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Sam Raimi to Direct 'World of Warcraft' Adaptation: 'Warcraft'

Posted 7/22/09 6:57 am EST by in News

Sam RaimiWith just a single announcement, a "World of Warcraft" movie went from an eye-rolling geek joke to something any film fan wants to see. What was that stroke of greatness? Sam Raimi!

According to Variety and Ain't It Cool News, the director of a thousand genres has signed on to helm "Warcraft," a live action adaptation of the wildly popular online role-playing game for Warner Bros. The project has been in limbo since Warner Bros. and Legendary Pictures teamed up with Blizzard to develop the game into a big screen adventure. Things have gotten serious now, with Raimi and Charles Roven, producer of "The Dark Knight," both confirmed to be on board. Read More...

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Uma Thurman Dons A Nun's Habit For 'Girl Soldier'

Posted 7/21/09 10:00 am EST by in News

Uma ThurmanUma Thurman never fails to impress me with her effortless ability to genre hop. While she's been playing it pretty loose and goofy since wielding that samurai sword in Quentin Tarantino's "Kill Bill" duology, her next project looks to straighten her right up.

Thurman is set to lend her luminosity to "Girl Soldier," the true and tragic story of 140 Ugandan girls who were kidnapped and enslaved in 1996. According to Variety,, "Soldier" is based on Kathy Cook's firsthand account of the incident, "Stolen Angels." Read More...

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Leonardo DiCaprio Taking Warner Bros To 'The Twilight Zone'

Posted 7/20/09 10:00 am EST by in News

LeonardoDiCaprioIt's been a little over a month since the last Leonardo DiCaprio story, so the busy star must take a summer vacation between projects. Or perhaps director Christopher Nolan is just keeping him really busy working next to Marion Cotilliard? Whatever he's been doing, DiCaprio is fresh and ready to take a journey into "The Twilight Zone."

Variety submits for your approval that DiCaprio and his Appian Way production company will team with Warner Bros. to bring "The Twilight Zone" back to the big screen. They dusted off the property last year, but are taking the first steps of pre-production by hiring screenwriter Rand Ravich ("The Astronaut's Wife") to pen a script. DiCaprio is in good company in revisiting Rod Serling, as Steven Spielberg and John Landis ("An American Werewolf in London") produced the 1983 movie, and both directed segments for the creepy, four-part feature. Read More...

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The Magic of 'Harry Potter' Continues In The Sunday Box Office Report

Posted 7/19/09 6:29 pm EST by in Box Office

Harry Potter1. "Harry Potter and the Half Blood Prince." ($79.5 million)
2. "Ice Age: Dawn of the Dinosaurs" ($17.7 million)
3. "Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen" ($13.8 million)
4. "Bruno" ($8.4 million)
5. "The Hangover" ($8.3 million)

Box office successes! If there is such a cheesy spell, "Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince" doesn't need it because fan devotion and critical enthusiasm has been enough this summer. The film has cast a spell over audiences, with $79.5 million earned so far this weekend, bringing the five day total to $159.7 million. For those not keeping score at home, this is the best debut yet for any Harry Potter installment yet. Read More...

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'Harry Potter' Casts His Spell On The Saturday Box Office

Posted 7/18/09 7:00 pm EST by in Box Office

Harry Potter1. "Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince" ($26.8 million)
2. "Ice Age:Dawn of the Dinosaurs" ($5.4 million)
3. "Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen" ($4.2 million)
4. "Bruno" ($2.9 million)
5. "The Proposal" ($2.7 million)

To the surprise of no one, "Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince" has the top spot so far this weekend. Friday showings nabbed another $26.8 million, giving the boy wizard a cumulative of $107 million in just three days. The sixth Potter installment, "Half-Blood Prince" is set to be the record breaker, and will probably beat the five-day box office take of the previous film, "Order of the Phoenix," which netted an impressive $139.7 million back in 2007. Read More...

