'I, Frankenstein' Enlists Eckhart In Lead Role

Aaron Eckhart

Total Film reveals that Aaron Eckhart (Battle: Los Angeles) has been confirmed in the lead role of new film I, Frankenstein, a Lionsgate adaptation of Kevin Grevioux's graphic novel. He will take the role of Adam, Frankenstein's monster who lives in the present day and finds himself caught up in a battle between two immortal races.

Director and writer Stuart Beattie described how the film adapts Mary Shelley's original Frankenstein character into a modern day film that will bring a new twist to the age old story: "Mary Shelley’s story is about the creation of the first human being. This is the story about that being becoming human.". It certainly sounds as if they are trying to put a new spin on the story and it should be interesting to see what they have come up with.

Liongate's Joe Drake revealed the thinking behind the casting of Eckhart: "This story is all about what it means to be human, and there could be no more achingly human performance than the one

'Robocop' Remake Could Feature Michael Fassbender

Michael Fassbender

Michael Fassbender may just have landed yet another male lead role as he looks set to be asked to join the new Robocop remake by director Jose Padilha. Padilha revealed his first choice in an interview on Brazilian TV which was translated by Bleeding Cool and showed his interest in capturing the Jane Eyre and X-Men: First Class actor.

Fassbender's career seems to have taken a leap forward this year, with the actor taking a role in no less than five 2011 movies. Padilha's interview revealed he could be the first in line for the Robocop remake:

"I’ll film RoboCop. I’m indeed writing the script, the writer is here with me in Rio, we’ve spent over the last 15 days working together, refining the script.

"I’ll be travelling this Friday back to LA, bringing this new version to discuss with the studio, and maybe begin with the casting, selecting actors… and the idea is to begin filming in February – February or March. That’s the idea, y’know, we never know in the American movie industry. We’re

1911 Trailer Official 2011 [HD] Starring Jackie Chan

Kevin Costner Says No To Django Unchained

Kevin Costner

Quentin Tarantino's new slave western film Django Unchained hasn't failed to excite the movie world so far. One reason for this was the proposed cast that Tarantino was planning on bringing together which included Christoph Waltz, Leonardo DiCaprio, Samuel L Jackson and Jamie Foxx. However, one of the biggest names reportedly attached to the film, Kevin Costner, has followed the example of Will Smith by dropping out of the project, reports IndieWire.

Kevin Costner was rumoured to be playing Ace Woody, a member of Calvin Candie's (Leonardo DiCaprio) crew. However, Costner will now play no part in the film, giving the reason of 'scheduling conflicts'. Costner is already working on a TV movie entitled The Hatfields & The McCoys for the History Channel and will soon be appearing in Zack Snyder's Superman film Man Of Steel.

The search is now on for Quentin Tarantino to find a new Ace. Rumours have already circulated that

Eddie Murphy Confirmed As 2012 Oscar Host

Eddie Murphy

In a follow up to our post a few days ago that Eddie Murphy was the first in line to host the next Academy Awards, So I Saw This Film can now confirm that the comedian has been officially chosen. The quick-witted ex stand-up comedian will officially host the ceremony which will take place on the 26th February 2012. The shows producers Brett Ratner and Don Mischer confirmed the decision yesterday.

The shows producers were keen to point out that the Murphy that will turn up on the night will be less like the explicit Axel Foley (Beverley Hill Cop) and more like the family orientated Donkey from Shrek. Ratner told USA Today: "This guy was in Shrek,". "He's done family movies for the past 10 years. He's done Oprah."

 

"He's very smart and knows this is very much of a family type of show," added Mischer. 

 

Meanwhile, in a statement Eddie Murphy revealed how honoured he was to have been chosen: “I am enormously honoured

Eddie Murphy Looks Likely To Host The 2012 Oscars

Eddie Murphy in Trading Places

All round funny man Eddie Murphy looks the most likely candidate to host the 2012 Academy Awards, the 84th ceremony to date. Deadline have reported that he is the front-runner so far and the once stand-up comedian could be returning to his origins as a performer.

The producer of the show this time around will be Brett Ratner, who worked with Murphy recently in the film Tower Heist, which will open on the 4th November 2011. He is expected to put Murphy's name forward to Academy president Tom Sherak. With a hugely successful comedy film history and his experience as a stand-up comedian, it's not too surprising that his name looks likely to be put forward. His energy as a performer would be just what is needed and could lead to much satiricism as well as plenty of celebrities getting put in their place (obviously something we all want to see).

