Cinematical

It's funny how little things can make a big difference. When the first poster was released from the big-screen version of Max Payne, I have to tell you; I was pretty underwhelmed. But my opinion of the design has improved now that I've gotten a gander at the two new posters for the flick (see larger versions of both in the gallery below). Although, I have to ask, who knew that Mr. Payne was such a 'shoe-gazer'? The original Max seemed a bit more thick-skinned than his feature film version; Wahlberg makes the man look downright depressed at times.

Mark Wahlberg stars as Payne, a cop who has lost his family and partner at the hands of a powerful crime syndicate. When he is left to his own devices, our hero sets out on a mission of revenge for his loved ones, and discovering some unnatural secrets along the way. Starring alongside Wahlberg are Mila Kunis (Forgetting Sarah Marshall) as Mona Sax, Beau Bridges as Payne's friend and mentor, and Chris 'Ludacris' Bridges as an IA agent.

We finally got a look at the trailer back in July, and if you are fan of the series, you probably noticed that the film has taken it's look from the original game. Payne was directed by John Moore, who has the dubious credit of being behind the remake of The Omen back in 2006. But, to be fair, the flick seems like an easy sell. Wahlberg seems suited to the more 'violent' strain of moviemaking. Plus, once you throw in the pre-existing fan base, and competition-free release date, Fox should be able to rake in some serious dough.

Max Payne will arrive in theaters on October 17th.

It has not been a good week on the "Movies Elisabeth Wants To See" front. First there was that wretched news that Warner Bros isn't particularly interested in RocknRolla, then Harry Potter and the Half Blood Prince was delayed a whole year. And now, producer Gary Lucchesi told SciFi Wire that Game has been pushed back to the increasingly crowded summer of 2009.

Game is a futuristic thriller directed by the insane duo of Mark Neveldine and Brian Taylor, and stars the ever-so-lovely Gerard Butler. While he's reason enough to see it, it's also the kind of frantic, maniacal movie making we've come to expect from Neveldine and Taylor. We were treated to some footage at ComicCon, and it was a hell of a lot of fun. Later in that same day, Butler described it (and his directors) as being not only in tune with Internet, science, and pop culture, but having a nightmarish sensibility. "You're literally walking around the set at night and there are people hanging with hooks coming out of their skin and that's your day filming. There's blood dripping. I had blood on me. These people did it for fun." Come on! Who doesn't want to see that right now?

Well, if wishes were horses, and all that. Lucchesi said we should get a teaser by Christmas, and a solid date will be set very soon. But that doesn't satisfy me -- and so I'm just going to abandon my posting duties to build a time machine, and travel to the Summer of 2009. I'll wait around for The Road and Australia, of course, but I fully intend to skip ahead a year to see Harry Potter, Wolverine, and Game. I'd come back bearing Star Trek news, but frankly, I would rather not return to a bleak Colorado winter. Especially when the movie selection is getting thinner and thinner.

Ladies, get ready for Jake "Prince of Persia" Gyllenhaal! Just Jared has nailed the first set photos from the highly-anticipated Prince of Persia: The Sands of Time, based on the popular video game in which a Prince does ... stuff ... God does he look hot, or what!? Okay, for realz now -- Jake plays a young Prince named Dastan who must team with a feisty and exotic Princess (Gemma Arterton) and stop an evil ruler from destroying the world. Something tells me this is one film where looks will definitely kill. Check out two more photos below, then the rest over at Just Jared. Prince of Persia: The Sands of Time will hit theaters on May 28, 2010.



And speaking of guys who look good with their shirt off and shoot movies based on video games, 20th Century Fox has put out a few new promotional pics from Max Payne, starring Mark Wahlberg and Mila Kunis. In the film, based on yet another popular video game, Wahlberg stars as a guy whose family was killed and, well, he's out to kick some ass. Kunis plays a hottie assassin out to avenge the death of her sister. Together, these two are the kind of nuts you wouldn't want to meet in a dark alley -- but you'd definitely want to meet in a darkened movie theater. Max Payne hits theaters on October 17. Check out the new pics below.



Keanu and a spaceship after the jump ...

You know the old saying "You can't keep a good man down"? Well, it would appear that the same applies to big-budget video game flicks. Eurogamer recently spoke with id Software CEO Todd Hollenshead, and according to him the big-screen version of the popular first-person shooter Return to Castle Wolfenstein is still on and in development. It has been a year since Oscar winner Roger Avary was signed to write and direct, but in spite of the delays it looks like the project is back on the front burner.

