Weekly Entertainment News

[FH]

Tom Hanks Deciphers The Da Vinci Code
Source: ComingSoon!
Tom Hanks has been pegged to play the lead role in Sony's upcoming film The Da Vinci Code, the adaptation of author Dan Brown's best-selling thriller, Newsweek has learned. Director Ron Howard and producer Brian Grazer, the duo who helped make Hanks a star with their 1984 comedy Splash and rehired him 11 years later for Apollo 13, cast Hanks as the globe-trotting scholar Robert Langdon, a decision based partially on the cerebral (riddle-solving, code-cracking) nature of the action in "Da Vinci."

"Tom is an exciting actor to watch thinking," Howard tells the magazine. "We probably don't need his status from a box-office standpoint" -- by now, The Da Vinci Code sells itself -- "but he gives Langdon instant legitimacy."

Howard and Grazer are taking their time casting "Da Vinci," but plan to hire actual foreign actors to play the book's foreign characters. "If there's any book that's supposed to be an international thriller, says Grazer, "this is it." Grazer tells Newsweek that one recent Oscar winner inquired about the role of Parisian cryptologist Sophie Neveu, "and she could easily do it. But I think the audience would be let down a bit. They expect a French girl." As for the role of bullish cop Bezu Fache, Gordon reports that Jean Reno is on Grazer's short list.

Grazer first got wind of The Da Vinci Code early in 2003, when Joel Surnow -- creator of the acclaimed TV series 24 -- thought "Da Vinci" would make a terrific story line for the show's third season. Surnow asked his boss, Grazer, to look into acquiring the rights. But as Brown had no intention of handing over his book to a mere TV show, Grazer says that "it quickly became clear that we had no chance." A few months later Sony paid $6 million for the movie rights -- and hired Grazer as the producer for the biggest film adaptation since "Harry Potter."

The 53-year-old Grazer, who also paired with Howard on the Oscar-winning A Beautiful Mind, has several upcoming projects on his slate, including an animated Curious George film with Will Ferrell and Fun with Dick and Jane starring Jim Carrey. Grazer is also producing a documentary about the notorious skinflick Deep Throat, Gordon reports. Due out in February, it may be the first NC-17 movie released by a major studio in years.

[FH]

John Landis Helming Real Men
Source: ComingSoon!
John Landis (Animal House, The Blues Brothers) will direct an adaptation of Dan O'Dowd's Real Men. The Mount Film Company has optioned the rights.

Real Men is a comedy about an impromptu small-town football game pitting gay against straight that attracts worldwide attention.

Landis most recently directed the documentary Slasher for the IFC Channel. That project profiled a man known as the world's greatest used-car salesman.

Mount is currently in pre-production on the Ernest Hemingway biopic Papa, which will star Nick Nolte.

[FH]

Neil Moritz Remaking The Tingler
Source: ComingSoon!
Producer Neal Moritz (Stealth, XXX: State of the Union) will remake the 1959 horror classic The Tingler for Columbia Pictures, says The Hollywood Reporter. Greg Pace is set to write the feature film.

The original movie starred Vincent Price as a scientist who discovers an organism that grows along a person's spine when that person enters a state of extreme fear. One way to defeat the creature is to scream.

The movie was directed and produced by noted horror master William Castle, who was known as much for his gimmicks as his movies. For The Tingler, Castle wired theater seats so that when a scream occurred during the movie, audiences felt a jolt.

The new version will follow a scientist who, in the search for a medical cure for fear, unleashes the Tingler, an entity that kills its victims with fear.

[FH]

Hitchhiker's Guide Teaser, Poster & Designs
Source: ComingSoon!
Yahoo! Movies has posted the new teaser trailer for Disney's big-screen adaptation of Douglas Adams's best-selling The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy, hitting theaters May 6th. The teaser is slightly different than the clip that was previously shown at the San Diego Comic Con this Summer.

The site also has the new teaser poster and production designs for the movie directed by Garth Jennings and starring Sam Rockwell, Mos Def, Zooey Deschanel, Martin Freeman, Bill Nighy, Anna Chancellor, John Malkovich, Warwick Davis, and Steve Pemberton.

