I am also glad that they went with an unknown too, but for some reason, he really looks like Jason Schwartzman to me.

Ok folks, Jackie's back (and so is Jakal) with a new update...and if you're a fan of the comic book movie, well, there is plenty for you.

20th Century Fox is spinning off Magneto from the X-Men series. It will chronicle his earlier years, and it is said that Professor X will play a big part in the film. It is being written by Sheldon Turner who wrote the Longest Yard remake. Fox is also trying to get Silver Surfer off the ground.

Now, some WB info: the studio is working on a live-action version of the cult anime film Akira. We've been hearing about this one for a long time, but apparently, Warner Brothers is still planning on a Batman vs. Superman film with Andrew Kevin Walker (seven) writing, and Wolfgang Petersen directing. David Goyer is also working on a script for The Flash. The studio is also working on Green Lantern. If you haven't noticed a trend here, Warner Brothers own the rights to the entire DC Comics entity. A couple other WB pics of note; V for Vendetta looks to be very interesting. It is being adapted from the graphic novel about a world where Nazi Germany won WWII. James McTeigue, who was a first AD on Episode II and all three Matrix films will direct. And Icemen, about a secret agency that protects the world from dangerous new inventions, sounds like it could be fun.

Moving on...Kevin Smith is set to direct a feature film version of The Green Hornet. Jet Li had been considered for the role of Kato, made famous by Bruce Lee, and George Clooney had been attached to play the Hornet. David Zucker is busy working on Scary Movie 4 (big surprise) as well as Superhero!. Guess what the last one is about...that's right...a spoof on all the comic book movies that have come out. Jim Carey is set to star as the Six Million Dollar Man for Dimension films as well. The Island sounds pretty interesting. It is being described as The Fugitive meets The Matrix. A number of great actors are starring including Djimon Hounsou, Ewan McGregor, Sean Bean and Steve Buscemi. Michael Bay is directing, so it could be really good, or really bad.

One last film of note that I am VERY happy to hear about...Ghost Soldiers. I read the book, by Hampton Sides, about a year and a half ago and it is absolutely amazing. It is a true story about the very first Army Rangers in WWII and their thrilling attempts to rescue over 500 American P.O.W.'s from a Japanese prison camp on the Philippine Islands. Tom Cruise and Steven Spielberg are attached to this project, so that already shows some promise. Back with more later!

Excellent information Jackie!

I am excited for Kung Fu Hustle, the next Stephen Chow movie. He was the writer/director/star of Shaolin Soccer.

I am also interested in checking out Ong Bak when it gets released here, as it has been re-edited and rescored by Luc Besson. Word is that the star of Ong Bak, Tony Jaa, has signed on to be Jackie Chan's apprentice for Drunken Master 3! Very, very cool, hopefully a return to form for Jackie Chan.

Still have a ton of anticipation for Hitchhikers Guide, checking out the casting recently just amplified it!

Tim Burton's Corpse Bride is set for a fall release, it is apparantly animated a la Nightmare Before Christmas. The voice cast sounds great, Johnny Depp, Helena Bonham-Carter, Emily Watson, Albert Finney, Christopher Lee, Joanna Lumley etc.

Roman Polanski's Oliver Twist should be interesting, don't know if I am excited for it, but certainly intrigued. Ben Kingsley as Fagin is perfect casting, not too many actors today have chops in the Alec Guiness range, but he just might.

George Romero's return to the glorious world of zombie films is imminent, and Land of the Dead should be awesome! Very few "name" actors, I have only noticed John Leguizamo, Dennis Hopper and Asia Argento in the cast. Apparantly the Shaun of the Dead guys will have cameos.

One that I just discovered last night that has me abuzz is The Christian. This is a film based on Laurence Gardner's book Lost Secrets Of The Sacred Ark. "Living Element pictures has optioned his complete library with the aim of developing and producing four features". The first of these being The Christian which is scheduled to begin shooting in February.

