Going on a SHORT hiatus

Sequel-Buzz will be going on a very short hiatus starting tomorrow. I need to take some time and redesign my other website, Scream-Thrillogy.com. With Scream 4 just around the corner, I need to take advantage of that and get S-T rolling again. So, in the meantime, feel free to drop by the Scream site if you want. Take care! We'll be back VERY SHORTLY...

Vin Diesel back as Riddick

So it appears that Vin Diesel will be back as Riddick in the second sequel to Pitch Black. Here's what Moviehole had to say...

I don't think it'll be news to too many readers, what with star Vin Diesel and director David Twohy both mentioning on various occasions that it was in their future, but Variety's just confirmed a second sequel to "Pitch Black" is in the works.
The flick, simply titled "Riddick", and which Diesel's One Race Films will also produce, is something "Pitch Black" creator Twohy and star Diesel have been looking to do for a while. In fact, Twohy's said on numerous occasions that the 'Riddick' series was always envisioned as a three-parter. Unfortunately, plans for a third film hit a wall when "Chronicles of Riddick" - the 2004 sequel - took a beating from the critics, and at the box office.
Yet, Diesel and Twohy remained determined to do the third "Riddick" film... one day.
Seems that day has come.
"Riddick", which will be considerably cheaper than the last sequel, will reportedly center more on the character of Riddick (Diesel) himself, as opposed to the spacely world he inhabits.
I'd say we can thank the last "Fast and the Furious" flick, which Vin Diesel helped Universal snag quite a sumly score from, for the third "Riddick" flick's newly mobile state (Speaking of, Universal have also pegged Diesel to do another "Fast and the Furious", titled "Fast Five", which he'll shoot later this year).
Universal will distribute "Riddick" in the United States. Lionsgate will be flogging off the international rights at the Berlin Film Festival.

Get Him to the Greek trailer!!

The Forgetting Sarah Marshall spin-off, Get Him to the Greek, is rapidly becoming one of my "must-see" movies of the new year. Jonah Hill and Russell Brand are back in the spin-off -- and I must say, while watching the original, I thought to myself, "I'd watch a movie with just those two in it." And that's exactly what happened!

Check out the trailer below!

Mission: Impossible 4 news

This comes from Moviehole...

When it was first announced that JJ Abrams would be producing ''Mission : Impossible 4'' alongside series star Tom Cruise, there were a few lingering questions : Will Cruise be in the film, or will someone else (Brad Pitt was once mentioned as a possibility) be charged the task of completing an impossible mission this time round? Will Abrams direct as well as round up the cash? Will the film be a sequel, prequel or - as was often rumored - a spin-off?

Good news is, Cruise will be back as Ethan Hunt - and for the duration of the film.

Bad news is, Abrams is too busy with Starfleet to direct the new film.

“Tom and J.J. are great talents and we are excited to be working with them to re-launch this legendary franchise,” said Paramount Pictures Chairman & CEO Brad Grey.

Screenwriters Josh Applebaum and Andre Nemec are attached to write the script, from an original idea by Cruise and Abrams, Paramount tells us.

Said to be Cruise's next flick, ''M:I 4'' is shooting this year for a Memorial Day 2011 release.

Nolan's busy on Batman 3, Superman 3.0

Christopher Nolan is going to be busy man. He's currently prepping Batman 3 and is going to see over the production of the new Superman reboot. Here's what Deadline Hollywood is reporting...

EXCLUSIVE: Warner Bros is trying to ready its DC Comics stalwart Superman to soar again on the Big Screen, and the studio has turned to Chris Nolan to mentor development of the movie. Our insiders say that the brains behind rebooted Batman has been asked to play a "godfather" role and ensure The Man Of Steel gets off the ground after a 3 1/2-year hiatus. Nolan's leadership of the project can set it in the right direction with the critics and the fans, not to mention at the box office. Besides, Nolan is considered something of a god at Warner Bros and has a strong relationship with the studio after the success of Batman Begins and The Dark Knight. Though he wasn’t obligated to do so, he gave the studio first crack at his spec script Inception, and Warner Bros was able to buy it before other studios even got a sniff. While Nolan completes that Leonardo DiCaprio-starrer for a July 16th release, he's also hatched an idea for Warner Bros' third Batman installment. Now his brother and frequent collaborator Jonah Nolan, and David Goyer who co-wrote Batman Begins and penned the story for The Dark Knight, are off scripting it. (See 'FlashForward' Showrunner Exits For Features).

