Chris Pine rode a pretty big wave in the wake of Star Trek. He has great on screen presence, looks like a leading man and can even be pretty funny. So he started to pile up some more potential franchises to lead, one of which was a new Jack Ryan movie.

Jack Ryan, for those of who who don’t remember, is the hero of the Tom Clancy novels that were the basis of The Hunt for Red October, Clear and Present Danger, Patriot Games, and The Sum of All Fears. He was sort of like James Bond, if Bond were an american CIA analyst.

Unfortunately, according to Variety, the project has lost it’s director:

With his TV commitments piling up, director Jack Bender has fallen out of Paramount and Skydance Pictures’ untitled Jack Ryan project.

Bender is currently the exec producer on Fox’s “Alcatraz” and is set to helm the Syfy pilot “Rewind.” Par was hoping to get this project into production sometime later this summer, and Bender’s TV workload was making it difficult for him to find the time.

This puts the untitled Jack Ryan film on shaky ground, but there is still hope that this won’t delay the start of filming. The producers have until Star Trek 2 wraps before their movie was intended to shoot, so they have to work quickly to find a replacement.

It has been confirmed that Rodrigo Santoro will reprise his role as Xerxes in 300: Battle of Artemisia. Santoro will join Eva Green (Casino Royale) as Artemisia, Sullivan Stapleton (Darkness Falls) as Themistocles, and Jamie Blackley (Snow White and The Huntsman) as Calisto.

The story is rumored to be a sort-of-sequel which will follow Xerxes (Santoro) is pushed into the bloody battle with the Greeks by the gold-covered maven goddess Artemisia (Green). Artemisia utilizes her knowledge of how much Xerxes’ father King Darius’s death has affected him, persuades Xerxes to go into battle against those responsible. Artemisia also searches for  group of men to join Xerxes in the battle against the Greeks.

She manages to use her feminine wiles to convince Themistocles (Sullivan Stapleton) to side with her and Xerxes, even though the Persians took her family and he was firmly on the side of the Greeks. Ultimately, she convinces him that his life will be better off if he swaps sides. Themistocles’ skills as a fighter are only rivaled by his ability for deception and lies.

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While most of the fanboy nation is already waiting with baited breath for May 4th to come and all of us to see Marvel’s super film The Avengers, director Joss Whedon is already thinking about where he wants to go with the proposed sequel to the film.

It turns out that while this Avengers film is going to have plenty of big “splash page” style action, Whedon told Digital Spy he would like the next film to play a bit smaller, and more personal for each character.

“By being the next thing that should happen to these characters, and not just a rehash of what seemed to work the first time. By having a theme that is completely fresh and organic to itself.”

Whedon joked that a sequel could take heed from crime classic The Godfather II ”by having flashbacks to young Michael Andolini escaping Sicily to come to New York, where he will be called Corleone”.

“Sequels are always better when that happens,” he quipped.

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There has been talk of a third Bill And Ted film for quite some time. A few weeks ago it was stated by Alex Winter that the script has been written, by the original writers no less, and is waiting on a green light. Winter intially made this proclamation at a screening of his cult classic film Freaked, but it didn’t really register.

Yesterday Winter actually re-affirmed the news via a twitter back and forth:

@kelly_carlin: is it true? Bill & Ted’s 3? > Hey Kelly. -Script done? Check. -We love it? Check. -Green light? Working on it!

That’s so totally awesome! Knowing that there is a completed script, written by the guys that did the originals, and loved by at least half of the original Wyld Stallyns is most excellent news indeed.

Part of what makes this story so fun, beyond the reaffirmation of a completed script, is that Kelly Carlin, to whom Winter was responding, is George Carlin’s daughter. There is an awesome symmetry to the impetus of this story comes from Rufus’ daughter herself.

Here’s hoping that the powers that be decide to put a little money down and give us a chance to take another wild ride with the saviors of humanity. San Dimas High School football Rules!

