The Random - Green Hornet, Spider-Man 4, The Special Relationship, Michael Moore, Tucker and Dale vs. Evil, 100 Bullets, Ant-Man

Cameron Diaz has been offered and is apparently in early talks for the female lead role in The Green Hornet for Sony Pictures says Entertainment Weekly. Michel Gondry is set to direct the film based on a script by actor/comedian Seth Rogen and his writing partner Evan Goldberg.

Gary Ross (Dave, Big, Seabiscuit, Pleasantville) is re-writing the script for Spider-Man 4 says Variety. James Vanderbilt penned the original script which was then rewritten by David Lindsay-Abaire. The project will go into production early next year for release May 2011.

MTV Splashpage translates a report from omelete.com in which Edgar Wright reveals he is still quite interested in making an Ant-Man film. He completed work on the first draft before Scott Pilgrim vs. the World built steam. "I'm very happy with the first draft and we need to get back into business," he tells Omelete.

Hope Davis is set to play former First Lady and current Secretary of State Hillary Clinton in HBO Films/BBC Films' The Special Relationship says The Hollywood Reporter. The story chronicles the unique and sometimes turbulent political relationship between newly installed British Prime Minister Tony Blair (Michael Sheen) and U.S. President Bill Clinton (Dennis Quaid) in the late 1990s. Julianne Moore was originally set to play Hillary but has since pulled out due to a scheduling conflict with The Kids Are All Right.

Michael Moore's new global financial crisis documentary has now got a name - Capitalism: A Love Story reports Variety. The film takes a look at "the disastrous impact that corporate dominance and out-of-control profit motives have on the lives of Americans and citizens of the world." The film hits theaters on October 2nd.

In a story from The Hollywood Reporter Tyler Labine and Alan Tudyk will be co-starring in Tucker and Dale vs. Evil. The film, directed by Eli Craig, is being called "a genre-bending indie horror comedy." Labine will play the role of Dale and Tudyk will be Tucker. These characters are two happy go lucky hillbillies who are mistakenly accused of being killers. Also starring in the film is Katrina Bowen (30 Rock).

100 Bullets creator Brian Azzarello teases MTV Splashpage with the possibility of a television series or movie? "That's all I'll say. Television ... or maybe something that's not just TV," he quickly said.

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Spider-Man 4 producer talks villains

Todd Black the producer of Spider-Man 4 has been speaking to the New York Post. He has confirmed a few things:

Kirsten Dunst is definitely set to return, contrary to early rumors that she might be replaced (I personally wish the character was changed from the whiney one from the last couple of films).

There will be no wedding between Peter and Mary Jane.

Morbius the living vampire is not a villain in the film.

However, he goes on to give a few clues as to who it could be."We're just coming up with who the villain's going to be now. We'll be shooting in New York again. Trust me, people will appreciate who we pick, because it'll be a big part of New York." He also adds that "the villain will be one of Spidey's foes from the comic, not a character invented for the film."

That doesn't really narrow it down as Spider-Man is set in New York, and most of his villains are from there as well. Add in the fact the comic has been going for so many years then there are many to choose from. Plus it may not be a big name villain, maybe a lesser one who has been beefed up. The weird thing is the fact he says "it'll be a big part of New York."

Some sites have mentioned Kraven the Hunter but as he's not from New York that goes against what Black has said. The Kingpin is definitely a NY boy so he is a strong possibility, but as he was in the Daredevil film there may be some rights issues with that. Mind you he is big so maybe Black was being cryptic with his clues.

Another choice is the Lizard who is Parker's mutated teacher. Dr Conner has been shown in previous films (he is the man with one arm and his research on lizard's regeneration abilities causes his change) and there are urban legends of lizards and alligators in the NY sewers.

Then of course there is J. Jonah Jameson who, in the comics and animated series financed the creation of Scorpion and set the Spider-Slayer robots on Spider-Man.

Other villains from NYC (as far as I am aware so apologies if I get any wrong) are Electro, Hobgoblin, Hammerhead, Molten Man, Jackel, and the Vulture.

Rhino and the Chameleon were both originally from Russia. Mysterio would be cool but I think he was originally from California.

I personally feel it will either be the Lizard or the Vulture, but we shall have to wait and see.

