Iron Man 2 New Trailer

Here's the new trailer for Iron Man 2, which premièred on Jimmy Kimmell live after the Oscars. The new trailer gives some clues as to the plot of the movie, together with longer looks at the characters played by Mickey Rourke and Sam Rockwell.

The only possible concern are the number of plot strands and characters which appear to be jostling for screen time, but hopefully this will be more Dark Knight than Spiderman 3.

Savages

Deadline is reporting that Oliver Stone is intending to make an adaptation of Don Winslow's novel Savages his next project following the forthcoming release of Wall Street 2.

Stone has grabbed the rights to the book before it's July publication date and details are therefore sketchy.  The promotional blurb describes the plot as follows:-

“young, independent Laguna Beach-based marijuana kingpins are blackmailed into working for the Baja Cartel after one of their threesome is kidnapped.  The group now owes every cent they’ve made for the last five years, and while they agree to pay, they end up hatching “an alternate plan to get her back, get revenge, and then get lost.”

Police Academy

A few years ago Steve Guttenberg was touting a new Police Academy film, which would reunite most of the surviving cast.  Whilst most people put these comments down to desperate pitching from a man reduced to pantomines and infomercials, it looks like Guttenberg may have been at least partly correct.

New Line Cinema and Warner Brothers have announced that they are in fact working on a revival of the franchise.  Unfortunately for Guttenberg and co. it appears that the film will centre on a selection of new recruits and there will be no room for the original stars.

Whilst not surprising, it's a shame the studio could not find some place for the original cast, perhaps as teachers at a new academy, a move which surely would draw in some of the fans of the original series.  

George A Romero's Survival of the Dead

Here's a very brief red band trailer for George Romero's Survival of the Dead.  Romero seems to have a thing for characters with dodgy accents but at least this sequel moves away from the cinema verite style which hampered the previous entry in the series, Diary of The Dead.

This is also the second film today which will be seeing a video on demand release (this time on April 30th) before hitting selected cinemas at the end of May.    It's certainly an interesting marketing strategy, but it remains to be seen whether anyone other than Romero's die hard supporters will trek to the cinema to see something readily available at home.

The Smurfs

As mentioned previously, following the success of Alvin and The Chipmunks, studios are looking for other classic children's properties to adapt.  Next in the live action / CGI cross over genre is 'The Smurfs' which, whilst originally a 1950's comic book is best known for the 1980's animated TV show.

Doogie Howser MD himself, Neil Patrick Harris, will be taking the live action lead, with Jordan Kerner producing.

Warlords

Almost two years after it's release in it's native China, Jet Li action epic Warlords is finally be getting a US release this month.

In a somewhat odd strategy the film will be available 'on-demand' via cable, Xbox Live and Playstation Network from today, before a limited cinema release on 2 April

Cinematical has an exclusive clip from the movie, embedded below, together with this synopsis:-

Set in the midst of war and political upheaval during the Taiping Rebellion of the 1860s, WARLORDS stars Jet Li as General Pang, who barely survives a brutal massacre of his fellow soldiers by playing dead, and joins a band of bandits led by Er Hu (Andy Lau) and Wu Yang (Takeshi Kaneshiro). After fighting back attackers from an helpless village, the three men take an oath to become "blood brothers," pledging loyalty to one another until death, but things quickly turn sour and the three men become embroiled in a web of political deceit, and a love triangle between Pang, Er Hu and a beautiful courtesan (Wu Jing-Lei).

Wolverine 2

Slashfilm reports that a script for a sequel to the X-Men spin off Wolverine has been handed in to Fox, who are looking at shooting the film in January 2011.

The script has been written by Christopher McQuarrie, of Usual Suspects fame, which raises hopes it may be a step above the previous entry in the series, or at the very least it may have a plot that makes some kind of sense.

The script is apparently based loosely on Frank Miller's early 1980's comic book (pictured) which first popularised the character, and will apparently feature a romance with a Japanese character.

No director is on board yet, and the director of the previous film, Gavin Hood , has indicated he will not be returning.

Toy Story 3

Here's the final poster for Toy Story 3, highlighting a number of the new characters which will make an appearance in the film, as well as some old favourites.

Death Race 2

Sean Bean is the latest actor to join straight to DVD sequel Death Race 2, according to the Hollywood Reporter.


Produced by the director of the 2008 remake of the original classic, Paul Thomas Anderson, the prequel will centre on racing driver Frankenstein's time as a convice in a corrupt prison system.


Bean will join a cast which already features genre stalwarts Luke Goss (in the lead role), Danny Trejo and Ving Rhames.


