First Official Look at Rooney Mara in The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo

Sony, director David Fincher and producer Scott Rudin are putting as much care and detail to the "official" unveiling of the unknown Rooney Mara as Lisbeth Salander in The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo.

W Magazine have the photos with an accompanying article on the production including the revelation of screenwriter Steve Zaillian going with an ending different from the book or the original Swedish film.

But back to Mara, it's a weird position to be in. For lack of a better comparison, it's like being George Lazenby, before all those prima-donna stories hit the press.

You have a character in Salander whom a lot of people are aware of thanks to the three global best-sellers and the afore-mentioned films – which launched its star Noomi Rapace in Hollywood. You have to find a look and performance true to the character as originally written and yet still be different from Rapace.

Can't judge her performance yet (The movie opens December 21, 2011), but going 100% off her appearance, I have to tip my hat to the filmmakers. She looks like the character.

Paramount Resurrecting Ripley’s Believe It Or Not

Maybe it's me, but Jim Carrey is pushing hard to get back into people's good graces in a similar fashion to Tom Cruise. For awhile there, he was starring in movies, quality notwithstanding, folks didn't flock to go see and being seen running around with "autism curer" Jenny McCarthy wasn't a career tourniquet.

Either his checking account got low (I can relate!) or a confidant slapped sense back into his head. Because he's been getting his act together lately. This past week he hosted Saturday Night Live to big fanfare (and ratings) and he's in the midst of filming Mr. Popper's Penguins. Fox has that set for an August release, but I could see them bumping it to Thanksgiving given the popularity of the original children's book and its appeal to family audiences.

"TOLDJA" says another potential crowd-pleaser is on the way. Ripley's Believe It Or Not, set up with Carrey and director Tim Burton only to have the plug pulled weeks before filming was to start a couple of years back, is getting a blood transfusion. The studio has commissioned Oscar-winning scribe Eric Roth, behind Forest Gump, Munich and The Curious Case of Benjamin Button to name a few, to overhaul the script.

Carrey remains attached to star, although a director remains MIA.

Tron 3 Nearing A Greenlight?

When What's Playing said filmmakers was awaiting word from Disney on Tron 3, it made sense. The studio was anxiously waiting to see returns on Tron: Legacy. But the tracking wasn't so hot and the advanced reviews pouring out were, generally speaking, pretty bad. Sequel talk in advance is the norm and hiring screenwriters ahead of time doesn't mean it's gonna happen. Until the public says they want more with their wallets, it all means dick.

So, it's just shy of a month after its release and it’s safe to say it ain't doing well commercially (It's out in all the major markets and just about to break $300 million worldwide off a budget "officially" listed at $170 million, but realistically in the neighborhood of $200-$250 million, if not higher – don't forget it also has the 3D and IMAX bump) nor did it particularly click with the general movie-going public.

Nevertheless, AICN says another one is on the horizon with the Mouse soon to hit the "Greenlight" button.

This feels like a couple of things:

1. something to keep discussion of the property going as the DVD/Blu-Ray release approaches
2. an attempt to save face from the studio on an uber-expensive franchise-launch (in this case, re-launch) that didn't 100% work
3. someone high-ranking inhouse is a die-hard Tron fan and refuses to let it die.

Don't know. After all that money poured into Tron: Legacy and its reaction from average Joes, it's hard to imagine Disney putting even more dough behind Tron 3.

Principal Photography Begins On '13 Flowers of Nanjing' Starring Christian Bale

PRINCIPAL PHOTOGRAPHY BEGINS ON ACCLAIMED FILMMAKER ZHANG YIMOU’S FIRST MULTI-LINGUAL FILM

13 FLOWERS OF NANJING STARRING CHRISTIAN BALE

HONG KONG – January 10, 2010 – Principal photography has begun at Nanjing Studios outside of Nanjing, China on 13 Flowers of Nanjing starring Christian Bale, the next film from master filmmaker Zhang Yimou.

13 Flowers of Nanjing is set in 1937 in Nanjing, China during Sino-Japanese war, where a few brave refugees find sanctuary in a Church compound.  The group, thrown together by the terrible chaos of war, risks their lives for the Church’s school children as they struggle to survive the violence and persecution brought on by the violent invasion of the city.  Through tremendous adversity, heroism presents itself among the least likely individuals as they bravely navigate their treacherous surroundings to try and save themselves and each other.  13 Flowers of Nanjing is a story of heroism and love: for those around you, for one’s family, and the love between an unlikely couple which fate brings together.  Christian Bale will play John, an American, trapped thousands of miles from home and seemingly, with nowhere to turn.

