Recent Movie News

Success goes to Weaving's head as Red Skull in Captain America

Director Joe Johnston may be having a torrid time of late searching for his perfect Steve Rogers AKA Captain America, with latest reports linking Chris Evans (Fantastic Four) to the role, but that hasn't completely deterred him from casting the First Avenger pic. Johnston has gone back to his Wolfman well and snapped up Hugo Weaving (he played Aberline in the hirsute horror). The Matrix and Lord of The Rings star will be lending his distinctive features to the role of uber baddie Red Skull - a Nazi megalomaniac with one hell of a grudge against Cap.

Otherwise known as Johann Shmidt, Red Skull is pretty much the 'twisted' version of Steve Rogers' super soldier and has been a mainstay of the Marvel character since the beginning. Johnston is clearly hedging his bets with this one and looking to get the fans on board quickly with a tried and tested storyline.

Spielberg to bring about the Robopocalypse?

It's an ongoing worry, really. What will we do if our mechanic creations decide to turn on their masters and attempt to eradicate mankind? If you let it, it will keep you up at night...that and the memory of Terminator Salvation. One man certainly plagued by these thoughts is Daniel H. Wilson, author of such go-to-guides as How To Survive a Robot Uprising: Tips on Defending Yourself Against the Coming Rebellion and a bona fide big brain on robotics and artificial intelligence. His unpublished manuscript, simply dubbed Robopocalypse, has been snapped up by DreamWorks and Doubleday with Cloverfield scribe Drew Goddard hired to adapt for the big screen.

So, we can expect to see our evil robo kinsmen back on the screen sooner rather than later and Robopocalypse, seen as a darker, alternate reality tale, should at least help make up for Transformers: Revenge of The Fallen and its Razzie-baiting antics.

Robopocalypse is already garnering great interest with Steven Spielberg circling the project as his next directorial gig. Could Spielberg be about to make a grand return to the sci-fi adventure scene that served him so well on Minority Report?

The Da Vinci Code of Honour as Leonardo turns action hero?

Very rarely does a news story come along that, upon first realising what, exactly, is in the offing, makes you smile from ear to ear. This is one of those stories.

Only yesterday news had filtered through that, after the Box Office success of Sherlock Holmes, Warner Bros. gave the thumbs up to a wholesale 're-imagining' of the Arthur legend. Guy Ritchie has been singled out to direct but Warners are not content to stop there with their history re-writing plans.

According to recent reports, the studio has acquired the rights to Leonardo Da Vinci and The Soldiers of Forever - a treatment that turns the famed Italian artist/inventor/engineer/architect into a man of action.

Penned by producer Adrian Askarieh (Hitman), the treatment re-imagines Da Vinci as a member of a secret society who "falls headlong into a supernatural adventure that pits the man against Biblical demons in a story involving secret codes, lost civilizations, hidden fortresses and fallen angels."

The Hollywood Reporter is pegging this one somewhere between National Treasure, Raiders of the Lost Ark and Clash of the Titans. One question remains though: is the world ready to see the beardy wonder turn tricks as an Indy-style adventurer? Watch this space.

Eastwood Hoovers up top FBI bod biopic

Who knew that Clint Eastwood was a closet fan of nostalgia show This Is Your Life? The screen legend, having guided Invictus, a snapshot of Nelson Mandela's presidency in a divided South Africa, to some critical plaudits is at it again and is looking to open the book on the life and extraordinary times of J. Edgar Hoover - the very first head bod of the FBI.

After Milk scribe Dustin Lance Black submitted a draft, the project has been in limbo whilst being shopped from pillar to post at the studios. Originally, Black penned the script for Ron Howard and Brian Grazer (Beautiful Mind, The Da Vinci Code) at Imagine Entertainment under the auspices of a deal with Universal. However, Universal have since balked leaving the Hoover biopic in turnaround.

The Hollywood Reporter has some good news though. With Eastwood on board it's increasingly likely that Warner Bros. will be putting their considerable weight behind this one what with the studios tie-in with the Oscar-winning director.

Evans in three-way fight for Captain America?

He's just about the last remaining comic book hero without an owner. He may well have a Mighty Shield but Steve Rogers, AKA Captain America, is still, seemingly, unloved by those Hollywood types. Seen as an integral part of the upcoming Avengers pic, director Joe Johnston (The Wolfman) is desperate to nail the casting in the coming weeks so production can start in earnest on First Avenger: Captain America.

