Robot Chicken Star Wars Episode III trailer and UK release info

The trilogy will be complete this July with the DVD release of Robot Chicken Star Wars - Episode III, the latest spoof from Adult Swim's stop-motion animated comedy series from Seth Green and Matthew Senreich.

Voice talent returning for this third Star Wars-themed special include Billy Dee Williams, Ahmed Best, Breckin Meyer, Seth MacFarlane, Dan Milano, Abe Benrubi, Donald Faison, Rachael Leigh Cook, Adrianne Palicki, Eden Espinosa, Hugh Davidson, Bob Bergen, Keith Ferguson, Tom Kane and Zeb Wells, along with newcomers Zac Efron, Anthony Daniels, Mike Henry and Donald Glover.

Along with the 45-minute special, Robot Chicken Star Wars - Episode III also comes with over 3 hours of extra features including trailers, featurettes, commentaries and more.

Take a look at the trailer...


Star Wars Robot Chicken - Episode III is released on DVD on July 4th. Pre-order it here.

Doug Liman joins list of directors linked to The Wolverine

Following the departure of Darren Aronofsky from the director’s chair due to personal reasons, the scramble continues to find someone to helm work-in-progress The Wolverine. Rumours swirl online about a possible shortlist of people the producers would be happy to work with. Names such as James Mangold, Mark Romanek and Justin Lin, who is also attached to the likes of Terminator 5 and Fast and Furious 6, are all in the mix. The latest candidate to emerge is Jumper’s Doug Liman.

Whilst Jumper, starring the consistently awful Hayden Christensen, was pretty much universally panned by critics, Liman has proved himself capable of good action in the past with The Bourne Identity, the hard hitting opener to the Bourne franchise. Recently Liman’s suspenseful political thriller Fair Game, starring Naomi Watts and Sean Penn, divided some critics but scored a healthy 80% on Rotten Tomatoes.

Whoever takes charge of the project will be aiming to surpass the disappointing X-Men Origins: Wolverine in terms of quality. Opportunities were wasted to properly explore Wolverine’s background in this film, despite an abundance of source material to work with, leaving fans and critics alike feeling letdown. Nevertheless it was a reasonable box office hit, laying the foundations for a sequel and potentially lucrative spin-off franchise.

The plot for The Wolverine is known to be based on a substantial story from the comics set in Japan, during which our wild hero falls in love. The script is believed to have the potential to better the first film but it’s generally accepted that the new directors in the frame are inferior to Aronofsky, and what he would have brought to a mainstream picture. Liman’s mention in particular has sparked a far from positive reaction from fans.

Liam Trim (follow me on Twitter)

Several Frankenstein films in development

Hollywood has become overrun with vampires and zombies and lately Snow White and The Wizard of Oz have also been the subjects of multiple projects. Now there’s another familiar character who is the focus of a number of films currently being developed: Frankenstein.

It has been reported that David Auburn (Proof) has signed on to write the film adaptation of Peter Ackroyd’s novel The Casebook of Victor Frankenstein, to be produced by Sam Raimi’s Ghost House Pictures. This story follows Frankenstein’s youth, as he begins experimenting with corpses, influenced by the outspoken English poet Percy Bysshe Shelley. Frankenstein author Mary Shelley will also make an appearance in the film.

Meanwhile, Matt Reeves (Cloverfield, Let Me In) is going to direct an adaptation of Kenneth Oppel’s upcoming novel This Dark Endeavor: The Apprenticeship of Victor Frankenstein, with a script written by Jacob Estes (Mean Creek). This story’s plot features Frankenstein’s twin brother Konrad, who falls gravely ill, forcing Victor to seek a mysterious old alchemist in order to help him produce the Elixir of Life, which bestows perpetual health. Victor sets out on an adventure to find the three ingredients it requires, accompanied by his best friend Elizabeth.

If that’s not enough, there are others in development, including Guillermo del Toro's (Hellboy, Pan’s Labyrinth) remake of the classic 1931 Universal film, a contemporary re-telling of the famous tale recently acquired by Columbia Pictures, and an adaptation based on the graphic novel Wake the Dead, which Guns ‘n’ Roses guitarist Slash’s company Slasher Films is producing.

Emma Hutchings

Pirates of the Caribbean enjoys the biggest UK box office opening of 2011

UK box office top ten and analysis for the weekend of Friday 20th - Sunday 22nd May 2011...



With a phenomenal global opening weekend of $346.5m, the latest instalment in Disney's Pirates of the Caribbean series jumps straight in at number one on these shores with a mighty five-day haul of £11.6m, more than doubling the sci-fi comedy Paul's £5.5m debut to claim the biggest UK opening of the year so far. Pirates of the Caribbean: On Stranger Tides also broke records at the international box-office with $256.3m in receipts, overtaking the previous champ Harry Potter and the Half Blood Prince.



With On Stranger Tides sucking the life out of the competition, no other film managed to cross the seven-figure mark, with nearest rival Fast & Furious 5: Rio Heist pulling in just £587k to retain second. Marvel's Thor slips two places to third, a fate shared by Attack the Block in fifth and Water for Elephants down in eighth. Meanwhile Hanna falls one place to sixth as both Insidious and Rio hold firm in fourth and seventh respectively and finally, at the bottom of the chart we have a couple of new entries - Jason Statham cop thriller Blitz (in ninth with £266k) and Thomas McCarthy comedy Win Win (propping up the top ten with an opening of £155k).



