News

Oh my god oh my god oh my god. I wasn't terribly gripped by the news that Stephen (Blade, League of Extraordinary Gentlemen) Norrington was directing the remake of The Crow – one of my favourite films of all time. But now I've heard Nick Cave might be writing the script, I can't sit still.

You might be a little tired of leather-clad, arse kicking girls, dragons, martial arts, swordplay and aerial battles, but put them all together in the trailer for Zack Snyder's new movie Sucker Punch and they almost look cool enough to have me convinced.

MGM's future continues to look bleak with even less certainty about the future of the Bond franchise. Might be time for a high profile rights sale to someone with a little more liquidity.

In movie news, Len (Underworld) Wiseman is doing the remake of Schwarzenegger classic Total Recall, and J J Abrams is producing the film version of Boilerplate to the screen, from the graphic novel about a Victorian-era robot.

Lastly, if you like mash-ups, this one's a little rough around the edges but very funny.

You might have wondered what's happened to Wesley Snipes in the last few years since the Blade series. It's possible he's been enmeshed in a legal battle over his tax evasion charges, and it wasn't good news this week as it emerged he may do time.

At least he might be able to get together with Lindsay Lohan and start a support group for former stars turned felons. Casey Affleck won't be joining them just yet but he's not as squeaky clean as his public persona if you can believe the sexual harassment lawsuit a former staff member's just slapped on him.

Mission Impossible 4 is indeed being directed by Brad Bird as I heard a few weeks back, and since abandoning the Hobbit films Guillermo Del Toro hasn't been sitting on his hands. He'll be doing the film version of Disney's Haunted Mansion ride (which the studio will be hoping strikes Pirates of the Caribbean-like gold) and may be doing yet another version of Pinocchio.

There's a 300 sequel/spin-off in the works, but all the big news this week is coming from San Diego ComicCon, and the biggest is all about The Avengers movie. Mark Ruffalo's stepped into The Hulk's oversized shoes, but the really exciting news that will set the film apart from the rest of the comic book dross is that Joss Whedon has signed to direct.

I also wanted to call your attention to a trailer that looks like it could be for a very tightly-wound, taught horror movie called Devil, produced and directed by M Night Shyamalan but with an unknown in the director's chair. And for a bit of guilty fun, Machete, Robert Rodriguez's contribution to the Grindhouse trailer reel.

Another bumper edition of Filmism news this week, starting with the revelation-that's-really-no-surprise about Lindsay Lohan going to the clink for 30 days after violating parole from her 2007 drug arrest.

In the midst of Mel Gibson's custody battle it emerged his agency had dumped him, but contrary reports it was about money tussles rather than his liberal use of the 'n' word.

John McTiernan has pled guilty to lying during the Anthony Pellicano wiretapping case, and Swiss authorities have said they won't extradite lauded director/unconvicted child rapist Roman Polaski to the US.

But the weirdest news is that Hayden Christensen has sued USA Network, saying they stole his idea for a TV show. At least he can feel safe knowing nobody will rip off his acting style.

In film news, Avatar's returning to screens with eight minutes of extra footage soon, and the next Mission Impossible is a go. After the box office from the dire Knight and Day, Tom Cruise will need a hit – he's been on the verge of a backlash by Hollywood for years, with only his star pulling power keeping him afloat.

US Congress has quashed the possibility of an exchange trading box office futures. I think I could have made money on that! Miramax has not been sold back to the Weinsteins as we reported a few weeks back, but looks like it's being taken over by an American construction magnate.

We said goodbye to Harvey Pekar, the real-life subject of 2003s warm-hearted, funny American Splendor (also played by Paul Giamatti), and Ed Norton's been fired from the role of the Hulk in the upcoming Avengers movie, reportedly for not playing nice.

I've got huge respect for Norton's talent, but I've heard rumours like this before. In Creative Screenwriting's podcast of the hilarious poker mockumentary The Grand, writer Zak Penn talked about being none too happy with Norton changing everything about his script for 2008's The Incredible Hulk.

The new design for Wonder Woman has ignited the blogosphere and the comic introducing her has sold out, which is all great advance buzz for Warner Bros' 2013 movie.

Also a juicy tidbit this week that the reason the new Mad Max movie is taking so long to prep and shoot is because George Miller's doing two of them, back to back.

Wes Craven's latest Scream outing is shaping up, with Mary (Battlestar Galactica, Dances With Wolves) McDonnell joining the cast.

There's also a Pet Sematary remake in planning, which is enough to give me shudders. The 1989 original was the first horror movie I'd seen in ages after the psychological trauma of An American Werewolf in London, and the ghost of Victor Pascow visiting Louis (Dale Midkiff) in the middle of the night convinced me I should have waited longer.

