DIY/Filmmaking »

Good news, Twilight fans. You have the first official news for the third Twilight installment, courtesy of our own Jen Yamato, FearNet and the New Moon junket.* The magically-coiffed Robert Pattinson has confirmed that Breaking Dawn will begin filming in Fall 2010, and that it's penciled into his schedule for next year.

Of course, Dawn remains unconfirmed by Summit. The most controversial installment of the Twilight series, rumors swirl that the studio is hesitant to take it to the big screen. If it is made, it seems likely that it could be split into two films a'la Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows. Personally, I don't see Summit risking the money they'd make on #4, and they'll find a way to steer around the gorier aspects of the book. But now you know when to look for it, though you still have the madness of Eclipse pre-production to get through.

Pattinson also dished on the movie I want to mark on my calender (Sorry, I dig boots and spurs more than vampires), a Western called Unbound Captives. The directorial debut of Madeleine Stowe, it stars Hugh Jackman, Rachel Weisz, and Pattinson. The young heartthrob revealed that it's tenatively scheduled to begin shooting in early 2010, and he sounds enthusiastic for a role that'll be miles away from Edward Cullen. "I'm playing a kid who is kidnapped by Comanches when he was four years old, and he is brought up by them. His mother spends her entire life trying to find me and my sister. When she finds us, we can't remember who she is and can't remember anything about the Western culture she grew up in. I speak Comanche the whole movie. You can't really speak more differently from Edward."

[Special thanks also goes to Collider who apparently pried the Breaking Dawn date out of Mr. Pattinson]

While tooling around online I came across a post over at Brobible on the 15 Best Man Caves on the Internet. A Man Cave, for those who do not know, is usually an area somewhere in the house (normally the garage or a spare room) designated for the guys to hang out in and do "guy things" like watch tons of sports or, in the case of one Australian homeowner, tons of The Dark Knight. I'm not exactly sure how much this cost, though Gizmag tells us the screening room won the highly commended prize in the 'above $100,000' category at CEDIA Asia Pacific annual awards, so more than likely this sucker cost a pretty penny to produce.

The room took about 20 days to piece together, while the installation of equipment and acoustic took another 8 days. Apart from very cool-looking and comfortable seats, as well as a big screen, the room also features a full wet bar and a bathroom that can be accessed via a remote-controlled sliding door.

From Gizmag: "Entry to the 'secret location' is via a remote-controlled pneumatic sliding door (unfortunately, not bat poles). A touch of the panel outside and the door opens, the lights turn on to a predetermined level, the projector and scaler come to life, and the processor goes into action. So, by the time you've chosen your movie and had your first mouthful of popcorn, everything is humming along, just like a well-oiled Batmobile."

Check out some images below and more stats on the equipment over at Gizmag. If you had the dough, would you put something like this in your home?

After a year of speculation (Will it be James Bond? Will it be Maximum City? Trainspotting 2?), Danny Boyle has finally settled on his next project. Variety reports that it will be 127 Hours, the tale of mountain climber Aron Ralston. Boyle has been loosely attached to the project since June when the LA Times reported that Boyle and Fox Searchlight had signed a long term, best friends forever deal. Boyle has already penned a treatment, and Simon Beaufoy is in talks to write the script.

In this age of flashmob media stories, you might have forgotten the tale of Ralston. Like your humble authoress and Balloon Boy, Ralston hails from Colorado. He became famous for a Utah climbing accident in 2003, when an 800 lb boulder shifted and crushed his hand. Ralston was forced to choose between life and limb, and in a stomach-turning story heard around the world, he amputated his own hand with a pocketknife. In the media frenzy that followed, Ralston was hailed as a hero and as an idiot, because he had chosen to go climbing alone and without notifying anyone. It was particularly intense locally, and I still remember the heroism debate Ralston sparked in my American Culture class. (It even inspired one student's final project!) Since those heady days of early fame, Ralston has enjoyed success with his autobiography, continues to climb, and is a motivational speaker.

