Film News

Horror favourite Bruce Campbell has just seen Sly Stallone’s The Expendables – and somehow, against all odds, it actually got him thinking.

The present star of TV series Burn Notice, Campbell is best known as the blood-splattered hero of the beloved Evil Dead movies, as well as any number of other cult projects – like Bubba Ho-Tep.

Now, the actor and sometime-director fancies following Stallone’s lead by staging an Expendables-style horror that unites horror titans in the same movie for the first time. The movie wonder will be a sequel to the already fact-and-fiction-blurring My Name Is Bruce called Bruce Vs. Frankenstein.

“I want to have Kane Hodder be very particular about what he eats,” he muses to the LA Times. “I want Robert Englund to be a tough guy, like he knows tae kwon do or something.

“I want to find out the hidden sides of all these people. Some will play themselves, some will play alternate characters as well.”

In fact, far from being a mere bit of daydreaming, Campbell says that there’s even a script going around featuring the iconic screen killers going up against Frankenstein (or, at least, we think he means Frankenstein's monster) – but it’s not quite ready yet:

“There’s a script, it just kind of blows right now, so no one’s really seeing it. We gotta work on it. Definitely shoot in Oregon all on a stage. It’s like the 300 of horror comedies. We want to make it a whole world. Someone’s gotta take Frank down for good.”

If anybody can pull something like this off, it’s Campbell. We'll be front of the queue when it hits cinemas.
 

The story of Ronald Reagan’s life — from boyhood to Hollywood actor to leader of the free world — is about to spill out on the big screen in a way quite different from the miniseries that caused such a stir seven years ago. The feature film, titled “Reagan” and sporting a $30 million production budget, is set for release late next year and will be based on two best-selling biographies of the 40th U.S. president by Paul Kengor: “The Crusader” and “God and Ronald Reagan.” Mark Joseph, who optioned the books four years ago, is co-producing with Ralph Winter and Jonas McCord wrote the script.

http://www.hollywoodreporter.com/hr/content_display/film/news/e3if8cf70233aa65f1b67c1bfb36f234a8d

Universal’s bringing “R.I.P.D.” to life, tapping Robert Schwentke to direct the supernatural actioner, based on Peter Lenkov’s Dark Horse comic about a police department of the dead. Ryan Reynolds signed last spring to star in “R.I.P.D.,” centered on two officers — one recently dead and one who’s been dead for hundreds of years. The team of Phil Hay & Matt Manfredi is writing the screenplay. Mike Richardson, founder and President of Dark Horse, and Lawrence Gordon will produce for Dark Horse Entertainment. Neal Moritz is producing through his Original Film banner.

http://www.variety.com/article/VR1118023849.html?categoryId=13&cs=1

Michael Caine is in talks with New Line to star in “Journey 2: The Mysterious Island” opposite Josh Hutcherson and Dwayne Johnson. Caine would play the missing grandfather on the titular island in the sequel, to be directed by Brad Peyton. Beau Flynn and Tripp Vinson of Contrafilm and visual effects vet Charlotte Huggins are reprising their roles as producers from 2008’s “Journey to the Center of the Earth 3D.” Hutcherson will again portray teenager Sean Anderson while Johnson portrays the boyfriend to the teen’s mother.

http://www.variety.com/article/VR1118023829.html?categoryId=2429&cs=1

Ryan Reynolds’ comic adap R.I.P.D. has finally reeled in a director, and it’s Red helmer Robert Schwentke who’s landed the job.

Apparently it was Schwentke’s work on Red, the upcoming comic adaptation starring Bruce Willis, Helen Mirren and Morgan Freeman, that first piqued studio interest.

And with Red getting very positive early buzz at test screenings, it sounds like Universal Pictures have picked the right man for the gig.

Shooting on R.I.P.D. is expected to begin next summer when Reynolds has a gap in his busy schedule. By then he’ll have already canned another two movies – The Change-Up with Jason Bateman and Safe House with Denzel Washington.

R.I.P.D. is based on the Dark Horse comic, which follows the Rest In Peace Department of law enforcement. Hero Nick Cruz was murdered, but he’s traded in 100 years of service in order to be resurrected and search for his killer.

Schwentke is also lined up to direct The Osterman Weekend, as well as an adaptation of Robert Kurson’s novel Shadow Divers.
 

Michael Caine is set to appear in Journey 2: The Mysterious Island, the sequel to 2008’s 3D Journey To The Centre Of The Earth.

The project has already landed Dwayne Johnson, who will be replacing Brendan Fraser as the franchise’s new action hero.

Now Heat Vision report that Caine is in final negotiations to join the cast, which sees Josh Hutcherson reprising his role from the first film.

Caine will play the grandpa in the film, who we previously learned will go missing and prompt Hutcherson and Johnson's perilous mission to track him down. Far from taking it easy at the grand old age of 77, Caine is expected to appear in “several chase sequences, including one involving giant bees”.

Shooting on Journey 2 will begin next month in Hawaii and then move on to North Carolina. Which gives Caine plenty of time to finish up before the rumoured Batman 3 start date of April 2011.
 

Harry Potter star Daniel Radcliffe is bidding farewell to the character what made him an icon the world over next year.

But he’s not resting on his laurels – he’s about to start shooting an adaptation of Susan Hill’s 1983 novel The Woman In Black for the newly-resurrected Hammer Studios.

Scripted by Jane Kick-Ass Goldman and directed by Eden Lake’s James Watkins, the film marks a graduation of sorts for Radcliffe in a number of ways.

“We were doing auditions for my son yesterday which was bizarre,” the actor exclusively tells Total Film. “But it’s very exciting and James Watkins is fantastic. He might kill me for telling you this, but he’s actually started working with an acting coach to give him a better idea of how to approach stuff with actors.

“Which is a brilliant thing – I don’t know of any other directors doing that. He’s inspired and we’re uncannily on the same page about the film. We met and we agreed that this film is not a scary movie but a film about loss and family and grief.”

Still, the Potter wheel keeps on turning, and a new image of Radcliffe as Mr P. has also pitched up online. Check it out below.

Harry Potter And The Deathly Hallows: Part 1 opens on 19 November.