Casting Future Movie Franchises: Who Will Star in The Hunger Games?

nymag.com: Earlier this year, Chris Evans entered and won the “Who gets to be Captain America?” contest. Earlier this summer, Andrew Garfield entered and won the “Who gets to be Spider-Man?” contest. Sometime soon, an actress — probably an unknown; maybe Natalie Portman; definitely not Carey Mulligan —will win the “Who gets to be Lisbeth Salander?” contest. And then what? Will we be asked to go weeks without a young Hollywood talent competition to obsess upon? Would the moviemaking gods be so cruel? Please. The next win-a-franchise battle — this one called the “Who gets to be Katniss Everdeen?” contest — is scheduled to begin on August 24, with the release of Mockingjay, the third installment in Suzanne Collins’s Hunger Games trilogy, a series of adult-loved YA books that will be adapted into movies, and that you will only be hearing more about.

Saoirse Ronan
The blonde, coltish, Ronan — the star of Atonement and The Lovely Bones — is the right age, 16, and, with some dirt on her face, would look the part. She’d have to suppress some of her natural fragility.
Odds: 4 to 1

MORE HERE

Cameron hints another film could delay those Avatar sequels

blastr.com: Looking ahead to Avatar 2? (And Avatar 3, also, since James Cameron has said that he’d be filming those two sequels back to back?) Well … we might have to wait a while, because the director just hinted this morning about a new project he might want to film first.

Cameron appeared on KTLA 5 Morning News today and said that we shouldn’t expect to return to Pandora until 2014.

“I think three years would be the minimum, probably more like four from where we’re sitting right now,” he said.

‘Harry Potter And The Deathly Hallows’ Gets Screened, And Here’s What The Fanbase Thinks

SPOILERS!!!

moviesblog.mtv.com: On Saturday, some lucky test screeners in Chicago got the opportunity to see the first cut of “Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows: Part 1.” The CGI wasn’t completely finished, it had a stand-in score and its runtime was 150 minutes, but the response from the fans was overwhelmingly positive despite any issues they may have had with the first cut of the movie.

In The Beginning…
The film opens with Minister of Magic Rufus Scrimgeour holding a press conference informing the media of the dangers facing the wizarding world. It then cuts to the scene in Malfoy Manor where Snape tells Voldemort about the plan for Harry to leave 4 Privet Drive, and this scene is supposed to be amazing. Note: filmmakers did include the murder of Charity Burbage as well. Then, Hermione is shown using a memory charm on her parents — something explained but not shown in the book — which is the scene from the trailer that shows Hermione walking towards a church. It is after this scene that the title credits roll.

MORE HERE

Why Post-Apocalyptic ‘Priest’ Won’t Be Your Regular Vampire Story

splashpage.mtv.com: Admittedly, I was late to the game in picking up Hyung Min-Woo’s “Priest,” but ever since I cracked open the first volume, I’ve been eager to see what director Scott Stewart has planned for his upcoming live-action film based on the popular manhwa series.

When MTV News had a chance to sit down with Stewart and “Priest” star Paul Bettany during Comic-Con, the pair explained why the post-apocalyptic story isn’t your average vampire tale — and why the title character might not be the hero mainstream audiences are expecting.

MORE HERE

It would be really interesting to see who gets to play Katniss, but I don’t picture her as any of those girls. Maybe someone unknown. Do you know what other contest I would like to see? How about a who gets to be Clary Fray Who do you think would be great to play Katniss?

Are the Avatar fans disappointed about the delay of the sequels?

I confess I got myself spoiled. I couldn’t help it, but well I’ve read the book like three times. I know most of what happens and who (unfortunately) dies. Now i just can’t wait to see it, November doesn’t look too far away now. What did you think? What are you waiting to see?

I’m really interested in seeing Priest after seeing the trailer they showed at Comic Con. Cowboy vampire slayers, that’s what I imagine after seeing Cam Maybe it’s different like Daybreakers was. We’ll have to wait. What do you think of the movie?

Bekmambetov is Directing ‘Abraham Lincoln: Vampire Hunter’

Although I wasn’t thoroughly impressed with Wanted, my excitement for any future projects from director Timur Bekmambetov (of Night Watch, Day Watch as well) certainly hasn’t waned. As a matter of fact a new bit of news has just turned it up to 11 as Empire spoke with the filmmaker who revealed that in addition to sharing producing duties with Tim Burton, Bekmambetov will also direct Abraham Lincoln: Vampire Hunter. On top of that, the director also shared some information on Wanted 2, a forthcoming 3D project called Red Asphalt; another 20,000 Leagues Under the Sea, and a very odd new take on Moby Dick.

