I Blog About Movies So That You Do Not Have To...Posting industry news opinion our film reviews & trailers. Comments are always welcome and appreciated. Send them to thelastreel@comcast.net
The Big Bang Theory hottie Kaley Cuoco has joined the cast of the live-action/CG-animated pic "I Hop" says Digital Spy. James Marsden stars as an unemployed slacker who accidentally injures the Easter Bunny's son (a CG character voiced by Russell Brand) and must watch over his recovery.
Cuoco plays the sister of the slacker whom he is living with at the time after he's kicked out by his parents.
Tim Hill calls action on the filmCuoco also joined the indie pic "The Last Ride"
Harry Thomason directs the story of the final days of country singer Hank Williams. (Henry Thomas), and the young driver (Jesse James) who takes him to Alabama for a New Year's Eve concert in Ohio.
Cuoco will play a gas-station owner who has a brief affair with the driver during the journey.
David R. Ellis ("The Final Destination") will direct the thriller Bad Luck says Variety. David J. Schow (The Crow) wrote the story about some college friends and ardent skeptics who find themselves becoming believers when various superstitions start interfering in their lives.
Mark Ordesky will produce Luck with notions to be the first in a potential franchise....Um like The Final Destination film series
Filming on this one kicks off in the Fall.
Malcolm D. Lee will direct the sports comedy Fantasy Basketball Camp, says Reuters. The story follows five guys who sign-up to the LeBron James Adult Basketball Camp in Las Vegas to live out their ultimate sports fantasy. They end up dragging superstar athlete James (who plays himself) into their own various life problems.
Peter Steinfeld writes a new draft of the original Babaloo Mandel and Lowell Ganz,'s script.
Brian Grazer will produce the pic
The plot may sound iffy but this could still be quite good with the right casting and solid script
Sheldon Turner, the award-winning writer of the Jason Reitman's "Up in the Air," is now set to make his directorial debut on "By Virtue Fall." says Variety
Stephen Dorff has joined the cast of the Greek mythology pic "War of Gods," says Variety
Another 80's remake is on the way...
Is director Matthew Vaughn helming a film version the Bloodshot comic? 
More Werewolves are on the way courtesy of the big screen...
"X-Men," "Watchmen writer DavidHayter is set to make his directorial debut on the $18 million thriller "Wolves" says Deadline.
Seen as a less chaste Twilight-Hayter's script de-constructs past werewolf films of their mythology and make it a more blunt metaphor for teenage sexual awakening.
At one time Thomas Dekker and Ray Stevenson were on board, but the credit crunch got in the way.
Meantime Steve Pink is attached to direct the R-rated horror comedy "Werewolves of Reseda" reports Production Weekly.
Brian Frank's script follows a group of guys who live in San Fernando Valley suburbia and gradually turn into werewolves. The changes actually end up being a benefit to their family lives.
Dean Parisot ("Galaxy Quest," "Fun with Dick and Jane") may direct the underwater action/fantasy thriller "SEAL Team Seven" for Walden Media reports The Los Angeles Times. Based on M. Zachary Sherman's 2006 graphic novel "S.E.A.L Team 7", the story follows CIA tactician Douglas Griffin who joins his former SEAL team to investigate the reason behind a submarine's downing in the Persian Gulf.
Their investigation leads to a battle that pits the U.S. Navy against the underwater Kingdom of Atlantis in a full-blown war against humanity's extinction.
Parisot was scheduled to shoot "Central Intelligence" this Summer but that project has been pushed back so that star Ed Helms can appear in The Hangover 2
Will Smith is rumored to have signed a deal to star in two "Independence Day sequels says IESB.Net.
Roland Emmerich director of the original pic said in the past Fox wasn't willing to move forward with any ID4 sequel due to Smith's costly $20 million plus first dollar gross salary. Now the site claims that Smith is locked for two sequels to be shot back-to-back with filming to kick off as early as late next year.
Emmerich is currently set to direct the thriller thriller "Anonymous" while Smith is currently choosing between "The City That Sailed" or "Men in Black 3" as his next project.
Any 'Independence' sequel would not happen until after both of those flicks are in the can
There is no confirmation from Fox as yet.
Timur Bekmambetov is attached to direct The Casebook of Victor Frankenstein says Production Weekly.