Click on this link to watch the clip and see the images!

[FH]

Polar Express Derailed by Incredibles
Source: E!

Sure, The Polar Express might feature some groundbreaking animation techniques and a heaping helping of Tom Hanks. But, as far as the neighborhood megaplex was cocerned, the 'toon wasn't that incredible.

For the second straight weekend, The Incredibles dominated the box office, with the CGI superheroes sweeping up $51 million, according to preliminary estimates Sunday, bringing its total to a whopping $144 million.
On the flipside, Hanks' cartoon Christmas trip, in which the Oscar winner's digital self plays multiple roles, was practically frozen out. Beset by dramatically mixed reviews, the G-rated Warners' adaptation of Chris Van Allsburg's kiddies book tallied only $23.5 million from Friday through Sunday and has grossed just $30.8 million since its Wednesday debut.

Checking in at third place was New Line's PG-13 After the Sunset. The jewel-heist flick, starring Pierce Brosnan and Salma Hayek, registered a below-the-horizon $11.5 million.

In more limited release, Universal's Bridget Jones: The Edge of Reason, another love go-round with Renée Zellweger, Hugh Grant and Colin Firth, was hot enough to score fourth place with $8.9 million from a per-screen average of $16,792 at just 530 sites--the top average for any film in the top 10.

The week's other major newcomer, Seed of Chucky, yet another stab at that spooky doll tale, was virtually stillborn in the fifth slot. The PG-13 Focus/Rogue Pictures release, starring Jennifer Tilly and a Britney Spears look-alike, earned just $8.7 million.

Meanwhile, it was a good weekend for a couple of art-house entries seeking some Oscar momentum. Fox Searchlight's R-rated biopic Kinsey, starring Liam Neeson as the controversial sex researcher Alfred Kinsey, averaged a pleasurable $35,005 at five sites for a total of $175,026.

And Miramax's PG-rated biopic Finding Neverland, starring Johnny Depp as Peter Pan's quaint creator James M. Barrie and Kate Winslet as the mother of the little boys he adores, averaged $27,557 at eight sites for $220,457.

While the Bridget Jones sequel had the top average among the major players, The Incredibles dropped just 28 percent from its opening weekend and averaged $12,980 at 3,933 theaters.

The Polar Express--which cost upwards of $250 million to make--was railroaded at 3,650 sites, where it managed to do about half The Incredibles business, averaging $6,447.

Still, the distributors insist that the Polar Express was off to a jolly good voyage. "We're very pleased with the five-day result," Dan Fellman, Warners' president of domestic theatrical distribution, told Reuters. "It's a real holiday movie and everyone who sees it loves it."

After the Sunset managed a $4,079 average at 2,819 sites. Seed of Chucky did slightly better, scaring up a$4,258 average at 2,059 sites.

And coming soon to video should be Alfie. The remake starring Jude Law as a inveterate ladies man tumbled 55 percent from its limp opening week, from fifth place to 10th, with just $2.7 million. The Paramount release has grossed $11.1 million in two weeks.

Overall, the top 12 movies tallied $136 million, up about 1 percent over last weekend and 11 percent higher than this time last year, when the romp Elf was stuffing movie theaters.

Here's a recap of the top 10 films, based on studio estimates compiled by Exhibitor Relations; final figures are due Monday:

1. The Incredibles, $51 million
2. The Polar Express, $23.5 million
3. After the Sunset, $11.5 million
4. Bridget Jones: The Edge of Reason, $8.9 million
5. Seed of Chucky, $8.7 million
6. Ray, $8.4 million
7. The Grudge, $7.1 million
8. Saw, $6.4 million
9. Shall We Dance?, $4 million
10. Alfie, $2.7 million

[FH]

ODB R.I.P.
Source: E!
Wild-man hip-hopster and Wu-Tang Clan cofounder ODB, whose sprawling rap sheet long overshadowed his groundbreaking rap credits, died Saturday after collapsing in a New York recording studio.

He would have turned 36 on Monday.

