Robocop is finally getting an upgrade. After months of rumors,  it looks like MGM has finally found their leading man for the upcoming Robocop remake. With potential stars ranging from Michael Fassbender to Russell Crowe, they finally decided on Swedish actor Joel Kinnaman to play the cyborg police officer.

According to Deadline.com, MGM has made an official offer to Kinnaman, who is best known for his roles in AMC’s The Killing and in the Denzel Washington/Ryan Reynolds thriller Safe House.

In the ultra-violent 1987 original, Peter Weller played officer Alex J. Murphy, who is brutally gunned down in the line of duty. In this futuristic version of Detroit, crime has gotten out of control and the normal police can’t stop the criminals. After the privatized police department resurrects him as a half-man, half-machine cop, Murphy is haunted by his human memories while facing both a sadistic criminal syndicate, as well as a corrupt corporate board.

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Following his success with Black Swan, director Darren Aronofsky has made the ambitious decision to have a biblical epic as his follow up film. The film is Noah, which will center on the biblical tale of Noah’s Ark. Due to his estimated $130 million budget, Aronofsky is looking to find a bankable star to get backing on his passion project.

Originally, He wanted Christian Bale to star, but Bale passed. Aronofsky looked at Michael Fassbender as a good replacement, but Fassbender claimed to be too busy.  Now Deadline is reporting that Darren has finally found his Noah, and it is Gladiator star Russell Crowe.  Even though no deal has been officially signed, an agreement with Crowe is said to be in place.  With Crowe seemingly in place, Aronofsky is now searching for the villain of the film and has his sights set on Liam Neeson.  The villain will argue against Noah’s faith as he builds a massive ship to weather the impending flood.

Paramount and New Regency want to start shooting Noah this summer for a 2013 release.

Aronofsky has already told his version of the story of the Bible’s Noah through a graphic novel with artist Nico Henrichon. The story is not a direct interpretation of the original biblical tale but a more fantastical vision of the story. Aronofsky has been dreaming of bringing this story to life since he was 13 years old.

Now John Logan is re-writing the film’s script and various studios are getting interested in co-financing the ambitious project.  For a sneak peak at the graphic novel, see the video after the jump. Pardon the French.

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Since we first started getting casting news about Zack Snyder’s upcoming reboot/sequel to the Superman franchise titled Man of Steel, questions have been flying in from every direction about what the possible story could be.

With names like Kevin Costner, Laurence Fishburne, Diane Keaton, and Russell Crowe tying up the cast, we could only imagine how these A-listers would make their way into the film. The official synopsis has made its way onto the web, so maybe this will clear things up:

In the pantheon of superheroes, Superman is the most recognized and revered character of all time. Clark Kent/Kal-El (Henry Cavill) is a young twentysomething journalist who feels alienated by powers beyond anyone’s imagination. Transported to Earth years ago from Krypton, an advanced alien planet, Clark struggles with the ultimate question – Why am I here?

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Fans of Zack Snyder’s upcoming Superman flick Man of Steel (although, not sure how one can be a fan since it hasn’t been released yet) will have to wait a little longer to get their fix.

Warner Bros. announced that the movie will open June 14, 2013 instead of in December 2012. Hopefully that won’t upset too many Superman fans who’ve been awaiting a new Superman movie since 2006′s Superman Returns Superman IV: The Quest for Peace Superman III for a long time.

The good news, if you haven’t heard it yet, is that Christopher Nolan and David S. Goyer, the dream team behind Batman Begins and The Dark Knight are still attached and working on the script. And, if you need your DC crack until then, there’s always The Dark Knight Rises, coming out next year.

Man of Steel stars Henry Cavill (The Count of Monte Cristo) as Superman, Amy Adams (Catch Me If You Can) as Lois Lane, Diane Lane and Kevin Costner as Martha and Jonathan Kent, and Michael Shannon (Boardwalk Empire) as General “Kneel Before!” Zod. Russell Crowe is reported to be in final talks as Jor-El.

