SENSUAL TRAILER FOR RACHEL WEISZ' & TOM HIDDLESTON'S "THE DEEP BLUE SEA"! LUCY LIU IS DR. WATSON TO JONNY LEE MILLER'S SHERLOCK? EPIC SF SHOW "THE SELECTION" WITH AIMEE TEEGARDEN & ETHAN PECK

I'd like to announce that this Sunday, March 4th, HOLLYWOOD SPY will bring you a huge spotlight on all the most interesting TV show pilots which will appear on

big channels in season 2012/2013. To give you a taste of that, here's one of the most interesting upcoming pilots: with the success of ABC's ONCE UPON A TIME it seems we will be getting lots of new sf and fantasy shows, and probably the biggest among them will be CW's THE SELECTION. Based on the yet to be released book saga from Kiera Cass, the story is set 300 years in the future and follows a poor girl named America Singer, who is chosen by a special lottery to compete to marry a prince of a war-torn country and become the new empress. The cast already has its lead stars: Aimee Teegarden is America, while Ethan Peck (Gregory's grandson) plays the prince.

HOLLYWOOD SPY HEADLINES

Although most of you didn't react all that well when I told you that CBS is making an American version of SHERLOCK HOLMES show called

ELEMENTARY in which Jonny Lee Miller will play the famous and legendary detective, who doesn't solve crimes in Victorian London but in modern New York, CBS is still going on with the project, and now "Deadline" reports that Holmes will have a female Dr. Watson: stunning Lucy Liu. Holmes himself is here a former consultant to Scotland Yard whose addiction problems led him to a rehab centre in New York City. Just out of rehab, Holmes now lives in Brooklyn with his sober companion Joan Watson (Liu), a former surgeon who lost her license after a patient died, while consulting for the NYPD.

When it comes to trailers, I have something nice for you today, the first long trailer for drama THE DEEP BLUE SEA with a rather

mesmerizing couple Rachel Weisz and Tom Hiddleston. The film, which opens in US cinemas this Spring and was already released in UK, has two gorgeous stars as the main characters in the story of the privileged wife of a prominent judge who leaves her husband for a young pilot in the 1950s. Stuck between the devil and the deep blue sea, she doesn't know what, or whom, to choose! The film has received great reviews so far and is being described as "timeless and nostalgic, classical and very modern, achingly emotional and serene" at the same time.

PAUL WALKER IN "SKYSCRAPER"! ANNETTE BENING & ROBIN WILLIAMS IN "THE LOOK OF LOVE"! JAVIER BARDEM OR BRAD PITT IN RIDLEY SCOTT'S "THE COUNSELOR"? EMMA THOMPSON IS THE QUEEN IN "WALKING THE DOGS"! NEW "GAME OF THRONES" TRAILER

One of the news I forgot to mention last week is that Hollywood charmer Paul Walker will star in SKYSCRAPER, in which the story follows a rich estate

developer who wants to build the biggest building in Chicago, but when his skyscraper starts to fall down, Paul Walker appears with his building crew to save the city from devastation in the last minute. Another flick with interesting script is THE LOOK OF LOVE in which Annette Bening will play a woman who falls for a man (to be played by Ed Harris) who is unusually similar to her late husband. It is interesting that beloved comedian Robin Williams will also have a role in this movie. Bening's role was previously meant for Diane Keaton.

HOLLYWOOD SPY HEADLINES

As "DailyMail" reports, the latest addition to the cast of Ralph Fiennes THE INVISIBLE WOMAN is British star Tom Hollander (ENIGMA, GOSSFORD PARK, PIRATES OF THE CARIBBEAN) who

will portray novelist Wilkie Collins in the film about Charles Dickens’s affair with under-aged Nelly Ternan. Beside directing, Ralph Fiennes also takes the lead role of Dickens, Felicity Jones will play Nelly, and Kristin Scott Thomas is Dickens’s wife, Catherine. You remember that last week I informed you that Michael Fassbender has taken the lead role in Ridley Scott's THE COUNSELOR as a respected lawyer who thinks he can dip a toe in to the drug business without getting sucked down. It is a bad decision and he tries his best to survive it and get out of a desperate situation. "Deadline" now reports that Javier Bardem, Jeremy Renner and even Brad Pitt are in the run for the villain role in the film.

