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Apes Prequel, Cowboys & Aliens, Green Lantern, Toxic Avenger, Star Trek Online, Breaking Dawn, War of the Gods
Planet of the Apes Prequel Has New Name & Director
Just yesterday I talked about the fact that the Apes prequel was still alive and now the studio has confirmed it. Fox will start filming on Planet of the Apes: Caesar this July under the direction of Rupert Wyatt. Interestingly, the movie is now being listed as a prequel to the Tim Burton remake, NOT a complete series reboot. Sounds like pure shit to me.
Harrison Ford Returns to Sci-Fi in Cowboys & Aliens
Okay, I guess technically Indiana Jones & The Kingdom of the Crystal Skull counts as sci-fi but I don't even want to think about that. Jon Favreau confirms via Twitter that Harrison Ford will star in his upcoming comic adaptation Cowboys & Aliens, alongside Daniel Craig and Olivia Wilde. I love Zathura and Iron Man so I'd be interested in anything Favreau directs but I am REALLY interested in this now. Not only is Favreau directing with Ford, Craig, and Wilde starring, but the script is co-written by Alex Kurtzman & Roberto Orci (Star Trek, Transformers, TV's "Fringe"), and the film's executive producers are Steven Spielberg and Ron Howard. This thing is gonna be huge. I haven't read the comics but I think I'm gonna seek them out now.
First Set Pic From Green Lantern
I don't know dick about Green Lantern--I'll admit that right up front. I was always a Marvel guy, not a DC guy, so if it's not Batman or Superman then I'm completely in the dark. Nonetheless, I know Green Lantern's a popular character so there must be something there. Anyway, the movie (starring Ryan Reynolds as Hal Jordan) is currently filming in Louisiana and someone over at ComicBookMovie.com managed to snag a set picture. There's no confirmation since this isn't an official picture, but most people seem to think this must be Abin Sur's spaceship. I have no idea what that means but maybe it means something to you:
Star Trek Online NOT Coming to a Console Near You
I share this one mainly because it just pisses me off. From the beginning, Cryptic Studios has said they planned to eventually release console versions of Star Trek Online. Now they've changed their minds due to "difficulties with the business side of things". This irritates me because I actually plopped down the $50 for the PC version on the day of release but the quality of the game on my low-end laptop is so poor that I had to stop playing after about a week. My one saving grace was that I would soon be able to pick up an Xbox 360 version and start fresh. Now I'm left with a useless game unless I want to throw down $1000 for ANOTHER laptop for the sole purpose of playing STO. I don't think so.
Bill Condon May Direct Breaking Dawn
The interwebs are buzzing with shock and disbelief today over the news that Bill Condon is close to signing to direct The Twilight Saga: Breaking Dawn. Look, Condon is a talented writer/director (he wrote the screenplay for Chigaco, wrote/directed Gods and Monsters, Kinsey, and Dreamgirls) but before that he was the director of Candyman: Farewell to the Flesh and the writer of low-budget junk like Strange Behavior and Strange Invaders. Why would he be opposed to Twilight? It's sort of the best of both worlds: it's heavy drama with a bit of horror mixed in. Personally, I think this is good news for the franchise.
War of the Gods Gets a Name Change
Tarsem Singh's upcoming Greek mythology movie War of the Gods will now be known as Immortals (presumably to prevent comparison to last week's Clash of the Titans remake). Also, legendary actor John Hurt has joined the cast, which already includes Mickey Rourke, Frieda Pinto (Slumdog Millionaire), Luke Evans, Stephen Dorff, and Henry Cavill. This news comes via Variety. Singh's first movie, The Cell, was a real stinker but visually, it was really impressive. I'm optimistic that this one turns out well.
Tron 3, Apes, Robotech, Voltron, RE: 3D, Dark Life, Thing Prequel, Inception, LOTR Blu-Ray, HDMI, Xbox Live Arcade, Fright Night
Guess who forgot to write his new release Tuesday DVD column this week...? Oops. I still have a little Blu-Ray news to report further down today:
Writers Hired for Tron 3
Edward Kitsis and Adam Horowitz, writers/producers of TV's "Lost" and the upcoming Tron: Legacy, have already started work on a third film in the series, according to The Hollywood Reporter. Disney must be banking on a hit, 'cause Legacy doesn't even hit theaters until December. I know I'm going to be burned at the stake for admitting this but I've actually never seen Tron. I know, I know. Still, I'm excited about Tron: Legacy--it looks cool as hell--so I'm all for continuing the franchise. And, yes, I'll go add Tron to my Netflix queue asap.
Planet of the Apes Prequel Still On
MTV talked to special-effects artist Aaron Sims and he states that the Apes prequel, titled Conquest of the Planet of the Apes, is still in pre-production. "They're just starting. There was another director, It's in the process right now," says Sims. I have mixed feelings about this. I'm a big fan of the original movie (not so much the sequels or TV series) but I hated Tim Burton's remake. Fox intends for this to be a reboot of the series, but setting it in the present day as a prequel scares me.
