The Random - Rum Diary, The 5th Quarter, SW: Clone Wars, Wolverine, Star Trek, Alvin and the Chipmunks 2, The Art of the Heist, The First Man and more

Aaron Eckhart and Richard Jenkins have joined Johnny Depp in The Rum Diary, Eckhart will play a wealthy rival to Depp’s boozy journalist, with both men seeking the pleasantries of Amber Heard. Jenkins (The Visitor, Step Brothers) will play Lotterman, the supervisor of the shoddy and troubled newspaper that employs Depp. Set in San Juan during the 1950s the adaptation was written and will be directed by Bruce Robinson (Withnail and I).

Rick Bieber, writer-director of The 5th Quarter, starring Aidan Quinn, Andie MacDowell and Ryan Merriman, is holding an Internet-based talent search to find original songs for the sports-themed film's soundtrack and is accepting submissions at the film's Web site... more

Cartoon Network announced that it has picked-up a second season of the CG-animated series Star Wars: The Clone Wars, from creator George Lucas and Lucasfilm Animation. Slated to premiere in the fall of 2009, the second season will continue to take audiences on new and exciting adventures, combining the legendary storytelling of Lucasfilm with innovative animation. More details

Storm was included as a cameo in a scene that won't make the final cut of X-Men Origins: Wolverine says producer Lauren Shuler Donner to Widescreen Vision. She adds that the film's final cut is coming in well under two hours, and the DVD won't have much in the way of deleted scenes.

Paramount Pictures has announced that a third trailer for J.J. Abrams' Star Trek is planned to be in theaters starting on Friday, March 6th with Watchmen. The trailer will then go online the following Monday March 9th at Apple.com.

Zachary Levi (NBC's "Chuck") has been cast opposite the computer-generated singing rodents of Alvin and the Chipmunks: The Squeakquel for Fox 2000 says The Hollywood Reporter. Levi will play the cousin of Jason Lee's character and gets tangled up with the tiny animated threesome. Justin Long, Matthew Gray Gubler and Jesse McCartney again will provide the chipmunks' voices.

William Monahan ("The Departed," "Kingdom of Heaven") have acquired The Art of the Heist, the forthcoming memoirs of career criminal Myles Connor reports Variety. Connor became an art connoisseur and a rock musician whose band, Myles and the Wild Ones, backed Roy Orbison. He was also an accomplished art and antiques thief who was involved in a series of museum robberies that grabbed headlines in Boston in the 1970s and 1980s. Quentin Curtis will produce the film.

Sam Rockwell has joined Hilary Swank in the legal drama Betty Anne Waters for Omega Entertainment says The Hollywood Reporter. The film is based on the true story of Waters (Swank), an unemployed single mother who saw her brother convicted for a murder-robbery in 1983 and sentenced to life in prison. Convinced of his innocence, she spent the next decade earning a law degree and working on her brother's case. Rockwell plays the brother, while Minnie Driver also has a role in the movie.

The First Man, the final unfinished work of French existentialist author Albert Camus, is getting a film adaptation. Variety reports that Italian director Gianni Amelio ("The Way We Laughed," "Stolen Children") will make his French-language debut on the $11.6 million project about 40-year-old Jacques Cormery who returns to his native pre-civil war Algeria and relives his childhood. Jacques Gamblin will play Cormery, while Claudia Cardinale plays his beautiful but deaf and distant mother.

MTV talked with Brett Ratner recently and got some updates on the Beverley Hills Cop film. It will be a "hard R" and that instead of Beverly Hills Cop 4, it'll just be called Beverly Hills Cop.

ComingSoon spoke to director Andy Fickman (Race to Witch Mountain) and found out that the zombie classic I Walked With a Zombie will be the first of four of their own horror classics that RKO Pictures are planning to remake with Twisted Pictures (Saw)

Dirk Blackman and Howard McCain are adapting the comic ZMD: Zombies of Mass Destruction which was created by Kevin Grevioux, the writer of Underworld, and follows an elite team of soldiers who are sent on a covert mission into enemy territory in the Middle East. However once there they realise that the enemy is not the standard enemy, and are in fact an army of undead humans created by some secret government project. The Hollywood Reporter.

According to Variety Ralph Fiennes is making his directorial debut with an adaptation of William Shakespeare's Roman tragedy Coriolanus. The play is set in the early years of the Roman Republic and is said to be one of his strongest examinations of how power corrupts.

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God Help Us! Brett Ratner to make God of War

Coming Soon mention that director Brett Ratner (X-Men: The Last Stand, Red Dragon, Rush Hour) has finally confirmed that he is attached to direct the God of War movie in an interview with UGO.

