Paranormal Activity 5 Confirmed

Paramount has officially confirmed that horror sequel Paranormal Activity 5 will arrive in cinemas next year just in time to terrify Halloween audiences. The official release date for the 5th installment in the resiliently popular franchise is 25th October 2013.

The persistent box office success of the franchise including most recent effort Paranormal Activity 4, combined with the low budget afforded by the found footage style, has convinced the studio that there’s a few more screams and dollars left to be collected.

Paranormal Activity 4 had previously been promoted as a final chapter in the saga but production will now start on the next chapter just  as soon as a director and story can both be pushed in place.

Katee Sackhoff Joins Female Expendables Cast

Katee Sackhoff has officially joined Gina Carano in the growing cast of Producer Adi Shankar All Female Expendables style action star ensemble.  In a recent interview the Battlestar Galactica pin-up seemed enthusiastic about the much hyped project and the possible line up of action heroines.

“Well, I am attached to it, but things always happen. If a script got delivered and was absolutely horrible, then you figure things out. But, I can’t imagine, with everyone that [producer] Adi Shankar is bringing around the project, that it’s going to be bad.”

Expanding on what gave her the confidence to be one of the first stars to sign on she revealed her potential co-stars were a big part of the decision:

“I really put a lot of faith in him and his eye for detail, I’m a big fan of Gina [Carano] and there’s a lot of strong women. When I sat down with Adi and he pitched the women that he wanted in the movie, these are not your 5 foot 2, skinny girls. These are the girls that can actually kick some ass, which made me excited. They are different types of girls. I haven’t seen the Expendables movies, but not every one of us has the same fighting style and we’re all different body types. It’s believable that we could all kick some ass. I’m really looking forward to it.”

It’s expected that many more names will now be added to the production. Carrie Anne Moss, Sigourney Weaver, Uma Thurman, Michelle Rodriguez, Michelle Yeoh, Linda Hamilton, Kate Beckinsale , Summer Glau, Cameron Diaz, Jamie Lee Curtis, Helen Mirren and Angelina Jolie are all still being mentioned with various degrees of seriousness.

Star Wars Episodes VIII And IX Get Writers

Having recently secured the services of Toy Story 3 writer Michael Arndt to write the seventh chapter in the Star Wars Saga, Disney has now reportedly found writers for both Episodes eight and nine as well. Simon Kinberg and Lawrence Kasdan have reportedly both signed on to help complete the rest of Disney’s new Star Wars trilogy.

Kinberg recently produced  successful X-Men reboot First Class and has co-written sequel Days Of Future Past.  Lawrence Kasdan previously wrote The Empire Strikes Back and Return of  The Jedi.

Kasdan seems an obvious choice for Lucasfilm having been a huge part of the original Star Wars trilogy and having written other classics like Raiders of the Lost Ark. . His involvement may help reassure fans that new trilogy will do justice to the classic saga and avoid the disappointments of the more recent prequels.

Kinberg’s screenwriting CV is considerably less enviable than Kasdan’s, he’s written flops like This Means War and Jumper as well as disappointing sequel  X-Men Last Stand. It remains to be seen whether the pair will be collaborating or taking responsibility for episodes eight and nine individually.

 

Fox Cancels Independence Day 3D Release

20th Century Fox has officially cancelled plans to re-release a converted 3D version of Roland Emmerich’s alien invasion blockbuster Independence Day. Starring Will Smith, Bill Pullman, Jeff Goldblum and Randy Quaid the   1996 original version hauled in over $800 million at the box office alone, catapulting Will Smith to global superstardom in the process.

The 3D re-release seemed to be an obvious first step for the studio in reviving the franchise, with Roland Emmerich apparently still battling to secure a deal with the actors and studio to do a pair of sequels, tentatively tiled ID Forever Part 1 and Part 2.

News that Fox has pulled the plug on the previously announced plans to push the original film back into cinemas would obviously suggest that their enthusiasm for the franchise is dwindling as hopes of the long delayed sequels continues to fade.

TMNT Creators Praise Ninja Turtles Reboot

Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles co-creators Peter Laird and Kevin Eastman have both spoken out in support of saving the latest big screen version of the half-shell heroes, praising the script that the studio indefinitely abandoned production of five months ago.

Widely reported concerns about the script and the direction Michael Bay’s alien themed Ninja Turtles would take, seemed to have convinced the studio to take the unlikely decision of abandoning the potentially lucrative franchise altogether.

Although Peter Laird had been previously cynical about the ill-favoured reboot, speaking to NBC he seems to have had a change of heart.

“From what I’ve seen of the script, it’s fantastic… (its) like The Avengers for scope and roots origin and The Raid: Redemption for fight scenes and Rise for the Apes as far as computer-quality style.”

Namedropping some of the most commercially and critically successful action blockbusters of the past year may seem a little over the top. Laird’s newfound optimism may also have been further undermined by the fact he also boldly asserted during the same interview

“Michael Bay has made some great … movies.”

While fans were busy fiercely debating Michael Bay’s alleged ‘greatness’ , Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles co-creator Kevin Eastman was busy leaping on The Avengers reference for his own interviews. Adding his own splash of eager enthusiasm for the project:

“If we learned nothing else from one of my favorite Comic Book Based Films, The Avengers, it’s that there’s a lot to be said about never forgetting that core concept and core fan-base.”

Again it’s a statement that is a little contradicted by plans for Ninja Turtles to largely ignore the Turtles traditional back-story and completely reboot the franchise with a mystical alien warrior theme.