Movie News (Page 5)

By now you must have heard that Oren Peli has already shot his next project, a follow-up to the micro-budget smash hit Paranormal Activity, but it wasn't clear who would be distributing the $5 million dollar "found footage" styled Area 51. Until now.

Paramount Pictures, who distributed Paranormal Activity with resounding success, seems to be building a relationship with Peli. They've officially signed on to distribute Area 51, having made a high seven-figure bid to co-finance the film with Incentive Filmed Entertainment and the Aramid Entertainment Fund as well as any potential sequels at the recent American Film Market.

Area 51 has already been shot on a reported budget of $5 million in the same first-person camera style as Paranormal Activity, and like its predecessor, stars unknown actors. Peli will also be making a sequel to Paranormal Activity for Paramount. Seeing as how the $15,000 supernatural thriller has made well over $100 million at the box office, that seems like a no-brainer.

All things Lord of the Rings fansite TheOneRing.net is reporting that production of Peter Jackson's multi-film adaptation of The Hobbit is getting delayed until summer of 2010.

Jackson himself has stated:

"We're currently working on the second script which we hope to have completed by the end of this year or beginning of next. When the scripts are completed, we can begin with the exact calculation of the necessary budget. We hope to start filming in the middle of next year. However, we've received no green light from the studio yet."

So, while there's no cause for alarm, it seems we might not be getting the Guillermo Del Toro-directed LOTR prequels as soon as we thought.

USA Today has published the first image from the fourth installment of the Shrek franchise, cleverly titled Shrek Forever After, not Shrek Goes Fourth, as was previously believed.

The new image features Shrek and Rumpelstiltskin. Click the thumbnail to view a larger version.

Director Mike Mitchell explained the plot of the fourth film, which sees Shrek as having a midlife crisis, due to over-domestication. "He has lost his roar. It used to send villagers running away in terror. Now they run to him and ask him to sign their pitchforks and torches."

To get his ogrehood back, Shrek strikes a pact with the sly Rumpelstiltskin. When the deal goes sour, Shrek must confront what life would be like in Far Far Away if he had never existed, which include such hardships as Donkey being forced into cart-pulling duty, fat and lazy Puss in Boots trading his sword for a pink bow and the underhanded Rumpelstiltskin ruling the kingdom.

The concept is Grimm's fairy tales meets It's a Wonderful Life, and this time , you won't have to trek to Universal Studios to see Shrek in 3-D. The fourth, and rumored final film in the popular franchise, will be released in IMAX 3-D to cash in on Hollywood's newest trend.

Look for Shrek Forever After on May 21, 2010, and keep your eyes peeled for the first Shrek trailer to be attached to James Cameron's Avatar.

We know you love Zombieland, and we did too (just read our Zombieland review). Apparently, Sony loved it so much, they're looking to do a sequel... in 3-D!

Director Reuben Fleischer recently spoke to Moviehole.net about the matter, confirming that Sony is interested and that he and the cast are ready to nut up for a second outing.

What's more, Fleischer added that the sequel could very well be steroescopic, saying, “the genre really lends itself to [3-D].”

When and where could we see this 3-D extravaganza taking place? Woody Harrelson seems to prefer Paris or Broadway, but Fleischer hasn't decided yet. It could also take a little while for the film to get off the ground, as the director says it will be ready to go when "we crack it," suggesting a story hasn't even been decided yet.

Nut up, shut up and stay tuned for more details as they come!

Nothing is worse than having to do damage control, but that's exactly what Universal Studios is doing to the upcoming Benicio Del Toro vehicle The Wolfman.

The project has already had a rough time, having to change directors mid-production, causing the release date to be pushed back several times. Joe Johnston finally settled into the director's chair, but the problems have seemed to follow him.

Now, it seems the film is getting a major overhaul at the studio's request. To ensure that the job is done right this time, Universal has brought in not one, but two legendary editors to help polish the turd The Wolfman seems to have become.

Mark Goldblatt and Walter Murch are currently tasked with the job of cleaning up the mess that Batman & Robin editor Dennis Virkler has left. Goldblatt's pedigree comes from films like Terminator and Terminator 2, while Murch is Oscar-nominated for films like Apocalypse Now and The Conversation.

Still, even with this new heavy artillery, doubt is still in the air as to whether The Wolfman will howl on the current scheduled release date of 2/10/2010.

Roland Emmerich is up to his old antics again. Last week, he amused us by claiming that he plans to be skiing on Doomsday in 2012, and now he's making ridiculous comments about the long-overdue Independence Day sequel that has been floundering for years.

"What we want to do in the next – it's actually two movies – we want to do a bigger arc," Emmerich recently told MTV News. "'Independence Day' was always like the king who leads his troops into battle against an evil force, and that stays like that."

"The idea is just to continue the story and actually I don't know how many years ago this was—twelve, thirteen, fourteen years ago—and just continue where it ended," he added.

The best part was delivered in Emmerich's usual playful, flamboyant manner. The title for these new engines of destruction? "'ID4-ever,' Part I and II maybe?"

No, that's not a typo. The notoriously boisterous German disaster man actually came up with a title more befitting a Wayan's brothers parody than a blow-em-up alien invasion film.

The real question is was he joking? Well, as it's Roland Emmerich, you can never tell...

At least Emmerich deserves to be playful; 2012 nabbed the top spot this weekend, earning a hefty $65 million dollars.

While Saw VI didn't do so hot at the box office this year, Lionsgate has decided to push through with another installment of the popular series, this time in 3-D.

Having cost only $11 million to make, Saw VI's lackluster $26 million take at the box office this Halloween still turned a profit for the studio, and that's not counting DVD and Blu-ray sales yet. Despite the seeming drop in audience attendance, Lionsgate has already marked October 22, 2010 for Saw VII 3-D's release date.

The next entry is written by returning screenwriters Marcus Dunstan and Patrick Melton. David Hackl, who helmed Saw V, is back in the director's chair. Costas Mandylor will be back as Hoffman and we assume Tobin Bell could return to play Jigsaw in more flashbacks.

Another Jason Bourne movie is on the way.

While the most important person is on board (Matt Damon), the movie has now found its likely screenwriter.

Josh Zetumer has been hired to pen the fourth installment in the Bourne franchise, according to The Hollywood Reporter. The Bourne Ultimatum screenwriter George Nolfi was originally set for the script, but had to drop out due to a scheduling conflict.

Zetumer will be brought in to write a new script, though it’s not clear if his version will ultimately be combined with Nolfi’s. The project is scheduled for release in 2011.

Hollywood is officially out of new ideas.

Sources have confirmed that Lionsgate is planning a remake of Dirty Dancing, with Julia Dahl (Uptown Girls) penning the script.

For those that have lived under a rock for the past two decades, the original 1987 movie starred Patrick Swayze and Jennifer Grey. It centered on a young woman and the mysterious, handsome dance instructor she meets one summer at camp.

No production date has been set for the ridiculously-planned reboot.

We're as shocked and depressed about this news as you are.

According to The Hollywood Reporter, a sequel to Which Chicks is seriously on the way.

The 2004  Wayans Brothers comedy - which starred Marlon and Shawn Wayans as sibling FBI agents posing as a pair of Caucasian woman - somehow made $70 million at the box office.

No details about the sequel have been released, but we don't need to hear any to question whether this is proof that the Hollywood Apocalypse is clearly on the way.