Under The Dome, the newest novel from Stephen King (who wrote about 50,000 books including those in The Dark Tower series) will be adapted for TV by the producer of Schindler’s List, Amistad and Transformers (actually, Spielberg was the executive producer of that last one).  Collider clued us in.

The novel, released all of 10 days ago, follows the events in a sleepy Maine town after a mysterious dome entraps all of the inhabitants.  For a hint at what might happen in the story, a previous piece King wrote with the same premise was titled The Cannibals. The official Stephen King Website gives this synopsis of Under The Dome:

Given his history of cameos, (Iron Man, Spider-Man, Hulk, X-Men, Daredevil, etc.) it’s not exactly shocking that Lee will be getting one in Thor.  Here’s what the George Washington of Marvel Comics said to MTV about meeting with the film’s director, four-time Academy Award nominee, Kenneth Branagh:

“I had lunch with Branagh, [who's] the nicest guy in the world as well as the most talented… months ago, when he was first starting on the movie, he said he would get a cameo for me.”

There ya have it.  In case you’re insane and want to know exactly when Stan Lee will appear in the background of the film selling hot dogs or whatever, he had this to say to those dogged MTV folks when pressed for details:

HBO is bringing us The Pacific, a WWII story of what went down in the Pacific while the men from Band of Brothers were fighting in Europe.

The series is based on the memoirs of Eugene Sledge and Robert Leckie, both of whom were Marines that served in the Pacific Theater of Operations.  It was produced by (you guessed it) Steven Spielberg, Tom Hanks (both of whom produced BoB) and Gary Goetzman (producer of Charlie Wilson’s War). 

Ever wonder where Titanic got the drive to be so unbelievably, terrifyingly successful?  Turns out the highest-grossing film of all time was only looking for acceptance from its distant, enigmatic director, James Cameron – acceptance that never came.  James Cameron shared his thoughts on the doomed ship flick (and apparently everything else) in an interview with Playboy, due out in December.

Cameron went on to say:

“I made Titanic because I wanted to dive to a shipwreck, not because I particularly wanted to make the movie…Titanic was about ‘f*ck you’ money…”

J.J. Abrams, the wizard behind Lost, Fringe, Alias and Mission: Impossible III told MTV that he won’t be bringing Stephen King’s Dark Tower series to the big screen and Shock Til You Drop overheard it. The producer/director/writer made it clear it wasn’t for lack of love:

“You’ll be hard-pressed to find a huger fan of ‘The Dark Tower’ than me, but that’s probably the reason that I shouldn’t be the one to adapt it… After working six years on Lost, the last thing I want to do is spend the next seven years adapting one of my favorite books of all time. I’m such a massive Stephen King fan that I’m terrified of screwing it up. I’d do anything to see those movies written by someone else. My guess is they will get made because they’re so incredible. But not by me.”

The man responsible for the terror that was Captain Ivan Drago in Rocky IV and the joy that was He-Man in Masters of the Universe revealed to MTV that he’s in talks for an unnamed part in the upcoming Conan reboot.  Lundgren caught MTV New’s attention with this little ditty:

“I’ve talked to the producers about doing something for Conan”

As to whether anything was definite, the man went on to say:

“It’s too early”

Regarding a question about when he might know for sure, he responded:

“probably next year”

He-Man need not go on.

[Update: Word is that del Toro himself will be playing a creature in the film!]

Guillermo del Toro (director of Hellboy and Blade II) dished to Total Film in a 10-page Q&A about his forthcoming movie adapted from J.R.R. Tolkien’s The Hobbit.  For those of you who somehow missed the phenomenon of Peter Jackson’s Lord of The Rings Trilogy, The Hobbit is a prequel to The Fellowship of the Ring (aka the first movie in LOTR), also written by Tolkien.  There’s been some excitement around the question of what del Toro will do with the monsters in The Hobbit and he had this to say about the most anticipated beast in the bunch, Smaug, the dragon who sleeps on the vast treasure sought after by the film’s lead, Bilbo Baggins:

“I think one of the designs I’m the proudest of is Smaug. Obviously he took the longest. Early in production I came up with a very strong idea that would separate Smaug from every other dragon ever made. The problem was implementing that idea. But I think we’ve nailed it.”

This year’s World Series battle between the valiant Philadelphia Phillies and the evil empire of the New York Yankees (oh, did I mention I’m from the Philadelphia area?) drew an average 19.4 million viewers and a 6.2 Nielsen rating, according to THR.

Remember the muttering about how the country wanted an LA/NY World Series?  Didn’t seem to keep people from tuning in anyway.