Number one this time last year: StreetDance 3D

Pos.	Film	Weekend Gross	Week	Total UK Gross
1	Pirates of the Caribbean: On Stranger Tides	£11,634,860	1	£11,634,860
2	Fast & Furious 5: Rio Heist	£587,617	5	£17,399,224
3	Thor	£528,701	4	£12,869,718
4	Insidious	£451,139	4	£6,386,799
5	Attack the Block	£355,232	3	£1,925,419
6	Hanna	£286,997	2	£3,182,700
7	Rio	£284,085	6	£12,064,570
8	Water for Elephants	£266,345	3	£3,202,936
9	Blitz	£266,148	1	£266,148
10	Win Win	£155,463	1	£155,463

Incoming...



A pair of comedy sequels arrive this coming Friday with Todd Phillips' The Hangover Part II (cert. 15) likely to put up a strong challenge for top spot, while Diary of a Wimpy Kid 2: Roderick Rules (cert. U) will look to cater to the family market. Also hitting screens on Friday is a re-release of Francis Ford Coppola's classic Apocalypse Now (cert. 15), while X-Men: First Class (cert. TBC) will enjoy a number of preview screenings on Bank Holiday Monday.

U.K. Box Office Archive

The Tree of Life takes the Palme D'Or at Cannes

The 64th annual Cannes Film Festival drew to a close yesterday as the jury announced their prizes for 2011, with Terrence Malick's divisive drama The Tree of Life taking the top award, the Palme D'Or. The film, which stars Brad Pitt and Sean Penn, was met with a mixed reaction of cheers and boos when it premiered earlier in the festival but the jury, which was headed up by legendary actor Robert De Niro, deemed it worthy of their most prestigious honour.

Take a look at the full list of honours below...

Palme D'Or - The Tree of Life (dir. Terrence Malick)

Grand Prix - Once Upon a Time in Anatolia (dir. Nuri Bilge Ceylan) and The Kid with a Bike (dir. Jean-Pierre and Luc Dardenne)

Prix de la mise en scène - Nicolas Winding Refn (Drive)

Prix du scénario - Footnote (dir. Joseph Cedar)

Jury Prize - Polisse (dir. Maïwenn Le Besco)

Prix d'interprétation féminine - Kirsten Dunst (Melancholia)

Prix d'interprétation masculine - Jean Dujardin (The Artist)

Camera d'Or - Las Acacias (dir. Pablo Giorgelli)

Be sure to check back later this week when we will be posting an in-depth article on the making of The Tree of Life.

The Week in Spandex – The Dark Knight Rises’ Bane, Green Lantern 3D trailer, X-Men: First Class and more

Our weekly round-up of all the talking points from the world of movie superheroes...

Well, just when it was shaping up to be a quiet week in the land of cinematic superherodom what goes and happens? Warner Bros. deliver the first image of Tom Hardy as Bane in The Dark Knight Rises, that’s what! Things all kicked off with the launch of the official website accompanied by some creeping chanting, which then went through audio software to reveal #thefirerises, a Twitter account that promised to reveal a fraction of the image with every new follower. Fortunately some clever cyber-sleuth managed to get their hands on the full picture, which presents a tantalising glimpse of Batman’s latest foe.

Principal photography on Christopher Nolan’s sequel was officially announced earlier this week, but of course filming has already taken place in India and the UK and it’s probably a wise decision to release the image given all the set photos that have been emerging from the London shoot. Much like the reveal of Heath Ledger’s Joker, it’s done a mighty fine job in getting fans talking; not only does it confirm that Bane will be sporting a mask (borrowed from Mortal Kombat’s Scorpion, by the looks of things), but it’s also probably a safe assumption that he’s sporting some kind of burns, what with the whole ‘the fire rises’ thing going on. Meanwhile Variety also broke the news that Nolan has added a further three actors to the ever-growing cast – Matthew Modine (Full Metal Jacket) will play a character called Nixon, while Tom Conti (Derailed) and 11-year-old Joey King (Ramona and Beezus) will feature in as-yet-unrevealed roles.

Sticking with Warner Bros. for the moment and yesterday also brought the debut of the third trailer for Green Lantern, Martin Campbell's big-budget, VFX-heavy DC adaptation. Aimed at the 3D market, the trailer (which you can see at the bottom of this article) is pretty epic in scope and should do a good job of further selling the film to fans, although I'm personally not so sure how this one will go down with the general movie-going public. In other Lantern-related bits and pieces, both Ryan Reynolds and Mark Strong have been taking part in interviews to discuss the film, while Total Film announced that director Martin Campbell has no plans to return for any potential sequel.

While we're on the subject of Ryan Reynolds, the actor also had a few words to say about the the upcoming X-Men spin-off Deadpool during an interview with Comic Book Resources about Green Lantern. Describing it as "a deconstruction of superhero movies," Reynolds stated that he had no problem starring as two superheroes but effectively ruled himself out of contention for The Flash: "I always thought if I did a Deadpool film, I wouldn't do a Flash movie". Meanwhile Robert Rodriguez, who was long rumoured to be in the running for Deadpool, has told MTV that his involvement only ever went as far as reading the script but he has high hopes for the final product: "It's going to be a cool movie. I don't want people to think it's going to stink! Not at all. It's a great script and action-packed and it's a great character. But it's like, 'He turned it down! He dropped out!' Well, I was never in the project!"

