Following the announcement that 20th Century Fox and Universal had pulled out of the film adaptation of Halo, and despite producer Peter Jackson’s initial resilience about the project seeing life, it seems that for the time being, there will be no Halo film after all. Jackson’s studio, Wingnut Films, issued the following statement:

“As was previously confirmed, we deeply regret that both Universal and Fox did not choose to move forward with financing the Halo film under the original terms of the agreement. At this time Peter Jackson and Fran Walsh, along with their partner, Microsoft, have mutually agreed to postpone making a feature film based on the Halo video game universe until we can fulfill the promise we made to millions of Halo fans throughout the world that we would settle for no less than bringing a first class film to the big screen. We are fully supportive of Director Neill Blomkamp’s vision of the film. Neill is a tremendously gifted filmmaker and his preliminary work on Halo is truly awe-inspiring. While it will undoubtedly take a little longer for Halo to reach the big screen, we are confident that the final feature film will be well worth the wait.”

Posted in Movies •

Horror genre stars Leigh Whannell and James Wan, creators of the successful Saw franchise have indicated that Saw III may be their last. Having just topped the U.S. Box Office on its opening weekend, Whannell said “I don’t know personally if I would want to do it [a fourth film] or not. As a creator, I’m starting to feel like I’m painting with the same brush. I’m really happy with the third film and in some ways I would not mind going out on top.”

Lions Gate Studios and production company Twisted Pictures have no plans to scupper the series, hoping that next Halloween will see the release of the fourth film, with or without its two creators.

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Source: SMH

Posted in Movies •

Despite rumors that have surfaced following his recent arrest, shamed star Mel Gibson will not be revisiting his Lethal Weapon or Mad Max franchises.

Speaking with IESB at a special screening of Apocalypto last week he was asked about Mad Max 4 and said “They were talking about making one, I think you just watched it [referring to Apocalypto] (laughter) but, you know, I don’t know. I’m gettin’ a little long in the tooth for that one”. When asked about Lethal Weapon 5 he added “Oh no, I don’t want to go there again…oh boy was that done to death. I just want to do things that really give me a kick”.

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source: Dark Horizons

Posted in Movies •

Only a few hours ago New Line Cinema released the first official still from His Dark Materials: The Golden Compass. It features our very first look at the film’s heroine Lyra, played by 12 year old newcomer Dakota Blue Richards (who was selected from over 10,000 other British girls in open casting auditions).

In the picture, Lyra is seen sitting next to Mrs. Coulter (Nicole Kidman) at Jordan College (where the story opens). The girl seems to be giving thought to the (manipulative) words directed at her by the enticing lady.

In The Golden Compass, Lyra sets out from an Oxford set in a parallel world to our own, and travels far north to save her best friend, on a quest that will take her through the lands of armoured bears, warring witch-clans and through gates to new universes.

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Posted in His Dark Materials, Movies •

Variety reports that Universal Pictures has optioned Everlost, the first in a planned series of fantasy novels by Neal Shusterman. Universal are eyeing the book as a potential directing vehicle for Gary Ross who wrote Big and Pleasantville with Shusterman set to adapt the script.

The story is about two teenagers, Nick and Allie who are killed in a car accident and trapped halfway between life and death, in a sort of limbo known as Everlost: a shadow of the living world, filled with all the things and places that no onger exist. It’s a magical, yet dangerous place where bands of lost children run wild and anyone who stands in the same place too long sinks to the center of the Earth. When they find Mary, the self-proclaimed queen of lost kids, Nick feels like he he’s found a home, but allie isn’t satisfied spending eternity between worlds. Against all warnings, Allie begins learning the Criminal Art of haunting, and ventures into dangerous territory, where a monster called the McGill threatens all the souls of Everlost.

Click here to discuss Everlost in the Realm of Fantasy on the X-Boards.

Posted in Movies •

Since his third debut at E3, Master Chief has been silent. News surrounding the third installment in the Halo series has been sparse, but as Bungie continues to work on Halo 3 new details are emerging.

On October 27, 1UP revealed new information on the highly anticipated video game, including new vehicles, weapons and maps. The article also revealed information relating to a special edition of the game, information I leaked over eight months ago.

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Posted in Sci-Tech & Video Games •

The developers of the popular video game franchise Oddworld, Lorne Lanning and Sherry McKenna, are putting their heads together with the people at Vanguard Animation (Valiant) to create a adult-oriented CG film titled Citizen Siege, according to Variety.

Budgeted at $40 million, Citizen Siege is a dark political thriller set in the near future (where else?) that Lanning will direct and Shrek producer John Williams, head of Vanguard, will produce. Lanning and McKenna are now looking for a videogame publisher to create the film’s tie-in game, that may be released simultaneously.

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Posted in Movies •

Orbital Media Burst onto the GBA scene a with the fabulous Racing Gears Advance - Now, two years later they have returned with the isometric action adventure title Scurge: Hive.

Jenosa Arma is a bounty hunter sent to the planet Inos to investigate a distress signal only to end trapped there herself. The lab has been over-run with an alien entity known as The Scurge which, similarly to Metroids ‘X’, can infect biological and mechanical life forms.

Another aspect of the game that seems inspired by Nintendos long running series is Jenosas suit. Throughout the game you assimilate technology into the suit by ways of power ups - up to 8 different upgrades are available suit and it’s projectile gauntlet.

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Posted in Reviews, Sci-Tech & Video Games •

Potter fansite MuggleNet has summarized the information in Empire Magazine’s three-page spread on Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix which features in the magazine’s November issue. Scans can be viewed here.

In it, the film’s director David Yates mentions the running time of the film, a much debated topic with Phoenix being the longest book in the Harry Potter series: “The book’s huge, but it actually distills quite easily. That said, I’ve shot a movie that’s probably over three hours, so I’ll have to lose 45 minutes in the edit.”

There was also praise from producer David Heyman directed at Evanna Lynch, who portrays Luna Lovegood in the film: “She’s an obsessive Potter fan who’d actually had correspondence with Jo Rowling. When she was cast Jo rang me up because she just couldn’t believe it - from her letters she said, ‘She is Luna.’”

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Posted in Harry Potter, Movies •

Dark Horizons has published a dozen or so amazing new stills from director Darren Aronofsky’s (Pi, Requiem for a Dream) much talked about and already somewhat controversial The Fountain. Regardless of how good the film itself is (its theatrical runs starts November 22nd), there’s no denying the incredible production design further evident in these new pictures.

The Fountain is an odyssey about one man’s eternal struggle to save the woman he loves. His epic journey begins in 16th-century Spain, where conquistador Tomas (Hugh Jackman) commences his search for the Fountain of Youth, the legendary entity believed to grant immortality. As modern-day scientist Tommy Creo, he desperately struggles to find a cure for the cancer that is killing his beloved wife, Isabel (Rachel Weisz). Traveling through deep space as a 26th-century astronaut, Tom begins to grasp the mysteries that have consumed him for a millennium. The three stories converge into one truth, as the Thomas of all periods-warrior, scientist, and explorer-comes to terms with life, love, death and rebirth.

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Posted in Movies •