It is a pity that Morbius won't be in it, even though Sam Raimi gave a strong hint that it could be. Maybe Black is giving us some Michael Bay misdirection?

What villain do you think will be in the fourth Spider-Man film?

Discuss in the forum or leave a comment below.

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Oobermind, Iron Man 2 and Spider-Man 4 Posters

I posted a few posters yesterday from the Licensing Show (Scott Pilgrim vs The World, Rango, Avengers and more).

Now AICN have some more photos of other new posters from the show.

My favourite is the one above for Oobermind. This is the superhero film being produced by Ben Stiller, that I've mentioned previously.

When super villain Oobermind (Robert Downey Jr) defeats his arch-rival Metro Man, the world should be his oyster. But instead, Oobermind falls into total despair. It turns out that life without a rival is life without a point for him. So he creates a new superhero rival. Unfortunately, the new hero wants to be a super villain too. Who can we turn to? Who has what it takes to stand up to this menace? Who will defend the innocent? Oobermind! That’s who.
Neither the Iron Man 2 or Spider-Man 4 tell us anything new about the films, but it is nice to see them. I just wish they'd try and do something a bit cooler with the Spider-Man posters.

Discuss in the forum or leave a comment below.

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Will Morbius the Living Vampire be in Spider-Man 4?

CHUD have part of an interview from Fear.net with Sam Raimi. They ask Sam of the possibility of a vampire being in the new Spidey film. He responds with “What? I don’t know anything about that”. Then he goes on to explain why vampires are so cool.

"I guess they're very appealing. The best of villains have some positive qualities. That is - they can be very sexy and alluring. And the way in which they attack you is very sensual, it's almost something you desire."

"That's why I like the fact that there is a cure against them in some of the lore, like garlic or the cross. That's really interesting, that there is a way to stop them. There's a whole story that can be made with all those elements. So its got some real rules and laws…"

"And that you can be turned into one of them is interesting also. Its got a lot of enticing qualities for a storyteller or an audience."

The main vampire in Spider-Man's world is Morbius.

Michael Morbius was born in Greece. He was attacked by the Lizard and defeated when Spider-Man and the Lizard joined forces. A flashback reveals that Morbius was actually a Nobel Prize-winning biochemist, who had attempted to cure himself of a rare blood disease with an experimental treatment involving vampire bats and electroshock therapy. However, he instead became afflicted with a far worse condition that mimicked the powers and blood-thirst of legendary vampirism. Morbius now had to digest blood in order to survive and had a strong aversion to light. He gained the ability to fly, as well as superhuman strength, speed, and healing abilities. His appearance became hideous—his canine teeth extended into fangs, his nose flattened to appear more like a bat's, and his skin became chalk-white

His origin is tied into genetic manipulation to cure a disease. The same applies to Dr. Curt Connors who uses gene therapy and lizard DNA to help regenerate his lost arm. This results in him becoming The Lizard. Connors has already appeared in the Spider-Man films as Parker's lecturer.

The possibility is there for both Morbius and The Lizard to appear in the next film and their origins could easily be connected. Plus Peter Parker could use his scientific knowledge to help cure them as well as beat them up.

What are your thoughts? Would you like to see Spider-Man go up against a vampire and a reptile? Who could play Morbius (maybe Hellboy 2's Luke Goss)? If not those bad guys who would you like to see in the next Spider-Man film?

Discuss in the forum or leave a comment below.

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The Random - Hannibal Lector, The Sorcerer's Apprentice, Chow Yun-Fat, Piranha 3D, Lindsay Lohan, Steve Wiebe, Star Trek, Spider-Man 4, Killer Elite

- Universal has apparantly confirmed that a new Hannibal Lector film will be made, with the Oscar-winning actor and director Ridley Scott both on board, according to Digital Spy. "As far as we know, [this project] is alive," a Universal spokeswoman said. "Anthony Hopkins and Ridley Scott are both very committed. We like what we've got, and the revised script is really, really good."

- Monica Bellucci has joined the cast of The Sorcerer's Apprentice for Disney Pictures and Jerry Bruckheimer Productions reports Variety. The story revolves around a sorcerer who recruits and trains a young protege to help him fight the forces of darkness in modern-day Manhattan. Bellucci will play Veronica, a sorceress and the long-lost love of Nicolas Cage's character, Balthazar Blake. Jay Baruchel, Alfred Molina, Teresa Palmer and Toby Kebbell also star.

