Rambo 5 Has Been Greenlit

Are you really surprised that Rambo 5 is heading our way? According to Variety, Sylvester Stallone’s John Rambo has been given the official green light. We will see the character in action on his fifth mission, thanks to the people over at Nu Image/Millennium Films. This next installment will be a follow up to 2008’s aptly titled, Rambo that had the actor returning to the role after a 20 year hiatus.

According to the trade, the story for Rambo’s latest outing will center on the mercenary “fighting his way through human traffickers and drug lords to rescue a young girl abducted near the U.S.-Mexico border.” We’d heard earlier talk of Stallone returning to do another installment of this franchise, and now it’s actually happening. The last Rambo made over 113 million dollars worldwide, making a decent profit for the studio whose production budget was set at 50 million.

I think Sylvester Stallone has gotten to a point where he knows what works for him. People may knock him for these “rehashes,” but he’s enjoys making them. After seeing Rocky Balboa, which I loved I let the Sly-hate go. This man is over 60 years old and still kicking ass and taking names later. I’ve decided to accept his work for what it is, and I’ve realized that he’s found his niche. So go and throw some more bodies in the fire Stallone, I’m behind you!

Bad Boys 3 in Development

Even though I didn’t despise Bad Boys 2 as much as the rest of the world, I’m surprised by this latest development. According to THR, a third Bad Boys film is in the works. The last time we saw Will Smithand Martin Lawrence team up for the buddy cop film was back in 2003. Columbia Pictures plans to reignite the franchise, and have hired a writer to help them do it.

Screenwriter Peter Craig has been tapped to pen the script for the upcoming Bad Boys film. Columbia hopes that after a draft of the script is finished, they can use it as a means to reunite not only Smith and Lawrence, but director Michael Bay and producer Jerry Bruckheimer. The last film received mixed reviews from critics but grossed $138 million domestically and $273 million worldwide. Apparently, “all parties have expressed a willingness to return if a story can be hammered out.”

If the four power players are interested in returning the studio will have a hefty price tag to pay. None of them come cheap, and it will be a risk paying out so much money on a film that might not deliver. Even though Bad Boys 2 made a killing at the box office it was critically panned. I didn’t personally hate it, but there are some people who thought it was horrible. Then again how many franchise films are in development right now that made a lot of money, but had a horrible script? Pirates 4, and Spiderman 4seem to come to mind.

Disney to Buy Marvel for 4 Billion Dollars!

By Krystal Clark

Don’t do it Marvel! According to THR, Disney Studios have announced plans to acquire Marvel Entertainment for a hefty 4 billion dollars. The family friendly power house is going after the comic based company that has a catalogue of over 5,000 characters to choose from. Could you imagine Mickey Mouse and Wolverine duking it out? Once this is said and done Disney will have access to some of the most recognizable characters in pop culture history.

Disney President and Chief Executive Robert A. Iger believes that the acquisition of Marvel is not that different from when the studio bought Pixar a few years ago. He believes the combined assets of both companies will be worth more together than apart.

“We believe that adding Marvel to Disney’s unique portfolio of brands provides significant opportunities for long-term growth and value creation.”

What does Marvel have to say about this pending merger? According to CEO Ike Perlmutter, they’re thrilled!  “Disney is the perfect home for Marvel’s fantastic library of characters given its proven ability to expand content creation and licensing businesses.” With this new deal “Marvel shareholders would receive $30 per share in cash plus about 0.745 Disney shares for each Marvel share. Overall, the deal is valued at $50 per Marvel share as of Friday’s closing price.”

Both companies have agreed to the above business plan, and look forward to working under the same umbrella. I’m a little on the fence about this, because in my mind I have Disney and Marvel on opposite sides of the spectrum. Both companies bring something unique to the table, but it will take a while for me to get used to seeing the Disney logo in front of a Marvel film. That will be weird.

Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen DVD Release

If you’re like me, the utter idea of watching Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen again makes your stomach turn. The sequel to the 2007 Hasbro hit was a critical dud, but a commercial success at this summer’s box office. Mostly, stemming from the built in audience of it’s predecessor. According to MTV, Paramount has announced the release date for the film on Blu-ray and traditional DVD. Find out more on the story below.

The autobots will “roll out” this fall on October 20th. In a not so surprising move the discs will be filled with plenty of extras to entice you to buy them.