Obviously, we’ll be following this one pretty closely.

Casting for this film just gets weirder and weirder. First we learned that redhead Amy Adams would be playing the brunette and love interest of the titular Man of Steel, Lois Lane in the upcoming Superman reboot from director Zack Snyder. Then we learned that both Kevin Costner and Diane Lane were both cast to play the Kents, Superman’s Earth parents. And now we’re getting probably the weirdest of news.

THR is reporting that Russell Crowe is interested in portraying the late Kryptonian father of Superman, Jor-El. This comes as a bit of a surprise, considering the pickiness that Crowe has established in picking his previous roles.

One can only imagine that it’s the pedigree of following Marlon Brando as the character, who reportedly was paid $3.7 million back in the mid-70′s for a measly 15 minutes of screen time. Could Crowe be going after that same easy cash? Or is he a closet Superman fan that we never knew about?

The film also stars Tudors actor Henry Cavill as the red-caped hero, and Boardwalk Empire star Michael Shannon as the film’s villain, General Zod. With Zod being the villain in the film, we can expect Crowe’s alleged Jor-El to play a slightly larger role in the film, as it was he who imprisoned Zod in the Phantom Zone all along.

We hope to hear more (and hopefully get a title) soon as the film begins shooting later this year in Vancouver.

On paper, Robin Hood appears to have it all: an amazing cast, beautiful costumes, spectacular set pieces, meticulously choreographed fight scenes, and a beloved protagonist. Yet somehow, I found the movie stultifying. It’s dull, complicated, and waaaaay too long.

Essentially, this serves as an origin story for Robin Hood. Russell Crowe stars as Robin Longstride, an archer fighting with King Richard (Danny Huston), who stumbles into a sequence of events that ultimately result in him being condemned and banished as an outlaw.

I was rooting for this Robin Hood retelling: after all, my last name is Hood, and I have had such a life-long affinity for the character that at my wedding reception my father made a toast about me finally meeting my Robin. I have been trying to pin down exactly why this movie just didn’t do it for me, and I offer you the following observations:

We all know the original story, but director Ridley Scott’s take is more of a historical drama. Admittedly, Scott has an astute eye for detail. That’s admirable, but most of us associate Robin Hood (the character) with swash-buckling heroics and swoon-worthy romance, not body odor and grimey fingernails. In the opening sequence, do we really need to see Robin playing parlor games? Of course not.

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If you’re hearing the ominous sound of clinking spurs, hissing rattlesnakes, and squeaking saloon doors, well, you’re probably crazy. But it also means it’s  Western Wednesday, and you’re just really excited!

I’m afraid I have to be a bit of a no-good yellow cheat this week due to a previous embargo engagement with one Mr. J. W. Hex.  (He just rides into town so rarely ….) but it never hurts to visit an old favorite, especially one that’s as much fun as The Quick and the Dead.

But first, I have to take you back into a sepia-tinted time of 1995.  I was 13, and I hated Westerns. I was all about sci-fi and fantasy, and no history was interesting to me unless it was medieval and European.   Westerns were a dusty, dull genre where everyone just drank whiskey,  had silly shoot-outs, went on cattle drives,  and visited brothels.

My family rented The Quick and the Dead, and my world was rocked. This Western starred a woman — a mysterious woman with no name.  She rarely spoke, and when she did it was always snarly.  She smoked a cigar.   It was the most original character I had ever seen. If more Westerns were like this, I thought, I would like them all.

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When your work spreads as far across the  digital range as mine does, it can occasionally provide a nice bit of synergy. Or repetition.  It depends on which word you want to use, I suppose. After watching Hombre last week, I resolved I would seek out as many of Elmore Leonard’s Western adaptations as I could. The first on my list was the original 3:10 t0 Yuma, which I’ve never managed to watch in its entirety.

And what happens? I joined Matt Raub on The Flickcast this week, and was called upon to recommend a movie. With Russell “Robin Hood” Crowe on the brain and Leonard queued up for Western Wednesday, only one came to my screen-burnt brain: James Mangold’s remake of 3:10 to Yuma.  I promptly kicked myself after. Talk about beating a dead horse, and using up your good material.