- Twitch have new photos of Chow Yun-Fat as the ancient philosopher in the upcoming biopic Confucius.

- Christopher Lloyd has joined the cast of Piranha 3D according to Bloodydisgusting.

- Lindsay Lohan another job. She will star in the indie fantasy comedy The Other Side alongside Woody Harrelson, Giovanni Ribisi, Dave Matthews and Alanis Morissette. That's what Variety have to say about it.

- Stride Gum has offered King of Kong star Steve Wiebe $10,001 in quarters if he can beat the King Kong record at E3 - PRN

- George Lucas gives Vulture his brief review of Star Trek: “I liked Star Trek growing up and I’ve seen the new one. It’s good. I liked it.”

- Spider-Man 4 will film a small portion of the movie at Dundalk, Ireland’s massive wind turbine - dundalkdemocrat

- Jason Statham will star in the $40 million action thriller The Killer Elite reports Variety. Based on real events and Ranulph Fiennes' best-selling novel "The Featherman", the story follows a group of former British special forces members who are being hunted by assassins.Statham will play a former Navy Seal who is forced out of retirement to save his closest friend.

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Venom has got his own movie.

Some interesting news regarding the symbiote suit known as Venom over on SciFi Wire. It look as if Sony have given the official go ahead for the Spider-Man spinoff movie and has hired Zombieland writing team Paul Wernick and Rhett Reese to pen the script, the writers told a group of reporters.

"We had a really great relationship with Sony on [Zombieland], and so that was a nice in for us there," Reese said in a group interview. "It gave us a leg up."

The duo is already working on the script, but they are sworn to secrecy on the details. "We're under strict orders on Venom," Wernick said. "We can't talk about it. It's just super secret."

Unlike Spider-Man director Sam Raimi, who has admitted that he wasn't a Venom fan before directing Spider-Man 3, Wernick and Reese said they are big fans of the comic character and have recently been doing their research to ensure that they do justice to him. "We read [Venom] growing up, but we were not experts," Reese said. "We certainly know the mythology of Venom, but went back and learned more when it became clear that we could actually get this job."

Ultimately, the writing team has fan interest at heart, they said. Even as they are just getting started on the script, they admit fan scrutiny is on their minds. "Absolutely. I'm terrified," Reese said with a nervous laugh. "It's source material that everybody knows and everybody's familiar with and everybody loves. There's a burden on you to meet the expectations of people. A lot of people are curious about Venom."

Personally, I really enjoy the character of Venom in the comic book. As Eddie Brock he was great, but as Mac Gargan he is a true beast. However, the Venom in Spider-Man 3 was a big waste of time.

Hopefully this spinoff film will have a whole bucket load of black clad nastiness.

What version of Venom would you like to see? Should Carnage show up? Who would you like to play Brock or Gargan?

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Men in Black 3 is moving forward

The ShoWest annual convention was kicked off in Las Vegas yesterday and a big bit of news has come forward from the convention floor today. Collider is reporting that Sony Pictures is moving forward with a third Men In Black film.

The announcement was made at the Sony presentation by Rory Bruer, president of Sony Worldwide Distribution, who also mentioned the studio was currently working on Ghostbusters 3 and Spider-Man 4 right now.

It was said that Bruer did mention the year 2011 in regards to the film, but it wasn't clear if that was when they were targeting these three films for release or not.

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Spider-Man 4, New Moon - Fan Made Posters

I could see Eliza Dushku as the Black Cat. As they are fan made all actors and characters mentioned are pure speculation.

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Transformers 3 will roll out in 2011.

Paramount has announced an official 1st July, 2011 release date for Michael Bay's Transformers 3. However, the studio is not confirming that Bay will be back.

2011 will also have lots of other cool films. Spider-Man 4 is due for 6th May, Thor is due 20th May, Kung Fu Panda 2 is scheduled for 3rd June, Cars 2 is scheduled for 24th June, the final Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows: Part II is due in July, and Marvel's The First Avenger: Captain America is scheduled for July 22nd.

We might also see Disney add Pirates of the Caribbean 4, or The Lone Ranger.

