The Hobbit to Shoot for 370 Days

As part of a promotion for the new Hellboy II Blu-Ray, Guillermo del Toro participated in an online chat with fans last weekend. As always, del Toro usually provides some minor updates on The Hobbit during chats like this, and he revealed a few details actually worth mentioning. Thanks to BilboHobbit.com for providing the transcript of the chat. Most importantly, del Toro says that filming will begin in 2010 and that The Hobbit (to eventually be split into two films) will shoot for 370 days. Considering a typical film shoot is usually only a few months, that's a shocking number, but certainly necessary for this adaptation.

Gullermo also said that he's hoping to work with the following past collaborators: Hellboy comic book author Mike Mignola during the "design stage for a week or two", concept artist Wayne Barlowe, cinematographer Guillermo Navarro of all of del Toro's previous films, and special effects house Spectral Motion. None of this is official, but he's hopeful they will all join. Most of these people have worked with Guillermo before on everything from Pan's Labyrinth to Hellboy II, which will make them a perfect addition to The Hobbit team on top of everyone from the Lord of the Rings films.

As for the special effects and creatures, del Toro mentioned that they're really focusing on the Goblin Kingdom, the dragon Smaug, and the Spiders of Mirkwood in regards to creature design. "We will be pushing them to the edge of technology where we will fuse animatronics and CGI into a seamless new art form in creating creatures." While Hellboy II had a lot of recognizable puppets, del Toro says that The Hobbit will feature more of a seamless mix. "You will see some mind-boggling mixture of CGI / puppetry like never before. The demarcation of where one technique ends and the other begins will NOT be as clean as in HBII or Blade II or Pan's Labyrinth. I am going to push further than ever on both fronts."

First Look at Johnny Depp and Christian Bale in 'Public Enemies'

We've seen a few photos from the set, but Empire has snagged the first official images from Michael Mann's Public Enemies, starring Johnny Depp and Christian Bale in what has to be one of the most anticipated on-screen match-ups of 2009. In the flick, which is based on the book by Bryan Burrough, Bale will portray FBI agent Melvin Purvis, who, under the guidance of J. Edgar Hoover (Billy Crudup), waged a full-on war against the country's most notorious (and successful) criminals -- namely John Dillinger (Depp), Pretty Boy Floyd (Channing Tatum) and Baby Face Nelson (Stephen Graham). It's a pretty wild true story, and one Mann and his cast should have a ball with. Check out an image of Bale after the jump, and the full images in this month's issue of Empire Magazine.

Public Enemies is being directed by Michael Mann of Heat, Ali, Collateral, and Miami Vice. The film is currently slated for release from Universal Pictures sometime in 2009.

Terminator Salvation gets a Motion Poster

Sony pictures have released an unusual Flash-animated poster for the film.

Set in post-apocalyptic 2018, the film stars Christian Bale as John Connor, the man fated to lead the human resistance against Skynet and its army of Terminators.

But the future Connor was raised to believe in is altered in part by the appearance of Marcus Wright (Sam Worthington), a stranger whose last memory is of being on death row. Connor must decide whether Marcus has been sent from the future or rescued from the past. As Skynet prepares its final onslaught, Connor and Marcus both embark on an odyssey that takes them into the heart of Skynet’s operations, where they uncover the terrible secret behind the possible annihilation of mankind.

Just click the poster below or visit this link to see it in action. Watch the city crumble before your eyes!

Terminator Salvation is directed by McG of Charlie's Angels and We Are Marshall with a script written by writing duo John D. Brancato and Michael Ferris (Into the Sun, The Net, The Game, Terminator 3). This film marks the return of the Terminator series after Terminator 3 last hit theaters in 2003. Terminator Salvation is set to land in theaters everywhere next summer on May 22nd, 2009. Stay tuned for more!

Duplicity Trailer

We have the new Duplicity trailer for you today thanks to the video lords of You Tube. Check it out.

This looks like a cool romantic spy film involving a lot of snappy Julia banter. She’s an outstanding guest on Letterman, they have great back and forth exchanges. She is quick as a whip - and that will always increase someone’s stock on my charts.

Duplicity is both written and directed by Tony Gilroy, a long-time writer of scripts like The Devil's Advocate, Proof of Life and all three of the Bourne films, who made his directorial debut with Michael Clayton last year. Universal will be debuting Duplicity in theaters everywhere on March 20th.

Downey Jr. Talks Avengers

Robert Downey Jr. talks to MTV about the fact that Marvel Studios will have to work hard on getting The Avengers movie right with so many characters involved. But this quote is the one that got us...

"The danger you run with colliding all these worlds is [director] Jon [Favreau] was very certain that 'Iron Man' should be set in a very realistic world. Nothing that happened in 'Iron Man' is really outside the realm of possibility. Once you start talking about Valhalla and supersized super soldiers and jolly green giants it warrants much further discussion."

