Archive for August 31st, 2009

The Los Angeles Times reports that The Weinstein Company is moving forward with Halloween 3-D, a sequel to the Rob Zombie movies to be released in the summer of 2010.

Co-Chairman Bob Weinstein said Rob Zombie won’t return for Halloween 3-D. He said the studio is in negotiations with a new director, whom he declined to name, who has experience in horror and has a “different take” on the franchise.

Halloween II opened in third place this weekend with an estimated $17.4 million from 3,000 theaters. First place went to The Final Destination with $28.3 million, which was filmed in 3D.

Source: ComingSoon.net

In a combination of cash and stock deal, Disney and Marvel have agreed in principle to a deal that would place Marvel under Disney’s already vast umbrella of control.

“Disney is the perfect home for Marvel’s fantastic library of characters given its proven ability to expand content creation and licensing businesses,” said Ike Perlmutter, Marvel’s Chief Executive Officer. “This is an unparalleled opportunity for Marvel to build upon its vibrant brand and character properties by accessing Disney’s tremendous global organization and infrastructure around the world.”

With films on characters like Iron Man (Iron Man 2), Captain America, and Thor currently in the works at Marvel Studios, it has yet to be said whether any of those films will be affected by the deal. No indications have yet been made that there will be any alterations.

With this deal Disney now has access to and control over 5,000 Marvel characters.

Source: Hollywood Reporter

ComingSoon.net has just released an especially interesting interview with Surrogates director Jonathon Mostow (U-571).  The questions are mostly intelligent, if not always at least appropriate, and Mostow offers a lot of intriguing information, none of which should be considered spoiling.

Surrogates, starring Bruce Willis, Ving Rhames, and Rosamund Pike, is about a world where each person has their own personal robot. However instead of these robots being sentient (users of AI), they act as puppets or avatars, exploring and experiencing the world for their owners while they sit safely in their homes. The sci-fi thriller is based off of a comic book series of the same name, created by Robert Venditti and Brett Weldele.

The film is in its final editing stage and is scheduled for wide-release September 25th.

Nu Image/Millennium Films announced that they have green-lit a fifth chapter to the Rambo franchise. Sylvester Stallone will direct and star.

Variety reports that the story will be about “Rambo fighting his way through human traffickers and drug lords to rescue a young girl abducted near the U.S.-Mexico border.” Production is scheduled to begin this upcoming spring.

The previous installment, 2008’s Rambo, grossed $42 million in the U.S. and $113 million abroad.