Sir Ian McKellen recently shared some news about The Hobbit, the prequel to the Lord of The Rings trilogy, which will be helmed by Guillermo del Toro.
In an interview with Empire Magazin, McKellen said the scripts for the two films (yes, it will be divided into two movies) will be submitted very soon. The next step will be budgeting the movies and then finally casting can begin. He did reveal in a latter interview that the Lord of The Rings cast whose characters were included in The Hobbit will be returning. Of course, this includes McKellen who will reprise his role of Gandalf.
McKellen shared that Del Toro plans to shoot the movie for 383 days, which is quite a long time.
Emmerich talks about Independence Day sequel
Independence Day was one of the biggest grossing movies of 1996. Knowing that Hollywood has a severe case of sequel-itis especially for movies that earn big bucks, it’s quite strange that Independence Day didn’t get a sequel.
Roland Emmerich, who directed Independence Day, recently weighed in on a possible sequel. The director revealed that he and producer Dean Devlin are still intent on making a sequel especially since they’ve already thought up of a good idea. The difficulty is on how Fox is going to incorporate Devlin’s, Emmerich’s and Will Smith’s deals together. The studio is thinking up of a way to make a package that all parties will be happy with. Fox has floated the idea of doing it without Smith who is a “gross player,” but Emmerich said that the mega actor is crucial to the franchise.
Predators starts production
I decided to turn on the TV tonight while working. I was getting sleepy and needed the background noise to help me stay awake and to somewhat keep me company. I tuned in to one of the movie channels and Aliens Vs Predator: Requiem was being shown. I’ve seen the movie before. Well, bits and pieces of it because it bored me to death. Fortunately, the work helped me to stay awake and finally I saw the ending of this disaster of a movie. With the introduction of Mrs. Yutani (Aliens mythology fans will know why the name is important), I kind of appreciated the attempt, however flimsy it was, to tie it in to the larger history and mythology of Aliens. It made me think that a sequel could be a cool thing just as long as it won’t turn out as bad as AVP: Requiem.
Apparently, there is a sequel of sorts that’s being developed. Predators, to be directed by Nimrod Antal, is set to begin production on September 28. The movie, to be produced by Robert Rodriguez, will be about a group of people stranded on a Predator planet. Predators is slated for release on July 7, 2010. Hopefully this one is going to be a good one. But then after Requiem, any other sequel or spin-off is bound to be better.
20th Century Fox is releasing the sci-fi action-adventure, written by Alex Litvak and Michael Finch, on July 7, 2010.
Alice in Wonderland Trailer Truly “Awe-full”
A land full of wonder, mystery, and danger…
It’s Alice in Wonderland and the trailer is here! The trailer captures the “Alice in Wonderland” we all read as a youngster so perfectly that it leave me with the very same feelings I felt then – awe with a tinge of fear. Ok so I felt more than just a tinge of fear when I was little (Read my post Alice in Wonderland’s Wondrous Pictures) but the good thing about the trailer is that at least it inspires more wonderment than fear. No need for me to keep on going because you can watch the video below.
If you haven’t seen “Alice in Wonderland’s” trailer yet I wonder what your waiting for?
Excited? Then better start preparing for that all important date because we’ve got plenty of waiting time. Alice in Wonderland won’t be out till March next year.
Looking Back at the Decade-Old “Bicentennial Man”
It’s been almost ten years since “Bicentennial Man” was released and we have yet to see a robot come even remotely close to Andrew Martin’s (Robin Williams) caliber. Of course “Bicentennial Man” is sci-fi but with all the advances in technology we know that the line between sci-fi and reality gets blurred more and more each day.
I felt like writing about “Bicentennial Man” though not because of the sci-fi element but because, having seen it again lately, I remembered just how much of a tearjerker the movie was, and still is. If you haven’t seen “Bicentennial Man” yet don’t expect to be surprised by an unexpected twist in the plot or a sci-fi film full of imagination that is truly out there but do expect to be do expect to be immersed in a story of a robot reaching for his destiny, which is to be recognized for his humanity.“Bicentennial Man” is a remarkable film not for its novelty but because it is a great example of good old storytelling. It is one truly compelling film.
Other similar films that I enjoyed are “AI” and “I Robot”. For me AI was as good as tearjerker as “Bicentennial Man”. I think I almost died from a clogged nose right at the end when he “slept” with his mom. “I Robot” was also enjoyable with more action scenes and hence a bigger hit but for me it’s storytelling just wasn’t at par with the other two “humanized robot” stories.