ODB's death was confirmed Sunday by his label, Roc-A-Fella Records. The cause of death was withheld pending an autopsy, but the rapper--whose aliases included Ol' Dirty Bastard, Big Baby Jesus, Dirt McGirt and his given name, Russell Jones--had a sad history of drug abuse. He had been complaining of chest pains before his collapse, a publicist said.

"Russell inspired all of us with his spirit, wit, and tremendous heart," Roc-A-Fella founder Damon Dash said in a statement. "The world has lost a great talent, but we mourn the loss of our friend."

ODB emerged in the 1990s as a key figure in the Wu-Tang collective alongside such other up-and-comers as Method Man, RZA and Ghostface Killah. The nine-man New York-based crew scored with 1997's chart-topping Wu-Tang Forever and was featured in hit videogames like Def Jam: Fight for New York. ODB also forged a solo career, scoring with tracks like "Shimmy Shimmy Ya" and "Got Your Money," and a comical cameo on Mariah Carey on "Fantasy."

But by the end of the '90s, his erratic behavior, fueled by a cocaine habit, derailed his career. In February 1998, he was so steamed after Wu-Tang lost a rapping Grammy to P. Diddy that he he stormed the stage during Shawn Colvin's acceptance and hijacked the microphone in protest.

Things went downhill from there. Later that year, he was shot during an apparent home-invasion robbery, was busted for shoplifting clothes and had warrants issued after skipping out on court dates.

All told he racked up more than a half-dozen arrests over the next three years, on charges ranging from menacing security guards to illegally wearing body armor to threatening an ex-girlfriend to driving with a suspended license to possessing crack cocaine.

In November of 2000, he was collared at a Philadelphia McDonald's days after he dared to show up at a Wu-Tang show while on the lam after skipping out on court-ordered drug treatment.

The outlaw rapper was transferred to Manhattan where was sentenced to two to four years in prison for his litany of misdeeds.

He spent two years in a state penitentiary followed by a brief sojourn in a psychiatric hospital where doctors gauged his mental fitness.

Finally, in May 2003, he was free again and ready to start over. He landed a new record deal with Roc-A-Fella, and, at a press conference with Dash and Carey, announced his latest name change, to Dirt McGirt. He said he was eager to relaunch his career with his first album since 1999's Nigga Please.

"I just want to jump in there like a swimming pool," Jones told reporters, saying he was lining up collaborations with 50 Cent, Jay-Z, old Wu-Tang mate Ghostface Killah and Carey.

A publicist for Roc-A-Fella Records said Sunday that ODB had nearly wrapped the album. There was no immediate word on a whether it would be released posthumously.

In a statement, his mother, Cherry Jones, said she was notified of her son's death by telephone, something she called "every mother's worst dream."

"To the public he was known as Old Dirty Bastard, but to me he was known as Rusty. The kindest most generous soul on earth," she continued. "Russell was more than a rapper, he was a loving father, brother, uncle, and most of all, son."

Aside from his mother, ODB is reportedly survived by more than a dozen children by several women.

[FH]

Another Look at the First Several Minutes of Episode III

[FH]

Blade:Trinity Early Review

[FH]

Guillermo del Toro on Hellboy 2 Characters
Source: SuperheroHype!

Now Playing Magazine talked to Hellboy 2 writer/director Guillermo del Toro who revealed which characters will be showing up in the sequel and when production will get underway. Here's a clip:

"You will get new characters from the B.P.R.D. comics," says del Toro, referring to Hellboy's organization, the Bureau for Paranormal Research and Defense. "You're going to get Johan, the guy with no body, which is a really great character. And we're going to have a little surprise cameo from one of the villains from the first film."

Check out this link for the full interview!