The film is the latest in a number of direct to DVD sequels to cinema releases produced by Universal Studios, which have included sequels to Smoking Aces and American Pie and a prequel to Carlito's Way.

Abraham Lincoln : Vampire Hunter

Abraham Lincoln : Vampire Hunter is the latest in a series of surprisingly popular 'literary mash ups' from Seth Grahame-Smith, the author of 'Pride and Prejudice and Zombies.'

The novel is heading to the big screen with Grahame-Smith penning the screenplay.   Tim Burton and Timur Berkmambetov, who previously collaborated on the animated '9' are attached as producers but further details are scarce at the moment.

In the meantime here's a short 'trailer' for the book itself, which is certainly a neat way of promoting it, and not something I've seen before


Source: Slashfilm

Alice in Wonderland

In celebration with the release of Tim Burton's forthcoming Alice in Wonderland, which is apparently the 20th screen adaptation of the tale, the BFI have released a restored version of the very first adaptation which amazed cinema goers as long ago as 1908.


In a surprising echo of the new film, this version even features the director's wife in the role of the Red Queen

Only eight of the original twelve minutes survive, but what is there has been extensively restored, including the reinstatement of some early colour effects.

Indiana Jones 5

Speaking to BBC Newsbeat, Harrison Ford has revealed that director Steven Spielberg and producer George Lucas have 'the germ of an idea' for a fifth Indiana Jones film.
Notwithstanding this, you may need to wait a while for the film to hit the screen.   
"The process works like this," Ford explained. "We come to some basic agreement and then George goes away for a long time and works on it."
"Then Steven and I get it in some form, some embryonic form."
"Then if we like it we start working with George on it and at some point down the line it's ready and we do it."
Given that Ford is now 67 years old it looks like we will be seeing an Indiana Jones well into his seventies by the time the next film comes around.

Tron Legacy

Slashfilm has a new image from the Tron film, which takes us back inside Flynn's arcade.  Looking considerably more decrepit than in the original film, the character in the middle is Sam Flynn, the son of the Jeff Bridge's Kevin Flynn.  Flynn Jr. goes looking for his father and soon finds himself dragged into a updated 3d version of the original's virtual world.

Prince of Persia

A new trailer has been released for this summers video-game adaptation, Prince of Persia.  The film stars Jake Gylenhall (with an extremely dodgy accent (as the titular Prince, who finds an ancient artefact that can turn back time.  Looking like a cross between Indiana Jones and Pirates of the Carribean, this certainly looks to be one of the more effects heavy films of the summer.  The Mike Newell directed film reaches screens on May 28th.

Prince of Persia: The Sands of Time Trailer 2 in HD

Trailer Park Movies | MySpace Video

Scott Pilgrim vs The World

MTV News has a new interview with Edgar Wright about his forthcoming comic book adaptation Scott Pilgrim Vs The World which opens August 2010.  The comic tells of a slacker (played in the movie by Micheal Cera) who meets the girl of his dreams but, before he can be with her, is forced to battle her seven evil ex-boyfriends.

Wright talks a bit about the tone of the film, and the changes from the comic book.  Whilst initially faithful to the book, the film's plot begins to diverge around the mid-way point, which is less surprising when you learn the later books in the series had not been completed at the time the screenplay was written.  The creator of the series, Bryan Lee O'Malley, has given his blessing to the changes however, and responses to early test screenings have been almost universally positive.

Ghostbusters 3

A bizarrely attired Bill Murray made an appearance on David Letterman's late night talk show earlier this week and briefly talked about Ghostbusters 3.  Whilst the actor at one point dismisses the prospect of a third film as 'crazy talk' he does go on to talk with some fondness about reprising the role for a recent video game.  He also repeats his earlier statements that he would only return for the film if they killed him off in the first reel and states that the screenwriters have now found a way to do this.  This ties in with earlier reports that the Venkman character would appear as a ghost character in any further sequel.

Here's a brief video of the discussion

Arthur

The Arthur remake appears to be moving forward with the news that Jason Winer has signed on to direct.  Although a newcomer to feature film making, Winer is one of the minds behind ABC's hit sitcom Modern Family.  As well as executive producing the series, Winer is responsible for directing a number of the series most popular episodes.

British writer Peter Baynham is on scripting duties whilst the other roles have yet to be cast, although there was an intriguing rumour a few weeks brand that Brand wanted Meryl Streep to play Hobson, the Butler role for which John Gielguild won a role in the original.

This Weeks New DVD Releases

A mixed bag of new DVD's and Blu-Rays this week.

