Saturday 23 February 2008

Movie & TV News: Final Destination, Wolverine, David Fincher, Terminator, Akira, and more...

Saturday 23 February 2008

Final Destination 4 is going ahead, starring Shantel VanSanten (above), Bobby Campo, Nick Zano, Hayley Webb, Krista Allen and Andy Fiscella. David R. Ellis (who directed the second film) returns to the franchise, and this installment will be filmed in 3-D! We've already had an airplane disaster, a car pile-up, and a roller-coaster accident, and rumours suggests part 4 will involve a race-car crash...

Hugo Weaving (Agent Smith in the Matrix movies) has been cast as Detective Aberline in the upcoming Wolfman remake; a lawman hunting Benicio Del Toro's eponymous lycanthrope. He joins Anthony Hopkins and Emily Blunt on the movie, which has been taken over by Joe Johnston after Mark Romanek left the production. Filming stars next month in London for a 13 February 2009 release.

X-Men Origins: Wolverine is moving ahead rapidly, with many names joining star Hugh Jackman for this X-Men prequel. Dominic Monaghan (Lost) will play Barnell, a character who can manipulate energy and electricity; Daniel Henney has been cast as Agent Zero, a deadly marksman in the Weapon X program, Ryan Reynolds has signed to play the wise-cracking, mentally-unstable Deadpool, and other cast member include Liev Schreiber, Danny Huston, the Black Eyed Peas' Will.I.Am and Lynn Collins.

Short-lived ITV drama The Eleventh Hour is being remade in the US by CBS, with British star Rufus Sewell taking over from Patrick Stewart. Jerry Bruckheimer (CSI) is producing this sci-fi drama about a government adviser who tries to stop abuses of science.

Virgin1 scored a hit on Thursday night with its premiere of US sci-fi drama Terminator: The Sarah Connor Chronicles. 642,000 viewers tuned in after heavy publicity, which was 5 times higher than the station's average viewership in 2008.

After the tragic death of Heath Ledger, plans are afoot for his final film The Imaginarium Of Dr Parnassus to go ahead -- with his character transforming into Colin Farrel, Johnny Depp and Jude Law at various points. Fortunately, given the fact Ledger's character falls through a magic mirror in Terry Gilliam's latest film, this multiple casting "stunt" should fit very neatly.

Director David Fincher (Se7en/Zodiac) has agreed to helm Black Hole, an adaptation of a graphic novel set in the 70s, where a sexually-transmitted disease (called "the Bug") is causing physical mutations in teenagers.

Classic anime Akira is being turned into a live-action extravaganza starring Leonardo DiCaprio, who will also produce. The film will be based on the acclaimed 1988 animation, set in a neon-soaked Tokyo circa 2019, where a motorbike gang member has extraordinary mental powers unleashed by a government experiment. The Hollywood version will transfer the action to "New Manhattan", a city rebuilt by Japanese money after 31 years.