Full Length Trailer For Pixar's 'UP'

This really is a magical trailer in a week full of big trailers that were superbly executed. The sheer charm and feel good vibes coming from this movie are palatable and no doubt Dug the Dog will become a firm favourite with audiences. Last year Pixar delivered arguably their best and certainly most ambitious film in 'WALL E', and while 'UP' may not quite reach that plateau, it certainly looks like another winner from the studio that can do no wrong.

'UP' opens May 29th, you can check the trailer out below.

Sergei Bodrov takes Zack Snyder's 'Photograph' for Warner Brothers

Sergei Bodrov, the Russian Helmer of the epic 'Mongol' has signed on to direct a movie based on a concept by current fanboy favourite and 'Watchmen' director Zack Snyder according to Variety. Kurt Johnstad wrote the script that centers on two men who are inspired by a photograph to go to war torn Afghanistan.

So it's all pretty vague but could be interesting and is another feather in the cap for Snyder who is becoming a force in Hollywood. He will produce with partner Deborah Snyder and Hollywood Gang's Gianni Nunnari. Craig J. Flores will be executive producer with Wesley Coller.

The movie is said to be on the fast track.

Mark Wahlberg Is taking 'Prisoners'

Well this one came out of the blue, much like the 'Low Dweller' last year that immediately attraced Leo Dicaprio and Ridley Scott, a spec script from unknown Aaron Guzikowski called 'Prisoners' gets a bunch of studios bidding like crazy and already a big name in Mark Wahlberg attached to star. The premise described below sounds fantastic and it is always great to see new screenwriters breaking through and original material actually being sought after by the ever cautious studios.

From The Hollywood Reporter:

One of the hottest scripts in Hollywood right now?

It's a dark thriller from a writer who just signed with a major talent agency two weeks ago -- but has the attachment of Mark Wahlberg and the interest of nearly every major studio in town.

The previously unknown Aaron Guzikowski, a Brooklyn native who flew out to Los Angeles just a few weeks ago and signed with Endeavor, is behind "Prisoners," a project said to have echoes of "The Silence of the Lambs" and "Seven."

The story concerns a Boston family-man whose 6-year-old daughter and her best friend are kidnapped and then takes matters into his own hands by in turn kidnapping the man he suspects responsible.

Guzikowski was noticed two years ago by management company Madhouse Entertainment, which then worked to develop this script through dozens of iterations (the company also will produce).

But all that toil seems to paying a quick dividend.

The Endeavor-repped Wahlberg, a Boston native who also plays a distressed father in Peter Jackson's upcoming "Lovely Bones," attached himself to the script shortly after the Endeavor signing. (Endeavor would not comment on the project.)

Studios, meanwhile, have been clamoring for rights the past few days, but Endeavor is keen on attaching a director before making a sale. A director is expected to be attached next week.

And a rags-to-riches tale may continue to be written for a long time after that.

After a really poor 2008 with duds 'The Happening' and 'Max Payne' this sounds like just the right project to get Wahlberg back in form. The fact this is been compared to two titans of the thrilelr genre 'Seven' and 'Silence of the Lambs' is quite exciting and certainly a lot to live up. the fact a director is expected to be attached next week suggests this really is a hot one but we will be able to gauge just how hot by who they get.

'The 28th Amendment' Cruises back to life at Warner Brothers

This was a project I really really really liked the sound of back last year when it was announced, then it just sort of faded away, both stars Tom Cruise and Denzel Washington dropped out and it seemed as if that was it, however Variety are reporting that it is very much alive and Cruise is once again highly interested in the project.

Florian Henckel von Donnersmarck is in talks to direct Warner Bros. drama "The 28th Amendment," which has emerged as a strong contender to be one of Tom Cruise's next star vehicles.

The German helmer hasn't directed a film since his 2006 pic "The Lives of Others" won the foreign-language film Oscar, and he recently signed with UTA to move into Hollywood films.

