Metal Men

With the start of the Summer movie season just about 48 hours away...ItsJustSomeRandomGuy hilariously asks Iron Man or The Dark Knight?



My answer is...Both!!

Rumble In The Jungle

Karl Urban (Star Trek) will lead the cast of the $25 million 3D action feature "Relentless" according to Variety.

Demian Lichtenstein will direct the story about four extreme sports professionals who survive a plane crash in the Amazon jungle, and must use all their survival instincts as they are hunted by a group of homicidal natives.

Lichtenstein was given propps by James Cameron to call the shots for Relentless while on the set of his upcoming 3D epic "Avatar"and is being trained in 3-D techniques.

Shooting kicks off this September in Puerto Rico.

This seems a far cry from Lichtenstein's 2001 film 3000 Miles to Graceland...But I'm intrigued by the premise to want to see more.

Spy Guys

24 co-creator/exec producer Joel Surnow left the popular TV series in Febuary for other career opportunities...Now we know what he will be doing...

Variety says that Surnow will develop a modern day spy thriller for United Artists.

The studio won't confirm that the project is specifically geared for UA's co-owner Tom Cruise despite making public that they have made it a priority to find a commercially viable franchise for Cruise.

Surnow will write the film with Michael Loceff, another "24" co-exec producer.

Director Martin Campbell will yell "action" on the flick once he wraps "Edge of Darkness" which was announced yesterday-marking the on screen return for Mel Gibson after a 6year hiatus.

Campbell's success helming key James Bond films GoldenEye and Casino Royale seem to be the reason he got the gig.

While I'm sorry Surnow (pictured) left 24...He, Loceff, and Campbell should make quite a trio...Since Cruise is a man without a franchise right now...I would be shocked if he didn't get the lead in the spy pic...

Meet The Mummy

Check out this very cool one sheet poster for the upcoming The Mummy: Tomb of the Dragon Emperor spotlighting Jet Li's villainous Emperor Han...



I wasn't really a fan of the Mummy Returns in '01...I'm hopeful that having the likes of Li around the franchise can be put right...

The sequel hits theaters on August 1st.

Ready To Fly

The folks at Coming Soon recently spoke to Brandon Routh about the sequel Superman: Man of Steel and what he's hoping for from the Superman Returns follow-up.

The first thing he mentioned was that he wants to see Superman getting to use his powers in a ways other than just lifting heavy things:

"Something that audiences are looking for – and I certainly am, too – is for Superman to actually be able to lay a punch on someone or something," he said.

"I was filming and I thought, "I haven't really hit anything. I feel like I'm going to need to let some of this anger out." So I'm happy that I think that's going to be a central part of the sequel, getting a good villain that we can actually have physical altercations with. Certainly also, I'd like more humor from Clark or just more of Clark and Jimmy. A little bit more of Lois and Clark, how we used to see them, a bit more of buddies. Perhaps things will be smoothed over with Superman and Lois and she can afford to be a little bit nicer to Clark. I think that's something that people want to see and those are some of the great moments from previous "Superman" films. Also, Superman and Lois getting together, that's always my end goal".

Routh also say that he expects to "be working [on MOS by] early next year. I know that Bryan Singer has pretty much finished out Valkyrie and is back in the states and is zeroing in on the story that he wants to tell. Once that arrives it's going to move pretty quickly."

Even if they start filming by January '09 MOS can't possibly be ready before mid 2010...I just hope the film allows our hero a true return to cinematic greatness.

Side Kicking

A member of team Apatow is branching out in a big way...



Entertainment Weekly has news that Jonah Hill is in talks to join Transformers 2... Hill's character is described as the comedy sidekick to Sam Whitwicky-played by Shia LaBeouf.

Combining the comedy talents of Hill with dry the witty delivery of LaBeouf just might prove a winning formula in the sequel.

The Russians Are Coming!!

A bootleg copy of the 2nd trailer for Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull-attached to the weekend opener Iron Man (which itself is getting great advanced critical buzz)has popped up online...Get ready for some goosebumps...



I'm already in love with Cate Blanchett's bad gal character Agent Irina Spalko....

Welcome Return

The original child stars of the "Witch Mountain" movies of the 70's, have joined the cast of Disney's remake "Race to Witch Mountain " says Reuters.

