"Batman 3" and "The Flash" Updates

Our pals over at IESB got updates on two DC Comic properties - one a no-brainer to damn-near everyone and the other...not so much.

As per their sources, director Christopher Nolan, his brother Jonathan and David Goyer are already hard at work on Batman 3 - which is said to be in the early writing stages.

Meanwhile, Warner Brothers (apparently impressed with his Johnny Quest script) has tapped Dan Mazeau to pen The Flash.

When questioned on both properties, producer Chuck Roven was coy - neither confirming or denying said rumors.

Robert Rodriquez Developing "Predator" Reboot

Now mind you, I've never been a fan of Predator, its 1990 sequel or the Alien Vs. Predator "spin-off" films. So why should I care honestly?

I'll give you that, folks. But come on, making a kick-ass sequel is a more inspired notion than just rebooting that franchise altogether.

And now the good folks over at Bloody-Disgusting have a nice juicy scoop on whose working on the project:

A reliable source dropped us a line revealing to us that Robert Rodriquez and his Troublemaker Studios will be producing the Predator reboot for 20th Century Fox. Now here' the kicker, the pitch being sent around town implies that the reboot will have more than one predator.

I could have sworn I remember reading that Rodriquez had previously written up a Predator 3 script back in the mid-90s for Arnold Schwarzenegger and Danny Glover's characters (from the previous films) traveling to the Predator home-planet.

Anyone else remember hearing about that?

Fox Saves "Narnia!"

It was just a month ago that Disney officially plugged the plug on the third installment of the Chronicles of Narnia series The Voyage of the Dawn Treader leaving Walden Media (the production company behind the films) drastically searching for another studio.

Not to mention, it was announced on Christmas Eve of all times - damn, that's cold!

In a move many predicted would occur, 20th Century Fox (whose had an actively working relationship with Walden in the past) has stepped in to save the day.

Granted, I always thought Peter's suggestion of Warner Brothers and Legendary Pictures picking up the tab for Dawn Treader was damn brillant, but alas.

Fox and Walden are currently working out the budget which will reportedly be in the ball-park of $140 million - which was more than Disney was willing to put in Treader but a far cry from the $180 and $220 million on the previous Narnia films!

And the fact that Fox plans on a November/December 2010 release shows they know what they're doing.

Regardless of what one thought of the last film Prince Caspian, the fact that Disney actually put that out front-and-center during the Summer film season was...dumb, to put it nicely.

Don't want the Mouse to sue me!

Dylan Dog Stars Pre-Production

It was (literally) yesterday when director Kevin Munroe confirmed that Dead of Night (his film based on the Italian cult-comic character Dylan Dog being played by Superman Brandon Routh) had finally secured the proper funds to move forward.

Now comes official word from Platinum Studios (the production company behind said film) confirming the project is in fact now moving foward with filming set to commence in the coming months on location in New Orleans:

The Platinum Gazette January 2009

LETTER FROM THE PRESIDENT (Brian Altounian)
This week will mark the close of financing and the formal start of pre-production on our feature film, Dead of Night, based on the Italian comic character, Dylan Dog, a project you have all been following through our press releases and SEC filings. Think of the story as a cross between James Bond and Underworld — Dylan is a private investigator who is reluctantly dragged into a fight between zombies, werewolves and vampires. Like most Hollywood film projects, this film has seen many starts and stops. To expedite the process of closing the financing, Platinum Studios has taken over the production entity responsible for producing the film.

In a down economy and with banks and other financiers sitting on the sidelines of Hollywood, we think it says a lot about our tenacity and capability that we will soon be in production on our own film from our own IP library, for which we have secured outside, independent financing. We expect to begin principal photography in New Orleans next month, with an anticipated release of Spring 2010. This is very exciting for us.

Good to see this project finally going ahead after multiple stop-and-goes. The idea of Superman (well specifically Routh) fighting vampires and killing zombies sounds just too damn cool to pass up.

We'll keep an eye out for any further developments on this project.

And a special shout-out to our pal Double-Down (over at the Superhero Hype! board) for giving us a heads-up on the news.

"Tomb Raider" Reboot Confirmed!

Mere days ago, a Spanish website claimed that Transformers star (and all around sex-Goddess) Megan Fox was in the running to replace Angelina Jolie for a third Tomb Raider film.

Of course, it sounded like 100% Grade-A B.S. and Fox's own spokesperson quickly shot down the story thus ending any further talks of another Lara Croft adventure.

However now as per The Hollywood Reporter, Warner Brothers has announced plans to continue with the franchise by starting from scratch with a reboot!

Long story short, Paramount (who had previously held the rights) let them lapse which went right back to Eidos - the British company responsible for creating the original video game series.

Warner Brothers in turn bought up big shares of Eidos thus retailing the film rights for Tomb Raider as a part of the package.

And now they have the property set up with Dan Lin to produce. For those who don't know, Lin was the man responsible for Justice League: Mortal almost getting made. Thank your lucky stars that didn't happen, boys & girls!

At the moment, Lin and the studio-heads are actively meeting with directors and screenwriters about how to bring Croft back to the silver screen.

While we're all here, I'll just go ahead and suggest actress Rhonda Mitra - she's currently headlining Underworld: Rise of the Lycans and also appeared in last year's Doomsday and had a stinct of TVs Boston Legal.

