Witherspoon Might Tell A "Good Lie"

Reese Witherspoon is in talks to star in the indie drama "The Good Lie" says Variety.

The story follows a young refugee of the Sudanese Civil War who wins a lottery for relocation to the United States with three other lost boys. They develop an unlikely friendship with a brash American woman assigned to help them, but the young man struggles to adjust to his new life and his feelings of guilt about the brother he left behind.

Philippe Falardeau ("Monsieur Lazhar") directs from a script by Margaret Nagle.

Molly Smith, Trent Luckinbill, Thad Luckinbill, Brian Grazer, Ron Howard and Karen Kehela Sherwood will produce the film.

Green Updates "Joe" & Suspiria Remake

Since his newest indie comedy "Prince Avalanche" is a hit at the  Sundance Film Festival, filmmaker David Gordon Green ("Your Highness," "Pineapple Express") says his next project is almost done.

Green says of  the gritty Southern drama "Joe" :

"I’m almost finished this new movie, ‘Joe,’ we’re almost done with it. It’s Nicolas Cage in a movie that’s not like anything Nicolas Cage has done before. It’s dark as fuck. It’s a slow-burn, dark, heavy movie. Very grim."

The news is not good for Green's long in the works remake of Dario Argento’s 1977 horror classic "Suspiria":

"Suspiria is caught up in legal crap so who knows what will ever happen to that. That kind of falls into the 'Confederacy Of Dunces' category of 'someday I'd like to make these movies' that I was once attached to and worked on, but they may never happen."

Green adapted the screenplay with Chris Gebert and this version would see an American exchange student in Europe who attends a school that acts as decoy for a sinister organisation.

Casting was underway with Isabelle Fuhrman Janet McTeer, Michael Nyqvist and Antje Traue all set to star.

Nic Mathieu Helms Robotech Film

Commercials director Nic Mathieu will direct a big-budget film adaptation of the 1980s anime franchise "Robotech" says Heat Vision.

The story takes place at a time when Earth has developed giant robots from the technology on an alien spacecraft that crashed on a South Pacific isle. Mankind is forced to use the technology to fend off three successive waves of alien invasions.The first invasion concerns a battle with a race of giant warriors who seek to retrieve their flagship's energy source known as "protoculture," and the planet's survival ends up in the hands of two young pilots.

The original "Robotech" was a re-edited and re-dialogued to combine three Japanese anime series to give the producers enough episodes to air as a daily syndicated series.

The idea for a film  has been in around since 2007 with Lawrence Kasdan, Alfred Gough and Miles Millar all contributing to its screenplay. In  all that time, this is the first announcement of a director.

Akiva Goldsman Tobey Maguire Matthew Plouffe, Joby Harold and Tory Tunnell will produce.

Maguire may also act in the feature as well

Box Office Preview: Hansel & Gretel Hunt For #1

This weekend at the movies--Jeremy Renner and Gemma Arterton are Hansel And Gretel: Witch Hunters (reviews); And Jason Statham (reviews) is Parker; A gaggle of stars spoof cinema in Movie 43 (reviews).

Pamela McClintock of THR:

A trio of R-rated pics enter an already saturated marketplace for adult fare this weekend, with new 3D entry Hansel and Gretel: Witch Hunters expected to top the domestic chart with an opening in the $25 million range or better.

Paramount and MGM partnered on the $50 million action-comedy, starring Jeremy Renner and Gemma Arterton as the famous siblings. In this more violent rendition, Hansel and Gretel are witch hunters. Written and directed by Tommy Wirkola, the movie's producers include Will Ferrell and Adam McKay.

Hansel and Gretel, originally set to be released last year, is tracking best among younger males and females.

That could pose a problem for raunchy sketch comedy Movie 43, the brainchild of Peter Farrelly and featuring one of the most ambitious ensemble casts ever put together. The roster of stars includes Hugh Jackman, Kate Winslet, Emma Stone, Halle Berry, Gerard Butler and Naomi Watts. A raft of filmmakers and talent directed the various vignettes, including Elizabeth Banks, Brett Ratner, Griffin Dunne and Bob Odenkirk.

Movie 43 is projected to open in the $8 million to $12 million range. Similar to Hansel and Gretel, the film is tracking best among younger adults and older teens. Relativity Media spent a modest $6 million to make Movie 43 and says it was a creative risk worth taking.

