Terminator 6 filming soon?

The Terminator franchise has struggled as of late. From “Terminator Salvation” with Christian Bale and Sam Worthington to “Terminator Genisys” with Arnold and Jai Courtney, the film series has seemed to hit a rough patch as of late.

That won’t stop another film from being filmed.

Arnold Schwarzenegger said in an interview with The Playlist that the movie will begin filming next March with a “Conan” film to follow.

James Cameron is back on board the series, so hopefully this one will turn out better!

“Battle Angel” still coming

Director James Cameron’s adaptation of “Battle Angel” is still coming. Although Cameron will be busy shooting “Avatar 2” and “Avatar 3” for 2015 and 2016 releases, Cameron said he’ll begin work on “Battle Angel” in 2017. That sounds about right for his timeline. The Avatar sequels will see Sam Worthington and Zoe Saldana return.

Lukas Eggen can be reached at eggen.lukas@gmail.com.

“Terminator 5” filming next year?

Paramount Pictures has reportedly acquired the rights to distribute “Terminator 5” (T5) and that production may begin next year. The script had numerous rewrites, the latest coming from Laeta Kalogridis and Patrick Lussier.

Arnold Schwarzenegger is attached to star. At one point Justin Lin was attached to direct, but he dropped out to helm “Fast and Furious 6”. Maybe he can come back? It would make sense as to why he didn’t want to do FF 7. “Terminator Salvation” the last Terminator film to be released, starred Christian Bale and Sam Worthington.

Lukas Eggen can be reached at eggen.lukas@gmail.com.

 

Billionaire making real life Jurassic Park

Yep. It’s happening. With the re-release of Steven Spielberg’s “Jurassic Park” in 3D, here’s a bit of news. Mining magnate Clive Palmer is making TWO Jurassic Parks in China and Australia. Each will play home to more than 117 dinosaurs. Sadly, there is no cloning, so we’re getting robot dinos. But that’s not the only thing Palmer is up to. He’s behind “Titanic II”. Don’t worry, it’s not a sequel to the James Cameron film. It is a recreation of the ship, with all the details copied, right down to staircases and the ship being split into three levels. Scheduled to set sale in 2016, it will follow the Titanic’s original path.

Lukas Eggen can be reached at eggen.lukas@gmail.com.

Zoe Saldana looks to continue her sci-fi domination

In a very short amount of time, Zoe Saldana has had quite the run. Her roles in “Star Trek” and the upcoming ‘Star Trek Into Darkness” is making her a household name. She starred in a little film called “Avatar” from James Cameron. Despite some missteps, I’m looking at you “Colombiana”, “The Words” and the vastly underrated “The Losers”, she’s been able to keep her hot streak going. Now she joins Chris Pratt as Star-Lord and Dave Bautista as Drax the Destroyer in “Guardians of the Galaxy”. She’ll play Gamora, a sword wielding green humanoid. James Gunn is helming the big budget adaptation.

Lukas Eggen can be reached at eggen.lukas@gmail.com.

Box office battle: How well will “Iron Man 3” and “Thor: Dark World” do?

“The Avengers”, which had Iron Man, Thor, the Hulk and Captain America, went on to be the highest grossing film worldwide not directed by James Cameron. Now this summer sees the first  films of Marvel’s “Phase 2” with “Iron Man 3” and “Thor: Dark World”. How well will these films do?

“Iron Man” and “Iron Man 2” are Marvel’s most financially successful solo films. “Iron Man 2” earned $624 million worldwide. And if any solo film is going to make $1 billion worldwide, it will be this one. The film sees Robert Downey Jr. return, as well as Iron Man’s most famous villain, Mandarin (Ben Kingsley) and the trailers have done a great job selling the action and a more serious tone. Gwyneth Paltrow and Don Cheadle are back as well, so look for this film to have a bigger international gross as well as a new opening weekend record domestically for the “Iron Man ” franchise.

Total box office gross: $950 million

“Thor: Dark World” is a tougher one to predict. Chris Hemsworth is back. But the first film earned less than $500 million worldwide. “Thor” was frankly, box office wise, a second tier character for Marvel behind Iron Man. This one should see a bump at the box office as well. But it’s tough to imagine this earning a lot more.

Total box office gross: $700 million

Lukas Eggen can be reached at eggen.lukas@gmail.com.

Big director considers Angelina Jolie’s “Cleopatra”

Angelina Jolie’s “Cleopatra” may turn out to be one of the more intriguing projects if this turns out to be true. “Life of Pi” director Ang Lee is reportedly considering to direct the film. In the past, directors like James Cameron, David Fincher and Paul Greengrass have considered the project before departing.

Lukas Eggen can be reached at eggen.lukas@gmail.com.

Eight Edgar Allen Poe stories getting adaptations

Roger Corman, who made a name for himself directing B-movies in the 50s and 60s before serving as a mentor of sorts to the likes of James Cameron and Martin Scorsese, is returning to the world of horror. Corman will make eight adaptations of Edgar Allen Poe stories, starting with House of Usher with plans to make The Pit and the Pendulum, Premature Burial, Tales of Terror, The Raven, The Hunted Palace, The Masque of the Red Death and The Tomb of Ligeia.

It’ll be interesting to see if he can bring Poe’s mastery of horror into  a good combination with modern technology.

Lukas Eggen can be reached at eggen.lukas@gmail.com.

Box office battle: Is Robert Stromberg Hollywood’s next big director?

Let’s give Robert Stromberg a lot of credit. Through his career, he’s worked with James Cameron, Tim Burton and Paul Thomas Anderson, not a bad group of guys if you’re trying to pick up some tips for directing. Now, it looks as though Stromberg is going to have an opportunity to become Hollywood’s next big director. Stromberg is already working on “Maleficent”, starring Angelina Jolie. Disney is betting a lot on Stromberg for this film, which tells the story of the iconic evil queen seen in “Sleeping Beauty”. Now, reports are that he is choosing his next project, “Safari” in what is described as “Avatar” meets “Jurassic Park”. Both projects will be high profile and big budget projects. And, both carry a ton of risk.

Having two expected blockbusters as your first directing credits can be good. It gets your name out there. But, if they bomb well…just ask Taylor Kitsch how “John Carter” and “Battleship” worked out for him. One of those productions was a Disney production and the other an expected blockbuster, just like the two projects Stromberg is working on. If the films are good and do well at the box office, Stromberg has it made. But, even if the films are well received but bomb financially, Stromberg’s name likely won’t be at the top of any high profile project’s list. The bad news is “Maleficent” isn’t coming until 2014 so we’ll have to wait a while. But, Stromberg should tread carefully. Because, having two major films as your coming out party can back fire.

Lukas Eggen can be reached at eggen.lukas@gmail.com.

James Cameron on the Jurassic Park he would have made

In a recent interview, James Cameron (“Avatar”, “Titanic”) talked about the “Jurassic Park” he would have made:

“I’d have gone further. Nastier, much nastier… [M]ine would have been ‘Aliens’ with dinosaurs.”

Cameron said Steven Spielberg beat him at securing the rights by a few hours. However, Cameron said after seeing the film, he thought Spielberg’s version was the right version to be made.

Lukas Eggen can be reached at eggen.lukas@gmail.com.