31/10/11 - Is the future of sci-fi Grimm?

According to Sci-Fi Wire, the producers of Buffy and Angel are to return to sci-fi with a new scary police procedural show called Grimm that revolves around fairy tales.

The show revolves around Nick Burkhardt (David Guintoli), a cop who discovers that he's descended from a line of hunters known as "Grimms". It's his job to track down fairy-tale creatures that commit heinous crimes. Nick must stop these creatures in their tracks while at the same time making sure his cop partner and bosses stay ignorant of what's really going on.

Jim Kouf, executive producer on Grimm, said: "We're unraveling a lot of the Grimm's Fairy Tales. We want it to be a show that you can turn on every Friday night and get your fairy tale fractured by us."

David Greenwalt, executive producer, said "It's a police procedural kind of turned on its head. And it's also a retelling of the old Grimm brothers' tales, and actually many other fairy tales, as we get going. The notion was that the Grimm brothers were profilers, the fairy tales are real, and what they were writing about was real and really happened. And so we have a character, Nick, who is a homicide detective who can see the Big Bad Wolf in the child molester and other such critters within humans... It's a different way to tell both crime stories and fairy tales."

 

28/10/11 - Beetlejuice 2 needs Keaton

The sequel to Tim Burton's Beetlejuice (1988) looks unlikely to move forward until the production can attract the original movie's star, Michael Keaton, to reprise his role.

Seth Grahame-Smith, co-writer on the project, said: "When Warner Bros. came to us about it, we said the only way we'd do it if we got Tim [Burton's] blessing and involvement, and we got that, and the star of the movie has to be Michael Keaton as Beetlejuice, and it's a true continuation 26 years later. Not just throwing him in as a cameo going, 'Hey, it's me. I endorse this movie.' We're not there yet [with Keaton] because we don't have a film to present to him."

 

27/10/11 - Spielberg blames Lucas for Indy flop

In an interview with Empire, Steven Spielberg admitted that the last Indiana Jones movie wasn't how he'd hoped and blamed George Lucas for the script.

Spielberg revealed that Lucas is already hard at work on the story for Indiana Jones 5 - and took the time to explain his feelings about Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull: "I'm very happy with the movie. I always have been... I sympathise with people who didn't like the MacGuffin because I never liked the MacGuffin. George and I had big arguments about the MacGuffin. I didn't want these things to be either aliens or inter-dimensional beings.

"But I am loyal to my best friend. When he writes a story he believes in - even if I don't believe in it - I'm going to shoot the movie the way George envisaged it. I'll add my own touches, I'll bring my own cast in, I'll shoot the way I want to shoot it, but I will always defer to George as the storyteller of the Indy series. I will never fight him on that.

"What people really jumped at was Indy climbing into a refrigerator and getting blown into the sky by an atom-bomb blast. Blame me. Don't blame George. That was my silly idea. People stopped saying 'jump the shark.' They now say, 'nuked the fridge.' I'm proud of that. I'm glad I was able to bring that into popular culture."

 

26/10/11 - Is Matt Smith's time as the Doctor up?

In a recent interview with VH1, Doctor Who's 11th Doctor, Matt Smith [pictured], may have revealed that he won't be playing the Doctor for much longer.

When VH1 asked Smith, "When are we going to have you?", Smith replied, "Well, hopefully soon, you know. I've got another year of Doctor Who, but then I'm certainly going to come and give it a shot, come and hang out in LA... as you say, people like Andy [Garfield] have come over, and he's a mate of mine."

Of course, when Smith says: "I've got another year of Doctor Who," it could mean that his contract is up in a year, but he's up for renegotiation.

 

25/10/11 - Captain America 2 set in modern day

A screenplay for another Captain America movie is currently being written, with the action taking place in the present day.

Stephen McFeely, one of the writers, recently said: "I think it's safe for us to say that it's primarily set in the modern day. That seems to have been the biggest question people have been wondering about regarding the sequel. Most people know the story of Captain America as the story of this man out of time, and because The Avengers is such a big movie, and because [The Avengers director] Joss Whedon has so many moving pieces, we've been left with room to explore Cap entering the modern day.

Captain America 2 will open in cinemas in 2014.

 

24/10/11 - Mark Hamill retires as the Joker

Mark Hamill has announced that after years of playing the Joker in the animated Batman series, he is to retire.

