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Saturday, June 27, 2009
e cigarette reviews
Friday, June 19, 2009
2012 Trailer Online
2012 Trailer Online
Emmerich ends the world. Again.
Source: Yahoo
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We've been teased before with teasers, but a full trailer for Roland Emmerich's latest disaster CG-fest, 2012, has just gone up at Yahoo (with a little intro from the director).
It's nothing to do with Arthur C. Clark or Stanley Kubrick, but instead based on a Mayan prophecy that the world will end at the 2012 solstice. Hey, that means we'll miss Batman 3! But it truly does look spectacular: we've got avalanches, floods, an eclipse, mass suicides, forest fires, what looks like a meteor strike, earthquake, and an airlifted giraffe. And is that LA falling into the ocean? Bill Hicks would be delighted!
Whether that spectacle translates into a decent story is another matter. Emmerich's CV has often made for great trailers and so-so movies: ID4, Godzilla, The Day After Tomorrow... And let's just forget the Apocalypto-lite 10,000 Years BC. Please.
John Cusack is on hand though, which bodes well, and the cast is pretty strong: Chiwetel Ejiofor, Thandie Newton, Oliver Platt, Woody Harrelson, and Danny Glover as the US President.
Let's hope it's a disaster epic, rather than an epic disaster. Find out in November.
Source: EmpireOnlineShyamalan Unbreakable Again
Shyamalan Unbreakable Again
Possibly. One day.
Source: MTV
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M. Night Shyamalan, the twisty turny Sixth Sense director, somewhat down on his luck following Lady in the Water and The Happening (although The Last Airbender looks promising), is prepping Unbreakable 2, according to MTV News.
Shyamalan has been saying things like this since 2001. He doesn't have Bruce Willis or Samuel L. Jackson yet ("I don't know where [they] are... Sam is, like, Mr Comic Book now..."), and as of last October (MTV again) he hadn't written it yet and didn't quite have an idea: "I want a story to pop into my head". He also seriously fell out with Unbreakable's studio Disney after they rejected Lady in the Water.
But if he's still talking it up, it's still something of a possibility, and a weirdo take on superheroes might sit quite well in the current Marvel-heavy movie climate. But is there anything left to say after Watchmen?
Source: EmpireOnlineExperiment For Brody, Whitaker And Wood
Experiment For Brody, Whitaker And Wood
With Gigandet For German Thriller Remake
Source: Variety
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The cast has been announced for the remake of gritty German thriller Das Experiment. Oscar winners Adrien Brody and Forest Whitaker will face off in a big brother style psychological experiment with terrifying consequences. Elijah Wood (who is up next playing the raggydoll saviour of mankind in 9) and Twilight-er Cam Gigandet round off the cast.
The original, directed by Oliver Hirschbiegel and starring The Baader Meinhoff Complex's Moritz Bleibtreu, followed a group of regular Joes who enter a research study looking at how power and authority can corrupt, which places them in assigned roles in a prison set-up.
Brody who is next up in sci-fi thriller Splice and school stoner comedy High School, will play the ring-leader of the prisoners. Whitaker - who can be seen (well, heard) in Spike Jonze's Where the Wild Things Are later this year, as well as distopian thriller Repossession Mambo with Jude Law and roadtrip comedy My Own Love Song - will be a power-hungry "guard" in the clink.
The Germanically named, gaol-obsessed Prison Break mastermind Paul Scheuring is to take the helm, having written the screenplay himself. Filming kicks off next month in glamorous Iowa.
Source: EmpireOnlineZombieland Trailer Online
Zombieland Trailer Online
28 Beers Later
Source: Apple
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Zombieland, tipped as the American Shaun of the Dead, has arrived online in trailer form. Check it out here. The splatstick horror comedy stars Woody Harrelson, Jesse Eisenberg, and Bill Murray.
The gory story sees a group of lone survivors after a zombie holocaust, travelling coast to coast across the United States, and holing up in an amusement park. It looks a lot broader than Shaun, with more emphasis on action (lots of guns, no cricket bats) but it still looks a lot of fun, with Harrelson in particular on charismatic gung-ho form. Tantalisingly, Murray isn't obviously featured in the preview clip, suggesting an attempt to keep his role as a surprise.
This is Eisenberg's second Land of the year, after the very different Adventureland, and the second horror comedy of his career: he played a teenage werewolf in Wes Craven's 2005 Cursed.
When 28 Days Later came out, writer Alex Garland talked about what he felt was the unacknowledged reaction of many viewers to zombie-armageddon films: the feeling that it would be brilliant to be practically alone in an empty world. That totally seems to be the vibe here, and we say bring it on!
Released in October, for that extra Hallowe'en frisson.
Thursday, June 18, 2009
Exclusive: Indy 5 Is A Go!
Exclusive: Indy 5 Is A Go!
Frank Marshall spills the beans
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The hat is officially out of the bag. On Monday Shia Labeouf let slip that a follow up to Indiana Jones And The Kingdom of the Crystal Skull was on the cards and now Frank Marshall has pretty much confirmed it, suggesting that Indy V could be approaching the pencil-chewing script development stage.
Although he didn't specify timelines, Marshall told Empire that ideas would be worked on with a view to green-lighting production sooner rather than later. "It's really about the script," says the veteran Indy producer. "Once we see that, we'll see. We're not going to wait another 20 years. We'd all love to make another one. I'm anxious to hear the idea!"
But are Mssrs. Spielberg, Ford and Lucas equally sold on a fifth outing for the whip-cracking archeologist? "Yeah. We had a great time making the last one and, as Harrison said, we need to make this one soon. We're not getting any younger."
With Ford fast approaching his 67th birthday, time is definitely of the essence. Up may have raised the bar for the ageing adventurers, but Indy showed signs of creakiness in The Crystal Skull and it's safe to rule out too many rolling boulder chases or collapsing rope bridges from a further sequel. Hopefully the same goes for the gopher.
One caveat to all this is the lack of a concrete idea. As Marshall told us: "Until there's a script, nothing's definite. I haven't heard the idea." Here's your chance to play George Lucas and post your most mind-bending McGuffins below...
New Public Enemies Clip
New Public Enemies Clip
It's a tommy gun!
Source: Yahoo! Movies
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The fabled John Dillinger was a bank robber, outlaw and all-round smoothy but, as this Yahoo! clip from Michael Mann's excellent Public Enemies shows, he was pretty handy with the steel too when backed into a corner. And, as America's most wanted criminal, he was regularly backed into a corner. Click here to view the clip.
Set at Little Bohemia Lodge, the scene shows FBI agent Melvin Purvis (Christian Bale) and his team of G-Men attacking Dillinger's (Johnny Depp) forest hideout. Look out for a bunch of Mann's tropes, including historical vérité (the scene was filmed at the Wisconsin location where the battle took place in 1934), digital photography, and an almighty sh*tstorm of flying bullets.
Public Enemies is out on Wednesday 1 July.
Source: EmpireOnline
Nolan Off Batman 3?
Nolan Off Batman 3?
Dark Knight director reluctant to go on
Source: Batman on Film
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Widely reported this morning is a piece over at Batman fansite Batman on Film, which suggests that Christopher Nolan, the director of Batman Begins and The Dark Knight, may be reluctant to continue the series.
The alarmist article sites a shady "behind the camera" source, defensively pegged as "legit", claiming that Nolan was sufficiently rocked by Heath Ledger's death to not want to continue (The Joker was apparently slated to turn up in at least one more film), and that a threequel, even if it arrives via other hands, is unlikely until at least 2012.
Nolan is currently working on the mega-budget Inception, so it could just be that he simply doesn't want to think about Batman at the moment. Or it could be that, like Bat-Predecessor Tim Burton or Bryan Singer on the X-Men franchise, he prefers to step back now and serve only as producer.
CHUD, meanwhile, have a conspiracy theory: that Nolan is using the press to play hardball with the studio and negotiate himself a sweeter deal... We couldn't possibly comment.
But what do you think? Can the series continue without its visionary director?
Source: EmpireOnlineWitherspoon Goes Down On The Pharm
Witherspoon Goes Down On The Pharm
In Universal's aspirational comedy
Source: The Hollywood Reporter
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Although it's billed as an 'aspiration comedy', Pharm Girl is being scripted and possibly directed by Glenn Ficarra and John Requa, the dark minds that brought us Bad Santa, so it's safe to expect at least a dose of bile in the story of a woman's journey through the underbelly of the drugs industry.
The pharmaceutical industry is shaping up to be Hollywood's bad guy of the month, stepping into the breach usually filled with Nazis and dastardly English types with twiddly moustaches. The Ed Zwick-helmed Love And Other Drugs will also put the boot into big pharma, albeit in a similarly comically-toned way.
Behind Witherspoon's perky persona and Southern charm lies some serious smarts: she rarely picks a loser (leaving aside the giant turkey that was Four Christmases) and her regular forays into comedy have produced some box-office monsters. She'll also produce Pharm Girl under her Type A banner.
Witherspoon meanwhile has an increasingly crowded slate and is continuing to focus on comedy roles. She's producing and starring in black comedy Nice, has James L. Brooks' so-far untitled project to look forward to and is in talks to star with Ben Stiller in Fox's futuristic comedy Used Guys.
Source: EmpireOnline
Brand New G.I. Joe TV Spot Online
Brand New G.I. Joe TV Spot Online
Plus five new rubber-clad character art
Source: YouTube
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Yes, there is a reason to be at your desks on a sunny Thursday morning. Second only to be sitting in front of a television, this is the place you need to be to view the brand new G.I. Joe: The Rise Of The Cobra trailer which has made its way online.
With just over a month and a half to wait until the August 7 release of Stephen 'Mummy' Sommers' film, it is time to get G.I.gee-ed up about the tautly togged task force which includes Sienna Miller as The Baroness, Channing Tatum as Duke, Marlon Wayans as Ripcord, Joseph Gordon-Levitt as Cobra Commander and Dennis Quaid as General Hawk. The film also stars Adewale Akinnuoye-Agbaje as Heavy Duty, Christopher Eccleston as Destro, Byung Hun Lee as Storm Shadow, Rachel Nichols as Shana 'Scarlett' O'Hara, Ray Park as Snake Eyes and Said Taghmaoui as Breaker.
Looks like this could be the new Thunderbirds. Or is it a live-action Team America? You decide...
Check out the G.I. Joe: The Rise Of The Cobra TV trailer on YouTube.
Also online today are five new character one-sheets to fully appreciate the crack-team in their kevlar suited glory.
Click the image above for the hi-res version on Cinematical
Click the image above for the hi-res version on Latino Review
Click the image above for the hi-res version on MovieWeb
Click the image above for the hi-res version on Collider
Click the image above for the hi-res version on IGN
Source: EmpireOnline
Neverending Story Carries On
Neverending Story Carries On
New adventure for Bastian?
Source: i09
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i09 are reporting an interview with producer Producer Frank Marshall that suggests we may well see a new version of 80s kids classic The Neverending Story in the not-especially-near future.
The phrase that makes us particularly optimistic is "we love the book". Although the rights are still tied up, it seems that Marshall has in mind a more faithful adaptation of Michael Endes' novel than Wolfgang Petersen's original, which only covered half the book. Structurally, the novel lends does actually lend itself to adapting as more than one movie, but the original sequels went their own way.
The original also dropped some major characters, presumably largely due to FX restrictions that would be easily surmountable today.
So it's some way off, and may never happen at all, but it's an intriguing prospect nonetheless. Although if it doesn't feature the Limahl song, we're not interested.*
Marshall also stated that Jurassic Park 4 is now unlikely. Which is probably just as well.
*Not really true.
Source: EmpireOnlineBride of Frankenstein Resurrected
Bride of Frankenstein Resurrected
Universal revive classic monsters
Source: Hollywood Reporter
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It looks as if Universal are already casting around for follow-ups to this year's Benecio Del Toro starrer The Wolfman. Clearly the venerable studio is looking to open up the vaults and dust of its classic monsters, with reports coming in that first off the blocks may be The Bride of Frankenstein.
A new version of James Whale's 1935 classic has been in various stages of development for some years. Most recently the writers of American Splendour, Shari Springer Berman and Robert Pulcini, were attached to an updated take on the material.
But the project has now found its way to Illusionist director Neil Burger and screenwriter Dick Wittenborn.
There are, of course, plenty of screen adaptations of Mary Shelley's original novel, with another one in preparation by Guillermo Del Toro. But James Whale's sequel to the 1931 Universal version was an original screenplay by William Hurlbut: in the novel, the Monster asks Frankenstein to build him a mate, but Frankenstein destroys it before bringing it to life.
It was very loosely remade once before, as 1985's woeful The Bride, starring Jennifer Beals, Clancy Brown and Sting. There were also elements in Kenneth Branagh's Mary Shelley's Frankenstein in 1994, when Branagh's Victor Frankenstein suddenly decides to stitch Helena Bonham Carter's head onto the body of Trevyn McDowell.
So remake-wise, Burger and Wittenborn have nothing to live up to but the tragic, witty, beautiful original. Those are very big shoes to fill.
Wednesday, June 17, 2009
New Harry Potter Posters Online
New Harry Potter Posters Online
More half-blooded wizardry
Source: harrypotter.warnerbros.co.uk
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It's been a long time between drinks potions for Potter fans but - happy days - there's only 28 sleeps until Harry Potter And The Half-Blood Prince finally hits our screens. The official UK site has revealed five new character promos to help while away those remaining days.
Bathed in the kind of atmospheric blue tones of which Michael Mann would approve, the posters feature Hermione, Draco, Ron and Luna Rey, while Harry and Ginny Weasley share a character still - and meaningful looks - in the final poster.
Harry Potter And The Half-Blood Prince is in cinemas nationwide on Wednesday 15 July.
Source: EmpireOnlineBrand New Inglourious Basterds Poster
Brand New Inglourious Basterds Poster
Italian one-sheet gets glamorous
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Trust the Italians to get a far sexier poster than the rest of the cinema-going world. This brand new international one-sheet combines the nasty Nazis, bad-girl resistance fighters and roguishly handsome insurgents who make up the cast of Quentin Tarantino's Inglourious Basterds.
With Brad Pitt rightly front and centre flanked by his Nazi-hunting buddies Eli Roth and Til Schweiger, we also get to see Diane Kruger and French newcomer Mélanie Laurent in a luscious scarlet hue, as well as brooding Christoph Waltz who plays SS Col. Hans Landa with a hint of charisma and a barrel-load of menace.
Click the image above for the h-res version on badtaste.it
Inglourious Basterds is due in cinemas on August 21. For more on Tarantino's spaghetti Western in the meantime, click here.