As we’re constantly bombarded with all sorts of new movies, TV shows and the like it’s sometimes hard to muster enthusiasm for what seems like just another reboot, remake, retread or sequel. We’re worried, of course, that the makers of said project are just in it to cash in and make as much money as possible without really worrying too much about things like characters, story or doing a good job.

Fortunately, there’s a few times where after looking at a trailer for an upcoming reboot, remake or sequel, it seems just the opposite is true and the people involved do care and have made something good. Men In Black 3 seems to be one of those cases.

There was a teaser for the film last December and now the first theatrical trailer for it is out and we have to say it looks pretty darn good. Back in action are Will Smith and Tommy Lee Jones as the eponymous J and K as well as a new twist, Josh Brolin as the 1969 version of Tommy Lee Jones’s character after Smith’s J goes back in time to prevent an alien invasion that could destroy the planet.

Take a look at the trailer after the break and judge for yourself. We think this is going to be big. Look for Men In Black 3 to hit theaters on May 25.

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The Muppets was one of the best films of last year. An amazing mix of nostalgic respect, unrelenting optimism and brilliant songs that rank among the very best in the franchise. A sequel to such a successful film is inevitable.

The Vulture is reporting that the deal for said sequel has already been made, but one key element of the first film is thus far absent:

[Jason Segel] won’t be returning to the keyboard. Segel, a star of How I Met Your Mother — now in its eighth season — has a burgeoning film career, and Disney insiders tell Vulture that between his commitment to the CBS sitcom, his other feature-writing efforts, and promotional work for Five Year Engagement (due out this coming April) and Judd Apatow’s This Is Forty (in December), there won’t be time to collaborate on a Muppets sequel.

This only means he might not be apart of the writing stage, but with Nicholas Stoller (his original co-writer) and director James Bobin signed on the original flare should still be present. The news also doesn’t mean Segel couldn’t star in the sequel either, so it is possible this is only a minimal, semantics based departure.

So good, potentially great, news for Muppet fans out there, but we hope once they move forward with the movie they bring back Bret McKenzie too. His song stylings fit the Muppets perfectly.

The original Bioshock is a modern gaming classic. Proof that visual style and excellent storytelling are paramount qualities that can over come simple and semi-linear game play. Then the sequel came out and it sucked.

The hope is that Bioshock: Infinite can deliever the magic from the original, and everything we have seen to this point promises to do just that.

2k Games announced today that the much anticipated sequel is going to officially hit on October 16th, 2012. Setting up this marquee title in the early fourth quarter window that is becoming the premiere release season in the video game world.

One aspect of the upcoming game that has fans so excited is that it isn’t really all that much of a sequel. Bioshock: Infinite is not set in the underwater world of Rapture, but instead will take place in the flying world of Columbia. Such a dramatic change is hopefully going to help rekindle the since of awe and wonder that the original game had in spades.

The game will also be set in a different time period, actually going further back in time to a a full one hundred years ago, 1912, instead of the familiar late 1940′s of the first two games. We at The Flickcast certianly can’t wait to get our hands on this exciting new game.

Dan Aykroyd has been trying to get Ghostbusters 3 off the ground for a long time now, but it seems he has hit a speed bump. After generating interest from the original crew, including Harold Ramis and director Ivan Reitman, the studio, and fans all around the world, but he can’t seem to get his good friend Bill Murray on board.

In an interview with the Telegraph, Aykroyd said that the film is currently in “suspended animation”. At this rate he doesn’t believe the film will ever get made.

“The studio, the director Ivan Reitman and Harold Ramis feel there must be a way to do it, but Bill Murray will not do the movie. He doesn’t want to be involved. He’s got six kids, houses all over America. He golfs in these tournaments where they pay him to turn up and have a laugh. He’s into this life and living it,” said Aykroyd.”I know we’d have a lot of fun [but] I can’t be mad at him. He’s a friend first, a colleague second. We have a deep personal relationship that transcends business and he doesn’t want to know.”

