The argument has been made several times that people learn things from Hollywood. Whether it’s an opinionated “fact filled” documentary like Sicko, Fahrenheit 911 and Inconceivable Inconvenient Truth or a research documentary like Morgan Spurlock’s Super Size Me, movies are always trying to teaching us something – but only if we are listening.

Long time visitor and regular commenter Xigbar was listening during his viewing of Ninja Assassin and decided to share what he learned with us last week in our popular Open Discussion Wednesday thread. Check out what he had to say after the jump:

12 Things I Learned from Watching Ninja Assassin

1. Ninjas project an aura of such mystery and terror that their blood, as well as the blood of those around them, curdles into a viscous substance not unlike delicious strawberry jam.

2. Although ninjas have lightning-fast reflexes and have been trained to use all 5 senses to superhuman degrees, they have a hard time dodging cars screeching towards them sideways.

3. Similarly, even the eldest and most skilled ninja masters can be caught unaware when a plucky Europol agent enters the room and points a weapon at them.

4. Situs Inversus, a rare congenital defect in which the heart and other major organs are mirrored from their normal positions, making one ninja-proof.

5. Although ninjas are trained harshly from a young age, a lot of them still suck at their fighting skills and are fairly useless in combat.

6. When a bright light is shined on a ninja he loses all martial arts and acrobatic abilities, as well as the wherewithal to throw a ninja star at the light, destroying it. The previously mentioned sucky ninjas will become even more useless in bright lights, running directly into the path of automatic weapons fire.

7. Female ninjas will usually grow up to be caring, kind and compassionate, despite being raised in an environment that harshly and violently discourages such behavior.

8. Ninjas are coed, seeing no foreseeable problems with having male and female ninjas training, growing up and even sleeping in the same room together.

9. Although skilled in the art of combat, ninjas are less skilled at financial matters, charging the equivalent value of 100 pounds of gold for all assassinations. This means that it costs the same to kill a homeless man living under a bridge as it does to kill a highly trained government official surrounded by armed guards in a high-security location.

10. Ninjas also do not recognize the changing value of commodities. If the value of gold were to suddenly drop, the ninja industry would quickly crumble.

11. A healthy adult female can easily be made to fit inside a Laundromat washing machine with room to spare.

12. When someone becomes aware of the existence of the ninja clans they will be quickly executed. However, their house will NOT be searched for any documents that prove their existence, at least not thoroughly.

All good points Xigbar! Thanks for opening up our eyes and making us become better people by listening and learning from what movies are trying to teach us. Although you should probably sleep with the lights on for a few days just to ward off any angry ninjas.

Screen Rant’s Paul Young reviews Ninja Assassin

Ninja Assassin is the first action movie this Fall that delivers on what it promises: Lots of ninja action.

I’m a sucker for a good ninja fight, no matter how choreographed it is. The silent-but-deadly ninja was a huge part of the 80’s action movie sub-culture; since I grew up in the 80’s, I have seen every one that I can get my hands on (yes that includes American Ninja, I, II, III, IV AND V).  Ninjas doing what they do best (being sneaky) have slowly crept into popular culture over time. Mythbusters did an entire episode on ninja myth and lore and the website AskANinja.com has grown in popularity in the recent years.

Ninja Assassin is a good (not great) attempt at making a good ninja action flick by director James McTeigue (V for Vendetta), but it’s far from perfect. The opening scene sets the tone for the type of action we are going to be treated to: Highly stylized, bloody and violent as hell (just the way a ninja would do it). There are so many severed limbs in Ninja Assassin that I was beginning to think I was watching a Saw movie or Saving Private Ryan (except with ninjas).

The plot of the movie is actually pretty good – that is, the ninja story is good. The non-ninja related material however, is garbage. The main focus is one of revenge, and to a lesser degree redemption. I also couldn’t help but feel a bit of sibling rivalry between Raizo (Rain) and Takeshi (Rick Yune) as they compete to win favor with their “father” Ozunu, played brilliantly by old school movie ninja legend Sho Kosugi.

There are 9 ninja clans that have been around for 1,000 years and they increase their ranks by kidnapping children and raising them in the way of the ninja until they become lean, mean ass-kicking machines. Over time, Raizo finds that he has a place in his heart for something other than ninjary. Her name is Kiriko (Kylie Goldstein) and she is a young girl in his clan.