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Spider-Man 4 due out in 2011

Marvel Entertainment, Inc. has announced a new set of release dates for its film slate. Included on the new schedule is a 2011 bow for 'Spider-Man 4', with 'The Avengers' getting pushed back nearly a full year to 2012.

Fans can look forward to the webslinger's return on May 6, 2011, as Sam Raimi and Tobey Maguire continue the franchise that made Marvel a star player in Hollywood. As with previous 'Spider-Man' films, that one is a Sony Pictures Entertainment production.

Marvel had previously staked out that date for the release of the new 'First Avenger: Captain America' movie, with the mega-crossover pic 'The Avengers' slated to come out few months after. '

Now Marvel has shuffled its film schedule to make room for Spidey. 'Iron Man 2' remains locked into to its previously announced May 7, 2010 release. However 'Thor', which was also slated for 2010, is now on tap for June 17, 2011. 'Captain America' will arrive later that same summer with a July 22, 2011 date.

Source: Mania

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The Random - The Birds, The Last Airbender, Silence, Spider-Man 4, Immaculate Conception, Pod, Whatever Works,

According to Variety breakout Slumdog Millionaire star Dev Patel is joining the cast of M. Night Shyamalan's The Last Airbender. The film is being produced by Paramount Pictures and Nickelodeon Films. Patel joins the cast which features Noah Ringer, Nicola Peltz, Jackson Rathbone and Jessica Jade Andres.

The Oakland Press quotes director Sam Raimi as saying that he wants to shoot some of Spider-Man 4 in Michigan “I’ll be looking at Michigan for our second-unit photography on the new ‘Spider-Man’ film,” Raimi confirmed.

Martin Scorsese wants to have the screenplay Silence be his next movie. Scorsese and Graham King's GK Films are talking with Daniel Day-Lewis and Benicio Del Toro to star in the main roles. Also in talks to be in the film is Gael Garcia Bernal. The production is expected to start in late 2009 in New Zealand. The story is set in the 17th century where Jesuit priests travel to Japan to spread the word of the good book.

Marcus Nispel (Friday the 13th) has a couple more films lined up. "Immaculate Conception. A girl gets pregnant, doesn't know why. You think it goes like Rosemary's Baby but it's not a horror movie, though. You find out that she's part of an experiment. A splinter group of the church found a rusty old nail in the hills of Golgotha and they've harvested the DNA they believe is from Jesus Christ. It's like Marathon Man or Coma." The second project is called Pod. "It's dealing with a huge fascination of mine - the seven sub-levels under Manhattan. When they dig deep they find something they shouldn't have."

According to Screen Daily, Samuel L. Jackson is now going to be in writer/director Rodrigo Garcia's Mother and Child. Other cast members include Naomi Watts, Annette Bening, Kerry Washington, and Jimmy Smits. The story looks at three women in an adoption triangle.

Sony Pictures Classics has acquired U.S. rights to director Woody Allen’s Whatever Works from Wild Bunch. This highly anticipated new comedy stars Ed Begley Jr., Patricia Clarkson, Larry David and Evan Rachel Wood.

Naomi Watts says that The Birds remake is going ahead, "It will happen. It’s absolutely going to happen. And it’s something that Universal has a lot invested in, and so they’re going to make sure the script is right, and take their time with it. Martin Campbell’s directing it and he’s very involved in it"

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The Random - Spider-Man 4 may have a bad guy, DC Comic films on hold, Chloe, The Way Back, Superbowl Trailers, Minimum Wage, Beat The Reaper and more

Sam Raimi revealed his pick for the villain for Spider-Man 4 in the latest issue of Empire Magazine. “I like it in the Marvel comics when Spider-Man fights Morbius (the Living Vampire),” said Raimi. “He’s really cool. A vampire! I like that combination of superhero plus supernatural.”

Writer/director David Goyer tells IESB that all the DC Comics properties currently in development at Warner Bros. Pictures have been put on hold for the time being."A lot of the DC movies at Warner Brothers are all on hold while the figure out, they're going to come up with some new plan, methodology, things like that so everything has just been pressed pause on at the moment."

Julianne Moore, Liam Neeson and Amanda Seyfried ("Mamma Mia!") will star in Atom Egoyan's new thriller Chloe for StudioCanal and Montecito Picture Co. reports Variety.Moore will play a successful doctor who suspects her husband (Neeson) of cheating. She tests his fidelity by hiring an escort (Seyfried) to seduce him.