Ike Eisenmann and Kim Richards (pictured) are back as a cool nod to the original movies. Eisenmann plays a sheriff and Richards plays a waitress at a roadhouse called Ray's in a town called Stony Creek.

Both characters will offer help to the film's group of protagonists--led by Dwayne "The Rock" Johnson.

As a childhood fan of the films of yesterday, it's a great touch to include Ike and Kim who have both seemed to escape the pitfalls of childhood fame into the mix of this update...

Andy Fickman is calling the shots on the '09 release...

A Bat Hunting We Will Go

Last night there was a worldwide Internet hunt for the next trailer to "The Dark Knight". Did the search yield any payoff?

According to Garth Franklin of Dark Horizons:

Well it kind of did.

In an admittedly clever trick, postings at TDK-UMB indicate those who turned up at the various different locations saw a screening of the new trailer, and then one lucky winner got to take home the film reel. At least one of the people who has it is apparently trying to convert it to digital.

In any case WhySoSerious has been updated with a new section which seems to indicate the trailer will go fully online this Sunday. This makes sense - it allows the trailer to be loosely attached to copies of "Iron Man" this Friday and thus premiere in theaters first...

As soon as the next TDK trailer is post able I will do so...

The site also has some kind of bird hunting game at Sitting Ducks, and a combination safe.

In other news in recent hours, a variation of the US domestic poster with the Joker instead of Batman has gone up at Film School Rejects.

As well as brand new character one-sheets:



And this International Poster:



TDK hits theaters in the U.S. on July 18th 2008....

Jack Of All Trades

Joseph Ruben ("Sleeping with the Enemy") has signed on to direct the thriller "Jack" according to Variety.

Written by David Venable, the flick centers on a doctor who rehabilitates and ultimately falls for an accident victim with memory loss, the victim being unaware that he actually is a killer.

Ruben knows how to handle the thriller as long as it has good material for its foundation...Forgetting 2004's The Forgotten-"Jack" is in good hands.

Casting is under way and production is set to begin early in the fall.

The Great Experiment Continues...

Steven Soderbergh is set to direct "Girlfriend Experience" reports Variety.



The story centers in on the world of prostitution through the eyes of a $10,000-a-night call girl. The flick reunites Soderbergh with Brian Koppelman & David Levien (Ocean's Thirteen) who are writing the script

Soderbergh may cast an adult film actress to play the lead role.

After Soderbergh finishes up "The Informant" with Matt Damon, he'll turn to "The Girlfriend Experience," which will be shot over two weeks in the fall.

The project marks the second film of a six-picture pact Soderbergh made to direct low-budget films that get distributed simultaneously in theatrical, on cable TV and on DVD--"Bubble" being the first.

I respect Soderbergh and his skills and the premise of "Girlfriend" sounds provocative enough--Let's face it though--The results of the three way release of Bubble proved to be very difficult to call a success.

For The Sake Of Art

Aussie-born director Phillip Noyce is a solid helmer, who in my opinion, deserves far more attention than he gets...Is that all about to change?

Noyce is in negotiations to direct "The Art of Making Money" says The Hollywood Reporter.



The story focuses on Art Williams the alias of a very bold Chicago counterfeiter who printed more than $10 million worth of fake $100 bills using cutting-edge techniques and continued to do so even after he had been caught by the Feds. Last year, he was sentenced to seven years in prison.

Jason Kersten's 2005 profile of Williams in Rolling Stone is going to be the basis for Frank Baldwin's screenplay.

Noyce has been deciding between four other projects during the past few weeks. Maybe his next film, the period drama "Mary Queen of Scots " with Scarlett Johansson in the title role, opening in late 2008 will help get in the proper dramatic mode for "Art".

Inspired By Indy

Just in time fot the release of Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull Cinema crooner Goldentusk is back with another niffty film ionspited song --with lyrics to the Raiders March composed by John Williams...

Acting Up

The following post contains casting news for a number of projects that's been announced over the last month or so...

***Reese Witherspoon, Hugh Laurie, Will Arnett, Seth Rogen, Stephen Colbert, Rainn Wilson, Kiefer Sutherland and Paul Rudd are among those voicing characters for the 3-D animated "Monsters vs. Aliens" ( Variety)

***Chad Allen, Janeane Garofalo, Rebecca Gayheart, Soleil Moon Frye, Patrick Muldoon and Brad Rowe are all set to star in the indie screwball comedy "For Better or for Worse " (The Hollywood Reporter)

The film follows a pair of same sex couples...Following an extensive rehearsal period, the film will have a six-day digital shoot with multiple cameras this summer.

