Showing Out

Damn, this movie stays getting creepier by the clip. The above joint just hit the net, and it’s pretty damn weird, showing one of the two scientists in the movie professing her love for the creature while said creature steals a key from her and plots escape. And if you couldn’t tell from the clip, the film stars Sarah Polley and Adrien Brody as Elsa and Clive, two scientists who decide to play God when they splice human and animal DNA to create a new species. At first, the creation seems cute and harmless, but they pair soon finds out that their experiment poses a deadly threat to humanity. Looks entirely excellent, and early reviews seem to confirm our suspicion. Look out for this one when it hits theaters June 4th.

Last week, news broke that a few young cast members were being considered for inclusion in the upcoming Scream 4. Now, we’ve got a few confirmations. According to Variety, Hayden Panettiere and Emma Roberts have officially signed on the dotted line, confirming earlier reports that the two would star in the flick. According to the preliminary report, “Panettiere would play [Campbell’s cousin Jill's best friend], a nerdy film geek,” while it’s assumed that Roberts would play Jill. Interesting. The film, directed by Wes Craven and starring Neve Campbell, David Arquette and Courteney Cox Arquette reprising their roles, hits theaters April 15th, 2011. Stay tuned for more on this one.

It’s been quiet on the Fuqua front recently, so here’s something to put him back on top (of our blog, that is). According to Deadline, the director is in talks to helm The Tomb, a prison escape drama, for Summit Entertainment, with Bruce Willis in negotiations to star as the lead. In the film, Willis would play Ray Breslin, “the world’s foremost authority on structural security. After analyzing every high security prison and learning a vast array of survival skills so he can design escape-proof prisons, his skills are put to the test. He’s framed and incarcerated in a master prison he designed himself. He needs to escape and find the person who put him behind bars.” Sounds enticing. The film, based on a script by Miles Chapman and rewritten by Jason Keller, should be in production soon.

Haven’t heard much on the upcoming action flick The Expendables and its all-star cast, but here’s a good reason to post something about it. A new TV spot just hit the net, which is embedded above for your viewing pleasure. The film, which follows a group of mercenaries to South America to take out an evil dictator (so badass), stars a whole smattering of folks, including Stallone, Jason Statham, Jet Li, Dolph Lundgren, Terry Crews, Randy Couture, Steve Austin, Eric Roberts, Mickey Rourke, Brittany Murphy, Danny Trejo, Charisma Carpenter and more. The Expendables is also written and directed by Stallone, and is expected to hit theaters on August 20th. And honestly, this one looks like it’s going to kick everyone’s collective ass. Get ready for it to hit theaters this summer.

Ouch, this is NOT a good look for MC. As one of the premiere actresses lined up to star in Tyler Perry’s upcoming big screen adaptation of For Colored Girls Who Have Considered Suicide When the Rainbow Is Enuf, Carey seemed like a good candidate. Not only had she proved she had acting chops in Precious, but they could be put to good use in another serious flick. No longer. According to People, Carey has abruptly dropped out of the flick, apparently fueling rumors that she’s doing it to focus on her pregnancy (isn’t that rumor a constant for MC?). But still on board are Janet Jackson, Mariah Carey, Whoopi Goldberg, Phylicia Rashad, Jurnee Smollett, Kimberly Elise, Kerry Washington and Macy Gray, with the shoot scheduled to take place in New York this June in time for a January 14, 2011 release. And if you’re not up on the play, Rainbow, Ntozake Shange’s 1975 stage play, is based on 20 poems about domestic abuse, romance and more as it pertains to women. The play was supposed to premier on Broadway last year with India.Arie starring and Whoopi Goldberg producing, but inevitably fell through. Sucks for you, Perry!

Last we heard on the big screen adaptation of The Help, Viola Davis had signed on play the role of the maid Aibileen in a story set in Jackson, Mississippi in the ‘60s. Now, the cast is getting yet another addition. Joining Bryce Dallas Howard, Emma Stone and Chris Lowell, actress Octavia Spencer is the latest to sign on to star in the film, which will be written and directed by Tate Taylor. The film, based on Kathryn Stockett’s best-selling novel, “explores how the unspoken code of behavior governing Southern households is shattered when an aspiring writer (Stone) interviews a maid (Davis), who speaks candidly about her experiences. The interview sets off shock waves that reverberate across the entire community.” Stay tuned for more on this one.

Mario Van Peebles, pictured above with his legendary pops Marvin Van Peebles, is following in his father’s footsteps. Though he’s already got a nice acting resume, he’s got another project on tap. According to THR, Peebles has joined forces with Andy Garcia, Luke Goss and Aidan Quinn to star in The Exodus of Charlie Wright, written, directed and prodcued by R. Ellis Frazier. The indie crime drama, which begins shooting next week in Mexico and Los Angeles, “centers on Charlie (Quinn), a Los Angeles billionaire financial whiz who goes into self-imposed exile in Tijuana after his empire is revealed to have been a Ponzi scheme. While looking for the woman he abandoned there 25 years before, Charlie is pursued by a Mexican gangster (Garcia), a federal agent (Van Peebles) and thugs sent by a former client (Goss) looking to retrieve his money.” Peebles can next be seen starring alongside 50 Cent in Things Fall Apart.

Time to get serious. Tonight sees the HBO premiere of The Lazarus Effect, a documentary directed by Lance Bangs and executive produced by Spike Jonze and Susan Smith Ellis. The doc focuses on “the transformative effects that ARVs can have on people, their families and communities when treatment is accessible” to help them manage AIDS and HIV. The doc focuses on key individuals tracked during the making of the film, bringing awareness to those who may not know that, in Africa, 20 million people have been killed by the disease. Be sure to tune in tonight at 9 P.M. to watch this important work of cinema, and head over to HBO’s site to learn more about The Lazarus Effect.

Perhaps one of our favorite movies by Quentin Tarantino was 1997’s Jackie Brown, which starred Pam Grier as a fierce, no holds barred flight attendant who gets caught up in some arms and money business that turns a lot of people into corpses. But what you might not have known is that Ordell Robbie (Samuel L. Jackson) and Louis Gara (Robert DeNiro) were inspired by characters in Elmore Leonard’s novel The Switch. According to Joblo, Tarantino has given his blessing but will have nothing to do with the adaptation of The Switch, which will serve as a prequel to Jackie Brown. While there’s no news on who’s been tapped to direct, produce or star in the project, the film will allegedly focus on younger versions of Robbie and Gara, which promises to be pretty interesting. Stay tuned for more on this one.

Pixar is keeping on the animation train with the upcoming release of Day & Night, a short that will be attached to the release of Toy Story 3. /Film got an exclusive clip from the Teddy Newton-directed short, and it looks like it’s going to be pretty cute. The short features two characters, “one filled with day, the other filled with night. While the ‘inside’ of the characters is computer animated, the Day & Night characters themselves are 2D, hand drawn. In Digital Disney 3D, the characters act as a window into a 3D world… its very cool.” Sounds and looks that way. Be on the lookout for when this heads into theaters with TS3 on June 18th.