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Rumor Police: 'Batman 3' News and McAdams Not in 'Spider-Man 4'
Filed under: Casting, RumorMonger, Fandom, Comic/Superhero/Geek
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Obviously folks can't handle not knowing anything about the next Batman film because once some random person mentions anything having to do with the movie, the entire online blogging world jumps, squirms and runs out the door with a story. The latest, so you're all caught up to date, is that some anonymous source told the Batman on Film fansite that Warner Bros. and Christopher Nolan would be making a decision regarding Nolan's participation in the next film by January. Some claim he's already signed on to direct, but last we heard he wasn't. Regardless, Batman on Film does make a good point in saying that it's probably in Warners best interests to make an announcement prior to Nolan doing press for Inception since he's bound to be inundated with Batman-related questions. Will it by January? Who knows. Either way you're most likely not going to see a new Batman movie in theaters before 2012, so take a chill pill and let's wait this thing out.
In other news, guess who's not going to be playing Black Cat in Spider-Man 4? Yup, Rachel McAdams has officially denied claims that she's up for the role. She told Entertainment Weekly, "That's a total rumor, I have to say. I was hanging out in Toronto the other day and someone came up to me and said, 'I just heard you're doing Spider-Man 4.' And I said, 'Really? No one told me!' It's not true." A rep for Sony Pictures concurs: "It's an Internet rumor, as so many things are these days."
Then again, even if she was circling the part, her lips would be sealed, so are we really any closer to finding out the real truth? Probably not. But at least you're clued in to the latest goings-on.
Ryan Reynolds and Anna Faris to Share 'TMI'
Filed under: Comedy, Romance, Casting, Deals, Universal, Scripts
There's something to be said for those plain old reliable comedies, those that don't bust guts or break records but are always good for a spin in their inevitable cable circulation, stuff along the lines of Role Models, I Love You, Man and Just Friends. That last one has proven particularly endearing (to me anyway) due to the priceless pairing of Ryan Reynolds' perfect snark with Anna Faris' endearing ditziness (they also went at each other in Waiting..., to much amusement).It's that combination that gives me reason enough for me to care about TMI, an all-too-honest rom-com reuniting these two. Hell, their teaming is itself enough for me to hope that they can do right by a screenplay written by the minds behind Serendipity and The Ugly Truth; after all, Faris did bring all the funny to co-writer Kirsten Smith's The House Bunny.
Not sure how much else there is to say, really. It's like hearing that someone's about to get your sexy, funny peanut butter in your sexy, funny chocolate... all over again.
'Thor' Finds His Warriors Three!
Filed under: Casting, Paramount, Newsstand, Comic/Superhero/Geek
The ranks of Asgard are just about full! Marvel Studios reports that the Warriors Three will be joining Thor in all of his frosty battles, and as usual, Kenneth Branagh has done a bang up job with the casting. Stuart Townsend, Tadanobu Asano, and Ray Stevenson have joined the cast as Fandral, Hogun, and Volstagg, respectively. The official announcement comes on the heels of Zachary Levi revealing to USA Weekend that he had been cast as Fandral, but was forced to drop out due to an extended Chuck workload. While I feel for Levi, I'm actually very pleased that Townsend has stepped in, as I find him to be a bit more Errol Flynnish than Levi. (Though pulling up his Google Images reveals a guy who looks a lot more dashing than Chuck Bartowski. Wow. I might have to eat my words on that.) I'm anxious to see the once-and-never Aragorn get another shot at the fantasy genre, and prove himself to be dashing.
I'm not familiar with Asano's work beyond Mongol, but he turned in a very charismatic performance, and I'm always thrilled to see casting directors look to countries other than Northern Europe. But my heart really couldn't beat any faster than it is at Stevenson's casting. He'll be perfect, and it's awesome to see him get another shot at the Marvel Universe since it doesn't look like we'll ever see him return as Frank Castle. Filming begins in January 2010, and from there it'll just be one big geeky countdown.
So Who's The Toddler in 'Spider-Man 4'?