Batman 3 Ready for 2011?

Michael Uslan's really been in the news lately.

First the producer's long-in-development Shazam! was declared DOA by it's screenwriter John August (only for Uslan to turn around and deny all claims!)

Then last week, he was giving MTV details on The Shadow.

And now in a nice little piece in The Courier Post chronicling his career, Uslan gave tiny tidbits on the currently-untitled sequel to Batman Begins and The Dark Knight - we're all just calling it Batman 3 for the time being:

Uslan will be onboard as executive producer for the "Dark Knight" sequel, which he estimates will be theaters by 2011. As for the identity of the next round of Batman's supervillains and love interests, Uslan remains tight-lipped. "It's one of those deals where if I told you, I'd have to kill you," he says with a chuckle.

Although Warner Brothers has yet to even officially announce Batman 3, everyone was assuming we'd be looking at a release around 2011/2012.

So this news shouldn't strike anyone as surprising.

"Torso" In Trouble

Despite it having David Fincher at the helm and the likes of Matt Damon, Casey Affleck and Rachel McAdams attached, Paramount has opted to let the film rights of the graphic novel Torso expire.

The project, which has since been re-titled Ness, has been in development at the studio since early 2006 and Fincher (coming off the success of The Curious Case of Benjamin Button) has been keen to get rolling on the production.

According to The Hollywood Reporter, Paramount is considering re-obtaining the rights from the graphic novel's creators.

Considering that money is tight for everyone right now and Fincher's last two productions (2007's under-rated Zodiac and Button) were insanely-expensive endeavors, I can certainly sympathize with the studio on this decision.

Mind you, I'm also disappointed by this development because this was actually a project I was looking forward to.

Of course, there is also the chance that another studio could opt to pick up the film-rights if negotiations between Paramount and Brian Michael Bendis & Mark Andreyko (the creators of said graphic novel) go sour.

Update on Fri, January 23, 2009 by Rob Hunter

Like Jamie I find this news disappointing but understand the rising costs and subsequent low returns of Fincher's latest works. However this is his genre and combined with the star power of Damon and the fact Ness is an American icon, I am sure another big studio will take the project on.

Which studio is most likely though ? I am not connected nor an expert but WB seems a good fit to me, they are really getting behind ambitious projects, like the big bankrolls and creative freedoms they gave movies such as TDK, Blood Diamond and Terminator Salvation. Fincher budgeted 'Ness' at North of $100M but I think he can make it pay off for both the studio and film fans.

Mike Mignola Joining "The Hobbit" Production

I'm actually surprised at how much director Guillermo del Toro, Peter Jackson & Co. have kept The Hobbit and the currently untitled Lord of the Rings "bridge" film under-wraps.

Now, I say that in a good way. It's actually fun to ponder what's going on down in Middle-Earth (aka New Zealand where the films are currently being prepped!)

With that in mind, del Toro revealed to MTV that his buddy (and HellBoy creator) Mike Mignola will soon come aboard the productions in the designing departments.

Considering their past collaborations, it'll be interesting to see what del Toro and Mignola think up...

"The Shadow" Updates from Producer Uslan

"Who knows what evil lurks in the hearts of men?"

Apparently, Michael Uslan knows.

The producer behind properties ranging from the Batman and National Treasure film-series is now working on a new film version of The Shadow.

And as he reveals to the MTV Movies Blog:

"I think the one thing going in is we all see The Shadow as more of a force of nature than a specific person in a secret identity. The Shadow may actually be many people.

We’ve gone back to the pulp roots, the comic book roots of The Shadow, with a dash of the radio roots. But we’ve deeply ensconced ourselves in the world of pulps and comics."

Uslan also confirms the project is set up over at Sony for him and Sam Raimi to produce. Presumably, this would be after the oft-rumored Spider-Man 4 - which Raimi may or may not helm.

And the idea of having multiple actors as the title character (in one film, no less) is a concept intriguing enough that I'm game to see!

Gasp! Actors To Receive Smaller Paychecks!

Yesterday, TMT's own Peter Georgiou reported on pink-slips being handed out at Warner Brothers.

Now according to Variety, studios all across the board are having to make cutbacks. Chief among them are the big "movie-star" paychecks being handed out to various name-actors:

Unless you’re Will Smith, Johnny Depp or a handful of others, nobody is earning their quote right now, said dealmakers. Stories of tough negotiations are widespread: Disney asked Nicolas Cage to cut his price on the next 'National Treasure' sequel, and that same studio cut loose a third 'Chronicles of Narnia' film.

Then there is comeback kid Mickey Rourke, who is poised to follow his Golden Globe-winning performance in 'The Wrestler' with an offer to play the main villain in 'Iron Man 2' — but at a lowball opening offer of $250,000 from Marvel; Marvel’s tactics have already prompted Samuel L. Jackson to swear off playing Nick Fury because of a similarly low offer.

Although this isn't exactly the best news (for some reading this!) It's also a bit reassuring that it's just not us "average folk" who are feeling the effects of our current economic predicament - which we will get through!

And to be fair, there are honestly very few actors who trully earn those $20+ million paydays - at least in my opinion.