THE WOLVERINE (Filming Begins)

• THE WOLVERINE

Production has officially begun on James Mangold's The Wolverine, which features the return of Hugh Jackman in the iconic Marvel Comics role.

The Wolverine Poster

"We're on day 1 of shooting," the actor tweeted this morning. "Wolverine is back... feel so pumped about this one... never felt so ready!!!! will keep y'all posted!!!"

Australia's 7News, meanwhile, managed to catch a sneak peek at the day's shoot in Kurnell and you can check out their footage in the player below.

Also starring Will Yun Lee, Hiroyuki Sanada, Hal Yamanouchi, Tao Okamoto, Rila Fukushima and Brian Tee, The Wolverine sees Logan beginning a forbidden romance with a Japanese woman whose hand in marriage is, unfortunately, promised to another man. Since Logan won't take "no" for an answer, it puts him into battle with her father and her samurai-sword-wielding brothers and Silver Samurai.

The Wolverine is scheduled to hit theaters on July 26, 2013.

THE RED CIRCLE (Director Attached)

• THE RED CIRCLE

In development for some time, the modernized, english-language remake of Jean-Pierre Melville's 1970 crime thriller The Red Circle (Le cercle rouge) appears to have found a new director.

James Mangold

Producer Arthur Sarkissian tells CraveOnline that The Wolverine's James Mangold is planning to shoot the project next summer in Hong Kong and Macau.

"James to me is a guy's director," says Sarkissian. "He's from the world of the old school of movies. 'The Getaway', 'The Wild Bunch'. I see him in that world. He loves movies. '3:10 to Yuma', to me, was one of the best remakes ever. It's very difficult to top an original and I think he did that absolutely beautifully because I don't think the Glen Ford/Delmer Daves version worked as well as the one he did."

The original film starred Alain Delon as Corey, an ex-con who winds up getting pulled back into the world of crime, teaming with a hitman for a major heist.

"It's all about character," Sarkissian continues about his updated version. "I think we have a really great story. I think that world of Macau and Hong Kong is wonderful. I don't think we're going to have that stylized bent guns and all of that. I don't want to make a stylistic movie. The style will be there. I just want to tell a good story. I just want to tell a very good gangster story."

As for who could top Delon's performance, Sarkissian has a few ideas.

"I have a wish list," he says. "I swear it's so fantastic, but Christian Bale, Russell Crowe. I've got them all in my head. I hope to God one of them [accepts.] Matt Damon, Brad Pitt, Tom Hardy. They could all be fantastic either as the hitman or the Corey character."

Mangold's The Wolverine is expected to begin production immediately for a July 26, 2013 release.

TAKEN 2 (New Trailer)

• TAKEN 2

Check out the full new trailer for Taken 2 below!

Directed by Olivier Megaton, the October 5 release stars Liam Neeson, Maggie Grace, Famke Janssen, Rade Sherbedgia and Luke Grimes.

Neeson returns as Bryan Mills, the retired CIA agent with a particular set of skills who stopped at nothing to save his daughter Kim from Albanian kidnappers. When the father of one of the kidnappers swears revenge and takes Bryan and his wife hostage during their family vacation in Istanbul, Bryan enlists Kim to help them escape, and uses the same advanced level of special forces tactics to get his family to safety and systematically take out the kidnappers one by one.

FAST AND FURIOUS 6 (Filming Begins)

• FAST AND FURIOUS 6

Fast and Furious 6 starts filming!! Director Justin Lin revealed yesterday, via his Twitter feed, that production has officially begun on Fast & Furious 6.

"It's 2am & just got up for the 1st day of FF6," he writes. "Always love the calm & silence of the night b4 going on set. Let's go shoot a f@#kin' movie!"

The all-star cast is set to include Vin Diesel, Paul Walker, Dwayne Johnson, Jordana Brewster, Tyrese Gibson, Michelle Rodriguez, Gina Carano, Luke Evans and Joe Taslim.

Details of the plot are currently few, but the storyline is thought to revolve around a European heist and a race against a rival team of criminals.

Fast & Furious 6 is scheduled for release on May 24, 2013.

RUSH HOUR 4 (Speculation)

• RUSH HOUR 4

It's been five years since Rush Hour 3 last brought together Jackie Chan and Chris Tucker's Lee and Carter, but CraveOnline has learned that another adventure is in the works. They caught up with producer Arthur Sarkissian who says that the sequel is moving forward with the involvement of both stars and that a screenwriter will be brought aboard very soon.

Jackie Chan and Chris Tucker will be back for Rush hour 4

"I'm trying to do it closer to how I did Rush Hour 1," he told the outlet. "More down to earth. More gritty. Introduce two new characters and make it real the way the first one was. I personally was not happy with the third one. I thought 1 and 2 were very good. I think 3 got out of hand a little bit. It's not a matter of just bringing them back to do another segment of that or a sequel to it by putting them in another city and having them bicker. I don't want that. I want something new."

Though there's no current commitment from director Brett Ratner, Sarkissian says that his involvement is not out of the question.

"He's more than welcome to do it," says the producer, "but he's got to do it in the right way."

Sarkissian's vision of the project involves putting Lee and Carter in a somewhat of a different genre than the previous films, a move he credits Fast Five for inspiring.

Tony Jaa

"They kept the characters," he says of that franchise, "They took them and they put them in a whole different world. They put them in the world of a heist movie and it worked... Maybe Chris is now married. Maybe Jackie is married to Octavia Spencer. I don't know. Married to Chris' cousin. They live in Shanghai. Chris goes out to visit them... I want something energetic."

