Kate Beckinsale Points Her Massive Gun In Four Underworld: Awakening Images

Selene (Kate Beckinsale) is back in action and loaded for battle as Underworld: Awakening prepares to open early next year. In anticipation of the fourth Underworld film (and the first to be filmed in 3Dm using RED EPIC digital cameras), Screen Gems has released four images from the upcoming production. As you might have guessed, they feature the goth Beckinsale decked in leather and pointing a blazing hand cannon. We have them below.














Måns Mårlind and Björn Stein are directing Awakening, though the script is credited to original helmer Len Wiseman, John Hlavin, and Allison Burnett. The plot involves a war between vampires, Lycan, and humankind – who has discovered the existence of the previous two monster races, and is uniting in an effort to eradicate them from the face of the earth. Selene joins forces with her fellow creatures to fight back against humans. She’s aided in her quest by Detective Sebastian (Michael Ealy), Eve (India Eisley), Dr. Jacob Lane (Stephen Rea) and Quint (Kris Holden-Ried).

Just don’t expect to see Scott Speedman returning to the role of Michael Corvin, from the original film. The actor has said in multiple interviews that he will not be reprising his role, though true franchise fans hope he’s just throwing them off of his scent. We’ll know soon enough, as Underworld: Awakening opens in theaters on Jan. 20, 2012.

Rachel Weisz Hops Aboard The Railway Man With Colin Firth, Jeremy Irvine

Adding Rachel Weisz to virtually any project instantly makes it better (Dream House being a recent exception to this hard-and-fast rule), so I’m thrilled to report that she’s joining fellow Oscar winner Colin Firth in Jonathan Teplitzky’s The Railway Man, due in theaters in 2013.

The film adapts Eric Lomax’s biography of his time spent as a WWII prisoner of war in a Japanese camp. The planned film would cover two distinct time periods in Lomax’s life: His years being tortured on the Japanese “Death Railway,” and the post-war era where an older Lomax came to terms with his suffering and sought out the man who abused him.

War Horse star Jeremy Irvine signed on to play young Lomax in the film, while Firth will wrestle with the character in his later years. The Daily Mail, which breaks Weisz’s casting, says the actress will appear alongside Firth playing Patti Wallace, Lomax’s wife who helps him heal – physically and emotionally – from his cruel, war-inflicted punishments.

It’s a bigger part than you might think, as the Mail says it was Wallace who, in an effort to help her husband get over his obstacles, reached out to the men who abused him during the war while also encouraging her spouse to stand up to his demons. The pieces are in place for a gut-wrenching drama, with a stellar cast embracing what could be difficult material. Right now, The Railway Man has a 2013 release date, but don’t be surprised in Lionsgate tries to work this into next year’s Oscar race, if the finished product lives up to its potential.

Breaking Dawn Beats The Muppets In Early Holiday Box Office Results

 

Even with a ton of great new movies opening this weekend, The Twilight Saga appears to be unstoppable over the Thanksgiving holiday. According to the earliest box office estimates at Deadline, Breaking Dawn: Part 1 is poised to win the weekend with an estimated $58 million, after making $12.5 million. That is, of course, on top of the $300+ million it had already made worldwide.

The good news for fans of the week's new releases is that a lot of them are doing just fine at as well-- The Muppets made an estimated $7.3 million yesterday, putting it on track for a $50 million weekend and a firm second place. And while the delightful Arthur Christmas is behind Happy Feet Two, with just $2.8 million yesterday, it still could make $22 million for the weekend, which isn't nothing. Both The Muppets and Arthur Christmas have also earned A and A- Cinema Scores, respectively, which means moviegoers may continue coming back to them even after the mega holiday weekend is over.

As for Martin Scorsese's Hugo, it opened on far fewer screens than The Muppets and Arthur Christmas, it's having a smaller weekend as a result-- right now it's estimated for $11 million for the weekend, which is of course just a tiny fraction of its massive budget. But by opening it on fewer theaters Paramount is clearly setting it up to be more of a long-term success, so don't weep for Scorsese just yet.

We'll keep an eye on the box office throughout the weekend as more numbers come through. In the meantime, go eat some turkey!

Film Rights For Jon Robin Baitz's Stage Play Other Desert Cities Picked Up

Brothers & Sisters creator Jon Robin Baitz hasn't had a feature film produced in a few years (2006's People I Know, starring Al Pacino), but he may soon be headed back to the big screen courtesy of Broadway. Deadline reports that producers Walter Parkes and Laurie MacDonald have scooped up the movie rights to Baitz's play Other Desert Cities. Baitz himself will write the script for the adaptation, as well as co-producing with Parkes and MacDonald.

