Jack Reacher Director to Helm M:I5?

Following his collaboration with Tom Cruise on Jack Reacher, Christopher McQuarrie is now poised to direct Mission: Impossible 5 for Paramount Pictures and Skydance Productions.

Deadline reports that M:I5 is a big priority at the studio, especially after the success of Brad Bird's Mission: Impossible 4. After working with Cruise on Valkyrie, writer-director McQuarrie has had at least some involvement in the actor's work, from All You Need is Kill and Ghost Protocol (uncredited) to the now in limbo Top Gun 2. Although the studios will want to hire writers before officially striking a deal, McQuarrie is Cruise and producer J.J. Abrams' top pick to helm M:I5.

Currently, Paramount and Skydace have McQuarrie set to direct Tom Clancy's Without Remorse. Meanwhile, Jack Reacher is scheduled to hit theaters on December 21.

Max Nicholson is a writer for IGN, and he desperately seeks your approval. Show him some love by following @Max_Nicholson on Twitter, or MaxNicholson on IGN.

Source : ign[dot]com

McG to Helm Magic Castle Movie

McG is now attached to direct Fox and Radar Pictures' Hollywood Magic Castle movie, based on the famed magicians' night club. Andrew Barrer and Gabe Ferrari will pen the screenplay.

Built in 1909, the historic mansion on Franklin Avenue serves as the headquarters of the nonprofit Academy of Magical Arts Inc. and offers a private space for renowned magicians to perform. Celebs who have performed at the exclusive nightclub include Cary Grant, Steve Martin, Johnny Carson and Neil Patrick Harris, who is the current president of the Academy of Magical Arts.

McG will soon begin filming the Kevin Costner-starrer Three Days to Kill, which will wrap production in February. From there, says The Hollywood Reporter, the filmmaker will shift his focus to Magic Castle, which has Radar's Ted Field producing.

Now repped by agency CAA, the Magic Castle will begin expanding its marketing opportunities not only to films, but other outlets such as television, live events, video games, digital media and merchandising.

Max Nicholson is a writer for IGN, and he desperately seeks your approval. Show him some love by following @Max_Nicholson on Twitter, or MaxNicholson on IGN.

Source : ign[dot]com

Total Recall: Director's Cut Headed to BD, DVD

Sony Pictures Home Entertainment will bring Len Wiseman's remake of Total Recall to Blu-ray and DVD December 18, 2012. The expensive and generally unwanted remake (review here), starring Colin Farrell, Kate Beckinsale, Bryan Cranston and Jessica Biel, proved a costly failure this summer, grossing a mere $58 million in the U.S. The film did, at least, make some bank overseas, where it grossed nearly $120 million.

The film was infamously hacked up shortly before release, with roughly 17 minutes of footage left on the cutting room floor. It would seem the Blu-ray will restore Wiseman's original "vision" for the film. Will it be enough to redeem the picture? Well, that remains to be seen.

Total Recall will hit Blu-ray with a 1080p transfer, mixed in 5.1 DTS-HD Master Audio. There will be two releases -- a single-disc version and a two-disc Blu-ray/DVD combo pack. The DVD will include an anamorphic widescreen presentation, with 5.1 Dolby Digital audio. All three releases will include an UltraViolet copy of the film. Extras for the Blu-ray will include the following:

• Theatrical and Extended Cut of the film
• Audio commentary with Director Len Wiseman
• Total Recall With Insight Featurette
• Science Fiction vs. Science Fact Featurette
• Designing The Fall Featurette
• Colin Farrell Featurette
• The Tripping Den Featurette
• Quaid's Bedroom Featurette
• Kate Beckinsale Featurette
• Lobby Escape Featurette
• Jessica Biel Featurette
• Quaid vs. Cohaagen Featurette
• 5 Pre-Visualization Sequences
• DVD/UltraViolet Copy

Suggested retail for the Blu-ray is set at $40.99 for the two-disc combo pack, $35.99 for the single-disc Blu-ray, and $30.99 for the DVD. Amazon has all three releases up for pre-order. Current prices are $24.99 for the Blu-ray, $36.89 for the Blu-ray combo pack, and $21.99 for the DVD.

Be on the lookout for more news regarding this title. And be sure to check back for our review of the film and Blu-ray in the coming months. In the meantime, give our Blu-ray review of the original Total Recall a read.