Fantastic Mr Fox

Wes Anderson's adaptation of Roald Dahl's childrens classic split critics with it's mix of retro stop motion animation and urbane wisecracking.  Nonetheless there is much to delight here, particularly George Clooney's turn as the fantastic Mr Fox.





Blu Ray - Only £16.85
Fantastic Mr Fox [Blu-ray] [2009]

DVD - Only £11.93
Fantastic Mr Fox [DVD] [2009]

Cirque Du Freak - The Vampires Assistant

A speedy DVD release for Universal's attempt to cash in on the Twilight phenomenon.  A talented cast (John C Reilly, Salma Hayek) is wasted on this lifeless tale of a young boy who leaves his normal life behind to go on the road with the titular Cirque Du Freak.

The DVD is however only £7.98 on Amazon
Cirque Du Freak: The Vampire's Assistant [DVD] [2009]



The American President

Bargain of the week goes to Rob Reiner's 1995 rom-com the American President.  The film stars Michael Douglas as the single President of the United States, who risks his popularity by falling in love with a lobbyist, played by Annette Benning.  Michael J Fox and Michael Sheen take supporting roles.

Despite the somewhat bland description above, the film is surprisingly sharp when it comes to it's dissection of the American political system.  The reason why becomes clear when you realise the script was written by Aaron Sorkin, and in many ways the film served as a dry run for the West Wing.  Echoes of the series can be seen throughout the film, from the quickfire dialogue to the casting of Michael Sheen as a senior presidential aide.

Whilst the DVD is bereft of extras, Amazon is charging only £3.14 for the disc, and at that price it deserves a place in everyone's DVD collection.

The American President [DVD] [1995]

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Whilst we wont be telling you every time a new story is posted on the site we will keep you informed of the major stories of the day, which, as usual, will be whatever interests us at the time.

Foundation

Roland Emmerich has talked to Empire Online about his forthcoming adaptation of Isaac Asimov's seminal sci-fi novel Foundation.

Emmerich reveals that screenwriter Robert Rodat has just handed in a 240 page first draft of the film and that they are currently looking at getting this down to a more manageable length whilst still keeping the epic scope of the books.

Emmerich also states that the film will be all-CGI but utilising performance capture techniques and that the flick will also be jumping on the 3D bandwagon.

The director's track record, together with the use of 3D, is likely to worry fans and give rise to fears that the books more cerebral passages will be jettisoned in favour of special effects and action sequences. Notwithstanding this Foundation has had a troubled road to the screen and it may be best to reserve judgment until we see exactly what Emmerich has in mind.

How to Train Your Dragon

New trailer for Dreamwork's next CGI animation, which is released on 26 March in the US and 31 March in the UK

Tron Legacy 3D

Joseph Kosinski, director of this winter's Tron sequel, has revealed to Slashfilm that as well as being shot in the 3D format the film will feature a number of action sequences which will utilise the extended ratio of Imax screens. In a similar fashion to The Dark Knight the majority of the film will be presented in a 2.39:1 aspect ratio, however for five key sequences the screen will expand upwards to 1:7 to 1. This will of course apply only to Imax theatres and is intended to make the audience feel more immersed in the world of the film.

Puppet Master : Axis of Evil

In a world where Freddy, Jason and Michael Myers are getting high profile resurrections, it's interesting to see that other, less popular eighties horror movie series are continuing to pump out direct to DVD sequels all these years later.

In that vein, here's the teaser trailer for the forthcoming Puppet Master : Axis of Evil, the forthcoming tenth (!) entry in the series, which takes the killer puppets back to the Nazi Germany setting of the third film.

American Grindhouse

Trailer for great looking documentary American Grindhouse, featuring a selection of contributors who clearly understand the films in a way Tarantino and Rodriguez singularly failed to do.

Source: Slashfilm

Tangled (formerly Rapunzel)

The forthcoming DVD and Blu Ray release of Disney's The Princess and the Frog features a very brief teaser for Tangled, their forthcoming update of the Rapunzel tale. The film is due for release in November 2010 and, whilst a CGI animation, the imagery does seem to capture that classic Disney look.

Not The Messiah

As part of their 40th anniversary celebrations last year, the surviving members of Monty Python (with the exception of John Cleese), appeared in a stage performance of Eric Idle's oratoria Not The Messiah (He's a Very Naughty Boy). The musical is of course based on Monty Python's Life of Brian, which many consider the most successful of their films.

The event was recorded and will in fact gain a very brief cinema release for one night only on March 25th. The recording will screen at 90 cinemas in the UK, with no showings planned in the US at president.