Let us emphasize that Superman 3.0 is in the early stages of development. And we doubt Nolan would direct. This wouldn't be a sequel to Superman Returns but a completely fresh franchise. As one of our insiders reassures: “It would definitely not be a followup to Superman Returns." Nolan coming on board follows a hiatus period for Superman after that 2006 reboot as the studio tried to figure out whether or not to make a sequel to that version starring Brandon Routh directed by Bryan Singer. As recently as this summer, Warner Bros was still contemplating how to proceed. We were told that "Bryan or Brandon are not completely out of it yet. But Warner Bros doesn't have a handle yet on it, either. [Producer] Jon Peters is trying to make something happen since he stands to benefit financially. But they [the studio] need to hear a great story that makes sense." Another insider explained to us, "We know what we don't want to do. But we don't know what we want to do. We learned a lot from the last movie, and we want to get it right this time."

Fans have long been yearning for Superman to finally get the big screen Nolan-ized treatment this classic superhero deserves. Warner Bros clearly has learned from its attempt to follow the mediocre 1978-1985 quartet of movies starring Christopher Reeve and produced by Ilya and Alexander Salkind, with 2006's underwhelming Superman Returns. That inbetween period was plagued by long delays and budget troubles and script misses. In 1997, original Batman director Tim Burton tried to make a Superman movie starring Nicolas Cage. Around 2004, J.J. Abrams wrote a film that was the first leg of a trilogy. Abrams wanted to direct, but had only directed episodes of his TV series (and wouldn't make his feature directing debut until 2006's Mission:Impossible III. McG and Brett Ratner separately were attached to that film. Ratner got closest, but Warner Bros was wary of a budget that swelled to $250 million, and which seemed risky after established star Josh Hartnett turned down the 3-picture deal that could have brought him $100 million in salary. After that, Warner Bros bosses didn't embrace Ratner's s choice of soap opera actor Matt Bomer to star.

Other prominent filmmakers were reportedly in the loop, but Warner Bros never pulled the trigger on the picture until Bryan Singer's involvement. Singer's Superman Returns was respectably reviewed for the genre. But it turned in only $52 million opening weekend, and $391 million worldwide gross. Problem was it cost too much (the budget was reportedly $270 million), and the promotion was lousy (Joel Silver was brought in at the last minute to inject macho into the marketing campaign). Worse, it left diehard fans only "meh" about a sequel starring Routh. Singer fared better, but it seems doubtful he'll be asked for an encore now. After all, Singer is now developing the spinoff X-Men: First Class for 20th Century Fox whose bosses were furious when he took on The Man Of Steel reboot instead of helming X-Men 3. But Singer and the studio subsequently made peace and he's back in the Fox fold and on board.

The restructuring of Warner Bros' business with DC Comics became Warner Bros Pictures Group president Jeff Robinov's first priority since having his contract reupped by Time Warner last summer. Problems have plagued the DC Comics-Warner Bros relationship for more than a decade. But the biggest failure has been to leave the most valuable DC Comics characters in movie development limbo by chaotically starting and stopping development on the high profile live action pics. Most recently, Warner Bros and DC Comics are finally getting their act together as evidenced by the progress on Green Lantern.

Superman 3.0 would test Warner Bros veteran executive Diane Nelson, the head of DC Entertainment Inc, that new company founded to fully realize and integrate the power and value of the DC Comics brand and characters across all media and platforms into Warner Bros Entertainment's content and distribution businesses. Nelson especially was charged with suping up Superman again because it's way too valuable to leave dormant like this. Besides, the clock is ticking.

Attorney Marc Toberoff, who keeps suing Warner Bros on behalf of creative rightsholders, warns that, in 2013, the Jerome Siegel heirs along with the estate of co-creator Joe Shuster will own the entire original copyright to Superman -- "and neither DC Comics nor Warner Bros will be able to exploit any new Superman works without a license from the Siegels and Shusters". He's also pointed out that, if Warner Bros does not start production on a new Superman sequel or reboot by 2011, the Siegels could sue to recover their damages on the grounds that the deal should have contained a clause in which the rights returned to the owners after a given time if no film was in development. The heirs of Siegel have already been awarded half the copyright for Superman. And in 2013 the heirs of co-creator Joe Shuster get the remaining half. After that, neither DC Comics nor Warner Bros will be able to use Superman without a financial agreement with the heirs. There are also stipulations on what parts of the origins story can be used in future Superman movies and which require re-negotiations with the creators' heirs or estates.

