This week:
Over the weekend the box office Saw some Paranormal Activity; Carl Ellsworth was hired by Paramount but he wants C.O.D (Cash On Delivery); True Blood’s Ryan Kwanten is Griff the Invisible; Derek Mears gears up for Predators and Laura Dern Meets Stiller and family.

Wow. It looks like the Saw franchise has finally come to a grisly end. The sixth film in the horror franchise opened with 50% less than what was predicted, earning a not-so-good $14.7 million. The film probably only cost about $15 million to make, but this poor gross means that it’ll have to have some serious overseas takings to make new installments viable.

In the last few months, we’ve seen some major developments occur with the upcoming new installment in the Predator franchise. Titled Predators, the Robert Rodriguez script (co-written by Alex Litvak and Michael Finch) is set to be directed by Nimród Antal with a reported projected start date of two weeks ago.

Now, it appears that the cast of the film is coming together. According to The Hollywood Reporter, Adrien Brody is set to star in the reported re-boot of the Fox Studios franchise, Predators. Joining the Oscar winner are Danny Trejo (working with Rodriguez on Machete), Oleg Taktarov (UFC fighter), Walt Goggins (The Shield), Alice Braga (I am Legend, Redbelt) and Mahershalalhashbaz Ali (The 4400).

Our friends over at Latino Review were able to read through a draft of the Predators script. In short, they say it’s “awesome!”

I’m so pumped over this news that I can’t think of anything quirky, snarky or anything ending with a “y” to say. So, let’s just get on to the script.

minor spoilers below

We meet our main protagonist, Royce, who’s described as “a Steve McQueen type” chasing a man onto a rooftop. An altercation ensues and Royce ends up killing the individual. All the while, Royce is being observed by a nearby Predator who, after watching Royce kill his opposition, captures him and returns to the Predator home world.

Clint Morris over at Moviehole had a chance to visit the set of The Chronicles of Narnia: Voyage of the Dawn Treader and while perusing the Australian country-side, sat down with effects guru, Howard Berger, to talk with him about one of his upcoming projects, the Robert Rodriquez-produced Predators.

Morris, who got started in effects working with Stan Winston on the original Predator and Aliens movies, just received photos of the finished Predator(s) from his team in Los Angeles and says that they look “fantastic” and that the fans will be happy with the look of the Predator(s).

A couple of months ago it was announced that a director had been found for the upcoming Predators reboot/sequel in the form of Nimrod Antal. The Vacancy director was just one of many that was in the running to direct the highly sought-after project, with another notable naming being The Descent helmer, Neil Marshall (who I, and many other fans, strongly favored).

With Robert Rodriguez on-board to produce (he was also rumored to be directing at one point), Antal on-board to direct, and Alex Litvak and Michael Finch having written it, it looks like Predators is definitely on the way. And now Production Weekly is reporting a shooting start date (and location) for the film: September 28th, 2009 at Rodriguez’s Troublemaker Studios in Austin, Texas.

[UPDATE: Confirmed! Nimrod Antal WILL be directing 'Predators!']

The last we heard about the upcoming Robert Rodriguez produced Predators reboot/sequel, The Descent helmer Neil Marshall was apparently in “close talks,” to direct it. The deal between Marshall and 20th Century Fox had not be signed but Bloody Disgusting said they had a reliable source saying it was getting close to being a done deal. AICN previously reported that Marshall was one of seven directors who were being looked at to direct Predators, and that he was first in line.

However, today we get news from Latino Review that it may not be Marshall who directs Predators after all, and instead a man named Nimrod Antal is the “top candidate.”

It was announced early this year that a Predator sequel/reboot (it’s not quite clear which yet) is in the works, only this time retitled as Predators. At first Robert Rodriguez was said to be attached as director, but reports soon thereafter corrected it to his being a producer through his Troublemaker Studios. Alex Litvak was reportedly chosen to write the film, and so it seemed that things were moving along the project.

But wait, don’t we need a director, I hear you ask? Well, yes, and it has been reported by Bloody Disgusting that Neil Marshall is in “close talks” to direct Predators.

[UPDATE: Robert Rodriguez has since let it be known that Schwarzenegger has NOT been approached about Predators. See the quote from Rodriguez at the bottom of the post.]

Franchises all over Hollywood are being rebooted, remade and reinstalled.  Terminator Salvation got the makeover treatment while still paying homage to the original film via a “cameo” by Arnold Schwarzenegger (or at least his face). Now it looks like Robert Rodriguez and the makers of the forthcoming Predators are hoping to get Schwarzenegger to star in their sequel/reboot to the 1987 original.

According to Moviehole, the makers of Predators have “reached out” to Schwarzenegger in the hope that he’ll return to the sci-fi action series. I can only assume that Danny Glover was busy.

With Robert Rodriguez producing the forthcoming Predator reboot/sequel/spinoff, all ears and eyes were on who would write and direct the Sci-Fi actioner. Well, don’t worry as we now know that Alex Litvak will be putting pen to paper or whatever that guy uses to write (probably Final Draft, but that’s not important).

Litvak will be rewriting an original script that Rodriguez wrote on spec about 15 years ago, but it was shelved due to budget restrictions and because 20th Century Fox instead wanted to ruin the franchise along with the Alien series with the AVP movies.

But the big question is –  who is this Litvak guy?

[UPDATE: It seems that Rodriguez will be PRODUCING the movie but not DIRECTING it - and there's a tentative release date: July 7, 2010]

Remember back about two months ago when we said Predator-remake was in the works and quite possibly the worst idea ever? Today, we retract those statements… Well, maybe not entirely, but at least a little.

Why? Because Robert Rodriguez is taking the reigns not only as a producer, but also as director!