That Will Do The Trick

On today's Cinema Stew menu:

The casting of a rising young star is finally confirmed for a high profile sequel--The co writer of a high profile sequel/remake is gonna direct a film for the first time--While another recent sequel hits a very special milestone--and if your feeling a bit perplexed by which of the new DVD formats you should choose--have no fear. A solution may have arrived..

Justin Long has been set to co-star with Bruce Willis in "Live Free or Die Hard," the fourth installment in the John McClane franchise. Maggie Q is also in negotiations to join the film, which begins shooting this month. Fox will release the film in June.

Long plays a computer-savvy accomplice who helps McClane take on a terrorist organization around the July Fourth holiday.

Len Wiseman is directing a script by Mark Bomback.

Go here for more on the story...

Long's casting for DH 4 is no surprise--but it sure took 'em awhile to make it official

Dougherty Helming Trick 'R Treat

Writer Mike Dougherty (Superman Returns) will make his feature-film directorial debut with Trick 'r Treat, a horror movie he wrote that will be produced by his Superman Returns director Bryan Singer, according to The Hollywood Reporter.

Legendary Pictures and Warner Brothers Pictures are teaming to co-finance, with Legendary's Thomas Tull and John Jashni on board as producers. Warners will distribute, the trade paper reported.

Trick 'r Treat is four interwoven stories that take place on Halloween with such characters as a staid high-school principal who is a Halloween serial killer, a college-age virgin seeking that special guy, a woman who hates dressing up for Halloween and whose husband is obsessed with the holiday and a group of young teens who pull a cruel prank.

Filmmaker deals are still being finalized and no cast is in place. The movie has a tentative release date of Oct. 5, 2007. A fall shoot in Vancouver is being eyed.

Since you are a first time director, I offer you the following advice:

Watch out for "bloated screenplays" Mr. Dougherty. Oh, and don't be afraid to edit your film and you'll be fine...

Pirates 2 Third Biggest Film Ever Nuff Said...

A Solution for the High-Definition DVD Dilemma?

In what could serve as a method to surmount consumers' reluctance to purchase high-definition DVD players, three engineers have patented an application for a DVD disc that can hold three different formats -- Sony's Blu-ray, Toshiba's HD DVD, and conventional DVD.

According to Home Video Retailing magazine, the Blu-ray data would be embedded 0.1 mm onto the disc; the HD DVD date would lie 0.5 mm below that. The standard DVD data would be recorded on the opposite side of the disc.

Two of the engineers who patented the disc format work for Warner Bros., the magazine said.

According to numerous recent reports, consumers have been loath to purchase the expensive high-definition DVD players, not knowing which format will prevail.

What a great idea!!! I would definitely go for something like that....