Deadline Hollywood tells us that Sony Pictures bought the rights to make a movie based on Risk, the classic board game produced by Parker Brothers (a division of Hasbro™).  No details yet on who would direct, write the script or star in such a film, so we can jump right to speculation and opinion before we get to the press release.

Sony only has to look to TMNT, Transformers, G.I. Joe or Pirates of the Carribean for evidence that films based on toys/games/rides that have been popular with children can make big, big money at the box office – despite the fact that out of that same list, only Pirates received significant critical acclaim (at least the first film did)  Risk doesn’t exactly stir up the same memories TMNT/Transformers/G.I. Joe does for twenty and thirty-somethings, but then, neither did Pirates.  I’m no expert, but it’s hard to imagine teenagers these days stooping to the low-tech level of a board game, so Sony probably won’t get a lot of recognition-based excitement from THAT crowd. 

We put an empty can with a string attached to our ears and heard Mania.com whisper that Clancy Brown, the man who played the formidable and creepy Brother Justin Crowe in HBO’s Carnivale, as well as the heartless Captain Hadley in The Shawshank Redemption, keeps coming up in conversations over at Warner Bros. about who should play Lobo.

Also under discussion, apparently, is just how much CGI should be used for the character.  Brown is also an accomplished voiceover artist, working as Mr. Sinister in Wolverine and the X-Men and Mr. Eugene H. Krabs in SpongeBob Squarepants. As of late you can spot him in the teaser trailer for A Nightmare on Elm Street.

/Film pointed us to a detailed breakdown for the characters in Marcus Nispel’s reboot of Conan The Barbarian, which is scheduled to begin shooting in Bulgaria in February.  Nispel brought us Friday the 13th (2009) and The Very Best of Cher: The Video Hits Collection.  If he can slip the right character into that “If I Could Turn Back Time” outfit, I’ll go see Conan in the theaters 32 times.  However, dress that outfit on the wrong character and who knows how many cities will burn?

IMDB lists Roland Kickinger as being rumored to play the barbarian.  You might remember him from such films as Terminator Salvation (he played the T-800’s body) and Lethal Weapon 4.  Thomas Dean Donnelly and Joshua Oppenheimer, the gentlemen credited with writing Conan, worked together previously penning the scripts for Sahara and Dead of Night.

What are the chances that this is good news?

/Film relayed to us that comic book writer  Alan Grant mentioned at the MCM Expo (the little sister of Comic Con that takes place across the pond) that neither he, Keith Giffen nor Simon Bisley have been contacted about consulting for the upcoming Lobo film and the same goes for him and John Wagner regarding a new Judge Dredd.  “Jock,” (a.k.a. British Comic book artist Mark Simpson) who’s been working on concept art for Dredd stated plainly that no one’s been tapped to direct the film.  How plainly, you ask?  This plainly!

“…there’s not a director attached at the moment”.

Crazy.  Anyway, wanna little context for all these names and movies?  Then read on, people.

/Film shouted from the rooftops that an adaptation of the short story “A Gift From The Culture” – from the popular sci-fi novel series The Culture, penned by Iain M. Banks – will be coming to a theater near you.  The film will be directed by the man who helmed White Lightnin’, Dominic Murphy.  The novel-to-script adaptation will be handled by Murphy and Shane Smith, another member of the Lightnin’ team.

What is The Culture?  Well, it’s a post-scarcity society.  No one wants for anything.  As you probably guessed, this was brought about by unbelievable advancements in technology, including the existence of a group of artificially intelligent beings who’s intellectual capacity is light years beyond humanity’s greatest thinkers.  Incredibly, these beings don’t want to destroy or enslave humanity, but to care for us and make sure we’re havin’ fun. 

According to Variety, the global rights to our “heroes in the half-shell” were picked up by Nickelodeon, a division of Viacom, for $60MM from Mirage Group and 4Kids Entertainment.  Nickelodeon will begin developing a new CG-animated (think Toy Story, not Disney’s Robin Hood) TV series packed with turtle power to begin airing in 2012.  Paramount Pictures (also owned by Viacom) will be putting the Turtles back on the big screen in 2012 as well.

Scott Mednick, executive producer of Where the Wild Things Are is set to produce the new film. Nickelodeon will be working with its regular co-collaborator, Playmate Toys, on action-figures, etc.

There was a rumor floated recently by CineFools that Vin Diesel had dropped out of xXx: The Return of Xander Cage.  If you heard that rumor and freaked out, you can now turn red ’cause Diesel’s publicist emailed MTV and said it was untrue.  This is exactly what was said in that email:

“I made a few calls on this and I can tell you that it is completely not true.“

Five Minutes in heaven with the cast and crew of Saw VI.  From us to you by Shock Til You Drop via Coming Soon.  Click here to see their madcap hijinks!  It must be a law that all dudes in this movie have to have a scratchy voice.  Coupled with…. the right… pauses… it has the unmistakable air of bad intentions.  Sadly, it’s not nearly as scary with all those sound and camera guys everywhere.