Produced by Zhang Weiping and Bill Kong, the film will incorporate both Chinese and English dialog into its narrative.  Zhang Yimou will be reuniting with Beijing New Pictures and Edko Films Limited for the project.  David Linde will executive produce. The team has also tapped Xiaoding Zhao as director of photography (House of Flying Daggers, Curse of the Golden Flower); renown special effects supervisor Joss Williams (Aliens, The Bourne Ultimatum, Munich); production designer Yohei Taneda (Kill Bill Vol. 1); composer Qigang Chen (Under The Hawthorn Tree); production and costume designer William Chang (In The Mood of Love, 2047) ; and costume designer Graciela Mazon (The Legend of Zorro, From Dusk Till Dawn).

Director Zhang Yimou is one of the most renowned Chinese directors working today.  He has won countless international awards and honors during the span of his career for films like Raise the Red Lantern, To Live, Hero, House of Flying Daggers, and Red Sorghum, the first film he directed in 1987.  In 2008, he directed the opening and closing ceremonies of the Olympic Games in Beijing.

Currently, versatile and renowned actor Christian Bale is receiving rave reviews for his portrayal of Dicky Eklund in The Fighter, where he stars alongside Mark Wahlberg for director David O’Russell. Bale’s acting credits also include both commercial and critically lauded films such as Batman Begins, The Dark Knight, Terminator Salvation, The Machinist, Rescue Dawn, 3:10 to Yuma, American Psycho, Metroland and Velvet Goldmine among many others.

Yimou, Kong and Linde previously worked together on Yimou’s House of Flying Daggers and the Oscar® nominated action film Hero which grossed over $200 million worldwide.  Kong and Linde have a long relationship working together in both distribution and production including Ang Lee’s four-time Oscar winning film Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon which grossed over $120 million domestically.

French "Thor" Poster

I'm going to go see this movie, and I am sure most of my geek brethren are going to pay the $7 -$10 and see it as well. The general public? I'm not so sure they are going to travel from near and far to see a guy wielding a giant hammer, but let's hope I'm wrong.

CloneWeb has the new French Poster for Thor. O'lala.

New "Priest" Trailer

 A western-fused post-apocalyptic thriller, the film is set in an alternate world -- one ravaged by centuries of war between man and vampires. The story revolves around a legendary Warrior Priest from the last Vampire War who now lives in obscurity among the other downtrodden human inhabitants in walled-in dystopian cities ruled by the Church. When his niece is abducted by a murderous pack of vampires, Priest breaks his sacred vows to venture out on an obsessive quest to find her before they turn her into one of them. He is joined on his crusade by his niece's boyfriend, a trigger-fingered young wasteland sheriff, and a former Warrior Priestess who possesses otherworldly fighting skills.

New "Battle: Los Angeles" Trailer

Despite a rather lame-sounding title that seems more suited for a video game than a disaster movie, this is actually starting to look fairly decent.  Check out the new trailer below for Battle: Los Angeles, courtesy of Yahoo Movies:

Directed by Jonathan Liebesmen and starring Aaron Eckhardt and Michelle Rodriguez, Battle: Los Angeles is the story of an devastating alien invasion and the badass platoon fighting to stop it.  The movie opens in theaters on March 11.

New 'The Dark Knight Rises' Rumors....Arise

Well, here we are in the beginning of 2011 and still no official announcement for The Dark Knight Rises.  Gotta tip my hat to Chris Nolan on this one though, can't remember the last time a major film like this was less than four months from production and still not one press release has been issued.  Anyway, I'm sure a few new TDKR rumors will give everyone their Batman fix until something is announced.

According to Collider (great site by the way, those guys over there do one hell of a job) is reporting they've received three bits of TDKR information.  They are, however, fully aware of Chris Nolan's CIA-style tactics, and remind everyone to treat this news as just rumors until something officially comes out.

1.)  Eva Green and Naomi Watts have been cast in the film.  It is unsure what roles they will play, but the source speculates Green will play Talia al Ghul (anyone else think that's spot on casting?) and Watts will play Vicki Vale (the character Kim Basinger played in Tim Burton's Batman).

My take:  I firmly believe Catwoman will be in this film but also feel Green is just too pefect to play Talia al Ghul, so with that, I think Watts will be playing Selina Kyle/Catwoman.  We shall see.