I have no trailers for you today, but I do have some movie pictures: you can check out the first photos of Emma Thompson as Queen Elizabeth II in WALKING THE DOGS, a British TV drama which will air later this year and will depict the unusual episode at the British

court when a man called Michael Fagan broke into the palace undetected and spent around ten minutes talking to the Queen in her bedroom before help arrived. Eddie Marsan (WAR HORSE, THE DISAPPEARANCE OF ALICE CREED) is playing Michael Fagan while

beloved BEING HUMAN star Russell Tovey will play a footman who wasn't there to stop the intruder since he was out walking the Queen’s Corgi’s instead of guarding queen's bedroom.
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UPDATE- I did find a brand new trailer for GAME OF THRONES, so check it out bellow. It's the 5th one, announcing the second season of HBO's show and it gives a glimpse of the baby dragon!

HOLLYWOOD SPY'S EXCLUSIVE FASHION REPORT FROM OSCARS 2012 RED CARPET. THE BEST AND THE WORST DRESSED

I'm sure you've watched the same old boring OSCARS last night, so tell me whom did you like best at the red carpet and who was the trashiest? Methinks the fashion was as monotonous this year as the films were. You can check out the list of winners here. I'm happy that Meryl Streep won, alongside with Octavia Spencer and Christopher Plummer, and I'm glad that George Clooney and Brad Pitt didn't win. There's some justice at least.Click on the pics to see them bigger.

When it comes to fashion, Clooney's girlfriend Stacy Keibler was definitely the star of the evening in her golden Marchessa dress with the rose on her hip, while Emma Stone was adorable in her red gown, although somewhat boring. Octavia Spencer looked smashing in her snowy sparkly dress, while Virginia Madsen was one of the best dressed as always in her violet asymmetric dress.

THE SO SO

When it comes to those who didn't shine, but weren't bad either, there's Gwyneth Paltrow in her white gown with a cape. She had lovely hair as well, but was missing some earrings or something similar,

 although she did have a flawless bracelet. Meryl Streep, the happy third time winner, looked beautiful in her golden gown, although maybe a bit too retro. Milla Jovovich looked nice, but went on the safe side and wasn't stunning as she could've been.

THE NO NO

Absolute No No of the evening when it comes to fashion was Rooney Mara. That dress of hers was just nightmarish along with her Gothic hairdo. As always, Natalie Portman has shown that she's missing some style along with some acting talent, while Michelle Williams,

although cute and adorable and super talented, just can't seem to find a decent dress for all the ceremonies she's been visiting. We're not in the 70's and we're not buying her retro style. One of those who sometimes disappoint and sometime shine, is Cameron Diaz, who didn't amaze this year. A bad hairdo and an unnoticeable gown. So, whom did you like and didn't like at the red carpet?

DWAYNE JOHNSON IS "HERCULES"! CHRISTIAN BALE IS "OUT OF THE FURNACE"! EERIE TRAILER FOR SARAH BOLGER'S & SCOTT SPEEDMAN'S "THE MOTH DIARIES"

One of the biggest pieces of news this weekend was the one coming from MGM who have started negotiations with action super star Dwayne Johnson to take the lead role in their HERCULES epic. To be directed by Brett Ratner, the story, based on graphic novel "Hercules: The Thracian War" by Steve Moore, will see Hercules roaming the earth more than fourteen hundred years ago, as he

amasses a small group of mercenaries to fight other people's wars for pay. He eventually finds himself defending Olympus from an army of the damned. As you might remember this is not the only of Dwayne's upcoming epics, since he is also set to star in DAVID AND GOLIATH alongside Taylor Lautner. This will be a lavish epic on the famous biblical story about young David (Lautner), a shepard who tries to save the lives of his fellow villagers when the massive Goliath (Dwayne) attacks, seeking the legendary king of the Israelites.

HOLLYWOOD SPY HEADLINES

When it comes to one of the globally most popular shows THE WALKING DEAD, which is currently airing its second season, the third season is already being planned with 16 episodes and they have just cast David Morrissey (CENTURION,THE OTHER BOLEYN GIRL)

as The Governor, a character from Robert Kirkman 's graphic novel, who is the leader of Woodbury, a small settlement of survivors, and becomes the chief antagonist for Rick Grimes and his group. Meanwhile, according to "The Hollywood Reporter" Christian Bale is in talks to take the role in OUT OF THE FURNACE, a thriller about a man who hopes to find peace after being released from a four year jail stint. His plans for a quite life come to a halt when his brother is murdered and he decides he must set out for revenge.

