{jcomments on}11/05/11
While it still doesn’t have a director attached (Stallone has nixed the idea of wielding the megaphone this time out) or cast yet confirmed, the marketing team behind THE EXPENDABLES 2 have marched on undaunted, unveiling their teaser poster and official synopsis for the sequel in Cannes today.

It should be said that the blurb below does contain a MAJOR SPOILER, so die-hard EXPENDABLES fans should perhaps approach with caution…

“The Expendables are back and this time it’s personal! After Tool (Mickey Rourke), the heart and soul of the Expendables, is brutally murdered on a mission, his comrades swear to avenge him. They’re not the only ones who want blood. Tool’s beautiful young and wild daughter Fiona embarks on her own revenge mission, complicating matters when she is captured and ransomed by a ruthless dictator plotting to destroy a resistance movement. Now Barney and the Expendables must risk everything to save her and humanity.”

Exciting stuff.

Production company Nu Image aim to get the film to our screens in August 2012.

Which faded action stars would you like to see in the movie this time? Will Van Damme suck it up this time and join in the fun, or go do JCVD 2 instead? Let us know with your comments below!

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UPDATED:

Interesting bit of casting this – Comedic actor Charlie day (best known for his role as the idiot man-child Charlie Kelly in IT’S ALWAYS SUNNY IN PHILADELPHIA) is the second name to sign on for Guillermo Del Toro’s much-anticipated movie.

Also on board is the ubiquitous Idris Elba (seriously, is there a project this

bloke’s name isn’t attached to?!)

So what’s PACIFIC RIM and why should the readers of Starburst care? Read our previous story below…

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10/05/11

SONS OF ANARCHY star Charlie Hunnam has landed the lead role in the top-secret Guillermo Del Toro movie PACIFIC RIM. While details are still in short supply, it’s reported the story will revolve around a world invasion by Godzilla-sized aliens, and the humans who are forced to then build and pilot giant Mechas in order to battle them!

Booooorrrrrring.

Seriously though, this movie sounds like it’s aiming to deliver something on a scale we as audiences haven’t seen before – at least in live action. Sure, neither the concept of piloted Mechas, nor giant-ass city-stomping monsters are new to the genre, but few filmmakers have even dared rendering them outside of anime (even James Cameron himself struggled for years to get BATTLE ANGEL ALITA developed) and those who have (we’re looking at you, Emmerich) delivered with questionable results.

Del Toro has had a rough few years career wise – first he was forced to quit THE HOBBIT, then the long-promised Lovecraft adaptation AT THE MOUNTAINS OF MADNESS fell through – so it’s thrilling to hear one of his pet projects is finally coming to fruition.

Expect Warner Bros. to aim for a 2013 release… by which time giant-ass city-stomping monsters may very well rule the world. But I ain’t getting in one of those Mechas. I’ve got a note from me mum.

Giant Monsters vs. giant Robots, what more could you want? Let us know with your comments below…{jcomments on}

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UPDATED:

In news that will delight fans of TEXAS 2, Chop-Top himself Bill Moseley (THE DEVIL’S RJECTS) is the first to be officially cast in the movie. Though sadly not reprising that particular character, he will be taking over the role of Drayton (aka ‘The Cook’) originally portrayed in the first two films by Jim Siedow. This project is actually sounding more promising with every piece of info that emerges – that said, I must remind myself I was burnt once already with the 2003 reboot. Excellent trailer, horrible movie. Going to keep my fingers crossed anyway.

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10/05/11

Twisted Pictures (they of the fan-favourite SAW franchise) are starting to gain momentum with their new TEXAS CHAINSAW MASSACRE reboot/sequel/requel with news coming in that John Leussenhop (TAKERS) is in talks to direct.

Going under the moniker LEATHERFACE 3D, the new movie will continue directly on from Tobe Hooper’s original, ignoring all subsequent entries including Marcus Nispel’s first attempt at rebooting the franchise in 2003.