David Auburn ("Proof," "The Lake House") is adapting the screenplay from Peter Ackroyd 's novel which takes Mary Shelley's horror classic and tells it from a different POV
Ackroyd's novel moves the action to London where medical student Victor Frankenstein reanimates the corpse of an acquaintance. So horrified he abandons his creation, the outraged monster bringing misery and death to those dearest to him.
Ackroyd weaves in more true-life historical elements, makes famed romantic poets of the era and incorporates Mary Shelley herself and the famed 1816 meeting that inspired the story.
A wild rumorThe role though would be the head of Quantum, the secret organization behind the various activities in the last two films. This would essentially make Weisz the rebooted Bond's equivalent of SPECTRE head Ernst Stavro Blofeld
Weisz is working with current Bond Craig on the upcoming Dream House and does know director Mendes.
It's confirmed that the first draft of the script by Peter Morgan, Neal Purvis and Robert Wade is complete.
Yet casting rumors surrounding Bond are wel established and seem to get wilder with each passing film.
There are also quotes from Wiesz saying that she wants to be a Bond girl
Andy Samberg is attached and Zachary Quinto has been offered to join the comedy What's Your Number? says EW.
Based on Karyn Bosnak's book "20 Times a Lady the story follows a woman (Anna Faris) who thought she'd find her perfect guy by the time she'd slept with a maximum of twenty men.
Waking up after a drunken night in her boss's bed, she realises she's reached that limit but hasn't achieved it. Rather than increasing the number or staying celibate, she tracks down all her ex-partners in an attempt to make things work with one of them.
The pair join a cast that includes Chris Evan as her womanizing next door neighbor, Matt Bomer as her dream guy, and Ari Graynor as her soon to be wed sister.
Mark Mylod (HBO's Entourage) directs from a script by Jennifer Crittenden and Gabrielle Allan
Beau Flynn and Tripp Vinson are producing the comedy.
Legendary "intends to approach the film and its characters in the most authentic manner possible". In the near future they expect to announce a filmmaker to direct the film for an intended 2012 release .
Toho will distribute the film in Japan.
Dan Lin, Roy Lee and Brian Rogers will produce the pic.
The news comes after word first broke via Bloody Disgusting of the deal back in August of last year.
Fingers crossed that it's a better reboot than Roland Emmerich’s Godzilla from 1998
Brian Presley will star in the sports drama "Touchback" says Variety. The flick follows a high school football star (Presley) looking back on regrets over an injury that ended his career fifteen years before.
Don Handfield directs the pic as part of a three picture deal that Emmett/Furla Films and Freedom Films will produce that Presley will star in.
Presley, Lisa Kearns, Shannon Gardner, Derek Beumer, Carissa Buffel, George Furla and Randall Emmett will produce.
Modern Family co-star SofiaVergara has joined not one but two of next year's biggest family pics says Heat Vision Blog. First up in The Smurfs" Vergara plays Odile, a powerful executive at a high-end French make-up company who is married to Neil Patrick Harris' character.
What? It was previously reported that Jayma Mays (TV's Glee) would play Harris' pregnant wife in the film...
Shooting begins next week in New York City with Raja Gosnell calling action on the pic for release on August 3rd 2011.
Vergara will also be heard in George Miller's Happy Feet 2 in 3D out on November 18th 2011.
Popular Lost and Supernatural guest star Mark Pellegrino will headline Brian Jun's indie drama "Joint Body" reports Variety.In Body Pellegrino plays a parolee whose wife left him and barred him from seeing his daughter.
When he saves a lonely stripper from an attack, he soon develops a relationship with her and is forced to re-evaluate his freedom.
Jim Parrack and Alicia Witt co- star.
James Choi and Max Velez are producing the pic.
Pellegrino is an unsung actor who has certainly gained popularity through his TV gigs--Glad he's got the chance to star in a film.
Filming begins next month in Illinois.
The film companies will present a 'Special Cliffhanger Edition' of Toy Story 3" shown around U.S. colleges throughout April. leaving off the film's last act....
The presentations will screen the first 65 minutes of the newest pic , leaving out the final 20-30 minutes of the film which you'll have to wait and see with the theatrical release on June 23rd.
The screenings are only open to actual students and you’ll have to bring a valid student ID in order to get in.
And a new film trend is born--This is a bold move though because 2/3rds of the film will be "spoiled"
Find out which colleges will be playing the film here.