No doubt this means the show will turn up on DVD at some point in the near future. In the meantime, here's a trailer for the cinema screeenings

Transformers 3D

Despite his previous protestations that 3D may be nothing more than a fad, and unsuitable for his style of film making, rumours are circulating that Michael Bay may in fact shoot the third Transformers movie in the format.

Speaking on 'In The House' a TV series on American cable channel Starz, Bay told the interviewer that :-

“It (3D) is a process we’re testing with some ‘Transformers‘ scenes, how successful it is with my movie in terms of a lot of real stuff coming out of the frame, real dirt, real complicated little particles coming towards the lens, because hopefully that process will work. I’ve seen some tests that look great on other movies. I just want to see how it looks on my footage.”

Whilst some may disagree with the suggestion that there is anything 'real' about the special effect sequences in Bay's movies, the series does seem to be a good candidate for the 3D treatment and Paramount is apparently very keen on making this happen.

Transformers 3 is set for a summer 2011 release with Bay directing and Shia Lebouf, Megan Fox and a lot of bad CGI explosions also returning.

Source: Slashfilm

Avatar 2

It is no great shock that a sequel to Avatar is already in the planning stages, but what may be more surprising is the potential involvement of Sigourney Weaver.

Weaver appeared on French TV show 'Le Grand Journal' this week to plug her forthcoming hosting duties at the Cesar Awards, AKA the French Oscars.

During her interview, Weaver was asked if she would be part of any Avatar sequel, and she responded that she has in fact already discussed this with writer/director James Cameron, who has confirmed he is planning to include her in the sequel.

Spoilers below

Those who have seen the film will express some surprise at these news, for the simple fact that Weaver's character was killed in the original film. Whilst the Na'avi attempted to transfer Grace's consciousness from her dying human body into her avatar the attempt was apparently unsuccessful.

However, according to Weaver the key is that after the transfer, Mo’at declared that “she is with Eywa now”. Cameron apparently explained to Weaver that despite her character's apparent death, she still exists “in the tree”, and that he has some ideas on how to keep “the family together”.

Repo Men

Here's a new poster for forthcoming Sci-fi film Repo Men.

Rather than being a sequel to Alex Cox's 80's classic Repo Man (although that too is apparently on the way), Repo Men is instead a dark comedy about a future world in which life saving organ transplants can be repossessed if the recipients fail to make their repayments. Jude Law and Forrest Whitaker co-star in the movie, which hits theatres on March 19th.

Burke and Hare

Courtesy of Dark Horizons, here's the first shot of Simon Pegg and Andy Serkis in Burke and Hare. The currently shooting film tells the story of the notorious 17th century grave robbers and murderers who made a lucrative business out of selling corpses to Edinburgh medical students.

The black comedy co-stars Isla Fisher and Tim Curry and marks a return to feature filmmaking for John Landis, whose last cinematic release was 1998 flop Susan's Plan.

Paranormal Activity 2

In surprising news, Paramount pictures has supposedly approached Brian De Palma as a last minute replacement director for their sequel to last years suprise hit Paranormal Activity.

You will no doubt recall that production on the film hit a major snag recently when Lionsgate exercised their contractual rights to pull original director Kevin Greutert from the film in order that he could fulfil his duties on Saw 7. Greutert was quite vocal in his displeasure at this course of events, but Paramount seem to have given up any hope of resolving the situation.

Whilst De Palma may not be the obvious choice, his recent Iraq war film Redacted used similar techniques to the original Paranormal Activity to tell it's story and he does of course have a long relationship with the horror genre through such films as Carrie and The Fury.

Zoolander 2

The original Zoolander was not a big success on it's initial cinema release, but since then has rapidly became a cult classic on DVD. Now, after several false starts, it looks like Ben Stiller could be returning to the role.

Stiller has been working on the script with Justin Theroux, co-writer on Tropic Thunder and Iron Man 2. Theroux is also attached to direct. Jonah Hill is in consideration to play the films baddie, replacing the original's Will Ferrell.

Source: Slashfilm

A Nightmare on Elm Street

Following Tuesday's new poster, here's a further trailer for New Lines Nightmare on Elm Street remake. The trailer simultaneously seems to give away an awful lot of the films surprises and make the film look like an exact retread of the original. Whether this is the case or not will become apparent on 30 April when the film hits American cinemas.

Iron Man 2

For those who cant wait until April, The French version of MSN Video has a (very) short featurette containing some interview clips and behind the scenes footage from the forthcoming Iron Man sequel.

