It seems that everyone is trying to get away from New Line’s planned remake of John Carpenter’s ’80s action classic Escape From New York.

Recently, it had been rumored that Brett Ratner, the director of the Rush Hour series, had been selected to fill the director’s chair for a departing Len Wiseman. However, in a report late last week on AintItCool (who have never shown Ratner any love), the director stated that the rumors of his involvement with the remake are just that- rumors. Reportedly, Terminator 3 director Jonathan Mostow has now been brought in to rewrite Ken Nolan’s script, with an option to direct.

Now Variety is reporting that star Gerard Butler has left the project, citing the euphemistic “creative differences.” This amount of churn in the creative side of the production does not bode well, hinting at juicier stories behind the scene.

Personally, though, none of these choices have filled me with great confidence. I wasn’t a fan of Wiseman’s Underworld, Mostow’s Terminator 3 was entirely unnecessary given how James Cameron wrapped up the second film and Ratner is particularly inept when it comes to staging and shooting action scenes, dialogue and, well, just about anything else. Butler is a good actor, but I don’t think he’s right for the lead in this movie. His casting seems to be based more on the fact that he’s weel built and looks menacing with facial hair than anything else.

New Line needs to let this project sit on the backburner for a while. Perhaps their energies would be better spent at smoothing things over with Peter Jackson so he can start on an adaptation of The Hobbit and developing some original film ideas that will knock our socks off the way Carpenter’s original Escape From New York did.

Released last fall, Crank was one of those films that was completely unapologetic for what it was- a hyper bit of cinematic pulp with no pretensions of aspiring to be anything else.

Essentially a remake of the classic noir film DOA (1950) on steroids and perhaps an eight ball of cocaine, Jason Statham’s hitman character Chev Chelios had a limited amount of time to find out who injected him with a deadly poison whose effects can only be slowed down by raising his heart rate. Cue a nearly non-stop stream of adrenaline-pumping action sequences as Chelios tries numerous ways to keep his heart pumping fast enough to stay alive long enough to extract his revenge.

And the film’s writer/directors Mark Neveldine and Brian Taylor have announced that they’re making a sequel- Crank 2: High Voltage.

Those of you who saw the film are probably wondering how a sequel, featuring the same character again played by Statham, could ever be made, especially considering that Slash Film reports that the new film will begin mere seconds after the close of the first. I think just seeing how the writers manage to work that trick alone will be worth the price of a ticket.

It’s been a story that writer/director Kevin Smith has told in his numerous speaking engagements and which has been captured on his first Evening With Kevin Smith DVD.

The weekend his controversial religious comedy Dogma opened, Smith was at home in New Jersey when he found out that the local cinema showing the film was going to be picketed by a religious group. At the suggestion of a friend, Smith made up some protest signs and went down and joined the group.

And then the television crews showed up to cover the protest.

You’ll have to check out Smith’s Evening With… DVD for the whole story, but you can check out the newsclip, as it ran on the local news that evening.

Cameras start rolling later this week on a remake of Akira Kurosawa’s classic film The Hidden Fortress, according to an announcement from in today’s Variety from Japan’s Toho Studios.

The remake’s director, Shinji Higuchi, comes from a background in visual effects and has already the directed the hit films Lorelei (2005)and The Sinking Of Japan (2006). Taking over original star Toshiro Mifune’s role of a general guiding a rescued princess through enemy territories is Hiroshi Abe, an actor who has been mostly known for roles in romantic comedies. Masami Nagasawa will be playing the princess, a role played by Misa Uehara in the original.

Of course, I could be snarky and say that Hidden Fortress has been remade once before- it was called Star Wars (1977). It’s fairly well known that Lucas patterned his original film off of Kurosawa’s story before filtering it through an odd combination of Joseph Campbell and Buck Rogers serials, causing such characters as the two bumbling peasants who accompany the general in Hidden Fortress to transform into Star Wars‘ robots R2-Ds and C-3P0. Interestingly, the two peasant characters will be merged into one character for this new version, who will be played by Jun Matsumoto, of the Japanese boy band Arashi.

The movie is scheduled for a May 10, 2008 release in Japan.

Well, it’s been a few days so it’s time for another fresh batch of rumors related to Warner Brothers upcoming superhero team-up epic Justice League. It has been a while since I’ve last seen a project attract as much hub-bub, substantiated or otherwise, flying around it as this one. Warners is certainly taking its time in announcing any news of substance.

