FIRST TRAILER FOR "RISE OF THE PLANET OF APES"! HUGH LAURIE IS "MISTER PIP". HELENA BONHAM CARTER IN "GREAT EXPECTATIONS". OLGA KURYLENKO & AARON ECKHART IN "THE EXPATRIATE"

Hugh Laurie in a less grumpy and cynical role than usual? Why not, it could be a pleasant change especially for those who aren't really fans of his popular show HOUSE. He will play the lead

role in the film adaptation of Lloys Jones' novel MISTER PIP which follows Mr. Watts, the last white man left on the war-torn island of Bougainville. Asked to open a school there, he reads the kids his favorite novel, "Great Expectations" and bonds with them over the book, which sheds some perspective on their own difficult lives. The film will be directed by Andrew Adamson (SHREK, CHRONICLES OF NARNIA).

SHORT HEADLINES Gorgeous Olga Kurylenko has joined Aaron Eckhart in THE EXPATRIATE,  about a former CIA agent who tries to reconnect with his young daughter but

discovers that his assistant is really an assassin trying to kill him, and must go on the run with his daughter.  Olga Kurylenko will play a spy and his former love who helps them escape. *British director Mike Newell is preparing a new film adaptation of GREAT EXPECTATIONS, and he apparently wants young Jeremy Irvine (from Steven Spielberg's upcoming WAR HORSE) and Helena Bonham Carter in the lead roles. As you know it's a story about a young orphan who suddenly enters the life of luxury, thanks to a mysterious lady benefactor.

Today you can also check out the first trailer for sf action RISE OF THE PLANET OF APES with James Franco, Freida Pinto and John Litgow which comes out this August. With the usage of groundbreaking special effects used before in AVATAR, the new

version of the RISE OF THE PLANET OF APES  is an origin story set in present day San Francisco, a reality-based cautionary tale, a science fiction and science fact blend, where man's own experiments with genetic engineering lead to the development of intelligence in apes and the onset of a war for supremacy. I must admit I found the trailer rather bad and boring, and the films doesn't seem like something which could refresh the old saga.

"DRAGONRIDERS OF PERN" AND "THE MARTIAN CHRONICLES" TO BE MADE INTO FILMS! BRADLEY COOPER IS "THE CROW"? RUFUS SEWELL JOINS "ABRAHAM LINCOLN: VAMPIRE HUNTER"!

Just few days ago I mentioned that famous classic THE CROW also awaits its remake, and now they already have a possible lead star. Juan Carlos Fresnadillo, the director of the remake, is apparently in talks with Bradley Cooper to take the role of Eric Draven, a rock star who is murdered along with his girlfriend, the night before their wedding. One year later, a mysterious crow resurrects Draven to seek vengeance on those responsible for his death. As you remember, Brandon Lee, the star of the original film, died during the shooting of the film.

SHORT HEADLINES Rufus Sewell has just joined ABRAHAM LINCOLN: VAMPIRE HUNTER in which he will play the main villain, the leader of the vampires. *Although Disney has dropped sf epic OBLIVION last week (a film about a lone repair man who is the last man left on desolate Earth) its director Joseph Kosinski (TRON LEGACY) is now in talks with Tom Cruise to take the lead role and produce the film. *Paramount will adapt THE MARTIAN CHRONICLES, Ray Bradbury's sf story about human attempts to colonize Mars. In the story, the resistance of Martians against human invaders leads to a nuclear war. *Young Nico Tortorella, will join Stephen Sommers' ODD THOMAS film adaptation as a local cop

and the member of a satanic cult, in the story which follows Odd Thomas (Anton Yelchin) a young cook from a little town who can talk with the dead.

Now here's a lovely piece of news for all of us dragon loving people :) Bestselling saga DRAGONRIDERS OF PERN by writer 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, will be adapted into a huge epic film. Screenwriter David Hayter (X-MEN, WATCHMEN)  has already been hired to write the script. First published back in 1968 this popular fantasy saga has had twenty two novels so far!

BLAKE LIVELY IS GOOD WITCH OF THE EAST IN "OZ: THE GREAT AND POWERFUL"! KEANU REEVES, TOM CRUISE & JOHNNY DEPP WANTED FOR "ROBOCOP" REMAKE! STUNNING "GREEN LANTERN" COSTUME!

