Kick-Ass 2 To Be Even Darker

The adaptation of hit graphic novel Kick-Ass isn’t even out yet but talk of the sequel is already getting fans excited.

Talking to ComingSoon stars Aaron Johnson and Christopher Mintz-Plasse revealed that conversations about the superhero sequel were well underway.

At the South By Southwest film festival, Mintz-Plasse said, “Last night at the Q ‘n’ A, someone asked Johnny (Romita Jr.) if they’re going to have some stuff from ‘Kick-Ass 2′ at Comic-Con and they said, ‘Yes,’ which means they’re going to get started on it, which is exciting.

I met up with Mark actually a few months ago and we had a couple of drinks and he told me it was going to be great, and he wants it to be very, very dark is what he’s thinking.”

Johnson chimed in with, “Matthew [Vaughn] and Mark [Millar] have a lot of ideas, and I think they work quite tightly.

If you could get any more dark than Kick-Ass is right now, then Mark had even darker ideas. Matthew went with absolutely everything but there were some things that were impossible to film. No one’s going to see it because it’s too disgusting.”

Madonna Wants Movie Help From The Queen

According to The Sunday Telegraph, Madonna is writing, producing and directing a movie about Wallis Simpson, Duchess of Windsor.

The film will cover the relationship between Prince Edward and the American socialite and since she wants it to be authentic, Madge is asking the Queen for help.

According to one source close to star, “Madonna is keen to make the film as authentic as possible and would be very grateful if we are allowed to film at certain locations. She loves the UK and holds your Queen in the highest regard.”

So no chance of her staying the hell away from us then?

In regard to using royal grounds to shoot, a royal courtier said, “I can’t imagine that Her Majesty would make an exception, particularly for a film about Wallis Simpson.”

I can understand that she wants the film to be authentic, but surely she should be asking someone to help not make her film shite. Someone who can say to her, ‘Don’t act in this one.’

Fincher Eyes Dragon Tattoo Remake

Despite the film’s critical success, The Girl With The Dragon Tattoo, is already being remade. *Sigh*

David Fincher, director of Se7en and Fight Club, is currently the front-runner for the job according to New York magazine. A deal was made late last year with Sony to get the rights to an English language version of the story and now, having seen the success of the movie, Fincher is circling the project.

But he’s not the only one. Word is that An Education star Carey Mulligan could appear in Fincher’s version as the Lisbeth Salander character, already played by Noomi Rapace.

No deal has been struck yet but Gangs Of New York scribe Steve Zaillian has written a first draft screenplay and Scott Rudin will be producing.

But is it way too soon to be thinking about a remake? It’s no a secret that the mainstream UK audiences struggle with foreign language films but this remaking trend is becoming more than a little patronising. Swedish vampire drama Let The Right One In has been remade into Let Me In and Guillermo Del Toro’s Spanish language horror The Orphanage is also getting a translation.

James Cameron Confirms Titanic 3D Date

Talking to USA Today, James ‘King of the World’ Cameron confirmed the target date for a 3D version of his record-breaking epic Titanic.

“We’re targeting spring of 2012 for the release, which is the 100 year anniversary of the sailing of the ship.”

That’s great and everything but if you go back and watch Titanic again, the CGI doesn’t stand up that well in comparison to Avatar, or anything else for that matter.

The set pieces still look amazing but overall will it hold up under 3D scrutiny?

It also sounds like he’s not finished milking the blue wonder Avatar for all it’s worth just yet. When asked about a re-issue of Avatar, Cameron explained his plans.

“We’re not officially announcing it right now but I’m hoping for fall. The wildcard is that we might be re-releasing the movie this fall. It’s kind of gotten stomped out because of Alice in Wonderland.

The word we’re getting back from exhibitors is we probably left a couple of hundred million dollars on the table as a result. The question is the appetite still going to be there after the summer glut of movies. We’re going to assess that. We’re talking about maybe adding in additional footage and doing something creative.”

Planet of The Apes Prequel Lands Director

After Tim Burton’s failed attempt at revamping classic sci-fi The Planet of The Apes, I thought we’d seen the last of those damn dirty apes, but apparently they’re back.

A script has been making the rounds and has unsurprisingly had some difficulty finding a director.

Oscar winner Kathryn Bigelow wisely side-stepped the project as did Robert Rodriguez and James McTeigue but finally someone has agreed to direct this almost guaranteed flop; Rupert Wyatt is taking one for the team.

With a script by Rick Jaffa and Amanda Silver is a little worrying considering the two haven’t written a film in over a decade but maybe this is their comeback. But they’re coming back with an Apes prequel – why?

What could the prequel possibly be about, surely there wouldn’t be any apes at all?

We’d settle for The Simpsons version of the story over a remake any day.

Rapunzel Renaming Mystery Revealed

I pondered over why Disney Animation had changed the title of their next project Rapunzel to Tangled because it’s seemed rather pointless.

