DAN’S MOVIE DIGEST 64

THE EVIL DEAD 4According to ‘Ain’t-It-Cool-News’, director Sam Raimi has alreadycommitted himself to a third Spider-Man film, but also says he’d love todo a fourth Evil Dead movie! BATMAN 5John Malkovich is rumoured to be the main contender to star in Batman 5as villain Ra’s Al Ghul according to ‘batmanonfilm.com’. BEWITCHEDWill Ferrell has won the role of Darrin in the movie adaptation of thehit US sitcom about a domestic witch. BLADE – TRINITYActress Jessica Biel spoke to ‘Fangoria’ magazine about her role in thethird Blade movie, saying: “My character is Abigail. I don’t think I cangive away exactly who I am in the movie, because it’s a little bit of asecret at the moment.”

“But the story is that Blade [Wesley Snipes] and Whistler [KrisKristofferson] have been dodging the police for a long time. Thevampires set him up and catch Blade on video, and they find out wherehis base is and the cops arrest him.”

BIRTH OF THE PINK PANTHER’CNN’ reports that Steve Martin is the main contender to star asInspector Jacques Clouseau in a prequel to the 1964 Peter Sellersoriginal.

The plot of the new movie has “the inept sleuth assigned to solve themurder of the [French] nation’s soccer team coach while investigatingthe disappearance of the legendary Pink Panther diamond – the nationaltreasure of the Eastern state of Lugash which frequently disappeared inthe earlier Panther pics”.

Ivan Reitman (Ghostbusters) will direct – not Blake Edwards – whilstMartin is expected to make his decision shortly.

THE BOURNE SUPREMACY’The Hollywood Reporter’ indicates that Karl Urban (Eomer in Lord Of TheRings) has been cast as Matt Damon’s enemy in the Bourne sequel. DIE HARD 4’Variety’ reports that ‘Fox’ has hired Mark Bomback (Godsend) to writethe next Die Hard film. THE EXORCIST – THE BEGINNINGAn official ‘Morgan Creek’ source revealed that re-shoots, withoutoriginal director Paul Schrader, begin in Morocco mid-November. FREDDY VS JASON 2Apparently, ‘New Line Cinema’ really are considering adding Evil Deadlead character Ash to a sequel to Freddy Vs Jason!

‘Fangoria’ magazine learned that the idea holds favour with executivesat the studio, who want to get a sequel up-and-running as quickly aspossible.

CONSTANTINEDirector Francis Lawrence has described the recently released images ofKeanu Reeves (see right for image) in the lead role of this dark urban horror movie:“Constantine has a hardboiled detective edge and a punk Sid Viciousattitude; he smokes, he drinks and is sarcastic and wry.”

“He’s not a blond Englishman [as in the comic books] but the heart ofthe character, the attitude and the period he invokes is intact, as thiswas the most important thing for me to maintain.”

THE HYPNOTIST’Variety’ reports Jim Carrey is attached to this romantic comedy about ahypnotist who must learn the hard way to woo a girl. THE MASK OF ZORRO IIDirector Martin Campbell confirmed to ‘LatinoReview’ that he will returnto director the sequel to his 1998 reinvention of Zorro legend, saying:“We’re going to be doing The Mask of Zorro 2. Antonio [Banderas] isalready on board… We’re in talks at the moment to bring Catherine back- we’ll see”. PIRATES OF THE CARIBBEAN 2Director Gore Verbinski (The Ring) has confirmed he’ll return to film asequel to his summer blockbuster. Writers Terry Rossio and Ted Elliottare also set to return. PULP FICTION 2Quentin Tarantino gave an interview to a New Zealand’s newspaper topromote Kill Bill and was asked about the status of The Vega Brothersprequel movie – constantly rumoured amongst fans.

Tarantino said: “That’s something I always planned on doing, but otherprojects took precedence. Ten years on, John Travolta’s getting older,Michael’s getting older. I don’t think they’d even want to do it. Notthat that’s the last hope audiences have of seeing more of Vic orVincent Vega.”

“There’s an idea I have a Pulp Fiction follow-up. Sequels generallysuck, so it’s nothing I want to rush into. But bottom line the studiowants it, the fans want it. I’m sure I can compromise somewhere. It’d bemy way of apologizing for never getting Vega Brothers off the ground Iguess.”

