New Prometheus Trailer Looks Awesome
Are you seeing this?

Source: YouTube

The new international trailer for Ridley Scott's Prometheus premiered on UK TV this evening and just about caused the country to lose its collective mind. Have a look for yourself, if you're willing to risk a trailer that might be spoilerific and goes further than any yet in explaining all those cryptic "shared DNA with Alien" remarks.





See what we mean? This isn't just about poncing about on spaceships and wearing suits with collars made of strip lighting. This is a film very much in the Alien tradition of people being scared out of their tiny minds and gibbering hopelessly while things go horribly, gorily, destructively wrong.
The film, as you all know by now, stars Noomi Rapace, Charlize Theron, Michael Fassbender, Logan Marshall-Green, Guy Pearce, Rafe Spall, Sean Harris, Kate Dickie and Idris Elba. Prometheus hits cinemas on June 1, which you can easily remember because it should be circled on every calendar in the land.

Source: EmpireOnline

Action-Packed Expendables Still Arrives
Arnie, Sly and Bruce break 'em off some

Source: The Void

In the first Expendables, you'll recall there was only a single scene shared by the holy trinity of Sylvester Stallone, Arnold Schwarzenegger and Bruce Willis. It was entirely dialogue, contained Arnie's whole cameo role, and was framed in such a way that you might suspect the three were never actually even in the studio together at the same time.
Today however, there's this...

That'll be Trent Mauser, Barney Rubble Ross and Mr Church, shooting something, in the same location, in a three-shot. And all is right with the world.
The Expendables 2, as if you needed telling, is directed by Simon "Con Air" West, and stars the aforementioned god-like action veterans, along with Jason Statham, Dolph Lundgren, Jean-Claude Van-Damme, Jet Li, Chuck Norris, Terry Crews, Randy Couture, Liam Hemsworth, Scott Adkins and Nan Yu. A collection of rather lovely posters arrived at the end of last week, and the film's out in the UK on August 17.

Source: EmpireOnline

Daredevil Will Be Written Again
David James Kelly drafting new script
Source: Deadline

Fox has been quietly developing a new Daredevil film for a couple of years now. 30 Days Of Night and Twilight: Eclipse director David Slade has been attached since last spring, and there have been screenplays by David Scarpa (The Day The Earth Stood Still) and Brad Caleb Kane (Brooklyn's Finest). Now though, there's word of yet another draft, this time by David James Kelly.
The plan is still to adapt the Frank Miller saga Born Again, first published in Daredevil issues 227-233, in 1986. The story sees Matt Murdock outed as Daredevil by his former secretary Karen Page. She has, shall we say, fallen on hard times since leaving the Nelson & Murdock law firm, and sells the info for a shot of heroin. It eventually reaches crime boss The Kingpin, who proceeds to creatively dismantle Murdock's life and send supervillain Nuke into Murdock's stomping ground of New York's Hell's Kitchen.
In the comic, The Avengers get involved, but don't expect a movie crossover, since Captain America and co. belong to a different studio.
There are several David James Kellys listed on the IMDb, but the one we appear to be talking about has but a single credit as an editor on Sunshine Cleaning (which is really good by the way - no complaints there). Quite how he's scored a big gig on a superhero property is unclear then. Maybe he's one of those super-script-doctors that kick ass in total secret, but now his identity has been blown.
We'll say it again: the Ben Affleck / Mark Steven Johnson Daredevil is better than its reputation, especially in its Director's Cut form. Affleck though, has been vocal about how he was stung by the negative reaction to that film on its first release, so will not be back to fill DD's red leather trews.
The only other name officially linked to the reboot at this point is producer Peter Chernin (Rise Of The Planet Of The Apes), and Regency is the production company without fear. We'll bring you more news as we get it. The ace Born Again is available as a paperback collection published by Marvel, should you want to do some revision in the meantime.

Source: EmpireOnline
 

Chloe Moretz Talks Carrie
New version is 'More Black Swan'...

