Paul Greengrass Rumored as Cleopatra Director

Sony and producer Scott Rudin may have lost out on James Cameron. Goddamn would have that been a coup. But a more alluring director is out there for their planned 3D epic Cleopatra with Angelina Jolie.

Everyone remains rightfully mum on the matter. Hey until all their I's are dotted and T's crossed, it's never a bad thing to shut up. Although their search is said to be coming close to a commitment, and that someone, says "TOLDJA," may be Paul Greengrass.

Since walking away from the lucrative Bourne franchise, the British filmmaker has had his finger in the pie of a number of effects-laden tentpoles that just didn't work out. Most recently came those talks between him and 20^th Century Fox for the Cameron-produced Fantastic Voyage remake. Until, whatever reason, he decided to head to Warner Brothers for Treasure Island.

If Greengrass winds up being Sony's guy for Cleopatra and it being a high-priority, I guess that means Treasure Island fell apart. All this bed-hopping from one tentpole to another (Don't forget for awhile he and Matt Damon were hooking back up for Bourne 4) has us all intrigued as to what he'll settle on.

Gemma Arterton Hunting Witches

Gemma Arterton will co-star next to Jeremy Renner as the brother-and-sister duo turned adult bounty hunters in Hansel & Gretel: Witch Hunters, reports Heat Vision. There is such a thing as context, and I'm certain aware of that. But there’s just that knee-jerk instinctive reaction when I hear of a project like this: "That sounds stupid!"

On the other hand, it could be a Heck of a good romp and, cut to egg in my face. Not the first time that's occurred, as shocking as that might sound.

Production, under the direction of Tommy Wirkola, aiming to start on March 7 in Berlin where Renner will be crunched in between wrapping up Mission: Impossible – Ghost Protocol (Lord save me, what a silly title) and before The Avengers gets going.

Sounds like they really want to beat Abraham Lincoln: Vampire Hunter (a similarly themed project that will also struggle with the public between looking cool and stupid) to the punch. Although not confirmed, Paramount is considering slotting it this Halloween beating Honest Abe by nine months.

McG Playing Ouija

Right before we all left to get shit-faced on eggnog with our families and remind ourselves why we only see these people once, maybe twice, a year, Heat Vision said it was down between Breck Eisner and McG to direct Ouija for Universal.

Now we're back from the holidays and a few days in 2011, and it's over. McG has been declared victorious in his battle for directorial supremacy, as per "TOLDJA" with negotiations soon to be hammered out.

The film written by Adam Horowitz and Edward Kitsis of Tron: Legacy infamy has a November 12, 2012 release and being eyed by Universal as a four-quadrant event film. Production is expected to start this summer.

TMT's Stupid-Ass Predictions

Only four days into 2011, and we at TMT were nerdy enough to think up some predictions. We're putting everything on the line here (which, of course, is nothing) and make our big bold assessments of what will go down in moviedom. Right or wrong (Knowing us, the latter), here are some of the never-so-humble correspondents (three Movie Moaners – Phil, Queen Kristina & Jamie) with their stupid ass predictions.

Phil: Cars 2 becomes the first Pixar film I give a 3 out of 5 rating. I promise I will be honest when the film comes out but this one just does not look substantial in any way. There appears to be no message here, no theme, no real story. It's a spy movie. With cars. I'm sure it will be fun but no more than a solid DreamWorks movie. And let's be honest, if the last trailer were for a film by any other studio than Pixar, we would be pissing all over it. Cars 2 will be passable. Quote me on this people.

Kristina: Inception won't win Best Picture, but it will win more Academy Awards than any other film come Oscar night. It's shaping up to be a "Share the Wealth" Oscar night, since there isn't a Return of the King behemoth this go around. The acting awards are going to get split up between films like Black Swan and The King's Speech, which leaves everything else open for Inception to take. Original Screenplay and Score are pretty much a foregone conclusion unless some major shenanigans occur, and it should clean up in the technical awards. Wally Pfister, Inception's cinematographer, is a favorite of the Academy, having been nominated three times the past for and could possibly win. I'm looking for a minimum of four wins.