The third new entry of the weekend is action-thriller Parker, pairing Jason Statham with Jennifer Lopez. Directed by Taylor Hackford (Ray), Parker also is expected to open in the $8 million to $10 million range, in line with Statham's previous movie, Safe Haven. FilmDistrict is distributing the pic domestically.

Not only do Movie 43 and Parker face competition from Hansel and Gretel, they also have to compete with a crop of strong holdovers, including Universal's horror pic Mama and a number of best picture Oscar contenders.

Mama, starring Jessica Chastain, is widely predicted to come in No. 2 in its second weekend and should continue to benefit from being rated PG-13. The film's gross through Wednesday was $34.7 million.

Chastain also stars in Oscar best picture contender Zero Dark Thirty, which could come in third. (She also is up for best actress at the Academy Awards next month.) Her films took the top two spots last week.

Observers will be watching this weekend to see how Zero Dark Thirty fares as its makes its first major overseas push, opening in a raft of major markets including the U.K. It has done good business in Spain already, earning $3 million to date.

Fellow best picture contender Lincoln also makes its first major foray internationally, where 20th Century Fox is releasing the drama. Foreign audiences will see a slightly different version of the film; special title cards have been added at the beginning contextualizing the uniquely American story.

More and more, Academy Award nominations can boost a film at the international box office, much as in the U.S. Last weekend, best picture contender Django Unchained opened just north of $48 million overseas.

Parker also opens in a number of international territories, where it was sold off to local distributors.

Abrams Trades Trek For Star Wars...???

Well what do you know!! It seems as though  J.J. Abrams is nearing a deal to direct "Star Wars: Episode VII" at Disney/Lucasfilm...

At this point the story is still developing--Abrams was among a group of directors like Zack Snyder Colin Trevorrow, Brad Bird, Steven Spielberg. Guillermo del Toro and Quentin Tarantino--who said they would NOT take the gig ruling themselves out, At last report "Kick-Ass" and "X-Men: First Class" director Matthew Vaughn was said to be the most likely candidate to get the gig. Neither the Vaughn or the studio commented on the notion. Until this noise we heard nothing since before the holidays... save for this silliness...(Earlier this week Fanhattan talked to one sheet artist Drew Struzan about the posibillity of him returning to the space saga for the new films.)

Abrams is in post on the latest Star Trek film "Star Trek Into Darkness" out in May. Some Trekkers I know like to say that "Star Trek" '09 felt like a Star Wars film disguised as Trek--I say go for it--You seem to prefer Wars To Trek--I say with a wink

Oscar winner Michael Arndt ("Toy Story 3," "Little Miss Sunshine") is writing the script for the “Star Wars: Episode VII The draft is said to include Luke Skywalker, Princess Leia and Han Solo in their later years, which may mean those early rumours of Harrison Ford and Carrie Fisher being interested in returning could be true. No word yet if Mark Hamill could be tempted to return as Luke Skywalker... And Might Vader Return?

Writers Lawrence Kasdan ("The Empire Strikes Back," "Raiders of the Lost Ark") and Simon Kinberg ("Sherlock Holmes," "X-Men: Days of Future Past") have reportedly closed deals to pen the final two instalments of the new "Star Wars" trilogy

Kasdan and Kinberg would also join the projects as producers with Kathleen Kennedy.

Stay Tuned...

Meantime here are some of the best Twitter reactions to the news...My faves:

@Justin_Stangel--J.J. Abrams to direct new ‘Star Wars’ movie. Rumor is, the villain is Khan.

@scottEweinberg--I hope Abrams and Arndt add a bounty hunter character called Len Sflare. Just to piss off the nerds.

Fanning Fawns Over "Robin Hood"

Dakota Fanning has joined the Hollywood  biopic "The Last Of Robin Hood" says Deadline.

The story is based on actor Errol Flynn (Kevin Kline)'s final days before he died of a heart attack at age 50, and his relationship with 17 year-old actress Beverly Aadland (Fanning)- a girl allegedly seduced by Flynn when she was only 15.  She eventually grew to love him and co-starred with him in his last film--1959's Cuban Rebel Girls.

Susan Sarandon is attached to co-star as Beverly's stage mother Florence Aadland who lived vicariously through her daughter.

"Quinceañera" directing duo Richard Glatzer and Wash Westmoreland will call action from their own original screenplay.

Christine Vachon, Pam Koffler and Maggie Malina will produce.

Production is due to kick off shortly.

Is Emma Frost Part Of New X-Men Sequel Or Not?