Interesting, very interesting! The movie doesn't hit theaters until July 15, 2011.

Star Trek trailer EXTRA special

Ain't It Cool News has debuted an extra special internet-only version of the previous Star Trek trailer with one scene added to the end. You might have heard about a special guest who is going to appear in the movie. This might have something to do with him, if know what I'm talking about. The new scene comes up near the end, so just keep watching, you'll know it. And I'm not going to tell you what it is - you just have to watch it for yourself and find out!

Watch the special web trailer for Star Trek:

You can also watch the special Star Trek trailer in High Definition on AICN

Star Trek is directed by J.J. Abrams (of "Lost" and Mission: Impossible III) and is written by Alex Kurtzman and Roberto Orci (of The Island, Mission: Impossible III, Transformers, and Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen). This is the 11th movie in the Star Trek universe, following most recently Star Trek: Nemesis in 2002. Star Trek is set to land in theaters everywhere on May 8th, 2009 next summer!

'Twilight' takes bite out of box office

Summit Entertainment's Twilight, an adaptation of Stephenie Meyer's novel, dominated the box office earning an estimated $70.5 million from 3,419 theaters. The opening marks the fourth-biggest ever for the month of November, surpassing this month's earlier releases Madagascar: Escape 2 Africa ($63.1 million) and Quantum of Solace ($67.5 million), plus 2004's The Incredibles ($70.467 million), and trailing only the three "Harry Potter" movies that opened this month - "Chamber of Secrets" ($88.4 million), "Sorcerer's Stone" ($90.3 million) and "Goblet of Fire" ($102.7 million). Directed by Catherine Hardwicke from a script by Melissa Rosenberg, the love story between a teenage girl and a vampire averaged an impressive $20,636 per location. The film, starring Kristen Stewart, Robert Pattinson, Billy Burke, Peter Facinelli, Elizabeth Reaser, Cam Cigandet, Nikki Reed, Jackson Rathbone and Ashley Greene, was made for just $37 million.

New Images from Australia

Thanks to filmschoolrejects.com for unearthing these new badass images for Australia.

A total of 15 images can be found on here

Australia is both co-written and directed by Australian filmmaker Baz Luhrmann of Moulin Rouge! and Romeo + Juliet previously. Other high profile screenwriters Ronald Harwood (The Pianist, The Diving Bell and the Butterfly), Stuart Beattie (Collateral, Pirates of the Caribbean, G.I. Joe), and Richard Flanagan (The Sound of One Hand Clapping) have been involved with elements of the script as well. Australia is currently set to arrive in theaters on November 26th.

Twilight sequel has greenlit

Fresh from a massive opening day for "Twilight," Summit Entertainment has officially greenlit a "New Moon" sequel.

Summit made the widely expected announcement Saturday morning. "Twilight" generated first-day grosses of $35.7 million from 3,419 playdates on Friday -- including $7 million from Thursday midnight shows.

The vampire thriller's a ready-made franchise for Summit with four books in Stephenie Meyer’s series, which have sold more than 17 million copies worldwide.

"New Moon" is the second title in the series and is centered on Edward Cullen leaving Bella Swan in order to keep her safe from other vampires. Robert Pattinson and Kristen Stewart play the leads in the film.

"I don't think any other author has had a more positive experience with the makers of her movie adaptation than I have had with Summit Entertainment," Meyer said in a statement.

The Curious Case of Benjamin Button International Trailer

A new international trailer has been released for David Fincher’s The Curious Case of Benjamin Button which I don’t believe I’ve ever seen before. Check it out below, or click on through to Bad Taste for the High Definition sized version. Is it just me or does every new trailer just get better and better? Leave your thoughts in the comments below!

The Curious Case of Benjamin Button hits theaters on December 25th 2008.

Two More Star Trek Posters

Paramount Pictures has provided ComingSoon.net with new posters of Eric Bana as Nero and Zoe Saldana as Uhura in director J.J. Abrams' Star Trek, opening in theaters on May 8, 2009. The newly-launched official website for the movie is also featuring wallpaper versions of these posters, so be sure to look for them.

Click the posters below for bigger versions!

Astro boy Teaser

WOW, this looks pretty bad. I guess I should've known it was headed downhill when the original director unexpectedly left the project. Up until this point we'd only ever seen some early concept art and other rough photos from the film, but now I wish that is still all we'd ever seen. I'm really trying to find something good in this, but it's damn near impossible. Go ahead and watch this if you so dare.

Ice Age: Dawn of the Dinosaurs Trailer

20th Century Fox has released the new trailer for Ice Age: Dawn of the Dinosaurs, opening in theaters on July 1, 2009. The 3-D installment again features the voices of Ray Romano, John Leguizamo, Denis Leary and Queen Latifah.

