Mickey Rourke is the newest actor to be added to Sylvester Stallone’s next directorial effort. Already my pick for comeback of the year, Rourke will join Sly, and the call sheet of actors we’ve mentioned over the last few days and weeks. You have Jason Statham, Jet Li, Dolph Lundgren, Randy Couture, and Forest Whitaker. Rourke will play an arms dealer who becomes the go-to guy for a group of mercenaries planning to topple a South American dictator.

The Expendables begins filming in March.

Source: Variety

Last week I attended the press day for David Goyer’s upcoming thriller “The Unborn”. In the coming weeks I’ll have interviews with the entire cast, but I wanted to post what producers Brad Fuller and Andrew Form said about their upcoming projects right now.

In case you don’t know Brad and Andrew’s names, they’re the guys who run Platinum Dunes (along with Michael Bay) and they’re involved with a lot of remakes. Since the roundtables interviews went pretty long, I was able to find out the status of their upcoming Friday the 13th movie and what’s up with the remakes of “A Nightmare on Elm Street”, “Rosemary’s Baby” and “The Birds”. We also discussed 3-D and IMAX in their future horror movies.

Here’s what they had to say:

Question: The Friday the 13th footage got a great reaction at Comic-Con. Have you gotten any more feedback since then?

Andrew Form: Are you kidding me? I mean that movie, honestly is…not talking about “The Unborn” for a moment, if you want to talk about that I’m happy to discuss it. I would say that it is without a doubt the most…we’ve gotten the most feedback on that film out of everything we’ve worked on potentially everything all put together. It is insane. I think we all undervalued how big Jason Voorhees is and how much people love talking about him.

So what are they saying?

Brad Fuller: It’s been a really remarkably positive response.

I want to ask you about “Friday” and the test screening process on that. Have you guys tested the film?

Brad: Yes.

Where did you test it?

Andrew: In Long Beach.

Brad: Right.

Was it like a blind screening or…?

Andrew: No. It wasn’t.

And what was the reaction with the audience?

Andrew: It was an amazing thing to watch. Honestly.

Brad: I would say that for us, the two of us, our greatest test screening…our first test screening for “Texas Chainsaw Massacre” was kind of a magical thing. We kind of had no idea what we had and then we’ve been jaded by all the other ones we had and then this “Friday the 13th” test screening came and it took us right back to where we were with “Texas Chainsaw”. It was crazy.

So I have to ask you guys, you’re remaking an iconic character and there’s plans for you to remake another iconic character?

Andrew: Yes.

What’s the status of that project and how has this Jason…how has “Friday” influenced possibly what you might do with Freddy?

Brad: Well, we want to put Freddy in a hockey mask and we don’t know how people feel about that but we’re excited about it. I think that every iconic horror character you have to take on their own and kind of figure out what is appealing about that character and for Jason Voorhees, it’s one thing because for the most part in all the movies….

Andrew: He’s a silent killer.

Brad: Right. So Freddy Krueger is a much more challenging character and that is not something that we just kind of stumble into and say “Hey, let’s just make him!” and go do it.

Andrew: “Put the glove on—let’s go!”

Brad: It’s something that we are treading very lightly on and I can tell you for sure that we don’t’ have the answer yet. That is something that we’re going to work very hard to figure out just how much of the Freddy that you might know from the later movies as opposed to the Freddy from the earlier movies. I mean it’s a balance and we don’t have that answer yet.

What about those rumors that Billy Bob was cast?

Andrew: We have no idea where that came from.

But since that got out there have you had any word from him like maybe a…?

Andrew: No. No. I think that was just a crazy rumor.

Will Robert do a cameo if he’s not doing Freddy? Robert Englund?

Brad: We definitely want him in the film, without a doubt. I mean, I think it would be a travesty if we couldn’t have him in the film.

How far along in the planning process for “Nightmare” are you?

Brad: We’re in the earliest possible…

Andrew: We’re in the beginning.

Okay.

Is there a horror film that just cannot be done again and why do it again? I see that you’re doing “Rosemary’s Baby” and that seems like one.