Wild speculation had John Krasinski (Away We Go, the US version of The Office) heavily linked to the role to the universal chagrin of fans everywhere. Marvel, apparently, were putting Krasinski through his paces alongside several actresses in a round of screen tests.

News breaks this morning however, courtesy of Deadline Hollywood, that Marvel have gone back to the drawing board and will plunder their original shortlist of candidates to find their Steve Rogers. Currently still in the frame are Mike Vogel (Cloverfield), Garret Hedlund (Tron Legacy) and Chris Evans (Sunshine, The Losers). The latter may find the going tough as he's already appeared in the Marvel-verse as Johnny Storm/Human Torch in the so-so Fantastic Four filcks.

Who will it be? The safe money looks like going on the young Hedlund who has been subject to no small amount of 'buzz' thanks to his lead in Tron Legacy.

Guy Ritchie to Direct King Arthur Film

The Clive Owen-starring King Arthur. The less said the better. So let's move on. Lessons, apparently, have gone unheeded though as Variety are claiming that Atlas Entertainment and Warner Bros. have commissioned another take on the age-old legend. Guy Ritchie has been tapped up to direct (he's flavour of the month in the Warner halls after the success of Sherlock Holmes) with John Hodge (Trainspotting) the man penning the script.

This new one will be...wait for it...a 're-imagining' of the legend of Arthur, believed to have been a 6th century king who defended Britain against Saxon invaders. The key source material for the film will be Thomas Mallory's "Le Morte d'Arthur," published in 1485 as a compilation of French and English tales.

Speaking of Sherlock Holmes, Jude Law has been banging the drum for any potential sequel whilst touring his new film Repo Men around New York. When asked by Comingsoon.net, Law gushed; "We had such a blast making that film...we got on very well, and we were also very aware that we had a hell of a lot more material to use. Conan Doyle wrote over 15 books, and there was so much to take from. Because of our enthusiasm for the project, once we knew it was doing well financially, we all started throwing in our ideas of where it could go and what should happen next. Mine of course involved Sherlock Holmes being locked in a box and Dr. Watson..." (He holds his arms up victoriously at getting the spotlight being put on his character.)

"I think we are probably going to make another one," he finally said, "I haven't been given the absolute...it's not like next week but I think it's sometime this year is what I get."

Alice throws a tea party atop the UK Box Office Chart

Having smashed the opening day record for a March release across the pond, Tim Burton's Alice in Wonderland has repeated the trick on these shores having scooped £10.5 million on its debut. That's, officially, the biggest March bow ever in the UK (topping the previous record by none other than Mr. Bean no less) and the biggest opening gross of Tim Burton's career in Blighty. On the way to this particular milestone the Johnny Depp-starring spectacular found time to be crowned the biggest 3D opening of all time in the UK - beating Avatar's previous record of £8.5 million. Needless to say then that Burton's quirky adaptation takes its rightful place at the summit of the Chart forcing Avatar, in its twelfth week on general release, down to number 2.

It's been a remarkable showing from the George Romero-inspired The Crazies. Still going relatively strong, the zombie-fest has dug its heels in and stays at number 3 with Peter Jackson's The Lovely Bones falling two places down to 4. The hand-drawn charms of Disney's The Princess and The Frog are still winning over the little ones at 5 as John Travolta's all-out actioner, From Paris With Love, actually climbs two places to 6 this week.

Greek mash-up Percy Jackson And The Lightning Thief is finding it tough going at 7 this week and is forced to duke it out with the Amy Adams-starring rom com Leap Year at 8. Speaking of insipid love-ins, Valentine's Day continues to fall down the Chart at 9 with Colin Firth's Oscar-nominated performance all that's keeping A Single Man from falling from our graces at 10.

Liv Tyler and Patrick Wilson near The Ledge

Liv Tyler, whose elfin-like charms were last seen in home invasion thriller The Strangers, will be lighting up our screens once more in the suspense-a-thon The Ledge. First-time writer/director Matthew Chapman is doing his damndest to fill this slow-boiler with some A-list talent including the likes of Terence Howard (Iron Man) and Patrick Wilson (The Watchmen).

The Hollywood Reporter has the full scoop with The Ledge revolving around one man precariously standing on a high-rise ledge. Apparently, he must jump by noon for reasons unknown forcing the policeman below (Howard) from preventing the stranger buying the farm in spectacular fashion whilst solving the suicide-inducing riddle.

The film is already in gear and shooting in Baton Rouge, Louisiana.

Bigelow puts the Hurt Locker on Avatar at the 82nd Academy Awards!

