Alexandre Aja Takes 'Contractor'

Variety reports that horror maestro Alexandre Aja is set to direct a new drama called 'The Contractor'. Below are the details.

Ian Jeffers is rewriting the script. Alexandra Milchan will produce.

Story is set in a world where the U.S. government can no longer afford to fight wars and authorizes private contractors to send a band of elite soldiers on missions around the world. Jeffers recently wrote "The Grey" and rewrote "Castlevania" for Rogue and director Sylvain White.

Aja will tackle the project after he completes "Piranha 3-D" for Dimension Films. The fish pic follows Aja's "Mirrors" and "The Hills Have Eyes."

This will seemingly be a departure for Aja as it appears to be something that will more likely focus on action as opposed to horror, but if he brings the strong character work he did in the Hills remake, and fuses it with the action as he did the horror, then this could be a little gem of a movie, because right now I'd say the premise is a very interesting one.

Rourke, Johansson Officially Cast in 'Iron Man 2'

It certainly has been a busy pair of days for "Iron Man 2."

First, as we showed you yesterday, director Jon Favreau released
a picture from the set.

Now, comes word that two rumored signings are in the books.

First up was the news that Mickey Rourke is officially on board. Variety reported on Jan. 7 that Rourke was in discussions to play a villain described as "Tony Stark's Russian alter ego, a heavily tattooed bruiser who is in the arms trade and battles Iron Man in his own nuclear-powered armored suit."

Since then, rumors have had Rourke in or out, and word was that he was being "low-balled" with a $250,000 offer.

Today, however, Nikki Finke of Deadline Hollywood Daily said Rourke's signing is official.

"He may not have won the Oscar, but Mickey Rourke is taking his nomination to the bank. I just heard that ICM has scored its second casting deal for Marvel's 'Iron Man 2.' After at first being low-balled by the studio to the tune of $250K, Rourke has signed on for the role of the Russian villain in the sequel after his agent David Unger got the quote up to a 'significant' level despite this punishing economic climate where the studios are taking advantage of talent."

The first casting deal Finke was referring to was for Samuel L. Jackson to play the role of Nick Fury.
Finke updated her Rourke story later, dropping in this little bombshell: "I can also tell you that Sony was considering hiring Mickey to play the villain in 'Spider-Man 4.'"

According to Finke, Rourke is in Russia this week to promote "The Wrestler" and he will be "researching his new role immediately there."

Soon after that scoop, Finke added a second bit of info: Emily Blunt definitely is out as Black Widow and Scarlett Johansson is in.

"Interesting because Scarlett actually screen-tested for the role and didn't get it," wrote Finke.

Also, according to Finke, the deal Johansson made was "terrible."

Finke's insider told her: "It's as bad as any deal that I've heard. It's lowball money. And it ties her to countless movies, including that ensemble 'The Avengers,' which is what makes this brutal for a lot of actors."

Update on Wed, March 11, 2009 by Sean Gerski

According to Variety, Rourke previously met with Jon Favreau and scribe Justin Theroux and "got to be part of the development of his character. He'll play Whiplash, a character that includes elements from that comicbook villain and Crimson Dynamo, another Russian baddie."

Star Wars-Star Trek Mashup

I thought the trailer for J.J. Abram's forthcoming "Star Trek" movie was pretty terrific, but something about it felt familiar.

I couldn't put my finger on what it was, but YouTube user Tanchera sure did. The following video Tranchera created is a mashup of the two popular sci-fi series:

The first part of the video is cool, but the second half is astonishing.

Chow Yun-Fat To Play Title Role in 'Confucius'

Chow Yun-Fat is slowly easing into that part of an actor's career where the leading roles are fewer and the supporting roles are far more prevalent.

After a series of starring roles in movies of varying degrees of quality (some great, though, to be sure), Yun-Fat has turned in supporting performances in "Pirates of the Caribbean: At World's End" and "Dragonball." Yun-Fat has two more movies coming up where he is part of the supporting cast in "Shanghai" and "The Red Circle," and while those movies have undeniably good casts, Yun-Fat is certainly not the star of either film.

However, the 53-year-old actor, who was born in Hong Kong, has lined up a lead role that just may be perfectly suited for him. ScreenDaily.com is reporting Yun-Fat will play the lead role in "Confucius" for Dadi Century Film, a Beijing-based production company.

