A busy week at The Playlist, with a load of exciting news about “The Hobbit,” “The Dark Knight Rises” and, oh look, dwarfs!
-We discussed the work of Otto Preminger in a wide-ranging retrospective that, hopefully, earned him some new fans. Check it out here. And avoid “Skidoo.”
–Warner Bros. has come onboard the new untitled Charlie Kaufman–Spike Jonze collaboration. Leading the cast will be former hip hop sensation/walking merkinball Joaquin Phoenix.
-An “Evil Dead” remake is happening. OH JOY OF JOYS. While Fede Alvarez is writing and directing, he’ll get some script consultation from none other than Oscar winner Diablo Cody. She can consult my script anytime, amirite guys? SEXISM!
–Arnold Schwarzenegger is finally returning to movies, making “The Last Stand” for Lionsgate and director Kim Ji-Woon. Shed a tough guy tear for “Cry Macho,” as we may have seen the last of that project.
-Spider-Man has been rebooted for “The Amazing Spider-Man.” And wouldn’t you know it – he’s got a much nicer ass this time. Click here for the snapshots.
-If you couldn’t get enough of Edward Norton‘s hypnotically-mesmerizing heel performance in “The Italian Job,” you’re in luck, as he’s about to sign on for an adversarial role in “The Bourne Legacy.” He’ll be facing Jeremy Renner, on the run from an organization supposedly “even more dangerous” than Treadstone. We hope they’re called Treadstone Creamery.
-“Akira” has earned a new lease on life, with Jaume Collet-Serra the choice to head to Neo-Tokyo- er, Neo-Manhattan for the $90 million adaptation of the popular manga. Though, if you close your eyes and wish very hard, you may pretend the Polish Brothers got the gig
instead.
-A re-do of “Oldboy” is on its way and, surprisingly, Spike Lee is getting in the director’s chair, eying Josh Brolin for the lead role. But first, Lee will reprise the role of Mookie from “Do The Right Thing” in the microindie “Red Hook Summer.”
-“The Dark Knight Rises” and we have the teaser poster to prove it. While we didn’t report on this, the trailer for the film can be found in various crappy bootleg formats online. Pirates 1, Batman 0.
-We took another look at the career of Terrence Malick, diving headfirst into the stack of scripts for unmade Malick movies. Catch up on the trivia here.
-Dwarf Central over at The Playlist, as Nick Frost signed to play a little person in “Snow White And The Huntsman.” Being that it’s a Kristen Stewart movie, we’re glad the K-Stew superfans showed up in the comments section. And speaking of dwarves, we got to peak at a few little people from “The Hobbit” over here, here and here.
-Finally, it was a huge week for trailers. In addition to the first peek at “The Dark Knight Rises” that “Harry Potter” moviegoers are experiencing, we caught our early look at “Hugo,” the latest from Martin Scorsese. Meanwhile, the vexing “John Carter” teaser found its way online, while “Tintin” earned another chance to make a better impression through a UK trailer. “Sherlock Holmes: A Game Of Shadows” exploded onto your laptop this week, while we were spooked by Steven Soderbergh‘s virus thriller “Contagion.” There’s a premakequel of “The Thing” set to hit in a few months and the first full-length trailer arrived, while Sean Penn‘s “This Must Be The Place” wigged out on us with its debut promotional material.