Mutant prequel X-Men: First Class is set to arrive here in the UK a week on Monday and ComicBookMovie have collected a whole host of stills that includes pretty much the entire roster, along with a few more TV spots that you can see here and here. Elsewhere James McAvoy and Michael Fassbender were the latest cast members to undergo the X-Perts Q&A on the official X-Men Facebook page, while Nicholas Hoult spoke to IGN about portraying Beast and Zoe Kravitz (Angel Salvadore) also had a few words about her role in the film. One person who won't be popping up in First Class however is Stan Lee (maybe that's something to do with his insistence that Bryan Singer is directing?), although the Marvel legend has confirmed that he will appear for his customary cameo in The Avengers, which leads us quite nicely into this week's round-up of the latest happenings from the Marvel Cinematic Universe...

Firstly, Joe Cornish (Attack the Block) took part in a fan Q&A with Empire and revealed that he has no idea whether Ant-Man will make an appearance in the upcoming ensemble, while Thor star Stellan Skarsgård revealed that Joss Whedon was responsible for directing the post-credits sequence in Marvel's most recent offering. Newsrama also put out a report earlier this week suggesting that Thor is underperforming compared to other Marvel efforts (I guess they must have forgot to take into account the film's world-wide haul, which at $376m and counting is already more than $100m ahead of The Incredible Hulk), but that hasn't had any impact on Marvel's plans for a sequel, with CinemaBlend reporting that The Enchantress and The Executioner are under consideration for Thor's next adversaries.

Wrapping up the best of the rest...

...If you cast your mind back to last year when Sony announced their then-untitled Spider-Man reboot, you may remember a few eyebrows being raised over suggestions that the film's budget would be a mere $80m. Well, it seems that figure was a gross underestimate, as actor and stuntman Richard Norton let slip that the actual budget for The Amazing Spider-Man stands at a whopping $220m...

...NBC chairman Robert Greenblatt has gone on record to explain the reasoning behind the network's decision to ditch Wonder Woman. Greenblatt told EW that "we did what was best for the schedule" but felt that "they made a really fine pilot and Adrianne Palicki did a fantastic job". Hmm... doesn't quite add up, that one. Nevertheless there may still be hope for Wonder Woman fans, with Greenblatt suggesting that the pilot could be shopped around to alternative networks...

...And finally, yesterday brought the sad news that wrestling legend Randy 'Macho Man' Savage has died in a car accident in Florida, aged 58. In addition to his hugely successful ring career, Macho Man enjoyed a number of film and TV roles, including his appearance in Sam Raimi's Spider-Man as Bonesaw McGraw.


Gary Collinson

Ian McKellen and Judi Dench to fight zombies

It has been announced that Ian McKellen (X-Men, Lord of the Rings), Judi Dench (Casino Royale), Mark Williams (Harry Potter) and Gillian Anderson (The X Files) are all attached to star in a zombie comedy set in the 18th century. The Curse of the Buxom Strumpet is about the inhabitants of a small seaside town who are struck down with a deadly illness.

Directed by Matthew Butler, who has also co-written the script with Tori Hart, this feature is based on their short film E’gad Zombies, which also starred Ian McKellen. The pair will also be producing the film for their UK production company Fizz and Ginger Films.

Butler is currently in talks with sales agents in Cannes and shooting on the £2-million movie is expected to begin in Scotland later this year. Zombie films are all the rage nowadays, so it’ll need to be special to stand out, but Sir Ian and Dame Judi fighting the undead horde sounds like a great concept.

Emma Hutchings

First trailer for The Adventures of Tintin: The Secret of the Unicorn

With his most recent directorial effort, Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull, leaving some viewers disappointed, Steven Spielberg will be looking to make amends this later year with his latest one-two combo, the World War I drama War Horse and the big budget motion-capture adaptation The Adventures of Tintin: The Secret of the Unicorn, which has just received its first teaser trailer.



Written by Brits Steven Moffat (Doctor Who), Edgar Wright (Scott Pilgrim vs. the World) and Joe Cornish (Attack the Block) and produced by Peter Jackson, the film is the first movie adaptation of Herge's classic comic book series based on the adventures of roving reporter Tintin and his dog Snowy.



Spielberg's film will draw inspiration from three Tintin albums - The Crab with the Golden Claws, The Secret of the Unicorn and Red Rackham's Treasure - and is envisioned as the first of a trilogy, with Jackson set to helm the sequel before partnering up with Spielberg to co-direct the third.



Should it manage to avoid the 'Zemeckis Curse', that is.



The Secret of the Unicorn stars Jamie Bell as Tintin, Andy Serkis as Captain Haddock, Simon Pegg and Nick Frost as Thompson and Thompson, Daniel Craig as Red Rackham and Toby Jones as Aristides Silk. Take a look at the trailer...

Tintin hits the UK and Europe on October 26th, while our North American friends will have to wait until December 23rd.

Thor tops the UK box office for the third week in a row

UK box office top ten and analysis for the weekend of Friday 13th - Sunday 15th May 2011...



Marvel's latest superhero adventure Thor tops the UK box office for the third consecutive weekend as it banks another £1.36m to keep it in pole position ahead of Fast & Furious 5: Rio Heist. The Vin Diesel / Paul Walker actioner continues to perform well in its fourth week and narrowly holds onto second ahead of competition from newcomer Attack the Block, with Joe Cornish's urban sci-fi comedy enjoying the highest-per-screen averange of any film in the chart and just falling short of Fast & Furious with an opening hail of £1.13m.



