Ladies (and gentlemen), start your drooling. Entertainment Weekly has two new photos from Baz Luhrmann's romantic epic Australia, and if the photo to your right is any indication; this is going to be one sexy flick. Back in June the film was the subject of a photo shoot for Vogue, and those images were stunning (and pretty romantic). This latest photo, though, has a little more carnality on the brain. Mind you, I'm not complaining; anything that facilitates a half-naked Hugh Jackman is okay by me.

News about the film has been pretty scarce, but we do know that Stuart Beattie's (G.I. Joe: Rise of Cobra) script centers on an English lady (Nicole Kidman) left in control of a cattle station in Australia during WWII. When a drover (played by Jackman) shows up to help her bring the cattle across the country, their relationship becomes something more -- and judging from that photo, there's going to be a lot more.

Its been a bumpy road for Luhrmann's epic; there have been casting changes, and the occasional act of god. But don't feel bad, the film also has a lot of things going for it: namely that epic romances sell, especially during Oscar season. Australia will arrive in theaters on November 14th, 2008.

Now it's your turn, do you think Australia could be the landlubber's Titanic at the box-office this fall? Sound off below...

You would think that if Legend Films was looking to improve the general opinion of their big-screen reboot of Street Fighter, they would have picked some more exciting photos to tease us with. Legend is now hosting a new gallery of behind-the-scenes photos for the video game flick, and, well, they're a little underwhelming. The shots are mostly comprised of the sets and a few extras, but there are a couple of recognizable faces (including Robin Shou and Kristen Kreuk) in the bunch. However, on the upside, we do get a glimpse of action to tide us over.

Street Fighter: The Legend of Chun-Li centers on everyone's favorite "Hyakuretsu Kyaku" expert and Interpol Agent (as played by Kreuk). When her mentor and Tai Chi Master (played by Shou) is murdered by criminals, she goes on a quest for revenge. Justin Marks' script takes the character in a more realistic direction and even throws in some gangsters to go along with SF's usual baddies; Bison (Neal McDonough), Vega (Black Eyed Peas singer Taboo), and Balrog (Michael Clarke Duncan).

So even though I have yet to see anything that makes me think the film could work, I'll have to reserve judgment until I see something a little more final than a few on-set photos and the occasional blog entry. After all, isn't that what trailers are for?

Street Fighter: The Legend of Chun-Li is scheduled for release February 27, 2009.

[Thanks: Coming Soon]

The sharp-eyed crew at SuperheroHype.com spotted an interesting listing in Production Weekly -- a listing for X-Men: First Class, which means 20th Century Fox has some kind of young X-Men movie in the works. Whether it is based on Jeff Parker's series of the same name, or if they're just snagging the title for the oft-discussed Young X-Men spin-off remains to be seen. But Fox already has a domain for it, though at this time it only sends you back to the studio's website.

It's certainly odd timing -- the time and place to announce a new X-Men movie just wrapped up in San Diego. But another X-Men spin-off seems inevitable, particularly with the buzz that's beginning to build on X-Men Origins: Wolverine. And I have a feeling that Star Trek's fresh-faces reboot will inspire a number of similar origin stories from all corners of nerdland.

If they do it, I hope they really do base it on Parker's series. I haven't read it (somehow I ended up reading Ultimate X-Men instead, and it's best to just forget all about that), so the more literate among you will have to tell me if it's worth filming or not. But when it comes to the salad days of the X-Men we all know and love, I would rather see an existing storyline adapted. Otherwise, there will probably be all kinds of silly references to the future team -- Cyclops will be splattered by mud from a car driven by Wolverine, or he'll drunkenly hit on a teenage Jean Gray. Assuming that doesn't actually happen in Parker's book ....

[via SuperheroHype.com]

By: Jette Kernion (original publish date: September 02, 2006)

(With the Cine-staff off on a late-July mini-vacation, we thought it'd be fun to bring you some of our favorite pieces from years past. Enjoy!)

