Movie News

[Bebi Vegeta]

This is somthing I do on OD, and yes I update with "new" news all the time. So if this is pinned I wouldn't mind. It would make more sense though considering I'll be posting in here when ever I can. That's if you guys read any of my news I post. Well..for the first news which is from the 31st.

Willis on Die Hard 4 and 16 Blocks 2!
Source: Comingsoon.net March 31, 2006


'Christopher' tells ComingSoon.net that Extra interviewed Bruce Willis on the set of his new psychological thriller Perfect Stranger:

Bruce Willis, interviewed on the set of his new movie Perfect Stranger with Halle Berry, said he can't tell you what will come first: A sequel to 16 Blocks or a new Die Hard.

"They're both being written. We've to throw a few more 'old man' jokes in the Die Hard script, while we do that...we might bring Jack Mosley back".

He was asked whether it's true that Jessica Simpson auditioned for the role of his daughter in the Die Hard film. He laughed, saying, "Man, I don't know even know if that character is even in this version of the script anymore. I can honestly tell you that Bonnie Bedelia and Reginald VelJohnson, from the first films, are the only guys we've talked about bringing back. There has to be enough room in the scene for my walking cane".

Laughed. Then they showed him and Halle on the set of the new film.

I already knew about Die Hard 4 but I didn't know they were making another 16 blocks film.

[Bebi Vegeta]

Harrison Ford on Indiana Jones 4
Source: Comingsoon.net April 4 2006


TheRaider.net tells us that Harrison Ford just talked about Indiana Jones 4 and might have given away a hint, even though he wasn't trying to!

BBC ONE just aired their first episode of a new programme called "Hollywood Greats" tonight. This first episode centered around Harrison Ford's career and included an extended interview with Ford, by British film critic Jonathan Ross.

At the end of the great interview Jonathan asked Ford how much of a chance there was of another Indiana Jones film.

Harrison Ford stalled his answer for a few seconds and then responded that it was "99 and three quarter percent" likely to happen.

Then further asked if Sean Connery would return as Indy's father in Indy IV, Ford declined to make a comment on that. Jonathan Ross responded with "So he's going to be in it, then." and Ford just kind of laughed and didn't say anything.

Steven Spielberg is still attached to direct the fourth installment, with George Lucas and Frank Marshall producing.


I have no idea why they said all of that. They've been in production for like two years now.

[Brooler]

Sweet. The Return of Indy. keep em' comign BV.

[Ling]

cool! and what chase said

[Bebi Vegeta]

Thanks guys.

The Grudge 2 Set Visit!
Source: Edward Douglas, Comingsoon.net April 5, 2006


Tokyo, the largest city in Japan and one of the great mysteries of the Far East; the Tokyo lifestyle is unlike that of any other city in the world. Japan's lengthy history of film is centered around the city, although there haven't been nearly as many Hollywood films produced there, with recent exceptions being Tom Cruise's The Last Samurai and the English language horror remake, The Grudge.

With that in mind, ComingSoon.net got a chance to visit set of The Grudge 2, being filmed at Japan's legendary Toho Sound Studios, home to the "Godzilla" movies and some of the greatest samurai films ever made. As it approaches its 75th Anniversary, Toho has been expanding and trying to break away from its Godzilla image, having recently received $20 million dollars for an expansion thanks to the Denzu company. While it will continue being one of Japan's top movie studios, it will also be filming many Japanese television shows in the future. It was a great time to be in Japan and at Toho, because the cherry blossoms, which literally only blossom for a week each year, were in full bloom, and it gave Toho a colorful and sunny spring feel, which couldn't be any more different than the dark nature of the film being made there.

The production for The Grudge 2 had taken over three of the soundstages at Toho, which is a big step-up from director Takashi Shimizu's earlier films, which were mainly shot in real locations and at smaller studios. They've actually built many of the sets for the movie within the walls of the soundstage. It was surprising how small these sets were, barely enough room for the actors and a couple cameramen. Apparently, Shimizu likes working within scale rather than making sets larger and thereby more effective for shooting.

