Wed, September 29, 2010 Take away the alien angle, and this feels like another X-Men movie.
Yahoo! Movies has the teaser trailer up and running for I Am Number Four. That's the sci-fi/action/teenage movie helmed by D.J. Caruso and produced by Steven Spielberg and Michael Bay and based on an as-yet-published book co-authored by "non-fiction" writer James Frey.
Wed, September 29, 2010 
It was only a matter of time before someone got flat out confirmation. Even if it's "No shit, Sherlock!" news, it's yet to be "officially" confirmed, and who am I kidding? Had I had the words uttered to me straight from the man I too would have run to the hills with this news-item.
Christopher Nolan is directing Batman 3. Not courtesy of the info-stealers from "TOLDJA" or the trades, but thankfully Empire.
Just last week, he confirmed he was putting his touches on the script (first penned by his brother Jonah) all the while he looks for a suitable Superman: The Man of Steel director before heading back to Gotham City for a third (and, by all accounts, final) time.
Commence fan speculation on the title and villain(s).
Tue, September 28, 2010 
Comingsoon.Net via Production Weekly has revealed that former Spider-Man Tobey Maguire has set up his next project, an adaption of crime thriller "Good People" by Marcus Sakey.
I recall the writer's book "The Blade Itself" being bought up by Ben Affleck to turn into a movie and apparently the rights to his third novel "At the City’s Edge" have also been snapped up, for a writer who has only written five thrillers it is quite a testament to his ability that three of them are already set to become films.
Niels Arden Oplev, who directed the Swedish adaptation of Stieg Larsson's "The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo" will helm the movie and below is a synopsis from Sakey's official website.
A family, and the security to enjoy it: that’s all Tom and Anna Reed ever wanted. But years of infertility treatments, including four failed attempts at in vitro fertilization, have left them with neither. The emotional and financial costs are straining their marriage and endangering their dreams.
Then one night everything changes. Offered a chance at a future they'd almost lost hope in, they seize it. One simple choice. A fairy tale ending.
But Tom and Anna soon realize that fairy tales never come cheap. Because their decision puts them square in the path of ruthless men. Men who've been double-crossed, and who won’t stop until they get revenge.
No matter where they find it.
This seems like a good deal for all involved, it's ideal material for Oplev to ease his transition into US cinema and it offers a strong lead role for Tobey Maguire, all we need now is for the female lead to be well cast and this one becomes a very promising project.
Tue, September 28, 2010 The Liverpool Daily Post has gotten hold of some exclusive pics of a cool looking submarine being used in the Marvel comics adaption "Captain America."
Below are a couple of pics and some info about the vehicle, so far we've not any official stills from the movie but the set shots have been much better than on most of these movies.
THE DAILY POST can today reveal these exclusive photos taken of the full size submarine created for blockbuster Captain America.
Comic enthusiasts and film fans have eagerly awaited proof of a boat that was rumoured to have been built at Stanley Dock.But heavy security meant the large Liverpool set for the upcoming Marvel film was kept under wraps.
The dock area was transformed into 1940s New York before cast including actor Chris Evans arrived to film the Marvel Studios blockbuster, Captain America: The First Avenger.There was speculation Hollywood film bosses would build a full size German U-Boat inside the closed set. The First Avenger: Captain America, directed by Joe Johnston, is due for release in the UK in July 2011.
Captain America was first thought up to help encourage patriotic feeling during World War II.The big-budget film will tell the origin of Captain America, one of Marvel’s most iconic superhero comic book characters. The story will follow a young soldier called Steve Rogers, who volunteers to undergo a series of experiments and becomes Captain America.
Tue, September 28, 2010 
Josh Holloway has been added to the already solid cast of the next Mission:Impossible film. His character is set to join Ethan Hunt's (Tom Cruise) special task force as a secret agent.
J.J. Abrams is producing with Tom Cruise and Paula Wagner, and may have a hand in bringing Halloway over from his work on Lost. Snagging the typical hunk from the show may lure some of the hard core fans in to see how he performs in his first high end studio film.
Release date is set for December 16, 2011
Tue, September 28, 2010 
Brad Pitt's name has been thrown around since Sherlock Holmes' release about being the hidden faced Moriarty. Well that vision is now true... for a man Pitt starred with at least.
Latino Review has a scoop that Jared Harris, who starred with Pitt in The Curious Case of Benjamin Button, has been chosen for the shadowy Moriarty. He is known recently for his role in the well reviewed and growingly popular series on AMC, Mad Men.
I mainly remember Harris from Mr. Deeds where he disguised himself as a giant carton of ice cream once. Not much to say on the casting choice since I am unfamiliar with the character but I enjoy Harris on Mad Men and other roles I’ve seen him in so it should be solid.
Tue, September 28, 2010 
The Superman news just keeps on coming. Our good friends over at Moviehole are now reporting on a possible candidate for Lois Lane. Apparently the cute as a button and just as equally sexy Natalie Portman has been contacted for the role.
A friend that worked on "Black Swan" with Mr Aronofsky tells us that the filmmaker has actually "been talking about this for a while" and that they don't think talks have "progressed beyond the suggestion of having Nat[alie Portman] be Lois. They wanted her first time around, this time they can get her - with Darren. But who knows where that's at now" Now that's cool! And I assume they're referring to the studio being keen on Ms Portman for "Superman Returns". "...nothing on paper yet. Don't add his name to the IMDB director listing on the film's page yet", she adds.
