Archive for October, 2006

Jackie Chan & Jet Li Movie Moving Forward

Oct 31st, 2006 Posted in movies, press, sci-fi | Comments Off

Source: Variety

Jackie Chan and Jet Li will star together for the first time in a $70 million action-adventure that Relativity Media will finance and Casey Silver produces, reports Variety.

Robert Minkoff (The Lion King, Stuart Little) will direct, while martial arts expert Yuen Woo-Ping (The Master) will create the action sequences. Shooting is set for April.

The trade says that the film is one of two new big-budget projects that Relativity will be offering to buyers at the American Film Market starting Wednesday. The second is Brian De Palma’s $70 million prequel The Untouchables: Capone Rising, which Paramount will distribute domestically.

Chan-Li starrer, known as the untitled J&J project, has been rumored for some time, but Relativity, headed by Ryan Kavanaugh, boarded only recently. The John Fusco (Hidalgo) script is based on the legend of the monkey king and his quest to achieve immortality.

Li is set to play two roles, that of the monkey king and the silent monk. Chan will play the monk T’sa-Ho.

The Untouchables prequel is set to start shooting in June. Writing duo Brian Koppelman and David Levien penned the script for for the film, which charts Chicago mob boss Al Capone’s rise to power and his relationship with police detective and nemesis Jimmy Malone.

Halo Movie Officially Halted

Oct 31st, 2006 Posted in games, movies, press, sci-fi | Comments Off

Source: WingNut Films

After Universal Pictures and 20th Century Fox backed out of co-financing the Halo movie, it was reported that prep work would continue at Jackson’s Weta studios in New Zealand. But now, Jackson and Microsoft’s WingNut Films has released the following statement saying that production has halted:

As was previously confirmed, we deeply regret that both Universal and Fox did not choose to move forward with financing the Halo film under the original terms of the agreement. At this time Peter Jackson and Fran Walsh, along with their partner, Microsoft, have mutually agreed to postpone making a feature film based on the Halo video game universe until we can fulfill the promise we made to millions of Halo fans throughout the world that we would settle for no less than bringing a first class film to the big screen. We are fully supportive of Director Neill Blomkamp’s vision of the film. Neill is a tremendously gifted filmmaker and his preliminary work on Halo is truly awe-inspiring. While it will undoubtedly take a little longer for Halo to reach the big screen, we are confident that the final feature film will be well worth the wait.

The script, originally written by Alex Garland and rewritten by D.B. Weiss, was to have gotten another rewrite by A History of Violence scribe Josh Olson. The movie was previously targeted for a summer 2008 release.

19-inch Wide Hanns-G LCD, $160 Out-the-door

Oct 31st, 2006 Posted in nerd culture, press, technology, toys | Comments Off

This is one hell of a deal from Office Depot. They are offering the Hanns-G GW191D 19-inch widescreen LCD monitor for $160 out-the-door. No rebates, no BS, just the LCD for cheap.

The GW191D has a 1440 x 900 native resolution, 5ms response time, 300 cd/m2 brightness, 700:1 contrast ratio, DVI inputs, integrated speakers and a three-year warranty. The product webpage says that the monitor is currently on “Low Availability,” so it may be hit or miss, depends on where you live. If there is no luck online be sure and check the actual store to see if they have any in stock. This is too good of a deal to pass up

Product page

iPod Shuffle v2.0 Finally Shipping

Oct 31st, 2006 Posted in music, nerd culture, press, technology, toys | Comments Off

Remember that super-small iPod Shuffle v2.0 from the Showtime event well over a month ago? The good news is that this player is finally shipping. Way too long after it was announced, in my opinion. Nevertheless, it is still a nifty little MP3 player, and it is made by Apple, so we can’t hate on it for too long. Go pick it up from an Apple Store or order it online—just in time for the holidays.

Product Page

More FF 2 Wedding Photos Leak Out

Oct 31st, 2006 Posted in comics, movies, press, sci-fi | Comments Off

See Ben Grimm give his speech from the pulpit.

More photos from the location of Fantastic Four 2: Rise of the Silver Surfer have hit the Web, once again revealing shots from the wedding of Reed and Sue.

You can once again see lovely Jessica Alba walk down the aisle as Sue Storm, the Invisible Woman with Chris Evans as her brother Johnny Storm, the Human Torch.

Happy Halloween!

Oct 31st, 2006 Posted in humor, personal, press | Comments Off

Just wanted to say Happy Halloween everyone! Have a great day!

U2 Planning a 3-D Concert Film

Oct 31st, 2006 Posted in movies, music, press | Comments Off

Source: The Hollywood Reporter

U2 is planning to release its first 3-D concert film next year, says The Hollywood Reporter.

The untitled feature is being directed by Catherine Owens and Mark Pellington. In conjunction with the film’s anticipated mid- to late-2007 debut, U2 also might take part in the first live 3-D performance projected in theaters nationwide.

For the film, Owens and Pellington shot more than 700 hours of footage with the band in seven South American cities during February and March. Trekking across Argentina, Mexico, Chile and Brazil, the film’s 3-D director of photography Peter Anderson (“T2 3-D: Battle Across Time”) used nine pairs of Sony Cinealta 950 cameras to capture the band with swooping camera angles and kaleidoscopic imagery. The director of cinematography for the film’s 2-D footage is Tom Krueger.

3ality Digital Entertainment, the project’s producer, put together of the largest assemblages of 3-D camera technology ever used for a single project.

It is expected that the film will screen nationwide using the Real D technology in place by theaters screening the digital 3-D release of Tim Burton’s The Nightmare Before Christmas in Disney Digital 3-D.

Premium Wii to Ship Japan?

Oct 31st, 2006 Posted in games, nerd culture, press, technology, toys | Comments Off

We’re eagerly waiting for the day the Wii hits store shelves, but till then, we have to satisfy our craving with news like this. The UK’s EDGE magazine has lifted the curtain on Nintendo’s plans to release a premium Wii with DVD movie playback. The Premium Wii will only be available in Japan and it won’t be of the Blu-ray or HD DVD variety, but having the ability to play regular DVDs on the Wii is an add-on we wouldn’t mind having.

Sorry God: MP3 Player for the Holy

Oct 30th, 2006 Posted in music, nerd culture, press, technology, weird news | Comments Off

Source: Manworkdesign

The Saint B is an MP3 player concept out of Russia. The unit hangs around your neck where OLED beauty glistens through a flexible black plastic cover. The player charges/syncs via USB. But what we like most about the Saint B is the sinful bang for your buck:

Sin 1: Bastardization/misuse of the cross
Sin 2: Cross is jet black (the color of sin, along with red and hot pink)
Sin 3: The Mariah Carey album you still listen to on it

Plus, the Saint B is completely protected from those pesky vampire muggers who like the iPod so much.

Singer’s Superman Sequel Deal Confirmed

Oct 30th, 2006 Posted in comics, movies, press, sci-fi | Comments Off

Source: Variety

Variety has confirmed that Bryan Singer has signed a deal with Warner Bros. Pictures to direct and produce a sequel to Superman Returns, with Legendary Pictures expected to co-finance.

The film is tentatively intended for release in summer 2009, although the studio stressed that there’s not even a script or budget yet.

The sequel is apparently at the very beginning of the development process and, as with any other project, there are any number of factors that must be addressed before it is greenlit.

While Superman Returns wasn’t the performer the studio had hoped for, it has earned more than $390 million worldwide and WB and Legendary say they will still turn a profit from the film.

The two companies are sure to insist that the sequel’s production budget comes in under $200 million, adds the trade.

In terms of casting, Warner Bros. has an option on Superman Returns star Brandon Routh.