Sylvan White Circling Robotech
I loved "Robotech" when I was a kid; I wasn't maniacal about it but I did enjoy it. A lot of my friends had the toys and the VHS episodes and whatnot; honestly, I couldn't tell you a thing about it now. I just don't remember--but I'm eager to see a big-ass $200 million Hollywood version refresh my memory. Director Sylvan White (of the upcoming DC comic adaptation The Losers) may be the one to bring it to us. He tells Latino Review, "I'm interested in doing it. The project is not fast tracked. There is no official thing. They sent me a draft and I liked it. It's a work in progress." Note to Hollywood: fast-track this thing. NOW.
New Animated "Voltron" Coming/Movie Script Tossed Out
Coming Attractions had the opportunity to visit World Event Productions, which is the studio that is producing the new "Voltron Force" cartoon. Not much info on the new show but they did learn that the movie script by Justin Marks (of Street Fighter: The Legend of Chun-Li) has been scrapped and the studio is planning to start from scratch with a new writer. I was a big "Voltron" fan, too, but I have trouble seeing this one translating well to the big screen. A new animated show is cool news, though.
Resident Evil: Afterlife Trailer
First things first: I hate Paul W.S. Anderson. The only movie he's made that I even came close to enjoying was Event Horizon and that was a long time ago, so my memory may be failing me there. I also hated the first Resident Evil movie; so much so that I avoided the sequels like the plague. Here's the thing, though--he directed this new installment using the new 3D camera system designed by James Cameron for Avatar. That means this thing is in REAL 3D, and I have such a hard-on for real 3D that I might just have to see this in the theater. Other than the fact that it's in 3D, though, it really doesn't look that interesting:
Want to know another movie I've never seen? John Carpenter's The Thing. Sometimes I really am the worst geek ever, I know. Anyway, Matthijs van Heijningen Jr.'s prequel is gearing up and Shock Til You Drop spoke to one its stars, Joel Edgarton. Here's what he says:
"Well, it's a prequel and definitely the Norwegian base is modeled on the base you see in the Carpenter film," he told us. "Being a prequel you'll see a lot of tie-ins as to how the base comes to be the way it is in the Carpenter film, being so destroyed, and that evidence you see in the Carpenter film, We'll get a glimpse into that. It's great because you have a bunch of people behind making it—Eric Newman and Marc (Abraham), the producers at Strike (Entertainment), those guys and Matthijs the director, they have such respect for the original film that they're not trying to do a remake, they're just trying to pay homage to the original and also do the right thing with what I think is a real cool way in to doing that, and revisiting the material."
Since I haven't seen the original, I don't really have an opinion here but I know a lot of people were upset at the idea of anyone touching Carpenter's original so maybe this news will appease them a little.
What the Hell is Inception About?
Have you seen the trailer for Christopher Nolan's new film, Inception, starring Leonardo DiCaprio? Did it makes sense to you? Me either, but it does look cool and Nolan's a genius. The Los Angeles Times spoke to Nolan and he finally revealed some high-level plot details. If you want to stay spoiler-free, I'd advise you not to click. But I can tell you that the details are VERY high level so there's not too much spoilage regardless.
The Lord of the Rings Trilogy on Blu-Ray
Here's that DVD/Blu-Ray news I promised you. As of today, the LOTR trilogy is now available on Blu-Ray. Here's the catch, though--these are the theatrical versions, not the awesome extended versions. But I gotta admit, I'd almost buy them just to see LOTR in high-def...although I know that's exactly what New Line Home Video wants me to think because they know I'll be perfectly happy to purchase the trilogy AGAIN next year when they finally release the extended versions. Decisions, decisions...
Expensive HDMI Cables are Bullshit
A great article over at Mint.com confirms my long-held belief that there is absolutely NO REASON to spend a ton of money on expensive HDMI cables (Monster Cable even has a gold-plated version for $250!). Here's the deal: unlike component cables where the signal CAN degrade depending on the quality of the cable, HDMI is purely digital--meaning the same digital information is transferred from one component to another, regardless of the "quality" of the cable. Think of it this way: when you use a USB cable to transfer photos from your camera to your computer, don't the photos always come out the same, no matter what cable you use? That's because the "quality" is in the photo file itself--not the cable. It's exactly the same with HDMI, so next time find the cheapest ones you can.
Halo 3 and Tomb Raider: Legend Coming to Xbox Live Arcade
Now that there's a 250GB hard drive and USB memory support is available for the Xbox 360, Microsoft is going balls-to-the-wall with their downloadable games. Coming next Tuesday to Live Arcade is Tomb Raider: Legend and, the following Tuesday, 2007's Halo 3. My prediction? This is the beginning of the end for disc-based games. Within 5 years, we'll be buying all of our games online. Trust me.
Anton Yelchin Joins Fright Night Remake
Star Trek's new Chekov, Anton Yelchin, will headline Craig Gillespie's remake of the 1985 movie, Fright Night. The Hollywood Reporter states that Marti Noxon's script keeps many details of the original movie in place. Jesus Christ--Fright Night is yet another movie that I haven't seen. I really need to get with the program.