You've probably noticed so far, that HOLLYWOOD SPY kinda likes Blake Lively, and it seems Hollywood likes her to. According to latest rumors, Oliver Stone wants her beside Aaron Johnson and Taylor Kitsch in SAVAGES, in which Salma Hayek will be a drug cartel boss who kidnaps the girlfriend the two of them share, because she wants to put their successful marijuana business under her control. But that's not all, Blake Lively is also wanted in Sam Raimi's OZ: THE GREAT AND POWERFUL, in which she would play Glinda the Good Witch of the East beside James Franco as Oz and Mila Kunis as the Evil Witch of the West. Colour me intrigued :)

SHORT HEADLINES  John Travolta and Lindsay Lohan in the same movie? Yep! I kid you not! And not any movie - a mafia movie! They and Joe Pesci will star in Nick Cassavetes' GOTTI, a biopic on American mobster John Gotti *You can

also check out amazing pictures (click on them to see them better) of Ryan Reynold's fascinating costume in GREEN LANTERN. I think this will be a super hero costume I like most. The tight green costume with luminescent green fibers will be totally CGI made. The film is out this June.  

HOLLYWOOD SPY has already informed you that a ROBOCOP remake is in works in Tinseltown, but now we have the first names wanted for the new version of the famous 80's sf classic. The lead role which was given to Peter Weller in the original film could now go to Keanu Reeves, Tom Cruise or Johnny Depp (yep, the two of them again).  The script is still in works but as you remember the story centered on a cop who was part man, part machine. He was first a normal human, but after being wounded he returned to the futuristic police as a powerful cyborg. The film should premiere sometime in 2013.

CHRIS EVANS IS HOLLYWOOD SPY'S BEST NAUGHTY BOY IN HOLLYWOOD! NEW POLL: YOUR FAVOURITE AUSTRALIAN STARS!

Well, HOLLYWOOD SPY's latest poll on YOUR FAVOURITE NAUGHTY BOY is over and Chris Evans won the battle with 30% of your votes ahead of Ryan Reynolds who ended up with 27%, leaving Tom Hardy in the third spot with 13%.
Chris Evans is officially the most attractive man in Hollywood. He is always charming and likable in his roles. Having the flawless body sometimes really is a burden for him since people tend to forget he's a good actor as well (LONDON, THE LOSS OF A TEARDROP DIAMOND, THE NANNY DIARIES). But action films really are his trade mark (THE FANTASTIC FOUR, PUSH, CELLULAR, SUNSHINE), and he's the new CAPTAIN AMERICA (did you know that he will get just $300,000 for that role?). He played together with Jessica Biel two times (CELLULAR, LONDON) and she was his real girlfriend as well before

she left him for Justin Timberlake. He's the worlds hunkiest vegetarian :)

When it comes to Ryan Reynolds, beside being a huge competition to Chris Evans in the hunkiest hunk department (I mean how couldn't he be since he is a Canadian :)) , is also one of the most charming and lovable actors in Hollywood. So charming and cool that everybody is giving him super hero roles, so beside this year's GREEN LANTERN he will also do a DEADPOOL spin-off. And although we like him in romantic films (THE

PROPOSAL) his upcoming movies are 100% cop, detective and action ones. He recently divorced Scarlett Johansson so he is free and available (hope Sandra Bullock is reading this) ;)

Now, since our ladies got their share of joy with this poll, lets move on to the next one. It will be the first part of the whole poll-saga :) in which we will be choosing THE BEST AUSTRALIAN STAR. Australian as in the whole continent not just the country. You already know that I adore most of the actors and actresses coming from Down Under, so let us see whom you like best. Here are the contenders in the first part of the poll: Eric Bana (TROY, THEOTHER BOLEYN GIRL), Guy Pearce (MEMENTO), Cate

Blanchett (ELIZABETH, BENJAMIN BUTTON, NOTES ON A SCANDAL), Chris Hemsworth (THOR), David Wenham (VAN HELSING, 300, LORD OF THE RINGS), Rose Byrne (TROY, 28 WEEKS LATER, STAR WARS), Simon Baker (THE MENTALIST) and Hugo Weaving (LORD OF THE RINGS, MATRIX). You can vote as much as you like next two weeks.

