NEWS

Over the past year or so, about half a dozen Frankenstein projects, all with a slightly different takse on Mary Shelley’s classic tale, have been in development in Hollywood. One now finally seems to be moving ahead – I Frankenstein. Aaron Eckhart recently signed on to play the title character in this modern day sequel, and now Variety reports that Bill Nighy and Socratis Otto (X-Men Origins: Wolverine) have joined the cast.

Stuart Beattie will direct I, Frankenstein, which is about Adam Frankenstein (Aaron Eckhart), the creation of Dr. Frankenstein, who is still alive centuries after his ‘birth’. Adam is hunted down by a clan of demons who want to learn Adam’s secret in order to reanimate deceased demons to start a new army. Bill Nighy will play a demon prince, while Socratis Otto will be the prince’s right hand man, who goes after Adam.

Beattie is directing I, Frankenstein from his own screenplay, which is adapted from Kevin Grevioux’s graphic novel of the same name. Shooting will start next February, in Victoria, Australia, with a February 22nd, 2013 release date already pencilled in

General movie news courtesy of Movie Muser

It’s been quite a while since Angelina Jolie was first loosely attached to new biopic of Egyptian queen Cleopatra and then earlier this year David Fincher started sniffing around to to direct. Initially Brian Hegeland was set to write the script, but now Variety reports that Forrest Gump and Benjamin Button screenwriter Eric Roth is in talks to take over.

The idea is that the movie will tell the Egyptian Pharaoh’s tale from a woman’s perspective, portraying her as a cunning strategist and politician. You’d think therefore that it might be a good idea to get a woman to write the screenplay, but that’s something that never seems to cross people’s minds in Hollywood.

Fincher and Jolie are both still circling the project, although they’re waiting until plans get a little further along before they decide whether to officially commit to making the movie. James Cameron was initially set to direct Cleopatra, before he stepped away from the project last November, due to the fact Fox wanted him to concentrate on sequels to Avatar.

General movie news courtesy of Movie Muser

The Muppets have been having fun all year with parody posters and trailers aping some of the other big releases, from The Hangover Part 2 to Green Lantern, and now it’s the turn of Twilight to get a ribbing with three Muppety posters.

So take a look above and below for Bella Swine, the Vamphibian and the WereRowlf!

The lucky American will get to see The Muppets on November 23rd, but we in the UK have to wait until February 10th.

General movie news courtesy of Movie Muser

She may appear to be trying to turn being morose into an art form, but Kristen Stewart is shaping up to have a strong post-Twilight career, not least because she’s just been offered a role in Akira. Twitch, which seems to have a hotline straight in to Akira exclusives, has the news, and says Stewart has been offered the female lead Kei.

There is no word yet on whether or not the actress has accepted the offer. In Katsuhiro Ôtomo’s manga Kei is a psychic medium who falls for the lead character of Kaneda. However no character details were revealed for the new live-action remake, so things may have changed.

Garett Hedlund is now officially in talks for the role of Kaneda, the leader of a New Manhattan biker gang who sets out to rescue his best friend Tetsuo from a military experiment. The likes of Ezra Miller and Alden Ehrenreich have read for Tetsuo, but it isn’t known if any offers have been made yet.

If Stewart and Hedlund do take the roles it would reunite them after they worked together on Walter Salles’ adaptation of On The Road. Jaume Collet-Serra is directing Akira, with production expected to start in the new year.

General movie news courtesy of Movie Muser

It seems Tim Burton is starting to think about what movie he wants to make after he completes work on Dark Shadows (which is out next May), and may have decided upon Miss Peregrine’s Home for Peculiar Children. 20th Century Fox bought the rights to Ransom Riggs’ novel back in May, and Burton is now in early talks to direct the adaptation, according to Deadline.

The story is about a 16-year-old boy named Jacob, who sets off to find a mysterious orphanage, which used to house children with special and dangerous abilities. When Jacob finds the abandoned home, he gets the feeling that these children may still be alive, somewhere in the facility.

It’s still very early days for the adaptation yet, as while Peter Chernin will produce, there’s no screenwriter attached as yet.

General movie news courtesy of Movie Muser