JAMES PUREFOY JOINS SF ADVENTURE "JOHN CARTER OF MARS"

Disney's adaptation of "John Carter of Mars" keeps getting bigger and bigger. After signing in an amazing group of actors including Taylor Kitsch, Lynn Collins, Willem Dafoe, Dominic West, Samantha Morton and Polly Walker to star in the movie, now they've added three more to the cast.
James Purefoy will play Cantos Kan, the captain of the Xavarian, the kingdom of Helium's grand warship. Thomas Haden Church also joins the film as Tal Hajus, an ambitious and vicious Thark warrior who wants to be a ruler. The third new addition to the cast is Mark Strong who will portray Matai Shang, the ruler of the Thems, with a godlike status.
You can read more about the story of the whole movie in Hollywood Spy's previous update on "John Carter of Mars".
The movie is set to premiere in Summer 2012.

BEYONCE IN THE REMAKE OF "A STAR IS BORN"?

It seems that Warner Bros. is planning a remake of "A Star is Born", since they hired Will Fetters to draft a screenplay. According to The Hollywood Reporter, it will be a story set in the record business, and will focus on a showbiz ingenue who falls in love with a well known male music star, but then their careers move in opposite directions. Although nothing is official, the name of world's biggest music star Beyonce has been appearing in the gossips in connection with the lead role. The studio thinks that the modern era of celebrities who are followed by the media 24 hours a day makes it the perfect time for this project.
So will Beyonce portray Barbra Streisand's role from the 1976 classic? This year was tremendously successful for her since she had an amazing number of six world wide smash hits "If I Were a Boy", "Halo", "Single Ladies", "Sweet Dreams", "Diva" and now "Broken Hearted Girl", so maybe it's time to jump into a movie again for a change?

"THE HOST", A NEW SF MOVIE FOR ANDREW NICCOL

Andrew Niccol ("Gattaca", "The Truman Show", "S1mOne"), , whom we've been mentioning these days quite a lot, has just signed on to write a screenplay and direct an adaptation of Stephenie Meyer's novel "The Host" which was released only this Spring.
It is a love story set in the near future on Earth which has been conquered by an alien parasite species that call themselves "Souls". One such "Soul" gets fused with a dying human in an attempt to locate the last pocket of surviving humans on Earth.
It apparently wasn't easy at all getting the movie rights on this sf novel. But I must admit, the story sounds like something totally fit for Andrew Niccol's elegant and creative directorial vision.

UBER COOL PICTURE OF PAUL BETTANY IN "PRIEST"

Here's a cool new pic of Paul Bettany in costume at the set of his upcoming sf/horror "Priest". Along with Karl Urban, Stephen Moyer, Cam Gigandet and gorgeous Madchen Amick, Paul stars as a priest hunting down a gang of vampires who have kidnapped his niece.
I must admit I love how Paul looks like in this movie.
PS click on the picture to see it in full size.

FIRST CAST PICTURES FROM EPIC SAGA "THE PILLARS OF THE EARTH"

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EXCLUSIVE NEW PICS FROM "BEN HUR" ABC's UPCOMING NEW MINI-SERIES

"Hollywood Spy" wrote about the upcoming mini-series "Ben Hur" a few months ago, but here's the new update with fresh pictures. Click on the above image to read the story.

NICOLE KIDMAN UNDERGOING A SEX CHANGE IN "THE DANISH GIRL"

FirstShowing.net has announced that Nicole Kidman has officially signed on to play in "The Danish Girl" an adaptation of David Ebershoff's book. It describes the life of Einar Wegener or Lili Elbe, who was the first person back in 1931 to undergo a sex change operation. Nicole Kidman will portray Einar, while Charlize Theron decided to drop out of the project although it was initially planned for her to play Einar's wife.
Interesting I say. Nicole is now known as an actress who likes choosing very strange and unusual roles, but I have to say that I don't see her capable of delivering the deep inner conflicts of her character that would make us symphatize with the problems described in the movie. She's just too cold and reserved for such a role, but we shall see. Maybe she will surprise us.