Some fans think that the new title will take away from the integrity of the fairytale, others think that it’ll signal a modernisation of the story but now we know the real reason that they did it.

I should have known really. It turns out that Disney just wanted the film to appeal to boys who might be less inclined to see a princess movie named after a long-haired lovely.

Ed Catmull, president of Pixar and Disney Animation Studios explained the situation. “We did not want to be put into a box. Some people might assume it’s a fairy tale for girls when it’s not. We make movies to be appreciated and loved by everybody.”

To be fair, that’s a good common sense approach. Of course boys aren’t going to want to see the film if they think it’s a pretty in pink movie, but will calling it Tangled make a difference?

They’re also targeting the boys more with the addition of the Flynn Rider character which is not included in the original story. But will one swashbuckling rogue cancel out the princess effect?

Clint Eastwood To Direct J Edgar Hoover Biopic

Clint Eastwood has just signed on to direct a biopic of J Edgar Hoover, the first director of the FBI.

No word on if he’ll make an onscreen appearance yet but we’re not ruling out the possibility that he’ll play Hoover later in his life.

Hoover was instrumental in the destruction of mob life in America when he started the FBI, first targeting John Dillinger’s gang of bank robbers, as seen in Public Enemies.

The script has been penned by Milk writer Dustin Lance Black and given the swriter’s own sexuality, as well as the subject matter of Milk, there’s a good chance that Hoover will come out of the closet. There has always been speculation over whether Hoover was gay or not and now we might get a more honest portrayal of him.

Corey Haim Dies Of Overdose

80’s teen star Corey Haim passed away due to an apparent accidental overdose, according to the LA Times.

Haim was found unresponsive in an apartment near Burbank at 3.30am and was later taken to Providence St. Joseph’s Medical Center. It’s not known which drugs the star had ingested but he had a known addiction to prescription drugs, particularly Valium.

Starring in The Lost Boys in 1987, Haim shot to fame and was tipped for big things but his career soon fizzled out and the drugs eventually took their toll on him.

At the time of his death he had several film projects on his plate and had recently appeared in Crank: High Voltage. It seems bigger and better things could have been on the horizon and a few of his completed films may still get released.

RIP Corey Haim 1971 – 2010

Let’s take a look at him in action in The Lost Boys trailer

Cohan And Clement On Board For MIB 3?

The third instalment of the Men In Black series looks set to star Sacha Baron Cohen and Flight of the Conchords’ Jemaine Clement.

It’s not confirmed yet but these two are definitely in the running to appear opposite Will Smith as they battle to save the Earth from aliens.

The script will be penned by Tropic Thunder scribe Etan Cohen, so at least it’ll have some good laughs. According to BloodyDisgusting.com and Empire the film will see Will Smith’s J travel back in time and joining forces with a younger version of Tommy Lee Jones’ character K.

Either Clement or Cohan, it’s not known which, is lined up to play a new character called Yaz while Josh Brolin is likely, but not confirmed, to play the young K. It might be nice to see Clement appearing in this one; he’s slowly breaking away from TV and has a few movies in the pipeline but this would be his blockbuster.

The film is slated for a 2011 release date but will anyone still care about this franchise; we haven’t seen one since 2002 and Smith will be 43 by then. Will he still have the stamina for an action movie and how will his age effect the cocky character he plays?

Would you want to see a new MIB movie? Drop a comment down below.

Three Wizard Of Oz Scripts On The Table For Remake

As a paid up member of the Lollipop Guild, I’m always interested when there’s news involving The Wizard of Oz.

Last year I reported that Dakota Fanning was in line for the role of Dorothy Gale in a reboot of the 1939 classic. While this isn’t well out of the realm of possibility, the problems are coming from the development of a decent script.

According to the LA times and Empire there are three scripts being shopped around Hollywood. The first is by Shrek Forever After’s Darren Lemke but no one seems to know much about the content or direction of this version. While Josh Olson’s version for Warner Bros. is going to be a dark take on the story with contributions from Todd MacFarlane.

Warner’s keen to get started with this project after the ridiculous success of the Alice In Wonderland reboot and the Harry Potter series nearing an end they’ll be needing another franchise.

The third Oz project on the go is the screen adaptation of the wildly popular stage musical Wicked, based on the book by Gregory Maguire. There’s no secret to this script; it’ll follow the young wicked witch of the West Elphaba and her frenemy Glinda the good witch. No word on if original stage stars Idina Menzel and Kristin Chenoweth will appear.

There have been a few incarnations of Oz but none so famous as Judy Garland’s version. My own personal guilty pleasure is Disney’s Return To Oz from 1985 but could Olson’s script be darker than that without pushing away fans?

And given current trends, I wouldn’t be surprised if once the script is locked down that it’s announced that the film will be in 3D. But 71 years after the original, are we ready for this or is it high time? Let me know what you think, drop a comment down below.