Here’s proof that movie franchises never truly die, they just lie dormant for half a decade until the next round of executives can greenlight a relaunch. What I mean to say is, Universal Pictures has tapped Prometheus co-screenwriter Jon Spaihts to pen a reboot of The Mummy series. The Mummy has long been one of Universal’s ‘Classic Monsters’ but the character really took off in late 90’s thanks to the … Continue reading →

THE MOVIE: Rumors have been circling for awhile now about an in-development remake of 1988’s Bloodsport, the martial arts extravaganza that launched Jean-Claude Van Damme to superstardom. Producer Ed Pressman (Wall Street: Money Never Sleeps) was shopping around the project at Cannes last year, with Salt director Phillip Noyce and Taken screenwriter Robert Mark Kamen attached. We haven’t heard much about the project since but, given the attention surrounding Van Damme … Continue reading →

I don’t know about you but I have a thing for the late 80’s, early 90’s film work of author Clive Barker. His 1990 effort Nightbreed is one of those movies that should have been a horror classic. It had Barker working at the peak of his creative powers; Danny Elfman, fresh off the success of his 1989 Batman soundtrack, handling score duties; and even starred David Cronenberg as a homicidal psychologist … Continue reading →

Despite a recent remake that tends to draw more laughter than scares, director Robin Hardy’s 1976 chiller The Wicker Man remains one of the finest British horror movies of all time. And now fans will be able to experience the film in all new way: Studio Canal has announced the release of The Wicker Man: The Final Cut on Blu-ray. This director’s version of the film includes an additional fourteen minutes … Continue reading →

Whether you love or loathe its sequels and spin-offs, there’s no denying that John McTiernan’s 1987 film Predator is one of the greatest works of action cinema. The movie, featuring Arnold Schwarzenneger facing off against a cloaked alien menace in the jungles of Central America, inspired two direct sequels as well as the Aliens vs. Predator series. Now it looks like 20th Century Fox is teasing a Predator-related announcement to … Continue reading →

Actor and martial artist Michael Jai White caught the attention of genre buffs as soon as he arrived on the scene in the late 90’s, playing the costumed superhero Spawn and squaring off against Jean-Claude Van Damme in Universal Soldier: The Return. In recent years, Jai White has become something of a cult movie icon by appearing in fan favorites like Black Dynamite and directing the MMA flick Never Back … Continue reading →

Hong Kong media outlets are reporting the death of filmmaker and actor Lau Kar-leung (also known as Liu Chia-liang) at the age of 75. More details should emerge in the following days but this is truly a tragic loss. Lau Kar-leung has left behind a considerable body of work, including some of the finest martial arts movies of all time. He is perhaps most famous for directing and starring opposite … Continue reading →

What would you do for $20 million? If you’re Liam Neeson, you’d sign the dotted line to reprise the role that turned you into a middle-aged action star. That’s right: Liam Neeson has officially negotiated to return as security specialist and family man Bryan Mills in Taken 3. The disappointing news? It looks like a done deal that Taken 2 director Olivier Megaton will be returning to helm the third … Continue reading →

Law Ching Cheong is currently busy directing an increasingly over-budget remake of The Iceman Cometh with Donnie Yen, but his previous film is finally about to see the light of day. Titled The Wrath of Vajra, this high-concept martial arts movie is intended to serve as the first starring vehicle for Yu Xing. Xing is a Shaolin monk turned actor who has already been seen in supporting roles in a … Continue reading →

2013 might just end up being known as ‘the year of Tiger Chen.’ Not only is the Yuen Woo-ping protege making his leading man debut in Keanu Reeves’ Man of Tai Chi, but the trailer has surfaced for yet another martial arts film starring Chen. This time around, Tiger Chen will star as the titular Kung Fu Man in an English/Chinese co-production. This film has more of a family vibe, … Continue reading →

For a generation of kids who grew up in the early 80’s, much of their favorite Saturday morning fare was – unbeknownst to them – anime that had been dubbed and re-edited from Japan. Thus, Japan’s Macross became Robotech and Beast King GoLion became Voltron. Along those same lines, the long-running Japanese anime Gatchaman was introduced to American audiences as Battle of the Planets. The show followed a group of … Continue reading →

Filming has begun on Hong Kong superstar Andy Lau’s latest action blockbuster, Switch. This is a highly anticipated Mandarin-language film to be shot in Dubai, the same location as Tom Cruise’s now famous hotel-climbing stunt in Mission: Impossible – Ghost Protocol, on a budget of about $20 million US dollars. The producers are keen on recouping their investment so Switch will be later be dubbed in English and Arabic languages … Continue reading →

THE MOVIE: Neill Blomkamp, the visionary director behind District 9, is prepping a new high-concept science fiction film starring Matt Damon. In Elysium, the world of the future is divided along harsh class lines: the rich live in a pristine orbital space station while the poor are left to populate a ruined Earth. Matt Damon plays a presumably normal Earthling who is sent on a daring mission that might just … Continue reading →

Director Peter Jackson’s The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey was one of 2012’s biggest blockbusters, a fact that was decidedly not unexpected. But of course, An Unexpected Journey was just part one of what will become a three-part saga. The second film in Jackson’s The Hobbit trilogy hits theaters on December 13th, 2013. Fans should expect the trailer for The Hobbit: The Desolation of Smaug to arrive online late this Tuesday … Continue reading →

THE MOVIE: German-born director Roland Emmerich has made a career out of systematically destroying the United States in movies like Independence Day and The Day After Tomorrow. His newest film, titled White House Down, continues the trend but with less of a ‘disaster movie’ approach and more of an action/thriller one. Hollywood ‘It’ boy Channing Tatum stars as a Secret Service agent tasked with protecting the President (Jamie Foxx) when … Continue reading →