The latest film from Mike Judge, Idiocracy, is not at all the unfunny flop that you might expect from its very limited release this weekend. I saw the film in a full theater in South Austin, with an audience that laughed frequently and appeared to be quite entertained by it. Afterwards, I watched Austin Movie Show gather people's reactions, and I didn't hear a single negative remark.

Idiocracy's plot, although slim and occasionally propped up by voice-over narration, holds up better than that of Judge's previous feature, Office Space. Military slacker Joe Bauers (Luke Wilson) and hooker Rita (Maya Rudolph) sign up for a top-secret experiment to be frozen in suspended animation for a year. Due to a mix-up with the officer in charge (whom I believe but can't confirm is one of the Bobs from Office Space), they aren't thawed out for 500 years. In the interim, the intelligence of American society has been decreasing -- we've become a nation of total nitwits who sit around watching TV shows like Ow! My Balls!, and movies consisting of a naked ass farting for two hours (called, appropriately enough, Ass). When it's discovered that Bauers has the highest IQ in the country, he's appointed to a Cabinet post and expected to solve, well, everything.

Six years have passed since "The X-Files" went off the air after nine seasons; fans agree that it left with a whimper rather than a bang, and ten years have passed since the first and only feature film. So the question of the day is: why a sequel? Why now? But perhaps a better question is "why not?" The fact is that FBI special agents Fox Mulder (David Duchovny) and Dana Scully (Gillian Anderson) always had vats of chemistry; they arguably outstripped and outranked any other male-female couple in the history of television. Their pairing was perfect: Mulder believed -- or wanted to believe -- in the supernatural while Scully was a scientist, a doctor and a Catholic who believed in God but looked for reasonable, logical explanations in everything. In each episode, the team was called in to investigate some kind of paranormal activity, and they debated and discussed the various possibilities behind each. In the end, hardly anything was ever proved or disproved.

The X-Files: I Want to Believe offers the viewer many mysteries to contemplate -- and only one of them is on-screen; as David Duchovny and Gillian Anderson return to roles and a franchise that last graced our TV screens in 2002 (and was last on the big screen in 1998), your mind swirls around the behind-the-scenes facts as fiercely as it does around the events playing out before your eyes. As reclusive, retired ex-FBI agents Fox Mulder and Dana Scully (Duchovny and Anderson) help the FBI with an abduction case, you're not following the plot as such; instead, you're thinking things like Hey, didn't this show get canceled six years ago? Haven't Duchovny and Chris Carter, the star and director of this film, both sued the studio behind it? Who, out in the movie going audience, is really clamoring for this movie? If you're an X-Files fan, is this film's freestanding creepy tale, with no link to the weird and convoluted mythos Carter came up with for the show, going to satisfy whatever itch you may still have for the franchise? And if you're not an X-Files fan, is the idea that this film stands alone enough reason to come to the franchise now?

As pleasantly surprised as I was by last summer's musical remake of Hairspray, I can't say that the prospect of sequel potential ever once came to mind. Thankfully, that's why we have Hollywood bean counters and the like, who see the success of that film, Mamma Mia! and High School Musical (including a fair amount of CD and DVD sales for each) as reason enough to have John Waters -- who wrote the 1988 original -- whip up a treatment for a Hairspray sequel.

According to Variety, returning for the project is director Adam Shankman and ... um, no one else at the moment. There isn't a writer attached, nor are any of the original stars lined up to return, although I have little reason to think that most of the young cast wouldn't be down for another one (just what is Nikki Blonsky up to now, anyway?).

Warner Bros. hopes to have Hairspray 2 (Hairspray-ier?) in theaters by July of 2010.

For all the anime fans who hoped that certain titles would remain out of the grasp of Hollywood; I have some bad news for you. According to iFMagazine, Fox has given the green-light for a live-action version of the classic animated series, Cowboy Bebop. During the Television Critics Association press tour, producer Erwin Stoff let it slip that he now has a deal in place with Fox studios to bring the popular series to the big screen. Stoff told journalists, "I'm developing COWBOY BEBOP for Fox, but doing it as a live-action film, so I'm working on that at the moment, I'm really excited to be working on it, and it's in the really early stages. We just signed it the other day."