Other Desert Cities tells the story of an old Hollywood couple, played on the stage by Stacy Keach and Stockard Channing, who used to be friends with Ronald and Nancy Reagan. They retire to Palm Springs, but find any plans as peaceful golden years interrupted by their two children: one a reality TV producer and the other a novelist who has written a tell-all memoir that has unleashed every closet-skeleton the family owns. It is, in other words, the stuff that indie dramas and Oscar nominations are made of.

Other Desert Cities started its run at Lincoln Center’s Mitzi E. Newhouse Theatre before moving to Broadway this month. There's no word whether Keach and Channing (pictured above) might be considered to reprise their roles from the stage or not, but it's early yet. This won't be producers Parkes and MacDonald's first stage-to-screen project; they previously produced Tim Burton's big-screen version of Stephen Sondheim's Sweeney Todd: The Demon Barber of Fleet Street, starring Johnny Depp, Helena Bonham Carter, and Alan Rickman.

Gary Oldman Turns Down Akira, Ken Watanabe Offered Role Instead

We've argued from the beginning that the cast of the upcoming Akira remake should be all Asian, but, sadly, it looks like Warner Bros. doesn't feel the same way. Since the project was reinvigorated with Jaume Collet-Serra replacing Allen And Albert Hughes at the helm, the only names mentioned during casting have been white actors like Garrett Hedlund, Kristen Stewart, Gary Oldman, Helena Bonham Carter and Ezra Miller. But will the entire crew become whitewashed? Not if the most recent rumor actually comes to pass.

According to Twitch, Gary Oldman has officially turned down the part of The Colonel in the Akira remake and now his Batman Begins co-star Ken Watanabe has been offered the role. Even before Oldman was rumored, there was talks of Morgan Freeman playing the role, though that was under the old regime. As the site points out, there are only two American projects that Wantanabe has done that haven't been under the Warner Bros. label, making the role an good fit. In the plot, The Colonel is the director of the secret government project that is holding Tetsuo, a powerful and potential dangerous psychic, in captivity. The story will be set in a futuristic New York City instead of Neo Tokyo and it's expected that the character's names will be changed.

Watanabe makes a lot of sense to play the role, but it's terrible that the choice is obviously for the wrong reasons. Thanks to his parts in Inception, Batman Begins and The Last Samurai, the actor is probably the most recognized Japanese thespian in America, and therefore a perfect way for WB to say that the entire movie isn't being whitewashed. Politics aside, what do you think of Ken Watanabe playing The Colonel?

Tom Hardy, Chris Pine Face Off In McG's This Means War Poster

Mention “Spy vs. Spy” to anyone my age and they’ll likely think of the classic Mad magazine cartoon with the pointy-faced antagonists planting bombs near each other with a gusto usually reserved for the cat and mouse in the Itchy and Scratchy cartoons. But that could change next February, when bombastic filmmaker McG (Charlie’s Angels) unleashes his explosive love triangle comedy This Means War, which finds rival spies Tom Hardy and Chris Pine fighting over Reese Witherspoon’s affections. A poster and two still were posted online today (via ComingSoon). We have them below.








Simon Kinberg co-writes War, which explains why it has a whiff of Mr. and Mrs. Smith mixed with the sexually charged interplay of his Sherlock Holmes screenplay. Yet the stunt work in the film’s extended trailer was surprisingly effective. McG’s first Angels was giddy fun. It was the sequel that bloated like a piece of bread dropped into water. And of course, his Terminator attempt was a dour slog thorugh an unfortunate future. This could be the reboot the director has needed for some time now.

He certainly has the right cast. Hardy and Pine have the potential to be the next tier of major action stars. Witherspoon’s beautiful enough to convince me that spies would jump off of building to earn her heart. And when you’re supporting cast includes David Koechner, Chelsea Handler, Angela Bassett, and Abigail Spencer, that’s enough to win me over. This Means War opens in theaters on Feb. 17, 2012.

Aaron Sorkin Strongly Considering Penning Steve Jobs' Biopic

Since the unfortunate death of Apple genius and tech-icon Steve Jobs and the news that Sony picked up the rights to the biopic, word was that Aaron Sorkin was Sony’s top pick to write the movie and for good reason.

E! Online posted an update on the Jobs biopic, which has Sorkin confirming that Sony has asked him to write the movie and that it’s something he’s “strongly considering.”

"Right now I'm just in the thinking-about-it stages," he said. "It's a really big movie and it's going to be a great movie no matter who writes it."

I’ll agree with the first part in that it's going to be a really big movie, and politely disagree with the comment that it'll be a great movie no matter who writes it. Perhaps he’s optimistic that Jobs’ story is so interesting, anyone could write it into a great movie, or maybe he’s just being modest. Either way, the film should be put into the hands of someone who knows how to translate a true and intriguing story into a film that’s both entertaining and fair. Sorkin has proven to be capable of just that and has the Oscar to prove it for penning The Social Network.