Hamill, who is most famous for playing the original Luke Skywalker in Star Wars, has been the voice of Batman's archvillain the Joker for almost 20 years.

On his official Twitter page, Hamill posted: "Hello/Goodbye Joker! I've enjoyed every minute behind the wheel of the Crown Prince's crazy car - I'm going to miss him more than I can say!!"

Hamill's last voice appearance for the character was in the newly released Batman: Arkham City, the sequel to the 2009 video game Arkham Asylum.

 

21/10/11 - Battlestar Galactica movie latest

According to Movieweb, Universal Pictures is finalising a deal with John Orloff (Anonymous) to write the story for a Battlestar Galactica remake. The project will be directed by Bryan Singer.

In an interview Orloff said: "I have wanted to write this movie since I was 12 years old, and built a Galactica model from scratch out of balsa wood, cardboard, old model parts and LEDs. I love BSG, and I would pass on the job rather than frak it up."

This movie will be a remake of the original 1978 Battlestar Galactica TV series, and will focus on a space ship containing some of the last surviving humans, as they try to find their way back to Earth.

 

20/10/11 - Crowe reveals Superman fight details

'Sci-Fi Wire' is reporting that Superman's Kryptonian father Jor-El (Russell Crowe [pictured]) and General Zod (Michael Shannon) will have a fight sequence in Zack Snyder's Man of Steel movie.

Apparently Crowe tweeted about an upcoming fight scene between himself and Shannon: "15km bike ride, umpteen hours fighting Michael Shannon. He's very hard to put down."

When asked who wins the fight, Crowe replied: "Hard to tell who wins, we are still fighting tomorrow."

 

19/10/11 - Witwer is Darth Maul in Clone Wars

According to the Nuke the Fridge website, Darth Maul is to return in Star Wars: The Clone Wars and he will be voiced by Being Human's Sam Witwer [pictured].

Witwer previously conducted extensive voice work on Star Wars: The Force Unleashed 1 and 2, and the Ultimate Sith Edition video games, and he has also voiced the part of 'The Son' on Star Wars: The Clone Wars animated series.

In the game The Force Unleashed Witwer played Starkiller - Darth Vader's secret apprentice.

 

18/10/11 - There is hope for a Green Lantern 2

Green Lantern wasn't exactly the blockbuster hit that Warner Bros. expected, despite making $219 million globally, but a sequel looks likely.

Geoff Johns, DC Entertainment's Creative Chief, said: "There is the hope that we will eventually see [Green Lantern 2]. I hope that the character gets another film, and it will be live-action again - I guarantee.

"There was a lot of really good stuff in the movie. With the new animated series, Green Lantern is only going to get bigger."

 

17/10/11 - Aronofsky's RoboCop plot is junked

Director of the new RoboCop movie, Jose Padilha, has revealed he won't be using Darren Aronofsky's story.

Padilha took over the project after Aronofsky left to direct Black Swan.

In a recent interview Padilha said: "I haven't read Aronofsky's script. Aronofsky is a great director. I love his films. I am very proud because I saw Pi in the opening Sundance screening and I loved it. So Aronofsky's great. I have my own take on RoboCop. I know what his take was and it's totally different. It's a different thing, different kind of film, even different period in time so I haven't read his previous work."

 

14/10/11 - Patty Jenkins to direct Thor 2

Marvel Studios has confirmed that Patty Jenkins [pictured] will direct Thor 2, which will be released on 15 November 2013.

Jenkins previously directed Monster. She also received an Emmy nomination for directing the pilot of The Killing, and has directed episodes of Entourage and Arrested Development. Most recently, she directed Pearl, one of the five short films that make up the movie Five.

Chris Hemsworth and Natalie Portman will return to star in Thor 2, along with Tom Hiddleston.

 

13/10/11 - Family Guy creator wants to do Trek

Family Guy creator Seth MacFarlane [pictured] has revealed that he thinks that the animated show has run its course and would love to work on a new Star Trek series.

As Family Guy is preparing to start its tenth season, MacFarlane admits he'd almost prefer it if the show was already over.

"Part of me thinks that Family Guy should have already ended. I think seven seasons is about the right life span for a TV series," said MacFarlane.

"I talk to the fans and in a way I'm kind of secretly hoping for them to say we're done with it. There are plenty of people who say the show is kind of over the hill... but still the vast majority go pale in the face when I mention the possibility."