The relationship between Kiriko and Raizo is actually rather touching and he soon begins to have feelings for her – until she decides to run away from the clan and he doesn’t go with her. That’s a big no-no in clan rules and she is ritualistically murdered by his “brother” Takeshi at the orders of Ozunu in front of all the young clan members.

Jump forward a few years to Raizo’s first mission (presumably on his 18^th birthday). He turns his back on the clan, his brother and his father and becomes one of the hunted. If writers Michael Sand and J. Michael Straczynski had just stuck to that story, then the whole movie would have been very interesting. Unfortunately, they decided to include several throw away characters and a ridiculous contrived sub-plot involving Europol agents Mika Coretti (Naomie Harris) and her supervisor Ryan Maslow (Ben Miles).

Mika finds a money trail that links several political murders to a group of ninja assassins by using nothing more than a vague reference to 100 lbs of gold and a bank deposit. The movie really goes off the tracks when the non-ninja characters are on screen. In fact, everything that isn’t ninja related in this movie just plain sucks and makes no sense whatsoever.

Mika and Ryan are based in Berlin, Germany and work as Europol agents but they are under investigation by the FBI, CIA, and Homeland Security for apparently getting too close to the “truth about ninjas.” Um, OK. Then for some unexplained reason, a Russian operative is introduced to the story for no reason other than Mika to end up with a box for of Ozunu Clan related scrolls and pictures.

Ryan then has a covert meeting with her (in a cliché parking garage) and tells her to get out and run for her life because all these big time police organizations, and ninjas, are after them. Ninjas attack in the dark, using the shadows to hide and wait for the right time to pounce on them victims. So what does Mika do when she gets home and finds out the power is off to her building and KNOWS that ninjas are coming for her? Why go into the dark building alone and try to pack of course, duh!

The rest of the non-ninja story is more of the same uninspired filler, including a mandatory Hollywood Bush-bashing reference to Guantanamo Bay. That entire scene was nothing more than a segue to have ninjas fight in a massive warehouse. Guys with guns versus ninjas with swords and stars; guess who wins that fight? Mika is constantly telling Raizo that “we can trust Maslow” but each time they do, the situation worsens. Is Maslow, bad? Is Maslow good? Who cares… Where are the ninjas?!?

Well they’re here. When the ninjas are on the screen – in the classic full-ninja entire, including the black hood, split toe shoes and dual swords – it is truly remarkable.  Fight choreographers Chad Stahelski (The Expendables, X-Men Origins: Wolverine, Rambo ) and David Leitch (Tron Legacy, Speed Racer) are in top martial art form here because every second there is a ninja on screen, then you can be sure the action is going to be intense.

My one complaint about the fights in Ninja Assassin was the use of all the digital blood. The same technique was used in Blood the Last Vampire and it’s becoming more prevalent in Japanese-stylized fights. I’m just not that into it yet I suppose; perhaps it will grow on me in time. The other thing I noticed is that the blood in every human on the planet is sitting in their veins at around 120 psi, because when they get hit by a sword of ninja star, their blood literally explodes from their bodies.

My favorite part of Ninja Assassin had to be the use of the digital ninja stars. Listening to them swoosh by my head in 7.1 digital surround sound was fantastic and watching ninjas mow people down with them instead of bullets was great.

Overall, I’d go see Ninja Assassin again. It’s the only real choice this holiday weekend for someone wanting to watch an action movie. Fantastic Mr. Fox and The Blind Side, both of which I hear are good films, would be GREAT films if they just had one thing in them: NINJAS!

One of the noticeable things about most of the stuff we’ve seen from Ninja Assassin so far is the lack of explicit blood-spilling. The movie still looks badass, but I’ve been wondering if it has been toned-down for the trailers, to be viewable by a more general audience.

Well, with this latest red-band trailer blood splatter has ceased to be a worry. This is one helluva of a bloody trailer (not Hostel bloody, but still…), and shows that we’re in for a full-on ride when the movie hits theaters (which is today, actually). Before we move onto the red-band trailer, here’s a little reminder for those of you who may not be familiar with what Ninja Assassin is about:

Ninja Assassin follows Raizo (Rain), one of the deadliest assassins in the world. Taken from the streets as a child, he was transformed into a trained killer by the Ozunu Clan, a secret society whose very existence is considered a myth. But haunted by the merciless execution of his friend by the Clan, Raizo breaks free from them and vanishes. Now he waits, preparing to exact his revenge.

