Author: Travis Keune

Hopeless film enthusiast; reborn comic book geek; artist; collector; cookie connoisseur; curious to no end

‘Resident Evil 4’ details surface

Arrow in the Head just spilled some raging zombie beans about the coming fourth installment to the ‘Resident Evil’ franchise. According to their source, Anderson wrote the screenplay, but will not be returning to direct. The screenplay is said to dark with better dialogue and stylistically closer to ‘Resident Evil: Apocalypse’.

Further details suggest that there will be lots of close-quarter fighting… enough to warrant a martial arts choreographer. The screenplay is in it’s second draft and production will take place in Toronto (posing as Alaska) and Tokyo. No director has been selected, but it’s suggested that this will not be decided until they have officially signed Milla Jovovich.

[source: JoBlo.com/Arrow in the Head]

‘Masters of the Universe’ gets a Director!

Be honest now… how long have you REALLY been waiting for this movie to be remade? I know, it’s been a long and tedious wait. We’ve had to suffice with the original 1987 film starring Dolph Lundgren for so long. But, the wait is almost over! Warner Bros and producer Joel Silver are developing a project to do just that as we speak. How “real” is this project, you ask?

Justin Marks (Street Fighter, Hack/Slash) has already finished the script. Now the project has signed their director… John Stevenson (Kung Fu Panda) to helm this action/sci-fi/fantasy flick based on the popular animated TV show and line of action figures and toys from the Crazy 80’s.

Justin Marks penned the script, which skews more toward gritty fantasy and reimagines Adam as a soldier who sets off to find his destiny, happening upon magical world called Eternia. There, a being called Skeletor has raised a technological army and is bent on eradicating all traces of magic. — HR

[source: Hollywood Reporter]

‘Ghost Rider’ Sequel has its hold on Nic Cage

Here’s the scoop, my fellow Marvel fan-addicts… Bloody-Disgusting.com has apparently gotten wind of some news about the long-anticipated [although questionably worthy] sequel to the 2007 feature-film adaption of ‘Ghost Rider’. So goes the news, or perhaps rumor [whichever it may be], Columbia Pictures is moving forward with the sequel and is currently looking for a writer to put pen to paper. In addition to this, Columbia is apparently also touting that Nicolas Cage is signed on to return to his role of the flame-skulled, chopper-riding hero from Hell.

[source: Bloody Disgusting]

Neil Jordan will direct Gaimen’s ‘Graveyard Book’

Neil Jordan (The Good Thief, The End of the Affair) has signed on to write and direct a feature-film adaptation of Neil Gaimen’s Newbury Award-winning novel for young people called “The Graveyard Book”. Neil Gaimen (American Gods, Coraline) will also produce the film, which will be shot as a live-action feature.

“The Graveyard Book” is the story of an orphan raised by ghosts in a cemetery. Gaiman announced Jordan’s involvement while on “The Today Show,” where he was promoting the release of Focus Features’ animated feature “Coraline,” which Henry Selick adapted from Gaiman’s work.

[source: Variety]

‘1066’ will depict epic European battle on the big screen!

Shine Pictures is developing a project called ‘1066’ that will depict the bitter rivalry and epic battle for the throne of England between King Harold and William the Conqueror. The partnership between Kudos Pictures and New Regency has selected William Nicholson (Gladiator) to write the screenplay. Shine Pictures has fast-tracked the film, which they expect to begin production this year.

Nicholson said that the script focuses on the fraught relationship between the two greatest warriors of the age, King Harold of England and William the Conqueror. Starting as comrades, they became bitter enemies destined to fight to the death at the climactic Battle of Hastings.

[source: Hollywood Reporter]

Universal finds a director for remake of ‘The Thing’

It’s been rumored and talked about for a while now, but Universal is apparently committed to reviving ‘The Thing’ with a new remake. This will become the third version of the movie with the last remake being John Carpenter’s 1982 version that scarred the Hell out of audiences with it’s ground-breaking special effects. The original version of the movie was made in 1951 by Howard Hawks and was titled ‘The Thing From Another World’.

Ron Moore (Exec Producer of ‘Battlestar Galactica’) will write the screenplay and Universal has now tapped Matthijs Van Heijninge to direct. He’s a producer and director of TV commercials, but this will be his first effort at directing a feature-film. Just as Carpenter’s version was based on John W. Campbell, Jr’s short story “Who Goes There,” this new remake will also apparently rely strongly on this same source material.