Wolfenstein takes place in Nazi-occupied Europe and revolves around Army Ranger William "B.J." Blazkowicz. Along with another agent, Blazkowicz is sent to discover the truth about the SS Paranormal Division. Taking the role of Blazkowicz, the player must escape the Nazi stronghold while investigating the activities of the SS Paranormal Division, which include research on resurrecting corpses, and various secret weapons -- providing players with hours of gruesome fun.

A feature film version of the game has been a long time coming, with rumblings of a feature going back almost three years. According to Hollenshead, "With the writer's strike it took so long to get underway and Roger Avary, the writer, had a commitment that was in line before working the Wolfenstein stuff, but I've recently been in contact with Roger and he's actually working on the script right now." Avary hasn't had the best of luck lately, personal or professional, so for his sake I hope Wolfenstein manages to pull itself out of development limbo.

Return to Castle Wolfenstein is tentatively scheduled for release in 2010.

Here are some Fanboy nuggets for you to chew on ...

Halo: The Fall of Reach -- While that old Halo movie is dead and buried, the property may still have a little life left when it comes to a big-screen adaptation. Stuart Beattie wrote a draft of a script based on the 2001 novel by Eric Nylund, which served as a prequel to the first game in the series. Now, Latino Review has snagged a piece of concept art from Kasra Farahani (Wolf Man, Spider-Man 3, Hancock) that's accompanying Beattie's script and will be part of an eventual presentation to Microsoft. Click on the image above to see a larger version over at LR. Hang on Halo fans, they're trying to make this happen for ya ...

Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen -- We now know what Shia LaBeouf's next ride might be, and it's definitely not a used 2001 Honda Accord. Oh no, CHUD reports that Megatron will be back in the sequel! Not a giant reveal, I know, but they also claim -- possible spoilers -- that the baddie from the first film might come back to help the Autobots defeat "a new menace." (Some say that menace is The Fallen, some say it's LaBeouf's future parole officer -- we'll check our sources and get back to you.) Not only that, but Megatron might return as a tank this time. Hopefully said tank will offer up enough protection from, ya know, tight corners and multiple shots of whiskey.

More Mummy and Justice League still has a pulse after the jump ...

Well, for all of us out there waiting for Jake Gyllenhaal to don the infamous puffy pants for Prince of Persia: The Sands of Time, it turns out we are going to have to wait a lot longer than we thought. Variety announced yesterday that Disney has scrapped their original release date of June 19, 2009 for the big-screen adaptation of Ubisoft's best-selling game, and has pushed the release back to May, 2010 (that's right, almost a full year later). Disney has a lot riding on the production, and are hoping to turn it into their next big franchise -- so why the delay?

The official word from Disney was that the change was required to "to allow plenty of time for post-production considering that the tent pole will require extensive special effects to create its fantasy world and set pieces." Not to mention that the delay gives producer Jerry Bruckheimer and Disney some wiggle room in the event of an actor's strike. But the more logical reason for the delay was that if Persia kept its original release date, it would be going up against Transformers 2: Revenge of the Fallen -- and I think we all know who would win that box-office battle.

So what 'summer behemoth' will Persia battle instead? The lucky winner is Shrek Goes Fourth; which will probably prove to be an easier opponent for the video game flick at the box office. Director Mike Newell just started shooting on location in Morocco last week, and then will head off to London to finish the film. Now, if we can just get the film into theaters, we are all set.

Prince of Persia: The Sands of Time will now open in theaters on May 28th, 2010.

You would think that if Legend Films was looking to improve the general opinion of their big-screen reboot of Street Fighter, they would have picked some more exciting photos to tease us with. Legend is now hosting a new gallery of behind-the-scenes photos for the video game flick, and, well, they're a little underwhelming. The shots are mostly comprised of the sets and a few extras, but there are a couple of recognizable faces (including Robin Shou and Kristen Kreuk) in the bunch. However, on the upside, we do get a glimpse of action to tide us over.

Street Fighter: The Legend of Chun-Li centers on everyone's favorite "Hyakuretsu Kyaku" expert and Interpol Agent (as played by Kreuk). When her mentor and Tai Chi Master (played by Shou) is murdered by criminals, she goes on a quest for revenge. Justin Marks' script takes the character in a more realistic direction and even throws in some gangsters to go along with SF's usual baddies; Bison (Neal McDonough), Vega (Black Eyed Peas singer Taboo), and Balrog (Michael Clarke Duncan).

So even though I have yet to see anything that makes me think the film could work, I'll have to reserve judgment until I see something a little more final than a few on-set photos and the occasional blog entry. After all, isn't that what trailers are for?

Street Fighter: The Legend of Chun-Li is scheduled for release February 27, 2009.