It’s easy to look at The Social Network now and say that the movie was destined to be as successful as the site that plays such a big role in the movie, however Facebook-The-Movie could have been a dull tale of tech-talk and smart Harvard kids bickering over who invented Facebook, had it not been for the good direction, good acting and most definitely, good writing.

Having recently rewatched Pirates of Silicon Valley, I’ve gained an even bigger appreciation for Sorkin’s contributions to The Social Network. The TV movie which focuses on Bill Gates and Steve Jobs, and the Mac vs. PC tech-war in its earlier years, touches on some interesting elements, but it drags a lot and never really comes together as a story, nor do we ever really get to the root of Gates or Jobs as people. Certainly not in the way we see Facebook creator Mark Zuckerberg and some of the other people portrayed in The Social Network. Pirates gets close in some ways, but it never hits the mark. The Jobs biopic might turn out to be great with some other writer, but the chances seem even more favorable with Sorkin involved.

Spielberg's War Horse Set Up For Early Screenings This Weekend

We Bought A Zoo isn’t the only upcoming movie set to show screenings in select theaters this weekend. DreamWorks is apparently looking to give the upcoming Steven Spielberg film War Horse the early-screening treatment this weekend as well. The film will be headed to 10 cities this Sunday (November 27th).

According to the Hollywood Reporter, DreamWorks is set to hold “special word-of-mouth screenings” of War Horse, Spielberg’s latest adventure film about a friendship between a horse and the man who tames and trains him. The movie is based on a book and set to hit theaters late next month.

There will be a screening in New York City, followed by a Q&A with Spielberg, which will be broadcast via satellite to the nine other screenings and also streamed on MSN.com. Viewers at the screenings or watching online will be able to text in questions.

War Horse isn’t the only family friendly, and coincidentally, animal-centric film set to show early screenings this weekend. The Matt Damon movie We Bought a Zoo will also be available for an early look in select theaters this weekend. Families looking for a break from binging on Turkey leftovers and scouting for holiday shopping deals might want to check out one or both films, if they happen to be near one of the participating theaters.

Amber Heard Joins Dominic Cooper In Motor City

Amber Heard is a talented young actress, but she has had a pretty rotten go of it in 2011. The calendar year saw the release of Drive Angry 3D, The Ward and The Rum Diary, but all of them bombed at the box office and received little praise from critics. On the small screen she appeared in The Playboy Club, which was cancelled before it could complete its first season. Heard will likely turn things around in the coming years and that may start with Albert Hughes' Motor City.

According to Deadline, Amber Heard has been cast as the female lead in the upcoming revenge thriller. The site says that there was heavy competition for the part, though it doesn't list any of the other actresses that were being considered. The film is set to star Dominic Cooper in the lead role as a man who is released from prison and goes after the people that framed him for a crime that he didn't commit. We learned in September that Cooper got the role because producer Joel Silver was so fascinated by the actor's performance in The Devil's Double. Heard will next be seen in Aram Rappaport's Syrup, in which she stars alongside Kellan Lutz, Brittany Snow, and Shiloh Fernandez.

As much as I like both Cooper and Heard, the plot of this film sounds exactly like Faster, the action film starring Dwayne Johnson that wasn't exactly a super-sized hit last year. Let's hope that Hughes has a few tricks up his sleeve and a solid script to work with.

Anthony Hopkins, Judi Dench Trying On Kenneth Branagh's Italian Shoes

Big casting news for Kenneth Branagh’s next directorial effort, Italian Shoes. Anthony Hopkins and Dame Judi Dench reportedly are close to signing on for the lead roles, playing former lovers who work to complete a dying woman’s wish, Variety reports.

Branagh's decision to pass on the chance to helm Thor 2 took me by surprise. The filmmaker poured his heart into Asgard’s warrior, crafting a stellar origin story that I’d thought he’d want to explore further. But he admitted in subsequent interviews that he hoped to transition from large-scale superhero epics to a small-scale character drama, and his selection continues to take shape.

Adding Hopkins and Dench to this project would be ideal for Branagh, giving the director two incredible talents for his material. Italian Shoes will be adapted by screenwriter Richard Cottan from the Swedish novel by author Henning Mankell. Branagh, who is scheduled to begin shooting toward the end of 2012, says that the parts are "tailor-made" for these Oscar-winning actors, and he has been developing the material with the two in mind.

"The nuance, delicacy and flavor is so based on the perfect casting," he said, adding that their casting "takes advantage of my long relationship with the pair of them."

Obviously, Branagh directed Hopkins in Thor. But he also co-starred with Dench in My Week With Marilyn, and directed her in both Henry V and Hamlet. Even without these previous relationships, however, it sounds like the roles in Mankell’s novel are custom-built for Dench and Hopkins, and with Branagh and the helm, this drama sounds potentially wonderful.