Random News of the Week (December 8 - December 14, 2008)

A 4th BOURNE is now a reality. But it looks like they won’t taking the story from an actual Bourne novel by Ludlow. Instead, they are taking another Ludlow story about a spy and adapting it to Bourne called THE PARSIFAL MOSAIC. The novel deals with a U.S. spy who falls in love with another spy who is revealed to be a double agent just before her death. When he retires from the business, though, the spy learns that she may still be alive and sets out to learn the truth.

The Oscar’s Academy has reconsidered and decided to keep the DARK KNIGHT score as a possible nominee for the Oscar. Good for them.

Ben Affleck will direct ARIZONA which is the true story of Don Bolles in 1976. He was an investigative reporter for the Arizona Republic, was killed by a car bomb as he was investigating the infiltration of organized crime into state government. Soon after, a group of elite national journalists that Bolles had been trying to organize at the time converged on Phoenix and launched an unprecedented crusade to finish Bolles' work. GONE BABY GONE was really solid and I want to see more from Affleck BEHIND the camera.

Daniel Craig talked about the next Bond film after SOLACE this week. He said the story will NOT be a continuation of the current storyline as that story is pretty much wrapped up. “We’ve finished this story as far as I’m concerned. We’ve got a great set of bad guys. There is an organization that we can use whenever we want to. The relationship between Bond and M is secure and Felix is secure.” In response to many fans criticism of the overly serious tone of the last 2 films, he said “Let’s try and find where Moneypenny came from and where Q comes from. Let’s do all that and have some fun with it" says Craig. Also don't expect the non-stop slam bang approach either, the actor jokingly saying "I’m done with that story. I want to lie on a beach for the first half an hour of the next movie drinking a cocktail."

The NIGHTMARE ON ELM STREET remake is looking more like a reality. "It's not Freddy cracking jokes. We want to make a horrifying movie. The concept is so scary, don't fall asleep or you'll die. This guy gets you when you're most vulnerable, in your sleep. We love that. That's the basis of the movie. It'll be most similar to the first one but in terms of kills and dreams we'll borrow from the entire series" says Fuller. I wonder if they could get Johnny Depp to come in and play Freddy this time?

Harrison Ford says he’s still keen to play one more time as the Tom Clancy character Jack Ryan. "I think it’s a character I could easily play at this point if people were interested in seeing what happens to Jack Ryan as his life progresses.” Currently, Ford is working on a serious film called CROWLEY about the real-life story of a family with two children who suffered from a rare genetic disorder. Ford would play a medical researcher. He is also considering a comedy developed by JJ Abrams.

In somewhat of a shocker, Hugh Jackman will be hosting the Oscars this year. That is if the SAG strike doesn’t happen and turn the whole thing to a joke.

M. Night’s cast for his big screen live action version of AVATAR: LAST OF THE AIRBENDERS has been announced. Among other lesser known teen stars, Jesse McCartney (singer and songwriter) will play Prince Zuko (the dude with the big red scar on his face).

In response to the delays on THE ROAD, Viggo Mortensen said, "If they think they need a little more time, then I’d rather they took it than didn’t come out on time.”

Keanu Reeves says that even if his "Speed" character comes back for a third film, he won't be involved - "I don’t know if they are going to make another one, and if they are it won’t be with me… honestly!". He is more open to the idea of a third "Bill and Ted" movie, "Maybe we could do it with them both grown up — they haven’t saved the world and they’re just living their lives as middle-aged men.”

After 17 episodes, the terrible KNIGHT RIDER TV series remake is being cancelled. It was 16 episodes too late even at that.

Director John Stevenson (KUNG FU PANDA) is set to direct a big screen adaptation of the graphic novel WE3 by Grant Morrison. The story focuses on 3 test animals, dog, cat, and rabbit, that are infused with prototype combat suits. They also are able to speak based on chips in their brains. They break free and try to get home on a dangerous journey.

It looks like the I AM LEGEND sequel will actually be a prequel after all. Will Smith said, “We have a fantastic prequel idea…we’re still trying to work through a couple of bumps in the story. It’s essentially the fall of the last city – the last stand of Manhattan. The movie would be…within the body of the movie D.C. and then Manhattan would fall as the last city. It’s a really cool idea trying to figure it out…there’s a reason why we have to take a small band and we have to get into D.C. So we have to make our way from New York to D.C. and then back to New York.”