Crazy Rumor of The Week: Nolans To Direct Superman & Justice Leauge

It might be the weekend already but I figured it was perfect time to post this ridiculous rumor that has been circulating the web. IESB who has been claiming some large stories lately has the biggest rumor of the week. I think this total fiction until Warner Bros. and DC Entertainment comment. While the Nolan fan inside me wants him to direct every film this seems too good to be true.


They're saying that Jonah Nolan will make his directorial debut on The Man of Steel. There have been previous rumors of Christopher Nolan producing/shepherding the new Superman project. If his brother is his protege I would expect Christopher would be highly involved in helping Jonah, possibly co-directing. It would be beyond crazy for Warner Bros. to gamble on a first time director. Jonah might be an excellent writer he has yet to prove himself as a director to handle a $100-200 million dollar film. While this one is bizarre if all the rumors turn out true with Goyer and both Nolans being involved it could work if done properly.


The crazy part of IESB's rumor is that they believe Christopher Nolan will be helming the Justice League film. Of course this would be happening after he tackles Batman 3. There are so many things wrong with this story. The biggest issue I have is that he puts out successful original films. Christopher isn't someone I could see wanting to do more comic book films when he has so many original projects that he could be working on. Logically I'm sure Warner Bros. could be eager to get Nolan involved with the rest of the Justice League member films. The only way I could believe this is if WB has deals with Nolan financing a set number of his original projects. Which like Inception ($250 million) could be very costly to the studio. Another issue is that Batman isn't exactly in the same universe as Green Lantern and Superman. The Nolan-universe is set in reality which isn't common for the comic book genre. The characters might be theatrical in their costume choices but they don't have super powers.

Cooper & Banks In Dark Fields?

ComingSoon has some interesting updates on Dark Fields not to be confused with The Fields. The film will star Bradley Cooper (Hangover) with director Neil Burger (The Illusionist) set to helm. The site also says Elizbeth Banks (Zack & Miri) is in talks to take a role.

The film, based on the book by Alan Glynn, follows a down-and-out writer (Cooper) who gets his hands on a top-secret pharmaceutical drug that makes one smarter. He experiences sudden financial and social success but soon discovers that the drug has lethal and lasting side effects. Before long, mysterious antagonists are pursuing him.


They have hired director of photography Jo Willems (30 Days of Night), VFX guru Christopher Scollard (Fight Club) and production designer Carlos Barbosa ("24").

David Hayter Wrote A Black Widow Film?

Back in 2004 the Hollywood Reporter said David Hayter (Watchmen, X2) was going to write and make his directorial debut with a Black Widow film. Now LatinoReview has excepts from the book Tales From The Script with Hayter talking about the project. The film was going to be an origin film setup at Lionsgate. At birth the Black Widow is given to the KGB, which grooms her to become its ultimate operative. When the U.S.S.R. breaks up, the government tries to kill her as the action moves to present-day New York, where she is a freelance operative.

"I had a very solid relationship with Marvel, having worked on a number of films with them, and I was looking for something to write and direct. They brought up Black Widow, and I knew the character very well from the comic book. So I spent about a year working on the script, and I was extremely happy with it. Essentially, the story is a young Russian girl’s parents are killed, so she’s given to the KGB to be developed into a super spy. In her early teen years, the Soviet Union crumbles, so they decide to kill her. But at that point, she’s too tough to kill, so she escapes and makes her way to America. Then, years later, we catch up with her in present day. She’s a freelance mercenary, and she’s called back to where she was brought up to face her past. What I tried to do was use the backdrop of the splintered Soviet Empire – a lawless insane asylum with four hundred some odd nuclear missile silos. It was all about loose nukes, and I felt it was very timely and very cool. Unfortunately, as I was coming up on the final draft, a number of female vigilante movies came out. We had Tomb Raider and Kill Bill, which were the ones that worked, but then we had BloodRayne and Ultraviolet and Aeon Flux. Aeon Flux didn’t open well, and three days after it opened, the studio said, “We don’t think it’s time to do this movie.” I accepted their logic in terms of the saturation of the marketplace, but it was pretty painful. I had not only invested a lot of time in that movie, but I had also named my daughter, who was born in that time period Natasha – after the lead character in Black Widow. I named my daughter after a movie that I wasn’t working on anymore."