For those who don't know, Confucius was a legendary Chinese thinker and social philosopher, whose teachings and philosophy have deeply influenced Chinese, Japanese, Korean, Taiwanese and Vietnamese thought and life.

According to ScreenDaily.com, "Chen Daoming (Hero) will portray Lao Zi, another Chinese philosopher and the founder of Taoism, who gave Confucius advice on history and the arts."

The site also reports that Zhou Xun (Painted Skin) is rumored to be the leading woman in the film, but Dadi Century has yet to confirm the casting of any of the female roles.

Shooting of the film is slated to start at the end of this month in Beijing. The film, a co-production between Dadi Century Films and Chinese state-owned China Film Group Corporation, is schedule to be released sometime before the Chinese New Year in 2010 (Feb. 14).

IESB 'Role Models' DVD Giveaway

Haven't checked out "Role Models" yet but maybe if I enter to win the DVD giveaway contest over at IESB I can comment on it.

Win a copy of ROLE MODELS starring Paul Rudd and Seann William Scott on DVD from the IESB!

On March 10, ROLE MODELS UNRATED hit the DVD shelves! IESB has got your chance to win a copy!

Also, in celebration of the March 10^th DVD Release of Role Models, click on the link below to play the Role Models Babe Watcher game

You think you can hang with the babe watchers? Help Wheeler, Danny, Augie and Ronnie spot babes to hang out with. Just be careful who you are checking out; if it’s a buddy, you lose a life!

How to Play: Score points by spotting babes and clicking on them with your mouse. Babes are worth 30 points each and the Minotaur is worth 60 points. Score 300 points to move to level 2, and score 600 points to complete the game.

Head over to IESB to enter to win "Role Models" and play the "Babewatcher" video game.

IESB: Role Models Giveaway

The Watchmen Effect

Enjoying big budget films is as American as apple pie and this past weekend all eyes were on Zack Snyder's "Watchmen". Fans, critics, webmasters, and in this case, several studios were waiting patiently for justification or different levels of defeat. "Watchmen" did what most expected, it won the weekend. However, by only only pulling in 55 Million +, it fell below most predictions and expectations. According to most fans, the film did live up to anticipation though. The critics have been less kind to the visually stunning comicbook film nailing it with a 64% rating on Rotten Tomatoes.

Now the execuses are starting to trickle out:

"It did well for an R rated film."

"It did well for a film of that length."

"People should have read the graphic novel."

I finally saw the film last night and I have to say I dug it. It was pleasing to the eye, the action was nonstop, and I loved seeing the heroes portrayed in such a gritty manner. Sure there were flaws like anything else, but I think this film is going to scrore well on DVD. It sure isn't going to do all together that well at the box office, but that shouldn't stop people from seeing it on the big screen.

For some unknown reason fans feel like they need the box office to justify that they enjoyed the film or that the film was good. They follow the box office at every step and hope and prays that it eeks out just one more million. This movie was made for the fans, even going with an "R", when they could have dumbed it down to a "PG-13" to make it more marketable.

In the end the "R" might not have been the reason that "Watchmen" is performing like an anchor stuck in the sand, but you can be sure this changes things. McG has been fighting for an "R" rating on his upcoming film "Terminator: Salvation". You can be sure WB is going to put a stop to this, and make sure this film gets out there with a more family friendly "PG-13" rating.

What about other comicbook properties? WB's Jeff Robinov proclaimed back in August that he wants DC characters to go "dark" which caused a fanboy frenzy on the internet. All of this was direct result of the success of Batman, but is dark really the way to go? Maybe the fact that not so many people are watching the Watchmen will reverse this obession with darkness, at least until "Batman 3" comes out.

Now I'll be following "Watchmen" to see if it can beat "Paul Blart: Mall Cop" at the box office.

'X: The Man With the X-Ray Eyes' Remake on the way

So they are now remaking Roger Corman movies, well at least this one sounds semi interesting, kind of like a twist on the Invisible Man with the same moral quanderies.

Variety reports that Spanish helmer Juan Carlos Fresnadillo (28 Weeks Later) has made a deal with MGM to develop a film based on director Roger Corman's 1963 pic X: The Man With the X-Ray Eyes.

The original starred Ray Milland as a scientist who is near a breakthrough in X-ray vision technology when his funding is cut off. Desperate to show results, the doc applies eye drops that eventually cause him to lose control over his growing powers.