*** "E!'s Talk Soup" host Joel McHale and Scott Bakula are appearing in Steven Soderbergh's dark comic thriller The Informant (The Hollywood Reporter).

***Robert De Niro, Drew Barrymore, Kate Beckinsale and Sam Rockwell are starring in the Kirk Kirk Jones-directed "Everybody's Fine " (Variety)

***Shia LaBeouf, Orlando Bloom, Ethan Hawke, Julie Christie and John Hurt are set to star in the late Anthony Minghella-scripted segment of short film anthology "New York, I Love You" (The Hollywood Reporter)

***Sean Astin, Giovanni Ribisi Ron Perlman and Anjelica Huston will lend their voices to the CG-animated eco-fairy tale "Spirit of the Forest" (Reuters)

Rob Schneider, Tania Raymonde, Kristin Cavallari, Rumer Willis, and Ryan Merriman have joined the indie ensemble comedy "Wild Cherry" (Variety)

Extract Science

Jason Bateman (pictured) is teaming with Mike Judge for the comedy "Extract" says Variety.

Written by Judge, the story explores what it's like to be the boss when everything seems to be shifting around you.

I think Judge's Office Space is one of the best comedies of the past decade...And Bateman is a very talented guy--see episodes of "Arrested Development" and you'll agree that playing it straight with chaos all around is something he does very well.

This team could produce magic....

Looking Lively

Blake Lively (pictured) of TV's Gossip Girl has landed a key role in the comedy-drama "The Private Lives of Pippa Lee " according to Variety.

The film centers on Pippa (Robin Wright Penn), whose life begins to unravel after her husband leaves her for a younger woman.

Winona Ryder, Keanu Reeves, Maria Bello, Alan Arkin and Monica Bellucci have already signed on.

That's a very good cast...And the film has the potential to be a lot of fun.

Rebecca Miller wrote the script and will direct the film which begins production in Connecticut shortly.

Caddy Shack

Another Stephen King story is headed to the big screen...

Wes Bentley (pictured) will star in the adaptation of the short story "Dolan's Cadillac which is part of the popular anthology Nightmares and Dreamscapes

The Hollywood Reporter says Bently will be joined by Christian Slater and the very lovely Emmanuelle Vaugier (pictured)



The thriller is about a man (Bentley), who plots to avenge the murder of his wife (Vaugier) by notorious and untouchable Las Vegas mob boss Jimmy Dolan (Slater).

Erik Canuel is ccalling the shots from from a script written by Richard Dooling.

As a huge fan of both Bently's and Vaugier's I'm very thrilled by this news...

Production is scheduled to begin May 14th.

The Cradle Rocks

The team of Tina Fey and Amy Poehler proved a winning combo as the comedy Baby Mama takes the top spot...



Pamela McClintock of Variety

..."Baby Mama" was easily the No. 1 movie of the weekend, grossing an estimated $18.3 million from 2,543 theaters and giving the studio its first top opener of the year.

Chick flick had no problem reaching its intended demo; a whopping 68% of the aud was female.

Comedy overall was the success story of the frame, fueling a box office rebound just as summer tentpoles prepare to open. Weekend grosses were up a sizable 17.2% over the same sesh last year.

New Line/Warner Bros.' R-rated stoner sequel "Harold & Kumar Escape From Guantanamo Bay" came in No. 2, grossing an estimated $14.6 million from 2,510 theaters on the strength of young men. U's raunchy R-rated laffer "Forgetting Sarah Marshall" declined just 38% in its soph sesh to an estimated $11 million from 2,799; cume is $35 million.

Lionsgate's Jet Li-Jackie Chan adventure-fantasy "Forbidden Kingdom" remained a worthy contender in its second sesh, narrowly edging out "Sarah Marshall" to take the No. 3 spot for the weekend. "Kingdom," produced by Casey Silver and financed by Relativity Media, declined 48% in its second sesh to an estimated $11.2 million from 3,151. Cume for the movie that marks the first appearance of Li and Chan together on the big screen is $38.2 million.

"Forbidden Kingdom" and the Judd Apatow-produced "Sarah Marshall," which placed No. 4, could switch places on the B.O. chart when final weekend numbers are posted today.