Hey, I just noticed I am now an Apprentice Guru! How about that!

I guess that I will mention that both "Star Wars episode III: Revenge of the Sith" and "Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire" come out this year.

The new Star Wars includes the transformation from Skywalker to Darth Vader which I think will be interesting. It is currently in post-production and has a trailer that looks interesting.

They are filming the new Harry Potter movie now, and it will probably have the most action judging by the material that will be used.

"King Kong" will be released in December of this year, and features Jack Black which should be refreshing.

"Doom" will come out sometime in August and will feature Karl Urban from "The Bourne Supremacy" and "The Lord of the Rings" sequels.

"The Son of the Mask" comes out on February 18, and I am very scared about what they will do with a sequel to a hilarious Jim Carrey movie. But I trust Guterman because he directed "Cats and Dogs" which, I thought, was a very funny movie that went under the radar of most adults.

As for animated movies go watch out for "Robots" which is directed by the same people who brought us "Ice Age". And, of course, in respone Walt Disney is releasing "Chicken Little" which looks somewhat funny, but probably not.

Ther will be a "The Ring:two" which is totally unneeeded at this moment, but whatever makes Dreamworks money.

If you want a crap-fest look out for "Miss Congeniality 2: Armed and Fabulous"" which most certainly will be one. OR "XXX:State of the Union" which is another "All action no plot" movie.

In July, there will be a "War of the Worlds" which is reportedly getting a $200 million dollar budget. And "Charlie and the Chocolate Factory" featuring Johnny Depp as Willie Wonka.

Following that there will be "Deuce Bigalow: European Gigolo" which most certainly will suck.

I would mention "Kindgom of Heaven" but it has its own thread.

Thanks for the great information guys. I don't think anyone has mentioned "Sin City" coming out in April. I think it looks very cool.

And how about Sean Penn and Nicole Kidman in "The Interpreter", which is being released later in April. Looks to be a smart and suspenseful thriller.

This also has it's own thread, but "The Lion the Witch and the Wardrobe" looks to have some great potential.

"Pirates of the Carribean 2" is now in the making. I really enjoyed the first one, but I'm not sure what to expect from the sequel.

Hey, I just became an Apprentice Guru too, Smenkharon, pretty cool

Regarding POTC 2 + 3. From what I have read, Chow-Yun-Fat will be playing an oriental pirate, Keith Richards will be playing Johnny Depp's father and Stellan Skarsgaard will be playing Bootstrap Bill, Orlando Bloom's father.

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And "Charlie and the Chocolate Factory" featuring Johnny Depp as Willie Wonka.

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I saw a trailer for it at "Coach Carter" and it actually frightened me about how the movie will be. It seemed to purposefully annoy me and it had a bit of darkness to it, which I guess might mean it is going in the right direction. I guess we must wait and find out.

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Fox is also trying to get _Silver Surfer_ off the ground.

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The Silver Surfer is a great proposition, but fraught with danger.

The urge to introduce FF immediately might be too overwhelming,which would be a great missed opportunity when there is such a huge back story. I know prequals are an option, but I don't like this notion.

It would be great to see Galactus realised, and The Inhumans would be a fun group to deal with (Black Bolt is a great character).

I would also be innerested to know what's happening with "WATCHMEN".

they are actually doin Watchmen? That will be amazing... probably the best and only comic book movie adaption that will make people cry and attract older viewers.

A little bit of info on some interesting projects guys...

David Cronenberg is directing Ed Harris, Maria Bello, Viggo Mortensen and William Hurt in A History Of Violence. The story is about Tom McKenna, played by Harris, who's dark history is dug up after he kills a couple guys that were attempting to rob his diner. It's based on a novel by John Wagner who created Judge Dredd.

Joel Silver will produce the big screen adaptation of the comic Adrenalynn. It is the story of an orphan girl in post cold war Russia who is turned into half cyborg half human and sent to destroy America. It will star Christina Ricci.