Since we both know why you watch Saw movies, I’m not gonna bore you with plot details, but I will say that Coming Soon reports that in Saw VI, Jigsaw’s grand scheme will be revealed(!).  Spoiler alert: To make… a gajillion… dollars!!!

Collider declared that Tommy Lee Jones is in talks to both direct and act in The Lincoln Lawyer, a film that already has McConaughey attached as the lead. I’m already seeing some nightmarish love-child of No Country for Old Men and Failure to Launch.

The Lincoln Lawyer is based on the eponymous 2005 bestselling novel by Michael Connelly and follows an attorney who runs his business out of his car (McConaughey) and through what’s sure to be a funny little twist of fate, ends up representing a well-known Hollywood playboy in a murder case that, for our lawyer, is the chance of a lifetime.  Pardon my cynicism.

Coming Soon just passed us a note saying Sam Raimi, who directed all three Spiderman movies, confessed to MTV that Robert Rodat is set to write the forthcoming Warcraft movie.  Having written Saving Private Ryan and The Patriot, Rodat is no stranger to scripts that are heavy on combat.

Raimi had this to say to MTV:

“We want to be really faithful to the game…We would have our writer, Robert Rodat, really craft an original story within that world that feels like a ‘World of WarCraft’ adventure. Only obviously it’s very different ’cause it’s expanded and translated into the world of a motion picture.“

We at Screen Rant don’t usually cover music news, but today we’re making a rare exception for the titular track from This Is It, the documentary footage of what would have been the late King of Pop, Michael Jackson’s final tour. The song is now streaming free online, and we know a lot of MJ fans out there may want to have a listen, ASAP.

The song’s piano intro, string accompaniment and back-up vocals give it a lush feel while the funky guitar track is quintessential MJ.  No sha-mo’s to speak of and he’s leaned off the exhalations that the world’s been using as shorthand for him for decades, but his genius is not mine to question. 

Our friend Harry Knowles over at Ain’t It Cool News has given the Spike Jonze film adaptation of the eponymous 1963 children’s book Where The Wild Things Are a glowing review.  Check out just one bit of praise they give give the film:

“…it could very well be the best film ever created about what it is like to be a 9 year old…it will conjure up primal childhood emotions of joy, regret, elation, confusion and you may realize that you’ve lost an awful lot, by simply growing up.”

Wow, to call that review “glowing” is an understatement!

Wesley’s jump-kicking his way back into theaters with a new action flick from Abel Ferrara, the man who brought us Bad Lieutenant and King of New York back in the early nineties.

A little birdie over at First Showing told me that Game of Death follows Snipes’ character, a “politician’s bodyguard who must fend off five of the world’s top assassins.”  Is anybody else thinking of Ninja Scroll right now and resisting the urge to expect an amazing movie? There’s a lot of room for creating super bad-ass villains here and if these guys are smart, they’ll recognize that a huge draw for the movie could be the creative, deadly specialties of the surely-to-be-thwarted killers.

When informed people (like those over at Collider, who brought this to our attention) think Platinum Dunes, they recall the production company owned by Michael Bay, Brad Fuller and Andrew Form.  When I think Platinum Dunes, I imagine that Kanye West “Dancing in the Desert” music video.

But I digress.

Platinum Dunes has signed a first-look deal with Paramount, starting with their next film, The Butcherhouse Chronicles.  A first-look deal, for those who don’t know, is (very briefly) an agreement in which a Party A (Paramount) has the right to pick up a project before Party B (Dunes) can offer it to anyone else.

No longer merely a punk band made up exclusively of my ex-girlfriends, Breck Eisner has remade the 1973 George Romero film, The Crazies. The movie follows the inhabitants of a sleepy lil’ Iowa town who go crazy and die. Why? You’ll have to watch the film to find out (or at least the original).

The Crazies stars Timothy Olyphant (Hitman) Radha Mitchell (Silent Hill) and Danielle Panabaker (Friday the 13th). George Romero, the director of the 1973 original, also brought the world the much-celebrated horror classic, Night of the Living Dead and all its subsequent sequels.