Previously, adapted from Seth Grahame-Smith’s novel, Abraham Lincoln: Vampire Hunter reveals that the 16th president’s mother was killed by a supernatural creature, which fueled his passion to kill vampires and their slave-owning helpers. Timur talks about the tone of the film and even the potential for more sequels

20,000 Leagues Under the Sea:Somehow we missed reporting on this in May, but Timur is working on an adaptation of 20,000 Leauges Under the Sea (which is completely separate from David Fincher’s version at Disney). Here’s what he had to say about that project: “Yes, it is happening. We are in development with a writer and Ridley Scott’s people. It’s early in development. I would like to direct myself – it’s a great tale that I love from my childhood. It will be a modernised version of the famous book.”

Read more HERE

There WILL be a Quantum Leap movie

via io9.com Scott Edelman

Not sure how we missed this news coming out of Comic-Con until now, but for Quantum Leap fans, it might have been the BIGGEST news to come out of Comic-Con. Quantum Leap will be back. And it will be back on the big screen.

At the “A Leap of Faith—A Quantum Leap Retrospective” panel, Scott Bakula shared the big news with the 600 fans who attended:

The good news is that Don [Quantum Leap creator Donald P. Bellisario] is working on the film script and has a big time Hollywood producer who wants to do it … It’s about time. But what I always thought would happen, happened … [that he's now too old for the role]. But Dean [Stockwell, who played Al] and I will have a part in it somehow. Don did say that as he was writing, he told me he was having trouble, ‘getting you and Dean out of my head.’ But I know he will do it.

So to recap—Big-screen Quantum Leap, yes; Scott Bakula as Sam Beckett, no; Scott Bakula as … something, yes.

James Cameron Reveals Specifics about Avatar’s Re-Release and the Future of 3D!

“The AVATAR re-release will have 9 extra minutes, not 8 and it will all be CG. No extra footage of live action characters drinking coffee. Rainforest; some at night; a hunt sequence – a lot of flying; high impact action; an emotional scene toward the end has been added back; “the best CG in the film has been added as far as facial performance”; A Na’vi counterattack after the bulldozer attack; more of Grace at the school; adding the Stingbat and Sturmbeast creatures; additional Quaritch final AMP Suit battle shots; more of the glade love scene. It is all on par with the best of the rest of the film. They had lots of footage to choose from and they put back the absolute best scenes and shots they could.”

At least, like James said, the extra footage is not of peeps drinking coffee or of the Na’vi playing basketball. It looks like we will get some boring footage of the school house. Still, I dont see this drawing people to go spend another 50 bucks at the theater.

James then spoke to MTV about what phase of Avatar 2 he is working on:

“‘Avatar 2′… we’re still working on deals. We don’t start the movie until we get the deals worked out,” he said. “I’m making notes. I’m not sitting idle,” Cameron said. “But really, what I’m working on primarily is the novel.”

“I never had a chance to get the novel done while we were making the movie, and I always intended to. I didn’t want to do a cheesy novelization, where some hack comes in and kind of makes s–t up. I wanted to do something that was a legitimate novel that was inside the characters’ heads and didn’t have the wrong culture stuff, the wrong language stuff, all that.”

Read more HERE

‘Saw 3D’ Motion Poster Gives New Meaning To ‘Heart-Pounding’

Via MTV.com

A few weeks ago our friends over at UGO debuted a really slick new motion poster for “Saw 3D.” We’ve got an awesome new one for you today, another rotating image that is better seen than described. Like the headline above suggests, “heart-pounding” is quite literally the order of the day.

A Different Saw 3D movie poster – but just as sick!

Check out the NEW poster HERE

What did you think about today’s movie news? Are you excited for the Abraham Lincoln Vampire Hunter film, do you think Timur Bekmambetov will do the book justice? Are you a fan of the Quantum Leap series, and who would you like to see direct the movie? Will you see the re-release of ‘Avatar’, how many times will that be now Lastly, are you a fan of the SAW series, and what did you think about the new wicked poster?

Source: collider

DIRECTOR MATTHEW VAUGHN SAYS SUPERHERO GENRE IS ALMOST DEAD

Director Matthew Vaughn (Kick-Ass) doesn’t think there’s much life left in the superhero genre.  Set to direct X-Men: First Class, Vaughn told LA Times’ Hero Complex, “It’s been mined to death and in some cases the quality control is not what it’s supposed to be.  People are just going to get bored of it.”  So why is he doing X-Men?