Source: EmpireOnlineIs Michael Sheen Blofeld In Bond 23?
Is Michael Sheen Blofeld In Bond 23?
Throwaway Empire remark creates news!
Source: The Guardian
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We suppose it was inevitable, but we’re taking a vague kind of credit for it anyway: just days after Peter Morgan, writer of Frost/Nixon, The Queen, The Deal and virtually every other word Michael Sheen has ever spoken on film*, was brought on board the currently untitled Bond 23, along comes a rumour in The Daily Express suggesting that Sheen is in talks to play the villain.
And not just any villain: Ernst Stavro Blofeld, the quintessential Bond villain, inspiration for Dr. Evil, and head of the nefarious organisation, SPECTRE.
Sounds great, huh? Mouthwatering, even. Sheen, enjoying something of a purple patch at the moment, going up against Daniel Craig’s Bond as the evil head of the nefarious organisation, QUANTUM (well, some things have to change? That’s something we’d pay to see in a heartbeat, even if Mike Myers has ensured that the iconic chrome dome and white cat would have to be dispensed with.
But, of course, as many things often are when they originate in the tabloids, the rumour appears to be utter, utter bollocks. And, we like to think, inspired by the following passage from our Morgan story: ‘This also means that Michael Sheen’s a shoo-in for the bad guy role, right? And that bad guy is going to be Ernst Stavro Blofeld, right? RIGHT?’
Sounds to us like some imaginative hack read that, got all kinds of carried away, and before you could say ‘Goodbye, Mr. Bond’, we had a cracking rumour on our hands.
Of course, Sheen – such a regular and open Tweeter – hasn’t addressed the issue yet on Twitter, but let’s not read too much into that. As Devin Faraci over at CHUD says, the rights to the character of Blofeld are currently tied up in a sack at the bottom of a pool patrolled by frickin’ sharks with frickin’ laser beams attached to their heads, so it’s unlikely that EON would bring Blofeld back in Bond 23, given the prohibitive cost involved in doing so.
Mind you, the Craig Bond series is building towards a Big Bad – no doubt about that – and one day, that Big Bad may be Michael Sheen. But for the time being, file under even more preposterous than an invisible car.
* This is, of course, not true, but we're betting that Underworld would have been a damn sight better with a Morgan script.Source: EmpireOnline
Whiteout Trailer Online
Whiteout Trailer Online
Thirty Days of Kate Beckinsale
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It's possible that this in in some way unofficial or a leak, since Warners have removed it from some sites that have published it, but at time of writing there's still a trailer here for Whiteout, Kate Beckinsale's upcoming Antarctic thriller.
Produced by Joel Silver's Dark Castle Entertainment, and directed by Dominic Sena (Gone in 60 Seconds, Swordfish), it looks a little bit Thirty Days of Night, a little bit The Thing, a little bit The X-Files, and involves the first ever murder in Antarctica. There's surprisingly little of Beckinsale in the clip. You'd think she'd be a major selling point.
Whiteout is based on - what else? - a graphic novel, published by indie house Oni Press and written by Greg Rucka, who has also worked for both Marvel and DC on Spider-Man and Batman, among others. In comic form it has a sequel, Whiteout: Melt, and a further instalment, Whiteout: Thaw is planned for later in the year. So if the movie is a hit there's built-in sequel potential.
Source: EmpireOnlineSean Penn Is No Longer A Stooge
Sean Penn Is No Longer A Stooge
Actor takes year off; also out of Cartel
Source: Variety
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Sean Penn is no longer a Stooge.
The actor has decided to take up to a year off, apparently to concentrate on his family, and has therefore withdrawn from the Farrelly Brothers’ Three Stooges movie, and the action thriller Cartel, the two projects he committed to following his Oscar win, earlier this year, for Milk.
Cartel would have been first up on Penn’s schedule. The movie would have seen the two-time Oscar winner play a dad who travels to Mexico to protect his son from the gangsters who killed his wife. Asper Leth will direct the Universal/Imagine movie, which is still on course for an autumn start date, with the studio currently preparing a list of actors who might replace Penn.
Which is the same thing that Peter and Bobby Farrelly are doing with the role of the third Stooge, Larry, for their revival of the classic comedy troupe. Penn’s commitment to a wild and crazy comedy, in which he would have starred alongside Jim Carrey (as Curly) and Benicio Del Toro (as Moe), always seemed out of character, but excitingly so. It’s a shame that we won’t get to see him taking any pratfalls.
Early word has it that the Farrellys’ shortlist includes such disparate names as Paul Giamatti, Simon Pegg, Zach Galifanakis, and even Larry David. All good choices, and needless to say we’ll keep you posted on the Farrellys’ final choice.Source: EmpireOnline
Exclusive: Telstar Clip
Exclusive: Telstar Clip
Trippy treats from Nick Moran's biopic
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Pop impresario Meek has a uncanny genius for turning out deliriously other-worldly records in the late '50s and early '60s. His tracks had catchy tunes that propelled them to the top of the charts - think Buddy Holly played by the Max Rebo Band - while his darker, obsessional side meant he was unafraid to draw a gun on his musicians when the situation demanded.
The Phil Spector-like producer is played by Con O'Neill with Kevin Spacey as his business partner Major Banks. Ralf Little is Chas Hodges, better know as one half of Chas and Dave, who worked with Meek as a session musician in his pre-Snooker Loopy days.
Telstar is out this Friday 19 June.
Source: EmpireOnline
Green Lantern Power Ring Up
Green Lantern Power Ring Up
DC holding out for a new hero
Source: Sci Fi Wire
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Enough about Marvel, Spider-Man 4, Iron Man 2, Thor, The Avengers… What’s happening at DC? Well, Green Lantern is happening, by the looks of things.
No, not the John Stewart from The Daily Show.
Source: EmpireOnlineJason Sudeikis Joins Bounty Hunter
Jason Sudeikis Joins Bounty Hunter
SNL star up for Aniston/Butler comedy
Source: The Hollywood Reporter
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Likeable Saturday Night Live regular, Jason Sudeikis, has bagged a decent-sized movie role alongside Jennifer Aniston and Gerard Butler in the action comedy, Bounty Hunter.
Sudeikis, who you might remember as Liz Lemon’s one-time boyfriend, Floyd, on the wonderful 30 Rock, will play Stewart, a co-worker of Aniston’s character, Casidy, who mistakenly believes that he’s her boyfriend.
When Casidy, having skipped bail, goes on the run from her bounty hunter ex (Butler), Sudeikis’ character decides to go after her as well, forming the third point of a love triangle. Guess which way that one’s going to turn out.
Andy Tennant is directing the movie for Sony, with filming set to start soon.Source: EmpireOnline
Peck & Palicki Join Thor In Red Dawn
Peck & Palicki Join Thor In Red Dawn
Hemsworth stars in Sheen remake
Source: The Hollywood Reporter
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It's all Mr. Sheen news this morning. Not only has a casual comment by Michael Sheen made big Bond news, but we also bring you new casting updates from the remake of Charlie Sheen's 1984 teen revolution movie Red Dawn.
After the announcement that Aussie Thor star-in-the-making Chris Hemsworth will take the lead as Marine-on-leave Jed Eckert (originally played by Patrick Swayze), new hot-young-things have been added to the rollcall. The Wackness' Josh Peck has been signed to play the role originally played by Sheen - Hemsworth's brother and star quarterback Matt Eckert. Upcoming Elektra Luxx star Adrianne Palicki will play the tough fighting role of Toni, originally played by Jennifer 'Baby' Grey in a pre Dirty Dancing pairing with the Sway-meister.
Red Dawn follows the trio as they band together to form an uprising when their small American town is invaded by Chinese and Russian soldiers - a Cold War theme which will no doubt be adapted to factor in current Middle Eastern political wranglings.
Bourne stunt don Dan Bradley, who was second-unit director on The Bourne Ultimatum and Quantum of Solace, will step up to helm his first film, scripted by Red Eye and Disturbia scribbler Carl Ellsworth and The Cleaner's Jeremy Passmore penned the updated screenplay.
The film will begin production soon, set for a September 24, 2010 release.
Source: EmpireOnlineSunday, June 14, 2009
Taylor Kitsch Is John Carter Of Mars
Taylor Kitsch Is John Carter Of Mars
Lynn Collins also joins Disney's sci-fi
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Gambit’s moving up in the world. Hot off his memorable cameo in X-Men Origins: Wolverine, Taylor Kitsch has been cast as John Carter Of Mars, in the Disney movie of the same name.
And, just to make it something of a Wolverine reunion, Lynn Collins – who played Silverfox in the Hugh Jackman mutant prequel – has also joined the cast as Dejah Thoris, aka the Princess Of Mars.
Pixar’s Andrew Stanton, who co-wrote the script with Mark Andrews, is directing the lavish epic, which starts filming this autumn, with some location work taking place in Utah.
Before Stanton came along, many directors, including Robert Rodriguez and Jon Favreau, had tried their hand at adapting Edgar Rice Burroughs’ sci-fi tale, about a Civil War veteran who finds himself mysteriously transported to Mars (or, as the locals have it, Barsoom).
There Carter, now somewhat super-powered thanks to the planet’s low gravity, becomes the focal point in a battle between the planet’s natives and alien invaders, along the way winning the hand of Collins’ fair princess.
As you might expect, the scope of this thing is going to be big. How big? Well, with Wall-E director Stanton on board, we’re saying Avatar big. And it’s a huge deal for the likeable Kitsch, who was one of the best things about X-Men Origins: Wolverine. It’s early days yet, but there’s a fair chance that we won’t be giving this movie a shitty review when it hits in 2012.
So, what do you think of this piece of casting news, readers? Is Kitsch (who'll probably have to cut those long flowing locks of his) the right choice? Are you excited about a live-action Andrew Stanton movie?
Bond/Nixon
Bond/Nixon
Peter Morgan to co-write new 007 flick
Source: MGM
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The as-yet untitled Bond 23 (relax, folks; just a working title, although we like the idea of that being the actual title) is gathering pace. Today, MGM and Bond flame-keepers, EON, announced the writing team for the new Daniel Craig-led mission, and there was a bit of a surprise.
Not in the announcement that Johnny English writers, Neal Purvis and Robert Wade would return for more Bondage – as walking 007 encyclopaedias, they’ve been on board since The World Is Not Enough - but the news that Frost/Nixon writer Peter Morgan has come on to fill Paul Haggis’ shoes in the role of Proper, Oscar-Nominated Writer Who’ll Give The Thing Some Classy Oomph.
"Peter, Neal and Robert are extraordinarily talented and we're looking forward to working with the three of them," Bond producers Michael G. Wilson and Barbara Broccoli said in a statement.
This is, of course, a Good Thing. Morgan is one of the hottest, and best, screenwriters around at the moment, and we can’t wait to see the spin he puts on 007, as he (presumably) hunts down the head of evil organisation, QUANTUM.
This also means that Michael Sheen’s a shoo-in for the bad guy role, right? And that bad guy is going to be Ernst Stavros Blofeld, right? RIGHT?
A start date on Bond 23 has yet to be announced. Give the new team a chance to throw together some quips and explodey bits first…
Source: EmpireOnlineKristen Stewart: First Look As Joan Jett
Kristen Stewart: First Look As Joan Jett
Brand new pic of Twilighter rocking out
Source: Jezebel
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Note to barbarous barber, sharpen those scissors next time because you have hacked Kristen's wig rather frightfully, and it's enough to make Edward Cullen pale(r) with fright. Kristen may not be the happy-go-luckiest of starlets, but she seems extra devastated with the dodgy 'do she is expected to sport as Joan Jett in rock-biopic The Runaways.
Jett was, of course, the breakout star of the titular band and is a dream role for Kristen, a big music fan. But the look is a little down-at-heel. At least she should get to dress it up with a tight jumpsuit, some platforms and a guitar onstage (and maybe even a smile?). Plus she can hope that Dakota Fanning will fare even worse, as her gusset-flashing Bowie-barnet-ed bandmate Cherie Currie.
Click the image above for larger version of Kristen Stewart on jezebel.com
The Runaways, directed by Floria Sigismondi, is currently shooting, for release next year.
Source: EmpireOnline
Harrelson And Eisenberg Go To Zombieland
Harrelson And Eisenberg Go To Zombieland
Flesh-eating fun for all the family
Source: Ain't It Cool
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First pics have emerged from horror comedy Zombieland, and it looks like Woody Harrelson and Jesse 'poor-man's-Michael-Cera, -rich-man's-Simon-Amstell' Eisenberg are kicking some flesh-eater ass.
Teamed with Mila Kunis - returning to her Max Payne role of hot gun-toting girl - and innocent kid-under-threat Abigail Breslin, the unlikely duo of Harrelson and Eisenber fight their way through the ungrateful undead after a zombie apocalypse takes down the world.
Click the image above for more hi-res stills on AICN
Zombieland also stars Amber Heard and has a rumoured cameo from Bill Murray as he makes his way back to his comedy best in preparation for Ghostbusters III. It could be a US take on Shaun Of The Dead, or it could just be a stand alone comedy play on George A. Romero's back-catalogue, but whatever it is, it looks kinda fun and is due in cinemas on October 30.
Source: EmpireOnlineFirst Look At Michael Moore's Latest
First Look At Michael Moore's Latest
Admiitedly, not the most thrilling look
Source: USA Today
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As first glimpses of a film go, this isn't the most groundbreaking. It's not going to be up there with the first look at Optimus Prime or that Phantom Menace teaser poster. But it does show what's in store for Michael Moore's still-untitled next film.
Due out in the US on October 2, and presumably on these shores not long after, the film tackles Wall Street and the global financial meltdown - hence this shot from USA Today of Moore in confrontational mood, attempting to bludgeon his way past security and into the corridors of economic power.
Click the image above for more on the film at USA Today
Yes, it's a fat man outside a building, but sometimes that's a fair and accurate representation of the film you're going to see. But what do you think of Moore's plans? Too late? Too soon? Does he still have it?
Source: EmpireOnlineWeaving, Serkis & McKellen For Hobbit
Weaving, Serkis & McKellen For Hobbit
Elrond, Gollum & Gandalf will return!
Source: The One Ring.net
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Here's one to file under, "Well, duh! But also good". Guillermo del Toro told Radio 5, as picked up by The One Ring.net, that Sir Ian McKellen, Andy Serkis and Hugo Weaving would be appearing in The Hobbit.
It won't come as any great surprise to, well, anyone, but it is welcome news that those members of the Lord of the Rings cast who also appear in The Hobbit will be playing the roles they originated in Del Toro's sort-of prequel to Jackson's trilogy.
We're due a Bilbo casting announcement any day now, but we hope that this tidbit of almost-news will keep you going until then.