Moving on and horror Insidious drops one place to fourth, while Hanna rounds out the top five for the second weekend in a row. Romantic drama Water for Elephants slips two places to sixth, a fate shared by rom-com Something Borrowed down in eighth. Rio holds firm in seventh and has now spent the most weeks in the top ten of all the film's in the chart, while down at the bottom both Priest and Arthur fall one place apiece to ninth and tenth respectively.



Number one this time last year: Robin Hood

Pos.	Film	Weekend Gross	Week
1	Thor	£1,360,418	3
2	Fast & Furious 5: Rio Heist	£1,155,540	4
3	Attack the Block	£1,133,859	2
4	Insidious	£963,963	3
5	Hanna	£821,081	1
6	Water for Elephants	£695,631	2
7	Rio	£592,142	5
8	Something Borrowed	£489,848	2
9	Priest	£202,483	2
10	Arthur	£151,755	4

Incoming...



Johnny Depp returns as Captain Jack Sparrow for more adventures on the high seas alongside newcomers Penelope Cruz and Ian McShane in Pirates of the Caribbean: On Stranger Tides (cert. 12A), which gets a two-day head start on the competition when it hits cinemas tomorrow. Meanwhile Friday sees the release of Jason Statham cop thriller Blitz (cert. TBC), along with the Guillermo del Toro-produced Julia's Eyes (cert. 15) and Thomas McCarthy comedy Win Win (cert. 15).

U.K. Box Office Archive

A sequel to Monsters is on the way

The impressive, low-budget sci-fi film Monsters is to get a sequel, entering production later this year. The first details were revealed at Cannes by the studio Vertigo Films. The director of the first film, Gareth Edwards will be handing over directing duties but taking a back seat as executive producer, along with lead actor Scoot McNairy. Set to direct their first feature film is Brent Bonacorso and Jesse Atlas, who have made several commercials, music promos and a short film called Now and Nowhere.

The sequel will be set in the same world as the first but will tell a new story, this time with a pair of brothers as the lead characters. Producer Alan Niblo promises a Heart of Darkness-style tale that will keep the intelligence of the first and make it more of a genre film.

Shooting is expected to begin in South America in September, with a budget of under $5 million stated for the film. Meanwhile, British director Gareth Edwards hasn’t left monsters behind completely, as he will next be working on a big-budget Godzilla reboot.

Emma Hutchings

The Week in Spandex - The Dark Knight Rises, The Amazing Spider-Man, The Avengers and more...

Our weekly round-up of all the talking points from the world of movie superheroes...

As I’m sure we’re all aware, filming kicked off on the The Dark Knight Rises last weekend with early spy photos suggesting the inclusion of Ra's al Ghul's mystical Lazarus Pit. Well, since then a scene description has emerged that, if true, would go some way to explaining the presence of Josh Pence (Young Ra's) and Tom Hardy (Bane) on set. Obviously there's the chance of spoilers, but if you're interested check it out here. Meanwhile Xnet (via BadAssDigest) reported that Israeli actor Alon Abutbul (Munich, Body of Lies) has been cast as a ‘mad scientist’, and while there’s already talk of Hugo Strange it’s probably best to wait until we hear some kind of official announcement on the casting before everyone gets too excited.

Elsewhere in The Dark Knight Rises camp, an article in the L.A. Times suggested that the film's budget is estimated to be "at least $250m", up from an expected figure of around $185m. It’s quite an interesting piece and goes on to reveal some some behind-the-scenes tension between Warner Bros. and financing partner Legendary Pictures over potential profit sharing on the sure-to-be-huge sequel, with WB allegedly looking to increase their percentage as their lucrative Harry Potter franchise draws to a close. Next up for Christopher Nolan and company is a trip to London for a four day shoot starting this coming Monday, with Christian Bale expected to be in attendance at the Farmiloe building, which stood in for Gotham City's Police HQ in Batman Begins and The Dark Knight. Expect a flood of spy photos in the coming week.

Moving on and you'd have to have been living under a rock these past few months not to have seen a photo of Andrew Garfield's new-look web-slinger swinging around New York City, but thanks to SplashNews we now get a look at some of the other characters from The Amazing Spider-Man including Gwen Stacy (Emma Stone), Uncle Ben (Martin Sheen) and Aunt May (Sally Field), not to mention Garfield in his Peter Parker attire. HeyUGuys also grabbed a few words with Martin Sheen about his role in the upcoming reboot, and while we all know how that will end up, thanks to a super-spy you can get an early peak at Uncle Ben’s death scene right here.

With Marvel's latest superhero blockbuster Thor currently sitting atop the box office both here in the UK and in North America (with a world-wide gross in excess of $283m to date), the focus now begins to shift towards their next offering, Captain America: The First Avenger. While we await the second trailer from Joe Johnston's WWII-set actioner we did get a good look at the wardrobe for the agents of HYDRA, while French magazine L'Ecran Fantastique posted a few details about Captain America in a piece that also suggested that both Ant-Man and Wasp would be making an appearance in The Avengers. It had of course been thought that Ant-Man was being back for his own movie from Edgar Wright, which he has co-written with Joe Cornish (see Cornish talk about the script here), so whether this is accurate or not remains to be seen.