Two quite cool trailers arose this week too. Paranormal Activity 2 (doesn't give much away), and Let Me In, which looks like a fairly slick retread of ace Swedish child vampire drama Let the Right One In.

MGM's financial woes resulted in a major casualty recently, with Guillermo Del Toro bowing out of the long-gestating Hobbit films. But no sooner had the Spanish wunderkind done so his producer Peter Jackson was in talks to direct the double feature Rings prequel.

It's one point for censorship as a Japanese cinema chain has dropped The Cove, the documentary about that country's annual dolphin slaughter that has audiences everywhere enraged and upset.

Sandra Bullock and Ryan Reynolds are reteaming, and the only reason that's good news is because if you didn't see The Proposal, you didn't see two comedy naturals at their best.

The Fright Night remake is shaping up with more cast members including Anton (Chekov from JJ Abrams' Star Trek reboot) in the role as hero Charley and David 'Dr Who' Tennant.

A Green Lantern sequel's already in the works (even though the original is a ways off) but it looks like another tired superhero origin story. I'm more interested in The Green Hornet, which looks like great fun.

Clash of the Titans 2 is in the works, and Russell Crowe is going to play the late Edward Woodward's character in a big screen version of The Equalizer.

But big news behind the Hollywood curtain is the court ruling in favour of Google, who was being sued by a suite of studios led by Viacom (owner of Paramount) for copyright infringement. Go free speech?

After a long absence from the screen Orlando Bloom is set to return in the 3D Three Musketeers reboot. Another swashbuckling adventure film after Lord of the Rings, Troy, Kingdom of Heaven and Pirates of the Caribbean… Just like I want to say to Tim Burton and Ridley Scott, it might be time to extend yourself, Orlando.

I wish I could buy shares in Legendary Pictures. During 2008 they seemed to have their name in front of every big blockbuster around including The Dark Knight, instilling a certain quality into popcorn fodder. That's the only reason I'm excited about another game adaptation – the studio have bought the rights to the hit game Mass Effect.

I might have thought the irascible Alice in Wonderland could become the fifth ever movie to surpass the $1 billion mark in another universe, but W, T and F?

I reported a few weeks back that the Weinstein brothers were buying back the Miramax name, but apparently the deal's fallen through after the numbers were run.

Woody Allen's next film (Midnight in Paris) is set, and a Victoria's Secret model has replaced Megan Fox in Transformers 3. That's not like Michael Bay, surely?

There's talk of a Tango and Cash sequel starring Sly and Kurt in their original roles, and Scorsese has said he wants De Niro as Dean Martin and Pacino as Sinatra in his upcoming biopic.

Another actor who played Old Blue Eyes, Dennis Hopper, left us this week aged 74, Gary Coleman of Diff'rent Strokes just a few days before that.

Finally, James McAvoy has signed to play a young Charles Xavier – the role bought to life by Patrick Stewart – in the next X Men prequel.

I know horror remakes are still in vogue, but when they attract names like Toni Collette and Colin Farrell, one should take notice. Both have signed on to the forthcoming Fright Night redux.

James Franco's going to be in the Planet of the Apes prequel and Flight of the Conchords' Jemaine Clement is going to be the villain in Men in Black 3.

It's not often we talk about actors who aren't in movies, but it seems Megan Fox's very public dissing of Michael Bay was ill-advised as she's been chucked off Transformers 3. Poor Megan should tread lightly. The dismal box office of Jennifer's Body proved she isn't enough to open a movie, and the trailer for Jonah Hex looks… dicey.

But the trailer to Super 8, the Abrams/Spielberg film we talked about last time, looks pants-wettingly good.

Ordinarily I wouldn't be the least excited about news of another version of Judge Dredd, but there's one coming and Alex Garland, the pen behind the ace Sunshine and 28 Days Later is writing it.

There's a Brando biopic in the works, a big screen outing for MacGuyver, and the next Pirates of the Caribbean will be in 3D (like that's news).

In movies we've talked about before, Paul Greengrass is off the Fantastic Voyage reboot and Drew Barrymore might step behind the camera for one of the multitude of Wizard of Oz movies in development.

I don't often talk about my musical tastes in this newsletter, but if you know me you'll know I'm a big gangsta rap fan. So it was with huge excitement I heard Andrea Berloff (writer of Oliver Stone's World Trade Center) was doing a script called Straight Outta Compton, the story of ground breaking gangsta rap group NWA.

Fresh off his second big success with Iron Man 2, Jon Favreau is staying in comics… sorry, graphic novels, and will bring us Cowboys and Aliens next year.

After huge success with Kick Ass (though I still can't work out why), the A list has finally found Matthew Vaughan after the dire Stardust, and next up he's joining the X Men franchise.