The release will feature more than three hours of extras, highlighted by a multi-part documentary that chronicles the making of the film from start to finish, and includes cast and crew interviews. It will also include a featurette following [Michael]Bay for an entire day during a visit to Tokyo for the film’s premiere, a look at the past 25 years of “Transformers” as a toy brand and cartoon, conceptual artwork, extended scenes, visual effects vignettes and a music video for Linkin Park’s “New Divide,” which graced the “RotF” soundtrack.

Here’s the full description of what you can expect to pop up on the Two-Disc Special Edition DVD & Blu-ray discs.

Disc 1:
• Commentary by Michael Bay, Roberto Orci and Alex Kurtzman

Disc 2:
• The Human Factor: Exacting Revenge of the Fallen—This multi-chapter documentary chronicles the entire creation of the film and includes interviews with the cast and crew:
o Seeds of Vengeance – Development and Design – After the overwhelming success of 2007’s Transformers, how do the filmmakers top themselves for the sequel?
o Domestic Destruction – Production: United States – Michael Bay believes in going big: Big action and big explosions. Cast and crew are pushed to the limit as they traverse the U.S. from New Mexico to Pennsylvania.
o Joint Operations – Production: Military – No other filmmaker in the world enjoys the kind of military access and cooperation Michael Bay has. Here we see just how efficient our armed forces are and the awe and respect shown by the cast.
o Wonders of the World – Production: Middle East – You can’t really reproduce Egypt anywhere but Egypt so off we go to Giza and Luxor.
o Start Making Sense – Editing – In order to turn over the massive amount of film as quickly as possible to VFX, four editors work tirelessly in a unique tag-team approach to shape the film.
o Under the Gun – Visual Effects – Revenge of the Fallen features the most complicated VFX in film history. So complicated in fact that the filmmakers were unsure they would make the deadline. The DEVASTATOR VFX alone required 83% of ILM’s total render farm capacity.
o Running the Gauntlet – Post-Production and Release – Working seven days a week, Michael Bay and company usher the film through sound design, Digital Intermediate color-timing and a globe-trotting whirlwind of premieres.

BLU-RAY EXCLUSIVE:
• The ALLSPARK Experiment—Viewers get their chance to unleash the power of the recently recovered ALLSPARK shard on Earth vehicles. Begin by selecting and customizing a vehicle with a selection of parts and accessories. Then apply the ALLSPARK to this creation and watch what happens. Applying the ALLSPARK to certain custom combinations enables four new robot characters with special powers. If viewers discover all four, they unlock a fifth vehicle, which reveals a top secret message about the future of the TRANSFORMERS movie franchise.
• NEST: Transformer Data-Hub—A database of some of the TRANSFORMERS characters that appear in the new film, offering users access to each robot’s confidential file including:
o Innovative 3D spin galleries of each robot
o A timeline for each TRANSFORMERS character charting its origins, back story and design evolution from toys to animated series to comics and finally feature films
• Giant Effing Movie – A very personal look at the making of the movie.
• The Matrix of Marketing—An archive of the film’s promotional media including trailers, posters and television spots.

They really want you to buy this DVD! I have the special edition of the first film and it doesn’t have half as many special features as this.

Megan Fox to Play Catwoman?

Rumors are going strong this morning with word that Megan Fox is in the running to play Catwoman. The comic book character best known for being Batman’s nemesis and sometimes girlfriend, was last played by Oscar winner Halle Berry. Catwoman was a horrible film, I won’t deny it, but sources are claiming that the Transformers star may be up for a revamp of the role. More below.

In a hilarious report from MTV UK, they’re claiming that Fox has landed the role of Selina Kyle aka Catwoman in the third Batman film. The upcoming movie will be a follow up to director Christopher Nolan’s critical and commercial hit, The Dark Knight. The last actress to play the character in a live action Batman movie was Michelle Pfeiffer in 1992’s Batman Returns. According to the source, Fox’s take on the villainess will be a lot more “sinister” and have “a darker edge.”

The film is rumored to be released in 2011 with shooting scheduled for sometime next year. If this rumor is true, which I highly doubt, I would personally attack Nolan and Warner Bros with Catwoman’s claws. I’m sorry but Ms. Fox is not the greatest actress, and Nolan is known for putting together ensembles filled with talented people. I’m not sure she could hold her own against the likes of Christian Bale or Michael Caine. My respect for this franchise would go in the toilet if they cast her. I’m not trying to be negative, I’m just being honest.

X-Men Origins: Magneto Still Going Strong

It appears that Fox and director David Goyer are under the impression that they can make a legitimateMagneto spin-off. It’s no secret that Magneto was intended to be the first film in the X-Men Origins series, but somehow the fan outcry and the financial potential of Wolverine won out instead. According toFirstShowing, Goyer is reassuring us that we can still look forward to a prequel based on the Marvel villain. More on the story below.