The director is already on the casting hunt for the part of Ralston, which Variety declares will be "a plum job" because it will force an actor to work solo for most of the shoot. Below the jump, I've embedded a video of Ralston describing his amputation. Watch it to prepare for two hours of unflinching detail, and sound off on who you think should be lucky enough to act out a very painful 127 Hours.

Sony's thriller The Tourist just keeps sending its talent packing. Originally set to be a vehicle for Tom Cruise and Charlize Theron, it shifted gears last month and was re-cast with Angelina Jolie and Sam Worthington. But once again, The Tourist finds itself without travel arrangements for a male lead as Variety reports that Worthington is out due to "creative disagreements" and Johnny Depp is in.

Depp is still in talks to play the hapless American tourist, and with the way this film is going, one can't assume it's finalized. But if it is, it might just be the casting coup of 2010. A Depp-Jolie pair-up has been something dreamed about by a lot of producers and studios over the years. Once upon a time, rumor even had them attached to play Cathy and Heathcliff in Wuthering Heights. People want to see them having onscreen sex. It'd be the hottest thing since ... well, Brad Pitt and Jolie having sex onscreen. (And off. Hey, I'm just being honest. There was a reason everyone wanted to see their offspring.)

The Tourist is also on the hunt for a director. Florian Henckel von Donnersmarck was circling the project, but departed alongside Worthington over those whispery creative differences. Reportedly, a lot of directors are interested, including Alfonso Cuaron. While shake-ups can be be a sign of a bad film, I'd like to think that a thriller that winds up with Jolie, Depp, and Cuaron came together exactly as it was meant to.

As Peter reported a few days ago, Robert Zemeckis is going forward with a Roger Rabbit sequel. We all seem to be intrigued by the possibility of returning to Toontown, but Zemeckis' obsession with motion capture really casts a Judge Doom-like shadow over the project. Will he motion capture Roger Rabbit and his Toontown friends? Or will Zemeckis return to the old school of hand-drawn animation?

MTV caught up with Zemeckis, who was quick to assure fans of the bumbling Roger that he will remain his cuddly 2D self. "I wouldn't use it for the cartoon characters, because I think they should stay two-dimensional because that's what - I wouldn't dimensonalize Roger," he said. "And I couldn't dimensonalize Jessica even if I wanted to because she doesn't have a nose. We wouldn't want to give her a nose." But motion capture will be a part of Roger Rabbit 2. The technology is like Zemeckis' whale, and he's determined to exploit every possibility with it. His current plan appears to involve using motion-capture for the human performances. "All the other characters that [the cartoons] would sort of have fun with would be magnificent in performance capture technology."

There's that Judge Doom shadow again. The clumsy way humans and toons interacted was the point of Who Framed Roger Rabbit? It was the contrast that was interesting and fun. Having animated humans just seems to take it on a trip into the Uncanny Valley. The project is still in its early stages, so maybe Zemeckis will surprise us, and have the technology be part of the story. Everyone on the interwebs seems to be championing the idea of the toons having to deal with technological advances. We can hope for that, and not that Zemeckis will just shove in a motion-captured cast just because he can't stop himself.

We are now in the age of the 20-year-old sequel. Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull, Wall Street 2, Who Framed Roger Rabbit?, Beverly Hills Hop 4, The Untouchables: Capone Rising. It hasn't been "too long," it isn't awkward to go back. It'll make you feel young again! Now we've reached the pinnacle of past grabs, as WENN is reporting that Steve Guttenberg, Tom Selleck, and Ted Danson are reuniting for Three Men and a Bride.

"Disney's developing Three Men and a Bride. That's going to be a smash. A smash hit. They're bringing everybody back for that," says Guttenberg. "Nobody knows about it. I'm the first to talk about it."

Guttenberg might just become king of the It's Never To Late To Return! movement, as he dreams of reviving all of his past franchises. "It's definitely time for another Police Academy. And I think they could make another Cocoon. They're surefire hits and I think they're good for the world. They make the world a better place and that's what it's all about." Hopefully, he's not setting his hopes on reviving Short Circuit, as that has become someone else's dream to live. But I think there were a lot of unanswered questions about The Day After, and nothing's trendier than the apocalypse. It's only been twenty-five years ....