[FH]

New DVD Releases for November 15, 2004
Source: VideoETA


[ QUOTE ]
Al Di Meola: Live at Montreux

Alas Rotas (Spanish)

An All Dogs Christmas Carol / Christmas Carol (Back-To-Back)

An All Dogs Christmas Carol / Christmas Carol (Side-By-Side)

All Grown Up: O Brother

All Grown Up: O Brother (Checkpoint)

Andromeda: Season 4, Volume 4.3

The Andy Griffith Show: The Complete First Season

The Andy Griffith Show: The Complete First Season (Checkpoint)

Animated Christmas Classics (Set)

Aqua Teen Hunger Force: Volume Three (Rental)

Aqua Teen Hunger Force: Volume Three

Aragami Raging God of Battle

Ballet Workout 2

Bar El Chino (Spanish)

Barn Burning

Battle Beyond the Sun / Star Pilot

The Beast (Limited Edition)

Bedtime Stories / Diary of Seduction

Bernice Bobs Her Hair

Berserk: The Complete Series

Bird of Paradise / Most Dangerous Game

Bird People in China (Widescreen)

Black Sun: The Nanking Massacre

Blitzkrieg Pop

Blondie: Live

Blondie: VH1 Behind the Music

Blood Thirsty / Rats are Coming, Werewolves are

Blue Remains (Widescreen)

Bob & Carol & Ted & Alice (Widescreen)

Bone, Thugs N Harmony: Greatest Videos

Bopha! (Checkpoint)

Bopha! (Widescreen)

Brainstorm 3

Buck Rogers In The 25th Century: Complete Series

Buffy The Vampire Slayer: Complete Seventh Season

Captivating Star of Happiness

Care Bears Movie / Second Star to the Right (Side-By-Side)

Care Bears Movie / Second Star to the Right (Back-To-Back)

Charles Mingus: Live at Montreux 1975

The Chevy Chase Collection (Set)

Chitty Chitty Bang Bang / Freezerburnt Christmas (Back-To-Back)

Chitty Chitty Bang Bang / Freezerburnt Christmas (Side-By-Side)

Christmas Fare Set (Set)

The Chronicles Of Riddick (Full Screen)

The Chronicles Of Riddick (Widescreen Director's Cut)

The Chronicles Of Riddick (Widescreen)

Chrono Crusade 2: Holy War

Clive Barker Presents Saint Sinner

Color Of A Brisk And Leaping Day

Colorado Serenade / Black Hills

Control Factor

The Cure: Out of the Woods

Curtis Mayfield: Live in Montreux 1987

Cyberteam in Akihabara Volume 1: Cyber Genesis

Daredevil (Director's Cut)

Dean Martin: The One & Only

Dishonored Lady & Strange Woman

Dokkoida Volume 2: Mega Mania Attack

Don Quixote

The Doors: Soundstage / No One

Double Time Jazz Volume 1

Double Time Jazz Volume 1

Double Time Jazz Volume 2: Kenny Drew Trio

Double Time Jazz Volume 4: Lee Ritenour & Dave

Double Time Jazz Volume 5: Roots / Gadd Gang

Double Time Jazz Volume 6: Rit Special / Steps

Dragon Ball GT: Hero's Legacy - Feature (Uncut)

DVD Assault Volume 1

Earth Wind & Fire: Live at Montreux 1990

Eating

Elf

Eloise At Christmastime

Emerson Lake & Palmer: Live at Montreux 1997

Endangered Species

Family DVD 3-Pack (Set)

Fantasm

Fantasm Comes Again

Farewell to Arms / Meet John Doe

Farscape: Season 1, Volume 1

Fassbinder Collection II (Set)

Faster (Collector's Edition)

Fatty Drives The Bus

The First Snow Of Winter

Foul Play (Checkpoint)

Foul Play (Widescreen)

Frank Sinatra Show with Ella Fitzgerald

Frank Sinatra: The Man & the Myth

Frasier: The Final Season (Checkpoint)

Frasier: The Final Season

Fruit's Basket Gift Set (Uncut)

Gary Moore: Live

Ghosts on the Loose / Spooks Run Wild (Set)

Giselle

He Sees You When You're Sleeping

The Hebrew Hammer (Checkpoint)

The Hebrew Hammer

Hello Kitty: Learn With Love (Spanish)

Henry VIII

Hi-5: Music Magic / Game Time (Back-To-Back)

Hi-5: Music Magic / Game Time (Side-By-Side)

House on Haunted Hill / Last Man on Earth (Set)

Howard Hughes: The Real Aviator

Hunting Drama

I'll Sleep When I'm Dead (Checkpoint)

I'll Sleep When I'm Dead (Widescreen)

