Monday, May 18, 2009

Film News: Stargate Faces Extinction?, Thor Gets Ready to Rumble, Bellucci is Magical

- SGA executive producer Joseph Mallozzi leaked the working title of the first Stargate: Atlantis movie via his dogs' Twitter account (yes, you read that correctly) and his own blog. Tentatively titled Stargate: Extinction, the movie's events would follow close upon the events of the Atlantis series finale which saw the team fly the city back to Earth to help defend the planet from an alien attack. The movie is expected to have a straight-to-DVD release like the two 2008 Stargate: SG1 movies did. [Joseph Mallozzi's blog] [Joe's dogs' Twitter]

- Chris Hemsworth, best known for his current role as Captain James Kirk's doomed father in the new Star Trek movie, has been chosen to play the titular thunder god Thor in the movie of the same name.  The anticipated Marvel Studios live-action flick will be directed by Kenneth Branagh and is scheduled for a May 20, 2011 release.  Before starting work on Thor, the Aussie actor will film a remake of Red Dawn. Hemsworth is taking over the lead role of Jed Eckert, a character originally played by Patrick Swayze. Hemsworth's younger brother, Liam, has also received good casting news recently (see below). [SCI FI Wire]

- In "are you KIDDING me?" film news, Ed Westwick of Gossip Girl fame will star as Heathcliff opposite Gemma Arterton (Quantum of Solace) as Cathy Earnshaw in a new silver screen version of Wuthering Heights. That sound you're hearing? It's the sound of this Pop Wench's head exploding with pain. [Hollywood Reporter]

- Monica Bellucci will play a sorceress and Nicolas Cage's long-lost love in Disney and Jerry Bruckheimer's The Sorcerer's Apprentice. Cage headlines the film as a sorcerer "who recuits and trains a young protege to help him fight the forces of darkness in modern-day Manhattan." [Variety]

- Actress Tilda Swinton has signed on star in the film adaptation We Need to Talk About Kevin. Based on a novel by Lionel Shriver, the movie "tells the story of a smart, educated New York mother who does her best to raise a son she never wanted in the first place." The son turns out to be a problem child and causes his mother's marriage to breakdown "before going on a killing spree at his high school with a crossbow." Clearly, this will be the feel-good movie of the year . . . [Hollywood Reporter]

-American Ferrera of Ugly Betty fame is starring in and producing The Dry Land, a movie "which follows a young man's difficulties readapting to small town life following a tour of duty." Ryan O'Nan (The Unusuals) and Melisa Leo (Homicide: Life on the Street) also star in the flick. [Associated Press via Yahoo! News]

- Australian actor Liam Hemsworth has been cast opposite Miley Cyrus in The Last Song, Disney's upcoming adaptation of the Nicholas Sparks novel. Cyrus will play a rebellious teenager forced to spend the summer with the father who abandoned her years ago. Hemsworth plays Cyrus' love interest, a beach vollyball player and member of the "cool crowd" with Ivy League aspirations. [Hollywood Reporter]

- And in case you'd like to meet your Velveeta quotient for the year in one shot, you can watch Mega Shark Vs. Giant Octopus starring '80s pop star Deborah "Debbie" Gibson and Lorenzo Lamas. [MTV]

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