September 22, 2000

Good ol' reliable Nick et al over at the Cinematic Happenings Under Development were able to snag the latest details on the X-MEN DVD slated for release on November 21 of this year. If you want to see what the box cover will look like, click here. The DVD itself will apparently include: Deleted Scenes, "Mutant Watch" Featurette, Bryan Singer Interview (Charlie Rose), Hugh Jackman's screen test, Stills, Trailer, Anamorphic Widescreen, Dolby 5.1. 

Buy X-Men posters, books, toys, soundtracks here
  

September 22, 2000

Wow, the French have really been coming up with quite a few scoops of late. Here now are the first official pictures from the upcoming MUMMY 2 film, starring Brendan Fraser, Rachel Weisz and wrestling's Rock (below). Click here to see all three pictures from the movie

September 22, 2000

Richard Gere has committed to star in ARLINGTON ROAD director Mark Pellington's next feature film entitled MOTHMAN PROPHECIES, a sci-fi flick which tells the story of a newspaper reporter (Gere) who leaves his job after his wife dies to find out about a series of strange events in a small town. He discovers that the events might point to an alien visitation. The project is based on John Keel's account of his investigation of UFO reports around Point Pleasant, W.Va., during the late 1960s. For several weeks, townspeople were plagued by unexplained phenomena, including psychic visions and the appearance of bizarre winged creatures. The film is expected to go into production in January 2001.
  

September 22, 2000

Mega-producer Jerry Bruckheimer has signed on to produce yet another movie project, this time a Jason Richman-penned action comedy entitled BLACK SHEEP, with director Jon Turtletaub (PHENOMENON) interested in directing. The story centers on a street-wise African-American who is called upon by the CIA to step in for his Harvard-educated twin who recently died. The protagonist must quickly become an operative on an important mission --the one which his late sibling had been working. Writer Jason Richman is currently rewriting the script, the first studio assignment for this musician-turned-screenwriter.
  

September 21, 2000

Director Darren Aronofsky has been chosen to helm the next installment of the Batman movies entitled BATMAN: YEAR ONE. Darren was the man behind the innovative PI film and the upcoming REQUIEM FOR A DREAM (Artisan release on October 6). Aronofsky has signed on to write and develop the screenplay with Frank Miller, the author of the Warner Books graphic novel "Batman: YO" on which the film will be based. The film will detail the first year of Bruce Wayne's life as Batman, including the self-doubts and blunders he had to overcome in order to emerge as a full-blown crimefighter.

Tim Burton, the director of the first two Batman films, was said to be inspired by both "Batman: YO" as well as Frank Miller's "Batman: The Dark Knight Returns", so hopefully the return to this solid source material will re-ignite the franchise.
  

September 20, 2000

The upcoming DVD version of the GLADIATOR movie will have no fewer than 11 scenes that were deleted from the final cinema version, will be presented on 2-discs and will be released on November 21, 2000. The DVD will sell at $29.99 US (although you can pre-order it for $17.99 at Amazon.com right now-- see below) and features both Dolby Digital and DTS Surround Sound on the first disc. The second disc will contain 11 deleted scenes, along with commentary by "Gladiator" director Ridley Scott, a seven-minute segment of never-before-seen footage, and HBO and TLC specials related to the film. The DVD and VHS will be released at the same time.

Pre-Order the Gladiator DVD here
   

September 20, 2000

Wow. Who ever thought that this would happen! Hollywood heavyweights and long-time friends, Martin Scorsese and Steven Spielberg, have decided to make a movie together. The film is tentatively entitled INTO THE SETTING SUN, and will have Scorsese as director and Spielberg as producer. No script exists as of yet, but one is to be written by Bill Wittliff, the man behind films such as LEGENDS OF THE FALL and THE PERFECT STORM. The story will center on the birth and construction of the transcontinental railroad. 
 

September 20, 2000

Director Oliver Stone is considering directing a film entitled AMERICAN CAESAR, described as a modern-day Caesar and Brutus story set in contemporary Washington. The screenplay comes from one of the writers behind this summer's major success GLADIATOR, William Nicholson, and will apparently follow the lives of a populist general and former war hero who becomes president and his aide who is forced to act when he discovers his boss is slowly becoming the Caesar of the modern age.
        

September 20, 2000

Despite the limited commercial or critical success of VAMPIRES, director John Carpenter has apparently agreed to executive produce a sequel called JOHN CARPENTER PRESENTS VAMPIRES: LOS MUERTOS, which will more than likely head straight for your local video store. The low-budget sequel will be written by a man who goes by the name of Tommy Lee Wallace, king of sequels. He's previously written screenplays for HALLOWEEN III, AMITYVILLE II and FRIGHT NIGHT II. This part will follow Father Adam (actor Tom Guinee reprising his role) as he assembles a new group of young specialists to hunt the bloodsucker menace.
   

September 20, 2000

Kevin Costner is currently in negotiations to star in a film called DRAGONFLY, to be directed by Tom Shadyac, the man behind PATCH ADAMS. Costner would play a grieving doctor who feels he's being contacted by the spirit of his ex-wife through the near-death experiences of his patients. The film would begin shooting in late October.
 

September 20, 2000

Director Roman Polanski has placed a classified ad in Britain's "Guardian" newspaper, seeking a man aged between 25-35 for the lead role in his next picture entitled THE PIANIST. "Acting experience not essential but he needs to be sensitive, vulnerable and charismatic,'' says the ad. The film is scheduled to begin filming in Warsaw in January, and is based on the autobiography of Polish composer Wladyslaw Szpilman, who escaped death in a Nazi concentration camp. Polanski himself also escaped the Nazis as a child in Poland.
      

September 19, 2000

Samuel L. Jackson had his share of drug problems over the years but doesn't believe that it is his place to tell anyone else not to take drugs. He says, "I would never go to a school and tell kids, 'Don't drink! Don't smoke a joint!' Because s***, I used drugs successfully for 23 years in my mind. And I know people who still use cocaine on the weekends or smoke a joint and they do their jobs. They're responsible parents and successful people." He adds, "I can't say that America would be a better place if it were drug free. I think America would be a better place if people who smoke reefer, or hash, or whatever, could go into a government- controlled hash store and say, 'Gimme a pound of that'."
  

September 19, 2000

Before putting his entire View Askew universe, including his infamous Silent Bob and Jay characters, to bed, writer/director Kevin Smith is said to begin shooting on his "last" New Jersey flick this coming January. Ben Affleck and Jason Lee are in talks to return in the film which Smith himself described as being "along the lines of MALLRATS". Brian O'Halloran and Jeff Anderson will also return as the two characters that they played in CLERKS, Dante and Randall respectively, as Smith finishes up his sixth draft of the script.