Coventry Telegraph - The Geek Files

Brandon Routh out of Superman film franchise

Mon, 06 Jul 2009 00:01:48 +0000

BRANDON ROUTH, who played the lead role in Bryan Singer's 2006 film Superman Returns, has admitted that his contract to reprise the role in a follow-up has now expired.

It's yet another piece of kryptonite in the coffin of Singer's proposed sequel, which had been provisionally called Man of Steel.

For some time, Singer's involvement with another Superman movie has been unlikely although Routh remained the studio's favoured choice for the role in any future film.

300 star Gerard Butler could return for sequel

Sun, 05 Jul 2009 15:31:55 +0000

GERARD BUTLER could be brought back to star in the sequel to Spartan war epic 300, in which his character King Leonidas died.

That's what producer Mark Canton seems to be hinting in the latest update on the project.

Twilight producers reveal spin-off possibilities

Sun, 05 Jul 2009 02:00:21 +0000

ALL FOUR of Stephenie Meyer's vampire romance novels in the Twilight series have been immensely popular and the film adaptations, starring Robert Pattinson, Kristen Stewart and Taylor Lautner, are generating phenomenal interest too.

Following the box office success of Twilight, the second film, New Moon, comes out in November. Filming on Eclipse begins on August 17 and production on Breaking Dawn is set to start straight after that.

The only limitation on the franchise is the amount of material available. All that's left is the unfinished fifth novel, Midnight Sun.

As I reported earlier, Meyer stopped working on it when it was leaked online though she says she may return to it in a couple of years.

So what could come next? One answer could be extending the life of the series through spin-offs.

Exclusive: Torchwood actor on epic new story and possible Season 4

Sat, 04 Jul 2009 13:11:10 +0000

KAI OWEN has promised epic excitement is in store for viewers of next week's Torchwood miniseries.

The actor, who plays Rhys Williams in the Doctor Who spin-off, is a key part of Torchwood: Children of Earth, the third season of the show. It's a single story told over five nights starting on Monday.

He told us: "It's a tale of Torchwood on the run, the government want Torchwood wiped out as part of a cover-up over an alien visit.

"As husband of lead girl Gwen Cooper (played by Eve Myles, pictured here with Kai) I'm right in the thick of it all. They want Gwen dead and me dead as well."

Robin Hood axed: An arrow into the heart of Saturday night TV

Fri, 03 Jul 2009 19:50:26 +0000

ROBIN HOOD came to a sticky end on the BBC last weekend, succumbing to a poison-tipped dagger.

But he may as well have been beaten to death with a tennis racquet.

The finale of the third season had been shunted from BBC1 to BBC2 to make way for Andy Murray's overrunning game at Wimbledon.

As a result, the drama went out with a whimper, attracting just 2.2million viewers, an all-time low for the programme.

The BBC today confirmed it will not commission a fourth season of the show, which starred Jonas Armstrong as the legendary outlaw.

Transformers vs Megan Fox: The franchise starts to rust

Fri, 03 Jul 2009 16:58:38 +0000

THE new Transformers movie contains more metal than many a junkyard - and most critics have been left wishing that's where the franchise ends up.

For the press reviewers, the movie was a mind-numbing mayhem of metal machines and wooden actors, with the humans just as robotic as any of the CGI creations clanking across the screen.

Much of the critics' withering abuse was levelled at Hollywood hottie Megan Fox.

She has claimed that director Michael Bay failed to make full use of her acting skills - and he has hit back by saying she is being ridiculous.

A third movie is planned but with Bay also saying he needs a break, is the rust starting to appear on the Transformers franchise?

Director and story revealed for Predators revamp

Thu, 02 Jul 2009 23:06:44 +0000

PRODUCER Robert Rodriguez today confirmed he has hired Vacancy director Nimrod Antal to take the reins on the new film in the Predator series.

Rodriguez told Ain't It Cool News that the 20th Century Fox project, entitled Predators, would be a reinvention of the franchise using as its basis a draft script he had written in 1994. He will make the film at his Troublemaker Studios in Texas.

Antal (pictured), an American filmmaker of Hungarian descent, directed the award-winning 2003 film Kontroll, a Hungarian comedy thriller set on Budapest's Metro (underground rail system).

His first US production was the 2007 horror thriller Vacancy starring Luke Wilson and Kate Beckinsale, and he has also directed the crime thriller Armored due out in September.

Clifton Collins Jr 'not involved in Thor movie'

Thu, 02 Jul 2009 10:34:51 +0000

STAR TREK actor Clifton Collins Jr has revealed that he has NOT been cast in the upcoming Thor movie following confirmed meetings with director Kenneth Branagh.

Collins, 38, who appeared in Capote, Crank: High Voltage and most recently as the Romulan second-in-command Ayel in the new Star Trek movie, had said in May, via his Twitter page, that he was studying for a possible role in the movie.