EERIE TEASER FOR DANIEL RADCLIFFE'S "THE WOMAN IN BLACK"! ALIENS INVADE RUSSIA IN "THE DARKEST HOUR"! GREAT CAST FOR "THE ABSINTHE DRINKERS"

 I'm not sure if aliens go with the Christmas season, but that's when THE DARKEST HOUR will be released this winter. Produced by famous Russian director Timur Bekmambetov with the cast full of upcoming young stars Emile Hirsch, Olivia Thirlby, Max Minghella and Rachael Taylor, this alien thriller will follow a group of carefree young Americans who go to Russia as tourists to have some fun, but when they get to Moscow they find themselves in the middle of an alien invasion so they have to team up with others in order to fight back, survive and return home. The film was shot in Russia with the budget of around $50 million.

If you like period films, THE ABSINTHE DRINKERS might be your kind of movie. The film which is in very early stages of pre production, will tell the story of a talented young woman painter whose recognition was usurped by the prejudices of the male dominated art scene of 19th century Paris and Florence. She joins a tight circle of eccentric foreign artists known as "Les Absintheurs" (The Absinthe Drinkers) who worked in decadent Montmartre at the height of the Impressionist movement. The cast list is very interesting and it includes: Peter Facinelli, Tim Roth, John Hurt, Keith Carradine, Jurgen Prochnow and my favourite Italian actor Alessio Boni.

Now, as you may know I don't have a high regard for Daniel Radcliffe's acting (which is mostly very poor and artificial) but the first trailer for his upcoming post HARRY POTTER film is rather spooky and chilling and plus it's a period film. So if you like such things, you might like this trailer too. Premiering in UK this October, the film called THE WOMAN IN BLACK follows a young lawyer (Daniel Radcliffe) who travels to a remote village to organize a recently deceased client’s papers, where he uncovers tragic secrets and encounters the ghost of a scorned woman set on vengeance. The trailer doesn't reveal much, but there are two extremely spooky scenes in it. The script was written by Jane Goldman who also wrote STARDUST, X-MEN: FIRST CLASS, KICK-ASS ....

HEARTWARMING TRAILER FOR "DOLPHIN TALE" WITH ASHLEY JUDD & HARRY CONNICK JR. DAVE FRANCO JOINS CHANNING TATUM IN "21 JUMP STREET"! SEAN BEAN JOINS ASHLEY JUDD IN "MISSING"

You already know that classic TV series from the 80's 21 JUMP STREET, which starred Johnny Depp is getting a film remake. The latest update is that James Franco's brother, dashing Dave Franco has joined the cast which already includes Channing Tatum and Ice Cube in the story which follows a group of undercover cops who infiltrate a high school to stop crime.  Younger Franco will play the most popular kid in high school who also happens to be a drug dealer. The producers are currently trying to get Johnny Depp in a short cameo appearance.

Now this certainly sounds like a hot little duo: Sean Bean will join breathtaking Ashley Judd in her upcoming new show MISSING which I already mentioned to you earlier.  The story of this

new ABC show centers on a worried mom who, after her son disappears in Italy while overseas for a summer internship, takes it upon herself to travel to Europe and track him down. It soon becomes clear that this isn’t any ordinary woman, but a former CIA agent who will stop at nothing to bring her son home alive. Sean Bean will play her dead husbands who will appear to her in flashbacks throughout the show.

Here's the first trailer for the charming drama DOLPHIN TALE, which comes out this September starring Ashley Judd, Harry Connick Jr. and Morgan Freeman.Inspired by a true story,

the film will center on a boy who befriends an injured dolphin who lost her tail in a crab trap. Through their bond and friendship, the boy motivates everyone around him to help save the dolphin by creating a prosthetic appendage to replace the dolphin's tail. In the real life, the marine mammal's strong survival instincts become an inspiration to people with special needs throughout the world.


And the news about Zack Snyder's villain in SUPERMAN THE MAN OF STEEL are official: Michael Shannon has been cast as the evil general Zod. He will now give some trouble to Henry Cavill as Superman and Amy Adams as Lois Lane.

TOBEY MAGUIRE JOINS "LIFE OF PI"! JESSICA BIEL TO JOIN COLIN FARRELL IN "TOTAL RECALL" REMAKE! JOSH PENCE IS RA'S AL GHOUL IN "THE DARK KNIGHT RISES"!

