Legion - There will be a whole host of films

ShockTillYouDrop.com has learned that both Paul Bettany and Adrianne Palicki are signed for two Legion sequels.

The first film, directed by Scott Stewart, will be released in theaters by Screen Gems on January 22nd. Dennis Quaid, Tyrese Gibson, Doug Jones, Jon Tenney, Charles S. Dutton, Lucas Black, Kate Walsh, Kevin Durand and Willa Holland co-star.

In the movie, God loses faith in humanity and sends his legion of angels to wipe out the human race for the second time. Mankind's only hope lies in a group of misfits holed up in a diner in the desert who are aided by the archangel Michael.

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Legion - First look at Paul Bettany as the Archangel Michael

I've mentioned Legion a few times but this is the first proper look we have had at the main character, Michael, played by Paul Bettany. The poster is at this years Comic Con and First Showing found it. The basic premise has a Prophecy kind of vibe to it. An Archangel with a machine gun. You know it is going to be good.

Without warning, on the night of December 23rd, the prisoners inside a Los Angeles jail go berserk, tearing each other apart. Only one is left standing: MIKE (Paul Bettany) . Meanwhile, in the tiny Mojave desert town of Paradise Falls, JEEP HANSEN (Lucas Black going back to his American Gothic roots) awakens from yet another fever dream and begins to draw. His walls are covered with nightmarish visions of fantastic creatures and heroes, including demon lord BELIAL and a mysterious figure... who looks an awful lot like MIKE.

Later that day while Jeep is working on a car the sky darkens. a mysterious black car arrives and the elderly GLADYS emerges. Inside the diner, BOB (Dennis Quaid), pregnant actress CHARLIE (Adrianne Palicki), the LYMANS, cook PERCY (Charles S. Dutton), and suspicious patron KYLE (Tyrese Gibson) watch Gladys eat a rare and bloody steak. Gladys then revels herself to be a hideous creature and attacks Howard and Bob. Kyle kills her with his .45. The diner is surrounded by thousands of flies, the power goes out and the group is trapped inside.

Mike arrives in a police car and distributes weapons to the group. He reveals that they are witnessing the first signs of a war between humans and a horde of the devil's minions. The demon-creatures converge on the diner and attack. The group fights back. While awaiting the next onslaught, Jeep finds a transmission on the radio explaining that all of human kind is under siege by demons. Apparently Las Vegas is the only haven left. Amidst the chaos, Charlie's water suddenly breaks and Audrey helps her deliver a baby boy.

Legion is set to star Dennis Quaid, Paul Bettany, Tyrese Gibson, Kate Walsh, Kevin Durand and Lucas Black.

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Transformers: Revenge of The Fallen, 2009 - Movie Review

Director: Michael Bay
Starring: Shia LaBeouf, Megan Fox, Josh Duhamel, John Turturro, Tyrese Gibson
Running Time: 150 minutes
Score: 6.5 / 10

This review by Jinja. Spoilers ahead....

What's it about?

IMDB blurb: "Decepticon forces return to Earth on a mission to take Sam Witwicky prisoner, after the young hero learns the truth about the ancient origins of the Transformers. Joining the mission to protect humankind is Optimus Prime, who forms an alliance with international armies for a second epic battle."

Was it good / bad?

I probably didn't do myself any favours by watching the first one the night before seeing the sequel. But I did have my expectations very low due to a couple of friends mentioning their disappointment.

+ The CG again was phenomenal - but, I said this first time round, the transformations were overly complex.
+ The eye-candy in this movie was spectacular.
+ Giant transforming robots fighting!

- Unfortunately I think the CG is also what totally overpowered the flick.
- The story was overly ambitious and complex - not for the younger audience.
- There was unnecessary language, that again I wouldn't be overly comfortable with my 10 year old nephew hearing.
- Some gratuitous shots of Megan Fox and Isabel Lucas - now don't get me wrong I enjoy the sight of an attractive woman, but the bit with Megan Fox painting the bike at the beginning was ludicrous!
- Slow-mo overload!
- A robot that transforms into a human!?
- Way way to long.

Just another thought what happened to the characters played by Anthony Anderson and Rachael Taylor?

Coolest / worst scene?