Colin Farrell, Ed Harris, Jim Sturgess ("21," "Across the Universe") and Saoirse Ronan ("Atonement," "City of Ember") have joined writer/director Peter Weir's The Way Back reports Variety.The quartet are final negotiations to star in the fact-based story, based on Slavomir Rawicz's memoir, of a group of soldiers who engineered a grueling escape from a Siberian gulag in 1942. Farrell plays a tough, tattooed Russian; Harris an American; and Sturgess portrays a young Polish inmate. Ronan will play a Russian on the run who meets up with the fugitives.

Every year the Superbowl is seen as a big launching pad for many studios Summer blockbusters with special commercials crafted just for the big game.This year, studios have already locked down numerous spots with quite a few more to come according to Variety. Each 30-second spot normally costs a cool $3 million, but by holding off the studios were able to negotiate cheaper rates. Already confirmed are "Angels and Demons," "Fast and Furious," "G.I. Joe," "Land of the Lost," "Monsters vs. Aliens," "Star Trek," "Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen" and "Up"

Mark Waters ("The Spiderwick Chronicles," "Ghosts of Girlfriends Past") is in talks to direct the comedy Minimum Wage for Participant Media says The Hollywood Reporter.Written by Tegan West and Scott Atkinson, the story centers on a corrupt corporate executive who is convicted of fraud and sentenced to a year living on minimum wage in the town his company bankrupted.

New Regency has landed screen rights to Josh Bazell's just-published novel Beat the Reaper and is developing the project as a star vehicle for Leonardo DiCaprio reports Variety. Leo would play a Manhattan emergency room doctor, whose life becomes complicated when a mobster recognizes the doc from his former life as a hitman who went into the witness protection program.

Despite definite avenues being made into his potential replacement, 16-year-old actor Taylor Lautner is set to reprise the role of Jacob Black in New Moon, Summit Entertainment's sequel to Twilight reports The Associated Press.

Teresa Palmer ("Bedtime Stories," "The Grudge 2") has landed the female lead in Disney's The Sorcerer's Apprentice says The Hollywood Reporter.The live-action feature, inspired by the classic Mickey Mouse portion of 1940 animated classic "Fantasia", centers on an apprentice (Jay Baruchel) who is left to tend to a magic workshop when his sorcerer master (Nicolas Cage) leaves it in his hands.

Screen Gems has apparently ditched its plans for a remake of the classic 80's vampire feature Fright Night reports STYD.The studio apparently couldn't find a script they liked after fielding several pitches, and so the update has been shelved for now. The move comes not long after a remake of the vampire western Near Dark was also put on hold.

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The Random

Bubba Nosferatu - Bruce Campbell is out. Ron Perlman is Elvis, Paul Giamatti is Col. Parker.

Samuel L Jackson and Maggie Cheung have joined Tarantino's Inglourious Basterds

A final trailer for Bryan Singer's Valkyrie movie is out.

My Name is Bruce Trailer is still out there.

Gary Oldman will join the Denzel Washington-led post-apocalyptic action film Book of Eli for Warner Bros. Pictures' reports Variety.

Trailer for Danny Boyle's Slumdog Millionaire is out.

According to The Hollywood Reporter, David Lindsay-Abaire, a Pulitzer Prize-winning playwright in 2007 could very likely be writing Spider-Man 4. Lindsary-Abaire won the Pulitzer for his dramatic play Rabbit Hole.

According to Variety, screenwriter Chris Bryant has died at 72.This scribe is known for writing such films as Nicholas Roeg's upcoming Don't Look Now, Tristan and Ysolt and Stealing Heaven. Some of his TV credits include One Against the Wind and Miracle At Midnight.

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Raimi talks about Spider-Man 4 and the Lizard

Sam Raimi has been talking to MTV about the new Spider-Man movies. Looks like things are moving forward on them. I just hope they are better than the third one.

“I’m really excited about Spider-Man, and I’m hoping to direct it,” he cautioned. “I don’t have a script yet, but production would start probably by March of 2010, I’m guessing. It sounds like a long time away, but we need a script first, and a lot of pre-production has to take place.”