Source: EmpireOnlineMarcus Nispel To Direct Conan
Marcus Nispel To Direct Conan
Friday The 13th director tackles remake
Source: CHUD
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According to Devin Faraci over at CHUD, Marcus Nispel has signed on to replace Brett Ratner as director of the new Conan movie, which is the textbook example of ‘out of the frying pan, into the fire’.
Devin is saying that he’s been told by a reputable source that Lionsgate and Nu Image, who have been scratching around for a director to fill Ratner’s shoes since we exclusively revealed that he left the project, have finally found their man in Nispel, the director of Pathfinder and the Friday The 13th and Texas Chainsaw Massacre remakes.
The pressure to find a director, like, RIGHT GODDAMN NOW, was great with Nu Image’s Joe Gatta, a producer on the new Conan movie, confirming in this month’s Empire that the film is locked into an August 24 start date in Bulgaria. That doesn't give Nispel much time to Crom up on Robert E. Howard's muscular creation. Ahem.
It’s still a surprise that they’ve gone for Nispel, for two reasons: one, we’d heard on the grapevine that producer Avi Lerner had been courting a director, famous for his love of genre movies, for the gig. Clearly, and unsurprisingly given that gentleman’s penchant for generating his own material, that didn’t work out.
Secondly, and perhaps most importantly, we’re surprised because Nispel’s track record isn’t all that inspiring. His horror remakes have been particularly unmemorable, while his most Conan-like movie, the Viking flick Pathfinder, was a lavish and near-incoherent mess.
But Nispel’s movies do have one thing in common: they look good, and that’s one thing the new Conan flick will need in spades. It also needs something else: an actor for the title role, and someone who can fill the giant pecs of Arnie. Tough gig.
“We’re not looking to replace Arnold so much as find the next Arnold,” Gatta told Empire (now on sale etc. etc.). “What we’re looking for, first and foremost, is a good actor. We don’t know what country he’s in. We don’t know if he’s in theatre, or in McDonald’s! We’ll have an open casting call – as soon as we hire our new director, the search is on.”
And that search would appear to have already begun, with CHUD’s Devin also suggesting that an announcement will be made on that front very, very soon. Keep ‘em peeled. In the meantime, though, what do you think of this – is Nispel a good choice?
UPDATE: Nispel's hiring has been confirmed. According to Variety, it's a job he's wanted since his childhood. So that's alright, then.
Amy Poehler Is The Lunch Lady
Amy Poehler Is The Lunch Lady
Former SNL star signs on for comedy
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Former Saturday Night Live star, Amy Poehler, has signed on to star in Lunch Lady, a big-screen comedy based on an upcoming series of graphic novels for kids.
Poehler will star as a mild-mannered lunch lady by day who secretly masquerades as an ass-kicking crimefighter at night, aided by her assistant. The graphic novels, the first of which is due at the end of July, also focus on three kids who grow suspicious about what the lunch lady gets up to when she’s not dishing out substandard food.
Jarrett Krosoczka is the writer and illustrator of the Lunch Lady series, which boast wonderfully outlandish names like Lunch Lady And The League Of Librarians, Lunch Lady And The Cyborg Substitute and Lunch Lady And The Summer Camp Shakedown, which seem to hint at a jocular, slightly batty tone that should be perfect for Poehler.
Since leaving SNL during the most recent season, Poehler has moved on to the sitcom, Parks And Recreation, which has been picked up for a second season. But Lunch Lady is evidence that Mrs. Will Arnett is still targeting a movie career, following the success of her last outing, Baby Mama.
Sarah Haskins and Emily Halpern are writing the Lunch Lady script, while Universal is backing the project with cold hard cash that it had saved for its lunch.Source: EmpireOnline
Joss Whedon Talks New Buffy Movie
Joss Whedon Talks New Buffy Movie
Unsurprisingly, he won't be involved
Source: EW.com
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EW.com spoke to Joss Whedon about the second series of Dollhouse, and asked him about the recently annouced movie about Buffy the Vampire Slayer. As you'd expect, Whedon was not enthused but as gentlemanly as ever.
"I believe [the producers] did ultimately reach out to my agent after the news broke," Whedon says. "I think that's something better left untouched by me. So, I wish them luck."
Since approximately no one wants to see a Buffy movie that Whedon is not involved in, and since most of the fanbase is sufficiently clued up to check whether he's involved or not, we can't imagine that luck doing much good.
Head on over to EW.com for more on Dollhouse, which after a rocky start is shaping up well for the second season.
Source: EmpireOnlineBrittany Murphy Gets Wicked
Brittany Murphy Gets Wicked
Actress joins psychological thriller
Source: The Hollywood Reporter
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It's only been a couple of weeks since Brittany Murphy was ditched from Stallone's thermo-actioner The Expendables, but credit to her, she's bounced back strongly, signing up for psychological thriller Something Wicked.
Something Wicked sees Murphy join Shantel VanSanten who plays the hot girlfriend of a schlebby guy (John Robinson), whose life descends into chaos when her parents are gunned down. Producer-turned-director Darin Scott is behind the camera and first-time writer Joe Colleran provides the script.
While nothing can repair the heartache of missing out on The Planet’s Most Awesome Action Movie™, Something Wicked should at least keep Murphy busy and takes her to the beautiful state of Oregon where the movie is filming.
Neil Marshall to Direct Predators?
Neil Marshall to Direct Predators?
Descent director in talks
Source: Bloody Disgusting
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Brit director Neil Marshall is in close talks to direct Robert Rodriguez' remount of the Predator franchise, according to a "100% reliable source" at Bloody Disgusting.
To be clear, the contract is not yet signed over at Fox, but BD certainly seem confident that this is a done deal.
Marshall's pedigree is chequered: when he's good he's very very good (The Descent), but when he's bad he's rotten (Doomsday). Predators certainly seems to fit with his modus operandi though, since all four of his films so far have been based around a team of characters under siege: by werewolves in Dog Soldiers; cave trolls in The Descent; Doomsday's futurepunks; and the Picts in the forthcoming Centurion. Seems like he's been building towards Stan Winston's mandible-faced huntsmen his entire career!
Producer Rodriguez earlier this week denied rumours that he'd approached Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger for a role in the movie, which is currently pitched somewhere between a threequel, a prequel and a remake. Maybe Danny Glover will be available instead.
Source: EmpireOnlineProduction Underway on John Carter?
Production Underway on John Carter?
Pixar get their asses to Utah
Source: KSL
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As reported here some time ago, Pixar has plans to dip a toe into live action waters with an adaptation of Edgar Rice Burroughs' John Carter of Mars, directed by Andrew Stanton (Finding Nemo, WALL-E).
Those plans appear to be gearing up, as Utah-based TV and radio station KSL reports that the state will be standing in for the red planet, with shooting expected to begin in November. The rather fiscally-focused piece describes the benefits of a large film crew "staying in our motel rooms and eating in our restaurants" for seven months.
John Carter, as Burroughs wrote him, is an American Civil War veteran prospecting for gold in Arizona when he's attacked by Indians and mysteriously transported to Mars, where he has super-strength due to low gravity. Burroughs was most famous for creating Tarzan, but there are also around a dozen entries in his "Barsoom" Mars series, although they don't all feature Carter.
A potential new franchise for Disney/Pixar then (initial indications were that a trilogy is mooted)...
Source: EmpireOnlineO'Dowd Gets Big Tiny Role In Gulliver's
O'Dowd Gets Big Tiny Role In Gulliver's
IT Crowd star is villain in new comedy
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Chris O’Dowd – the roguish and mostly incompetent Roy in the brilliant sitcom, The IT Crowd – has just bagged his biggest movie role to date. Although, in a way, it’s also his smallest.
The Irish actor has joined the cast of Jack Black’s FX-heavy comedy, Gulliver’s Travels, about a travel writer who is transported to the island of Liliput while on an assignment in the Bermuda Triangle. As you might have guessed, it’s a modern update of Jonathan Swift’s classic novel.
O’Dowd will play Edward, Gulliver’s thumb-sized Liliputian nemesis in the movie, which is already shooting in London. We’re guessing that the nature of his interaction with Gulliver means that O’Dowd won’t actually share any screentime with Black, but it’ll be good exposure nevertheless for a very funny actor.
O’Dowd joins the likes of Jason Segel, Emily Blunt and Amanda Peet in the Fox movie, which is directed by Monsters Vs. Aliens’ director, Rob Letterman.Source: EmpireOnline
Screen Gems Snaps Up Beautiful Girl
Screen Gems Snaps Up Beautiful Girl
Psycho-thriller from Michael Cunningham
Source: Variety
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Screen Gems has snapped up the rights to Beautiful Girl, a psycho-thriller from a most unlikely source: Michael Cunningham, author of worthy, weighty novels like The Hours.
Of course, as anyone who sat through Stephen Daldry’s movie version of The Hours could attest, Cunningham would have to go some to come up with anything more terrifying, but with Beautiul Girl, he may well have managed it.
It’s a story about a high school girl in her senior year who attracts the attention of her English teacher after she loses a lot of weight (six dress sizes, to be precise). But things start to unravel when the English teacher goes doolally and starts targeting anyone who was cruel to the girl during her heavier days.
Sounds intriguing – Cunningham is a fine writer, whose credits also include the novel and screenplay for A Home At The End Of The World, and it’s a pleasant surprise to find that he’s also something of a genre-loving gorehound.
"While I was writing about Virginia Wolff, my mind was never far removed from the idea of girls in bikinis being hacked up by guys wearing hockey masks, and I vowed that if I ever had a good idea, I would write one of these scary movies," Cunningham told Daily Variety. And God bless him for it – apparently, he also has plans for a monster movie.
Screen Gems won an auction with other studios to bag the Beautiful Girl spec script, and Douglas Wick and Lucy Fisher will produce.Source: EmpireOnline
Kevin Lima Attached To Limpet Remake
Kevin Lima Attached To Limpet Remake
Live-action/animation hybrid for directo
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Kevin Lima has become the latest director to attach himself like a limpet to the Warner Bros. remake of, well, The Incredible Mr. Limpet.
The remake of the 1964 Don Knotts live-action/animation comedy, about an ordinary guy who transforms into a fish-man and helps the Allies out during World War II, has been in development for so long that Robin Williams was the first name attached, back when he was in his Flubber phase.You know, when his movies actually made money.
Since then, Jim Carrey’s also come and gone on the project, while Mike Judge was one of the many directors who took a look before eventually moving on. But now Enchanted director Lima will be bringing his experience of live-action and animation (he directed the likes of Tarzan for Disney) to bear.
No writer is yet attached to the project, but Akiva Goldsman is one of the producers, so we wouldn’t be surprised if he becomes involved in the writing process. In which case, it’s sure to be a masterpiece.
Lima is also attached to another live-action/animation movie, the Tom Thumb tale, Thumb, although it’s not clear if The Incredible Mr. Limpet will take precedence. But if it does get the fast-track treatment at Warners, don’t be surprised to see Carrey linked with it again.Source: EmpireOnline
Cooper Tips Common For BA Baracus
Cooper Tips Common For BA Baracus
New Faceman talks The A-Team
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Talking at the premiere of his new film The Hangover, Bradley Cooper, who was in talks to bring the role of Lieutenant Templeton 'Faceman' Peck back to life, confirmed that he will appear in the movie version of the 80s classic TV show: "I think it's on. If it all happens, it would be great. It would be an honour to work with Joe Carnahan."
He also told Empire who he would like to join him as probably the most iconic member of The A-Team, Sargeant Bosco 'BA' Baracus: "I like Common, I think Common would be good."
Would he tip someone he didn't think was already a likely candidate? It seems improbable. So Ving Rhames and all the others tipped for the role, get your coat, it looks like John Connor's right-hand-man Common will be shaving in the trademark mohican and pitying the fools who wears his chains. Next stop, a cover version of Treat Your Mother Right.
Source: EmpireOnlineNew Shorts Trailer And Poster Online
New Shorts Trailer And Poster Online
Robert Rodriguez' new family fantasy
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A second trailer for Robert Rodriguez' new PG family adventure Shorts is out and about in web world, complete with a (pretty intense) introduction from the Rodriguez family.
Rodriguez said he wanted to make a movie for his kids before embarking on Sin City 2 (apparently Planet Terror didn't do the trick) and Shorts certainly seems to have the kind of Spy Kids-style technicolored imagination to keep youngsters happy. The movie sees Black Falls resident 11 year-old Toe Thompson empowered when a mysterious 'rainbow rock' falls from the sky and makes all his wishes come true.
Along with the trailer, Warner Bros. has also released a new Shorts poster which has enough going on to excite even the most world-weary tween, including giant hornets, flying saucers, some little green men, a pterodactyl, a giant robot that seems to have wandered off the set of Transformers 2, and a kid called Toe. Eat your heart out Ed Wood.
Click the image above for larger version on IMP Awards
Shorts is out on August 14 across the UK.
Source: EmpireOnlineShutter Island Trailer Online
Shutter Island Trailer Online
Scorsese and DiCaprio reunited
Source: Apple
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Paramount has released the first trailer for Martin Scorsese's Shutter Island, starring Leonardo DiCaprio, Mark Ruffalo, Ben Kingsley, Michelle Williams, Max Von Sydow, Patricia Clarkson and Jackie Earle Haley.
Based on a Dennis Lehane novel (he wrote Mystic River, and he's written episodes of The Wire), the story is set in the 1950s and sees DiCaprio as a US Marshall investigating a disappearance at an island-based insane asylum.
Scorsese's fourth collaboration with DiCaprio (after Gangs of New York, The Aviator and The Departed) is a particularly intriguing prospect, since it looks like it has more in common with his 1991 Cape Fear remake (and Silence of the Lambs, and The Wicker Man) than anything he's made since. Cape Fear is great, but Scorsese has all but disowned it in recent years as a work-for-hire.
There's more than a hint of the supernatural here, but are they red herrings? Current release date: October 9th.
Elsewhere in Leo World, MTV reports that Todd McFarlane wants him to appear in his new take on demon superhero Spawn. Er, huh?!
Source: EmpireOnlinePirates 4 May Put Lone Ranger On Hold
Pirates 4 May Put Lone Ranger On Hold
So says Jerry Bruckheimer - aaaar!
Source: HitFix
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Looks like The Lone Ranger may be knocking around on his tod for a bit longer, if those pesky Pirates Of The Caribbean have anything to do with it.
Those lovely folks over at Hitfix spoke to uber-producer Jezza ‘Jerry’ Bruckheimer, and tackled him about his busy schedule, which involves producing both a fourth Pirates Of The Caribbean movie, and a new big-screen version of The Lone Ranger.
