Quentin Tarantino's Latest Film is Django Unchained

No, this isn't just endless talk that amounts to nothing (The Vega Brothers, Kill Bill Volume III, that untitled Mandarin-language/English-subtitled kung-fu epic, etc.) Quentin Tarantino is making another movie following his, in my opinion, masterpiece Inglorious Basterds and the tragic death of his long-time editor Sally Menke which many feared killed his momentum to continue making movies from here on end.

Twitter user AgentTrainee (whose specific tweet on the matter was subsequently yanked) posted the front page to Tarantino's latest unveiling its title Django Unchained.

There'd been rumblings a few months back about the spaghetti-Western project, including a cast featuring Keith Carradine, Franco Nero (who'd played the character of Django in several Italian productions back in the day), Christoph Waltz and Treat Williams. Had to be cautious because, again, God love him, the man talks a lot, and many times it amounts to nothing.

Not the case here, as Indie Wire further elaborates on the subject speaking to a source who's read the script and provides this plot synopsis (read ahead, at your own apparel):

"Django is a freed slave, who, under the tutelage of a German bounty hunter (played by Christopher Waltz the evil Nazi officer in Inglorious Basterds) becomes a bad-ass bounty hunter himself, and after assisting Waltz in taking down some bad guys for profit, is helped by Waltz in tracking down his slave wife and liberating her from an evil plantation owner. And that doesn’t even half begin to cover it! This film deals with racism as I've rarely seen it handled in a Hollywood film. While it’s 100 percent pure popcorn and revenge flick, it is pure genius in the way it takes on the evil slave owning south. Think of what he did with the Nazis in Inglorious and you’ll get a sense of what he’s doing with slave owners and slave overseers in this one."

Tarantino is now gearing up to have production rolling later this year. So it looks like we'll have a new film from him by next year. Which automatically shoots it to the top of my personal "Must See" list.

Robert Zemeckis Possibly Returning to Time-Travel for Replay

I'd really hate for after all this talk about getting back into the live-action straddle, at the end of the day, Robert Zemeckis says, "Nah! I'm gonna do another motion-capture movie!"

Knock on wood that isn't the case because, as we all know, Zemeckis needs to drop that crap. He tried for a decade, wasted a lot of time and money (including his own) and now it's time to move on. Judging by the last development, perhaps he realizes that too? We shall see.

In addition to the drama Flight, Vulture reports he's in "serious talks" to helm Replay, a time-travel related project set up at Paramount. The story, based on the '87 novel from Ken Grimwood, centers on a man in his early 40s dropping dead of a heart-attack in 1988. But he somehow finds himself back in 1963 in his 18 year-old self with the memories of his life intact and he thereby goes about reliving his life, and eventual death...over and over again.

Based on their Intel with Flight's development (the participation of Denzel Washington remains in the "hazy" stage), Replay could wind up being Zemeckis' latest endeavor. Just based on their descriptions (although they both sound great) I'd prefer Flight, but I'm fine with Replay as long as Zemeckis isn't bullshitting us with his attempt to work with real-live actors again.

Praise Be to Thor! Cabin in the Woods Finally Getting Released!

Depending on how Thor does, this is either a stroke of genius or a bad call that won't cost them much anyway.

"TOLDJA" says Cabin in the Woods, the Drew Goddard-directed, Joss Whedon-written/produced effort starring Chris Hemsworth that’s been collecting dust on the shelf forever now (I hear the canisters still have those "Obama/Biden '08" bumper-stickers on them!) will soon see the light of day.

Lionsgate, fresh outta milking the Saw udder dry and distributing whatever man-in-drag comedy crossed with "Praise Jesus!" overtones Tyler Perry is making this week, is taking the horror flick outta MGM's hands and into cinema-houses, hopefully for this October.

No word on where the Red Dawn remake (also at MGM and also starring Hemsworth) stands. But again the Norse God does considerable bank and Hemsworth becomes a house-hold name, you can bet your first-born someone will get that puppy out ASAP.

Terminator 5 is a Getting the Gang Back Together

The thought of Arnold Schwarzenegger returning for a fifth Terminator reeked of desperation both on the part of man himself and filmmakers. But this new angle as supplied via Latino Review could be one Hell of a hook to getting people interested in the series again:

"Why bring this up? Because I have news. That's right, I'm going to bury the news almost 500 words into a rant about how much I like Terminator. Why? Because you deserve better than one-line of new information about a project that doesn't have a script yet. You deserve to know the context and why this little bit of information suddenly has me pro-Terminator 5.

Or should I say 'Terminator 2012' which is the title the pitch is going under right now. It involves time travel back to the present day, and - the exciting and mind-bending part of it all - is that it has the 'entire original cast' attached to it, not just Arnie.

Disclaimer time: This is from a real source, I'm not bullshitting you. I don't know what 'entire original cast' means, but it's safe to assume that AT LEAST means Linda Hamilton is coming back to re-establish herself as the face of Sarah Connor. At best, we somehow get Michael Biehn as some sort of old Kyle Reese...

...which is AMAZING."

So the argument made by producers and director Justin Lin will this would be the "true" sequel to Terminator 2: Judgment Day, and that's why everyone should care this time. It also explains to the hiring of Lin, who successfully took the same approach to Fast & Furious and this weekend's Fast Five. Like Terminator, that series suffered from a couple of installment without the core actors and the audience attendance dropped considerably.

This is an ingenious plan, truth be told, if they're able to secure everyone to return.

R.I.P.D. Upgrades from Zach Galifianakis to Jeff Bridges

So a younger actor known for a stoner persona on-screen (who let's be honest definitely leaning towards "flavor of the month" territory) is replaced by an older, established and beloved Oscar-winner whose also known for a stoner persona?