And now, without further ado, here’s the red-band trailer for Ninja Assassin. Needless to say it’s NSFW (you have to enter your age before viewing) – but that aside, take a look and enjoy the bloody mayhem, courtesy of IGN:

For a hi-res version, go HERE.

Early opinions on Ninja Assassin have been mixed (34% on Rotten Tomatoes), with some people having a problem with the heavy use of CGI (which we can see more of in the above trailer, along with all the blood) and the frenetic style of shooting (read: shaky cam). But I’m still willing to give this one the benefit of the doubt, just because of the amazing-looking fighting (sometimes hand-to-hand, sometimes with weapons) and the hard edge this red-band trailer now confirms it has. Even if the story sucks, give me a big helping of those two things and I’ll be a happy camper.

What do you think of this decisively more blood-drenched red-band trailer for Ninja Assassin? Are you looking forward to this movie? With the kind of movie it is, are you willing to forgive certain aspects (such as story) in lieu of some ninja action?

Ninja Assassin opens in theaters today in the U.S., and on January 8th, 2010 in the UK.

Source: IGN (thanks to /Film)

One of most fun-looking martial arts movies to come along in awhile is Ninja Assassin. It stars Korean mega pop star, Rain (in his first leading action role) and comes to us from director James McTeigue as well as The Wachowski brothers, the team who brought us the excellent comic book adaptation, V For Vendetta.

Ninja Assassin is about a ninja who defects from the orphanage where he was trained, only to be hunted by his ninja clan brethren whose very existence is considered a myth. But, as with a lot of these types of movies, the plot doesn’t really matter – all that matters is that the action is kick-ass and that certainly looks to be the case with this film.

Thanks to the guys over at Collider we have six new clips from Ninja Assassin, all provided within the one video player for your viewing convenience . Check the clips out below:

Awesome stuff. I’m really digging the effects employed during the fighting, particularly the swooshing and swiping of the blades, which are reminiscent of the knife scene from the aforementioned V For Vendetta. Rain at least LOOKS the part here, which is impressive considering this is his first real lead action role, coming off of a few supporting roles in a handful of other films, and of course, his huge music career.

I don’t know if it’s the somewhat cheesy dialogue or Rain himself, but from a couple of those clips it appears Rain might not be the greatest of actors. But since when has that held back any of the best action stars (i.e. Arnie, Seagal, Van Damme)? As long as Rain can pull off the over-the-top action convincingly, that’s all that counts in my eyes – and by the looks of it, he accomplishes that.

What do you think of the latest clips from Ninja Assassin? Do you think Rain fits the role? Are you excited for this movie?

Ninja Assassin opens on November 25th, 2009 in the U.S., and on January 8th, 2010 in the UK.

Source: Collider

At the end of July, Robert Sanchez at IESB broke the news that Warner Brothers were looking at James McTeigue to possibly direct a new Superman feature film that would act as a franchise reboot.

A few weeks later, McTeigue sat with MTV and while not confirming or denying any involvement, he did relay his idea of a reboot for Superman should he land the gig. His plan would take the Man of Steel in a different direction and skip through the overdone origins of Clark growing up into the hero we know him as.

Things were looking good for our favorite Kryptonian, up until Diane Nelson, the head of the newly formed DC Entertainment, explained that they do not have another Superman film as part of their current plans.

Was she just saying that just in case they don’t sort out their legal troubles with the heirs to the Superman creators and lose the rights to many of the original aspects of the character? Are they really not planning another Superman movie?

Obviously, they’re thinking about it with the production start deadline approaching in 2011. And it’s sure thing, WB will do everything in their power to get it all sorted out and regain full control of their poster boy character.

With DC Entertainment potentially set to launch an interconnected DC film universe of their own, starting with Green Lantern, to compete with that of Marvel Studios (and even of Fox’s X-Universe), they’re going to need their #1 hero.

If it does go forward, I think McTeigue and the Wachowskis (rumored to produce) would make for an interesting team to helm the project. On the topic of McTeigue and his ideas, Alex Billington at First Showing had a chance to chat with the Ninja Assassin director and they touched on the Superman project and his ideas for it.

“I think I would be interested in doing it if they let me do it the way I wanted to do it. I would say that, if you take the Richard Donner Supermans and the last Superman [from Bryan Singer], I think that Superman is probably ripe for a bit of a change up. I think society has changed around the core idea of what Superman was.”