According to sources, the filmmaker is in talks with the studio to make the movie with Cruise. "Star Trek" scribes Alex Kurtzman and Roberto Orci, the duo that originated the project as a spec in 1999, are rewriting the script.

The drama revolves around a U.S. president who discovers the existence of a secret cabal that runs the government and wants him dead.

Basil Iwanyk and Richard Donner are producers.

Cruise came off "Valkyrie" with an aggressive mission to find new projects -- he is currently considering five different pictures for two potential 2009 slots -- but "28th Amendment" recently emerged as a strong candidate, its chances helped by the highly regarded von Donnersmarck.

Now I have to plead ignorance as far as this "highly regarded" director goes, Ive not seen 'The Lives of Others' which won the Oscar for best foreign language film in 2006 and at 35 that is the only film the young director has made, not bad eh ?,  I imagine he can turn his hand to the action thriller style this movie will require and maybe take the very poppy writing style of Orci and Kurtzmnan and inject it with some depth.

Cruise is looking to do two films this year and this one and 'The Matarese Circle' seem to be head of the cue on his rather extensive list.

Brandt and Haas to adapt 'The Thirteenth Hour' for New Line

It seems that every other day another project is announced that requires adapting a novel and quite often said novel is not yet published, and so here we are again as New Line set the writers of 'Wanted' and '3:10 to Yuma' scribes Michael Brandt and Derek Haas  to adapt upcoming Richard Doetsch novel 'The Thirteenth Hour'.

New Line acquired the book last fall. Story follows a man accused of murdering his wife who gets to go back in time -- in one-hour increments over 12 hours -- with the chance to stop his wife's killer.

 
Haas said the book "is a fast-paced thriller with a supernatural twist and characters who really pop."

It sounds like a cool concept and I like the duos previous work, but these time travel things are often hit and miss. For anyone interested you can see a snazzy little trailer for the book Here at the authors site.

'Public Enemies' Trailer blasts online!

The trailer for Michael Mann's highly anticipated 'Public Enemies' starring Johnny Depp and Christian Bale, has finally arrived.

The film tells the tale of bank robber John Dillinger and the formation of J. Edgar Hoover's FBI.

The trailer has a bit too much music in it for me and I am not keen on the digital cam shots at night that worked for Collateral, to me they jar with the other sumptous footage in the trailer. However, that minor gripe aside, the film looks great and Depp and Bale both have a great line each in the trailer and it showcases the grand scale that film takes place on, plus those gun battles look thunderous!

'Public Enemies' opens on July 1st and you can check the trailer out below or go to Apple for HD versions.

Megan Fox to star and get very wet in 'Fathom'

Uber babe Megan Fox who became pretty much the most desried woman on the planet for fanboys everywhere after 2007's 'Transformers' is set to play the lead of role of Aspen in the adaption of the late Michael Turner's 'Fathom' according to Variety.

The cript will be written by Jordan Mechner, best known for designing the "Prince of Persia" vidgame.

The story follows Aspen Matthews, who was found abandoned on a ship and is adopted by a military man. She becomes a champion swimmer and marine biologist who comes of age realizing she has water-based powers and is part of an underwater race. The actress will produce with Safran Prods.' Peter Safran, Brian Austin Green and Steve Bessen. Turner, who passed away last year, will remain as the project's executive producer. Frank Mastromauro will also be an exec producer.

I like Megan Fox and not just for the obvious reasons, she has drive and a sense of humour in her interviews and has not just rushed into rom coms after her Transformers success. The concept for this is pretty cool and from the art ive seen the world of Fathom could be quite the specatcle on screen, hopefully a top quality director is soon attached.

DiCaprio to star in Nolan's 'Inception'

Wow! this one just got even bigger as one of the worlds biggest movie stars and best actors joins forces with a director at the top of his game. Variety have announced that Leo DiCaprio will star In Christoipher Nolan's new movie 'Inception'

The deal would mark the first Summer blockbuster of DiCaprio's career and the first time these two have worked together.