Imelda the Movie

It's a Very Merry Muppet Christmas / Good Boy (Side-By-Side)

It's a Very Merry Muppet Christmas / Good Boy (Back-To-Back)

The Jack Nicholson Collection (Set)

Jailhouse Rock / Viva Las Vegas (Set)

Jamie Cullum: Live at Blenheim Palace

Janet Jackson: Velvet Rope (Collector's Edition)

Jimmy Neutron: Attack of the Twonkies (Checkpoint)

Jimmy Neutron: Attack of the Twonkies

Johnny Legend's Deadly Doubles Volume One

Johnny Legend's Deadly Doubles Volume Two

Joyriders

Judo: True Story & Legend

Kangaroo Jack: G'Day U.S.A.!

Karate for Kids (Set)

Kids Favorites Set (Set)

Kids In The Hall: Season 2 (1990-1991)

Knight Hunters Eternity Volume 3: Lost Memories

The Kong Collection (Queen Kong / Kong Island) (Set)

Kurt Cobain: The Early Life of a Legend

Lady In The Box

Le Mans 2004 Review

Leap Frog: Code Word Caper

Leap Frog: Match Circus

Leapfrog Set (Set)

Legong: Dance of the Virgins

The Lost World: Season Three (Set)

Love Beat the Hell Out of Me / Gristle (Long Box)

Love Beat the Hell Out of Me / Gristle (Side-By-Side)

Love Beat the Hell Out of Me / Gristle (Back-To-Back)

The Loveless

Macbeth

The Magic Schoolbus Collection (Set)

Marvin Gaye: Live In Montreux 1980

Meat for Satan's Icebox

Meatloaf: VH1 Storytellers

Miles Davis' Electric Different Kind of Blue

Miss Spider's Sunny Patch Kids / Stellaluna (Back-To-Back)

Miss Spider's Sunny Patch Kids / Stellaluna (Side-By-Side)

Molly & Roni's Dance Party Vol. 1: 1970s Disco

Molly & Roni's Dance Party Volume 2: 1950s Sock

Monstrosity / Grave Robbers

Morrissey: The Jewel in the Crown

National Lampoon's Holiday Reunion

Neon Genesis Evangelion Platinum Volume 3

Nest of the Gentry

No Vacancy

Of Sound & Mind

The Office Special

The Office: Complete Series One & Two and Special

Okayplayer DVD Tour 2004

Otilia Rauda La Mujer Del Pueblo (Spanish)

Pee-wee's Playhouse #1

Pee-wee's Playhouse #2

Phil Hellmuth's Million Dollar Secrets to Bluffing

The Pickle (Widescreen)

Play Blues Piano Overnight (Includes Music CD)

Play Guitar Overnight: Basics (Includes Music CD)

Play Guitar Overnight: Rock (Includes Music CD)

Play Harmonica Overnight

Play Harmonica Overnight (Includes free item)

Play Piano Overnight (Includes Music CD)

Playboy Playmate DVD Calendar Collection: The '90s

Poi Dog Pondering: In Seed Comes Fruit (Includes Music CD)

Postnatal Yoga

Pride & Prejudice

Primus: Hallucinogenetics Live 2004

Quiet Riot: Live in Japan 1989

Ragtime (Checkpoint)

Ragtime (Widescreen)

Real Miracles

Reservoir Dogs (Special Edition)

Richard Pryor: I Ain't Dead Yet, #*%$#@!!

Richard Pryor: I Ain't Dead Yet, #*%$#@!! (Checkpoint)

Riverworld

The Rockets' Red Glare

Rocking Your World

Ronan Tynan: The Impossible Dream

Rooney: Spit & Sweat

The Saddest Music In The World (Widescreen)

Samurai Deeper Kyo Complete Collection (Boxed Set)

Secret of NIMH / Hello Kitty (Side-By-Side)

Secret of NIMH / Hello Kitty (Back-To-Back)

The Shadows: Final Tour

Shane MacGowan

Simple Revenge

Smallville: The Complete Third Season

Smash-Up / Tulsa (Set)

Smithereens

Snoop Dogg: Puff Pass Tour

Space Ghost Coast To Coast: Volume Two (Rental)

