Movie Minesweeper - The Dance X Versus Sing It Back Edition

- Sergio Leone's Dollars Trilogy Man with No Name is comics courtesy of Dynamite. How apt.

- As previously discussed, Andrew Davies has adapted Fanny Hill for the BBC. It will star Samantha Bond, Hugo Speer and Alison Steadman, the greatest of which is undoubtedly Steadman. She's a genius.

- A clip from I'm Not There is knocking around the wonderful world of YouTube. I saw the link at AintItCool.

- Aaron Eckhart is no fun.

- Nayo Wallace is now one of the Speed Racer crowd, playing Minx, Racer X's girlfriend.

- The Guardian have slammed AintItCool. Personally, I think Knowles' site has a lot of really strong points - and a whole lot of great contacts. So many people submit news bits to them first, how can they help but get the Lion's share of genuine scoops? Obviously, I think I'm doing a pretty good job here at film ick - why else would I bother? I'm getting about 1 hit for every 100,000 at AintItCool however. And to be honest, I'm not sure why I'm not doing a fair bit better.

- Naomi Watts and Clive Owen are the set leads for Tom Tykwer's The International. Oh, Tom Tykwer, Tom Tykwer. Sigh. What can I say about Tom Tykwer? The nearly-Nearly Man? I'm always, always disappointed by his films.

- Baz Luhrmann has answered public questions about Australia (the film, not the country).

- Ray Wise, Bru Muller and Brooke Nevin (I can vouch for one of them) have joined the cast of Infestation.

- Mandy Lane has been pulled from all American release schedules just a week before the expected bow because the theatrical rights have been flogged off by Dimension to Senator. While it shifts over to a new theatrical distributor, we'll be left waiting in confusion for the new date to be set.

- Josh Flitter is Ace Ventura Jr.

- Tartan are going Blu-Ray in the UK with Black Book, Oldboy and The Seventh Seal. It's the worldwide Blu-Ray debut for each.

- My Name is Bruce has proven unfeasibly popular.

- Angelica Huston will be popping up in Choke, as Sam Rockwell's character's mum.

And now I want my dinner. Yep - I eat.

Movie Minesweeper - The Iris Examination Edition

- Anne of Green Gables is coming back. There's a very now casting call out: upload yourself to YouTube if you want to be in it. I saw this story at Cinematical.

- The full list of cinemas showing the new digital rerelease of Goldfinger across the UK has been unveiled.

- The poor chimpanzee actor cast as Chim Chim in Speed Racer doesn't seem to be having a good time. He bit a human actor and was allegedly beaten. PETA are on the case, but their protests seem to be yielding no results so far.

- The new Spider Baby DVD sounds pretty good.

- Danny Boyle is chewing the Slum Dog Millionaire plot over again. Nothing has changed since we last heard about it.

- A selection of Larry Sanders episodes have gone on sale through iTunes. Perhaps if they're a huge success, the remaining installments (the majority - this is a meagre sampling) will get unleashed.

- Michel Gagne is offering a nice insight into the development of just a moment of Ratatouille.

- Woody Allen has revealed a number of cast members from his next film: Scarlett Johansson, Javier Bardem, Penelope Cruz, Patricia Clarkson, Kevin Dunn, Chris Messina, Zak Orth, Carrie Preston, Pablo Schreiber, Abel Folk, Lluis Homar, Joel Joan, Julio Perillan and Mireira Ros.

- The Grey Gardens musical (yep - derived from the Maysles' documentary - what next? A can can version of W.R - Mysteries of the Organism?) is to close at the end of July. Will Drew Barrymore's fiction film adaptation ever happen?

- The Flash Gordon promotional panel has been videotaped and uploaded.

Movie Minesweeper - The Smoking Ban Edition

- Christian Bale is hyping the next Batman film, and somewhat preemptively, the following one.

- Flooding has wrecked a location being used in the shoot of Baz Luhrmann's Australia and the schedule has needed some rapid rejigging as a result.

