With Sam Raimi officially out as the director for the new Spider-Man movie, focus is now on what his next project will be.
If last July’s announcement from Blizzard Entertainment and Legendary Pictures will be our basis, then Raimi is going to direct a movie based on the geek-attracting Warcraft universe. Many a geek have lost sleep playing the excellent real time strategy games of Warcraft, and we haven’t even touched on the kind of insane obsession people have on World of Warcraft, the MMORPG that has been the cause of many breakups, divorces, and a growing number of 20 year old virgins.
The Warcraft universe would really be perfect for Raimi, whose vision is perfect for the kind of high fantasy world that Warcraft will absolutely require. Even though a screenwriter has also been announced last October (Robert Rodat, who wrote The Patriot) and the film is in the outline/story phase it looks like Raimi actually hasn’t made a final decision yet. It seems that the Spider-Man announcement took some of the wind off his sails and he’s now reconsidering all of his options before committing fully to a project. Rumblings are that he is leaning towards making a small film first — maybe to take the slimy taste off his mouth after being shafted by a big movie studio — especially since he had a lot of fun making “Drag Me To Hell.” But, again, everything’s still up in the air.
Conan lead announced
Conan is one of the most iconic characters in the world of fantasy. the Cimmerian barbarian turned king is the acknowledged fantasy alpha male and one of the toughest fictional protagonists. Of course, Conan is more familiar to film fans as the character that made Arnold Schwarzenegger a star.
The star turning power of Conan is the reason why it is such a coveted role. With talks that a Conan remake is already being developed, actors left and right are being touted as the perfect Conan. You would, of course, expect to see familiar names and established stars vying for the role of Conan. But th announcement of Lionsgate and Millennium Films about the new Conan has caught quite a few people by surprise. The role was announced to have been given to Jason Momoa. Yes, I don’t know who he is either.
The 30 year old Momoa is a virtual unknown. His most prominent work before Conan was in the sci-fi TV show Stargate Atlantis. He’s also set to appear in the new HBO mini series, Game of Thrones. I’m not familiar with Momoa’s work but from his pictures, he does look like he could be perfect for the role. I’ll hold off judgement on the guy’s acting skills because a) I haven’t seen his work and b) Conan is not really going to win anyone an Oscar — if you can grunt and look good doing it then you’ll perfect for the role.
Oh, and speaking of grunts and Oscars, Mickey Rourke has been offered the role of Corin, Conan’s father.
Conan will begin filming this March 15.
Cronenberg to remake his Fly remake, film fans’ heads spin
Movie remakes in Hollywood are being developed at a fairly regular rate of late. I’ve always maintained that it’s Hollywood running out of original ideas and just zeroing in on a quick buck. I’ve already accepted it as par for the course.
But what made me do a double-take was news of a remake OF A REMAKE. And no less than acclaimed director David Cronenberg is behind this.
Cronenberg is reportedly developing a remake of The Fly, which he famously remade in 1986 with Jeff Goldblum and Geena Davis. Of course, the original The Fly movie was released in 1958 and has been one of the venerated sci-fi classics. Cronenberg will be directing the new remake and will probably also write the screenplay.
It makes you think — what do you call a remake of a remake?
Predators reboot gets cast
You guys know how I feel about this constant release of “rebooted” material from Hollywood. Now a new reboot is has taken a significant step towards completion.
Robert Rodriguez’s reboot of Predator has finally completed its cast. The list of actors will be headed by Oscar-winning actor Adrien Brody. Another rumored addition is Topher Grace, who will play the role of an accountant who is actually a lethal serial killer.
Other actors confirmed to be included in Predators include Rodriguez regular Danny Trejo, Walton Goggins, Alice Braga, Oleg Taktarov, Mahershalalhashbaz Ali, and Louiz Ozawa.
Predators will be directed by Hungarian director Nimrod Antal, who directed last year’s Vacancy.
Transformers 3 slated for 2011
Transformers 3 fans now have a real reason to get excited. Director Michael Bay has officially announced the release date for the third installment in the hit franchise.
In his official web site he revealed that a story has now been developed for the Transformers sequel and the release date is slated for July 1, 2011, a year earlier from the speculated 2012 release date.
Bay revealed that he had a meeting with Industrial Light and Magic and that he will be going to Hasbro’s headquarters with writer Ehren Kruger to talk about new characters for the movie.
Oh, and he also left a little note for Megan Fox, who has been badmouthing the Michael Bay and the Transformers franchise.
“P.S. Megan Fox, welcome back. I promise no alien robots will harm you in any way during the production of this motion picture. Please consult your Physician when working under my direction because some side effects can occur, such as mild dizziness, intense nausea, suicidal tendencies, depression, minor chest hair growth, random internal hemorrhaging and inability to sleep. As some directors may be hazardous to your health, please consult your Doctor to determine if this is right for you.”
Hilarious, and just slightly upped Bay’s cred for me.