There has been lots of talk for Iron Man 2 spin-offs. Don Cheadle has said there aren't immediate plans to develop a War Machine film. The character would be staying in the Iron Man franchise as a supporting hero. There is however active development on the Nick Fury spin-off. Since high profile actress Scarlett Johansson was cast as Black Widow it was expected she would get her own film. Scarlett has a multi-picture deal with Marvel Studios similar to Sam Jackson. I wouldn't be surprised if Marvel is waiting to see the fan's response to the character in Iron Man 2 before going ahead with the film.

Joe Johnston Off Captain America?

There has been plenty of speculation surrounding the involvement of director Joe Johnston recently. Today there is word that Marvel isn't happy with the progress and has decided to hold off on production. Looming issues with casting, budget disputes and unsuccessful box office returns from Johnston's Wolfman could be factors.

"I had a total of 30 weeks of prep on Captain America, I had 3 weeks of prep on The Wolfman"

While his statement sounds like he's more enthused to be working on this project. He did recently confirm he had left the project when the budget came out and would have to take a salary cut to make it work. Johnston since has been able to make a deal with Marvel to return. The Moving Image (Remingtons) recently spoke with crew members on the set of Burke & Hare who would be working on Captain America and they said production would be delayed. Chud is very reliable when de-bunking these type of rumors and they've spoken with Marvel who flat out deny any of this. They're on schedule for June and Johnston is still directing.

Angelina Jolie Ditches Wanted 2 For Gravity?

It doesn't look like we'll be seeing the return of Angelina Jolie in the sequel to Wanted. She just signed on to play the lead role in the upcoming science fiction thriller Gravity. The project is setup at Warner Bros. with Legendary Pictures (Inception, The Dark Knight) handling the film's production. Alfonso Cuarón will direct the film which he co-wrote with his son. Cuarón was attached at one point to direct The Tourist which Jolie just finished filming. It's not surprising to see more science fiction being put into development with such great sci-fi success stories like Star Trek, District 9 and Avatar.


Alfonso Cuarón is best known for the amazing science fiction film Children of Men. Also for directing one of the best Harry Potter films The Prisoner of Azkaban.




The film focuses on the sole surviving human member of a space mission, desperately trying to return home to Earth and her daughter. I'm curious to see what angle they go with on this one. I assume Cuarón will be coming from the practical side of recent science fiction films like Sunshine and Moon. On the other hand they could be trying to making something a little more similar to Ridley Scott's Alien.

What's Up With Jonah Hex?

There is plenty of anticipation for comic book films such as Kick-Ass, Iron Man 2, Scott Pilgrim and The Losers. While most of those films have trailers online and the rest of the summer lineup. There has been zero footage released for DC Comics' Jonah Hex. There was footage shown at last year's Comic-Con. Which I assume would be enough for a teaser trailer. I have a few thoughts on why WB is holding back.

1. Release Date: It might be that WB is still scrambling when it's best to release the film. Both June and August have been rumored but I'm not sure if they've officially set the date. Considering they've moved The Losers from April to June then back to April. They seem indecisive for these lesser known comic book films.

2. Re-shoots: The re-shoots could be effecting the post-production process which could be delaying the release. They might even end up with more re-shoots in the spring.

3. Rating: Originally when Neveldine/Taylor were attached to direct it was assumed they would be making a gritty/action packed hard R film. When it was announced Horton Hears A Who! helmer Jimmy Hayward would be replacing the pair. It seemed it would become a family friendly PG-13. The idea of watering down the violent character made fans of Hex cringe. I wouldn't be surprised if they're trying to edit two cuts of the film.

4. Directing Issues: They brought in director Francis Lawrence as an consultant for the re-shoots. My expectations is that Hayward was overwhelmed by the project and the film ended up looking like a complete mess in the editing bay. With the help of Lawrence the studio could be trying to salvage the project.

5. 3D Conversation: Warner Bros. is converting Clash of The Titans into 3D along with the last two Harry Potter films. I wouldn't be surprised if they're trying to find a way to convert Hex too.

Director In Talks For The Flash?

Yesterday we got the amazing conformation that David S. Goyer and possibly Jonah Nolan would be working together on The Man of Steel. Now there is word from IESB that there is a director in talks to helm The Flash. The project has been in development for ages and it looks DC Entertainment is pushing forward with it. They name Greg Berlanti as being in talks to direct. Berlanti isn't someone most people like myself would recognize since he's hasn't directed many films. Recently he directed the rom-com Life As We Know It. I'm sure Warner Bros. liked what he did with that film along with fact he co-wrote the Green Lantern screenplay.