Superman

Latino Review reports that David Goyer, co-writer of The Dark Knight, has been hired to pen a reboot of the Superman franchise.

Ignoring 2006's woeful Superman Returns, the new script is not intended to be an origin story and will begin with most of the key elements (Lex Luthor, Lois Lane etc.) already in place. This seems a smart idea, as there cannot be many members of the movie going public who are not already aware of the mythology surrounding the character.

Speedy Gonzalez

Following the success of the Alvin and the Chipmunk films, producers are dusting off other cartoon properties for live action / CGI remakes. Next up, according to The Hollywood Reporter, is Warner Bros take on Speedy Gonzalez, with comedian George Lopez on board to provide the voice.

Garfield screenwriters Alex Socolow and Joel Cohen (not coen) have penned the screenplay, which according to producer Anne Lopez recasts Speedy as "a misunderstood boy who comes from a family that works in a very meticulous setting, and he's a little too fast for what they do. He makes a mess of that. So he has to go out in the world to find what he's good at."

Lopez has also indicated that they will be careful to avoid the accusations of racial stereotyping which have plagued the cartoon in the past.

Whilst this sounds terrible and it is difficult to see the appeal of such an outdated character, the same could be said a few years back of Alvin and friends, and if they can achieve a fraction of that success Warner Brothers will be speeding their way to the bank (groan..)

The Karate Kid

Jackie Chan and Will Smith's offspring star in this June's remake of The Karate Kid. The trailer suggests this is aimed at a younger audience than the original, and the makers of the film don't appear to realise that Karate and Kung Fu are not the same thing. Nonetheless, Jackie Chan seems a good fit for the Mr Miyagi role, and at the very least the gag at the end should make fans of the orignal smile.

Source: Aint It Cool News

Doc Savage

Shane Black, writer of Lethal Weapon and The Last Boy Scout, and director of the much under-appreciated 'Kiss Kiss Bang Bang' has been hired to co-write and direct the forthcoming film adaptation of comic super hero Doc Savage.

Doc Savage was last seen on screen in 1975's camp classic 'Doc Savage - The Man of Bronze' but rumours of a return have been mooted for over ten years, with Schwarzenegger attached way back in 1999.

According to Variety, the film will keep the 1930s setting and will also feature 'The Fagulous Five', Doc Savage's recurring companions.

A Nightmare on Elm Street

Here is the new poster for New Line's reboot of the Freddy series.

In addition, head over to Slashfilm for a lengthy transcript of a roundtable interview with the film's producers, Brad Fuller and Andrew Form. In some surprisingly frank exchanges, they talk about the development of the film, fans reactions to both this film and their previous Friday the 13th remake and series creator Wes Craven's lack of involvement in the new film.

Die Hard 5

Whilst promoting his new comedy Cop Out, Bruce Willis told MTV news that a fifth Die Hard is in the offing, with production to begin as early as 2011.

Willis also said that Len Wiseman, the director of the last film in franchise, 2007's Die Hard 4.0, is also his preferred choice to helm the new movie. In terms of plot, look for John McClane to travel abroad, with Willis stating "It's got to go worldwide. That would be my contribution to the next movie."

BAFTA Awards

No massive suprises at the British Academy awards last night, with the big winner being The Hurt Locker , which took six awards to Avatar's two.

Colin Firth was a deserved winner for his role in A single Man, but will struggle to repeat the feat at the Oscars, where Jeff Bridges is a clear favourite to win.

The full list of winners was as follows:-

Best Film: The Hurt Locker

Outstanding British Film: Fish Tank

Best Director: Kathryn Bigelow, The Hurt Locker

Original Screenplay: The Hurt Locker

Adapted Screenplay: Up in the Air

Film not in the English Language: A Prophet

Animated Film: Up Leading Actor: Colin Firth, A Single Man

Leading Actress: Carey Mulligan, An Education

Supporting Actor: Christoph Waltz, Inglourious Basterds

Supporting Actress: Mo’Nique, Precious

Music: Up

Cinematography: The Hurt Locker

Editing: The Hurt Locker

Production Design: Avatar

Costume Design: The Young Victoria

Sound: The Hurt Locker

Special Visual Effects: Avatar

The Orange Rising Star Award: Kristen Stewart

Hit Somebody

Following his directing-only gig on this week's 'Cop Out', Kevin Smith will be returning to writing duties for his next film, 'Hit Somebody', a hockey drama based on the song by Warren Zevon and Mitch Alborn.

In an interview with www.nhl.com, Smith revealed that Seann William Scott will play the lead role of 'Buddy', a hockey 'enforcer' whose wish is to score just one goal in a game.