The only trailer I have for you today is an eerie and scary one for THE MOTH DIARIES which stars gorgeous Sarah Bolger, who amazed us as Princess Marry in THE TUDORS, and Scott Speedman and

super model Lily Cole. This thriller, based on Rachel Klein's book, follows Rebecca who attends an all girl boarding school for tiresome adolescents in an old hotel. Through her friendship with fellow student Lucie, she has learned to re-embrace life, after the suicide of her poet father. However, a spooky new student, Ernessa, arrives and supplants Rebecca in Lucie's affection: Rebecca becomes jealous and decides that Ernessa must be a vampire, as described by her handsome romantic fiction teacher. Staff and students succumb to premature exits of one sort or another and Rebecca becomes more and more convinced of the malevolent and supernatural influence of Ernessa whilst desperately fighting off the urge to kill herself.

HOLLYWOOD SPY SPOTLIGHT ON EPIC FILMS THAT WERE NEVER MEANT TO BE: "CLEOPATRA", "THE LAST PHARAOH", "LAST BATTLE DREAMER", "ALEXANDER", "HANNIBAL", "SHANNARA", "DRAGON RIDERS OF PERN", "TEMERAIRE"

You all know that there's often injustice in Hollywood, right? Not only that mediocre actors are often bigger stars than the truly talented

ones, but often the money is wasted on bad remakes and nonsensical movies, while some promising projects are left to rot in the darkness. The recent cancellation of two big movie projects, historical epic ARTHUR AND LANCELOT (which was supposed to have Kit Harrington and Joel Kinnaman in the lead roles) and Biblical epic PARADISE LOST ( in which Bradley Cooper was to play Lucifer in the adaptation of John Milton's famous work supposed to be filled with visual effects and aerial battles) have reminded me how many lovely epics got announced but never got into production. Here are some of those I still remember.

EGYPTIAN EPICS

We really don't have much epics on Ancient Egypt, even though it's a popular part of history. As you know James Cameron was supposed to shoot CLEOPATRA epic with Angelina Jolie in the lead role

but it never happened, although there is still some hope, but not with Cameron behind the helm. Another Egyptian queen Nefertiti was about to get her film in ARMS OF THE SUN, an ambitious epic on the first royal to advocate belief in a monotheistic religion and one of the most mysterious Egyptian rulers. The film was supposed to be directed by Lucas Foster (famous for blockbusters such as EQUILIBRIUM, MR. AND MRS. SMITH, JUMPER). There was also the talk about Randall Wallace's (BRAVEHEART) THE LAST PHARAOH, which would have Will Smith (nope, I kid you not, there's no limit to his egocentricity) playing ancient Egyptian ruler Taharqa who battles with Assyrians.

DRAGON EPICS

Another thing that we don't often see in films are epics with dragons. The above mentioned Lucas Foster had a plan of making a fantasy epic TEMERAIRE, an adaptation of Naomi Novik's saga about a

British captain who captures a French ship, where he discovers an unhatched dragon egg in the hold – a gift from the Emperor of China intended for Napoleon. The project was supposed to be directed by Peter Jackson. Dragons also appear in famous SHANNARA saga, following elves trying to save their kingdom. The film was supposed to be directed by famous Mike Newell (PRINCE OF PERSIA). Also announced some time ago were DRAGONRIDERS OF PERN, the movie adaptation of famous epic saga by Anne McCaffrey, about a group of warriors who use their fire-breathing, telepathic dragons to battle a terrifying airborne threat to the exotic planet of Pern.

CONQUEROR EPICS 

 When it comes  to the biggest rulers from history, two huge epics on two equally huge conquerors are more or less still in plan, although they've been in status hiatus for many years now: back when Oliver Stone made his atrocious ALEXANDER, Buz Luhrmann (MOULIN ROUGE, AUSTRALIA) also had a plan of shooting his own epic on

Alexander the Macedonian, but instead of Colin Farrell, Angelina Jolie and Val Kilmer from Stone's tragic epic, Luhrmann wanted Leo Decaprio for the lead role (I kid you not, I swear), Nicole Kidman as queen Olympia and Mel Gibson as Alexander's father crazy king Phillip. On the other hand Vin Diesel's biggest dream is to finally make his HANNIBAL epic on the most famous warrior of Carthage, which

would tell the story of the brave Carthaginian general who led a humongous army (including his beloved war elephants) across the Alps in order to destroy Rome in the Second Punic war. Vin even negotiated

with Denzel Washington to take the role of Hamilcar Barca, Hannibal's father. Click to read more on that one. Last July there were also some news on Warner Bros. and Jonathan Liebesman (BATTLE LOS ANGELES, CLASH OF THE TITANS 2)  preparing a huge JULIUS CAESAR epic about the time when Caesar was sent to Spain on a detail no one else wanted. There, he built the 10th Legion fighting force that would eventually march on Rome, overrun the forces of his rival Pompey, and establish Caesar as the unrivalled ruler of the empire. The film, which ends with Caesar's coronation, which means it could have a sequel in which he goes to Egypt, was planned with one of the biggest stars in the lead role, but we haven't heard anything about ever since.