“And I’m not saying you do the ubiquitous dark Superman, I’m not saying that… I’m just saying that I think there are some things that you could excise from the Superman mythology that people would get into it, if you took the world that he was in and changed that a bit, and maybe even project that into the future a bit. I think you don’t really have to play into the origin story anymore. I think there’s a whole bunch of things you could do to make that film more alive and exciting again.”

I’m glad he quickly tossed down this whole “dark superman” thing, as did Brandon Routh back when he was still likely to return. We don’t need that, we just need a new and fresh take on the character sans Lex Luthor and the history of the Kent family.

Click to continue reading about Superman: Man of Steel and that pesky Magneto rumor…

A bunch of new clips and TV spots have appeared online recently for five highly-anticipated movies: the sci-fi/horror flick, Pandorum, the zombie action-comedy, Zombieland, the martial arts action flick, Ninja Assassin, the teen horror/comedy, Jennifer’s Body, and the all-star comedy, The Men Who Stare at Goats.

And we have all of them here for your viewing pleasure!

PANDORUM

First up is a new clip for the upcoming sci-fi/horror, Pandorum, starring Dennis Quaid and Ben Foster. Set upon a deep space vessel 500 million miles away from earth, the film follows two crewman who wake from their cryogenic sleep to find the vessel’s population missing and mysterious creatures terrorizing it. The Event Horizon meets Alien meets Sunshine film has looked great so far – check out the latest creepy-as-hell clip from it:

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Pandorum opens September 25th, 2009, in the U.S., and on October 2nd, 2009, in the UK.

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Zombieland

Next we have three new clips/TV spots for the upcoming zombie action-comedy, Zombieland, starring Woody Harrelson, Jessie Eisenberg, Emma Stone, Abigail Breslin and Amber Heard. The clips are short, but showcase the first three “Rules of Zombie Killing.” I won’t ruin them for you, check out the videos yourself to find out what they are (I know you’re just dying to know!):

Zombieland opens in the U.S. on October 2nd, 2009, and in the UK on November 27th, 2009.

(Continue to pg. 2 for more clips!)

As the days become shorter, and the nights become cooler, there is one thing on the horizon that all of us are quickly becoming aware of – the arrival of a slew of exciting 2009 Fall Movies. What’s always been great about this time of year is that it’s not just about “horror films” or movies that are made to touch the holiday hearts that burgeon each year as turkey, Santa and New Year’s Eve stretch into the new year and beyond.

The menu is varied, wide open and we hope – satisfying. While we couldn’t list them all, please join us as we quickly chronicle what lies ahead in Screen Rant’s 2009 Fall Movie Preview!

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SEPTEMBER – 2009

Whiteout
September 11th, 2009
The Scoop: Pretty little starlet Kate Beckinsale takes on this graphic novel turned killer-thriller. Beckinsale plays a U.S. Marshall investigating Antarctica’s first homicide as the sun sets for six entire months. Will she find the killer in the cold dark before he finds her?

SR Says: The trailer paints this movie as more X-Files than detective story, which could confuse some on the premise. However, cold weather and hot Beckinsale = worth the ticket price?

See it? Maybe.

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The Informant!
September 18, 2009
The Scoop: Director Steven Soderbergh helms an all-star cast providing you “a mix of A Beautiful Mind and The Insider.” Damon plays the exec of a agri-business giant who goes overboard working as a snitch for the Feds. It’s bi-polar, whistle-blowing storytelling at it’s best!

SR Says: It’s going to be amazing to see what this cast can pull off under Soderbergh’s direction with such an involved script.

See it? Yes.

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Jennifer’s Body
September 18, 2009
The Scoop: Megan Fox plays a possessed cheerleader, with a fetish for feasting on boys (and girls). Hot sexy teens, girl on girl kissing/rubbing and more social satire from Juno writer Diablo Cody.

SR Says: Depends on how you feel about Megan Fox looking both sexy and grotesque in one film.

See it? If you like teen horror flicks, or are a devotee of Cody.

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Pandorum
September 25, 2009
The Scoop: Ben Foster and Dennis Quaid star as two astronauts who wake up on an abandoned future spacecraft and have no idea what’s happened. As with all things in movies, time unveils the “truth” of what they face – a ship full of crazy space monsters.

SR Says: Dennis Quaid has had some woofers lately, but Ben Foster always offers something unique. MMA fans may recognize cast member Cung Le as the current Strikeforce Middleweight Champion, which guarantees at least two raucous fights in this thriller.