He says “I’ve always wanted to do a big-budget superhero film and I think we’ve kind of crossed the Rubicon with superhero films. I think [the opportunity to do one], it’s only going to be there two or three more times.  Then the genre is going to be dead for a while because the audience has just been pummeled too much.”

Read more here…

Source: skymovies

JAMES CAMERON FILMING AVATAR SEQUELS BACK TO BACK

James Cameron is taking tips from Harry Potter for Avatar’s sequels.

He’s announced that it’s looking likely that he’ll shoot Avatar 2 and 3 back to back.

MTV grilled Cameron on what fans can expect from the inevitable sequels to the biggest blockbuster ever made, and he managed to confirm a few much-rumoured plot details and his production plans.

“We don’t start the movie until we get the deals worked out,” he admitted, but admitted that Pandora’s oceans will definitely be involved in the eco-friendly sequel and that while he’s not going to press on full steam with anything until the deal is done, he’s busy making notes and drafting out the plot.

Read more here…

Source: worstpreviews

EDGAR WRIGHT TURNED DOWN GREEN HORNET AND DRAG ME TO HELL

The new issue of Empire magazine looks into the upcoming “Scott Pilgrim vs The World” movie and its director Edgar Wright. In an interview, Wright revealed some of the projects he was offered after “Shaun of the Dead.”

Sam Raimi approached him to direct “Drag Me To Hell,” which Wright seriously considered. “[But] it was so obviously a Sam Raimi film. I told him as a fan I wanted to see him do it,” he explained.

And it wasn’t the only horror film that he was approached about. Wright said that he was given the chance to remake “The Crazies.” He didn’t feel it was the right project for him, so Breck Eisner stepped in.

Read more here…

What do you think of Cameron filming Avatar films back to back? Do you think the superhero genre is almost dead, or does it have some life left in it? Tell us your thoughts.

Inception on top for third straight week!

Warner Bros. “Inception” is number one for the third straight week, while Paramount’s “Dinner for Schmucks” fills a comedy void in the marketplace with a number two debut.

Warner Bros. “Inception” was has been the number one film for each day since its release except for Friday (when “Schmucks” first day was at number one) and even in its third weekend of release presented a formidable road block to the newcomers and with $27.52 million took the top of the chart with another small 36% drop. The film has earned $193.3 million in just seventeen days of release and will soon cross the $200 million mark in domestic revenue. Last weekend’s tiny 32% drop and great continued mid-week strength gave “Inception” strong momentum for this incredible third weekend.

A great film with a huge fan base and even pop-culture references of its own, director Christopher Nolan has captured the imagination of the world and has the numbers to back it up. Another great hold for IMAX on “Inception”: $3.4 mil (or 12+% of the weekend’s box office), which is down only -29% and brings IMAX domestic cume after 17 days to $22 mil.

Read more HERE

Comic-Con 2010: Quick Review of Edgar Wright’s Scott Pilgrim!

I got to watch Edgar Wright’s Scott Pilgrim vs. the World at Comic-Con last week and I’ve been kicking myself about not writing anything about it since. I saw at a special secret premiere on Thursday night, which I followed with Flynn’s Arcade’s re-opening, then lots of glorious sleep because I was already exhausted and immediately crashed after I returned to my hotel. But if my tweet was any indication (“Scott Pilgrim vs the World was AMAZING! Wow just wow. Edgar Wright’s BEST movie. Totally loved it!”) I absolutely adored it, easily one of my favorites of the year, a kick ass, visually energetic, totally awesome comic book adaptation.

First off, I’ve got to hand it to Universal at Comic-Con this year, as they pulled off some fantastic marketing for Scott Pilgrim at Comic-Con, with this (and other) surprise screenings and lots more. It’s now coming out of the Con with a lot of buzz, which it certainly deserves as it’s a great movie. But I fear it’s generational, as in if you’re not the kind of person who grew up loving video games, comic books and geeking out like Scott does in Bryan Lee O’Malley’s graphic novels, you’re probably not going to like this too much. That includes not enjoying Edgar Wright’s very fast paced, energetic, visually striking style that works perfectly in the film.

Read more HERE

JJ Abrams Producing Boilerplate – Victorian Robot Movie

JJ Abrams is one of the reigning kings of the sci-fi genre and his latest project will really test his talent. According to THR, he’s purchased the rights to Boilerplate: History’s Mechanical Marvel, a graphic novel-picture book hybrid by Paul Guinan and Anina Bennett. He’s looking to produce a film based on the material that centers on a robot in the Victorian age…

The premise may sound insane but let me elaborate. Boilerplate “tells the story of the world’s first robot, who, in the late 19th and early 20th centuries, fought alongside Teddy Roosevelt and Lawrence of Arabia, journeyed to the South Pole and was involved in the silent movie business before disappearing on the battlefields of World War I.” Sounds like some early Hellboy stuff but with a robot.