The weekend's other new wide release, "Deception," fared dismally. Produced by Arnold Rifkin and distributed by 20th Century Fox, the Hugh Jackman-Ewan McGregor thriller grossed a meager $2.2 million from 2,001 runs to place No. 10.

"Baby Mama," rated PG-13 and also starring Greg Kinnear, scored the second-best opening for a romantic comedy in April after "13 Going on 30," underscoring the popularity of Fey and Poehler, who worked together on "Saturday Night Live." "Baby Mama," about the politics of surrogate motherhood and the maternal urge, is only the second live-action studio pic that Fey has starred in, after "Mean Girls," which she also penned. Michael McCullers wrote and directed "Baby Mama."

"I think Tina Fey and Amy Poehler were the big draw. The marketing campaign said to auds, 'You are going to be entertained,' " said Universal [president] of distribution Nikki Rocco.

Both younger and older females turned out, with 45% of the audience under age 25. Pic cost $30 million to produce...

Joshua Rich of EW:

Tina Fey's conception comedy won the weekend box office, while ''Harold and Kumar'' came in second...

Labor Pains

Emily Brookes of C21 Media updates the strike negotiations...

The Screen Actors Guild (SAG) and the Alliance of Motion Picture and Television Producers AMPTP) wrapped negotiations on Friday, but only for the weekend rather than for good, as was originally scheduled.

Fellow US performers' union The American Federation of Film, Television & Radio Artists (AFTRA) agreed to postpone its start-date for negotiations - originally set for today - by a week, following a request from the AMPTP.

"We made our request because we owe it to our entire industry to give the current SAG-AMPTP talks every opportunity to result in an agreement," the Association said in a statement. "At this time there remain significant gaps between the two parties, and we hope to use the extra time to narrow these gaps."

SAG's week to decide What will happen...??? Stay Tuned...

Decepti-Cons

Michael Bay tells fans and all other interested parties to be advised that, aside from the news that some filming is taking place in Philadelphia, everything else that's been said about Transformers 2 is bogus.



He said on his official site:

"Sorry everyone, everything you are reading (other then we are shooting in Philly) is false. We are going to give so much disinformation on this film to confuse everyone."

Secrecy about details on a high profile film is one thing...BUT wasting time and energy putting out misinformation and total propaganda however is another matter... First, telling folks what you and your minions are going to serves to only limit coverage, if I know that 99% of what you say is a lie...Why cover T #2 all?. Covering a few rumors on a film is one thing But I would just as soon move on..given Bay's statement..Dumb...

And second, if interest is cause everyone knows you are lying, at a minimum you may lose a few fans whom you need to generate buzz about the flick...Again very DUMB...

It's better to deny or just keep quiet than actively deceive around the clock...

We'll see what happens when the team comes to the city of brotherly love...

Earth Angel

Ayelet Zurer ("Munich") has landed the lead female role of Vittoria Vetra in the film version of "Angels & Demons" as reported by Entertainment Weekly.

Based on author Dan Brown's prequel to"The Da Vinci Code the story follows Robert Langdon (Tom Hanks) in his race to stop an Illuminati assassin from wiping out Vatican City during a papal election.

Zurer will appear as the daughter of a physicist who's death sets off everything.

Naomi Watts had been attached to the same role last fall...

Meantime, Cinema Blend reports that former Jedi Ewan McGregor is in talks to join A&D as well...

The Ron Howard-directed film is set to start production in Europe in June for release next May.

Miscellaneous

Film bits of note that caught my eye in recent days

***"Legendary Pictures head honcho Thomas Tull says that the proposed Superman: Man of Steel, will present our hero as more of 'an angry god'...Get full details...

Brandon Routh says meanwhile, that he hopes to be shooting Superman sequel by early next year.

***Brendan Fraser. filmed a cameo for his pal Stephen Sommets' in the new "G.I. Joe " movie.. The pair worked on The Mummy.

***A second trailer for "Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull" will be attached to of "Iron Man" next week. Indy's final running time has also been confirmed at 123 minutes.

***Louis Leterrier, director of June 13th's The Incredible Hulk downplayed the rift between he and the studio over final cut... saying:

"Listen, when you have problems [on a film], you learn what to do. Everyone comes to an agreement where everyone agrees to say it was one thing or it was another thing. But [this controversy] is not a real thing, so I am saying one thing and [producer] Kevin [Feige] will say another thing, because it's a non-issue."