Source : ign[dot]com

First Look at Jim Carrey in Kick-Ass 2

Universal Pictures' Kick-Ass 2 has begun shooting in Toronto, and now someone has uploaded a video featuring Jim Carrey as Colonel Stars, as well as Lindy Booth's Night Bitch and Robert Emms' Insect Man.

Check out the footage below (via SuperHeroHype), followed by a new photo of Donald Faison as Doctor Gravity (tweeted by the film's director Jeff Wadlow).

Kick-Ass 2: Balls to the Wall hits theaters June 28, 2013.

Source : ign[dot]com

Manimal Gets a Movie

Sony Pictures Animation has just landed the movie rights to Manimal, based on the 1980s television series about a wealthy doctor with the power to transform into animals in order to fight crime.

The Hollywod Reporter says the film will be a live-action/CG hybrid, with the original series' producer Glen A. Larson -- known for his work on other '80s fare like Battlestar Galactica, Knight Rider and Magnum P.I. -- attached to produce the film.

Manimal was widely panned by critics and slaughtered in the ratings when it aired opposite Dallas in 1983. The series only lasted eight episodes before it was cancelled. However, the show gained a cult following for its campiness in the years that followed.

The studio is currently in search of writers to pen the new project.

Max Nicholson is a writer for IGN, and he desperately seeks your approval. Show him some love on Twitter and IGN.

Source : ign[dot]com

Medal of Honor Warfighter Adding Zero Dark Thirty DLC

Medal of Honor Warfighter will add two new maps from Zero Dark Thirty, a Sony Pictures film about the assassination of Osama Bin Laden. The maps will include the Darra Gun Market, Pakistan’s illegal gun bazaar, as well as Chitral, set north of Pakistan and bordered by Afghanistan to the west and China to the north.

The pack will be available on December 17th for $9.99 (800 Microsoft Points), timed with the theatrical opening of Zero Dark Thirty. EA will donate a minimum of $1 million worth of proceeds from the pack to Project Honor, a program that makes charitable donations to nonprofit veteran organizations. The new maps will be free to owners of the Medal of Honor Warfighter Limited Edition, which is any copy from the first printing of the game (guaranteed to anyone who pre-orders).

Zero Dark Thirty is directed The Hurt Locker’s Kathryn Bigelow and written by Mark Boal. The film revolves around the Seal Team Six mission that led to the assassination of Bin Laden and stars Joel Edgerton, Jessica Chastain, Chris Pratt, Mark Strong, Kyle Chandler, Edgar Ramirez, Harold Perrineau and Stephen Dillane.

Medal of Honor Warfighter will hit Xbox 360, PlayStation 3 and PC on October 23rd. Check out our impressions of the game’s multiplayer for more, or our interview with Danger Close head Greg Goodrich for how Warfighter strives to be different.

Andrew Goldfarb is IGN’s associate news editor. Keep up with pictures of the latest food he’s been eating by following him on Twitter or IGN.

Source : ign[dot]com

Metal Gear Movie Announced

A Metal Gear movie has been announced at Konami's Metal Gear 25th Anniversary event, in association with Columbia Pictures.

Avi Arad (X-Men, Iron Man, The Amazing Spider-Man) will be producing and was on stage at the event.

"For many years I fought to bring comics to theaters - and video games are the comics of today," Arad said.

There are no further details at this point.

2012 marks the 25th Anniversary of the Metal Gear series; the 'Tactical Espionage Action' series was first launched on MSX back in 1987.

Source : ign[dot]com

Console Wars: The Movie?

What is Sony Pictures up to? Do they have some kind of Console War movie in the works?

Fusible noticed that Sony Pictures Entertainment has registered a bunch of domain names that indicate there is a mysterious "Console War" project happening. Those urls (which lead nowhere right now) include ConsoleWarmovie.com and TheConsoleWarmovie.com, among others.

As the site points out, this could be related to something other than a film or DVD -- perhaps some kind of marketing for the upcoming PlayStation 4. But again, since the domains were registered by the company's film division, that seems less likely.

We've reached out to Sony for comment and will update this story if we hear back.

Talk to Movies Editor Scott Collura on Twitter at @ScottIGN, on IGN and on Facebook.