The Dark Knight: The most pirated movie of 2008

Chicago (IL) – The Batman sequel The Dark Knight was a smash hit at the box office, with $400 million in U.S. ticket sales in its first 18 days after release and more than $1 billion in sales globally so far. But the title achieved another significant milestone: It amassed over one million illegal downloads on BitTorrent in less than seven days.

The data, published by Torrent Freak, includes DVD rips, DVD screeners and R5 rips – and makes The Dark Knight most pirated movie of last week and the likely candidate to earn the title of the most pirated movie of the year.

The movie became hugely popular on BitTorrent when DVD rips appeared about a week ago. Another popular sharing site, The Pirate Bay, actually celebrated the arrival of the DVD version. The movie became available for download within less than 24 hours of the DVD release and attracted quite some attention.

If we look at the aggregated download numbers of early cam screeners and DVD rips that followed, The Dark Knight is on track to surpass "Transformers", "Iron Man" and "The Incredible Hulk" to become the most pirated movie of 2008. According to TorrentFreak, the most pirated movies in the last week were The Dark Knight, Traitor, Tropic Thunder, WALL-E and Stepbrothers.

The most pirated movies of 2007 reportedly were Transformers, Knocked Up, Shooters, Pirates Of The.Caribbean At World’s End and Ratatouille.

More good News for Bourne

Universal Pictures has made an overall deal with the estate of "The Bourne Identity" author Robert Ludlum that gives the studio exclusive rights to the Jason Bourne character and first look at other Ludlum novels, says Variety.

The deal with Ludlum Entertainment paves the way for more installments in the "Bourne" franchise, which was originally envisioned as a three-picture series but has become Universal's answer to James Bond.

After the first three films grossed a total of more than $1 billion worldwide, the studio signed Matt Damon and director Paul Greengrass for a fourth film that George Nolfi is writing.

Produced by Frank Marshall and Ludlum Entertainment chairman-CEO Jeffrey Weiner, the film will be readied for a summer 2010 release.

Nicole Kidman Retiring??

icole Kidman hinted that she might be considering retiring from her 25 year career as an actress. Maybe to have kids, or whatever else she wants to do. Nothing stopping her.

Yahoo speaks:

During a Sydney press conference today to promote the Down Under premiere of Australia, the Oscar winner hinted she may soon be forsaking the big screen for another round of diaper duty, or other more personal endeavors.

“In terms of my future as an actor and stuff, I don’t know,” the 41-year-old mother of three said. “I am in a place in my life where…I’ve had some great opportunities, and I may just choose to have some more children.”

She is saying she might quit acting, but I hope we get at least one more big film out of her. Her next role (which could be her last if she doesn’t line up more) is playing a post op transexual male opposite Charlize Theron. I would hope that she would want her last role to be remembered by would be something that compliments her beauty and grace as opposed to going out of the business playing a man.

Quit while you are on top and swimming in cash. Nothing wrong with that.

Carrot Top is still trying. Look how that works out?

The Underworld: Rise of the Lycans Poster!

ShockTillYouDrop.com has unveiled the official one-sheet for Underworld: Rise of the Lycans. Opening January 23rd, the prequel story traces the origins of the centuries-old blood feud between the aristocratic vampires known as Death Dealers and their onetime slaves, the Lycans. In the Dark Ages, a young Lycan named Lucian (Michael Sheen) emerges as a powerful leader who rallies the werewolves to rise up against Viktor (Bill Nighy), the cruel vampire king who has enslaved them. Lucian is joined by his secret lover, Sonja (Rhona Mitra), in his battle against the Death Dealer army and his struggle for Lycan freedom.

Sam Rockwell’s Moon Poster

The film tells the story of an Astronaut who has been mining Helium 3 on the moon for the last three years by himself. With only two weeks before he returns home, Sam begins seeing and hearing things.

The promise of an old school in-space science fiction film scored by Clint Mansell (Requiem for a Dream) certainly has us excited. Now IMPAwards has the first poster for the movie. Check it out below. Still no word on when this film will hit theaters, but I’m guessing that it could premiere at Sundance in January.

Beauty and the Beast 3D in 2010

The Mouse House is adding "Beauty and the Beast" to its already packed dance card of 3-D pics it will unspool over the next two years.

Disney is re-rendering "Beast" using its Disney Digital 3-D technology, and will release the film in 2010. A specific release date has yet been set.

Pic's original team of filmmakers, including producer Don Hahn and co-directors Kirk Wise and Gary Trousdale will oversee the process, along with Sara Duran-Singer, senior VP of worldwide post production at Walt Disney Feature Animation.

The re-rendering is expected to take about nine months to complete.

"By going back to the original animation files, which have been carefully archived for 17 years, and using the separate background, effects and character animation elements, we're able to come up with a fun and unique 3-D experience for existing and new fans of the film," Hahn said.

Studio's release sked already includes 10 other films bowing in 2009 and 2010 -- more than any other studio. It's bowing the 3-D version of "Bolt" this weekend.