Milland was a great actor with a strong screen presence and distinctive voice, if this is going to work then the casting needs to be top level. I am not familiar with the directors work but his '28 Weeks Later' garnered solid enough reviews.

Update on Wed, March 11, 2009 by Peter Georgiou

When I read the title I thought they were making a "Cyclops" origin film.

The Saturn Awards Courtesy of IESB

IESB has revealed the nomations from for this year's Saturn Awards courtesy of The Academy of Science Fiction, Fantasy & Horror Films.

Leading the charge was Christopher Nolan’s super-hero crime thriller “The Dark Knight” with 11 nominations. “The Curious Case of Benjamin Button” and “Iron Man” followed closely behind with 9 and 8 nominations, respectively. While MGM/UA’s WW2 thriller “Valkyrie” spied 7 nominations, and “Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull” and “Changeling” received 6 nominations each.

Paramount Pictures’ triple threat of Benjamin Button, Iron Man and Indiana Jones led all film studios with a total of 30 nominations. Also with strong showings were Universal and Warner Bros. with 15 and 13 nominations, respectively. Fox and Marvel earned 10 and 9 nominations, while Lucasfilm, Ltd., MGM/UA, Sony Pictures and Walt Disney, followed with an impressive 7 nominations each.

Head over to IESB for the complete list of nominations.

IESB: The Dark Knight Dominates...

Sean Penn and Javier Bardem to go after 'Cartel'

In a double punch of Oscar winning heavyweights, Universal Pictures looks to nab both Sean Penn and Javier Bardem to star in their upcoming drama 'Cartel'. First up was Variety with their piece on Penn circling the lead role of a father looking to protect his son after his wife is murderd by a Cartel.

Then today Latino Review weighed in with this scoop on Bardem.

With Sean Penn in talks to star in "Cartel," a drama for Universal Pictures and Imagine Entertainment, us Latin Rascals at Latinoreview found out that Javier Bardem is also in talks for the role of RAFAEL CASTILLO (40s), a wealthy but righteous DA who wants to put the cartels away. Castillo shunned his rich family for the law.

 

Asger Leth will direct and Brian Grazer is producing.

Written by Peter Craig, the mission movie will follow Sean Penn's character as he journeys to protect his son after his wife is brutally murdered in the gritty world of Mexican cartels.

The drama took root at Imagine as a remake of 1993 Italian film "La scorta," which followed four cops' struggle to guard a special prosecutor trying to bring mob bosses to justice. It evolved into an action vehicle for Penn.

Leth makes his dramatic feature directing debut on the film. He previously won a DGA Award for directing the 2006 documentary "Ghosts of Cite Soleil."

The studio and Imagine want to get the picture into production by summer. Start date won't be firmed until Penn's deal is made.

Sounds like a promising movie and an action role for Penn will make a change, although I am sure there will be lashings of social commentary in there as well to boost Oscar chances. Bardem's role interests me just as much, Ive only seen him in two movies and he was completely different in both, from his Oscar winning performance as weird and creepy psycho hitman Anton Chigurh in 'No Country For Old Men', to his charming turn as hopeless romantic artist Juan Antonio in 'Vicky Cristina Barcelona'. So the idea of him as a crusdaing DA really appeals to me, Hopefully this one comes together as planned.

Milla Jovovich to topline 'Mile Zero'

I love the sound of this one but it has to be said that Milla, who burst onto the scene as Leeloo in Luc Besson's 'The Fifth Element' has a pretty patchy record for picking scripts.

Variety reports that she is in talks to star in thriller 'Mile Zero' for Phoenix Pictures.

Marcel Langenegger has signed on to direct and develop Phoenix Pictures' thriller Mile Zero as a possible starring vehicle for Milla Jovovich, says Variety.

Mile Zero, written by Holly Brix, centers on a young woman attempting to clear her father's name in a string of gruesome murders at an Alaskan oil refinery.

Langenegger, a veteran commercials helmer, made his feature directing debut last year on Fox's Deception, starring Hugh Jackman, Ewan McGregor and Michelle Williams.

So we essentially have a cool sounding premise due to the setting, but the director of a pretty much panned thriller and a star that has picked a stack of duds, we can only hope that this is a case of both getting it right this time.