Van Heijningen has shot blurbs for brands including Toyota, Pepsi, Heineken, Bud Light and Visa. He is also developing “Army of the Dead” at Warner Bros. with producer Zack Snyder, who also crossed from commercials to features by directing the Strike-produced “Dawn of the Dead” remake.

[source: Variety]

WAMG First Look… ‘The Devil’s Tomb’

Some movies are just meant to be cool. Not meaningful or groundbreaking, just damn cool to watch. Actor Jason Connery (Brotherhood of Blood) turns director with ‘The Devil’s Tomb’. The trailer [viewable below] shows how “cool” this movie is looking and how much fun it could prove to be.

A team of mercenaries under the command of hard-charging war veteran Mack (Gooding Jr.), are contracted by a mysterious CIA operative named Elissa (Cruz) to rescue a scientist (Perlman) working on an archeological discovery deep under the Middle Eastern desert. With the help of a mysterious priest (Rollins), Mack and his team soon discover the true secret of what lies beneath the sands. A secret that has been protected for thousands of years. A secret that is not of this Earth. — IMDB

This violent, action/horror/sci-fi/thriller also sports a nifty cast, featuring Cuba Gooding, Jr., Ron Perlman, Ray Winstone, Henry Rollins, Bill Moseley, Taryn Manning, Franky G and Zack Ward. No release date has been set as of yet.

Movie Melting Pot… ‘The 36th Chamber of Shaolin’ (Hong Kong, 1979)

Considered by many fans, critics and historians to be among the very top of the hill when it comes to Kung Fu movies, this one clearly has had it’s influence on the entire genre. Someone less inclined towards quality martial arts movies may view this the first time and think, “hey… this movie doesn’t have all that much action!”

In this observation, the viewer would be partially accurate. There is “action” in the movie, but it depends on how you define action. In the traditional mainstream sense, the actual fighting scenes (“action”) appear near the end of the film. That’s not to say there isn’t plenty of worthy content in the rest of the film. One of the most successful elements of this movie is it’s story. No other martial arts movie has done such a fantastic job of taking the viewer into what a Shaolin monk is made of, what makes them tick, how they became the masters they are?

‘The 36th Chamber of Shaolin’ (Shao Lin san shi liu fang) stars Chia Hui Liu as San Te, a student who becomes disenfranchised with the academic life as he witnesses the oppression brought upon his family and friends by the tyrannical Manchu rule. After witnessing countless people murdered and tortured undeservedly, San Te decides he must travel to Shaolin to learn Kung Fu. His journey is long and an injury to his leg nearly kills him along the way, but he sneaks into the monk’s food cart to make it up the mountain to Shaolin. When they find him, he’s in a coma and the nurse him back to health. Reluctant at first, the monks choose to allow him to stay and live amongst them.

>>> Semi-Spoiler Warning! The remainder of this article divulges much of the plot! <<<

Continue reading Movie Melting Pot… ‘The 36th Chamber of Shaolin’ (Hong Kong, 1979)

‘Tomb Raider’ may be returning to the big screen?

Warner Bros and producer Dan Lin are in the process of developing a “reboot” of the ‘Tomb Raider’ movie franchise, based on the popular video game series. Personally, this doesn’t appeal to me. It’s kind of a dead concept and what are the chances, really, that they’ll get Jolie to return to the role? What do you guys think?

The new project, however, is expected to revamp the character and her mission and bear little resemblance to the original pictures. It will reimagine the origins of the character, her love interest and the main villain.

As an open-writing assignment, the project is still in its nascent stages. An actress who could play the role Angelina Jolie made famous would likely come on after a writer and director are attached.

[source: Hollywood Reporter]

‘A-Team’ may get a new director, again…

As if we haven’t heard this before, Fox may finally be pulling together it’s project to bring the popular TV show ‘A-Team’ to the big-screen. Fox is in negotiations to sign Joe Carnahan to the director’s chair after they’ve gone through several actors, writers and directors, including John Singleton.

The screenplay was written by Skip Woods (Swordfish, Hitman) and is being co-produced by the Brothers Scott (Ridley and Tony) and the co-creator of the original TV series Stephen J. Cannell. Joe Carnahan is best known for his directing the movies ‘Narc’ and ‘Smokin Aces’. Fox is banking on this new crew as they’ve already set a release date of June 11, 2010.

[source: Hollywood Reporter]