DAN’S MOVIE DIGEST 173

“We start ‘Fantastic Four 2’ in August,” said Alba. “The four of us learnthat there are other people out there with superpowers, and the SilverSurfer appears as a villain/hero. And another villain comes in as well. Mycharacter, Susan Storm, has another love triangle and may use a power peoplehaven’t seen before. She’s the most powerful of the four.”

HALLOWEEN – REMAKEDirector Rob Zombie (The Devil’s Rejects) is in talks to helm the remake ofJohn Carpenter’s seminal horror masterpiece Halloween – the first movie tofeature serial-killer Michael Myers, in a tale that originally starred JamieLee Curtis and Donald Pleasance. SAW IIIThe third Saw movie is due for release on 27 October, just in time forHalloween yet again, and ‘Lionsgate’ have released details of the plot. InSaw III Jigsaw and his apprentice Amanda have disappearede, leaving citydetectives scrambling to locate him. Meanwhile, Doctor Lynn Denlon (BaharSoomekh) is unaware that she is about to become the latest pawn on hisvicious chessboard. One night, after finishing a shift at her hospital, Lynnis kidnapped and taken to an abandoned warehouse where she meets Jigsaw,bedridden and on the verge of death.

She is told that she must keep themadman alive for as long as it takes Jeff (Angus Macfayden), another of hisvictims, to complete a game of his own. Racing against the ticking clock ofJigsaw’s own heartbeat, Lynn and Jeff struggle to make it through each oftheir vicious tests, unaware that he has a much bigger plan for both ofthem…

Saw III will again stars Shawnee Smith (Amanda) and Tobin Bell (Jigsaw). Thefilm is being directed by Darren Lynn Bousman (Saw II), from a story byfranchise originators Leigh Whannell and James Wan, with the screenplaypenned by Whannell.

WOLVERINE’USA Today’ published an update on the various X-Men spin-off movies in theworks. The first spinoff will be Hugh Jackman’s Wolverine. His character hasan as-yet-unrevealed back story in which researchers replaced his originalbones with a metal skeleton. Jackman has signed on to star and co-produce,and X-Men producer Lauren Shuler Donner says it will likely head intoproduction next year.

Hutch Parker, production president of ‘Fox’ said: “We’ve also talked aboutdoing something on the kids in (Professor X’s) school, focusing on theirlives, and less of a global adventure for the team.”

The studio is also exploring a movie with director David O. Russell (ThreeKings) based on the character of Emma Frost, a sexy mutant telepath who cantransform her skin into diamonds. She is an X-Men comics regular but has notfeatured in the movies.

Another likely solo project is Magneto, which is currently in the scriptphase. The film will focus on his youthful pre-villain days, although IanMcKellen’s could be involved for present day scenes used to anchor themovie’s flashbacks.

All figures are weekend box-office gross.

• 1. The Break-Up ($39.2m)
• 2. X-Men 3: The Last Stand ($34m) (total to date: $175m)
• 3. Over the Hedge ($20.6m) (total to date: $112m)
• 4. The Da Vinci Code ($18.6m) (total to date: $172m)
• 5. Mission: Impossible 3 ($4.68m) (total to date: $123m)
• 6. Poseidon ($3.49m)
• 8. See No Evil ($2.04m)
• 9. An Inconvenient Truth ($1.36m)
• 10. Just My Luck ($0.85m)

UK TOP 10 (CINEMA)

IMDB got all the figures screwed up this week, hence none listed.

• 1. X-Men 3: The Last Stand (£n/a m)
• 2. The Da Vinci Code
• 3. Over The Hedge
• 4. Mission: Impossible 3
• 5. Poseidon
• 6. RV
• 7. See No Evil
• 8. Just My Luck
• 9. United 93
• 10. Ice Age 2: The Meltdown

All the following are U.K. release dates, and are subject to change.

• 9th June 2006: Offside, Election (2005), Pusher 3, RV
• 16th June 2006: Hard Candy, Imagine Me & You, Thank You For Smoking, The Fast and the Furious 3: Tokyo Drift
• 23rd June 2006: Ultraviolent, The Lake House, Half Light, The Empty Building, Fearless (2006), The Wind That Shakes The BarleyPretty Persuasion
• 30th June 2006: Reeker, Over the Hedge, Little Manhattan, Forty Shades of Blue,
• 7th July 2006: Ju-on: The Grudge 2, Awesome: I Fuckin’ Shot That!
• 14th July 2006: Superman Returns, Viva Zapatero, The Death of Mr Lazarescu
• 21st July 2006: 13th District, Little Fish, The Break-Up, 11:14, Garfield: A Tale of Two Kitties
• 28th July 2006: Little Man, The Science of Sleep, Adrift, Cars

Page Content copyright © Dan Owen, 2006.