COLIN FIRTH IN "THE KING'S SPEECH"

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WENTWORTH MILLER IN "RESIDENT EVIL: AFTERLIFE"

Just when I thought that thanks to the popularity gained in "Prison Break" charismatic and talented Wentworth Miller would get himself some interesting Hollywood roles, he found an episode one in a who-knows -which -sequel in a not-that -good franchise.
He will apparently play in "Resident Evil: Afterlife". He will be a guy whom Milla Jovovich and Ali Larter will lock up in a jail not knowing whether he is one of the zombies or not. In the movie, Milla continues with her efforts to expose the virus which could cause the extinction of the whole mankind, so while roaming the world she comes upon a jail in ruined L.A. surrounded by the half-dead creatures.
Paul W.S. Andreson will direct again and the movie is supposed to come out in summer 2010.

"THOR" GETS SOME NEW ACTORS

According to THE HOLLYWOOD REPORTER Kenneth Branagh has found himself two new actors for his adaptation of "Thor".
Jaimie Alexander (I've never heard about her before) will play Sif, skilled Asgardian warrior who knows how to fight and was once Thor's love.
Colm Feore has also signed to star in the film, and his role is still unknown but he will probably play a villain.
The movie will off course be about Thor, a reckless warrior who causes an ancient war among gods so they send him down to Earth to live with humans. There he will learn what it takes to be a real hero when he has to protect the humans from a villain from his home Asgard.
I must admit I've lost interest in this movie since the casting started. I don't like any of the actors chosen so far, they all seem to lack charisma and personality.

EXCLUSIVE CONCEPT ART PICTURES FROM SF THRILLER "THE CROSS"

Here are the first concept art pictures from Andrew Niccol's future sf thriller "The Cross" published over at First showing. net. We've already mentioned this movie a few months ago. Starring Orlando Bloom, Vincent Cassel and Olga Kurylenko, this is a story about a strange strongly guarded crossing in some futuristic society which the main hero in the film has to cross somehow. Defying all adds he menages to become the first one to cross it, and he becomes the first one to come back ... back to his love.

HOORAY! TONI COLLETTE WINS EMMY AWARD FOR HER AMAZING ROLE IN "UNITED STATES OF TARA"

Finally some justice! Toni Collette won an Emmy last night for best outstanding actress in a comedy series. Last year she amazed us all with her charismatic portrayal of a mother with multiple personalities in "United States of Tara". The role, written by Diablo Cody, is one those profound and multilayered ones which can be tackled only by the most talented of actors. Toni Collette did it so flawlessly and with such stunning ease that her victory is without a doubt one of the most deserved ones in the history of Emmy awards.
Toni was previously nominated for Emmies, Oscars, Baftas and she won a Golden Globe at the beginning of her career.
Looking gorgeous in her red gown she was presented the Emmy by equally gorgeous Justin Timberlake.

"GLEE" SCORES SUCCESS IN THE MUSIC CHARTS AS WELL

It seems that we were right when we predicted that the new musical teenage TV show "Glee" might have a huge success in the music market as well. Few weeks ago they sang their version of Rihanna's "Take a Bow" and now the song has hit Billboard's top 50 chart. After the show's premiere at the beginning of September, that song scored 53,000 downloads.
What's more, "Don't Stop Believing", a song that they covered in their pilot episode back in May, has entered the chart this week again. In the week after the pilot was aired this spring, this song got amazing 177,000 downloads. So it seems that the teenage musical misfits from "Glee" are not at all misfits when it comes to selling music to their TV fans.

MEDIEVAL ACTION ADVENTURE MOVIE "IRONCLAD" STARTS SHOOTING NEXT MONTH

Back in April HOLLYWOOD SPY had published an exclusive story on the new medieval adventure "Ironclad". It is now official: the shooting starts next month in Wales. Directed by Jonathan English and starring James Purefoy as a knight Templar and Paul Giamatti as king John, this medieval action tells the story of a group of brave warriors who had to defend their castle from king John and his invading army in the 13th century.
Although he was forced to sign famous Magna Carta by his barons, giving more rights to the free-men, the despised king didn't follow his word. He assembled himself an army of mercenaries with the intention to bring the country back under his tyrannical rule. Rochester castle stood mighty in his way as a symbol of rebel's struggle for justice and freedom.
There were rumors that Megan Fox and William Mosley would play in "Ironclad" as well, but their involvement has not been confirmed so far.

