Chevy Chase & Beverly D'Angelo Go On Another Vacation

If this doesn’t cement another Vacation movie getting made, nothing else will.

US Weekly has received word that Chevy Chase and Beverly D'Angelo will return as ill-fated vacationers Clark and Ellen Griswold. Interestingly enough, this isn’t for the recently announced Rusty Griswold-centric Vacation sequel.

The characters will instead headline a series of ads for HomeAway vacation rentals. The first of these will make its debut on February 7, 2010. That’s right – the Superbowl where my very own New Orleans Saints will probably show up and kick the other team’s ass.

I’m sure the ad will go over well, but announcing this ahead of time does take away from the element of surprise these Superbowl ads are well-known for. But that’s a minor quibble.

It’ll probably be considered one of the better commercials that air that day. It also solidifies that both actors are ready and willing to cameo in the fifth Vacation film as previously speculated.

Chuck Versus January 10

Rejoice, Nerd-Herders. Chuck is back.

NBC has officially announced (via The Live Feed) that our hero will once again hit our screens starting January 10. We can expect two episodes back-to-back that night with it filling its regular 8 P.M. slot beginning on January 11.

Despite its lagging ratings, the network (to their credit) has promoted the show like a champ since the beginning. This third season will, no doubt, continue that trend. So you better just used to the overload of Chuck promotion starting about now.

The show’s always been nerd-friendly. I mean what other series would have Reginald VelJohnson reprise his Sgt. Al Powell character in an episode homaging you guessed it, Die Hard. The guest-stars this coming season include the Man of Steel (Brandon Routh), Lana Lang (Kristin Kreuk), the T-1000 (Robert Patrick), A.D.A. Abbie Carmichael (Angie Harmon – that’s a Law & Order reference), “Stone Cold” Steve Austin (Steve Austin) and the Juggernaut (Vinnie Jones), bitch.

As crazy as I will sound, I'd already put money down that NBC gives Chuck a fourth season. The network is bleeding for programming now. Hence why they ordered more episodes of their expensive bomb Trauma (broken by Deadline Hollywood) - even after they had already canceled it (!) Plus they're going to need to fill slots after the highly probable cancelation of The Jay Leno Show at the end of this season.

That would automatically open up five slots. Plus Trauma and Mercy are already dead in the water with little to no shot of returning next fall. That's now seven hours of programming to fill and as horrible as their decisions have been even NBC wouldn't fill all of that with brand-new shows. Hence my feeling on why Chuck will be safe. We'll see. I could end up being dead wrong about this.

All of that aside, enjoy this new season three promo the Peacock network put up:

Stick A Fork In Chris Weitz?

Chris Weitz being hired to direct the high-profile Twilight sequel New Moon was nothing short of an act of God. I’m absolutely not taking a swipe at the guy. But let’s face it, his previous feature The Golden Compass was nut-job expensive and wound up being nothing short of a disaster here in the U.S. commercially. The fact that it actually turned out a solid profit internationally is beside the point. That single film will unfairly be forever labeled as “the film that brought down New Line Cinema.”

Despite all of that, Summit turned to him of all people to fast-track New Moon into development for its pre-determined November 2009 release. After the beating Weitz took and the “You’re only as good as your last movie” mentality in Hollywood, you tell me that’s not a miracle. He’ll have an easier time taking meetings after this weekend when New Moon will in all probability open anywhere from $85 to $100 million. At the very least, he’ll get plenty of offers.

But it could be all for naught if this turns out to be more than just talk. In a recent interview conducted with MovieMaker, Weitz confesses he’s about ready to call it a day with directing in the near future. At least after his next film which is expected to be an L.A. set half English/half Spanish script The Gardener.

Again that’s assuming this is more than talk. I don’t know his heart and his experience on Compass can be thanked for him being in his mind-set. He’s had his hand involved with a number of very good films like In Good Company and About A Boy. So if Weitz is as good as his word and walks, that’s not exactly something to be happy about, folks.

Lorenzo di Bonaventura Developing Nicholas Flamel

For every Lord of the Rings and Harry Potter, we’re subjected to a handful of Eragons and Golden Compasses. As much as studios and producers try, it’s near impossible to replicate the success of the former. They’re lucky if their property makes a third of your average Potter installment no less gets a sequel produced. But that will never stop them from trying again and again. Here, ladies and gentlemen, is yet another attempt.

Variety reports that big-wig producer (and former Warner Brothers big-cheese) Lorenzo di Boneventura has purchased the film rights to The Secrets of the Immortal Nicholas Flamel. I’ve never heard of it either. Then again, I remember during my Screen-Rant days Kofi Outlaw was talking about how Twilight (or as I referred to it “some emo-teenage vampire thing”) was going to kick ass at the box-office. I thought he was nuts. Me = fail.

