Pirates of the Caribbean 4 Rumors

Terry Rossio, co-screenwriter of the first three "Pirates of the Caribbean" films, has debunked the various rumors that are going around about Pirates of the Caribbean 4. They ranged from Johnny Depp getting $56 million for the fourth movie to Tim Burton directing to Sacha Baron Cohen and Russell Brand co-starring. Rossio writes:

For the record, none of the recent Pirates 4 rumors have any truth, including the so-called record 50 million dollar payday for Depp.

Some pretty funny stuff, though. Sacha Cohen? Tim Burton? Studios are way too protective of their franchises for that sort of thing.

The only thing that has been officially announced so far is that Johnny Depp will return as Captain Jack Sparrow in the fourth film.

Rumor Confirmed Damon Will be Fincher’s Eliot Ness

It all Started with an article at Cleveland.com . The article mentioned that Matt Damon would play Cleveland's safety director Eliot Ness, who gets wrapped up in the killings, as well as details on Ohio's lack of tax breaks for filmmakers.

Today filmschoolrejects.com wrote:

A source involved in the production has confirmed that Matt Damon will be playing Eliot Ness - the iconic head of The Untouchables and Cleveland Chief of Police during the brutal Torso Murders, that Ehren Kruger will be penning the script, and that Paramount is starting production on it in February or March of next year.

Starting from the top, Torso is a graphic novel first published in 2001 by Image Comics that tells the story of the "torso" murders, in which at least 13 people were killed between 1934 and 1938. Fresh off of the Al Capone case in Chicago, Eliot Ness moves to Cleveland to help clean up the city. But when dismembered body parts start washing up near Lake Erie Sound, Ness starts on another lengthy investigation.

Wall-E's Andrew Stanton Writing John Carter of Mars Movie

The news that Pixar would be adapting Edgar Rice Burroughs' classic sci-fi series John Carter of Mars has been out since last year, but only recently has it been confirmed that Andrew Stanton is writing the adaptation. Back in October last year, Pixar confirmed that they're working on making a total of three John Carter of Mars films, with the first arriving sometime before 2012. Details have been rather sparse since then, most likely because Disney and Pixar want to keep the project a secret for the time being, but some confirmation has finally arrived. The Pixar Blog confirmed directly from Wall-E director Andrew Stanton himself that he is indeed currently writing John Carter of Mars.

There aren't too many details known yet, but this is great news for fans of Edgar Rice Burroughs' series. In addition to directing Finding Nemo and Wall-E, Stanton also wrote the screenplays for Toy Story, A Bug's Life, Toy Story 2, Monsters Inc, Finding Nemo, and Wall-E. While John Carter of Mars isn't exactly family friendly like all of the previous films Stanton has made, it's a wonderful opportunity for both Stanton and Pixar to branch out and explore in a new genre. The project has been in production hell for quite some time but it now seems like Pixar is the studio to finally move it into the production stage.

The first novel in series, titled The Princess of Mars, was originally published in 1917. John Carter is a red blooded American civil war hero and fighting man from Virginia. A strange incident whilst prospecting in Apache country propels him to Mars where he immediately encounters the enormous war-like green men of Mars and the planets equally alien landscapes, animals and technology. Soon Carter falls in with the red men (and their beautiful red women, including Dejah Thoris, Princess of Helium, in particular) and his non-stop adventures begin.

I'm not all that familiar with the series, but others, like Hunter of SlashFilm, seem quite enthusiastic about it. Considering it's a beloved sci-fi classic and considering Pixar never goes wrong, I'm expecting this to be nothing less then extraordinary. Of course, it would help if I read a few of the books first, but considering this won't hit theaters for at least another three years, I think I've got some time. One of the most intriguing rumors surrounding this project involves whether Pixar will make this their first live action feature or whether it will be animated or whether it'll be some interesting combination of the two. However they decide to do it, I'm sure I'll end up as enthusiastic as Hunter by the time it hits theaters.

Full photo of Frank Frazetta's John Carter of Mars art (seen at the very top) can be found here. Does John Carter of Mars sound more like a Pixar movie you'd be interested in instead of Cars 2?

Alfred Molina and Ben Kingsley Join Prince of Persia!

Finally we're getting some solid casting confirmations for Prince of Persia! A couple of weeks ago we announced that Jake Gyllenhaal and Gemma Arterton had been cast as the two leads in the film. Confirmed today, both Alfred Molina and Ben Kingsley will join the cast as well. Molina will play Sheik Amar, who becomes a mentor to the prince, and Kingsley's role hasn't yet been revealed yet but we can guess that it's probably the Vizier, the main villain in the film. Jerry Bruckheimer is producing and Mike Newell is directing this video game adaptation, with filming slated to begin in July in Morocco and England.

In the fantasy adventure, Jake Gyllenhaal will play Dastan, a young prince in 6th century Persia who must join forces with Tamina (Gemma Arterton), a feisty and exotic princess, to prevent a villainous nobleman from possessing the Sands of Time, a gift from the gods that can reverse time and allow its possessor to rule the world.

