Two and a half weeks ago it was confirmed that actress Katie Holmes would not reprise her role in the sequel to Batman Begins. It was said that her character would still appear in the film, with less amount of screentime, played by a different actress.

The rumour mill suggested names like Rachel McAdams or Emily Blunt were poised to play the role in The Dark Knight, but now Latino Review reports that Holmes will be replaced by Maggie Gyllenhaal. The site claims that two of their ’strongest’ sources have confirmed this bit of information, and considering the fact that Latino Review was one of the first places that made the connection between the (now confirmed) Heath Ledger and the role of the Joker, their report could very well be credible.

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Posted in Batman, Movies •

Whilst in London to attend the BAFTAs, for which Pan’s Labyrinth won best ‘film not in the English language’, Mexican director Guillermo Del Toro spoke to filmick about his Tarzan live-action project.

‘The idea is to try to do a version unlike any other, in the sense that Tarzan’s formative years growing through the jungle are incredibly tough and brutal’ said Del Toro, ‘There’s always this idyllic sense of the jungle being like a Disney set and I want to portray how this guy becomes the toughest animal in the jungle.’

Tarzan will go into development after Del Toro completes work on Hellboy 2 and an adaptation of H.P. Lovecraft’s horror novella At the Mountains of Madness.

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Posted in Movies •

In an interview with Collider, John Singleton has explained why it’s been difficult and frustrating to bring Marvel character Luke Cage to the screen.

’studios still, some studios, don’t understand that yeah, it is a black superhero but so what? He’s a superhero.’ said Singleton, ‘It’s got to have a great script. We have a great script. We have a couple of great scripts. It’s just a matter, like I said, some people have not got it yet. I’m not saying every studio on the board, some people haven’t got it that multi-ethnic sells’

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Posted in Movies •

SCI FI Channel has confirmed that it has commissioned a fourth season for their hit show Battlestar Galactica, ending speculation that the series would be cancelled to due struggling ratings (which sould be no indicator of the quality of the Peabody award winning show anyway). The catch is that the fourth season will be reduced in its amount of episodes - from 20 (seasons two and three) to 13 (like the first season).

Everyone seems to be happy though: ‘We’re thrilled to bring Battlestar back for another season,’ said SCI FI’s executive president Mark Stern, while BSG producer David Eick commented: ‘While we never had any doubt that SCI FI would get behind a fourth season of Battlestar, it’s thrilling to finally make it official, and for Ron and I to continue using this great genre to investigate the darker corners of society, politics and humanity.’

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Posted in Battlestar Galactica, Television •

Fox Home Entertainment has sent out a press release which pinpoints the Eragon DVD release to March 20, 2007.

The movie will be available in full screen and widescreen versions (with audio commentary from director Stefen Fangmeier), while the bonus disc will include over two hours of special  features in countless featurettes, seven extended/deleted scenes, 19 visual effects showcases, concept artwork galleries, character profiles, and a video interview with the book’s author Christopher Paolini speaking about the sequel, Eldest. You can read the press release for the full specs.

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Posted in Movies •

Hasbro and Dreamworks brought Transformers director Michael Bay to New York’s Toyfair to premiere a couple of exclusive scenes from the upcoming blockbuster. Here’s an exciting and spoiler-filled excerpt from ComingSoon’s report on what they saw:

‘Sure enough, no sooner has the chopper landed that it begins to transform into the robot form of Blackout, which starts attacking everything that moves with huge EMP-like ripples that do huge amounts of damage. A hand rips the computer out of the control center and starts absorbing the military data as they throw everything they can at the deadly creature. At one point, something is jettisoned from Blackout’s body (which we’ll learn more about during a later scene.) This opening scene was classic Bay with lots of explosions, tanks and helicopters being thrown, and huge amounts of destruction, a bit like being back in Armageddon mode, though some of the early shots seemed to be homages to Apocalypse Now or Top Gun.’ Read their full report here.

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Posted in Movies, Transformers •

Paramount Pictures are poised to put The Departed co-stars Mark Wahlberg and Matt Damon back on the screen together in the boxer drama The Fighter, reports Variety.

According to the report the film centers on boxer “Irish” Micky Ward’s unlikely road to the world lightweight title. His Rocky-like rise was shepherded by half-brother Dicky, a boxer-turned-trainer who rebounded in life after nearly being KO’d by drugs and crime. Wahlberg and Damon will commit to the project if they like the script, in which case the film could start shooting in Massachusetts (both actors’ home state) as early as this summer.

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Posted in Movies •

Francis Ford Coppola (The Godfather, Apocalypse Now) has finally stepped out of his ten year directing hiatus. His new film Youth Without Youth, a pre-WWII drama with Tim Roth, is currently in post-production, and according to Variety Coppola already has his next film lined-up.

Coppola will travel to Buenos Aires later this year to start filming Tetro, a film about artistic Italian immigrants caught up in fierce rivalries which running through multiple generations. Coppola wrote the screenplay himself and will also handle the film’s financing. Actor Matt Dillon is set to play the lead role.

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Posted in Movies •

British actress Michelle Ryan has been cast in the title role for the re-imagining of the 1970s series The Bionic Woman, says the BBC.

Ryan will play the technological wonder woman with $50 million worth of bionic components in her body. She is best known for her five year stint on the British soap EastEnders. Ryan will to star in NBC’s pilot episode which, depending on its success, could be developed into a full Bionic Woman TV series. The pilot will be produced by Battlestar Galactica producer David Eick.

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Posted in Television •

According to The Hollywood Reporter, the Wachowski brothers are returning to the same German studio used for V for Vendetta to shoot their new project, Speed Racer. Shooting will commence at Studio Babelsberg in May.

The original television series upon was about a character called Speed Racer who drove a car called The Mach Five car which was equipped with all manner of technological gadgets. The movie will be produced by Joel Silver who approached the duo during the filming of V For Vendetta and is scheduled for release in Summer 2008.

Unless the release date is changed, Speed Racer will go head-to-head with Indiana Jone IV.

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Posted in Movies •