Coolest scenes were Optimus going berserk (on a few occasions) on decepticons and BumbleBee kicking ass.

Worst, the ridiculous geography that goes on at the end. One minute they are at the pyramids in Cairo, then the adventure takes them to Petra in Jordan. Then from Petra they see the military parachute out and land near the pyramids...and within minutes they are driving to meet up with them (I know I've seriously paraphrased that). Now Cairo and Petra are around 251.1 miles (give or take) apart. Sorry no, that last part of the film all took place within the same 'evening' - I know this is a film about alien life-forms that transform from giant robots into vehicles but come on. There wasn't even a mention of the fact Israel even existed between Egypt and Jordan.

The Robots - What about the robots?

The twins were initially annoying, the half way through they were annoying and by the end you had enough of them as they were annoying and you hope the devastator kills them! A pair of street jive idiot punks, mildly ammusing but generally annoying - did I say that already?

The return of Megatron - acceptable, was expecting the whole cargo ship to transform rather than just the five overly suspiscious vehicles on-board. Unfortunately too many bad guys leaders, Megatron, StarScream and the Fallen, wanting screen time.

Soundwave - good idea as the satellite, but where was the voice!?

The Devastator - the biggest overly complex transform of the lot. Was just too big.

The Fallen - a lazy bugger who'd been hanging out on one of Jupiters moons for the past 17,000 years.

Did you laugh / cry / cover your eyes / walk out?

Laugh - yes, some very funny bits especially John Turturros paranoia and still some of the 'aliens out of place on earth' moments.

Cry - not even with laughter.

Cover my eyes - followed by a shaking head of disapproval at some of the continuity errors and pretty much the whole last half hour.

Walk-out - I didn't walk out of Vertical Limit (my current leader of absolute chod movies) so wouldn't walk out on this - worth staying for the visuals.

Anything we should watch out for?

You may miss it near the beginning, but the bit of an argument in China between the army and couple of Transformers. The governments manage to cover up the whole thing as a little earthquake or something...its complete and total destruction of downtown Shanghai!!! (BTW yes sarcasm set to very much high on that comment)

Why should we see / avoid it?

Big robots, lots of fighting, CG overload - your choice.

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Could Tyrese Gibson be in the Captain America film?

Busy promoting Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen and his new comic book, Mayhem, Tyrese Gibson mentioned a few interesting things.

“The energy from Comic-Con really did something to me,” Gibson told MTV News of what prompted him to try his hand at comics. “Instead of me sitting back and waiting on ‘Luke Cage’ to finally happen — which I’m still looking forward to doing once they get the script together — and instead of me waiting on ‘Captain America,’ which they were talking about me for, I’m going to create my own. And that’s what I did.”

Now what could Tyrese be in talks about Captain America for? There was the rumour that Will Smith could be playing Steve Rogers, but nothing more has been said. Smith as the First Avenger is a bit of a stretch, but he would bring in a wide audience (I don't think it will happen though), however Gibson as Cap would never work. He's just not that big a name to pull in the punters.

There are a couple of characters that spring to mind for Tyrese.

First there is the role of Sam Wilson aka The Falcon. Sam debuted nearly three years before Luke Cage so is one of the first African American characters (Black Panther is from Africa).

The Falcon, as the name suggests, had the ability to fly via a high tech winged suits. He was also a top spy kind of character and had many an adventure with Steve Rogers.

Maybe Tyrese is in talks to play Sam, maybe not. As The First Avenger film is supposedly going to be set for the most part in World War II then it seems unlikely that The Falcon will feature in the film. However, he is a cool character and it would be great to see him on screen.

The other, more likely, option is Isaiah Bradley who featured in the Truth: Red, White & Black mini series.

Project: Rebirth began as a collaboration between US, British and German eugenicists led by Dr. "Josef Reinstein" (real name Dr. Wilfred Nagel), and Dr. Koch. When WW II began, Koch took over the German program and Josef Reinstein took over the American program. Each was attempting to recreate the super soldier serum which had previously turned Steve Rogers into Captain America a year prior to Pearl Harbor. Reinstein's early attempts to refine the formula were tested on African-Americans. Three hundred of these soldiers were taken from Camp Cathcart and subjected to potentially fatal experiments at an undisclosed location in an attempt to re-create the Super Soldier formula, as seen in Truth: Red, White & Black. Only five subjects survived the original trials. In the name of secrecy, US soldiers executed the camp's commander and hundreds of black soldiers left behind at Camp Cathcart. The government told the families of the three hundred subjects that their loved ones had died in battle.