- Richard Roundtree has been cast in Speed Racer as Ben Burns, racing legend turned commentator.
- Joe Carnahan has posted a photoshopped LA picture to his blog, suggesting the look of White Jazz as well as how easy the retrostyling is going to be. Apparently. There's a special star cameo from Gorgeous George in the picture too.

- Rob Schmidt is to direct a feature film adapted from Stephen King's novel Insomnia. I like Schmidt a lot and I hope he can do a great job, something that can stand comparison to, say, Dark City.

- This infamous Cloverfield film - or whatever it ends up being called - is reportedly being directed by Matt Reeves. We already knew Drew Goddard is writing and J J Abrams producing - which gives us a 1-out-of-3 score, by my reckoning. I bet it isn't as good as Diary of the Dead.

- George Wolfe is directing Blood on the Leaves, while Jamie Foxx is to star and co-produce. The film is an adaptation of Jeffrey Stetson's novel about a conflicyed young attorney. He faces off with a black history professor accused of murderous vengeance against white men who were accused of committing racially motivated attrocities during the civil rights conflicts.

- The SciFi Channel's Tin Man has had it's first preview, and several details have been reported.

- Semi Chellas has been recruited to adapt Michelle Redmond's novel The Year of Fog into a screenplay. I'll place an early bet on Sarah Polley directing.

- Cinematographer Phedon Papamichael is directing From Within, a horror yarn about murderous mystery in a small Christian community. Yep - another one of those.

- TV vet Kevin Dowling has signed to (apparently) direct K-Ville, a New Orleans drama about which I know (or at least recall) little else.

- Jeffrey Wells has posted an audio recording of the entire Shock and Awe: New Wave Exploitation panel discussion from the LA Film Festival. Eli Roth, Jack Hill and Craig Brewer? How can you resist.

- As you probably suspected from the Sid Haig story last week, Rob Zombie's Halloween rehash has undergone some reshoots. What surprised me, a little at least, is how extensive these reshoots are: six new kills and an entirely remodelled finale.

- Latino Review are shamelessly hawking The Losers in the guise of a script review. They certainly seem to have some incredible contacts at Latino Review, but their script reviews make me feel ill. They seem to lap up anything as long as it is puerile, juvenile or adolescent and then forego any kind fo meaningful commentary or insight heap nauseating hyperbole all over the script instead. Every crappy comic book adaptation and toy tie-in is labelled 'dope', or 'the bomb'? Shameless.

- Jaime Lee Curtis is to play a human being in South of the Border.

- There's a Star Wars themed burlesque show coming to Dallas in which the performer dresses as Princess Leia in her metal bikini thing. I saw the link at TheForceDotNet.

- Hamas have killed off their Mickey Mouse lookalike. He died 'as a martyr' while 'protecting' his land from and Israeli 'terrorist'.

- The Simpsons' Jay Kogen is in talks to direct a straight-to-TV teen comedy film for MTV. The idea is to create modern equivalents to John Hughes' output, premiere them on the box and then push them to DVD - with even a theatrical release mentioned as a possibility. An incredibly remote possibilty, I imagine.

Where The Toy Things Are

The first image from Where the Wild Things Are has popped up online and, yep, it looks really quite exciting indeed. I've popped it below with more snaps from the New York Toyfare. There's Beowulf and the Hulk's silhouette, and if you go over to the coverage at Wizard, you can see plenty more - including well distributed, much discussed, boring snaps of vehicles from The Dark Knight and Speed Racer. Yawn.

But this Wild Things image. Now. There's something, eh?

Movie Minesweeper - The Mini Minesweeper

I've just found out the UK press screening of Transformers coincides with a Wedding I not only have to attend, I have to 'film'. Very disappointing.

Here's a small-ish Minesweeper update to take my mind off of the disappointment.

- Michael Apted has signed on to direct Voyage of the Dawn Treader. Where were those Neil Burger rumours coming from? And where did they vanish to?

- Zac Efron's debut star vehicle is Seventeen, pitched as Big in reverse and written by Bringing Down the House's Jason Filardi. Which only reminds me how much I love Big and don't like Bringing Down the House at all. Interestingly, Efron is already making weak excuses for his non-involvement in Haunted High School Musical in the mini-interview. Why can't people just be honest about their real motivations?