EXCLUSIVE NEW "PERCY JACKSON AND THE OLYMPIANS: THE LIGHTNING THIEF" TEASER

You can check out the latest, extended teaser for the upcoming fantasy adventure "Percy Jackson and the Olympians: the Lightning Thief" over at my YouTube channel:
http://www.youtube.com/user/DAGONIGHT
It's a story of Poseidon's son who sets out on a quest in present day America to rescue his mother, return Zeus' stolen lightning bolt and prevent a war among gods. The cast includes Logan Lerman, Pierce Brosnan, Uma Thurman, Sean Bean, Kevin McKidd, Rosario Dawson ....
The film is out in February 2010.

"X-MEN FIRST CLASS" MIGHT BE SHOOTING NEXT YEAR

According to Tim Pocock who played the young Cyclops in "X-Men Origins: Wolverine", he might reprise his role in "X-Men: First Class" which might start shooting next year. The new installment in the franchise will probably bring a next generation of heroes into the popular series. The studio wants to use the younger heroes from previous films in the future project, all those teenagers with super powers who were students at Xavier's Institute. This means that the movie might have characters such are Iceman, Rogue, Colossus and Shadowcat.
I'm not sure whether I like this teenage craze going around Hollywood these days. Some time ago we had a lot of 40 and 50 year old actors saying they were out of job since the film industry prefers younger workers, but it seems that soon pimples and dipers will be the main criteria to get a role :)

J.J. ABRAMS TALKING ABOUT THE NEW SEQUEL TO THIS YEAR'S "STAR TREK" MOVIE

"Movieweb" reports that J.J. Abrams has started planning the new part in the "Star Trek" franchise. In interviews for "LA Times" and "Sci Fi Wire" he said he wants to make a movie that is worthy of the audience, and not just another movie in the series. Since they managed to set up the characters in the first film, now they will have a very different mission. Abrams said he wants to create allegories in the script just like Gene Roddenberry always did, telling a story which has a connection to something that is familiar and relevant to people. He still wants movie to be spectacular, moving and entertaining, but not pretentious. Abrams hopes he'll menage to get everybody from the first cast. He is currently discussing the script with the writers from the first part.

SCANDINAVIAN EPIC "VALHALLA RISING"

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EXCLUSIVE PICTURES AND SPOILERS FROM "SEX AND THE CITY 2"

The shooting of the sequel of the mega successful "Sex and the City" movie is well under way. Although the story is still kept secret new pictures from the set are appearing daily. The latest are these on which you can see our beloved girls dressed in the 80's style. Apparently the movie will have "a jump into past" scene, back into the 80's when the girls came to New York for the first time. As you can see, Samantha was very blondish, while Carrie was a Madonna impostor :)
Judging from the first gossips Carrie and Big will have love problems due to the economic recession, Samantha goes back to Smith Jerrod afraid from the new attack of cancer, Miranda is sued for malpractice so she opens a restaurant with Steve. Charlotte thinks Harry is cheating on her but he's just sneaking around with a contractor trying to build her a dream house.
There will also be a huge wedding scene, and apparently it will be the crowning of Stanford's and Anthony's gay union :)

EXCLUSIVE TRAILER FOR ROBERT ZEMECKIS' AND JIM CARREY'S "CHRISTMAS CAROL"

Click on the image to read the story. You can also check out the exclusive trailer for Disney's upcoming "Christmas Carol" over at my official YouTube channel:
http://www.youtube.com/user/DAGONIGHT

