FAST FIVE and MACGRUBER get re-dated

From ComingSoon.net:

"Universal Pictures today announced that Fast Five, the fifth film in the Fast and Furious franchise, will hit theaters on June 10, 2011. There are no other films scheduled for that date yet. Director Justin Lin, Vin Diesel and Paul Walker are returning for the action pic, in which Dom (Diesel) and Brian (Walker) are fugitives being pursued by relentless lawmen.

The studio has also moved MacGruber away from The Losers on April 23. The action-comedy based on the 'Saturday Night Live' sketch will now open on May 21, where it will face Shrek Forever After. MacGruber was directed by Jorma Taccone and stars Will Forte, Ryan Phillippe, Kristen Wiig, Val Kilmer and Powers Boothe."

THE LOSERS lose April

From ComingSoon.net:

"With Warner Bros. Pictures moving Clash of the Titans back a week to April 2nd so that the film can be released in 3D, the studio has now decided to move Sylvain White's comic book adaptation The Losers away from its previous April 9th date as well. The film will now be released on June 4th.

The move is interesting for several reasons. It now leaves Fox's comedy Date Night as the only wide release on April 9. Also, moving The Losers to June 4th puts the movie in theaters just one week before Fox's The A-Team, the movie to which The Losers has been compared to the most.

The other wide releases scheduled for June 4 right now are Get Him to the Greek, Killers and Marmaduke."

Sounds like one Owen Wilson-sounding dog is about to be put down. Put down hard! I didn't even remember that the Judd Apatow-produced, spirited sequel to Forgetting Sarah Marshall, Get Him to the Greek was coming out the same day. Also a movie with Ashton Kutcher and Katherine Heigl called Killers comes out that day as well (think diet-Knight & Day)

UPDATE:

From ComingSoon.net:

"Last week, Warner Bros. Pictures moved director Sylvain White's The Losers from April 9 to June 4 in order to get it away from Clash of the Titans' April 2 release and to fix some things from a recent test screening.

It sounds like the studio will be able to do this much quicker as they've now decided on an April 23 release date for the action-thriller, starring Jeffrey Dean Morgan, Zoe Saldana, Chris Evans, Idris Elba, Columbus Short, Holt McCallany, Oscar Jaenada, Jason Patric and Peter Macdissi.

The other wide releases scheduled for April 23 are Universal's MacGruber and 20th Century Fox's Wall Street: Money Never Sleeps."

Well, this'll be a interesting series of events. Marmaduke is saved (for now. I saw that Get Me to the Greek trailer - which I WILL NOT post on this blog - and it looked interesting enough for fans of both Forgetting Sarah Marshall and The Hangover). But what about this three-way race between a "Saturday Night Live" anti-hero and '80s-turned-'90s villain-turned-hero?

2010 Movie Super Bowl Ads

Here are some upcoming movie ads from Super Bowl 2010, THE MOST WATCHED SUPER BOWL IN HISTORY -

The Wolfman

"Lawrence Talbot, a haunted nobleman, is lured back to his family estate after his brother vanishes. Reunited with his estranged father, Talbot sets out to find his brother... and discovers a horrifying destiny for himself. Talbot's childhood ended the night his mother died. After he left the sleepy Victorian hamlet of Blackmoor, he spent decades recovering and trying to forget. But when his brother's fiancée, Gwen Conliffe, tracks him down to help find her missing love, Talbot returns home to join the search. He learns that something with brute strength and insatiable bloodlust has been killing the villagers, and that a suspicious Scotland Yard inspector named Aberline has come to investigate."



Robin Hood

"The story of how an archer in the service of King Richard the Lionheart became to be known as Robin Hood, the famous archer and outlaw of English Folklore."



Alice in Wonderland

"19-year-old Alice returns to the magical world from her childhood adventure, where she reunites with her old friends and learns of her true destiny: to end the Red Queen's reign of terror."



Prince of Persia: The Sands of Time

"Set in medieval Persia, the story of an adventurous prince who teams up with a rival princess to stop an angry ruler from unleashing a sandstorm that could destroy the world. Which is why after the prince was tricked by a dying Vizier to unleash the Sands of Time that turns out to destroy a kingdom and transforms its populace into ferocious demons. In his effort to save his own kingdom and redeem his fatal mistake, it's up to the prince and the princess to return the sands to the hourglass by using the Dagger of Time, which also gives him a limited control over the flow of time."



The Last Airbender

"Water. Earth. Fire. Air. In the old days, there was peace between the four nations of the world. The Avatar -- Master of all four elements -- kept peace between the the Water Tribes, the Earth Kingdom, the Fire Nation, and the Air Nomads. Only the Avatar has the ability to Bend all four elements, but one day, he Vanished. Then the Fire Nation attacked, forcing a war on the other three nations for one hundred years. Now, for the good of the world, it's up to 12-year-old Aang, the new Avatar, to return peace and balance by putting an end to the war and mastering all four elements. Aang must accept his destiny by stopping the Fire Nation's war and defeating the Fire Lord for good."