Source: Coming Soon

Word reached us last month that Chloe Moretz had landed the title role in the upcoming new version of Stephen King's Carrie. With Moretz currently out doing the rounds for Tim Burton's Dark Shadows, the subject of the telekinetic teen has obviously been raised more than once, and she's been happy to tease some details and generally enthuse.
Director Kimberly Peirce (Boys Don't Cry) is, Moretz told Coming Soon, "a total genius and the right woman for the job." She also claims that she's avoiding going anywhere near Brian De Palma's 1976 horror classic starring Sissy Spacek, but that her version will be "darker and more psychological; more Black Swan."
"We're really looking into Carrie's mind," says Chloe, "and into the relationship between Carrie and [her mother] Margaret." That relationship is, you'll recall, a fractious one to say the least, with Carrie's mousy lack of confidence stemming in no small part from her mother's fundamentalist craziness. The Margaret role has recently been offered to Julianne Moore.
"Carrie's completely different from me," says Chloe. "It's an out-of-body thing; I'm becoming a totally different person for it. I'm letting go of all my self-esteem issues and just going into it. You have to."
So you might bemoan the need for a remake (and there actually seems to be a lot of fan enthusiasm, for once), but you must admit, this sounds to be coming together rather well. After the DTV sequel and the cheap TV movie, it'll be good to have a quality Carrie again. Shooting starts in June.

Source: EmpireOnline

Lawless Trailer Drives In

Lawless Trailer Drives In
Tom Hardy goes smuggling

Source: Yahoo

With such films as The Proposition and The Road under his belt, the prospect of a new film from director John Hillcoat carries with it a palpable feeling of excitement. Given that his latest, Lawless, populates a chewy, based-on-truth tale of bootlegging brothers with a frankly stellar cast, our anticipation is at an all time high. And the first trailer does not disappoint – take a look below via Yahoo.

Regular Hillcoat collaborator Nick Cave has adapted the screenplay from Matt Bondurant’s Prohibition-era novel, which follows the real-life Bondurant brothers played by Tom Hardy, Shia LaBeouf and Jason Clarke. This trio of charming but rough-edged siblings runs a bootlegging gang in Franklin County, Virginia. Though life seems to be good, they’re soon beset on all sides by local authorities wanting a slice of the action, while things aren't helped by LaBeouf's character starting to work for a wormy gangster (Gary Oldman). And that’s before Guy Pearce arrives as a special agent charged with bringing down their little moonshine operation.
Boasting Jessica Chastain, Mia Wasikowska, Noah Taylor, and Chronicle’s Dane DeHaan in addition to the aforementioned cast, this has the ring of something special. Hardy is reliable as always, but it’ll be especially good to see Shia LaBeouf doing something other than screaming “No!” a lot and running away from giant robots, crumbling skyscrapers, or giant robots crumbling skyscrapers.
Lawless has snagged an In Competition slot at the Cannes Film Festival, which runs this year between May 16 to 27, with an August 31 release planned across the pond. Hopefully we won’t have to wait too long after that to see it here.

Source: EmpireOnline

pokerstars

It's just been unofficially announced that industry giants Pokerstars have completed the purchase of Full Tilt Poker for $750m. This includes a $330m settlement with the U.S Department of Justice and the full return of player balances. A forum thread appeared on TwoPlusTwo.com (the world's largest poker site) just hours ago entitled:

"Big News: PokerStars Purchases FTP(?)"

UPDATE: Rumoured sabotage. Laurent Tapie confirms deal is off for FTP buyout and insinuates external sabotage over DOJ negotiations. These are rumours with no credible sources at this time. Tom Victor at EGR reported GBT as saying "our efforts to obtain final DOJ approval to acquire the assets of Full Tilt Poker have ended without success". Unnamed inside sources confirm the rumours.

At first the thread was initially removed as unsubstantiated gossip, that was until respected forum moderator 'NoahSD' reported that various inside sources contacted him asking to 'undelete' the thread. Since then, various people have tweeted the news and no Stars representatives have come forward denying the takeover, which is what you would expect had the news been nonsense.

