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ShowBiz411 is reporting that the sequel to last year’s blockbuster X-Men Origins: Wolverine will begin filming soon, with the script already completed. Screenwriter Christopher McQuarrie (X-Men, Valkyrie) has prepared a first draft of the script.

The site’s source revealed a few details pertaining to the film’s direction:
“The script is a little different than originally thought. [It's] based on a story cycle by Frank Miller and Chris Claremont. Wolverine’s adventures in martial arts will be a love story featuring a Japanese actress, I am told.
‘It’s a beautiful story,’ says a source, ‘and will be very different than the first film.’”

They went on to say that the production is slated to begin filming in January, 2011. Though Hugh Jackman is the only actor presently attached to the film, Liev Schreiber, who portrayed Logan’s brother and nemesis Victor/Sabertooth in the first X-Men spin-off, has recently expressed interest in returning. Whether his character is written into the script has yet to be revealed.
No director is currently attached to the project.

Variety is reporting the curious news that Charles Roven, producer of The Dark Knight, and his Atlas Entertainment production company are working with Warner Bros to develop a feature length film adaptation of the classic castaway television series Gilligan’s Island, which generated solid ratings during its three seasons between 1964 and 1967 and then found something close to eternal life in syndication.

Plans are for a contempo take on the well-known premise and characters, with the studio and the Schwartzes’ blessing Copeland’s initial idea for the screenplay. Roven told Daily Variety that he’s hoping to start production as early as next year but won’t move forward on seeking a director or cast until Copeland’s script is completed.

“The characters are so good,” Roven added. “We think it’s going to be a great story to transport these cultural icons to the modern day.”

The 98 episodes of “Gilligan’s Island,” starring Bob Denver as the hapless title character, centered on the wacky misadventures of seven castaways — two crew members, a millionaire couple, a professor, a movie star and a girl-next-door type — on an uncharted and uninhabited island in the Pacific.

Of course, there’s always a chance that the flick could take the path of The Brady Bunch Movie and be a sort of parody of itself with plenty of respect and homage to the original series. Surely it has to stay in the realm of comedy, and maybe spice it up with some action. Otherwise, a more serious approach would just feel too similar to ABC’s series “Lost” without all the crazy science fiction. Honestly, I’m not terribly mad about this for some reason, but we’ll have to see who directs it and who’ll take on the roles of the infamous castaways. Apparently Schwartz thinks Michael Cera is perfect for Gilligan.

Sunday Box Office Report:

1. “Shutter Island” ($22.2 million)
2. “Cop Out” ($18.6 million)
3. “The Crazies” ($16.5 million)
4. “Avatar” ($14 million)
5. “Percy Jackson & The Olympians: The Lightning Thief” ($9.8 million)

The ghosts of “Shutter Island” continued to haunt the box office this weekend with another first place finish. Having already won the top spot last weekend and on Friday, director Martin Scorsese and star Leonardo DiCaprio’s most recent collaboration remained in front of the pack by Sunday’s conclusion with $22.2 million. With a domestic gross of $75 million and a foreign intake of $4.6 million after two weeks in theaters, Paramount’s latest thriller is a stone’s throw away from earning back its $80 million production budget.

New releases “Cop Out” and “The Crazies” battled it out for the weekend’s second place slot, having a mere $5,000 difference between them going into Saturday morning. Ultimately, director Kevin Smith’s latest comedy, which stars Bruce Willis and Tracey Morgan as a pair of mismatched police officers chasing down a petty thief played by Seann William Scott, bested “The Crazies” by a $2.1 million margin. Although business could have been better, “Cop Out” and “The Crazies” enjoyed successful weekends due to the relatively inexpensive production costs for both films, with Breck Eisner’s horror remake already well within reach of its reported $20 million budget.