January Jones, who played Emma Frost in "X-Men: First Class," tells Collider that she doesn't think she'll be back for the upcoming sequel "X-Men: Days of Future Past"

A story late last year indicated that Frost was indeed part of the mix--And why not? Everyone else is back...Jones says "I don’t know that I’m in it, I don’t think Emma’s in this one. Well they haven’t told me if I am (laughs)"

The entire FC cast is set to reprise their roles, including James McAvoy (Professor X), Michael Fassbender (Magneto), and Jennifer Lawrence (Mystique), Rose Byrne (Moira MacTaggert), and Nicholas Hoult (Beast).Sir Ian McKellen Sir Patrick Stewart and Hugh Jackman are already poised to return again as well. While it was hoped that Halle Berry (Storm) and James Marsden (Cyclops) would be back

Bryan Singer penned the treatment and produced 'First Class' which was directed by Matthew Vaughn. Now, their roles will be completely reversed for this sequel with Singer helming the film while Vaughn wrote the treatment and will produce with Lauren Shuler Donner and writer Simon Kinberg.

The sequel is based on a -2 issue story arc in the 'X-Men' comics published in 1981. Kinberg (Sherlock Holmes) is on board to pen the screenplay which will include New Mutants. Magneto and his relationship with Charles X. Xavier will be front and center as well.

Scheduled to begin shooting soon, "X-Men: Days Of Future Past" hits screens July 18th 2014.

Schneider Says "Hello Carter"

Paul Schneider has joined the cast of writer/director Anthony Wilcox's London-set rom-com "Hello Carter" says THR.

The story follows a young man on his downers who sets out on a quest across the British capital to find his ex-girlfriend to try and get things back on track.

Charlie Cox, Jodie Whittaker and Judy Parfitt also star.

Julian Bird and Katie Mavroleon will produce the film.

Production is underway.

The Rock Hearts His "Teddy Bear"

Dwayne Johnson is attached to produce and potentially star in "Teddy Bear" says THR,

The project based this illustration.Greek by software engineer turned fantasy artist Alex Panagopoulos and features a little girl asleep in bed while a small brown teddy bear, with a small wooden sword and shield, holds a giant fanged monster at bay.

Beau Flynn ("Journey 2: The Mysterious Island") will also produce.

No writer is attached as yet and the premise is being kept secret for now.

Liotta Works With The Muppets Again

Ray Liotta has joined the cast of "The Muppets 2" says Variety. His role in this film is unknown. Liotta has experience working with our furry pals, playing a gate guard in 1999's "Muppets from Space."

In this Europe set adventure there are a trio of key human roles--Tina Fey will be playing a Russian gulag prison guard Modern Family star Ty Burrell will play the key role of an Interpol official--Christoph Waltz was originally in talks for that part--Ricky Gervais is playing a character with questionable intentions. There's also likely going to be a number of celebrity cameos.

It sounds like this film will take some of its story beats from "The Great Muppet Caper".

The Muppets human star/co-writer Jason Segel, will not be returning for the follow-up, but director James Bobin is coming back. Bobin co-wrote the script with Nicholas Stoller.

David Hoberman and Todd Lieberman are producing the pic.

The production slated to start this winter in London

A Galaxy Of Stars Up For "Guardians" Movie

Casting rumors for James Gunn's Marvel superhero movie "Guardians Of The Galaxy" continue...Latino Review reports that the company is looking into the availability of actors Jim Carrey and Adam Sandler for roles in the film, could even be the same role.

The Guardians of the Galaxy comic book follows a US pilot who ends up in space during a universal conflict, then is forced to go on the run with a band of futuristic alien ex-cons.

You can add a few more names to the list of casting potentials for Peter Quill/Star-Lord - Wes Bentley, Chris Lowell and Cam Gigandet.

The character is an interplanetary policeman and the Guardians leader who is born of a human mother and alien father

The great Joseph Gordon-Levitt joined the Quill casting fray for a bit. Former Smallville bad guy Michael Rosenbaum Jim Sturgess, Zachary Levi ("Chuck") Joel Edgerton, Jack Huston, Lee Pace and Eddie Redmayne The studio was also said to be interested in Garrett Hedlund, James Marsden and Sullivan Stapleton have been in thick of this as well

Screenwriter Chris McCoy was recently hired to rewrite the Nicole Perlman’s original script.

Production starts this Summer in London The film arrives August 1, 2014.