Filed under: Casting, RumorMonger, Fandom
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According to a casting notice leaked by SpoilerTV, producers for Spider-Man 4 are currently searching for a young boy with red hair who they simply call "Toddler Boy". Now, last time we checked "Toddler Boy" wasn't a real superhero and I can't really see any Marvel/Problem Child Franchise cross-overs (though anything is possible), so who is this kid? Here's the official description:Spider-Man 4 - Official Casting Call for Baby Boy with Red Hair
[TODDLER BOY]
2 or 3 year old boy to play 2 year old, Caucasian with RED HAIR, an adorable toddler with an engaging personality, on set experience preferred. IDENTICAL TWINS ONLY
Okay, there are some clues -- note that he needs to be "adorable" and have an "engaging personality", which means no ugly quiet kids. I'm thinking this could really only go a few different ways: either Peter Parker and Mary Jane have had a child since the third installment (or maybe Mary Jane ditched Parker and got knocked up by some other dude), or, as others have suggested, the villain Cletus Kasady (aka Carnage) as a young baby. Then again, who the hell cares about villains when they're babies? If I'm going to root against someone, I don't want to see them as an adorable, engaging toddler first.
Then again, he could be a side character -- a kid who runs around The Daily Bugle causing trouble, or, like, the annoying nephew Mary Jane uses to convince Peter Parker to have a kid. Like I said, could go a number of different ways ... let's just hope Sam Raimi doesn't pull a Superman Returns and give us Spider-Boy by the time the end credits roll.
[via Slashfilm]
Julian McMahon, Ernest Borgnine, and More Circle 'Red'
Filed under: Action, Casting, Comic/Superhero/Geek
Wanna make your comic miniseries-turned-feature film into a big-buzz event? Jam it full of interesting actors. It all started with Bruce Willis. Then Morgan Freeman entered the project, followed by Helen Mirren, John C. Reilly, and Mary-Louise Parker. So where do we go from here? The Hollywood Reporter's Heat Vision Blog reports that Julian McMahon, Ernest Borgnine, Richard Dreyfus, and Brian Cox are all in negotiations to board the project.As we know, Bruce Willis will play a retired black ops dude who faces off against "younger, more high-tech assassins who show up to kill him." Turns out Mr. McMahon will be the center of this conspiracy, playing the "Vice President with a dark side." Meanwhile, Borgnine will take on "the keeper of the CIA's darkest records," Dreyfus will play a wealthy dude making a mint on government contracts, and Cox will be a baddie once again, playing "a former Cold War spy and nemesis of Willis." As Elisabeth mentioned in the earlier posts, Summit is definitely taking the safe and secure road with casting, but with all these names, that isn't seeming like such a bad thing.
Ernest frickin' Borgnine. That's enough for me! Are you ready to see Red?
James Franco's on 'General Hospital' Because of a New Film?
Filed under: Casting, Home Entertainment
Remember how James Franco shocked everyone last month with news that he was going to spend a number of weeks on the ABC soap opera General Hospital? Well, it seems to be a little more than just a random urge. Movieline had their suspicions about Franco's reasoning and spoke to Carter, who has collaborated with the actor on a number of projects from photo shoots to idiosyncratic filmmaking.According to Carter: "It was an idea that I posted to him, and it's tied to another film that he and I are working on now." It's a "feature film that's gonna be pretty abstract, for a larger audience," and when asked about whether he's had input on Franco's involvement with the show: "Well, that's actually stuff that's really unfolding now, because we're shooting it. Hmm, what can I say? Again, it's a fine line between a job that James is doing at General Hospital that's a very serious thing..." "General Hospital -- or a soap opera in general -- is part of the film we're working on, but it's not a giant part of the narrative. It's not going to affect the way the film turns out to be." Beyond grabbing a handful of elusively vague answers about what this upcoming film will be, the interview delves into their artistic relationship and past collaborations.
So there you have it -- this was all for a film project that's not quite discernible at the present time. For now, hit the jump and check out a sneak preview of Franco's soap opera action. ...And yet another terrible use of Gary Jules' Mad World.
Original A-Team Making Cameos in New Movie?
Filed under: Action, Casting, 20th Century Fox
I'm not going to pretend like I had any kind of a reaction to the initial news that Joe Carnahan was remaking The A-Team. I have no sentimental attachment to the original show from the '80s, nor do I have much affection for Carnahan's filmography. That said, once the film cast Liam Neeson, 'Rampage' Jackson, Bradley Cooper and Sharlto Copley as its crew of wrong war vets doing good while on the run, I was in. However, those who weren't too fond of the news of yet another pop culture staple getting re-manufactured by Hollywood might like to know that the original "A-Team" will be popping up in the reboot.
Well, at least one of them will. The Official Dwight Schultz Fansite is reporting the actor, who played the original 'Howling Mad' Murdock, has been on location in Vancouver filming his undisclosed role in the picture, which will be out in June of 2010. They're giving no hints as to who Schultz is playing this time around, but they have relayed his take on the District 9 star filling the same shoes he once did, "Sharlto Copely, the South African actor who plays Murdock, is according to Dwight: 'brilliant beyond words'. Dwight has seen his screen test and he stated: that honestly, if Sharlto is given an opportunity to do what I saw in that test, "Murdock" will be better than ever!"