Well im glad to see that they looking to make a memorable Rush Hour 4, 1 and 2 are both highly enjoyable classic comedy action films, but the third film was lacking. I hope that they don’t bring back Ratner and rather go with someone that will bring something new to the table.

With Rush Hour 3, Jackie really wanted to get Tony Jaa into the film, but scheduling conflicts prevented this from happening! I really hope that this time around that there is some space for him to be in the film.

Its time to introduce the western audiences to one of the best martial artist I have ever seen! If you don’t know anything about Tony Jaa I suggest you watch this video below, from a little film called The Protector.

ANT-MAN (Release Date)

• ANT-MAN

Writer/Director Edgar Wright’s Ant-Man has been in development for quite the number of years but hasn’t moved into production just as yet. With Wright recently signing to a film call Collider; we started wondering if this new Ant-man will be pushed back once again.

Ant-man

The project however, finally seems to be moving forward as its now expected that Ant-man will be released in 2014.

A script for Ant-Man, by Wright and Attack the Block helmer Joe Cornish, has been in place for a number of months, and now it seems set  that the comic book adaptation film will start filming sometime next year.

Collider recently sat down for an interview at Comic-Con with Marvel Studios Co-President and Item 47 director Louis D’Esposito, and the exec mused that Ant-Man “might be an opportunity” where they do three films in one year, adding that it could be possible to get the film finished in time for release alongside Captain America: The Winter Soldier and Guardians of the Galaxy in 2014.

Latino Review seem to have corroborated D’Esposito’s statement, as they’ve learned that the plan right now is for Ant-Man to take over Marvel’s London production branch once Thor: The Dark World wraps.  Thor sequel doesn’t start filming until August, but this means that Wright could feasibly start working on Ant-Man early next year.

Wright is currently gearing up to start production on his next film—a long-awaited reunion with Simon Pegg and Nick Frost called The World’s End—this September.  

THE HOBBIT (Threequel in the works)

• THE HOBBIT

The Hobbit

It’s no longer rumor nor speculation, its official there will be a third Hobbit film. Check out Peter Jackson’s official statement, vis his own Facebook page:

“It is only at the end of a shoot that you finally get the chance to sit down and have a look at the film you have made. Recently Fran, Phil and I did just this when we watched for the first time an early cut of the first movie - and a large chunk of the second. We were really pleased with the way the story was coming together, in particular, the strength of the characters and the cast who have brought them to life.  All of which gave rise to a simple question: do we take this chance to tell more of the tale? And the answer from our perspective as the filmmakers, and as fans, was an unreserved ‘yes.' 

We know how much of the story of Bilbo Baggins, the Wizard Gandalf, the Dwarves of Erebor, the rise of the Necromancer, and the Battle of Dol Guldur will remain untold if we do not take this chance.  The richness of the story of The Hobbit, as well as some of the related material in the appendices of The Lord of the Rings, allows us to tell the full story of the adventures of Bilbo Baggins and the part he played in the sometimes dangerous, but at all times exciting, history of Middle-earth.

So, without further ado and on behalf of New Line Cinema, Warner Bros. Pictures, Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer, Wingnut Films, and the entire cast and crew of “The Hobbit” films, I’d like to announce that two films will become three. 

It has been an unexpected journey indeed, and in the words of Professor Tolkien himself, "a tale that grew in the telling."

Cheers,

Peter J”

The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey hits screenins worldwide on December 14, 2012, while The Hobbit: There and Back Again arrives December 13, 2013. With the third Hobbit film probably looking at a December 2014 release date.

CARRIE (Cast Speaks)

• CARRIE

Chloe Moretz is a brilliant actress, but can she really pull off an amazing performance in the new Carrie remake fim?? Well her co-star seems to think so.

Chloe Moretz

Judy Greer ("Californication") spoke to E! about the film which is currently shooting in Toronto under the direction of Kimberly Peirce (Boys Don't Cry). The actress had plenty to say about Moretz's turn as Carrie White...and the new prom sequence.

"Chloe's performance - and this is literal - has brought me to tears on set. She's made me cry because I find her performance to be incredibly moving. I'm feeling a lot of compassion for her," the actress told the outlet. Greer plays Mrs. Desjardin in the film.

The pig's blood-filled prom sequence has yet to be fimed, but Greer says they'll be shooting that iconic moment in about a week. Based on concept pieces, she describes Peirce's take on the scene as "kind of beautiful. It's really totally jarring and creepy but also in a strange way gorgeous."

NEUROMANCER (Cast Rumour)

• NEUROMANCER

Mark Walhberg

William Gibson's cyberpunk classic Neuromancer is finally moving forward and is reportedly eyeing two big names to star in it, MovieHole reports.

Offers have made to Mark Wahlberg and Liam Neeson to play the leads in the film, which is set to be directed by Splice's Vicenzo Natali.

"Wahlberg, who has a solid working relationship with the film’s producer Lorenzo di Bonaventura (he cast the former in Four Brothers and Shooter), would play the anti-hero Case. Neeson, who like Wahlberg will receive a pay-or-play deal, would be the twisted tool Armitage," according to the site.

Moviehole adds that their source says filming is expected to finally comment once Natali wraps production on his current film, Haunter. That would mean  Neuromancer would probably release in 2014.