Movie News

Sami Raimi and Robert Downey Jr. are teaming up?

Last night, a deal was finalized to have cult filmmaker and director of the three “Spiderman” films, Sam Raimi, helm a 3-D prequel to the classic Wizard of Oz. Making the announcement more enticing yet is Robert Downey Jr. He is by far one of the most desirable stars around and has been tipped to portray the famed “wizard”. Unlike Raimi, Downey Jr. has not been locked in to the tentatively titled Oz: The Great and Powerful, but writers want to develop the role for him. The production sounds suspiciously similar to Tim Burton’s Alice in Wonderland from the huge star in a major role to the director’s off-kilter style to the mythical land to the format (the list goes on).

“Clash of the Titans 2” moving full speed ahead

It is no secret that Warner Bros. had a box office hit in Clash of the Titans, which made more than $300 million domestically on a $125 million budget. So despite many poor reviews, news of a sequel isn’t too surprising either. The studio is making a huge push to get the film in the works before star Sam Worthington ends up in Pandora again for the next Avatar sequel. Three writers have been hired to get the job done and improve upon the original, according to THR’s Heat Vision.

Fox pursues Amber Heard, Rosamund Pike for “X-Men: First Class”

Since news on X-Men: First Class has been scarce as of late, it’s about time that something about the film was made known. Well, that time has certainly paid off: we have three casting updates

“Karate Kid” beats up “The A-Team”

In a colossal debut, ’80s remake The Karate Kid roughed the box office into submission debuting to $55.7 million over three days besting even the most bullish predictions.

Sporting a beefy $15,197 per theater average, the tale of a bullied twelve-year-old American in China who learns Kung Fu from an old master, may have followed a time-tested plot but struck a chord both with young audiences and nostalgic adults.

Add “Kick-Ass” star Johnson and Anton Yelchin to Spidey list

Two new names have been added to the shortlist for Sony/Columbia’s high-school focused reboot of the Spider-Man franchise: Kick-Ass star Aaron Johnson and Anton Yelchin

Universal puts fourth Bourne movie in Motion

Academy Award-nominated director/screenwriter Tony Gilroy has been hired to write a screenplay for a fourth film in the Bourne franchise.According to The Hollywood Reporter’s Heat Vision Blog, he film is set to be titled The Bourne Legacy. Although the fourth novel in the series is also titled The Bourne Legacy, this film will not be based on that book. Rather, it will be an entirely new story based on Robert Ludlum’s super spy Jason Bourne.

Trailer Tracker: Gulliver’s Travels, [Rec]2 and more

Another week, another edition of Trailer Tracker, where we at Player Affinity judge the latest trailers to hit the web with extreme prejudice. This time round we take a peek at the latest Jack Black comedy Gulliver’s Travels, wander around in the dark with the red band trailer for the sequel for cult horror film [Rec], get electric with the theatrical trailer for Scott Pilgrim vs. the World, raise our brows at the odd new teaser for Rango and finally get “flipped” with Rob Reiner’s latest.

Jeremy Renner sets (Hawk)eyes on “The Avengers”

Hot off his Oscar nominated role in the Academy darling The Hurt Locker, Jeremy Renner is quickly becoming a hot commodity at the age of 39 and is near a deal to star as Hawkeye in the upcoming Marvel mega-project The Avengers.

Though buzz last fall indicated Renner may be in talks, the news is looking more and more legitimate and following the announcement that Joss Whedon was going to direct, the continually culminating project is quickly becoming the must-see blockbuster event of 2012.

DVD/Blu-ray DISCussion (New for 6.8.10)

One of February 2010’s biggest hits and also one of its biggest flops hit DVD shelves today along with one of the most beloved sports comedies of all-time in Caddyshack arriving on Blu-ray.

Here’s what’s up for DISCussion for this week: 

First Releases
– Shutter Island (DVD and Blu-ray)
– From Paris with Love (DVD and Blu-ray)

Re-Releases
– Caddyshack (Blu-ray)
– The Illusionist (Blu-ray)

“Shrek Forever After” threepeats

Are we sure it’s summer? Because the box office certainly looks like the doldrums of the early year dumping grounds, which ironically performed better than what is supposed to be the blockbuster season. Week after week we have seen films underperform and fail to reach profitability or recoup their massive budgets. Prince of Persia, Sex and the City 2, Robin Hood, even Iron Man 2 all underperformed compared to expectations. When looking at the worldwide box office, only four of the top ten are summer releases.