Movie Moan - PHIL SMASH! ! !

It was inevitable, folks. Something was going to send our English gentleman Phil Gee in a Hulk-style rage and surprisingly it had to do with the "In Memoriam" section at last week's Academy Awards ceremony(!)

Along with that on this week's Movie Moan, Phil and Jamie give their final predictions on exactly how much Watchmen will do this coming weekend. Jamie has a nerdgasm over the thought of an Arrested Development film finally happening and our heroes briefly get into the news of a Total Recall remake getting made.

Also Phil goes into details over Grand Torino including the "subtleties" of Clint Eastwood's films and his pure hatred for the recent Clive Owen turkey (or "cinematic nappy" as its referred) The International.

Movie Moan - PHIL SMASH! ! !

News, Rumors & 100% Grade-A Internet Bullshit - February 27, 2009

-Wow, I guess Fox was serious about taking over the Narnia franchise after Disney dropped it like a bad habit last Christmas. The studio has handed writing duties for The Chronicles of Narnia: The Voyage of the Dawn Treader to Michael Petroni.

-While at a panel for his forthcoming animated-series Sit Down, Shut Up, Mitchell Hurwitz remains cryptic towards the Arrested Development film other than to say that it will happen and that "everyone who has agreed to make this movie has agreed to make this movie." Sounds like he's confirming those rumors of Michael Cera returning...without specifically saying just that.

-I guess there's only so much money one can make whilst dressed in a fat suit. Eddie Murphy is attached to play the late great comedian Richard Pryor in a script being shopped around Hollywood by his Dreamgirls director Bill Condon.

-When it's all said and done, Scott Pilgrim vs. the World will probably end up being the coolest film of next year. This project keeps sounding better and better as the days pass. And now Matrix and Spider-Man 2 director-of-photography Bill Pope has joined the production which began filming earlier this week.

Friday the 13th Sequel On the Way

The much-hyped Friday the 13th reboot opened to a killer $40+ million - no pun intended. And there after it plummeted 80% by the second weekend.

Nonetheless, the film has still made a fortune for Warner Brothers (via New Line Cinema) and Platinum Dunes. So not surprisingly, Jason Voorhees will return for a sequel.

Although the details are a bit sketchy (the companies are putting their energy towards the soon-to-be filming Nightmare on Elm Street reboot) and a greenlight has yet to be given.

What is known is that the sequel won't be recycling plot elements from previous installments unlike the still-in-theatres reboot which picked and chose from the first four films in the original series.

And it's a question-mark as to whether or not Jared Padalecki and Amanda Righetti (who were the lone survivors at the end of the reboot) or director Marcus Nispel will return.

My guess is the answer will be, "No."

Drew Barrymore & Twilight - Together At Last?

The fact that Summit Entertainment is fast-tracking two Twilight sequels to be released a mere six-odd months apart doesn't speak well for the series' longevity.

And while they've got Chris Weitz already up to his eyeballs on New Moon, they've yet to commit themselves to a director for Eclipse.

As per Entertainment Weekly, the company has a short list of potential directors for the gig. Interestingly, one of them is actress Drew Barrymore(!?!)

The Charlie's Angels star has only film under her belt as a director, and it literally just finished principal photography - the comedy Whip It! with Juno's Ellen Page.

Maybe, there's something Summit sees in Barrymore that we're blind to. Or maybe they just need to hire a director for the third Twilight installment ASAP!

A Green Lantern Surfaces

Now that Warner Brothers has committed the sci-fi superhero epic Green Lantern to a December 17, 2010 release and has all be nabbed down Martin Campbell for directing duties, it's time to get things focused on who will play Hal Jordan.

The good folks down at Latino Review had previously reported that Ryan Gosling was a contender who subsequently passed on the role. Ditto that of Speed Racer's Emile Hirsch and Sam Worthington whose Clash of the Titans remake interfered with Lantern's shooting schedule.

And now word has reached their ears that a new candidate has surfaced: Anton Yelchin who will soon be seen as the new Chekvo in J.J. Abrams' "requel" Star Trek and Warner Brothers' very own Terminator: Salvation as a young Kyle Reese.

I'm sure he's a decent actor and all. But he definitely strikes me as a bit...young for Jordan - too much so in fact. That said, it's possible the on-going rewrites have addressed the age-issue.

Nonetheless, Warner Brothers hasn't 100% committed themselves to Yelchin...yet. So it's nothing to get worked up over at the moment.

Update: Latino Review's sources are indicating that the producers "REALLY" want Ryan Gosling to portray Hal Jordan and that another offer will be made to him - despite the fact they expect him to decline said offer again.