Fincher Captures "Gone Girl"

David Fincher may direct a film adaptation of author Gillian Flynn's novel  "Gone Girl" says Deadline.

The story follows a woman who disappears on the day of her fifth anniversary, with all indications pointing to her husband as the killer.

Flynn also wrote the first draft of the screenplay. 

Reese Witherspoon (who may also star) and Bruna Papandrea and Leslie Dixon will produce the film.

Howard Keeps 'The Graveyard Book' Movie Alive

Ron Howard is in talks to direct the film adaptation of author Neil Gaiman's Award-winning novel "The Graveyard Book for Disney according to THR.

The story follows a boy named Nobody Owens who is raised by ghosts in a cemetery after his family is murdered. When he is a teen, he is pursued again by his family’s killer -a being named 'The Man Jack'.

"Coraline" and "The Nightmare Before Christmas" helmer Henry Selick was attached to call action last Spring when it was gonna be a stop motion animation pic.

Howard will oversee the writing of a new screenplay and may also produce with his long time biz partner Brian Grazer.

Gil Netter and Ben Browning will produce the film.

Miramax Films and filmmaker Neil Jordan previously tried to get a Graveyard adaptation off the ground--but it got stuck in the development stage.

No production schedule was given for this go round

Nichols Moves To "Midnight" Remakes "Starman"?

While at the Sundance Film Festival, promoting his new film "Mud", filmmaker Jeff Nichols says via Movie Mezzanine & The Playlist that  he's currently working on two scripts, one of which is for a new film called "Midnight Special".

"I won’t talk too much about it now, other than to say I kind of want to make a 1980s John Carpenter movie. If I had to choose one of those it would be Starman. It’s interesting because I’m doing the same thing I did in the summer of 2008 where I’m writing two scripts at once. 'Midnight Special' is going to be a genre film put through whatever bizarre filter is me. Them, I’m also writing this other movie based on a documentary that will hopefully be austere, quiet, sad, and beautiful."

Nichols is linked to the teenage genius drama "The Boy Who Played with Fusion" as well.

Iron Man 3: Tony Stark Has PTSD

Marvel Studios honcho Kevin Feige recently spoke with MTV News about Shane Black's Iron Man 3 in which he discussed both Tony Stark's psyche and the various versions of the armor we'll see in the sequel.

The story is based on the popular six-issue mini series "Extremis" by Warren Ellis--The plot involves the spread of a virus through nanobots. Tony Stark (Robert Downey Jr.) will battle Ben Kingsley (as the Mandarin) and Guy Pearce's characters. Drew Pearce adapted the story into a script.

"It's almost like Posttraumatic Stress: he has retreated after the events of  The Avengers.into his workshop, where he's building advanced versions of his suits. He has [designed] a version of the suit that can latch onto him in individual pieces ... anytime, anywhere.He starts to realize
[that] he doesn't want to be out of the suit. He's seen a lot of things in 'Avengers' and has encountered a lot of powerful people, much more powerful than he is. Much of the movie is Tony in the middle of the country without his tools and a fairly broken suit to help him. But that's his superpower: his power is his brain. It's fun to put Tony Stark in a corner with nothing and see how he can get out of it."

Gwyneth Paltrow, Don Cheadle, Jon Favreau Rebecca Hall James Badge Dale Ashley Hamilton William Sadler and Chinese star Wang Xueqi co-star.

The film hits May 3rd 2013--Getting an IMAX Release

"There's Been An Incursion" Olympus Has Fallen Peek

The first trailer for the action thriller "Olympus Has Fallen" has dropped today.

Creighton Rothenberger and Katrin Benedikt wrote the script about a Secret Service agent (Gerard Butler) who becomes America's only hope when the The White House is taken over by North Korean terrorists.

Angela Bassett will play the head of the Secret Service protecting Aaron Eckhart ("The Dark Knight") who has been cast as the U.S. President Dylan McDermott will play a Secret Service agent. Radha Mitchell will play “Leah” the wife of Butler‘s. Cole Hauser will play a fellow Secret Service agent. Melissa Leo would portray a tough Secretary of Defense who cracks when tortured. Rick Yune plays the villain, a sociopathic North Korean posing as a South Korean ministerial aide. Ashley Judd will play the first lady, while Robert Forster will play a high-ranking General. Tory Kittles will play a member of the President’s security detail.

Antoine Fuqua called action,

Film District will release the film nationwide on  March 22nd 2013.-- nearly three months before Sony Pictures opens a rival project with the similar action-thriller White House Down on June 28, 2013.