Read more HERE

Spider-Man Will Move To Los Angeles And Start Rebooting In December

The ticking time bomb of bad ideas that is Sony’s Spider-Man reboot will start its countdown in December. According to Coming Soon that’s when they’ll start shooting this unwanted attempt to shoo away everyone over the age of 22 who saw the first one, in order to usher in a group of tweens who also saw the first one but are so young they’ll be easily enticed to forget about it.

Right now the inexplicable redo of a franchise which was one of the most successful of all time just a couple of years ago, is set for a July 3, 2012 release date. I’m sure before then my soul will be twisted into a Gordian Knot and I’ll enter some sort of worm hole and come out the other side excited about this ill-conceived project. Maybe I’ll even convince myself that Marc Webb actually had some say in what he’s doing, even though there’s no way in hell that’s even remotely true.

Read more HERE

What did you think about today’s movie news? Is it any shock that Inception is still on top of the box office after 3 weeks? Will you be seeing Scott Pilgrim vs. the World?

‘Priest’ Panel Report: Comic-Con Vs. The Vampire Apocalypse!

splashpage.mtv.com: The panel for “Priest,” the first Tokyo Pop graphic novel to be given the film treatment, boasted exclusive footage of the post apocalyptic vampire movie, which features a pair of vampires from “True Blood” and “Twilight.”

Here’s a moment-by-moment report:

4:18
Director Scott Stewart takes the stage and asks the crowd to get out their 3D glasses as he introduced exclusive Comic-Con footage that will not be released elsewhere anytime soon.

4:22
Cam Gigandet, Stephen Moyer, Karl Urban, Maggie Q and Priest himself, Paul Bettany, join Stewart on stage. Urban’s introduction gets the biggest response.

4:23
Bettany said he had a “rapport” and a “shorthand” pretty immediately when they started working on “Legion.” He loved working on “Priest” with him especially because the budget was bigger which allowed for more “grandeur.”

More here

‘Priest’ Actor Cam Gigandet Says Post-Apocalyptic Vampire Western’s World ‘Is Unlike Any Other’

Director Scott Stewart has spoken highly of the “Twilight” and “True Blood” cast members he assembled for the adaptation of Hyung Min-Woo’s “Priest.” Together with his co-stars Maggie Q and Karl Urban at San Diego Comic-Con this week, Cam Gigandet returned the compliment, even if Stewart’s direction proved to be challenging on occasion.

More here

Watch the new vampire-killing Priest trailer that killed US

He’s the James Bond of the clergy. He’s got holy gadgets and badass moves (in slow-mo, no less) to spare. And the evil he’s up against is real evil. As in vampires. Not the sparkly kind. The monstrous kind. The kind who rip and shred and feast on blood and flesh. Audiences at the San Diego Comic-Con got to see him in action in a new trailer. Now you can see it, too.

(source)

Elizabeth Hurley Set to Play a Vampire

www.411mania.: Elizabeth Hurley’s been a vamp for sometime, so it’s only natural that eventually she would play a vampire. The actress is set to star in High Midnight, a vampire western directed by Mary Lambert (Pet Sematary). Hurley will join Vincent D’Onofrio (Brooklyn’s Finest), Taylor Nichols (Jurassic Park III), Emilio Rivera (Harsh Times), William Baldwin (Sliver), Thomas Kretschmann (Wanted), Ted Raimi (Drag Me to Hell) and Kevin Weisman (Alias) on the project, which has been in the works since 2008.

The film tells the tale of a broken-down sheriff forced to join forces with an obsessed Victorian vampire hunter to defeat an undead force consuming a small frontier town in 1892 New Mexico.

Teaser Trailer For Sci-Fi Thriller Monsters

spinoff.comicbookresources.com: Vertigo Films has released a teaser trailer for Monsters, the micro-budget sci-fi thriller from writer/director Gareth Edwards that’s being described as “the new District 9.”

The film, shot on location for less than $400,000, follows an American photojournalist and the daughter of his publisher (Scoot McNairy and Whitney Able) as they’re forced to travel through a quarantined “infected zone” in Mexico, where the U.S. and Mexican militaries struggle to contain alien life forms that have spread from a crashed NASA probe.

‘SAW’ 3D – First 8 Minutes Revealed

www.fearnet.com: Yes it’s true, Dr. Lawrence Gordon is back! A lucky group of Comic-Con attendees were the first to experience the first 8 minutes of SAW 3D and we have a full report below the break.