The sole survivor of his test group, Bradley stole a spare costume intended for Captain America before he engaged in a suicide mission to destroy the Super-Soldier efforts of the Nazis at the Schwarzebitte concentration camp. There, he was also able to assassinate Koch. The mission ended when the Germans captured Bradley. Nazi interest in the American supersoldier was high; he was even brought before the Führer himself. Bradley was later rescued, only to be court-martialed and imprisoned at Leavenworth around 1943. In 1960, Bradley was pardoned by President Eisenhower and released.

This is all supposition on my part based on the few words mentioned by Tyrese. Isaiah Bradley seems the role most suited for the film.

What do you think Tyrese Gibson was talking about in relation to Captain America?

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Megan Fox and some other people at Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen Japan Premiere

Michael Bay posted these photos from the Japanese premiere of Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen.

Not long now until some big screen Megan Fox action....sorry, I mean giant robot action.

Discuss in the forum or leave a comment below.

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Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen will be bigger and longer on IMAX

Director Michael Bay made an announcement about his upcoming Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen, including details surrounding finishing the film, the scale of the project, and what the IMAX version will offer. Here is what he had to say:

Hey everyone,

In Japan today. After a month and half seven days a week most days going till midnight me and my crew have just about finished Transformers. I have never seen such a level of dedication from every crew member in a movie before.

Even today after the press in Japan and right before the premiere tonight, I have to sneak out to a digital house to approve the last few effect shots.

It has been a long hard road, but really fun one to travel. What you will notice that is strikingly different than Transformers 1, is the level of animation detail. The robot characters (42 in all), you really can feel empathy for them. What is also very different is the sheer scale of the movie. We have been very tight holding back much of the best imagery in commercials and trailers.

The way to see this movie is on IMAX. Never before has there been 4k rendered character animation shot on full IMAX 70 mm film. This is a first and the results are stunning. You will see Optimus Prime in a few shots where he is actually perfectly to scale on the IMAX 50 foot tall screens.

For IMAX, I created a slightly longer cut with more robot fighting. Four scenes were shot on IMAX cameras so the screen will fill the full IMAX screen for these scenes.

Haters beware.

Michael

Starring Shia LaBeouf, Megan Fox, Josh Duhamel, Tyrese Gibson, John Turturro, Isabel Lucas, Rainn Wilson, Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen opens in theaters on 24th June.

Discuss in the forum or leave a comment below.

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Legion - The end of days in the style of a war movie?

Legion is the supernatural thriller starring Paul Bettany as the archangel Michael, who is all that stands between mankind and an apocalypse after God has lost faith in humanity. But the Almighty apparently hasn't lost all hope -- a child is on the way who is the second coming of Christ, and a group of strangers who recognize the fact must band together to save it.

I mentioned it back in March.

Now Quiet Earth have some more news on the style of the film and a detailed synopsis.

The films director Scott Stewart said "I conceived LEGION more as a comic book action movie than a straight horror film. Despite the obvious horror elements, my primary influence when writing it was less DAWN OF THE DEAD or 28 DAYS LATER, and more the original TERMINATOR with its blend of intense action and inventive mythology.

Stylistically, I intend to ground the fantastic nature of the story in a gritty and realistic visual style. I want the audience to feel like they've been dropped right in the middle of the action, so they, like the characters in the film, experience the terror and chaos in a very direct and visceral way. In that regard, the best visual comparison to LEGION are not other horror films but contemporary war films like PLATOON and SAVING PRIVATE RYAN."

That sounds very cool and a great way to go in making this stand out from the supernatural crowd.

Now for the synopsis:

Without warning, on the night of December 23rd, the prisoners inside a Los Angeles jail go berserk, tearing each other apart. Only one is left standing: MIKE (Paul Bettany) . Meanwhile, in the tiny Mojave desert town of Paradise Falls, JEEP HANSEN (Lucas Black going back to his American Gothic roots) awakens from yet another fever dream and begins to draw. His walls are covered with nightmarish visions of fantastic creatures and heroes, including demon lord BELIAL and a mysterious figure... who looks an awful lot like MIKE.

