The countdown for X-Men Origins: Wolverine might have already begun, but what about a certain other origin story that fans had been promised for 2009? In an interview with with Empire, X-Men producer Lauren Shuler Donner finally gave an update on Magneto, and the good news is the film is alive and well in spite of the delays. According to Donner, "I think first we wanted to make Wolverine, and then David [Goyer, the attached director] took another film, and there wasn't a lot of time, but I'd like to make that – we'll have to see." OK, it might not be the most definitive answer on the state of the project, but it certainly sounds a lot more reassuring than what Goyer came up with a while back.

Last September, details on the script had been leaked, but now Donner has provided a more 'official' glimpse at the script, saying, "We have a script on Magneto which is actually sort of Magneto and Charles Xavier, it's Erik and Charles in their early, early years." The new synopsis sounds like a bit of departure to what was reported back in '07, but it does fit with the story details that were also reported in Production Weekly. According to PW, "The storyline will heavily involve Professor X -- That character was a soldier in the allied force that liberated the concentration camps. The professor meets Magneto after the war and while they bond over the realization that they are alike in their special powers, their differences soon turn them into enemies."

It has been over almost two years now that fans have been salivating over the prospect of the adventures of a young Magneto in his own feature film. But, with Goyer otherwise engaged, and barely a mention of who might be donning that fetching purple helmet, it looks like it could still be some time before Erik finally gets his moment in the sun -- let's just keep our fingers crossed, shall we?

I'm going to attempt to write this as spoiler free as possible, saddened that as a Cinematical blogger, I inevitably ruin every single movie for myself.

According to The Guardian, Baz Luhrmann was reportedly convinced to change the ending of Australia after "intense discussions" with 20th Century Fox. Early test screenings were quite negative towards the original ending which is, apparently, quite a downer. Now, you'll save on Kleenex, because it's being rewritten for everyone to live happily ever after. (You're probably saying "Just say what the ending is, it's not a spoiler if it's changed!" but I don't want to take the risk. Please don't blab it in the comments, either.)

Over at Rope of Silicon, they say Fox insists Luhrmann has the final cut, and his vision is being respected. If the ending has been changed, it's because he wanted to change it. So there's both sides, and I guess we'll be able to put two and two together after we see the film. To add a little extra credence to this story, the fact that The Australian was reporting as of Halloween that the film still wasn't done suggests the ending could be one of the final difficulties. The Guardian only mentions a rewrite, and not a reshoot, so let's hope they filmed some alternate versions in order to avoid further delay. Now that I've lost The Road, I'm counting on The Drover to brighten up Thanksgiving weekend.

A few new images from the film were also just released, and we've added them to our brand new Australia gallery below. The ending might be changed, but she certainly is a beauty to look at.

In a world where every franchise is getting "rebooted," it should come as no surprise that someone in Hollywood wants to revisit Planet of the Apes. After all, Tim Burton's attempt was unsatisfying, and what do you do when your remake failed to launch a franchise?

Devin Faraci of CHUD has the scoop on a Apes script that has been kicking around Fox for the last year. It's not a sequel of Burton's film, and it's not another remake of the original Planet, but it is a remake all the same: Conquest of the Planet of the Apes. It will, thankfully, have a smoother title: Genesis: Apes.

For those unfamiliar with the original, Conquest is a prequel. It's the story of Caesar,
the first talking ape, who led the revolution that caused apes to be the masters of human savages. And honestly, the new script is pretty intriguing and edgy. Set in modern day, Caesar is a genetic experiment gone cuddly. When the God-playing scientist discovers his intelligence and talent for speech, he takes him home to his wife, and they raise him as their child. Things go well until Caesar sees his mother attacked, and when he kills her attacker, he lands at an Ape Conservatory, where he's tortured by humans and rejected by his own kind. But he slowly wins over the latter, and you can guess where it goes from there. It's worth noting that Faraci really digs the politically-charged script, and argues that it's a perfect way to restart the series.

Frankly, Apes is a series I never warmed to -- and there's too many sci-fi stories I'd love to see on the big screen before bringing back an old one. But I don't want to be answering for the rest of you. Do you want an Apes origin story, and a whole new franchise?

Not days after Eric D. Snider brought us welcome proof of Tom Hanks' mullet-free appearance has the teaser trailer for next May's Da Vinci Code sequel (or is it prequel?) been posted online, and all that can really be said for Angels & Demons at this point is that Hanks is once again racing against the ironically shadowy Illuminati to solve another Vatican-set (but not Vatican-shot) mystery.

He's paired up with another brunette agent (Ayelet Zurer in lieu of Audrey Tautou), Ewan McGregor pops up as a man of the cloth, and Stellan Skarsgard finds himself on the business end of a branding iron. I had heard that the novel is an improvement from its predecessor, so let's hope this follows suit next May.

Considerably closer and already loaded with acclaim is Danny Boyle's Slumdog Millionaire, the trailer for which just popped up over at Yahoo! Movies. I'm close enough to seeing the film myself that I'm going to forgo watching it, but this'll hopefully convince you to catch it if our review and others hadn't already. Millionaire opens in limited release on November 12th.