Are sandstorms and magic lamps going to become the next swashbuckling trend? I think it's possible. Prince of Persia: The Sands of Time lurks on the horizon (and is receiving a very mixed reception) and now Variety reports that Scheherazade and her thousand and one tales are about to get a 3D makeover. Chuck Russell is set to direct a reworking of 1001 Arabian Nights from a script he co-wrote with Barry P. Ambrose. It's not clear whether this will be live action 3D or animation, but I'm guessing live action due to the emphasis on "action adventure" in the trade article.

In Russell's Arabian Nights, Scheherazade will become a damsel in distress instead of a brainy, tale-spinning bluestocking.Apparently it's a young commander who is the hero, as he joins forces with Sinbad, Aladdin, and his genie to rescue Scheherazade and her kingdom from unspecified dark forces. I see shades of Russell's The Scorpion King.

Now, I like the idea of adapting Middle Eastern tales. It's good for kids to be exposed to world cultures, and to encounter other races and religions even if it's through animation. But there are a thousand tales worth telling that are undoubtedly more exciting and interesting than something cobbled together out of the most recognizable characters. As a kid, I was always very taken with The Sisters Who Envied Their Younger Sister because it was full of magic objects and starred a princess who took matters into her own hands. But Russell's deserts are where girls aren't muscle-bound enough for adventure, though I'm sure we'll see a very scantily clad Scheherazade in 3D. Maybe 3D skin is the next trend, not Middle Eastern settings ...

Back in August, we reported that the Terminator franchise was in some serious legal and financial trouble. The rights are currently owned by the Halcyon Company, who have managed to make more court appearances than they have films. They were in danger of losing the rights to their hedge fund, Pacificor, who was poised to claim them if Halcyon defaulted on their loan.

But according to The Financial Times, Halcyon has now filed for bankruptcy after their lawsuit with Pacificor, and is selling off the rights to Terminator. It would appear that filing for Chapter 11 afforded their precious franchise some protection from the hedge fund, and they can now sell it to bail themselves out. The sale will be conducted by FTI Capital Advisors, and does not cover rights to the earlier Terminator films.

The Times notes that this auction is coming at a particularly tough time for Hollywood, who is feeling the economic crunch just like everyone else. But it notes that Terminator is one of the rare "blockbuster brands" not controlled by a big studio, and that alone has may drooling at the chance to control future properties. Summit is said to be particularly interested (they can probably pay for it just out of Twilight proceeds), as is Sony and Media Rights Capital. But remember, this is America! Everyone has a chance at destroying mankind, and if you have millions (estimates put the sale beyond $60 million, the benchmark set by the sale of the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles), you can buy them for yourself. I would have faith in something other than John Connor if a Cinematical reader took the reins of this franchise.

Comics legend Warren Ellis is all over Hollywood these days. He has Red in development at Summit, Gravel was just recently optioned by the top-notch crew at Legendary Pictures, and Ocean is in the works with Hollywood Gang, for whom Ellis is also penning a King Arthur script. Now Variety reports that Ellis' miniseries Black Summer has been optioned by the fledgling banner Vigilante Entertainment. Ryne Pearson is set to adapt it for the big screen.

Black Summer kicked off in 2007, and walks some familiar Watchmen ground as it examines the darker implications of vigilante heroes. It centers around a superhero team called the Seven Guns, a group of ordinary humans who have willingly undergone severe surgery to become superhuman vigilantes. They take to the streets of a West Coast city to battle a corrupt city government, its equally sleazy police force, and greedy private security forces. But by the time we meet them, those days are gone. But one member, John Horus, decides to go after the man he feels is committing the biggest illegal act of all -- the President of the United States. His violent decision puts the rest of the Guns in danger, In typical Ellis fashion, the blood begins spraying and the bodies drop, and everything becomes very politically murky. If you'd like to see some previews or check out some interviews with Ellis, it's all been neatly collected at Avatar Press' site.

This project is in pre-pre production right now, so it's hard to get too excited as to how (or if!) it will end up on the big screen. But it's great to see more and more of Ellis' work being picked up for adaptations. Let's hope it meets better fate than most of Alan Moore's work.