Aronofsky's Robocop In Question Again

When reports hit that Darren Aronofsky wouldn't discuss the Robocop reboot so he could spend his time promoting The Wrestler earlier this year (despite having been on the project since mid-2008), Peter and I were both in agreement that he wouldn't make it when everything was said and done.

Of course, there have been "Is he or isn't he?" rumblings with the most recent questions being raised by CHUD's Devin Faraci (right here) which was quickly followed by a rebuttal from AICN big-cheese Harry Knowles.

Meanwhile, MGM pushed the release date back from 2010 to 2011. And recently Black Swan (a project that Aronofsky had previously set up at Universal that ultimately fell apart) started picking up steam again when Natalie Portman came on-board.

Now the trades report that Swan has all but assured its financing with production looking to start up this fall.

So what's this mean for Darren and Officer Murphy? Apparently the studio is quietly looking at other directors as potential "feelers." You know, "just in case" Aronofsky opts out. Sounds more like they already know that he's out and now MGM is scrambling to find a replacement.

And that's a damn shame because it seemed like the perfect melding of acclaimed director working with the right commercial property. Think Nolan on Batman, De Palma on The Untouchables, Scorsese on The Departed, etc. To be fair, it's never flat-out said that he's not directing Robocop. But I'm not holding my breath either-way.

Because Noone Asked For It...Bridget Jones 3!

What happens when your once-prosperous career is down the tubes? Why digg out a staple character for a pointless sequel, course!

This time, we're referring to Renee Zellweger whose signed on to headline a third Bridget Jones film. Curious what the "official" reason will be for going back to the well for a third time? I'm going to guess and say they'll blame the overall shittiness of the sequel The Edge of Reason and the need to "get things right" as their excuse. Just check out the first film (which is great) and be done with it.

And although no other details are known (other than the expectation to have cameras rolling by late 2010), I'm assuming that Colin Firth, Jim Broadbent, Gemme Jones and Hugh Grant will return as well.

The Skinny On Christian Bale

The best actors tend to immerse themselves in a role, on some occasions, so much so that they actually turn into the character right before our widening eyes. When I was watching "The Dark Knight" I completely forgot I was watching Heath Ledger's portrayal of the The Joker, I was just watching the Joker terrorize Gotham City. It's not only the way they walk or they way they talk, sometimes it is the personal sacrifices an actor makes to deliver the most memorable of performances as our favorite characters. Whether it be time away from their family, studying the most difficult of subject matter, or losing and gaining large amounts of weight.

Actors who have gained and lost immense amounts of weight for some memorable roles include; Robert Deniro, Tom Hanks, Matt Damon, Renee Zellweger, and Christian Bale, just to name a few. Bale lost 63 pounds to portray insomniac Trevor Reznik in 2004's "The Macchinist" and then gained 100 pounds within a period of five months for his role as Bruce Wayne in "Batman Begins". He is at it again as evidenced by recent photos taken of the actor on the set "The Fighter" which is filming in and around Boston. Bale is playing a drug addicted boxer named Dickie Eklund. He has an uphill climb when it is time to put on the cape and cowl again for "Batman 3".

Shuster's Now-Not-So-Secret Work Headed to Silver Screen

As everyone waits for Warner Brothers to make their move on the next Superman cinematic adventure after the "2011 or else!" court ruling last week, another property that's quasi-related to the Man of Steel is picking up steam.

Via the trades, film rights to Secret Identity: The Fetish Art of Superman's Co-Creator Joe Shuster have been picked up by The Gotham Group production company. I'm sure we'll see headlines elsewhere with zingers like "Batman Bankrolls Superman Sex Film!" Yuck, yuck, yuck.

The book (which was published earlier this year) details how Superman co-creator Joe Shuster did anonymous work on a series of under-ground fetish comics (which in turn were bankrolled by the mob) in order to put food on the table. And how the infamous crackdown on the comic-book industry resulted after criminals claimed they "got the idea" for their crimes against humanity from said comics.

Ironically, I was rewatching Martin Scorsese's Casino last night which itself concerned how the mob was basically running Las Vegas back in the day. Under the right hands, this could be one Helluva film. It just boils down whether or not any studio is willing to put money into this.

Washington Is No Longer Unstoppable

If Taking of Pelham 1 2 3 turned a solid profit, 20th Century Fox would be shitting their pants in anticipation for Unstoppable. But it didn't and prospects on this project have gotten more grim (than we last reported) as Denzel Washington has opted out from what would have been his fifth collaboration with director Tony Scott.

Production was supposed to start up this fall but stalled because of disputes over the $100+ million budget as well as salary negotiations with Washington, Scott and Chris Pine. Although the trades indicate that Fox put another offer on the table for Washington to stay onboard, one shouldn't hold their breath as the studio is said to also be looking at other actors to fill the role.

In fact if the film even happens, don't be surprised if Scott or Pine aren't a part of the production either - especially the latter.