At first, Warner Bros felt no pressure to rush out another Superman pic. As Warner Bros chairman Alan Horn told a court hearing about rights to Superman, he hoped to make another Superman movie but no film was in development, no script had been written, and the earliest he foresaw another Superman film released would be 2012. He told the judge: "We had hopes to keep the character alive and to once again reinvent Superman. Our hope is to develop a Superman property and to try again. What hurt us is that the reviews and so on for the Superman movie did not get the kind of critical acclaim that Batman got, and we have other issues with Superman that concern us."

So Warner Bros is now bringing in Batman's saviour. What Nolan would do with the Superman character and story is intriguing to say the least. And he has the experience necessary of prepping and pepping a played-out franchise. The 2005 Batman Begins grossed $373 million worldwide on a reported $150 million budget. And of course 2008’s The Dark Knight crossed the $1 billion worldwide gross mark on a reported $185 million budget (and Heath Ledger posthumously won an Oscar for Best Supporting Actor).

But Batman has always been The Dark Knight. But there's a big difference between Superman's cinematic incarnation and comic-book version. Warner Brothers and DC Comics for a long time weren’t sure which version they liked better. The cinematic version has been squeaky clean, occasionally campy, and has more-or-less unlimited power except when confronted with Kryptonite. The comic book version has some limits on his powers, can be darker, and fights aliens a lot more. Shortly after Dark Knight hit it big, fans assumed that Superman would be taken to the “dark” side as well. That's because Warner Bros mogul Jeff Robinov stressed post-Dark Knight that "we have to look at how to make these movies edgier". One of our insiders interpreted this to say: "He meant more sophisticated."

A more comic-accurate Superman seems like the way to go. No need to worry: Chris Nolan knows what he's doing.

Jaws being remade in 3D?!

This has got to be some of the most disheartening news that I have EVER heard. It was one thing when Halloween (one of my top 3 movies) was remade. But now Universal is looking to remake Jaws (another one of my top 3). Not only do they want to do a remake -- but they want it in 3-fucking-D. This is bullshit. A remake has a small chance of working, but one in 3D? That's got "EPIC FAIL" written all over it.

Here's what CinemaBlend is reporting...

With all the craziness of reboots and remakes in Hollywood we feared this day might come. Universal may be planning a re-make of the 1975 Spielberg classic, Jaws. With the added popularity of Avatar’s 3D, there’s serious money to be made in a CGI reboot of the famous shark, presented in Real D 3D.

A source of ours over at Universal Pictures says the studio is strongly considering a remake of the summer blockbuster in hopes of dazzling younger audiences with new special effects. Their claim is that people now expect more, visually, from their movie going experience. So, Hollywood studios are inclined to take some of their tried and true franchise names like Jaws and bring them into the 3D world.

Our insider says Tracy Morgan was at one point being considered for the part of Matt Hooper, previously played by Richard Dreyfuss. While it’s uncertain whether that’s still the plan, it does indicate that they seem to be taking a more comedic direction with the part.

This is just a rumor, from a source we’ve spoken with, but never used before. We're working on some sort of official confirmation. In the meantime file this under gossip which, let’s face it, isn't hard to believe. Universal already busted out a few laughable Jaws sequels in the 80’s. They even tried their hand at a 3-D version of the shark with 1983’s Jaws 3-D. It only makes sense to come back to the idea now that they have the technology to do it right.

Batman 3 starting production

Some interesting news came out of ComingSoon earlier, it appears that David Goyer is gearing up to pen the next Batman script...

Last week, news broke that David Goyer was exiting ABC's "FlashForward" as showrunner so that he can again concentrate on his feature career.

"As my feature projects have started ramping up again, I felt I was being pulled in too many directions," Goyer said. "I'm proud of the show and excited about the relaunch. It's in great hands."

Once again buried in a story on Deadline Hollywood is the revelation that one of those features is none other than The Dark Knight follow-up:

Of course, Goyer's feature career is really heating up, since he co-wrote Batman Begins, and penned the story for The Dark Knight, and is now writing the third Batman installment with Chris Nolan's brother Jonah.

Robo re-do on hold

The rumors are true; the Robo Cop remake has been officially stalled...for now...here's what Moviehole is saying...