[Thanks: Coming Soon]

I'm sure you've all heard about the upcoming Ghostbusters video game (we've talked about it here and here), and how this was as close as we were going to get to a Ghostbusters III since, well, it was an all new story and all four Ghostbusters (Bill Murray, Harold Ramis, Dan Aykroyd and Ernie Hudson) were reprising their roles (in voice form) for the game. Not only that, but Annie Potts, William Atherton and Brian Doyle-Murray lent their voices too. Sadly, both Sigourney Weaver and Rick Moranis did not join the party. The script for the game was written by Ramis and Aykroyd (who wrote both Ghostbusters live-action movies), and, well, a lot of your favorite ghosts (like Slimer, Gozer, Stay Puft Marshmallow Man and Vigo) will make an appearance, along with a brand new enemy.

All that being said, the game's trailer can be seen up top -- and it features that totally retro '80s trailer voice with scenes from the live-action movies alongside those same scenes in the video game. Very cool stuff. The game itself (which I believe hits stores on October 14th) looks pretty damn cool, and if this is the only sequel we're going to get, then, well, I'm game. How about you?

[via Spout]

According to Variety, Warner Bros and Capcom (who is becoming very hands on with its movie adaptations) are teaming up to bring an adaptation of Lost Planet to the big screen. The script is to be penned by David Hayter, who is fresh off Watchmen.

Funnily enough, Variety is describing the story as revolving around an expedition to an ice planet that harbors an energy source which could save all of mankind. Well, I've never played this, but just looking at the cover proves that to be an understatement. What would he need that big gun for if it's just a simple expedition?

Well, obviously there's more to it than that. It actually follows a group of snow pirates who battle the local nasties, the Akrid, to obtain the precious commodity known as thermal energy. (This is why it's easier to be a pirate in the Caribbean.) One pilot, Wayne, is rescued from an untimely death, and has an unfortunate case of amnesia. He can only remember bits and pieces of his past, including the death of his father by the monstrous Akrid. But as he searches for the truth of his attack, he uncovers a conspiracy that could destroy not only the Akrid, but all the snow pirates. Now that sounds like a more promising movie. Hopefully, some of you readers have played the game, and can sound off on whether it deserves to be on the big screen or not.

I've been to a few conventions before, here in Philly, a couple in New York, and one hazy weekend in legendary Mesquite, Texas. Horror, sci-fi, comic books, and tons of awesome geeks enjoying their own personal flavor of colorful nerd-dom. I enjoy these events, even though my own style of fandom prohibits me from dressing up like Bib Fortuna or Jayne Cobb. (I like to be amicably cynical at these events, so if I happen to make fun of your Buffy costume, please understand it's all in good fun.)

So this past weekend I spent a little while perusing through the San Diego Comic-Con schedule, and here's what I've got a red circle on:

-- First off, I will try to interview the female lead of Fox's The Day the Earth Stood Still remake. I'll be bringing a pair of defibrillator paddles just in case she smiles while I'm in the room.

-- There's an event focusing on the new thriller Mirrors, which I wasn't that psyched for -- until I remembered who the director was. Plus if you don't like Kiefer Sutherland I suspect you're an evil communist robot.

-- The Masters of the Web Panel is either going to be hilarious or it's going to devolve into the geekiest bar brawl you've ever seen. Our own Erik Davis will be discussing the state of internet movie nerd-dom with guys from JoBlo's, CHUD, AICN, IESB, Bloody-Dee, The Movie Blog, Movieweb, Latino Review, and (of course!) Dark Horizons. And since I know most of those lunatics, this should be one amusing little discussion panel.

Much like the characters in the best-selling game, Castlevania is the movie that will not die. So far the film has undergone personnel changes and became one of the many causalities of the writers strike; but you can't keep a so-so idea down, and it looks like the project is up and running again. Talk of the film has surfaced again now that a script review for Paul W.S. Anderson's screenplay has appeared over at CC2K -- But I should warn you, it's not looking good.

Early previews on Kotaku, described the script as the story of an, "adult Trevor Belmont who, with his fellow "battle-hardened" brother Christopher, is ordered by his king-through man of god Lucius-to dispatch you-know-who." But, according to CC2K's tipster, the latest incarnation of the story is more of a rip-off of Bram Stoker's Dracula with very few similarities to the Belmonts that fans know and love.

Originally, Anderson was going to direct as well as handle the script, but as we all know, he later dropped the project to work on Death Race. Enter Sylvain White (Stomp the Yard) to take over directing duties, and who is still committed to the project despite the lack of a solid start date.