Despite the first "Grudge" having been such a huge success, Shimizu has not been working very differently and the unit publicist noted that he had more confidence in him as a director, as they were into their 43rd day of their planned 63 shootings days. It's interesting that the first "Grudge" only took 40 days to film, so Shimizu has already been working on the sequel longer than any of his previous films. That said, they've added some of the luxuries of a normal Hollywood movie set, such as having craft services, useful due to Shimizu-San's habit of working without taking breaks.


Although Sarah Michelle Gellar will be returning for the sequel as Karen, her role will be fairly minimal since she'll only be filming in Japan for two days, presumably to resolve the cliffhanger from the first movie. Instead, the focus shifts to actress Amber Tamblyn of Joan of Arcadia and The Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants, who plays Karen's sister Aubrey, who comes to Tokyo to find out what happened to her missing sister. Aubrey is helped in her search for answers by another new character named Eason, a Hong Kong journalist who has come to Tokyo to explore the mysterious goings-on at the house from the previous film. Eason is played by Edison Chen, a Vancouver-born actor of Chinese descent who had mainly been working in Hong Kong, most notably on the classic "Infernal Affairs" crime trilogy, in which he played Agent Lau. While English is his first language, The Grudge 2 will be his first English-language role in a movie, and it's a big break for the 26-year-old actor.

Returning for the sixth time is actress Takako Fuji, who has been playing the ghost of Kayako Saeki, the woman whose murder began the curse, ever since Shimizu started making videos based on the premise. Oddly, her connection to Shimizu goes beyond their work on those films, since the two of them share a similar birthdate, same year and everything. We had a chance to speak to her a bit before she spent the two hours getting into her distinctive hair and make-up, and she was actually quite lovely and ebullient, despite admitting a love for scaring people who recognize her in the street. Unfortunately, Yuya Ozeki, who played the creepy kid Toshio in the Japanese films and the last movie, had gotten too old to reprise the role for a fourth time, and they had hired a newcomer, 10-year-old Ohga Tanaka, to take over the role for the sequel.

Another new addition to the cast is Jennifer "Flashdance" Beals as Trish, who is the mother of a teen girl in one of the sequel's three or four concurrent storylines, which are once again told in a non-linear fashion. Later, Shimizu would tell us that there were three main things that he wanted the sequel to convey in terms of moving the story forward. Obviously, the first one was to find out what happened to Sarah Michelle Gellar's character after the first movie, but it also would go further into how the Grudge is spread from one person to the other, as well as showing more of Kayako's backstory, not only as a child, but also showing more of her relationship with her murderous husband. We were told that violent scenes from the first English remake had to be excised, because scenes of domestic abuse would have automatically gotten the movie the dreaded R-rating.


When we arrived at Toho, they had already broken down the set for the exteriors of the house, which had been severely damaged by the fire set by Gellar's character in the first movie. Most would presume that those scenes were shot on location somewhere, but the outside of the house was actually created on the soundstage, which must have been impressive. Instead, they had moved onto interior scenes, and as we arrived on Toho's Stage 7, we were given a tour of two of the smaller sets carefully dressed up to represent two Tokyo apartments down to the minutest detail. The first of these sets was Karen's apartment, which they recreated from the first film, but the main set for the day was a recreation of Eason's apartment, which also acts as his office and photo studio. Off to one side, there was a fully realized darkroom, lined with eerie images of the ghost Kayako in all her glory, which would obviously play an important part in some of the film's most intense scenes.

The scene being shot that day as we waited to talk to Shimizu and his cast, was a dialogue scene between Amber and Edison, in which they discuss their respective backgrounds with Aubrey telling Eason how different she is from her sister and how they got into fight the last time they saw each other. Eason seemed to be subtly hitting on the bereaved Aubrey, but then to break the tension, he offers to make her some tea. We were informed that Shimizu's English had been improving, yet he still relies on producer Michael Kirk to listen to the dialogue to make sure it was clear, while he dealt with the mood, the technical stuff and the emotions being expressed.

