Well, this is one of those headlines I never expected to write.

Arnold Schwarzenegger is going to be starring in a big screen remake of the classic Troma film The Toxic Avenger with Hot Tub Time Machine director Steve Pink at the helm.

Honestly, at first thought, it sounds like a bad idea. And at second and third thought it still sounds like a bad idea. The Toxic Avenger is known in part for its campy, comedic tone. While I don’t doubt that Pink could bring a similar feel to a remake, time and time again Schwarzenegger has never shown any real comedy chops.

Here’s the press release –

Los Angeles, CA (May, 2013) –Action superstar Arnold Schwarzenegger (TERMINATOR series, TOTAL RECALL) is in negotiations to star in writer/director Steve Pink’s (HOT TUB TIME MACHINE 1 & 2) big budget action comedy THE TOXIC AVENGER produced by Akiva Goldsman (CONSTANTINE, I AM LEGEND, MR AND MRS SMITH), Richard Saperstein (HANCOCK, 1408, SE7EN), Charlie Corwin (HALF NELSON, THE SQUID AND THE WHALE), Stephen Kessler and Michael Benaroya (LAWLESS, MARGIN CALL). Lloyd Kaufman and Michael Herz will executive produce. The announcement was made today by International Film Trust’s (IFT) President Ariel Veneziano who will handle all international rights to the film alongside IFT’s Head of Sales Christian de Gallegos.

Set to be introduced to buyers at Cannes 2013, THE TOXIC AVENGER is currently in pre-production and scheduled to start principal photography this fall.

Loosely based on Lloyd Kaufman’s classic Troma franchise, THE TOXIC AVENGER is the tale of a high-school kid who gets dunked in a vat of toxic waste by a corrupt chemical company. He survives the ordeal with one major side effect: upon contact with toxic chemicals, he transforms into a monster with superhuman strength. Schwarzenegger would play “the Exterminator,” a former black ops agent, who trains Toxie to use his powers for good. Together they take on the lurking menace created by the polluters, and the polluters themselves.

“Moviegoers around the world were thrilled when Arnold Schwarzenegger returned to acting so effortlessly filling the gap that he left behind,” said producer and IFT co-founder Michael Benaroya. “He is the ultimate action hero with a natural comedic versatility and will be pitch perfect in The Toxic Avenger.”

“Our film is a perfect combination of commercial genre, star power and award winning filmmakers to set it apart from other titles on offer at Cannes this year. The Toxic Avenger is a blockbuster in waiting with franchise potential. The buyers will love it,” said IFT President Ariel Veneziano.

Arnold Schwarzenegger’s role in James Cameron’s THE TERMINATOR series solidified his place as one of the leading action hero actors with roles in blockbuster hits including PREDATOR, TOTAL RECALL, TERMINATOR 2: JUDGEMENT DAY and TRUE LIES. Proving to be a multi-talented performer, Schwarzenegger crossed over into comedic roles with box office hits TWINS opposite Danny DeVito and Ivan Reitman’s KINDERGARTEN COP. After taking an extended break to become the Governor of California, Schwarzenegger returned to acting in 2012 with THE EXPENDABLES 2, which grossed over $300 million worldwide. He will next be seen in Summit Entertainment’s ESCAPE PLAN and Open Road Films’ TEN. He is represented by CAA and Patrick Knapp at Bloom Hergott Diemer Rosenthal LaViolette Felmdman Schenkman & Goodman.

Via Deadline.

Marvel may have a few surprises in store for audiences in next year’s Captain America: The Winter Soldier, but an actor commected to one of them has spilled some beans.

Back out now if you don’t want to be spoiled.

Seriously.

OK, you’ve been warned.

Speaking with Total Film (via Bleeding Cool), actor Dominic Cooper, seen in Marvel’s Captain America as inventor Howard Stark (and future poppa of Tony Stark aka, Iron Man), let slip that he will be back for the sequel.

We’re shooting something for it… I’ve worn the costume again… it was good fun getting back into it and he’s got some very cool shades now.

Cooper does not elaborate how much time he spent filming, whether it was for one quick, short scene or something that would be more substantial in the film. I am sure that we will hear more about this before Captain America: The Winter Soldier‘s release in the spring of 2014.

Just two months and a few days ago, Kevin Smith announced that he had started working on a screenplay for Clerks III, and this morning he has confirmed that he has finished work on it. Posting the photo below on Facebook, Smith stated he was excited at the prospect of heading back to New Jersey to shoot the film and that he would fund the production himself and not turn to a crowdsouring website like Kickstarter.

