Arnold Schwarzenegger Securing Deal for 'Cry Macho'

After eying several roles for his acting comeback, Arnold Schwarzenegger is negotiating to star in a film titledCry Machowith Brad Furman (The Lincoln Lawyer) on board to direct. Al Ruddy, who producedThe GodfatherandMillion Dollar Babyis overseeing the project.

Based on the 1975 novel and its screenplay adaptation by the late N. Richard Nash, the film would require 63-year-old Schwarzenegger to show considerably more dramatic chops than the movies he starred in before he became the Governor of California, likeTerminator 3: Rise of the Machinesand the forgettable revenge thriller Collateral Damage.

Schwarzenegger would play a horse trainer who wins the Kentucky Derby but slips into an alcoholic depression after the death of his wife and child. In exchange for some much-needed cash, his character agrees to kidnap the 11-year-old son of a hedge fund manager from the man’s rich, Mexico-based ex-wife. Schwarzenegger was attached to star in the movie years ago, but his political ambitions put the plans on hold. The film also attracted Clint Eastwood for the lead at one point, long before he retired from acting to focus on his directorial career.

Deadlinereports the deal is worth $10 million up front for Schwarzenegger, who famously didn’t accept a salary as governor, plus 25% of the first dollar gross. That’s a far cry from the $25-30 million he commanded in his action hero heydey, but Arnold’s been absent from films for eight years and dramatic acting… well, it’s never been his strong suit.

Schwarzenegger is also attached to acirculating package forTerminator 5(or, if you prefer its working title, Terminator 2012), along withFast Fivedirector Justin Lin.Latino Reviewhas learned the“time travel back to present day” pitch has the“entire original cast” attached as well, which may include originalTerminatorhero Michael Biehn, Linda Hamilton (who lent her voice toTerminator: Salvation) and, possibly,Terminator 2’s Edward Furlong.

Arnold is also considering a WWII drama titledWith Wings as Eagleshe has been wanting to make as far back as 1997, probablyThe Expendables 2with his friends and former business partners Sly Stallone and Bruce Willis, and a well-written thriller calledThe Last Standabout a small town sheriff’s resolve to stop an escaped felon from reaching the border. Though technically Schwarzengger already revealed his first post-gubanatorial project this month, the the laughable TV cartoon “The Governator” for kids, with the threat of an eventual feature version.

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Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows - Part 2 Trailer

This week, Warner Bros released the first official trailer forHarry Potter and the Deathly Hallows– Part 2, the epic, yet bittersweet finale of the beloved wizardry series. The last installment of the most successful franchise in movie history hits theaters July 15, 2011.

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Arnold Schwarzenegger in for 'Terminator 5'

Just months after declaring“I won’t be back” to his political life,Arnold Schwarzeneggeris attached to star in Terminator 5. The package, which also includes director Justin Lin (Fast Five), is being shopped around to any interested Hollywood studios this week, but Universal, Sony, Lionsgate, and CBS Films are seriously considering the franchise revival. Warner Bros, which distributed 2009’sTerminator Salvationin the U.S., is notably absent.

Schwarzenegger, 63, has been extremely vocal about his acting comeback since officially finishing his term as the governor of California in January. The former action hero bragged that he had around 15 offers since giving the go-ahead to his talent agency, CAA, including thisfifth Terminator, a WWII drama titledWith Wings as Eagleshe’s been wanting to make as far back as 1997, probablyThe Expendables 2with his friends and former business partners Sly Stallone and Bruce Willis, and a last-man-standing thriller calledThe Last Standabout a small town sheriff’s resolve to stop an escaped felon from reaching the border. Of course, Schwarzengger recently rolled out the laughable TV cartoon“The Governator” with the threat of an eventual feature version.

The package, according toDeadline, is worth $25 million up front for an eventual $36 million pricetag, not including salaries for Lin and Schwarzenegger. Arnold made $30 million in salary alone forTerminator 3, though I highly doubt he’s worth that kind of payday now, especially since that was his last starring role in 2003. Lin is coming off a record-setting opening forFast& Furiousand this weekend’s fifth installment,Fast Five, is poised for a similar smash. There is no writer or script yet for Terminator: Again? (working title).

But the question everyone, from execs to fans, will be asking is: do people want to see a 63-year-old Terminator? Can cyborg assassins age? 63 isn’t old in the real world, by any means, but it’s ancient in Action Hero Land (where I want to live someday). Just look at the flack Stallone (64) faced when he returned to Rambo, Rocky, and other smash-mouth flicks.

Plus how many more ways can the humans thwart Skynet? I know the focus is on Arnold’s comeback but I’m just as intrigued by their willingness to churn out a fifth movie where, somehow, resistance fighters and robots clash yet again. (By the way, Skynet was implemented on April 19, 2011 and attacked humanity on April 21, so hopefully we’re safe.)