VIKING EPICS

There has also been a number of projects announced dealing with formidable Vikings. Alexander Skarsgard was supposed to star in THE VANGUARD in which the story would  revolve around two Viking warrior brothers who toil to return to Sweden after being

banished to North America. Meanwhile, Ryan Phillipe was supposed to star in LAST BATTLE DREAMER, a love epic set in the 9th century England in the backdrop of the Viking invasion. Sean Bean and Phillipe were to play two Viking brothers invaders. And you all, probably know about Mel Gibson's plans to shoot a Viking epic, which would also describe their invasion on England in the 9th century, but would not be a love story but a very violent one (no surprise there, when it comes to Mel, yea?) with extremely brutal scenes and with actors speaking in Old Norse (no surprise there, either, yea?). But listen to this - Leo Decaprio was supposed to take the lead role. Oh, Odin is probably swearing in Valhalla right now.

LILY COLLINS IS JULIET IN "ROSALINE"? JOEL KINNAMAN IS THE NEW "ROBOCOP"? SPOTLIGHT ON PRINCESS DEJAH THORIS FROM 2012 BIGGEST EPIC "JOHN CARTER"!

Now, you know that a number of ROMEO AND JULIET projects are in works, mainly the one from Carlo Carlei, which will stick to the original story and will have Hailee Steinfeld, Douglas Booth,

Damian Lewis, Paul Giamatti, Stellan Skarsgard and Ed Westwick in the cast. But I've also announced ROSALINE, which is only inspired by the Shakespeare's play and tells the story from the perspective of Rosaline who was Romeo's girlfriend before he entered the doomed relationship with Juliet. Now, the update is that the film, which is based on "When You Were Mine" novel by Rebecca Serle (which hits bookstores this Spring), might have our dear Snow White Lily Collins in the role of Juliet and she might join Dave Franco, the brother of James, who plays Romeo. The film is being directed by Michael Sucsy who's just had a huge blockbuster success with Channing Tatum's THE VOW.

HOLLYWOOD SPY HEADLINES

The second interesting casting news today comes from MGM: I've already announced a couple of times that they are preparing a remake of famous 80's sf

flick ROBOCOP, and according to "Deadline" they have offered the lead role to super charismatic Joel Kinnaman from AMC's THE KILLING show. You might remember that the role was previously mentioned in connection with Michael Fassbender and even Russell Crowe, Chris Pine and Keanu Reeves. The role of the terminally wounded cop who returns to the police force as a powerful cyborg haunted by submerged memories, could now go to young Kinnaman whom we'd been mentioning quite a lot last winter because he got the knight role in ARTHUR AND LANCELOT epic which later on got cancelled.

And I know I said I will refrain from bombarding you with any more clips from this year's biggest sf epic JOHN CARTER, but I couldn't resist  showing you the latest clip which tells more of the most beautiful member of the cast - princess Dejah Thoris played by gorgeous Lynn Collins. The clip reveals more about her character and about her relationship with Taylor Kitsch's John Carter with whom she falls madly in love. The premier of the film was last night in Los Angeles and as you've probably heard the whole Internet is filled with the positive buzz from all who've seen the early screenings, everybody is mesmerized and enamoured with Andrew Stanton's brilliant epic which finally hits cinemas March 9th!

And don' forget to visit HOLLYWOOD SPY this Sunday, since I'm bringing you a huge spotlight on EPICS THAT WERE NEVER MEANT TO BE! Tones of amazing epics which were announced but never shot!

"ICE AGE CONTINENTAL DRIFT" PARODY ON "THE ARTIST"! "DEADLIEST WARRIOR" GOES BIG SCREEN? NEW TV PILOTS "LAST RESORT" & "GILDED LILYS"! LUCY LAWLESS JOINS JANE CAMPION'S "TOP OF THE LAKE"

I've mentioned this last year, but now it's official: Paramount has apparently bought the script for the movie adaptation of DEADLIEST WARRIOR TV show. The popular Spike TV Show has put history's greatest warriors against one another to determine who reigns supreme using modern science and the latest CGI technology, and comments

from world-class fighters, historians and weapons experts. The show had battles like Spartan vs Ninja, Viking vs Samurai, Pirate vs Knight, Comanche vs Mongol. They also had George Washington vs Napoleon Bonaparte, Theodore Roosevelt vs Lawrence of Arabia etc. It will be interesting to see how they will put this together in a live action film.