Source : ign[dot]com

Jurassic Park 3D Gets Bumped Up to Spring

Universal Pictures has recently changed up several of its release dates for 2013, including Steven Spielberg's 3D release of Jurassic Park. The 1993 adventure film will now be hitting theaters in the spring, moving from July 18 to April 5.

Additionally, The Hollywood Reporter confirms that Ryan Reynolds' zombie flick R.I.P.D. will take over the July 19 slot, leaving behind its original June 28 frame.

The studio has also set release dates for About Time (May 10), Kick-Ass 2: Balls to the Wall (June 28) and 2 Guns (August 16).

Max Nicholson is a writer for IGN, and he desperately seeks your approval. Show him some love on Twitter and IGN.

Source : ign[dot]com

White House Down Pushed Forward

Sony Pictures has apparently decided to move the release date of White House Down from November 2013 to June.

According to Deadline, the Roland Emmerich-directed film will now release on June 28, 2013. It was originally slated to hit cinemas from November 1, 2013.

Exactly why the studio decided to move the date hasn't been stated, but speculation is rife that it's in order to compete with Millennium Films upcoming thriller, Olympus Has Fallen. The Antoine Fuqua-directed film doesn't have a release date yet, but as both movies have been described as "Die Hard in the White House", the assumption seems to be whichever film releases first will do better.

Channing Tatum and Jamie Foxx are set to star in Emmerich's film, while Fuqua has enlisted Gerard Butler and Aaron Eckhart to try and ensure that his movie comes out on top.

Luke Karmali is IGN's UK Editorial Assistant. You too can revel in mediocrity by following him on IGN and on Twitter.

Source : ign[dot]com

Confidential Apple Prototypes Revealed

It seems that the Apple litigation tree has borne more prototypical fruit, dropping some details and pictures of more early iterations of the iPad, as well as some design concepts for the iPhone 4 that never was. The Verge got the scoop on prototypes in the Samsung vs. Apple case today, posting shots of a number of iPad and iPhone prototypes that Apple considered during development.

In addition to modeling some phantom tech, these "highly confidential" profiles offer a bit of insight into Apple's design process. First, the inclusion of a kickstand for the iPad prototype is an indication that at some point, the aesthetics of the design became paramount to at least that functional purpose. Or perhaps the concept of the magnetic cover that doubles as a kickstand made the built-in leg obsolete.

It's also curious that the prototypes aren't assigned the iPad moniker, but were (at least in name) considered jumbo iPods. From an application and hardware feature standpoint, the iPod and the iPad do share more than just three out of four letters, each capable of media navigation and playback, Internet browsing, and application processing.

The iPhone 4 prototypes, one of which is called the N90, range from futuristic chic to throwback geometry. One octagonal model features straight-edges where sleek curves now sit, and another rectangular version converges a turtle-shelled back with a right-angled display face. Yet another takes the longer, thinner approach, perhaps to span the full length from ear to mouth for conversing, or to introduce a new aspect ratio to the smartphone game. None of the prototypes sport volume buttons on the side, while a couple do include the home button and rear Apple logo, off-center or otherwise.

What's most compelling about this visage of iPods past isn't, however, the speculation about what the iPad and iPhone could be, but what they could still become. As technology gets slimmer, and devices get rounder, could we have already reached the point when companies start making angular designs again?

Could this be basis for the Next iPhone?

We'll keep our eyes on the courtroom for more Apple legacy developments. Keep your eyes on IGN for more updates on Apple's past, present, and future of mobile devices.

Source: The Verge

Source : ign[dot]com

Men in Black 4?

In a new interview, Columbia Pictures president Doug Belgrad dropped a lot of bits and pieces about several of the studio's properties, including Dragon Tattoo, Men in Black and Jumanji. Yes, Jumanji.

A New Director for Spidey 2?

While talking to The Hollywood Reporter, Belgrad said that Men in Black is "an ongoing franchise" and "we're going to do [another one], but we don't have clarity yet on how it should be done."

He also revealed that one of the mandates of the company is to get more into family films, including the successful Smurfs franchise that they currently have going (the sequel is now shooting). But the plan is also to "reimagine Jumanji and update it for the present." (No mention, however, of Zathura. Ahem.)

The trade paper also notes that Belgrad is moving ahead with the sequel to The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo, The Girl Who Played with Fire, despite that film's tepid response.

Talk to Movies Editor Scott Collura on Twitter at @ScottIGN, on IGN, and on Facebook.

Source : ign[dot]com