Andrew: We are not doing “Rosemary’s Baby”.

Brad: No, no. I mean… “Rosemary’s Baby” was announced and it’s like a little bit like we’re taking about with Freddy. We went down that road and we even talked to the best writers in town and it feels like it might not be do-able. We couldn’t’ come up with something where it felt like it was relevant and we could add something to it other than what it was so we’re now not going to be doing that film.

Where is Martin Campbell’s “The Birds”?

Brad: Martin has been working on the script and we’re expecting a script in the next 2-3 weeks, but that’s another one where its not like Drew, Michael and I think that we’re just going to crap all over Alfred Hitchcock’s movie. I mean, Alfred Hitchcock in a company wide opinion is probably the greatest director of what we do and other things too. And as someone, that at least Michael and I studied in college and there’s a reverence for him. So that’s not a movie that we’re just going to step up and just go have birds attacking people and trying to throw that into the box office. If we can’t make that movie unique or add something to it, I don’t think we’re going to make it.

Well, Martin’s good at reinventing things.

Brad: He’s great. I mean, once you get a film-maker like Martin Campbell and you start taking to an actress like Naomi Watts a project can pick up momentum, but they’re not interested in making the same movie that Hitchcock made. And they’re interested in something that moves it along and shows different parts of the story so that’s what’s we’re hopeful that the script will be.

I wanted to know with 3-D and you guys because clearly I think “Final Destination” is going 3-D?

Andrew: Yes.

Brad: Yup.

And clearly 3-D is gaining a lot of momentum. As producers are you already thinking about the format/also IMAX for horror or thrillers?

Andrew: We have. We talked about it for a couple of projects. We don’t have any projects set up that we’re taking about definitely doing 3-D, but Brad and I have gone down and we’ve looked at the cameras. We’ve looked at the tests. We watched the You Too movie which is unbelievable and…

Brad: It presents a challenge for us in that our movies that the budgets of our 2nd movie and our 8th movie are virtually the same. Some production companies keep on wanting…I mean our budgets are the same. 3-D adds some money to your budget that could take us from a place of being very comfortable where we’re making our movie to the place where we might not be as comfortable and…

Andrew: You know “Bloody Valentine” went 3-D.

Brad: It’s a more expensive thing and if we have a story that lends…certainly “The Birds” in 3-D sounds like a very nice way to tell that story. Right. And so by the way, Drew and I went with Martin Campbell and we went and looked at the You Too film with him and we’re all doing our due diligence, we just haven’t been willing to commit yet.

You have a partner who’s at the forefront of technology. The guy’s a mad-man. With all respect I love his work. How is he as a partner maybe pushing the boundary, like trying to help push the technology into the movies?

Brad: You know what’s interesting is that we’ve never talked to him about 3-D in a real way. Have we?

Andrew: No.

Brad: Michael pushes….

Andrew: Some IMAX on Transformers 2.

Brad: Yeah, yeah. There’s definitely that. For Bay to get excited about it, it has to transcend being a gimmick and be a way to enhance the story. And I don’t know that we can convince him of that as of yet with what’s come out in 3-D yet. I don’t know. We didn’t see “Journey to the Center of the Earth” . We saw the You Too movie but beyond that, for Michael it’s about what makes the best movie that the most people can enjoy and I don’t know if he feels that 3-D fits into that. I don’t know.

Do you have any trouble with the censors regarding violence in either this or “Friday the 13th”?

Brad: Yes, they love us. But you know what? I think, as a company, we try and push things for this level. Actually strangely enough on “Friday the 13th” we did not have a problem, right? I mean we were…

Is that R-rated though?

Andrew: Oh it’s very R-rated.

Brad: No, no I have problems with most of our movies with R’s we…

Andrew: We’ve had to cut back a few times.

Brad: The Unborn PG-13 was a challenge to get. We went back a number of times to get it and David was very cooperative and ultimately the ratings board was.