HOLLYWOOD SPY HEADLINES

You know this is the part of the year when big TV stations order their pilots, and I will have a spotlight on the upcoming pilots soon, but here are some of the brand new ones: according to "Digital Spy" Scott Speedman will lead ABC's pilot LAST RESORT, in which the story

will revolve around the crew of a nuclear submarine who become fugitives after refusing to fire nuclear missiles. Speedman will play an even-handed and moral officer, the second-in-command on the submarine. Another interesting pilot on ABC will be GILDED LILYS, which is set in 1895 and focuses on the first luxury hotel in New York. Produced by GREY'S ANATOMY creator, the pilot already has Brian O'Byrne (MILDRED PIERCE), Sarah Bolger (THE TUDORS), Madeline Zima (THE NANNY) and Blythe Danner in the cast. On the other hand, SPARTACUS super star Lucy Lawless will appear in Jane Campion's mini series TOP OF THE LAKE, alongside MAD MEN's Elisabeth Moss, Holy Hunter, Peter Mullan and David Wenham, with the story set in New Zealand's mountains and following what happens when a pregnant 12-year-old girl seen standing in a frozen lake goes missing.

You remember how THE MUPPETS made parodies on other blockbusters in a slate of trailers last year? Well, Ice Age producers have decided to do the same, by making a black and white trailer poking fun

with the Oscar nominated THE ARTIST film in order to advertise ICE AGE CONTINENTAL DRIFT which comes out this July. Check out the delightful parody bellow. The fourth part of the super successful animated saga follows our beloved primordial animals battling  flood after the continental drift, caused by Scrat and his acorn, and also battling some unexpected ancient pirates.

PS don't forget to visit my dear Annezilla today who made me into a rainbow breathing dragon :) You gotta see that one.

JOHNNY DEPP IS "THE NIGHT STALKER"! NEW POSTERS FOR "BRAVE", "MIRROR MIRROR", "BATTLESHIP"! JAI COURTNEY IS BRUCE WILLIS' SON IN "A GOOD DAY TO DIE HARD"! NEW TRAILER FOR "THE COLD LIGHT OF DAY"

You know, my little freaks, it's a very slow week in movie news department, so I will have to regale you with some brand new posters for the films we've

already written about. On the right you can check out a magnificent new poster for Pixar's upcoming animated flick BRAVE which premiers this June following a Scottish princess Merida who decides to defy her royal parents and gets into all sorts of trouble. As you can see the animation and the colours in this one are truly stunning. Second poster is for another of this summer's blockbusters BATTLESHIP in which Taylor Kitsch and Alexander Skarsgard alongside Josh Pence and Liam Neeson play the crew of an American ship which has to save the Earth from an Alien attack both from the sea and the sky. That one hits

cinemas this May. The third poster is a colourful one for MIRROR MIRROR which hits cinemas this March and has Julia Roberts as the evil queen and Lily Collins as the Snow White princess trying to get her kingdom back from her stepmother.

HOLLYWOOD SPY HEADLINES

According to "Deadline" Disney is planning to do a movie adaptation of THE NIGHT STALKER TV show with Johnny Depp in the lead role. The story of the horror show followed a man who covered crime for a tabloid and his cases always led to supernatural perpetrators that

included zombies, vampires, werewolves and aliens. Of course, neither his editor nor anyone else would believe him or allow him to run what seemed like outrageous stories. They apparently want to make a family franchise out of this one. How very strange. As you remember, HOLLYWOOD SPY has exclusively informed you last winter that Bruce Willis has secretly visited a jail in Serbian capitol Belgrade where he wants to shoot the fifth part of his famous franchise A GOOD DAY TO DIE HARD. The film will be set in Russia but his character John McClane will now have a son working next to him. According to "Deadline" SPARTACUS star Jai Courtney has just got the son role in a battle with Liam Hemsworth, Aaron Paul and Ben Foster.

The only video I have for you today is the second trailer for this April's action thriller THE COLD LIGHT OF DAY which was shot

in Spain and stars the irresistible Henry Cavill, Bruce Willis and Sigourney Weaver. The story follows a young Wall Street trader (Henry Cavill) whose family is kidnapped on a vacation to Spain. He's left with only hours to find them, uncover a government conspiracy and the connection between their disappearance and his father's secrets. After last year epic blockbuster IMMORTALS this is Henry Cavill's second big leading role before he appears as Superman in MAN OF STEEL next year.You can also check out the new poster for the film on the right!

