Cinematical

Were you out there feeling like there were still just too many unanswered questions in The Fast and the Furious franchise? Okay, probably not, because that's like asking for CliffsNotes for an episode of The Hills. But, I guess somebody out there felt there was some explaining to do, because Coming Soon reports that Vin Diesel (who plays muscle car driver extraordinaire, Dominic Torretto) will be directing a 20-minute prequel to the upcoming Fast and Furious.

There aren't many details on the short, but starring alongside Diesel will be Michelle Rodriguez, who will reprise her role as Letty, and Sung Kang will also be returning as Han. Diesel did not provide any details about the story for the short, but for those of you who are well versed in the world of Fast and Furious, you can probably guess that it will act as a tie-in to bring together the events of the second and third films.

I'll admit I was surprised to discover that Diesel has already directed before. Mainly they were other short films, but back in 1997, he wrote, directed, and starred in Strays, a drama about hustlers, and of course, there are still those long-standing rumors about Diesel directing his own Hannibal (not the cannibal) feature. Nobody knows for sure where the Fast and Furious prequel will appear first, but the obvious choice would be online. There is also a chance that to drum up a little business Universal will premiere it on TV, or as an extra on the DVD. One thing is for sure, unless Justin Lin has the running time of Fast and Furious down to 70 minutes, I doubt we'll be seeing it in theaters.

Fast and Furious is scheduled to open on June 5th, 2009.

I'll admit it; I have a soft spot for Vin Diesel. Feel free to laugh at me, but I can't help myself, it's something about that voice. So you might want to keep my personal bias in mind when I say that Babylon A.D. really doesn't look all that bad. Silly? Yes, but entertaining none the less. Ropes of Silicon found the latest poster for the sci-fi flick from Gothika director Mathieu Kassovitz and if nothing else, it's a step up from the first one-sheet/Oakley ad we saw a few months ago.

Diesel stars as Toorop, a mercenary who takes the job of escorting a woman from Eastern Europe to New York. But if you have seen the trailer, you know that there is a lot more to this lady than meets the eye. Say what you will about the film, but you have to admit, some of those 'Bladerunneresque' shots of the city were pretty impressive. Starring alongside Diesel is the criminally underused Michelle Yeoh as an a**-kicking nun, as well as, Gerard Depardieu, and Charlotte Rampling.

Babylon has had rough time throughout production. The project started back in 2005, when Kassovitz was hired to adapt the novel, Babylon Babies. Originally the French actor Vincent Cassel was expected to take the lead, but Diesel decided to drop out of Hitman (probably not a bad idea all things considered) to lobby for the role. It was even speculated that the move caused bad blood between Cassel and Kassovitz, and ruined a long standing friendship. As if that wasn't enough stress; there were also delays from weather and talk about the film running over budget.

Hopefully all these problems won't be showing up on the screen when Babylon A.D. opens in theaters on August 29th.

A few days ago it was confirmed that Steven Spielberg was putting The Trial of The Chicago 7 on the back burner to work on Tintin full-time. But despite earlier reports that Paul Greengrass had been chosen to take over, it looks like Chicago 7 is still without a director. According to CHUD, they contacted Greengrass and he confirmed that while he thinks it's a 'wonderful project,' and he had considered it; the timing just wasn't right -- and something tells me that a certain spy flick might have taken priority.

The trial of the so-called 'Chicago 7' (eight, if you want to be a stickler for details) was one of the defining moments of the 60's counterculture movement. During the '68 Democratic convention eight people (including the infamous Abbie Hoffman and Black Panther, Bobby Seale) were arrested for inciting a riot and conspiracy. The trial was recently made famous in the documentary, Chicago 10, and according to earlier reports, Sorkin's script is loosely based on Brett Morgen's animated doc.

Erik brought us some casting news earlier in the year, but it seems like nothing is written in stone when it comes to this movie. Spielberg has packed his slate for the coming year, but if I had to choose from his upcoming projects, I would have loved to see him tackle this story (not to mention getting his hands on an Aaron Sorkin script).

Sound off below on who you would like to see take the reigns for The Chicago 7, that is if it ever gets made...

No matter how you look at it, one group of dedicated fans aren't going to be very happy about this. In an interview with MTV Movies blog, writer/director David Goyer dropped the hint that his X-Men origin flick Magneto may be taking a back seat to his Invisible Man update -- not the choice I would have made, but maybe Goyer is a little 'Superheroed' out. Goyer tells MTV that Magneto, "may be next," but he wouldn't confirm which film is going to get priority on his schedule, saying, "So it could be 'Magneto,' or it could be 'The Invisible Man' next." -- Gee Dave, thanks for clearing that up.