Power play by Stars. If true, the takeover is a powerful statement of intent from Pokerstars that they fully intend to cement their current market dominance outside of the U.S in anticipation of wide-spread American inter-state legislation later this year.

More to follow on this story as it breaks...

Scotty's take: I believe there is something to this rumor, more than something. Tweets from @igamingfrance have confirmed they have been communicating with the Bernard Tapie Group, who had been negotiating with the the U.S. Department of Justice to acquire Full Tilt Poker. IGaming France confirms the Tapie Group is no longer in the running, also reporting they will have a statement later in the day from a representative of the Tapie Group. Alexander Dryfus (CEO of Chili Poker) has also tweeted that PokerStars is buying Full Tilt Poker for a cool $750 million. Part of the deal includes settlement with the DOJ and full balances of current players, estimated at $330 million.

Stay tuned to SCOTTYS BLOG as updates unfold...

ADD 3:50PM : PokerStars has released the following statement, "We've had a lot of enquiries and there's lots of speculation on the forums, so I wanted to address the PokerStars chatter. As you know, PokerStars is in settlement discussions with the U.S. Department of Justice. As such settlement discussions are always confidential, we are unable to comment on rumors. As soon as we have information to share publicly we will do so."

Jessica Chastain Circles Iron Man 3
She's up to play a sexy scientist

Source: Deadline

With shooting set to launch next month under the watchful eye of co-writer-director Shane Black, Iron Man 3 is locking in more cast members. Ben Kingsley and Guy Pearce are already either aboard or close to a deal, but now the film looks set to get even more thespian power in the form of Jessica Chastain.
The actress – who has appeared in all the films last year, including The Tree Of Life, The Debt and The Help (for which she was nominated for an Oscar) – has, according to Deadline, been linked to a role in the film for some time now. There have been some scheduling issues given how busy she is, but with a little diary shuffling, she’s now clear to take part if she chooses.
Thanks to Marvel’s usual secrecy surrounding its heroes, there are few details about what she’ll be playing, but it’s said to be a sexy scientist who is Tony Stark (Robert Downey Jr)’s intellectual equal. Will she be a love rival for Gwyneth Paltrow's Pepper Potts? Only time will tell.
Iron Man 3 will be out on May 3, 2013. But Stark will be back a little earlier than that, in some movie about Avengers Assembling. You might have heard of it…

Source: EmpireOnline

Gina Carano Could Rev Up Fast Six

Gina Carano Could Rev Up Fast Six
She's in talks to sign on...

Source: The Hollywood Reporter

After kicking much ass in Steven Soderbergh’s Haywire, Gina Carano has become a hot property in Hollywood. She’s already got a couple of films in development, but she could be taking her action star status to the next level, as Justin Lin and the Fast & Furious production team are looking to secure her services.
Lin is once more in the director’s chair, with Chris Morgan on script duty. And as for that script (never really the most important part of any Fast film, but still) – that’s still being kept a secret.
Paul Walker and Vin Diesel will return as franchise regulars Brian O’Connor, with Fast Five’s MVP Dwayne Johnson set to be back as Agent Luke Hobbs. Expect plenty of mano-a-mano smack downs, with Carano as part of Hobbs’ team on the hunt for the lads.
The current plan is for Carano to put Diesel and co into her schedule before reporting to any other set, including John Stockwell’s thriller In The Blood.
Fast Six (or whatever it ends up being called) will screech into cinemas on May 24, 2013 and is due to shoot this summer - in, among other places, the UK.

Source: EmpireOnline
 

Sean Penn Joining Walter Mitty?

