Movie News

It would seem that formerly much anticipated Fanboys, which used to be Kyle Newman's story about a group of friends breaking into Skywalker Ranch to get a copy of Episode 1 before it comes out for a friend dying of cancer, will now completely lose the cancer angle, has had reshoots with Steve Brill directing, and will become a swearing and nudity driven mess. Cinematical has a pretty interesting article on the subject. And fans have started the website Stop Darth Weinstein.

Foreign distributors are already paying for the rights to Martin Scorsese's Shutter Island. Based off Dennis Lehane's novel, it's about "two U.S. marshals who are sent to a federal institution for the criminally insane located in Boston's Outer Harbor to capture a violent female escapee." It'll star Leonardo DiCaprio, Mark Ruffalo, and Michelle Williams.

Dimension Films now has the film and television rights to Joe Hill's graphic novel Locke & Key, with the idea of a potential franchise. It's about three children who become caretakers of a New England mansion filled with magic and secrets, called Keyhouse, who's doors lead to different places, give them powers, and one hides a dangerous creature. The first issue of the graphic novel came out February 20, with the second coming March 5.

Magnet has the North American distribution rights to Let the Right One In, based on John Ajvide Lindqvist's Swedish novel (who's American title is Let Me In) and directed by Thomas Alfredson, it's a romantic horror about "a lonely 12-year-old boy and his friendship with a young girl, who appears to be a vampire."

After two years of waiting, the tentatively titled Trigun: The Movie has announced a 2009 theatrical release in Japan. Satoshi Nishimura is directing Yasuhiro Nightow's completely original story, with Yasuko Kobayashi scripting, Takahiro Yoshimatsu doing character designs, and animation studio Madhouse. According to the cover of the 14th, and final, Trigun Maximum manga it'll be a "Vash vs. Wolfwood" story.

The UK’s BBFC has banned horror movie Murder Set Pieces, which was suppose to be available March 31. A press release explains, “Murder Set Pieces is a feature with a single-minded focus on the activities of a psychopathic sexual serial killer, who, throughout the film, is seen raping, torturing and murdering his victims. Young children are among those terrorized and killed, and their inclusion in this abusive context is an added concern. In relation to the adult victims, there is a clear focus on sex or sexual behavior accompanied by non-consensual pain, injury and humiliation.”

Look for director Tarsem Singh's The Fall in theaters in March. It's a dreamy movie about a little girl who goes into a world of fantasy that parallels real-life dangers. Comparisons to Pan's Labyrinth and The Cell are being thrown around. (Trailer up tomorrow)

DreamWorks has moved Monsters vs. Aliens and How to Train Your Dragon to March 2009 and March 2010, respectively, so it won't go up against James Cameron's alien/interplanetary war movie Avatar in December 2009.

Sony has bought Roland Emmerich's 2012 for $200,000,000.00. (I just wanted to put in all the zeroes)

Justice League is considering moving from Australia to Canada because of the tax issues.

Shane Acker's Oscar-nominated animated short, 9, will go feature length. Set in a post apocalypse world, Crispin Glover, Jennifer Connelly, John C. Reilly, Christopher Plummer, Martin Landau, and Elijah Wood will be doing voice work.

Peter Segal says that Shazam! was delayed by the writer's strike, but is still very much alive, and its latest tentative title is Billy Batson and the Legend of Shazam.

Jim Carrey’s next project is I Love You, Phillip Morris. According to him it’s, "about a gentleman who fell in love with his cell mate in Texas and escaped from prison four times, trying to find a way to get his lover out of prison. It's an out-there concept."

He also says on Tim Burton’s Ripley’s Believe it or Not, "I don't know. It's definitely still in the works. It's maybe a little ways off, but we're definitely talking about it."

Seth Rogen will be re-writing the Green Hornet script (the first one was done by Kevin Smith) and it seems maybe, possibly, there's a mutual interest for Stephen Chow to direct.

Due to scheduling conflicts created by the possible SAG strike, Ellen Page has dropped out of Raimi’s Drag Me To Hell.

Dwayne Johnson will play the titlist character in fantasy comedy The Tooth Fairy. He's an average guy who has to save the tooth fairy kingdom. It'll be directed by Michael Lembeck, and written by duos Lowell Ganz and Babaloo Madel, and Josua Sternin and Jeffrey Ventimilia.

Freddie Highmore will be voicing the title character in Astro Boy.

Ernie Hudson has been cast in the Dragonball movie.

Jonathan Rhys Meyers has joined supernatural horror thriller Shelter. The storyline is still secret though.

Leonardo DiCaprio will play "the airplane pilot who travels with Mark's character to obtain kilos of cocaine from Pablo Escobar" in the Jon Roberts movie starring Mark Wahlberg.

Terri Polo will be in The Beacon, a movie about a mother who's son has died, and ends up seeing another boy's ghost at the new apartment building she's moved into.

Tim Allen will be directing and starring in an indie comedy, Crazy on the Outside, about a parolee who discovers his sister’s crazy quirky life. Also has Ray Liotta , Carrie Anne Moss, Julie Bowen, and Kelsie Grammar.