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The original Vacation movie is a bona fide classic. The film was made during the primes of Chevy Chase, John Hughes and Harold Ramis, three of the most prolific names in 80s pop culture. It spawned a hit and miss franchise that most people remember fondly to this day. So this news was inevitable.

The Hollywood Reporter has announced that the guys who wrote Horrible Bosses, John Francis Daley and Jonathan Goldstien, have turned in a script for a new Vacation movie and New Line is keen to give the duo the chance to direct too.

Daley and Goldstein’s Vacation script, first set up in 2009, plays like both a sequel and a reboot of the franchise that began with the 1983 Harold Ramis-directed comedy National Lampoon’s Vacationand continued with European Vacation, Christmas Vacation and Vegas Vacation.

A now grown-up Rusty Griswold, the son of the Chevy Chase character in the original series, experiences a misadventure with his own family.

After an arduous search for the actor who could play John McClane’s son in the newest installment of the Die Hard franchise, 20th Century Fox has finally settled on Jai Courtney.

Courtney is best known for playing Varro in the Starz series Spartacus: Blood And Sand. In the series, Courtney played a close friend and confidante of Spartacus until they were forced into a battle to the death. Courtney has had a bit of a big screen surge as he will next be seen starring opposite Tom Cruise in Paramount’s One Shot, the Christopher McQuarrie directed adaptation of the Lee Child bestseller. He is also attached to star opposite Aaron Eckhart in I, Frankenstein.

A Good Day To Die Hard, the fifth installment of the Die Hard franchise, puts McClane on unfamiliar ground, taking the hard-ass  New York City cop to the streets of Moscow. The flick introduces McClane’s estranged son Jack (Courtney). The McClane’s butt heads due to their similar personalities. Despite their differences, they must work together to keep each other alive and keep the world safe for democracy. This film positions Courtney to become a recurring character alongside Willis, and possibly take over for Willis as the lead as the sequels continue.

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The American Pie franchise lives in two planes of existence. For some the movies represent a loud and raunchy franchise that has slipped from the main stream and lives in the proverbial cinematic dumpster. For the rest of you American Pie represents something much more, and those direct to DVD sequels don’t even register in your mind.

As far as the theatrical films are concerned, the franchise has been about growth and the slow onset of adulthood. We have been with Jim and his friends through some of his most important life milestones, and we as an audience have grown up with them.

So the impending release of American Reunion has a chance to really be something special for an entire generation of film fans, and thankfully this most recent trailer has amped the nostalgia levels all the way to eleven.

Of course reckless nostalgia can be a really bad thing, and that will be the one test the movie will have to pass to be any good. However, the high school reunion plot should provide an easy in for a fond looking back tone. So long as they do not over milk it, odds are we will be in for a pleasant treat this April.

Check out the new trailer after the jump.

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According to a joint press release, Paramount Pictures and J.J. Abrams’ Bad Robot Productions have agreed to an extension of their exclusive, first-look agreement through December 2015. The deal looks to be incredibly lucrative for both sides.

“J.J. is a unique talent and a captivating storyteller,” said Brad Grey, Chairman and CEO of Paramount Pictures. “J.J., Bryan Burk and the whole Bad Robot team are an integral part of Paramount and we’re proud to continue our collaboration. Their pictures have extraordinary resonance around the world and we’re so pleased Paramount will be their home for years to come.”

Bad Robot Productions’ original first look deal with Paramount began in 2006. Since then we have had releases of a variety of successful films and franchise continuations. Considering that grosses on Mission: Impossible – Ghost Protocol are now $670M globally, while those for the Star Trek reboot hit $385M worldwide, it is no surprise that Paramount is excited about the continuation of this deal. Under the previous Paramount deal, Abrams also had made Cloverfield and Super 8, both of which did well at the global box office.

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