Smith also says the movie will take place over a period of decades, and unlike his previous movies will be 'big and epic in scale'

Tekken

Did you know they are making a movie of popular video game Tekken? Following on from such great successes as Double Dragon, Streetfigher and Mortal Kombat, comingsoon.net has a selection of new images from the film, such as this :-

The movie stars Luke Goss, Cary-Hiroyuki Tagawa, Tamlyn Tomita, Gary Daniels, Chiaki Kuriyama, Cung Le, Jon Foo, Kelly Overton, Ian Anthony Dale, Lateef Crowder, Darrin Dewitt Henson, John Pyper-Ferguson, Mircea Monroe, Gary Ray Stearns, Candice Hillebrand and David Pitt.

When the only vaguely recognisable name on the list is former 'Bros.' singer Luke Goss, it may not come as a surprise to know that the film has yet to be picked up by an American distributor.

Kick Ass

New restricted trailer for the action comedy.

Zaitochi

For those of you lucky enough to be based in the US, Hulu keeps getting better and better with it's movie offerings. The latest company to jump on board is art house DVD specialists Criterion. The first offerings are six films in the popular Japanese Zaitochi - The Blind Swordsman series, with more films from Criterion's wide ranging collection set to follow

Woody Allen's Next

Owen Wilson has signed on as the lead in Woody Allen’s as yet untitled next movie. Little is known about the movie except that Carla Bruni has a small role.

This is of course Allen's next movie to film, while his prodigious work rate means we will be seeing his already shot 'You will Meet a Tall Dark Strnager' in September, starring Antonio Banderas, Josh Brolin, Anthony Hopkins, Naomi Watts, Gemma Jones, Freida Pinto and Lucy Punch.

When You're Strange : A Film About The Doors

Trailer for the forthcoming Jim Morrison/ The Doors documentary. The documentary is directed by Ton DiCillo, best known for his feature work including the much undderated 'Living in oblivion'. Not too much information is given in the trailer, but hopefully this will vanquish memories of Val Kilmer's portrayal in the overwrought Oliver Stone bio-pic of a few years back.

Cop Out

Two new R-rated clips from Kevin Smith's buddy cop comedy, which hits US theatres next week., via www.newsaskew.com.

After a pretty poor first trailer, subsequent marketing has raised expectations for the film, which looks like a pretty fun return to the days of Lethal Weapon and Beverly Hills cop.

American Pie 4

The LA times reports that Universal are beginning work on 'American Pie 4'. Unlike the numerous straight to DVD spin offs this is aimed at a theatrical release and will feature the characters from the original trilogy.

Harold and Kumar writers Jon Hurwitz and Haydyn Schlossberg have been tasked with writing the screenplay and several of the original actors, most of whom are now well into their thirties, have expressed an interest in returning. Given the less than stellar careers most of them have progressed onto (with the exception of Alyson Hannigan and Seann William Scott) this is not entirely surprising.

James Cameron Interview

MTV.com has a wide ranging interview with James Cameron. There's lots on Avatar of course, including details of the home video release and inevitable sequel, but Cameron also talks at length about the wider industry, including his thoughts on Terminator sequels, superhero movies and the future of 3d. Cameron is particularly interesting when talking about the process of 'retrofitting' 3d to existing films and the use of the technique purely as a marketing process, as can be seen in this clip

Movie Trailers - Movies Blog

Source: Slashfilm

Roger Ebert

Esquire magazine has a lengthy article on famous film critic Roger Ebert. One of the most respected critics in the business, Ebert has suffered serious health problems in the last few years, which have left him unable to eat and speak. Despite this he continues to turn out a prodigious quantity of journalism, most of which can be found at www.rogerebert.com and collected in numerous books.

Wall Street 2

Unfortunately you have to visit The Sun's website to see it, but the new international trailer for Wall Street 2 features a lot of footage not seen in the US teaser. Those wanting to avoid spoilers should be aware however, as the trailer appears to give away a good chunk of the films plot.

Avatar

Whilst Avatar continues to smash box office records, stories are beginning to emerge about the future of the franchise. Whilst a sequel is no doubt inevitable it will also take several years to come to the screen.

Notwithstanding this, it seems we will be seeing new Avatar material much sooner than this, in the form of a novel written by Cameron himself.

Speaking to MTV news, producer Jon Landau indicated that the novel would be a 'big epic story that fills in a lot of things' including the death of Jake's brother and how main villain Quaritch ended up on Pandora.

