Neil Marshall to helm TROLL HUNTER Remake; and another Game of Thrones episode

The Norwegian film "Troll Hunter" which was directed by André Øvredal, was one of the most applauded foreign films to come out in 2010, and was released in the US with strong positive reception. Now, this monster movie is up for a remake with director Neil Marshall at the helm to direct it.  Production is looking to get underway in early 2014 while there’s still snow on the ground, which means that things are going to move very quickly on the project.  The original pic centered on a group of students investigating mysterious bear killings who come across a troll hunter and, subsequently, a giant troll. No release date has been marked as of yet. [hit the jump to continue]

Live-action CINDERELLA movie, in production

Let's see now, we already have 2 new Snow White movies, one Twilight-like Red Riding Hood movie, an emo-centric Jack in the beanstalk... Now we have a new Cinderella movie! Walt Disney has hired Kenneth Branagh ("Thor",  and the upcoming "Jack Ryan") to direct the movie CINDERELLA which will star Lily James, Richard Madden, Cate Blanchett and Helena Bonham Carter. Walt Disney Pictures announced this week that principal photography has begun at Pinewood Studios in London, on “Cinderella,” Disney’s first-ever live action feature inspired by the classic fairy tale. The first image off the film has been released online (above). “Cinderella” will be having its release date on March 13, 2015. [hit the jump to continue]

TRANSIT is the Philippine's entry to the Oscar Awards 2014; Singapore's is ILO-ILO, the UK's is METRO MANILA

There's a whole lot of something Filipino in the entries for this year's Best Foreign Language Film category in the upcoming 86th Academy Awards which will be held on March 2, 2014. Singapore's entry is the movie entitled "Ilo Ilo" is about the relationship between a Singapore family and their newly arrived Filipino maid in the midst of the 1997 Asian financial crisis. It is based upon the true-to-life experiences its director Anthony Chen and his family's relationship with a Pinay OFW Nanny from the City of Iloilo.  Meanwhile, the UK's entry for the festival is British filmmaker Sean Ellis"Metro Manila" which tells the tale of a poor probinsya family which moved to Metro Manila, only to be stuck on a much darker fate. This has a more bleak and darker tone, closer to crime noir drama.

And from our end, here in the Philippines, our entry is the movie entitled "Transit" which was chosen by the Film Academy of the Philippines (FAP) to be the country’s entry in the best foreign language film category of the Academy Awards in 2014. Directed by Hannah Espia, “Transit” tells the struggles of a Filipino family working in Tel Aviv after the Israeli government passed a law ordering overseas workers’ children below 5 years old to be deported back to their countries. It debuted in the 9th Cinemalaya Philippine Independent Film Festival, where it bagged 10 awards, including best film and best director for Espia. [hit the jump to continue]

The Cine Europa Festival 16 in Iloilo City held this Week

The FDCP's Cine Europa is actually on its sixteenth year. But while this festival has since been centered in Metro Manila theaters, this year it extends its scope to Baguio City, Davao City, Cagayan De Oro, Cebu City and to Iloilo City. Cine Europa is FDCP's festival which hopes to get more Filipinos to watch European films, not only do we Filipinos get to be shared cinematic works of art from Europe, but the event also strengthens the bonds between Filipinos and members of the European Union, as well as Europeans who reside here in the Philippines.

Here in Iloilo, the festival is held at the FDCP's Cinematheque Iloilo from September 24 to September 29, 2013. The festival formally kicked off this evening at the Cinematheque with the German film "Almanya: Willkommen in Deutschland" (Almanya: Welcome to Germany). The Cine Europa is jampacked with various wonderful films from various countries in Europe. Check out the screening skeds of these movies after the jump... 

