Movie News Mash 33

CAESAR: RISE OF THE APES
Nearly two years ago a film was being written that was touted as a prequel to "Planet of the Apes" and a remake of "Conquest of the Planet of the Apes." That film, titled "Genesis: Apes," died and disappeared faster than you could say "Get your damn, dirty hands off me!"

But it has now been reborn in the fires of Hollywood with a new name, new director and new purpose.

Production Weekly is reporting via their Twitter that 20th Century Fox has opened up production offices at Mammoth Studios in Burnaby, BC (outside of Vancouver) for "Caesar: Rise of the Apes." They also report that shooting starts in mid-July.

British director Rupert Wyatt ("The Escapist") will be taking on the new "Planet of the Apes" prequel, directing from a screenplay co-written by Rick Jaffa & Amanda Silver ("The Relic"). The film will center on super intelligent monkeys, led by Caesar, taking over human society in the near-future.

TRON LEGACY
A third "TRON" film is already in the works with eight months still left to go before "TRON Legacy" hits theaters.

Heat Vision is reporting that Disney has recently rehired "Lost" writers/executive producers Edward Kitsis and Adam Horowitz, who worked on "Legacy" (along with a few other credited writers). Unfortunately, that's all they've confirmed, and we don't know if director Joseph Kosinski will be back or anything else about the cast returning or the story.

This is usually a very good sign, though. Although I'm sure someone will argue with me, I believe that if a studio greenlights a sequel this early, it's usually a very good sign that they know they've got a hit and/or a great movie on their hands. Then again, the studio can be thinking that since the film is in 3D and is coming out in December it could be the next "Avatar."

GREEN LANTERN
While production on "Green Lantern" continues, Mark Strong spoke with USA Weekend about playing the hero-turned-villain Sinestro and how the character fits into the story.

"For anybody who's familiar with the 'Green Lantern' and the origin story, the film closely follows the early comics...Sinestro starts out as Hal Jordan's mentor, slightly suspicious and not sure of him because obviously Hal is the first human being who's made into a Green Lantern. He's certainly very strict and certainly unsure of the wisdom of Hal becoming a Green Lantern. He is a military guy but isn't immediately bad. It's the kind of person he is that lends himself to becoming bad over the course of the comics being written, but initially he's quite a heroic figure."

Concerning the classic appearance of Hal Jordan's life-long nemesis, Strong said:

"That widow's peak and thin mustache was for some reason originally based on David Niven, and Hal Jordan was based on Errol Flynn...In the '30s and '40s, they shared an apartment together in Hollywood when they were making movies and they were great friends. Obviously at the time, whoever was doing the original comics must have looked at them as guys doing very well in the film industry, and based those characters on them. So I would like to do justice to the Sinestro that was conceived for the comic books."

If you don’t know much about Sinestro, what Mark Strong just described is pretty much spot-on and shows that Strong has fully researched the character, which tells me Strong will be great in the role.

More news to come! Catch ya' later!