The producer also indicated that other material originally intended for the movie, but cut for time, may make an appearance either in the novel, or another medium such as comic books.

Kick Ass

Empire Online have the new poster for Matthew Vaughan's forthcoming comic book adaptation Kick Ass. If you follow the link you'll also find a short behind the scene documentary on the film, which is due for release on March 26 in the UK and April 16 in the US.

Taxi Driver 2

Lars Von Trier producing partner has moved quickly to debunk yesterday's story that Von Trier was working on a new version of Scorsese's 1970's classic Taxi Driver.

Speaking to Screen Daily, Peter Aalbaek Jensen stated that the story was without foundation Whilst he confimed that Scorsese and Von Trier had met at the Berlinale he said rumours that the latter wanted to re-make Taxi Driver were “rubbish”.

Whilst many will breathe a sigh of relief at this news, a part of me was intrigued at what the Danish provocateur would have produced.

Whilst the Wolfman update has done better than expected at the box office with a $32 million opening weekend, reviews have not been kind. Stories have abounded about this being a troubled shoot, with numerous writers, a last minute change of director and extensive reshoots, and many critics have claimed that this is clearly reflected in the final product.

Joe Johnson, who replaced Mark Romanek as director, has given an interview to Time Out magazine in which, whilst not expressing displeasure with the final result, he is unusually candid about the difficulties in bringing the film to the screen. Amongst his choice quotes:-

“One of the issues with the previous director was that he had said he needed another 20 days, [...] and that became one of the areas of disagreement that led to [the studio] looking for a new director.”

Johnson goes on to state that whilst he initially brought the film in on the timescale set out by the studio, this was at the expense of jettisoning several sequences for time and budget reasons, including "a much longer sequence at the end and one in London where the wolfman is loose"

After cutting the film together it became apparent that the film did not work without these sequences, necessitating five further weeks of reshoots and significant delays in the film's release.

Whilst this is only the latest in a number of tales of films which have gone wildly over time and budget as a result of creative disagreements and studio politics, unfortunately for Universal The Wolfman looks to be another Last Action Hero rather than the next Titanic.

Arthur

In the second Russell Brand story of the day, The Hollywood reporter reports that the makers of his forthcoming Arthur Remake have approached Mery Streep for the supporting cast.

Streep is apparently wanted for the role of Hobson, the valet / butler originally played by John Gielgud. Obviously some work will need to be done to re-tool the role for a woman, but Streep is one of the few actresses who could give the necessary gravitas to the role, for which Gielgud won a best supporting actor oscar.

British screenwriter Peter Baynham, who contributed to Borat and Bruno, as well as being one of the creators of Alan Partridge, is working on the script for the film, which begins filming this summer.

Taxi Driver 2

File this one under weird rumours at the moment, but stories are emerging from the Berlin Film Festival that De Niro and Martin Scorsese are looking to revisit perhaps their most famous collaboration, Taxi Driver, with Lars Von Trier in the director's chair.

No word on whether this is a sequel, remake or pure fantasy, but the idea of the Danish filmmaker getting his hands on this material does have a certain appeal.

More details as and when we get them...

Get him to the Greek

We have the full trailer for 'Forgetting Sarah Marshall' spin off 'Get him to the Greek', centring on Russell Brand's rockstar character Aldous Snow.

Jonah Hill plays a music industry assistant tasked with getting the British Rocker from London to LA to perform an anniversary show. Unfortunately, it appears that Snow has fallen back off the wagon since his appearance in the previous film.

People's opinion of this film will no doubt depend on their tolerance of Russell Brand's schtick. The film is also his first starring role in an American movie, and it will be interesting to see whether he can carry a film.

Toy Story 3

New full length trailer for Pixar's 3d sequel, which hits cinemas on June 18th

Mr and Mrs Smith

The NY Mag reports that Regency Enterprises,developing a quasi-prequel to the 2005 Brad Pitt–Angelina Jolie hit Mr. and Mrs. Smith without its original stars.

The new film, which will possibly be titled Mr. and Mrs. Jones, will serve as an origin story about a pair of twenty-something spies who are set up as a fake married couple when they graduate agency training.

Clearly there's an economic reason for this, as Pitt and Jolie don't come cheap, and Star Trek showed that fans will flock to an established franchise even without the majority of the original cast. Notwithstanding this, the original film coasted on it's stars charm and chemistry and questions remain about the viability of any sequel which doesn't feature them.

Green Lantern

Tim Robbins is the latest actor to sign on to Warner Brothers comic adaption Green Lantern, according to the website Heat Vision.