This is the same scenario that occurred earlier this year with rival "Snow White" films "Mirror Mirror" and "Snow White and the Huntsman". The Difference: those films were aimed at entirely different audiences and showcased completely diff tones.

Young Folks Junp in The "Kitchen Sink"

Mackenzie Davis, Nicholas Braun and Josh Fadem are in talks to star in the monster movie "The Kitchen Sink" says Variety.

The story follows a pair of teens (Davis and Braun) who form an unlikely alliance with vampires and zombies in order to take on an alien army.

Chris Zylka is also being sought for one of the main roles.

Robbie Pickering will call action using a Black List script penned by Oren Uziel.

Matt Tolmach will produce the film

Production hopes to kick off this Summer.

MLK Box Office Update: Chastain In Charge

Films starring Jessica Chastain--"Zero Dark Thirty" and the horror pic Mama won the frame as top pics in the USA....

Pamela McClintock of THR:

Jessica Chastain packed quite a punch at the Martin Luther King Jr. holiday box office as her two films -- horror pic Mama and best picture Oscar contender Zero Dark Thirty -- upset the likes of Mark Wahlberg, Russell Crowe and Arnold Schwarzenegger.

Final numbers for the four-day weekend show Mama, from Universal and producer Guillermo del Toro, grossing $33 million, far outpacing expectations on the strength of younger females. Studio insiders say the movie clearly is benefiting from its teen-friendly PG-13 rating.

Sony and Annapurna's Zero Dark Thirty placed No. 2 in its second weekend of nationwide release, grossing $18.7 million for a domestic total of $57 million. The movie, from director Kathryn Bigelow, is among a handful of best picture contenders enjoying a bump from awards attention.

The prime example over the MLK weekend was David O. Russell's Silver Linings Playbook, which soared up the box-office chart to No. 3 as it finally expanded nationwide, grossing $13 million for a domestic total of $57 million. Many box-office observers had thought Harvey Weinstein made a fatal mistake in deciding not to open the film nationwide in November, opting instead for a limited rollout.

Broken City, starring Wahlberg, Crowe and Catherine Zeta-Jones, opened to a disappointing $9.5 million to come in No. 6. The action-thriller, from Emmett/Furla Films and New Regency, received dismal reviews.

Fellow new entry The Last Stand, Schwarzenegger's first leading role since 2003's Terminator 3: Rise of the Machines, turned in an even more dismal performance, grossing $7.2 million and placing No. 10. The Lionsgate action pic's performance could pose problems for the actor's planned return to stardom.

In North America, Mama prospered thanks to young females; women and teenage girls made up 61 percent of the audience, while an impressive 63 percent of the audience was under 25. The horror pic was made for a modest $15 million.

Broken City and Last Stand both were rated R and ended up competing for the attention of older males; 78 percent of the audience for each was older than 25.

At the specialty box office, the France-produced best picture Oscar contender Amour continued to overperform, grossing $462,000 from nine theaters for a location average of $12,833 and cume of $1.2 million, a tidy sum for a foreign-language title.

Here are the full results for Jan. 18-21 holiday weekend at domestic box office (* denotes best picture Oscar contender

1. Mama 1/2,647, Universal, $33 million

2. *Zero Dark Thirty, 5/2,946, Sony/Annapurna, $18.7 million, $57 million

3. *Silver Linings Playbook, 10/2,523, The Weinstein Co., $13 million, $57 million

4. Gangster Squad, 2/3,103, Warner Bros., $10.3 million, $33.4 million

5. A Haunted House, 2/2,160, Open Road Films/IM Global, $9.7 million, $31.3 million

6. Broken City, 1/2,620, Fox/New Regency, $9.5 million.

7. *Les Miserables, 4/2,579, Universal, $9.25 million, $131.8 million

8. *Django Unchained, 4/3,012, The Weinstein Co., $9.23 million, $139.4 million

9. The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey, 6/2,323, Warner Bros./New Line, $7.7 million, $288.7 million

10. The Last Stand, 10/2,027, Lionsgate, $7.2 million

My review of "Dark Thirty" will post this week.

Hitchcock Review

I took time out to watch Hitchcock--the movie within a movie biopic about one of the cinema's best directors' Alfred Hitchcock (Anthony Hopkins)--The end result, is a delightful look at how one of the best films ever, almost never made it to the big screen.