While we're on the subject of The Avengers, DailyBlam delivered an insight into S.H.I.E.L.D.'s presence in the upcoming ensemble, suggesting a host of familiar names will join Nick Fury (Samuel L. Jackson), Agent Coulson (Clark Gregg), Black Widow (Scarlett Johansson), Hawkeye (Jeremy Renner) and Maria Hill (Cobie Smulders), including the likes of Alexander Goodwin Pierce, Valentina Allegra de Fontaine, Wendell Vaughn, Jasper Sitwell, Clay Quartermain, Jack Truman, Abigail Brand, Larry Young and Jimmy Woo. It also seems that the cast could swell further with reports that Gwenyth Paltrow may (briefly) appear as Pepper Potts, while Derek Luke is confirmed to reprise his First Avenger role as Gabe Jones. And, if that’s not enough to feed your Cinematic Universe cravings for another week then you might want to check out an interview with Thor’s Chris Hemsworth, who spoke to Hero Complex about working with Joss Whedon and squaring off against Chris Evans both on screen and at the box-office, while Kevin Fiege chatted to Box Office Magazine about all things Marvel.

It's now just over two weeks until the release of Matthew Vaughn's X-Men: First Class (May 30th here in the UK and June 3rd in North America) and ComicBookMovie have gathered together two new TV spots and a clip, while IGN posted an interview with Jennifer Lawrence about her role as the shape-shifting mutant Raven Darkholme in the upcoming prequel. Lawrence is also the latest cast member to complete the X-Perts Q&A on the official X-Men Facebook page, with Michael Fassbender (Magneto) and Zoe Kravitz (Angel Salvadore) next to take the challenge. Meanwhile British boy-band (or should that be middle-aged-men-band) Take That have been confirmed to deliver the official X-Men: First Class song 'Love Love', and if you weren't 'fortunate' enough to catch their performance on the National Movie Awards you can check it out here.

And finally, it’s probably not much of a surprise to learn that NBC have opted against commissioning a Wonder Woman series based on David E. Kelley's pilot. Wonder Woman has been on the back foot ever since that disastrous first costume unveiling and you have to wonder how this could impact Warner Bros.’ plans for a big-screen adaptation currently rumoured for 2013. If you're interested, AICN have posted a report that gives us a few details on the pilot, while Thor star Jaimie Alexander has been talking about passing on the opportunity to portray the Amazon Princess, feeling that the approach was "all about her boobs". Hmm… maybe it’s a shame it got the chop, then.

Gary Collinson

Colin Firth and Emily Blunt team up for dark comedy

Academy Award (and nearly every other award) winner Colin Firth (The King’s Speech, A Single Man) is joining forces with Emily Blunt (The Adjustment Bureau, The Devil Wears Prada) for a currently untitled dark comedy about two people who try to reinvent themselves. The film tells the story of how they flee their pasts by breaking into empty houses and assuming the identities of the absent owners, falling in love with each other over the course of their misadventures.

The film is based on a screenplay by Becky Johnston and will be the feature directorial debut for successful commercials director Dante Ariola, who has worked with big brands including Coca-Cola, Adidas, Nike, Lexus and Volkswagen.

Vertebra Films is the financier for the film and Becky Johnston will also produce it, alongside Brian Oliver and Alisa Tager of Cross Creek Pictures. Focus Features International (Atonement, Brokeback Mountain) are currently promoting it to distributors during Cannes, with filming expected to start in the autumn.

Emma Hutchings

Chitty Chitty Bang Bang going, going gone?

The only Chitty Chitty Bang Bang capable of getting you to the shops is to be sold by a Holywood memorabilia company. Unlike the vehicle from the film it won’t let you fly to Tesco in style for your groceries, and the amount of room in the eccentric interior is questionable, but you could, in theory, chug along slowly to anywhere you like in a piece of cinematic history.

Of all the cars associated with the fictional creations of Ian Fleming, James Bond’s Bentleys or Aston Martins, or even Goldfinger’s gold plated Rolls Royce, are more likely to tempt your casual film fan. But for some who love Chitty as if she were a childhood friend or those who swoon over Dick Van Dyke in Diagnosis Murder, there might be no better slice of the past than this unique auction piece. A reporter for the BBC’s Breakfast programme got the chance to take the Chitty for a test drive and was quick to praise Van Dyke for making it all look so easy, whilst simultaneously singing along to that catchy and memorable theme tune.

The version up for sale was assembled in England prior to production of the 1968 film, but it has a Ford V6 engine and automatic gearbox. Various salvaged parts and splashes of colour adorn the car and its wood panelling, helping to create its famously happy image. Van Dyke’s portrayal of the slightly bonkers inventor and the other performances did the rest.

The charismatic producer behind the Bond films, Albert “Cubby” Broccoli, was responsible for bringing Fleming’s children book to life on the big screen. Roald Dahl, the architect of so many characters in the collective conscience of childhood, wrote the script, with the Sherman Brothers supplying the songs.

In an interview with the New York Times, Pierre Picton, who doubled for Van Dyke during shooting and owner of the available Chitty ever since, admitted that the car suffered from heavy steering now and again. But he had faith that this wouldn’t damage his hopes for a “retirement nest egg”. He said he was missing her already.

Liam Trim (follow me on Twitter)

Harry Potter and The King's Speech win big at the National Movie Awards

Awards season may have drawn to a close back in February with the Academy Awards but that hasn't stopped the National Movie Awards from announcing their winners at a star-studded ceremony held at Wembley Arena last night. Hosted by Christine Bleakley, the fourth NMAs saw The King's Speech pick up three awards (Best Drama, Performance of the Year and Special Recognition), while the Harry Potter franchise bagged two and Johnny Depp was named Screen Icon.