DON'T FORGET
 to be here this Sunday, when you will read HOLLYWOOD SPY's exclusive mega spotlight on
EPICS THAT WERE NEVER MEANT TO BE. From Cleopatra and Hannibal, to dragon and Viking epics, we shall cover a number of huge projects that were announced in the past but never got into production. Don't miss it, I really enjoyed writing that story! This Sunday, to regale you before the Oscars :)

FUNNY TRAILER FOR CHRIS COLFER'S "STRUCK BY LIGHTNING"! ANTONIO BANDERAS IS PABLO PICASSO! ORLANDO BLOOM GOES "ZULU"! FUN POSTER FOR TIM BURTON'S "FRANKENWEENIE"

That Orlando Bloom really hasn't done much outside two amazing epics LORD OF THE RINGS and KINGDOM OF HEAVEN. And he keeps taking some bad offers, like the latest one, which doesn't sound promising to me at all: according to "MovieWeb" he will join Djimon

Hounsou in ZULU, in which they will play two Cape Town police officers who investigate the murder of a 18 year-old girl, the daughter of a member of the championship winning Sprikboks rugby team, a job that ultimately reveals ties to the country's apartheid past. This year, Orlando will star in THE LAUREATE in which he and Imogen Poots play a married couple on the brink of disillusion which allows a stranger to live with them in their idyllic cottage. Will this stranger push their fragile state over the edge? As you know, he will also appear next to Dominic Cooper and Kirsten Dunst in CITIES, a film with three different stories from London, Mumbai, and New York as the Dow Jones nears an all time high.

HOLLYWOOD SPY HEADLINES

A crazy new poster has been released for Tim Burton's new film FRANKENWEENIE which hits theatres this October, in which the story will

revolve around young Victor Frankenstein, who conducts an experiment to bring his beloved dog back from the dead. Meanwhile, as "Variety" reports, Antonio Banderas has taken the lead role in 33 DAYS, where he will play Pablo Picasso during his emotional turmoil as he worked on his masterpiece Guernica, the mural which captured his reaction to the destruction of Basque town of Guernica in 1937 by the Nazi Luftwaffe during the Spanish Civil War. The film shows how the painting proved near salvation for Picasso at a moment of personal crisis and focuses on Picasso's relationship with his lover, French artist Dora Maar.

The only trailer I have for you today is for the film which was written by young GLEE star Chris Colfer (at only 21 he's already won a Golden

Globe, been nominated for Emmy, wrote a film and a sitcom, and also a book) who is also playing the lead role in STRUCK BY LIGHTNING, a film in which the story revolves around a young man who, after being struck and killed by lightning, recounts the way he blackmailed his fellow classmates into contributing to his literary magazine and helping him achieve his dreams of literary stardom. Beside the popular GLEE star, the cast of the film also includes some other well known names from gorgeous Christina Hendricks from MAD MEN to Dermot Mulroney, hilarious Rebel Wilson and Angela Kinsey. Check out the trailer bellow.

HOLLYWOOD SPY BEST ACTORS WHO'VE NEVER WON AN OSCAR ARE ED NORTON, PATRICK WILSON & HUGH JACKMAN. ROUND 3 IS ON!

The second part of our BEST ACTOR WHO'S NEVER WON AN OSCAR is over and the winners are three super gifted boys Ed Norton (21%), Patrick Wilson (20%) and Hugh Jackman (20%). Julianne Moore (14%) and Helena Bonham Carter (12%) came after them.

ED NORTON

I must admit I'm personally not an overly huge fan of Ed Norton, since he gets too "Sean Peanny" sometimes in his acting, but he did have some great roles which he used to prove his talent. My own favourite is probably his performance

in THE PAINTED VEIL, in which he was basically the strongest link in a film with amazing story, brilliant setting, bad and confusing direction and frigidly bad acting of Naomi Watts. He was actually nominated for Academy Awards two times - for his roles in AMERICAN HISTORY X, which was a turning point in his career, and in PRIMAL FEAR. It seems that he likes playing criminals and delinquents. One of his unusual roles which some might like, or some might not, was the role of the king in KINGDOM OF HEAVEN, a very interesting one since we don't see his face at all throughout the epic film. He is not one of those overly present actors and he has shot less than five or six films since the mid 2000s.