Simon Pegg: Star Trek sequel will be out in 18 months

Thu, 02 Jul 2009 00:26:28 +0000

BRITISH actor Simon Pegg, who plays engineer Montgomery 'Scotty' Scott in the new Star Trek movie, says the sequel will be out in 18 months.

Speaking to Zoo magazine, he said: "I know the writers are busy thinking about it. I don't really know anything about the story, or if I'm in a bigger role, but I'd imagine we'll be back this time next year.

Jessica Biel reportedly in talks for role in Thor

Thu, 02 Jul 2009 00:04:16 +0000

JESSICA BIEL is in talks to play the love interest in Kenneth Branagh's Thor movie, it's being claimed.

Biel, 27, whose film credits include co-starring with Edward Norton in 2006's The Illusionist, is to play a female character who is also in the Hulk vs Thor DVD movie, according to NukeTheFridge.

Doctor Who movie to be announced at Comic-Con?

Wed, 01 Jul 2009 19:07:54 +0000

SPECULATION is continuing to materialise, in true TARDIS style, that a new Doctor Who movie starring David Tennant is soon to be announced.

Many fans are expecting the news to come at this month's San Diego Comic-Con.

David Tennant and Doctor Who lead writer and executive producer Russell T Davies will be at the massive sci-fi convention on July 26, along with executive producer Julie Gardner and director Euros Lyn.

The Star Trek scenes that never made the movie

Wed, 01 Jul 2009 14:33:31 +0000

THE new Star Trek has certainly set its phasers to stun at the box office, so far pulling in $371million worldwide and winning critical acclaim as one of the best-ever revamps of a franchise.

On the official review compilation site Rotten Tomatoes, the prequel has earned an exceptional rating of 95 per cent, one per cent higher than that of Batman blockbuster The Dark Knight.

Directed by Lost creator J.J. Abrams and written by Roberto Orci and Alex Kurtzman (who, ironically, also penned the successful but critically-savaged Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen), it has reignited the series and a sequel is already being developed.

But the film we saw on screen was not always intended to be that way.

As with any movie, earlier drafts of the script included different ideas, variations of scenes and material that ended up being omitted from the released version.

A draft version of the screenplay has now leaked out with many different ideas in it that never made the final cut. If you have not seen the movie, please be aware that what follows does contain spoilers. Don't say you weren't warned.

The Last Airbender: Six-year trilogy plan is unveiled

Wed, 01 Jul 2009 12:42:19 +0000

IT'S BEEN revealed that director M. Night Shyamalan is already working on the follow-up to next year's The Last Airbender, a live-action adaptation of the animated fantasy series.

The first film, starring 12-year-old Noah Ringer as lead character Aang and Slumdog Millionaire's Dev Patel as evil Prince Zuko, will hit screens on July 2, 2010.

In a world divided into four nations (Earth, Air, Fire and Water), Aang is the only person able to master all four elements and, with the help of two friends, he tries to stop Zuko and the Fire Nation's plan to enslave all the other elemental tribes.

Producer Frank Marshall has now spoken about how they are moving quickly to put together a trilogy.

Bill Nighy joins cast of Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows

Wed, 01 Jul 2009 11:44:21 +0000

BILL NIGHY is no stranger to fantasy adventure movies, having played the elder vampire Viktor in the Underworld series and The Flying Dutchman's tentacle-faced captain Davy Jones in the last two Pirates of the Caribbean films.

He now tells The Independent he has joined the cast of Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows, the two-part film adaptation of the final book in J.K. Rowling's series.

The 59-year-old actor told the newspaper: "I don't think I'm allowed to say it but I'm going to be in the next Harry Potter film. I won't say which character, but he's a goodie. I just got the gig."

New face for an old demon in Supernatural

Tue, 30 Jun 2009 22:19:26 +0000

Report by Morag Cuddeford-Jones

AS WE reported at the weekend, Supernatural Season Five is seeing some old names return to haunt the Winchester brothers.

In the latest revelation, Erik Kripke, creator of The CW's demon-slaying show, has confirmed to TV Guide magazine that he will bring back the demon Meg that gave the Winchesters and their father so much trouble in Season One.

However the 'meat' - as the bodies demons inhabit are so charmingly referred to - worn by Meg is due to change because its previous incarnation, Nicki Aycox, is busy on TNT drama Dark Blue.

Producers have instead cast Rachel Miner (pictured) who starred on US daytime soap Guiding Light and was briefly married to Home Alone child star Macaulay Culkin. She has also been in the TV series Californication and in 2006 murder thriller The Black Dahlia.

Filming on the new season is due to begin in at the end of this week and producers are expected to reveal some of the first footage during the Supernatural panel at Comic Con in San Diego at the end of this month.