See it? Yes.

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Surrogates
September 25th, 2009
The Scoop: In a future where people live life through robotic surrogates, Bruce Willis plays a cop who must venture back into the real world to investigate a string of crimes involving people dying while connected to their Surrogates.

SR Says: Jonathan Mostow is an underrated director, and seeing Bruce “alive” again, with great f/x and a bit of gravitas sounds like a great combination.

See it? Absolutely.

(Continue to page 2 for October’s Movie Preview)

Two new clips have appeared online for two upcoming films: Ninja Assassin and Survival of the Dead. Assassin hit theaters before the end of the year, while Survival is supposed to hit sometime this year, so thankfully there’s not that long left to wait until we get to see them. And Screen Rant has the two new clips to wet your appetite for both movies.

NINJA ASSASSIN

This is one of those action movies that looks to fall back and rely on its kick-ass action (fighting) sequences to carry it when other elements may not be as strong (acting, for example). But that’s sometimes okay, if the action is good enough, that is. And going by this clip, as well as the official trailer, I don’t think that’s going to be a problem in the slightest. Check out the badass Ninja Assassin clip below:

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Wow, there’s some serious fight choreography and stunt work going on there. Korean pop/mega star, Rain, may be starring in his first proper action role (he appeared in Speed Racer last year), but it certainly doesn’t show from what we’ve seen of the movie. That may change if and when we get to see him act (as you can tell by the intro to the above clip, his English isn’t too good), but as far as action goes, he’s nailed it.

SURVIVAL OF THE DEAD

The previously titled Island of the Dead is horror movie legend George A. Romero’s sixth “Dead” film (I can’t not think of The Joker in The Dark Knight mouthing “six” in the holding cell ). The film follows a group of people on an Island off the coast of North America who are trying to survive a zombie outbreak, as well trying to find a cure to bring their “zombiefied” relatives back to human life.

The clip shows an effective comedic slant to the zombie proceedings from Romero, something which may or may not work within the context of the film, but watching it by itself it really works. Take a look:

I wasn’t a fan of Romero’s two previous “Dead” films, Diary of the Dead and Land of the Dead, and I think the horror icon has gone as far as he can with this horror sub-genre. But even so, I still find myself looking forward to his latest zombie outing. Go figure.

What do you think of these two clips? Which of the two movies are you looking forward to most?

Ninja Assassin hits theaters on November 25th, 2009, while Survival of the Dead is only playing at the Toronto Film Festival this month (in a few days, FYI). No official theatrical release date has been set for Romero’s latest as of yet. Screen Rant will keep you posted on that front.

Sources: TrailerAddict and Twitch

Since 2005’s V for Vendetta, director James McTeigue has emerged as one of Hollywood’s most in-demand directors. Besides recently completing filming on his amazing looking martial arts film Ninja Assassin, McTeigue has long been tied to rumors about the upcoming Superman reboot and was even in consideration for the Conan remake (before eventually losing out to Marcus Nispel). Recently, Peter Sciretta from /Film had the chance to sit down with McTeigue to talk about some of his future projects.

According to /Film’s interview, McTeigue’s next project will be The Raven, a suspense tale based partly on Edgar Allan Poe’s famous poem of the same name. Described by McTeigue as “The Raven crossed with Se7en,” the film is a fictionalized account of Edgar Allan Poe’s last days alive. Apparently, we’ll get to see Poe hunting a serial killer who is inspired by his stories. As Peter points out, the real death of Edgar Allan Poe is pretty interesting on its own (it even has its own Wikipedia entry), so I’m willing to bet McTeigue’s approach could be pretty cool.

In addition to The Raven, McTeigue has been in talks with producer Joel Silver to adapt Richard K Morgan’s cyber punk sci-fi novel, Altered Carbon. I haven’t read the book myself, so here’s a description from the author’s website.

In the 26th century mankind has spread through the galaxy, taking its religions and racial divisions out into the cold arena of space. While tensions exist and small dirty wars flare up every now and then, the UN Protectorate maintains an iron grasp on the new worlds, aided by its very own elite shock-troops; the Envoy Corps.