Space Ghost Coast To Coast: Volume Two

Spiral Volume 1: Melody of Logic (Uncut)

Spiral: Starter Set (Uncut)

Stage to Mesa City / Hawk of Powder River

Steve Hackett: Once Above a Time Live in Europe

Street Racers: Illegal Street Action (Unrated)

Street Racers: Illegal Street Action

Street Racers: Outlaw Unleashed

Street Racers: Outlaw Unleashed (Unrated)

Sugar (Widescreen Unrated)

Sugar (Widescreen)

Sundance Comedy Collection (Set)

Sundance Film Series Collection (Set)

Tales from the Vineyard: The First Taste

Teenage Cavegirl

Tenchi Muyo GXP Volume 7: Great Daluma (Uncut)

The Thrill Killers

Thunder Town / Driftin River (Set)

Tick Tock: Marcando El Ritmo

Tiger: The Authorized DVD Collection

The Tom & Jerry Collection (Set)

Tommy Igoe: Groove Essentials

Top Gun (Full-screen Collector's Edition)

Top Gun (Widescreen Collector's Edition)

Troma's Edge TV Volume 2

Tumbleweed Trail / Tioga Kid (Set)

Voices of Firestone: Great Sopranos

Voices of Firestone: Great Tenors

Voices of Firestone: Jussi Bjoerling in Opera

Warner Action Collection (Set)

Wedding Peach 7: Scarlet Tears

What Were We Thinking? From Innocence to Decadence

A Wrinkle in Time

The Wubbulous World Of Dr. Seuss: Cat's Fun House

WWE: Rise & Fall Of The ECW

Yes: Live from the House of Blues

You're My Hero

Yu Gi Oh: Awakening the Evil

Yu Gi Oh: Mind Game

Yu-Gi-Oh! The Movie (Widescreen)


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[FH]

Disney Moving Forward with Toy Story 3
Source: ComingSoon!
According to The Hollywood Reporter, Walt Disney Studios is actively moving ahead with its sequel to Pixar Animation's two "Toy Story" movies. The trade says Disney is in the process of setting up a digital animation facility in Glendale that will be used for the production of Toy Story 3.

David Stainton, president of Walt Disney Feature Animation, is developing the sequel, as is Andrew Millstein, who headed the company's now-shuttered animation facility in Orlando and has already begun the process of recruiting animation heavyweights from rival animation studios and effects shops.

Disney chief executive Michael Eisner said in October that Disney was actually working on two new sequels in the "Toy Story" series at the same time. "We're doing two 'Toy Stories' at once," Eisner said.

A spokeswoman for Disney elaborated at that time, saying, "They're working on different story ideas with the hopes there will be a 'Toy Story 3' and another after that."

[FH]

UPDATE: del Toro on Hellboy II Characters!
Source: SuperheroHype!

UPDATE: Guillermo del Toro tells Superhero Hype! that the interview above may have been done a long time ago as neither Agent Myers nor Kroenen will be back. "Neither Myers nor Kroenen are back in any significant way in the sequel, escept in cameo form," says del Toro. "I just wanted to clarify this for the sake of any reader
interested in being 'up to date' on the developments of the film."

[FH]

Aykroyd still keen for Ghostbusters 3
Source: Moviehole
As every Ghosbusters fan knows, a third film is about as likely to happen as Jessica Simpson enrolling in post-grad marketing studies at UCLA. In other words : Not too likely.

Slime-shooting Dan Aykroyd is still keen to do it. He just has a board of suits to convince. And once they learn that Bill Murray would rather have his teeth extracted than do a “Ghostbusters 3”, they’ll turn their attention to the pooping pigeon outside on the studio window still and away from the pitch.

Aykroyd tells Latino Review that Murray isn’t the only one who’s balked at the idea of doing a second sequel. Apparently ‘most of the cast’ have. Harold Ramis, Annie Potts and Ernie Hudson co-starred in the previous films.

