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from BBC News - Entertainment & Arts

Simon West planning Con Air sequel in space?

Well, here's a news story we weren't expecting to write, as director Simon West has been discussing the possibility of a Con Air sequel… set in space!



Despite seventeen years having passed since the first film was released, West is still keen on the idea of a follow-up, provided the idea behind it is strong enough.



“There are always rumours about a Con Air 2," says West. "I would do it if it was completely turned on its head. Con Air in space, for example."



"A studio version where they’re all robots or the convicts are reanimated as super-convicts, or where the good guys are bad guys and the bad guys are good guys. Something shocking. If it was clever writing it could work.”



Thta's one hell of a brainstorming session, right there. For what it's worth, our vote goes to Con Air in space, with robot super-convicts. You heard it here first...

via Total Film

Ben Stiller stars in first trailer for Night At The Museum: Secret Of The Tomb: watch now

The first trailer has arrived online for family threequel, Night At The Museum: Secret Of The Tomb, in which Ben Stiller returns for another round of magical mayhem.



The new film transposes the action to London, as Stiller’s character heads to the British Museum to unlock further secrets regarding the mysterious tablet that brings the exhibits of the Smithsonian to life.



Cue marauding dinosaurs, rogue cavemen and Downton Abbey’s dashing Dan Stevens as a sword-swinging Sir Lancelot.



Take a look at the new trailer, below…







A guilty pleasure it might be, but we won’t pretend we didn’t chuckle at Steve Coogan and Owen Wilson being urinated on by a monkey. Simple, but amusing...



Directed by Shawn Levy and co-starring Robin Williams, Ben Kingsley and Rebel Wilson, Night At The Museum: Secret Of The Tomb will open in the UK on 19 December 2014.

via Total Film

Jamie Foxx to star in Mike Tyson biopic

Jamie Foxx is set to play troubled boxer, Mike Tyson, in a brand new biopic to be penned by the man who brought The Wolf Of Wall Street from page to screen.



Terrence Winter, whose notable credits also include The Sopranos and Boardwalk Empire, will write the screenplay for the new film, with Variety reporting that Foxx has already signed on to star.



The report has no word on which elements of Tyson’s life the film will focus upon, but given the boxer’s “colourful” career, there should be plenty of incident to choose from.



The project is currently without a studio, although Foxx’s manager, Rick Yorn, is acting as producer, and charged with bringing the core elements together to present to distributors.



Given the calibre of Winter and Foxx, paired with the likely interest in Tyson’s story, we’d imagine there won’t be any shortage of prospective suitors…

via Total Film

Brand new Interstellar trailer heads to the outer limits: watch now

A new trailer for Interstellar has arrived online, in which Matthew McConaughey heads into space on a mission to save humanity.


The new trailer does a great job of balancing the film’s human story with the dizzying, outer-space sequences, as McConaughey says goodbye to his family and journeys into the void.



Needless to say, the whole thing looks utterly spectacular, but with more than enough heart to balance out the sci-fi elements. Consider us very excited indeed!



Take a look at the new trailer, below…







While the visuals are utterly gorgeous, it’s the distinctly heavyweight cast that’s the real selling point here, with McConaughey looking an excellent choice as leading man. Could the Academy come calling for a second year?



Directed by Christopher Nolan and co-starring Anne Hathaway, Jessica Chastain and Casey Affleck, Interstellar will open in the UK on 6 November 2014.

via Total Film

Alex Kurtzman directing Universal’s reboot of The Mummy

Universal has found a director for its forthcoming reboot of The Mummy, with THR reporting that Alex Kurtzman will be the man to take the helm.


We recently brought you news that Kurtzman and new writing partner Chris Morgan had been charged by the studio with creating a new crossover universe linking all its classic monster franchises, with The Mummy set to be first out of the gate.



Now it appears that Kurtzman’s duties will extend beyond sketching the overall template for said universe, with THR claiming he is in the final stage of negotiations to direct that first film.



Kurtzman had previously been working with Roberto Orci on a script for The Mummy before the notion of a shared universe was mooted, so it will be interesting to see how much of that version remains in the finished film.



Universal currently has The Mummy pencilled in for a US release date of 22 May 2016, so expect to see casting begin on this one in the near future.

via Total Film

Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon 2 Adds New Cast

Glee's Harry Shum Jr. joins the martial arts sequel

In Hollywood, everyone and their auntie is getting aboard to the Chinese bandwagon, looking for opportunities in the ever-growing movie market. The Weinstein Co. is no exception and its sequel to Ang Lee’s Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon is gearing up with news of another cast member. Harry Shum Jr., Mike Chang in Glee, is joining the martial arts jamboree.

Shum, who has movie credits in Step Up 2: The Streets and Glee: The 3D Concert Movie, will play a character called Tie-Fang. He’s one of the four martial arts heroes of an underworld world, alongside Silent Wolf (Donnie Yen) and Yu Shu-lien (Michelle Yeo). Between them they’re charged with keeping a sword called Green Destiny out of the hands of the frankly despicable Hades Dai. Nice job with the first name there, Mr and Mrs Dai.



The story is penned by John Fusco (The Forbidden Kingdom) from Silver Vase, Iron Knight, the fifth book in Wang Du Lu’s Crane-Iron Pentalogy (the first Crouching Tiger film was taken from the fourth). It’s set two decades after the end of Ang Lee’s film and, according to its writer, has “a Knights Errant” quality. “There is an alternate universe in the books, a martial forest that exists alongside the real world, full of wandering sword fighters, medicine men, defrocked priests, poets, sorcerers and Shaolin renegades. It’s so vast and rich, and I found characters from the second and third books in the series to create a most interesting stew while being as true to the source material as I could be.”

It’s all overseen by legendary martial arts director Yuen Wo Ping, who worked as choreographer on Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon back in 2000 and presumably has the flying-fighting action down pat. He's currently shooting the sequel in China and New Zealand.

That's not all the Weinstein Co. has up its sleeve of a martial arts nature. Also underway are a pair of Shaw Brothers remakes of King Hu's seminal Come Drink With Me and Sun Chung's The Avenging Eagle. Look out for more on those as we get it.

from Empire News