TRON LEGACY rides into 3D

From ComingSoon.net:

"Walt Disney Studios Motion Pictures and IMAX Corporation today announced that Tron Legacy, the intense, high-tech 3D adventure starring Jeff Bridges, Garrett Hedlund and Olivia Wilde, will be released to IMAX theatres in IMAX 3D simultaneously with the film's wide release on December 17, 2010. Directed by Joseph Kosinski, Tron Legacy will be digitally re-mastered into the unparalleled image and sound quality of The IMAX Experience with IMAX DMR (Digital Re-Mastering) technology. Tron Legacy is the third film of the previously announced five-picture agreement between IMAX and Walt Disney Studios Motion Pictures.

'This is an ideal movie for IMAX's immersive format,' said Mark Zoradi, president, Walt Disney Studios Motion Pictures Group. 'Tron Legacy already packs a punch in Disney Digital 3D, and to give audiences the option to experience the enhanced premium IMAX 3D version is a real treat. We're particularly excited to reach a much wider audience now that the IMAX network is expanding with its digital locations.'

'2010 is shaping up to be a powerful year for IMAX 3D releases, and Disney's Tron Legacy is a great addition,' said IMAX CEO Richard L. Gelfond. 'We believe the buzz that already surrounds this film, combined with its fan-boy following and high-tech visual effects makes it a perfect fit for IMAX and we look forward to its release next year.'

'We share a common goal with our partners at Disney, which is to transport people to places they normally can't go, and the world of Tron is certainly one of those cool places,' added Greg Foster, Chairman and President of IMAX Filmed Entertainment. 'Since I saw the first glimpse of Tron Legacy in 3D over a year ago, I've felt it was the perfect match for the The IMAX Experience.'

Tron Legacy is set in a digital world that's unlike anything ever captured on the big screen. Sam Flynn (Hedlund), the tech-savvy 27-year-old son of Kevin Flynn (Bridges), looks into his father's disappearance and finds himself pulled into the digital world of Tron where his father has been living for 25 years. Along with Kevin's loyal confidant Quorra (Wilde), father and son embark on a life-and-death journey of escape across a visually-stunning cyber universe that has become far more advanced and exceedingly dangerous. The 3D adventure is directed by Joseph Kosinski and produced by Sean Baily, Jeffrey Silver, Steven Lisberger and written by Lisberger, Richard Jeffries, Brian Klugman & Lee Stemthal, Eddy Kitsis & Adam Horowitz, and Bill Wheeler."

This isn't really new news because they announced it in the VFX Concept Test.

What is newsworthy is now we know the name of the character of Olivia Wilde - Quorra. Interesting, but not near as enduring as 'Yori'.

X-MEN: FIRST CLASS begins 2010?

From SuperHeroHype.com:

"Tim Pocock, who played the young Scott Summers/Cyclops in X-Men Origins: Wolverine, has revealed that he will reprise the role in 20th Century Fox's X-Men: First Class.

'Currently Australian TV series till February 2010...then X-Men: First Class," he said on his Twitter account. Wolverine producer Lauren Shuler Donner recently hinted that a new X-Men movie would start production in 2010.

Written by Josh Schwartz, the film will likely draw from elements of the Marvel Comic of the same name, launched in 2006."

Always good to hear from Lauren Shuler Donner, wife of Richard Donner (the father of the superhero genre in the film industry)!

UPDATE:

Apparently, Tim Pocock was the victim of a cruel, cruel prank.

From Twitter:

"Victim of cruel prank. Last tweet = NOT me. AM filming Aussie show till 2010. no official word on XM:FC but am interested. please post retraction."

THE A-TEAM gets a Murdock and a Biel

From ComingSoon.net:

"Last week, it was rumored that District 9 star Sharlto Copley was joining the cast of Fox's The A-Team as Capt. 'Howling Mad' Murdock. Variety has now confirmed that casting and also reports that Jessica Biel is in final talks to join as well.

Biel is set to play an Army general pursuing the team who is the ex-love of Cooper's character 'Faceman'.

The two join Liam Neeson, Bradley Cooper and Quinton 'Rampage' Jackson in the Joe Carnahan-directed action-adventure, scheduled to be released on June 11, 2010. Ridley Scott, Jules Daly and Stephen J. Cannell are producing the film, written by Skip Woods."

COOL!! Me and a friend of mine are closely watching this movie. He'll be thrilled to know that somebody from District 9 will be in the film. And who doesn't love a hottie like Jessica Biel?

Here's what Sharlto Copley and the original Dwight Schultz look like:

And then there were 10

From ComingSoon.net:

"The 82nd Academy Awards, which will be presented on March 7, 2010, will have 10 feature films vying in the Best Picture category, Academy Motion Picture Arts and Sciences President Sid Ganis announced at a press conference in Beverly Hills.

'After more than six decades, the Academy is returning to some of its earlier roots, when a wider field competed for the top award of the year,' said Ganis. 'The final outcome, of course, will be the same – one Best Picture winner – but the race to the finish line will feature 10, not just five, great movies from 2009.'