Take a look at the full list of winners (and nominees)...

Best Fantasy
Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows: Part 1
Gulliver's Travels
The Chronicles of Narnia: The Voyage of the Dawn Treader
Tron: Legacy

Best Drama
The King's Speech
127 Hours
Black Swan
The Social Network

Best Comedy
Paul
Due Date
Just Go With It
Little Fockers

Best Animation
Tangled
Despicable Me
Gnomeo & Juliet
Megamind

Must See Movie of the Summer
Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows: Part 2
Pirates of the Caribbean: On Stranger Tides
The Hangover Part II
X-Men: First Class

One to Watch: Brits Going Global
Jamie Campbell Bower
Henry Cavill
Luke Evans
Andrew Garfield
Tom Hardy
Felicity Jones
Alex Pettyfer
Andrea Riseborough
Ed Westwick

Performance of the Year
Colin Firth (The King's Speech)
James Franco (127 Hours)
Rupert Grint (Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows: Part 1)
Daniel Radcliffe (Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows: Part 1)
Emma Watson (Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows: Part 1)
Jennifer Aniston (Just Go With It)
Ben Barnes (The Chronicles of Narnia: The Voyage of the Dawn Treader)
Georgie Henley (The Chronicles of Narnia: The Voyage of the Dawn Treader)
Nick Frost (Paul)
Simon Pegg (Paul)
Natalie Portman (Black Swan)
Helena Bonham Carter (The King's Speech)
Geoffrey Rush (The King's Speech)
Jesse Eisenberg (The Social Network)
Jeff Bridges (Tron: Legacy / True Grit)

Screen Icon - Johnny Depp

Special Recognition - The King's Speech

Dark Peter Pan reimagining to star Aaron Eckhart and Sean Bean

Longstanding big names Aaron Eckhart and Sean Bean are to add clout to the cast of a modern retelling of children’s classic Peter Pan. They’ve both joined a project to be directed by Ben Hibon, with the working title Pan, which is set to turn the traditional fantasy tale of Neverland on its head.

Evil pirate Hook will be transformed into a troubled, disturbed and obsessed police detective searching for a childlike kidnapper with a knack for both snatching and dispatching little ones. Hapless sidekick Smee is a chief detective and Hook’s only friend on the force, with innocent Wendy a traumatised survivor keen to help find the criminal.

The role of Wendy will be played by AnnaSophia Robb (Race to Witch Mountain / Jumper). Eckhart will take the key role of Hook and Bean that of sympathetic Smee. Director Hibon, who masterminded the creation of the universally praised animation sequence in Harry Potter and The Deathly Hallows: Part 1, will be tasked with bringing an interesting idea to life, that’s been simmering in the development stages for a long time. According to Empire Magazine the film, once the property of New Line, is being promoted at Cannes by Essential Entertainment with October the target for the start of principal photography.

It might be important for those behind Pan to get their skates on, given that Peter Pan Begins with Channing Tatum is also in the pipeline. This would be a reinterpreted origin story for J.M Barrie’s character, with Hook rumoured to be Pan’s brother. I know which vision of the iconic story I’d rather see successfully realised.

Hibon’s concise storytelling ability and visual flair are evident from his brief touches to the Harry Potter franchise, so he could have exactly the right capabilities to pull off a tantalising and ambitious concept. Eckhart has played a determined and stressed lawman before in global phenomenon The Dark Knight and certainly has the acting chops to be a good, well meaning Hook. The dependency of the film on Robb’s role as Wendy will be interesting, given her less inspiring CV.

Let’s hope this is a clever new slant on the fairytale that does get the backing it needs to grow up and leave Neverland for theatres.

Liam Trim (follow me on Twitter)

Thor and Fast & Furious 5 continue to lead the UK box office

UK box office top ten and analysis for the weekend of Friday 6th to Sunday 8th May 2011...



It's an unchanged top three at the UK box office as Thor, Fast & Furious 5: Rio Heist and Insidious all hold on to their positions from last week, with Marvel's Thor retaining the crown with £1.95m to push its two-week total to £9.5m. Meanwhile the latest installment in the street racer-turned-heist flick series Fast & Furious adds £1.61m to give it a cumulative gross of £14.3m (making it the highest earner in the top ten) with Insidious dropping just 9% in its second weekend and banking £3.87m to date.



Moving on to the newcomers and the Robert Pattinson / Reese Witherspoon romantic drama Water for Elephants takes fourth with £1.27m, one place ahead of Saoirse Ronan action thriller Hanna, which debuts with £1.14m. Rom-com Something Borrowed enjoys a decent opening with £707k in sixth, while a £396k return and eighth-placed debut for Korean comic adaptation Priest has to be considered a disappointment.



Finally there are some familiar faces in the bottom half of the chart, with Rio and Hop falling three apiece to seventh and tenth respectively, while the Russell Brand comedy remake Arthur suffers the steepest decline as it slips four places to ninth.