Robbins will play Robbins plays Senator Hammond, the father of the main villian Dr Hector Hammond (Peter Sarsgaard).Ryan Reynolds plays the title character with Blake Lively also appearing in the film, which begins filimng in New Orleans In March.

Saw VII

Slashfilm reports that Saw VII, which hits cinemas in 3D this October, may be the last in the series following the disappointing box office of the last movie.

Speaking to Demon FM, a UK Radio Station, the films screenwriter, Patrick Melton, stated

“I think it’s going to end with Saw VII. I have a very strong feeling its going to end with Saw VII. That’s something we’re debating now. You saw in previous interviews or discussions where we thought Saw VIII would be the last one where we had the first trilogy and the second trilogy and then sort of a grand finale wrapped up in two films. But frankly because Saw VI hasn’t performed as well as we anticipated, the idea is well why make two movies when we can make one really excellent movie that wraps up as best we can? And it’s going to be in 3-D which sort of adds to the spectacle. So if you had to ask me, I don’t own the franchise, nor do I run the studio, but I have a feeling, a strong feeling that it’s going to be Saw VII which will be also known as Endgame. And nothing’s official yet, but that’s where we’re hoping things will go. “

Trailer for David Baddiel's comedy 'The Infidel', starring Omad Djalili as a devout muslim who finds out he in fact both adopted and Jewish. The West Wing's Richard Schiff co-stars and the trailer also highlights cameos from other well known British comedians.

Worried this resembles Leon the Pig Farmer in reverse, but the central conceit has some mileage.

Source: The Guardian

Miramax

The Guardian reports that the Weinstein Brothers may again be back in the running to purchase recently shuttered Miramax from Disney.

The story originally surfaced at the start of the year before the closure of the studio was announced. However Disney's decision to wind down the studio appeared to put an end to the rumours.

However sources now suggest that the Weinsteins have now been approached by two hedge funds with a proposal to purchase Miramax as a joint venture.

The LA Times reports that the Weinsteins are not the only people seeking to salvage Miramax, with reports that between seven to 10 bidders were interested in purchasing the studio, including Summit Entertainment, currently rolling in money due to the success of teen vampire franchise Twilight.

Robin Hood

Dodgy english accents ahoy in Ridley Scott's retelling of the Robin Hood legend. Basically, Gladiator with tights.

Alice in Wonderland

Disney have issued a new trailer for Tim Burton's Alice in Wonderland which includes some new footage together with members of the cast explaining the premise of the film, which is now being marketed clearly as a sequel to the original, despite the title.

Superbowl Spots : Avatar - The Last Airbender

Cop Out

Kevin Smith fans who expressed disappointment at the recent trailer for 'Cop Out' will probably find this red band trailer more to their taste.

This appears to be internet only at the minute, but it appears to give a truer impression as to the type of film we'll be getting come February.

King Kong 3D

OK, not a new film as such, but Universal have given more details on the revamped King Kong ride that will be opening this summer to replace the original ride, which was destroyed in a fire in June 2008.

Rather than rebuilding the animatronic Kong, the new attraction will use state of the art 3D technology, according to the Los Angeles times :-

Guests on the studio tour will don 3-D glasses and board a tram that will enter a 200-foot-long soundstage, where park visitors will not only see Kong in three dimensions but also smell his banana breath, feel the gust of wind as he jumps over the guests and sense the ground quake when the ape engages aTyrannosaurus rex in a life-or-death battle. The Kong attraction will be one stop on the park's back lot studio tour ride.

During a recent preview of the technology, a dirty, battle-scarred Kong stared menacingly out from two 180-foot-long by 40-foot-tall screens that wrap around the trams that will carry visitors. In another scene, a 35-foot-tall T. rexstepped over the trams, turned to the audience and bared its massive teeth.

Inside the building, the tram will stop over a "tram-mover" system, powered by massive air bags that will lift, shake and drop the tram, giving guests the feeling of being jolted during the battle between Kong and a T. rex, she said.

180-foot-long screens will curve around the tram so that the 3-D images seem to surround the passengers. A system of fans, sprayers and other devices installed in the building will spew air, water and odors at park visitors.

The attraction sounds similar to the Spiderman 3D at Universal's Islands of Adventure resort in Florida, which is one of that park's most popular attractions.

Four Lions

The sundance festival homepage has a transcription of a Q & A with Chris Morris after a recent screening of his feature debut Four Lions. Morris rarely speaks about his work, but has a few interesting things to say here.

Cemetery Junction

New trailer for Ricky Gervais' and Stephen Merchant's next movie.