• I can't believe Knight & Day only opened at #3 with $20 mil, even with a 2-day lead. Now blogs are saying the studio isn't too interested in developing Mission Impossible 4 anymore. And if they do, they'll have to add a younger agent for Tom Cruise's character to train. Start the casting rumors...now! My vote's for a 20something guy who looks fairly innocent, but capable of taking care of himself when push comes to shove, like Bryan Greenberg ("How to Make It in America" and The Perfect Score) or Christopher Egan (Letters to Juliet and "Kings").
• Speaking of sequels, even though everyone involved in the disappointing Indiana Jones 4 admits that it wasn't the best plot or execution, there are rumors that a 5th film is the works. They're planning to have both Indie (Harrison Ford) and his son (Shia Labeouf) go to the Bermuda Triangle. And, this time around, there will be far less CGI and far more realistic surroundings. Although, I imagine all the inevitable-storm effects will need to be fabricated.
• Bloggers are saying the success of the Karate Kid remake has inspired the remake of several other 80s films, including Don't Tell Mom the Babysitter's Dead. That doesn't seem logical. Karate Kid did well because of 1) production, 2) star power, and 3) stunts. No matter how many stars they get in this film, there's no way they'll be able to top that.
• I wish Johnny Depp could play Don Quijote in the upcoming adventure adaptation. Because when I think of a crazy person who thinks he's capable of anything, I think of Captain Jack Sparrow!
• Looks like Sandra Bullock and Ryan Reynolds are going to redo/remake Gerard Butler and Jennifer Aniston's Bounty Hunter, slapping on a new title, Most Wanted, and making Reynolds an FBI agent and Bullock a suspect he unsuccessfully escorts to court. Ok, so it's not the exact same story, but it's definitely the same dynamic. I wish they had switched it up though. Instead of the guy hunting the girl, they could've made her channel Agent Gracie Hart and have her protect him.
• Wow! Two Nicholas Sparks-written worlds are about to collide. Rachel McAdams (The Notebook) and Channing Tatum (Dear John) will star in the romantic drama The Vow. Think of it as an even more satisfying version of The Notebook. Two newlyweds get into a car accident that leaves the wife with post-coma amnesia. Instead of dissolving their new marriage, the husband tries to win her heart all over again. Bring tissue boxes—yes, boxes.
• Channing must have stock in Kleenex, because he's been on a romantic-lead kick lately. He just signed on for the sci-fi romantic epic that's a cross between The Time Traveler's Wife and The Fountain. In Ion, "a man travels to different Earths and dimensions in order to find his reincarnated lover." I suggest you ladies hydrate.
• Hmmm, Sam Worthington and Chris Pine competing for Reese Witherspoon's affections? I could go for that. Of course, casting for the action rom-com This Means War has changed about 80 times since it was first announced, so I won't hold my breath. But considering that the plot involves two best friends/veteran spies who fall for their new roommate, and end up fighting for her affections using their black-ops warfare tactics, I think these two could pull it off. Plus, I'm excited to see if Worthington can actually play a romantic lead. Dreamy? Yes. Romantic? No.
• I'm almost as excited to watch Joseph Gordon-Levitt take on Michael Shannon. I've always thought Shannon looked like he could murder an entire family and then stop for a snack, but when I see Gordon-Levitt playing mean, I get goosebumps. It's literally like he has two faces: the sweet boy who learned French to woo a girl in 10 Things I Hate About You, and the sinister dream stealer in the upcoming Inception. In the thriller Premium Rush, Gordon-Levitt will play a bike messenger who gets chased through New York by a dirty cop (Shannon) because he's unknowingly transporting incriminating evidence. It'll be interesting to see how he handles himself against such an intimidating figure.
• Ok, I've accepted that Judd Apatow and his wife Leslie Mann like making movies together, so how about we upgrade her status? When he directs her in the comedy Business Trip, which is being toted as the female Hangover, where three women on a corporate trip fail to actually work, can she get two accomplished co-stars? Like say Tina Fey, Kristen Wiig, or Drew Barrymore? She's usually the only chick in her films, so it's really important that her first estrogen-fest has credibility, so that she can finally prove that it's not just the guys that are funny.