Having never played the games, I can't say I'm all that worried about the changes Anderson has potentially made to the Castlevania 'canon'. But I know that fans probably feel a little differently; so get it all off your chest, believe me, you'll feel better.

[Thanks: Ain't It Cool News]

Right on! Now I want to see that movie!

We usually don't go posting video game trailers on Cinematical, but this happens to be Star Wars related and it also happens to look hella cool. Entertainment Weekly has posted the first trailer for Star Wars: The Force Unleashed, a game in which you play as Darth Vader's apprentice -- kicking ass, taking names. It also seems like a pretty cool story, one I bet a lot of us would've liked to see up on the big screen. Based on the trailer, the game looks to feature a reversal on the Anakin Skywalker story. Instead of a main character who's eventually seduced by the Dark Side, we have a guy who starts out bad and eventually turns against those who taught him, like Vader.

I have a bunch of Star Wars video games in my collection, most of which I never finished because those damn games distract the hell out of me. And then I don't write. And then you don't get movie news. And then the world collapses and we all wind up selling turtle droppings on the side of a road in New Mexico somewhere. But anyway, I really liked the Revenge of the Sith video game because you got to go nuts with the lightsaber. The Force Unleashed looks similar and, well, I don't know about you, but anything featuring Darth Vader wins some of the money in my wallet.

Star Wars: The Force Unleashed hits shelves September 16. Will you be making the purchase?

The first trailer for Max Payne has arrived online, and it looks pretty good. Based on the popular video game (of which I've played some), Payne stars Mark Wahlberg as a former NYC detective whose family was murdered. Three years later, he finds himself working undercover for the DEA deep inside the Punchinello crime family. So he's got issues and he's got a pretty important (and dangerous) gig -- something is bound to go wrong.

The game itself includes slo-mo scenes -- kinda like that Matrix stuff -- and based on this trailer, it seems we'll get a fair amount of it in the film (which also seems to have a Sin City sorta vibe to it too). It definitely looks highly-stylized, which seemed to work for this summer's Wanted. John Moore directs, after giving us films like Behind Enemy Lines and The Omen, while the very beautiful Mila Kunis co-stars alongside other folks like Beau Bridges, Ludacris and Chris O'Donnell (who it's nice to see back on the big screen as of late).

Check out the trailer above, and let us know what you think -- especially for those fans of the video game. Can Max Payne become one of those rare successful video game adaptations? It hits theaters on October 17.

They say truth is stranger than fiction. To that I say "you obviously haven't seen Naked Lunch," but reality is certainly a fertile ground for film makers and today we've got five trailers for films based, to varying degrees, on real events.

The Perfect Game
I've never enjoyed watching sports so baseball movies usually leave me cold, but this one has a couple of things going for it: a true tale of a bunch of kids rising up from poverty to become world champions, and former drug culture icon Cheech Marin playing a priest. Based on true events, a former coach for the St. Louis Cardinals (Clifton Collins Jr.) takes a group of poor Mexican kids under his wing and teaches them the fine art of baseball, which ultimately leads them to the 1957 Little League World Series. There are the usual sports metaphors: "Love ain't like baseball," says Collins' character. "Yes it is," replies one of his bright eyed proteges. I'm teetering between cute and cringe-inducing on that one, but this kind of rags to riches story is pretty appealing and the period setting is pretty cool. The Perfect Game hits theaters on August 8.

Call me crazy, but 90 minutes of Milla Jovovich doing anything is worth watching -- doubly so when her activities deal with zombies, monsters, and ridiculous high-tech weaponry. Yes -- deep sigh -- I'm a (slightly) reluctant fan of the Resident Evil series. (Yep, there's even some stuff I like in Part 2. Like Sienna Guillory.) When I'm writing or net-browsing or playing hours of Zuma, I often like to have a familiar movie playing in the background (like most people do with, um, music) and the Resident Evil flicks fit the bill quite nicely sometimes. (Depending on my mood, of course. Last night my relaxation movie was The Mask of Zorro.)

So it's my relative fandom for the series that leads me to share this half-piece of semi-news: According to the always-fun MTV Movies Blog, series master Paul W.S. Anderson has started speaking to Sony about a Resident Evil 4. And don't even dare act surprised when a series that grossed this much money moves forward on another adventure. How many Police Academy movies were there? (OK, bad example that isn't exactly helping my argument, but I seriously lost count. There were about 28 Police Academy movies? Or it only felt like that many.) Mr. Anderson doles out the reliable "Oh, once we get a good script ... We're not gonna do it just to do it" schpiel, which means he's probably about three weeks away from hiring a writer.