Credit: Collider

However the likelihood that any of that is even remotely true is preposterous. Remember, Chris Nolan is the director of this film, not Joel Schumacher.

source: www.superherohype.com

Rob Zombie is packing up and heading back to Haddonfield for H2, the sequel to his remake of John Carpenter’s classic film from 1978. While other horror websites patronized us for reporting the story broke by Shock, it appears the egg is in their face as Zombie will return to both write and direct the sequel to Halloween for Dimension Films. Read on for the official news and full details on the deal. What do you guys think? Where should Zombie take the sequel?

Dimension Films and Rob Zombie are teaming for another chapter of Halloween, and he’s racing to scare up the pic for release in October.

Zombie will write and direct H2, the sequel to his 2007 reinvention of the John Carpenter horror classic. Production will begin in March.

The new film picks up right as the first remake ended, following the aftermath of Michael Myers’ murderous rampage through the eyes of the sister he hunted.

Zombie said it won’t resemble the original second installment, as the House of 1000 Corpses helmer continues to take the franchise in different directions.

Zombie took Carpenter’s original and stamped it with an original storyline that treated Myers as a clinical psychopath. The film grossed $60 million domestically in 2007.

Zombie had told Dimension chief and TWC co-chairman Bob Weinstein he wanted nothing to do with a sequel. But just like the franchise’s villain, Zombie was compelled to come back.

“I was so burned out. (But) I took a long break, made a record and I got excited again,” Zombie said. “Now, we’ll be hauling ass, and that’s the problem making a movie called Halloween: If you come out Nov. 1 or after, nobody cares. If it was called anything else, I’d be fine.”

Malek Akkad of Trancas Intl. Films will produce with Spectacle Entertainment’s Andy Gould.

Bloody-Disgusting actually been hearing about Zombie’s return to Haddonfield for a few weeks now, and something that has become quite clear to them is that Zombie intends on bringing back a few names from his 2007 remake of Halloween. From their sources close to the project, expect to see the return of Scout Taylor-Compton as Laurie Strode, Tyler Mane as Michael Myers, Malcolm McDowell as Dr. Sam Loomis, Daeg Faerch as young Michael Myers and of course Sheri Moon Zombie as Deborah Meyers. Nothing is set in stone as the script is currently being written, but we’ll have the official news when anything is officially announced. Rob Zombie’s H2 picks up right as the first remake ended, following the aftermath of Michael Myers’ murderous rampage through the eyes of the sister he hunted.

And now for some early poster art from H2:

Credit: Variety/Bloody-Disgusting

When Blade: Trinity arrived at the tail-end of 2004, the word on the street was that David Goyer was paving the way for a spin-off franchise featuring Hannibal King (Ryan Renolds) and Abigail Whistler (Jessica Biel). Needless to say, that never happened and the fans got a short-lived Spike TV Blade series with Sticky Fingaz replacing Wesley Snipes. Its on-air lifespan, however, may have spelled the end for further adventures of the Daywalker. Ah, but time heals in Hollywood and, as we all know, what is old can easily be renewed. Especially Blade, a franchise that has grossed over $400 million worldwide.

“God, it feels like they remake movies five years after they come out now,” Goyer answers when asked if there’s the possibility of seeing Blade’s resurrection on screen. “I’m sure New Line at some point would like to do another version of it. Me? Never say never, but I think remakes are more successful the more time there is in between. Honestly, I think they should have waited for the new Hulk. I like the new one. But the longer time you have between remakes [and their originals], the better. For me, ten years is the minimum you really need.”

So wait, are we talking remake and not an actual next chapter? Goyer says, “I heard rumors that they may want to start from scratch with a new person playing Blade. It’s funny because I thought about how I never wanted to do a vampire film ever again because I’m sick of it. But I was reading the Tomb of Dracula Omnibus and I hadn’t read them in a long time and I thought it might be cool to do another vampire movie at some point.”

Sounds like the man isn’t done with the Daywalker yet. They’ve replaced Snipes once before. What do you think? Is it time to give the series an overhaul?

