Return of The Dark Knight
It’s official now, the sequel to ‘Batman Begins‘ will be directed by Christopher Nolan (again) and it will be called The Dark Knight.
Christian Bale, Michael Caine, Morgan Freeman and Gary Oldman return as well and to most people’s surprise, Heath Ledger has been cast as The Joker. I really do not know how he is going to fare in this role but Christopher Nolan has been known to bring out the best in actors.
They are looking at an early 2007 start date but before that, watch out for Bale and Nolan’s next movie, The Prestige.
(But Heath Ledger???…really????)
The Grindhouse rolls on
Quentin Tarantino has signed Kurt Russell to star as Stunt Man Mike in Tarantino’s Half of ‘Grindhouse’ called ‘Death Proof‘.
Mickey Rourke was originally envisaged for the role but for reasons unknown (atleast to me) he did not show up for production. In addition to Russell and Rose McGowan, Tarantino’s half of “Grindhouse” also will star Zoe Bell, Rosario Dawson, Vanessa Ferlito, Jordan Ladd, Sydney Tamiia Poitier, Marley Shelton, Tracie Thoms and Mary Elizabeth Winstead.
Robert Rodriguez’s half of the double-featured film, called ‘Planet Terror‘, will include Freddy Rodriguez, McGowan, Josh Brolin, Naveen Andrews, Shelton, Michael Biehn, Stacy Ferguson, Jeff Fahey and Michael Parks.
Christian Bale and Hugh Jackman will fight for The Prestige
Based on Christopher Priest’s 1996 novel, Bale and Jackman play rival magicians in turn-of-the-century London who battle each other for trade secrets. Christopher Nolan (of Batman Begins and Memento fame) directs this movie and the star cast includes Christian Bale, Hugh Jackman, Scarlett Johansson, David Bowie and Michael Caine.
Check out the trailer for this brilliant move here.
Trivia about Christopher Nolan
- Gained major funding during the 1999 Hong Kong Film Festival by showing his film Following (1998) and then asking the audience to donate money to his next film Memento (2000).
- Is red and green colorblind.
- Doesn’t like CGI in movies and purposely avoided it when he made “Batman Begins“
- Following Insomnia, his next project was going to be a Howard Hughes biopic starring Jim Carrey. Nolan had the screenplay written (calling it “one of the best things I’ve ever written”), but once it became apparent Martin Scorsese was making his own Hughes biopic The Aviator (2004), Nolan reluctantly tabled his script and took up directing Batman Begins (2005).
Michelle Pfeiffer to star in Hairspray
Michelle Pfeiffer will join John Travolta, Queen Latifah and Amanda Bynes for the big-screen adaptation of the stage show, Hairspray - which is based on John Walters‘ 1988 comedy about teenagers obsessed with a television dance show.
Michelle Pfeiffer will play the villain, Velma von Tussel, who is a former beauty queen-turned-bitter-television producer.
Director Adam Shankman said: “I’m going to dress and wig Michelle to death on this one.” Shooting kicks off in Canada this September and the film is scheduled to be released December 2007.
Jamie has the Power of Duff
Jamie Foxx and his managers Jaime Rucker King and Marcus King have signed on to produce and develop Universal’s The Power of Duff with Marc Platt.
Power of Duff is about a TV news anchor whose grief over his father’s death prompts him to pray aloud during newscasts. When his prayers start coming true, it ignites controversy about whether he’s a prophet.
Now that sounds like a movie we would want to see. Jamie Foxx is considering playing the lead role in the movie.
Looks like God is going to trust mankind once again
Bruce Almighty 2 - Evan Almighty is set for release in 2007 and this time, God will entrust Evan Baxter (Steve Carell) to build an ark in preparation for a great flood.
There have been many sequels that did not do well because the main stars of the first one refused to be involved in the sequel (Mask 2, Predator 2, xxx 2, Dumb and Dumberer: When Harry Met Lloyd). I hope this movie doesnt follow suit although Steve Carell has proved himself to be a funny guy and we could use some new comedians.
Did you know that the scene on The 40 Year Old Virgin (2005), where Andy has his chest hair removed, required five cameras set up for the shot. It was Carell’s real chest hair which was ripped out in the scene. Carell told director Judd Apatow just before shooting the scene: “It has to be real. It won’t be as funny if it’s mocked up or if it’s special effect. You have to see that this is really happening.” The scene had to be done in one shot. Ouch.
Coming soon to a swamp near you - Shrek The Third
The third installment of the ogre’s adventures is set to star an elite, ninja-like strike force of fairy tale princesses voiced by Amy Sedaris as Cinderella, Amy Poehler as Snow White, Maya Rudolph as Rapunzel and Cheri Oteri as Sleeping Beauty.
Organized by Princess Fiona, the ladies underground resistance movement fends off a coup d’etat by Prince Charming (Rupert Everett) in the land of Far, Far Away.
Also joining the hit animated comedy’s cast are Ian McShane as Captain Hook, John Krasinski as Sir Lancelot, and Monty Python veteran Eric Idle as Merlin the magician.
The film’s main roles again will be voiced by Mike Myers (Shrek), Cameron Diaz (Princess Fiona), Eddie Murphy (Donkey) and Antonio Banderas (Puss in Boots). Diaz’s boyfriend, pop singer Justin Timberlake, will voice King Arthur, a.k.a. Artie.
Shrek The Third is set for release next year.
Brosnan Junior says Craig will fail
Chris Brosnan fears Daniel Craig will fail as his father’s James Bond successor. Brosnan Jr says, “They’ve gone for a dirtier, uglier, grittier Bond with him which will be very different to dad. “They’ve taken a big risk in choosing him for the part and I only hope it pays off.”
Chris Brosnan is the son of Cassandra Harris and Dermot Harris and the adopted son of Pierce Brosnan, who was married to Cassandra from 1977 until her death on 28 December, 1991. Chris Brosnan is a Music Video Director and was the assistant director for ‘Tomorrow Never Dies‘ and ‘The World Is Not Enough‘.
Jackie Chan plays real-life ‘Drunken Monkey’
Jackie Chan attended a concert by Taiwanese singer-songwriter Jonathan Lee and exchanged insults with the audience. He is quoted as saying onstage that he was drunk.
Jackie suddenly jumped on the stage and demanded a duet with Lee. He then tried to conduct the band but stopped and restarted the music several times. As this continued, the audience started to heckle Chan and what does he do? He insults them and tries to go on.
Jackie, have you heard of Karaoke bars?
Samuel L. Jackson Jumps onto the “Jumper”
Samuel L. Jackson will star in Doug Liman’s “Jumper,” a sci-fi adventure that sees the SLJ in hot pursuit of a boy who has the power of teleportation.
The movie is based on the Steven Gould novel of the same name. The story follows a boy from a broken home who discovers that he has the ability to teleport and he uses this ability to track down the man he believes is responsible for the death of his mother, the kid draws the attention of the National Security Agency and another youth with the same abilities. Jackson, however, will have an ulterior motive to catch this kid.
Sounds really interesting..