- The Ridley Scott/Monopoly story has been bouncing around for at least nine days. I didn't buy it then, and I don't buy it now. Though I do know exactly how it could work and... actually, I've just cracked it. A great idea for a Monopoly movie. Hmmmm.... I'll probably have forgotten it by morning, but at least I won't be so cynical about the movie now. Probably.

- Melvil Poupaud is to play a race commentator in Speed Racer.

- SlashFilm has saved our memories and imaginations the bother by putting John Lennon and Yoko Ono alongside Dane Cook and Jessica Alba.

- Jim Broadbent has confirmed his Indy IV role - a Professor at Yale. Teeny cameo? I hope not.

- Talking of that Jones boy, MTV have the first look at Lego Indy. Tee and indeed hee.

- The AV Club have spoken to Joe Dante. Read it.

- The estate of Dr. Seuss have refused to sanction the name Sam I Am for Christina Applegate's new show. The replacement? Samanth Be Good. Better.

- Paul Reubens has a role in Todd Solondz' new film. That strikes me as a perfect combination.

- This all comes from Variety: Harvey Keitel, Willem Dafoe, Bruno Ganz and Valeria Golino (three and a half out of four is pretty grand) are to star in Theo Angelopoulos' Dust of Time. Meanwhile, Susan Nettlebeck has cast Gillian Anderson and Jeffrey Dean Morgan in Helen.

- Disney aren't the only US animation house forging alliances in India. Time Warner are also up to the same trick.

Speed Racer Synopsis

Warners issued the following synopsis for Speed Racer, but left out the big spoiler. I'll add that on at the end, so tread carefully.

Speed Racer (Emile Hirsch) is a natural behind the wheel. Born to race cars, Speed is aggressive, instinctive and, most of all, fearless. His only real competition is the memory of the brother he idolized—the legendary Rex Racer—whose death in a race has left behind a legacy that Speed is driven to fulfill.

Speed is loyal to the family racing business, led by his father, Pops Racer (John Goodman), the designer of Speed's thundering Mach 5. When Speed turns down a lucrative and tempting offer from Royalton Industries, he not only infuriates the company's maniacal owner (Roger Allam) but uncovers a terrible secret—some of the biggest races are being fixed by a handful of ruthless moguls who manipulate the top drivers to boost profits. If Speed won't drive for Royalton, Royalton will see to it that the Mach 5 never crosses another finish line.

The only way for Speed to save his family's business and the sport he loves is to beat Royalton at its own game. With the support of his family and his loyal girlfriend, Trixie (Christina Ricci), Speed teams with his one-time rival—the mysterious Racer X (Matthew Fox)—to win the race that had taken his brother's life: the death-defying, cross-country rally known as The Crucible.

And here comes that SPOILER - Racer X is in fact Speed's brother. Rex/Racer X - geddit? I guess many people know this by now...?

Movie Minesweeper - The Hot In The City, Supposedly, Edition

- AintItCool are reporting that DVDRama are reporting that Takeshi Kaneshiro is to take the lead role in Onimusha. Reportedly. Fair enough: he's the model for the videogame character after all.

- The script review for Prince of Persia over at LatinoReview is one of their typically sycophantic plugs for what, in fact, sounds like quite a dreadfully dull film. It seems like every last ream of banal geek fodder scriptwriting ends up on the table at LatinoReview - and almost all of the time, they shower these screenplays with praise.

- Tom Shadyac has blown his top over the marketing for Evan Almighty. According to Nikki Finke's piece, his main beef seems to be that there's not enough TV advertising for the film - though this may well be as a result of him taking the film over budget. And she does explain a history that seems like a more substantial excuse for his behavior too.... but what a shame we're even discussing this story and not resting comfortably, confident that good worth of mouth will turn the film into a genuine hit and not just a big opener.

- Three short plays by Ethan Coen are to premiere at The Atlantic Theater next January.

- Reuters have a video press conference regarding Speed Racer. Most of the major players appear, as does the Mach 5 in a weird FX moment.