We then spent a bit of time watching Edison preparing tea for his guest, mildly amused by the evolution of the tea pouring. The tea bag labels wouldn't behave, falling into the cups when he poured water, and after a few takes, they figured out the perfect way to pour the water. Afterwards, noticing that Aubrey is sleeping, he walks into the darkroom to end that scene. They then started working on a scene from the next morning where Aubrey wakes up on the couch and starts looking for Edison. We can't really reveal the scene that takes place in between or what happens next. Takako revealed to us later that she does a lot in the darkroom besides appearing in the photographs. Apparently, she will come out of the pictures developing in the darkroom sinks, which would involve her floating in a tank of water, something she hadn't done before.


Later, we headed over to Stage 1, Toho's oldest soundstage, where two more sets were being built. One of them would be the apartment of the character played by actress Arielle Kebbel, and then the more elaborate one was a recreation of Kayako's childhood home in the country, which Aubrey would visit in order to find out more about the cursed ghost terrorizing her. The interior of the house was gorgeous with unblemished hardwood floors and other real materials to bring it to life. They had already filmed the exteriors of that house on location out in the countryside somewhere, but they would start filming the interior scenes on that set the following week.

Apparently, the film will also have a racy scene in a Japanese Love Motel, a notorious place that charges an hourly rate so that teen girls and their boyfriends can go there to have sex. When we spoke to Takako, she revealed that she would make an entrance coming out of a mirror in the room, and that they used practical FX to pull that off, actually building a duplicate room in the back of the mirror to create this effect, rather than going for the far easier method of doing it via CGI.

Although we were able to get a general idea of the plot for the second film, we were told that the non-linear nature of the film would make it harder to put all the pieces together in terms of how the various stories are connected and their chronology. It certainly sounds like those who loved The Grudge and the Japanese films will be thrilled with all of the new depth brought to the Ju-On myth by the American sequel.

The Grudge 2 is scheduled for release on Friday, October 13. Look for full interviews with director Takashi Shimizu and actress Amber Tamlyn in the next week or so.

[Bebi Vegeta]

A sh*t load of news everyone. So enjoy the reading.

DeVito and Broderick Get All Lit Up
Source: Comingsoon.net April 7, 2006


New Regency has set Danny DeVito and Matthew Broderick to star in All Lit Up, a comedy that will reunite Big Momma's House 2 director John Whitesell and screenwriter Don Rhymer, reports Variety.

DeVito and Broderick will play neighbors in a small New England town who collide when one decides to decorate his house for the holidays so brightly that it can be seen from space.

Michael Costigan is producing the film, which will get under way in May. Regency hopes to have the film ready for a holiday release this year through 20th Century Fox.

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Terminator 4 Update From Andy Vajna!
Source: Comingsoon.net April 7, 2006


Terminator 4 producer Andy Vajna tells the AAP that the fourth film could be shot Down Under.

"We were thinking about Australia. We have been looking at the Warner Bros Studios down there but it is early days," Vajna said from the set of his current film, Children of Glory, in Hungary. "That would be probably early next year."

He added that the script by John Brancato and Michael Ferris is ready to go. "We have the script ready and we are now looking for a director and figuring out what the next step is," said Vajna.

Regarding whether or not Arnold Schwarzenegger will be back, Vajna added, "We would like Arnie in it as a cameo. We want to go on with the Terminator and turn it into a real sci-fi picture and there is a very interesting role for Arnold if he decides he wants to do it.

Arnold's return will depend on his political career, says Vajna.
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Narnia Stars Talk About the Sequel
Source: Comingsoon.net April 7, 2006


USA Today talked to the young stars of The Chronicles of Narnia: The Lion, The Witch and The Wardrobe, who reveal that they're not sure what is happening with the sequel, "Prince Caspian".

"I found out the sequel (Prince Caspian) was happening through a teacher," says Skandar Keynes, 14, who portrays Edmund, one of the four Pevensie siblings in the film, which is new on DVD this week. He jokes, "She had the inside knowledge."

