1.) The Expendables 2 producer Avi Lerner must be expecting a massive turnout this weekend because he’s already talking about the unlikely group he has in mind for the franchise’s third installment.
“We’ve approached Clint Eastwood to be one of the guys, we’ve got a character in mind for him. We’re talking to Harrison Ford. [And we want] Wesley Snipes when he comes back from prison. I’ll give you one more name, we’ve got Nicolas Cage to play [one of the characters]. And we’re going to bring Mickey Rourke back, if he won’t be too crazy. I like Mickey. And of course, all the existing stars [will return].”
Cage’s inclusion might have something to do with Expendables 2 director Simon West, who directed Cage in Con Air and the upcoming Stolen, though there has been no confirmation of West’s return for Expendables 3. And what does Lerner mean about Mickey Rourke being crazy? There’s a story there and I want to hear it. [Total Film]
2.) Terry Gilliam‘s The Zero Theorem has been stop-and-go since 2009, but he seems to be moving ahead with it rather quickly now that Christoph Waltz is attached to the lead role that once belonged to Billy Bob Thornton. The film is said to be a sort of sci-fi exploration into the meaning of life, while Waltz will play “an eccentric and reclusive computer genius.” Gilliam plans to start shooting in October and shop the film at the Toronto International Film Festival. [Slashfilm]
3.) Universal has hired Billy Ray (Shattered Glass, The Hunger Games) to write a new screenplay for Martin Scorsese‘s long-gestating Sinatra. Phil Alden Robinson (Field of Dreams) was previously hired to write a screenplay for the biopic, but it’s unclear if Ray is working off that or just starting fresh. Right now, Scorsese is shooting The Wolf of Wall Street and we still don’t know if Sinatra is on deck or if he’ll turn to another one of his rumored projects, like Silence or The Irishman. [Deadline]
4.) Julie Delpy offered an update on the follow-up to Before Sunset while making the rounds to promote 2 Days in New York. She’s still in the process of writing it with director Richard Linklater so shooting is still a year or so off. She also mentioned the film would be more realistic in acknowledging today’s technology: “It would be weird not to include that. They haven’t emailed before, but perhaps if they had, they would have been together and fallen apart by now.” [The Playlist]
5.) And seeing how it’s been a few days since we’ve offered an update on The Wolverine, here’s how Hugh Jackman described the project to Total Film magazine (via Coming Soon):
We’ve deliberately not called it Wolverine 2 because we want it to be placed and feel like a standalone picture. With an all-new cast and setting it in Japan, it’s going to give us a whole new visual aesthetic. The approach to character means we won’t be overloaded with mutants and teams and the like, so it’ll be more character-based. I think in many ways it will feel like a completely different X-Men film.
BONUS: Joe Carnahan took to Twitter last night and apparently his approach to a new Daredevil film has been shot down. He wrote, “Think my idea for a certain retro, red-suited, Serpico-styled superhero went up in smoke today kids. We shall see. Time is NOT on anyone’s side.” Fox is risking losing rights to the property altogether if they can’t get something moving quickly. I wonder what’s stopping them from making a direct-to-video animated feature, or would that not count? [Joe Carnahan]
