Monsters, Inc. prequel Monsters University gets a director

You may have heard by now that the long awaited sequel to Disney Pixar's family favourite Monsters, Inc. now has a story and a title. The film, which is still another year and a half from release, will be called Monsters University and will actually be set before the first film. It will chart Sully and Mike's time at university where they are initially enemies but then become close friends. The storyline sounds like it has a lot of scope for hilarity and I think making the second film a prequel was a brilliant idea. Fans have waited too long for it to simply be a continuation of the first film.

Only a matter of days after this exciting news, ComingSoon.net revealed that a director has been confirmed in the shape of Dan Scanlon. Scanlon is relatively new to the directing scene but was one of the writers for Cars and a story artist for Toy Story 3, in addition to helming the Cars short Mater and the Ghostlight. His relative inexperience in the world of directing concerns me slightly but I think the fact that he has plenty of experience in animation will help Scanlon succeed.

It will be interesting to see how Scanlon's film stands up against the first, which was directed by Pete Doctor among others, due to the huge success of Monsters, Inc. The fact that the first film was so successful - and the fact that Billy Crystal and John Goodman are likely to reprise their roles as Sully and Mike - will surely drive fans to the big screen for this one. I sincerely hope this film isn't terrible and contains much of what made Monsters, Inc. so loved. It would be a shame for the wait of over 10 years to have been for nothing. I'm holding my breath on this one.

Kiefer Sutherland Optimistic About '24' Film

Much loved real time show 24, starring Kiefer Sutherland, has come under some criticism from fans about the slow progress to release a film version. In fact, a script was only penned in February 2010 by Billy Ray, and unfortunately for fans of the show it was dismissed by Fox. Despite these obvious setbacks however, front man and producer Kiefer Sutherland has remained optimistic about the project and says it could be due for release in 2012. Could this just be a little over optimistic? We'll have to wait and see on that one, but what is sure is that 24 fans will have received some encouragement from this news. What won't encourage them however is that the film has neither a script nor a confirmed director.

Despite the bleak outlook for Sutherland's prediction of a 2012 release, EW have revealed a few rumours that are surrounding any possibility of a film. Sutherland reportedly revealed that Fox had been in talks with Tony Scott, director of Man On Fire, to direct the film. Again however, this may just be a case of Sutherland trying to create some excitement around the film. In any case, a 24 film directed by Tony Scott sounds exciting enough to warrant many people going to watch. I'm sure they will too. But will the movie manage to be big in Britain, a country where the show is hidden away among an endless list of Sky channels? I'm not too convinced that it will. Furthermore, due to the long wait for any sign of a film, will fans still be as interested as they were, say a couple of years ago? It sounds as if Sutherland is trying to build up excitement based solely on rumour and optimism, something which later he may regret. I'm remaining stoutly pessimistic over this one.

Liam Neeson to reprise his role in Taken 2?

It has been reported recently that Irish action film star Liam Neeson is looking to further his role as Bryan Mills in a sequel to the 2008 blockbuster Taken. The report, from Deadline.com, suggests it could begin filming at the end of the year or even early 2012. Personally, speaking as a fan of the first film, I would welcome a sequel but at the same time remain wary of its outcome. However, from the viewpoint of those who watched and slated the first film, the follow-up could be one to forget.

Although I was a fan of Taken I am struggling to see how it can be furthered. It seems fairly unbelievable that a similar situation warranting another film with the word 'Taken' in the title would happen to the exact same character. If writers Luc Besson and Robert Mark Kamen think audiences will warm to the idea of this scenario I think they will be sadly mistaken. Don't get me wrong, I would love for the film to be enjoyable and provide surprising differences to the first, but I am finding it hard to see this happening.

Are you looking forward to the film's release and happy that it revolves around the same character? I would imagine that answer for many would be a resounding no.