PATRICK WILSON

I've said it many times before that for me Patrick Wilson is one of the very few American thespians. True acting talent in Hollywood usually comes from Britain, Australia and other parts of the world, but not from USA itself. Patrick is one of the exceptions. The depth with which he

approaches every role playing the character in question and not himself and the ease with which he becomes the person he plays makes him a male equivalent of Cate Blanchett and Meryl Streep. My personal favourite performance of his are the legendary one from ANGELS IN AMERICA, and the deeply haunting one from LITTLE CHILDREN, two stunningly refined performances to be remembered forever, but still he wasn't even nominated for an Oscar in any of those two cases. We was nominated for Golden Globe for ANGELS IN AMERICA but didn't win. Other of his intelligent and deeply appealing performances for which he wasn't nominated include HARD CANDY, WATCHMEN, BARRY MUNDAY, EVENING, THE PHANTOM OF THE OPERA and many others.

HUGH JACKMAN

Although Hugh Jackman is a glamorous actor, who stars in blockbusters and has billions of fans, it is quite obvious that he has

tones of acting talent hidden in him. He will probably use upcoming years to prove himself more in dramas, but he already showed us his brilliant dramatic skills with his utterly perfect and deeply passionate role in mesmerizing THE FOUNTAIN, and with his grandiose and loveable role in Luhrmann's epic AUSTRALIA. Will he finally get an Oscar nod he deserves with his upcoming acting and singing role in LES MISERABLES next to Russell Crowe and Eddie Redmayne? We shall keep our fingers crossed for Hugh, because he's the man! And wasn't he just adorable as the Oscar host a few years ago?

 THIRD ROUND

Now let us finish our series of THE BEST STARS WHO'VE NEVER WON AN OSCAR with the third, final round in which you can vote as much as you like for one of the following thespians who, believe it or

not, never won an Oscar:Toni Collette (MURIEL'S WEDDING, LITTLE MISS SUNSHINE, THE SIXTH SENSE, THE HOURS, THE DEAD GIRL, EVENING), Ewan McGregor (MOULIN ROUGE, YOUNG ADAM, BEGINNERS, STAY), Paul Bettany (MASTER AND COMMANDER, A BEAUTIFUL MIND, THE YOUNG VICTORIA, DOGVILLE, ), Matthew Goode (BURNING MAN, MATCHPOINT, WATCHMEN, A SINGLE MAN, ), Jonathan Rhys Meyers (THE EMPEROR'S WIFE, CHILDREN OF HUANG SHI, MATCH POINT), Glenn Close (HOUSE OF THE SPIRITS, DANGEROUS LIAISONS, EVENING, PARADISE ROAD, HAMLET) and Sean Bean (LORD OF THE RINGS, TROY).

AMAZING NEW CHARACTER PICTURES FROM THIS YEAR'S BIGGEST SF EPIC "JOHN CARTER" WITH TAYLOR KITSCH, LYNN COLLINS, MARK STRONG, JAMES PUREFOY, DOMINIC WEST, POLLY WALKER, SAMANTHA MORTON, WILLEM DAFOE

I swear this will be HOLLYWOOD SPY's last spotlight on this year's biggest sf epic JOHN CARTER, but you know it's my most

anticipated film this year and its premiere is just around the corner - March 9th! It is interesting that according to the latest news, the $250 million epic already has a sequel in plan which will be titled JOHN CARTER: THE GODS OF MARS and will cover the second book in Edgar Rice Burroughs' saga. Early buzz about the film is amazing, and everybody who saw the early screenings has been mesmerized by the film. Check out some of the new pics showing some of the characters from the movie.

JOHN CARTER STORY

This sweeping action-adventure set on the mysterious and exotic planet of Barsoom (Mars) is based on a classic novel by Edgar Rice

Burroughs, whose highly imaginative adventures served as inspiration for many filmmakers, both past and present. The film tells the story of war-weary, former military captain John Carter (Taylor Kitsch),

who is inexplicably transported to Mars where he discovers a lush, wildly diverse planet whose main inhabitants are 12-foot tall green barbarians. Finding himself a prisoner of these creatures, he escapes,

only to encounter Dejah Thoris, Princess of Helium, who is in desperate need of a savior. He will also encounter formidable alien creatures resembling the beasts of ancient myth and he will become reluctantly embroiled in a conflict of epic proportions amongst the inhabitants of

the planet, including Tars Tarkas (Willem Dafoe) and the captivating Princess Dejah Thoris (Lynn Collins). In a world on the brink of collapse, Carter rediscovers his humanity when he realizes that the survival of Barsoom and its people rests in his hands.

