Ben Affleck In Talks for First-Person Shooter Thriller Line of Sight

Turn a lesbian? Check.

Save the world from killer asteroids? Check.

Shake off the stink of "Bennifer?" Triple-check!

What else has Ben Affleck left to prove that he can't do? According to THR, make the first video-game movie that isn't a piece of celluloid shit. Sorta.

The trades report Affleck is in talks to direct and star in the action thriller Line of Sight for Warner Brothers:

"The idea, conceived by Silver Pictures' Alex Heineman (who also exec produces), centers on an elite commando squad transporting cargo while dealing with a global threat. One of the conceits of the movie is that it tells the tale from a point-of-view akin to a first-person shooter game. The script was recently worked on by Peter O’Brien, the man who wrote the game Halo: Reach for Xbox 360."

This would come after Affleck completes his soon-to-start-filming the Iran hostage thriller Argo. Talk about a movie that sounds great! If one wonders this is a tad too ambitious (Fair enough, point, I'll admit) and if Affleck is the man for this job, remember he was high on WB's list for The Man of Steel before turning them down and Zack Snyder got the gig.

Paramount Thinks You're Stupid – Re-Releasing Transformers 3 in IMAX for 2 Weeks

Why wait for Transformers 4D directed by Breck Eisner, starring Christopher Mintz-Plasse as Shia LaBeouf's cousin Bobby and Mike Myers as the voice of a Scottish Transformer in 2013?

In what is, most likely, a last ditch attempt to over throw Harry Potter & the Deathly Hallows – Part II as 2011's highest grosser in the U.S. (Pfffff, that ain't happening!), Paramount is slotting Transformers: Dark of the Moon right back into IMAX screens for 2 weeks starting this Friday around 246 selected locations.

To their credit if you're going to pull this stunt, it might as well be at the end of the summer movie season when very-little else of worth is dropping. It's not like it's going to suddenly jump back into the Top 5 or anything. Both The Help and Rise of the Planet of the Apes will continue to thrive this weekend, thanks to word-of-mouth, shit competition and them being good movies.

Nevertheless, the movie-going public has had their fill of giant-retarded robots for 2011. It's been out since the end of June and made a whole bunch of dough – over $1 billion worldwide and just under $350 million domestic. But it wasn't enough to topple the Boy Wizard and this won't change the outcome. Even Avatar, the biggest movie of all-time, fizzled when 20^th Century Fox threw it back into IMAX last year.

Let it go, Paramount.

Laugh While You Can (Before He's Dead) – Charlie Sheen Roast Teaser

When the inevitable occurs, we'll hear plenty of assholes in the media asking, "What could we have done?" Said schmucks might even put on Academy-Award worthy performances pretending they're surprised to hear he dropped dead with cocaine stuffed up his nostrils and his head stuck between some stripper's legs.

Fret not however, because until then you can laugh at this teaser for Comedy Central's Charlie Sheen roast. Because there's nothing funnier than seeing a human being (even one as self-destructive and selfish as Sheen) withering away before our eyes and some making light of it as his loved-ones (That is to say, those who aren't in attendance) watch in horror knowing there's nothing they can do to stop him.

Universal Hearts Justin Lin

The history books will read of Justin Lin as the Man Who Saved The Fast & the Furious.

Under his watch, that went from just short of the direct-to-video bin (after the receipts for Tokyo Drift, the third installment of the series and the first one he was assigned to direct, were deemed terrible) to money-printing machine after the "Let's get the old gang back together" centric  Fast & Furious and Fast Five.

As Lin preps Fast Six (or whatever numerically-inane title they can cook up) for May 2013, Variety reports a top the mountain Universal's inked a two-year deal with the director and his production company Barnstorm Pictures:

"Lin will focus on developing elevated tentpole and distinctive mainstream fare for global audiences. Projects currently being developed under the banner include 'Fast Six'; the spy drama 'Leading Man'; the 'Untitled 442 project' about a WWII Japanese American battalion that's the most decorated unit in American history; and an untitled sci-fi/crime thriller project to be directed by Robert Glickert."