No surprise that Halo is in the works. Could be really cool, but I'm a little worried. Microsoft and their subsidiary Bungie are developing the adaptation themselves. We'll see.

Frank Miller's graphic novels are getting pretty poplular these days and his next adaptation could be good. One of my favorite directors, David Fincher, is set to direct Nic Cage in Hard Boiled, the story of a tax collector who discovers he's actually a robot assassin. Joel Silver is also producing this picture.

Neon Genesis Evangelion is an anime series that is being adapted to the big screen. It is based on a 14 year old boy who is predestined to pilot giant mechanized robots that are used to defend earth from alien invaders. I'm sure I'm not doing it justice.

Ben Affleck returns as Jack Ryan in the latest Clancy adaptation, Red Rabbit. The CIA agent will be foiling a plot to assassinate the Pope.

It sounds like the Guy Ritchie we know and love might be back to form for Revolver. The film will star Jason Statham, Ray Liotta and NOT Madonna and will be about a group of guys all after a lot of money. Ritchie will write and direct.

And on a lighter note, Ben Stiller is set to star and possibly direct Tropic Thunder. A story about a group of actors who enter a two-week boot camp to prepare for a war film. While on location for the shoot, they become involved in a real war and must rely on their training to survive. Could be pretty good. We haven't really had any good war comedies in a long while.

Back with more later

Right now the only film that has me jumping. Is Sin City.
Donna A.

The Sin City trailer had me in goose bumps... let's hope this Tarantino/Rodriguez collaboration doesn't end up like "From Dusk Till Dawn" I love the film, but I'd rather see this movie go all deep and stylish .

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Originally posted by Nickel-Z:
The Sin City trailer had me in goose bumps... let's hope this Tarantino/Rodriguez collaboration doesn't end up like "From Dusk Till Dawn" I love the film, but I'd rather see this movie go all deep and stylish .

I hope so too. So far the prereviews have been pretty good. I don't think the mainstream public will flock to it. But that's okay also. I have a feeling it will make up for that on the DVD. Which is on my buy list.
Donna A.

Thought I would mention...I read an interview with Brittany Murphy a couple days ago. She said they used Frank Millers comics as the actual storyboards for the film. I haven't read them so I guess that will only have significant meaning for the hardcore Frank Miller fans, but I always like to hear of a true "adaptation".

That shot of Clive Owen standing up in the rain with his guns....i was wetting the pants.

In the piece on Sin City from Entertainment Weekly they made reference to the storyboard transitions. It sounds like it'll be very faithful to Miller's original.

I've not read any of the original stuff. The only Miller I know is the gritty Daredevil and a little of the Dark Knight, but the previews for Sin City make it look very cool.

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Originally posted by philosopherEric:
In the piece on Sin City from Entertainment Weekly they made reference to the storyboard transitions. It sounds like it'll be very faithful to Miller's original.

I've not read any of the original stuff. The only Miller I know is the gritty Daredevil and a little of the Dark Knight, but the previews for Sin City make it look very cool.

So far I have heard nothing but good. I love movies like this. I have never read any of the Frank Miller stuff.
There was a lot of love put into this movie.
Donna A.

Right now, the only film i really "can't wait" to see is the Tarantino film, Inglorious Bastards.

I will also say that the remake of Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory with Johnny Depp will be quite interesting. I'm curious to see wheather it will be any good or just a flop.

Liam...while Inglorious Bastards will be cool, you're going to have to wait a while. Tarantino is putting that one off to do another samurai flick, this time all in Mandarin. Should be excellent as always.

I know this thread hasn't been touched in a few weeks, but I thought I would bump it with some summer movies I am looking forward to:

Here are a few of mine:
Charlie and the Chocolate Factory
Cinderella Man
Herbie
Mr and Mrs Smith
Dark Water
Batman
War of the Worlds

And of course - Star Wars!!!

Now that the summer isn't too far away (finally...), any big ones that you are looking forward to?

Wedding Crashers!!