Not a bad choice, I guess I can see it. Problem being, is the choice would seem very similar to the look of Bosworth's version of Lois, or would you call it Singer's? Which would make sense because the report is that Portman was actually up for Lois in "Superman Returns".
If they are already contacting actresses about playing Lois, you would think they might have their Superman...
Tue, September 28, 2010 Everyone’s favorite pic-a-nic basket-stealing bear comes to the big screen in YOGI BEAR. Jellystone Park has been losing business, so greedy Mayor Brown decides to shut it down and sell the land. That means families will no longer be able to experience the natural beauty of the outdoors — and, even worse, Yogi and Boo Boo will be tossed out of the only home they’ve ever known. Faced with his biggest challenge ever, Yogi must prove that he really is ‘smarter than the average bear’ as he and Boo Boo join forces with their old nemesis Ranger Smith to find a way to save Jellystone Park from closing forever.
Tue, September 28, 2010 
Now that we are actually starting to hear some news on the Superman on film front, the legal fisticuffs bewteen Warner Bros and the Siegel and Shuster families is rearing it's ugly head. I'll let The Hollywood Reporter do the talking. See below.
As Warner Bros. inches closer to finding a director for its planned "Superman" reboot, the epic legal battle over the Man of Steel keeps getting nastier.
Warners filed a stack of legal papers the size of a tall building last night trying to persuade a judge to keep alive its claims against Marc Toberoff, the lawyer for the Siegel and Shuster families, who Warners claims improperly interfered with its key rights deals with the families.
As you'll recall, the heirs of Superman creators Jerry Siegel and Joe Shuster acted to terminate the rights to Superman in 1997. Four years later, the parties were close to a settlement before Joanne Siegel fired her lawyers and hired Toberoff, who then filed a lawsuit against Warners. In a bombshell 2008 decision, a federal judge ruled that the notice of termination was valid, meaning that certain Superman rights would revert to the Siegel estate in 2011 and the Shuster estate in 2013. The clock was ticking.
Warners wasn't going to just roll over. With the help of an internal Superman "timeline" that was secretly dropped on the studio's doorstep by a former Toberoff associate, in May it launched an aggressive counterattack with a new lawsuit against Toberoff and his clients, alleging the lawyer manipulated the families into repudiating their deals with Warners-owned DC Comics and entering into deals that would give Toberoff almost half the revenue from the property.
Toberoff responded by filing several motions to dismiss the case, including an anti-SLAPP motion that argued the studio was only trying to "delay the final reckoning" by employing a "desperate and cynical strategy." He also tried to get the "timeline" declared privileged, but that effort was denied.
Now, in five separate motions filed by Warners attorney Dan Petrocelli and a team from O'Melveny & Myers, the studio says Toberoff is trying to shield himself from liability for interfering with his clients' contracts with the studio by saying he was merely a lawyer doing his job.
Warners says that its claims in the lawsuit "unmistakenly and unambiguously challenge Toberoff's business practices, not his practice of law," according to the court papers.
The studio claims that Toberoff engineered a series of "consent agreements" with the Siegel and Shuster families that both interfered with its rights as well as put Toberoff and his entertainment companies in the position to reap huge dividends from a new copyright assignment. In one of his own voluminous motions, Toberoff points out that the terminations were lawful and scoffs that the families had any obligation to give Warners an exclusive first crack at regaining control over the properties.
A hearing date in the case is set for Oct. 18, although there's a chance the court could be so overwhelmed by the legal paperwork that there will be a delay. Depositions, including those of the Siegels, Shusters and Toberoff himself, are scheduled to begin in mid-November. The future of the "Superman" empire, hundreds of millions of dollars, and perhaps even the future of power in Hollywood will be at stake.
Tue, September 28, 2010 
New Line, Warner Bros. Pictures and Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer Pictures are concerned by the recent allegations of unfair treatment of actors in New Zealand and instructions from the performers’ guilds to their membership to withhold services from the producers of “The Hobbit” in New Zealand.
We are proud to have good relations with all of those performers’ guilds and value their contribution to the motion pictures produced in their respective jurisdictions throughout the world. But we believe that in this case the allegations are baseless and unfair to Peter Jackson and his team in Wellington who have been tireless supporters of the New Zealand motion picture community.
To classify the production as "non-union" is inaccurate. The cast and crew are being engaged under collective bargaining agreements where applicable and we are mindful of the rights of those individuals pursuant to those agreements. And while we have previously worked with MEAA, an Australian union now seeking to represent actors in New Zealand, the fact remains that there cannot be any collective bargaining with MEAA on this New Zealand production, for to do so would expose the production to liability and sanctions under New Zealand law. This legal prohibition has been explained to MEAA. We are disappointed that MEAA has nonetheless continued to pursue this course of action.
Motion picture production requires the certainty that a production can reasonably proceed without disruption and it is our general policy to avoid filming in locations where there is potential for work force uncertainty or other forms of instability. As such, we are exploring all alternative options in order to protect our business interests.