Universal Pictures secured the movie rights to the popular video game created by Sony Computer Entertainment back in the summer of 2005. Mosaic Media Group's Charles Roven and Alex Gartner were announced as producers at the time.

Set in ancient Greece, the game follows the battles of the warrior Kratos, who tackles mythological beasts including Medusa, Cyclops and the Hydra. Players navigate Kratos on his quest to find Pandora's Box and destroy Ares, the god of war.

The game, created by David Jaffe and Shannon Studstill, was released for PlayStation 2 in March of 2005. A sequel was released in March of 2007 and a prequel, exclusive to PlayStation Portable, in March of 2008. A third title is in development for the PlayStation 3.

In addition to God of War, Ratner also mentioned he has Playboy and Beverly Hills Cop 4 in development as well.

We've got his movie, 2 Hercules and a Jason and the Argonauts being made along with a remake of Clash of the Titans. The next few years are going to be sword and sandals all over the place!

What do you think of this news? Never played the game - is it good and would it make a worthy movie? Is Ratner the one to make that movie?

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Sequel News on a load of movies

Lots of news on various sequels. Thanks to Andy D for putting them altogether. They are culled from MSN so blame the dreadful puns on them!

Ghostbusters 3

Who you gonna call? Well, probably not Bill Murray, Ernie Hudson, Dan Akroyd and Harold Ramis. Unfortunately, those classic comedians are a bit old to be busting ghosts with electricity. But rumour has it that the original ghostbusters will be teaming up with a new crop of comedians: Judd Apatow's crew (Seth Rogen, Paul Rudd, etc.) to film a second Ghostbusters sequel.

The Evil Dead 4

Director Sam Raimi was asked about this possibly project while promoting his latest movie, Drag Me To Hell. Raimi's response? "That's in the wheelhouse. I'd like to work on it." Well, we're not sure if we'd like to see it, but whatever kills your zombies.

Beverly Hills Cop 4

Word on the streets of Hollywood is that this next instalment is all but camera-ready. Brett Ratner is set to direct, screenwriters Michael Brandt and Derek Hass of Wanted and 3:10 To Yuma have been hired, and Eddie Murphy will reprise his role as Axel Foley. Let's face it, Murphy doesn't have much else going on (see Meet Dave…oh, wait, no one did), and to be honest we'd love to see him get back to his comedy roots. Bring on the cuss words!

RoboCop 4

Director Darren Aronofsky has been linked to this film, although it's unclear yet if the movie will be a prequel or a sequel. Aronofsky's other works have included the fantastical The Fountain and the depressing Requiem For A Dream. We're interested to see where he'd take a 'part man. Part machine. All cop.'

Dirty Dancing 3

We were shocked to hear about this after the dismally bad Dirty Dancing: Havana Nights bombed at the box office. Granted, that was a prequel, and it didn't have the power of Swayze! This could also be a result of the mega-hit stage musical. Supposedly, despite his recent battle with pancreatic cancer, Patrick Swayze will put on his dancing shoes for this sequel. Nobody puts Patrick in a corner!

The Untouchables: Capone Rising

Rumour has it that a prequel to classic crime caper The Untouchables is in the works, and that director Brian De Palma is spearheading the project. We have to admit this could be good - of course we hope De Niro's not slated for Capone again. He's twenty years older, this picture will show Capone twenty years younger… it's simple maths.

Alien v Predator 3

These movies, much like both the alien and the predator, will seemingly never die. After numerous Alien films and several Predator movies throughout the 80s, the Alien v Predator franchise was born to the delight of geeks over the globe. The most recent one made a stack of cash, so it seems studios are looking to profit again - no matter how many innocent people have to perish!

Rambo 5

The most recent Rambo film was released in January 2008 with the tagline "heroes never die." And we believe it. As long as Sly Stallone is alive and kicking, Rambo films will be made. He's 62 this year, and Rambo 5 is slated for late 2009 or early 2010.

The Boogeyman 3

It's hard to call this The Boogeyman 3 for certain, as since The Boogeyman 2 came out in 1982 the franchise has been peppered with straight-to-video releases (1994's Return Of The Boogeyman) and remakes. But, perhaps this installment will bring back some of the horror of the original. Or… it will just be horrible.

The Lost Boys 3

Sequel to the original The Lost Boys, The Lost Boys: The Tribe, was a straight-to-DVD title released in 2008. Producers supposedly think its lack of popularity was due to its lack of Corey Haim. Haim appeared in the film, but not half as much as his drug-free friend Corey Feldman. The Tribe's ending was a set-up for a follow-up; hopefully Haim will be more camera-ready this time.

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