And to round things out is this five-minute trailer for the looming remake of The Day The Earth Stood Still, which bears resemblance for the most part to this previous extended trailer, save for a last minute crammed with more completed money shots involving our big, bad friend Gort. TDTESS opens in IMAX and regular theaters on December 12th.

That's it, I officially give up. Why does it seem like nobody really likes video game flicks, but Hollywood is determined to keep on making them? Well, I guess it's just another day in the movie business, and another game property has been snatched up for the big screen. Gaming giant Electronic Arts have just announced that Universal has purchased the film rights to their latest shooter hit, Army of Two.

The third person shooter centers on two mercenaries who, after earning their stripes, become embroiled in your run-of-the-mill global conspiracy. The game was a huge hit upon release back in March, and gamers loved that the story relied on the cooperation of our two heroes (good news if you normally get left behind and trapped in a corner while your partner sweeps out bad guys) and customizable weapons for maximum carnage.

Bourne Ultimatum scribe Scott Z. Burns has already been hired to adapt the game for Scott Stuber, and EA will also co-produce. EA has been pretty eager to get into the film game lately (and you can't blame them now that Hollywood has come knocking into the gaming business for themselves) and Army is their second feature project that the company has set in motion this year. Army definitely seems like the obvious choice for an easy transition to the big screen since it comes with a ready made story of political intrigue (first up for EA will be a film version of The Sims for Fox and producer John Davis). But let's not forget what is really important: Army of Two might just be Universal's shot at a brand new franchise.

Army of Two is expected to begin production in 2009. So who plays this game? Will it make a good film?

At this point, I'm starting to wonder why Fox even bothered trying to bring Dragonball to the big screen. Just a few weeks after the underwhelming trailer for the anime update hit the internet, a notice has been found over at Actors Access looking for Tibetan and Nepalese actors for Dragonball re-shoots. The shoots are scheduled to begin on October 30th, but there aren't many specifics on what Fox might have planned. One thing is for sure, director James Wong could stand to make a few changes before the flick hits theaters in April (if you don't believe me, take a look at James Marsters as Lord Piccolo).

Let's just take a moment to consider the history of the project -- because, for me, it all started with the casting of Justin Chatwin (War of The Worlds). As soon as Mr. Chatwin signed on the dotted line as the hero Goku, fans haven't been behind the project like Fox had hoped. Even if you ignore the obvious problem of hiring a non-Asian actor for the role, Chatwin didn't have much to recommend him other than the hair type to pull off anime spikes.

Cut to a few months later, and a nasty rumor emerged claiming Fox might possibly scrap the film altogether. The studio has since debunked that rumor, and according to their spokesperson, they are completely behind the film and loved what they saw. Then again, if they loved it so much, why are they back for re-shoots?

Dragonball is expected to arrive in theaters on April 3rd, 2009.

[via io9]

For a movie based on a video game, there's a curious dearth of action in Max Payne. I know we've often complained that these movies were ALL action and NO substance, but this one has gone in the opposite direction. Well, except there's not really any substance, either. So it went in the opposite direction, but only part of the way. It stopped in the middle and is now a one-dimensional detective noir rather than an exciting shoot-em-up.

By the way, I have never played the Max Payne video game. Does this disqualify me from reviewing the movie? Then stop reading now! Cuz I'm totally about to review the hell out of it anyway.

Mark Wahlberg takes a break from his talking-to-animals duties to play the title character, a New York City police detective whose wife and baby were murdered three years ago by three assailants, one of whom escaped and was never identified. (The other two are dead and thus unhelpful.) Max now works in the cold case bureau of the department, basically pushing papers around all day so he can focus his efforts on his real objective: finding the guy who killed his family.

Following a lead, he winds up in the company of a sultry Russian named, like all sultry Russians, Natasha (Olga Kurylenko), whose sister, Mona (Mila Kunis), is a villain of some kind. (Assassin? Gangster? At one point Mona reminds Max, "You know what I do for a living," and I thought, "Well, that makes one of us.") Natasha winds up dead with Max's wallet nearby, making him a suspect. The subsequent death of a police officer in Max's apartment makes things look even worse.

Making unnecessary sequels and cashing in on current events are two of Hollywood's favorite things. So when an opportunity arises to do both at the same time, you better believe they're going to do it! Hence the long-rumored sequel to 1987's Wall Street, which Variety reports is being fast-tracked to capitalize on the stock market's new relevance in ordinary people's lives.

The sequel will focus on Gordon Gekko, the slick-haired, suspender-wearing corporate-raiding devil played by Michael Douglas in the original, newly released from prison as the sequel begins. Variety says 20th Century Fox intends for Douglas to star, though he hasn't signed on yet. But why wouldn't he? The last time he played this part, he got an Oscar for it, and it's not like he's super-busy making super-awesome movies these days. The sequel reportedly doesn't involve the Charlie Sheen character at all, which is probably just as well. The other one and a half men would get lonely without him.

The screenplay is being written by Allan Loeb, who wrote 21 and who also happens to be a licensed stock broker. He knows his greed and his card-counting and his shady gambling practices -- he sounds like a good fit. A director hasn't been assigned, but it's safe to assume it won't be Oliver Stone again.