Goyer's Invisible update is just the latest in a series of adaptations of the classic H.G. Wells story on the big screen. Universal famously adapted the novella in 1933, with Claude Rains as the invisible Jack Griffin, and don't forget about the embarrassingly bad comedy version starring Chevy Chase back in 1992. Goyer told MTV that his story, "involves Scotland Yard getting their hands on the current Invisible Man and basically saying, 'Wow, you'd be a really good secret agent to send into Imperial Russia right now,'" an enthusiastic Goyer said of the plot. "It starts off from there." -- I'm suddenly having flashbacks to The League of Extraordinary Gentlemen, and that is not a good sign.

So the real question is: What does this mean for Magneto? We all know that there is no danger that the film won't get made (No please, don't bring that dump truck full of money to the studio doors), but his work on The Dark Knight earned Goyer the reputation of 'Patron saint of comic book movies' (well, until Watchmen is released anyway), and it will be hard to top that; you can't blame the guy for wanting a break.

Stay tuned to Cinematical for the official word on which film will cross the finish line first.

The tale of the battling Pablo Escobar flicks is still going strong, but despite the bad news that Javier Bardem has officially dropped out of Joe Carnahan's Killing Pablo, all is not lost for his true-life crime tale. CHUD recently received an email from the man himself, and Carnahan tells them, "I spent the last week in Colombia with Edgar Ramirez talking 'Pablo' and he has every intention of portraying Escobar and I couldn't be more fired up by the prospect. He's coming at it with boundless enthusiasm, conviction to the role and the understanding that he's going to have to pack on anywhere from 35 to 40lbs." Seems a shame to cover up all that 'handsome', but what can you do?

This is all quite a change from last February, when Collider had reported that Ramirez was the front-runner to star in Antoine Fuqua's version of the life of the drug baron. So, I can only assume that the casting switch won't be helping matters in the ongoing feud between the two projects. The only other cast that we were aware of was Christian Bale signing to play Major Steve Jacoby, but who knows what could happen between now and whenever Carnahan finally starts production.

Carnahan's film is based on Mark Bowden's book, Killing Pablo: The Hunt for the World's Greatest Outlaw. The story claims to be the true tale of how Escobar was assassinated and his Medellín cocaine cartel was dismantled by US special forces. Of course no good conspiracy theory is complete without a few extra players, so some of the blame was also placed on the Colombian military and a vigilante gang controlled by a competing cartel.

Stay tuned to Cinematical for the official word, and sound off below on Ramirez picking up where Bardem left off...

Other than the fact that the heroine looks an awful lot like Megan Fox, I can't say I know all that much about the horror comic Hack/Slash, but it looks like that is about to change. In an interview with Newsarama, Slash screenwriter Justin Marks (Street Fighter: The Legend of Chun Li) decided to share a few details about Todd Lincoln's upcoming feature film version of Tim Seeley's series.

First up is that the film "won't be an origin story, per se, but the origin will be covered." -- which probably means get ready for some rapid fire flashbacks. Marks also went on to say, "we wanted to do something very different, because this is the first chance to see a slasher movie where there is more than one slasher! Because it follows a hunter, you're going with her and her accomplice as they go from one to another, and building out the mythology of how this world works with its undead slashers."

Hack/Slash is the story of Cassie; a girl traumatized at a young age, who becomes a hunter of 'Slashers' (better known as Revenants). Along with her partner Vlad, the two are responsible for keeping the world safe from the undead menace. News of a feature film version first hit back in 2006, and other than a few rumblings that Fox was on the short-list for the lead, there hasn't been much to report. Luckily for fans of the gory comic, Marks is committed to making an R-rated film, and told Newsarama, "It was written with that mentality in mind, yes".

Well, maybe if Fox does sign on as Cassie, an R rating could guarantee that fan boys finally get that glimpse of skin they've been promised. Hack/Slash is expected to arrive in theaters in 2009.

[Thanks: Coming Soon]

Have you had your fill of giant robots on the big screen yet? Well, Hollywood is banking that you haven't, and while we wait for the next installment of Transformers, it's time to turn our attention to some of the other giant robot flicks heading our way in the not-so-distant future. It's common knowledge that Justin Marks (Street Fighter: The Legend of Chun Li) is in charge of the big-screen adaptation of Voltron, and today a review of Marks' script has popped up online over at Latino Review -- and, thankfully, it looks like good news for fans of the 80's cartoon. But first off, you should know that the review is pretty descriptive about the plot and 'spoiler alert' doesn't even begin to cover it. If you don't feel like reading the whole thing (and it is pretty long), it can all be boiled down to this: the script rocks.