Next year's slate includes the "Jonas Brothers 3-D Concert Movie," Pixar's "Up," Jerry Bruckheimer's "G-Force," and Robert Zemeckis' "Disney's A Christmas Carol."

In 2010, the sked includes Tim Burton's "Alice in Wonderland," "Toy Story 3," "Rapunzel," and "Step Up 3."

Disney is also re-rendering "Toy Story" and "Toy Story 2" in the 3-D format to bow in 2009 and 2010.

Disney's Race to Witch Mountain Trailer

You can also watch the Race to Witch Mountain trailer in High Definition on Yahoo

Race to Witch Mountain is directed by Andy Fickman, of the Disney hits She's the Man and The Game Plan previously. The screenplay was co-written by both Mark Bomback (Live Free or Die Hard) and Matt Lopez (Bedtime Stories). While this is a remake of Disney's Escape to Witch Mountain, it's actually based on the book of the same name written by Alexander Key. Disney's Race to Witch Mountain will hit theaters everywhere on March 13th, 2009 next year. Will you be seeing this in theaters? Or not at all?

Roland Emmerich's 2012 Viral - Institute for Human Continuity

By now we've all seen the teaser trailer for Roland Emmerich's 2012 and got a glimpse of what it's all about. If you don't know what it's actually about, the Mayan calendar predicts that the end of the world will arrive sometime in 2012 - and the movie is about that arrival and what will happen. That of course means there is a lot of potential for some crazy viral marketing - which has actually already kicked off. Thanks to SlashFilm, we were pointed to a site called Institute for Human Continuity that talks about registering for a lottery to guarantee your survival when the apocalypse comes in 2012.

Not much else happens once you register for a lottery number. If you want to keep following this viral, though, I'd definitely register. I'm not very sure where this will go next or how it will continue, but we'll be sure to share any updates we receive. Both this viral and the one for Angels & Demons (also a Sony movie) are only in the very first stage. I'm sure there is plenty more that will be happening over the next eight months before this hits theaters. Plenty more. Register now and stay tuned for updates!

First Look At Edward Norton's Evil Twin

Cinema Blend has posted the first official still from the flick, which will open sometime next year.

In the film, Edward Norton plays twin brothers. One of them is a respected philosophy professor, while the other spends his time growing marijuana. In a sudden turn of events, the professor must return to his Oklahoma hometown, where he encounters a local drug lord.

Also on board are Susan Sarandon, Richard Dreyfuss, Lucy DeVito, Rhea Perlman and Steve Earle. Check out the still featuring two Ed Nortons just above. It will be interesting to see how his performance(s) compares to that/those of Nicholas Cage in "Adaptation."

Quantum of Solace - What Did You Think?!

Columbia Pictures/MGM's Quantum of Solace is now playing in theaters worldwide and we've created this spot for you to tell us and your fellow moviegoers what you thought about the Marc Forster-directed Casino Royale follow-up, starring Daniel Craig, Olga Kurylenko, Mathieu Amalric, Judi Dench, Gemma Arterton, Jeffrey Wright, Jesper Christensen and Joaquin Cosio.

You can use the comments below to write your mini-review for the film. As with all the comments here at ComingSoon.net, keep it clean, on-topic, and friendly.

What did you think?!

International trailer for Harry Potter

This trailer is a lot darker (both literally and figuratively) than we've seen before - but definitely shows us what this sixth film in the franchise is all about. And from the looks of it, it's a mix of comedy and intensity. Sounds good to me!

Watch the international trailer for Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince:

Watch the Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince trailer in High Definition: 480, 720, 1080

Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince is again directed by British filmmaker David Yates, of Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix previously, and written by Steve Kloves, who also wrote the adaptations of Sorcerer's Stone, Chamber of Secrets, Prisoner of Azkaban, and Goblet of Fire but not Order of the Phoenix. This is the sixth book in J.K. Rowling's immensely popular series. Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince arrives in theaters next summer on July 17th, 2009.

Second Full Trailer for Zack Snyder's Watchmen!

They did reuse some of the same footage from the first trailer, but it doesn't really matter, because we still get a glorious look at what may be one of the greatest comic book movies of all-time - just as the graphic novel itself is one of the greatest graphic novels of all time. Are you ready for the Watchmen?

Watch the second trailer for Watchmen:

You can also watch the Watchmen trailer in High Definition on Yahoo

Dreamworks priority list

Dreamworks has set its eyes on a handful of projects that will be getting the majority of their attention in the near future.

Yahoo lists them here:

– “Motorcade”: Big names are looking to join the convoy on this story of terrorists commandeering the presidential motorcade in Los Angeles. The studio is in talks with “Underworld” helmer Wiseman to direct Billy Ray’s script. The ICM-repped Wiseman is on a hot streak after his “Live Free or Die Hard” earned $380 million worldwide.