For more than a decade during the Academy's earlier years, the Best Picture category welcomed more than five films; for nine years there were 10 nominees. The 16th Academy Awards (1943) was the last year to include a field of that size; Casablanca was named Best Picture. (In 1931/32, there were eight nominees and in 1934 and 1935 there were 12 nominees.) Currently, the Academy is presenting a bicoastal screening series showcasing the 10 Best Picture nominees of 1939, arguably one of Hollywood's greatest film years. Best Picture nominees of that year include such diverse classics as Mr. Smith Goes to Washington, Stagecoach, The Wizard of Oz and Best Picture winner Gone with the Wind.

'Having 10 Best Picture nominees is going allow Academy voters to recognize and include some of the fantastic movies that often show up in the other Oscar categories, but have been squeezed out of the race for the top prize,' commented Ganis. 'I can't wait to see what that list of ten looks like when the nominees are announced in February.'

The 82nd Academy Awards nominations will be announced on Tuesday, February 2. The Oscar® ceremony honoring films for 2009 will again take place at the Kodak Theatre at Hollywood & Highland Center® in Hollywood, and will be televised live by the ABC Television Network."

You know what all the fuss is about, right? It's all because Dark Knight got shut out of Best Picture by The Reader.

Is Seth Rogen's GREEN HORNET Dead?

From ComingSoon.net:

"Drew McWeeny of the fledgling entertainment site HitFix had been hearing from various unnamed sources at the Sundance Film Festival that Seth Rogen's plan to bring the '50s pulp hero The Green Hornet may have stalled with the departure of Stephen Chow as the film's director, as reported last month.
Drew says: 'Ever since Stephen Chow started to waffle about his participation in the film, I've been hearing rumors that there were major hesitations at Sony. Then at Sundance, I heard several people say that the film was off completely. I spoke this afternoon with a source close to the film, and while they didn't call it completely dead, they did say it is 'highly unlikely' that the film will shoot in 2009 at all.'
Currently, Sony still has The Green Hornet listed on their release schedule for June 25, 2010 giving Rogen plenty of time to find a new director and a new Cato, but if it gets moved or pulled from that great summer release date, we can probably start taking these rumors more seriously."


All I have to say? NOOOOOOOOO!!!!!! SETH ROGEN PLEASE RECONSIDER!!


UPDATE: Apparently, Rogen has reconsidered!!


According to IMDB.com:
"Funnyman Seth Rogen has blasted reports his forthcoming comic book movie The Green Hornet is headed for the scrap heap. After years of development and numerous names touted to helm and star in the project, the new incarnation of masked crime-fighter the Green Hornet was unveiled last year, with Rogen attached as lead actor and Stephen Chow signed to direct and star as sidekick Kato.
Hollywood insiders claimed the film would be cancelled after Chow resigned from his role as director, and producers failed to find a replacement.
But Rogen is adamant the project is still going ahead, confirming the adaptation of the Bruce Lee-starring TV series should hit theatres by 2010.
He writes in an email to website HitFix.com: 'The Green Hornet has many people working for it, including production designers, costume designers and many conceptual artists, office staff, etc.
'(The studio heads) have every intention on making it, and assuming we're able to hire a new director in the upcoming weeks, which seems like a distinct possibility, it should still hit the release date.'"

Bruce Boxleitner Returning for TRON 2.0

From ComingSoon.net:

"Bruce Boxleitner, who played Alan Bradley and the title character in Walt Disney Pictures' 1982 film TRON, is currently filming a role for the studio's upcoming TRON 2.0. He joins fellow original cast member Jeff Bridges and newcomers Olivia Wilde and Beau Garrett in the anticipated action-adventure.

In the original, hacker/arcade owner Kevin Flynn (Bridges) is digitally broken down into a data stream by a villainous software pirate known as the Master Control Program (MCP) and reconstituted into the internal, 3-D graphical world of computers. It is there, in the ultimate blazingly colorful, geometrically intense landscapes of cyberspace, that Flynn joins forces with Tron (Boxleitner) to outmaneuver the MCP that holds them captive in the equivalent of a gigantic, infinitely challenging computer game.

Though plot details are being kept under wraps, it is know that the new movie will act as the 'next chapter'. Wilde will play a worker in the virtual world who tries to help fight Master Control Program, while Garrett will play a siren in the virtual world."

THE GREEN HORNET director steps down

Stephen Chow, the guy from KUNG FU HUSTLE, has resigned as director of The Green Hornet but will stay on as Kato, the Green Hornet's martial-arts assistant.

The Green Hornet himself will be played by comedian Seth Rogen, who also co-wrote the film.

The film is, of course, based on the pulp hero - a newspaper publisher by day who by night goes out in his masked "Green Hornet" identity to fight crime as a vigilante, accompanied by his similarly masked Asian assistant Kato and driving a car, equipped with advanced technology, called "the Black Beauty".

The film will be released July 2, 2010.

IGN reports:
"The tone of the film will be a 'very intense action movie' but also focus on the humorous nature of the relationship between Kato and the titular central character."