Sarah Gadon is Not Mary Jane Watson

A few days ago, we reported that Shailene Woodley who was originally set to play Mary Jane Watson in the next Spider-man movie will be replaced. Soon thereafter news came up that Sarah Gadon was set to join the cast for Amazing Spider-man 2, in a role not revealed, but it made sense to most that she was cast to fill in the void left by Woodley. Now, Gadon has come out in her twitter account that she will Not be playing Mary Jane, stating:

" I will not be playing MJ in Spider-Man. I have a role in the film, but it is not that one :) "

[READ THE PREVIOUS REPORT HERE]

LOCKE & KEY to be developed into a Film

LOCKE & KEY is a horror comic book series/graphic novel created by Joe Hill and Gabriel Rodriguez that has recently been picked up by Universal Pictures to be developed and adapted into a movie. Writers and producers Alex Kurtzman and Roberto Orci (Star Trek and Transformers) will be producing this adaptation.

The graphic novel centers on three siblings who return to their family home in Massachusetts following their father’s murder. There, they discover that the house is full of secrets when they start finding magical keys which hold impossible powers such as turning people into ghosts, or being able to erase someone's memories. They are not the only ones who know of the keys; a demonic creature known as Dodge is also after the keys, with the goal of opening the Black Door, which will allow the demons of hell to enter our world. [read the full article after the jump]

Ryan Reynolds quits the planned Highlander reboot/revival

It's as good as dead. Looks like the development for a HIGHLANDER reboot is dying, without much glint of hope. Ryan Reynolds who was previously attached to this project has quit. Last year, this project lost its targeted director Juan Carlos Fresnadillo as well. Reynolds would have played “Connor MacLeod, an immortal Scottish swordsman forced to confront the Kurgan, a brutal barbarian who lusts for the fabled ‘Prize.’” All hope for the reboot/revival for this cult fantasy franchise has now frozen back into development hell. If you ask me, it would be a miracle if they ever get to revive this terribly unappreciated franchise.

Jurassic Park 4 greenlit for 2015; Will be Shot in 3D

It has been 20 years since the first Jurassic Park movie, and 12 years since the last sequel. And it's no surprise that Jurassic Park was re-released (this time) in 3D format this year; it's related to the plans of making a new Jurassic Park movie; Jurassic Park 4 has already been greenlit, and set for development and production. Colin Trevorrow (who directed Safety Not Guaranteed) was chosen to direct JP4, and Bryce Dallas Howard and David Oyelowo are the frontrunners to be on the cast. It should also be most interesting to note that it will be shot in 3D. [hit the jump to read the full article]

Mary Jane Watson may be removed from Amazing Spider-man 2; Updated: Has a New Mary Jane Watson been Found?

The Spider-man character Mary Jane Watson (previously played by Kirsten Dunst in the Sam Raimi, Tobey Maguire Spider-man movies) was supposed to make her appearance in the upcoming Amazing Spider-man 2. But now, it looks like she will be a character that will be shelved until we get to part 3. The role is played by Shailene Woodley, a role that is very important to the Spider-man mythos, because she ends up as Spidey's leading lady, she is Spidey's Lois Lane.

Her fate in the cutting room floor may be caused by the fact that her appearance in this movie will actually be a mere set-up for her to become the lead lady in the next movie (part 3). That is the initial idea behind it. But it may not be the character, but the actress. Now the director Marc Webb himself has come out revealing that the role of Mary Jane might be recast. [read the full article after the jump]

"Fifty Shades of Grey" movie adaptation; Felicity Jones rumored to star as lead; Sam Taylor-Johnson is officially confirmed as director [UDPATED]

One of the most highly-anticipated movie adaptations yet to begin production and development is the adaptation of the popular novel FIFTY SHADES OF GREY

Now the project moves forward as a director has been named;  Sam Taylor-Johnson has been chosen to helm this movie. Felicity Jones has also been attached to star as the female lead character, but this has yet to be confirmed and finalized.
UPDATE: The release date has been announced: This movie is set for an August 1, 2014 release date [updated 6-29-13]. [read the rest of the news after the jump]

Farewell, James Gandolfini

James Gandolfini, the US actor best known for his role as a therapy-seeking mob boss in The Sopranos, has died at the age of 51.According to reports, Gandolfini suffered a possible heart attack while on holiday in Rome. According to the TMZ website, New Jersey-born Gandolfini went to Italy to attend a film festival in Sicily.

He won three Emmy awards for his role as Tony Soprano, a mafia boss juggling his criminal career and family life."It is with immense sorrow that we report our client James Gandolfini passed away today while on holiday in Rome, Italy," said his managers, Mark Armstrong and Nancy Sanders, in a statement on Wednesday night.
"Our hearts are shattered and we will miss him deeply."
[read the full article after the jump]

7 Filipino Projects Vie for The 6th Network of Asian Fantastic Films in South Korea

The 6th Network of Asian Fantastic Films (NAFF), the industry program of Puchon International Fantastic Film Festival (PiFan), has announced the official selections for this year’s Project Spotlight: The Philippines.

Each year, Project Spotlight selects one country and focuses on the diversity of its film genre. This year, NAFF has chosen to highlight the Philippines for their unique stories and storytelling ability. With the inception in 2008, the 6th edition of Project Spotlight is expecting another energetic celebration for those attending this year’s event as they interact with the industry’s movers and shakers with the support from the Film Development Council of the Philippines (FDCP).

