Movies
News Bites: Studio’s Dream Cast for ‘RoboCop’ & ‘Oldboy’
I can’t believe it’s only Tuesday. I feel like I’ve been through war and back just on the Evil Dead news alone. In the middle of that, there’s all sorts of juicy little news bites sneaky out on a slew of major projects.
Let’s begin with the news courtesy of Twitch who report that Josh Brolin (Jonah Hex, Men in Black III, True Grit, No Country for Old Men) tops Mandate’s casting wishlist for the Spike Lee-directed Oldboy remake. In a separate story they also answer questions about the script’s direction. Park Chan-Wook’s South Korean film was itself an adaptation of a previous Japanese manga and so the question becomes which will provide the basis for the US film. And the answer is both. A source close to the production tells Twitch that writer Mark Protosevich is using both the Korean film and the Japanese book as reference points for his own script.
The site also reports another jaw-dropper citing that MGM is seeking a younger actor to portray RoboCop in the forthcoming reboot of the 1987 classic being helmed by Jose Padilha. Star Trek‘s Chris Pine could be that man as he’s said to be the “studio’s top choice.” It’ll be pretty embarassing if neither of these casting scoops pan out. The original was about a cop who was near death and was drafted to become a powerful cyborg cop, until suppressed memories of his past life come back to haunt him. Peter Weller played the character in the original him in the original and the 1990 sequel.
Our exclusive news that Lionsgate’s Dibbuk Box has been renamed to The Possession is now confirmed. It’s a terrible title. The end.
Speaking of Mandate and Ghost House Pictures, we might as well share with you the following UK TV Spot for Evil Dead 2 that features a young Sam Raimi pitching his horror flick to Journalist Jonathan Ross. It pretty much makes up for Dibbuk Box‘s new title.
Just added: Inside you’ll find the UK poster for Rise of the Planet of the Apes featuring the psychotic leader Caesar. Directed by Rupert Wyatt, Fox goes to war on August 5.
Movies
R-Rated ‘The X-Files: I Want to Believe’ Director’s Cut Gets New Title and Streaming Premiere Date
After a slight delay, Disney has finally announced a new streaming date for the R-Rated director’s cut of The X-Files: I Want to Believe. According to Gizmodo, it’ll also come with a new title.
The X-Files: I Want to Believe Vrach Frankenshteyn begins streaming on Hulu on August 14.
The new cut was first teased in an interview with director Chris Carter on the Fail Better With David Duchovny podcast from last year, where he teased a much scarier movie he intended.
“Now I have a chance to go back and make the scary movie that I always intended to make,” Carter explained last year. “It’s not just doing a Director’s Cut to do a Director’s Cut. It’s really kind of bringing to life something that for me was on the page and never got to the screen.“
The director’s cut of the film was initially set to arrive on Disney+ in June, but quietly disappeared from the schedule without a word. Polygon reported the delay was “due to some last-minute adjustments being made to the film.”
The release’s new “Vrach Frankenshteyn” title certainly suggests those adjustments have been made, likely referring to a Frankensteining of bonus footage.
In the film, Mulder (David Duchovny) and Scully (Gillian Anderson) have been out of the FBI for several years, with Mulder living in isolation and Scully having become a doctor at a Catholic hospital, where she has formed a bond with a critically ill child patient.
When an FBI agent is mysteriously kidnapped, and a former Catholic priest who has been convicted of pedophilia claims to be experiencing psychic visions of the endangered agent, Scully is asked to bring Mulder back to the bureau to consult on the case because of his work with psychics.
The brand new R-rated cut will “faithfully restore the filmmaker’s original vision.”
Look for it on Hulu next month.