The filmmaking legend also revealed to us that there is a lot of truth behind rumors that he might shoot the next two “Spider-Man” films at the same time. “That had been talked about,” he said, deferring to the head of his studio. “It’s Amy Pascal’s decision. I don’t think it has been decided yet, and she’s the one that’s really going to make that decision; I’m really curious myself.”

By his own admission, “Spider-Man 3” was an exhaustive film to shoot, but Raimi is confident he can handle the double duty. “It would be a real endurance test, probably only Peter Jackson knows how hard something like that would be,” he marveled, hinting that “4” and “5” would be very closely linked in storyline. “If Tobey and me, and all the producers, like the story for two pictures and Amy wanted to do it, then we would do it. It just hasn’t been written yet.”

Finally, Raimi offered comment on the wishes of fans (and yours truly) to finally let Dylan Baker’s storyline come to fruition. “He’s a great actor, and I think one day The Lizard’s story will be told,” he teased, referring to Baker’s Curt Connors character. “I don’t know if it will be this one or not. I just don’t know. I’m definitely hoping to work with Dylan in the picture. I just don’t know who the villain is yet.”

What do you think of the news? Do you want to see the Lizard as the big bad or someone else? How could they improve upon the third movie?

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The Random

Nights in Rodanthe screenwriter Ann Peacock has signed on to adapt John Grisham’s 1997 novel The Partner. [THR]

Robert Duvall is developing The Pony Express, a new AMC western television series, which he also plans to star in. Band of Brothers screenwriter Erik Jendresen is writing the pilot, and Richard Donner is expected to direct. [Variety]

Terminator: The Sarah Connor Chronicles star Thomas Dekker has signed on to star in the big screen remake of the 1980 musical Fame, which is scheduled to begin production in February, for a late 2009 release. [FirstShowing]

Batman-on-film is reporting that “very early pre-production” has begun on a sequel to The Dark Knight.

Customers will be able to purchase new Dell computers with a $20 option to have Iron Man pre-loaded on the machine. The $20 investment will also include “exclusive bonus footage” not included in the DVD release.

When MTV asked Kirsten Dunst if she would be returning for Spider-Man 4, the actress responded “I’m in.” Which sounds like a done deal if you ask me. But when pressed if she officially signed on to return, the actress changed her tone, “I’m not saying anything, I know there’s rumors…”

Shaun of the Dead and Little Britain actor Matt Lucas is playing both Tweedledee and Tweedledum in Tim Burton’s 3D adaptation of Alice in Wonderland. Lucas revealed the news on BBC’s Friday Night with Johnathan Ross.

MTV has a first look at Harry Potter star Rupert Grint in the dramatic indie thriller Cherrybomb.

FirstShowing caught up with producer Donald De Line, who revealed that a new draft of The Green Lantern has been turned in, and while nothing is “confirmed” they’re “gearing up to start shooting early spring.”

A better quality photo of the crushed cab from the opening sequence from the film adaptation of the comic "Kick Ass"

The first photo from the "Inglorious Bastards" set - a small French farmhouse built in the Czech hills.

"Fox Atomic is developing a new 'Alien Infection Project' hypothesizing a worldwide viral outbreak caused by a spacecraft returning from Mars with rock and soil samples..." (full details)

"Peter Cullen confirms that he's only voiced the opening narration of the 'Transformers' sequel so far, his main work as Optimus Prime will be recorded sometime in November..." (full details)

"'Watchmen' and '300 director Zack Snyder has signed a deal to develop three original games for Electronic Arts. EA will own the intellectual properties, but under the deal the publisher may turn some or all of them into films that will be produced by Snyder's Cruel & Unusual Films banner..." (full details)"

In a recent interview, James Cameron admits "There was no blessing involved" in the upcoming "Terminator Salvation" and that he never saw the script..." (full details)

"Sylvester Stallone has arrived to Bulgaria reportedly looking for locations for the next "Rambo" movie. Stallone will visit the Nu Boyana film studios and the Worldwide FX company that made the special effects for the recent fourth film..." (full details)"

An image of Dr. Manhattan's transformation in "Watchmen" has been hidden in the new trailer for "Frank Miller's The Spirit"..." (full details)"

Joel Silver is waiting on Mel Gibson's approval of Shane Black's script treatment for a fifth "Lethal Weapon" before moving forward. The story introduces a new pair of young NYPD police officers..." (full details)

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Tobey Maguire's deal to film Spider-Man 4 and 5

Tobey Maguire is that much closer to signing a deal for the next two Spider-Man films. According to The Times Online, Maguire is willing to shoot Spider-Man 4 and Spider-Man 5 back-to-back over six months next year for a record $50 million in salary and profit shares.