For the uninitiated; Cowboy Bebop was the story of a group of bounty hunters and their adventures aboard their ship, Bebop, in the year 2071. The series was a huge success in both Japan and in the US, and even spawned an animated film back in 2002.

For fans who might be worried that Cowboy could suffer the same fate as other anime-inspired flicks, there is a silver lining. Stoff promised that, "I have such an enormous admiration for its creators, that our first and foremost concern is going to be a real degree of faithfulness to the tone of the movie, to the mix of genres, and so on and so forth," -- I don't want to sound too cynical, but it's not like we haven't heard that one before.

Now on to the more important question: Who should take over for Jet Black and the gang on the big screen? Sound off below...

Maybe I missed something, but since when did releasing films on a Wednesday become a commonplace strategy? I know, for years and years, several titles have opened mid-week, albeit typically on a handful of NY/LA screens or to capitalize on a holiday weekend.

But due to some recent moves, every Wednesday in August now has at least one wide release opening on it instead of Friday. On the 6th, we have Pineapple Express and The Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants 2; the 13th brings us Tropic Thunder; the 20th, The Rocker; and then Traitor on the 27th.

There are at least three other wide releases on the last three Fridays of the month, but I see no distinct point at which a two-day head start would make any great deal of difference (although I presume that Pineapple still wanted to have seven days on Tropic instead of five when it comes to their similar target demographic).

Was there a holiday I overlooked somewhere? Is it now cooler for kids to go to the movies on a school night once classes are back in session? Do you guys have any theories, or will you still wait for the weekend to catch any of these regardless?

This summer has been a big one for the fanboy (and girl) nation. Geeks have rejoiced as their favorite icons have come to grace the silver screen either once again or for the first time -- Tony Stark, Indiana Jones, Bruce Wayne, Bruce Banner, Kit Kittredge -- with each film accompanied by its own modest fan frenzy (yes, a $155 million opening weekend equals modest 'round these parts).

But naturally, as if so often the case with the potent combo of radical fanaticism and internet anonymity, the nastier trolls have not seen fit to shirk their responsibility of maintaining the sacred Tomatometer with a crudely constructed death threat or two (or two hundred). For them, this is personal. They can't possibly enjoy their long-awaited flick should some goateed snob decide to feel any degree of lukewarm or otherwise before the public gets their peek.

This is blood for blood, and by the comment. These are the new days, the bad days, the all-or-nothing days. They're back.

Well, if you aren't used to seeing Justin Chatwin as the beloved hero Goku in the big- screen remake of Dragonball Z, then feast your eyes on the Japanese poster for the anime update (courtesy of DBthemovie.com). Once again, good old Goku and his Dragonball are front and center with no one else in sight -- would it have killed Fox to give fans a peek at some of the other characters?

Dragonball is based on the classic manga about a warrior named Goku (Chatwin) sworn to protect mystical orbs known as dragonballs from an evil warlord named Piccolo (played by James Marsters). I know there is a lot more to the story, but considering all the changes that have been promised, it would probably be best if fans don't get too caught up in the details.

Just last week, Marsters told the Japanese magazine Jump Square, "Definitely the story of this movie is different from the original. But it's a necessary change because we need to condense the long story of the original for a movie, for example, some characters in the original don't appear in the movie. And we try to give it a more gritty and graphic feeling."

Further ensuring that the band Pulp should have new fans in the future, front man Jarvis Cocker continues to seek younger listeners. This time, in an interview with Time Out Chicago, he claims to have written a few tracks for Wes Anderson's stop-motion-animated film The Fantastic Mr. Fox, which is based on the novel by Roald Dahl. He says there are three or four songs and then some music that could become part of the film's score. Additionally, in response to questions regarding his solo track "Disney Time", he notes that writing music for a kid's movie is his chance to "do better" than Disney films, at least in terms of corrupting young minds.

