Bruno Gets NC-17 Rating

And to think I was wondering just when the Hell we'd hear about Sasha Boran Cohen's Bruno.

A few months back, Universal quietly moved Sacha Baron Cohen's Borat follow-up from it's May 2009 release to July 10. Well it's almost April so it's about time for the campaign to kick off - still surprised they didn't do a Super Bowl TV spot to be honest.

The Wrap reports that the docu-comedy has been given the kiss of death by the MPAA - aka an NC-17 rating upon it's first submission.

Not surprisingly, the big to-do with the ratings-board was sex. Or more specifically the title character, an openly-gay Austrian fashion expert/TV interviewer, having his way with another man before our very eyes.

Gasp! I am shocked the MPAA is prudish towards sex - never seen that before! *Rolls eyes*

Of course, Cohen & Co. will have to make the required cuts and resubmit the film. That or they can appeal like Kevin Smith did last year with Zack & Miri Make a Porno...and won!

Nonetheless, this gives the film more publicity leading up to it's July 10 release and we can all already smell the "Outrageous Unrated DVD!"

Abrams Sticking with Paramount

Paramount has just given J.J. Abrams a big vote of confidence.

The studio has decided to extend their partnership with Abrams and his Bad Robot production company now through 2013.

Abrams currently has an exclusivity deal regarding film-related properties with them. Meanwhile he has a similar television exclusive deal set up over at Warner Brothers. Thus why he's earning big bucks from shows like Lost and films like Star Trek con-currently.

The fact that said deal has been inked a little over a month before Abrams' Trek "requel" beams into theaters shouldn't be a coincidence. Although the film won't be officially screened for critics for another two weeks, Paramount has to already know they might have a big hit on their hands and want to pertain the services of Abrams & Co. for any sequel(s) ASAP.

Even if Star Trek turns out be a box-office monster, I can't see Abrams returning to the director's chair for the sequel. I could certainly be wrong however - just a hunch on my part.

Farrelly Brothers Have Their Stooges

When the Farrelly Brothers were announced to write and direct a 3 Stooges film, it made sense given their brand of comedy. That, and they badly need a hit after their last number of films have been box-office misfires.

What sounded like total Internet bullshit was the story making the rounds a few months back that Sean Penn had been cast as Larry and was already hard at work to "perfect" the character.

Well, I have to eat my words. Variety reports that not only is Penn set to play Larry, but Jim Carrey is hammering out a deal to play Curly (apparently he's already getting ready to put on the required 40 pounds to look the part - Yeah, like that will be hard to accomplish!) and Benicio Del Toro is about this close to being cast as their "leader" Moe.

Don't get me wrong, they're all great actors and their involvement does make me want to see how they'll do pocking and slapping one another around. But honestly if this wasn't coming from Variety, I'd have thought it was a hoax.

And I can already imagine this will end up being a huge money-maker next year.

Tom Hanks is a Toy...Again

It's a high-time for 80s nostalgia with stuff like Transformers and G.I. Joe now turned into $100+ million film franchises. Not to mention, pre-existing ones like Die Hard, Rambo and possibly Ghostbusters being revived with new films. Hell, I'm waiting for the inevitable Huey Lewis & the New comeback.

Now it sounds like Tom Hanks & Co. want their own childhood memories revisited on the silver screen. Universal is developing a film adaptation of Major Matt Mason based on a now-defunct toy-line dating back to the 1960s. I'll have to ask my ol man if he remembers those toys.

Hanks will play the title character - an astronaut living on the Moon and presumably getting into adventures in space while Speed screenwriter Graham Yost performs writing duties.

Where usually I'd shrug the prospects of reviving yet another toy-line, I have to admit I'm intrigued by the aspect of Hanks' involvement.

Movie Moan - The Naked Moan

On this week's Movie Moan, Phil and Jamie discuss the casting rumor(s) for Green Lantern as well as the new revelation regarding the ending to Terminator: Salvation.

Also on topic is the news of Transformers 3 being announced, both Moaners eat crow and call whether or not the film will be released for 2011 or 2012. Phil goes into detail on a film series close to his heart - The Naked Gun and the prospects of a fourth direct-to-video installment ever seeing the greenlight (and where our dear Leslie Nielsen stands in all of this!)

And because they love to go on off-topic bullshit (mostly Jamie), our heroes chat about Resident Evil, the Super Mario series and Kung-Fu(!?!)

Movie Moan - The Naked Moan

Bryan Singer Might Stick with the Thriller Genre

Some would argue that Bryan Singer just got out of "director's jail" upon the release of Valkyrie last Christmas after the "Meh" reception from his Superman Returns. While others would say he still hasn't gotten out as well as those of the opinion Singer hasn't come close to getting "jailed"...yet.

Nonetheless, Valkyrie turned out be a surprise critical and box-office success (given it's nearly two years of bad publicity) and it appears the director is opting to stay in the "thriller" genre instead of heading back to mega-budget tentpoles such as the oft-mentioned Superman follow-up.

