Television movies The Night Strangler, Crackle of Death and the short-lived series Kolchak the Night Stalker starred Darren McGavin in the title role. It followed a tabloid reporter whose cases inevitably led him to all things supernatural, including zombies, vampires, werewolves and aliens. All of these things being hot property now, Disney is naturally keen to capitalise on them.

As the source points out, although this will be undoubtedly tailored to Disney’s family friendly fodder franchises, the presence of Wright’s distinctive style will bring a characteristic energy to the film, perhaps reminiscent of the first Pirates of the Caribbean film. After all, Disney and Depp have been a winning combination of late.

Depp is also currently working with Tim Burton on a reworking of the 1960s/1970s series Dark Shadows, and is set to mosey out the the Old West in The Lone Ranger with Pirates of the Caribbean helmer Gore Verbinski.

Since ancient times, stories of epic battles and mystical legends have been passed through the generations across the rugged and mysterious Highlands of Scotland. In “Brave,” a new tale joins the lore when the courageous Merida (voice of Kelly Macdonald) confronts tradition, destiny and the fiercest of beasts.

Brave will be released in Australia on 21 June 2012 and 22 June 2012 in the US from Disney.

In the comedy American Reunion, all theAmerican Pie characters we met a little more than a decade ago are returning to East Great Falls for their high-school reunion. In one long-overdue weekend, they will discover what has changed, who hasn’t and that time and distance can’t break the bonds of friendship. It was summer 1999 when four small-town Michigan boys began a quest to lose their virginity. In the years that have passed, Jim and Michelle married while Kevin and Vicky said goodbye. Oz and Heather grew apart, but Finch still longs for Stifler’s mom. Now these lifelong friends have come home as adults to reminisce about—and get inspired by—the hormonal teens who launched a comedy legend.

American Reunion is released in Australia on 5 April 2012 from Universal.

The Avengers

Starring Robert Downey Jr., Chris Evans, Mark Ruffalo, Chris Hemsworth, Scarlett Johansson, Jeremy Renner and Samuel L. Jackson, and directed by Joss Whedon, Marvel’s The Avengers is based on the ever-popular Marvel comic book series The Avengers, first published in 1963.

The Avengers is released in Australia on 25 April 2012 from Disney. It will be released in the US a week later on 4 May 2012.

Click image to enlarge

007.com has released the first video blog for the film, along with a new photo of Judi Dench on set as M.

Daniel Craig is back as James Bond 007 in Skyfall, the 23rd adventure in the longest-running film franchise of all time. In Skyfall, Bond’s loyalty to M (Judi Dench) is tested as her past comes back to haunt her.  As MI6 comes under attack, 007 must track down and destroy the threat, no matter how personal the cost.

Skyfall will be released in the US on 9 November 2012 and in Australia on 22 November 2012 from Sony.

From Academy Award®-winning filmmaker Andrew Stanton comes John Carter – a sweeping action-adventure set on the mysterious and exotic planet of Barsoom (Mars). John Carter is based on a classic novel by Edgar Rice Burroughs, whose highly imaginative adventures served as inspiration for many filmmakers, both past and present. The film tells the story of war-weary, former military captain John Carter (Taylor Kitsch), who is inexplicably transported to Mars where he becomes reluctantly embroiled in a conflict of epic proportions amongst the inhabitants of the planet.

John Carter is due in cinemas on 8 March 2012 in Australia and 9 March 2012 in the US from Disney.

Cast members including Aaron Eckhart, Bill Nighy, Miranda Otto, Yvonne Strahovski and Socratis Otto will be in Victoria for the ten-week shoot.

The modern-day gothic thriller is based on the Darkstorm Studios graphic novel by Kevin Grevioux, the creator of the Underworld franchise,  and will be produced by Lakeshore Entertainment in association with Hopscotch Features.

Writer/director, Stuart Beattie (Tomorrow When the War Began) explains, “Mary Shelley’s story is about the creation of the first human being. I, Frankenstein is the story about that being becoming human.”

I, Frankenstein is currently slated for a 22 February 2013 release from Lionsgate in the US. Hopscotch/eOne will distribute the film in Australia.

Tatum talks about working with Steven Soderbergh, and his forthcoming collaborations with him, Magic Mike, based on his experiences as a stripper, and The Bitter Pill.

We need to thank Sony for the opportunity to talk to the stars, and of course Channing Tatum and Jonah Hill for their time. Also present on the round table were Matt Pejkovic from MattsMovieReviews, Cam Williams of PopcornJunkies, Jessica Chandra of PopSugar and Jorge Duran of Spotlight Report. We will post the full interview closer to the release date.