The screening kicked off with a repeat viewing of the newly released trailer (in 3D) followed by a presentation by the Guinness Book of World Records to SAW producers and Jigsaw himself Tobin Bell for being part of the most successful horror franchise. A brief Q/A with saw producers, Tobin Bell and SAW VI & VII director Kevin Greutert followed before we were shown the first 8 minutes of the film. The start of SAW 3D picks up immediately after the first SAW with Dr. Gordon (Cary Elwes) dragging himself across the floor (severed foot and all) until he gets to a steaming hot pipe which he uses to cauterize his wound while screaming in agony.

That Priest trailer really makes you want to go see it. Not to mention that we get to see Cam Gigandet and Stephen Moyer. Priest will be a thrilling vampire movie to wait for!

I really liked Monsters, it reminded me of Clover Field and it makes it interesting wanting to know what is attacking the human civilization (again ).

What did you think of the new movie trailers? Which movie are you waiting to see? What do you think of Elizabeth Hurley and her new vampire role?

Two confirmed villains for X-Men prequel, another Thor picture, and a presidential cameo in Transformers 3

Source: io9.com

X-Men: First Class has brought on two awesome actors to play major villains. Will Transformers 3 start with a presidency-themed flashback? There’s a new image of Odin and Thor doing godly stuff. And does Superman have a director after all?

Transformers 3:

Executive producer Steven Spielberg has reportedly come up with a pretty cool-sounding prologue for the movie. Supposedly the film starts with the detection of Transformer-related disturbances on the Moon, which are then relayed to the president…who is revealed to be John F. Kennedy, circa 1961 or 1962. This turns out to be the real impetus behind the space race. The report doesn’t name a source, so I’d consider this definitely just a rumor for now, but I’ll admit it’s at least a pretty interesting one.

READ MORE HERE

The 16 most intelligent sci-fi films ever made

Source: blastr

The IQ at the multiplex this summer has taken a sharp turn upward with the long-awaited release of Inception, director Christopher Nolan’s follow-up to The Dark Knight and his first all-original script since his tiny indie debut, 1998′s Following.

Don’t get us wrong: Inception is action-packed, massive filmmaking on a grand, crowd-pleasing scale, and it doesn’t look down its nose at the genre. But it’s also a movie that demands that the audience pay attention and think—something all too rare during the summer blockbuster season (especially this one), when moviegoers are practically encouraged to check their brains at the door.

READ MORE HERE

Will Warner Brothers’ futuristic terrorism film World War X, film before World War Z?

Source:io9.com

Warner Bros. just bought a brand new screenplay titled World War X, which is all about time-traveling terrorists from the future. But does this mean World War Z has some potential brand confusion — or is it just never happening?

WB just bout Colin Trevorrow’s script World War X, according to Variety. While we’re not too keen on the title, we like the idea. The trade is reporting that this story is “centered on a man recruited by a team of government agents to stop a terrorist from the future who is using time travel to reshape history.” Not to be confused with Max Brooks’ end of the world epic zombie war novel, which is also getting a big screen adaptation, we just don’t know when. Joel Silver is producing X, along with Andrew Rona.

READ MORE HERE

Will Smith to star in ‘The Legend of Cain’…of vampires

Source: examiner.com

Well, Gainesville – you didn’t ask for vampires. But now you’ve got more of them.

Will Smith is set to produce and star in The Legend of Cain, which will cover the Biblical story of Cain and Abel. Of course, in the ‘original’ story, Cain kills Abel out of jealousy and God casts him out. And then there were…vampires? The script was written by Smith’s own brother-in-law Caleeb Pinkett. I’m not sure if that should inspire hope or not.

READ MORE HERE

Top 25 Comic Book Movies of All Time

Source: movies.ign.com

As Inception gives us another excuse to worship at the altar of Nolan, and with Comic-Con right around the corner, IGN does the rank and file thing again. This time, we present our Top 25 Comic Book Movies of All Time. *Drops the mic.*

Now, we know what you’re saying: How come you didn’t give Dolph Lundgren’s Punisher some love? Or or or where’s my Judge Dredd?! Answer: Really? Care space for those movies exist? Really? Real Answer: Because we here at IGN Geek used the following criteria to sort out the bad movies from the really awesome, kick-ass ones. That criteria is as follows: Impact on the genre, geekout-ability moments, level of storytelling – does the adaptation exceed/do justice to its source material? – and Editor’s Choice.

READ MORE HERE

The  blastr and ign movie lists intrigued me – some really interesting picks on intelligent movies and comic book movies. What did you think of them? Any you’d like to add?

Join us in the forum to discuss!