• Russell Crowe's strategy for redeeming himself in the public eye seems to be to simply play redeeming characters. Unfortunately, it sounds like the latest project he's signed on for is like a feature film version of USA's "Burn Notice." Or rather they're using the popularity of that series to adapt the 80s spy series "The Equalizer," where a former operative of a covert intelligence organization seeks redemption for his dark past by offering his services to civilians in need of help. Pfft. There's no way he can top Michael.
• Speaking of the Fox, I'm a little worried about the upcoming Transformers film, which is rumored to be the last. Michael Bay keeps saying things like he removed the "dorky comedy" and that "it has a really killer ending." First of all, it needs the comedy so it's not all explosions, and secondly, please don't kill Sam (Shia Labeouf). It's not like you're going for an Oscar. There's no need to kill off a character.
• The Australian pre-apocalyptic indie Tomorrow When the War Begins seems to be the beginning of a trend. New Regency is developing a similar film, the sci-fi thriller The Darkest Hour, which will follow "a group of kids struggling to survive in Moscow after an alien invasion." Of course, it'll probably make more since it'll star Max Minghella (Art School Confidential), Emile Hirsch (Into the Wild), and Olivia Thirlby (The Wackness and Juno). Then there's the Red Dawn remake, which follows "a group of teenagers looking to save their town from an invasion of Chinese and Russian soldiers." That's quite an interesting development. Audiences are losing interest in superheroes and gaining interest in the youth saving the world.
• I was worried that Princeton graduate Wentworth Miller ("Prison Break") had gotten lazy and just decided to do a slew of action movies (Resident Evil: Afterlife and BioShock). But it turns out he's been busy writing the family drama Stoker. Normally, a TV actor writing a script isn't a big deal, but he has Ridley and Tony Scott producing, and Carey Mulligan and Jodie Foster starring. That must be one interesting script. It "follows an eccentric teenager whose enigmatic and estranged uncle returns to the family after the death of the girl's father." I'll admit, I'm intrigued.
• I am a little too amped for the alleged Mortal Kombat reboot, where they'll be a modernized and more gruesome version of Reptile, Baraka, Johnny Cage, Sonya Blade, and Scorpion. Can't. Freaking. Wait!
• I was bummed that I wouldn't be able to see Nicholas Braun on ABC Family's "10 Things I Hate About You" anymore, since they canceled it, but I'm glad to see that's left his schedule open for films. He'll be in the teenage ensemble cast for the "John Hughes-esque" comedy Prom with Aimee Teegarden ("Friday Night Lights").
In other TV news...
• I did not love ABC Family's kitschy sci-fi comedy "The Middleman," but I did greatly appreciate its introduction of Natalie Morales. She's not your typical one-note pretty actress. She's got some bite to her, and with the right support she could be the next Sandra Bullock or Natalie Portman. So I find it completely illogical for USA to nix her underutilized character on "White Collar" in favor of installing Marsha Thomason ("Las Vegas" and "Lost") as the series's eye candy. Thank god the geniuses behind "Parks & Recreation" snatched her up." I hope she gets to stick around even if imbecile Tom screws up their relationship.
• I'm also genuinely confused by the pre-premiere recasting of Jessica Parker Kennedy's character in JJ Abrams's next TV project "Undercovers." Apparently, he saw fit to replace her with Mekia Cox, who was previously seen as Dixon's pregnancy-faking older woman on "90210." Since Kennedy already shot the pilot, people will assume she didn't test well, but I think they just cast her in the wrong role. I've seen her in action. She has a lot of range—from nerdy and sweet in Another Cinderella Story to vicious and vindictive in "Smallville" and "V." She just hasn't found the right role yet. She could easily be a romantic interest for Troy on "Community," a tone-deaf character on "Glee," an intern or protege on "Lie to Me," a new recruit on "Rookie Blue," a new student on "90210," or Katherine's evil minion on "Vampire Diaries." Hopefully, her role in Seth Rogen and Joseph Gordon-Levitt's upcoming cancer dramedy will turn some heads.
Nice commentary on JPK. I was bummed to find out she got cut from the series. But then the series didn't last that long. Oh well.
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