Warcraft's Initial Cast Batch

The WARCRAFT movie is one of those most highly anticipated films that so many fans cant wait to see. And now, the movie adaptation project which will be directed by Duncan Jones, is getting their initial casting line-up that include Collin Farrell, Paula Patton (Mission Impossible: Ghost Protocol), Paul Dano (Prisoners), Anton Yelchin (Star Trek), Travis Fimmel (History Channel’s Vikings), and Anson Mount (Hell on Wheels). There are no details on who they might play, but both Farrell and Patton are being eyed for the lead roles. WARCRAFT will be based more on earlier Warcraft games, and will hope to spawn sequels based on later Warcraft games such as the MMORPG Game World of Warcraft. WARCRAFT has a January 2014 production start-date, and a 2015 target release date. [hit the jump to continue]

Joss Whedon Rewrote Troublesome Scenes in THOR: THE DARK WORLD

In a display of extremely impressive effort of advance troubleshooting and evident care, writer-director Joss Whedon actually stepped in to do some rewrites for some troublesome scenes in THOR: THE DARK WORLD. Apart from master producer for these Marvel movies Kevin Feige, Joss Whedon plays the significant part as being the creative showrunner for all these Marvel movies, his contract with Marvel allows him to consult on all of the studio’s other properties.  Such that Whedon had a hand in the script for Captain America: The First Avenger, and now, we know that he has also stepped in to fix minor problems in the Thor sequel as well. [hit the jump to continue]

Disney's INTO THE WOODS begins production

Disney’s highly anticipated film adaptation of INTO THE WOODS, which is based on a popular Tony-winning original musical, has began last week. It features an award-winning production team and all-star ensemble cast. Rob Marshall, the talented filmmaker behind the Academy Award-winning musical “Chicago” and Disney’s “Pirates of the Caribbean: On Stranger Tides,” helms the film. The original musical by James Lapine, who also penned the screenplay, and legendary composer Stephen Sondheim, who provides the music and lyrics—including an all-new song for the big-screen adaptation is produced by Marshall, John DeLuca, “Wicked” producer Marc Platt and Callum McDougall. Shooting in studio and on location throughout England, the film is slated for a December 25, 2014, holiday release. [hit the jump to continue]

Insidious 3 is Already being Planned

Entertainment One (eOne), FilmDistrict, and Sony Pictures Worldwide Acquisitions (SPWA) has announced that they will be developing the third chapter of the micro-budgeted INSIDIOUS film franchise which Leigh Whannell has signed on to write.  Whannell has written both INSIDIOUS and INSIDIOUS: CHAPTER 2 which has just opened in local theaters this week, and just had a stellar first weekend release in North America debuting to more than $40 million at the box office making it one of the largest horror genre openings ever and one of the biggest openings for a film released in the month of September.  Jason Blum and his Blumhouse Productions, which produced both INSIDIOUS and INSIDIOUS: CHAPTER 2, is producing the next installment along with Oren Peli.  Steven Schneider, Brian Kavanaugh Jones, Peter Schlessel, Lia Buman and Xavier Marchand are executive producing. [hit the jump to continue]

Fast & Furious 7 Cast Rundown; plus, Our Fast & Furious Continuity Guide

The casting line-up for FAST & FURIOUS 7 is starting to look like The Expendables, and not only because Jason Statham is joining the cast, but because it's starting to be occupied by big names (we'll get to that a little later in the article). Actually, Lucas Black is not a big name, but he was the main protagonist in The "Fast and the Furious: Tokyo Drift" which introduced Justin Lin on the director's chair of the franchise and successfully took it and and take off to evolve into this massively popular action movie franchise (with "Fast & Furious", "Fast Five", and "Furious 6"). Now, Black is back to reprise his role Sean Boswell from 'Tokyo Drift', joining Dominic Toretto and his team. Along with Jason Statham, the new cast include Djimon Honsou (best known for his roles in "Gladiator"and "Amistad"),  popular Indian and Bollywood film actress and model Deepika Padukone, female mixed martial artist and UFC Women's Bantamweight Champion Ronda Rousey, English actress Nathalie Emmanuel (best known as Khaleesi's interpreter in Game of Thrones) and Thai martial arts superstar Tony Jaa, best known as the star of the Ong Bak movies. There's a really strong rumor that Kurt Russel is also included in the cast, but because it is not yet officially confirmed, my best bet is that it's going to be a small role, or perhaps another teaser appearance for the next movie (just like Statham at the end of part 6). FAST & FURIOUS 7 is scheduled for a July 2014 release. [hit the jump to continue, and check out our Fast & Furious continuity guide]

Julianne Moore joins The Hunger Games: Mockingjay

Lionsgate has announced that four-time Academy Award nominee Julianne Moore (BOOGIE NIGHTS, THE HOURS, THE END OF THE AFFAIR and FAR FROM HEAVEN) has joined the cast of THE HUNGER GAMES: MOCKINGJAY PARTS 1 & 2 as President Alma Coin, the leader of the rebellion against the Capitol.