Meanwhile, what religion cannot guarantee technology has already delivered; when your consciousness can be stored in a cortical stack and routinely downloaded into a new body even death has become little more than an inconvenience. As long as you can afford a new body…

Ex-UN Envoy Takeshi Kovacs has been killed before; it was a hazard of the job, but his last death was particularly brutal. Needlecast across light years of space, re-sleeved into a body in San Francisco on Old Earth and throw into the centre of a conspiracy that is vicious even by the standards of a society that has forgotten how to value life, he soon realises that the shell that blew a hole in his chest on Harlan’s World was only the beginning of his problems…

Sounds interesting, right? Sort of reminds me of an old Kurt Vonnegut short story, “Unready to Wear” from Welcome to the Monkey House. Altered Carbon definitely seems like something McTeigue could handle well (the director got his start working with the Wachowski brothers on The Matrix), so I hope something eventually comes together.

They also quickly touched on some upcoming comic book movies to try and get some hints at McTeigue’s future in that genre. In brief, McTeigue says Plastic Man is not a movie he sees ever being made, the rumors about him taking the director’s seat for X-Men Origins: Magneto away from David Goyer are completely false and as for the recent Superman reboot rumors about him and the Wachowski brothers, he could not confirm or deny his involvement, saying the following:

“You know… I… I would say… I’ll keep you guessing, actually. It’s good not to dispel every rumor, right?”

/Film says they will post their full interview with McTeigue sometime this week, so make sure to keep an eye out for it.

What do you think of McTeigue’s upcoming projects? Do The Raven and Altered Carbon sound like movies you’d like to go see?

Ninja Assassin opens November 25, 2009.

Source: /Film

Latino Review has grabbed an exclusive scoop from a “confirmed source” that Ninja Assassin star and Korean pop star, Rain, is set to star in a remake of the 1973 Bruce Lee classic, Enter The Dragon. Screen Rant reported on this “sort of” remake almost two years ago, and much of the details remain the same:

Awaken The Dragon will be about a lone FBI agent who pursues a rogue Shaolin monk to get him to participate in the world of underground fight clubs. Warner Bros. is hoping for the FBI agent to be played by an already established American actor, and the monk to be played by a “fight star.” And Latino Review’s scoop says that fight star will be Rain.

The Shield writer/producer Kurt Sutter is writing the script for, and making his directorial debut with, Awaken the Dragon. The aim is to make the 21st century update of the Bruce Lee classic have a Noir feel. The story of the original was that of a martial artist who is drafted by a law enforcement agency to enter into a fighting tournament and take down a drug-smuggling operation run by the guy in charge of the tournament.

Here’s what Sutter had to say about his contemporized take on Enter the Dragon:

“I’m a huge noir fan, and this plot lends itself to the film I want to make… I wanted to set it in these underground fight clubs where the action is really raw and expose the brutality of Shaolin Kung fu. This will be more ‘Raging Bull’ than ‘Crouching Tiger’ in its viciousness.”

Rain is starring in the upcoming Ninja Assassin, an English-language action film from the director of V For Vendetta, James McTeigue and Matrix producers The Wachowski Bros. After starring in a few Korean films and TV shows (including Park Chan-wook’s charmingly peculiar I’m A Cyborg, But That’s Okay), Rain got his first English language role in Speed Racer. And, after seeing the trailer for Ninja Assassin, I can say Rain looks absolutely kick ass in martial arts role, eradicating any doubts people may have had about a pop star becoming a great action star.

I know I’d certainly be up for Rain getting the lead role in Awaken the Dragon.

At the start of the year, fellow Screen Rant writer Rob Keyes posted a video showing the behind-the-scenes stuntwork of Ninja Assassin by the infamous 87Eleven stunt team. Rob pointed out something interesting: If Rain does indeed get the Awaken The Dragon gig (which it seems likely he will), and with the amount of movies 87Eleven have worked (300, Watchmen, Bourne trilogy, on and on), could we see the same stunt team work on Awaken The Dragon? I’d actually be surprised if WB didn’t already have them in mind for it.

I don’t usually like remakes because of one simple thing: most of them tend to lack much originality and are just trying to capitalize on the popularity/success of the original to make money. Having said that, if they can make Awaken The Dragon different enough that it doesn’t just come off as a rip-off, then I’m all for it.

Awaken The Dragon certainly sounds interesting – will it have more martial arts-style versions of the fight scenes from Fight Club, perhaps? 87Eleven did the stunts for that, too. Interesting…

Screen Rant will keep you up to date on whether or not this casting news turns out to be true.

Ninja Assassin to is set to be released on November 25th in the US, and on November 27th in the UK, both in 2009.

No word yet on when Awaken The Dragon is aiming to be in theaters.