Both films, of course, are set up over at Disney, and both films have Mr. Johnny Depp attached to star, as Captain Jack Sparrow and Tonto respectively, and despite the fact that The Lone Ranger seemed to be first in the queue, given that Mike Newell had been in talks to direct, while Pirates 4 is currently without a director, Jezza told Hitfix that is no longer the case.
“Disney’s priority is to get Pirates made,” he said. “That's a great franchise for them and for us too. Beloved, with a great character and Johnny's really excited about coming back to Captain Jack."
Jezza then went on to reveal that he’s already seen some script pages for Pirates 4, and seemed to confirm that the movie will take the series in a completely new, Captain Jack-centric direction, with nary a Keira nor Orlando to be seen. This is A Good Thing, for Pirates 2 and 3 seemed to forget that Depp’s drunken rogue was the reason the first movie was such an enormous hit.
But the revelation that The Lone Ranger will be delayed, for God knows how long, is intriguing. Clearly, Depp can’t make both movies at once, so something had to give, but the early word from Disney had been that Pirates 4 would aim for a 2012 release. Bruckheimer’s comments would seem to confirm that that process has been accelerated – possibly because of the whole end of the world thing.
For more from Bruckheimer, including his views on whether Gore Verbinski might return to direct Pirates 4 after all, click here to visit those Hitfix scoundrels.Source: EmpireOnline
Bond 23 in Afghanistan?
Bond 23 in Afghanistan?
Scriptwriters research in Kabul
Source: Guardian
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The Guardian reports that unnamed scriptwriters on the unnamed follow up to Quantum of Solace have been seeking technical advice from the British Embassy in Kabul.
That could, possibly mean that the top secret plot might possibly, at some point, possibly take in the drug-funded insurgency in the Helmand Province, which has been occupying thousands of NATO troops since 2006.
Bond went to Afghanistan before, in the 1987 Timothy Dalton starrer The Living Daylights.
Eon Productions aren't talking, so file this under "seriously only a rumour" for now.
Source: EmpireOnlineJustin Theroux To Direct Chief Ron
Justin Theroux To Direct Chief Ron
Comedy about an unlikely casino owner
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The rise of Justin Theroux continues with the news that the Iron Man 2 screenwriter has signed on to direct Universal and Imagine’s comedy, Chief Ron.
Vaguely based on the true-life story of Chief Ron Roberts, a blond-haired, blue-eyed American who claimed Native American ancestry in a successful attempt to open a casino in upstate New York (gaming laws in the US are relaxed for several Native American tribes), Chief Ron will focus on a conman who claims Mohegan ancestry in an attempt to do the same.
First things first: let’s point out that the real Chief Ron isn’t a conman, and won his battle in court. Secondly: this has decent potential. It’ll be interesting to see what Theroux can do with it.
Until last year, Theroux was a jobbing actor whose most memorable turns had come in Mulholland Dr., and Charlie’s Angels (complete with horrific Irish accent), and who was best-known for being Louis Theroux’s cousin (and the nephew of the writer, Paul Theroux).
But then Theroux co-wrote the screenplay for Tropic Thunder, along with Ben Stiller and Etan Cohen, and that set the ball in motion for the Iron Man 2 gig. And, it seems, that has begat Chief Ron, which is written by Jordan Roberts.
We wish Theroux well with it, but a word of caution: he might want to do something about the title – it’s too reminiscent of the godawful Captain Ron, which remains the only movie rental Empire’s ever walked out on. Yes, that bad...Source: EmpireOnline
David Hayter To Write Deadworld
David Hayter To Write Deadworld
Zombie pic next for Watchmen scribe
Source: Variety
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Another day, another comic book adaptation, another zombie movie… who says Hollywood doesn’t have any fresh ideas?
Don’t get us wrong. Empire loves us our comic book movies, and we gorge ourselves silly on zombie movies like they were tasy braaaaaaains. But it’s hard to get ourselves particularly worked up about the news that Gary Reed’s Image comic Deadworld is set to hit the big screen – even if the talented Watchmen writer, David Hayter, is on board.
Hayter will write and, because his company Dark Hero is producing, conceive the movie’s visuals and characters. Don't be surprised if he ends up directing...
"It's very much about the design of the Deadworld and creating cool, frightening but not necessarily gory creatures," Hayter told Variety. "I am a huge fan of zombie mythology."
The Deadworld of the title is Earth, four months after the onset of the zombie apocalypse. So far, virtually so every zombie movie made in the last 30 years. But Deadworld has a twist – the zombies are as smart as the humans, and have personalities and characteristics. Deadworld, in fact, will focus on King Zombie, a decaying biker who targets human survivors after they make him an outcast.
OK, that’s not bad, but Hayter is going to have to work his butt off to make this one stand out from the zombie pack, especially with the likes of World War Z and IRA Zombies* on the horizon, right?
Hayter will share production duties along with Bill Mechanic, while Benedict Carver – the other Dark Hero partner – will executive produce, along with Reed. Production is pencilled in to begin next year.
* Oh come on – did you really think we’d get through a story about a zombie movie without mentioning it?Source: EmpireOnline
The Hangover Premieres In London
The Hangover Premieres In London
Cooper, Helms, Graham hanging this morn
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It wasn't quite Vegas, but the stars of Todd Phillips' new comedy The Hangover made sure that Leicester Square was going to be feeling the effects this morning.
Watch interviews with the stars on the red carpet.
Heather Graham had all eyes on her in a stunningly bold blue dress, and talked us through what she is working on currently: "I just got offered this Kevin Spacey movie, and I have also got this cool movie about a Russian actress called Zoyatchka [about real life WWII actress Zoya Fyodorova]."
Funny man Zach Galifianakis was in a strangely sombre mode for the gold carpet and said he loved London but, "I wish it was not necessarily in this capacity. I would rather be in a pub."
He is up next starring alongside Michael Cera and Justin Long in Youth In Revolt. He told us a bit about his character: "I play a very mean redneck. It [a wife beater and trucker cap]didn't look very good on me... nothing ever looks good on me."
Director Phillips quashed rumours that The Hangover's missing man Justin Bartha would be similarly left out of The Hangover 2, but wouldn't give any more away, because he hasn't written it yet.
Bradley Cooper was working his charms on the crowd and loving the press line, saying, "Wow, look at all these beautiful women" (a feeling that was entirely reciprocated by the press line). His hangover cure was also, rather predictably, "Women!" too.
Ed Helms was last along and told us what he has got coming up next: "I've got a great movie coming out in August called The Goods with Jeremy Piven and Will Ferrell, and it's extremely funny. And then I am working on [writing] a couple of scripts."
The guys will all be back for The Hangover 2 as soon as Phillips gets round to putting pen to paper. Get scribbling already!Source: EmpireOnline
Dan In Real Life Director Goes Green
Dan In Real Life Director Goes Green
Peter Hedges to direct Disney fable
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Peter Hedges, director of Dan In Real Life and Pieces of April, has lined up a "modern-day fable" at Disney called The Odd Life Of Timothy Green.
Not, we assume, to be confused with The Curious Case of Benjamin Button, the film is apparently "personal" to Ahmed Zappa, who came up with the idea, but we can't say much more than that since the plot is under more wraps than a pashmina warehouse.
Hedges will write and direct the film - no surprise, since he got his start as a screenwriter on films including About A Boy and What's Eating Gilbert Grape? More on this as and when we get a chance to tunnel into the Disney plot vault and steal the details.
Source: EmpireOnlineLance Armstrong Biopic Gets A Writer
Lance Armstrong Biopic Gets A Writer
Seabiscuit's Gary Ross gears up for job
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Looks like the long-gestating biopic of ace cyclist Lance Armstrong might be about to move up through the gears, after Gary Ross came on board to write the screenplay.
Ross, of course, is no stranger to inspiring sports-related stories – he wrote and directed the horsey drama, Seabiscuit. And now, for his next trick, he’s got to write the extraordinary tale of Armstrong, who stunned and inspired millions around the world when he cameoed in Dodgeball back in 2004.
At least, we think that’s why he’s famous. It couldn’t possibly have anything to do with the seven successive Tour De France wins, achieved despite being stricken by, in his own words, brain, lung and testicular cancer, all at the same time. Could it…?
Of course it bloody well could. Armstrong’s story is astonishing, uplifting, add your own adjective here. It seems a natural fit for a movie, something producer Frank Marshall – who may also direct – has been trying to do for ages.
During that time, the likes of Jake Gyllenhaal – who looks nothing like Armstrong – and Matt Damon (ditto) have been linked with the project, which is stationed over at Columbia. Nobody has signed on yet, though, but Ross’ arrival moves the biopic closer to the starting line.
The as-yet untitled movie will be largely based on Armstrong’s first memoir, It’s Not About The Bike, which details his life up until his first Tour De France win, including his first marriage and his cancer diagnosis. But we suspect that the movie will cover events that took place after that.
Armstrong, of course, recently returned to cycling after retirement, and is set to try to win his eighth Tour De France next month.
Source: EmpireOnlineCruise and Abrams Plot New Mission
Cruise and Abrams Plot New Mission
Fourth Mission: Impossible is possible
Source: Spoiler TV
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A sketchy report in the American TV Guide reveals that Tom Cruise has been talking to Lost creator and erstwhile trekkie JJ Abrams about a possible Mission: Impossible 4.
Abrams reveals that he and the Cruiser have come up with "a really cool idea" and says that he's "incredibly honoured" to have been invited back.
It seems unlikely that Abrams would return to the franchise (of which he directed the really rather good part 3) as director though. A producer credit is more likely, leaving directing duties up for grabs. As producer, Tom Cruise's previous modus operandi for the series was to give each episode a particular director's stamp: hence the very stylistically different series entries from Abrams, Brian De Palma (part 1) and John Woo (part 2).
Cruise's very public spat with studio Paramount two years ago called the future of the M:I franchise into question.
If the movie goes ahead, we'd like to request it involve as few of those stupid masks as possible.
This story may well self-destruct.
Source: EmpireOnlineDiane Lane Stars In Secretariat
Diane Lane Stars In Secretariat
As the 'first lady of horseracing'
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There is a gentleman who calls the Empire office every few months to campaign for more Diane Lane coverage in our magazine. Well, it's his lucky day, because she's lined up a new film called Secretariat, about a racehorse of the same name and his groundbreaking owner.
Based on the true story of 1973 Triple Crown winner Secretariat and his owner Penny Chenery (Lane), the film highlights her journey from housewife and mother who didn't know much about racing when she took over her father's Meadow Farm horsebreeding business, to first lady of racing. That happened in 1973, when Secretariat won the Kentucky Derby, Preakness Stakes and Belmont Stakes to become the first Triple Crown winner in 25 years.
Randall Wallace (We Were Soldiers, The Man In The Iron Mask) is directing, from a script by Mike Rich (Finding Forrester, The Rookie). The whole thing's a Disney film, so we don't feel we're giving too much away above when we mentioned that the horse wins the big race. Nor when we say that he isn't sold for glue straight afterwards in a downbeat finale.
Source: EmpireOnlineWednesday, June 10, 2009
Behold Mickey Rourke As Whiplash
Behold Mickey Rourke As Whiplash
First look at Iron Man 2's new villain
Source: USA Today
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Thanks to a handy Tweet from Jon Favreau, we’ve discovered that USA Today has the first look at Mickey Rourke as Whiplash, Iron Man 2’s chief villain – and it’s… interesting, to say the least.
For a starters, there’s no costume, per se. No mask – just Rourke, snarling away beneath long, flowing, highlighted hair – and no metal armour. Instead, Whiplash – aka a Russian arms dealer, the unfortunately-named Ivan Vanko – sports a bare chest, his jailhouse tats glimpsed beneath a rickety chestplate that seems to be powered by the same ARC technology that gives Tony Stark’s metallic alter ego his oomph.
"The technologies are definitely related, and that's part of the core theme of the film," Favs told USA Today.
Click the image above for larger version on USA Today
And, just out of shot, we get our first glimpse at the weapons that give Whiplash that name: two electric whips, which are powered by the chestplate. We’ve got a feeling that once those things start cracking away, Stark’s going to want to hit the bottle pretty damn fast.
Intriguingly, the picture shows Vanko, who also appears to be wearing prison-issue orange trousers, at the Monaco Historic Grand Prix, another sign that Iron Man 2 is going to span the globe more than its predecessor (which, of course, went to Afghanistan).
As for Whiplash’s look, we like it. It’s unusual for a supervillain to be so brazen about his true identity, and there’s something about the ramshackle nature of his chestplate and ‘costume’ that should make for a great contrast with Robert Downey Jr’s glistening golden Avenger. It's also a near step away from the normal thinking that Man In Suit must fight Bigger Man In Suit - which was one of the few faults of the first movie.
So far, though, all the signs from Iron Man 2 suggest that Favreau and Marvel aren’t putting a foot wrong; let’s hope they keep it up.
For more from Favreau, and a chance to see the shot in hi-res, go to USA Today.
Source: EmpireOnlineNew Pics From The Princess & The Frog
New Pics From The Princess & The Frog
Fairytale New Orleans in hi-res
Source: Rope of Silicon
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Disney has released a new set of stills from its return to 2D hand-drawn animation The Princess and the Frog. Check them out here.
More Empire details here, and you can check out the trailer here.
Release in the UK is set for February 2010. American audiences will see it nearer Christmas 2009.
It looks beautiful, but do we kind of detect the ominous possibility that, for all Disney's trumpeting its first African-American heroine, it might be a bit heavy on the New Orleans voodoo stereotyping? Keith David's Doctor Facillier seems to be channeling Baron Samedi. Will this do for the Creole what Pocahontas did for the Native Americans? Discuss...
Click the image above for more stills on Rope Of Silicon
Source: EmpireOnlineSeven Golden Vampires Polished Up
Seven Golden Vampires Polished Up
Hammer's kung-fu horror remade?
Source: Bloody Disgusting
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Tentative early reports suggest that Hammer Films' 1974 martial arts Dracula epic The Legend of the Seven Golden Vampires is to be remade by indie production company Spitfire PIctures.
The original is an odd collaboration between the house of horror and the famous Shaw Brothers Studio in Hong Kong, shamelessly aimed at tapping into the 70s kung-fu movie vogue. Peter Cushing as Van Helsing teams up with a Chinese family to rid a village of a vampire plague, which it turns out is being orchestrated by Dracula himself in the guise of a Shaolin monk. It is pants, and it doesn't have Christopher Lee in it.
But the argument, of course, is that it's the rubbish films that ought to be remade, so this is an intriguing prospect. Spitfire seem like a small operation to handle what's potentialy a large-ish project - their last release was the Bob Dylan-starring oddity Masked and Anonymous - but the story makes a bit more sense when you realise that Spitfire's parent company Exclusive Media also owns the current incarnation of the Hammer brand.
