The saga of the Punisher: War Zone movie production has got to be one of the most soap-opera-ish things I’ve seen in the time I’ve been covering movie news here on Screen Rant. Rarely have I seen such angst and pain among not only fans of the comic book character that is being brought to the big screen, but movie fans in general.

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There has been a tremendous amount of bad press surrounding The Punisher War Zone over the past several weeks.

Stories have been flying about stating that the director Lexi Alexander was fired from the production and that the film was being re-cut and laced with a Heavy Metal soundtrack.

Now the reliable Latino Review has a source stating that the film is going to be cut so that it is suitable for a PG-13 audience..

So what the heck is going on with The Punisher? Will the film be any good?

We get busy, we miss stuff. Here are some of the items of note that didn’t get individual posts today…

- Seth Rogen won’t be a fat Green Hornet. (Super Hero Hype)

- Maybe Goonies 2 isn’t on track after all. (Cinematical)

- Kevin Smith’s Porno gets an R rating. (AP)

Hollywood, what a crazy, unpredictable place!

Although we all watch movies, I don’t think many of us will ever get to have that true Hollywood experience - and I’m not talking about the type that Hugh Grant got back in ‘95! (Zing!)

Last week we told you that director Lexi Alexander had been removed from post-production on Punisher: War Zone by studio Lionsgate. Her website seemed to corroborate the news when it posted a picture of three monkeys in the classic “See no evil, Hear no evil, Speak no evil” pose.

Now CHUD is reporting that Lexi is firmly on-board with the film, and that the story of her “departure” was a work of fiction meant to drum up publicity. Meanwhile, her website has now been updated with a few words from the director herself that appear rather vague, but seem to imply that she’s had a rough ride with the film.

SO WHAT’S THE REAL STORY?

 Apparently, The Punisher is just not meant to be a big screen icon.

First Dolph Lundgren took a stab at the character way back in 1989 following the original post-Batman comic book movie frenzy. Then Thomas Jane was cast in a reboot that didn’t please fans, and now it would seem that Ray Stevenson is the third and possibly final actor to play the role in Punisher: War Zone.

Word from AICN is that the director Lexi Alexander has been kicked off the project.

Film School Rejects also heard that the editing team from The Incredible Hulk has also been brough in to help the post-production process.

Now, I’m a pretty curious guy, that so I decided to check out Lexi Alexander’s personal web page - a site that had given copious updates throughout filming,  and what did I see?

My movie fanatic buddy Advanced Dark alerted me to these via his Marvel Movies Facebook page. They’re the first posters for the upcoming Punisher reboot Punisher: War Zone.

I think they convey a seriously dark, militaristic vibe - much more than the first film. I don’t know if people will show up to see this one, but it certainly looks like it’s going to capture the feel of the comic book version of the character.

Check out the posters below.

Courtesy of IGN.com comes the first trailer for Punisher: War Zone (aka Punisher 2), directed by Lexi Alexander and starring Ray Stevenson as the title character.

The similarities to what they’re doing for this Punisher reboot and what they’ve done with Hulk is uncanny. It’s the same situation: Marvel movies that didn’t do that great first time around, essentially rebooted to do the second time what they should have done initially: Keep the feel much closer to the comic book source material.

You can check out the first Punisher trailer below.

If you can believe it, the next Punisher film may be better than the previous one, and it’s directed by a girl.

Ok… a woman. Ok, ok… a hot-looking woman.

On her personal blog, director Lexi Alexander gave a brief update on the status of Punisher: Warzone (aka Punisher 2 although it’s the third Punisher movie). Among her comments was this one in reply to Ray asking how much the studio wanted to cut the movie:

Welcome to another Weekend Movie News Wrap Up. It’s almost St Patrick’s Day, which is great for everyone, but as I’m Irish it means that I can drink Guinness all day long and no one will look down on me. Well, no more than usual.

That’s enough about me though, I know that you don’t read this item to discover my social calender so I’ll cut to the chase and give you your movie news fix from the past week.

This week we have news on : Mad Max: Fury Road, George Lucas’ Red Tails, The Punisher : War Zone, Wolfgan Petersen’s Uprising and a new version of Heavy Metal.

Here’s a summary of what’s going on today in the wonderful world of entertainment…

- Harlan Ellison debunks the rumor that Star Trek 11 incorporates the Guardian of Forever. We reported this AS rumor a month ago, so we don’t fall under the category of blogs that Ellison so colorfully refers. - TrekMovie.com (warning, lots of colorful language… it IS Harlan Ellison after all)

- AICN floats a supposed alternative title to the upcoming Justice League movie which I believe is utter and complete hogwash and there’s no way it’s true. - AICN

- The uber-classic sci fi film Metropolis is headed for a remake. This could be incredibly stupid and the odds are that it’s a bad idea. However there is a very, very slight chance that if done correctly it could turn into a modern day classic. - FirstShowing.net