The decision has not officially been made yet but, with some sites suggesting he has already been

Steven Soderbergh Quits Film To Pursue A New Art

Steven Soderbergh

Director Steven Soderbergh, best known for the three 'Ocean's' films as well as The Informant!, has decided to give up on his directorial career to pursue a new career as an artist. He plans to become an established painter and revealed his plans in an interview with The New York Times.

The move to a new art form will not come as too much of a surprise after Matt Damon revealed Soderbergh would be leaving show business back in 2010. Soderbergh himself let slip the news back in March when he revealed he had only two films left to shoot. Despite the early signs that revealed his decision, it will surely still come as a shock to film fans, particularly those of Soderbergh's work.

In the interview he revealed that his decision could be reversed if his new art career doesn't go to plan: "I'm interested in exploring another art form while I have the time and ability to do so.

Terrence Malick's New Film Attracts Christian Bale

Christian Bale

Terrence Malick, director of such films as The Tree Of Life and The Thin Red Line, has attracted the talents of Christian Bale to his new project as well as tempting four actresses to compete for the female lead. The as yet untitled film seems to be a low key affair and will essentially consist of Christian Bale opposite a young female lead.

Roony Mara (Youth In Revolt), Mia Wasikowska (Alice In Wonderland), Clemence Poesy (Harry Potter) and Haley Bennett (Marley & Me) are all reportedly vying to star opposite the Oscar winner. Malick is said to be taking his time to find the right girl for the part.

Malick will not begin working on the project until his also low-key Ben Affleck flick, reportedly entitled The Burial, is over and done with. It will be released some time in 2012 and work is likely to begin immediately on the new project. It won't be the first time Bale and Malick have worked together after Bale featured among the star-studded cast of Malick's film The New World. Bale was also in line to star in The Burial in the role later taken by Affleck.


Total Film reveals that no word of this film will probably surface for some time and nothing cast-iron has officially been decided. The project however does excite me and I'll be continuing to cover it's development on So I Saw This Film.

Anyone else as excited as I am about this one? Let us know...

Brad Pitt In Talks For Assassin Thriller 'The Gray Man'

Brad Pitt

Before I bring you this news piece I would like to apologise for the lack of posting over the last week but...I MOVED HOUSE! So the internet's all ready now (finally) and So I Saw This Film can now continue to bring you the posts you love. On with the show....

Although currently working on World War Z, which is being filmed in Glasgow as we speak, Brad Pitt has been linked to another new film by Variety in the form of The Gray Man. The reports suggest that Pitt is in preliminary talks to star as the worlds greatest assassin who makes his way through Europe to save both his handler and their family.

James Gray (Two Lovers) will be directing and the script, which comes from Adam Cozad, looks to have excited him and potentially Pitt also. The story follows a former CIA operative who finds a secret government plot against him. Although it sounds fairly Bourne like in nature, director James Gray has stated to Deadline why it will not follow those same lines:

“What [Paul Greengrass] did was a documentary-style, objective approach,”. “He owns that style. I

J.J. Abrams On A 'Star Trek' Sequel

J.J. Abrams

J.J. Abrams hasn't been short of work recently, with his latest film Super 8 hitting the big screens in the UK tomorrow. However, in a recent interview with Collider, Abrams revealed how he is already considering the possibility of a Star Trek sequel. He is determined not to rush with the project and, although this could mean it will not be released for some time, it should lead to a better film.

“There have been a lot of things that we’ve been working on,” he told Collider. “A lot of important elements that we just know we need to really nail down and solve.”

“Once you say, ‘We’re ready to go, but we don’t have a finished script yet,” or ‘I’m directing and here’s the release date but we don’t have a finished script,’ you’re suddenly in production on a movie where you’re thinking, ‘Oh my god, we weren’t really ready!’”

“I want to make sure we’re putting the story, characters, cast, crew and, most importantly, the audience first, before we start talking about exactly which locations we’re going to be shooting at, and

Gangster Squad To Attract Emma Stone?

Emma Stone

Emma Stone (Superbad, Easy A) has recently been linked to 40's crime drama Gangster Squad which, if you eagle eyed viewers will remember, was covered previously on So I Saw This Film after Sean Penn was revealed as the lead male in the film. The film will also feature Ryan Gosling and Josh Brolin, and Emma Stone looks likely to join the growing cast.