Sean Penn Joining Walter Mitty?
He's after a small role

Source: Deadline

If you thought that Al Pacino cropping up as a Sandler-lady-loving version of himself in Jack And Jill was odd casting, the bar may now be raised. According to Deadline, Sean Penn – not known for appearing in big studio comedies – is now negotiating to play a role in The Secret Life Of Walter Mitty.
Ben Stiller has finally wrangled the comedy out of development hell, where it has been stuck for years. Working from a script by Steve Conrad, Stiller will direct and star in the tale of a timid magazine photo editor who finds his only satisfaction living through fanciful dreams, including those about co-worker Kristen Wiig.
But then a negative goes missing and Mitty must go out on a hunt to find it,  which leads him on an actual adventure, and changes his life.
Penn’s role is being kept quiet, but is apparently “small” yet “pivotal.” Perhaps he’s the person in the negative?
Assuming he seals a deal, he’ll join a cast that already includes Stiller, Wiig, Adam Scott, Patton Oswalt, Shirley MacLaine and Josh Charles. Penn is currently on screen in Paolo Sorrentino’s This Must Be The Place, and will next be seen in Gangster Squad, which is still awaiting a releas date.

Source: EmpireOnline

Charlie Kaufman Adapting Chaos Walking

Charlie Kaufman Adapting Chaos Walking
Lionsgate wants a new book-based pic

Source: Deadline

Now that The Hunger Games has lived up to its potential, Lionsgate is kicking off the search to find another book-based franchise that offers a similarly rich vein of source material. The company thinks it might have a possibility in Patrick Ness’ young-adult focused Chaos Walking series, and has picked an interesting person to adapt it: Charlie Kaufman.
Ness’ series – which, like all good YA series these days, comprises three titles, The Knife Of Never Letting Go, The Ask And The Answer and Monsters Of Men – finds Earth ruined in a dystopian future.
Humanity, though, has colonized a distant, Earth-like planet and is trying to make a go of it there when an infection called the Noise strikes, which makes all thoughts audible. Chaos, somewhat naturally follows, and soon a corrupt autocrat takes the chance to seize control of the settlements in order to launch a strike on the native alien race. A young lad named Todd Hewitt (perhaps some distant descendant of Empire’s own Chris!) must stop the oncoming destruction.
Though Adaptation / Synecdoche, New York's Kaufman might not be the first name studios would leap to when looking to make a blockbuster, he’s certainly an intriguing choice with the potential to produce something very different. And he’s not completely outside of the system, having contributed uncredited script work to several movies including Kung Fu Panda 2.
Kaufman will be getting to work on Chaos while at the same time setting things in motion for his latest directing job, Frank Or Francis, which sees Steve Carell’s film director sparring with Jack Black’s blogger.

Source: EmpireOnline
 

Mel Gibson May Find Machete Kills

Mel Gibson May Find Machete Kills
Robert Rodriguez wants him

Source: Deadline

It can’t be much fun to be Mel Gibson at the moment. He’s still deeply embroiled in a war of words and embarrassing audiotapes, and has seen any sign of a career resurgence falter along with it. But someone still wants to work with him, as Robert Rodriguez has reached out to bring him aboard Machete Kills.
The film finds Danny Trejo back as the toughest Federale around, dispatched by the US government to track down an arms dealer in Mexico before the villain can launch a destructive rocket.
Rodriguez is in the process of rounding up as much of the surviving Machete cast as he can, and he has talked before about recruiting both Gibson and Michelle Williams, amongst others.
While he co-directed the original with Ethan Maniquis, Rodriguez apparently likes his script for the new movie so much that he wants to do as much of it as he can alone. “Currently I am directing it,” Rodriguez tells the Hollywood Reporter. “But we’re checking to see if there’s going to be the need for another director if I have to go off and do Sin City 2. I wasn’t sure what the timing on Sin City was or if I would have to step off to do Sin City at a certain point, depending on when Machete went. But Machete looks like it’s going to go pretty quickly so it’s possible that I will direct the whole thing.”
Gibson’s latest movie – How I Spent My Summer Vacation – is out here on May 11, but is going straight to DVD in the US.