Source: Latino Review

James McTeigue’s upcoming high-paced action fest, Ninja Assassin, is one of sleeper films for this year that I’ve been eagerly awaiting for quite some time. Produced by the Wachowski brothers, Ninja Assassin follows Korean pop star, Rain, playing a ninja named Raizo on a mission of vengeance.

There hasn’t been too much released yet for the movie in terms of marketing but this week the first official trailer was released and we have it here for you:

[See post to watch Flash video]

Ninja throwing stars everywhere!

If you want more of an idea of how insane the fight sequences will be in the movie, check out this behind-the-scenes choreography video from back in January which shows off Rain and the 87 Eleven stunt team practicing some amazing moves and sequences.

In addition to the first Ninja Assassin poster from back in April, MTV got an exclusive on the latest poster for the movie:

[Click to see MTV's high-res version]

This is all looking great to me – what do you think of the trailer?

If this movie is received well, it could push into motion some official announcements on the recent rumors of McTeigue and the Wachowskis being the lead candidates to takeover the Superman franchise for Warner Brothers.

Ninja Assassin was written by Matthew Sand and J. Michael Straczynski and it opens November 25, 2009.

Source: MTV

Ninja Assassin is the story of one of the world’s best assassins, Raizo,  who was trained to kill by a secret organization that later executes his best friend. Naturally, Raizo must avenge his friend’s death and the blood bath ensues.

Check it out and see what you think:

There has been little released on this movie thus far, so if you want to see what the movie will really be about, check out the Ninja Assassin fight choreography video that was put online back in January. The video features the infamous 87 Eleven stunt performing/coordination and martial arts training group who also worked on hit action movies 300, the Bourne films and this year’s Watchmen.

Ninja Assassin is directed by James McTeigue and currently scheduled to hit theaters November 25, 2009.

I loved what I saw from the choreography video and this poster looks cool. Does this movie interest you?

Source: ScreenWEEK

[UPDATE: Just as we suspected (and noted below) this was nothing more than rumor and has been debunked by /Film]

A “reliable” source for Ain’t It Cool News has provided them with some interesting information regarding the future of the Superman franchise as well as an update on the current status of Ninja Assassin.

This source, while in Berlin, caught an interview James McTeigue (who’s directing Ninja Assassin) and in the interview McTeigue revealed that the Wachowski Brothers have been approached about rebooting the Superman franchise as a trilogy.

Here’s the juicy parts of the message he sent:

• McTeigue confirmed that Plastic Man was the next project in the pipeline for the Wachowski’s and he had been signed on to provide Second Unit support. Says the movie has been delayed indefinitely due to a major shake up of projects at WB.
• Bryan Singer has refused to undertake a re-boot of the Superman franchise and has left the Executives at WB with no choice but to take a fresh creative direction.
• He (McTeigue) stated the Wachowski Brothers had been approached to re-boot the franchise as a trilogy and they are currently reviewing their options as its like being asked to take the final play in a superbowl final.
• Says if they do agree, he will likely either succumb to providing second unit support on the movie or will champion the directorship of Plastic Man – He started to giggle as he stated its like a young child for the Brothers and they wont give that up easily.
• Says, the very thought of the brothers making a superman movie is unbelievable as they have grown up in the world of comic books and they would be ideal for the project.
• Stated that Bryan Singer is looking to move on to Logan’s Run a movie to be produced by Joel Silver.

We knew Bryan Singer wasn’t involved in the next Superman project and we expected he wouldn’t be since they wanted to reboot the franchise.

But having the Wachowskis takeover makes me curious. I don’t know if this is a good thing or bad thing if it actually happens. Speed Racer, while being an obvious kids film, was completely unwatchable for me. On top of that, I disliked the third Matrix film and thought the second needed improvement. I must however give them credit on their writing and producing credits on V for Vendetta and the upcoming Ninja Assassin – The second of which I know will be amazing without even needing to see a trailer. Just check out this fight training video for that here and you’ll see what I mean.

Since the interview was focused on Ninja Assassin wrapping up, the source also summarized a bit of what McTeigue had to say about that:

• Ninja Assassin is locked and complete. Awaiting a suitable marketing strategy and release from WB. Looking likely to be a late summer release.
• Action scenes are absolutely brutal, unbelievable vision from the Wachowski’s in blocking the fights with the Hong Kong stunt team.

I cannot wait to see Ninja Assassin and the one thing Wachowskis can consistently do very well is fight choreography – so having them involved as producers and attached to the project is a good thing.