Have they got any money though? And can they make a better kung-fu Dracula film than Blade: Trinity? Well yes, almost certainly.
Source: EmpireOnlineIs Y: The Last Man Unmanned?
Is Y: The Last Man Unmanned?
Shia LaBeouf expresses doubts
Source: Coming Soon
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Here's rather disappointing news: Shia LaBeouf, in an interview with Wizard magazine, suggested that he might not star in Y: The Last Man after all. He's been linked to the property for a good couple of years now, with production inching ever closer as director DJ Caruso and writer Carl Ellsworth boiled down an epic, globe-spanning tale into something movie-sized.
The story is based on the intensely smart Brian K. Vaughn comics, and focuses on Yorick, a young guy who finds that he's the last man alive on Earth after an instantaneous plague kills every male, and every male animal, on the planet except for Yorick and his pet monkey Ampersand. He is instantly a target for pretty much everyone: Israeli soldiers, man-hating Amazons, geneticists looking for a solution, politicians and weirdos.
LaBeouf looked like good casting for the role, but now says, "You take Sam [Witwicky, from Transformers] and you put a monkey on his shoulder. I don't know if it's that big a differential. It seems like he's the ordinary guy in an extraordinary situation again.
He added, "I'm not willing to make that movie currently, and may be too old to play the role by the time it does come around."
Whether this means that he's definitely out remains to be seen; perhaps an ace script will lure him back. But if he is out, there have got to be other early 20-something guys who can do the role justice. We need someone a bit awkward, a die-hard romantic with a streak of defiance, someone a little goofy and a little heroic. Jay Baruchel maybe? However they cast it, this is a heck of a story that deserves a chance on the big screen.
Source: EmpireOnlineRob Cohen Gets Medieval On Us
Rob Cohen Gets Medieval On Us
But abandons xXx: Return of Xander Cage
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Bad news today for fans of the xXx franchise - yes, both of you - with the news that Rob Cohen will probably not be returning to the franchise for proposed threequel xXx: The Return of Xander Cage after all, because he's off to direct a script called Medieval instead.
The details of the script, written by Alex Litvak and Michael Finch, are still under wraps, but it's described variously as an "event picture" set in medieval times that "brings together warriors from disparate cultures" in a "heightened reality". Cohen rather more succinctly describes it as The Magnificent Seven in the Middle Ages, which sounds slightly more promising.
Cohen studied European history and anthropology at Harvard (yes, really) so in a strange way this is a return to his roots after years of blowing shit up. The hope is that production will be underway by October, so we're guessing this'll be released in time for Christmas 2010 or possibly the following May.
Cohen hasn't ruled out returning to xXx completely, apparently telling Vin Diesel that he had to do this and would understand if they can't wait for him to finish; but it seems likely that the director's chair will be filled elsewhere in the meantime.
So, good thing or not?
Source: EmpireOnlineOne-Sheet For 9 Unveiled
One-Sheet For 9 Unveiled
The post-apocalyptic ragdoll revolution
Source: Film School Rejects
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Look, look, it's all glowy... This is the brand new, until now top-secret one sheet for the post apocalyptic ragdoll quest 9 - not to be confused with District 9 or Nine. Having given you some beautiful art work from the film earlier this week, we just couldn't contain ourselves when we saw this gorgeous poster.
Amid the dusty, bleak ruins, our sack-cloth saviour holds up his little lamp like a firebrand, ready (if a little apprehensive) to take on the enemy: rampaging robots who have taken over humankind.
Click the image above for larger version on Film School Rejects
Director Shane Acker is presented to the world by producers Tim Burton and Timur Bekmambetov with whom he shares his poster header, and there is even a big ol' mention for screenwriter Pamela Pettler (Corpse Bride, Monster House) - this is obviously a team effort.
9 features voices from Ellijah Wood, John C. Reilly, Jennifer Connelly and Christopher Plummer as the rag-tag band of living, fighting toys. Rather excitingly, you can receive updates before the revolution begins from their scientist creator by befriending him on facebook.
You may have also noticed the release date on there - conveniently scheduled for September 9 2009. Put this in the diary now.
Source: EmpireOnline
New Futurama Series Commissioned
New Futurama Series Commissioned
Good news, everyone!
Source: Reuters
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Comedy Central, after its four feature-length toes in the water, has commissioned a full series of Matt Groening's beleaguered sci-fi Simpsons sibling Futurama,
The series, detailing the adventures of pizza delivery boy Fry after he's catapulted into the 31st century, originally ran on the Fox Network, but was cancelled in 2003. Ratings for Comedy Central's re-runs, alongside strong DVD sales, have been enough to convince them into producing 26 new episodes.
The cable network performed a similar rescue operation on Family Guy, which was cancelled by Fox twice (in 2000 and 2002) and resurrected by CC in 2005.
Writer David X. Cohen says that all the original voice cast are likely to return, and that after the epic scope of the recent DVD films, the series will probably return to more straightforward comedy.
New Zoidberg! New Bender! We can hardly contain ourselves.
Source: EmpireOnlineIt Might Get Loud Trailer Online
It Might Get Loud Trailer Online
Jimmy Page, Jack White & The Edge
Source: You Tube
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This may have been around for ages, but we're only just seeing it thanks to the guys over at CHUD.com. It's a trailer for the new documentary It Might Get Loud, directed by Davis "An Inconvenient Truth" Guggenheim and starring The Edge, Jimmy Page and Jack White.
The idea of the film is that three, representing different eras of electric guitar playing, meet up swop ideas, maybe jam a little. If you need more, you probably aren't a big fan of guitar music.
The film doesn't yet have a UK release date, but is out in Germany and the US in August so fingers crossed that we'll see it soon after that. If it's even a fraction as good as the last great rock doc, we'll be there with bells on.
A Fresh Moon Clip Up Online
A Fresh Moon Clip Up Online
Sam Rockwell injured in space
Source: Yahoo Movies
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We're big cheerleaders for Duncan Jones' Moon around these parts, and since it's an ace film that everyone should see, here's another little taster with a scene from Moon online over at Yahoo Movies.
This comes relatively early on in the film, and gives you a glimpse of life for lunar miner Sam Bell (Rockwell), who's spending three years alone on the lunar surface overseeing a process which harvests energy from the moon. With only two weeks to go in his tenure, he's starting to experience strange visions, and worrying his computer companion GERTY (Kevin Spacey).
Moon is out on July 17. Go see it.
Source: EmpireOnline
Neeson And Cooper Are The A-Team
Neeson And Cooper Are The A-Team
Well, half of them anyway...
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We love it when the plan to put The A-Team on the big screen comes together – and it's coming together quite nicely, as a matter of fact, with the news that Liam Neeson and Bradley Cooper are in talks to star in the Joe Carnahan-directed adaptation of the ‘80s TV show about four resourceful Army vets on the run for a crime they didn’t commit.
As has been rumoured for a while, Cooper – who became a star this weekend with the success of The Hangover – will play Templeton ‘Faceman’ Peck, the group’s ladies’ man, and the role originated by Dirk Benedict.
But it’s Neeson’s involvement, as the A-Team’s leader, Col. John ‘Hannibal’ Smith, that’s got us all kinds of excited. The role, originally played by George Peppard of course, has been linked with all manner of A-listers over the years, including George Clooney and Mel Gibson, but Neeson is spot-on.
As Taken showed, he can still kick ass and take names, even at the age of 57, and he should bring gravitas to the project. Given that Carnahan is apparently keen to excise any camp, jokey aspects from the movie, Neeson’s presence is a step in the right direction. He’s Qui-Gon effin’ Jinn, for God’s sake…
There’s no word yet on who Carnahan will cast as the two remaining members of The A-Team, the African-American tough guy B.A Baracus (first played by some guy named Mr. T) and the batshit insane pilot, ‘Howling Mad’ Murdock (the legendary Dwight Schultz), but with production set to begin in August in Vancouver, we’d imagine that we’ll hear some news sooner rather than later.
Fox is stumping up the cash for this one, which is also produced, oddly enough, by Tony and Ridley Scott. The movie’s set for release on June 11, 2010.
Boyle and Beaufoy Return to Mumbai
Boyle and Beaufoy Return to Mumbai
Maximum City to be Slumdog 2?
Source: Telegraph
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Danny Boyle has snapped up the rights to Maximum City: Bombay Lost and Found, Suketu Mehta's non-fiction hymn to Mumbai that proved an invaluable reference-book for the Slumdog Millionaire team. Simon Beaufoy told the Daily Telegraph that he's currently banging a script into shape.
The book is part travelogue, part autobiography and part history, described in the Telegraph's own review as "the spirit of Bombay speaking". Beaufoy claims that Mehta is supportive of the creative licence needed to carve a narrative from the text: "There are some great characters in the book, but no stories, so my job will be to get the fictional out of a non-fictional story."
The book actually features several stories, taking in gangsters, cops, right-wing Hindus, Bollywood and strippers, so it's possible a portmanteau approach could work, or even a sprawling multi-character narrative a la Magnolia or Robert Altman's Short Cuts.
Beaufoy's Slumdog script won every award it was nominated for, including the BAFTA and the Oscar. He's also attached to a Dreamworks animated adaptation of Terry Pratchett's gnomes-on-the-run children's novel Truckers.
Source: EmpireOnlineGhostbusters Rumours Still Swirling
Ghostbusters Rumours Still Swirling
Harold Ramis says it happening
Source: Coming Soon
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The guys over at Coming Soon talked to Harold Ramis, director of Year One and former Ghostbuster, and they asked him about the prospects for Ghostbusters III. Here's a little of what he had to say.
"I wrote the story for the new movie with them [Gene Stupnitsky and Lee Eisenberg], and Dan [Aykroyd] and I've been consulting. We're just waiting to see a first draft and where we are. Everyone says they'll do it, they've all said they'll do it. No one has signed anything yet--we haven't signed anything either--but there's the spirit of willingness in the air."
That "everyone" appears to include Bill Murray and Ernie Hudson, but Ramis stressed that everything is an "open question" until the script's been finished. He's also not sure if either he or Ivan Reitman will want to direct, but left that open as well.
For the full interview, head on over to Coming Soon at the link above. But as the rumours roll on, are you excited at the prospect of Ghostbusters III?
Source: EmpireOnline
A Third DeLorean Biopic In Development
A Third DeLorean Biopic In Development
"You built a movie... out of a DeLorean?
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John DeLorean designed one barmy car, inspired the creation of a time machine and then went bust and lost his company, being accused of drug trafficking in an attempt to save it. It's an interesting story, of course, but we're still surprised that it has inspired not one, not two but three biopics currently in production.
Yes, Time Inc. Studios and XYZ are teaming up to bring a DeLorean biopic to the screen, based on a plethora of Time and Fortune magazine articles, Hillel Levin's DeLorean book "Grand Delusions" and an unpublished autobiographical memoir by DeLorean himself. They also boast the involvement of DeLorean's son (and executor) Zachary, and DeLorean's business partner Fred Dellis.
Meanwhile, Brett Ratner's planning to direct a version of the story from a James Toback script with Robert Evans producing, and David Permut and Steven Lee Jones are producing another, based on DeLorean's attorney's life story.
We doubt that there's a big enough audience for all three of these to reach the screen, and with very little talent yet attached it's hard to say how any of them might turn out. This latest one certainly seems to have the edge in terms of material to work from, but will Ratner's heft get the job done instead? And do you really care about this "modern Citizen Kane" story, or would you rather just watch Back To The Future again?
Source: EmpireOnlineHangover Takes Top Spot From Up
Hangover Takes Top Spot From Up
Land of the Lost lost at box office
Source: Box Office Mojo
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UPDATED: The results changed when the final weekend figures came in; hence the changes to the following story.
It was a good day for septuagenarian adventurers and drunken groomsmen this week, as The Hangover took the top spot at the US box office with $45m and Up came in close behind with $44.1m. However, things weren't quite so rosy for Will Ferrell's Land of the Lost, which came in well under expectations with $18.8m.
This latest box office result for Pixar gives Up a total of $137m in 10 days, leaving it on course to make $200m in the US; the modern definition of big-time success. It also delivers a big Up Yours* to the box-office analysts who argued that a film with such a weirdo premise would never do well among the family audience.
The Hangover's take, in the meantime, sees it living up to its expected sleeper-hit status (yes, even though it's been long predicted, we're still calling it a "sleeper") and justifying all that talk of a sequel. As for Land of the Lost's disappointing opening, we can't say if it was scuppered by bad reviews or the fact that fewer people remembered the original series than expected.
Further down the charts, Star Trek and Night at the Museum 2 are both holding up well, followed by Terminator Salvation, which dropped another 50% this week. It's followed by Drag Me To Hell with a similar drop, and that by Angels & Demons, currently the highest grossing film of the year worldwide.
For the full charts, head on over to Box Office Mojo for the lowdown.
*See what we did there?
Source: EmpireOnlineRodriguez Preps Live-Action Jetsons
Rodriguez Preps Live-Action Jetsons
Flintstones in Space joins busy roster
Source: MTV
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He's already juggling Predators, Sin City 2, Grindhouse-spinoff Machete and the sci-fi thriller Nerverackers, but Robert Rodriguez has added 60s sci-fi cartoon The Jetsons to his collection of spinning plates. Mixing our circus metaphors there, but hey.
Adam Goldberg's long-gestating script seems to have been set aside (or is at least in the process of being tweaked), since Rodriguez says he's currently writing a draft. No casting details as yet, but Rodriguez confirms that it will be live-action.
Sounds like a potential Flintstones (The Jetsons' prehistoric sibling) crossed with Lost in Space. But then again, that sounds horrifying, so maybe not. Megan Fox as Judy Jetson please.
Transformers 2 Vs. Potter 6 At IMAX
Transformers 2 Vs. Potter 6 At IMAX
Battle of blockbusters pushes HP back
Source: The Hollywood Reporter
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Watch out script writers: it seems a brand new franchise may be brewing up a storm as heavy metal is pitted against master of magic in Transformers Vs. Potter: Battle Of The IMAX!
Investors in IMAX have been dropping shares like they're hot after the announcement that Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince will arrive on their gargantuan screens two weeks after the regular cinema release date, because it clashes with the month long stint calendar-ed for Transformers: Revenge Of The Fallen. Number-crunchers predict that the delay "should negatively impact IMAX box office results."
The sixth installment of Potter-ing hits normal US screens on July 14, and audiences will be able to see it in full IMAX-iness in two locations that day (one in New York, one in Los Angeles). But for anyone who lives in the in-between bits of America, they will have to wait an entire fortnight until July 29 to see the action, including 12 whole minutes of 3-D footage unavailable in good old normal multiplexes.