Source: EmpireOnline

Lawrence Could Be Jeanette Walls

Lawrence Could Be Jeanette Walls
In an adaptation of her memoir

Source: Deadline

Not every memoir deserves to be turned into a film. But former gossip columnist Jeanette Walls certainly seems to have the goods, given her deeply dysfunctional childhood and ability to turn a phrase. Now Lionsgate has snapped up the rights to her book, The Glass Castle, and is developing it for The Hunger Games’ Jennifer Lawrence.
The Glass Castle was published in 2005 and sat on the New York Times bestseller list for more than 250 weeks. But while the tome does delve into Walls' career, it nabbed attention more for the tales of her youth.
One of four children raised by parents Rex and Rose Mary, Walls endured poverty despite her mother owning land in Texas worth millions. Though creative and intelligent, Rose Mary was also eccentric and immature, hardly the best qualities for raising children. And Rex hit the bottle hard, all the while dreaming of getting rich and giving his family a proper life.
Paramount and Brad Pitt’s Plan B company snapped up the rights to the book when it was first in the shops, but they’ve since lapsed and now Lionsgate has them. Fright Night’s Marti Noxon is on board to write the screenplay, which seems like a good match of voice and source material to us.
Lawrence has been keeping busy in between her trips to Panem: she’ll appear in horror pic House At The End Of The Street and David O Russell’s The Silver Linings Playbook this year, and is at work on Susanne Bier’s Serena.

Source: EmpireOnline

Renny Harlin Heads For Dyatlov Pass

Renny Harlin Heads For Dyatlov Pass
Uncovering 50-year-old mystery

Source: Shock Till You Drop

Last time Renny Harlin headed for snow-capped mountains, it was to shoot people and blow shit up in the thick-headed Stallone classic Cliffhanger. He'll be taking another climbing trip in the near future, but this time it sounds like it won't be quite so heavy on the bombast, dealing instead with the peculiar mystery of the Dyatlov Pass incident. It all took place in 1959, when nine hikers on a skiing trip in the Russian Ural mountains were killed in extremely odd circumstances. There were no survivors to explain why, in temperatures around −30°C, the group apparently tore open their tent from the inside, and headed out into the snow in their bare feet. The bodies, when found, showed no signs of struggle, but significant internal injuries consistent with enormous pressure. One corpse was missing its tongue, and some were found to be highly radioactive. The inquest could only conclude that the nine had been victims of "a compelling unknown force." The pass is now named after the expedition's leader, Igor Dyatlov. Harlin's film involves five ambitious American students given a grant to investigate the incident and retrace the victims' journey. This proves to be a mistake, since they're soon bothered by strange and terrifying phenomena, suggesting that the forces behind the original mystery have been waiting fifty-odd years for a repeat performance. Roughly speaking, Renny Harlin's directing career has generally alternated between action and horror. There's the aforementioned Cliffhanger, the criminally underrated The Long Kiss Goodnight, last year's excellent Five Days Of War, and of course, Die Hard 2: Die Harder. But before Bruce Willis there was Freddy Krueger (Harlin directed the fourth Nightmare On Elm Street), and he's since brought us Mindhunters, The Covenant, and The Exorcist: The Beginning. This trip to the Urals then, is not unprecedented, and won't necessarily involve anything being exploded. Last night there was a fun video online - intended for potential investors - showing Harlin being "interrogated" about the film and its missing cast. Sadly, its since been taken down at the behest of production company Aldamisa. In the absence of that though, and of an actual title, there's still a poster (see below). Shooting is apparently already underway.