A couple of months ago Moviehole reported that, due to a disagreement between the studio and director Darren Aronofsky over the direction of the film (She wanted 3D, he didn't), the "RoboCop" remake had been put on hold.

Though he, of course, doesn't mention anything about the Aronofsky/Mary Parent battle, producer Brad Fischer ("Shutter Island") tells me the film is indeed on hold.

As for whether it'll end up in 3D? Well, check Fischer's comments.

Tim: What can you tell me about the progress of the Robocop remake?

Brad: There's nothing happening with it right now. As you know MGM is in a situation where it might be sold, and Robocop is an asset, so it's on hold at the moment.

Tim: Is there talk of, if and when it goes ahead, to produce it in 3-D?

Brad: I think we'll have to re-approach it when it comes back and we'll come back to the table and look at it, and decide how we're going to move forward. I mean, certainly, the spectacle nature of it, the evolution of technology in the medium - it would be crazy.

Tim: Do you think films are headed toward 3-D across the board?

Brad: It's what everyone is talking about, right? I don't know about across the board. I'm sure this question was asked of someone when the first movies in color started to come out, and somebody said, do you think movies are all going to be color across the board?

Tim: 'That won't take off!'

Brad: And the person on the other side said, there will always be some black and white movies. And there still are. Look, it's possible, right? What Cameron (James Cameron, director, Avatar) that I think transcends what 3-D has ever been before is the immersive nature, as opposed to the gimmicky nature of it, the throwing stuff at the audience's face, scare tactic. I remember seeing Jaws 3 in 3-D at the theater in Amityville and that was a wave that ended. It feels like this is different.

Tim: Wait and see?

Brad: Maybe we'll all be in 3-D!

Daredevil getting the (re)boot!

No surprise here, Daredevil is being relaunched. Even though I personally liked the original, this reboot may not be a bad idea. Here's what Moviehole had to say...

A few months back word got out that Fox was looking to reboot not only ''Fantastic Four'' (which the studio has since confirmed) but the just-as-recent ''Daredevil''. It may seem silly – and quite frankly, it is – to remake something so recent, but fact of the matter is, if Fox don’t do something with the properties the rights revert back to Marvel (now owned by Disney). That’s why you’re also seeing hurried movement on new ''X-Men'' movies.

Today, Mike Fleming confirmed the widely-circulated rumour that “Daredevil” is to be relaunched, suggesting the project has inched forward with the hiring of a writer. David Scarpa, writer of the dire “Day the Earth Stood Still”, is onboard the project. I understand Fox might want to keep it in the family, thus hiring someone who’s recently worked on a Fox tentpole to write “Daredevil Begins”, but surely there are better writers on Tom Rothman’s payroll?

Get furious for Fast Five

Variety is reporting that Universal is gearing up for the fifth installment if the Fast and Furious franchise. Read on for the goods...

Universal Pictures is hitting the accelerator on a fifth installment of "Fast and Furious," currently being referred to as "Fast Five."

Studio has closed deals with Vin Diesel, Paul Walker, director Justin Lin and producer Neal Moritz to return to the franchise, which has become one of the studio's most lucrative.

Diesel and Walker sat out the third chapter in the series but returned for last year's fourth installment, which was the highest-grossing "Fast and Furious" film and Universal's top grosser of 2009. Its box office haul was more than $350 million worldwide.

Chris Morgan is writing "Fast Five," marking the third time he and Lin have teamed for a "Fast and Furious" film. The story finds protags Dom (Diesel) and Brian (Walker) as fugitives being pursued by relentless lawmen.

Lensing will begin later this year for a 2011 release.

Original Films' Moritz has produced every film in the series, beginning in 2001 with the "The Fast and the Furious."

Universal's Jeff Kirschenbaum and Franklin Leonard will oversee the project for the studio.

Watchmen 2 gearing up

If someone asked me a year ago if there was going to be a Watchmen 2, I'd say, "Hell no." Why, you ask? Because the reports at the time were all the same: the [main] cast just did not want to do it. But now, a year later, things may be changing...here's what Bleeding Cool had to say...

I’ve heard this one rumbling for a while now. First there was the story that DC Comics Publisher and President Paul Levitz had personally prevented any Watchmen 2 projects, because, despite their differences, he believed that as this would be against Alan Moore and Dave Gibbons’ wishes, it would cause bery bad feeling in the creative community and would be a creatively bankrupt move.

