Tuesday, February 19

• Wolverine's cast expands yet again

  Methinks things are starting to get a bit nutty down Wolverine Way. The already robust cast of X-Men Origins: Wolverine is swelling to Altman-like proportions with today's news, courtesy of Variety, that Friday Night Lights' Taylor Kitsch and the Black Eyed Peas' will.i.am have joined Gavin Hood's X-Men spinoff, in the roles of Gambit and Wraith, respectively.

  The logic behind Marvel attaching the prefix "X-Men Origins" to the title is starting to emerge. Rather than a full-fledged spinoff, Wolverine is looking more and more like just another ensemble X-Men flick.

  Source: Variety

  
  

  Posted 02/19/2008 by Thomas

  Taylor Kitsch | Gavin Hood | X-Men Origins: Wolverine

Monday, February 18

• Will Wolverine battle The Blob?

  It seems that X-Men Origins: Wolverine news is emanating from all over the web these days. The latest scoop comes from filmschoolrejects.com, which is reporting that B-list Marvel villain The Blob will likely make a cameo in Gavin Hood's Wolverine prequel.

  From what we could gather from Marvel's official site, The Blob's "super powers" essentially consist of tough skin and morbid obesity -- the former presumably developed in response to the ridicule he received as a result of the latter.

  According to filmschoolrejects, footage has already been shot of a guy wearing a fat suit tailored to make him appear to be in the 800 lb. range., with producers reportedly looking at (presumably digital) ways to bump him up to a full metric ton. Never mind CGI -- a few trips to KFC should do the trick.

  
  

  Posted 02/18/2008 by Thomas

  Hugh Jackman | Gavin Hood | X-Men Origins: Wolverine

Wednesday, October 24

• Hood aiming for a "grand and operatic" Wolverine flick

  If director Gavin Hood gets his way, expect the upcoming X-Men Origins: Wolverine to differ dramatically in tone from 2006's X-Men: The Last Stand.

  Speaking last week to Secret's Out guest host Aisha Tyler, Hood described his Wolverine as "a person who's really suffering from a great deal of existential angst, who wants to lash out and yet hates himself for doing so...his battle is within his own nature."

  Referencing ancient Greek lore, the Rendition director laid out his ambitious plan for the highly anticipated X-Men prequel, in which Hugh Jackman will reprise his trademark role. "These characters are modern mythological characters that represent human emotion in a grand and somewhat operatic way," Hood said of the inhabitants of Wolverine's comic book universe. "And if we can access that and combine it with some good action and some great cinematography and music and sound and so on, then we could have an exciting, emotional movie."

  "Exciting and emotional" sounds pretty good, especially when contrasted with Brett Ratner's controversial "shallow and bombastic" approach toward X-Men 3.

  
  
  Next Showing: X-Men Origins: Wolverine is set for a May 2009 release.
  

  A Chat with the Director of Wolverine

  Gavin Hood gives Aisha Tyler an exclusive update.

  Posted 10/24/2007 by Thomas

  Secret's Out | Hugh Jackman | Gavin Hood | X-Men Origins: Wolverine | X-Men Origins: Wolverine | Wolverine | X-Men Origins: Wolverine | Rendition

Friday, October 19

• Secret's Out with guest host Aisha Tyler and her special guest, director Gavin Hood!

  On today's episode of Secret's Out, guest host Aisha Tyler talks with the director of Rendition, Gavin Hood.

  He talks about what it was like directing Reese Witherspoon, Jake Gyllenhaal and Meryl Streep, as well as his previous directing effort, the Oscar winning Tsotsi.

  
  
  Next Showing: A new Secret's Out airs every Friday @ 5PM PT, 8PM ET.
  

  Rendition - Trailer

  What if someone you knew just... "disappeared?"

  Posted 10/19/2007 by

  Secret's Out | Gavin Hood | Aisha Tyler | Rendition

Thursday, October 18

• Movie newz: X-Men Origins and The Burning Plain

  It's true, X-Men Origins: Wolverine is getting off the ground. Gavin Hood, who headed up this weekend's political thriller, Rendition, is the unlikely choice to direct this fanboy prequel that will explore the 'violent and romantic' early years of Wolverine. 

  Hugh Jackman will be reprising his role and Liev Schreiber is close to nailing down a deal to play a young William Stryker. Shooting is scheduled for Australia, New Zealand, and New Orleans, which is leading some to speculate that the character of Gambit might be making an appearance.

  In other news, Kim Basinger has signed on to join Charlize Theron in Guillermo Arriaga's directorial premiere, The Burning Plain. Arriaga, who wrote Babel, also wrote The Burning Plain, which follows a womaon who tries to repair her relationship with her parents after a troubling childhood. Basinger will play Theron's mother.

  Source: Variety.

  
  
  Next Showing: X-Men Origins: Wolverine opens May 1, 2009.
  

  In the Valley of Elah trailer

  Charlize Theron currently stars in this movie.

  Posted 10/18/2007 by Heather

  Hugh Jackman | Liev Schreiber | Guillermo Arriaga | Charlize Theron | Kim Basinger | Gavin Hood | X-Men Origins: Wolverine | The Burning Plain

Friday, July 20

• Wolverine gets a director

  Looks like Wolverine, the upcoming X-Men spin-off exploring the origins of Hugh Jackman's character, finally has director. Variety reports that South African director Gavin Hood, whose 2005 flick Tsotsi won the Oscar for Best Foreign Film, snagged the prized gig after Fox execs caught a glimpse of his latest film, Rendition, a political thriller set to open in October.

  Fox must have really liked what they saw in Rendition. Hood's a newcomer to the comic book world with no previous genre experience. It'll be interesting to see how he approaches the Wolverine character.

  Wolverine is currently slated for a November 2008 release.

  
  

  Posted 07/20/2007 by Thomas

  Hugh Jackman | Gavin Hood | Thomas Leupp | X-Men: The Last Stand | X2: X-Men United | X-Men