Number one this time last year: Iron Man 2

Pos.	Film	Weekend Gross	Week	Total UK Gross
1	Thor	£1,946,695	2	£9,523,268
2	Fast & Furious 5: Rio Heist	£1,608,463	3	£14,393,127
3	Insidious	£1,315,358	2	£3,872,900
4	Water for Elephants	£1,270,483	1	£1,270,483
5	Hanna	£1,135,782	1	£1,135,782
6	Something Borrowed	£707,863	1	£707,863
7	Rio	£702,493	5	£11,051,328
8	Priest	£396,038	1	£396,038
9	Arthur	£309,683	3	£3,033,830
10	Hop	£214,364	6	£7,147,746

Incoming...



Aliens invade a South London council estate tomorrow with the release of Attack the Block (cert. 15) from British comedian turned writer-director Joe Cornish. Meanwhile newcomers on Friday include the Emilio Estevez / Martin Sheen collaboration The Way (cert. 12A) and 80s-set comedy Take Me Home Tonight (cert. 15).

U.K. Box Office Archive

Behind the scenes of Attack the Block with Joe Cornish

Joe Cornish (he of The Adam and Joe Show fame) makes his theatrical debut as writer-director of Attack the Block, a sci-fi comedy that sees a teenage street gang fighting to repel an alien invasion of their South London council estate. The film is executive produced by Edgar Wright (Shaun of the Dead, Hot Fuzz, Scott Pilgrim vs. the World) and stars Jodie Whittaker (St. Trinian's), Luke Treadaway (Clash of the Titans), Jumayn Hunter (Eden Lake) and Franz Drameh (Hereafter) alongside newcomers Alex Esmail, John Boyega, Leeon Jones and Simon Howard, not to mention long-time Wright collaborator Nick Frost.



Attack the Block has been generating quite a bit of buzz since its premiere at SXSW back in March, drawing comparisons to cult 80s classic the The Goonies, and UK audiences will get a chance to see what all the fuss is about when the film opens in cinemas this Wednesday. Be sure to check out our review here, and let the director take you behind the scenes in this short video...

Angelina Jolie gets the boot for Tomb Raider resurrection

It seems certain that Angelina Jolie will not reprise the role of Lara Croft, the voluptuous pistol wielding archaeologist from the successful Tomb Raider video game franchise. The writers behind the script for Iron Man, Mark Fergus and Hawk Otsby, are attached to a project to reboot the character with an origin story. Earlier this year GK Films acquired the rights to the series, with producer Graham King (The Departed) set to take charge for a 2013 release.

Despite proving a perfect fit physically for the role, almost precisely realising the impossibly busty figure from the game to the delight of many, Jolie’s two films as the gun toting heroine left both cinemagoers and gamers cold. The new writers are aiming to put this right with something more than a passable action movie with appealing eye-candy. In an interview with Variety they set out their high hopes for their reinterpretation of the character: “We aim to write an origin story for Lara Croft that solidifies her place alongside Ellen Ripley and Sarah Connor in the pantheon of great female action heroes.”

The casting rumour mill is inevitably churning already. The writers may want to rework Lara’s colossal cleavage into a critically acclaimed cinematic icon but the filmmakers are unlikely to depart from the expectations of a seriously hot chick as the lead. Hence the whispers a while back of Megan Fox of Transformers fame taking over from the equally lusted after Jolie. Such a casting would stick to the current formula and guarantee a decent box office return, but given Fox’s performance record her casting would probably also tarnish the writers’ high minded vision.

Jolie’s English accent wasn’t exactly authentic during her time as Lara, prompting some to call for a young English actress to take over for the origin story. Harry Potter’s Emma Watson has been a surprise candidate mooted in some quarters, with other Brits speculated about including Rebecca Hall and Gemma Arterton. Of course there are the usual Hollywood names such as Scarlett Johansson in the mix too.

The casting of a relative unknown is a possibility, especially with the serious approach the writers appear to be taking. The Tomb Raider brand itself would give the film clout in theatres but it seems unlikely the production company would risk it without a big name star.

Whoever is picked for the role will need the flexibility to portray Lara’s transition from aristocratic, carefree heiress to globetrotting adventurer and adrenalin junkie. The plot is expected to draw on the plane crash that stranded the character in the Himalayan Mountains for two weeks and inspired her to give up a comfortable and luxurious existence.

Who do you think can step into Jolie’s shoes? Where can the franchise improve? And is this a film finally capable of giving the world a female action hero for the 21st century?

Liam Trim (follow me on Twitter)

The Week in Spandex - The Dark Knight Rises and The Avengers production updates and more

Our weekly round-up of all the big talking points from the world of movie superheroes...



It really is an exciting time in superherodom at the moment with filming now underway on two of 2012’s big summer offerings, The Dark Knight Rises and The Avengers. This week’s column provides an update on all the gossip coming out of both camps so it’s probably a good time to say that there may be a few potential spoilers ahead. But only minor though, I promise. Meanwhile there’s still plenty going on this year with Thor (finally) hitting North American cinemas and X-Men: First Class and Green Lantern set to arrive next month, and we’ll also be touching upon The Amazing Spider-Man, The Wolverine, Ant-Man and more…



We'll start things off with Christopher Nolan's The Dark Knight Rises, which started filming in India's Mehrangarh Fort yesterday and continues today. Despite the fact that Christian Bale was the only actor thought to feature in this part of the shoot, the Hindustan Times reported that Bale would not be in attendance and suggested that the scene may include antagonists from the League of Shadows. Then, late yesterday, some set photos emerged showing a pool filled with green liquid that seems very likely to transform into the Lazarus Pit in post-production, especially when locals have reported that Josh Pence has been seen around the area. So how will this fit into the plot? Well, my guess - if it does turn out to be the Lazarus Pit - is that we'll see Ra's using the pit in a flashback and Bruce will use it later on to heal himself from the injuries he sustains at the hands of Tom Hardy's Bane.