What does that statement by Leterrier mean exactly? If the cut is now a non issue shouldn't you all be on the same page instead of saying different things?

***SuperheroHype lets us know that those fans dying ti see see the the previously mentioned Iron Man early will be able to see it at 8pm on May 1st, all around the country...

***Cloverfield director Matt Reeves tells MTV that, The Invisible Women has taken priority over Cloverfield 2 it’s moved to a fully green-lit project instead of something in the works.

I'm glad things have slowed down on Cloverfield 2...I think it's a bad idea anyway...

*** Natalie Portman is set to play Catherine Earnshaw in a new big screen adaptation of the classic novel Wuthering Heights by Emily Bronte." reports Variety

***Val Kilmer, rapper 50 Cent aka Curtis James Jackson, Sharon Stone Dylan McDermott and Brian Presley will appear in the action-drama "Streets of Blood" says Variety.

"Streets" centers on the relationship between two police officers dealing with the lawlessness of New Orleans in the post Hurricane Katrina setting The eight-week shoot will start next month.

***Actor Wesley Snipes has been sentenced to three years in jail for tax fraud ...And is talking to EW....I don't understand why he wouldn't just pay the Internal Revenue Service monies owed and be dome there's standing on principle yes and then there's avoiding jail...

***Transformers beauty Megan Fox tops FHM Magazine's Sexiest Women List...Kudos on the selection...!!!

The Calm Before The (Summer) Storm

This Week's new flicks feature 2 reunions and case of mistaken identity...

Tina Fey and Amy Poehler (pictured) deliver the comedy Baby Mama (reviews); John Cho as Harold and Kal Penn as Kumar Escape from Guantanamo Bay (reviews); And Hugh Jackman and Ewan McGregor play a game of Deception (reviews) with each other...


Dave McNary and Pamela McClintock of Variety:

Universal's "Baby Mama" and New Line/Warner Bros.' "Harold & Kumar Escape From Guantanamo Bay" will vie for the loudest laugh when opening at the domestic box office today in what's shaping up to be a battle of the sexes at the multiplexes.

The other new wide release of the weekend -- the final frame before the box office summer officially starts -- is New Regency's thriller "Deception," which isn't supposed to make much of a dent despite the star billing of Hugh Jackman, Ewan McGregor and Michelle Williams. Fox opens the pic in 2,001 locations.

"Baby Mama," starring comedic duo Tina Fey and Amy Poehler, should prove fertile ground for woman of all ages, particularly younger ones. Pic, which pokes fun at America's obsession with babies and surrogate motherhood, is rated PG-13 and opens in 2,543 runs.

Stoner comedy "Harold & Kumar," starring John Cho and Kal Penn, is tracking strongest among younger men. Next up are older males. The R-rated pic, an irreverent look at the Bush Administration's post-9/11 policies and a follow-up to DVD cult fave "Harold & Kumar Go to White Castle," opens in 2,510.

"Harold & Kumar" is the first New Line film released by Warner since New Line was disbanded as a standalone mini-major and made a label within the WB fold. The first "Harold & Kumar" film, released in 2004, cumed only $18 million at theaters but went on to become a DVD hit.

"Baby Mama" marks back-to-back comedy releases by Universal. Last weekend, U opened the Judd Apatow-produced "Forgetting Sarah Marshall" to $17.7 million. Pic placed No. 2 for the frame after Lionsgate's Jet Li-Jackie Chan starrer "Forbidden Kingdom," which opened to $21.4 million.

Universal has insisted that "Baby Mama" won't take auds away from "Sarah Marshall." Nor does the studio expect "Harold & Kumar" to pose a problem, saying the marketplace can shoulder three wide comedies.

Through Wednesday, "Sarah Marshall" grossed $22.6 million, "Forbidden Kingdom" $25.8 million...

Joshua Rich of Entertainment Weekly:

It's Tina and Amy vs. Harold and Kumar at the box office -- and our expert's putting his money on the funny ladies ..

Read More Here...

Next Week: The Summer movie season begins! Iron Man Finally Arrives... While Patrick Dempsey is Made Of Honor

Del Toro Is Sent Packing...Finally!

Even though his name's been "attached" to "The Hobbit" and its sequel. fir some time Variety, says the announcement that Guillermo del Toro will helm both features came Thursday afternoon from executive producers Peter Jackson and Fran Walsh, as well as studio suits.