Smith is calling Clerks III “The Empire Strikes Back of what’s now become the Clerks Trilogy,” though I suspect that is more for its 137-page length than because it might end on any cliffhanger. Of course, there could be the revelation that Silent Bob is actually Dante’s father, so who knows?

Over the weekend, another rumor concerning Marvel Studios’ plans for their “Phase Three,” the cycle of films due after 2015′s The Avengers 2. Latino Review’s El Mayimbe tweeted out the following concerning a possible movie featuring superhero Black Panther -

I have in my possession a grid that shows THE BLACK PANTHER is shooting next year. Getting confirmation. Me thinks AVENGERS 2 cameo 1st. RT

— elmayimbe (@elmayimbe) May 10, 2013

We’ve been down this road before and we don’t believe this for a minute and not just because of who is saying it. (Though admittedly, that is a big part of it.) Logically, it doesn’t seem right for two reasons.

Firstly, it doesn’t seem to fit with what we know about Marvel’s production/release cycle. The studio has settled into a nice groove in terms of the production and release of their films. Films shot in one calendar year are released in the next. The Avengers was shot in 2011 and released in 2012. Iron Man 3 and Thor: The Dark World were shot last year for release this year. Captain America: The Winter Soldier and Guardians Of The Galaxy are both set to film this year in order to hit theaters in 2014, while The Avengers 2 and the first Phase Three film Ant-Man will film in 2014 for their announced 2015 release dates. As long as Marvel keeps releasing just two films per year, the earliest a Black Panther film will come out is around April/May 2016, which would put it in production in early 2015. But I don’t think we’ll see a potential Black Panther film then.

And that brings me to my second point, when exactly will Marvel roll out a Black Panther film. Now we know that Marvel’s Kevin Feige has stated that Black Panther is one of the characters that they are looking at for a possible film in Phase Three. But so are Doctor Strange and more recently Blade and Ms. Marvel. But I am of the opinion that in Phase Three, Marvel will have to mix established franchise films in with the new ones they hope to launch. So while we will be getting Ant-Man and probably at least one other new hero in Phase Three, we will also be getting more installments featuring Iron Man (negotiations with Robert Downey Jr permitting), Captain America, Thor, the Hulk or the Guardians of the Galaxy.

But I would think that part of that mixing would entail some sort of alternating between new and established franchises. Would Marvel want to roll out of The Avengers 2 into two films debuting characters the general public might not be very familiar with, if at all, even if they do make appearances in the Avengers sequel? I think that first 2016 slot will be filled with an established franchise installment, pushing the earliest we will see Black Panther to the fall of 2016. And if that is indeed the case, I see no reason for Marvel to have the film in front of cameras during 2014.

So for me, this doesn’t add up. The only thing El Mayimbe has going in his favor is the possibility that Marvel will indeed one day greenlight a Black Panther film. But he won’t be right by virtue of some hidden source within Marvel but instead by the dint of inevitability.

1. The Great Gatsby (Warner Brothers,3,535 Theaters, PG-13, 143 Minutes): So, this film finally arrives. This film was supposed to come out in December of last year, then was moved to July of this year, then moved back to now.

Unlike certain other members of the FBOL staff, I do not have any animosity against Baz Luhrmann. I actually liked Moulin Rouge quite a bit. But I have to say that we really didn’t need this film made.

I mean, it has been adapted five times in the past. I guess that shows the timeless nature of the classic novel that it keeps coming back again and again. And I’m sure that the film would be visually brilliant and stunning. But I doubt that it would interpret the novel any better than the one actually made the year after the novel was published.

And it most certainly didn’t need to be presented in 3-D. I’m sure that the audience will be awed by the Jazz Age crumbling to pieces right on top of them, but it adds a gimmick to something that should ooze class.

2. Tyler Perry Presents Peeples (Lionsgate, 2,041 Theaters, 95 Minutes, Rated PG-13): Just is the awe inspiring power and influence of Tyler Perry that his name is attached to films he has almost nothing to do with.

Well, he’s listed as a producer. It depends how hands-on he was. But this film is written and directed by one Tina Gordon Chism. But at least he’s lending his name to help first time film makers follow their dream to make their own rip-off of Meet the Parents.

