Weekly Entertainment News

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Dawn of the Dead Remake DVD News
Source: DarkHorizons


Those eager to check out the zombie-filled action of the 'Dawn of the Dead' remake will be excited by the comments of Director Zack Snyder who revealed to Davis DVD that he had to make more than a few cuts to his film to receive an R-rating from the Motion Picture Association of America and as a result we can expect a special DVD set: "We went back and forth with the MPAA about four or five times before we got our R, but eventually we did...We will do an unrated DVD that will have probably an additional five minutes of gore, and then another five minutes of more character. Not that anyone wants that, but that's what they're going to get".

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New Martial Arts Spoof Film in the Works
Source: Coming Soon!
Screenwriters Paul Benson and Matt Sullivan have sold an untitled spoof of martial arts films to Dream Entertainment, says Variety. The duo's original pitch parodies such films as Rush Hour and Kill Bill: Vol. 1.

Benson and Sullivan are also writing another spoof script for Dream, the clay-animation project Disaster!, being directed by Roy Wood. That film has started shooting and will take another year to complete.

Dream is a film production, financing and foreign sales entity.

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Watch the Dawn of the Dead 8-Minute Clip Now!


Tonight, USA Network will debut the opening 10-minute sequence from Universal Pictures' Dawn of the Dead between 10:00pm and 10:30pm, near the end of USA's telecast of Final Destination, which begins at 8:00 p.m. Eastern/Pacific. But you can already view the clip online!

You can download it early - at least 8-minutes of the clip - online right here in Windows Media format.

Sarah Polley, Ving Rhames, Jake Weber and Mekhi Phifer head an ensemble cast in a re-envisioning of George Romero's apocalyptic horror classic, opening on Friday. An unexplained plague has decimated the world's population and yet ... the dead aren't dying. They've become zombies, stalking endlessly in a constant quest to feed on the flesh and blood of the few remaining living.

A ragtag group of desperate survivors in a Wisconsin town seek refuge in a large indoor mall, where they must learn not only to protect themselves from the ever-increasing zombie horde, but also to co-exist with each other as a last bastion of humanity. Sealed off from the rest of what used to be the world, the group uses every available resource (both within and without) in their against-all-odds fight to remain alive and human.

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George Clooney Wanted for Pet Sematary Remake?
Source: MediasharX


MediasharX has received an unconfirmed scoop regarding the upcoming Paramount remake of Stephen King's horror thriller Pet Sematary. Here's a clip...

A writer friend, [name withheld], has won the jewel gig of reworking Stephen King - Dicky Bachman's 'Pet Sematary' book/film for the Alphaville crowd, he's got that and a film version of the book 'The Book of Skulls' lined up. But 'Pet Sematary' sounds good, and it's being written as a potential vehicle for George Clooney!. Yep, they want Clooney to play Doc Cage. When I first heard it, I was a little concerned but after thinking about it I realised it might just worked. That charisma, that versatilty he seems to have as an actor....he might make it one remake worth watching.

Visit the link above for more on this and The Book of Skulls as well.

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Blade: Trinity Pushed Back to December
Source: Superhero Hype!
New Line Cinema has confirmed to Superhero Hype! that Blade: Trinity has been moved back from August 13 to December 10. No reason was given at this time. The third film previously faced Fox's Alien vs. Predator on August 13 and will now go up against "Ocean's Twelve," provided that the latter Warner Bros. sequel stays at Dec. 10.

There's also rumors that New Line's The Son of the Mask has been pushed back to February 18 of next year, though that hasn't been confirmed yet.

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Cash, RZA Lead 'Kill Bill Vol. 2' Set
Source: Billboard
Tracks by Johnny Cash, RZA, Malcolm McLaren, Ennio Morricone and Shivaree have been chosen for the soundtrack to "Kill Bill Vol. 2." The set is due April 13 via Maverick, while the film opens three days later in U.S. theaters. Cast members Uma Thurman and David Carradine appear on several cuts from the soundtrack, including the duets "Truly and Utterly Bill" and "The Legend of Pai Mei."

The first installment of the "Kill Bill" soundtrack was a major hit, reaching No. 20 on The Billboard 200 and No. 1 on Billboard's Top Soundtracks chart. It featured cuts by RZA, Isaac Hayes and Nancy Sinatra, among others.