Colin Trevorrow and Derek Connolly's untitled action-comedy pitch has been picked up says The Hollywood Reporter.
Going for a "Tropic Thunder" vibe--The story of the film has three such actors
Trevorrow has done research into the practice of various police departments who recruit improv actors to help out on low-level stings
Walter Parkes and Laurie MacDonald will produce the pic
Brian K. Vaughan created the original acclaimed graphic novel series which follows young amateur escape artist Yorick Brown and his pet monkey Ampersand, the last two men on Earth. Something simultaneously kills every mammal on Earth possessing a Y chromosome - including embryos, fertilized eggs, and even sperm.
Society is plunged into chaos as infrastructures collapse and the surviving women everywhere try to cope with the loss of the men. Yorick goes on a mission to find his girlfriend Beth, who was on vacation in Australia.
Actor Shia Labeouf and director D.J. Caruso were at one time keen on doing the flick but last summer LaBeouf dropped out.
Leterrier, out doing press for Friday's "Clash" said he wants to direct The Avengers if asked...
It's hoped the film would go into production by the end of the year, but that would have to be after Cronenberg's "The Talking Cure" which Mortensen signed onto earlier this month-which begins shooting May 17th.
Angelina Jolie is said to be "very interested" in playing the villainous lead role in Maleficent says The Los Angeles Times. Linda Woolverton ("Beauty and the Beast" and "The Lion King") will write the script which is described as a "post-modern family adventure" that centers around the evil Queen who served as the main antagonist in the 1959 animated classic "Sleeping Beauty"..
Tim Burton has been rumored to direct the pic for a few months now, but no deals are in place as yet
Oliver Stone's documentary "South of the Border" has found a distributor in the US reports Reuters.
The docu explore the rise to power of current Venezuela's President Hugo Chávez,
Stone travelled to Venezuela in January last year to get a close-up look at the controversial leader.
The documentary however soon became a more ambitious project about the region as a whole and how leaders of Latin America have been "intentionally villainized by the U.S. mass media".
The film will be released in ten cities starting with New York on June 25th followed by Los Angeles on July 2nd.
I'm sure right--wingers are happy.....
"Watchmen" director Zack Snyder thinks that "there's a really good chance that it will be the thing [I direct next]" regarding whether he will helm "Xerxes", an adaptation of Frank Miller's upcoming graphic novel which serves as a follow-up to his 300.
Snyder, spoke with Coming Soon "I didn't tell Frank what to write the first time, and I'm not telling him what to write this time. I'll take it and I'll adapt it and make it into a movie and I'll write a screenplay, but I want him to do whatever he thinks... [Miller is] supposed to show me something really soon, actually in the next few months."
Snyder added that Warner Bros.converted a section of the original "300" into 3-D to demonstrate the technology and that "they're talking about doing the whole movie", signaling a re-release could be happening down the road--translation the entire film will be converted.
Jenna Dewan and Joe Hursley have joined the Penelope Spheeris indie laffer "Balls to the Wall" says ReutersNo production date has been set.
Paranormal Activity 2 has a director and it's not Brian De Palma or Akiva Goldsman...We find out who has the job via Paranormal Movie and Oren Peli“I have some awesome news for the fans of Paranormal Activity – director Kip Williams will join us for the next chapter of the story. We are thrilled to have Kip working with us. He is the guy we want at the helm, because he knows exactly what we want to deliver to the fans…and I can’t wait to be a part of what he’s putting together. I don’t want to spoil the story, but I promise it’ll surprise you. Stay tuned.”
I'm actually glad that the deciders chose to go with a more unknown commodity here I think it will serve the sequel better than a bigger name would. I just hope it tuts out better than Book of Shadows: Blair Witch 2 out to be...
The story follows a young cop (Channing Tatum) assigned to the working class neighborhood where he grew up. He soon finds an old secret has begun to resurface and threatens to destroy his family.
Binoche plays a reporter while Morgan is replacing Terrence Howard in the role of Vinnie, Tatum's pal.
Ray Liotta Al Pacino and Katie Holmes co-star.
Dito Montiel ("A Guide to Recognizing Your Saints," "Fighting") directs from his own script.
Filming begins next week in New York.
