Hello, everyone. It's been a relatively quiet week with the giant that is San Diego Comic Con looming in the distance. The two largest events of the week have already been covered (the release of the latest Batman trailer and the final Harry Potter film). However, there have been some interesting announcements, especially one regarding a certain big green monster.


1. Akira News
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An adaptation of the popular sci-fi cyberpunk anime/manga Akira has been rumored for years. Names such as Zac Efron have been tossed around more than once for starring roles in the film, and due to negative backlash it appeared as if the film had gone into development hell. According to Variety, Warner Bros. has finally announced a new director for the adaptation and a new more conservative production budget for the film of $90 million. Akira will be directed by Oprhan and Unknown director  Jaume Collet-Serra.


2. Kingdom Hearts 3 Update
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Development hell is an unfortunate state of being that seems to take hold of a large amount of properties this day. It held onto Duke Nukem Forever for over a decade and look how that turned out. However, depsite a lack of news fans of the Kingdom Hearts franchise have waited patiently for years on information on the latest installment in the series. This week series director Tetsuya Nomura announced that the aniticipated handheld spin off Kingdom Hearts 3D would feature numerous hints towards the next installment in the main franchise Kingdom Hearst 3. He also announced that the plot for the game would finish the Xenahort saga, but keep Sora around for future installmetns in the franchise.


3. The Hobbit Production Diary #2
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In keeping with true Peter Jackson fashion, the New Zealand director has continued to offer us glimpses into the behind the scenes settings of the latest trip to Middle Earth. This time the production diary gives us a glimpse into the actor's lives between filming, but still offers us some tantalizing glimpses at next years two part prequel.

4. The Evil Dead to be Remade
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There are few bigger cult films than the Evil Dead franchise. Each film is held in high esteem in sects of nerd culture across the world, and their success helped to elevate star Bruce Campbell and director Sam Raimi to cult status. Now before anyone starts crying foul on this, Ghost House Pictures has announced that Evil Dead will be remade, but with Sam Raimi and Bruce Campbell both acting as producers. Ghost House also announced that the two handpicked fledgling director  Fede Alvarez to direct and write the film after seeing his work on the short film "Panic Attack". The script will later be revised by Academy Award winner Diablo Cody.

5. David Goyer to Write Godzilla Script
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There are few films I am more excited for than the upcoming reboot of the Godzilla franchise. However, little has been said about the production since the January announcement that Monsters director Gareth Edwards would direct the film. Wednesday, Legendary announced that the film would be written by David Goyer who previously penned the scripts for Batman Begins, Blade 2, and the upcoming Superman reboot Man of Steel. He also has story credits on the two Nolan Batman sequels. Later this week, Legendary Pictures head Thomas Tull spoke to the heads of Motion Captured regarding the film and its take on the world famous monster star:

What I can tell you about the approach the studio is taking to the film is that Godzilla is not "just" a giant monster. He is a character, a major force of nature, and there will definitely be other giant monsters in the world. They're focusing on the notion of Godzilla as a defender of Earth, the one thing that can stop some of these other giant creatures, and while there will obviously be a human story playing out with the giant monster story, don't expect it to overwhelm or overshadow the monsters. They know why you're going to the theater, and they are determined to give you a real, no-compromises Godzilla film featuring the giant lizard you know and love already. There are definite design choices they'll make, and the official Toho Godzilla has gone through many changes over the years, but I guarantee when you see this one for the first time, you will know immediately that it is Godzilla.

The site also hinted that if the film performs well that there will be multiple sequels.

Source: http://www.hitfix.com/blogs/motion-captured/posts/legendary-brings-in-david-goyer-to-rewrite-godzilla

Marvel has been dominating the film news airwaves these past few days. Despite the controversy surrounding Ed Norton and the recasting of the Hulk, both Avengers and the more child friendly adaptation of the award winning comic Runaways have begun production plans.

Production Weekly announced yesterday that Runaways, along with the second Clash of the Titans film and Sam Raimi's Oz The Great And Powerful, will begin filming early next summer. Coincidentally this is the same time that Joss Whedon has scheduled the Avengers to begin production.

Bleeding Cool has also announced that Whedon has begun location hunting in Manhattan, hoping to add a down to Earth feel for the film. Apaprently, work has also begun on designing the iconic S.H.I.E.L.D. Helicarrier's that will feature prominently throughout the movie.

There are few more respected directors in nerd culture then Sam Raimi. Creator of the Evil Dead series and the Spider-man films, Raimi announced last summer that he will be working on adaptation of the popular Warcraft video game series. During the Saturn Awards this week, Raimi was interviewed by Collider.com addressing rumors regarding his involvement in The Hobbit film and about the status of Warcraft.


Sam Raimi Interview WORLD OF WARCRAFT Movie Saturn Awards 2010 - The funniest videos are a click away

Thanks to Collider.com for the video.

Sam Raimi, director of the Evil Dead and Spider-man films, may have traded one fantasy realm for another. Last year the famous director announced that he would direct a film based on the popular Warcraft video game franchise. Of course, this had geeks across the world ecstatic. When Raimi stepped down from creating the next film in the Spider-man series, Warcraft seemed closer then ever before.

However, the announcement came yesterday that it may be a while before the world of Azeroth is adapted to the silver screen. According to Vulture, Sam Raimi was approached by Disney to direct a prequel to the Wizard of Oz, focusing on the mysterious title figure. The film, titled Oz, The Great and Powerful has been Disney's pet project for years and has bounced between multiple directors. Chances are that if Raimi picks up this project it may take priority and thus bump back other projects, including Warcraft.