Not included in that crop of projects is Terminator 5 which Lin's attached to and, as of this publication, isn't housed at any studio. Universal could always come in and sweeten the deal and nab it or leave it be. That's assuming a fifth Terminator sees the light of day.

Romancing the Stone Remake Still Trucking

Nine times out of ten, we dismiss the idea of remaking what we perceive as a classic 80s movie. Something we grew up watching on either on VHS, and subsequently wearing the copy down to the bone, or on cable, long before the days of original programming where it was just movies and reruns of old shows.

Some of it, I'm sure, is psychological. The decision-makers and ball-rollers at studios are in essence saying, "That's old stuff! Kids today don't know what that is, so let's make it new for them!" Thing is we were kids (maybe a little younger, or maybe a little older depending on your age) when we first saw them. By default, that would make us "old" now would it not?

Our pals at Movie Hole are hearing through the grapevine 20^th Century Fox is "inching closer towards the cameras" on their Romancing the Stone remake. They're in search for a new director after Robert Luketic vacated. Someone young and hungry, instead of a simple "point the camera and shoot" helmer. Sounds like they're hoping to strike gold like the Dawn of the Dead remake did when they hired a wet-behind-the-ears commercial director named Zack Snyder.

As for the circa-2011 versions of Joan Wilder and Jack Colton, the likes of Katherine Heigl (Who does need a hit after a slew of shitty rom-coms), Taylor Kitsch (Which may or may not be a good idea after John Carter and Battleship drop next year) and Gerald Butler (Oh boy...) are getting tossed around the Fox offices. None of them particularly interesting, or bankable.

Peter and I spit-balled a handful of better choices earlier this morning over the phone: Rachel Weisz, Elizabeth Banks and Amy Adams for Joan and Hugh Jackman, Jon Hamm, Robert Downey Jr., Chris Hemsworth and Chris Evans for Jack. But it's the early days of the remake and an outside-the-box choice could come from the eventual director none of us thought about.

Or the Romancing the Stone remake just plain never happens and Fox decides that Alvin & the Chipmunks: Squeakageddon is the better production to greenlight.

THIS Is Why They Released the Superman Suit 2 Weeks Ago

Quick pictures, from what looks to be taken off someone's cheap cell-phone camera, are the key reason we got that official look at Henry Cavill as Superman in The Man of Steel the Thursday before last.

So don't nerdgasm, children, at this new picture of what's either Cavill or his stunt-double rocking the suit on the Kent Farm. Because you already knew what it was going to look like. Except for the absence of a gold \S/ symbol from the red cape, evidentially.

Courtesy of Zon Com and the fan-site that isn't connected to Warner Brothers/Legendary Pictures in any way, shape or form, the Man of Steel Facebook page. Not striking them because I like those guys, just stating the obvious.

1978 Called – It Wants Its Superman Plot Back!

Remember when fanboys wouldn't shut the fuck up about Superman Returns accusing it of being a carbon copy of Richard Donner's Superman: the Movie? It'll be funny as all Hell to see if any of them say decidedly nice things about Zack Snyder's The Man of Steel given said criticisms, judging by what we're seeing out in the open and what we’re hearing about the plot privately.

The Man of Steel Facebook page (who I do like and think are doing a good job, but if that's a 100% fan-run site with zero influence and/or help from Warner Brothers and Legendary Pictures, I'll eat a sock!), in yet another round of juicy picture-grabbing, have posted a very spoilerific photo of a certain Kryptonian superhero's adoptive father played by a certain Untouchable Bodyguard.

Yeah...it looks like Pa Kent (Kevin Costner) eats it once again in a big expensive Superman movie. Maybe it's just too expected for this not to happen. Which is stupid logic, but I digress.

