DAN’S MOVIE DIGEST 50

BATMAN 5Director Christopher Nolan is still attached, as is screenwriter DavidGoyer (Blade II). The latest candidate for the role of Bruce Wayne isDemi Moore’s toyboy Ashton Kutchner (right) (Dude, Where’s My Car?), despiteNolan preferring Guy Pearce (Memento). It appears Nolan has until lateAugust to find his lead actor, which insiders predict will be a relativeunknown (similar to Sam Raimi’s decision to cast Tobey Maguire forSpider-Man).

Interestingly, Michael Gough looks likely to reprise his role as Alfred- meaning he will have starred in every Batman movie since 1989.

BROTHERS GRIMM’Screen Daily’ reports that Terry Gilliam’s $75 million fantasy comedyhas begun its 17-week shoot in Prague. Czech towns and castles such asKrivoklat, Kacina, Kutna Hora and Ledec will double for 19th CenturyGermany.

Matt Damon, Heath Ledger and Jonathan Pryce lead the impressive cast butboth Robin Williams and Nicole Kidman had to drop out of appearing.

THE CHRONICLES OF RIDDICK’Universal Pictures’ has announced the start of principal photography onthe science fiction action-adventure epic The Chronicles of Riddick,starring Vin Diesel and co-starring Colm Feore, Alexa Davalos, KarlUrban, Linus Roache, Thandie Newton and Dame Judi Dench.

The film has been written and directed by David Twohy (Pitch Black) withVin Diesel reprising his Pitch Black role of enigmatic anti-hero RichardB. Riddick.

In the new movie, Riddick has spent the last five years on the moveamong the forgotten worlds on the outskirts of the galaxy, eludingmercenaries bent on collecting the price on his head. Now, the fugitivefinds himself on planet Helion, home to a progressive multiculturalsociety, which has been invaded by the Lord Marshal (Feore), a zealotwho targets humans for subjugation with his army of warriors known asNecromongers.

Exiled to a subterranean prison where extremes of temperature range fromarctic nights to volcanic days, Riddick encounters Kyra (Davalos), thelone survivor from an earlier chapter in his life. His efforts to freehimself and Kyra lead him to the Necromonger command ship, where he ispitted against the Lord Marshal in an apocalyptic battle with possiblythe fate of all beings-both living and dead-hanging in the balance.

FANTASTIC FOUR’Coming Attractions’ reports that the production company working on 20thCentury Fox’s Fantastic Four is scouting locations in Canada, focusingon either Toronto or Vancouver. INDIANA JONES 4Strangely, ‘Empire’ magazine have a supposed quote from Sean Connerysaying: “Steven Spielberg has passed on directing the next Indiana Jonesmovie”.

So is Connery correct, or deluded? It does seem strange that aftermonths of Spielberg hyping the project and Frank Darabont’s screenplaythat he’s simply walk off the production…

LEAGUE OF EXTRAORDINARY GENTLEMEN IIScreenwriter Shane West spoke to ‘Starlog’ magazine about thepossibility of a sequel to The League Of Extraordinary Gentlemen. West:“If this is a franchise – how can I say this without giving everythingaway? – I think there might be different characters created.”

“We could try the whole Martian War Of The Worlds thing in the sequel[The storyline for the second comic-book series]. I know they’vementioned that as a possibility. And we may shoot in Australia nexttime. But that’s about all I know”.

TEAM AMERICASouth Park creators Matt Stone and Trey Parker are set to make an adultpuppet show similar to Thunderbirds called Team America.

The duo told ‘Variety’ that their “cast will be deliberately made ofwood, but that will only be taking to the extreme what is evident inmany Hollywood movies right now. I hate all these new Hollywood filmsthat are CGI-driven. Trey and I loved that Thunderbirds series becauseof the artistry of the marionettes. It’s amazing that a studio wouldmake a movie out of it and take out the only thing that was good aboutthe series.”

RESIDENT EVIL 2Emily Bergl (Carrie 2: The Rage, right) is tipped to play Claire Redfield inthe sequel, with filming scheduled for a mid-August. RUSH HOUR 3Chris Tucker is in talks to reprise his role as Detective James Carterin Rush Hour 3. Interestingly, this is the only film role the actor hasplayed since the first Rush Hour movie was released in 1998!

