Penelope the Pirate!

Ahhh the Pirates of the Caribbean franchise, I loved the first movie, liked the second and hated the third, by the time we got to "At Worlds End" the whole thing had become bloated and was no longer an action/adventure movie but a merely a showcase to see how far Johnny Depp could push the silliness of Jack Sparrow.

However it made pot loads of bullion so there is going to be a 4th movie though this time without Keira Knightley and Orlando Bloom, thus the announcement today via Heat Vision that Spanish beauty and top actress Penelope Cruz will be swashing her buckle in the 4th installment, taking up the female lead mantle from Knightley's Miss Elizabeth Swann.

Penelope Cruz is in negotiations to join Johnny Depp and sail the seven seas in "Pirates of the Caribbean: On Stranger Tides," the fourth installment of the movie series being directed by Rob Marshall.

Depp is reprising his popular role of Captain Jack Sparrow, and while plot details are buried deeper than Blackbeard's treasure, it is known the tale revolves around the Fountain of Youth.

Cruz's character details are also being kept secret, though she is to be Sparrow's foil and equal in many ways.

Terry Rossio and Ted Elliot wrote the script. Jerry Bruckheimer is producing.

For Cruz, the role reunites her with Marshall, who directed her in "Nine." Her performance garnered her an Oscar nomination in the best supporting actress category just last week. She won the Oscar for best actress in a supporting role for 2008's "Vicky Cristina Barcelona."

"Pirates" will set sail before cameras in Hawaii this summer. Disney plans for a May 20, 2011, release.

I like the idea of Cruz being Depp's equal, it suggests she will be playing a sexy female pirate captain which is a good move in my opinion, if Sparrow is dialed back a bit and the running time kept from bloating, this may just entice me yet.

The Last Airbender Theatrical Trailer

Another lump of SFX eye candy from M. Night's Airbender adaption has been released. Stunning visuals, epic looking battles and gorgeous cinematography abound!

I am entering this movie simply as a film fan and I think it looks great, I'd also bet it will become M. Night's biggest hit to date.

"The Last Airbender" opens on July 2nd and you can check out the trailer below.

The Killers Trailer

Directed by Robert Luketic it essentially treads a similar path to "Knight and Day" only it looks about half as polished.

I didn't find it particularly funny or the action very eye catching, however if you can look past Ashton Kutcher's anti-charisma it might be worth a rent.

"The Killers" opens on June 4th and you can check out the trailer below.

Spiderman Will Return in 3D

In what might be the least-shocking news regarding the Spiderman film franchise in recent weeks, Sony announced today that the new Spiderman reboot film will be released in 3D, according to Deadline Hollywood.

The announcement, from Jeff Blake, Chairman of Sony Pictures Worldwide Marketing & Distribution, confirms that this re-tooled version of Spiderman directed by Marc Webb will hit theaters on July 3, 2012.  In regards to the 3D, Blake comments:

“Spider-Man is the ultimate summer movie-going experience, and we’re thrilled the filmmakers are presenting the next installment in 3D. Spider-Man is one of the most popular characters in the world, and we know audiences are eager and excited to discover Marc’s fantastic vision for Peter Parker and the franchise.”

The decision was really a no-brainer for Sony.  The original trilogy has grossed over $1 billion worldwide without the benefit of a 3D version.  It's clearly their most valuble franchise, and they stand to make gazillions from not only a 3D theatrical release, but with 3D video releases as well.

But honestly, if any superhero film should get a 3D version, it needs to be Spidey. 

No word yet on who will be replacing Tobey Maguire as Peter Parker/Spiderman or what the title of the new movie will be, but expect announcements soon. 

New "Clash of the Titans" Poster

Comingsoon.Net has gotten hold of this fantastic new poster for the eagerly anticipated "Clash of the Titans." Personally I think it does a great job of selling the movie as an epic swords and sandals fantasy film, just look at The Kraken!

At the link above you will also be able to check out some banners for the movie which opens on April 2nd.

Cruise back on a Mission but no JJ in the Director's chair

The announcement is flying all over the place but I will credit /Film as they are the site where I first heard it, Tom Cruise is coming back to Paramount to make "Mission Impossible 4," personally I am psyched!

Paramount Pictures has signed a deal with Tom Cruise to reprise his role as Ethan Hunt in M:I-IV. The bad news is that JJ Abrams is sitting this one out.

Finke is reporting that Ethan Hunt will be the main star of the film, debunking rumors that the character would only appear to pass the torch to a new spy. However, the new sequel is being looked at as a “reboot” to the series. The plan is for Cruise to make this his next film and start shooting by summer 2010 for a tentative Memorial Day 2011 weekend release.

Here is what we know so far: Tom and JJ developted”a really cool idea” for a fourth adventure, which Abrams turned into “an insanely long outline”. Abrams employed Alias‘ scribes Josh Applebaum and Andre Nemec to write a screenplay based on the treatment, which Abrams once joked “is probably longer than the script.” Applebaum and Nemec were well into the second act of a first draft when we last checked in (mid-January 2010), and Abrams seemed very pumped on the project.

I am a huge fan of the franchise and it sounds like JJ and Cruise are really pleased with this big outline they came up with, it's a shame JJ wont be directing but it leaves the chair open for some interesting candidates.

Names like Ang Lee and David Fincher were both set to direct MI-3 at one point, and it's not impossible that this time they may actually helm, Fincher in particular has a strong relationship with Paramount.

Another possibility could be Len Wiseman who was set to direct Cruise in "Motorcade" but both eventually pulled out.

Chris Nolan to Work with Studio on Superman Reboot

We reported last week that Time Warner Inc. executives were giving us somewhat of a tease that we would be hearing some big announcements in the next few weeks concerning the development of their associated DC characters.