However, this unique only-on-IMAX footage means that the fallout may not be as bad, because many fans will choose to see the film a second time.Of course this summertime blockbuster clash is all because the makers of HP decided to push the film back from its original Autumn 2008 release date until now.
Silly muggles.
Source: EmpireOnlineFranco Set For In Praise Of Shadows
Franco Set For In Praise Of Shadows
Indie next for Pineapple Express star
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James Franco may have reinvented himself, quite brilliantly as it happens, as a comedy star over the last year, but that doesn’t mean that the famously intense actor can’t seek out a gritty indie every now and again when he wants to get his frown on.
And that’s exactly what he’s done by agreeing to star in In Praise Of Shadows, a low-budget indie that starts shooting any day now, giving Franco just enough time to squeeze it in before heading off to Ireland to start work on big-budget comedy, Your Highness.
In Praise Of Shadows will tell the circuitous journey of William Vincent (Franco), a guy who returns to New York after a four-year exile to rescue the woman he loves from the clutches of a crime syndicate. Not the most original premise in the world, but the script was good enough to convince Franco to sign on the line that is dotted.
The movie is written and directed by Jay Anania, head of the directing programme at the NYU Film School, where Franco has just completed his first year (at the same time as completing his Master’s degree in English at Columbia Uni, the big smartypants). And, after shooting In Praise Of Shadows and Your Highness, with Danny McBride and Natalie Portman, it’s back to school for Franco – by that point, he may well be wishing that he’d spent his summer doing something less productive, like goofing around on the Xbox or watching England capitulate in the Ashes…
In Praise Of Shadows starts filming in New York on June 15.
Source: EmpireOnlineBryce Dallas Howard Writes The Originals
Bryce Dallas Howard Writes The Originals
Drama may be directed by her dad, Ron
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There’s a good chance that there’s nothing Bryce Dallas Howard can’t do. She’s a damn fine actress, with the ability to emerge unscathed from some awful, awful films (yes, Lady In The Water/Spidey 3, we’re looking at you). She carries off the whole three names thing with aplomb. She could probably knock together a cure for swine flu in the time it takes us to write this opening paragraph.
Oh, and now she’s turning her hand to screenwriting with a drama called The Originals. And the search for a director didn’t take long – her dad, Ron Howard, may choose the small, intimate project as his next movie after the big-budget Angels & Demons.
The Originals will mark the first time that father and daughter have worked together since she played Surprised Who in How The Grinch Stole Christmas, waaaaaay back in 2000. And, just to show that it's a real family affair, the script was co-written by Dane Charbeneau, who became engaged to Ron Howard’s other daughter, Jocelyn, during the writing process.
Frankly, it would have been a surprise if Howard Sr. hadn't ended up reading it at some stage - but reading it and agreeing to make it are two different things, so we can reasonably conclude that Howard Jr and her writing partner have some serious chops.
Anyway, The Originals will tell the story of a group of twentysomethings who reunite for a weekend in New York after hearing that one of their old teachers has mysteriously fallen into a coma. So it’s The Medium-Sized Chill, then – could be decent, especially if Howard Sr. brings his Frost/Nixon form to the table.
A note of caution must be sounded, however: Howard Jr. was prompted to write the screenplay because she wanted to tackle, in the words of The Hollywood Reporter, “the quarter-life crisis issues her contemporaries were dealing with.” Dear God in heaven… people are having quarter-life crises now? What are they worried about – whether they need to upgrade to the new iPhone?
Anyway, there’s no guarantee that The Originals will be Howard’s next film, but his company, Imagine, has picked it up for development, with Universal also getting in on the act.Source: EmpireOnline
Wes Craven Talks Scream 4
Wes Craven Talks Scream 4
And 5 and 6!
Source: Digital Spy
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He sounds somewhat equivocal, but Wes Craven hasn't ruled out being involved with writer Kevin Williamson's projected new Scream trilogy. He also confirmed recent rumours that Courtney Cox and David Arquette are already onboard.
Speaking to Digital Spy about the Last House on the Left remake, Craven clarified his position on reviving Ghostface: "I'm not closed to it, I'm not open to it, I'll be perfectly happy to read a script and tell [producer Bob Weinstein] what I think."
Craven also suggests that the new films will not feature original Scream-queen Neve Campbell, and that apart from Mr and Mrs Arquette, the rest of the cast will be entirely new.
The director hasn't been averse to remakes and relaunches so far. He was happy enough to oversee Last House, The Hills Have Eyes and its sequel, although he's not entirely pleased about the upcoming new Elm Street (possibly simply because he isn't involved). His main fear about continuing the Scream series seems to be that they'll jump the shark. Surely after Scream 3 it's far too late to be worrying about that...
Source: EmpireOnlineMonday, June 8, 2009
Transformers: Bigger And Longer On Imax
Transformers: Bigger And Longer On Imax
Michael Bay adds 'extra robot fighting'
Source: Michael Bay
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MIchael Bay's been posting on his blog about the progress of Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen, and there was good news in there. First, the film's almost finished. Secondly, the Imax cut is going to have extra robot fighting scenes in a slightly longer cut with full Imax picture. Yes, that sound you hear is action fans fainting with sheer delight.
For some reason, we're chiefly reminded here of a scene from Father Ted, wherein all the priests fall asleep after goading each other into watching Latin Mass on TV, and then Father Jack turns the channel just in time to see "Jurassic Park - now with extra dinosaurs". In any case, since the principle delight of Transformers is the sight of gigantic robots whaling on each other, we look forward to seeing this on the big, BIG screen with considerable pleasure. Let's hope it's more than just a few frames longer.
Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen is out in the UK on June 19, whole days before the rest of the world. Result!
Source: EmpireOnlineMarvel News On Iron Man, Cap & Beyond
Marvel News On Iron Man, Cap & Beyond
Thor casting confirmed, & Ant Man news
Source: First Showing
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First Showing attended a presentation given by Marvel Studios head Kevin Feige recently, and he dropped some hints about the progres of Iron Man 2, Captain America: The First Avenger and Ant Man.
As regards Iron Man 2, Feige said that the film would have a relatively simple plot, the better to focus on character, introduce new characters and widen out the mythology of the comic. It will also maintain the fairly light and funny tone of the original film. He also said that Scarlett Johansson's character Natasha Romanoff has "two sides", which implies that the Black Widow will not be an uncomplicated ally.
Feige confirmed the casting of Chris Hemsworth and Tom Hiddleston as Thor and Loki, and said that both are cast for multiple movies and "multiple franchises", suggesting that both could cross over between films. We're also heartened to hear that director Kenneth Branagh has reportedly banned any Shakespearean dialogue.
Feige also said that familiar Captain America sidekick Bucky would turn up somewhere in his film, and that Edgar Wright will deliver another draft of Ant Man as soon as he finishes Scott Pilgrim vs. The World.
For more on the upcoming Marvel Studios slate, head on over to First Showing at the link above. Otherwise, get discussing these developments below.
Source: EmpireOnlineWriter On Puss In Boots
Writer On Puss In Boots
It's DreamWorks' kitty origin story
Source: Moviehole
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DreamWorks Animations' furry fan favourite, Puss In Boots, is the latest beclawed franchise protagonist to get his own origin story, and like Wolverine, Antonio Banderas' saucer-eyed swordsman is moving on without the company of his old muckers, according to writer David H.Steinberg.
"[They're] all new characters - except Puss. It doesn’t overlap with Shrek at all. " Steinberg told Moviehole. "Partly that was done to tell an original Puss story, but partly because we didn’t know what Shrek 4 (and now Shrek 5) were going to do with the characters and we couldn’t write conflicting storylines."
There's some bad news for cat lovers though, with Steinberg confirming that Puss In Boots for another 3 years. "DreamWorks Animation only releases two pictures a year, so it had to get on the schedule. The release date is now set for 2012."
As reported here recently, DreamWorks Animations' slate is starting to resemble the M1 in rush hour with Shrek Forever After, Kung-Fu Panda: The Kaboom Of Doom and Madagascar 3 all forming an orderly queue for production. Click here for the list in full.
The Defenders Gather At DreamWorks
The Defenders Gather At DreamWorks
Heroes' Masi Oka sells new pitch
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Heroes' Hiro, Masi Oka, has sold a pitch to DreamWorks called The Defenders, an idea that perhaps shares a little creative DNA wtih Heroes but which sounds rather promising. It's pitched as a family film, but one more in line with "the kind of movies Amblin used to do", ie The Goonies and the like.
The idea is that a group from around the world, chiefly comprised of teenagers, are involved in an online role-playing game but have no other contact with one another. When danger threatens, however, they have to unite in the real world - and perhaps become Hiros heroes in the process.
Oka, who's got more geek cred than all the rest of us put together, came up with the idea while playing online role-playing games. "You can be whoever you want to be," he said. "The question came to me: What if you had to live up to the person you created in the virtual world?"
He pitched it to screenwriter/producers Robert Orci and Alex Kurtzman (Star Trek, Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen), who liked the idea, and it's now being set up with D.J. Caruso (Eagle Eye) set to direct and Gary Whitta (The Book of Eli, the mooted Akira remake) writing the script. Whitta apparently bonded with Oka over their shared love of World of Warcraft, so you might call this a match made in Gnomeregan.
So while we're hoping the results don't turn out like Eagle Eye, we feel like there are some promising signs here. The world needs another Goonies, even if this time the Goonies are all too busy being Death Knights to lead normal lives.
Source: EmpireOnlineSaw Keeps Sawing
Saw Keeps Sawing
Three more instalments planned
Source: Bloody Disgusting
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Tobin Bell, Saw's now deceased John Kramer, aka Jigsaw, has confirmed that the trap-happy franchise will continue until at least part eight, as long as the audience remains faithful.
"I look forward to filling out the other pieces of the puzzle," says the Jigsaw killer, in an interview with horror site Bloody Disgusting. "There's some pieces that people still haven't seen."
Bell was speaking at the annual E3 gaming convention, publicising a Saw game for PS3 and Xbox that's he's voiced. It seems to be a puzzler based on the traps, with the player taking the role of, er, Danny Glover. The plan is that it'll be released in the autumn alongside Saw VI.
If it's a success, we'd like to suggest to the publishers Konami (Silent Hill) that a Billy the Puppet platformer for the Wii would be awesome.
Source: EmpireOnlineNew 9 Illustrations
New 9 Illustrations
Shane Acker's burlap beauty
Source: MTV Movies Blog
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Back in 2005, Shane Acker's dark, stark, post-apocalyptic fairytale 9 picked up an Oscar nomination for Best Animated Short Film. This year we get to see 9 in full feature-length splendour, with Acker's vision augmented by the gothic touches of co-producers Tim Burton and Timur Bekmambetov, and co-writer Pamela Pettler (Corpse Bride).
Voiced by Elijah Wood, the titular 9 is the film's stitch-punk hero, one of nine ragdolls given life by a scared scientist and left to lead his fellow burlap creations against the malevolent machines that roam the devasted planet.
He may sound like the exact mid-way point between John Connor and Bagpuss, but as you can see from the illustrations, 9 has a design aesthetic all of his own. As these official pics show, the art design is incredibly detailed and judging by the official trailer, they'll only be enhanced by 9's inventive CG animation.
Click the image above for more stills on MTV
Click here to check out the trailer in full. 9 is out in the UK on September 9.
Source: EmpireOnlineTwo New Movies For Neil Patrick Harris
Two New Movies For Neil Patrick Harris
Indie flick and Beastly for HIMYM star
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Fresh from rocking his stint as host of The Tonys – check out the hilarious closing number – the immensely talented Neil Patrick Harris has nabbed starring roles in not one, but two, upcoming flicks.
The Artist Formerly Known As Doogie will take a lead role in Josh Shelov’s The Best And The Brightest, an indie comedy about a couple who move to New York and become involved in the world of private kindergartens… with hilarious results, we’re guessing.
Harris will play the husband, while Bonnie Somerville is his social-climber wife. They join a cast that includes Amy Sedaris, John Hodgman, Bridget Regan, Kate Mulgrew, Christopher McDonald and, and this one we’re particularly pleased about, Darth Maul/Duane Benzie himself, Peter Serafinowicz. Good to see that he’s carving out something of a career for himself Stateside.
The second film on NPH’s to-do list during his summer hiatus from the excellent sitcom, How I Met Your Mother, is Beastly, the modern-day update of Beauty And The Beast, starring Stormbreaker’s Alex Pettyfer as a young man who is hideously disfigured, and Vanessa Hudgens as the young girl who learns to love him despite his ugly-bugliness, which we’re guessing will be miraculously cured by movie’s end.
When we first heard about this project last week, our first instinct was to clap our ears, yell ‘No!’ repeatedly, and then dive behind the sofa until it goes away. But Harris’ casting, as a blind man who teaches Pettfyer how to act the ways of the world, goes some way towards making us take it seriously. Well, semi-seriously.
Source: EmpireOnline
Pixar Sequels Are Go!
Pixar Sequels Are Go!
Monsters Inc. 2 joins roster
Source: Jim Hill Media
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It was apparently top secret info, told in confidence to buyers at the Licencing International Expo 2009 (a Las Vegas trade fair where studios hawk their upcoming wares), but the news that a sequel to Monsters Inc. is in development at Pixar, alongside Cars 2 and Toy Story 3, could not be contained.
There are few other details as yet, aside from the fact of original director Pete Docter's involvement. Docter's Up is currently doing rather well on US screens, and we're intrigued to see what he can do with the same characters a few years on. After all, Pixar's only sequel to date was the utterly ace Toy Story 2, so there's a high bar there to vault over.
The same source also reports that Disney / Bruckheimer Western The Lone Ranger has now taken precedence over Pirates of the Caribbean 4, which has been bumped to summer 2012. Yo-ho Silver!
Source: EmpireOnlineBardem In Talks To Eat, Pray, Love
Bardem In Talks To Eat, Pray, Love
With Julia Roberts in slushy film
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Javier Bardem, last seen romancing Scarlett Johansson and Penelope Cruz in Vicky Cristina Barcelona, continues to cut a swathe through the A-list (onscreen, anyway) by signing up as Julia Roberts' love interest in Eat, Pray, Love, the adaptation of Elizabeth Gilbert's memoir.
The story sees Gilbert emerge from a painful divorce despairing and depressed. She embarks on a journey around the world to find herself or some such, travelling to Rome for the "eat" part (mmmm, gelato), and Indian ashram for the "pray" part, and finally finding love in Bali with a guy called Felipe (to be played by Bardem).