MacFarlane is already working on a number of other projects, including a new Flintstones series, but he admitted that he'd love to bring Star Trek back to television: "I don't know who would give me the keys to that car, but I'd love to see that franchise revived for television in the way that it was in the 1990s: very thoughtful, smartly written stories that transcend the science fiction audience."

 

12/10/11 - Is Disney gearing up for Strange film?

There have long been rumours of a Doctor Strange movie, and according to Sci-Fi Wire Disney may have accidentally let slip that this project is nearer than you'd think.

In a recent list of domain name purchases Disney, which owns Marvel - which owns the rights to the Doctor Strange franchise - purchased the following website urls: avengers-soundtrack.com, avengersmusic.net, doctorstrangesoundtrack.com, marvel-music.com, marvel-music.net, marvelmusic.net, drstrangesoundtrack.com, drstrangesoundtrack.net, ironman3soundtrack.com, ironman3soundtrack.net, thor2soundtrack.com, thor2soundtrack.net.

While obviously this could be Disney hedging their bets for possible future releases, there's further hope in the fact that Doctor Strange already has screenwriters, Thomas Donnelly and Joshua Oppenheimer. However, as yet, Marvel hasn't announced anything beyond a script phase.

 

11/10/11 - Wonder Woman... who's your Daddy?

The origins of Wonder Woman are to be revisited by DC Comics, which is reorganising its superhero lineup.

Issue #3 of the new Wonder Woman comic book will reveal that the character's origins are even more regal than previously thought.

Apparently she's not just the daughter of a Queen with a collection of powers bestowed upon her from a pantheon of goddesses... she's the daughter of the god Zeus.

 

10/10/11 - Is Judge Dredd production in trouble?

Principal photography may have finished on the new Judge Dredd movie, but there seems to be a problem in the editing suite.

According to The L.A. Times, relations between director Pete Travis (Vantage Point) and Dredd's producers have deteriorated to the point where the movie's writer-producer, Alex Garland, is now editing the film without Travis's input.

It's been reported that Travis and producers fell out over the footage Travis was delivering, and it now looks likely that reshoots are to be scheduled with Garland directing these sequences.

 

07/10/11 - Is that Halo movie a step closer?

Halo fans who have been waiting for that much anticipated movie for years now have a new hope.

A press release for a new official Halo book has revealed that "a film adaptation is set in 2012. It will be conducted jointly by two heavyweights of American cinema: Steven Spielberg and Dreamworks."

There's no official word from Hollywood yet, so this may turn out to be a false rumour, but we'll keep you posted.

 

06/10/11 - Next Mission: Impossible in IMAX

IMAX Corporation and Paramount Pictures have confirmed that Mission: Impossible Ghost Protocol will open in IMAX theatres on 16 December ahead of the worldwide cinematic release on 21 December.

This marks the first time a domestic feature release has been released early in IMAX theatres.

The IMAX release of the fourth Mission: Impossible features approximately 30 minutes of scenes shot with IMAX cameras. These sequences will expand to fill the entire screen, exclusively in IMAX, and further immerse the audience in the explosive action and vast scope of the film.

Directed by Brad Bird, Mission: Impossible Ghost Protocol stars Tom Cruise, Jeremy Renner, Simon Pegg and Paula Patton.

 

05/10/11 - Sutherland says a 24 movie is close

In a recent interview Kiefer Sutherland [pictured] revealed that a script for a proposed 24 movie is almost complete.

"We have worked very long and hard over the past two years on a screenplay but it was actually much harder to take this idea that was told in 24 hours and condense it into a two-hour movie,” said Sutherland.

 

04/10/11 - Universal Soldier TV show planned

Work will soon begin on a television series based on the 1992 Jean-Claude Van Damme movie Universal Soldier.

This announcement comes after FremantleMedia Enterprises recently acquired the rights to the movie franchise.

The new series is to be written by Damian Kindler (Stargate SG-1, Sanctuary).

 

03/10/11 - X-Files creator to start on a new show

Chris Carter [pictured], creator of The X-Files is to bring another series to television.

Unique will be a mystery police thriller with a female lead character. The show will also feature a strong supernatural element.

At present everything else is being kept a closely guarded secret, but a pilot for the show is currently moving into production.

 

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