Craig Robinson plays a schlumpy everyman who somehow is engaged to the incredibly beautiful Kerry Washington. When he tags along with her to a family reunion out on the Hamptons, he soon butts heads with her father, played by David Alan Grier (when did he get old enough to play a dad?) Hilarity ensues. I hope Robinson is careful around any ceramic urns on fireplaces.

Responding to what was being reported around the internet this morning, Universal Studios has issued a statement confirming that the fourth installment in the Jurassic Park franchise is indeed on hold.

In coordination with filmmakers, Universal has decided to release Jurassic Park 4 at a later date giving the studio and filmmakers adequate time to bring audiences the best possible version of the fourth installment in Universal’s beloved franchise.

Filming was set to commence on June 24 for a release date of June 13, 2014. But according to the Hollywood Reporter, director Colin Trevorrow and Safety Not Guaranteed writer Derek Connolly had only delivered the latest draft of their screenplay to the studio just two days ago, which would necessitate a rush through development and budgeting processes in order to start filming on schedule. It appears that the studio would rather take the time to do things right rather than rush to get things done right now.

There is no word yet as to a new start date being scheduled.

With Phase Two of Marvel Studio’s superhero franchises well underway with the premier Iron Man 3 last week and the remaining scheduled announced up through The Avengers 2‘s May 1, 2015 release, the studio is turning their attention towards the initial planning of Phase Three.

Right now we know two things for certain about Phase Three – It will kick of with director Edgar Wright’s Ant-Man in the fall of 2015 and that Phase Two and Three will not be used to set up some long-form adaptation of Marvel Comics’ Planet Hulk and World War Hulk storylines. That particular rumor was floated awhile back but was quickly shot down by all involved at Marvel.

A far better indicator as what Marvel has in development probably lies within a Hollywood Reporter article from earlier this week detailing how the studio has just entered into negotiations with Robert Downey Jr to reprise his work as Tony Stark for The Avengers 2 and 3 now that his initial contract with the studio has run out. Buried towards the bottom of the piece was this gem -

Marvel has a writing program it uses as a concept generator and has scripts for Blade and Ms. Marvel features, for example. Doctor Strange, Iron Fist, Black Panther and The Runaways are other projects on the horizon. The company slowly has been reacquiring licenses to characters it lost during the 1990s, snapping up Blade, Ghost Rider, Power Man and Daredevil in the past year alone.

What’s interesting, and what I haven’t seen remarked upon elsewhere, is that the “concept generator” Marvel is using to generate some of these screenplays is a writing program run through parent studio Disney and has already yielded one project that will be making its way to the big screen – Guardians Of The Galaxy whose first draft was written by Nicole Perlman. Granted James Gunn did his own pass through the screenplay when he signed on board to direct, it was still Perlman’s draft that provided the framework of a story that the studio was strong enough to move forward with.

Now, not all of what is in that paragraph is new news. The Runaways project had been in active development with a script by Iron Man 3 writer Drew Pearce and even some reported early casting sessions going on before news fell off about it. The origin story for the titular group of teens who discover that their parents are a cabal of supervillains involves a number of standard comic book conventions, though some, like time travel and magic, have yet to be introduced into the Marvel Cinematic Universe, so the studio may be holding that back until it is able to lay a bit more groundwork for the film.

A Black Panther film was rumored to be in the running for a slot in Phase Two, though that ultimately went to Guardians Of The Galaxy. Might it be a frontrunner for a spot in three? It very well could be, but Marvel Studios chief Kevin Feige has also been vocal recently that a film based on the character of Marvel’s Sorcerer Supreme, Dr. Strange, is also in the offing for Phase Three.

It is interesting that Marvel already has a screenplay in development for the vampire hunter hero known as Blade, as it was already a successful trilogy on its own in the 90s and Feige stated when the Daredevil rights were confirmed back with the studio that “we’re not going to say “We got it back–make it!’” Is the studio looking at the character as an alternate way of expanding on the magical/mystical aspects of the Marvel Universe either as a compliment to Dr. Strange or in case that project’s screenplay doesn’t come together as expected? A Ms. Marvel project is also surprising, as the character is just not that well known. I have a suspicion that the studio is looking at possibly introducing her in another film, most likely one of the two Avengers sequels, and if the audience reaction is favorable, they’ll spin her off for a solo adventure.

It is safe to assume that not all of the possible projects mentioned will make it to the screen. In fact, I wouldn’t be surprised if there ultimately is a Phase Three that hasn’t been mentioned at this early date. But Phase Three will be the biggest challenge facing the studio since it launched its franchises. It is very probable that while Downey Jr is returning for a pair of Avengers films, he may not be interested in any more solo Iron Man outings. That would leave them without their biggest box office heavy hitter and their could be repercussions from that.