Later that day while Jeep is working on a car the sky darkens. a mysterious black car arrives and the elderly GLADYS emerges. Inside the diner, BOB (Dennis Quaid), pregnant actress CHARLIE (Adrianne Palicki), the LYMANS, cook PERCY (Charles S. Dutton), and suspicious patron KYLE (Tyrese Gibson) watch Gladys eat a rare and bloody steak. Gladys then revels herself to be a hideous creature and attacks Howard and Bob. Kyle kills her with his .45. The diner is surrounded by thousands of flies, the power goes out and the group is trapped inside.

Mike arrives in a police car and distributes weapons to the group. He reveals that they are witnessing the first signs of a war between humans and a horde of the devil's minions. The demon-creatures converge on the diner and attack. The group fights back. While awaiting the next onslaught, Jeep finds a transmission on the radio explaining that all of human kind is under siege by demons. Apparently Las Vegas is the only haven left. Amidst the chaos, Charlie's water suddenly breaks and Audrey helps her deliver a baby boy.

Legion is set to star Dennis Quaid, Paul Bettany, Tyrese Gibson, Kate Walsh, Kevin Durand and Lucas Black.

I really like the sound of this. The story and, more importantly, the style tick all the right boxes for me. Paul Bettany as an archangel will be good and it puts me in mind of a bigger budgeted Prophecy - now it would be good if Christopher Walken had a cameo in this one.

Do you like the sound of this film? What do you want to see in it?

Discuss in the forum or leave a comment below.

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Tyrese Gibson's Mayhem comic

Source: Lying in the Gutters

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Paul Bettany has been an Archangel in Legion and may now become a Priest

According to The Hollywood Reporter, Paul Bettany is in negotiations to star in Priest a horror Western that Michael De Luca and Stars Road Entertainment's Josh Donen are producing for Screen Gems. Mitchell Peck also will produce.

The move would reunite Bettany with director Scott Stewart, for whom he just finished starring in "Legion," an upcoming Screen Gems supernatural thriller.

An adaptation of a TokyoPop comic book, "Priest" is set in a world ravaged by centuries of war between man and vampire and follows a warrior priest (Bettany) who turns against the church to track down a murderous band of vampires who have kidnapped his niece. Cory Goodman ("The Brood") wrote the screenplay.

"I knew the moment I saw Stewart's first cut of 'Legion' that Bettany was Priest and so I mentioned it to him immediately," Screen Gems president Clint Culpepper said.

Legion, which is set to open next January, is a thriller that stars Bettany as the archangel Michael, who is all that stands between mankind and an apocalypse after God has lost faith in humanity. But the Almighty apparently hasn't lost all hope -- a child is on the way who is the second coming of Christ, and a group of strangers who recognize the fact must band together to save it. It is director Scott Stewart's first feature film, from a script he co-wrote with Peter Schink. It also stars Dennis Quaid, Kate Walsh and Tyrese Gibson.

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UPDATED: Hugo Weaving is back in Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen...Agent Smith...I mean, Megatron can't be far behind

Hugo Weaving has proven that one more piece of the news that Michael Bay has "confirmed" about Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen is false - namely that Megatron wouldn't be appearing in the film. Weaving, who was promoting his film Last Ride, told the Australian site AdelaideNow that he would, indeed, be in the sequel film.

"I've already done it," Weaving says, adding Bay had told him to keep the news hush-hush. "He's over in LA and we were working on the video split sort of thing and I had this strange conversation where he seemed to imply it was all a big secret. So there you go. I've given you the secret scoop."

Weaving was not, however, willing to reveal the secret as to how the Decepticon leader would be resurrected, but he did give a hint. "I think in the last one, doesn't Optimus Prime pick up a little bit of, a little shard of the cube, or the thing that's left, and he takes it with him. Maybe there's something there... but I don't know," the actor laughed.

In Transformers 2: Revenge of the Fallen, Optimus Prime and the rest of the Autobots return for the live action follow up to Michael Bay's 2007 blockbuster Transformers, nationwide on June 24. Shia LaBeouf, Megan Fox, Josh Duhamel, Tyrese Gibson, John Turturro, Isabel Lucas, Rainn Wilson star.

