Cruise vs Denzel for Cronenberg ?

Last year it was announced that Denzel Washington was signed on to star in the adaption of the Robert Ludlum espionage thriller 'The Matarese Circle', it was later that David Cronenberg came on board to direct. Now Variety has revealed that Tom Cruise is in talks to join the project as well.

Some may remember that last year Cruise and Washington were set to star together in 'The 28th Amendment' but that whole film fell through and sadly remains in development hell.

Cruise and Washington would be going head to head as the plot sees two long time enemy spies, one Russian and one American in the book, forced to team together to take on a shadowy group of conspirators known as The Matarese. Quite how the contemporary updating by writers Michael Brandt and Derek Haas will effect this remains to be seen, but if Cruise is to be a Russian I hope he uses an accent.

Cronenberg has been getting more mainstream with his last two films 'A History of Violence' and 'Eastern Promises', and this is an even bigger step in that direction.

The film is set up at MGM and they are eyeing a start later this year to position it as their marquee movie for 2010. Denzel is up later this year in 'The Taking of Pelham 1,2,3' and has 'The Book of Eli' to make next, while Cruise is expected to next be seen in the 'The Tourist' with Charlize Theron.

Personally I am a fan of both actors and this genre of movie so I am very excited for this one, and while Cronenberg's older stuff is not to my tastes i have enjoyed his last two films, lets hope this one actually happens unlike the previous non-starting Denzel/Cruise vehicle.

Just Not That Into Liam

Last weekend Jennifer Anniston and company pushed Liam Neeson's "Taken "into the second spot with their hit "He's Just Not That Into You". Another romantic comedy, "Confessions of a Shopaholic" will provide some direct competition. "Friday the 13th" will look to slash its way to the top along with Clive Owen's "The International".

Weekend Actuals (Feb. 6 - Feb 8)

1 He's Just Not That Into You $27,785,487
2 Taken $20,547,346
3 Coraline $16,849,640
4 The Pink Panther 2 $11,588,150
5 Paul Blart: Mall Cop $10,884,825
6 Push Sum. $10,079,109
7 Slumdog Millionaire $7,177,270
8 Gran Torino $7,155,339
9 The Uninvited $6,262,651
10 Hotel for Dogs $5,711,229

Inglorious Basterds Trailer

So the trailer has arrived for Quentin Tarantino's long awaited 'Inglorious Basterds' and personally I think it looks....ok. It certainly has a more quirky edge to it than most war movies and there are some nicely lit Peckinpah-esque action shots, but I find Pitt's speech grating and a touch goofy, and the way the trailer is cut with the blood splattered snippets of hyperbole comes off like a cheesy B movie . Maybe the full trailerwill inspire more interest for me but right now it's on the lower end of my must see list for this year.

'Inglorious Basterds' opens August 21st and you can check the trailer out below.

The Wachowskis Directing Superman?

Aint-It-Cool-News big-cheese Harry Knowles has scored one Helluva rumor from a long-time source.

While conducting a television interview in Germany for his forthcoming film Ninja Assassins, director James McTeigue is said to have revealed that Warner Brothers has offered the Wachowskis the chance to direct a reboot Superman trilogy(!)

The Matrix-helming duo are said to be "currently reviewing their options as its like being asked to take the final play in a superbowl final."

This would be the perfect move for the studio to make - two years ago.

The problem is last year's Speed Racer was such a massive flop that I can't see Warner Brothers willing to hand over the Superman film-series to the Wachowskis now.

Then again, this could be one of those "So crazy, it's actually true" rumors!

But for the moment, we'll file this in the "Rumor" bin.

Nolan Readies Inception

After he directed, co-wrote and produced the second highest-grossing film of all-time (that'd be The Dark Knight), there wasn't a doubt in anyone's mind that Christopher Nolan was going to get make whatever the Hell he wanted for his next project.

And surprisingly (well, to some), it isn't Batman III.

Nolan is hard at work on Inception (which he also wrote) for Warner Brothers.