The actress, who was nominated for a BAFTA in the Rising Star category in 2011, looks set to star as a character caught between Sean Penn and Ryan Gosling. Penn will play gangster Mickey Cohen while Gosling will play good-cop Jerry Wooters alongside fellow cop Josh Brolin. The film will be directed by Rubin Fleisher who cast Stone in his film Zombieland.

THR originally revealed the news of the possible casting but no decision has yet been made. The project has been in the pipeline for a while but there will still be quite a wait ahead for those who want to see it, as the film won't see the big screens until 2013.

Emma Stone has been rather busy recently and joining the cast of Gangster Squad could prove to be a major boost to her career. Do you think she would be right for the role? Is she more suited to other genres? Let us know below.

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Captain America Takes Top Place At The US Weekend Box Office

Captain America has managed to knock Harry Potter And The Deathly Hallows: Part 2 off the top spot in this weekend's US box office.The film proved to be yet another Marvel success story, taking a rather unimpressive $65.8 million. The Deathly Hallows: Part 2 made an impressive haul in its second weekend with $48 million, taking the film's US total above $274 million. 

Mila Kunis and Justin Timberlake's new comedy Friends With Benefits found itself in third place with a total of $18.5 million. The third installment of the Transformers franchise, Dark Of The Moon, came fourth with $12 million and Horrible Bosses, which has just been released in the UK, came fifth with $11.7 million.

Zookeeper finished in sixth with $8.7 million (rather more than I thought it would achieve) and Cars 2 came seventh with a $5.7 million haul.

The top ten was rounded off with Winnie The Pooh ($5.1m) in eighth, Bad Teacher ($2.6m) in ninth and Midnight In Paris continuing its trends of tenth place with $1.8 million, making the film Woody Allen's most profitable film to date.

What did you guys see this weekend? Anything you would recommend?

Seth Rogen And Zac Efron To Make An Unlikely Pair?

Universal has come out on top of the bidding for the rights to a new and untitled comedy which has Seth Rogen and Zac Efron attached to star. The pair look likely to make a rather unlikely pairing in the new film which Rogen will produce alongside Evan Goldberg according to Deadline.

The film will be written by Andrew Cohen and Brendan O'Brien and was successfully landed by Universal for a reported seven figure sum. The plot will see Zac Efron and his partying friends disrupting the family life of Seth Rogen and Total Film rightfully noticed the similarity of the plot to that of Old School. Not sure if Efron sounds like the right guy for the role thought to be honest. Bit strange.

The film sounds like a rather odd concept if I'm honest. I would never have put Rogen and Efron together in anything, let alone an Old School-esque comedy. I'm really struggling to see how this film will do well but of course the two very different actors could bring in two very large and diverse fan bases. Basically, it will either work well or it will bring a cringe to viewer's faces. We'll probably be waiting a long time to find out which as it hasn't even been written yet.

One to watch out for? Let us know what you think below...



 

Sean Bean Set To Play The King In Tarsem Singh's 'Snow White'

Sean Bean As Boromir

After a lot of casting news on both the Snow White projects coming up in 2012 a while back the two films have gone rather quiet. Tarsem Singh's The Brothers Grimm: Snow White will be battling Snow White And The Huntsman in 2012 and so far it is fair to say that the latter has whipped up far more excitement.

However, Heat Vision have revealed that Sean Bean is in final negotiations to play Snow White's father, the king, in Tarsem Singh's version of the film. A big name like Bean's is seriously needed to boost the films image as so far Julia Roberts, Lily Collins and Armie Hammer are the only well known names on the list. The Huntsman has already got on board Charlize Theron, Chris Hemsworth, Kristen Stewart, Ray Winston and Bob Hoskins among others so Singh really needs Bean to sign his name on the dotted line.

With previous fantasy roles in Lord Of The Rings and TV series Game Of Thrones, Bean wouldn't look out of place in The Brothers Grimm: Snow White. He definitely has the look of a king about him

Edward Norton Could Become New 'The Bourne Legacy' Villain

Edward Norton

After Matt Damon publicly confirmed he would not reprise his role as Jason Bourne for a fourth time following the release of The Bourne Ultimatum, director Tony Gilroy has seemingly expressed his desire to add a new big name to the fourth film.

