Inception & Batman III Updates

Did you really think that the "contemporary sci-fi actioner set within the architecture of the mind" description was going to enough for people? Now that the teaser trailer for Inception is out, In Contention reveals plot-details of the still-under-lock-and-key film.

To be fair, there's only one genuine spoiler and we're not talking the original "Marcus Wright becomes John Connor" ending to Terminator: Salvation here. It's more like what gets the plot going, and something that will most-likely be given away come time to promote the film next summer. Everything else is basically character-descriptions and what we've already suspected based on the above-mentioned teaser. So check it out at your own risk.

As for that "other" film he might do next (aka Batman III), Aint-It-Cool-News has received a tip that Nolan might shoot the third installment 100% in IMAX. Granted to do such a thing would be quiet expensive. But I could definitely see there being some truth to this. Such a challenge could be what convinces Nolan to return to Gotham City.

And considering the reported $200+ million they're forking over for Inception, it's clear that Warner Brothers wishes to remain in the Christopher Nolan business.

Hancock Sequel Moving Forward

What originally began as Will Smith fulfilling a long time desire to play a superhero (working off a decade old script deemed unfilmable by the industry) looks to be a full fledged franchise for Sony now. That's right, folks. A sequel to Hancock appears to be in our future.

THR reveals the studio has commissioned screenwriters Adam Fierro and Glen Mazzara to torpedo ideas with Smith and director Peter Berg. In fact, Berg first revealed plans were underway last week to Sci-Fi Wire with the intention to "elaborate on the film's mythology." One only assumes that means we won't see the return of Eddie Marsan's Lex Luthor/Captain Hook hybrid villain.

Of course, does it matter that Hancock was a clutterfuck mess of a movie and blatantly mismarketed to the general public? Superman as a drunk asshole the film wasn't. People love Will Smith. He's without question the biggest movie-star in the world (hence the $630 million box-office).

So if he wants to revisit Hancock, there's no way in Hell Sony is going to say otherwise.

Captain Jack and the Search for Huggies

With plans moving full-steam ahead on the Rob Marhsall-helmed (and Orlando Bloom & Keira Knightley-absent) Pirates of the Caribbean 4, Hollywood Elsewhere confirms what many suspected towards the fourquel's "plot."

As suggested in the closing moments of At World's End, Captain Jack Sparrow is going after the fountain of youth. Although it appears highly probable, still no word on whether or not Geoffrey Rush's Barbossa will return to shore. In terms of an antagonist for everyone's favorite gay-pirate, the site reveals plans for a "Captain Nemo-type villain utilizing new-style technology."

That seems suspicious considering (last we checked) Disney was making a potential franchise for the Nautilus' captain with McG. Maybe that project's stalled thus enabling the Mouse to utalize the character. Or perhaps all is well on the 20,000 Under the Sea prequel and the studio just wants to have both.

John Landis & Simon Pegg - Need I Say More?

In what appears to be the best meeting since chocolate and peanut butter, Dread Central reports that John Landis will finally step out of "Director Jail" and team up with Simon Pegg. The subject matter will be a return to form for Landis (horror/comedy) as the film will detail the story of Burke and Hare.

Long story short, Irish immigrants William Burke and William Hare killed quite a few people during the 1800s while cashing in their homicidal rampage by selling the corpses of their victims to the Edinburgh Medical College. I mean, doctors in training do need test subjects in order to learn!

Landis only seems to show up for retrospectives of past-glories (he was as quick-witted and chatty as ever on Larry King Live the night Michael Jackson died). On the other hand, Pegg is currently going quiet the career-high with Star Trek (and its sequel that should start filming next year) and the forthcoming Tintin and Paul.

The only question arises now is who will co-star with Pegg? I love those guys together, but let's think of someone other than Nick Frost please.

BioShock Gets New Director

Ahh, the video game movie. For every Street Fighter: The Legend of Chun-Li, you get a Super Mario Bros. That's not a good thing, of course. It's quiet the nut that's yet to be cracked by studios. Such the challenge in fact that even Steven Spielberg looks to be throwing his hat in the ring.

Variety confirms what many of us figured months ago. Gore Verbinski will no longer direct BioShock but will remain on-board in a producing capacity. His replacement comes in the form of 28 Weeks Later helmer Juan Carlos Fresnadillo.

For those with hazy memories, Universal originally pulled the plug citing budget concerns with everyone (including Verbinski himself) insisting the film wasn't dead. Seems to me (and maybe I'm reading too much into it), that the studio took note with what happened with Neil Blomkamp on Halo in their decision to go for a lesser-known talent for BioShock.

Is Sam Worthington Headed Under the Sea?

While still talking outta his ass about doing the originally-planned-but-no-longer-in-the-cards Terminator: Salvation sequel, McG made brief mention (to IGN Movies) of casting his lead Sam Worthington for 20,000 Leagues Under the Sea: Captain Nemo. Of course, McG's first choice (by his own admission) was "King of July 4th Weekend" Will Smith who shot down the offer.

In the meantime, Movie Hole had a chat with Worthington who gave his $.02 on the matter:

"We haven’t discussed it seriously. I wrote him an email and he wrote back saying ‘I don’t think you have these qualities, blah, blah..’ and I wrote back saying ‘it’s your job as a director to bring it out of me.’"

All this talk of Worthington (who was perfectly fine in Salvation but nothing to trully write home about) still feels like studio-driven hype. But he was able to walk away from the film relatively unscathed. Plus, he still had Avatar and the Clash of the Titans remake for the general public to vote with their wallets on what they think of him.

As for who would play Captain Nemo in the 20,000 Leagues prequel, my money is still on Dwyane Johnson. He's well-liked by audiences, a bargain to get (compared to Will Smith) and already has a relationship with Disney.

Ian McKellen Gives Hobbit Update

Is it me or does it feel weird that The Hobbit will hit cinemas 10 years after The Fellowship of the Ring was first released? Christ, has time flown by.

Last night, a special IMAX marathon screening of The Lord of the Rings trilogy (in their Extended Editions, no less) took place with a special introducion from Gandalf himself (aka Sir Ian McKellen). According to a report from /film, McKellen wasn't just there to talk about how much they loved working with Peter Jackson all those years ago.

Oh no, he gave a status of the two-part Hobbit film. The juicy tidbit being that Guillermo del Toro, Peter Jackson & Co. have in fact cast Bilbo Baggins. Being the wise wizard he is, McKellen confirms that he too knows the identity of the actor in question while reassuring the audience that they'd be "very, very pleased."

With production slated to start up early next year back in New Zealand (where else would it be?), it shouldn't be too long till we too officially learn who will be taking over the role of Ian Holm. Maybe those rumors of David Tennant are true, perhaps?

Movie Moan - Bastards on Basterds

A podcast 15 years in the making. Not really, but Jamie's been waiting that long for the two films thoroughly discussed on this week's edition of Movie Moan here at Think McFly Think.

Along with Phil, Ed and Lou, they review Quentin Tarantino's long-awaited WWII epic Inglorious Basterds. Jamie thinks it's Tarantino's honest-to-Christ masterpiece while the others "only" thought it was really, really good. Lines are drawn, words are said and nothing will ever be the same for our heroes.

Oh, and that "other" long-anticipated film discussed is James Cameron's Avatar. You good folks might have heard of the film. It's only been speculated about forever on the Internet. Phil was lucky enough to attend an IMAX screening on "Avatar Day" and gives his thoughts on the 15 minutes of 3-D footage presented in addition to everyone's reaction to the theatrical trailer.

In addition, the guys discuss a hypothetical Aquaman movie (brought up by an article from TMT's own Michael Martinez), an X-Files reboot in the works, the ultimate chick-flick, the Wolfman trailer and Bryan Singer's obsession with remaking films from his childhood. We also learn the shocking revelation that Phil's favorite actor is James Woods (!?!) and Jamie's undying man-love for Sean Connery. Thank God Ed and Lou are normal.

And what would any discussion with Phil and Jamie be without Superman being brought up. The Felix & Oscar of podcasts briefly chat up the possibly of James McTeigue directing the next film and a series of Japanese car commercials featuring Chuck actor (and former Supes candidate) Matthew Bomer donning the red-and-blue suit.

Movie Moan - Bastards on Basterds

Shutter Island Pushed Back to 2010

Talk about a surprise move that nobody saw coming! Paramount has decided to move Shutter Island (the fourth collaboration between Martin Scorsese and Leonardo DiCaprio) away from its prime October 2009 release to February 19th of next year.

The exclusive news comes way of Nikki Finke's Deadline Hollywood Daily. So there's no two-ways around it. This is legit. Of course, the next logical question to ask is, "Does that mean the movie sucks?" Citing very high test scores and Scorsese's ability to get the film down to a more commerical-friendly two-hour running length, Finke's source(s) reveals that it's not an issue of the film's quality.

A combination of lack of an advertising budget to push Island for awards-considerations as well as DiCaprio being unavailable (currently filming Inception with Christopher Nolan) to promote the film are said to be the culprits.

The Screenwriter's Ultimatum

For awhile there, it looked like we wouldn't be getting Bourne 4 despite the popularity and success (both critically and commercially) of the trilogy. The studio had hired George Nolfi for scripting duties with the plan to hand in his first draft by June. Director Paul Greengrass and Matt Damon agreed to return and a Summer 2011 release date was set.

Well, June came and went, and Damon revealed he never got a script nor did he know where things stood on the film. As per THR, Universal has now gone ahead and hired Josh Zetumer to write his own script separate from what Nolfi had been working up.

So what happened to the guy? He's been knee-deep working on The Adjustment Bureau (interestingly enough also with Damon attached to star) with little-to-no time to finish up his draft. Fair enough.

I'm pretty apprehensive about Bourne 4 to be honest. They've got come up with the right motivation towards bringing Jason Bourne back into the world. He knows who he is and the world believes he's dead. And there's just no way one can top that perfect closing shot of Ultimatum with Bourne swimming towards the dark abyss - effectively leaving him where we were first introduced to the character in 2002's Identity.