Jamie: This guy will be a finalist for Zack Snyder's Superman.

Kristina: Sucker Punch will tank.  Hard.  Kick-Ass and Scott Pilgrim, here we come again, baby. I see no possibly of this crossing over into the mainstream. Geeks will adore it. General audiences will ignore it. Much fanboy weeping will be heard online as Jamie and I cackle in the corner at the continuing disconnect between us nerds and everyone else.

Phil: The "Best Comic Book Movie of the Summer" award will go to Captain America. Bear in mind that my opinion has changed on this several times. I used to think Thor was clearly going to be the superior film. Until I saw the footage. I used to think Green Lantern was in a great place because I love Martin Campbell as a director. Until I saw the footage. I refuse to believe X-Men: First Class will be worth a damn because I've been burned by 20th Century Fox before. The reason I'm starting to get really excited about Captain America is because we've not seen very much. The costume looks great.  The director is solid.  The Red Skull is Hugo friggin Weaving and the idea of a Marvel movie set entirely in WWII has me salivating - praying that it isn't just a two hour prequel to The Avengers. I just sense a confidence in this production that I don't see with the others.  It just looks far more fun and has a better story. Cap is the last comic book movie event of the summer out of the gate and he will be the best.  Quote me on this people.

Jamie: Ghostbusters 3. It's gonna happen. This time it won't be Dan Aykroyd or Harold Ramis talking to thin air for the trillionth time. No, Sony will finally greenlight it, and by this fall, if not the very end of 2011, cameras will roll twenty-two years after we last saw Peter, Ray, Egon and Winston. And we'll all sigh inside. I'm sorry, but I just can't muster up much enthusiasm. The best time to revisit this property would have been back around the end of the 1990s. But 80s nostalgia is still hot with sequels or reboots of our childhood favorites being churned out, and Ghostbusters is the last of the big ones untouched. Until now.

Olivia Wilde Joins Alex Kurtzman's Welcome to People

When you walk away with dignity intact from a crap like Tron: Legacy, you must be OK. And it isn't just because she has a pretty face. No, Olivia Wilde was the only actor to muster up a good performance in the awfully-unnecessary (key words: awful and unnecessary) Tron sequel. Bridges was...Bridges, and Hedlund was "Eh" although not an acting vacuum like some argued.

2011 should open the doors further out for the House, M.D. alum. Everyone knows she's got Jon Favreau's Cowboys & Aliens (It's going to be a surprise hit, I tells ya) and The Change-Up. But the big one for me is Andrew Niccol's Now, one of the few 2011 flicks I'm anticipating.

Risky Business says she's been added to the roster for Alex Kurtzman's directorial debut, Welcome to People. The films centers on a guy (Chris Pine) who has to deliver $150,000 from his dead father's estate to an older sister (Elizabeth Banks) and nephew he never knew existed. Wilde will play Pine's girlfriend.

Filming is expected to start up later this month in Los Angeles.

Jodie Foster Joining Neil Blomkamp's Elysium

It seems like Jodie Foster has a fortunate position in showbiz. She can take a year or so off, live her live, raise her kids, etc. Then come back and headline a movie and nary a person in the general populous will say, "Where have you been?"

So no matter what happens to The Beaver (Perhaps it isn't a dull and generic looking as its trailer suggests and is as good as those who have seen it said), there shouldn't be any doubt she'll keep working.

"TOLDJA" says she's just committed herself to Neil Blomkamp's Elysium. The sci-fi actioner (Mum's the word on plot although it will also have a political-bent like District 9) remains without a distributor. But there won't be a problem for long.

Foster will co-star alongside Sharlto Copley and Matt Damon.

Neither Batman or Superman Will Tap That

Soon-to-be Oscar nominee (Odds of winning look good unless Annette Bening can be pull the sympathy/"career win" card) and bun-firmly-cooking-in-oven Natalie Portman has denied those The Dark Knight Rises and Superman: The Man of Steel rumors.

Regarding the Superman reboot, she remarked "What is that? No, I haven't heard anything" followed by "Oh, I don't know anything about that" regarding the third Christopher Nolan/Christian Bale Batman outing. This comes from Entertainment Weekly (via Coming Soon).

There shouldn't be any doubt the studios (Warner Brothers/Legendary Pictures) and filmmakers (Nolan and Zack Snyder) have thrown her name around. But, she'll most likely spend 2011 getting married, being preggers, attending the Oscars and promoting her slate of flicks hitting this year. Doubt she'll use her free time doing a big comic-book tentpole – especially when she has one already coming out this summer and from an opposing studio/comic property, no less (Thor).

Shameless Avengers Whoring Continues - Hawkeye Appearing in Thor

Things are finally getting back to normal with the holidays over. Although we still have to deal with ball-shrinkingly cold weather, Goddamnit. But we apologize for having led in our asses last week what with next-to-nothing going on and bullshitting with our families and so forth. So besides what hits today, it's catch-up time at Think McFly Think.

You might have heard we're getting an Avengers movie in May 2012. It was only shoved down our throats at the end of The Incredible Hulk and plenty of wasted time/bullshit setup in Iron Man 2.

They say it's totally gonna rock and all because Joss Whedon is directing (He's a fanboy Messiah I'm told for reasons that can't be logically explained) and it has all the superheroes everyone wants to see together fighting bad guys. If the heroes in question were Hugh Jackman's Wolverine, Christian Bale's Batman, Tobey Maguire's Spider-Man, somebody as Superman and Downey's Iron Man. The general public would lose their shit over such a movie, but thank you very much asshole rival studios for not making that movie.

Alas, you'll have to settle for Shellhead, two unproven onscreen heroes (Chris Evans as Captain America and Chris Hemsworth as Thor – both solo flicks hitting this summer), Marc Ruffalo as the angry green giant and Jeremy Renner as Hawkeye.

The Wrap says to expect Jeremy Renner in Thor. A mole alleges to have seen an early cut of Kenneth Branagh’s epic, and Renner pops up. Because Marvel didn't waste enough time already stopping the movie just to tell us idiots in the audience, "SETUP!"

Judi Dench Joining Clint Eastwood's J. Edgar

Like her blunt instrument Daniel Craig, Dame Judi Dench can’t sit and wait for the next James Bond to roll around. Even though all signs point to that proposed November 2012 release being a reality now that MGM has $500 million stuffed in their pockets.

In the meantime, she'll be joining Leonardo DiCaprio, Armie Hammer, Damon Herriman and, probably, Charlize Theron for Clint Eastwood's J. Edgar Hoover biopic. The info came straight from Eastwood while speaking to Sandwich John Films. Although he wasn't forthcoming about whom the Oscar-winner would be playing.

Production on J. Edgar is expected to commence this February.

Universal Ramping Up Death Race 3

Got a couple of bucks left from Christmas or Hanukkah, and don't know what to piss it away on, and that game you really wanted is still sold out? Why not pick up Death Race 2?

In a few weeks, you should notice it when you walk around Best Buy mumbling about how Donkey Kong Country Returns isn't back in stock. Alright, so I didn't see the original 1970s cult favorite with David Carradine and a pre-Rocky Sly ditto the 2008 Paul W.S. Anderson/Jason Statham remake. But that's beside the point.

Movie Hole reports Universal is confident their direct-to-video sequel will score some smackeroos (and that is a viable arena to make a profit with cheap genre flicks) as they’re already developing plans for a third one. It's also said to be getting good reviews thanks to its action and supporting cast of past bad-asses Sean Bean, Ving Rhames and Danny Trejo.

Whether any of them show up for Death Race 3 is unknown - probably not if I had to guess. They're all dead by the end of the movie, right? So they'll probably have to line up other classically trained direct-to-video thesps like John Cena or Dolph Lundgren.