 minutes of orchestral underscore by Don Davis.
In related news, The Matrix Revolutions will premiere around the world
at exactly the same time! 5 November - 6 a.m. in Los Angeles, 9 a.m. in
New York, 2 p.m. in London, 5 p.m. in Moscow, 11 p.m. in Tokyo, etc.
The Matrix Revolutions: The IMAX Experience will also debut at IMAX
Theatres in the U.S on 5 November. This is the first time a major
Hollywood movie has been released on 35mm and IMAX's revolutionary 15/70
format simultaneously.
SHANGHAI DAWN
A sequel to Shanghai Noon and Shanghai Knights - entitled Shanghai Dawn
(clever, see?) - will definitely happen, according to star Jackie Chan.
Supposedly this new film will feature Egypt.
SUPERMAN
'Superman-V' spoke exclusively with producer Dan Henderson about how the
troublesome production on the new Superman movie is going. Henderson
said: "No casting is taking place... [Charlie's Angels director] McG
hasn't signed... Jon Peters is one of the producers and J.J. Abrams is
[still] the writer."
Owen Paterson is still the movie's Production Designer and Kym Barrett
the Costume Designer. At present Henderson says the project is in
development and that they are working closely on improving the
screenplay.
TENACIOUS D
www.tenaciousd.com reports that Jack Black's movie based on his band
Tenacious D has been written and will begin production for a late-2004
release. The movie is currently entitled Tenacious D: In The Pick Of
Destiny.
SPY HUNTER
WWE superstar The Rock will indeed take the lead in a movie adaptation
of video-game series Spy Hunter.
The Rock will play an ex-jet jockey who now uses his high-tech vehicle
to track down an outfit of nefarious former espionage agents.
'Universal' wants the film to start shooting in 2004 for a summer 2005
release - to contend with Star Wars Episode III and Indiana Jones 4.
THE THREE STOOGES
The Farrelly Brothers will definitely write and direct a movie based on
The Three Stooges for 'Warner Brothers'.
'Sony' originally held the movie rights to the project but let them
expire, allowing 'Warner Brothers' to step in. The Farrelly's apparently
spent last winter and spring writing a a contemporized script with Mike
Cerrone featuring the Moe, Larry and Curly characters.
UNDERWORLD II & III
Despite mixed reviews, Underworld has done enough business to ensure a
sequel and a prequel - are under serious consideration.
Director Len Wiseman confirmed, saying: "There's actually a sequel and a
prequel that was mapped out when we sold this film. [Co-writer] Danny
McBride and myself - there was so much that we wanted to tell in this
story that it was getting a bit confusing for us to map out all the
history and the wars. We said, 'You know what? Let's map out a long
story that would maybe span out three films and let's then be able to
tell our film in the middle.'"
"But we had to kind of map out the whole thing to get to the point where
we are now because it does have a lot of layers in it. But we do want to
tell a lot of that back story and I'm obsessed with going back to the
Dark Ages and showing the war when it was legions of werewolves fighting
an army of vampires on horseback, invading their castle."
"I think that would be insane visuals! So that's a bit of what the
sequel is. We are already in the deal for the sequel and the studios
incredibly excited about it. I think the 15 minutes [of the sequel] will
be a prequel for the sequel, much like an 'Indiana Jones & the Last
Crusade' type of situation."
X-MEN 3
'Fox' are trying to sign Hugh Jackman to a two-picture deal for the
actor to continue playing Wolverine in their X-Men franchise. James
Marsden (Cyclops) and Alan Cumming (Nightcrawler) have already signed
for X-Men 3.
Jackman is rumoured to net $20 million to reprise his role in another
sequel, and a possible spin-off movie that will feature Kelly Hu (Lady
Deathstrike) and Tyler Mane (Sabretooth).
A source from 'Fox' has said: "X3, right now is quiet. No meetings have
taken place, regarding the third film, but may begin in 2004. A
Wolverine film, is also on our to-do list, but is in the same boat as
X3."
The Lord Of The Rings - The Return Of The King
** IN THE PIPELINE **