Source: EmpireOnline
 

Richard Jenkins Set For One Square Mile

Richard Jenkins Set For One Square Mile
He'll mentor a young runner

Source: The Hollywood Reporter

He can currently be seen scaring things up for Joss Whedon’s Cabin In The Woods, but Richard Jenkins plans to be a little nicer to the human race for his next trick. He’s signed on to star as a reclusive track coach in One Square Mile.
The film finds Cameron Bright as a young man from the wrong side of the tracks who fears his life may forever be mired in poverty. But a spark of hope comes in the shape of his running talent, and he gets some encouragement and training when he somehow persuades a grouchy trainer (Jenkins) to help him out. Sounds a bit like Finding Forrester meets Chariots Of Fire, which we guess could be a good thing - especially with Jenkins aboard.
Charles-Olivier Michaud is the director in charge of this one, which has been written by Josh Campbell and Jeff Van Wie. The starting pistol for production should fire in August.
“We felt the writers always had Richard in mind when we were developing the script, and we couldn’t be happier now that he is on board,” producer Howard Burd tells the Hollywood Reporter. “Having Cameron Bright play opposite Richard is a strong acting combination that will produce a compelling and inspirational film.”
Jenkins has roles in the upcoming Darling Companion as well as Killing Them Softly, A.C.O.D., The Company You Keep and One Shot. Frankly, he makes other actors look lazy by comparison…

Source: EmpireOnline

Lindsay Lohan As Elizabeth Taylor?

Lindsay Lohan As Elizabeth Taylor?
In a new TV movie biopic

Source: Deadline

If you had to pick someone to embody Elizabeth Taylor, a woman known for grace, style, and dealing with a turbulent personal life, we’re not sure Lindsay Lohan would exactly jump to the top of the list. Except perhaps on that last criterion. But she’s the choice for a new us TV movie biopic about Taylor’s time with Richard Burton, called Liz & Dick.
Despite the puntastic title, the Lifetime channel across the pond really is going ahead with the project, which will be based on the true, deep love story between the two screen legends. After meeting on the set of Cleopatra, they ditched their respective spouses and began a stormy affair that culminated in marriage. And then divorce. And then re-marriage, and one final re-divorce.
In a press release picked up by Deadline, Lohan enthused: “I have always admired and had enormous respect for Elizabeth Taylor. She was not only an incredible actress but an amazing woman as well. I am very honoured to have been asked to play this role.”
Lohan has been linked to the role for a while now, which will represent the latest chance for her to resurrect her career from the ashes of bad behaviour, court dates, jail time and Razzie-worthy performances. There’s no indication yet who will play Burton, but shooting kicks off in June.

Source: EmpireOnline

The Weinsteins Get Animated

The Weinsteins Get Animated
Three new CGI 'toons in the works

Source: The Weinstein Company

We haven't seen much in the way of animated movies from The Weinstein Company, bar the Hoodwinked films and the company picking up Luc Besson's Arthur movies for distribution. But the Weinsteins have now announced three new CGI cartoon projects for release in 2013, alongside the already-revealed Escape From Planet Earth.
Escape is first out of the gate next February, and as previously reported, tells the story of alien astronaut Scorch Supernova, tricked into coming to Earth after he picks up a fake SOS from dastardly military types. Brendan Fraser is the voice of Scorch, with further vocal stylings provided by Sarah Jessica Parker, Jessica Alba, James Gandolfini, and Rob Corddry.
After that, in August, we'll get Leo The Lion, about the titular jungle predator who decides to turn veggie and has to deal with the scorn of the rest of his pride.
Then things get seasonal, with The Trick Or Treaters set for Hallowe'en, and Santapprentice for Christmas. The Trick Or Treaters involves thieves terrorsing the countryside until their hearts are melted by an orphan girl. And Santapprentice, which sounds a bit like a mash-up of Terry Pratchett's Mort and Hogfather (without the grim reaping, and with a dash of Arthur Christmas), revolves around another orphan, chosen to replace Santa when he retires.
Way back in the summer of 2007, The Weinstein Company announced a new deal between itself, The Gotham Group (The Spiderwick Chronicles) and the Chungcheongnam-do Government of South Korea, to develop a new slate of animated movies. These would appear to be the result. Hey, animation takes ages. 
"Following the continued achievements of some of the industry's most successful animated filmmakers, we are producing animation with comedic stories that the entire family can enjoy," says Harvey Weinstein. "We will be utilising all of our relationships with top talent across the board to deliver the appropriate comedic tone and entertainment."
The Company is also developing something called Cricket In Times Square, which is being written by The Lion King's Evan Spiliotopoulos. "A-list voice talent" will be announced for the other three new films at some point in the future.

Source: EmpireOnline