Late last week, Moviehole reported that in addition to preparing Justice League, director George Miller has re-opened up an office for his on-again off-again Mad Max: Fury Road. Their informant speculates that the Mad Max sequel, which Miller plans to recast as he wants a “younger face” in the role, may hit theaters before the Justice League film does. To do so, Miller would have to begin shooting Mad Max 4 almost immediately in order to have principal photography wrapped on Justice League before any potential Screen Actors Guild strike at the end of next May.

Rumors as to who will play Wonder Woman seem to be the most popular right now. Moviehole – those guys are located in Australia where Miller plans to direct the film, so they probably have some really good pipelines into Fox’s studio down there – has heard that Aussie actress Teresa Palmer (right) will be cast as the heroic Amazonian hero. Their source is an unnamed director who had recently worked with Palmer on another project. Meanwhile, the Australian Daily Telegraph is reporting that model Megan Gale is actually in contention for the role and that an announcement should be made this week. As for the long in development Wonder Woman stand alone film, producer Joel Silver told SciFi Wire that he’s putting the project on the backburner until after Justice League is released to see how it performs.

Two other League members who may or may not be getting their own spin-off films are The Flash and Green Lantern. Both projects have been development for a while – Remember back when comic fandom collectively freaked out, and not in a good way, after it was briefly reported that Jack Black was being considered for the lead in Green Lantern? – and both have had a bit of news released about them over the weekend.

MTV Movies Blog reported over the weekend that The Flash has changed directors, with Wedding Crashers helmer David Dobkin taking charge from a departing Shawn Levy. Dobkin told the site that his film is “designed to work as a spin-off from ['JLA'], so we’re honoring the story and we’re working in tandem with the storytelling.” Dobkin also stated that the version of The Flash that they’ll be using is that of Wally West, who had trained under the previous Flash, Barry Allen. However, Patrick Sauriol over at UGO reported that the Justice League Flash would definitely be Barry. Discrepancy? Spoiler? Misinformation? You decide.

Finally, Variety reported on Sunday that Greg Berlanti has been given the job of directing a Green Lantern feature. Berlanti’s background is mostly in television, having served as a writer and/or executive producer on such series as Dawson’s Creek, Everwood and Dirty Sexy Money, though he did direct the 2000 feature The Broken Hearts Club. Working on the script with Berlanti will be Marc Guggenheim, who wrote for several Marvel Comics series, and Michael Green, who is a co-executive producer on NBC’s superhero drama Heroes. While there is no official word if the film’s casting will be tied to Justice League or not, but I’d say that it’s a fair bet that it is.

Previously:
Justice League Rumor Roundup
Justice League: Rumor Roundup, Part 2

Ang Lee’s controversial drama Lust, Caution has topped the list of nominees for Tiawan’s annual Golden Horse awards, earning 11 nods including those for best film, director, actor for Tony Leung and actress for newcomer Tang Wei.

Taiwanese pop star turned director Jay Chou’s debut film Secret was nominated in five categories including Best Supporting Actress for Alice Tzeng and Best Visual Effects.

Lust, Caution will be squaring off against the political satire What On Earth Have I Done Wrong?!, the dramas The Home Song Stories, Tuya’s Marriage and Getting Home for the best film trophy.

The Golden Horse Awards will be presented on December 8, 2007 in a ceremony held at Taipei Arena.

Full Nomination List for the 44th Golden Horse Awards:

Best Feature Film

• What on Earth have I Done Wrong?!
• Tuya’s Marriage
• The Home Song Stories
• Lust, Caution

Best Short Film

• Temptation
• Fly Out Blue
• Summer of Magic
• Father’s Finger

Best Documentary

• Exotic Exoticism: Plant Wars
• Hollywood Chinese

Best Director

• Wang Quan An – Tuya’s Marriage
• Yau Nai Hoi – Eye In The Sky
• Ang Lee – Lust, Caution
• Li Yang – Blind Mountain

Best Actor

• Gurmit Singh – Just Follow Law
• Zhao Ben Shan – Getting Home
• Aaron Kwok – The Detective
• Tony Leung Chiu Wei – Lust, Caution

Best Actress

• Yu Nan – Tuya’s Marriage
• Joan Chen – The Home Song Stories
• Li Bing Bing – The Knot
• Tang Wei – Lust, Caution

