Warner Bros. Pictures has landed many of the assets of the now defunct Midway Games via a bankruptcy court fire sale reports Variety.
For a cool $33 million, the studio now own the rights to various popular video game franchises such as “Mortal Kombat,” “Spy Hunter,” “Space Invaders,” “Pac-Man,” “Rampage” and “Joust.” The Chicago-based developer was amongst the first firms to manufacture video games over three decades ago and declared bankruptcy earlier this year.
Warners has not revealed what plans they have in store for potential film development of the properties, though they did not purchase the company’s two development studios which would indicate they’ve little interest in continuing on the company’s game franchises.
A film version of “Spy Hunter” and a long in development relaunch of the “Mortal Kombat” film franchise have both been hampered in recent years in their attempts to get made.
Jason Sudeikis (”Saturday Night Live”) is in final negotiations to join the romantic comedy “Going the Distance” for New Line Cinema says The Hollywood Reporter.
Sudeikis will play Box, a friend of Garrett’s (Justin Long) who counsels him against trying to maintain his long-distance relationship with Drew Barrymore’s character.
Charlie Day and Christina Applegate also were recently cast. Geoff LaTulippe penned the script while Nanette Burstein is directing.
Jason Statham will play a sociopathic, destructive cop named Brant in the upcoming film adaptation of Ken Bruen’s novel “Blitz” reports Crimespree Cinema.
Set in South East London, the book follows three different police officers who must deal with their own issues alongside hunting down a serial killer hunting down cops all over the city in a quest for tabloid immortality.
Paddy Considine will be playing Sergeant Porter Nash, an openly gay cop that works with the homophobic Brant. Nathan Parker (”Moon”) adapted the script and Elliott Lester (”Love is a Drug”) is directing.
Chuck Russell (”The Mask,” “The Scorpion King”) is in talks to direct a feature film version of classic 80’s action/comedy cop-themed series “T.J. Hooker” reports Variety.
The Aaron Spelling-produced series starred William Shatner starred as a no-nonsense patrol sergeant. Adrian Zmed, Heather Locklear, Richard Herd and James Darren co-starred.
Brent Maddock and S.S. Wilson (”Wild Wild West”) will pen the script which will focus on the relationship between the title character and his father. David Foster, Ryan Heppe and series creator Rick Husky will produce.
Mekhi Phifer and Jennifer Beals are joining the cast of Fox’s “Lie to Me” after successful guest stints during the crime drama’s first season says The Hollywood Reporter.
Both actors starred in two episodes last year and will reprise the roles, Phifer as a series regular and Beals as a recurring guest star.
Phifer played FBI agent Reynolds, who was brought in to liaise between the Lightman Group and the FBI when the lie-detection specialists are called in to help solve cases that can’t be cracked through traditional investigative tactics.
Beals will continue as Assistant U.S. Attorney Zoe Landau, Cal Lightman’s (Tim Roth) ex-wife and mother of their teenage daughter.
Omelete.com recently spoke with Brandon Routh on the set of “Scott Pilgrim vs. the World” and was asked if he had heard anything about the progress of a “Superman Returns” sequel.
Most surprising from Routh is the news that his contract to play the Man of Steel has expired. In an English translation of the Portugese article by Think McFly Think, Routh says “The contract term has expired. But if they call me again, [I would go] back to the character without thinking twice.”
What about the general progress of the sequel “I do not know of anything. I’m sure that Warner Bros. is moving there, but everything is still uncertain. Really, I do not know anything.”
Routh also admits in the interview that the first film was sadly lacking much in the way of action and feels disappointed the franchise didn’t get a second chance after ‘Returns’ underperformed.
Have you been holding off on buying a Blu-ray player because you think some high-def streaming/download service will make the format obsolete soon? Looks like you’re in for a longer wait than you may have expected.
Studio Briefing reports that according to a study by PriceWaterhouseCoopers, it looks to be at least five years or more before high-definition films comparable to Blu-ray quality can be streamed to home theaters.
The reason? Three simple words – lack of infrastructure. More specifically a lack of high speed online access. The study says that though many homes are connected to video services offering high-def titles, most consumers’ broadband connections are too slow to stream HD video.
Blu-ray discs output video at an average rate of 25-35Mbps. Streaming HD video is compressed even further so it requires a connection of 18-20Mbps to operate at full quality.
Unfortunately the average broadband subscriber’s connection presently sits somewhere around 2.5Mbps.
It was another long day on set as Jennifer Aniston and Gerard Butler filmed a scene in a blue convertable for their upcoming flick, The Bounty, in New York City today (July 6).
Gerard plays a bounty hunter who takes on the assignment of hunting down a fugitive. The “bad guy” turns out to be his ex-wife — played by none other than MissAniston.
It’s an action comedy (emphasis on the “comedy”) and will be out next spring.
In a new interview with the AP, Paula Abdul says that her contract, which expired after the eighth season, has not been renewed.
But before you start celebrating, the 47-year-old judge of musical talent also adds that American Idol has invited her back for a ninth season and beyond — subject to the negotiation of a new contract.
Paula says she hopes a deal can be arranged so she can return to the hit show. We can’t say we do as well.
Looking lovely in lace, Hayden Panettiere was seen arriving at the Ed Sullivan Theater in New York City today (July 6) to tape a segment for the Late Show With David Letterman.
The young starlet is currently promoting her new flick, I Love You, Beth Cooper, but it’s her role on Heroes that currently getting all the buzz.
Rumour has it Hayden’s character will turn lesbian in the next season of the hit NBC show.
The 19-year-old actress, who plays invincible Claire, will be getting up close with her college roommate in series four of the action-packed sci-fi drama.
“It’s just girly fun at first,” a source tells the Daily Star, “But it might progress into something more serious, it depends how viewers respond.”