Mum's the word on plot other than it will be a sci-fi action film "set within the architecture of the mind" with a summer 2010 release being targeted.

No doubt, there will be those who bitch and moan about this pushing back the release of Batman III a year.

Get over it.

It was the best thing for Nolan to do - nobody wants another Spider-Man 3! Plus, the guy was a great filmmaker before ever getting involved with the Batman franchise.

Another Star Trek Trailer Coming Soon

After all the build-up, hype and anticipation from us nerds over the last two years or so, it's weird to think that J.J. Abrams' Star Trek "requel" will beam into theatres in only a matter of months now.

So it's time for Paramount Pictures to get the marketing behind the film into full-gear with the announcement that a third trailer will arrive in the next few weeks.

The trailer will be officially unveiled on the silver screen in front of Zack Snyder's Watchmen - that's gonna be a big night for nerds across the U.S. on March 6.

The following Monday (that'd be March 9) it will show up online on both both Apple.com Trailers in HD (that'd be here) and the official website for the new film (right in this direction!)

Pelham Poster!

JoBlo has gotten an exclusive on the poster for Tony Scott's 'The Taking of Pelham 1,2,3' remake, starring Denzel Washington and John Travolta. Personally I like it, it has an oldschool action movie poster look to it and I dig the atmospheric shading.

'The Taking of Pelham 1,2,3' sees John Travoltas master criminal highjack a subaway train in New York and then pit wits with Denzel Washington's subway dispatcher as he tries to get his ransom money, threatening to murder the hostages.

The movie hits screens on June 12th.

Michael Bay Gives Transformers 2 Updates

Does it seem all but assured that Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen will wind up being the top-grossing film of 2009?

Honest to God, I can't imagine another film coming out in the next 11 months toppling the Transformers sequel at the box-office. Mind you, this is coming from someone who hated Michael Bay's sci-fi action epic back in July '07.

Nonetheless, the good folks over at Collider were able to nab down Bay for a few minutes at the premiere of Friday the 13th last night - which not coincidentally he produced via his Platinum Dunes production company.

Among the scoops Bay provided were that 3 sequences have been filmed in IMAX ("It's different when you see Optimus Prime fighting in IMAX - just very different!"), more "personality" to the robots this time out and that the sequel will be considerably darker compared to the first film.

And if there's indeed a Transformers 3, it will have to wait a bit to get going because Bay plans to take a year off once the sequel hits theatres this coming June. Fair enough.

I do recall last year Bay saying he planned to make his sequel stand-alone - i.e. no "To Be Continued..." cliff-hangers like Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Man's Chest, The Matrix Reloaded and, yes Back to the Future Part II.

Then again, he's also made it a point to intentionally spread B.S. rumors in order to throw everyone off - which I actually think is pretty damn cool, but maybe that's just me.

To check out the full video interview, click here.

Inglourious Basterds preview from ET

ET has a brief bit of footage from the trailer for Tarantino's latest 'Inglourious Basterds. The WWII Nazi hunter flick is due out August 21st and is set to premiere at Cannes in May. Ive read the script and while it suffers from the usual QT oenchant for no likable characters, I think it's his best to date, hopefully he can translate some of the more graphic parts into the movie with aplomb as opposed to heavy handedness.

The full trailer is due tomorrow, you can check the ET excerpt from it out below.

 Inglourious Basterds Footage!

Exclusive: Is Scott Porter In the Running for the Flash?

A week or so back, our friends at IESB received word that Dan Mazeau (whose Johnny Quest script really impressed Warner Brothers) was tapped to write The Flash.

Now even as Mazeau is typing away at the script, the studio is already looking at two actors as possible candidates to done the red-and-gold suit.

We've received word from a very-reliable source that actor Scott Porter (formerly of the critically-acclaimed television-series Friday Night Lights) is one of those actors.

If you'll remember back in the Fall of 2007, Porter auditioned for director George Miller for his (now dead) Justice League: Mortal and was said to be a top candidate for Superman.

The word is the studio has been quietly keeping their eye on the actor, and been keen to include him in one of their DC properties since JLM fell through.