The script's been adapted by Ryan Murphy of Nip/Tuck fame, whose last film was Running with Scissors, another book adaptation. In the meantime, Bardem is also set to appear in Oliver Stone's Wall Street sequel and Alejandro González Iñárritu;s Biutiful, which is now in post-production.
Source: EmpireOnlineNew Thrust For Exorcist
New Thrust For Exorcist
Film based on real-life story behind it
Source: Bloody Disgusting
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It's not a sequel or a prequel or a reboot or a remake, but a film based on Mark Opsasnick's book The Real Story Behind The Exorcist is on the cards from Vertigo Entertainment (The Ring, Quarantine).
The Exorcist story, The Haunted Boy, is a single chapter (serialised in full here) in Opsasnick's tome of supernatural investigations, subtitled A Study of The Haunted Boy and Other True Life Horror Legends. In it, the author tracks down and speaks to the priests involved in the 1940s exorcism, local residents from the time, and the actual "Rob Doe" who became Regan in the novel and William Friedkin's film. Hmm: sounds like a similar approach to Requiem, the German film that told a close-to-the-truth version of the story of the exorcism and death of Anneliese Michel, which also inspired the Hollywoodised The Exorcism of Emily Rose.
It sounds like this might make for a decent Angel Heart type mystery, although the screenwriters will be hard-pressed to squeeze drama out of the essay's anticlimactic conclusion.
But whatever transpires, it can hardly be worse than John Boorman's hapless farrago Exorcist 2: The Heretic, and there should be no need to film it twice.
Source: EmpireOnlineCam Adds Gigadygigadygandet To Priest
Cam Adds Gigadygigadygandet To Priest
Twilight star joins Bettany's comic film
Source: The Hollywood Reporter
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Twilighter Cam Gigandet has signed on to join the even paler Paul Bettany in comic book horror-western adaptation Priest - and this time it's to slay some vampires.
The film follows a warrior priest Ivan Isaacs who must find his kidnapped niece Gena in a world riddled with vampires and annihilated by the war between them and the humans fighting back. Based on a Korean comic, created by Hyung Min-woo for TokyoPop, Priest combines supernatural fantasy, Catholic iconography and Western themes.
Gigandet's character will be the niece's boyfriend, a junior sheriff who joins Bettany's Priest in his quest, and is coincidentally part vampire... not that he's typecast at all.
Gigandet, who is currently working on thriller The Roommate with Gossip Girl Leighton Meester, has been a very popular boy since the Twilight juggernaught hit teenagers everywhere. Last week he was announced as joining high-school comedy Easy A with Emma Stone and Amanda Bynes, as well as picking up an MTV Movie Award for best fight in his role as bad-boy vampire James - an accolade he has won two years in a row, the first time for his ruckus in Never Back Down.
Priest directed by Scott Stewart is scheduled for release in September 2010, so filming should be kicking off any time now.
Source: EmpireOnlineScrubsmag Site Review
Scrubsmag Site Review
Scrubsmag truly is the the Nurse's Guide to Good Living; you will love reading this online magazine site; it has inspiring contents including health tips, guides, and advice. This uplifting clinical website is a great idea to practice a new lifestyle. Perhaps in this summer season you are looking a summer fashion (or regular summer fashion), and beauty scrubs. Well, you came to the right place, Scrubs (Scrubsmag.com) is offering tips and guides how to be beautiful in this summer season, so better to check out this makeup and beauty section review; I always want to look beautiful in this summer season either! Summer is always a perfect time of the year that we usually like to have an outdoor activity and so we must always look beautiful! How could you do that? Just read the interesting section review for makeup and beauty, and you will learn how to keep your makeup looking terrific, and how to start your day looking great. Not only makeup tips and advice you will get here but some makeup resource that is affordable and better than ever before!
This clinical site is very different from other clinical sites in a way that they are giving helpful tips, advice, and guides that are related to good living. It’s a very resourceful resource indeed. Check this out and enjoy their summer tips, guides, and advice!
Sunday, June 7, 2009
Six New Transformers Pics Online
Six New Transformers Pics Online
Hack! Slash! Sizzle! Kaboom!
Source: SlashFilm
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For those of you counting down, happy two-weeks-until-Transformers: Revenge-of-the-Fallen day! We hope you're enjoying your celebratory cake - and here's the perfect accompaniment: six new images from the film.
Yes, the guys over at SlashFilm have found six new images from the film, showing Bumblebee, Optimus and Devastator in all their mechanical glory.
Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen is out on June 19. That's what's colloquially known as "not soon enough". It's been days since we saw a giant robot blow anything up onscreen.
Click the image above for more stills on SlashFilm.com
Source: EmpireOnlineHathaway And Gyllenhaal Reteaming?
Hathaway And Gyllenhaal Reteaming?
In Love And Other Drugs
Source: Slashfilm
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According to the tweet-tastic Production Weekly, Brokeback Mountain's husband-and-wife pairing of Jake Gyllenhaal and Anne Hathaway are teaming up again for Love And Other Drugs, set in the sometimes shady world of pharmaceutical repping.
Love And Other Drugs is being adapted by Charles Randolph (The Interpreter) from Hard Sell: The Evolution Of A Viagra Saleman, a memoir by former Pfizer rep Jamie Reidy. From its Carry On-ified title, Reidy seems almost as fond as a double entendre as we are and, judging by this interview, his character will be pitched somewhere between Jerry Maguire and Ferris Bueller. If so, Gyllenhaal looks like a canny bit of casting.
Anne Hathaway, meanwhile, has a busy year ahead if the rumour proves to be true. She's down to play Judy Garland in Get Happy, joined Tokyo Suckerpunch this week and is also due to appear in The Fiance for Warners. But we love her, so the more the merrier...
With filming scheduled to start in September, Love And Other Drugs is set to be directed by the usually epic-friendly Ed Zwick. Which is a bit surprising, unless there's a sweeping battle scene we don't know about.
Exclusive: Rudo & Cursi UK Poster
Exclusive: Rudo & Cursi UK Poster
Diego Luna and Gael Garcia Bernal
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Here's a Friday treat for fans of Y Tu Mama Tambien: it's the UK poster for Rudo Y Cursi, or Rudo & Cursi as it's now to be known here, reuniting Mama stars Diego Luna and Gael Garcia Bernal.
The pair star as friends Tato (Bernal) and Beto (Luna), both of whom dream of careers as professional footballers. But when their chance comes, only one of them can head off to fame and fortune, and it could mean the end of their friendship.
Directed by Carlos "brother of Alfonso" Cuaron, the film comes out here on June 26.
Source: EmpireOnline
See Arnie In Terminator Salvation
See Arnie In Terminator Salvation
And will he act again for Predators?
Source: You Tube
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With Terminator Salvation now in cinemas here in the UK, we don't feel it's too spoilerific to link to the latest Salvation TV spot, which shows just a glimpse of the Arnie-rific moment in the last act where we come face-to-face with our old friend, the T-800, as played by body-builder Roland Kickinger and a 1980s digitally-rendered Arnold Schwarzenegger.
And news has also emerged that the Governator is being pursued to appear in Predators, Robert Rodriguez' sequel in the dreadlocked alien hunter franchise. Moviehole reports that Schwarzenegger has been asked to return as Major Alan 'Dutch' Schaefer, in a part that would require just a couple of days shooting.
The Schwarzenegger camp is apparently yet to respond to the request, so file this firmly under "remote possibility" for now. Predators is due out in July 2010, which means that Schwarzenegger will still be Governor for the whole of its production period (barring political disasters), and with an economy in meltdown to oversee, is unlikely to want to be seen taking time out for acting roles.
So if you want to see the modern Arnie on a screen near you soon, the best option is to check out our Birthday Portfolio, online now here.
Source: EmpireOnlineBlack Death Pictures Now Online
Black Death Pictures Now Online
Sean Bean vs. the plague!
Source: Bean-Land
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Sean Bean, the man whose name looks like it should rhyme, is starring in Black Death, which is currently shooting in Germany - and some pictures have gone up on a Bean fansite from the shoot.
The film is a mystery / thriller set during the first outbreak of the Bubonic Plague in England. A monk called Osmund (Eddie Redmayne) and church knight Ulric (Bean) are sent to a remote village where there are stories of the dead being brought back to life. There, they investigate Langiva (Black Book's Carice van Houten) who may have Satanic connections.
Click the image above for more stills on www.bean-land.de
The film's due out here next year at some point, and is directed by Severance and Creep's Christopher Smith - so expect scary. And hey! After the Swine Flu scare, the time's rarely been better for a movie about the Black Death.
Source: EmpireOnlineFinal Destination 4 Trailer Online
Final Destination 4 Trailer Online
Teen NASCARnage in 3D
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The trailer for Final Destination 4 - The Final Destination as we're now to call it (this fourquel defiantly adding a "the" where Fast & Furious dropped them) - has crept up on us online.
The movie looks, of course, identical to the other three, in that it's a stalk-and-slash monster movie with no monster but a lot of inventive carnage. And the plot's the same: person has vision of impending doom, persuades friends to move seats, avoiding disaster, disaster occurs and then Death starts to pick off the survivors whose time was up. But the other films (or at least the first two) were good fun, and the modish twist here is 3D, with the trailer suggesting a good deal of flying debris will be comin' right atcha.
We're not sure about the series' traditionally impressive initial disaster though. The first one had the plane crash, then there was the highway pile-up, followed by the rollercoaster, and now... stock car racing? Really? Well, as long as that whole viewing stand collapses, we guess it'll be OK.
Source: EmpireOnlineEverybody Loves Whales, Right?
Everybody Loves Whales, Right?
Animal movie for director Ken Kwapis
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With the exception of those nasty guys with the harpoons on those Japanese ships, Everybody Loves Whales, right? So Warner Bros is in final talks with Ken Kwapis to direct a film of the same name, based on a true story of three gray whales trapped in the Arctic ice.
Now everyone knows that saving the whales is basically a good thing (apart from those guys with the harpoons doing "scientific research") but in 1988 three gray whales trapped in the Arctic ice off Barrow, Alaska* were rescued in a massive international effort - involving icebreaker ships from both the US and USSR (and this in the middle of the Cold War! EVERYBODY loves whales!) carving a path back to open water and helicopters repeatedly dropping concrete blocks on the ice in an attempt to slushy-fy it.
Kwapis is one of the lead directors on the US version of The Office, and previously worked with Warners on comedies Licence To Wed (er...), The Sisterhood of the Travelling Pants and He's Just Not That Into You. This will, in other words, be a total change of pace for him. He'll be working from a script by Michael Begler and Jack Amiel, co-writers previously of Raising Helen and The Shaggy Dog. So it'll be a total change of pace for them as well. Let's hope they manage the transition to something a little different.
*Barrow! Yup, the town in 30 Days of Night where all the vampires went and killed everyone!
Source: EmpireOnlineEastwood's Mandela Pic Called Invictus
Eastwood's Mandela Pic Called Invictus
And it's set for release in December
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It’s been called, at various times, Playing The Enemy or The Human Factor or even the catchy Untitled Clint Eastwood Nelson Mandela Project, but at long last Eastwood’s latest piece of Oscar bait has an official title: Invictus.
The decidedly non-commercial moniker is taken from one of Mandela’s favourite poems, by William Ernest Henley. With lines like “I thank whatever gods may be/for my unconquerable soul,” it’s easy to see why Mandela was drawn to it.
Invictus, of course, stars Morgan Freeman as Mandela and Matt Damon as Francois Pienaar, the captain of the South African rugby union team at the 1995 World Cup, an event of enormous importance for the newly-elected South African President, who saw it as an opportunity to heal South Africa’s reputation and internal strife.
If you think that all sounds very Oscar-friendly, Warner Bros. agrees. They’ve just scheduled the movie for release on December 11, which puts it slap bang in the middle of the Oscar season. It’s also up against Peter Jackson’s The Lovely Bones, but we’re not entirely sure whether the two films will be competing for the same audience.
But it’s now becoming something of a tradition for an Eastwood film to launch in the middle of Oscar season, usually with impressive results. At the very least, we’d expect to see Freeman in the running come next January.
Invictus is based on John Carlin’s book, Playing The Enemy: Nelson Mandela And the Game That Made A Nation, which explains where that working title came from.
Source: EmpireOnlineThe Unstoppable Chris Pine
The Unstoppable Chris Pine
Captain Kirk eyes his next role
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Star Trek's Chris Pine is in negotiations to star in Tony Scott's Unstoppable, alongside Denzel Washington.
The movie marks the fifth collaboration between Washington and Scott, with their fourth - The Taking Of Pelham 123 - about to hit cinemas.
Pine, if the deal goes through, would play a newbie train conductor hired to replace the experienced Washington after company cutbacks. The story involves the odd couple in a race against time to stop a highly combustible runaway locomotive.
The film is categorically not an adaptation of the Michael Holliday song. Altogether now: "The runaway train ran down the track and she blew..."
Source: EmpireOnlineFour To Write Letters To Juliet
Four To Write Letters To Juliet
Bernal, Seyfried, Redgrave and Nero
Source: Variety
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It looks like Amanda Seyfried has gone and secured herself a nice spot in the sun again this summer, swapping last year's Greek island extravaganza in Mama Mia! for a romance-filled journey to Tuscany for Letters To Juliet. Starring alongside her will be Vanessa Redgrave, Gael Garcia Bernal and Franco Nero in the film directed by 13 Going On 30 and Bride Wars' Gary Winick
The adaptation of Lise and Ceil Friedman's book follows a young couple on holiday in Italy who receive a note written by an older woman (Redgrave) searching for a former love. The young woman then embarks on a quest to reunite the lost lovers by tracking down the man who romanced her (played by Redgrave's real life husband Nero).
Motorcycle Diaries writer Jose Rivera will be reunited with Gael Garcia Bernal, having penned the script with Jack & Sarah scribe Tim Sullivan.
Seyfried must be feeling romantic, as this is the second drama d'amour for her this year - having just finished working on army-leave love story Dear John with Channing Tatum. Bernal is up next in brotherly feuding football comedy Rudo y Cursi.
Letters To Juliet begins production on June 25 in Italy.
Source: EmpireOnlineDavid Carradine Found Dead
David Carradine Found Dead
Kill Bill star was 72
Source: BBC News
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It's with sadness that we report the death of David Carradine. The actor and kung fu star was found dead in his Bangkok hotel room earlier today.
Carradine, who was in Thailand for the shoot of his latest film Stretch, was discovered by a hotel maid after he'd failed to turn up for a cast and crew meal. US embassy officials have yet to confirm the exact cause of death, but Thai police told the BBC that Carradine has been found with cord tied around his neck and initial investigations suggest suicide.