That should be a sigh of relief to fans who were worried about the handling of their beloved characters. There's no mention if any of the other originals will pop-up in the new A-Team. George Peppard, who first played Liam Neeson's Hannibal, passed away in 1994, but Dirk Benedict and Mr. T could still join Schultz on screen. What say you fans of "The A-Team"? Would you like to see the remaining crew cameo or are they better left confined to '80s nostalgia?
Martin Lawrence & Jamie Foxx Get Into Old-School Cross-Dressing
Filed under: Comedy, Casting, Deals
Get a few chuckles with a skit, and soon it will become a film. If you're a fan of the BET Awards, you should be familiar with Sheneneh and Wanda. The two made up the super-stylishly named bank-robbing team Skank Robbers, a faux trailer parody (after the jump) that aired during the awards, played by Martin Lawrence and Jamie Foxx respectively. This skit got enough laughs that it wasn't only deemed successful, but also cinematic -- Variety reports that the pair have decided to turn the brief concept into a film, a la Machete.Sheneneh and Wanda, two characters dreamed up during the comedians' stand-up days, will be "modern-day independent women trying to make it on their own, one bank robbery at a time." The pair have been wanting to star in a movie together for a while, so this is their big shot -- one that Foxx is writing and Screen Gems is fast-tracking. ...This is it?
Granted, I'm not some old-school Sheneneh fan, but what exactly is it about this pair that makes them worthy not only of a feature film, but also being fast-tracked? Hasn't Hollywood already gotten enough comedians cross-dressing? Don't these men have something better to do than ... this? And if now is the time to bring In Living Color to the big screen, oh, the other characters I would pick.
MacGruber, Sheneneh, Wanda ... what skit is next?
Jake Gyllenhaal Joins Duncan Jones for 'Source Code'
Filed under: Sci-Fi & Fantasy, Casting
I'm not sure what happened to Escape from the Deep, the World War II submarine thriller which was supposed to be the next project for Moon's Duncan Jones, or Mute (his other original sci-fi film). The news today, though, is even more exciting: it seems that instead of tackling historical fiction, Jones will go back to the well for some more heady science-fiction with Source Code. If the title sounds familiar, it's because the project has been floating around for over two years; last year, Shane Abbess (of the Australian pseudo-religious horror film Gabriel) was set to direct. Source Code was written by Ben Ripley (Species III!), with a once-over by Billy Ray -- a master of the thoughtful genre film. In it, a character is forced relive a train bombing from the point of view of a stranger until he can figure out who's responsible. Jake Gyllenhaal is in negotiations to play the soldier protagonist, or perhaps the third party he inhabits. It's not clear if this is a "conventional" time-travel story or something more akin to Groundhog Day.
Jones is also attached to another sci-fi project called Mute, which he is writing and which he discusses briefly here. Source Code is supposed to start filming early next year, which will probably put the other film (not to mention Escape from the Deep) on the back burner. Meanwhile, awards speculation is starting to simmer around Moon, and especially the richly deserving Sam Rockwell. I'll believe that when I see it -- but Jones' debut showed such remarkable promise that I'm awaiting his next film with bated breath.
Amy Heckerling Gets Vampy with Krysten Ritter
Filed under: Comedy, Horror, Sci-Fi & Fantasy, Casting, Deals, Scripts
I hope you don't hate vampires, because they don't seem to be going anywhere. Now Amy Heckerling, the woman behind Fast Times at Ridgemont High and Clueless, is getting in on the bloodsucking. According to Screen Daily, Parlay Films has grabbed the international rights to an upcoming romantic comedy called Vamps, that Heckerling will write and direct."The film will be a modern-day tale of two young female vampires living the good life in New York until love enters the picture and each has to make a choice that will jeopardize their immortality." Krysten Ritter will star as one of the lead vamps, and they're still searching for the other bloodsucker. This marks a big jump from the actress, who has moved from bubbly side gigs on shows like Gilmore Girls and Veronica Mars to some cinematic supporting roles, a lead gig in the web series Woke Up Dead, and now her first starring film job.
Perhaps I'm being overly hopeful, but it's time for Heckerling to bring us her next comedy classic, and I'm hoping this is it. There was a 13-year span between Ridgemont and Clueless, and it's been 14 years since Cher found love with Josh, so could this be the next Heckerling extravaganza we won't want to heckle? Or, just another project in an oversaturated market?
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