Film News: Robert Rodriguez talks Sin City sequels; Hugh Jackman on Wolverine, and more

ROBERT RODRIGUEZ ON THE FORTHCOMING SIN CITY SEQUELS
Robert Rodriguez has been speaking about his much-anticipated follow-up to 2005's Sin City, the pulp neo-noir based on the comics by Frank Miller. The next installment in a planned trilogy of films will be Sin City: A Dame To Kill For, due out this Summer. Speaking to Collider this week, Rodriquez revealed that shooting on the second film is complete. "I was just here with Frank Miller and we were watching it last night,” says the director. "[We] finished the cut, effects are being done and it will come out in August." Rodriguez also revealed that he and Miller are already in the planning stages for a third film. The cast of ...Dame features Josh Brolin, Eva Green, Mickey Rourke, and Jessica Alba.

HUGH JACKMAN ON HIS RETURN TO WOLVERINE
On the set of the forthcoming X-Men: Days of Future Past, Hugh Jackman gave an interview to Den of Geek about his sixth screen outing as Wolverine (seven if you count an all-too brief cameo in X-Men: First Class), the adamantium-clawed mutant. "Of all the bouncing around I do, the Wolverine role's the easiest to bounce back into," Jackman reflects. "People might assume that I'm getting tired of it, but I don't - it's getting more engaging. I'm having more fun with the character than ever before." 

Joking about his relationship with X-Men franchise director Bryan Singer, Jackman says: "I owe a lot to Bryan. He cast me as this character, and that was the first thing I ever did. The first film I did in America had this incredible cast, I was playing this unbelievable role. Even if it was bad, I'd have said yes - I had no other options!"

Later, he comments: "I keep thinking, not only did Bryan create this universe, the comic book movie was pretty much dead when he started. You can credit Bryan, I think, with really igniting the whole genre. So he rightly deserves an iconic status in this world, and for him to come back in such an epic way, with such a big movie, such a big cast, I think is exciting not only for us, but also for fans everywhere." Read the interview in full here, with Jackman discussing everything from Anna Paquin's cut scenes from the new film, and Darren Aronofsky's role in the genesis of The Wolverine.

CULT DIRECTOR DON COSCARELLI ON JOHN DIES AT THE END
Don Coscarelli is almost the dictionary definition of a 'cult' director - the visionary behind classic 70s and 80s horror and SF films such as Phantasm and The Beastmaster, and Bruce Campbell's turn as Elvis in Bubba Ho-Tep, Coscarelli has always had an offbeat conceptual approach to genre films, making him the ideal director to take on author David Wong's bizarre, drug-soaked horror-meets-SF adventure John Dies At The End.

In a recent interview with Den of Geek, Coscarelli talked about the challenges of filming the ambitious novel, saying: "It didn’t appear to be unfilmable when I started. The book was so different and so terrific; it just spoke to me on so many levels. It had some great horror and was also just funny as hell, and it had some amazing twists and attitudes. It was very visually written, so I just thought it seemed like it would make a great movie. I was part way in before I realised what kind of predicament I was in!"

He continues: "I always had a low budget in mind. The thing with that book is that it was either going to be a $600m movie or just a couple-of-million dollar movie. There are things in it that are insanely huge and I just had to scratch those out... I was able delete a huge section and come up with something that seemed quite a simple script, from my perspective." The film, which finishes on a cliffhanger leaving ample room for a sequel, may yet get a follow-up of some kind, Coscarelli reveals: "I’ve actually had some solicitations recently for a television series, so it might be something that works very well on TV," he says. "We’ll pursue that and see what happens…"

Speaking about the plethora of rubber-suited monsters in his decidedly old-school film, Coscarelli says: "I am still a fan of prosthetic effects. There’s nothing quite like getting a great horror actor working against a rubber suit. It can just approach magic if the lighting’s right." Coscarelli also discusses the possibility of sequels to Bubba Ho-Tep and Phantasm - read the interview in full here. John Dies At The End is out now on DVD.

THE RUMOUR MILL: GHOSTBUSTERS 3 LATEST, TOM HARDY FOR NEW KRAYS BIOPIC, KEVIN FEIGE TALKS DR. STRANGE, STEPHEN KING'S THE STAND: DIRECTOR CHOSEN
Following the tragic death of Harold Ramis, it has been revealed this week that the long-mooted Ghostbusters 3 is still headed for the big screen. THR reports that the script is now being re-worked to accomodate the loss of one of the four original Ghostbusters, portrayed by Ramis, Bill Murray, Dan Akroyd and Ernie Hudson. Ramis, who was only planning a small cameo in the film according to the article, will sadly not be able to appear in the new film, currently an active project at Sony, with the original film's director Ivan Reitman helming the project. 

Tom Hardy may be in line to play both of the Kray twins, the legendary British underworld figures last portrayed by brothers Martin and Gary Kemp in the 1990 film The Krays. Now, according to Screen Daily, Hardy is being lined up to take on both roles, in a new film tentatively titled Legend, to be directed by Brian Helgeland (Mystic River, LA Confidential). This rumour's unconfirmed, but we would definitely relish seeing Hardy in a brooding double-header starring opposite himself. 

Marvel architect Kevin Feige let slip a few comments about the much-discussed Doctor Strange film currently in development while talking to IGN this week. A story which we reported last week, which linked Mark Andrews, Nikolaj Arcel, Jonathan Levine and Dean Israelite to the project as potential directors, is both true and untrue, according to Feige: "The article was true [insofar as] we're meeting a lot of people now," he commented. "That article was not true about who we're meeting or what level anybody is. But we're actively looking." Addressing the speculation about the casting of the role, Feige neither confirmed or denied reports that Johnny Depp and Chiwetel Ejiofor are in the running, saying: "No, a movie star is not required, but that doesn't mean a movie star wouldn't be great. It just depends."

And finally, a new cinematic version of Stephen King's much-loved post-apocalypse road movie The Stand looks set to finally begin production after a number of false starts - according to The Wrap, Josh Boone (The Fault On Our Stars) has agreed to take the project on. More on this production as the rumours roll in! 

TRAILERS: BRYAN CRANSTON ROCKS IN THE NEW TRAILER FOR GODZILLA
Just one trailer for you today, but it's super-sized - the latest preview for the new US film version of Godzilla, helmed by Gareth Edwards (The Raid: Redemption), lets us peer beyond the special effects and portentous shots of rain-lashed aircraft carriers into the actual dramatic heart of the film - and right there at the centre of it all is Breaking Bad's Bryan Cranston, as a beleagured nuclear physicist trying to fight the monster as it approaches the American coastline.

Cranston acts like his life depends on it in this trailer, convincing us that behind the big-budget bluff and bluster, this could prove to be a serious contender in the drama stakes, too. The Cranston touch is far from a sure thing; however. After all, he failed to save the Total Recall remake from irrelevancy, despite an impassioned performance. But back to Godzilla - with Cranston leading the cast, and the eponymous beast now the size of a skyscraper, this looks set to deliver the epic-ness in spades.