A few years ago, Cocker contributed to the soundtrack for Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire and even appeared in the movie as a member of the fictional group The Weird Sisters, performing the songs he composed, "This is the Night", "Do the Hippogriff" and "Magic Works." Pulp has also written songs specifically for movies in the past, including a rejected theme song to the 007 movie Tomorrow Never Dies (both the original version of "Tomorrow Never Dies" and a retitled version called "Tomorrow Never Lies" were later released as a bonus track and a B-Side, respectively). In the interview, he suggests that Quantum of Solace could now use his solo effort "Quantum Theory", to which he'd change the lyrics appropriately.

When QOS arrives in theaters this fall, don't be surprised if Cocker's song isn't heard. As for Fantastic Mr. Fox, we'll have to wait until November 2009 to see if the man's music makes its way to impressionable ears.

[via I Watch Stuff]

Magical trends just never end! According to Variety, Walden Media has hired Karen Janszen to adapt Ingrid Law's book Savvy, which only just hit bookstores a few months ago. The rights have been optioned at least that long, but it looks like Walden is really racing it into production.

Savvy follows a family called the Beaumonts, who all boast remarkable superpowers. The hero of the story is young Mibs, who is quickly approaching her thirteenth birthday and the discovery of her own superpower or "savvy." Unfortunately for the Beaumonts, disaster strikes right on the fateful day, and Mibs finds herself in the midst of an adventure, where she will have to try to hide her new "savvy" when it makes itself known.
It sounds like The Incredibles, with a dash of Harry Potter and X-Men for color.

Interestingly, the story behind Savvy's publication is reminiscent of J.K. Rowling's. Law hails from my home state of Colorado, and all kinds of press outlets are making much of the fact that she resides in a mobile home with her daughter. That's not a bad thing! My grandma lived in one, and I have very fond memories of it. Anyway, if the success of Savvy has allowed her to move on to a grander home, that's cool, and I wish my fellow Rockies resident continued fortune.

If you're interested in reading the book for free, Penguin has released it online. Unfortunately, this freebie ends today, so I hope you're a fast reader. And if you've read it already, please sound off on its movie potential below!

Twentieth Century Fox has changed the release date on the Rainn Wilson comedy The Rocker again, but I think this move might be for the best. Maybe. We'll see. What do I know?

The flick, in which Wilson plays a former rock drummer who gets a new chance at stardom when he joins his teenage nephew's band, was originally slated for Friday, Aug. 1. Then they decided a Wednesday was better, so it became July 30. But now Fox has announced that it's been pushed back three weeks to Wednesday, Aug. 20.

Why the shuffle? Fox didn't say, but I would guess it's to avoid the raucous comedies Step Brothers (due on July 25), Pineapple Express (Aug. 8), and Tropic Thunder (Aug. 13). A July 30 release would have put it in the middle of a comedy war zone, and The Rocker -- which got so-so reviews (including my own) when it played at CineVegas and doesn't have nearly as much star power as those three -- would have gotten trampled. It would have been a PG-13 David against three R-rated Goliaths.

By Aug. 20, Step Brothers and Pineapple Express will have already done most of their box office damage, leaving Tropic Thunder as the only big-name comedy competing with The Rocker. I think it's smart to stick with a Wednesday, too, as three more comedies -- The House Bunny, Hamlet 2, and The Longshots -- open on Friday, Aug. 22.

What do you think? Is there too much comedy competition between now and Labor Day? Or are the films different enough that they won't be stealing each other's audiences?

Eddie Murphy. Raw.

That really used to say it all. A comedian known for his brash wit and go-for-broke charm, Murphy used to be willing to say anything to get a laugh. Trading Places. Coming to America. Beverly Hills Cop. Now, he's clearly willing to do anything.

Somewhere along the way, "I believe that children are the future" became not so much a punchline as a personal career credo. He's fallen into the rut of safe family-friendly fare, led on by the likes of Steve "Cheaper by the Dozen 2" Martin and Tim "The Santa Clause 3" Allen, the success of both having come to suggest that the water's quite fine in the kiddie pool. Dreamgirls proved that this man still has a genuine something left in him, and yet, we the world are instead subjected to a little less of that and a little more of Shrek.

Safe. That's what Meet Dave is, and what Murphy never used to be.