The project shoots this year and is slated to be released in summer 2010, with Nolan and Emma Thomas producing. DiCaprio's deal is in final negotiations.

Script has been kept under wraps but the studio terms it a contemporary sci-fi actioner set within the architecture of the mind.

I knew Nolan would get a top class actor for his lead and I think many believed it would be Bale but hey, it'll do him good to get out and meet other actors!

DiCaprio can next be seen in Scorsese's 'Shutter Island'

Angelina In Disguise!

No she is not just out shopping, these are the first on set pics of the lovely Miss Jolie as Evelyn Salt in Columbia pictures forthcoming action/thriller 'Salt'.

The pics are from USA Today and include this interesting article with quotes from producer Lorenzo di Bonaventura:

The most recognizable woman in the world is going undercover.
Angelina Jolie begins work today on Salt, a spy thriller about a rogue CIA operative who tries to clear her name after she is accused of being a Russian sleeper agent — perhaps falsely, perhaps not.

Among the many different looks she has in the film are a soft-looking, all-business blonde and a raven-haired femme fatale who easily could be concealing a dagger or a gun.

Which is the real Salt? That's what filmmakers say is the central mystery.

"She's a character you never know," says Lorenzo di Bonaventura, who also produced Transformers and the upcoming G.I. Joe. "People who think they know the real her may or may not. Those who think they can tell whether she's in a disguise also may or may not.

Jolie's character, Evelyn A. Salt, originally was called Edwin A. Salt, back when the role was intended for Tom Cruise, who dropped out last summer. Jolie is a proven action star after the Tomb Raider movies, Mr. & Mrs. Smith and Wanted, but di Bonaventura says it wasn't as simple as changing "he" to "she" in the script.

"I had no idea how complex it would be," he says. "We had to rethink the whole notion of how a man vs. a woman operates in the business world, in personal relationship and in friendships."

The film co-stars Liev Schreiber (Defiance) as Winter, her ally and supervisor in the CIA's Russia office, and Chiwetel Ejiofor (Children of Men) as Peabody, a counterintelligence officer who tries to take her down.

Salt is being directed by Phillip Noyce, who made the 1990s-era Jack Ryan films with Harrison Ford, Patriot Games and Clear and Present Danger.

He promises Salt will be "a reality-based spy movie with action set pieces as thrilling as the most crowd-pleasing movies of this genre."

Comparisons are inevitable. Salt recalls TV's Alias, with its female action hero donning multiple disguises. It also will be measured against the current spy-movie trendsetters: the Daniel Craig reboot of James Bond and Matt Damon's Jason Bourne films.

Di Bonaventura says Salt is different because the character is trying to hide truths about herself rather than discover them. "The question of Jason Bourne is 'Who am I?' " he says. "The question of Salt is, 'We know everything about her, but do we?' (Her pursuers) have a ton of information to act on, but that's where they begin to question what is real and what isn't."

I'm quietly looking forward to this one, I am a fan of Jolie as well as the espionage genre and Noyce is a solid enough Helmer that can rise to the material, no release date is set for 2010 yet but I imagine it is being eyed as a Summer tentpole.

Update on Wed, March 4, 2009 by Rob Hunter

Another Image of Angelina Jolie in another disguise as Eveyln Salt has came online.

New Public Enemies Poster

MSN Movies have gotten their hands on the new poster (Below) for the Bale and Depp gangster flick 'Public Enemies', directed by master craftsman Michael Mann the film chronicles the rise of J. Edgar Hoover's FBI and the manhunt for legendary bank robber John Dillinger (Depp).

The poster evokes a mix of 'The Untouchables' and 'Road to Perdition', yet surprises me in the fact it only has Depp on it, maybe Bale will get an individual one as well but I'd have expected Universal to really promote the Bale vs Depp aspect.