2.) Principal photography is set to begin May 6th and post-production begins on November 28th.  That's nearly eight months of shooting and over seven months of post.  Very similar to the schedule The Dark Knight was on.  Also, the apparent script leak that hit the net is absolutely fake and the real script will be sent out to the cast next week.

My take: This information sounds spot on to me as Collider makes note that Michael Caine recently went on record to state the film would shoot from May to November.  As for the script leak, there was a script leak?  Shows how legit that was.

3.)  A new Batmobile and Batcave will be in the film.  The new version of the Batmobile is said to be sleeker then The Tumbler, but still have as many gadgets and be just as powerful.  The Batcave, on the other hand, will be from the same cave saw in Batman Begins, however, more updated with the classic look such as the circular bay for the Batmobile, the Batcomputer, and storage area for the Batsuits.  Also, the source speculates to be on the lookout for a new Batsuit as well.

My take:  Gotta believe this fully.  Sorry, I just have to.  Not one peice of the info sounds at all phony or fake.  It sounds legit based on everything we've heard over the past year and think all the ideas mentioned couldn't be more exciting to see on screen.

I say an official announcement is coming in the next month.  Mark my words.

Update on Wed, January 12, 2011 by John DiNicola

Update: Heat Vision now reports both Green and Watts have NOT been cast in The Dark Knight Rises and that six other actresses are still being considered including Keira Knightley, Anne Hathaway, Jessica Biel, Kata Mara, Charlotte Riley, and Gemma Arterton.  Click the link for more details.

James Bond Returns November 9, 2012

We heard last November MGM fully intended to get the James Bond franchise back on its feet for a November 2012 release. Nothing else concrete surfaced for the remaining duration of last year. But as everyone is high-fiving themselves over The Hobbit finally happening (albeit now fully under the control of Warner Brothers), it was a matter of time before we heard formal announcements on the return of 007.

"TOLDJA" has confirmed a November 9, 2012 has been set for the next installment. Yes, Daniel Craig will return for his third go-around in the tuxedo and license to kill and indeed, Sam Mendes will call "Action!" behind the camera.

Still no decision on what studio will step in and distribute. I'd guess Sony since they did so with the other two Craig films. But rival studios will, no doubt, want a piece of that tasty pie.

Also Peter Morgan (who was originally nabbed down to write before MGM's shit hit the fan) has vacated the project. Not a surprise since the Oscar-nominated writer himself said he wouldn't return regardless of the outcome with MGM. Taking his place is Gladiator screenwriter John Logan along with go-to Bond writers Neal Purvis and Robert Wade.

As I've bitched and moaned about plenty of times before, I want to see as much of Craig's Bond as possible. Thankfully this didn't turn into a repeat of the Timothy Dalton reign.

Charlize Theron: Goodbye, J. Edgar & Hello, Alien Prequel?

Not trying to turn this into another "Who's really a movie star?" argument/discussion/rant. But how does 20^th Century qualify Charlize Theron as one? Is it because of her Oscar? I'm failing to see their logic behind wanting her on their 3D Alien prequel especially when citing the need of a star.

Says Vulture, the studio is in overdrive for a "name" actress to headline and Ridley Scott is content with filling his new truckers in space with character-actors (many us nerds know, but the masses don't) like Noomi Rapace, Michelle Yeoh and Michael Fassbender. But since it's Tom Rothman & Co. writing the checks, and unless Scott's deal includes final casting, they'll call the shots in that department.

No disrespect to her (Were she to sign on, she'd be fine as she always is), but it's not like she's successfully carried a big commercial movie firmly on her shoulders and isn't the Alien brand-name enough to get the attention of average movie-goers? Besides if there's anyone people would want to see a new Alien movie, its Sigourney Weaver, and we all know she won't be around...or is she!

While we're talking about Theron, stupid me assumed they'd work out a schedule to retain her services for both Clint Eastwood's J. Edgar and Snow White & the Huntsman. Neither role would require her to be on set during the entirety of the shoots.

Reports "TOLDJA," she's decided against playing the notorious FBI director's longtime secretary Helen Gandy (Eastwood is mulling between Amy Adams and Naomi Watts: go for the former, Clint!) and will instead be the Evil Queen in Universal's big Christmas 2012 release.

Would you, good reader, deem this an upgrade or downgrade for the Oscar winner?