IGN claims to have heard from reliable studio sources which actors are the frontrunners for the leading roles of Captain Kirk, Mister Spock and Dr. McCoy in J.J. Abrams’ upcoming franchise reboot Star Trek XI.

The scoop confirms that Paramount is talking to Matt Damon for the role of Captain Kirk. It further claims that Adrien Brody is in talks for Spock, and Gary Sinise for McCoy. While these three are said to be the closest to being signed, IGN’s sources are also saying that Lost’s Daniel Dae Kim is being looked at for the role of Lt. Sulu, and James McAvoy (Mr. Tumnus in Narnia) for the role of chief engineer Montgomery ‘Scotty’ Scott.

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Posted in Movies, Star Trek •

20th Century Fox today released the first official teaser poster for Fantastic Four: Rise of the Silver Surfer, released in cinemas June 15.

The teaser poster features the exact same image (but mirrored) of the Silver Surfer character (played by Doug Jones) that recently made it onto the cover of Empire Magazine. Empire had claimed the CGI shot was exclusively designed for them by WETA, but maybe the truth is that the mag simply received got the first look rights. Anyhow, the new poster is held in a silver hue and sports the word ‘RISE’ in the top left corner. You can view it here in our movie gallery.

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According to Variety this morning, scribe William Monahan has stalled his work on the sequels to The Departed for now. Instead, his next assignment will be a screenplay based on an idea by Rolling Stones frontman Mick Jagger. Scorsese will produce The Long Play, the title of the rock ‘n’ roll epic, together with Jagger’s Jagged Films. The project is also considered a potential directing vehicle for the Oscar winning director.

The article states that ‘The Long Play follows two friends through 40 years in the music business, from the early days of R&B to contemporary hip-hop’. When Scorsese sparked to Jagger’s idea, they brought in Rolling Stone magazine writer Rich Cohen to do some extensive research and write a first draft. Matthew Weiss wrote new drafts based on what Cohen had done, but when the project moved on from Disney (as it didn’t fit in their ‘family-friendly’ mould) to Paramount, Monahan was brought on board to pen a script for Scorsese to direct.

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Not only has The Departed finally earned Martin Scorsese a Best Director and a Best Picture Oscar, the film has also been his biggest financial success at the box office yet. Screenwriter William Monahan, who also won an Academy Award for The Departed Sunday night, confirmed a while ago that he is working on scripts for a sequel and a prequel to the film.

Backstage at the Oscars, Scorsese was asked by the press if he’s looking forward to a sequel and if he’d be involved. He answered: ‘We were talking about it the night the picture opened. So I am interested in the possibility of doing a prequel. Or a sequel. I don’t know if I would direct, that depends on how the script turns out.’ He was also asked about the rumours that Robert De Niro would have a role in the next one, to which Scorsese replied: ‘I don’t know about those [rumours], but that’s not a bad idea.’

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More details have been released by the official Star Wars site about the Celebration Europe event that will take place at London’s ExCeL exhibition venue in the UK from July 13th to 15th 2007.
 
Celebration Europe will bring together the very best of all things Star Wars including:

• Celebrity guests from all six films
• Exhibit of original props and costumes never seen before outside the Lucasfilm Archives
• Autograph hall with one of the largest selections of Star Wars guests Europe has ever seen
• Jawa swap/meet trading area
• Jedi Training Arena
• Licensed artists alley with limited edition work on sale
• 2,000-seat theatre
• Exclusive limited edition merchandise
• Costumed characters
• Droid builders room
• ‘Careers In Film’ Educational area
• Collecting panels
• Special screenings
• Pop culture tributes

and much much more to be announced as July draws nearer…

Posted in Movies, Star Wars •

In an interview with Fox411 at the Governors Ball, Steven Spielberg revealed that Indiana Jones IV will begin shooting June 18th for a worldwide release date of May 22, 2008.

Based on a script bu Jeff Nathanson, later polished up by George Lucas, Steven Spielberg and David Koepp, the fourth outing in the popular franchise will once again star Harrison Ford as the adventurous archaeologist with Sean Connery rumored to return as his on-screen father. George Lucas has described the project as a ‘character piece’ that will include ‘very interesting mysteries.’

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