To clarify the obvious, this is currently just a rumor. If true, being approached to do the films is different than being signed to do them. As long as it’s nothing like Speed Racer and not geared towards kids, I think it’ll be interesting to see the Wachowski Brothers’ take on the Man of Steel.

What do you think of the prospect of the Wachowskis directing the next Superman?

Ninja Assassin’s release date is still to be announced and the next Superman film has no official time frame as of yet.

Source: AICN

The video features the infamous 87 Eleven stunt performing/coordination and martial arts training group who also worked on hit action movies 300, the Bourne films and this year’s Watchmen (hopefully this year). They do amazing work and are becoming more and more involved in some of the biggest action films around.

Ninja Assassin is the story of one of the world’s best assassins, Raizo (played by Korean pop star, Rain) who was trained to kill by a secret organization that later executes his best friend. Naturally, Raizo must avenge his friend’s death and the blood bath ensues.

Take a look at some of the action sequences you can expect to see in the film:

[See post to watch Flash video]

And that’s just the fight training! This movie is going to be bad ass and I’m definitely going to see it just based on this.

The action sequences look incredible and they’re obviously putting tons of work into it to make it flow and look real – “real” as in based on earth’s gravity and people actually performing these moves naturally and not like in Romeo Must Die or Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon where a person can jump and kick multiple people while changing and reversing his direction in midair. You know what I Mean!

Does this make you want to see the film?

Ninja Assassin does not have a confirmed release date as of yet but is expected to hit theaters in the second half of 2009. It is directed by James McTeigue (Speed Racer, V for Vendetta).

Source: /Film

This week we feature:
Ninja Assassin, Donnie Darko sequel S. Darko …really, Ouija board – the movie and Val Kilmer in The Thaw.

1. Joel Silver’s Ninja Assassin has begun production in Berlin. According to Comingsoon this is the plot of the film:

“Ninja Assassin follows Raizo, one of the deadliest assassins in the world. Taken from the streets as a child, he was transformed into a trained killer by the Ozunu Clan, a secret society whose very existence is considered a myth. But haunted by the merciless execution of his friend by the Clan, Raizo breaks free from them… and vanishes. Now he waits, preparing to exact his revenge.

In Berlin, Europol agent Mika Coretti has stumbled upon a money trail linking several political murders to an underground network of untraceable assassins from the Far East. Defying the orders of her superior, Ryan Maslow, Mika digs into top secret agency files to learn the truth behind the murders. Her investigation makes her a target, and the Ozunu Clan sends a team of killers, led by the lethal Takeshi, to silence her forever. Raizo saves Mika from her attackers, but he knows that the Clan will not rest until they are both eliminated. Now, entangled in a deadly game of cat and mouse through the streets of Europe, Raizo and Mika must trust one another if they hope to survive…and finally bring down the elusive Ozunu Clan.”

This all sounds very generic, and with a B-list cast I’m predicting that anticipation levels for this film are at the far end of the scale from Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull.

Ninja Assassin is directed by V for Vendetta helmer and Wachowski protege James McTeigue.

Source: Comingsoon

2. Showgirls star Elizabeth Berkley will star in S.Darko, the unnecessary sequel to Donnie Darko. The film currently shooting in Utah also stars Briana Evigan, Daveigh Chase, Ed Westwick and Justin Chatwin.

Don’t worry – I’ve never heard of those people either.

“The story, set seven years after the first film, follows Donnie Darko’s sister, Samantha, who, in dealing with her broken family, flees town with her best friend when they are plagued by bizarre visions.”

See it soon in a DVD bargain bucket.

Source: Hollywood Reporter

3. Michael Bay’s Platinum Dunes will produce Ouija, an adaptation of Hasbro’s supernatural game Ouija Board.

No plot details have been released. I don’t blame them, this sounds like a terrible idea.

I like Michael Bay as a director, but I’m not a big fan of his producing efforts, I don’t think that’s going to change in the near future.

Source: Hollywood Reporter

4. Val Kilmer will star in The Thaw, a horror film about a group of students trying to stop a deadly parasite that has escaped from a defrosted woolly mammoth.

Sounds like a cool little movie, it’s being billed as a eco-horror movie, but director Mark A. Lewis says that the film won’t be too preachy.

Source: Dread Central

That’s it for this week, I hope that I have a more exciting line up next week.

See you at the movies!