Director Michael Bay posted on his forum, “The Twins are not back in T3.” Maybe all the ridicule on the blatant racism of the characterizations of Skids and Mudflap finally convinced him what a bad idea they were. Well, that or he’s making room for Asian stereotyped transformers.
Source: (Superhero Hype)
Supposedly Steven Spielberg and J.J. Abrams had a conversation about their youth playing with Super 8 cameras which realized their current film project together. Produced by Spielberg, J.J. Abrams penned the screenplay that pays homage to Spielberg’s 70s films, which he will also direct.
Reportedly, the budget for Super 8 is roughly $50 million, but it’s confirmed that it will be shot traditionally instead of hand-held like Cloverfield.
J.J. Abrams is notorious for keeping things hushed, and this project is no different. The only concrete thing known about the plot is the line in the teaser: “In 1979, the U.S. Air Force closed a section of Area 51”. Anything else at this point is speculation.
Like J.J. Abrams’ Lost and Cloverfield, Super 8 has viral marketing, which is already underway. According to the website discovered by fans, something will be revealed on May 15h. The site can be found here.
Steven Spielberg and J.J. Abrams collaborating together on a film is very exciting, and I can’t wait to see what they come up with. I just hope George Lucas stays away from this movie. I mean . . . what?
The Man from Earth was the last work of the late writer Jerome Bixby, directed by Richard Schenkman, and stars David Lee Smith as Professor John Oldman.
The film begins with John Oldman packing all his things into his truck when colleagues suddenly come over against his wishes. They confront him for leaving so abruptly, and ask his reasons for moving away. Barely addressing their questions, he acts skittish while continuing to pack before they convince him to elaborate on his reasons.
Inviting them in his home, he offers them conversation for the modest farewell party. John asks them,”What if a man from the Upper Paleolithic had survived until the present day?” which piques the interest of his friends. John nonchalantly mentions that he’s the caveman that he was implying. He then starts sharing stories throughout his life which raises more questions from his colleagues. The debate gradually becomes more heated; his friends using their expertise in each of their respective fields to try to disprove John.
The production for this film is more along the lines of a theatre rather than a traditional movie; it takes place entirely on one location. A lot of the focus are on John’s monologues on his past life and interactions with his colleagues instead of flashback scenes. The acting and the strong writing really shows, immersing the viewer into each of John’s stories.
There’s absolutely no reliance on special effects or action. There’s the emotionally and intellectually charged debate between friends that completely engrosses the viewers, and it works beautifully. Any fan of science fiction and theatre should watch this endearing film.
Iron Man 2 came out only days ago, and someone has already put together all the easter eggs in the movie. Do not click the link if you don’t want to be spoiled on Marvel’s movie projects.
Vin Diesel is bringing the Chronicles of Riddick back on the big screen with the help of writer/director David Twohy.
Here’s the official synopsis:
Betrayed by his own kind and left for dead on a desolate planet, Riddick (Diesel) fights f
or survival against alien predators and becomes more powerful and dangerous than ever before. Soon bounty hunters from throughout the galaxy descend on Riddick only to find themselves pawns in his greater scheme for revenge. With his enemies right where he wants them, Riddick unleashes a vicious attack of vengeance before returning to his home planet of Furya to save it from destruction.
In the director’s cut the ending of the Chronicles of Riddick, he killed the antagonist and became the new leader of the Necromonger army due to their, “You keep what you kill,” adage. In the theatrical cut after defeating the antagonist, the Necromonger fleet leaves the planet Helium Prime, sparing it.
So by ‘betrayed by his own kind’, does the synopsis imply the Furyan survivors, or the Necromonger army that he now commands in the director’s cut?
I always found the Riddick films ridiculous, and this looks to be the same — but nevertheless, they’re highly entertaining. I entirely look forward to the next installment.
Usually I’m not a fan of remakes or reboots, but 20th Century Fox’s Predators (produced by Robert Rodriguez) is showing incredible promise. Instead of focusing on the predators themselves like in AVP, Rodriguez insisted on building strong characters to be the focal point of the film. He wanted a cast that would be comparable to the memorable characters of the original movie.
Playing a combination of mercenaries and convicts are; Adrien Brody, Danny Trejo, Alice Braga, Topher Grace, and Walter Goggins — who are transported to another planet to be hunted by the predators. On the planet they meet a scavenger played by Laurence Fishburne, completing the main cast.
This alone is a great step towards rejuvenating the Predator franchise. The problem with the AVP movies was that the cast weren’t built up; they weren’t likable; they just weren’t memorable. The audience only wanted to see the aliens and predators kill off the cast in a brutal fashion. There was no story with substance or a character arc to captivate the audience; to get them emotionally invested in the film.
Howard Berger, who worked with Stan Winston on the original Predator states that they’re going back to the original designs for the new movie; they want to remain faithful to it. New alien designs have also been done to compliment Winston’s on the world where the group are dropped off on. There’s going to be a more focus on building suits rather than a reliance on CG, which I’m glad to hear.
The film is due for release on July 9, 2010.
According to Deadline, Matthew Vaughn and 20th Century Fox are negotiating a deal for Vaughn to direct X-Men: First Class, a prequel to the X-Men films. The former director, Bryan Singer is set to be one of the producers.
It’ll be interesting how this turns out, since this film is essentially a reboot of the franchise. The prior films did help pave the way for movie adaptions of comic books, but they took a few liberties with the characters that left comic fans unhappy — most notably downplaying Cyclops’ leadership to bump up Wolverine in the films. This could be Fox’s opportunity to fix their mistakes, and get characterizations correct. It’d be a smart move since Marvel’s own movie adaptions are making a huge impact on the market.
Recently Warner Bros. set the official date for the third Batman movie to be July 20, 2012. It’s the only concrete detail on the movie while it’s under the presumption that Christian Bale and Christopher Nolan will be involved in the film.
The Riddler is a fan favorite for the next villain, thoug
h I’m hoping for the Riddler to be an intellectual rival to Batman as a detective. The third movie can easily suffer the fate of most trilogies if it follows the same formula of “bigger is better” — having the Riddler as a rival on top of an actual villain would help keep the film grounded, and further display the detective aspect of Batman that was only touched upon in the prior movies.
As for actual villains: I’d like to see Bane and Black Mask being used. If Bane’s characterization is the intelligent version like in the comics — coupled with Black Mask who hates Bruce Wayne and eventually controls much of the underworld of Gotham — they would make a formidable team against Batman while he’s in his rivalry and occasional help from the Riddler.