Three more join the cast for 'G.I. Joe'

Posted December 20, 2007 at 11:27 AM
By Tim Briscoe

Can you tell I'm excited about next year's G.I. Joe movie? I posted my casting picks and, whether you wanted it or not, I have informed you on the selections of Sienna Miller and Ray Park for the movie. Needless to say, I'm reliving my childhood right now.

According to The Hollywood Reporter, three more have signed on for the toy-turned-action flick. Rachel Nichols will suit up as Scarlett. Adewale Akinnuoye-Agbaje will play Heavy Duty. Said Taghmaoui has been cast as Breaker.

The beautiful Nichols starred in TV's Alias and recently appeared in the thriller P2. She stars as the red-haired, crossbow-wielding Scarlett. Nichols has also been cast in this year's Star Trek.

Akinnuoye-Agbaje is best known playing Mr. Eko on TV's Lost. Heavy Duty is G.I. Joe's weapons expert.

Taghmaoui was on TV's Sleeper Cell. He's in the new movie The Kite Runner. Breaker is the communications specialist for the team.

There are rumors that Byung-hun Lee will be cast as Storm Shadow -- the yin to the yang of Snake Eye's Ray Park.

Even though I am (or, was) a big fan of the '80s comic, toys, and animated TV series, I had no idea G.I. Joe was an acronym. According to THR, it stands for Global Integrated Joint Operating Entity. Save that tidbit for your next grueling match of Trivial Pursuit.

G.I. Joe will be in theaters on Aug. 7, 2009.

Source: The Hollywood Reporter

Mummy 3 Wraps in China

Rob Cohen, director of the upcoming The Mummy: Tomb of the Dragon Emperor, wrote on his official blog that production has wrapped in Shanghai. "After 91 days of shooting and 2,021 shots, The Mummy: Tomb of the Dragon Emperor has wrapped," Cohen wrote.

"I finished shooting the 'Imhotep's Nightclub' sequence with Isabella Leong slow dancing with Luke Ford and, across the dance floor, Brendan Fraser guiding Maria Bello through the steps in a very romantic ending quickly turning to comedy as, upstairs in the lounge, John Hannah gets caught skipping out of town on his partner Liam Cunningham." The production ended with a wrap party at Shanghai Studios, preceded by a fireworks display, Cohen said. Cohen praised his cast, which includes Brendan Fraser, Maria Bello, Luke Ford, Isabella Leong, John Hannah, Jet Li, Michelle Yeoh, Liam Cunningham and David Calder.

Cohen promised more news about the movie as it moves into post-production. "Rest assured, I will continue to update you on the post-production process, give you sneak peeks and take you right through to the world premiere in Beijing, China, on July 24, 2008," he said.

Bale Goes Batty for Terminator 4

John Connor won't just be back. He'll also be bat.

The Dark Knight himself, Christian Bale, has signed on to star as the heir to the cyborg-battling rebellion in Terminator Salvation: The Future Begins, the long-awaited fourth installment in the Terminator franchise.

While details on the film's plot have been kept under tight wraps, per the Hollywood Reporter, the action this time around will follow Connor, now in his thirties, leading the remainder of the human race in its ever-worsening battle against the machines.

However, reports have also been circulating that Bale's role, despite the party tag line, will not be as leading as it seems and that while Connor will indeed lead the rebellion, the next batch of films will actually feature a different character at the center of the action.

Taking on a smaller part in the series would seemingly make sense for Bale, who will no doubt need to devote increasing amounts of time to the revamped Batman franchise in future years.
Size of the part aside, Bale will join the ranks of previous Connor channelers Edward Furlong and Nick Stahl, both of whom played the character in T2 and T3, respectively.

Earlier this year the Halcyon Company, which produces the Terminator flicks, announced it would be reviving the blockbuster series with at least three new installments. Rather than picking up where Terminator 3: Rise of the Machines left off, however, the fourth installment will instead mark the beginning of a new trilogy.

Terminator Salvation: The Future Begins has already been fast-tracked for production, with producers looking to get the film in theaters by summer 2009, when its premiere will coincide with the release of a new Terminator video game.

Their haste in pushing the film into theaters is understandable as the franchise has so far grossed just over $1 billion since the first Terminator was released in 1984.
This time around, McG will direct the flick, which will be released by Warner Bros.
For those Terminator fans who can't wait 18 months for their cyborg-battling fix, Fox is offering a timely reprieve.