You know I don't like new Batman films, but I know many of you do, so here's the latest update: stunning young actor and model Josh Pence (SOCIAL NETWORK) has joined the star studded cast of THE DARK KNIGHT RISES which already includes Christian Bale as Batman, Morgan Freeman, Michael Caine, Gary Oldman, Tom Hardy, Anne Hathaway as Cat Woman and Joseph Gordon-Levitt. Young Josh will play young version of Ra's Al Ghul, which means that the film might also feature Talia Al Ghul who might be played by Marion Cotillard!

Your HOLLYWOOD SPY has also informed you that a TOTAL RECALL remake is in production as well in the sea of other remakes. Directed by Len Wiseman, the film will have

Colin Farrell in the lead role which was played by Arnold Schwarzenegger in the famous sf classic from the 1990's about a man who goes on a virtual holiday on Mars, but when the travelling agency implants holiday memories in him something goes wrong with the memory implantation and he remembers being a secret agent fighting against the evil Mars administrator. The fresh news is that the role which Sharon Stone played in the original is now being offered to Jessica Biel who could play his wife and also a secret spy.

Some time ago, HOLLYWOOD SPY has informed you that the film adaptation of famous Yann Martel's book LIFE OF PI is in preparations. The film helmed by Ang Lee has now found its

new cast member in Tobey Maguire. The intriguing story centers on a boy lost at sea in a lifeboat with four unusual and increasingly hungry companions - a Bengal tiger, a hyena, a zebra and an orangutan, after the ship carrying his family and its zoo animals sinks. Maguire will play a writer who interviews the adult Pi (to be played by Irfan Khan) about the experience. Young Pi will be played by little Suraj Sharma, and one of the cast members will also be French actor Gerard Depardieu. The film is out December 2012.
Hope you liked our Naughty Black & White Sunday when it comes to today's pics :)

PROFOUND TRAILER FOR LARS VON TRIER'S SF DRAMA "MELANCHOLY"! HAILEE STEINFELD IN "ROMEO AND JULIET"! BEN STILLER IN "THE SECRET LIFE OF WALTER MITTY"!

Ah, it seems that in the time of world wide tragedies and wars, Hollywood wants to surround us with fairy tales. So, here is yet

another fairy tale film adaptation. Young Hailee Steinfeld, who just last week landed the lead role in the new film adaptation of SLEEPING BEAUTY, will now also star in new ROMEO AND JULIET. It will be her next film, with the production starting this Spring, and the film will be directed by Italian filmmaker Carlo Carlei with a modest budget of $15 million. According to "MovieWeb" the role was first meant for Lily Collins but she went on to play Snow White in Tarsem Singh's film. The screenplay will be written by Oscar winner Julian Fellowes (GOSFORD PARK).

SHORT HEADLINES *Ben Stiller will star in the remake of 1947 film THE SECRET LIFE OF WALTER MITTY, a story about a milquetoast man who lives life vicariously through daydreams in which he envisions himself in a series of heroic, fantastic personas. The film is looking for a director after Steven Spielberg, Gore Verbinski and Ron Howard opted for other projects. *Juan Carlos Fresnadillo, the director of famous 28 WEEKS LATER, will helm the remake of THE CROW, the story of a man who is resurrected in order to avenge his dead wife so that they could be together in heavens.

I must admit I've been waiting to see the first trailer for Lars Von Trier's new film MELANCHOLIA, and here it is.  With quite an interesting cast including Kirsten Dunst, Charlotte Gainsbourg, John Hurt, Kiefer Sutherland, Charlotte Rampling, Alexander Skarsgård, and Stellan Skarsgård the film will basically start with the end, with the audience seeing the world being crushed and destroyed at the beginning and then it will not be a film about what happens but how it happened! The film will show people who are trying to deal with the planet’s impending doom. Kirsten Dunst will be a woman who is planning to get married to Alexander Skarsgaard while his father Stellan Skarsgaard will play the best man and John Hurt will play Dunst's father.