– “Hereafter”: The supernatural-themed original screenplay by the Oscar-nominated Peter Morgan has been a priority at the new studio. And it could soon have a director, Eastwood, to whom the studio has reached out. Such a pairing would have the added appeal that it could go into production quickly given the helmer’s habit of shooting scripts after a minimum of development.

– “Dinner for Schmucks”: With original star Sacha Baron Cohen’s involvement wavering, the studio has reached out to another hot, and very busy, comedic actor: Carell. And director Jay Roach, who had long been attached, is considering coming back on board.

– “The Trial of the Chicago 7″: With a number of directors associated with it during the past year, DreamWorks hopes to attach a helmer quickly and get this high-priority project — which Steven Spielberg himself at one time was eyeing to direct — moving forward. Ben Stiller, fresh off the success of “Tropic Thunder,” recently has become the prime candidate.

– “Cowboys and Aliens”: The large-scale comic book adaptation is now being penned by writer-executive producers Kurtzman and Orci (”Transformers,” “Star Trek”), who took on the gig from “Iron Man” co-writers Mark Fergus and Hawk Ostby. Imagine is producing, and director-producer Ron Howard, who remains a long shot to lens the film, is developing the project for attached star Robert Downey Jr.

– “Real Steel”: The futuristic boxing movie is being penned by “Dante’s Peak” scribe Les Bohem, who created and wrote the Spielberg-executive produced Sci Fi Channel show “Taken.”

– “The 39 Clues”: The project is a potential Spielberg directing vehicle, though it’s still in script phase, with Jeff Nathanson only recently hired to adapt the first novel, “The Maze of Bones,” in the 10-book “Clues” series.

– “Button Man”: “Eagle Eye” co-writer Hillary Seitz has turned in her latest draft of this adaptation of a graphic novel written by Arthur Ranson and John Wagner. There’s one key advantage to it moving forward: Mark Sourian, DreamWorks’ new co-president of production, was the original exec on the project.

I don’t really care what studio is putting out the movies as one movie varies from another just as much as kids on the playground, it doesn’t matter who makes em.

Are there any on this list that make you curious with even these brief descriptions?

Academy disqualifies 'Dark' score

The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences, in their continued efforts to avoid awarding Oscars to deserving efforts in film scores, has apparently disqualified Hans Zimmer and James Newton Howard's work on The Dark Knight. According to Variety, the same stipulation as to how many composers are technically listed on the cue sheet similarly screwed over their Batman Begins score -- the stipulation being that listing multiple names helps to award royalties to music editors and designers as well.

Zimmer previously said that listing multiple names on the cue sheet was a way of financially rewarding parts of the music team who helped make the overall work successful.

Zimmer, Howard and the other three individuals -- music editor Alex Gibson, ambient music designer Mel Wesson and composer Lorne Balfe -- reportedly signed an affidavit stating that the score was primarily the work of Zimmer and Howard.

That apparently wasn't enough for the majority of the committee, which was also supplied with documentation indicating that more than 60%, but less than 70%, of the score was credited to Zimmer and Howard.

I'd argue that the film -- which is bound to crack a billion bucks worldwide any day now, and likely to rack up considerable awards nominations regardless -- owes a great deal of its sustained visceral thrills to this rousing score, and in an ideal world, the December 9th release of the DVD would be enough for the Academy to whip around and shape up their bureaucratic brouhaha. To them, I simply ask this: why so serious?

First Teaser for Roland Emmerich's 2012

The first epic teaser for Roland Emmerich's 2012 has just hit. It has one of those "oh shit" moments in it that only Emmerich could pull off. Is this the next Day After Tomorrow or something more? This is the perfect teaser for those who know nothing about the end of the world in 2012 or nothing about the movie. I think the reaction to this is going to be intense. I also think this has the potential to be a very epic movie. This doesn't show enough to give us an idea of what the plot will actually be about, but damn, that was crazy!

Watch the teaser trailer for 2012:

You can also watch the 2012 teaser trailer in High Definition on AOL

2012 is directed and co-written by epic German filmmaker Roland Emmerich, of films like Stargate, Independence Day, Godzilla, The Patriot, The Day After Tomorrow, and 10,000 B.C. previosuly. It was also co-written by Harald Kloser, of The Thirteenth Floor, The Day After Tomorrow, Alien vs Predator, and 10,000 B.C. as well. 2012 slams into theaters everywhere on July 10th, 2009 next summer!

Lauren Shuler Donner Updates X-Men Origins: Magneto

Empire Online talked to "X-Men" films producer Lauren Shuler Donner, who talked a bit more about the Magneto spin-off. Here's a clip:

Details of the plot have remained vague thus far, but Shuler Donner was happy to tell us shed a little light on things. "We have a script on Magneto which is actually sort of Magneto and Charles Xavier," she said. 'It's Eric and Charles in their early, early years."