Credit: ShockTilYouDrop

Despite mediocre reviews, Hancock did pretty well at the box office, but I still never thought we’d really see any further adventures from Will Smith’s superhero in the future. Apparently, I was wrong. We just got done talking to Will Smith, who’s promoting Seven Pounds, and he told us that we’ll “definitely” be seeing a sequel.

When we asked Will if he’d ever be up for playing another superhero he replied that there were a lot of unexplored characters in the Hancock universe that would be ripe for a sequel and confirmed that we’ll definitely see the rumored Hancock 2 in a few years.

Credit: JoBlo

DVD Lounge Lizard Jenny Rushing contributed on this report!

Should we not want another Ghostbusters film? I’m conflicted, are you? Well, how you and I feel is becoming an increasingly moot question because the development of the sequel has certainly gathered steam in the last few months. First it was announced that a pair of “Office” writers were scripting the third adventure. Then Bill Murray spoke with us and others about how intrigued he was about coming back to the franchise at long last. Hell, Murray even had an idea…adding a female Ghostbuster to the fray.

This afternoon I got chance to chat with Dana Barrett herself and yes, Ms. Sigourney Weaver is well aware of the chatter. “I’ve heard about it,” she said, adding “I’m supposed to get in touch with Bill [Murray] next week.”

Weaver called Murray’s potential involvement “great” and said she’s wondering if he thinks Dana ended up with Venkman. “Does he think we got married or something?” she laughed. Weaver wasn’t sure if there was a place for her in the story but she did think someone deserves a spot. “I would hope that my little Oscar would be one of the Ghostbusters even if I’m not in it!”

Credit: MTV

Too good to let slide until we get some hard facts, a morsel of info has come our way regarding a sequel to Rob Zombie’s Halloween.

Where does that leave Tyrannosaurus Rex? Well, according to our source, the project is on hold for now since Halloween 2 is expected to start shooting in March. But questions remain: If this is true, has Zombie been at work on a story? Is a script complete? Will a script be complete by March? The man is busy hatching his new album, where’s his focus?

Credit: ShockTilYouDrop

With everything 1980’s being either made, remade, or re-imagined, one of our favorite readers and insiders who we haven’t heard from in a hot minute, EL CHAVO has the goods on Eddie Murphy’s 80’s update of Beverly Hills Cop 4. Written by Michael Brandt and Derek Haas, to be directed by Brett Ratner and produced by Lorenzo “Action Man” DiBonaventura (taking over for Jerry Bruckheimer), Beverly Hills Cop IV is slated to be released in 2010.

Here is the scoop: The studio loves the draft but Eddie Murphy is not too keen on it.

Released in 1984, the original Beverly Hills Cop grossed $316 million worldwide and spawned two sequels. All told, the three pics grossed $712.9 million worldwide. The last was released in 1994.

We are working on scoring details for other 1980’s sequels and remakes. In the meantime, El Chavo chimes in with his thoughts below…

It’s been 15 years since Axel Foley was last in Beverly Hills, and screenwriters Michael Brandt and Derek Haas needed a good reason to bring him back. That reason comes just a couple of pages into the latest script for Beverly Hills Cop IV (which calls itself Beverly Hills Cop 2009) - Judge Reinhold’s Billy Rosewood takes a leap out the 20th story of the Los Angeles Police HQ. When Axel hears that his former partner and best buddy became sidewalk salad he knows it wasn’t a suicide and he flies to Beverly Hills to get all the facts for himself.

The basic story of Beverly Hills Cop 2009 isn’t terrible. It’s a pretty standard police corruption story that has a personal edge for Axel Foley, and Brandt and Haas make it feel like an 80s action film by keeping the action more grounded, even though the final fight does include RPGs. But there’s no fun in the movie and it feels like it needs another draft to make the film an Axel Foley adventure and not a generic cop getting revenge picture.

Credit: Latino Review

National Enquirer says :

“Patrick recently got word that the cancer had spread to his liver and that is what his doctors said would begin the countdown to the end. Patrick knew it was coming because he was suffering increased weakness.

“At times, he was so weak that he could barely walk without feeling faint. Sometimes he feels out of breath and has to sit down.”

Credit: Moviehole / National Enquirer