If you didn't grow up watching 80's cartoons, then Voltron might not inspire much excitement. But, for those of a certain age, Voltron was a religion. The story of Volton centered on a team of five young pilots commanding five robot lions which could be combined to form a giant fighting machine called Voltron. Our heroes are left with the task of protecting their home planet from an evil king and a witch named Hagar. But those were the old days, and according to Latino Review, Marks' script is going to deviate from the original anime origins. For the update, Marks' story centers on the fact that "The Drules have invaded Earth and kicked our ass in the ONE DAY WAR. Humanity has gone underground. New York has been decimated and our story opens on the eve of the fifth anniversary of the Drule invasion."

I can literally hear the Jan Hammer as I type this, but when I think Don Johnson, I think Sonny Crocket (and occasionally, the slightly less cool Nash Bridges). I know that Mr. Johnson has many other fine acting credits to his name, but I grew up in the '80s, what can you expect? But, it's not all white suit jackets and '71 Plymouth Barracuda's for Johnson any more. The Hollywood Reporter has announced that the man will be getting back into the feature film game to star in Disney's romantic comedy When in Rome, and the indie feature, A Good Old Fashioned Orgy.

Rome stars Kristen Bell (TV's Veronica Mars) as a young American gal "who steals coins from an Italian fountain and finds herself receiving visits from numerous strangers who, having previously thrown coins into the fountain, are now in love with her." Johnson was offered the role by writer-director Mark Steven Johnson (no relation) to play Bell's dad, after a previous project between the two had fallen through. Then it's off to work on Orgy where Johnson will fill in as SNL's Jason Sudeikis' dad (I guess Johnson has finally reached the stage in his career where he is no longer the 'be-stubbled heartthrob' and more of a father figure).

It's kind of funny to think that with all the organized crime films made over the years, you can probably count on one hand the ones set in the hyper-violent world of the Tokyo underworld. Luckily, Warner Bros. (and VP Dan Lin) are helping to address this oversight, and have purchased the film rights to Robert Whiting's Tokyo Underworld: The Fast Times and Hard Life of an American Gangster in Japan.

The true-life crime tale was published in 2000 and detailed the taped conversations between Whiting and a gangster by the name of Nick Zappetti. Zappetti came to Japan with occupying US forces after WWII, but stayed on to make a fortune on the black market. After a failed stint as a wrestler (and a botched diamond heist) Zappetti was deported, but returned illegally in the mid-60's to open a pizza place. For the next 15 years, Zappetti's place became the center of Tokyo's nightlife, and an integral part in the Yakuza's rise to power.

VP Dan Lin was given the book on a trip to Tokyo, and as luck would have it, the rights were up for option after the project had lapsed over at Dreamworks. WB wasted no time and hired Frank Baldwin to adapt the book for the screen. Baldwin already has the true-crime flick on the burner; The Art of Making Money with Philip Noyce for Dreamworks, but that project is still a long time coming.

Tokyo Underworld would seem to have it all: a dedicated producer who was responsible for one of the better gangster films of the last 20 years and great source material. As soon as WB lands their director everything should be on track -- might I suggest Martin Scorsese? After all, he was denied a Yakuza film once before, I think he's probably earned one of his own.

Usually when a harebrained idea like remaking Flash Gordon starts to make the rounds, you can usually count on it being at least a few years down the line -- but I guess today I'm just not that lucky. The Hollywood Reporter announced that Matt Sazama and Burk Sharpless have now signed to pen the update of the classic sci-fi tale with Sahara director Breck Eisner at the helm. Eisner signed to direct last May, and with the addition of the screenwriting duo, it could mean the project just entered the fast track. Sazama and Sharpless have had a busy 2008, and were already hard at work on scripting duties for Alex Proya's Dracula Year Zero and Zack Snyder's Cobalt 60 when the Flash deal finalized.

For those of you out there not familiar with the Depression-era hero, Flash Gordon centered on a dashing polo player who is abducted and taken to the faraway planet Mongo. Along with his gal-pal *Gail and scientist Hans Zarkov, Flash lands in the middle of a battle with the dreaded Ming the Merciless (possibly one of the best villain names around). Originally, Universal was holding the rights to the title, but when the project fell through, the rights reverted to King Features Syndicate and eventually found a home at Sony.

This latest incarnation of the adventurer/polo player will mark the third time the classic comic strip has had a home on the big screen (including the original serial). Now that Hollywood is mining the comic book store at a furious pace, the third time could be a charm for Flash.

But it's going to be pretty hard to top Dino DeLaurentiis' psychedelic trip of a film back in 1980 -- don't ya think?

*Correction: Apologies to all the Flash fans out there; Flash's better half was Dale Arden.