The site also mentions a synopsis that has been posted by Production Weekly, but that is an unconfirmed plot.

Great Poster for Sean Ellis' The Broken

Much like the poster for Sandra Bullock's Premonition last year, this may be heralded as a fantastic design even though the film itself isn't that great. For those curious to know more, The Broken is psychological thriller about a woman (Lena Headey) whose life descends into nightmare after she sees an apparent double of herself driving by in her own car. It first premiered at Sundance but didn't gain enough buzz to go very far . I'm sure this poster will help, but I don't think it'll be enough to make it a hit.

Thanks especially to IMPAwards for digging this beauty up. As cool as this looks, it's not anything I'm dying to put up on my wall, but I hope there are others who do love it enough to do that. Thoughts?

The Broken is both written and directed by Sean Ellis, of Left Turn and Cashback previously. The film first premiered in the Midnight Madness section of Sundance earlier this year, eventually being picked up by After Dark Films. The Broken will now show as part of the After Dark Horrorfest next January, 2009.

Cloverfield sequel still possible

Paramount is still pushing for ‘’Cloverfield’’ director Matt Reeves to come up with a sequel. And though the ‘’Felicity’’ vet is open to the idea of a follow-up to his monstrous 2007 hit, Reeves says he’s waiting till he and producer J.J Abrams find an idea they really like rather than rushing a cheap money-grabbing follow-up into production.

“Wanting something to happen and coming up with the right idea are two very different things”, Reeves, whose working on a new version of “The Invisible Woman”, tells MTV.

The filmmaker says there have been on-and-off talks about doing one for the past nine months or so. “At times it’s gone dormant and then its come back up again”.

“There are a couple ideas that have potential but we haven’t quite cracked it yet,” he says, adding, “When we were in Japan we thought, wouldn’t it be cool to do it here”.

Reeves says the sequel probably won’t pick up right at the end of the first film, and fix on that flick’s survivors (if there were any). Rather they have discussed a sequel that “wasn’t necessarily right after that night but had intersections with the original.”

Heck, Reeves might not even direct the sequel.

“There was the thought that maybe we’d bring in some young exciting people and we’d produce their take.”

“I don’t know at this point,” Reeves said. “I think if we find something that would be incredibly fun to make and that we would want to watch then that’s what would push it over the top. It’s a weird puzzle.”

Source: www.moviehole.net

Jaden Smith is the new ‘Karate Kid’

Columbia Pictures is back in the dojo with a new version of the 1984 hit "The Karate Kid", which has been refashioned as a star vehicle for Jaden Smith.

The film will be produced by Jerry Weintraub (who launched the original franchise) and Overbrook Entertainment's James Lassiter, Will Smith and Ken Stovitz. Will Smith, who is the 10-year-old actor's father, co-starred alongside Jaden in his feature debut, "The Pursuit of Happyness," which Overbrook and Escape Artists produced for Columbia.

The script is being written by Chris Murphy, and the film will shoot next year in Beijing and other cities. While the new film will be set in that exotic locale, it will borrow elements of the original plot, wherein a bullied youth learns to stand up for himself with the help of an eccentric mentor.

China Film Group Corp. will co-produce in China.

The younger Smith, who next stars in "The Day the Earth Stood Still," is a martial arts practitioner.

Columbia presidents Doug Belgrad and Matt Tolmach said they had been trying to find a way to bring back the series, which began with three films that featured Ralph Macchio and Pat Morita. A subsequent film launched the career of Hilary Swank.

6 Watchmen Amazing Posters

In anticipation of the new Watchmen trailer hitting theaters this Friday in front of Quantum of Solace, Warner Brothers has debuted six new stunning character teaser posters. There is one for every major character - The Comedian, Rorschach, Nite Owl, Dr. Manhattan, Silk Spectre, and Ozymandias. Whoever is doing the marketing for Watchmen deserves to be promoted - these are as gorgeous as every other poster we've seen so far. I don't think I need to say any more - just drop what you're doing and take a look!

I need one of the Comedian and Rorschach posters on my wall right away - they look absolutely fantastic!

Watchmen is directed by Zack Snyder (of Dawn of the Dead and 300) and is written by David Hayter (The Scorpion King, X-Men, X-Men 2) and Alex Tse. The film is an adaptation of Alan Moore's highly acclaimed award winning graphic novel of the same name. Watchmen officially arrives in theaters everywhere on March 6th, 2009.

It's that time of the year again.

MY DEAR RELATIVES, FRIENDS, COLLEAGUES AND BLOG READERS

It's that time of the year again.

Considering that I am a VIP (Virtually Impossible to Please) and above all a very well organized person, I would like to communicate to you all friends, fans and all sorts of people that would like to have the honor of offering me something so that I may always remember you and/or want to invite me to any of your events for this festive.