As a huge fan of the original (and though a very different animal, it’s 1985 bat-shit crazy follow-up) it’s tempting to be outraged by this project, but the prospect of erasing the last five (increasingly unsuccessful) movies from the canon is a gamble I’m willing to get behind. Leatherface is a horror icon, and deserves the chance to remind audiences just why. Though if this goes the way of TEXAS CHAINSAW MASSACRE: THE BEGINNING, then it’s likely this will be the last time we’ll see the Sawyer family on the big screen. Leussenhop and co have a lot to live up to.

Casting has begun with a prospected summer shoot. If all goes well Leatherface will be teaching the torture porn hungry crowds a trick or two Halloween 2012.

Will this go the way of every other horror reboot, or are you quietly optimistic? Anybody else a fan of TEXAS 2 or is it just me? Let us know with your comments below!{jcomments on}

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Celebrated comic writer Grant Morrison is teaming with director Barry Sonnenfeld (MEN IN BLACK) to bring his forthcoming graphic novel DOMINION: DINOSAURS VS. ALIENS to the big screen. Anyone else think this might be an off day for Morrison?

The story – in case the title doesn’t clue you in – revolves around an alien invasion during prehistoric times, and it’s up to the dinosaurs to stave off extinction. Oh. Guess that’s the end of the movie blown then.

The comic will be released later this year, with the movie version unlikely to hit anytime before 2013… giving everybody involved plenty of time to fix that laughably unoriginal title.

Arsed? Let us know with your comments below!{jcomments on}

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A mere few weeks after Peter Jackson lost Rob Kazinski as Hobbit Fili, another casting problem emerges with the news HANNA star Saorise Ronan wont be joining him for the New Zealand shoot after all, citing the formidable production schedule as her reason for dropping out of her prospective role as elf Itaril. The epic undertaking (THE HOBBIT PART I & II are being shot back-to-back) was also the reason previous director Guillermo Del Toro had to bow out, after years of pre-production and the wait for a greenlight, facing a further two years away from other potential projects proved too much.

While it’s not unusual to have actors drop out at the last minute, you’ve got to wonder what Jackson is doing to deserve these casting hassles – Stuart Townsend famously left FELLOWSHIP OF THE RING during the shoot to be replaced by Viggo Mortenson, Ryan Gosling was recast with Mark Whalberg on THE LOVELY BONES – and now these. Still, at least it worked out for the best on one of those movies… we all know which.

It’s not all bad news however, with the recent announcement that Ian Holm will reprise his role as (the older) Bilbo Baggins in the film’s bookend sequences, further strengthening the continuity between this and Jackson’s previous trilogy.

THE HOBBIT PART I is scheduled for release in December of 2012, followed by PART II in December 2013.

Troubled by the casting hiccups? Who should play Itaril instead? Let us know with your comments below!{jcomments on}

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Wait a second… wasn’t the last one called THE FINAL DESTINATION? Ah well, we all knew there’d be more on the way – and judging by the surprisingly inventive mayhem showcased in this awesome new trailer, looks like this franchise has a lot more life left in it yet…

{mov}FinalDestination5{/mov}

FINAL DESTINATION 5 hits cinemas in August.

What do you guys think? Fun, right? No? But Tony Todd’s back! Still no? Let us know with your comments below!{jcomments on}

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UPDATE! UPDATE! UPDATE! UPDATE! *pause for breath* UPDATE!

Following in the footsteps of Brad Pitt, Ryan Gosling and James Franco, Keanu Reeves is the latest to have officially passed on the role.

And that’s not the only blow for this long in development project – Warner Bros. has also shut down the film’s pre-viz department, and screenwriter Steve Kloves has been charged with the task of re-writing a draft of the script that would bring the budget down from the current $140,000,000 budget(!)

When contacted however, they remained positive, issuing the following statement:

“Production on AKIRA has not

halted or been shut down, as the film has not yet been greenlit and is still very much in the development stage. The exploratory process is crucial to a project of this magnitude, and we will continue to sculpt our approach to making the best possible film.”

Hmmm. Sounds a bit suss to us.