The film was originally titled Alfred Hitchcock and the Making of 'Psycho' and explores how the 1960 classic Psycho was actually quite a departure for Hitch in that it was a more explicitly shocking film which was meant to compete with other low-budget horror pictures of the day. The film also weaves in the relationship between Hitchcock and his wife Alma Reville (Helen Mirren)

Hopkins is nearly unrecognized as Hitch in prosthetic make-up by Peter Montagnay and Gregory Nicotero--Speaking in the same deliberate cadence---Hopkins clearly relished the chance to play the director. This is especially evident in scenes where Hitch takes on  Geoffrey Shurlock (Kurtwood Smith), the head of the Motion Picture Production Code--an organization that predated the modern day Motion Picture Association of America

 For her part, Mirren goes toe to toe with Hopkins as the tough yet vulnerable Alma who loves him yet finds it difficult living in his long shadow. Mirren's scenes with Danny Huston as Whitfield Cook--with whom Hitch is convinced Alma is having an affair-are also top notch. Some of this stuff, it should be noted, is based on assumption.

For the most part the rest of the casting is spot on. Scarlett Johansson and James D'Arcy as stars Janet Leigh and Anthony Perkins make for good look a-likes both in form and function--though I suspect some of D'Arcy scenes remain on the cutting room floor. Jessica Biel seems totally miscast as Vera Miles in the film. She actually made me cringe when she appears--thankfully her screen time is perfunctory.

Sacha Gervasi directs the film--based on author Stephen Rebello's 1990 book which Black Swan co-writer John McLaughlin and Tom Thayer have adapted with author Rebello--2 ways. When the film is concerned with matters of Psycho a breezy style is employed, When things shift to show the effects the pic had on the marriage of Hitch and Alma--things slow down a bit. The tactic works well and makes perfect sense.

Anyone who has read Rebello's book as I have will miss certain aspects of Psycho's production that are not in the film like those involving the legendary Saul Bass who handled the storyboards and title sequence for the film and was instrumental in constructing the infamous shower sequence. Ultimately Bass felt he didn't get enough credit

Unfortunately the filmmakers were not able to secure the right to use even a single frame from Psycho--thus for Hitchcock's final act--the music and sound from the masterpiece had to be recreated.

Despite the liberties taken on the film, Hitchcock is an enjoyable biopic meshed with film history. Hopkins and Mirren make it work.

R-Rod Talks Sin City 2 And Willis Returns!!

Making the rounds at the Sundance Film Festival, director Robert Rodriguez has confirmed to MTV News that Bruce Willis is set to appear in "Sin City: A Dame to Kill For"--reprising his role of Hartigan from the first "Sin City" film!!!

Rodriguez says that one of the introduction stories is the only one that's complete. The main three segments are being shot piecemeal as the actors become available and all three still have more footage that needs to be shot.

We already know that  the characters of Nancy Callahan (Jessica Alba) and Marv (Mickey Rourke) will indeed return, Nancy's mini-story will act as a bridge for both the other stories in this film as well as those in the first film-Rosario Dawson is back as well. The stories told in the sequel take place before and after the events in the first film.

Jaime King, who played Goldie and Wendy in Sin City, is officially set to reprise her role as Wendy. She will be joined by Jamie Chung, who will be taking over the role of deadly little Miho, previously played by Devon Aoki. While Clive Owen stated last year that he had yet to hear about a return, the trade says he is expected to come back. However, since his character undergoes a radical face change, Josh Brolin is said to be set to play Dwight Dennis Haysbert will play Manute in the film The role was previously played by Michael Clarke Duncan, who unfortunately passed away last September. Joseph Gordon-Levitt is poised to play a smooth talking gambler named Johnny, a role which was originally offered to Johnny Depp. Christopher Meloni plays a brutish cop. Ray Liotta, Juno Temple and Jeremy Piven also star.

Rodriguez adds JGL hasn't shot his scenes yet. In that story, 'The Long Bad Night,' he plays a cocky gambler who comes to town to try and beat the town's biggest villain at his own game and things don't go well.

Temple and Liotta shot together and have already finished their scenes.  Piven's scenes were also just shot, and the actress who will play the 'Dame to Kill For' will be cast within the next few weeks.

Finally, he confirms that they are shooting the film in 3D using the latest ALEXA Cameras.

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Rodriguez is co-directing the film with Frank Miller using their adapted screenplay written with William Monahan.

Sin City: A Dame to Kill For is set to hit theatres October 4, 2013.