James Cameron’s “Avatar” stayed strong in its eleventh weekend in theaters. With a fourth place finish worth $14 million, the science fiction adventure has officially broken past $700 million in domestic ticket sales. “Percy Jackson & The Olympians: The Lightning Thief,” meanwhile, took the final spot in the top five, causing Friday’s fifth place finisher “Valentine’s Day” to drop to sixth place.

“Transformers 3″ is coming.In 2009, “Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen” was a HUGE box office success and moviegoers are always come to see what director Michael Bay will blow up next and how big the explosion is.

Bay appeared on Starz’ “In the House” last night and he spent a little time talking about the next installment of Paramount’s toy-cartoon-comic book (and now movie) franchise. There had been rumblings around the industry that the filmmaker had plans to direct something before the next “Transformers,” and he addressed that first.

“The true story is we went to Vegas to celebrate ['Revenge of the Fallen'] crossing the $400 million mark domestic. I said I’m excited to do my small little movie. They said, well we’re here to talk about that. I’ve become friends with these guys that run Paramount and they [told me,] ‘We’re going to get fired if we don’t have a 2011 franchise,’ so I’m like you can’t let these guys down.”

“The economy’s been so rough, it’s kind of important. When you say yes to movie like this you automatically give 3000 people jobs. 1000 for the toys. 2000 for the filmmaking. I’m going to put [the small film] on hold and do it right after ['Transformers 3'].”

So for now, Bay is focused on bringing us more of that Autobots vs. Decepticons conflict. When giant robots fight, Earth is the only guaranteed loser. But we audiences get to see tons of s–t explode, so it’s cool. Bay’s plans to keep things fresh include one simple idea: more.

“You can’t just rehash the old,” he explained. “We’re adding a lot of new elements. We’re adding new characters. We’re adding a lot of twists.” Characters? Twists? “Transformers” fans– let your speculation begin!

Of course, it wouldn’t be a chat about an upcoming effects-heavy blockbuster without some discussion of 3-D. Anyone who doesn’t think “Avatar” changed the game needs to pay more attention: everyone’s been talking about it, considering it, putting plans into action, Bay included.

“It’s a process we’re testing with some ‘Transformers’ scenes,” he said. “How successful it is with my movie in terms of a lot of real stuff coming out of the frame, real dirt, real complicated little particles coming towards the lens, because hopefully that process will work. I’ve seen some tests that look great on other movies. I just want to see how it looks on my footage.”

Deadline Hollywood is reporting that Paramount will be making Zoolander 2, and has hired Justin Theroux to write and direct the film. Theroux’s only directorial experience so far is Dedication, but he has written Tropic Thunder and Iron Man 2. Theroux is reportedly visiting Fashion Week in Paris to earn some first hand experience of the world of fashion.

Deadline doesn’t say much else about the sequels besides that Ben Stiller is back and “everyone’s hoping Owen Wilson co-stars again but no deal is set.” They also sneak in a little tidbit that says Jonah Hill is in negations to play the villain. What the hell? Apparently the studio still is unsure of the success of the first one (even though it’s a huge cult favorite), so they’re trying to keep the budget below $50 million which is causing a bit of a ruckus. But, of course, everyone does want to come back and “bring Derek and Hanzel to life again.” Last May, Stiller hinted about some plot elements, but who knows how much of that is still in.

Courtesy of FirstShowing.net

Latino Review is reporting that Superman will be returning once again to the silver screen. David Goyer, the talented writer behind Batman Begins and The Dark Knight, will be writing the new Superman movie, titled The Man of Steel. It has also been confirmed that Brandon Routh will not be reprising his role as Superman, and director Bryan Singer is out as well.