A couple of years back, Aykroyd mentioned that he had an idea to bring in a new young cast of “Ghosbtusters” – Will Smith’s name was mentioned at one point, probably after the success of “Independence Day” and “ID4” – and he says that’s still one idea he could consider – if only the rights holders of “Ghostbusters” would let him. At the moment, he says those that would make such a call – and he’s not naming names – won’t let him.

Funnily enough, just three short years ago, Harold Ramis mentioned something similar – and sounded quite keen to do it – in an online interview.

“I think Columbia would love to keep the franchise going with three new ghostbusters..you know.. using us as metors , cameos in the movie... I dunno, and we are developing ...there's a concept for a third script , the studio might do..right now there's a big negotiation ...going on the series..the movie consequently..if the deal can be made the movie can be made, we dunno if the deal can be made.”

This is apparently the storyline of the would-be sequel : Dr's Stantz (Aykroyd), Spengler (Harold Ramis) and Zeddemore (Ernie Hudson) cope with Venkman's (Bill Murray) departure. They recruit a group of young bucks and try to deal with a new wave of spooks, who are being ejected from an overcrowded hell by that looks exactly like Manhattan. Louis (Rick Moranis), Janine (Annie Potts) and Dana (Sigourney Weaver) all have cameos, while Venkman only appears near the end of the film.

It’s a sad state of affairs when Aykroyd can get a “Blues Brothers 2000” made – now that, I would feed to Toranga’s Gators – and not a second sequel to one of the most profitable films of the 80’s.

The fans want it. Columbia. You listening?

[FH]

Ryan Reynolds as The Flash?
Source: Moviehole
So much for all that "Deadpool" talk. According to rumoured headliner, Ryan Reynolds, the movie would just be a bitch to make, so it's more likely to find a home in the development hell closet than the 'go go for launch' sector.

His days of playing comic book characters aren't behind him though. The "Blade : Trinity" star is already talking to David Goyer about strapping on the cerise leathers and zipping around town as "The Flash".

"I know of The Flash, I’m not a faithful reader but I’ve noticed that there’s internet campaigns in such to have me play him, I don’t know why that is. So I would love to find out, there’s clearly something similar about Wally West and myself. I have comic books of The Flash but I don’t know the full ideology of the character. I know a little bit of the Barry Allen stuff and a little bit about Wally West", Reynolds tells Latino Review. "[But] Yeah, that’s just me and David talking at this point there’s nothing actually or official at all."

[FH]

STRYPER BID FAREWELL TO BASSIST TIM GAINS:
Source: Melodicrock
News from the Stryper camp...this in overnight: "After much prayer, deep consideration, conversations, and deliberation, it has been decided, by all four of the original members of Stryper, that bassist Timothy Gaines will not be performing with the band during any upcoming concerts. This was not an easy decision for anyone involved. The four recently convened to discuss this very heartfelt and difficult topic. The departure was an amicable one on behalf of everyone. Timothy Gaines was not asked to leave the band, nor was there a ceremonious resignation. It was simply a decision made by all parties, in an effort to in idually preserve their respective calling, personally and professionally.
Management has requested that the fans respect each member throughout what has been a difficult process. While a decision such as this one can often lend itself to speculation, idle rumors, and public discussions, we instead ask that you respect everyone involved, keep them in your prayers, and refrain from negative exchange, both privately and publicly. A replacement bass player will be named on a show by show basis until further notice.
Former Stryper bassist Tim Gaines has issued a statement explaining in greater detail his decision to leave the group this past August. His statement reads as follows "On August 13th, 2004 21 years to the day that I joined Stryper I have given my resignation. Without going into any great detail, I made the decision to 'retire' from Stryper in April of 2004, after what I felt was a successful end to a reunion tour and final concert in Puerto Rico the previous month. I wish the guys in Stryper all the best. As for the fans, some of you have written and voiced your disappointment, and some have voiced their support. To those who I have disappointed, I am sorry. There is a season for change, and now is my season. I know that the new bass player for Stryper will keep you well entertained. He is a great player and entertainer, and he is spiritually in tune with the Lord. For those of you who have voiced your support, myself and [wife] Irene do appreciate your prayers. Although I cannot personally write everyone back who has emailed me, I do read everything that comes in, and it makes me glad to see so much encouragement."