Brett Ratner is set to direct the third instalment, but there’s still noword on when co-star Jackie Chan will start his negotiations. Rush Hour3’s script has been written by Jeff Eastin, Ross LaManna and JasonRichman.

SHREK 2Jeffrey Katzenberg has been talking about the storyline to Shrek 2:“[It’s] about coming to terms with the fact that everything thathappened in the first Shrek was a gigantic mistake. Shrek was not meantto rescue Fiona. Her true love was meant to be Prince Charming. Therewas a whole plan of what was going to happen to Fiona, her future andher kingdom, and Shrek has made a fine mess of all of it.”

“It begins with an invitation from Fiona’s mom and dad, who, you recall,locked her away in a castle to await Prince Charming’s kiss”.

Amazingly, Mike Myers, Eddie Murphy and Cameron Diaz will each begetting a massive $10 million each to record their 15-20 hours ofvoice-over work, plus an extra £20 million each if the film is asuccess!

STAR WARS EPISODE IIIThe ‘Star Wars Insider #69’ magazine revealed some details about EpisodeIII, confirming the following: “Anakin Skywalker won’t have a beard inEpisode III. Yoda’s homeworld or species will not be revealed. Norematch between Yoda and Dooku though both will have their own fights.Temuera Morrison won’t be seen as a clone trooper. No extra shots ofNatalie Portman will be put in the classic trilogy.” TIME COP 2’JAM Movies’ spoke with Jason Scott Lee (Dragon: The Bruce Lee Story)about his starring role in Timecop 2 – the sequel to the Jean-Claude VanDamme hit. Lee insisted that “there was no pressure whatsoever” aboutstepping into Van Damme’s shoes. “It’s not like I studied martial artsfrom the time I was a child — which I think he did. I was a surfer. Ionly learned martial arts to play Bruce Lee in Dragon.” TRUE LIES 2James Cameron isn’t so eager to film a sequel to True Lies in apost-9/11 world, and Arnold Schwarzenegger has revealed thescreenwriting issues behind the movie, saying: “The script is written,but as you know, after 9/11 happened, [Jim] Cameron was worried becausethere’s an airplane scene – a terrific airplane scene – that didn’t haveanything to do with the terrorism that we had in 9/11, but it was agreat fight scene inside the plane while the plane goes down and thiskind of thing. It was a very important moment in the movie, and he feltlike he can’t do that and therefore has to rewrite it… these thingstake a long time.”

• 1. Charlie’s Angels 2: Full Throttle ($37.6m)
• 2. The Hulk ($18.8m)
• 3. Finding Nemo ($13.9m)
• 4. 28 Days Later ($10.0m)
• 5. 2 Fast 2 Furious ($6.2m)
• 6. Bruce Almighty ($6.1m)
• 7. The Italian Job (2003) ($5.4m)
• 8. Rugrats Go Wild! ($3.6m)
• 9. Hollywood Homicide ($3.0m)
• 10. Alex and Emma ($2.6m)

UK TOP 10 (CINEMA)

The latest figures were not available at the time this issue went online.

• 1. Bruce Almighty (£7.26m)
• 2. 2 Fast 2 Furious (£1.13m)
• 3. The Matrix Reloaded (£0..41m)
• 4. Wrong Turn (£0.37m)
• 5. Identity (£0.31m)
• 6. Anger Management (£0.24m)
• 7. Nicholas Nickleby (£0.22m)
• 8. Main Prem Ki Deewani Hoon (£0.15m)
• 9. Dumb and Dumberer: When Harry Met Lloyd (£0.11m)
• 10. Basic (£0.09m)

Katharine Hepburn (1907 – 2003)

Katharine Hepburn, winner of four Academy Awards, died on the 29 June ather home. She was 96. Hepburn had been in declining health in recentyears, died of old age while surrounded by her family.

During her 60-year career, she earned 12 Oscar nominations, which stoodas a record until Meryl Streep surpassed her nomination total in 2003.She won the Academy Award for Morning Glory, 1933; Guess Who’s Coming toDinner, 1967; A Lion in Winter, 1968; and On Golden Pond, 1981.

Note that these are US release dates.