Mid-Week Movie News Wrap Up – June 4, 2009

In this Mid week’s  Wrap up: Javier Bardem eyes Wall Street; The Cox’s Scream again; Henson does Kung-Fu; Jones goes from Moon to The Deep; Robert Pattinson and Pierce Brosnan Remember Me and we get an eyeful of Bruce Willis’ Dicks.

1. No Wall Street For Old Men.

Oliver Stone and 20th Century Fox want Javier Bardem to star opposite Michael Douglas and Transformer 2 Shia LaBeouf in Wall Street 2.
Whilst Bardem hasn’t met with Stone or the studio as of yet, the Spanish star is at the top of their wish list to play the villain in the sequel to the Oscar-winning hit.

Apparently the plot of the movie involves LaBeouf’s character seeking revenge on (what would be) Bardem’s evil stock trader. In order to navigate the choppy waters of Wall Street the kid befriends Douglas’ Gordon Gecko who has been released from prison following the shenanigans of the first film. The pair form an unlikely friendship as Gecko tries to rebuild his relationship with his daughter, who is the fiance of LaBeouf’s character.

The original is a highly-rated 1980’s classic (though a bit dated) and I’m interested to see what Stone, Douglas et al bring to the table in these troubled financial times.

Wall Street 2 starts shooting in August, hopefully for a February 2010 release.

Source: Deadline Hollywood

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2. Entertainment Weekly is reporting that Courteney Cox Arquette and David Arquette are in negotiations for Scream 4 (or whatever they end up calling it). It’s expected that the couple will only have cameos or supporting roles in the film that is being aimed at a younger demographic.

Kevin Williamson is penning the Scream 4 script (and allegedly two more sequels that would form a companion trilogy to the 90’s franchise).

There’s no word on whether director Wes Craven will Scream again or if Neve Campbell will return.

Source: Entertainment Weekly

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3. Taraji P. Henson has joined the cast of The Kung-Fu Kid.
Henson will play the mother of Jaden (son of Will) Smith, who plays the titular kid.
Jackie Chan is signed-on play the 21st Century Mr. Myiagi, who has incidentally been renamed Mr Han in this remake of the 80’s coming-of-age drama, The Karate Kid.

I still ask the question – why?

Source: Slash Film

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4. Moon director Duncan Jones will direct Escape From the Deep.
According to Variety:

“Escape” tells the (true) story of a legendary World War II U.S. navy submarine that sank after a torpedo malfunction, leaving the crew stranded on the bottom of the Pacific Ocean. Faced with drowning, nine men made it out alive after swimming the 180 feet to the surface without getting the bends.”

Alex Kershaw wrote the script from his book of the same name.

FYI: Jones is the son of legendary recording artist David Bowie.

Source: The Hollywood Reporter

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5. Twilight’s Robert Pattinson, along with Pierce Brosnan, Chris Cooper, Lost’s Emilie de Ravin and possibly Lena Olin will star in Allen Coulter’s Remember Me.

“Pattinson plays a young man whose brother’s suicide has split up his parents (Brosnan and Olin) and left him sleepwalking through life. De Ravin will play a young woman who, after watching her mother get killed before her eyes, seizes life to its fullest. Cooper is being courted to play her father.”

Sounds like Oscar bait.

Source: Variety

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6. Shooting has started on Kevin Smith’s A Couple of Dicks and Total Film had some onset snaps of the production. Check out one below:

Bruce Willis looks exactly like…er…Bruce Willis!

Kevin Pollack has recently joined the cast of the comedy that already includes Tracy Morgan, Seann William Scott and Adam Brody.

(P.S. – look at that photo, do Willis and Morgan make for an odd couple or what?)

Source: Total Film

That’s it for now. See you at the movies.