Moore will star opposite Jennifer Lawrence, Josh Hutcherson and Liam Hemsworth in the third and fourth installments of  the HUNGER GAMES franchise, slated for release in November 2014 and November 2015, respectively.  She will join new cast members including Natalie Dormer, Stef Dawson and Evan Ross. [hit the jump to continue]

Syowing this Week

It feels like a festival of really good Pinoy movies this week, as the Film Development Council of the Philippines holds its 2013 Sineng Pambansa National Film Festival All-Masters Edition at SM City Cinemas. And among those films being featured is the Ilonggo movie SALVI: ANG PAGPADAYON which has drew much praise already since its premiere which was held September 10, 2013. Also included in this festival line-up is Peque Gallaga’s SONATA which was said to be shot in Negros. The other movies included in the line-up include works from Gil Portes, Elwood Perez, and Mel Chionglo. The Pinoy festival fever seems to be not exclusive to SM only, as Robinsons has extended the screening of the highly acclaimed Pinoy movie ON THE JOB (OTJ).[hit the jump to continue]

JK Rowling to Bring Back the Harry Potter Universe to the Big Screen

It seems that the Harry Potter movie universe is not yet over as we thought it was. A new movie series based on the Harry Potter universe is being planned. The author of the Harry Potter books J.K. Rowling herself will be having her screenwriting debut on FANTASTIC BEASTS AND WHERE TO FIND THEM, which will be an original story and is planned as the first film in a new series.  The pic will focus on the character Newt Scamander who is the mysterious author of the textbook of the same title. The story begins in New York 70 years prior to the events of Harry Potter. [hit the jump to continue]

SALVI: ANG PAGPADAYON Review

The story of SALVI is set in a post-apocalyptic world, and civilization has seemingly become non-existent. Most of the characters cannot even remember (or choose not to remember) how the world has come to that bleak point. The main character of the movie is a girl named Salvi, who chooses to make herself look like a boy, and sets out on a journey to search for her missing sister who was kidnapped long ago by a marauding gang from the “Campo”. Along the way, she meets a thief named Abet who knows the location of the Campo. Salvi’s journey leads her to a slave camp run by a transvestite queen named Madonna. There, they meet another mysterious companion named Kardo.  Salvi soon faces the end of her journey with horrifying revelations. [CLICK HERE to read the full review]

PIRATES OF THE CARIBBEAN 5 slows down for a 2016 release; Plot Details Revealed

Despite Disney's recent epic failure with The Lone Ranger, Pirates of the Caribbean 5, which is now titled PIRATES OF THE CARIBBEAN: DEAD MEN TELL NO TALES is still going to happen. But the studio has pulled the film from its original summer 2015 release date and has moved it to a possible 2016 release instead.  Kon-Tiki helmers Joachim Rønning and Espen Sandberg have been attached to direct for a few months now, but the reason for the delay apparently has to do with the shape of the script.  Rønning and Sandberg weren’t 100% happy with Jeff Nathanson’s outline for the material, and production was looking to get underway in March which meant the duo would have to prep shooting with only an outline to go by and not a finished script.  Nathanson is now working on a rewrite of the material, and the extra time will be devoted to making sure the script is in top shape and trying to bring the film’s budget down below $200 million.[hit the jump to continue]

Max Landis pitches for a Wonder Woman movie

WONDER WOMAN is a DC superhero property that studios have been trying to successfully adapt into either a movie or a TV series, that could cash in on the popularity and success of superhero movies and TV series. Now, the writer of CHRONICLE, Max Landis has set his sights on it and will give it a shot. While the Landis' draft for Chronicle 2 was rejected by Fox (the studio is going a different way on the potential follow-up), he recently revealed that he plans on pitching his own take on Wonder Woman to Warner Bros.  The studio has yet to officially announce a Wonder Woman film as in development, but the standalone feature is clearly in their plans as they make their way towards Justice League following 2015’s Batman vs. Superman. [hit the jump to continue]