CAPTIVATING TRAILER FOR ROLAND EMMERICH'S "ANONYMOUS"! RIDLEY SCOTT'S EPIC "POMPEII" MOVES ON! ROBERT PATTINSON, MARION COTILLARD & JULIETTE BINOCHE IN CRONENBERG'S "COSMOPOLIS"

It seems that the adaptation of the famous historical novel POMPEII by Robert Harris is finally moving on. You remember that some time ago Ridley Scott has bought the rights on turning the book into a television mini series, and now he's given the task of writing the script to Robert Towne (CHINATOWN, MISSION IMPOSSIBLE). The story follows Marcus Attilius Primus, a young Roman engineer who works on the Aqua Augusta aqueduct that feeds the ancient cities of the Bay of Naples. While battling a vile real estate speculator who has a water embezzlement scheme, Primus learns that Vesuvius is about to erupt and races to warn his true love before it’s too late.
SHORT HEADLINES *Young Jay Baruchel has just joined Robert Pattinson, Marion Cotillard, Juliette Binoche, Samantha Morton and Paul Giamatti in David Cronenberg's COSMOPOLIS, a story about a billionaire who risks his entire

financial fortune, cheats on his wife, and is pursued by a stalker all in just one day. Baruchel will play Pattinson's boss. *Gorgeous Sofia Vergara is in talks to accept the role of a manipulative woman who THE THREE STOOGES encounter in the Farrelly Brothers remake (sorry for censoring Sofia's pic a bit :) Click to see it full) *Clive Owen and Gillian Anderson have joined SHADOW DANCER, a drama set in 1990s Northern Ireland which describes the longtime conflicts in that part of the world.

Ah, here it is, the first trailer for Roland Emmerich's medieval thriller ANONYMOUS with Rhys Ifans, Vanessa Redgrave as Queen Elizabeth, Joely Richardson as princess Elizabeth Tudor, Derek Jacobi  and David Thewlis. Set in the political snake

pit of Elizabethan England it will try to solve the mystery on who was the author of the plays credited to William Shakespeare? ANONYMOUS poses one possible answer, focusing on a time when cloak-and-dagger political intrigue, illicit romances in the Royal Court, and the schemes of greedy nobles hungry for the power of the throne were exposed in the most unlikely of places: the London stage. The film opens in cinemas this September. It seems it will be visually extremely striking. I'm super excited :)

HUGH JACKMAN IN "SNOW WHITE AND THE HUNTSMAN"? CATHERINE ZETA JONES JOINS GERARD BUTLER IN "PLAYING THE FIELD"! DISNEY'S "THE BALLAD OF NESSIE" PICS!

Here are some fresh updates on the two upcoming Snow White projects. THE BROTHERS GRIMM: SNOW WHITE, which will star Lily Collins as Snow White, Armie Hammer as prince and Julia Roberts as the Evil Queen, will have some stunning costumes to fit the breathtaking visual style of its director

Tarsem Singh. Tarsem revealed that everything will be in snow, but the costumes will be colourful and extravagant (if you remember both of his previous films THE CELL and THE FALL featured some of the best costumes ever seen on film). He also said that the film will be like if you looked at Gaudi’s architecture, based in England, done like a turn-of-the-century Russian film by an Indian guy :) The second project on the same tale SNOW WHITE AND THE HUNTSMAN, which kinda went downwards after Viggo Mortensen refused the title role (he hated the script) beside Kristen Stewart and Charlize Theron as Evil Queen, is now trying to persuade Hugh Jackman to replace him in the role of the Huntsman who teaches Snow White how to beat the Evil Queen.

SHORT HEADLINES *According to "MovieWeb" Warner Bros and the producers of HARRY POTTER will make a film adaptation of French fantasy saga THE ADVENTURES OF OSCAR PILL

which follows an unusual teenage boy, who can travel inside living beings including humans. *XERXES, the prequel to cult Spartan epic 300, which will follow the rise of the Persian ruler describing the battles and events which lead to things which happened in 300, will probably change its title when the production starts and it won't be directed by Zack Snyder again, who is busy with SUPERMAN.*Oooh, I've always wanted to see Gerard Butler and Catherine Zeta Jones together in a film and that will now really happen. Zeta will join him in PLAYING THE FIELD, a film about a famous ex soccer star who starts coaching his little son's team and becomes a love target of lonely soccer moms and other ladies in town. Catherine Zeta Jones will play a vixen newscaster. The film also stars Uma Thurman, Jessica Biel and Dennis Quaid. 

Check out the first pictures from Disney's new hand drawn animated movie THE BALLAD OF NESSIE. The charming movie is set in the "bonny blue highlands" of Scotland bringing a whimsical and colorful tall tale about the friendly Loch Ness Monster, Nessie, and how she and her best friend MacQuack the rubber duck came

to live in the moor they now call home. Setting the adventure into motion is a greedy land developer named MacFroogle, who decided to build a mini-golf empire on top of Nessie's home.