The latest name added to the list of potential directors for The Twilight Saga: Breaking Dawn is Oscar-nominated Stephen Daldry ("The Hours," "The Reader") says The Los Angeles Times. While there's no indication Daldry will end up with the job, he joins fellow Oscar nominees Gus Van Sant, Sofia Coppola and Bill Condon on the list of folks that Summit Entertainment has apparently made offers to.
Formal offers will be made once scribe Melissa Rosenberg's outline is turned in. It's expected the decision to split the film into two parts will be formally made at the same time.
Production on 'Dawn' will kick off in the Fall.
The long-running film review show At the Movies which has been through a few newsworthy host changes in recent years, has officially been cancelled.
The show will air its last original broadcast the weekend of August 14th 2010.
The statement from distributor Disney/ABC Domestic TV:
"After 24 seasons with us in national syndication, the highly regarded movie review show "At the Movies" (formerly known as "Siskel & Ebert" and "Ebert & Roeper") will air its last original broadcast the weekend of. This was a very difficult decision, especially considering the program's rich history and iconic status within the entertainment industry, but from a business perspective it became clear this weekly, half-hour, broadcast syndication series was no longer sustainable. We gratefully acknowledge the outstanding work of the program's current co-hosts A. O. Scott and Michael Phillips and top-notch production staff, and it is with heartfelt appreciation that we extend very special thanks to the two brilliant, visionary and incomparable critics that started it all, Roger Ebert and the late Gene Siskel"
As Roger Ebert Seeks Thumbs-Up for New At the Movies..
"No, Wednesday's cancellation of At the Movies hasn't discouraged us," Ebert wrote in his Chicago Sun-Times blog on Thursday. "We believe a market still exists for a weekly show where a couple of critics review new movies."
The first book
Ellen Goldsmith-Vein will produce the film adaptation.
DiTerlizzi also wrote the popular "The Spiderwick Chronicles" book series
John Singleton will direct the Taylor Lautner -led action thriller Abduction reports Variety
Lautner is a teen who comes upon a baby picture of himself on a missing persons website. The discovery that his parents aren't really his parents soon leads to a chain of violent events that have him running for his life
Shawn Christensen wrote the popular script.
Lautner will shoot the film before he starts working on The Twilight Saga: Breaking Dawn
Jeremy Bell produces the pic with filming set to kick off this July in Pittsburgh.
Sean Bean, Danny Dyer and Rosie Fellner are set to join the action drama Age of Heroes says The Hollywood Reporter. Adrian Vitoria and Ed Scates' script will follow the true story of the formation of the 30 Assault Unit (aka. 30 Commando) in 1942, a special intelligence gathering unit first proposed by Ian Fleming who would later write the James Bond novels
The 30AU were teams who specialised in various skills from safe cracking to unarmed combat which they used to undertake covert infiltrations into enemy territory to capture intelligence. They served as a precursor to many of the elite forces now operating in the field.
This pic is the first of a proposed trilogy."Age Of Honor" and "Age Of Glory" are already in early planning should 'Heroes' go well.
Vitoria calls action early next month in Norway.
Kate Hudson is in negotiations to join the romantic comedy "Something Borrowed" says Variety. Based on Emily Giffin's 2005 debut novel of the same name, the story centers on a single Manhattan attorney (Ginnifer Goodwin). This good-girl gets drunk on her 30th birthday and ends up sleeping with Dexter (the just cast Colin Egglesfield), the fiancé of her selfish best friend Darcy (Hudson).
As the mistake blossoms into a full-blown affair, she must decide between her life-long friend and the man of her dreams.
Most likely Hudson signed for the potential sequel should the film do well. "Something Blue", the second book in the series switches the focus to the Darcy character and how she tries to get her life back into balance after the betrayal.
John Krasinski has signed to play the girl's grade-school confidant Ethan, a supporting character in 'Borrowed' who becomes the male lead in 'Blue'.
Luke Greenfield ("The Girl Next Door") is directing from a script by Jennie Urman.
Andrew Kosove, Broderick Johnson, Hilary Swank, Molly Smith, Aaron Lubin and Pamela Schein Murphy will be producing the pic.
Yet another rom-com for Kate?? While she does well in them for the most part--Is it really necessary to do another one at this point? I suppose after doing the thriller The Killer Inside Me and the musical pic Nine
Shooting kicks off next month.