Moore fell out massively with DC Comics, and Paul Levitz specifically, not only choosing not to work with them any further, but scuppering spinoff projects, removing his name from any movie credits and any money due to him from said movies, and taking his one final project The League Of Extraordinary Gentlemen, from Wildstorm, a publisher DC had purchased.

But in the wake of the movie, Watchmen the comic became DC’s best selling publication of all time. One might say partly because it had remained undiluted after all this time.

But there were moves. A Wizard splash showing DC’s Countdown multiverse had Rorschach as one of the combatants and it was rumoured one of the universes in the DC 52 Multiverse was intended to be the Watchmen world. Instead, Earth 4 became a world inspired by elements of Watchmen and the Charlton Heroes universe but with other aspects such as the laws of physics being altered.

But the news broke that Paul Levitz was stepping down from DC Comics as both President and Publisher, I wondered what that meant for the possibility of a Watchmen sequel. Certainly in a hundred years, you couldn’t expect there not to be one.

Well, it seems to be happening a lot sooner than I thought. I understand now that this considered a pet project of Dan DiDio, SVP-Executive Editor. That he is determined to impress new bosses by building on DC’s biggest selling comic book of all time with multiple prequel comic miniseries and spinoff ongoing projects.

I understand that both Alan Moore and Dave Gibbons have to be offered first refusal before any of these titles could be published. But if they don’t want to work on them themselves (and Alan Moore is never going to agree), DiDio has been sounding out people who might be willing to take on the task.

While some creators are reticent, the argument goes if there are a number of Watchmen spinoff projects, any blame or shame can be spread on many shoulders. The sales are expected to be massive, whatever the hardcore fanboy reaction and such expected sales benefits will be shared amongst the creative teams.

In contrast, not only would Levitz not allow any new Watchmen stories but even the video game was restricted to material in the graphic novel and film, nothing brand new was allowed to be invented. Despite differences with Moore, Levitz has held fast to the committment that the comic is the comic is the comic.

It seems that this may now change.

At this stage, having disowned himself of much of it, Alan Moore is likely not to care. Though we might get an eviscerating blast at some point if this all comes to pass.

Both Jim Baikie, Rich Veitch and Gene Ha/Zander Cannon are artists who have taken on writing chores on books previously written by Alan Moore, to continue the storyline. The most creatively-acceptable solution would be Dave Gibbons writing and drawing new Watchmen titles. But DiDio’s plans seem much larger than just one book.

And of course, in those initial movie contracts with Fox, there was a clause that included sequels to a Watchmen movie.

When asked, Dave Gibbons only replied “Hurm…”

Drum roll...Transformers 3D

I'm sick of the all the 3D B.S. lately. 2D is just fine, in my book. Anyway, here's the scoop that Variety is reporting...

Bay's next project is "Transformers 3," and there have been discussions among Bay, Paramount and Industrial Light & Magic about going 3D with the pic. The big stumbling block is the extra time required to do production and visual effects in 3D, as the movie's release date is already set. Having the pic post-converted could alleviate that problem.

Ugh, and the thought of post production 3D is vomit-inducing...

Beckinsale back for Underworld 3D

Kate Beckinsale is returning to the Underworld franchise.

Hiding within an article over at Variety our scoop from last August(!) was confirmed reporting that Kate Beckinsale will in fact be starring in Underworld 3D, assuming she can't work her way out of the deal. What do I mean? Well, sources tell us she's trying to find a way out of the film -- or at least have a smaller role in order to "pass the torch" to one of her kindred (yes, she has not one, but two daughters at this point). With a plan to release the film in theaters on January 21, 2011, production needs to commence soon. Who will helm? The Variety article states Len Wiseman will once again go behind the camera.

Elijah Wood not returning for Happy Feet 2?

You know it's a slow news day when we're reporting news for Happy Feet 2. According to AICN, Elijah Wood may not be returning to lend his voice to the Happy Feet sequel. Here's the skinny...

We're hearing lots about the casting of HAPPY FEET 2, but I recently heard a rumour from source/drug-induced hallucination The Walrus that Elijah Wood might not be returning after all. If this pans out, I'm not sure they can get away with the usual "scheduling conflict" excuse, given voice over recording can generally be slotted into anyone's schedule. Was there a contractual disagreement? A creative dispute? Will Tom Hardy pull double-duty and replace Elijah Wood as well? If this happens (or, rather, doesn't happen), you heard it here first.