The Green Lantern Trilogy

Director Martin Campbell has confirmed the possibility of seeing a Green Lantern trilogy recently during interviews for Edge of Darkness. While in the first film they'll be too busy explaining the origins of Hal Jordan and the Green Lantern Corps. I expect in the next two films the scale and mythology will be increased. I'm expecting the work of DC Comics' Geoff Johns will be highly influential on the sequels. I would love to see a massive war between the Lanterns then the formation of the Rainbow Rodeo to fight the Black Lanterns.


Campbell has already hinted to that Sinestro (Mark Strong) and Star Sapphire (Blake Lively) could be the seen in the sequels as villains.

VILLAINS


SINESTRO CORPS: When Sinestro creates his own Corps using the yellow element we could see the division of the Green Lantern Corps. Branching out to Sinestro, Orange Lantern, Red Lantern and Blue Lanterns. Fueling a massive intergalactic war between the feuding groups. With either enemies of the Lanterns or former members seeking out the other elements.


ORANGE LANTERN CORPS:Fueled by the Orange Light of Avarice, the Orange Lantern Corps is controlled by Agent Orange, who kills all those trying to take his power and uses their essence as his Orange Lantern Avatars. Unfortunately, Larfleeze believes everyone is looking to steal the Orange Light. Larfleeze goes on to take on the Blue Lanterns trying again control of the Blue Light.


RED LANTERN CORPS: Led by Atrocitus the Red Lanterns are fueled by Blood Magic and rage. They're enemies with the Sinestro, Blue, Black and Green Lanterns.


BLACK LANTERN CORPS: One of the most interesting additions to the Lantern universe are the Black Lanterns. Their members are resurrected dead heroes, villains and normal people from all over the universe. It's led by Black Hand and could be great group of villains to end the trilogy. It could be interesting to see Lanterns who die in the first two movies become evil.

ALLIES


STAR SAPPHIRE CORPS: While Star Sapphire is a villain she could end up joining forces with the Green Lanterns to fight Sinestro and Black Lanterns.


BLUE LANTERN CORPS: Powered by the Blue Light of Hope, the Blue Lantern Corps has the mission to fill the universe with hope against the dark times ahead. They're led by Saint Walker and share the same enemies as the Green Lanterns. Hal Jordan has lead and worked with the Blue Lanterns.


INDIGO TRIBE: The Indigo Tribe wield staff lanterns powered by the Indigo Light of Compassion. They're led by Indigo and are enemies of the Black Lanterns.


RAINBOW RODEO: The Rainbow Rodeo consists of all 7 of the Lanterns joining forces to defeat the Black Lanterns.

CASTING THOUGHTS


Anthony Mackie (Hurt Locker, Million Dollar Baby) as John Stewart


Sharlto Copley (District 9, A-Team) as Guy Gardner


Henry Cavill (War of The Gods) as Kyle Rayner

Jonah Nolan Co-Writing Man of Steel?

Today were learned that David S. Goyer would be writing Man of Steel. Now IGN reports that Jonah Nolan will co-write the new Superman film with Goyer. They previously worked together on both Batman Begins and The Dark Knight. While this is big step up for the project let's hope this is true along with Christopher Nolan's involvement. It's starting to look like Nolan might end up directing a Superman trilogy after his third Batman film is finished. Of course I'm just connecting dots since Jonah really doesn't write for projects that his brother doesn't direct. Variety confirms that Goyer and Jonah are currently at work on Batman 3.

Zoolander 2 In The Works?

Deadline Hollywood reports Justin Theroux (Iron Man 2) will be writing a PG-13 Zoolander 2. Justin previously worked with Ben Stiller writing Tropic Thunder.


Jonah Hill is in talks to play the villain while no deal is in place for Owen Wilson to return.

First Look: Burke & Hare

The Playlist (via Daily Mail & The Scotsman) posted the first images of Simon Pegg and Andy Serkis on the set of John Landis' Burke & Hare.

Mickey Rourke In Conan & War of The Gods?

Deadline Hollywood is again confirming Mickey Rourke (Sin City, Iron Man 2) has been offered the role of Conan's Father Corin. He's also been courted for Tarsem Singh's War of The Gods playing the role of King Hyperion. Conan starts production in March and WOTG in April I believe Rourke might be able to do both. It's no secret that Conan's father dies early in the film so that might end up more like a cameo. Giving Rourke enough time to jump into the second production. I'm glad to see Mickey still sticking to genre films which nobody does better.

David S. Goyer Writing Man of Steel?

LatinoReview has another big story of the day with David S. Goyer being hired by Legendary Pictures to write the next Superman film titled Man of Steel.


