But in an announcement as bizarre as it is ambitious, DreamWorks’ head Jeffrey Katzenberg has declared there to be at least two follow-ups to How to Train Your Dragon, a total of four “Madagascar” films and a whopping six “Pandas.” That should amount to a fair amount of bamboo in the bank.
Disney apparently has no worries about the box office performance of this upcoming fourth film, helmed by Rob Marshall of Chicago fame; the Mouse House is already planning for two more movies, both to be filmed back-to-back just like “Dead Man’s Chest” and “At World’s End.” Apparently, Disney wants to get started on this “in the very near future” according to HitFix.
David O. Russell’s (The Fighter, I Heart Huckabees) adaptation of Uncharted: Drake’s Fortune is moving closer and closer to its shooting schedule and more news keeps coming. With Mark Wahlberg now confirmed to star as Nathan Drake, Russell tells the Los Angeles Times that “he’s halfway done with the script.”
Zombieland director Ruben Fleischer is set to helm Warner Bros.’ Gangster Squad, which will tell the true story of a Los Angeles police squad going head-to-head with the organized crime of the city. The film will be penned by L.A. Rex writer Will Beall.
Outside of what villain(s) will appear in The Dark Knight Rises, the biggest rumor surrounding the project for months now (years even) is if Ledger will make a cameo as the Clown Prince of Crime, despite being dead for over two years. Recently, Showbiz Spy claimed that Nolan may use “unseen” footage of Ledger’s performance from The Dark Knight in some capacity for The Dark Knight Rises. Now, Emma Thomas, producing partner to Nolan who has worked on both of his “Batman” films, has told Heat Vision that the rumors are not true.
Despite Bill Murray going on record and saying the proposed sequel in the “Ghostbusters” series was not moving forward (for the time), Dan Aykroyd has told WGN Radio Chicago not only is the project on (as many expected), but that casting is moving forward, looking at “some fresh faces.” Anna Faris and Bill Hader are the two prominent names that are being sought after.
James Franco and Anne Hathaway will be hosting the 83rd Annual Academy Awards ceremony. Bruce Cohen and Don Mischer, producers of the February telecast, say that the two actors “personify the next generation of Hollywood icons— fresh, exciting and multi-talented.”
It is week of box-office disappointment: two of this year’s major flops are being released this week as well as a classic animated film which was fault at the cinema in the 1940s. There is the release of the third film from the divisive film series around. For comedy fans, are two Ben Stiller films, a rom-com and the unwanted return of Jason Friedberg and Aaron Seltzer. And for the fans of foreign films we have entries from Denmark and Hong Kong.
Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows Part 1 repeated box office dominance over Thanksgiving weekend inching into first place over animated family feature Tangled.Minor benchmarks were broken between the two, though the ultimate crown, besting last year’s “Twilight” film in overall business was not won. Business was down compared to last Thanksgiving and this newest “Harry Potter” film showed a drop in overall attendance.
According to What’s Playing, the film will focus on Clark Kent’s escapades as “a young journalist, traveling for the globe, who would rather solve problems and help people without resorting to using his special powers.” Casting agencies were sent a character breakdown stating that a feud between two West African tribes is the basis of the story. Additionally, Metropolis, Smallville, and West Africa will all be visited by Kent.