I am officially opening the season to receive Christmas presents and invitations daily from 08:00 to 16:00. Please note this is with effect from today the

11th November 2008 till 24TH December 2008

Please avoid repeating last year's scenes of long queues at my door and I will not entertain last minute negotiations as I am only accepting one gift and invitation per person. I strongly appeal for your good sense of civilization on delivering your presents. My cell-phones will remain open to receive your calls.

Due to the hectic schedule of the festive period, I urge you to send your invitations well in advance to avoid disappointment.

PS: There won't be any negotiations on the above terms. No special treatment!

Regards,

Francus_Caetus

MMDB Admin

mymoviesdatabase@live.com

WALL-E in running for People's Choice Award

WALL-E is one of three movies nominated for Favorite Family Movie at this year's People's Choice Awards, where regular folk vote for their favorite films of the year.

Voting started today and runs through December 7 (ends at precisely 11:59 PM ET).

The awards show will be held next January 7 and will be seen on CBS in the United States.

WALL-E submitted in Oscar animation category

WALL-E was officially announced today as one of fourteen animated films submitted to the Academy of Motion Pictures Arts and Sciences for consideration in the Animated Feature Film category for the 81st Oscars, to be telecast on Sunday, February 22, 2009.

Disney's Bolt (stay tuned here for special coverage, coming soon) was also submitted, in hopes of getting a nomination.

Disney is, of course, pitching WALL-E in the most prestigious Oscar category —Best Picture— smartly ignoring any potential risk of vote-splitting between the two categories.

Final Trailer for Baz Luhrmann's Australia

Whatever happens with this movie in the end, tourism in Australia is going to blossom.

Watch the final trailer for Australia:

You can also watch the final Australia trailer in High Definition on Apple

Australia is both co-written and directed by Australian filmmaker Baz Luhrmann of Moulin Rouge!, Romeo + Juliet, and Strictly Ballroom previously. In addition to Luhrmann, screenwriters Ronald Harwood (The Pianist, The Diving Bell and the Butterfly), Stuart Beattie (Collateral, Pirates of the Caribbean, G.I. Joe), and Richard Flanagan (The Sound of One Hand Clapping) have been involved with elements of the script as well. Fox is debuting Australia in theaters everywhere on November 26th this fall.

Steven Spielberg and Will Smith Remaking Oldboy?!

Steven Spielberg and Will Smith are in early discussions to collaborate on a remake of Chan Wook-park's "Oldboy." DreamWorks is in the process of securing the remake rights, and the new pic will be distributed by Universal.

In the 2003 Korean original, a man gets kidnapped and held in a shabby cell for 15 years without explanation. Suddenly, he's released and given money, a cell phone and clothes and is set on a path to discover who destroyed his life so he can take revenge. Spielberg had been looking for an opportunity to make a film with Smith, who would play the kidnapped man if all the pieces fall into place. Spielberg is looking for a writer to begin the development process. The film was originally set at U and then found its way to Mandate.

New Teaser for Pxar's UP

For audiences that have never been introduced to Pixar's next adventure, or the character that it's all about, it's a great little introduction. Unfortunately we still don't know know much about where it'll go next (once he lands where he's going), but I still can't wait to find out. The character of Carl Fredricksen is being voiced by Ed Asner and is inspired by Disney legends Frank Thomas and Ollie Johnston. I'm so excited to finally be back in the swing of things with the next big Pixar movie, because I love everything they do and can never patiently wait for more.

Watch the teaser trailer for Pixar's Up:

Pixar's Up is directed Pete Docter, who also directed Monsters, Inc previously in addition to writing the stories for Toy Story and Toy Story 2. The film is co-directed and written by Bob Peterson, who wrote Finding Nemo previously. Disney is planning to debut up in theaters everywhere on May 29th, 2009 next summer. For more information on Up, head over to our first look at the characters and the story.

Final trailer for Bolt

Watch the final trailer for Bolt:

You can also watch the final Bolt trailer in High Definition on MySpace

Bolt is directed by Disney regulars Chris Williams (story writer of Mulan and The Emperor's New Groove) and Byron Howard (supervising animator on Brother Bear and Chicken Little). The screenplay was co-written by Chris Williams and Dan Fogelman, who wrote screenplays for both Cars and Fred Claus. Disney's Bolt arrives in theaters everywhere this Thanksgiving, on November 26th.

Bruckheimer, Busiest producer in Hollywood

Back in September, Walt Disney Pictures threw a huge presentation for all their upcoming movies, which culminated in big announcements about new installments of two of the studio's biggest franchises done in collaboration with Jerry Bruckheimer Productions, Pirates of the Caribbean 4 and a third "National Treasure," as well as their intentions of reinventing The Lone Ranger. (You can read part of our report on that presentation here.)

Since the announcement, there's been a lot of rumors especially about that fourth "Pirates" movie, but earlier today, a group of journalists had some time to sit down with Jerry Bruckheimer on the set of potentially his next big Disney franchise, based on the video game Prince of Persia: The Sands of Time, to get some first-hand info about these projects.