I've accepted that we're getting a new origin story for the silver screen...again. The fact of the matter is modern movie-goers haven't gotten one for thirty-three years. But this sounds like it's following in too close a path that Donner, Tom Mankiewicz & the Salkinds already walked and not the "bold and fresh" angle Christopher Nolan was talking up last year before Zack Snyder, Henry Cavill, etc. were hired.

Hell, remember when Latino Review first broke that David Goyer was writing The Man of Steel? Remember what they said about the plot? That it wasn't the origin, all the characters and their respective roles were already established, it'd be heavily influenced by the great mid-80s comic-run by John Byrne and would have Brainiac (and Luthor, of course) as the villain with a B-plot about the Daily Planet financially struggling?

What happened to that plot?

They're Trying to Cut Lone Ranger's Budget, But It's Still Good, It's Still Good!

Disney might be content with castrating The Lone Ranger from production, but not the filmmakers according to THR.

In an effort to save the Western adventure (...with werewolves...) from being flushed down the toilet, director Gore Verbinski has reportedly been given a week (Seriously, that's all the time they're giving him?) to rework the Ted Elliott/Terry Rossio-penned script and present something more economically feasible.

Translation: a version of the script that isn't so damn expensive!

Problem is they've already made cuts, the trades say, and it's still far too high for Disney executives' tastes. Not to mention, both he and producer Jerry Bruckheimer already forked over some of their (pricey) upfront fees in order to salvage the project. The concern being if they keep chipping away at costs here and there, they'll essentially be developing something completely different than what attracted them to this to begin with.

Reminds me of back in Christmas of 2009 when news first broke of Spider-Man 4 dying. First it was denial from the studio front, then it was how they were trying to come to an agreement with Sam Raimi & Co. and how filming would only be delayed from spring 2010 to summer but everything would be OK and we'd still get Spider-Man 4 for May 2011. And then it was officially dead and here we are with The Amazing Spider-Man reboot for July 2012.

Dwayne Johnson Itching to Kick Some Ass in G.I. Joe 2

Via his Twitter page, Dwayne Johnson has posted the first official look at himself (Because fuck Paramount or USA Today unveiling it!) as Roadblock in G.I. Joe 2: Retaliation.

Oh sure, he doesn't look any different than what we've seen of him onscreen before. But look at him! He's looking around for some baddie's ass to kick! Hey! If people can say with a straight face, "Cowboys & Aliens looks great because Harrison Ford looks like he gives a damn again!" then I can say this about Johnson without criticism.

Speaking of cool actors and G.I. Joe 2, Variety says the great Walton Goggins has also joined the sequel's cast. He'll play Warden Nigel James, a character I don't specifically recall from the 80s or 90s cartoons. So I guess we're looking at an original character here instead of him replacing the likes of Christopher Eccleston's Destro.

Bradley Cooper Heard Your Prayers – Drops Out of The Crow

When the news broke Bradley Cooper was attached to a new Crow movie, the reaction was, understandably, "Ugh!" He's a perfectly OK actor (In terms of leading roles, he's come off best in the under-seen A-Team move). But him in a Crow remake gives off the impression it was casual clothes day at the Relativity Media offices and whatever executive concocted this idea was sporting Bad Idea jeans.

But you can breathe a sigh of relief. Heat Vision says Cooper has passed on wearing the black-and-white makeup in lieu of "conflicting schedules" (may or may not be code for "I don't want to touch this with a ten-foot pole!") for David O. Russell's Silver Linings Playbook and Alex Proyas' mo-cap Paradise Lost.

As if that silver bullet was dodged and Relativity learned their lesson. Think again! They're eyeing Channing Tatum and Mark Wahlberg. And like Cooper, two actors I like OK (well...more Wahlberg than Tatum obviously) but neither you can visualize in the role.

Don't worry, kids. In due time, they'll both pass too and then the studio will court Taylor Lautner and Shia LaBeouf.