In business news, the studios have reported huge growth because of 3D. That explains the chorus from directors and studio heads for the last 12 months extolling the virtues of cinema's next revolution? Revolution of adding machines, more like.

You've heard of the futures markets they're trying to set up so you can bet on a film's profits? Well, just like the real share market, dark horses can sometimes come from nowhere. After spending along time living in tabloid hell and doing little else, Lindsay Lohan has signed to play Deep Throat star Linda Lovelace in an upcoming biopic.

I also saw the Piranha 3D trailer the other day, which looks like the biggest, dumbest fun of the year. Even cooler, it's got none other than Christopher Lloyd, who you might think has been MIA since the Back to the Future Series but has been working steadily ever since in stuff nobody's watched.

But in the week's biggest news a teaser for something called Super 8 accompanied early screenings of Iron Man 2, apparently the story of a group of kids in 1979 messing around with a movie camera and recording something… sinister.

So far, so Cloverfield/Blair Witch/[Rec]/Paranormal Activity? But you might have heard of the two filmmakers behind it, a Mr Spielberg and a Mr Abrams.

The most interesting news about the Batman franchise this week isn't that a release date's been set for the next in Chris Nolan's triumphant series (July 20, 2012). It's that someone somewhere's producing a Batman stage show. 'The Joooo-ker of Arkham Asylum is theeeere' (sang to the tune of the Phantom of the Opera), maybe?

The Alien prequel is a lock with Ridley Scott in the big chair, and I for one am hoping for two things. First, that he leaves the historical epic genre for awhile. I mean, Gladiator was good, but has he done anything that didn't have sweeping shots of armies crashing on battlefields and platitudes of glory since then? Well yes, Matchstick Men and A Good Year, but it's when Scott tries somerhing different audiences stay away in droves.

Second, I hope he and Russell Crowe part ways for awhile. They're getting as boring as Tim Burton and Johnny Depp doing the same movie over and over again. I know, I've whined about the Burton/Depp/Bonham Carter triangle of doom for too long, so I'll just leave you with this hilarious clip and consider it all said.

After reports The Hobbit films had been delayed, they're going ahead for release at Christmas 2012 and 2013, and there's a remake of early Schwarzenegger vehicle Commando on the horizon.

In the strangest casting news I've heard since they reported Robin Williams was going to be a psychopathic killer, Mickey Rourke is apparently lined up to play Genghis Khan.

If Stephen King movies have any fans left after a generation of terrible films from Cat's Eye to Dreamcatcher, they might have hope in the news that a film (likely more than one, in fact) is finally in planning based on his Dark Tower fantasy series. After J J Abrams let the rights lapse, the holy box office Trinity of director Ron Howard, producer Brian Grazer and writer Akiva Goldsman have snapped them up.

One of the most exciting, original and undervalued filmmakers alive – kiwi Andrew Niccol – has a bunch of films in development, but none more exciting than the intriguingly titled I'm.mortal. Okay, I just have to block out the fact that he's directing a Stephanie Meyer adaptation (The Host), but this one looks like a sci-fi classic, where the ageing gene has been turned off and time is literally the new currency. If Gattaca, The Truman Show and s1m0ne (yes, nobody liked it except me) are anything to go by, it'll be another amazing idea given full breadth through a great story.

Everything else this week is sequel, prequel or remake news – as usual. But as a lifelong King Kong fan I'm thrilled by the prospect of a Kong prequel called Kong: King of Skull Island. Nobody's attached yet but it's slated for next year.

The writers behind Nimrod Atal's Predators reboot are scripting the Masters of the Universe remake, so that's one step closer to reality. Men in Black 3 (in 3D, of course) is also confirmed, and there are no less than three films about Oz (as in the Wizard) in planning right now. I smell an orgy of children's literature adaptations on the horizon after the haul from Alice in Wonderland.

But in the biggest mismatch of a director and a property I've heard in a long time, that crazy doyenne of destruction Roland Emmerich is lined up to do a film based on Asimov's Foundation. Now, Emmerich can certainly do 'big', but he's like Michel Bay – he just can't leave anything in one piece. I haven't read any of the Foundation books since I was about 17 but I remember them being about the geopolitics of a planet covered with a single huge city, not a wave of energy that destroys the universe like Emmerich is probably planning.

In news that would otherwise be uninteresting, Joss Whedon in talks to direct the long-gestating Avengers movie, which will at least make it worth seeing if he can stand his ground against a studio that will be more interested in licensing deals with fast food restaurants than a good script.

In business news, the unlikeliest contender has bought back the Miramax name – the Weinsteins themselves. It was kind of a good luck charm for them, as few films they've released under the Weinstein Company banner have performed as good as their old stuff under the Miramax name.

And MGM's finances are in such dire straight they've put the brakes on everything they have, including pre-production of the next Bond film.