Because Vin Diesel is so scary successful with box office smashes like Babylon A.D., the quality of projects that he can from has improved by leaps and bounds! So what’s next for our muscle bound super star besides the 100% quality Fast and Furious? Diesel is looking to expand his dramatic range with a return to the hardcore XXX franchise in xXx: The Return of Xander Cage.

Okay, so Vin isn’t exactly going to be the next big thing like some of us thought. Honestly, with Pitch Black, Boiler Room, and Saving Ryan’s Privates I really thought he was going to make big waves in Hollywood. Then again, I thought Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson would be the most electrifying man in movie entertainment and that hasn’t exactly worked out either. Are the days of the huge mega action star over or does Vin just lack staying power?

[Via Den of Geek]

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A big press event for the September 30 release of Iron Man on DVD, John Favreau unloaded a whole mess of sequel updates. Let’s go to the list:

• The Mandarin will be a major franchise villain as hinted by the appearance of the “Ten Rings” terrorist cell in the first film. Whether or not he’ll appear in the second or third film is still up for debate.
• Terrence Howard was horribly underused so Jim Rhodes may get to suit up as War Machine to make up for his smaller role in the first film. Please, make it so!
• Tony’s problem with alcohol, the “Demon in a Bottle” storyline, could play a major role in the future which would lead nicely into Rhodey taking over. Again, make it so!
• Hulk and Cap may make an appearance as well, though Favreau isn’t so interested in Thor.
• Current events may influence the direction of future films. Some sites have taken this to indicate the possibility of a conflict with Russia which would herald the appearance of the Crimson Dynamo.

I imagine S.H.I.E.L.D. and Nick Fury would also make some kind of appearance in the sequels along with the Avengers initiative. I’d really like to see the alcoholism angle leading to Rhodey suiting up as War Machine play out on screen. You don’t need tragedy for character development, but it would sure make Tony more real. The third film could be Tony’s redemption and a big face off with the Mandarin. That would be an excellent character arc for Tony.

So, it’s time for the casting game! Who would you like to see play Mandy? He doesn’t have to be Chinese, although Asian would certainly be nice. He doesn’t even have to be a he. We’re looking for someone who fits the role. So cast away!

[Via MTV]

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The original Storm Riders is awesome and by awesome I mean there’s a scene where one of the main characters rips off one of his arms to use his blood as a weapon (he controls water and there’s no water around until his blood starts flowing from his socket). That’s pretty fucking awesome! Ten years later, that brand of awesome is returning to the silver screen.

Aaron Kwok and Ekin Cheng return in Storm Warriors to reprise their roles of Cloud and Wind. The sequel is directed by Danny and Oxide Pang (dude, his name is Oxide. Fucking awesome!) who directed the original Bangkok Dangerous which Luke Nick (thanks for catching that, cobalt) Cage is currently butchering in the US remake that’s stinking up theaters this very moment. The Storm movies are based on Fung Wan, an epic comic series from Hong Kong by Ma Wing Shing. It’s probably one of the most popular comics out of China. I think there’s an animated version out there somewhere as well.

Storm Warriors will follow the “Death Battle” arc of the comic series. You can probably guess what that entails. They’re also taking some inspiration from Hollywood, specifically 300. They plan to shoot a number of sequences all with green screen so they can composite in digital sets later. But they’re not entirely abandoning traditional film making. They’ve built a number of highly detailed sets to ensure the film won’t just be a great big jizzy CG demo reel.

I loved the original and kind of wondered why there wasn’t more. It’s been a long wait, but I think this will be a lot of fun. Storm Warriors is set to release sometime next year. Hopefully someone will pick it up for US distribution.

[Via The Star Online]

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More new on that new Heavy Metal film. It was originally being developed over at Paramount, but due to a studio conflict with David Fincher, Fincher has taken the project to Sony. Paramount wanted Fincher to cut the length of his new film, The Curious Case of Benjamin Button. Until he complied, the studio was stalling on production of any of his future projects. Fincher refused and decided to take Heavy Metal elsewhere which is where Sony comes in.

There’s also word of a few directors who have expressed interest in directing segments of the film, Fincher, Guillermo del Toro, Gore Verbinski, and Zack Snyder. I imagine production will begin fairly shortly and we’ll have more updates as we go along. Part of me is kind of interested to see some more adult themed animation from American studios. About damn time, really. I’m cautiously optimistic on this one.

[Via JoBlo]

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Ghostbusters 3?

For reals? Like really real?

No, really?

AZM Ally Greg dug up some information on a third Ghostbusters flick. A new crew of ‘Busters will hit the streets to take control. Judd Apatow is producing which means we’ll be seeing some of his regulars as the Real New Ghostbusters. Seth Rogan with a proton pack. Funny or meh? Bill Murray, Dan Aykroyd, Harold Ramis and Ernie Hudson may return to mentor the new crew depending who sings on.

