The British are coming! The majority of this week’s DVD and Blu-ray releases are from the United Kingdom, including family films, crime films, a dramedy and a Shakespeare adaptation. There are also two Hollywood releases, though not Hollywood at it’s finest and a Korean attempt at a Western.
Well, it looks like we have our Girl with the Dragon Tattoo. Actress Rooney Mara has been cast as the bisexual computer hacker Lisbeth Salander in David Fincher’s adaptation of the famous book series. Casting decisions for the film have been made for the past several months, with the most recent one being Robin Wright as Daniel Craig’s love interest.
The Expendables kicked ass and made it look easy at the weekend box office. The action throwback starring Sylvester Stallone muscled its way to the alpha position with $35 million. Eat Pray Love received divine intervention; the film inspired $23 million this weekend. Scott Pilgrim vs. The World lost the battle to two holdovers, The Other Guys and Inception. The movie came in fifth place with $10.5 million worth of fanboy support.
Since Bond 23 has been postponed because of financial issues there have been rumors that Daniel Craig was going to leave the James Bond role, with Sam Worthington favorite to take over. Craig has already taken the lead roles in Jon Favreau’s adaptation of Cowboys & Aliens and David Fincher’s version of The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo: two highly anticipated films.
Actor Karl Urban will be playing the lead role in Judge Dredd, a film based on the legendary comic of the same name. Andrew Macdonald and Allon Reich are attached to produce the film, a reboot which will essentially ignore the unpopular 1995 version starring the Razzie-nominated Sylvester Stallone.
Comic Con might be over, but the deals between studios and new comics/graphic novels keep rolling out. Deadline is reporting that Paramount has secured the series rights to Last Man Standing, a 230-page graphic novel that took two and a half years to complete; written and illustrated by Daniel LuVisi.
Fresh off the casting of the Hulk (Mark Ruffalo) and Hawkeye (Jeremy Renner), SuperHeroHype is reporting that The Avengers is entering the final stages of pre production.
Paramount and Marvel Studios have set a start date for filming in February 2011, aiming for a May 4th, 2012 release. With Joss Whedon finally contracted to direct and co-write the film, most of the cast and crew assembled and a fantastic reception at Comic Con, The Avengers is looking to be the next step in the growing superhero genre; definitely being one of the more ambitious projects out of Hollywood in some time.
Harry Potter star Emma Watson cutting off her long locks in favor of a shorter do could be more than just a fashion statement, as it might actually be a career move. U.K. magazine The Sun is reporting that Watson will be screen-testing for the much-coveted role of Lisbeth Salander in David Fincher’s upcoming film adaptation of Stieg Larsson’s The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo.
With the term “Avatar” now being equated more to James Cameron’s sci-fi film (and money in general) than the franchise M. Night Shyamalan pretty much derailed, it’s not so much a question of “if” but “when” Avatar gets the sequel treatment.
It is slim picking this week with no real standout DVD or Blu-ray release. There are 5 comedy releases, a Jet Li martial arts film from Hong Kong, a war drama and a documentary film for anyone who is interested in NASA and missions to the Moon.