Also, Marvel is going to have to start seeding in more new heroes to balance out the returning franchises. As Phase Three begins, Marvel will need to start introducing more original films into onto their schedule. Their contracts with the stars of Captain America and Thor will be close to expiring. It would be fairly risky to start off Phase Four with a slate of entirely new characters or new actors replacing their current franchise leads. The better plan would be to commence bringing in more new characters in Phase Three that can become the heavy hitters of what will come after Avengers 3.

If I were a betting man, I would say that Phase Three would definitely consist of a Captain America and/or a Thor film while introducing Ant-Man, Dr. Strange and Black Panther into the Marvel Cinematic Universe in their own adventures, while we won’t see Ms. Marvel until after she makes an appearance in another film, very probably one of the two Avengers sequels.

And check back sometime in 2015-2016 at the start of Phase Three to see if I’m right or not.

Much of Baz Luhrmann’s directorial career has been spent taking classic stories and turning them into glitzy mulch lacking nearly any of the things that made them classics. From the Attention Deficit Disorder editing of Moulin Rouge to the style-over-substance direction of his adaptation of Shakespeare’s Romeo And Juliet, Luhrmann has always seemed to be more about the look of his films rather than the story he is trying to tell. And Luhrmann’s latest, an adaptation of The Great Gatsby scheduled to open on Friday, has already been receiving some of the most scathing reviews of his career so far.

Speaking with the Hollywood Reporter at the premier of Gatsby, Luhrmann indictated that he already had another classic in mind to push through his meat-grinder of a filmmaking process -

To me, Gatsby is the American Hamlet. What else could we possibly do as a follow-up?

But Luhrmann is far from locked in to this being his next film project though, telling the Reporter, “It’s just a dream at this point.”

A dream at this point for some, a nightmare for the rest of us.

All seemed to be running smoothly. Director Colin Trevorrow was deep into pre-production on Jurassic Park 4 and had even tweeted out a picture from a location scouting report just a few days ago. But it appears as if that has all come to a screeching halt. Two production crew members - Concept Artist Dean Sherriff and Digital Asset Manager Todd Smoyer - made remarks on twitter last evening that state that the project has been at least put on hold. Both were quickly deleted, but Aint It Cool managed to screengrab each of them.

Now while it is not a very commonplace occurrence, film productions have been placed on hold or even completely cancelled while in active preparation for shooting. Sets, costumes and props had been in the process of being assembled on both George Miller’s Mad Max film Fury Road and Mike Myers’s Saturday Night Live spinoff Sprockets: The Dieter Movie when activity on them was suspended. For Sprockets, Myers claimed he had problems with the screenplay and the project was cancelled. With Fury Road, everything was placed in storage and was used when the production resumed later.

It is not known what may have been the trigger for the work stoppage. It could be budgetary concerns or the feeling that the screenplay still isn’t ready to be brought in front of cameras. But given that the recent 3D re-release of the original Jurassic Park did well at the box office and very probably sparked renewed interest in the franchise, I don’t think that the delay here will be too long. Trevorrow and crew were working for a 2014 release, but that certainly seems in doubt now. But if the film is moved to 2015, that puts one more big franchise into a year that is already scheduled to see The Avengers 2, Star Wars: Episode VII, a possible Justice League film, Fantastic Four and Pirates Of The Caribbean 5.

When Craig Robinson, Rob Corddry and Clark Duke jump back into Hot Tub Time Machine 2 their time travelling partner from the first film, John Cusack, won’t be along for the ride. The actor has declined to participate in the sequel, leaving MGM and director Steve Pink to scramble for an alternate fourth cast member. The Wrap is reporting that they might have found that person in Parks And Recreation cast member Adam Scott.

Scott is not being cast into Cusack’s old role, but will be playing a new character. There are no details yet as to how his character will relate to the other three or how the absence of Cusack’s character will be explained.

Although Cusack has never been one for sequels or franchise films, I have to say that I am a bit disappointed in seeing that he is not returning. The original film was such a love letter to the teen comedies of the 1980s (see our Cinematic Swipe for one particular instance) and with Cusack having starred in several iconic films in that genre, his presence in the first film lent some cache to the proceedings. While I am sure that the cast will do as good a job as they did before, I still think that there will be missing a certain vibe that marked the first film.