A guy just can’t take a vacation around here… leave for a few days and ya miss a boatload of movie news. So here’s a quick summary of a few items worth noting:
- Yahoo! Movies has a trailer up for Slipstream, a time travel movie directed by and starring Anthony Hopkins. It looks interesting but I’ll be damned if I can tell what the story is from the trailer. Maybe that’s the point…
- It seems that Brett Ratner will be directing the remake of Escape from New York. Uh oh.
- Vin Diesel as the Terminator directed by McG? I suppose that half of that is good news… And sorry, I just wasn’t in the mood to do one of those half Terminator/half Vin Diesel photoshop jobs that everyone else has attached to this story. 
- The Heartbreak Kid is getting killed at the box office and by critics. It got it’s butt kicked by Disney’s The Game which is in it’s second week. As of right now it’s scoring about 30% positive over at Rotten Tomatoes. It’s from the same guys who brought us There’s Something About Mary, and no, the critics aren’t being high-brow on this: The latter scores 80% over at RT.
- The trailer for Sweeny Todd starring Johnny Depp and Helena Bonham Carter is out. Call me a killjoy but I predict box office doom for this one, even if it turns out to be interesting. There was one brief scene in the trailer that indicated to me this might turn out to be a musical, which is the kiss of death for a modern movie. Audiences just don’t buy the concept any more.
- George Lucas says that Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull (yeesh, I had to look that title up because I can’t even remember it) will be as good as Raiders of the Lost Ark. Hey George, I think we’ll be the judge (cough, Phantom Menace, cough) of that.
- Pixar doing a CGI version of John Carter of Mars? Where do I sign up?
- The Thor movie as it is currently written would cost $300 million, and Marvel wants director Matthew Vaughn to trim half of that from the budget. Hmm… maybe they can just reuse styrofoam cups for coffee instead of getting a new cup every time? That should do it.
- Serenity 2? I doubt it, although I absolutely loved Serenity.
Ryan Reynolds Drops Out of 'Highlander' Reboot 
No Loki in 'Avengers 2' 
'Man of Steel' Director & Writer on What Has to Happen in 'Man of Steel 2' 
'Man of Steel' Ending Controversy 
Hey,Vic,I couldn’t agree with you more about us being the judge of whether Indiana Jones and the really long title is any good.
Thor’s got a 300 million dollar script? Awesome! I just hope it won’t be crap,and that they either go with Thor’s current or classic uniform (in regular Marvel continuity,not the crappy Ultimate U).
That’s one way for you to cover everything,eh Vic? Nice job. I’ve never seen anyone cover so much news in one post (heheheh).
Escape from New York….hmmm. Some things shouldn’t be remade.
“I’ve never seen anyone cover so much news in one post (heheheh).”
LOL… call me lazy. At least that way I put my mark on a bunch of news that I otherwise wouldn’t have done if I had to post it all separately.
Vic
Ok ease off the Ultimate Thor. Sure the classic gear is better but I don’t completely hate Ultimate Thor’s getup either.
Listen,dude,the Ultimate Marvel U is CRAP. Let me say it again:C-R-A-P,CRAP! I hate everything about it except the Sam Jackson inspired Nick Fury. Don’t get too upset,it’s just MY opinion,and I’m only one person. But,I respect your opinion,and if you like it,so be it,if someone was kicking sand at somethin’ I liked,I’d fight back too.
Slipstream looks more Charlie Kaufman than time travel to me, but Hopkins writing and directing could be interesting, as is anything with John Turturro and Christian Slater together. I still think Primer is the greatest movie ever made about time travel. I’ve seen that so often it’s a good job I’m typing this.
Wasn’t there a movie Slipstream made in the ’80s with Mark Hamill? I remember a weird little aircraft called an Optica featured on the poster, presumably to give it some extra SF credentials.