It’s apparently a six-book series about teenage twins who roam the world going on adventures with the title-character. They save the world a couple of times, I’m sure. Not trying to take a dump on the Flamel books (or Twilight for that matter), but it’s all Greek to me. It’s not my cup of coffee to begin with. So there’s no need of me “hating” it despite never reading a single word of either book series. Meh.

DiBoneventura himself has had great success with the Transformers films and G.I. Joe as of late. He also helped secure the rights to the Harry Potter series at the end of the 90s during his tenure at Warner Brothers. So the hope is he can sprinkle the same kind of magic for another fantasy book series at another studio. Good luck to them. But lightening rarely strikes twice, folks.

Eddie Murphy Finally Returning to R-Rated Comedy?

Eddie Murphy has spoken every so often of his desire to return to the stand-up circuit in addition to the R-rated comedies that made him a bona fide movie-star back in the early ‘80s. Well he says that. Cut to him staring in half a dozen or so family comedies that audiences avoid. It’s especially ironic he’s been in this rut because The Nutty Professor (a family-friendly comedy) was his career-comeback after a string of his R-rated comedies bombed.

Will the once great comedian turn the tide for a third time? I hope so. But going off his track-record, I won’t hold my breath. I mean we’re no closer to the much talked-up Beverly Hills Cop IV despite the commitment of Brett Ratner to direct, multiple screenwriters having worked on it and an officially announced May 2010 release.

 Risky Business reports the comedian is giving it another go nonetheless. He’s attached to produce (and maybe possibly potentially star in) The Misadventures of Fluffy. Before you roll your eyes, this is said to be an R-rated comedy. You know, like the kinds Murphy used to make. The basic story description entails a Manhattan road trip. With talking animals.

So if you were disappointed with the lack of celebrity-voiced animals saying “Mother fucker!” in Doctor Dolittle, you’re in the luck. The rest of us will just scratch our heads and try to convince the youth of today how Eddie Murphy used to be a comedy god.

Someone Already Being Considered For Khan In Star Trek 2?

The last two weeks worth of rumors have been all about Spider-Man 4 casting. It’s time for another high-profile sequel to get some press. With Star Trek now out on home video, the “What about the sequel?” questions are only going to get worse for J.J. Abrams and his team. Honestly, the “We’re just in the early stages of writing” fallback answer is becoming harder to believe. This has got to be in an outline form, at least.

A rumor’s been whispered into the ear of Coming Soon stating that Abrams not only may have Khan (*Sigh*) as the villain for Trek 2. But he’s already said to have an actor in mind. Nestor Carbonell isn’t someone audiences know by name. But they’ve definitely seen him around in both film and television. His most recognized role is that of Richard Alpert on Lost (not coincidentally was co-created and produced by Abrams) and Mayor Garcia in The Dark Knight. He's said to be J.J.'s favorite for the part.

The site is quick to point out this is 100% a rumor and it has still yet to be determined if the genetically engineered arch-nemesis of Captain Kirk (the old pre-rebooted Kirk that is) will even appear. Assuming this is legit, they wouldn’t be talking about candidates for the role if he wasn’t going to show up in some capacity.

If we do get confirmation to expect a rebooted version of Khan for the Star Trek sequel, I’ll just die a little on the inside for the lack of originality – especially coming outta Abrams who made the first film work with his casting and direction despite its (at times) retarded plot.

Julia Stiles Also A Spider-Man 4 Contender

I could make a “Ten Things I Hate About Spider-Man” opening line, but I won’t. That’s expected and frankly beneath you good readers - unless you’re one of those dumbshit ones.

Because we didn’t have enough casting rumors about Spider-Man 4 after the publicly denying Rachel McAdams to Romola Garai (who by publicly admitting that she had done a screen-test essentially said, “No, I didn’t get the role!”), comes yet another candidate for Black Cat. UGO Movie Blog has their own scoop towards the sequel none of us truly care about.

According to their contact(s), Julia Stiles recently met with a New York-based casting company about possibly coming aboard Spider-Man 4. She would presumably be in the running for Felicia Hardy. Hold on just a second, folks. I have to let this out: Ugh. There I feel better.

Assuming this actually moves beyond the “early talks/consideration” stage (which all it is right now and 9 times out of 10 results in a bag full of nothing), Stiles can’t really act. She stuck out like a sore thumb in the Bourne films. Although she did improve with the last film The Bourne Ultimatum. If the fanboys thought they had it bad with Kirsten Dunst’s Mary Jane Watson (who contrary to popular belief was perfectly fine in the first two films), I don’t know what they’d think of Stiles as Black Cat.

But again, this is still early on. There will most likely be yet another actress (established or unknown) whose name will be brought up for Spider-Man 4. Wake me up when Sony and Sam Raimi actually cast the damn part.

Mad Mel Talks Mad Max 4

You have to wonder how people would have reacted had George Miller said, “Mel Gibson is absolutely coming back for Mad Max 4! You thought I was going to recast that part?” Of course, that didn’t happen and the iconic hero is planning to return in a fourth installment with British actor Tom Hardy taking the mantle.

While promoting the Blu-Ray release of his Oscar-winning epic Braveheart (good film, but I was never nuts about it), Gibson talked about Fury Road to the Herald Sun:

“I was just talking with George the other day, he dropped me a line, so you kind of keep in touch with them and see what they’re up to.”

Although Mad Mel was quick to dismiss his return to the leather-clad suit once again saying, “You need somebody who can get around a bit quicker.” My guess is Miller initially went to him when he finally secured financing but Gibson opted out. Thereby explaining the casting of one Mr. Hardy who I’m sure will be fine in the role.

As recently as 2003 Miller and Gibson were set to make Fury Road with filming to commence overseas - I think in Morocco, correct me if I’m wrong. But once the Iraq War Part Deux started, all studios got skittish towards an expensive production taking place on the other side of the world. Hence the plug was pulled.

So if you really wanted to see Gibson return, you can blame Saddam Hussein. But don’t worry, kids. Our pal Saddam is burning in Hell right now for his crimes against humanity and we’re still getting a new Mad Max movie. So it all worked out.

Batman 3 News Coming. Maybe. Probably.

If some loser-twerp says, “News is coming! I can’t say what it is, but its coming I tells ya!” that’s not news and they’re obviously just making shit up. Like the kind Peter was referring to in his Separating the Men From the Fanboys article from yesterday.

However if it’s a non-moron like Bill Ramey (aka Jett) over at Batman-On-Film and he actually talks about what we should expect to hear, then it is news, boys and girls. See? That wasn’t so hard to distinguish. Granted this is stuff everyone figured would take place but still. According to his source(s) (and citing “scuttlebutt”), any agreement between Christopher Nolan and Warner Brothers for Batman 3 should be signed, sealed and delivered by as early as January 2010.

I'm weary of this "An annoucement is coming!" type of news. What happens if January comes and goes and nothing happens? Are we prone for the go-to "Well, things change!" response/excuse. I'm taking Jett at his word here. But that's a fair and realistic question to pose, folks.

They also add, "the longer we don't here a Nolan/B3 announcement in 2010, the less likely it is that the director will return." That's a given though. But still we get what Jett (and his sources) is saying.

If Nolan is returning for a third trip to the director's chair (and I personally think he is), the best thing they can do is just go ahead and announce the damn thing. Give everyone some basic information like the title, release date, Christian Bale wearing the cape and cowl again, Jonah Nolan and David Goyer returning to write, etc. and leave it at that. Don't go into anymore details for the time being.

Then Warner Brothers and Nolan can spend the rest of their time promoting Inception and if some dipshit (like you know, MTV Movies Blog) asks about Batman 3, they just point to the previously unveiled information and leave it at that.

James McTeigue Keeps Talking Superman - For Some Reason

For any filmmaker, nerd, fanboy, etc. saying, “If I did the next Superman movie, I’d make it different from the last one. You know I’d make it dark and stuff,” then you actually didn’t sit through Bryan Singer’s Superman Returns. No matter your opinion on its quality (or lack thereof), Singer tried to balance the well beloved and established myth of Krypton’s Last Son with a more realistic angle and edge (i.e. giving Supes and Lois a little boy, Lex gutting the Man of Steel with a kryptonite ice-pick, etc.)

So it was interesting when director James McTeigue said a few months back how he’d make Kal-El dark (here and here). Oy vey. To be fair, the difference between him and say, oh I don’t know Mark Millar is he had an actual chance of making a new Superman film. He’s not just talking outta his ass for attention unlike that press-whoring, bullshit-spreader. But that was a couple of months back.

Now MTV caught up with McTeigue while he’s making the rounds for Ninja Assassins. There was no way they weren’t going to ask him about Superman and that they did:

“It's in a weird place at the moment. They're trying to work out what they're doing. Warner Brothers is trying to figure out their next move on it. There's some things you can do with the 'Superman' franchise, there's other things you can't do. So it hasn't gone anywhere."

So this is obvious non-news and it’s merely a reiteration of Warner Brothers/DC’s “No current plans” status from yester-month. At least, he’s moved past his “I can neither confirm nor deny” answer. Will we get another Superman movie? Absolutely. Will the Man of Steel fly into cinemas anytime soon like 2011? Doubtful.