Morning 5: Cameron Talks ‘Avatar’ Prequel, ‘Star Trek 2’ Has a Title and Pacino is Paterno

1.) J.J. Abrams‘ sequel to Star Trek finally has a real title. Word is the film will go with the title Star Trek: Into Darkness as it prepares for its May 17, 2013 release. Paramount hasn’t confirmed the news, but www.startrekintodarkness.com and www.startrekintodarknessmovie.com were both registered through “MarkMonitor,” an anonymous domain registry service the studio also used for recent titles like G.I. Joe: Retaliation. [ComingSoon]

2.) While James Cameron is still writing the scripts for Avatar 2 and Avatar 3, which will reportedly be shot back-to-back for December 2014 and 2015 releases, he has also revealed his plans for the fourth film in the franchise: A prequel. “Basically it goes back to the early expeditions of Pandora and kind of what went wrong with the humans and the Na’vi and what that was like to be an explorer and living in that world,” Cameron explained. [MTV]

In other Cameron news, producing partner Jon Landau says there are still plans to make Battle Angel, an adaptation of Yukito Kishiro‘s sci-fi Manga series. “We’ll focus on Avatar for the next four or five years,” he said. “Hopefully right after that… I am confident you will see it.” Battle Angel is set in a cyborg-dominated 26th century and follows a young girl with an organic human brain, but a completely artificial body. A journey of self-discovery begins when she’s found in the wreckage and repaired, but realizes she’s lost her memory. Landau has spoken passionately about the source material, calling it one of his favorite stories, and we could see it as soon as 2017. So get excited. [MovieZine via ComingSoon]

3.) A package is being put together for a movie about disgraced former Penn State football coach Joe Paterno, with Al Pacino attached to star. The film would be built around Joe Pasnanski‘s biography Paterno, which currently sits atop the New York Times Bestseller List.

The book doesn’t focus solely on the scandal that led to the coach’s downfall, but also Paterno’s life before Penn State, his family, and his hold over university politics. Pasnanski had already been working on the book for a year when the scandal began taking over the headlines. Mike Fleming, who broke news of the project, admits he doesn’t know if the film would be a theatrical release or a cable movie. But given their history with tackling controversial subjects and Pacino’s success with You Don’t Know Jack, HBO seems like a natural fit. I’m sure we’ll learn more about the project soon enough as it moves forward to find a screenwriter and director. [Deadline]

4.) Nicolas Cage will star in Joe, a gritty southern drama from director David Gordon Green (Pineapple Express). The film is based on Larry Brown‘s novel about an ex-con who becomes an unlikely role model to a homeless teenager with a drunk, worthless father. Green started out as a promising young cinematic voice with indie dramas like All the Real Girls before devolving into mainstream comedic mediocrity (Your Highness, The Sitter), so hopefully Joe can get him back on track. [THR]

5.) Juno Temple (The Dark Knight Rises) will star opposite Daniel Radcliffe in the supernatural thriller Horns. The film will be directed by Alexandre Aja (The Hills Have Eyes) and follows a man (Radcliffe) who wakes up from a long night of drinking with a nasty hangover and horns sprouting from his head. He’s also the leading suspect in the murder of his girlfriend (Temple), but soon learns the horns give him the power to drive people to confess their sins. It’s based on a novel by Stephen King’s son, Joe Hill. [Coming Soon]

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