The Sarah Connor Chronicles, an hourlong action drama based around the Terminator character—the would-be mother of John—as well as the mythology surrounding the movies, is set to make its two-night premiere on the network Jan. 13 and 14.

Just a heads-up about this Friday's episode of Numb3rs

Just a heads-up about this Friday's episode of Numb3rs: part of the action is set at a comic convention; the comics are real, and so are some of the comics creators on the show.

Newsarama.com has a write-up about it. The creators are all indie-type
guys, so the show didn't have to jump through multiple hoops to get permissions from companies such as Marvel and DC. In the article I read, at least one of the creators actually sold quite a few of his books to cast and crew members.

Also, guest star Wil Wheaton is apparently really a comics fan; he was reading WE3 on set.

Trek's "Sarek" is Cast

Ben Cross has been cast as Sarek, the Vulcan father of Spock, in J.J. Abrams' upcoming Star Trek feature film, StarTrek.com reported.

He will be paired with Winona Ryder, portraying Spock's human mother, Amanda Grayson. (Variety had earlier incorrectly reported that Ryder would play a Vulcan.) The young Spock will be played by Zachary Quinto (Heroes 'Syler').

Sarek was first played by Mark Lenard in the original series and subsequent movies.

The film, currently in production under the direction of J.J. Abrams, is scheduled for release on Christmas Day 2008.

Half-Blood Cast Complete!!

Warner Bros. has announced that casting has been finalized for Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince, with the studio bringing aboard a handful of new, key characters, including the young Voldemort, Lavender Brown and Professor Slughorn.

The sixth and penultimate movie in the blockbuster franchise based on J.K. Rowling's acclaimed fantasy series has already begun shooting at the U.K.'s Leavesden Studios, with the the usual suspects—Daniel Radcliffe, Rupert Grint and Emma Watson—back on their respective broomsticks as Harry Potter, Ron Weasley and Hermione Granger.

This time around, some fresh faces have been added to the all-British company, led by Oscar-winning actor Jim Broadbent (Moulin Rouge, Iris, Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull) as new Professor of Potions Horace Slughorn.
Stepping into the part of the prebuescent Lord Voldemort, back when he was just Tom Riddle, will be nine-year-old Hero Fiennes Tiffin. The youngster will bring a real-life resemblance, as he just so happens to be the nephew of Ralph Fiennes, who plays the adult version of He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named.

Essaying Voldemort as a mischievous teenager will be 16-year-old Frank Dillane. Helen McCrory (The Queen, Becoming Jane) has signed on to play Narcissa Black Malfoy, the mother of Harry's nemesis, Draco Malfoy.
And much to the chagrin of thousands of aspiring actresses who turned out to audition, the role of Ron's love interest, Lavender Brown, went to 20-year-old actress Jessie Cave.

Helena Bonham Carter, who made her debut as nefarious Death Eater Bellatrix Black Lestrange in last summer's Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix, will cast more of those deliciously evil glances Harry's way.
Also back are Potter regulars Alan Rickman (Snape), Maggie Smith (McGonagall); Michael Gambon (Dumbledore), Robbie Coltrane (Hagrid), Warwick Davis (Flitwick), David Thewlis (Lupin), David Bradley (Filch), Tom Felton (Draco Malfoy); Natalia Tena (Nymphadora Tonks), Julie Walters (Mrs. Weasley); Evanna Lynch (Luna Lovegood), Matthew Lewis (Neville Longbottom) and Bonnie Wright (Ginny Weasley).

Director David Yates, who helmed Phoenix, is back behind the camera for Half-Blood Prince, while veteran scribe Steve Kloves, who adapted the first four Harry Potter movies, returns to adapt the latest installment.

Half-Blood Prince chronicles the teen magician's sixth year at Hogwarts School for Witchcraft and Wizardry. He teams with Professor Dumbledore to journey into Voldemort's past for clues to defeat the dark lord. Along the way, Professor Slughorn gives Harry a textbook once owned by the mysterious Half-Blood Prince that helps the hero out of some sticky situations. All the action leads to a heart-wrenching confrontation.

"I am really excited that David Yates and all our cast are back for the sixth film and welcome some wonderful new additions to our ensemble," Jeff Robinov, Warner's president of production, said in a statement. "We all share a commitment to Jo Rowling and to Harry Potter fans around the world to keep making these films the best they can be and, as we head into the final installments, I can promise that this level of commitment will not waver."

Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince is due in theaters Nov. 21, 2008.

