We here at The Flickcast don’t like to judge films based on their rating. While it might be in vogue to jump on the hate wagon when a popular franchise goes for a PG-13 instead of an R, none of that matters if the story is good. The rating should be dependent on content, and that content should be determined by what ever choices lead to the best possible movie.

That said, it is hard not to feel a little enthusiasm when the current rights holder to the Terminator franchise tweets outs gold like this:

@meganeellison: @terminatorfans We can’t really tell you guys anything about Terminator BUT it will be an R rated film as God and James Cameron intended.

In the years since the release of the first two Terminator films, action and violence has grown more and more accepted by the MPAA, leaving films like T2 as examples of very soft R rated films. The franchise doesn’t “need” an R rating in the same way a Zombie film or a Slasher movie does. However, knowing that at the very center of all things Terminator  an R rated film means in the writing phase there will be no compromises, which is very encouraging after the debacle that was Terminator: Salvation.

The second Hangover movie was a success. The movie might have suffered from being to much like the original, but the original was pretty damn awesome, so there was still lots to like. So a third installment seemed likely, and now according to The Hollywood Reporter the final hurdles are being cleared as we speak.

Dealmaking on the studio’s third installment in the raunchy comedy franchise is wrapping up after dragging on for months due in part to the salary demands of its three stars. Sources close to the negotiations say Bradley Cooper, Zach Galifianakis and Ed Helms are asking for $15 million each (against backend) to reprise their roles, and they now are likely to get it.

The next Hangover film is said to be a departure from the formula of the first two films. It is risky to stray to far from a proven formula, but knowing that the filmmakers actively want to make a film with these characters that we know and love with out an inexplicable third memory blacked out party is a great sign.

Warner Bros. is hoping to bring the story to Los Angeles, with filming beginning in the summer. Hangover 3 has a tentative release date of Memorial Day 2013.

With Twilight coming to an end and with Harry Potter already over, the world of young adult fiction franchises is looking pretty thin. The next series to take a stab at filling the void left by sexy vampires and teen wizards is The Hunger Games. The books are widely popular and the upcoming films are headlined by hot and talented young actors who could carry a series for a few years, so it behooves the studio to hedge their bets and begin working on the sequel as soon as possible.

TheWrap.com recently revealed that the studio has brought on writer Simon Beaufoy, whose credits include The Full Monty and Slumdog Millionaire, to begin work on adapting the second novel in the series. This isn’t exactly a huge surprise as a November 2013 release date has already been penciled in for the second film.

Director Gary Ross is supervising the script writing process as he plans on jumping into the sequel as soon as he is done with his work on the first film. Beaufoy is a very interesting choice who has had great success with recent adaptations winning an Oscar for his adaptation of Slumdog Millionaire and receiving another nomination for his work on 127 Hours. You can say what you want about a film that is aiming for the Twilight audience, but you have to give them props for using quality, talented people.

The first holiday weekend of the year has come and the big winner was the tender stare of an underwear model. The new Mark Wahlberg actioner, Contraband, came in at number one this weekend with an estimated Twenty-Four million. The impressive total marks one of the highest openings ever for a Mark Wahlberg starring film, and ranks comparably with other January films of this genre.

Coming in at number two was the 3D re-release of the Disney classic Beauty and the Beast. The 3D version raked in eighteen and a half million, which is less than the recent re-release of The Lion King in 3D. Even though the dollars weren’t as good, the sum is still nice considering how long this has been sitting on the shelf. Disney is staying in the 3D reissue business with releases scheduled twice a year for the next few years.

In a number three is the recent box office champ Mission: Impossible – Ghost Protocol, which continues to hold remarkably well. It brought in just over eleven million dollars and became the second highest grossing film in the Impossible franchise. This is a big win all around and looks to be a strong start Jeremy Renner’s assault on big budget franchise films.

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The first Thor film was pretty well received. As an introduction to magical and mystical elements into a universe defined by more down to earth realism, Thor was a great success. So the sequel is going to be very anticipated, especially after The Avengers hits cinemas this summer.

The film has already played the director carousel, and is just now landing on a new writer to get things in order on the script. Deadline is reporting that Robert Rodat, whose credits include The Patriot and Saving Private Ryan,  has been brought on to do a re-write of the script currently in hand.

Rodat is reworking a draft by Don Payne. Disney will put the film into production later this year for release in 2013 with Chris Hemsworth returning as the title character.

With much of the principle cast returning, and a director with ability firmly in place, Thor 2 is fast becoming one of the most anticipate projects of the year. Normally in instances like this we would have some sort of idea what the sequel could be about, but with Thor and Loki playing primary roles in the upcoming Avengers film, we really don’t know what state our hero will be in come late 2013.