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'The Hobbit' Threatened By Tolkien Lawsuit

Posted 7/17/09 9:00 am EST by in News

Guillermo del ToroJust when you thought it was safe to go back to Middle Earth, New Line Cinema and MGM face another lawsuit that could jeopardize production on "The Hobbit." The Guardian reports that J.R.R. Tolkien's heirs are suing the filmmakers for $220 million dollars in unpaid profits from the film trilogy, and trying to terminate further film rights to Tolkien's work due to breach of contract.

"Should the case go all the way to trial, we are confident that New Line will lose its rights to 'The Hobbit,'" said Bonnie Eskenazi, the lawyer working for the author's son Christopher and the family's charity, the Tolkien Trust. Read More...

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Willem Dafoe Joins 'John Carter Of Mars'

Posted 7/16/09 10:00 am EST by in News

Willem DafoeI think it's safe to say that everyone here at the MTV Movies Blog is pretty darn excited about Disney's adaptation of Edgar Rice Burroughs' "John Carter of Mars." The book is a sci-fi classic and the adaptation has Pixar's Andrew Stanton at the helm. It's an epic romance, and it's starring up-and-comers Taylor Kitsch and Lynn Collins. Now you have another reason to be excited about Stanton's adaptation, as the legendary Willem Dafoe has been cast.

According to The Hollywood Reporter, Dafoe is set to play Tars Tarkas. Tarkas is a great Martian warrior and leader, a member of a fairly brutal Martian society called the Tharks-- think Spartans, only with even less of a sense of humor. Read More...

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Alexander Skarsgard And Kate Bosworth Join 'Straw Dogs' Remake

Posted 7/16/09 9:00 am EST by in News

Alexander SkarsgardAlexander Skarsgard may have lost the chance to wield Thor's hammer, but at least he'll get to terrorize the heck out of Cyclops and Lois Lane. According to Variety, Skarsgard and Kate Bosworth are set to costar with James Marsden in "Straw Dogs," Rod Lurie's controversial remake of Sam Peckinpah's 1971 classic thriller.

Peckinpah's original "Dogs" is the tale of a timid college professor named David (Dustin Hoffman) who relocates to his wife's native town of Cornwall. The distant intellectual immediately alienates the local workmen, who take a fancy to his wife Amy, who is herself feeling neglected by her husband. Tension builds between the couple, and between Amy and the workmen (one of whom is her ex-lover), eventually erupting into savage, horrific violence. "Dogs" was extremely controversial when it was released in 1971, and it remains a film of fierce debate. Read More...

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Russell Brand is the Easter Bunny in 'I Hop'

Posted 7/15/09 9:00 am EST by in News

CAPTIONOne could certainly describe Russell Brand as "furry" based purely on his hairstyle... but would you describe him as cuddly and magical? Does his voice inspire thoughts of springtime and Cadbury eggs? Universal and director Tim Hill ("Alvin and the Chipmunks") think so! Variety reports that Brand has signed on to be the voice of the Easter Bunny in "I Hop."

"I Hop" is the story of an unemployed layabout who hits the Easter Bunny with his car one evening. The Bunny isn't squashed like one of his chocolate counterparts might have been, but he does suffer a broken leg which renders him unable to fulfill his holiday duties. Our heroic slacker is thus pressed into action to save Easter. Read More...

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Seth Rogen Loses His 'Green Hornet' After Stephen Chow Drops Out

Posted 7/14/09 1:30 pm EST by in News

Stephen ChowFROM SPLASH PAGE: Seth Rogen’s “The Green Hornet” has seen its share of setbacks, almost all involving Stephen Chow. Now, it appears that “Hornet” has hit yet another delay, and will be in need of a new Kato, the role Chow was set to play.

SpoilerTV has discovered an open casting call for the part of Kato. However, they are looking for a non-specific Asian, and no longer require any martial arts experience — a description that could shed some light on Rogen’s take on the classic character.

In the serials, Kato was a skilled fighter, driver, and mechanic, but not necessarily a master of any martial arts. But after Bruce Lee made the part his own, the tradition has been to have a Kato who was an expert in martial arts. It’s now an iconic part of the character, especially after Quentin Tarantino ran with the imagery with the Crazy 88s in “Kill Bill.”

Continue reading Stephen Chow Drops Out Of ‘The Green Hornet’

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