21 Jump Street is released in Australia on 15 March 2012 from Sony.

On Steven Soderbergh

“I don’t know of any other director I’ve worked with that has that much freedom…”“I’ve found somebody in a way that I can honestly say that I’ve never worked with anyone on a directorial level that is more collaborative than he is. To be someone that has made as many movies, and as many great movies, as he has, he doesn’t have to be.  He really doesn’t, but I think that’s one of his biggest strengths is that he empowers you – as an actor, as a set designer, as a grip, as a costume designer – to literally take it and run with it”.

“The character I play in Haywire is written very straight…very underdeveloped character. I showed up and I had kind of an idea of what I wanted to do with the idea of him and I just threw out an idea, and he’s like ‘Great, let’s see what that looks like’. There was no questions of like ‘Ok, how do you want to do that?’, he was just…go and do it. So we sort of shaped it from there. It’s unbelievable, I don’t know of any other director I’ve worked with that has that much freedom and sort of self assured hand with everything, and knows he’s going to find his way through it”.

On Magic Mike

“It’s just been my favoutire thing in the world because we have so much freedom…We put our own skin in the game”When asked about the projects he is most looking forward to, he answered Magic Mike without hesitation. “It’s something that we totally generated ourselves. We’ll always do movies where you’ll jump into a character somebody else has created and be an actor for hire, but it’s just been so special in a way to start it and build it yourself”.

“Then we did something in a way that’s not taboo, but it’s not done a lot. Soderbergh…and I financed it ourselves. We paid for the movie, we put our own skin in the game. We wanted to make it in a way that nobody else could effect what the outcome of the film was. That doesn’t ever happen. Very rarely can you ever make a movie, and not have it be compromised because of what the studios are telling you to do to make money. It’s been odd and kind of interesting do that and have a bunch of different hats on, but it’s just been my favoutire thing in the world because we have so much freedom”.

Tatum also spoke about how he came to be involved with the project, and what it’s current status is: “He called me from Haywire, and I was like ‘I don’t even need to read it’. Whatever. Just tell me where to show up and I did. Over a beer after work on Haywire, when I told him I was a stripper for eight months of my life he laughed his ass off and he was like ‘That would make a great movie’. And I was, yeah I want to make a movie one day. He was like ‘You should write it’ and I was ‘Yeah, I’ll get right on it, Mr. Soderbergh’”, he says laughingly. “Let me start writing. I don’t know how to write”.

“Then cut to like six, seven months later, where me and my business partner Reid Carolin, he wrote it, we financed it, produced it, acted it in. It’s cool. We’re almost done with it now”.

On The Bitter Pill

Channing didn’t give much information on the role, but we know that his part is a quick shoot: ”Yeah, I ‘m going to do a little two week part on his next thing with Rooney Mara and Jude Law”.

Look for more of this interview in the week 21 Jump Street opens.

TWIN PEAKS: FIRE WALK WITH ME - Welcome to Twin Peaks. A beautiful town filled with beautiful people. Or is it?  Schoolgirl Laura Palmer is the model citizen. Blonde, pretty, clever and sweet, Laura is the Prom Queen and the girlfriend of the quarterback – the most popular girl in school. But as we become aware of the private doings of Laura’s friends and relatives in Twin Peaks, it is evident that the residents of this town are on a bad trip…and Laura is the baddest trip of all. In one week’s time Laura will be found dead. Wrapped in plastic. Find out what happened in her last seven days in Twin Peaks. Population 51,201

LOST HIGHWAY - Fred Madison has killed his wife Renee, but why does he not remember doing it? Why is Fred opposed to video cameras and what does this have to do with Pete Dayton and his friend, the powerful gangster Mr Eddy? What is the meaning of the strange video tapes Fred and Renee receive every morning? The answers to these questions may be discovered at the end of the Lost Highway… but does it have an end?

Now available on DVD and Blu-ray

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After the death of his beloved dog, young scientist Victor Frankenstein harnesses the power of electricity and science to bring his dog Sparky back to life.

The film stars the voices of Winona Ryder, Martin Short, Catherine O’Hara, Martin Landau, Charlie Tahan (as Victor), Atticus Shaffer, Robert Capron and Conchata Ferrell.

Frankenstein will be released in the US on 5 October 2012 and in Australia on 29 November 2012 from Disney.

Click poster to enlarge