Right now, Fox’s plate is filled with X-Men spin-offs including X-Men: First Class, Wolverine 2,Deadpool, and now they’re throwing Magneto back into the mix. According to Goyer, “They’re still thinking about doing it. They’re definitely looking into doing other X-Men spin-offs.” The director has been keeping in contact with the big boys at the studio and he’s adamant that the film “will move forward in thenext year or so.”

Here’s my take on this situation. After X-Men 3 came out and critically bombed but commercially flourished Fox put Magneto and Wolverine into development almost immediately. Somehow along the line they decided they wanted to capitalize off of Hugh Jackman and fast tracked his movie into production. As the finished product we got that heaping pile of fudge called X-Men Origins: Wolverine.

I think Magneto will take a lot more work to produce, since a younger actor will have to be hired. Finding the right person for a film like this is crucial. It will take a lot of effort, which I don’t think Fox wants to put out. I doubt that we’ll see this film start production in less than three years.

The studio will want to milk their already developing projects for all their worth, especially Deadpool. Now that Ryan Reynolds has also been cast as the Green Lantern, his schedule just got a whole lot busier. There’s a lot of competition on the X-Men front, and I think Goyer’s just being optimistic.

Hancock 2 Sign Two Writers

As we all knew, a movie as successful as Hancock ($624 million worldwide, $225 at the US box office alone), with an actor like Will Smith, wouldn’t go long without a sequel. As of tonight, Columbia has hired two new writers to get hash out a sequel, about the boozy, irresponsible superhero. Adam Fierro and Glen Mazzara are the two lucky men who will responsible for bringing the film back to life.

The two writers don’t have too much experience on the big screen, but have been quite successful in TV. Fierro wrote and produced “The Shield,” “24″ and Showtime’s “Dexter.” Mazzara wrote for “Life” and worked with Fierro on “Shield.”

Neither of the two writers from the first film, Vincent Ngo and Vince Gilligan, will be joining the crew. Perhaps they want a quicker turn around (the first film took them 10 years to write) or maybe they were just uninterested. It does seem like they’re gearing up for a more action packed, face paced action film.

A short while ago the the director of the film, Peter Berg did reveal a few sequel spoilers:

“They like to fast-track it, but Will’s busy, I’m pretty busy,” Berg continued. “We’re excited to do one, but we want the script to be right and the movie to be right. We don’t feel a burning imperative to go right back into it.”

Of course they’re not releasing any details about the plot just yet but THR did report that, “the scribes will work with Smith and director Peter Berg to build on the world hinted at in the first movie.”

We’ll let you know more details when we find them!

By Mali Elfman

Jet Li Returns to Chinese Film

Chinese martial artist and actor Jet Li is returning to his roots. According to Yahoo, Li will star in his first Chinese film after what seems like forever. The actor has been busy with American productions including the highly anticipated Sylvester Stallone film, The Expendables. Don’t expect Li to be kicking ass in this Chinese flick, he’s signed on for a different kind of a role. More on the movie below.

Li is due to start shooting the Chinese film tentatively called Ocean Paradise. Unlike the marjority of his action projects, Paradise is not a “Kung Fu” movie. Local newspapers have been speculating that Li won’t fight in the film, but Edko Film publicist Zhang Hongyan’s only response to the theory is, “It’s a movie that’s very different from his previous movies.”  In the U.S. Li recently worked on The Forbidden Kingdom and The Mummy: Tomb of the Dragon Emperor.

Will we get to see a dialogue driven Jet Li film? Obviously, the publicist refused to confirm or deny the idea, but I wouldn’t be opposed to it. I’ve seen a few of his Chinese language films and he’s great in them. It’s his first language, so I don’t think there should be any drama over him playing a character that uses his words and instead of his fists. Let’s give him a chance.

By Krystal Clark

James McTeigue on A Darker Superman

I’m happy someone else has decided to state the obvious. Superman for lack of a better word needs to “man up.” James McTeigue, the director of the upcoming Ninja Assassin spoke to MTV about the need for a darker Man of Steel to hit theaters. McTeigue is one of the many rumored successors to the DC film franchise, and he discussed where he thinks the character should go next.

McTeigue wouldn’t confirm or deny his involvement with a new Superman film, but he did voice his opinions about where he thinks the next film should go.