UPDATE: (3/5/08 1:45 PM PST) Director Michael Bay has also confirmed the return of Megatron on his official website. Take a look at the brief post from the director, posted earlier today, below.

Okay cat is out of the bag. Megatron is back ---- but you will only get to see him from the long lost past. We go way back in time as this movie explains the mythology of the Primes. He is not a tank like everyone suggests, but an alien vehicle. But sadly he does not has much screen time.

UPDATE 06/03/09: However, looks like Bay may be being economical with the truth again. /film found the description on the packaging for Megatron’s Leader Class action figure contains the following description:

Rebuilt with parts cannibalized from other Decepticons, Megatron rises once again to lead his army. Though the AllSpark destroyed him once, he can now feel its power coursing through his circuitry. It calls him to seize his rightful place as ruler over the puny planet on which he was imprisoned and destroyed, and from which he will launch his conquest of the universe. Optimus Prime is all that stands between him and victory, and the Autobot leader has done a poor job of hiding himself. At long last, Megatron knows exactly where his enemy is, and he has power enough to destroy him.

Hmmm!

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Death Race, 2008 - Movie Review

Director: Paul W.S. Anderson

Starring: Jason Statham, Joan Allen, Ian McShance, Tyrese Gibson, Natalie Martinez

Running Time: 105 minutes

Score: 7 / 10

This review by Van Roberts.

"Resident Evil" director Paul W.S. Anderson's "Death Race," a mean-spirited remake of the campy carmageddon classic "Death Race 2000" (1975) with David Carradine, lacks the imaginative of its predecessor but has its share of exciting scenes. "Death Race 2000" depicted a nationally sanctioned, no-holds-barred, coast-to-coast marathon where motorists racked up points for hitting pedestrians. Whereas director Paul Bartel's "Death Race 2000" amounted to a cheesy political satire, Anderson's straight-forward remake is an exercise in sadism that confines its race to an island prison with no innocent bystanders to kill. This nihilistic, R-rated, nonsense boasts a bigger budget, souped-up special effects, and a stellar cast led by lean, mean Jason Statham whose six-pack ripped physique is covered with tattoos. A bullet-riddled, testosterone-driven, high-octane fueled, B-movie motor rally extravaganza, "Death Race" not only pays tribute to the unforgettable Carradine classic but also pays tribute to "The Condemned," "The Running Man," "Escape from Alcatraz," "Goldfinger," and "Mad Max 2: The Road Warrior."

"Death Race" takes place in the year 2012 after the U.S. economy has collapsed. Unemployment and crime rage out of control. The government has sold all prison over to the private sector. At Terminal Island, for example, the prison administration began broadcasting pay-per-view cage fights. Audiences, however, lost interest in them, so evil Warden Hennessey (Joan Allen of "The Bourne Supremacy") created a lethal, closed circuit car race. Each auto bristles with guns, rockets, and explosives like those in "Mad Max 2: The Road Warrior." The undisputed racing champ is an indestructible legend called Frankenstein. We never get a glimpse of Frankenstein's face, but David Carradine provides the voice. Carradine portrayed Frankenstein in "Death Race 2000." The infamous Frankenstein has been injured so often that he wears a mask. As the action unfolds, Frankenstein dies in a spectacular crash, but Warden Hennessey keeps his death a closely-guarded secret. Some 45 million viewers pay between $99 and $250 to watch Hennessey's three day death race, and she isn't about to jeopardize her high ratings with news about Frankenstein's death.

Hennessey dispatches her vilest inmate, Pachenko (Max Ryan of "Kiss of the Dragon"), to track down former NASCAR driver Jenson Ames. Pachenko stabs Ames' wife Suzy (Janaya Stephens) to death and frames the unsuspecting Jenson for her murder. Six months later, Ames (Jason Statham) draws a life sentence and Hennessey pulls strings to land him on Terminal Island. Terminal Island resembles Alcatraz, except a bridge links it with the mainland. Hennessey convinces Ames to don Frankenstein's mask. Hennessey promises to release Jensen if he impersonates Frankenstein and wins one more race. Jenson had a baby daughter Piper, and the despicable Hennessey holds Piper's welfare over Jenson's head. Nevertheless, Hennessey plants an explosive charge under Jensen's car in case he tries to double-cross her.