I think this is actually great news. I don't necessarily believe that Gyllenhaal is the perfect choice, but I think the addition of Molina and Kingsley means that this could possibly be incredible. Bruckheimer is smart enough to realize that by bringing names like this on, it could really have the potential to break the bad video game movie mold. And both Molina and Kingsley are incredibly strong actors who should bring a definite depth to the film. This is one of the few upcoming blockbusters that I'm genuinely very excited for and interested in and will be following very closely. Is Prince of Persia starting to sound better?

Transformers 2 Coming in 3-D?

The "2008 ShoWest Edition" of the Dolby newsletter (in PDF format) has a list of upcoming 3-D releases and includes Transformers 2 (as well as Steven Spielberg's Tintin). We're hearing that, although it's on the list, the sequel is not a lock yet for a 3-D release. A final decision will be made based on the availability of Digital 3-D and IMAX 3-D screens. The big problem facing the Transformers sequel is that Ice Age: Dawn of the Dinosaurs comes out just five days later and would rule out a majority of the Digital 3-D screens.

In related news, director Michael Bay has confirmed on his message board that he has cast Aussie actress Isabel Lucas for the role of "Alice" in the sequel.

Moon Bloodgood cast in Terminator

On the weekend, there were rumours that "Terminator 4" had shut down.

Today, Reuters announces the female lead.

If I were a betting man, I'd put my lung on the table and say the film is safe - no cancellation, not if they're announcing cast.

So who is the actress they've announced? She's Moon Bloodgood (gotta love that name), fresh from the short-lived series "Journeyman".

According to the aforelinked site, 32-year-old Bloodgood will play "a survivor of the nuclear holocaust perpetrated by that rascally SkyNet".
Not sure whether she's playing Kate (the character played by Claire Danes), John Connor's crush from "Terminator 3" (who would become his wife), or a new character. Probably a new character, since there was nothing remotely Dutch, Irish or Korean about the character of Kate in the previous film - and Bloodgood is a combination of all three.

According to the trade, "Terminator 4" (It was to be titled "Terminator Salvation : The Future Begins", but producers have reportedly scrapped that title) is still set to shoot from May 5. McG directs; Sam Worthington, Christian Bale, Anton Yelchin and (possibly) Josh Brolin star.

Confirmed: Iron Man and The Incredible Hulk Crossover Scene!

It's been rumored (and supposedly confirmed) for months now - Iron Man and The Incredible Hulk will each have crossover scenes, as in, each character will show up in each other's movies (somehow). Now today live from the New York Comic Con we have confirmation. After an impressive presentation for The Incredible Hulk, director Louis Leterrier and star Tim Roth presented the final trailer that will debut online in the next few weeks. And as a special treat, at the very end, we got to see the scene where Tony Stark shows up in a bar and talks with General Ross.

If you want to stay surprised, stop reading, but there's been so much buzz about this, that they just decided to show it to everyone early and confirm it. But I bet you there is a lot more to this scene than we know… Can anyone say Hulkbuster Iron Man (at least maybe sometime in the future)?

The scene shows a completely drunk General 'Thunderbolt' Ross (William Hurt) sitting in a bar when Tony Stark (Robert Downey Jr.) walks in. He says "I hear you've got an unusual problem." "You should talk," Ross slurs. Stark replies, "you should listen." That was all we got to see, but there could be more because it cut rather quickly at the end.

This most likely will not show up in the full trailer, but you will eventually see it in the movie. The full trailer itself was pretty impressive. I've got a good feeling now that this could be that hidden gem this summer that pops up in June and surprises all of us. I think Louis Leterrier was the perfect guy to direct it and Edward Norton the perfect guy to star in it. It's going to be the Hulk we always wanted but never got until now! The new image at the top comes from the latest issue of Empire - check it out!

We were also shown one of the first fight scenes before Emil Blonsky was fully Abomination. The military gases Bruce Banner in a building and forces him to become Hulk, in which he then goes chasing after them and eventually fights a fairly skilled and acrobatic Emil. It honestly looked great and I've got high hopes now. And to see the Marvel universe completely coming together really gets me excited. Marvel has really got their shit together!

Source: FirstShowing

Confirmed : Adkins is Weapon 11 in Wolverine

MovieHole Confirmed today that Scott Adkins has jettisoned down under to join the cast of “Wolverine”.

Adkins, who played the Russian jailbird who pummels Michael Jai White in the “Undisputed” sequel, will take on a similar role in this (um, someone who fights). He’ll play Weapon 11, one of the many mutants of the X-world, whose main objective is to rip the claws from Wolverine. He no doubt doesn’t succeed in his mission – Wolvie’s the hero, after all! – but I’m sure we can expect a good scuffle anyway. The bulk of his scenes will appear in the last reel of the film.

“X-Men Origins : Wolverine” is currently filming in Sydney – and the reason a few of you, in transit to the home palace, will be sitting in your car an hour longer tonight.

Source: MovieHole