Movie News

“Xerxes” Wants to Capture Guy Ritchie

Only a few days ago it was reported that Guy Ritchie was wanted to direct a remake of Cannonball Run; now he is wanted for the prequel to 300 entitled Xerxes.

Before Frank Miller’s graphic novel has even been published, Legendary Pictures wants to move quickly to adapt it. Xerxes will
be set 10 years before the Battle of Thermopylae and focus on the rise
of King Xerxes, who was sinisterly played by Rodrigo Santoro. The film
promises to focus on a wider conflict, have big pitch battles and have a
longer time frame. The film could focus on the Ionian Revolt in Turkey,
which the Greeks supported, or the Battle of Marathon. It could even make
out that the Persian Empire was not that bad because they did give
their provinces autonomy.

Matthew Vaughn Wants to Make “The Golden Age”

Matthew Vaughn seems to really enjoy comic book adaptation. Kick-Ass was an entertaining film for fanboys all over the world and he is currently editing X-Men: First Class. Now he wants to adapt The Golden Age before it is even published.

The Golden Age is currently being written by Jonathan Ross, a top British television presenter who wrote the miniseries Turf (but whose sales have been falling). Ross is also the husband of Vaughn’s writing partner, Jane Goldman. The Golden Age is set
to tell the story about a group of retired superheroes in a retirement
home who are called into action to help their grandchildren after their
middle-aged offspring screw up the world. Vaughn’s wish list contends
the likes of Clint Eastwood, Jack Nicholson and Warren Beatty.

DVD/Blu-ray DISCussion (New for 2.15.11)

After last week’s disappointing array of DVD releases there is relief with what the film industry is offer as home entertainment opinions. If you are looking for something new there is an action film, a comedy, a documentary and a period drama to pick from. And with the Academy Awards nearly upon us five of this week’s re-releases are Oscar winners.

Christopher Nolan reveals post-“Dark Knight Rises” project

In all honesty, what Christopher Nolan is doing after The Dark Knight Rises is good to know, but not exactly at the forefront of everyone’s mind when thinking of the celebrated director right now. Still, Vulture wants everyone to know that Nolan has expressed interest in his future, post-“Batman” franchise and it turns out he is looking to get a former project taken off the shelf and into production: an unnamed biopic focusing on legendary figure Howard Hughes.

“Captain America” sequel already in the works

Someone upstairs at Marvel must believe bigtime the upcoming Captain America: The First Avenger. Not long after the release of the poster and (for all purposes, a successful Super Bowl spot), Latino Review has it through the wire that Stephen McFeely and Christopher Markus, writers of the upcoming film, have already been hired to pen a second entry.

Ryan Gosling set for “Logan’s Run” Remake

It’s been years since the remake of the 1976 classic Logan’s Run was first announced with Bryan Singer (Valkyrie, Superman Returns) set to direct, but scheduling setbacks and exits of several key players (including Singer) in the project’s production team have caused the remake to linger in developmental hell. Now, with a new director, Nicolas Winding (Drive, Bronson), in place, Deadline is reporting that Winding is bringing his Drive star, Ryan Gosling (Blue Valentine, Half-Nelson), onboard to play the lead in the revived sci-fi remake.

Gosling
will play Logan 5, a “Sandman” whose job is to put citizens to sleep
permanently in a “perfect” but doomed society struggling to survive the
aftermath of an apocalypse during the 23^rd Century. For all
intents and purposes, citizens are happy, save for the fact that they are not
allowed to go on living past the age of 30. When Logan turns 30, he is
unable to abide by the laws of his society, which ultimately leads to an attempt to
escape the authorities seeking him out; an action that spells death for
him should he be caught.

Moviegoers Just Go With It, Justin falls short

Despite outperforming the competition with critics, Justin Bieber: Never Say Never fell short of the number one position to Adam Sandler’s romantic comedy Just Go With It. Relatively unknown family picture Gnomeo and Juliet also did well with audiences. However, fourth entry The Eagle made fourth place with a paltry haul in comparison.

Nicholas Hoult is “Jack the Giant Killer”

The role of Jack in Jack the Giant Killer has been offered to British actor Nicholas Hoult. Hoult joins Bill Nighy and Stanley Tucci, who were recently cast in supporting roles.

Hoult starred in the U.K. edition of Skins and co-led About a Boy with Hugh Grant. Most recently, he’s part of the ensemble cast of X-Men: First Class, which includes James McAvoy, Michael Fassbender, and Jennifer Lawrence among others. 

Guy Ritchie rumored for Clooney-headed “Cannonball Run” remake

Though Guy Ritchie is still working on Sherlock Holmes 2, it seems that he many have an another project in waiting: a remake of Cannonball Run that reportedly wants George Clooney for the lead role. 

Badassdigest.com, who reported the story, believes that this is a very early rumor and there were contradictory messages from the agency source and Guy Ritchie‘s representatives. The remake has been in development since 2009.

New Hope for the Terminator Series?

With Arnold Schwarzenegger no longer the Governor of California—recently tweeting his hopes to return to the entertainment industry—Deadline has it that there may be hope for his signature series, the “Terminator” franchise. Reports indicate that Universal is already courting Justin Lin, who directed the last three films of the “Fast and the Furious” franchise (including the upcoming Fast Five, also for Universal) for the next “Terminator” film.