Yeah, the filmmakers of R.I.P.D. searched long and hard after Zach Galifianakis dropped out awhile back.

Heat Vision reports stepping into the role of a gunslinger from the Old West now working as a cop in the after-life is none other than Jeff Bridges. Talk about an update.

He'll star alongside Ryan Reynolds as a rookie cop who just "joined the force" (read: murdered) and trying to solve the mystery of his own death.

David Koepp is the Latest Screenwriter on Jack Ryan Reboot

I'm game for a new Jack Ryan movie.

But every time we hear about another delay in the reboot formerly known as Moscow  (Paramount's second attempt to rebooting the series after 2002'sThe Sum of All Fears with Ben Affleck), I keep thinking to myself, "Any time now, it's gonna fall apart." But to their credit, the studio isn't letting it go down. Not without a fight, at least.

The latest update from "TOLDJA" has David Koepp, blockbuster screenwriter extraordinaire having penned Jurassic Park, Mission: Impossible, Spider-Man and countless others, onboard for rewrite duties.

Both Jack Bender and Chris Pine remain attached to the property, and the goal is now to have cameras rolling by January when Pine will be presumably finished with his work on Star Trek 2 (which is still expected to start filming this fall and that June 29, 2012 remains locked, for the time being).

Jeremy Renner Aiming to Be As Cool as Steve McQueen

Some are already playing the "Overexposed!" card on Jeremy Renner.

Not that their logic is off (Far from it, in fact), but the truth is its way too early to make a judgment call on that. Renner has a lot of big-time gigs over the next years starting with co-headlining Mission: Impossible – Ghost Protocol with Tom Cruise (although a lot of us are wondering that if we’re being put on with that one) this Christmas and then next year with Hansel & Gretel: Witch Hunters (as stupid as that one sounds), The Avengers and, the big jalapeño of them all, The Bourne Legacy.

Adding to that workload, Risky Business reports Renner is striking while the iron is hot and started his own production company The Combine and right out the gate has a vehicle ramping up in development: a biopic on Steve McQueen. Commercial filmmaker Ivan Zacharias will make this directorial debut and James Gray (writer/director of the great, underrated Two Lovers) will pen the script, said to be based on two books on the iconic actor.

Renner doesn't immediately come to mind for actors to play McQueen (Josh Brolin, Daniel Craig and Jon Hamm, on the other hand). But hey, if he can get audiences to accept him in the place of Matt Damon in next August's Bourne sequel, then an icon like Steve McQueen is a cake-walk.

Green Lantern Banner Doesn’t Hold Back with Out-There Looking Alien Characters

If Green Lantern under-performs or belly-flops this June, you have to give Warner Brothers credit to putting it all out there. Even by the standards of a comic-book, this is an out-there project having to walk a very delicate line where things such as the oath, the vulnerability to yellow, one look at Peter Sarsgaard as baddie Hector Hammond, etc. are at great risk of coming off as silly as Hell to movie-goers. But again, the studio isn't holding back.

MTV has a new banner for Green Lantern with our hero Hal Jordan (Ryan Reynolds) front and center and an array of his not-so-Earth bound colleagues.

Fandom Finds Another Stupid Reason to Hate Brett Ratner – In Talks to Direct Hercules

If fandom could have some blood flowing towards their heads (and less than say to their dicks or mouths), then they'd realize Brett Ratner has made some enjoyable movies and even under those ball-bustingly-tight circumstances delivered a perfectly watchable film in X-Men: The Last Stand. Or the fact that he wanted Matthew Bomer for Superman during his ill-fated attempt to relaunch the franchise back in 2002 instead of studio favorite Brendan Fraser. But for some reason, Christopher Nolan and Zack Snyder are "geniuses" in their eyes for screen-testing Bomer last year for The Man of Steel nine years after the fact? Fanbitch logic, go figure!

But anyway, last year there'd been rumblings Ratner was eyeing to direct a new film version of good old Greek hero Hercules. It has been awhile since we've seen the character on the big-screen, and in the wave of the 300s, Clash of the Titans and Immortals, maybe it's time for him to return too.

Vulture confirms that is indeed the direction Ratner is considering, although this is a different incarnation than the one rumored last year. This particular take is Hercules: The Thracian Wars adapted from the comics of the same name from screenwriter Alex Proyas (Paradise Lost). It's set up at MGM, and since the Lion is now back up and roaring it's nothing something for smartass me to disregard.

As for when this would happen is anyone's guess, and as we all know, Ratner has been attached and unattached to projects left-and-right over the years. Not an unorthodox practice with filmmakers, of course, but it feels more common with him. Even a defender of his like yours truly was surprised when Tower Heist actually got made.

Yo, Bieber Say Hi to Your Mother For Me!

I'm twenty-seven years old. So to answer your question ahead of time no, I didn't know who the Hell Justin Bieber was for quite awhile. In fact, I was always wondering why he was trending so much on Twitter. Then I found out he did some songs or some shit, I don't know. Little girls and their parents/grandparents seem to like him, and he appears to be a nice enough kid. So of course, fandom hates his guts. Go figure.

But now that he has a hit movie under his belt (even if it was a documentary/concert film/3D gimmick), studio executives across Hollywood are rubbing their hands going, "Hey, I bet he can act!" And just the man to take that leap with young Mr. Bieber is Mark Wahlberg?

So it would seem as he revealed to Vulture. But he's low-key on the details besides it being set up at Paramount and "more of a drama" instead of comedy. "TOLDJA" has slightly more info. The untitled project centers on street basketball and described as "The Color of Money meets The Karate Kid" with Ian Edelman (creator/writer/producer behind the HBO series How to Make It in America) writing.

Seriously if you're over the age of twenty-five and still hating on a kid like Bieber or Twilight or whatever is the current fad for teenagers, grow the fuck up and let them have their fun.