JOHN CARTER CAST

Now check out the absolutely amazing cast: Taylor Kitsch (John Carter), Lynn Collins (princess Dejah sporting breathtaking costumes in the trailer), Mark Strong (Matai Shang a ruler with godlike

status, you can see him in the trailer with stunning blue eyes), Willem Dafoe (Tars Tarkas, a 10-foot tall, four armed green Martian), James Purefoy (Kantos Kan, the captain of the kingdom of Helium's grand warship), Ciarán Hinds (Tardos Mors), Dominic West (Sab Than, a

prince who believes he is entitled to rule Mars), Polly Walker (merciless and tyrannical lady Sarkoja), Thomas Hayden Church (ambitious and vicious warrior Tal Hajus), Samantha Morton (Sola, Tars Tarkas's daughter, a soft-hearted princess of a violent race), Bryan Cranston ...

JOHN CARTER TIDBITS

This is the first live action film of amazing Oscar winner Andrew Stanton who brought us some of the most touching animated classics

from WALL-E,  to FINDING NEMO and A BUG'S LIFE. The number is not official, but it is rumored that this could be one of the most expensive films in history with the budget reaching almost $300 million which means that Disney needs to make it the biggest blockbuster in March 2012 when it premieres in order to bring back all the money! The original name of the film was JOHN CARTER OF MARS, but Disney opted for a shorter name since films containing word "Mars" in the title, weren't successful at the box office so far. Some of the actors who were considered for the lead role instead of Taylor Kitsch include MAD

MEN'S Jon Ham and Josh Duhamel. Robert Rodriguez was the first director to tackle this project with the idea of hiring, now late, Frank Frazetta as production designer. It is interesting that this film has been in development for the longest time in history - 81 years, since the first idea of a movie adaptation was born back in 1931, when there was a

plan to make world's first animated film ever out of it! This is also the first live action film in which Pixar is involved! The film will have mindblowing and extremely interesting music by Michael Giacchino who has composed refined, very retro-epic symphonic music for the film. 

GAEL GARCIA BERNAL GOES SF IN "ZORRO REBORN"! JASON ISAACS IN NBC'S "AWAKE" SHOW! JAMIE BLACKLEY IS CALISTO IN "300: BATTLE AT ARTEMISIA" EPIC!

A year or so ago HOLLYWOOD SPY has reported that a futuristic take on Zorro is being planned in Hollywood, and I have an update on the project: Fox is apparently negotiating with Gael Garcia Bernal to take the lead role in their sf film ZORRO REBORN which will take the legend of the famous

Mexican masked hero into a post-apocalyptic era where the masked vigilante will seek revenge in a futuristic wasteland. As I've also announced before, that's not the only Zorro project, since Sony is planning to adapt Isabella Allende's novel which reveals the history behind the legendary masked man, from being born as a son of an aristocratic Spanish military man turned landowner and a Shoshone female warrior, and growing up as a witness of the brutal injustices dealt to Native Americans by European settlers, to being a student in Napoleonic Spain, and fighting pirates at the sea, and finally to his return to America to reclaim the hacienda where he was raised and to seek justice for all who cannot fight for it themselves.

HOLLYWOOD SPY HEADLINES

Speaking of heroes, swords and comics, there's also a piece of movie news coming from "The Hollywood Reporter" about THE NEW WEST comic getting its movie adaptation. This comic series is set in a

near-future Los Angeles where an electro magnetic pulse bomb has causes all technology to stop working. In this hostile environment a disgraced former LAPD detective must rescue a kidnapped mayor with only a horse and a sword. Deadline reports that beside Sullivan Stapleton as Themistockles and Eva Green as Artemisia, 300 prequel BATTLE AT ARTEMISIA has added young British actor Jamie Blackley as Calisto, a teen whose desire to become the heroic man/soldier his father was leads the 16-year-old to become a leader of a small band of soldiers. Young Blackley will be seen in SNOW WHITE AND THE HUNTSMAN this year.

One of the interesting new midseason shows is ready to premiere March 1st over at NBC: it's AWAKE with always great Jason Isaacs. Following a tragic car accident, detective Michael Britten finds

himself awake in two separate realities: one where his teen son, Rex died in the crash and his wife, Hannah , survived and another where Hannah has perished, leaving Michael and Rex to pick up the pieces. In order to keep both of his loved ones alive, Michael begins living in two dueling realities, churning up confusion. In one reality, Michael and his wife debate having another child, while in the other, his son Rex is turning to his tennis coach, Tara, to fill the void from the loss of his mother. Trying to regain some normalcy, Michael returns to solving crimes in both worlds with the help of two different partners. Michael is assigned a different case in each reality

and quickly discovers that his dual existence is actually a powerful tool. He begins to solve impossible cases by using his two realties to gain unique perspectives and link clues that cross over from world to world.