Singer is said to be eyeing the Mark Wahlberg-attached project The Prisoners from a "buzzed about" spec script detailing a Bostonian out to track down his daughter's kidnappers.

Even though I'm a fan of Singer's X-Men films and Superman Returns and would love to see him "go all Wrath of Khan" on the Unleashed sequel, it's a smart move. The man knows how to make a solid thriller - you could hear a pin drop when I saw Valkyrie with a packed audience, and we already knew the damned ending going into it!

Avatar Footage Screened to Time Magazine

James Cameron's 3-D sci-fi epic Avatar is probably the 3rd most anticipated "Geek movie" of 2009 - the other two being Watchmen which opened three weeks back and J.J. Abrams' Star Trek "requel" which has another two months till release.

That said, I'm still waiting to see photos or actual footage from said top-secret film before I hype myself up or anything. Don't get me wrong, it's exciting to see Cameron back behind the camera and returning to the genre that made him rich and famous to begin with - before "the boat movie" that is.

Hell, I remember hearing Cameron talk about Avatar on Sci-Fi Buzz back in the mid-90s and being amazed at the prospects of an entire film made up of 100% computer-generated actors. Don't laugh, kids. It was a much bigger deal back then!

Now in a piece detailing 3-D technology and its future in films, Time Magazine reveals that they've seen footage from Cameron's epic:

I couldn't tell what was real and what was animated--even knowing that the 9-ft.-tall blue, dappled dude couldn't possibly be real. The scenes were so startling and absorbing that the following morning, I had the peculiar sensation of wanting to return there, as if Pandora were real.

That sounds all well and good. But I just hope this isn't a repeat of what happened with Watchmen where everyone (well...most people) nerdgasmed themselves into believing it was going to be this huge money-maker...and as it turned out the general public didn't give a shit.

Nonetheless, I'll definitely be first in line this Christmas - probably take my dad. He's the one who got me into science-fiction and Cameron to boot.

"Transformers 3 Coming July 2011" = News to Michael Bay

When the news hit 24 hours ago that Paramount and DreamWorks were moving forward with Transformers 3 for a July 2011 release, my partner-in-crime here at Think McFly Think Peter Georgiou remarked, "Yeah and I'd bet dollars to donuts either Bay or Kurtzman and Orci aren't involved given the time-table to get that out!"

Now either Peter has psychic abilities or great minds merely think alike as series-director Michael Bay has come out on his forum crying foul on said news-item:

I said I was taking off a year from Transformers. Paramount made a mistake in dating Transformers 3 - they asked me on the phone - I said yes to July 4 - but for 2012 - whoops! Not 2011!!! That would mean I would have to start prep in September. No way. My brain needs a break from fighting robots.

Michael

Is it possible the studio mistakenly said 2011 instead of 2012? Certainly, but I find that hard to believe. Bay's a pretty savvy guy and knows how to play the game.

It sounds to me like Bay and Paramount/DreamWorks are playing a game of "Chicken!" waiting to see who will flinch first. Then again, maybe I'm reading too much into this.

Transformers 3 Coming July 2011

It won't hit cinemas for another three months, but it seems all but assured that Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen will be the top-grossing film of Summer 2009.

Apparently, Paramount and DreamWorks seem to think so too.

A third installment of the popular "giant robots that beat the shit outta each other" franchise has been officially announced for a July 1, 2011 release.

No further information was made available such as whether or not actors Shia LaBeouf and Megan Fox or series-director Michael Bay would return.

Granted, the actors was already contractually committed to three films and Bay said at the Friday the 13th premiere a few months back that he wasn't against helming another film, but it would have to after taking a year long break.

Spider-Man 4 Non-Updates From Sam Raimi

If one is to believe the advanced word of mouth (and I certainly do especially after seeing the great trailer last week), then Sam Raimi has got his "A-game" back with his horror film Drag Me To Hell.

Now with his energy reclaimed, Raimi's headed right back to the franchise that brought him success and power in Hollywood - Spider-Man.

Honestly, the fourth installment is in the "I'll believe it when I see it" category. Granted, the last film made $900 million despite its negative reception and a May 6, 2011 release was officially announced last week for Spider-Man 4.

Raimi gave the same non-answer we've heard before to MTV Movies Blog concerning his "hope" of bringing Kirsten Dunst back as Webhead's main-squeeze Mary Jane Watson despite the fact that damn-near everyone else wants her gone.

To be fair however, he did confirm that they are not developing two Spider sequels at once as previously rumored.

Meanwhile, he told IGN Films that the film is still in the "earliest stages" of writing. That's certainly interesting considering that Pulitzer Prize winner David Lindsay-Abaire was hired last November. Surely it's further along than that - unless said writer is off the project and they've moved on to someone else. *Shrugs*