Movie Make-out

According to The Hollywood Reporter, Jet Li and his The One and War co-star Jason Statham are teaming up with Rambo — or Sylvester Stallone, anyway — in The Expendables. (To be precise, Statham and Stallone are signed; Li is in final negotiations.) I never saw The One but hear it was bad from almost everyone who’s seen it; War was definitely a waste of their talent; but maybe the third time will be the charm for Li and Statham?

The three will play mercenaries “sent to infiltrate a South American country and overthrow its ruthless dictator to liberate the population.”

Stallone, whose most recent Rambo flick was all kinds of big, dumb and awesome, is writing and directing, just as he did with Rambo. The film is the first of a two-picture deal with Nu Image/Millennium Films; the second film is expected to be another Rambo sequel.

The Expendables begins shooting in February.

UPDATE (11/10): A more recent HR article says that Stallone wants Forest Whitaker for “a devious CIA agent involved in the operation.” It sounds more like wishful thinking than that he’s actually in negotiations, but if Whitaker would do Vantage Point, I don’t see why he wouldn’t also consider The Expendables for the right price.

Sly also mentioned that the film is aiming for a PG-13, explaining, “It won’t be a blood fest.” Alas. PG-13’s can get pretty rough these days (Dark Knight, anyone?) but I was hoping for something more along the lines of the newest Rambo, obviously.

Andromeda Strain and Jurassic Park author (and ER creator) Michael Crichton passed away yesterday at age 66, after a “private battle against cancer.”

It hasn’t even been published yet, but Variety is reporting that Paul Pope’s upcoming graphic novel from First Second Books, Battling Boy, has been optioned by Brad Pitt’s Plan B. The story revolves around “the son of a god or superhero who comes down from the top of a mountain at his father’s behest in order to rid a giant city of monsters.”

The book will be published in Spring, 2010. No timeframe yet on the film adaptation, but if they follow Pope’s art at all for the art direction, then we’ll have one fine looking movie — and with a 50 page action sequence, it’s safe to guess that it will be action-packed. The next step, though, is to find a screenwriter.

[Just in case you needed a break from the election news. -TL]

More details of Terrence Howard’s dismissal from Iron Man 2
Some say it was Howard’s behavior; others say that it was his initial salary… Read up on all the dirt. (Source: EW)

Charlize Theron joins Cruise in The Tourist
Or so they say because the words “in negotiation” are being used. The role is for an Interpol agent who uses a hapless American tourist to flush out a criminal with whom she had an affair. I hope you can hear my eyes rolling from where you are. (Source: Variety)

George Clooney isn’t The Lone Ranger, at least not yet (and other Bruckheimer news)
In a nutshell, Clooney’s dubious, Depp will be Tonto, the Pirates writers are doing the script, and Sorcerer’s Apprentice will be shot in New York. (Source: Coming Soon.net)

From book to movie: The Electric Kool-Aid Acid Test
When he wasn’t busy wearing white suits and protesting over-development in Manhattan, Tom Wolfe found the time to sign a deal with Fox Searchlight to make a movie of his 1968 book The Electric Kool-Aid Acid Test, which is about a weird cross-country trip that Ken Kesey (One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest) and friends took in a Day-Glo bus while on acid. Acid Test will be directed by Gus Van Sant and scripted by Dustin Lance Black, last having worked together on Milk. (Source: Hollywood Reporter)

J. Michael Straczynski lands on Forbidden Planet
Best known to his “Babylon 5″ and comics fans as JMS, the screenwriter for the Clint Eastwood-directed Changeling recently landed another deal to pen a remake of Forbidden Planet, that 50s movie that many people only know about because of Robbie the Robot. And then, only barely. (Source: Hollywood Reporter)

Pulitzer-winning playwright joins Spider-Man 4 writing committee
Best known amongst theater geeks for having won the 2007 prize for his Rabbit Hole, David Lindsay-Abaire’s work may become known to a wider audience as he was recently named as having joined the Spider-Man 4 writing committee. Insiders say that Lindsay-Abaire’s addition to the team means the movie will have more of a focus on characterization, and to that I say “Hallelujah.” (Source: Hollywood Reporter)

Samuel L. Jackson joins The Last Dragon remake
Just in case you aren’t up on your blaxploitation remake news, the word is that Jackson will be playing a character known as “The Shogun of Harlem” whose flunkies always affirmed his egotistical assertions about himself by saying, “Sho’nuff!” The best part is the son of original director Berry Gordy is on the production team. (Source: Hollywood Reporter)

Variety is reporting about a deal — still in the works — that looks to resurrect the Tintin films that Steven Spielberg and Peter Jackson had hoped to bring to the big screen. Originally set up with Universal, the studio started getting cold feet. They were reluctant to partner with Paramount and backed out, effectively killing the project and, in the process, losing its intended star, Thomas Sangster. Paramount’s deal was apparently not good enough, so Dreamworks started shopping the project around.

Now, a co-financing deal between Sony and Paramount seems to have to project back on its feet and aiming for its first film to release in 2010, with Spielberg at the helm. Jackson is slated to direct the sequel. Originally, the project was to have encompassed three movies, but Variety says the new deal seems to only be for two films. Of course, financial success would all but guarantee more films in the series.

Jackson’s WETA Digital has apparently produced a 20-minute test reel showcasing the photorealistic performance-capture techniques intended for the film, which will reportedly bring Tintin creator Hergé’s art to life. I’m not a fan of the process as we’ve seen it to date (in Beowulf or Polar Express), but I have faith that the company behind Gollum can make it work.

Related Post: Dreamworks and Paramount split leaves Tintin, others in limbo (updated)