The Hollywood-born actor made his name as shit-kicking Shaolin master Kwai Chang Caine in '70s ABC series Kung Fu. He learnt the martial art from scratch for the role and it was the beginning of a lifelong passion that he would revisit often, most notably, of course, as Bill in Quentin Tarantino's Kill Bill.
Carradine achieved recognition for his acting as well as martial arts chops during his 1970s heyday, turning in a stellar performance as folk singer Woody Guthrie in Hal Ashby's Bound For Glory, and working with directors of the calibre of Ingmar Bergman (in 1977's The Serpent's Egg) and Martin Scorsese, who cast him as rabble-rousing train robber 'Big' Bill Shelly in Boxcar Bertha (1972).
Plum roles dried up during the 1980s and it was Tarantino who rescued Carradine from years in the straight-to-video wilderness when he cast him as The Bride's nemesis in Kill Bill. Carradine wasn't Tarantino's first choice for the role (he initially approached Warren Beatty), but he'll be remembered for a performance that twisted paternal concern into raw malevolence and created one of the big screen's great villains.
Most recently Carradine cameoed as wizened Chinese triad boss Poon Dong in Crank 2: High Voltage, and appeared in the video for the Jonas Brother's single Burnin' Up.
Looking back on a career that encompassed more than 200 screen appearances, Carradine once said, "It always seemed to me like a mission. A holy one – like the Blues Brothers."
Kudrow And Co Join Easy A
Kudrow And Co Join Easy A
McDowell, Tucci, and Clarkson in cast
Source: Variety
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After yesterday's news that Superbad actresses Emma Stone and She's The Man (oh no she's not!) star Amanda Bynes are teaming up for fast and loose comedy Easy A, more cast have been announced.
Heading up the supporting line-up are Lisa Kudrow, Patricia Clarkson, Stanley Tucci, Thomas Haden Church and Malcolm McDowell as the teachers and Gossip Girls' Penn Badgley, Cam 'Twilight' Gigandet, Alyson Machalka, and Daniel Bird as the students. Whatever way you look at it, that's a pretty heavyweight comedy line-up that has us suddenly hoping that this will be another 10 Things I Hate About You.
Stone will play the girl protesting her promiscuity after a vicious rumour is passed around that she is a slut, who gets back at the critics by starting rumours about the puritanical students and their liberal opposites to start a clash.
Will Gluck, known for his cheerleading comedy Fired Up is directing from a script crafter by playwright Bert V. Royal, who used themes from The Scarlet Letter for the plot of Easy A.
Source: EmpireOnlineGodard To Direct Holocaust Pic?
Godard To Direct Holocaust Pic?
Adaptation of NY Times bestseller
Source: The Hollywood Reporter
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Word is that Godard was taken by 'The Lost: A Search for Six of Six Million', an account by NY Times writer Daniel Mendelsohn of his attempt to find out what happened to his Polish ancestors during the Holocaust. The French/Swiss filmmaker will turn his attention to The Lost when he wraps up current project Socialisme.
Always a political filmmaker, Godard has never been afraid to tackle the tough stuff and his 2004 feature Notre Musique touches on similar themes - collective guilt and conflict - as does his anti-war pic Les Carabiniers (1963). Alphaville is about a futuristic city controlled by a giant computer, but it's very good so we thought we'd mention it.
Socialisme is next cab off le rank for Godard though. Check out the teaser trailer here.
Source: EmpireOnline
Sigourney Weaver To Join Paul?
Sigourney Weaver To Join Paul?
Ripley in for Mottola/Pegg sci-fi comedy
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If you were geeked out at the prospect of Nick Frost and Simon Pegg making a sci-fi comedy called Paul with director Greg Mottola, hold on to your hat. Sigourney "Ellen Ripley" Weaver has signed on to join the cast, in what may be the best news since we heard that real astronauts were actually watching Star Trek in space.
There's no word at all yet on what character Weaver will play, but we're far too happy that she's in it to care. She is, of course, next up in James Cameron's Avatar, so sci-fi fans are going to be in for quite a bit of Alien flashbacking in the near future.
It was also announced today, slightly less excitingly, that Weaver will appear in comedy You Again with Kristen Bell. Bell plays a girl who goes off the deep end when she learns that her old high-school nemesis is marrying her brother (Bell's brother, that is; not the brother of the nemesis herself. That'd be a whole other movie), and Weaver will play the nemesis' very rich aunt.
So that's good news, right? We like Weaver doing comedy: from Working Girl to Baby Mama, she's got just the right timing for it, and the last time she did sci-fi comedy was Galaxy Quest so that's got to be a good omen for Paul.
Source: EmpireOnlineShort Circuit Remake Gets A Writer
Short Circuit Remake Gets A Writer
Dan Milano on board for bionic 'bot
Source: Variety
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Remake'o'mania continues apace... Last April we reported that a Short Circuit remake was in the pipeline, and the return of Johnny 5 moves a little closer with news that a writer has been signed up to hunker down and produce a script.
Dan Milano, who's best known for his work on Seth Green's deranged stop-motion Robot Chicken series, will be putting his robotic expertise to good use recrafting the 1986 story of the nuclear-armed US military 'bot that goes rogue (in a nice way) when it's hit by lightning.
With its Wall-E-alike hero, and Steve Guttenberg and Ally Sheedy as the brainy scientist and tree-hugging hippy type who try to stop it falling into the warmongering hands of the US army, Short Circuit was fun if undemanding family fare.
"We think of Wall-E as an extended trailer for our film, because it's the same face," said Foster. Milano, meanwhile is charged with ensuring an edgier remake. According to Variety, his brief is to provide a more subversive edge, which could mean giving Johnny 5 a crack problem or simply recasting Guttenberg. Watch this space.
Source: EmpireOnline
Hoffman And Thompson Sieze Last Chance
Hoffman And Thompson Sieze Last Chance
At London gala premiere of new rom-com
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Reuniting on screen after their first meeting in Stranger Than Fiction, Dustin Hoffman and Emma Thompson play a pair who feel they have run out of luck with love who find what might be that one final opportunity in Last Chance Harvey.
Watch video from the Last Chance Harvey premiere.
Thompson is now working on the follow up to her Oscar-winning Nanny McPhee, called Nanny McPhee And The Big Bang. But don't make the mistake of branding it a family film: "I don't call them kids' films darling, Nanny McPhee is an adult film. I make films for people, I don't make them for children, that would be daft. In our film you've got Maggie Smith, Ralph Fiennes, Maggie Gyllenhaal, Rhys Ifans, Bill Bailey - I can't think of a cast who would draw me into the cinema more, so that's the most important thing on my list at the moment."
Hoffman, who at 71 is still going strong, told us he has absolutely no plans to retire with two sequels in the pipeline : "We are supposed to do a sequel of that [Meet The Fockers follow up Little Fockers] and also of Kung Poo Fanda... wait, Kung Fu Panda."
He also told us about getting to play grandfather to his own son in his next movie Barney's Version: "I am going to play Paul Giamatti's father in a film that we do in September and my son gets to play his son. It'll be the first time I get to be in a film with one of my sons so that's exciting."
And because Hoffman and Thompson work so well together ("We didn't fake one orgasm!" - he told us) this is not likely to be the last time we see the pair on screen together. When asked if he fancied appearing in the next Nanny McPhee, Hoffman told us with a nod: "Tell her!"
And the thing that keeps Hoffman in full working order? "I play tennis, I jog... and I fondle myself on occasion - that burns calories!"
You heard it here first people.Source: EmpireOmline
Three Join Pattinson In Remember
Three Join Pattinson In Remember Me
Brosnan, Cooper and De Ravin lined up
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Pierce Brosnan, Chris Cooper and Emilie de Ravin are in final talks to join Remember Me, the new Allen Coulter movie starring Robert "R.Pattz" Pattinson (don't worry; we'll wait for you to stop screaming before we continue).
The film sees Pattinson play a young man sleepwalking through life after his brother commits suicide and his parents (Brosnan and Lena Olin, should negotiations firm up) split up. De Ravin, on the other hand, is a woman who saw her mother killed but has embraced life as a result; Cooper would play her father. Pattinson and de Ravin form a relationship - but can it survive their respective tragedies?
The film is set to be directed by Allen Coulter, of Hollywoodland fame, from a script by Jenny Lumet (daughter of Sidney, writer of Rachel Getting Married) and Will Fetters. Shooting starts in New York in less than two weeks, so if you're in the Big Apple and you hear screaming in mid-June, don't call the police: it's just the fangirls.
Source: EmpireOnlinePettyfer And Olsen Join Beastly
Pettyfer And Olsen Join Beastly
With Vanessa Hudgens
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Twin, fashion icon and bedhead Mary Kate Olsen and former Stormbreaker Alex Pettyfer have signed up to join Beastly, a modern retelling of the Beauty and the Beast story set in uptown Manhattan.
Olsen will play the transfer student who places a curse on Pettyfer's vain and egocentric young man, who tends to look down on anyone poorer, less handsome or less popular than he is. Soon he starts to look on the outside like he does on the inside, and his popularity suffers hugely as a result. We're guessing that Vanessa "High School Musical" Hudgens who's also on board plays the Beauty who could hold the key to his predicament.
The film's based on Alex Flinn's fantasy novel of the same name, and with Penelope In Wonderland's Daniel Barnz writing and directing the film. It will shoot in Montreal in June. And is it just us or is there quite a bit of typecasting here? Pettyfer's been playing quite a lot of stuck-up characters; Hudgens is (unsurprisingly) generally the beauty, and Olsen's hair and clothing do kinda lend themselves to playing a witch.
Source: EmpireOnlineWednesday, June 3, 2009
Exclusive: Final Transformers 2 Poster
Exclusive: Final Transformers 2 Poster
Last international promo arrives
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We'd like to make some dreadful joke and tell you that there's more than meets the eye to this final Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen poster, but this is pretty much it. Still, pretty huh?
The film features GIANT ROBOTS fighting each other, Optimus Prime with TWO giant swords coming out of his arms and Megan Fox posed on the back of a motorbike. If that isn't enough for you people, we really don't know what is.
Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen is out on June 19 here in the UK, nearly a week before its Stateside debut and in fact the earliest release anywhere in the world. Guess Michael Bay loves us best, eh?
Source: EmpireOnline
Exclusive: Michael Sheen On New Moon
Exclusive: Michael Sheen On New Moon
On his character in the Twilight sequel
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In The Twilight Saga: New Moon, due out later this year, Michael Sheen takes the role of Aro, head vampire of an ancient coven that rules the vampire world. We talked to him recently, and asked for the lowdown on a bloodsucking role that's a far cry from his recent run of real-life figures.
"I'm all done on it; I had a great time," he told us. "It was nice to go in and not be playing the main part, just go in for a few days and play this really really extraordinary character. I remember I was thinking, 'Oh, there's a bit of a Child Catcher here [from Chitty Chitty Bang Bang]; bit of the Blue Meanie from The Yellow Submarine; bit of Olivier from Richard III. There was a bit of all kinds of stuff."
He also talked about director Chris Weitz.
"It was great to work with Chris Weitz; it was a really funny set, really relaxed. We had a lot of things in common, and hopefully we're going to work together again soon doing something. That might be the thing that I direct, I don’t know yet, you never know."
And the rest of the cast? "It was quite intimidating being on the set with so many young, beautiful people. That was quite extraordinary being the old, ugly one amongst loads of young, beautiful ones. It's not something I'm used to really. Not because I'm young and beautiful but usually there's loads of old, ugly people around me. It was quite encouraging to see how Robert and Kristin are committed to it, how much they put into it and how serious they are about it. They don't take it lightly at all so that was great to see."
So, from playing a werewolf in the Underworld movies to a vampire here, it sounds like Sheen's got the undead pretty much covered. One thing's for sure: his description of his character has got us interested. What do you think? Is he your Aro?
Source: EmpireOnlineSpielberg Introduces Mo-cap For Gamers
Spielberg Introduces Mo-cap For Gamers
He's seen the future, it's called Natal
Source: BBC
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With Tintin on the horizon, Steven Spielberg's passion for motion-capture technology is well documented. It's less well-known though that he's a bit of gaming geek too, and his guest appearance at Microsoft's E3 Expo revealed a new way to combine the two passions: Project Natal, a new hands-free Xbox controller that uses mo-cap and voice recognition technology to enhance the gaming experienc.
Natal will enable gamers to interact directly with their onscreen avatars and it's safe to say Spielberg is excited by its possibilities in, and beyond, gaming. "It's like the square screen we saw all of our movies on in the early 1950s. Then The Robe came out in Cinemascope. And then came CinRam and Imax followed. That's what [Natal] is. It's a window into what the future holds."
The former Empire editor (and legendary filmmaker) told the BBC that its impact would be 'explosive', and as the man who once blew up a freeway in War Of The Worlds, you'd trust him to know an explosive thing when he sees one.
Microsoft haven't announced a release date for Natal yet, but did use the expo to unveil new Xbox games, including Beatles Rock Band, Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2.
Source: EmpireOnline
Exclusive: Last House On The Left
Exclusive: Last House On The Left
Watch the first 5-minutes here
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The Last House on the Left is one of the most famous shockers of the 1970s, so it should come as no surprise that it's been remade - and here's the first 5 minutes of that remake, with quite a bit of violence and some bad language, so don't say we didn't warn you.
The film sees violent escapee Krug (Garret Dillahunt) attack two teenage girls, only to unwittingly choose the home of the parents of one of them to hide out in afterwards; leading to some bloody retribution from her parents.
The Last House On The Left is out on June 12, so if this clip gets you going you don't have long to wait to see the full film.
Source: EmpireOnline
Exclusive: New Clip From The Hangover
Exclusive: New Clip From The Hangover
Meet Ed Helms, bringing the funny
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The Hangover comes out on June 11, and just to whet your appetite we've got a new clip from the film and some new stills.Of course, you're best off watching this in a crowded cinema full of people for full crazy-funny effect, but we feel it's worth showing you this taster of (relative) newcomer Ed Helms on fine form.
The film sees four friends - National Treasure's Justin Bartha, Wedding Crashers' Bradley Cooper, The Office (US)'s Ed Helms and Between Two Ferns' Zack Galifianakis - head to Vegas for a stag do, only for things to go horribly wrong and the latter three to wake up the next morning to find that they've lost the groom (Bartha). They try to retrace their steps to find him, only to find more complications along the way.
This scene comes from early on, obviously, as Helm's Stu says goodbye to his ball-breaking girlfriend Melissa (Rachael Harris) and heads off on what he's told her is a trip to the emminently civilised Napa Valley. The film's out on June 11; we recommend you see the rest for yourself at that point.