New Re-telling of "The Andromeda Strain" Coming

Andre Braugher, who stars in A&E's upcoming miniseries The Andromeda Strain, told SCI FI Wire that it will completely rework the Michael Crichton novel on which it is based.

"Crichton's book doesn't hold up to the test of time," Braugher said of the book, which was previously adapted as a movie in 1971. "And so not much happens when you go back to 1968 and you read that book. It's anticlimactic, period. So this is an entire ... retelling of the story, with the same premise, but an entirely different retelling."

Braugher co-stars alongside Benjamin Bratt, Christa Miller, Eric McCormack and Rick Schroder.

"I play a military man," Braugher said in an interview while promoting The Mist. "He's the head of the division that's supposed to be taking on this Andromeda Strain, this virus that's taking over [after a U.S. government satellite crash-lands in Utah]. Benjamin Bratt plays the mecurial, hot-headed scientist who's responsible for tracking this thing down and destroying it."

Braugher added: "The virus ultimately proves deadly. The virus escapes, and it mutates, and it's on the loose. And we have to discover a response to it. There are elements of that film Sphere [which was also based on a Crichton book], ... in terms of the involvement of another power in the creation of the virus. But ultimately it just updates it, you know? It just brings it to a present-day realm where, instead of there being this wonderful deus ex machina where the virus just mysteriously happens to become benign, now it's not mysteriously benign. It's still malignant, and it's on the loose." The Andromeda Strain will premiere in early 2008. —Ian Spelling

"I hope they don't mess it up, I quite liked the original".

Cohen directs 3rd `Mummy' film in China

Rob Cohen has started shooting the third installment of "The Mummy" films starring Brendan Fraser in a desert valley north of Beijing.

In a blog entry on his "Mummy" Web site, Cohen says he's filming a battle scene between a family of explorers and a resurrected ancient Chinese emperor, played by Jet Li, and his 5,000 terra-cotta warriors.

He will later shoot a scene featuring the Chinese emperor racing through Shanghai's famous waterfront Bund in 1946 in a chariot drawn by four bronze horses.

Fraser is reprising his role as explorer Rick O'Connell in "The Mummy: Tomb of the Dragon Emperor." Maria Bello plays his wife, Evelyn, and Luke Ford is son Alex.

Michelle Yeoh will portray a sorceress, and Russell Wong is one of the Chinese emperor's enemies brought back from the dead.

Cohen said the China shoot, which involves a crew of 2,000 people, has been helped by good weather.

The film is expected to be released next summer.

___

"Trek" film casts its Kirk and McCoy

"Star Trek" casts Chris Pine as Capt. Kirk, Karl Urban as Dr. McCoy

Pine's films: "Smokin' Aces," "Just My Luck"; Urban in "Lord of the Rings"

New film, directed by J.J. Abrams, due in December 2008

LOS ANGELES, California (AP) -- The bridge of the starship Enterprise is filling up.

Chris Pine, who had been in talks to join the cast of J.J. Abrams' "Star Trek" flick, will play the young James Kirk, while Karl Urban will take on the role of Dr. Leonard McCoy, distributor Paramount confirmed Thursday.

They join previously announced cast members Zachary Quinto as Vulcan scientist Spock, Simon Pegg as engineer Scotty, John Cho as helmsman Sulu, Zoe Saldana as communications officer Uhura and Anton Yelchin as navigator Chekov.

Leonard Nimoy, who played Enterprise science officer Spock in the 1960s TV series and six "Star Trek" feature films, also will appear as an older version of the Vulcan.

Eric Bana, the star of Steven Spielberg's "Munich" and Ang Lee's "Hulk," is playing a villain in the "Trek" film, which begins shooting in November and is due out in December 2008.

Abrams, creator of "Lost" and director of "Mission: Impossible III," is keeping the plot secret for the film that follows the early days of the "Star Trek" crew, which was led by William Shatner as the bold Capt. Kirk.

Pine's credits include the movies "Smokin' Aces" and "Just My Luck," while Urban appeared in two of the "The Lord of the Rings" movies and "The Bourne Supremacy."

Copyright 2007 The Associated Press. All rights reserved.This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.

Birmingham Sci-Fi Convention?

Birmingham is going to have a top of the line, full-scale science fiction convention. The date is March 14-16, 2008. Check out their website for details. http://portal.omegacon.us/. Some of the headliners are Ben Bova, Sherrilyn Kenyon, Richard Hatch, Mike Resnick, Alan Dean Foster, Steven Burst and the Ghost Hunters. There are many other guests: literary, artistic and musical. Check the website for more information.

