After months of expectation, the first full-length trailer for next year's Terminator movie has appeared online. The fourth film in the series, which stars The Dark Knight's Christian Bale as a grown up John Connor, is set in 2018 during the much-mooted war of man against machine. Although questions have been raised about the suitability of the director McG, who is best known for the Charlie's Angels movies, the trailer looks dark and dangerous enough to keep fans on board.
Prior to the clip's release, there was widespread speculation that the California governor Arnold Schwarzenegger may reprise his original role as the T800. Reports claimed that special effects wizards would paste his face over another actor's body, allowing him to appear in the film remotely. However, the trailer shows no signs of the governator's alleged involvement. The film's supporting cast is also on show in the trailer, including Anton Yelchin (Alpha Dog) and the rapper Common, who play some of Bale's rebel cohorts. See the trailer at: @email:www.apple.com/trailers/wb/terminatorsalvation
The Tropic Thunder star Ben Stiller is in talks to replace Mark Ruffalo in Greenburg, the latest comedy drama from The Squid and the Whale writer-director Noah Baumbach, Empire has reported. Although not confirmed, it has been reported that Ruffalo left the project following the death of his brother Scott last week. If Stiller signs on to the indie flick, the plot of which is being kept under wraps, it will be his most serious acting role in some time.
With the vampire romance film Twilight topping the US box office, Summit Entertainment is already lining up a sequel, New Moon, based on the second instalment of the book series by Stephenie Meyer. Not long after the first film's release, the film studio announced that its director, Catherine Hardwicke, would not return to helm the sequel. Entertainment Weekly is now reporting that Chris Weitz (The Golden Compass) has been drafted to take over the project.
The director James Gray has signed on for The Lost City Of Z, a South American epic adventure to star Brad Pitt. Based on a non-fiction book by David Grann, the story follows the fortunes of Percy Fawcett (Pitt), a Victorian-era British spy and soldier who became obsessed with exploring the Amazon in search of Z, an advanced civilisation. The announcement has come as a surprise to many, because the director made his name with intimate dramas like The Yards, We Own the Night and Two Lovers.
The filmmaker Oliver Stone has announced that he is working on a documentary about the Venezuelan president Hugo Chavez. The announcement will come as a surprise to few, due to the Nixon and W. director's penchant for controversial presidents. Stone, who has already spent six months in Chavez's company, plans to focus on his leftist South American revolution. Last week we announced that the Platoon director also plans to produce a biopic of the Columbian crime lord Pablo Escobar.
The acclaimed architect Frank Lloyd Wright looks set to be the latest person to get the biopic treatment. According to Variety, the independent film studio Lionsgate has purchased the rights to Loving Frank, Nancy Horan's 2007 novel about the relationship between Lloyd Wright and Mamah Borthwick Cheney. John Burnham Schwartz, who previously adapted his own novel Reservation Road into a movie that starred Joaquin Phoenix and Mark Ruffalo, is set to write the script.
Hugh Jackman, currently starring in Baz Luhrmann's epic, Australia, is to host the 2009 Oscar ceremony, it has been announced. Jackman has form as a host: in 2005, he won an Emmy Award for his work as host of the 2004 Tony Awards ceremony. He will follow the likes of John Stewart, Ellen DeGeneres and Chris Rock in recent years. Organisers are thought to be hoping for an increase in ratings for the show, which last year drew its lowest TV audience ever.
ogood@thenational.ae