Del Toro's will move to New Zealand for the next four years to work with Jackson and his WingNut Films and Weta Workshop.

He'll also direct the two films back to back with the sequel dealing with the 60-year period between "The Hobbit" and 2001's "The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring

The studios have not given a start date on production and don't yet have a script. It's widely expected that the "LOTR" scripting team of Jackson, Walsh and Philippa Boyens will all pitch in to help Del Toro.

As I said before-Del Toro makes a fine choice to take over for Jackson--I'm glad that the folks involved finally made it "official" for fans.

The plan is to begin shooting next year and release the films in late 2011 and 2012.

Wanted Poster

The very cool official theatrical poster for "The Dark Knight" has been revealed at WhySoSerious.com

The site also has a new message on it saying 'Four Days'. The prevailing notion is that it's a countdown to the release of the new trailer online which made its debut at the New York Comic Con last weekend and will probably be attached to prints of either "Iron Man" or "Speed Racer " in the next couple of weeks.



Man, I really like the poster! I'm even more jazzed by the facr that trailler 2 may burst on the Net before hitting theaters! Yipee!.......

All Business

Screen Actors Guild strike update:

Everyone seems to be getting along...

SAG, studios extend negotiations

AFTRA agrees to postpone talks...

Meanwhile, on another front...Variety says May box office may break records



Even without titan franchises "Spider-Man," "Pirates of the Caribbean" and "Shrek," the May box office has a shot at matching or outperforming May '07.

I'm sure little flicks called Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull and Iron Man will have a lot to do with breaking records...

Stay Tuned...

Fuzzy Over Fury

Another day Another Horror Remake of a 70's flick...

Brian McGreevy and Lee Shipman are going to write a contemporary version of the 1978 supernatural horror film "The Fury"-directed by Brian De Palma.

Variety, says the updated story centers on a young man with heightened kinetic powers who is abducted by the government in order to take advantage of his special gifts.

No word if any plot from the book by John Farris will carry over at all.

The '78 version is an underrated gem with a great score by John Williams

I have a "wait and see" attitude about news of a 21st century retread

Chick That Clicks

Carrie-Anne Moss has joined the cast of "Hanging Out Hooking Up Falling in Love says Reuters.

The story's about a man whose wife, Amanda (Moss), has left him. With the help of his 18-year-old son and friends, he is given a complete makeover thus gains insight about love, women and how to woo back his wife.>

Written and directed by Barra Grant.

Moss has became quite versatile in her choice of roles This Chick flick is further proof of that

Production is already under way in Los Angeles.

All Choked Up

Tough guy actig legend James Caan has left the political comedy "Nailed" after getting into a dispute with director David O. Russell leading him to storm off the set according to The Hollywood Reporter.

The film tells the tale of a of a woman who gets a nail lodged in her head and travels to Washington to fight for better health care.

Caan had two days of shooting in his role as US Speaker of the House. The dispute was over rhe proper way one chokes to death on a cookie.

Russell asked Caan to cough as he choked, but the seasoned actor argued that the character couldn't cough and choke to death at the same time. Russell suggested that they shoot it both ways, but the Cann expressed distrust that his version would be considered and left the set.

A spokesman for Caan says there were creative differences and the departure was amicable.

Shooting, which began last week, continues with Caan's part being recast.

Producer Douglas Wick claims that Russell has been conducting himself professionally throughout production...

OK once I stopped laughing at the absurdity of the situation...

Russell has a history of arguing with his talent--George Clooney on Three Kings and Lily Tomlin on I Heart Huckabees--The latter of which became a sensation on YouTube and beyond...

While I respect both men a great deal to quibble over how someone dies while chocking to death on food in a comedy flick seems pretty silly...

Battle Of The Brand

Team, Apatow, currently in theaters with Forgetting Sarah Marshall, already have their next flick lined up-called Get Him To The Greek according to Variety

Nicholas Stoller is once again calling "action" telling the story of a struggling insurance adjuster who is hired to accompany a hedonistic rock star to a gig at L.A.'s famed Greek Theatre

Jonah Hill is set to play the insurance adjuster, while Russell Brand (pictured) is the rock star.



Brand seems to have a knack for rocker characters as he also plays one in "Marshall" as Sarah's lover....