News, Rumors & 100% Grade-A Internet Bullshit - February 26, 2009

-God help us all. Fox has renewed The Simpsons for two additional seasons ordering 44 episodes. When said deal is done, the long-running animated series will have had 493(!) episodes under it's belt. C'mon 600!

-CHUD's Devin Faraci reports that Samuel L. Jackson will be the first of many actors committing to nine-picture deals with Marvel Films.

-Dead of Night has begun production after multiple delays in New Orleans under the direction of Kevin Munroe (TMNT) and staring Superman Brandon Routh as Italian cult comic hero Dylan Dog. In addition, recent "Best Makeup" Oscar winner Greg Cannom (for The Curious Case of Benjamin Button) and producer Gil Adler (behind Superman Returns and possibly its Unleashed sequel) have joined the production.

-The good folks over at Shock Till You Drop have the exclusive first photo from H2 - Rob Zombie's sequel to his 2007 Halloween remake.

-Warner Brothers, the Kennedy/Marshall Company and Appian Way are toying around with remaking The Neverending Story.

-After almost destroying the Superman, Batman and other DC film properties with the now-aborted Justice League: Mortal, producer Dan Lin and Warner Brothers have moved on to develop the more super villain-focused property Suicide Squad. Screenwriter Justin Marks (whose already up to his eyeballs on McG's 20,000 Leagues Under the Sea: Captain Nemo) has been tapped for writing duties.

Total Remake

Sure, we all love to do our Schwarzenegger impressions and what not.

But dammit, the man had quiet a track-record back in the day including Paul Verhoeven's brilliant sci-fi actioner Total Recall - for my money, a film that still holds up to this day.

So of course, it's time to remake it.

This new "contemporary" version of Recall (which itself was an adaptation of a Phillip K. Dick-penned short story "We Can Remember It for You Wholesale") is being developed through Columbia Pictures and Original Films.

I can already imagine this new take will be void of the whole "Is this reality or a dream?" question that lingered all throughout Recall, and was rightly never answered.

Samuel L Jackson Will Be Nick Fury Again After All

In a rather surprising move, Samuel L. Jackson and Marvel Films have kissed and made up after a much publicized squalling over money from a month or so back.

Jackson has inked a multi-picture deal (read: nine films) with Marvel to reprise his performance of S.H.I.E.L.D. leader and all-around bad ass Nick Fury from his post-credits cameo in Iron Man.

We'll next see Fury appear in a presumably-beefier role in next summer's Iron Man 2 and Kenneth Branagh's Thor. Then of course, there's Captain America and Avenbers - both currently scheduled for Summer 2011 releases.

Considering how everything worked out for ol Sam, I wonder if we'll be seeing Mickey Rourke show up in Iron Man 2 after all.

Will Gore Verbinski Do to the Board-Game What He Did to Pirates?

When you have film versions of Monopoly and Candy-Land in development, I suppose it was a matter of time before studios got the bright idea of adapting Clue...again.

For all of you non-nerds out there, there was already a film made back in 1985 produced by the late Debra Hill and John Landis and a cast including Tim Curry, Christopher Lloyd, Madeline Kahn and Michael McKean.

Universal has now tapped Pirates of the Caribbean director Gore Verbinski to develop the Hasbro board-game into a feature-length film.

Anyone else ready to start fantasy-casting? Who should play Colonel Mustard or Mrs. Peacock?

Arrested Development Film Just Got Further Ahead

I must confess that I've been purposefully trying to stay the Hell away from talking about the oft-mentioned Arrested Development film.

Honestly, besides the next Superman installment (whether it's a sequel, reboot, requel, whatever), a feature-length theatrical version of Arrested Development is the one "name" film I've been looking forward to!

The thing is though it's never been a "Sure thing" as much as people would like to believe. Series-creator Mitchell Hurwitz (who will write and direct the film) has said on multiple occasions that he needed commitments from the entire cast before going off and banging out the script.

And for the longest time, Michael Cera has been the lone holdout until now it seems.

E! Online's Kristin Dos Santos reports that the Scott Pilgrim vs. the World star has agreed to participate in the film along with fellow cast-members Jason Bateman, Jeffrey Tambor, Will Arnett, Portia de Rossi, Tony Hale, Alia Shawkat, Jessica Walter and David Cross.

And if everything works out as planned, filming could commence by the end of this year.

Because I'm pumped by this news, I'm going to re-watch the series to "prepare myself" for the film. Who the Hell am I kidding? That show is so damn good I would have done that regardless!