Seven projects have been officially selected for this year’s event, a reminder of the rapid emergence of genre films from the Philippines. These seven projects have been selected after having gone through a tough selection criterion where the selection jury looked closely at each project’s originality, commitment to its genre, and the possibility of its completion. [read the full article after the jump]

Amazing Spider-man 3 and 4 set for 2016 and 2018 target dates

Sony's reboot of the Spider-man franchise may not be a very good movie, but it did manage to rake in the box office numbers, enough to fuel the urge for a sequel, and continue with their rebooted direction. And while it makes that much money, you can be sure that there will be more Spider-man sequels off this rebooted continuity.

Amazing Spider-man 2 is currently in production, and is slated to be released May 2014. The producers (and Sony) are expressing optimism on their superhero franchise, that they have locked on to set two (2) more films; Amazing Spider-man 3 and Spider-man 4; and have set their target release dates on June 10, 2016, and on May 4, 2018, respectively. [read full article after the jump]

Splinter Cell movie being developed

Tom Clancy's SPLINTER CELL is a series of award-winning action-adventure stealth video games that follows the military-spy-action-adventures of a covert operative named Sam Fisher. It is set to be adapted into a movie, and that is definitely something to look forward to. Warner Bros. and Paramount have been competing for the rights to produce the adaptation. Ubisoft was pleased to announce that they now have a writer for the project. Screenwriter Eric Singer, who wrote the screenplay for the 2009 espionage thriller The International (starring Clive Owen) has been tapped by Ubisoft to work on the script for a film adaptation of Splinter Cell. They have also been eyeing Tom Hardy for the lead in this movie. [read the full article after the jump]

Trailer Tuesdays: World War Z, Gambit, Riddick, and 4 Sisters and a Wedding

Our Trailer Tuesdays this week brings forth some trailers for the upcoming World War Z, and Gambit, both movies set to open tomorrow June 19. We also get a glimpse of 4 Sisters & a Wedding which opens June 26. And on the upcoming hype trailer, we have the new international trailer for RIDDICK which is set to be released September this year... [hit the jump to check out the trailers]

Schwarzenegger is Back! He targets to be around on the sequels to TERMINATOR, TWINS, CONAN, EXPENDABLES; and set to appear in TEN and ESCAPE PLAN

After quite a long time, Schwarzenegger is BACK. Arnold Schwarzenegger will be back for another TERMINATOR movie. The legendary action actor is also setting his sights on a Conan sequel entitled KING CONAN, a TWINS sequel, and to make another appearance in the third EXPENDABLES movie. Terminator 5 is set to shart shooting in January 2014. But before that, we will be seeing Schwarzenegger in January with the movie TEN, and on October this year with the movie ESCAPE PLAN. [read full article after the jump]

HERCULES with Dwayne Johnson and Brett Ratner moving forward

From Dwayne Johnson's Twitter, he teased his look for HERCULES

MGM and Paramount Pictures are moving ahead with their HERCULES movie that will star Dwayne Johnson as the titular character and will be directed by Brett Ratner. This movie will be bBased on the graphic novel Hercules: The Thracian Wars, the ensemble-action film is a revisionist take on the classic myth set in a grounded world where the supernatural does not exist. The screenplay is by Ryan Condal and Evan Spiliotopoulos. This movie will probably be a movie that will exclude all the supernatural, fantastical elements usually expected of what a Hercules movie would be. The pic also stars Ian McShane, Rufus Sewell, Joseph Fiennes, Peter Mullan, John Hurt, Rebecca Ferguson, Ingrid Bolso Berdal, Askel Hennie, and Reece Ritchie.  Hercules opens on July 25, 2014. [read the full article after the jump]

NEED FOR SPEED live action movie adaptation in the works

NEED FOR SPEED is probably the most successful series of racing video games. Now, DreamWorks Pictures and video game company EA are working together to create a live-action adaptation of this racing franchise to the silver screen. A Behind-the-Scenes featurette video has been released, which gives us a glimpse of what that will look like.  It shows off some top-of-the-line racecars caught up in a high-octane race from the cops, along with commentary from director Scott Waugh (Act of Valor) and shots of star Aaron Paul (Breaking Bad) in the driver’s seat. This movie will also star Dominic Cooper, Ramon Rodriguez, Rami Malek, Imogen Poots, Dakota Johnson and Scott Mescudi. "Need for Speed" is set for a  March 14, 2014 release date. [more details and the featurette video after the jump]

“Norte, Hangganan ng Kasaysayan” and “Mamay Umeng” to be shown in Czech Filmfest

Two Filipino films have made it to this year’s Karlovy Vary International Film Festival in the Czech Republic, set June 28 to July 6. Lav Diaz’s “Norte, Hangganan ng Kasaysayan” will be featured in the fest’s Another View section. On the other hand, The movie “Mamay Umeng” directed by Dwein Baltazar, will be competing in the Forum of Independents section, wherein it will vie alongside 11 other “low-budget films, by young filmmakers with outstanding talent and original vision.”

“Mamay Umeng” previously won best film at the Jeonju fest in Korea. Also up for grabs is broadcasting rights with Czech TV worth  5,000 euros ($6,481).

source: The Philippine Inquirer