Goyer is best known for his work on the Blade films and co-writing Batman Begins/Dark Knight. They also reveal that neither director Bryan Singer or actor Brandon Routh will be returning for the film. They will not be explaining the origin again or re-introducing the characters. They don't mention the involvement of Christopher Nolan which was previously denied by DC Entertainment.


Their source says that Lex Luthor and Brainiac will be featured in the film. I have to say I'm very exicted to see Brainiac being discussed. The film will also expand on the Kryptonian mythology. If they do bring back Luthor I'd hope they will finally give him his power suit or some sort of weapon that doesn't involve krypton.

6 Candidates For Captain America

Just a few moments ago I noticed a very bizarre message on Twitter from Alex of FirstShowing.net which made me scratch my head. He pointed out a very odd wishlist posted by Deadline Hollywood for Captain America from Marvel. The group of actors tested for the role yesterday.


The list includes Chace Crawford (Gossip Girl) and John Krasinski (The Office). While the other names didn't make much of an impact. The first two are horrible choices since they're only on the list because of their popular TV shows. The two actors have been in films giving less than stellar performances. Neither Chace or John have proved they can handle screen time outside of their respected shows. If Marvel wants to hire an unknown then do it. These two known actors aren't strong enough to carry a whole film. I really hope that Joe Johnston isn't involved with these choices or this film might be in trouble. To say I'm disappointed is an understatement.


The rest of the group is a decent group of semi-unknown actors. They include Scott Porter (Friday Night Lights), Mike Vogel (Cloverfield), Michael Cassidy (Privileged) and Patrick Flueger (Brothers). While I can't speak for Micheal Cassidy the rest of the group seem like great candidates for the role.


Deadline also mentions that Garrett Hedlund from Four Brothers and Tron Legacy was in mind but didn't end up testing.

Hercules After Conan?

Back in 2007 there was talk of Millennium Films working on a new Hercules film. Now there seems to be a new report that it could be lensing soon. SuperHeroHype was able to find out Hercules screenwriter Sean Hood (Cube 2) will do finishing touches on the Conan script before production starts in mid-March. They also state the studio hopes to start production on Hercules as soon as they finish filming Conan. Producers are currently shopping the Hercules script around to find a director.


I wouldn't be surprised if candidates from Conan are asked to helm Hercules. Directors rumored for Conan included James McTeigue (Ninja Assassin, V For Vendetta), Neil Marshall (Centurion), Rob Zombie (Devil's Rejects) and Xavier Gens (Frontiers).


Daniel Cudmore (X2) tried out for Conan it would be interesting to see him play Hercules.


I'm not sure where this leaves Marvel's Incredible Hercules who could be in Avengers, Thor sequels or his own movie. The character is old enough that nobody really owns the rights so it should be interesting to see if Marvel does end up using him in future films.


Millennium Films also has had remake of Red Sonja in the works for years now. Robert Rodriguez was producing the project with Rose McGowan in the starring role. She injuried herself during the sword training and recently said the project could be happening soon.

REVIEW: From Paris With Love

When it comes to films written by Luc Besson you have to ignore everything when it comes to realism and just focus on the action. This does deliver action on all levels even if some of the shootouts seemed a bit repetitive. Travolta was very intense throughout but the nod to Pulp Fiction felt lame and forced. Rhys Myers on the other hand hurt the film with his horrible American accent and poor delivery. The story was the weakest point just throwing the two into dangerous situations so that John can kill everyone. If you turn your mind off and ignore the bad jokes it's a fun action flick. This one is weekend rental at best.

C+

REVIEW: The Wolfman

Even with all it's production problems The Wolfman ended up being a very entertaining. I have to admit this film really wouldn't have worked if had been PG-13 and the gore was removed. The violence really worked to show how dark the best was. The performances were somewhat average Hugo Weaving being the best of the bunch. I'm very interested to seeing Joe Johnston's extended cut on DVD. I love Victorian horror films from Coppola's Dracula to From Hell, so I was easily won over by the amazing look of the film. Compared to recent horror films this one is very well made. It might be messy at times but overall it was a fun movie.

B+

Freida Pinto Joins War of Gods

There hasn't been much in the way of casting for Tarsem Singh's (The Fall, The Cell) War of Gods. Recently the only news had been the discussion of 3D and director's issue with the format. Now there is word from Variety the film has it's leading lady. Filling the role is none other than Slumdog Millionaire's Freida Pinto she will join Henry Cavill who is playing Theseus. The film starts production in April so I expect there will be more casting news in the coming weeks.