Here is the track listing for "Kill Bill Vol. 2":

"A Few Words From the Bride," Uma Thurman
"Goodnight Moon," Shivaree
"Il Tramonto," Ennio Morricone
"Can't Hardly Stand It," Charlie Feathers
"Tu Mir," Lole Y Manuel
"Summertime Killer," Luis Bacalov
"The Chase," Alan Reeves, Phil Steele and Philip Brigham
"The Legend of Pai Mei," David Carradine and Uma Thurman
"L'arena," Ennio Morricone
"A Satisfied Mind," Johnny Cash
"A Silhouette of Doom," Ennio Morricone
"About Her," Malcolm McLaren
"Truly and Utterly Bill," David Carradine and Uma Thurman
"Malaguena Salerosa," Chingon
"Urami Bushi," Meiko Kaji


-- Jonathan Cohen, N.Y.

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Robert Rodriguez Targets Big Cast for Sin City
Source: Coming Soon!
Filmmaker Robert Rodriguez has targeted a big list of names for his upcoming Sin City adaptation, based on Frank Miller's graphic novel series.

Leonardo DiCaprio, Bruce Willis, Elijah Wood, Mickey Rourke, Brittany Murphy, Kate Bosworth and Jaime King are being eyed for the Dimension Films project. Some of the actors have already signed on for parts, while others are only in talks or have just received offers to join the cast.

The Hollywood Reporter says other names being bandied about include Benicio Del Toro and Maria Bello, though offers had not yet gone out to either as of late Wednesday. Set to start shooting shortly, the film will be composed of three intertwining vignettes revolving around a dark set of characters that call the fictional corrupt town home.

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Brad Pitt to Star as Gunslinger Jesse James
Source: Coming Soon!
Warner Bros. has pacted with Plan B, Scott Free and director Andrew Dominik to make a Western out of Robert Hansen novel "The Assassination of Jesse James by the Coward Robert Ford," for Brad Pitt to star. Dominik, an Australian veteran of commercials and music videos, is in talks to write the script and direct.

The book focused on Robert Ford as a way to tell the James legend. Ford was a member of the James gang and started out worshipping the exploits of the fastest gun in the West. He eventually became envious and figured he'd take over the gang and garner his own reputation by shooting James in the back.

Dominik's directorial debut, Chopper, sparked Pitt's interest to find a project to do with Dominik. Pitt is also expected to topline the Plan B-produced Warner Bros. films The Hatfields and the McCoys, to be directed by Michael Mann, and Infernal Affairs, to be helmed by Martin Scorsese.

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Kevin Smith Eyes Gyllenhaal for The Green Hornet
Source: Coming Soon!
Jersey Girl writer and director Kevin Smith has met with actor Jake Gyllenhaal about taking the title role in Miramax's The Green Hornet, says The Hollywood Reporter.

The trade says the two had a positive chat with the actor about the famed character and with the direction of the potential franchise, Smith is now interested in casting Gyllenhaal as the crime-fighting superhero who also doubles as Daily Sentinel publisher Britt Reid.

Other names may still be in the mix, but Gyllenhaal appears to fit Smith's current conception of the character. Gyllenhaal can next be seen in Roland Emmerich's The Day After Tomorrow, in theaters on May 28.

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Sample Every Song on The Punisher Soundtrack
Source: Superhero Hype!

'PunisherNC' alerted us that you can now sample every song on the new The Punisher soundtrack at this link. The soundtrack will be available here on March 23.

The film is due out on April 16.

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John Woo Wants Jackman for Action Musical
Source: Coming Soon!

The Australian Associated Press reports that director John Woo wants Hugh Jackman to star in his new action-musical about an American gangster with great dance moves.

"I want to do an action-musical," says Woo, who's keen to sign Jackman after he wowed Broadway audiences with his all singing, all dancing portrayal of flamboyant entertainer Peter Allen.

"I have dreamed about doing it for seven years," says Woo, who grew up watching musicals in cinemas in Hong Kong. "It's an American gangster movie and is about a gangster who is also a good dancer. It is not a singing movie, but there is dancing and action."

"We are working on the script and it's almost done," he adds.

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Kline is Inspector Dreyfus in The Pink Panther
Source: Coming Soon!

Kevin Kline is in talks to team up with Steve Martin in The Pink Panther for MGM and director Shawn Levy. Beyonce Knowles and Jean Reno also star in the project which starts shooting this May in New York, followed by Paris.

The new version follows the story of chief Inspector Dreyfus (Kline), who needs an idiot to take over the investigation of the missing legendary "Pink Panther" diamond ring. The person he needs is a fool who will divert public attention that in turn will make him look better when he solves the case himself. He then turns to Inspector Clouseau (Martin).