Although he's still involved at the moment, the time-table for his participation will shrink if the project continues to lag considering he's contractually committed to at least two more Star Trek installments. Paramount wants the first sequel out by Summer 2011 which means it would be in production sooner rather than later.

'Bruno' Struts It's Stuff

Weekend Actuals (July 10th - July 12th)

1 Bruno $30,619,130
2 Ice Age: Dawn of the Dinosaurs $27,607,497
3 Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen $24,213,875
4 Public Enemies $13,794,240
5 The Proposal $10,603,884
6 The Hangover $9,933,238
7 I Love You Beth Cooper $4,919,433
8 Up $4,715,746
9 My Sister's Keeper $4,294,382
10 The Taking of Pelham 1 2 3 $1,543,516

Natalie Portman Joins THOR!

Ages ago (aka back in March), Nikkie Finke reported that Natalie Portman was up for the female lead in Thor. From early drafts, we all believed that to be Sif, Thor's love and an Asgardian warrior goddess. This (combined with the news from Kevin Feige saying that there would be no Dr Donald Blake) had all Thor fans assuming that Jane Foster (the earthly love interest of our hero god) would not be in the Kenneth Branagh directed epic.

But "Not so fast!" says Marvel Studios. They've just announced that Natalie Portman will indeed be in Thor, and she will star as Dr Jane Foster along the already cast Chris Hemsworth ("You may remember him from such roles as Captain Kirk's doomed father in this summer's smash Star Trek!") as the title character, Tom Hiddleston as the villainous god Loki and Brian Blessed as Odin.

Read the full announcement here

John Malkovich talks Jonah Hex

For my money, everything we've heard and seen about the Jonah Hex movie has been kick ass. One thing has always bothered me, though. We kept hearing talk that it would be a supernatural western instead of a straight western, which would be my preference.  You'll note below that John Malkovich makes no references to any otherworldlyness taking place.

Anyway, Empire Magazine's Damon Wise recently got to speak with Malkovich at the Kralovy Vary film festival in the Czech Republic. Here's what he had to say about how he got role of Quentin Turnbull

"I love Josh Brolin – he's a friend of mine," Malkovich told us,"and he said, 'Would you be interested?' And I like the guy, Jimmy Hayward, who's directing him, so I said, 'Sure.' "

Jonah Hex in addition to Josh Brolin, and John Malkovich, will star Michael Shannon, Megan Fox, and Michael Fassbender.  You can read the Empire article in its entirety here

Movie Moan - Phil's Balls & Franchise News

We figured since it was such a big week in terms of franchise news, we'd have a special guest. That's right, folks! TMT co-owner/operator Peter Georgiou joins Phil, Jamie and Ed on the latest edition of Movie Moan.

And yes, with "Balls" being in the title of this week's podcast, we're referring to Bruno which Phil and Ed have both seen and review for us. Jamie sadly couldn't catch it (damn local theatre chain!) and Peter opted out.

Our heroes also go into detail discussing big news-items including Ryan Reynolds being picked to headline Green Lantern, the fact that we might get the next Superman film sooner rather than later with the recent "2011 or else!" court decision, Jack Ryan's cinematic return (cut to: Phil and Jamie's rare nerdgasming over fantasy-casting James Marsden) and Spider-Man 4 getting yet another screenwriter on board.

All of that, plus reactions to the new trailers for Big Fan, District 9 and Jennifer's Body, footage from the forthcoming Gatchaman animated film being unveiled and Ed and Peter's discussion on the Ginger Snaps film-series.

Movie Moan - Phil's Balls & Franchise News

Green Lantern Is Officially Reynold's Gig

Props go out to US Magazine for being the ones to call this via mere hours ago.

Now the trades have officially confirmed that Ryan Reynolds will in fact yield the power ring as Hal Jordan in Green Lantern. I guess this in its own right tells us that the Deadpool spin-off film (that incidentally Reynolds was the only person talking up to the press) will go the way of Justice League: Mortal.

I was bullshitting with fellow TMT writer Sean Gerski about an hour ago about a number of forthcoming comic-book properties. And when the topic of Lantern arose, he (to his credit) confidently stated that it would be Reynolds. Let's see if Sean's other prediction(s) end up happening...

With their leading man set in stone and ready to done the black and green suit, production is now slated commence filming in Australia this coming January under the direction of Martin Campbell who successfully introduced the world to the last two James Bonds as well as the under-rated Mask of Zorro.

Although I've liked Reynolds fine in what I've seen him in, I never particularly "got" his appeal. Not to mention, the constant mentions of his name from fan-boys anytime a comic-book is optioned by a studio for a blockbuster tentpole.

That said, I've always been one to give the filmmakers the benefit of the doubt. I did so with Christopher Nolan on Batman, Sam Raimi on Spider-Man, Bryan Singer on X-Men and Superman, etc. So I trust that everyone involved with Green Lantern know what they're doing...