Geneon DVDs Going Out of Print

Geneon USA has officially stopped producing and distributing its anime DVDs in America. DVDs scheduled for release up until November 6th will be released, but products that were due out after November 6th will not be released. Furthermore, the Geneon anime DVDs and CDs that are available now are all that will ever be available.

Geneon anime titles including classics like Tenchi Muyo, Chobits, Saiyuki Reload, Cardcaptor Sakura, El Hazard, Fushigi Yugi, Gungrave, Serial Experiments Lain, Paranoia Agent, R.O.D. Tenchi Muyo, Tenjho Tenge, Vandread, Hellsing, Last Exile, Lupin III, Samurai Champloo and Trigun, and popular new titles like Fate/Stay Night, Shana, and Ergo Proxy are now in limited supply. Add these outstanding series to your collection now while you can! We do expect that a number of Geneon's anime series will eventually be re-released or continued by other American anime distributors, but no one knows for certain yet what will happen to Geneon's current continuing series and its completed catalog titles.

Diesel, Walker reteam for new "Fast and Furious"

Vin Diesel and Paul Walker are in negotiations to reunite for the fourth installment of the "Fast and the Furious" action franchise. The story line of Universal's as-yet-untitled installment is being kept under wraps, but fast cars are involved. A spring start is anticipated with shooting in Los Angeles, Mexico and the Dominican Republic.

The first "Furious," released in 2001, was a surprise hit, grossing more than $144 million and making stars our of Diesel and Walker. Only Walker returned for the 2003 sequel, "2 Fast 2 Furious," and he sat out the third installment, 2005's "Tokyo Drift."
That movie had relative newcomer Lucas Black in the driver's seat but did feature Diesel in a cameo at the end of the movie. His appearance was so well received that it was even mentioned in ads.

Justin Lin and Chris Morgan, who were behind "Tokyo Drift," are returning to directing and writing duties, respectively. Diesel most recently appeared in Sidney Lumet's "Find Me Guilty" and next stars in Fox's "Babylon A.D." Walker recently wrapped production on the indie drama "The Heaven Project."

Transformers 2 More Ambitious

Scott Farrar, visual-effects supervisor and second-unit director of Michael Bay's Transformers, told SCI FI Wire that the recently announced sequel will be more ambitious visually. "We want to improve on some of the processes that we did," Ferrar said in an interview at Industrial Light & Magic in San Francisco, where the film's transforming robots were created.

"I think what we're going to do is get faster and know our problems sooner and quicker. And then, of course, I know Michael's always thinking about new, crazy actions. And we're open to that." After discussing the monumental task of creating the effects for the first film, Farrar groaned and fell off his chair in jest when asked about the sequel, which was announced last week with an anticipated release date of June 26, 2009.

"It's a circus, and they're going to raise the tight-wire walker a little bit higher next time," he said. "But it's all going to be dramatic. I think the commitment is not to just chuck out a sequel. The commitment is—and this makes us really happy here—that it's a deep story. There are lots of layers to the story of all these Decepticons, everybody. And so they want to really keep the characters rich." Farrar added that the filmmakers plan to use the techniques and technology they learned on the first film to make the second even better.

"It was difficult and, I think, laborious, and I think we learned a lot by the end," he said. "I think we've learned a lot about lighting, and I think we can go to much moodier lighting. Lots of things. It'll be improved." Transformers will be released on DVD and HD DVD Oct. 16. —Cindy White

In-Car CD Players may face extinction

Posted Sep 24th 2007 11:13AM by Tim StevensFiled under: Audio/Video, Car Tech
In-dash CD players have been a staple of car audio for nearly two decades now. But, with CD sales declining and digital music sales soaring, it seems the in-car CD player is going the way of the cassette deck (and the 8-track before it). German car audio manufacturer Blaupunkt -- popular with the 'Pimp My Ride' set -- has ditched the CD player in its new Melbourne SD27 head unit in favor of a slot for SD or MMC memory cards.

The unit will play both MP3 and WMA songs directly from the SD card, displaying song information on a 30-character front-panel display, which, to be honest, we find a bit small by today's standards -- especially given the room freed up by the lack of a CD slot. It won't play AAC songs, so iTunes fans who don't want to convert their tracks will need to hook up their iPods through the line-in jack, which also works with any other media player, of course.