While we all wait for updates on the movie – UK readers will get another chance to see the 1988 original when it’s re-released in cinemas for a limited run on the 17th of June, and available to buy on Blu-Ray from the 27th.

Previously, on AKIRA-watch….

08/05/11

The casting rumours for the Hughes Brothers (FROM HELL; THE BOOK OF ELI) upcoming live-action remake of seminal anime AKIRA continue to gather speed, with the news that Keanu Reeves is in talks for the role of Kaneda.

He joins a long list of actors already being mulled for the project, with the likes of Robert Pattinson, Leonardo DiCaprio, Andrew Garfield, Zac Efron, and Joseph Gordon-Levitt on the short-list.

While this news might not appease the folks upset at the racial recasting of the project (I’d personally be more concerned an actor pushing 50 is being considered for a 16 year old, but that’s just me), fans can at least breathe a sigh of relief that it’s one less role that Twilight bloke can lobby for.

Glad Reeves is out? Is the movie needed at all, or are you excited to see that big milky teddy bear nightmare thing on the big screen? Let us know with your comments below!{jcomments on}

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It seemed too good to be true. A photo plucked from the Twittersphere. Somebody holds a screenplay to the camera, its title page crudely handwritten in thick black marker pen…

“DJANGO UNCHAINED”
Written and directed by Quentin Tarantino

Last draft
April 26th
2011

Nice try, many of us thought. Who the hell are you anyway, @agenttrainee? Yeah, we’ve all seen before that this is how he sometimes likes to decorate his manuscripts – QT ain’t gonna be Courier 12’s bitch – but it doesn’t take a master art forger to replicate that serial killer scrawl. Anyone who’s followed this filmmaker’s career knows his penchant for procrastination (he’d been talking up Inglourious Basterds since 1994!) there’s no way a new Tarantino picture could be upon us so soon…

Well, we’re very happy to report that we were wrong – the pic was verified as genuine and the screenplay soon began to do the rounds, with noted film guru Harry Knowles being one of the trusted few granted access, gleefully providing a Twitter commentary as he read it:

“page 47, I have tears of joy”

“Christoph Waltz’s character in DJANGO UNCHAINED 56 pages in is the best character in QT’s history. no spoiler in that. just when i knew”

“DJANGO UNCHAINED is an operatic southern… this is my favorite QT script. & I’ve read them all. This I absolutely love at every level”

While chuffed he had a good time, I have to wonder why anybody would want to deny themselves the experience of seeing a new Quentin Tarantino film unspoiled, in a cinema, the way God intended, is beyond me! But the same thing happened with Basterds and Kill Bill, and it’ll continue on as long as the guy writes. I’ll never understand it, even in the name of movie journalism. Count me out.

Anyway, what do we know so far…

While the title refers directly to Sergio Corbucci’s series of spaghetti westerns starting in 1966, it isn’t yet clear whether this will follow the same character (as originally portrayed by Franco Nero), or is simply being used to pay homage to the cult movie, much the same way QT borrowed the title of his last film from a little seen, unrelated WWII movie from 1978.

The plot revolves around a former slave teaming up with a bounty hunter (the aforementioned Christophe Waltz?) on a mission to liberate his wife from a vicious slave owner.

Today comes news that the Fresh Prince himself, Will Smith, is in talks to play the titular character after Tarantino apparently wrote the role with him in mind. While this rumour may prove to be just that, I for one would love to see Big Willie step up and stop being so calculated in his film choices – if he’s not punching aliens in the face in that summers biggest, dumbest blockbuster, he’s getting teary-eyed in some desperate, Oscar-chasing drivel (THE PURSUIT OF HAPPYNESS; SEVEN POUNDS). A protect like this would give him a chance to showcase acting chops not seen since Michael Mann’s ALI.

Expect DJANGO to go before cameras later this year, and to be released sometime in the first half of 2012.

Smith can next be seen punching aliens in the face in this year’s MEN IN BLACK III.

What do you folks think? Is Smith a good choice? If not, who would you rather see in the role? Let us know with your comments below!{jcomments on}

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