As far as getting all of these new projects off the ground, Bruckheimer joked, "That's why I can't spend a lot of time here. We have a lot of things," and mentioned some of the projects he's actively working on. "We're doing another 'National Treasure' so we're working on that, we're preparing 'Sorcerer's Apprentice' right now—it's going to be shot in New York—we have another picture that's in post-production that we're finishing called 'Confessions of a Shopaholic' with Isla Fischer and Hugh Dancy, so that comes out in February."

As far as approaching the sequels for "National Treasure" and "Pirates of the Caribbean," Bruckheimer says that both are having scripts written. "We've sat with the writers and we're working up the story and plotlines right now. They're in the process of finishing 'The Lone Ranger' so they're working on both of those simultaneously, same set of writers, Elliot and Rossio, who did all three 'Pirates' and worked on 'National Treasure (2)'"

When asked whether they might consider gearing another "Pirates" movie to IMAX, based on the success Warner Bros. had with The Dark Knight, Bruckheimer responded, "Absolutely. I'd love to do it, so let's just see if we can work it through the production schedule with everything else."

Jackie Chan's Heading to the Qin Dynasty for Junior Soldiers

We have word today that Chan is working on a new project called Junior Soldiers. We get wind of this news thanks to our friends at the movieweb:

According to Variety, Spox Yuan Nong from the Beijing office of Chan’s JCE shingle confirmed the film would be shot next year but gave no further details. The project is essentially a road movie in period costume set during the Qin dynasty; Underdog Knight director Ding Sheng will direct.

Chan will produce, star and write the screenplay, which focuses on three people and a horse.

A road movie in period costume involving an unnamed horse……I’m down.

I enjoy the Kung Fu hi-jinx of Jackie Chan and will always count it a treat to see his violent acrobatics in film. This dude has got to be one of the busiest dudes in the industry, he always seems to be working on something; I think he defeated sleep in a battle to the death.

We will be sure to keep you updated on the progress of Junior Soldiers. Right now I’m guessing it will be a children’s film based on the title, but I could be dead wrong.

If the horse learns Kung Fu - I will be very excited.

Yes We Can ;)

Monsters vs. Aliens Trailer

Dreamworks Animation has released the official trailer for Monsters vs. Aliens.

Plot Synopsis: “Monsters vs. Aliens,” which is slated for a domestic release date of March 27, 2009, reinvents the classic ’50s monster movie into an irreverent modern day action comedy.

“Monsters vs. Aliens” is directed by Rob Letterman (”Shark Tale”) and Conrad Vernon (”Shrek 2″), produced by Lisa Stewart (”I Think I Love My Wife”) and co-produced by Jill Hopper and Latifa Ouaou. The film marks the theatrical debut of DreamWorks Animation’s Ultimate 3-D, the studio’s proprietary production process of authoring its animated films in 3-D from start to finish.

When California girl Susan Murphy is unexpectedly clobbered by a meteor full of outer space gunk, she mysteriously grows to 49-feet-11-inches tall and is instantly labeled a “monster” named Ginormica. The military jumps into action, and she is captured and held in a secret government compound. The world learns that the military has been quietly rounding up other monsters over the years. This ragtag group consists of the brilliant but insect-headed Dr. Cockroach, Ph.D.; the macho half-ape, half-fish The Missing Link; the gelatinous and indestructible B.O.B.; and the 350-foot grub called Insectosaurus. Their confinement time is cut short however, when a mysterious alien robot lands on Earth and begins storming the country.

As a last resort, under the guidance of General W.R. Monger (on a desperate order from The President), the motley crew of Monsters is called into action to combat the aliens and save the world from imminent destruction.

Monsters vs. Aliens hits theaters on March 27th 2009.

Theron Joining Cruise in The Tourist

We have word today that princess Theron will be teaming up with commander cruise in The Tourist. We get the following scoop from our friends at the movieweb:

Charlize Theron is in talks to star with Tom Cruise in The Tourist, director Bharat Nalluri’s remake of the 2005 French thriller Anthony Zimmer.

According to Variety, the Julian Fellowes-scripted drama centers on a female Interpol agent who uses an American tourist in an attempt to flush out an elusive criminal with whom she once had an affair.

Spies falling in love is nice drama, but something I could never really get on board. In order to get the the level where they let you be a spy, I would think that you would have to be a master of your own emotions. Falling in love is something a spy does after retirement. Until then every love is a liability or a target.

Charlize and Tom is a quality team up for a film like this however. The Theron is a talented, delicious actress that I enjoy seeing in anything, up to and including pants. Tommy has had trouble with his PR the past few years because of his insanity, but now he seems to be making the most of it and is quickly becoming the beloved crazy guy instead of the scary crazy guy.

Production on this film is slotted for March and we will be certain to fill you in on all of the updates and details.