The SD27 is also Bluetooth-compatible, so it can do hands-free calls and even stream music directly from other Bluetooth-compatible devices.The Melbourne SD27 goes for $159.95 -- a small price to pay for freeing your glove box up for what it was really meant for: napkins and ketchup packets.From Gizmag

"Happy Feet" director shooting "Justice League"

"Happy Feet" director George Miller is in talks to bring the superheroes of the "Justice League of America" comic books to the big screen.

While details about the script are being kept close to the vest, it is known that Warner Bros.' live-action movie will feature such A-listers as Superman, Wonder Woman, Batman, Aquaman, the Flash and Green Lantern as well as the Martian Manhunter.

Preparations are being made to shoot to the movie in Miller's native Australia.
One thorny issue the production needs to deal with is casting. Warner Bros. is in production on "The Dark Knight," a sequel to "Batman Begins," starring Christian Bale, and is in development on another Superman movie with Brandon Routh as Clark Kent/Superman. Those two actors will not reprise their roles for the "League" movie as the studio is intent on keeping all of its superhero movies as separate franchises. "League" also is looked at as a launchpad for other comic book movies.

As such, the studio is hoping to cast the movie with lesser-known actors, and an international search is under way. The smaller names in the movie will help with the second issue facing the production: budget. A "League" movie was long thought impossible simply because the thinking was that any undertaking would break the bank on big-name actors and special effects. On the effects front, media like animation were considered before deciding to stick with live action. Miller's "League" will be effects-intensive. Some motion capture likely will be used as well.
Reuters/Hollywood Reporter

I can't wait!!!!!I love the Justice League. Hope they don't mess it up!

Sysco's on the Southside

For those of you who frequent Syscos on the southside, September 28th will be their last day. They are closing forever. Their hours have been cut back and they are no longer open on Saturdays. When I went last Friday, everything in the store was 30% off. More price cuts are anticipated as they get closer to the end of the month. However, they will be not restocking anything, so there may not be anything of value left on the 28th. I called the headquarters to see if they might just be moving to another location, but they said no. They are getting out of the "retail" business and specializing on "wholesale". Well, it was good while it lasted. If you find another alternative, by all means let me know.

First 4 Harry Potter films on DVD,HD, DVD & Blu-ray Dec. 11

Warner Bros. has announced that the first four Harry Potter films will be taken out of moratorium and sold on DVD, HD DVD and Blu-ray beginning December 11, the same day that the fifth move hits shelves here in the United States.

The press release states:"Pottermania" continues as the Harry Potter films 1-4 are offered for the first time in HD DVD and Blu-ray ($29.99 SRP). The High Definition versions will include all the extra content of the Giftset's two-disc versions and, for a limited time only, both versions will contain a set of four trading cards specific to the title purchased. The Harry Potter films 1-3 will be available individually in Standard Definition also with the trading cards, at a new low price (each $14.97 SRP). Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire is only available at this price for 60 days, after which it will sell for $19.97 SRP.

Join Our Anime Club!

The organizational meeting of our yet to be named Anime Club will be held on September 28th at 3:45 P.M. in the meeting room of the Five Points West Library. Anime fans of all ages are invited to attend. Previews of upcoming releases and refreshments will be provided. Please inform any patrons that you think might be interested.

Wow !

Wow Lorraine--You have your very own Blog spot. Just wanted to say hello.

Andrei

Saldana is Trek's Uhura

Saldana Is Trek's Uhura

Zoe Saldana (Pirates of the Caribbean: Curse of the Black Pearl) has signed on to play Uhura in J.J. Abrams' big-screen adaptation of Star Trek for Paramount Pictures, Variety reported. The casting was rumored on the TrekMovie.com Web site.

In the original Star Trek TV series, Uhura—whose name means freedom in Swahili—was a member of the bridge crew of the U.S.S. Enterprise who rose to the rank of commander. Nichelle Nichols played the Starfleet Academy alumna in the series. Alex Kurtzman and Roberto Orci wrote the screenplay and will executive-produce alongside Bryan Burk and Damon Lindelof. The film is set for a Christmas Day 2008 release. Saldana recently wrapped the Sony thriller Vantage Point. She is filming James Cameron's SF epic film Avatar.

Welcome to my Blog!

Welcome to Etcetera LW, my very first blog. I finally have a place to share information, exchange ideas and generally rant and rave about whatever interests me at the moment. Join me and let's have a splendid time. Be on the lookout my next post.