Universal Pictures announced today that principal photography begins March 14th on 47 Ronin, the 3D fantasy-adventure led by Keanu Reeves. Japanese star Hiroyuki Sanada (Sunshine, The Last Samurai) co-stars with Reeves, as they seek vengeance upon the treacherous overlord who killed their master and banished their kind. The cast also features Oscar nominated actress Rinko Kikuchi (Babel, The Brothers Bloom), Tadanobu Asano (Thor) and Kou Shibasaki. Carl Rinsch will direct for a November 21, 2012 release.
Tim Burton and Josh Brolin are working to bring a new version of The Hunchback of Notre Dame to the big screen. Heat Vision reports Warner Bros have hired Kieran and Michele Mulroney, the team who wrote the upcoming Sherlock Holmes sequel for the studio, to handle the script. Brolin is interested in starring and producing the film, while Burton’s commitment to direct is dependent on the quality of the script. I’m going to go out on a limb and predict Helena Bonham Carter will play Esmeralda, the gypsy the deformed bell-ringer falls in love with. Just a hunch. See what I did there?
Malin Akerman (Watchmen) has entered negotiations to play the female lead in Medallion, the action thriller that will reunite Nicolas Cage with Con Air director Simon West. Akerman will play Cage’s ex-girlfriend and former bank robber who agrees to help him find his daughter after she’s kidnapped and locked in the trunk of a New York cab. Filming will begin in New Orleans in mid-March.
Variety reports Mandy Moore and Rodrigo Santoro (the guy who played Xerxes in 300) will star in the ghost story Falling Slowly, the directorial debut from Buried writer Chris Sparling. Moore and Santoro will play a couple whose apartment is haunted by a dark presence.
Tom Hooper, the Oscar-winning director of The King’s Speech, seems to be getting serious about an adaptation of the Deborah Moggach novel Tulip Fever as his next project. The 17th Century story focuses on a married woman who begins a passionate affair with an artist hired to paint her portrait. The two gamble on the booming market for tulip bulbs in hopes of making enough money to run away together. Deadline notes that John Madden (Shakespeare in Love) and Peter Chelsom (Serendipity) had once aspired to direct the film, and Keira Knightley and Jude Law were once attached to star.
Lastly, Mark Wahlberg hinted with Extra‘s Mario Lopez that a sequel to the Oscar-winning The Fighter may be in the works. Wahlberg said “now we’re gonna talk about doing No. 2… we’re gonna do the Ward/Gatti trilogy and make it real.” As mentioned at the end of The Fighter, Micky Ward went on to have three epic bouts with Arturo Gatti in 2002-2003, two of which were named Ring magazine fight of the year. You’ll likely never find a person who loved The Fighter more than me, but I don’t see how they could recapture the magic of the first film. The family drama was what made it special and I’d think most of that would be resolved by the time these legendary fights roll around.