Adds Georgie Henley, 10, who plays Lucy: "My teacher did the same thing to me because she saw it in the newspaper that I said yes (I was going to be in the sequel). I haven't said no, but I haven't said yes."

As for their status on appearing in the second Narnia film, "to be honest, it's really a verbal contract," says William Moseley, 18, who plays Peter. "We have been told the sequel is happening, but we have no idea when, we don't know where and we have no idea how. We just have to sort of sit back and let the big guys work it out."

The Chronicles of Narnia: Prince Caspian is scheduled for a December 14, 2007 release date. Check out the full article at the link above.

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Doug Jones on Hellboy 2
Source: Comingsoon.net April 7, 2006

IESB.net chatted with Doug Jones, who portrayed Abe Sapien in Hellboy, about the sequel. Here's a clip:

Doug reveals that while shooting Pan's Labyrinth in Spain, del Toro stated that Abe will indeed have more screen time and that this time he gets a chance to fight some baddies. He admits that he has not yet read the script but that Guillermo promises that Abe will be on an equal playing level with Hellboy.

Read or watch the interview, in which he talks more about the character and a possible third film, at the site above.
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Steve Valentine in Spider-Man 3
Source: LA Daily News April 7, 2006

The LA Daily News says "Crossing Jordan" star Steve Valentine (Filmography & pics) has a role in Spider-Man 3:

"Crossing Jordan's" Steve Valentine is making a busman's holiday of this hiatus period -- he's reporting to the "Spider-Man 3" set to play a fashion photographer in the third Spidey flick to star Tobey Maguire. He wouldn't have missed it: "As a kid, I was a Spider-Man junkie."

Spider-Man 3 will take over theaters on May 4, 2007.
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Thomas Haden Church on Shooting Spider-Man 3
Source: Comingsoon.net April 7, 2006

About.com has posted a great interview with Thomas Haden Church in which he discusses shooting scenes as Flint Marko/Sandman for Spider-Man 3 with director Sam Raimi. Here's a clip from the article:

There was a lot of coverage, there was a lot of lighting changes because there's a whole kind of thing where a window blows out and a storm blows in and there's all these effects that had to be captured on camera. And I really felt myself becoming more and more physically aggressive. I kind of snapped at a couple of people – and I apologized. I felt myself becoming more emotionally aggressive. He then set two cameras on me and we went for a rehearsal. I slammed the stunt guy; I grabbed him and I slammed him really hard into the wall. Sam came over and goes, 'You're ready for your close-up.' He knew exactly what he was doing. That just gave me goosebumps. He knew exactly what he was doing every step of the way all day long.

Check out the full interview Here!

[Bebi Vegeta]

Walden's Plans for the Narnia Franchise
Source: Comingsoon.net April 24, 2006


Walden Media, the company behind The Chronicles of Narnia: The Lion, The Witch and The Wardrobe, discussed their plans for bringing the rest of the franchise to the screen in Entertainment Weekly.

The follow-up to "Wardrobe," The Chronicles of Narnia: Prince Caspian is the only other book to feature all four Pevensie kids. The script is currently being written, and producer Mark Johnson admits adapting the slender book "is proving tougher than 'Wardrobe.'" Executive producer Cary Granat adds that the movie may be bumped from December 14, 2007 to Christmas 2008 due to the daunting effects demands.

"Caspian" will be followed by "Voyage of the Dawn Treader," in which Edmund and Lucy help locate the seven banished lords of Narnia. Walden plans to use "Caspian," "Dawn Treader," and "The Silver Chair" to create an interlocking trilogy that will be shot in that order.

Chronologically speaking, "The Magician's Nephew" comes before "Wardrobe," and "The Horse and His Boy" comes after, while the apocalyptic, Aslan vs. anti-Christian Aslan "The Last Battle" caps the series. The magazine adds that the most likely of the three to be made first is "Nephew," which explains how the Professor came to own that wardrobe.

They're stupid!...making the fourth movie next. How f**ked up...