Pacificor, a Santa Barbara-based hedge fund, bought the Terminator rights for $29.5 million inFebruary 2010after a bidding war during the bankruptcy of 2007-2010 owner Halcyon Company. Sony and Lionsgate were embroiled in the battle and subsequent negotiations, but ultimately walked away disgusted with Pacificor’s terms. Universal likely came along due the involvement of F&F golden boy Lin and the interest of screenwriter Chris Morgan, who wasinitially attachedto the package and has his a first-look deal with the studio.

The rights to The Terminator will ultimately revert back to creator James Cameron in 2018, but after potentially six movies and a failed TV series will it be worth anything to him?

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Details on Joseph Kosinski's New Project 'Archangel'

There are suddenly a lot of options forTron: Legacydirector Joseph Kosinski. Four years ago he was directing CGI-laden commercials for popular video games properties, before his Tr2Nconcept video wowed Disney executives and Comic-Con geeks.

Fast forward to 2008 and he’s officially the director of Disney’s $170+ million revival of a decades-old science fiction classic, one that ultimately stopped short of $400 million worldwide. Tron: Legacywasn’t particularly a smash hit once you tabulate all the numbers, but big enough for Disney toplan another sequeland land Kosinski plenty more high-paying jobs.

As of right now, Kosinski is lining up to directOblivion(also calledHorizons) possibly at Universal with mega-star Tom Cruise attached to lead the bleak, post-apocalyptic story of an Earth populated by alien scavengers. Disney scooped up the pitch, which came in the form of a stylized graphic novel (images here) and eventually a rewrite byThe Departedscreenwriter William Monahan, but later dumped it when the violent future didn’t fit with the Mouse House’s squeaky-clean image. But, no hard feelings from the studio, since Kosinski is attached to direct Tron 3 and has long been involved with The Black Hole, a“re-imagining” of the 1979 sci-fi film about a lost spaceship hovering on the edge of an abyss.

Where was I? Oh, right.  Now that you have the backstory,Deadlinereports Joseph Kosinski is attaching himself to direct another science fiction story: Archangelfor New Regency, originally written by Andrew Will and set for a rewrite by Adam Cozad.

The real-world concept introduces a secret military group operating out of Area 51 that monitors the skies for incoming bogeys. When alien spaceships sneak through a sophisticated satellite targeting system, it’s up to an elite unit called the Archangels to swoop in on the UFO and erase their existence. With the help of a scramjet— a supersonic aircraft outfitted with reverse-engineered alien tech that allows the squad to reach a destination anywhere in the world in 30 minutes— Lt. William Koenig and company descend on the“Greys,” a race capable of quickly morphing to appear human. While there are other military grunts, Koenig is the heart of the story, a stoic soldier recruited after the deaths of his wife and daughter to an otherworldly biological plague.

Will’s script is gripping and it’s easy to see why it caught the attention of those involved, but, in the explosive third act, Koenig devolves into an unstoppable Rambo type and the plot becomes a run-and-gun actioner as the two sides sling plasma rounds at one another. The plot’s tense, militaristic atmosphere and slick, clandestine operations are abandoned just as the gravity of the Earth-ending scenario should hit. However, I’m not sure the talented Cozad is the right screenwriter for the redo since his ownDubai(which has been refashioned asMoscowfor the new Jack Ryan adventure) suffered from the same issue.

Scott Free Productions, the joint operation of director brothers Ridley Scott (recentlyRobin Hood) and Tony Scott (Unstoppable), are producing the sci-fi thriller, hoping to advance another budding career in the process. Scott Free is the same company that scoured for young talent, then pushed Ridley Scott’s son-in-law Carl Erik Rinsch into feature filmmaking (he’s at the helm of47 Ronin). I, for one, am ready to see more of what Kosinski can do.

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'The Hunger Games' Movie Finds Its Thresh, Rue

Lionsgate has announced the addition of two unknowns to its highly-anticipated adaptation of Suzanne Collins’The Hunger Games. Dayo Okeniyi and Amandla Stenberg, 13, have been cast as District 11 tributes Thresh and Rue, joining a cast that already includes Oscar nomineeJennifer Lawrence as the lead, Katniss Everdeen,Josh Hutchersonas Peeta Mellark, andLiam Hemsworthas Gale Hawthorne.

In Collins’ young adult novel and the script by Billy Ray, teenage representatives from twelve districts are selected from a lottery to participate in a last-person-standing competition to the death forced by an oppressive central government known as The Capitol. Katniss and Peeta are the“tributes” from District 12 and the newly-cast Thresh and Rue are the picks for District 11, a large agricultural region in the dystopian nation of Panem.

Thresh is described as quiet and solitary with immense strength. Rue, 12, reminds Katniss of her sister, Prim, and the two form an alliance in the televised bloodsport.