For those who don’t know, Olmos has signed on to play reporter Mike Axford in the upcoming The Green Hornet. We got these quotes from SuperHeroHype who got them from the LA Times who talked to Olmos directly and now were passing them on to you.  But don’t tell Susie, she’ll blab to everyone:

“I’ll put it to you this way — it’s quite a fun journey… It’s my first time doing this kind of a movie. Blade Runner is the only thing that comes close to this. I’m having a lot of fun. People are really going to like what we’ve done. …”

Olmos also talked about his character, Mike Axford, who both works for newspaper publisher Britt Reid and wants to reveal the identity of The Green Hornet (he doesn’t know Britt Reid issssss Green Hornet!):

There’s been some chatter on the airwaves about Ron Howard, the director of Willow, Splash and Backdraft (just to name the big ones), taking on the cult-hit comic-to-film-adaptation, The Strange Adventures of H.P. Lovecraft.

According to the website devoted to the comic, it tells the story of a generally pitiful and sad pulp-horror writer (name provided in the title) who suffers unrequited love, lack of professional esteem, etc… until he one day comes across a book that somehow brings the bad guys from his worst nightmares into the real world – and only he has the power to destroy them! If you don’t know, H.P. Lovecraft WAS an actual fantasy and horror writer in the U.S. during the early part of the 20th century: he wrote deeply pessimistic tales in which his protagonists get a brief glimpse at the horror of reality.

Huh. Guess that (sort of) explains the header image…

The folks over at First Showing pointed us to some new images from the upcoming Roland Emmerich (10,000 BC) “Humanity faces extinction and we gotta do something about it!” flick, 2012.  Nice to see so many familiar faces, including Danny Glover as the President (adding a bit more evidence to that theory connecting this film to Deep Impact and The Fifth Element) and the apparently crazy-as-ever Woody Harrelson.

The film’s ensemble cast struggles to survive the global cataclysm predicted by the Mayans and at least one other dismissed prophet (Harrelson!).  I myself have seen some interesting advertisements for the film around New York, purportedly funded by the (faux) governmental agency “The Institute for Human Continuity“, which ask creepy questions about where I’ll be in 2012 and come pre-graffitied with that “the end is nigh” style tagging, always in red, which I feel like I’ve seen 50 times already (the best of which, if memory serves, was in one of the Resident Evils, in a building filled with flesh-eating zombies, that read, “this too shall pass”).

Bloody Disgusting received confirmation that Patrick Lussier, the My Bloody Valentine 3D director and editor of numerous Wes Craven films has officially signed on to direct Halloween 3D.  You can exhale now.  Lussier’s former colleague Todd Farmer (who wrote My Bloody Valentine 3D) has signed on to pen the newest installment of the Halloween franchise.  So if you loved My Bloody Valentine 3D, chances are you’re all set for Halloween 3D (brought to you by Dimension Films).

To recap my earlier post on Halloween 3D, this will be the eleventh film in the horror franchise that has grossed more than $300MM worldwide, was started under the direction of John Carpenter and most recently rebooted by Rob Zombie.  The franchise has largely (although not exclusively) followed psycho killer Michael Myers through his Halloween night killing sprees.

Clips for the new science fiction-horror film Pandorum have been floating around in cyberspace, but the cowboys over at Shock Till You Drop have wrangled in the full German trailer for Pandorum.  Behold!

The film finds two astronauts waking up aboard an empty spaceship that ought to have tens of thousands of people on it.  To make matters worse, our two astronauts can’t remember who they are.  In their explorations, they come across a small band of human survivors and terrifying monsters!  Only those with the dough for admission or the patience for the wait until a TV broadcast will know what became of all those other passengers!

For those who don’t know, District 13: Ultimatum is the sequel to the 2004 film District 13 (aka Banlieue 13) a movie dedicated to highlighting “Parkour,” the physical discipline of running, climbing, jumping etc. as quickly and efficiently as possible through urban landscapes.

The actual plot of the first film involved a street punk named Leïto (David Belle, founder of Parkour) running, jumping and acrobating his way through the worst ghetto (District B13) in Paris, in order to stop a neutron bomb and save his sister. This sequel finds Leïto and his cop ally Damien returning to the walled-off ghetto of D13 two years later, trying to end the five-way gang war and bring peace to the sector before government goons frag everybody living behind the wall.

[UPDATE: It turns out the artwork we had displayed here was NOT by Puzos nor related to the film, so we've removed it.]

Andrew Niccol (writer/director of Gattaca) takes us into an oppressive future once again with The Cross. The film follows two travelers (one played by Orlando Bloom) that reach a border through which the commanding guard (Vincent Cassel) lets no one pass. Ever. Conflict, of course, ensues.

Jean-Vincent Puzos (production desginer on this film and 10,000 BC) has created the following concept images for the future world of The Cross: