"Crank" Directors taking on Ghost Rider?

Heat Vision is reporting that Mark Neveldine and Brian Taylor are in early negotiations to direct Columbia’s “Ghost Rider: Spirit of Vengeance,” the sequel to the studio’s 2007 supernatural action movie starring the Marvel Comics character.

Also in early negotiations is Nicolas Cage to reprise his role as Johnny Blaze aka Ghost Rider. The plot is being kept very secretive right now, but what is known is the story comes from David Goyer (Batman Begins, The Dark Knight). Goyer is also exec producing the project.

The studio has plans to start filming this January. They're under a strict time limit right now where the rights to the franchise could be reverted to Marvel if they don't get production underway right away.

Neveldine and Taylor are writers as well as directors, but no word yet on whether they'll be doing re-writes as well. They're best known for directing the two Jason Statham action flicks Crank and it's sequel. They also served as writers for WB's upcoming cheesefest Jonah Hex.

If you didn't like the first Ghost Rider then you'll probably hate this. With the team behind Crank and Jonah Hex directing/ possibly re-writing, and David Goyer having written the screenplay, it's sure to be a super fun flick!

Robert Rodriguez Offered To Direct 'Deadpool'

It seems like the spin off to the very "meh" Wolverine Origins known as Deadpool has not been forgotten after all. Right around the time that Fox had hired writers and set plans in place to move forward with a Deadpool film starring Ryan Reynolds, Warner Bros snatched him up for the lead in their Green Lantern feature due out next year.

Well even with Reynolds already headlining one superhero franchise at WB, Fox still has plans to move forward with Deadpool. They've apparently made an offer to Director Robert Rodriguez. Nothing concrete has been set in place yet, but an offer is out. Fox must be happy with what they've seen from the predators remake being produced by Rodriguez, because this isn't the first big project they've offered him. He was also offered to direct the Planet of the Apes prequel, but he turned it down.

I think He'd be a great choice to direct, but at this point I don't see Reynolds coming back to the project anytime soon. And I know everyone wondered why WB/DC especially would be willing to let one of their superhero leads also star in the competitions film simultaneously. Well my guess is that was never their plan. They seem to be very confident with the Green Lantern, so much so they've already hired writers to pen the sequel.

Does this mean that Reynolds will be too busy on Green Lantern 2 to start production? Probably, which means Deadpool will likely fall into development hell eventually, or they'll be forced to find a new lead.

Will Peter Jackson Direct 'The Hoibbit'?

According to Deadline's "sources" Warner bros and MGM are intent on having Peter Jackson return to the directors chair for the franchise he started with the nearly 3 billion grossing Lord of The Rings franchise.

In other obvious news Warner would also like Chris Nolan to direct Batman 3, but of course that seems much more likely. Anyways, back to The Hobbit, it's already a well known fact that Jackson is just too damn busy to take over as director of two more movies right now. He's directing Tin Tin 2 next year, the sequel to the motion capture adaption he's producing with Spielberg. As well as a million other projects in development. Not to mention I seem to remember them saying just recently he couldn't come back if he wanted to, due to contractual obligations.

They're saying that other directors are interested in the job as well. Of course they are, but that means nothing at this point. The Hobbit is currently in, and will remain in development hell.

I've already pointed out the facts in The Hobbit's ultimate demise in my weekly series The Anderson Chronicles. But for those of you still holding on to that bit of hope that something will come together for this franchise, I'd let go now. There'll be no movement on this project any time in the near future. At best you could expect an entirely different take some point down the road from a different creative team.

I know some of you are saying, well what about Sir Ian McKellen's comments via twitter just last week. For those of you who don't know, He said:

"Hobbit' sets are ready, script ready and movie is casting this month. Fans are not to worry. The films will get made. I suspect we'll start shooting at end of this year."

I take those comments about as serious as I take Tom Arnold when he says to expect True Lies 2.

Box Office Actuals June 11-13

Karate kid and A team were both slightly over estimated, but the former still kicked some serious ass regardless. Like Jen pointed out Karate Kid will likely perform well through the summer. It's definitely sad that A Team opened so poorly, it really is a fun flick.

Next week look for Toy story 3 to take the number one spot, and put up some huge numbers. While Jonah Hex is also opening I'm not expecting much, maybe third if they're lucky...

1. The Karate Kid (Sony) - $55.6 million

2. The A-Team (20th Century Fox) - $25.6 million

3. Shrek Forever After (DreamWorks Animation/Paramount) - $15.7 million

4. Get Him to the Greek (Universal) - $9.9 million

5. Killers (LIonsgate) - $8 million

6. Prince of Persia: The Sands of Time (Disney) - $6.4 million

7. Marmaduke (20th Century Fox) - $6 million

8. Sex and the City 2 (New Line/WB) - $5.4 million

9. Iron Man 2 (Marvel/Paramount) - $4.5 million

10. Splice (Warner Bros.) - $2.9 million

Be sure to check back to TMT on Wednesday for this coming weekends predictions, and again on Sunday for the estimates from Jen.

Liam Neeson Doing a 'Taken' sequel?

Taken was a small film that went on to be a breakout hit at the box office. It got mixed reviews from critics and audiences, but was still a major success. I personally thought it was all kinds of awesome. But I have to say without Liam Neeson I don't think it would have worked nearly as well.

One thing I never thought would come from Taken's success was a sequel. Given the story didn't really allow for it to go anywhere else come the end of the first film. Well that may change, MTV talked to Neeson while he was promoting the A Team, and they asked him about the possibility of a Taken sequel. To Which Neeson said "it'll be hard to get a plot that will be believable." Which came off really weird seeing as the first film wasn't all that believable to begin with. Never the less he goes on to say that he'll be meeting with producer Luc Besson later this month. Fingers crossed that something comes together.

Two more Names for Spider-Man!

Just a few weeks ago it was revealed that Sony had their eye on five different actors for Spider-Man in the Marc Webb directed reboot set for release in 2012.

Then last week it was rumored that Jamie Bell had nabbed the role. Yet no official confirmation or denial for that matter ever came from Sony.

Now there appears to be two more names to add to the never ending list of candidates. The Los Angeles Times says Aaron Johnson (star of Kick-Ass) and Anton Yelchin (Chekov from Star Trek) are the next two stars to be added to the list.

They both fit right into in the proper age category, and for the most part even look the role to some extent. The biggest problem with this for me is Yelchin will be filming Star Trek 2 around the same time Spidey goes into production, and Johnson was already in talks to star in the upcoming X-Men First Class next year. As Jamie over at IESB points out, isn't three comic-book related franchises a bit much for the British actor?

Before this turns into the casting rumor nightmare that was Captain America recently I hope they just make it official and announce who will play Spider-Man in the rebbot noone asked for.

If you ask me I'm still leaning towards Josh Hutcherson for the role. Time will tell...

Clash Of The Titans 2 Moving Forward

 

Because you never asked for it, and I doubt you care. The Los Angeles Times   reports Warner Bros. and production house Legendary Pictures are in talks to start shooting the sequel to Louis Letterier's remake of Clash of the Titans as early as next January with director Jonathan Liebesman as the most likely to take over.

Clash of the Titans has grossed $486.8 million worldwide despite being an overrated piece garbage. That especially goes double for the post converted 3D version. With returning star Sam Worthington set to start filming the sequel to Avatar late next year Warner would like to have him locked for Clash first, while there's still interest in a sequel from the fans they burned with the first one.

Apparently the sequel will be filmed in 3D this time around as opposed to the post converted crap they gave us with the very average remake that the first installment was. It has yet to be determined as to whether Liam Neeson or Ralph Fiennes will reprise their roles as Zues and Hades respectively. My guess is they're not interested, but I could be wrong.

Transformers 3: Revenge of the 3D

With Transformers 3 still over a year away and production having just started Michael Bay is intent on convincing fans he will finish the trilogy with the dignity it started with. After last years ridiculous Transformers: the Revenge of the Fallen it didn't seem like the franchise could be redeemed. But Bay knows he dropped the ball, and he plans to right that wrong with this third entry into the franchise.

In a recent set visit that USA Today had on Transformers 3, they spoke to Michael Bay and Producer Lorenzo Di Bonaventura about what we can expect. They also confirmed the already obvious that it will be shot in and released in 3D.

The villain this time around will be Shockwave, the robot cyclops-turned-laser-cannon, who became dictator of their home world of Cybertron after the other Autobots and Decepticons journeyed to Earth.

Rosie Huntington-Whiteley will be the new love interest for Sam Witwicky (Shia LaBeouf) as earlier reported. The one thing they didn't however mention was whether or not Megan Fox is brutally murdered in the opening sequence.

The plot involves the space race between the U.S.S.R. and the USA. Which to be honest sounds a lot more interesting than what they've done with the previous two films. According to Bay The movie is more of a mystery, and it has a really killer ending. I'm not getting my hopes too high either, because I'm sure he also thought Revenge of the Fallen was great until everyone told him otherwise.

Batman 3 Starts Shooting In March

We're still two years away from the follow up to The Dark Knight, and we're getting a ton of casting rumors, but nothing really concrete or any actual announcements about the film have been made, like the title.

Well in an off hand comment Geoff Boucher of HeroComplex let slip that Batman is shooting this coming March. "I plan to ask him about the third Batman film, which starts shooting in March". 

I don't know for a fact that Geoff is in the know, but my guess is we can take his word for it on this one. It's been speculated widely already that filming would begin early next year, and with a July 2012 release date now set, this should really come as no surprise.

I know the Batman fanboys will be happy to hear anything at this point. So I would suggest checking back after this weekend to see what Nolan had to say if anything at all about Batman 3 at the Hero Complex Film Festival.

My guess is until at least comic con we won't get any real news from Nolan other than his usual non-answers, but you never know...

ET On the Set of Thor!

Entertainment Tonight visited the set of Marvel Studios' Thor and has posted their first video of what will most likely be multiple ones. This one gives you a first look at the sets, Anthony Hopkins as Odin, plus interviews with Chris Hemsworth, Natalie Portman and director Kenneth Branagh. The comic book adaptation opens in theaters on May 6, 2011.

It looks like Hemsworth really beefed up for the role, and they make a point of mentioning that in the interviews. The only shot of Thor in his full suit was in the distance and somewhat out of focus, so the jury is still out on whether or not they pulled that off. But from the look of everything else in the on set interview, and talking to Branagh, I'm much more on board now then I was a few days ago after the leak of that pathetic concept art.