Coach (British actor Ian McShane of HBO's "Deadwood" with his sinister raccoon eyebrows) and his multi-cultural crew maintains Frankenstein's Ford V-8, fastback Mustang that shares many features with James Bond's Aston-Martin. Hennessey imports buxom babes from a nearby women's prison to serve as navigators for the drivers on an elaborate race course that she has laid out on the prison's premises. Frankenstein's closest rival, Machine Gun Joe (Tyrese Gibson of "2 Fast 2 Furious"), is a pugnacious black homosexual who draws his navigators from the prison's all male population. Machine Gun has triumphed in three races. Joe needs only two more wins before he can obtain his freedom and retire to Miami. The problem is that the treacherous Warden Hennessey hates to keep her word to anybody.

"Death Race" wallows in violent, anti-social behavior. Armor-plated automobiles careen through the prison grounds with desperate drivers blasting away at each other with rockets and machine guns galore. Life in cheap in Terminal Island and the most perfidious person at the prison is Warden Hennessey who abhors profanity but spouts her fair share. Unfortunately, this predictable story has been retreaded so often that the complications outnumber the surprises. Whereas Paul Bartel's "Death Race" was funny but ferocious, Anderson's spin is simply ferocious with characters scheming to defeat their rivals. The hero, Jenson Ames, wins our sympathy on two counts. He has an infant daughter and we know that Pachenko framed him for his wife's murder. Everybody else on Terminal Island hasn't a shred of dignity. The guards are baton-wielding sadists and Warden Hennessey rivals Linda Fletcher's Oscar winning turn as Nurse Ratched in the Jack Nicholson masterpiece "One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest." Clocking in at a ballistic 89 minutes, "Death Race" runs only marginally longer than its 82-minute predecessor. Anderson never squanders a second and delivers thrills, chills, and a surprise or two along the way. Unfortunately, he seems to have set his sights lower with this formulaic $45 million epic after helming superior sagas such as "Resident Evil" and "AVP: Alien Vs. Predator." While the "Death Race" women aren't the primary focus of the plot, Anderson has cast talented Joan Allen as a sadistic, domineering prison warden. She rules her realm with an iron hand and a double-barreled, sawed-off shotgun concealed in the knee-hole of her desk. "Death Race" suffers from at least one inconsistency. A warning sign on the wall of the prison dining hall proclaims the warning that no warning shots will be fired. When the guards quell a fight between Jensen and Pachenko, they warn them that they will fire. Nevertheless, despite its flaws, "Death Race" qualifies as an adequate popcorn movie for people who love big, dumb, action epics.
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The Random

Kevin Smith will be scribing a Batman mini-series featuring his character Onomatopoeia that he created for Green Arrow.

Could there be a Scream 4? Apparantly so according to MTV's interview with Wes Craven.

According to Hello magazine Johnny Depp and Terry Gilliam are getting back together to make The Man Who Killed Don Quixote.

Tyrese Gibson says he’s in talks to star in the Thundercats movie. So say Coming Soon.

An I Am Legend Prequel may go ahead according to Francis Lawrence

Radical Publishing has linked up with Bryan Singer, who will produce Freedom Formula, not read it but apparantly it is all about exo-suits. Singer is also producing the Image Comics adaptation, Capeshooters, about two superhero paparazzos who discover that an iconic do-gooder is actually a supervillian.

Discuss in the forum.

Death Race - Poster

Here's a look at the poster for Paul W.S. Anderson's remake of Paul Bartel's 1975 classic, Death Race 2000. If you've ever been sat in a car with someone and they've cried out "20 points" as they pass an old person then they've seen the original.

The remake stars Jason Statham (The Transporter, Crank) as the eponymous hero, Frankenstein. It also stars Tyrese Gibson, Joan Allen and Ian McShane.

I enjoyed the original starring David Carradine and Sylvester Stallone, but I'm not at all optimistic about this remake. Paul W.S. Anderson directed Soldier, Alien vs Predator, Resident Evil and Event Horizon so that may well colour your expectations.