“That way, we could get John, we could get Michael, and we could get Samand Tim… everyone back. It would be interesting to see whateverhappened to Jules and his plans to ‘walk the earth’. Hey, just havingMichael and John in the same frame would be great. They’re great. Butthat said, I got to write such a thing”.

STAR WARS EPISODE IIIAn on-set source has revealed Ian McDiarmid’s make-up aesthetic for thethird Star Wars prequel: “In a makeup test, they had Ian McDiarmidlooking just like the Emperor we know from the Classics, complete withyellow eyes and terrible crevices of deep facial features.”

“In one shot he’s kind of gritting his teeth looking right at thecamera. There are dark rings of red and brown under and around his eyes,and his lips are pursed and cracked. His face doesn’t just lookweathered, it looks plain evil.”

“His black cloak is over his head in this first test shot… Why doesSidious look like this? He always did. Palpatine is hisdisguise/alternate persona he adopted to get himself into politicalpower. He isn’t able to maintain the disguise while using his powers andyou’ll see him flash to his Sidious look earlier in the film until hedoes the official “unveiling”.

SUPERMANDuring a press conference for the Charlie’s Angels Full Throttle DVD,director McG gave an update on the new Superman movie he’s attached to.

“I’m a big fan of Superman, and you know, I’m discussing it with ‘WarnerBrothers’, but it’s still very uncertain. It’s a big project and they’rebeing very cautious, and I’m being very cautious and it’s yet to be seenif it’s in the cards.”

“I think they want to be very respectful of the crown jewel of, youknow, all their franchises. It’s a great character. And I thinkeverybody who would ever be a part of that type of picture wants to getit done properly. So I don’t think they’re in any rush to make thatpicture, and I think their focus is on doing it right.”

And what will be doing next? “Well I mean I’m circling a couplepictures, and I’m very much considering directing live theatre, becauseI want to improve as a director and become a better and betterstoryteller, and I’m thinking about going to London to direct theatre.No matter what I do I promise you that the next project will have avery, very purposeful photographic palette.”

TERMINATOR 4’BotBot’ revealed that there have been talks about the future of theTerminator franchise now star Arnold Schwarzenegger has become Governorof California.

Apparently, Arnold has already said he’d be willing to do a cameo inTerminator 4, but not a starring role. He has already suggested that WWEwrestler The Rock (a.k.a. Dwayne Johnson) assume the lead Terminatorrole.

TUTDirector Roland Emmerich (Independence Day) and producer Mark Gordon,who are currently working together on The Day After Tomorrow, will joinforced again to make Tut for ‘Columbia Pictures’.

The movie is an action-adventure/love story about the young pharaohTutankhamen and his attempt to reclaim his throne and save his countryafter the death of his father.

Screenwriters Sean O’Keefe and Will Staples will write the screenplay.

Big Fish

Director Tim Burton returns to oddball fantasy land with Big Fish,starting Albert Finney and Ewan MacGregor.

All figures are weekend box-office gross.

• 1. Kill Bill: Vol.1 ($22.0m)
• 2. School of Rock ($15.4m)
• 3. Good Boy ($13.1m)
• 4. Intolerable Cruelty ($12.5m)
• 5. Out of Time ($8.5m)
• 6. House of the Dead ($5.6m)
• 7. The Rundown ($5.2m)
• 8. Under the Tuscan Sun ($4.9m)
• 9. Secondhand Lions ($3.2m)
• 10. Lost in Translation ($2.8m)

UK TOP 10 (CINEMA)

• 1. Finding Nemo (£7.38m)
• 2. Bad Boys II (£1.48m)
• 3. Cabin Fever (£1.05m)
• 4. Calendar Girls (£0.97m)
• 5. The Italian Job (2003) (£0.56m)
• 6. Down With Love (£0.43m)
• 7. Pirates of the Caribbean: The Curse of the Black Pearl (£0.35m)
• 8. Once Upon a Time in Mexico (£0.25m)
• 9. Bright Young Things (£0.17m)
• 10. Kill Bill: Vol.1 (London only) (£0.16m)

Note that these are UK release dates.