Laugh In

Variety reports that director Ang Lee, who is best known for taking on serious subject matter in his films (Heck even the one based on a comic book was pretty heavy), has decided to lighten things up a bit for his next project...

Lee is doing a comedy called Taking Woodstock based on the book by Elliot Tiber and Tom Monte that centred around the legendary 1969 Woodstock Festival & Concert

The story in the book focuses on the the man who found the venue for the iconic event near Bethel after problems caused a change in plan from its original location, and who provided the necessary music licence.

The film instead will put an everyman working at his parents' motel who, through a series of random incidents, inadvertently puts the generation-defining concert in motion.

The plan is to put the film into production before the end of the year - which means it looks like Lee's other film '09's A Little Game appears to have been put on the back burner.

Can Lee pull this off??

"Commence O' Festival"

From the Big Apple to the South of France..Films get ready to shine...Are you packed and ready to go?

N.Y. rolls out red carpet for Tribeca

Festival kicks off Wednesday night with Baby Mama

The Tribeca Film Festival runs through May 4th, with over 200 feature length narrative films, documentaries and shorts from around the world...


Cannes International Film Festival gets ready to kick off by unveiling the official lineup...

Steven Soderbergh’s two pic Che bio and Clint Eastwood’s “Changeling" look like potential standouts at a 61st Cannes Film Festival that may be a touch lighter on Yank Palme d'Or contenders but is heavy on Hollywood glam, thanks to multiple U.S. pics, both studio and indie, packing out many out-of-competition slots.

Cannes runs from May 14 - 25 2008 ...

Coverage of both fests on The Last Reel as news events warrant.

Spoiled And Boiled

Here's a pair of stories to come out of last weekend's New York Comic Con 2008

***Folks got the chance to check out the new trailer for "The Dark Knight". And the reaction was said to be Great...

The trailer is scheduled to hit movie screens in the next few weeks, (with May 9th's Speed Racer?) As far as its online debut It was suggested that yet still more viral game play will be required to find it. Ugh! I HATE those! As soon as the footage pops up on the Net--I will be sure to post the sucker! Meanwhile, for those among us who are far too impatient...The folks at AICN offer up details. BEWARE SPOIERS!!

The Joker's (Heath Ledger) plans are made a bit more clear. We'll see a lot of Harvey Dent's (Aaron Eckhart) campaign against crime using the quote "You either die a hero or you live long enough to become the villain". The Origin Of Two-Face? As half of Harvey's face is held down on a gasoline-soaked floor...

July 18th can not come soon enough!!

***Frank Miller talked with MTV News at the Con and telling them he wants to direct the film version of his 1990 three-issue mini-series "Hard Boiled"

"We're talking about [it]. I've got a really unusual way I want to do it. I'm in love with directing. I've found a way to expand my career. Comics and directing are really two sides of the same coin. That's what Robert Rodriguez taught me... good drama is good drama"

Interesting that Miller uses the phrase "a really unusual way". After the weekend's debut of the first trailer for "The Spirit" which has garerned the first time solo helmer negative feedback, mostly related to how "Sin City"-esque the project seems.

Rock Raises The Bar

A former "Prison Break" co star proves he is ready to sit in the Big Chair...

Rockmond Dunbar will produce and direct the indie drama "Pastor Brown" according to The Hollywood Reporter.

The story follows a wayward pastor's daughter, Jesse Brown (Salli Richardson-Whitfield), when she leaves her life as an exotic dancer to make amends with her family and the congregation, turning into Pastor Brown.

Dunbar will also act in the film as Amir, a Muslim man who falls in love with Jesse.

Former NBA players Shaun Livingston and Charles Oakley found a new line of work executive producers on the film.

Dunbar was quite compelling playing Benjamin Miles 'C-Note' Franklin during his run on the TV series Prison Break. I'm thrilled for him and the opportunity this affords him...Yay!

Filming is already underway in Atlanta.

I'm Glad For "Mad"

The talented and very lovely Virginia Madsen has joined the cast of Mira Nair's Amelia Earhart biopic says Variety.

The film chronicles the rocky relationship between the aviator (Hilary Swank) and publisher-promoter George Putnam (Richard Gere), whom Earhart eventually married.

Madsen plays, Putnam's first wife Dorothy Binney Putnam.

Ronald Bass wrote the screenplay

Production starts later this month in Canada and South Africa.

Madsen is one talented actress who makes the most of any role she has--