We preface this whole news piece with the fact that the source is the National Enquirer, so this is to be taken as more allegation than fact.

Bill Murray has been the stick in the mud that has kept Ghostbusters III from getting past the script phase.  He is willing read any script Harold Ramis and Dan Aykroyd send to him, but his demands for a worthy story and a quality script are well known.

Allegedly now that might not ever come to pass. Murray is said to have sent back the most recent script to the production offices, in a box shredded to pieces. Accompanying the shredded screenplay was a note saying:

“No one wants to pay money to see fat, old men chasing ghosts!”

That was apparently the straw that broke the camels back and now Ramis and Aykroyd are furious and are set to make the movie with out him.

Obviously this story has a rather outrageous feel to it, and it’s source provides no assurance that it is true, but if it were Murray is being a bit of a jerk.

Many people are excited to see “fat, old men chasing ghosts,” and people would gladly pay. There is reason to have faith in this project, but Murray keeps dashing those hopes, it is like a bad tease and if this is true you have to wonder if Murray ever truly intended to return to the role.

Welcome to the future, a world where it is news that a feature film is being shot on 35mm film instead of digital or in 3D. We now know that the new Star Trek film will be one of those such films, although that doesn’t mean we will be spared the 3-D post conversion.

MTV recently talked with J.J. Abrams about the 2013 film:

“I’m sure, like many people, you see what you do and you go, ‘I really could have done that one better, I should have done that, that was a mistake, more of this, less of that.’ You always do that… I’m hoping that as we do the next one, all the mistakes that I’ve made that I’ve hopefully learned from, I can bring to this one and hope make it better.

We’re shooting on film, 2-D, and then we’ll do a good high-end conversion like the ‘Harry Potter’ movie and all that. Luckily, with our release date now we have the months needed to do it right because if you rush it, it never looks good.

We were talking about [shooting in IMAX] and I would love to do it. IMAX is my favorite format; I’m a huge fan,”

While it is nice that J.J. is looking to get into the IMAX business, post conversion 3D has a rocky history. He sited the most recent Harry Potter film as the standard he expects, but even then shooting for 2D and converting it after the fact never looks as good.

Gratuitous underwater lesbian makeout sequences, severed limbs flying at the audience in 3D, and comic amounts of blood flying everywhere.  These are the elements that made Piranha 3D one of the most successful crowd pleasers last year.  Not since Snakes on a Plane have we seen a movie so terrible, yet so entertaining, that it is worth a viewing from even the most sophisticated film buffs.

How could you not make a sequel? Dimension Films just revealed that they started production on the sequel to the Roger Corman remake in Wilmington, NC.  The press release reads:

“There’s something in the water . . . again.  And this time no one is safe from the flesh eating fish as they sink their razor sharp teeth into the visitors of the best summer attraction, The Big Wet Water Park.”

John Gulager is taking the helm for this one after having directed the Feast trilogy prior to this.  A rather eclectic cast of smaller horror/thriller actors has already been announced, including Danielle Panabaker from The Crazies, Chris Zylka of My Super Psycho Sweet 16 and the upcoming The Amazing Spiderman, and, most surprisingly, David Koechner of Anchorman and other Apatow comedies.

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Just over 24 hours before G.I. Joe hits screens nationwide, there are still plenty of rumors and whispers on how good or bad this movie will be. Critics seem to be torn as well, as RottenTomatoes gives it a 93% while Empire says the film is “Bond without the style and Team America without the bellylaughs“. Before the rest of the world gets to weigh in on the subject, it looks like director Stephen Sommers is already planning a return to the franchise.

In a recent interview with Sommers, he talked about some of his new projects coming up, including a retro-style Tarzan film, and yes, a sequel to G.I. Joe. From Super Hero Hype:

There’s a couple [projects], but mainly I’m getting very excited about doing “G.I. Joe 2.” I’m working on “Tarzan” at Warner Brothers and they’re a bunch of great people. (It will be) live action but we’ll contemporize it. It’ll still be a period movie, but it’s almost like “The Mummy,” it took place in Ancient Egypt and the ’20s and ’30s, but it felt more contemporary, that sort of deal.

Sommers continues to say that if Paramount wants it, he’d be ready to start work on G.I. Joe 2 as early as September. While we’re still clambering for details on this Joe movie, Sommers released a new concept image of Destro’s mask, and to say the least, it looks more promising than Cobra Commander’s helmet. Paramount’s G.I. Joe hits theaters this Thursday night at midnight at select theaters. Check out a bigger version of the helmet after the jump.

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