 Well, they didn’t disappoint. In an announcement that’s sure to spark the internet forums and have fans jumping for joy, if not disbelief, Warner Bros has confirmed that director Chris Nolan (Batman Begins and The Dark Knight) is going to work with the studio in developing, what they consider to be the correct direction for the Superman franchise.

 It was announced last summer that the plans were to scrap the story set up in Bryan Singer’s and Brandon Routh’s Superman Returns and do a complete reboot with the next installment. An insider stated that “we know what we don’t want to do, but we don’t know what we want to do.” Singer stated during the production of his tale of the man in blue tights, that he wanted to treat it as a 1930’s love story. Perhaps this was a result of his involvement with Peter Jackson’s King Kong, which was, in fact, a period piece being shot at the same time as Superman Returns.

 After the success of 2008’s The Dark Knight, which lived up to its name, taking on a much deeper, meaningful feel than even its predecessor, Batman Begins, fans were calling for a darker Superman film. That was partly because of Warner Bros’ Jeff Robinov made the statement that the studio needs to “look at how to make these movies edgier”. Many fans squawked at the statement,however, crying the obvious differences between the DC characters, assuming that Robinov was referencing an intention to take the Man of Steel to a darker level.

 Nolan is not set to direct the Superman film, but rather serve as a mentor. Its unclear at this time exactly what that entails, whether it be pitching story ideas or working alongside the cast and crew. One has to wonder, with the similarities in the timelines between Warner’s rights to the Superman film franchise and those of Marvel’s with the Disney merger, might the implementation of Batman’s director into the Superman universe be the guiding light needed to set up the two characters into the all so anticipated World’s Finest film.

 Look for more information on this topic in the very new future. In the ongoing case between Warner and the heirs of Superman’s creators, Joe Shuster and Jerome Siegel, attorney Marc Toberoff stated that in 2013 the heirs would own the entire original copyright to Superman.

 “Neither DC Comics nor Warner Bros will be able to exploit any new Superman works without a license from the Siegels and Shusters”.  Higher on the priority list, however, if a new Superman film is not underway by 2011, the Siegels could sue for damages if a judge ruled that a clause should have been created within the original deal.

 Personally, while interesting, I’d rather stay out of the legalities and just see a good film. As a lifetime fan of the character, I’ve yet to see anything on the big screen other than Richard Donner’s Superman The Movie that rivals even some of the worst story arcs from the comics. With Nolan now a part of the hysteria, maybe we’ll get something deserving of the red cape.

 I’m sure all of the fans have their own versions of how the next movie will play out. So, we can start it here. Send me a comment and let me know what you as the ticket buyers want to see. What villains. What mood. Whatever.

Mickey and Megan!

/Film has got their hands on the first image from "Passion Play," the next film on the Mickey Rourke comeback trail or have we reached a point where the comeback is complete and it's just a Mickey Rourke film?

In this first still you will notice the shapely form of fanboy wet dream Megan Fox dancing with Rourke, apparently she is an angel (Yes she has wings) and he is a trumpet player that tries to save her from her gangster owner played by Bill Murray.

Rourke and Murray along with the odd take on the gangster period piece sounds enticing to me, and this may be a chance for Miss Fox to silence some of her detractors.

"Passion Play" has wrapped and will now look for a buyer, you can check out the image below.

Captain America and the Invaders?

In a report by CHUD, which you can read here, it appears that diretor Joe Johnston has confirmed that not only are Cap's former associates, the Invaders, featured in The First Avenger: Captain America. They are apparently present for most of the 2nd half of the film.

On one hand, this is kind of cool cause it shows just how much of Cap's history is being respected in this film. Who would have thought guys like Union Jack or the original Human Torch would have been featured in a mainstream comic book film? Clearly, they are reading the history of Cap in making this film. That is a promising sign.

But, this news is somewhat worrisome for me. Did we all see what happened in X-Men: Origins: Wolverine? The film got so bogged down in mutant cameos and useless action, that the story suffered greatly and became nothing more than cookie cutter material. Now, I understand that was a FOX production, but the article above mentions the film possibly being 6 to 9 characters deep! With that many characters, Cap can easily get lost in the shuffle. Especially since Cap's powers are not flashy. Also, I kind of take this as Marvel is not confident in Cap's capactity for action, so they have to add more super powered charaacters to compensate.

Whether this is an awesome addition or just adding characters for the sake of adding characters will be determined opening night. While I am confident in the production given Marvel's track record as a film studio, the news on Thor, and how awesome Iron Man 2 looks, I can see this idea backfiring.

Hopefully this turns out to be more genius from the young studio!

Batman 3 Being Written

First Marc Guggenheim exited the writing post of ABC's FlashForward, which debuted with high ratings, but fell short on the list as it wrapped up for break. Now, David Goyer has also made his exodus from the series. And maybe from television altogether. At least for right now. 

Deadline Hollywood reports that, in an attempt to keep Goyer's feature career on a steady increase, he's currently penning a third installment to director Chris Nolan's Batman franchise with the help of Nolan's brother, Johah. Goyer worked on both the initial reboot film Batman Begins and the hugely successful The Dark Knight, which featured the late Heath Ledger as the villainous Joker.

"As my feature projects have started ramping up again, I felt I was being pulled in too many directions," Goyer said.

We've been hearing since the release of The Dark Knight that the fate of a third film would fall on the back of how well the story was once written. Apparently the story has been in the works for quite some time now, but is still not ready for the transition to script form. So, at least now we know they're making steps in that direction. As a huge fan of the first two films, I'm not actually sure yet, in which direction I'd like to see them go with the third, and probable final film. What do you guys think?