JENNA DEWAN AS SUPER HEROINE MAGDALENA

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CHINESE EPIC BLOCKBUSTER "RED CLIFF" BY JOHN WOO

Since HOLLYWOOD SPY adores visually stunning epics, here's one from China. John Woo's "Red Cliff" opens in USA in November, and is considered the highest grossing film in Chinese box office history. It marks Woo's return to Chinese cinemas after almost two decades.
With Asian Brad Pitt, Takeshi Kaneshiro in one of the lead roles it tells the story from the period of Three Kingdoms in Chinese ancient history. The land of Wu is attacked by warlord Cao Cao and his army of one million soldiers. In the attempt to unite all of China, Cao Cao has convinced emperor Han to attack the kingdoms of Xu and Wu. Thus begins the military campaign of unprecedented scale. Xu and Wu have to form an alliance to defend themselves. Numerous battles of strenght and wit both on land an sea, will culminate in the battle of Red Cliff which will change the course of Chinese history forever.
Apparently everything in this movie is mindblowingly huge, the sets, the stunts, the photography, the budget, the success, the battle scenes, visual efects ....

ROBIN WILLIAMS TO PLAY SUSAN BOYLE???

One of the breakthrough stars of "Britain's Got Talent", middle aged Susan Boyle a housewife with angelic voice and some less angelic looks, has apparently won the attention of Hollywood as well. After Catherine Zeta Jones had said that she would like to produce a biopic about Boyle, the new update is that Robin Williams was presented with the idea to play the lead role.
This is what he said: "I've been asked to play Susan in the movie. I think she's incredible. That clip of her singing on BRITAIN'S GOT TALENT was extraordinary. So inspiring. She's got a really great voice."
Williams has reportedly already learned to mimic Boyle's voice from her audition performance when she sang "I Dreamed a Dream".
Well, if nothing else, we must admit, there really is some strong physical resemblance between Susan and Robin. Just look at the pictures. And Robin has an experience in playing characters of another gender :)
Actually, when I come to think about it, I'd watch a movie about her only with Williams in the main role :)

"MERLIN" STARTS THE 2ND SEASON. EXCLUSIVE TRAILER AND WALLPAPER

BBC's charming hit show "Merlin" which managed to win the hearts of audience around the world last year, is coming back in the second season next weekend, September 19th at BBC ONE for viewers in Europe. The spellbinding drama comes back with even more magic, mystery, adventure and romance as the young wizard struggles to keep his powers secret in the ever more perilous world of Camelot. The amazing cast with irresistible Colin Morgan (Merlin), handsome Bradley James (Arthur) and icy-hot Katie McGrath (Morgana) comes back together in the new series as well.
You can watch the exclusive teaser trailer for the second season over at my YouTube channel:
http://www.youtube.com/user/DAGONIGHT
And if you would like a nice wallpaper for your desktop, click on the above picture of "Merlin's" second season promotional poster.

JOSH HARTNETT IS THE POST-APOCALYPTIC "GUNSLINGER"

According to "Variety" Josh Hartnett will portray a revengeful character in "Gunslinger", a movie set in the near future in which post-apocalyptic America has become a snow covered wasteland.
Together with his brother he will go on a killing spree chasing a gang which killed their parents.
The film brings a unique and disturbing look of what might happen when the lawlessness of the Old West returns to the scene but this time with much better weapons.
The movie will be shot in Canada next year.

BATTLE CHASERS ON FILM

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EXCLUSIVE FIRST TRAILER FOR "SOLOMON KANE"

The first look of the upcoming historical/fantasy/adventure/horror "Solomon Kane" is finally here. Unfortunately only a Russian trailer is available currently, but you can still watch it just to see what to expect from it visually over at my official YouTube channel:
http://www.youtube.com/user/DAGONIGHT
James Purefoy is a 17th century Puritan who roams the world trying to destroy the evil in all its shapes and forms. He is joined by Jason Flemyng, Rachel Hurd-Wood, Max von Sydov...