Variety has reported that Edward Norton is close to being confirmed as the new villain for the upcoming film The Bourne Legacy. The American History X actor looks likely to star opposite new lead man Jeremy Renner who was confirmed a few weeks ago as the new protagonist in the film that will be set in the same world as the first three but will not include Jason Bourne. Small villainous roles should come easy to Norton by now after films such as The Italian Job.

Rachel Weisz has also signed up to the film and if Norton comes on board it looks to be a relatively

'Oldboy' Remake In Hands Of Spike Lee

Spike Lee

Do The Right Thing director and star Spike Lee has been officially named as the director of the English language remake of the South Korean cult favourite Oldboy, which was released in 2003. He is currently working on his Do The Right Thing sequel Red Hook Summer and looks set to start the new project upon its completion.

Nathan Kahane, the Oldboy executive producer, said of the news: “It’s a great honour to put this special project into the hands of such a gifted writer and iconic director,”.

If you remember the original followed a man who, after being imprisoned for 15 years, attempts to find out who was behind his imprisonment. No casting decision for the lead man has been confirmed

'Good Time Gang' Could Welcome Mark Wahlberg And Jonah Hill

Jonah Hill

The Other Guys and The Happening star Mark Wahlberg looks set to join comedic force Jonah Hill in a new indie film entitled Good Time Gang. The pair look set to join forces for the first time in the new film that could see them both step out of their usual film roles. The LA Times has revealed that the duo are signing on for the project which is produced by RCR Pictures.

The pair are reportedly to play two incompetent mercenaries who are sent on a serious case involving terrorism and along the way discover that one of them is related to the target. Empire say the film is being pitched as a Lethal Weapon type film that focuses more on the action than the laughs. The script will come from Max Landis.

The pair have already been busy stepping out of their comfort zones, with Jonah Hill appearing in 21 Jump Street and Moneyball alongside Brad Pitt. At the same time Wahlberg has found his way into

'Transformers: Dark Of The Moon' Defeats Competition In US Box Office

As I'm sure everyone expected the third, and in my opinion best, film in the Transformers series has triumphed in the US box office this weekend. The weekend numbers posted by Dark Of The Moon weren't as impressive as those set by the second film, Revenge Of The Fallen, but still totalled an impressive $97.4 million, with $162.1 million taken in total in the US since it's release. Its global figure is a whopping $370m and counting.


Cars 2 had a rather unimpressive weekend with $25 million but despite the poor figures the film has managed to toal an impressive $116m. Bad Teacher came in third with $14.1m.

Larry Crowne made a surprsingly poor weekend debut with only $13 million, although with such big competition it picked a bad weekend to try and make an impact. Monte Carlo came fifth with $7.6m

July 2013 Will See A 'Thor' Sequel

Deadline have reported that, following the magnitude of the success of Kenneth Branagh's film Thor, a sequel has received the green-light and will hit our screens in July 2013. Disney and Marvel Studios made the official decision and Disney revealed to MTV that Chris Hemsworth is set to reprise his role, whilst Kenneth Branagh will not be returning as director.

After grossing $437 million worldwide you'd think there wouldn't be any need for such a large change as a change of director. However the dropping of Branagh was allegedly a 'mutual and amicable' one and that Branagh may return in a producing role. The hunt is now on for a new director.

I am yet to see Thor but the numbers speak for themselves and I think any sequel that retains Hemsworth at its helm will go down well with fans of the first film. We come to expect sequels from

'Toy Story 4' In The Pipeline? - Tom Hanks Reveals All

Although it seemed to everyone who had seen the three hugely successful Toy Story films that they have come to the end of the film franchise, Tom Hanks, who stars in all three films as Woody, has revealed to the BBC that a fourth film could be on its way!

While out promoting his new film Larry Crowne, which hits our screens soon, Hanks was asked whether he thought there would ever be a Toy Story 4 to which he replied: “I think there will be yeah. Yeah, yeah. I think they’re working on it now. There you go.”.

What a shock! The third film was described as a trilogy closer and it really was. We followed the toys journey as their owner Andy grew up and ended up with them under the ownership of a new child. There just doesn't seem to be anywhere the film could go which would diminish the massive amount of hard work that Pixar has put into making the trilogy one of the most successful animation