News: Wall Street 2 / Futurama Back on TV /Danny Boyle Heading Back to Mumbai / Hathaway and Gyllenhaal on Screen Again / Peter Jackson Confirmed for Comic Con with the Possibility of Cameron’s Avatar

Javier Bardem has quite a slate of films ahead of him. He is set to star as the villain in Oliver Stone’s Wall Street 2 (yes, that is actually happening) alongside Shia Labeouf and Michael Douglas. And in a crazy twist, Bardem will be playing the principle villain in the sequel, not Douglas’ Gekko (but I’m sure he will be at least a little villainous). The Oscar winner has signed on for Ryan Murphy’s adaptation of Eat, Pray, Love playing the love interest for the Julia Roberts character. It’s still a mystery to me why stars are still lining up for Ryan Murphy’s follow up to Running with Scissors (a critical and commercial disaster). Bardem will also be seen later this year in Alejandro Gonzalez Inarritu’s latest Biutiful. Focus Features has yet to announce an official date for that film.

 

Futurama returning to TV at last. After the success of Futurama’s four straight to DVD movies and its syndicated run on Comedy Central, Fox has ordered its creators to make 26 episodes. They are due to be screened as early as spring of next year. This marks sweet victory for its legions of followers. It makes me wonder if this same DVD model will be applied to future beloved TV shows that are canceled prematurely.

 

Danny Boyle reteams with Slumdog Millionaire writer Simon Beufey for another Mumbai centered film Maximum City. This may be the first time in Boyle’s long career that he has made an extremely predictable move. The film will be adapted from the 2004 non fiction book “Maximum City: Bombay Lost and Found” which covers a wide spectrum of the city’s issues, from the Bollywood industry, to the Shiv Sena Party, and Mumbai’s underground criminal world.

 

Anne Hathaway and Jake Gyllenhaal have signed on for Ed Zuick’s Love and Other Drugs. The screenplay, adapted form Jamie Reidy’s memoir “Hard Sell: The Evolution of a Viagra Salesman” is by The Interpreter scribe Charles Randolph. The film centers on Reidy (Gyllenhaal), a salesman for Pfizer, who falls in love with a woman with Parkinson’s (Hathaway) during one of his sales calls. This is their first time on screen together since 2005’s Brokeback Mountain. And both have added to a hefty work load: with Hathaway in Burton’s Alice in Wonderland, Get Smart 2, the Judy Garland bio pic, and the star studded ensemble comedy Valentines Day. Then we have Gyllenhaal in David O Russell’s Nailed, Jim Sheridan’s Brothers, and one of next summer’s big blockbuster releases, Prince of Persia: The Sands of Time.

 

The New York Times has confirmed that Peter Jackson will be making an appearance at the San Diego Comic Con along with the tantalizing possibility of James Cameron. The public may get its first real glimpse of Cameron’s ridiculously anticipated new film. There seems to be some debate over at Fox whether or not to screen footage from the top secret Avatar. The film promises to be an immersive 3-D experience unlike any other. Talk about the expectations Cameron has to live up to. If some of the film does screen at the festival the buzz should go into the stratosphere (maybe it’s already there). But the film’s effects may not be ready in time for a screening. There is also serious buzz for Jackson’s upcoming production District 9 after its first trailer was attached to Wolverine screenings (seemingly out of nowhere). This will also mark Peter Jackson’s first appearance to the San Diego nerd Mecca. District 9 is the 2^nd film to be confirmed for Comic Con after New Moon. Jackson is currently on post production on his latest directorial effort The Lovely Bones, set to be released on December 11 of this year.

– Anthony Nicholas