The story makes a big deal of a supposed clause in the contract which would give Maguire unprecedented early mornings and evenings off for “family time”. The idea is that shooting two films back to back is an exhausting task, and the clause would build in time off for Maguire to spend time with his 22 month old daughter. As CinemaBlend puts it, “Tobey Maguire is being paid $50 million to put in half-days at work.”

Source: /film
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Spider-Man 4 & 5 shot back to back? Raimi and Maguire are in

Spider-Man 3 was a big disappointment to me. Emo Parker, the waste of Venom and it was all just a bit naff. Bruce Campbell was cool though and the Sandman looked good. They should have stuck with the Sandman and Vulture partnership which would have worked better and is so obvious when you see the set up of the end battle. They should have introduced the black suit near the end and not had Venom in the next movie.

I digress though. News on the street is that Sony have got Tobey Maguire and Sam Raimi signed up for Spider-Man 4 and 5 (which may be shot back to back) Kirsten Dunst has yet to sign (I hope she doesn't as her whinyness bugged me).

No news on the who the bad guy will be, but the money is on the Lizard making an appearance as Dr Connor (the one armed teacher of Peter's) has been in the first 3 and so would be the logical choice - For those who don't know Doc Connor injects himself with a serum derived from lizards to try and regenerate his lost arm, only it turns him into a great big beastie lizard thing. However, there are loads more villains they can choose from. Mysterio could be great as his whole schtick is special effects. Electro would also be visually pleasing. Chameleon would also work well and could give a pretty good story as people think the real Spider-Man has turned to crime.

I personally think they will have a couple of villains in Spider-Man 4 (any two out of The Lizard, Kraven, Mysterio, Electro, Vulture, the Hobgoblin, Chameleon etc) and then have the Sinister Six in Spider-Man 5.

I personally hope they tie it in with the other Marvel movies (Iron Man, Hulk, Captain America etc), but as it is Sony and Marvel Studios they would have to come to some agreement for that to work.

Deadline Hollywood have lots more on this including the possible Venom spin-off. I say more action less lovey dovey emo crap.

Now who will Bruce Campbell be playing in the next one?

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Venom Spin-off

Well the Joker did say things had been changed forever. He was the big sell for The Dark Knight and it looks like Sony want a piece of the action. They are currently trying to get a script together for a Venom spin-off from the Spider-Man franchise according to Hollywood Reporter. Sony had said Spider-Man 4 would be out in 2011, but not sure how this Venom project will effect that.

Good news is Topher Grace is being ditched and they'll be looking for a bigger name to play Eddie Brock (or maybe Mac Gargan - he was the Scorpion in the Spidey universe, but the Symbiote took hold of him and now he eats people and is very nasty).

Now Venom is a pretty cool character but there's only so much you could do with him. Plus Eddie Brock and the Venom symbiote have an intense loathing of Spider-Man. Therefore, if Spidey is not in this movie then I'm not sure who he will be fighting.

What do you think about this? What other comic book or movie villians could have their own spin offs?
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The Random

Thanks to SFX Magazine for the following info.

Bioshock - That's right the dystopian vision of the 360 game is currently in development for the big screen. Gore Verbinski (Pirates of the Caribbean) is running the show - he must love the water! Screenplay to be written by John Logan (Sweeney Todd). As long as it is done right the city of Rapture should look amazing. Not sure if it will be following the story of the game or whether it will just be set in the same world. Still should be cool watching the Big Daddy and Splicer fights. I really must finish that game, but it always leaves me feeling nervous!

Highlander - I didn't see this one coming but looks like a remake or reimagining of the Immortal ones is on the cards. The blokes who wrote Iron Man (Art Marcum and Matt Holloway) are working on the screenplay. It's got a budget of $50 Million and rumours of Ewan McGregor or James McAvoy starring in it have begun to creep around the net. They'll have to work on their French accent to blend with their native tongue for it to be like the original! There can be only one.