“I think that the culture has sort of changed a little bit around Superman. If you’re going to do something with Superman, I think people would probably like something a little darker. I think it’s good that they just had a court case where, basically, if you make another Superman movie, you can’t touch Superman growing up—that’s part of the story that you can’t touch any more. That wouldn’t be a bad thing. I think everybody’s a bit sick of seeing the origin story.”
The court case he’s referring to is the one that caused Warner Brothers and DC Comics to forfeit the rights of Superman’s origin story to the families of creators Jerry Siegel and Joe Schuster. Legally they were obligated to have a film in production by 2011 in order to continue using the material for the character. As you know that didn’t happen, and now that part of his life is off limits.

Without the crutch of an origin story, where can Superman go? McTeigue says, “”You need to take it and retool it. Make it something that appeals to audiences now a little more.” So would more violence be the key? Are we thinking the Richard Donner cut of Superman II?

By Krystal Clark

Susan Sarandon Cast in Wall Street 2

Oscar winner Susan Sarandon has been cast in Oliver Stone’s Wall Street sequel, Money Never Sleeps. According to Variety, the actress is in final negotiations to join the film’s ensemble, which currently includes Shia Labeouf, Michael Douglas, and Frank Langella. The film is a follow up to the 1987 hit, that earned Douglas an Academy Award for his role as the ruthless Gordon Gekko. More on the film below.

The trade is reporting that Sarandon is finalizing a deal to star in the film as Labeouf’s mother. His character, much like Charlie Sheen’s in the original, falls under the money hungry spell of Gekko. He also falls in love with the businessman’s daughter, who’ll be played by British actress Carey Mulligan. Allen Loeb wrote the initial screenplay for the film, which will be produced by Ed Pressman who also produced the original.

I’m not typically for sequels that span over twenty years, but this film might have something going for itself. I actually respect Sarandon as a strong actress and I trust her judgment. Production on Money Never Sleeps is scheduled to start next month in New York. This will definitely be one to watch!

By Krystal Clark

Astro Boy

“Based on the classic Japanese manga, Astro Boy follows a young robot with big-time super powers who ventures off on a journey in search of acceptance when he’s doesn’t quite meet the replacement son expectations of the scientist who created him. And it’s on this journey that Astro Boy faces his toughest challenge yet: help save earth from an alien race threatening the planet.”

Astro Boy hits theaters on October 23, 2009, and is directed by David Bowers.

Source:  Screen Crave

Christopher Nolan’s Third Batman in IMAX?

Could the third Batman movie from Christopher Nolan be filmed completely in IMAX? That’s what the people over at AICN seem to think. As you may know certain portions of The Dark Knight were shot using the technology and it looked glorious. Just to be clear, we’re not just talking about IMAX Digital. This is the real deal. Find out more on the story below.


According to Harry, “the third chapter of Christopher Nolan’s Caped Crusader’s saga could very well be fully shot in IMAX, not IMAX Digital – but the beautiful, stunning IMAX that we saw pieces of The Dark Knight in.” He carefully points out that even though this would be a costly process for the studio, it’s still a possibility.

The cost of shooting an entire feature film on IMAX… the stock, the time it takes to reset, to load, to move the cameras… Well… it is daunting, but as Nolan proved with DARK KNIGHT – the difference is stunning.
He also suggests that Nolan may have used his off time from the Bat films to stock up on some new IMAX cameras for a shoot. Everything we’ve heard about the third Batman has been carried with a grain of salt. I’m not saying that this couldn’t be true, but we haven’t heard anything definite from Nolan about the project in a long time. At the moment everything surrounding him seems to be Inception based.

What do you think about a third Batman film shot completely in IMAX?

Source:  Screen Crave

The Book of ELI

Release Date: 15 January 2010
Genre: Action
Cast: Michael Gambon, Denzel Washington, Gary Oldman, Jennifer Beals
Director: Albert Hughes, Allen Hughes
Writer: Gary Whitta
Studio: Warner Brothers

Plot:
A post-apocalyptic tale, in which a lone man fights his way across America in order to protect a sacred book that holds the secrets to saving humankind

James Cameron - Avatar

In Cinemas Worldwide December - In the epic action adventure AVATAR, James Cameron, the director of Titanic, takes us to a spectacular new world beyond our imagination. On the distant moon Pandora, a reluctant hero embarks on a journey of redemption and discovery as he leads a heroic battle to save a civilization. The film was first conceived by Cameron 14 years ago, when the means to realize his vision did not yet exist. Now, after four years of actual production work, AVATAR delivers a fully immersive cinematic experience of a new kind, where the revolutionary technology invented to make the film, disappears into the emotion of the characters and the sweep of the story.