On the one hand, the Apatow does make a funny flick. And his stable of actors is known for the ha ha. But this is Ghostbusters. The first one was hysterically fun. Didn’t need a sequel. The second one, not nearly as fun as the first. So a third flick really doesn’t interest me. Ghostbusters is way past its prime. I even think the video game is a little late. Looks cool, but a bit after its time.

Busting does indeed make one feel good. But maybe it’s better to just let sleeping ghosts lie.

[Via Chicago Tribune]

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If you wanted to daken up Superman, Mark Miller would probably be on a short list of writers who could do it well. Angry Zen Minion Kevin Bahrt sent along news that Mark Miller in collaboration with a mysterious big named director has pitched a Superman movie trilogy to Warner Brothers.

I imagine that Miller has an Ultimates style revamp in the works. But that’s as far as I’m willing to speculate. Certainly the Superman franchise needs a kick in the pants. I think Miller could handle darkening him up without making it dark for darkness sake. The truth is, these days are dark anyway. Just plop Supes in the middle of this war on terror and you’ve got a right dark flick right there. I’m kind of interested to see what he’s got up his sleeve.

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Not sure how long I’ll be able to post these (letters have gone out to a few sites already), but Angry Zen Minion Kevin Bahrt pointed me to some pics of what James Marsters will look like as Piccolo in the Dragonball movie. For a minute there, I thought I was looking at a screen cap from Buffy. No green. No antennae. Not that I thought this movie was going to be worth watching even while drunk, high, and possibly incontinent, but how is this Piccolo?

[Via Dragonball Movie Blog]

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So my brother and I went to see Death Race Saturday night (which I will skewer later this week) and we saw this silly trailer for Fast and Furious which drops next summer. Vin Diesel, Michele Rodriguez, and Jordana Brewster all return which is good. According to the IMDB, Sung Kang makes a cameo as Han which indicates they’ll do some flash back to when Han was running with Dominic. That could be fun. My brother and I both agree that Tokyo Drift is our favorite movie of the franchise. There’s also word that Tyrese Gibson will appear in a cameo sort of like Vin Diesel did in Tokyo Drift. Nice way to tie everything together.

Paul Walker is back which is really disappointing. He was serviceable in the first but was by far one of the least interesting characters. The second film was 2 stupid to stand. Finally, they got it right by leaving him out of the third. And now he returns to bore us with the fourth? Bleh. It’s unfortunate that Jordana Brewster’s return will be connected with Paul Walker’s character. She’s better off without his lying ass anyway. I kind of hope she’s running heists with Dom now.

From what we can glean of the plot, this sounds like a remix of the second. Two rivals teaming up to fight a common enemy. Meh. I’m not expecting too much, but I’m pretty sure I’ll go see this in the theater. Sorry. It’s my fault they keep making Fast and Furious and Saw movies.

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I just love the photos of Jason Statham’s big ass head!

We’ve got some more Crank 2: High Voltage info. If you saw the first movie, then you know why everyone was scratching their head when they announced a sequel. But now it all makes sense. Turns out some evil fucker cut out Chev Chelio’s heart and replaced with a mechanical device that requires a jolt of high voltage every now and then. Brilliant. Sequel away. Apparently, this is the craziest movie Statham has ever seen.

High voltage is an understatement. They locked themselves in a room for three days with five bottles of tequila and wrote the most offensive, outrageous script I’ve ever read. Poor Amy Smart, that’s my concern. There is a very indulgent sex scene on a race track. I don’t want to give too much away. They have all the capabilities of making it the crazy action movie that they wanted. It’s like Crank 1 but times 1,000.

Wow. I don’t know if you can top banging Amy Smart in the middle of China Town with a bus load of Korean school girls giggling away, but now I’m intrigued. Kudos to Amy for signing on for a second flick. She’s gotta have a great sense of humor.

The more I hear about this flick, the more I have to see it!

[Via i09]

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So this should be taken with a giant salt lick, but apparently, Cher is in talks to play Catwoman for the third Bat flick. According to a stuiod exec:

Cher is Nolan’s first choice to play Catwoman. He wants to her to portray her like a vamp in her twilight years. The new Catwoman will be the absolute opposite of Michelle Pfeiffer and Halle Berry’s purring creations.

Hmm…

If you’re going to go that route, I kinda want to see Eartha Kitt as Catwoman instead. Personal preference, but she’s always been my personal favorite for Catwoman. I think she’d make an excellent Cougarwoman.

So what do you all think? Does Cher plus Depp plus Hoffman equal win? Does an aging Catwoman interest you? Is this all just bullshit?

[Via The Telegraph by way of Occasional Superheroine]

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