Movie News

“Planet of the Apes” prequel to star James Franco

According to The Hollywood Reporter’s Heat Vision Blog, James Franco of Spider-Man fame is set to take on the leading role in Fox’s Planet of the Apes prequel Rise of the Apes. The script was written by Rick Jaffa (The Relic) and Amanda Silver (The Hand that Rocks the Cradle); the two will also produce. Under a new agreement with Fox, Dylan Clark and Peter Chernin will take on producer duties on behalf of Chernin Entertainment. Rupert Wyatt (The Escapist) is set to direct the film. Filming will take place in British Columbia this summer.

Casting Notes: Three Musketeers and MIB3

Both Men in Black 3 and The Three Musketeers have had significant cast updates within the past twenty-four hours. Let’s check them out. 

Men in Black 3: Jemaine Clement, the Emmy Award nominated star of Flight of the Conchords, is set to portray a villain in Men in Black 3.

Will Smith and director Barry Sonnenfeld have agreed to return to work with this sequel. However, Academy Award nominee Josh Brolin will be playing the character once portrayed by Tommy Lee Jones since much of the film takes place in 1969.

Clement will portray Boris, a villain who is both creepy and charming. He can be seen in this year’s Dinner for Schmucks and received an Independent Spirit Award nomination for his work in last year’s Gentlemen Broncos.

Megan Fox out of “Transformers 3”

Deadline Hollywood is reporting that Transformers co-star Megan Fox will not be appearing in the third installment of the mega-hit franchise. The news comes several months after Fox loosely compared director Michael Bay to Hitler in an interview with Wonderland magazine. After trading jabs back and forth, it appears Bay will get the last laugh as he and co-writer Ehren Kruger are writing in a new love interest, a decision that ultimately rested with Bay. All this is according to a Paramount insider.

Mark Hamill to direct “The Black Pearl”

Mark Hamill is best known for portraying Luke Skywalker in the first three Star Wars films, but he’s also widely known as an avid comic book fan. He will combine those two loves and direct a film based on his very own comic The Black Pearl, according to Variety. The Black Pearl tells the story of a man named Luther Drake, who becomes a masked vigilante upon preventing a woman’s abduction.

The 1996 comic, in Hamill’s own words, tells a tale of madness that focuses on many societal issues, such as instant celebrity and “tabloidization.” He also described the project as “offbeat, unpredictable, and wickedly funny.”

Trailer Tracker: Easy A, Charlie St. Cloud, Secretariat

Welcome to “Trailer Tracker” where we at Player Affinity unfoundedly dissect the latest trailers to hit the web. In another uneventful week for clips we’ll take a gander at rising star Emma Stone’s first lead project with Easy A, weep just a bit with the heart-tugger Charlie St. Cloud starring Zac Efron, gallop on with the famous horse Secretariat  and finish off with the Grindhouse-esque, ultra low budget and aptly named revenge flick Vengeance with Danny Trejo.

DVD/Blu-ray DISCussion (New for 5.18.10)

Here are the highlights of what’s up for DISCussion this week. We didn’t quite think Valentine’s Day would be up your alley, nor Jackie Chan’s The Spy Next Door.

 FIRST RELEASES
–Invictus (DVD and Blu-ray)
–The Messenger (DVD and Blu-ray

 RE-RELEASES
–Outlander (Blu-ray)

Fox also plunges “20,000 Leagues Under the Sea”

Remember how David Fincher is set to direct a 20,000 Leagues Under the Sea revamp for Disney? Well, Fincher and the Mouse House are not alone. According to THR’s Heat Vision Blog, 20th Century Fox has enlisted Ridley and Tony Scott as producers for a “Leagues” film with Travis Beacham (Clash of the Titans) to write the script. Although he’s not officially attached to the project, there have been talks to have director Timur Bekmambetov come on board. Bekmambetov is best known for his 2008 action flick Wanted.

Iron Man 2 rules again at box office

Coming off its mammoth launch, Iron Man 2 easily held onto its lead of  the North American box office despite posting a hefty decline. Falling far more steeply than its predecessor, the superhero sequel amassed $52.0 million bringing its domestic gross to a solid $211 million. This represents a hefty dip of 59 percent which is common amongst front-loaded summer blockbusters. The original Iron Man fell a remarkable low 48 percent in its sophomore frame, nearly matching its sequel with $51.2 million on its way to $318 million.

David Fincher will go “20,000 Leagues Under the Sea”

20,000 Leagues Under the Sea will be getting a face lift from Disney, but McG won’t have anything to do with it. David Fincher, the Academy Award-nominated director of Fight Club, Se7en, and The Curious Case of Benjamin Button, is in negotiations with Disney to direct a film based on the 1869 Jules Verne classic, with writer Scott Z. Burns 

“Rollercoaster Tycoon” goes big screen

In a time where we can look forward to movies the likes of Monopoly and Candy Land, thanks to a deal between Hasbro and Universal, it looks as if Sony Pictures Animation wants in on the good times. Harald Zwart, who helmed the new remake of The Karate Kid, which is due out next month, will produce and may also opt to direct the project. “Rollercoaster Tycoon” is a very popular Atari computer game franchise where players build and then manage a theme park using their own creativity and business savvy to become the ultimate mogul.