Best Supporting Actor

• Wu Jing – Invisible Target
• Joel Lok – The Home Song Stories
• Tony Leung, Ka Fai – The Drummer
• Louis Koo – Protégé

Best Supporting Actress

• Chang Chun Ning – What on Earth have I Done Wrong?!
• Maggie Shiu – Eye In The Sky
• Fan Bing Bing – The Matrimony
• Alice Tzeng – Secret

Best New Performer

• Eddie Peng – My DNA Says I Love You
• Joel Lok – The Home Song Stories
• ENNO – Summer’s Tail
• Tang Wei – Lust, Caution

Best Original Screenplay

• Bon Sek Yieng, Tan Wei Lyn – Just Follow Law
• Lu Wei – Tuya’s Marriage
• Singing Chen, Lou Yi An – God Man Dog
• Tony Ayres – The Home Song Stories

Best Screenplay Adaptation

• Izo Hashimoto, Szeto Kam Yuen – Shamo
• Jacob Cheung – A Battle of Wits
• Shu Ping, Kiang Wen, Guo Shi Xing – The Sun Also Rises
• Hui Ling Wang, James Schamus – Lust, Caution

Best Cinematography

• Yang Wei Han – The Most Distant Course
• Fung Yuen Man – Shamo
• Mark Ping Bin Lee – The Matrimony
• Rodrigo Prieto – Lust, Caution

Best Visual Effects

• Michael Yeoh – Just Follow Law
• Stephen Ma – Twins Mission
• BULKY Animation Studio, Studio 2 – The Wall-Passer
• Wong Wang Tat, Wong Wang Hin, Cheung Yiu Ming, Donnie Lai – Secret

Best Art Direction

• Huang Mei Ching – God Man Dog
• Anuson Pinyopotjanee – The Detective
• Melinda Doring – The Home Song Stories
• Pan Lai – Lust, Caution

Best Makeup & Costume Design

• Doris Song – Road to Dawn
• Kirsten Veysey, Cappi Ireland – The Home Song Stories
• Moe Kasim, Dollei Seah – 881
• Pan Lai – Lust, Caution

Best Action Choreography

• Wong Wai Leung – Shamo
• Lee Chung Chi – Invisible Target
• Stephen Tung – A Battle of Wits
• Donnie Yen – Flash Point

Best Original Film Score

• Anthony Chue – Invisible Target
• Guy Zerafa – Eye In The Sky
• Terdsak Janpan, Jay Chou – Secret
• Alexandre Desplat – Lust, Caution

Best Original Film Song

• Jasmine – Spider Lilies
• Blood Brothers – Blood Brothers
• Secret – Secret
• Little Love Song – Exit No.6

Best Film Editing

• Singing Chen – God Man Dog
• David Richardson – Eye In The Sky
• Zhang Yi Fan, Jiang Wen – The Sun Also Rises
• Tim Squyres – Lust, Caution

Best Sound Effect

• Tu Duu Chih, Kuo Li Chi, Tang Xiang Zhu – The Most Distant Course
• Kinson Tseng – Confession of Pain
• Steve Burgess, He Wei – A Battle of Wits
• Soundfirm Beijing – Flash Point

Formoz Film Award

• What on Earth Have I Done Wrong?!
• The Drummer
• Secret

Formoz Filmmaker Award

• Ang Lee
• Jay Chou
• Niu Chen Zer

Lifetime Achievement Award

• Edward Yang

Via Variety Asia

Guy Ritchie has confirmed that he is set to helm a remake of the 1967 World War II adventure film The Dirty Dozen. The director announced the news last week to an IESB reporter during an interview to promote his latest film, Revolver, which opens on December 7.

However, before Ritchie mounts the film he is first scheduled to shoot an adaptation of the comic book miniseries Gamekeeper, a comic Ritchie helped to develop but is being written by Andy Diggle.

John Travolta is currently in talks to play the leader of a group of terrorists who hijack a Manhattan subway in the upcoming remake of The Taking Of Pelham 123. He’ll be squaring off against Denzel Washington, who’ll be playing the police detective placed in charge of stopping the terrorists. Travolta’s role was played by Robert Shaw in the 1974 original, while Washington’s detective character was portrayed by Walter Matthau.

The film is scheduled to begin production early next year with Tony Scott directing a script from David Koepp.

Via Variety

Daniel Craig, who made a splash in his debut performance as James Bond in last year’s franchise reboot Casino Royale, has been signed to star in another four outings as the British spy.