- A LucasArts games division spokesperson (apparently - it isn't clear who exactly) has revealed that an upcoming Wii game will feature lightsabre battles. That's right: wield your Wii wand like a lightsabre. Even more cash tills will ring out the Nintendo anthem.

- If I Know Who Killed Me doesn't tank outright, scriptwriter Jeff Hammond's plans for sequels and prequels may well come to fruition.

- Tobe Hooper's next is to be Tequila Joe, scripted by Dan Madigan and, apparently, planned for a theatrical release. Fingers crossed.

- Some of the Family Guy/Star Wars show is currently streaming on YouTube. A preview, if you will.

- A would-be moviestar who put his genitals in a mousetrap - which then, of course, snapped shut - is suing Adam Corolla and Jimmy Kimmel, claiming they owe him $10 million. Of course, there's some kind of backstory that makes sense of this...

- The organisers of the New York Asian Film Festival appear to have been a little naive. They cooked up a handshake agreement to advertise Midway Games as their sponsor for the year, but after receiving a whole load of free publicity Midway have apparently reneged on the deal (I think there's a moral to this story, don't you?). If you want to join in, TwitchFilm are calling for a boycott of the upcoming John Woo/Midway game Stranglehold, which could be an effective strike against the publisher, if word spreads far enough.

Movie Minesweeper - The How Much Can I Get Done Before House Starts Edition

- Doug Jones is blogging the production of Hellboy 2. He reveals that one of his characters, the Angel of Death, is a she and that Anna Walton has been cast as Princess Nuala, seemingly a love interest for Abe Sapien.

- ComingSoon's SuperheroHype 'imprint' have run a very hi-res picture of The Joker as per the USA Today story of a few days back. [EDIT: Link changed. No idea what was wrong last time... worked for me]

- Talking of USA Today, they have a Speed Racer piece with interview quotes and a pic of the Mach 5. Looks fairly authentic to my disinterested eye.

- Apparently, Karen Allen is denying she's even been contacted about Indiana Jones and the Maguffin of Unsafe Stunt Work. Of course, Shia played the same game for a while.

- Similarly, Shwnee Smith is denying she's in Saw 4 but BloodyDisgusting are insisting she is. Is her very appearance a plot twist? Are BloodyDisgusting barking up the wrong tree? Does anybody care about the Saw films anymore? I'll place my chips on a) she is in the film and b) I know I don't care, I'm assuming you're over it all too.

- Barry Lyndon is being left out of the Hi-Def Kubrick box set. Why?

And now, House is on. So I'm off.

Put Your Slicks On: Rain For Speed Racer

The Hollywood debut of Korean superstar Rain is set to be in Speed Racer. Who knows what he'll be - another racer? A race-starter, like Pink in the second Charlie's Angels film? A pop star performing before the big race?

I pretty much expected this kind of casting from the Wachowskis. There might even be a few more Asian superstars under wraps, too. Are The Twins passe now?

Trixie And X Still Open, Place Your Bets Now

According to the trades, John Goodman and Susan Sarandon are about to sign deals to play the parents of Speed Racer. His girlfriend Trixie and nemesis Racer X are still open, however.

Mary Elizabeth Winstead and Jason Statham? Camilla Belle and Luke Wilson? Emma Roberts and Joseph Gordon Levitt?

You know, I just don't care as long as Alan Cumming reprises his role as Gazoo.

Prima Donna Efron

Just like we told you: Zac Efron lost the lead in Speed Racer because he plays the Diva card a little too often. I wonder how Emile Hirsch feels knowing he was a backup plan?

Emile Hirsch Leaving Zac Efron In The Dust

Emile Hirsch is in final negotiations to take the lead role in Speed Racer. Zac Efron does appear to have been the first choice, but, according to the rumour mongering birds out there, his High School Musical contract was too tight and dates couldn't be shifted.

From what I hear, however, Efron might well have the last laugh as all manner of high profile roles are being sniffed out for him in preperation for the High School sing-a-long being over later this year.

Good luck to them both.

[EDIT: The BBC have gotten a little confused. Forget Emile, they're claiming that Judd Hirsch has the part]

Zac Efron Is Speed Racer?

Apparently so.