THE 2ND SEASON OF "THE LEGEND OF THE SEEKER" STARTS THIS NOVEMBER

It seems that the new, second, season of the charming fantasy TV series "The Legend of the Seeker" which begins November 7th, will bring us much more of those ultra gorgeous Mord-Sith girls.
Not only that beautiful Tabrett Bethell, who played seductive Mord-Sith Cara in the first season is coming back but there will be a new one.
Cara will now become a regular tavelling companion of our trio, joining Richard, the Wizard and the Confessor in their quests. On the other hand, sexy Charisma Carpenter will appear in the first episode as another Mord-Sith, Triana. And if you didn't know, Mord-Sith are bad-ass female warriors who wear extremely tight dominatrix catsuits and take special pleasure in beating their male enemies :)
When it comes to Richard, the Seeker, after killing the evil tyrant he will discover that the absence of a ruler will cause a chaos in the three territories. He will also discover that by killing Darken Rahl he accidentally tore a rift in the veil between the world of living and the underworld releasing all kinds of new dangerous evil threats onto the surface. The Seeker will also find out some new things about the mysterious circumastances of his birth and come to some shocking revelations about his lineage. And yea, the Confessor and Cara will both start a war for his heart :))

You can see the trailer for the second season over at my official YouTube channel:
http://www.youtube.com/user/DAGONIGHT

CAST PICTURES FOR HBO'S UPCOMING FANTASY SAGA "GAME OF THRONES"

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EXCLUSIVE TRAILER FOR CHINESE SAGA "CONFUCIUS"

Over at my official YouTube channel you can watch the trailer for the upcoming Chinese historical saga "Confucius":
http://www.youtube.com/user/DAGONIGHT
Chow Yun Fat stars as the famous Chinese philosopher in a film which is dedicated to the celebration of the 60th anniversary of the People's Republic of China later this year. Apparently it is also Confucius' 2,560 birthday.
The trailer looks nice, and has some visually beautiful scenes, but of course it is not an action Asian movie. Congratulations to our brothers and sisters in the friendly land of China!

THE ULTRA COOL BIKE FROM "TRON LEGACY"

Check out the cool machine from the remake of TRON coming to cinemas in December 2010. It really looks cool.
The movie is set in the world of fierce programmes and gladiatorial games with visually stunning cyber surroundings, starring Garret Hedlund, Jeff Bridges and gorgeous Olivia Wilde.
Off course, if you haven't yet seen the teaser trailer released during the ComicCon, you can check it out over at my official YouTube channel:
http://www.youtube.com/user/DAGONIGHT

RYAN PHILLIPPE IN VIKING EPIC "THE LAST BATTLE DREAMER"

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EXCLUSIVE NEW POSTERS FOR ROLAND EMERICH'S "2012"

Here are the freshest posters for Roland Emerich's new apocalyptic blockbuster "2012" which is coming to cinemas in November. Click on the image to see the posters in their full scariness :))

PAUL W.S. ANDERSON DOING THE NEW "THREE MUSKETEERS"

One of the news from "The Hollywood Reporter" states that Paul W.S. Anderson is preparing to direct "The Three Musketeers" which will be filmed in 3D. His plan is to make it more contemporary in terms of action, language and dynamics, but it will still be set in a period landscape.
Here's what he said himself: "We are modernizing THE THREE MUSKETEERS without compromising the fun of shooting a period piece. But in our film, corsets and feathered hats don't take the center stage. Our version is rich in eye-popping action, romance and adventure."
The shooting starts early next year with the possible premiere in 2011.
Although Hollywood Spy adores historical movies I'm really not sure whether we really need another adaptation of Dumas' novel. Can't they find anything more fresh???

RACHEL WEISZ AND HUGH JACKMAN TOGETHER AGAIN IN "UNBOUND CAPTIVES"

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"THE SMURFS" ARE COMING BACK!

As crazy at it may sound, but I just had to share this brand new poster with you because - THE SMURFS ARE COMING BACK :))))

HAYDEN AND THANDIE IN "VANISHING ON 7TH STREET"

It seems that Brad Anderson has signed Hayden Christensen and Thandie Newton to star in his new film "Vanishing on Seventh Street". It's a story about a city faced with some mysterious creatures who are kidnapping all its citizens. Hayden will play a journalist, while Thandie will be a nurse trying to escape from the threat as members of a very small group of survivors.
The shooting begins next month.

"BIOSHOCK" GETS ITS MOVIE ADAPTATION

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