Movies

Sony eyes David O. Russell for Uncharted movie

Before Nathan Drake can find any treasure, someone has to direct him to it. According to the LA Times, Sony is scouting Three Kings and I Heart Huckabees director David O. Russell for its planned adaptation of its hit Playstation video game, Uncharted: Drake’s Fortune. Sony brought in the writers of next year’s reboot of Conan, Thomas Dean Donnelly and Joshua Oppenheimer, to draft the script last fall and they like what they’ve read and are ready to move forward. Russell tops the shortlist for bringing it all to life, something that would likely be ready for a late 2011 or summer 2012 release if initial talks with Russell go well. Sony has already placed Kevin James comedy The Zookeeper in a summer 2011 spot, so greenlighting doesn’t seem likely.

“Kick-Ass 2” planned for 2012

A Kick-Ass sequel, reportedly titled Kick-Ass 2: Balls to the Wall will reportedly begin production next year and be in cinemas in 2012, that’s the word from comic-book scribe Mark Millar. Millar is already writing a sequel to his hit graphic novel creation. The first few pages will be published his new comic-book magazine CLiNT in September in the United Kingdom.

Matthew Vaughn to head X-Men: First Class, June 2011

The X-Men film series still seems to have some appeal to Matthew Vaughn, the director of Layer Cake and Kick-Ass, who is directing X-Men: First Class for 20th Century Fox. This is happening despite reports last week that stated he would not do the project. The film has also been fast-tracked for a June 3, 2011 release date, which will put it in a bit of competition with Warner Bros.’ The Green Lantern, which comes out two weeks later.

X-Men First Class has had a turbulent production, with Josh Schwartz (The O.C.) writing the screenplay but missing out on the directing duties. Bryan Singer (X-Men, X2: X-Men United) was attached to direct and brought in Jamie Moss (Street Kings) to re-write the script. Singer has stepped down as the director but reminds as a producer.

Marvel confirms Weaving is Red Skull

As expected, actor Hugo Weaving was confirmed as the evil Red Skull in Marvel’s upcoming Captain America: The First Avenger. Weaving rounds out the hero/love interest/villain trifecta for next year’s big superhero film, joining Chris Evans (Steve Rogers aka Captain America) and Hayley Atwell (Peggy Carter).

Weaving is a consummate villain/character actor, having played countless memorable roles in major geek movies beginning with Mr. Smith in The Matrix films and followed by Elrond in The Lord of the Rings films and the mysterious anti-hero V in V for Vendetta. Not as commonly known was his voice work as Megatron in Michael Bay’s Transformers movies. Yet again he will go virtually unrecognized as Johann Schmidt aka Red Skull. 

DVD/Blu-ray DISCussion (New for 5.4.10)

It’s a bigger week for kid movies and romantic comedies, so I had to dig a bit for some quality Blu-ray opportunities. Here’s what’s up for DISCussion this week:

FIRST RELEASES
–Nine (DVD and Blu-ray)

RE-RELEASES
–Saving Private Ryan (Blu-ray)
–K-19: The Widowmaker (Blu-ray) 
–Escape from L.A. (Blu-ray) 

The Complete Guide to Iron Man 2

With the release of Iron Man 2 just a few days away, hype has reached its critical mass. At Player Affinity Movies, we wanted to cut through some of the clutter (clips, images, promos etc.) and give you just ten things to know before you head to theaters for this much-anticipated sequel to the 2006 smash.

Articles of Horror: A Nightmare on Elm Street Parts 7 & 8

Chris finishes up his improbable “Nightmare” binge with Parts 7 and 8, both of which took Freddy in some radical new directions that had both their advantages and obvious disadvantages. Be sure to check out his review of the new film to see how it ranks among the annuls of A Nightmare on Elm Street movie history.