Very much unlike the continuing travails of Cheryl and Ashley, the 82nd Academy Awards was an affair purely between two people. In the red corner stood the self-proclaimed King of The World with his sci-fi game-changer Avatar whilst in the blue corner was his ex-wife and a woman with an eye on the record books. The result of this titanic tussle? Well, Oscar does like to throw one or two surprises our way and last night was no different. Kathryn Bigelow bested her former beau by nabbing the Best Director gong AND Best Picture accolade for incendiary Iraq war pic The Hurt Locker. Bigelow became the first woman to have ever won the director's prize. Scooping up six awards in total, The Hurt Locker was the night's big winner. That left James Cameron and his Na'vi kinsmen with their tails between their legs as Avatar could only muster three technical award nods - on this night, at least, Avatar was consigned to the annals of history with the Academy neglecting its record-breaking Box Office haul.

True to form the acting awards offered no surprises whatsoever. It was fifth time lucky for Jeff Bridges as he took home the Best Actor prize for his turn in Crazy Heart whilst Sandra Bullock impressed with her acceptance speech for Best Actress in The Blind Side. Christoph Waltz, in perhaps the most one-sided category of the evening, danced off with Best Supporting Actor for his barnstorming work in Inglourious Basterds. Meanwhile Mo'Nique quite rightly won her Best Supporting Actress gong for Precious.

Pixar's phenomenal Up, in a clear formality, got its hands on the Best Animated Feature Oscar with Argentina's entry El Secreto de sus Ojos (The Secret of Her Eyes) taking home gold in the Best Foreign Language Film stakes - a real surprise considering it was up against A Prophet and The White Ribbon.

A full list of winners can be found below;

BEST PICTURE:

**Winner** The Hurt Locker

Avatar

The Blind Side

District 9

An Education

Inglourious Basterds

Precious: Based on the Novel "Push" by Sapphire

A Serious Man

Up

Up in the Air

DIRECTING:

**Winner** Kathryn Bigelow - The Hurt Locker

James Cameron - Avatar

Jason Reitman - Up in the Air

Lee Daniels - Precious: Based on the Novel "Push" by Sapphire

Quentin Tarantino - Inglourious Basterds

ACTOR IN A LEADING ROLE:

**Winner** Jeff Bridges - Crazy Heart

George Clooney - Up in the Air

Colin Firth - A Single Man

Morgan Freeman - Invictus

Jeremy Renner - The Hurt Locker

ACTRESS IN A LEADING ROLE:

**Winner** Sandra Bullock - The Blind Side

Helen Mirren - The Last Station

Carey Mulligan - An Education

Gabourey Sidibe - Precious: Based on the Novel "Push" by Sapphire

Meryl Streep - Julie & Julia

ACTOR IN A SUPPORTING ROLE:

**Winner** Christoph Waltz - Inglourious Basterds

Matt Damon - Invictus

Woody Harrelson - The Messenger

Christopher Plummer - The Last Station

Stanley Tucci - The Lovely Bones

ACTRESS IN A SUPPORTING ROLE:

**Winner** Mo'Nique - Precious: Based on the Novel "Push" by Sapphire

Penelope Cruz - Nine

Vera Farmiga - Up in the Air

Maggie Gyllenhaal - Crazy Heart

Anna Kendrick - Up in the Air

ADAPTED SCREENPLAY:

**Winner** Precious: Based on the Novel "Push" by Sapphire, Screenplay by Geoffrey Fletcher

District 9, Written by Neill Blomkamp and Terri Tatchell

An Education, Screenplay by Nick Hornby

In the Loop, Screenplay by Jesse Armstrong, Simon Blackwell, Armando Iannucci, Tony Roche

Up in the Air, Screenplay by Jason Reitman and Sheldon Turner

ORIGINAL SCREENPLAY:

**Winner** The Hurt Locker, Written by Mark Boal

Inglourious Basterds, Written by Quentin Tarantino

The Messenger, Written by Alessandro Camon & Oren Moverman

A Serious Man, Written by Joel Coen & Ethan Coen

Up, Screenplay by Bob Peterson, Pete Docter, Story by Pete Docter, Bob Peterson, Tom McCarthy

FOREIGN LANGUAGE FILM:

**Winner** El Secreto de sus Ojos, Argentina

Ajami, Israel

The Milk of Sorrow, Peru

Une Prophete, France

The White Ribbon, Germany

ANIMATED FEATURE FILM:

**Winner** Up

Coraline

Fantastic Mr. Fox

The Princess and the Frog

The Secret of Kells

ART DIRECTION:

**Winner** Avatar

The Imaginarium of Doctor Parnassus

Nine

Sherlock Holmes

The Young Victoria

CINEMATOGRAPHY:

**Winner** Avatar, Mauro Fiore

Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince, Bruno Delbonnel

The Hurt Locker, Barry Ackroyd

Inglourious Basterds, Robert Richardson

The White Ribbon, Christian Berger

COSTUME DESIGN:

**Winner** The Young Victoria, Sandy Powell

Bright Star, Janet Patterson

Coco Before Chanel, Catherine Leterrier

The Imaginarium of Doctor Parnassus, Monique Prudhomme

Nine, Colleen Atwood

FILM EDITING:

**Winner** The Hurt Locker, Bob Murawski and Chris Innis

Avatar, Stephen Rivkin, John Refoua and James Cameron

District 9, Julian Clarke

Inglourious Basterds, Sally Menke

Precious: Based on the Novel "Push" by Sapphire, Joe Klotz

DOCUMENTARY FEATURE:

**Winner** The Cove

Burma VJ

Food, Inc.

The Most Dangerous Man in America: Daniel Ellsberg and the Pentagon Papers

Which Way Home

MAKEUP:

**Winner** Star Trek

Il Divo

The Young Victoria

ORIGINAL SCORE:

**Winner** Up, Michael Giacchino

Avatar, James Horner

Fantastic Mr. Fox, Alexandre Desplat

The Hurt Locker, Marco Beltrami and Buck Sanders

Sherlock Holmes, Hans Zimmer

ORIGINAL SONG:

**Winner** "The Weary Kind (Theme from Crazy Heart)" from Crazy Heart, Music and Lyric by Ryan Bingham and T Bone Burnett

"Almost There" from The Princess and the Frog, Music and Lyric by Randy Newman

"Down in New Orleans" from The Princess and the Frog, Music and Lyric by Randy Newman

"Loin de Paname" from Paris 36, Music by Reinhardt Wagner, Lyric by Frank Thomas

"Take It All" from Nine, Music and Lyric by Maury Yeston

SOUND MIXING:

**Winner** The Hurt Locker

Avatar

Inglourious Basterds

Star Trek

Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen

SOUND EDITING:

**Winner** The Hurt Locker

Avatar

Inglourious Basterds

Star Trek

Up

VISUAL EFFECTS:

**Winner** Avatar

District 9

Star Trek

DOCUMENTARY SHORT:

**Winner** Music by Prudence

China's Unnatural Disaster: The Tears of Sichuan Province

The Last Campaign of Governor Booth Gardner

The Last Truck: Closing of a GM Plant

Rabbit a la Berlin

ANIMATED SHORT FILM:

**Winner** Logorama

French Roast

Granny O'Grimm's Sleeping Beauty

The Lady and the Reaper

A Matter of Loaf and Death

LIVE ACTION SHORT FILM:

**Winner** The New Tenants

The Door

Instead of Abracadabra

Kavi

Miracle Fish

Alice in a Box Office Wonderland!

Seriously. Who saw this coming? Tim Burton's jaunty take on Alice in Wonderland opened this weekend to rapturous Box Office figures claiming $116.3 million on its debut weekend! That's a new, all-time record for a film that's not a sequel/remake (although you could argue the case for both in this instance). Smashing the previous record for a March opener (previously held by 2007's 300), Alice easily claimed the top spot thanks to the sixth biggest debut weekend ever! Another new entry at 2 this week is crime pic Brooklyn's Finest. From the guys who brought you Training Day, and starring notorious hard men Wesley Snipes and Richard Gere (??), Brooklyn's Finest took a mighty fine $13.5 million in its opening weekend.

Last week's champion, Martin Scorsese's Shutter Island, has seemingly tired of setting its own records and falls down to 3 this week whilst managing to keep an arm's length away from Bruce Willis and Tracy Morgan in buddy comedy Cop Out at 4. Having missed out on Oscar glory last night, there's more bad news for Jimbo as his Avatar falls one place to 5 although I'm sure that domestic gross of $720 million lets him sleep easy tonight. Insanity might be infectious in The Crazies but punters are fleeing this George A. Romero redo as it falls to number 6.

Percy Jackson And The Lightning Thief is down two places to 7 and keeping up its rivalry with mushy love fest Valentine's Day at 8. Thanks to The Dude's Oscar success, The Crazy Heart is still vying for a spot in our affections and climbs one place to 9 thus consigning Channing Tatum and Amanda Seyfried to the murky depths in Dear John at 10.