In other Dark Knight news, Batman-on-Film posted a few further details about the shoot from a reliable source who states that filming in Pittsburgh will only last around three weeks before the production heads to the UK and New York City. Meanwhile the majority of the work is expected to take place in Los Angeles and it's also thought that an official synopsis will arrive soon. Elsewhere, a casting call on ActingAuditions points to Juno Temple's character being that of Holly Robinson, a juvenile prostitute and associate of Anne Hathaway's Selina Kyle who first appeared in Frank Miller's classic comic series Batman: Year One, while the LA Times posted an article with further speculation that Marion Cotillard's 'Miranda Tate' is not all that she would appear.



Moving on and as with Nolan, director Joss Whedon has done a pretty good job of keeping a tight lid on The Avengers, although of course it seems that someone forgot to send Samuel L. Jackson the memo. The fallout from the alleged script leak continued this past week as FilmFanReview reported that production had shut down until rewrites could be completed. The story was pretty much debunked immediately by Marvel, but FilmFanReview soon posted an update stating that their sources say it’s legit and Marvel are just covering their tracks. Now I could be wrong, but you have to expect the major Hollywood media to be all over such a story if it were true and let’s be honest, even if the pages that hit the net are real, why would they bother rewriting it?? I mean, it hardly gives anything away – Bruce Banner transforms into the Hulk. Well, no shit. According to our sources, Tony Stark puts on the Iron Man suit, Captain America chucks his shield and at one point, Thor even finds himself in Asgard…



While we’re on the subject of The Avengers, Marvel Studios supreme Kevin Feige has confirmed that there’s absolutely no chance of Hank Pym / Ant-Man making an appearance in the superhero ensemble, which could add fuel to the possibility of a solo flick in the near future. Edgar Wright and Joe Cornish have recently turned in a new draft and if it does become a reality then I wouldn’t put it past Marvel to pull one of their last-minute post-credits acts come summer 2012. Feige has also been talking further potential instalments in the Cinematic Universe, discussing spin-offs for Black Widow (Scarlett Johansson), Hawkeye (Jeremy Renner) and S.H.I.E.L.D. with The Playlist, and updating everything from Iron Man 3 and Doctor Strange to potential Disney-backed animations in an interview over at Collider.



Sticking with Marvel for the moment and after banking over $100m internationally to date, Kenneth Branagh's Thor finally arrived in North American cinemas yesterday (read our reviews here, here and here). Marvel legend Stan Lee has been tweeting his approval of the film, while Kevin Feige has been talking up a sequel and explaining that screenwriter Don Payne is already working on developing the story. As for a director, it seems Branagh is open to a return: "I am not sure I am done with Thor's universe, or if it is done with me. I guess it will likely depend on how massive it is and how the reviews are, and then schedules and all that nonsense."



Wrapping up the best of the rest...



...The Amazing Spider-Man is close to wrapping principal photography after a lengthy six-month shoot and The Daily Mail has posted a few photos which confirm that Andrew Garfield's Spidey will be swinging his way around New York via the traditional wire method as opposed to the CGI work used in Sam Raimi's earlier trilogy. Meanwhile the article also contains an image of a heavily disguised Rhys Ifans, who seems to be going to some lengths to keep his appearance as The Lizard under wraps (check out those green eyebrows!)...



...Warner Bros. released a new trailer for their upcoming DC Comics adaptation Green Lantern earlier this week that features a host of new footage including glimpse of Peter Sarsgaard's villainous Hector Hammond. While the buzz seems to be picking up for the Ryan Reynolds-starrer, some of the CGI still seems a bit iffy and the studio must be hoping that the recent increase in the VFX budget will pay off come the film's opening on June 17th...



...X-Men star Hugh Jackman took part in an interview to promote his new live theatre show and talk shifted to The Wolverine, with Jackman stating that he hopes to get underway with production this October. The Wolverine is currently without a director following the departure of Darren Aronofsky earlier this year, while the likes of David Slade (The Twilight Saga: Eclipse) and Duncan Jones (Source Code) have been mentioned as possible replacements...



...In other X-Men news, Matthew Vaughn's mutant prequel X-Men: First Class arrives here in the UK in less than four weeks time and the promotional machine continues to roll on with the release of a new international poster and a character banner featuring stars Rose Byrne, Jennifer Lawrence, James McAvoy, Michael Fassbender, Alex Gonzalez, January Jones, Kevin Bacon and Jason Flemyng. There’s also been some new character videos, while Fox have also released details of the special edition box set for the film's Blu-ray release, and you can check out all the new images over at ScreenRant...



...A piece of original art from Frank Miller's The Dark Knight Returns featuring Batman and Carrie Kelley's Robin has been sold for a whopping $448,125 at auction, making it the single most valuable piece of American comic art ever sold...



...And finally we end with the sad news that the Academy Award nominated actor Jackie Cooper has died aged 88. Cooper, who as a child star was nominated for a Best Actor Oscar for his leading role in Skippy (1931), was best known to comic book fans as Perry White, Editor-in-Chief of the Daily Planet, having appeared in all four of Christopher Reeve's Superman movies.

Gary Collinson