But it couldn’t have worked out better. Delmer Daves’ 3:10 To Yuma is an entirely different animal than Mangold’s, and neither of them have much in common with Leonard’s original short story. If you’re a film nerd (and especially if you’re an aspiring director or screenwriter), you couldn’t find an easier compare and contrast exercise than this.

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This week on The Flickcast Chris is on vacation so Matt teams up with guest host Elisabeth Rappe for all kinds of interesting discussion and debate on lots of different topics. Some of these topics include the new Jonah Hex trailer, Huge Weaving as Red Skull in Captain America, Matthew Vaughn taking on X-Men: First Class and the trailer for a new J.J. Abrams project supposedly attached to screening of Iron Man 2, which hits theaters this Friday.

Matt and Elisabeth also made some new picks this week including Elisabeth’s pick of the Western 3:10 to Yuma and Matt’s pick of the indie Sci-Fi film Moon, featuring Sam Rockwell.

As always, if you have comments, questions, critiques, offers of sponsorship or whatever, feel free to hit us up in the comments, on Twitter, at Facebook and MySpace or via email.

It’s the most wonderful time of the year. It’s finally here! After a long and cold winter (well for the East Coast anyways- us West Coasters only had the infrequent earthquake) the glory of Summer movies is upon us. Can’t you tell I’m excited?

In an effort to make your choices clear, I’ve devised a list of movies in May based on their geekiness, hotness, and a few other gauges of greatness. Read on to see which films you should wait in line for and which should wait for you in your Netflix queue.

MAY MOVIES

May 7th
Iron Man 2

Pure, unadulterated, awesomeness.  I will be going, as in I bought my 12:01 Arclight ticket weeks ago. I expect Iron Man himself to introduce my movie-going experience. If I’m lucky John Favreau and a host of Marvelites will be sitting behind me watching my every emotion with bated breath.

Geekiness Factor: There are cool gadgets only a brilliant mind like Stark or Favreau could devise. There’s a shot in the trailer of Iron Man and War Machine unleashing holy Hell to all comers. It’s also based on a comic book (whowouldathunkit) which ups the geekiness factor dramatically.

Screen Steamer: Robert Downey Jr., or for those thinking they’re cool by calling him RDJ, is in it. He is 5 feet 10 inches of hotness in a scruffy, arrogant, decisive package. And oh yeah, Scarlett Johansson is also wearing tight black leather.

As I have yet to hear more than 2 words from her in the trailer, I will guess the bigwigs believe her bottle of red hair dye #10 is all the hotness needed to make fanboys line up. I, on the other hand, have seen her films and expect her to talk. She has a great personality beyond that pout… really, she does I swear.

Great Expectations: Just a little (note sarcasm). “I am Iron Man.” Tony Stark better bring it in this one. But, does that mean more villains, more suits, more plots, more romance, and more action? Yes, apparently that’s what constituents as better to the studios, to the detriment of us. Hopefully Favreau wised up, but from what I’ve heard and seen, that’s not the case.

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Though this was one of the weakest years for trailers at the Superbowl, it did give us one of the first HD looks at Russell Crowe’s newest project, playing the leader of the Merry Men in the upcoming Robin Hood. The first trailer looked cool, but a little bit like every other Crowe film. We new get a brand new trailer to snack on that gives us a bit more eye candy.

This incarnation of the classic goes a bit further into the lore than any other story (with the exception of the brilliant BBC series). The film spans over the time of Robin’s parents, his journey to the crusades, and his return to Sherwood Forest where he leads a revolution against the corrupt King John.

The film stars Cate Blanchett, Max von Sydow, and the now ubiquitous Mark Strong. Robin Hood marks the fifth collaboration between director Ridley Scott and Russell Crowe. Check out the newest trailer, courtesy of Yahoo, after the jump, and catch Robin Hood in theaters on May 14th.

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