It was previously reported that Chris Nolan will be guiding the remake in the right direction. Latino Review also reports, “Goyer’s story involves Luthor and Brainiac. It is not an origin and assumes audiences already know about Lois, Clark, Jimmy and Perry. I know the Daily Planet is struggling due to the internet. And I know it sets up a huge Kryptonian mythology.”
Courtesy of FirstShowing.net

The popular horror franchise Scream is returning to the big screen again, with director Wes Craven at the helm. The LA Times recently reported that Craven will start production of the film this May. Franchise veterans Neve Campbell, Courtney Cox and David Arquette will all be reprising their roles, along with a bunch of new characters. The plot will be set ten years after the events of Scream 3. What’s more, in the same way that the originals made tongue-in-cheek references to horror cliches, Scream 4 will allude to manga, Asian ghost girl movies, PG-13 horror movies, vampire films, M. Night Shyamalan movies and even torture porn

Source: FirstShowing.net

James Cameron recently told MTV that Hollywood is going about it all wrong with 3D technology. Cameron has previously been critical of the soon-to-be-released Alice in Wonderland, saying that it “doesn’t make any sense to shoot in 2D and convert to 3D.” Now he tells MTV, “So there is an evolution, people are now starting to not accept inferior forms [of 3D], which is good. But it’s typical of Hollywood getting it wrong, right? We do a film that’s natively authored in 3D, shot in 3D, so they assume from the success of that, that they can just turn movies into 3D in 8 weeks… and that’s going to work somehow.”

He continues, “But it’s just not the way to do it, if you want to make a movie in 3D, make the movie in 3D! And by the way, it should be a filmmaker driven process, not a studio driven process. I’ve been telling filmmakers for the last five years, [there's] this whole new way to paint, a whole new set of colors, and they’ve all kind of hung back. Now it’s getting crammed down from above, and people are getting told to make movies in 3D, and it should’ve been the other way around, they should’ve been banging on the doors of the studio saying, ‘I want to make a movie in 3D, let me do it!’ And it didn’t happen.”

Hollywood should wake up and start paying more heed to James Cameron. After all, few people can claim to have his experience with this new form of cinema.

At a recent press event for Alice in Wonderland, Johnny Depp has confirmed to reporters that Pirates of the Caribbean: On Stranger Tides will not have Orlando Bloom and Keira Knightley reprising their roles. Depp added, “we’re coming at it from a different angle at this point, Rob Marshall and [a] totally new take, it’s a new story.”
So far, the confirmed cast includes Johnny Depp, Geoffrey Rush and Penelope Cruz. The film will start shooting this summer, and will explore Jack Sparrow’s past. But Depp also added, “I don’t know. I don’t think we’d ever throw too much Jack Sparrow in there. There will be a little bit of everybody.”

Courtesy of FirstShowing.net

Just yesterday, the biggest award show in the UK, the BAFTAs, took place in in London. The event honors achievements in both film and television, and critically acclaimed The Hurt Locker was honored with six awards. The entire list of winners follows, courtesy of FirstShowing:

Best Film:
The Hurt Locker

Outstanding British Film:
Fish Tank

Director:
Kathryn Bigelow – The Hurt Locker

Leading Actor:
Colin Firth – A Single Man

Leading Actress:
Carey Mulligan – An Education

Supporting Actor:
Christoph Waltz – Inglourious Basterds

Supporting Actress:
Mo’Nique – Precious

Outstanding Debut By A British Writer, Director or Producer:
Duncan Jones – Director of Moon

Original Screenplay:
Mark Boal – The Hurt Locker

Adapted Screenplay:
Jason Reitman & Sheldon Turner – Up in the Air

Film Not In The English Language:
A Prophet

Animated Film:
Up

Music:
Michael Giacchino – Up

Cinematography:
Barry Ackroyd – The Hurt Locker

Editing:
The Hurt Locker

Production Design:
Avatar

Costume Design:
The Young Victoria

Sound:
The Hurt Locker

Special Visual Effects:
Avatar

Make Up & Hair:
The Young Victoria

Short Animation:
Sally Arthur & Emma Lazenby – Mother Of Many

Short Film:
James Bolton & Martina Amati – I Do Air

The Orange Rising Star Award (Voted For By The Public):
Kristen Stewart

The only noticeable absence from the nominees list was Sandra Bullock, because her movie The Blind Side wasn’t released in the UK in time to be considered for the awards.