In the "Pink Panther" films, Inspector Dreyfus was played by Herbert Lom, who originated the role in 1964's A Shot in the Dark.

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Dunst Says Spider-Man 3 to Shoot Early 2005
Source: Superhero Hype!
Spider-Man 2 star Kirsten Dunst told The Calgary Sun that shooting on the third film may happen in early 2005...

"A minimum of three films was always the plan. I've never made any secret of that," says Dunst.

"We'll probably shoot Spider-Man 3 during the first three months of 2005. I'm so grateful to Spider-Man because it gave me an international profile."

Dunst says what she likes about the Spider-Man flicks — where she plays the superhero's love interest — is that "it's a small love story wrapped in a big movie."

As much as she enjoyed making the original film, Dunst is adamant that Spider-Man 2 "is a much better film and I had even more fun making it, so I can hardly wait to begin work on Spider-Man 3."

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SIN CITY begins to get crazy cool
Source: Ain't It Cool News
Hey folks, Harry here... Michael Fleming at Variety.com has broke a story about how Robert Rodriguez, in order to be able to have Frank Miller as his co-director on SIN CITY, resigned from the Director's Guild (DGA) as to not set a potentially damaging precedent which could be abused outside of this particularly unique situation. However, in talking to Michael Fleming he spilled the beans on some of the additional "Holy Shit" cool things about SIN CITY.
#1: He says that Quentin Tarantino will be a "Special Guest Director" on one of the Sin City stories in the film!!!
#2: In addition to the names mentioned in yesterday's story - he mentioned to Fleming that he's been talking with Johnny Depp, Steve Buscemi, Christopher Walken and Michael Douglas!
Add those names to Leonardo DiCaprio, Bruce Willis, Elijah Wood, Mickey Rourke, Brittany Murphy, Kate Bosworth, Jaime King, Josh Hartnett, Marley Shelton, Maria Bello and Benicio Del Toro and you've got a potentially amazing line up, possibly the biggest all star line up for a comic adaptation period.
And that's the latest from SIN CITY...

SIN CITY cast begins to leak...
Hey folks, Harry here... Well - a small part of the cool line up for SIN CITY leaked to Chris Gardner at The Hollywood Reporter! It seems he most likely got a source over a Miramax (as he also broke the Jake Gyllenhaal as Britt Reid aka The Green Hornet) and got some agents to confirm some of it all... But here's who he says is in SIN CITY...
Leonardo DiCaprio
Bruce Willis
Elijah Wood
Mickey Rourke
Brittany Murphy
Kate Bosworth
Jaime King
Not bad eh? Add that to Josh Hartnett and Marley Shelton and you've got a helluva cast. Thing is though... that's not all of em. The details on the above list is this... They are all in talks and most of them are getting close to closing on their deals - but they are not yet DONE DEALS. Two of the biggest names still haven't broke, and I don't want to put the possibility of them getting in the film in question by leaking it quite yet, but... Both of them are immensely awesome. Gardner also mentions the potential of Benicio Del Toro and Maria Bello residing in Basin City - but I don't have the scoop on their involvement right now. In fact, Robert has never mentioned them to me, as of yet...
Ok, so who is playing who?










MARV is being played by Mickey Rourke... he's been doing voice-over work with Robert the past couple of days and Robert has been incredibly jazzed about the way those Miller lines are coming out of Mickey. He will be undergoing a transformation of sorts to end up looking extremely close to what Miller drew as looking like Marv. You'll see.










Who is the goddess GOLDIE, whom Marv worships? Well - if the deal goes through, it would be Jaime King - but that's not finished yet.










Bruce Willis will be playing HARTIGAN, "a ruthlessly honest cop and as a result finds himself up against the entire city." as Frank Miller once said. Really great character!
And as the unforgettable SHELLIE... Brittany Murphy! Those pouty lips of hers were practically drawn into existence by Frank!
Hopefully - the whole cast will get signed and on-board so it can be announced properly - as it does get astonishing... but actually - even more exciting than even all this is a behind the scenes thing going on that isn't quite formalized that's gonna cause assloads of geeks to jizz every which way - I'm just praying that it comes to pass. If not, it'll be one of those - trivia things that almost happened. So far... I'd say Robert and Frank are doing a great job assembling their cast, wouldn't you?

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A look at the new Batmobile? FAKES!