Does any of this sound like a good idea to you? Yes, people are talking about Wall Street (the financial market, not the movie) again -- but they're talking about how much they hate it, and how angry they are at those greedy bastards for contributing to the economy's current screwed-up condition. The sequel is going to be a tough sale if it tries to make Gekko's "greed is good" mantra seem appealing or exciting again. On the other hand, if Gekko is humbled and chastened now, will he still be interesting? What direction do you think the Wall Street sequel should go?

As is often the case with the translation of any geek property to the screen, this Friday's release of Max Payne seems to elicit just as many hopes and doubts as one would expect from a big-screen adaptation of a popular video game (well, one not directed by Uwe Boll, that is). So, coming from a position of relative ignorance when it comes to most titles (trust me, my PS2 gathers more dust than yours does), what's the current reading from fans on a film proudly rated PG-13, although based on a series of M-rated games?

And for which upcoming projects are you most hopeful: Halo -- that is, with or without Peter Jackson? Gore Verbinski's BioShock? Jerry Bruckheimer's Prince of Persia: The Sands of Time? (And just when is The Rock's Spy Hunter coming out anyway? Do you care?) (Should I?)

As for my fellow ignorati: does this look to you like an appealing action movie regardless? Which video-game movies worked best despite your lack of familiarity with the source material? My vote goes to the first Resident Evil, with some moderate supporting love going to Silent Hill and Final Fantasy: The Spirits Within -- no great blasphemy intended.

Oh, and just to keep things jumping, any thoughts on the following titles, or any left out, are more than welcome: DOA: Dead or Alive, Doom, Double Dragon, Hitman, the Mortal Kombat films, Street Fighter, Super Mario Brothers, the Tomb Raider franchise, Wing Commander.

City of Ember was the surprise closing-night film at Fantastic Fest, but I found out about the surprise a little early (which is always fun). I was able to see the film earlier in the week so I could interview director Gil Kenan, who showed up in Austin with surprise guest (to me, too!) Bill Murray for the closing-night festivities. Kenan has directed a pair of entertaining and visually stunning family-friendly features, the Oscar-nominated animated film Monster House and now the City of Ember adaptation, which opens in theaters on Friday. Not only that, but Kenan landed both of these projects right after he graduated from UCLA, where his short film The Lark won him a lot of attention. We talked about what he's done to make City of Ember as beautiful a film as it is, and how he found such compelling lead actors. He's currently linked to a new Robert Zemeckis production, Airman, and we took a minute to discuss that too. Check it out after the jump.

One of the most gorgeous-looking films I've seen this year is City of Ember, the Fox/Walden adaptation of Jeanne Duprau's young-adult fantasy novel about a post-apocalyptic underground city. Although the story is aimed at younger audiences, it's still enjoyable for grown-ups. The movie should be viewed on as large a screen as you can find, giving you the sense that you're this close to the fascinating and decaying city where the story is set.

The movie's prologue lays out the premise clearly. In the future, something goes haywire that causes the end of the world, but fortunately top U.S. scientists have created an underground city to keep a portion of mankind safe. The inhabitants will not be told about the Earth's past, so they won't be traumatized and will assume that their underground city is the only civilization. A box with instructions for returning to the Earth's surface will open in 200 years, which should be time enough for the Earth to be inhabitable again. However, over the course of time the box becomes lost, and after more than two centuries have passed, the city is starting to run out of resources and is falling apart.

There's actually a lot of noteworthy geek news today -- but alas, none of it is amazing enough to really warrant an entire post. Believe me, it makes me a sad panda not getting to devote an entire post to Wolverine. So, let's just get right down to it:

• Producer Lauren Shuler Donner talked up X-Men Origins: Wolverine over on Superhero Hype: "It's closer to the first X-Men in tone because it's a little darker, but there's a lot of action. It's his origin story. It's really good. I've been in the editing room the last couple of weeks and I think that it's good and that audiences are going to like it. But it's a little darker ... You haven't seen this side of him. It's darker and sadder and it's kick-ass. There's a ton of action. It's really kick-ass." She also suggested the film borrows from Wolverine's Victorian youth in one of my least favorite series, Wolverine: Origins.

• The troubled Punisher: War Zone has launched its official site, and it's got all kinds of things to click on. The multiplayer game jammed up my computer so I don't know what that's all about. And IGN has the new poster, which will arrive in your local theaters framed in "real" guns. I must say, that is a pretty impressive piece of marketing.

• David S. Goyer, scribe of The Dark Knight, tried his best to end all these Batman 3 rumors. "It's all B.S.," he told MTV News. "ALL of it. Chris and I haven't even talked about it. He quite understandably is taking a long, long vacation and wants to purge himself." This will dampen the "Guess who's playing Catwoman" rumors for approximately 3.5 days.

• Superhero Hype has 5 videos of Kick-Ass filming in Toronto. Mostly people standing around, and cars being driven on platform trucks. And /film has photos up of Dave "Kick Ass" Lizewski's costume, filled out nicely by his stunt double.