This should provide some consolation for fans of the Collins trilogy who felt the studio and director Gary Ross had“whitewashed” the cast with Caucasian actors, particularly after the announcement of the extremely capable Lawrence to play the“olive-skinned” lead. Organizations likeRacebending.comhave taken the production to task for ignoring its“commitment to diversity” while Collins has downplayed the novel’s biracial descriptions of the futuristic characters.

Lionsgate will be rolling out and hyping upcoming tribute castings on the film’s Facebook page, if you care to follow along, though I doubt we’ll see any surprises in the bunch.

Stenberg played a young Zoe Saldana in the upcoming thrillerColombiana, which, according to her official website, required stunt training and has appeared in a number of commercials (embedded below). Okeniyi’s only credit is a short drama titledEyes to See.

Here is Stenberg’s commercial reel, if you’re interested:

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Elizabeth Banks, Two More Join 'The Hunger Games' Movie

Elizabeth Banks is joining the cast of Lionsgate’s adaptation of The Hunger Gamesalongside Jennifer Lawrence and Josh Hutcherson. Gary Ross (Seabiscuit) is directing.

Varietyreports the affable blonde is in talks to play Effie Trinket, the escort assigned to groom the teenage“tributes” from District 12, Katniss Everdeen (Lawrence) and Peeta Mellark (Hutcherson), for the televised last-person-standing bloodsport. Billy Ray’s script describes her as being“bright and bubbly” (Banks is perfect) and wearing a pink wig.

Lionsgate has also been rolling out the names of the relatively unknown actors playing the various other tributes this week. Yesterday camethe announcementof District 11’s Thresh (Dayo Okeniyi) and Rue (Amandla Stenberg).

Today, the officialFacebook pageunveiled District 1 competitors Glimmer (TV actressLeven Rambin) and Marvel (Jack Quaid, son of Dennis Quaid and Meg Ryan). The children from D1, a region that focuses on producing diamond-encrusted luxury items for the oppressive Capitol (hence the names Glimmer and Marvel), are unkindly referred to as“Careers” because they are supposedly, illegally trained to compete in the Games.

Liam Hemsworth is also set to play Katniss’ best friend, Gale Hawthorne. Still left to cast are Haymitch Abernathy (District 12’s drunken mentor), the sinister master of ceremonies Seneca Crane, and eighteen more tributes from Districts 2 through 10.

Studio executives are hoping and hyping this as the next young adult franchise to hit on the big screen, following the massive success of Twilight and Harry Potter— though Suzanne Collins’ dystopian future is nothing like those vampire and wizarding worlds. Lionsgate has already staked out March 23, 2012 (a cushy spot it holds to itself, for now) as its opening date and you can bet we’ll hear plenty more about this project before then.

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'Batman: Year One' Images and Voice Cast

Warner Bros has announced the voice cast for their animated adaptation of Frank Miller’sBatman: Year One. ”Breaking Bad” starBryan Cranstonwill play Lieutenant James Gordon,“The O.C.” actorBen McKenziewill voice Bruce Wayne (a.k.a. Batman),Eliza Dushkuis set as Catwoman, and“Battlestar Galactica” beautyKatee Sackhoffis providing the voice of Gordon’s love interest, Detective Sarah Essen.

Written by Miller and illustrated by David Mazzucchelli, the four-issue miniseries, published in 1987, recounted the beginnings of Bruce Wayne’s crime fighting career. After training and studying abroad, Wayne returns home to Gotham City and begins to venture out in disguise on surveillance missions. One night, Wayne is attacked by a gang of prostitutes, including Selina Kyle (a.k.a Catwoman), but a bleeding Bruce escapes the melee and police capture and drags himself to Wayne Manor where a timely bat appearance inspires his alter-ego. But the story is as much about the rise of local hero Gordon to police captain amidst rampant political corruption and organized crime.

“The source material is surprisingly cinematic; it’s a pretty straight forward literal retelling,” said executive producer Bruce Timm.“Mazzucchelli‘s artwork is beautifully composed and we were able to refer to the comic for about 80 percent of the camera setups.”

According to theHollywood Reporter, the PG-13Batman: Year Oneis scheduled to celebrate its world premiere at Comic-Con in July before being released to home video in the fall. Miller’s influential series was once the basis for a feature film reboot in 2000 to be directed by Darren Aronofsky, but the concept was eventually shelved. Of course, Christopher Nolan would eventually reboot the franchise in 2005 withBatman Begins.

Frankly, I’m surprised Warner Bros and their subsidiary, DC Comics, would use Miller’s version as a basis for an animated feature, rather than saving and adapting the beloved series for the inevitable, already-announcedBatman rebootNolan will produce sometime after 2012’sThe Dark Knight Rises. Not that I’m complaining. I cannot wait to see this.

Here are two stills from the movie:

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