Flash Gordon - I've not seen any of the recent TV series but I've heard how terribly bad it is. Major suckage apparantly. Still it hasn't stopped Gordon making it to the big screen once more. Breck Eisner (Sahara) is down to direct it.

The Hobbit - Guillermo del Toro is busy on this one (actually two movies). He's said that casting is still a good way away, but rumours abound that James McAvoy (he gets everywhere) will be the titular Bilbo Baggins. However del Toro has said there will be parts for his good buddy Ron Perlman (Hellboy, Cronos) and Ian Holm who played Bilbo in the Lord of the Rings movies. Back to back filming is due to start in 2011.

Spider-Man 4 - Some good news on this one after the disappointment of Spidey 3 (Emo Parker was just rubbish and Venom was wasted). James Vanderbilt (the bloke who did the screenplay for Zodiac) has completed his first draft of the movie. Rumour has it that it sets up a story arc that needs to be told over two films. Tobey Maguire is still down to play Parker, but word is out that Patrick Fugit (Almost Famous) could be steeping into the red and blue tights.

Let me know your thoughts on any of these stories and if you have anything for the next Random email me and I'll whack them on the site. If you can include where you heard about it and a name you'd like to go by that would be splendid.

The Random

JONAH HEX - Bunked, debunked and now rebunked? Film School Rejects has a comment direct from actor Thomas Jane about the photo that circulated last week and had director Mark Neveldine disavowing publicly. Jane wrote, "Yeah, the pic is real all right -- my pal Akiva Goldsman told me about the project and I fell in love with the idea right away. Being a huge fan of all things Hex -- I just couldn't help myself. I called up my buddy Chris Nelson and we spent a Saturday afternoon working up some make-up for this impromptu shoot and I fired a few pics off to Warners. How do people get a hold of this shit? It's a little embarrassing seeing my fanboy enthusiasm spilled all over the web, but great scripts don't come around too often, especially for characters I love." So -- to sum up -- yes, it's Thomas Jane and no, the studio nor the production aren't involved. Right, then.

SPIDER-MAN 4 - According to E! Online, producer Laura Ziskin told Nevada and California theater owners that "Spider-Man 4 won't hit theaters until at least 2011. She said there is no script yet and neither Maguire nor director Sam Raimi have signed on."

THE GREEN HORNET - What's that? An official teaser site? Cool ...

BILLY BATSON AND THE LEGEND OF SHAZAM - Director Peter Segal talked to FirstShowing.net about bringing the wizard and the hero to the silver screen. "We're still working on the script," Segal said. "An interesting little development, but it's an annoying one, is that after a strike there are residual effects and one was that everyone who was a writer suddenly had a back log of assignments as did John August, so we started to do our re-write process but he had to service some of these other prior commitments. So now we're kind of waiting in line to get him back but it's worked out okay because we've been working on the marketing of this and getting this going, so we've been doing enough to keep ourselves busy and as soon as this movie gets released then we're going to focus again on 'Billy Batson and the Legend of Shazam.'"

KICK-ASS - Creator Mark Millar told CBR News a little about his next cinematic endeavour.

X-MEN ORIGINS: WOLVERINE - Musician Will.I.Am spoke to MTV about his involvement in the Hugh Jackman-fueled spinoff. "I'm a teleporter. ... I'm here, I'm there, I'm everywhere. Boom, boom, boom!" he said. "My character's name is John Wraith. He's a black Texan. He's not a cowboy, but his gear suggests that he is. He's just a bad ass who'll whoop your ass."

THE SPIRIT - You've seen the posters of the lovely ladies in the Will Eisner adaptation ... but now they talk to you? Just run your cursor tenderly across the images on this new page at Yahoo! Movies and hear the actresses speak their lines.

INCREDIBLE HULK BOX OFFICE - The word from Comingsoon.net (domestic and international results) is that "Incredible Hulk" has pulled in $96.5 million, about $4 million behind the previous "Hulk" movie five years ago. Internationally, "The Incredible Hulk" finished a close second by grabbing $23.4 million at 4,700 theaters from 50 territories in its second weekend. "Hulk" has raised its totals to $63.3 million overseas and $159.8 million worldwide.