MGM are, and have been for many years, dealing with significant financial debts, to the tune of almost $4bn. With concerns about the company’s solvency, a recent conference call debated whether the studio should file for bankruptcy in a bid to gain back some of the otherwise lost money.

Should this happen, MGM’s assets might be sold to cover the debts, including the rights to the James Bond franchise, the potential RoboCop remake could never see the light of day. This would inevitably delay Bond 23, and who knows what else.

MGM’s current plan is to convince creditors to waiver interest payments until January 2010, with that money instead going to fund new movies. There’s a lot up in the air right now, but we’ll keep you posted.

This ET set visit, unlike previous ones, comes chock full of tasty behind the scenes moments. Whiplash attacking a Rolls Royce as Pepper tries to escape, shots of Natalie (Black Widow/Scarlett Johansson) in leopard skin trying on the Iron Man armor, explosive Formula 1 scenes, the love triangle and plenty more.

Read the rest of this entry »

They’re selling the 17 foot Bumblebee model, at auction it is expected to fetch up to $80,000. Alongside him will be a number of Megan Fox outfits and over 100 props from the Transformers movies. Bids can be made over the internet or phone via Profiles in History.

Auctioneer Profiles in History said it expected the 3,200 pound (1.45 ton) Hero Bumblebee robot from the first movie in 2007 to fetch $60,000 to $80,000 at the Oct 8-9 auction.

The motorcycle costume worn by Fox as Mikaela Banes in the blockbuster 2009 sequel “Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen”, along with her shorts and tank top, have an estimate of $3,000 to $5,000.

Joe Maddalena, president of Profiles in History, said anything worn by Fox was in great demand by collectors.

“‘Transformers’ made her a star and I expect her costumes to perform very well at auction. The 17-foot Bumblebee robot speaks for itself … it’s such an amazing spectacle and a pop culture icon that I expect bidders to go crazy,” Maddalena said.

Bids can be placed in person at the auction in Calabasas, outside Los Angeles, by phone or live on the Internet.

Because the movie didn’t really show us much of these, here are some shots of the custom designed Arcee bikes via Visual Effects Art Director, Sean Haworth.

And a shot of the twins for good measure,

The skinny is, there is no news. No script, no casting, nothing. Batman 3, or The Dark Knight sequel, however you wish to refer to it, will not be made before 2011. Though he did rule out Johnny Depp.

“There is nobody, there’s no script, there’s nothing. […] It can’t possibly be made before 2011 because ‘Inception’ is such a big picture.”

[…]

“Johnny Depp is great in anything, but there is no Johnny Depp in this Batman. They tell me in no uncertain terms.”

Entertainment Tonight are running an Iron Man 2 featurette this Thursday, you can catch a quick preview below. Be warned, it’s filled with quickly zooming in and out cameras and quotes such as, “A set so big we sent two reporters”. Scarlett Johansson also, “kicks some serious serious ass”.

Just to clarify, Disney recently announced a slew of “Disney Digital 3D” movies coming out in 2010. Prince of Persia was included in that list. It’s inclusion has since been confirmed as a mistake by Walt Disney Pictures contacts.

Prince of Persia was filmed in 2D and will be presented in 2D, there are no plans to digitally adapt it into 3D, a process many disagree with.

Thanks Nick.

Read the rest of this entry »

Speaking to MTV at a recent press event, Keanu Reeves revealed a bit about the progress of the Bebop movie. The first draft of the adaptation is complete, and although described as ‘fantastic’, it was ultimately too expensive to make. It is being reworked into something a bit more producible.

“There’s a draft of the script, but the writer did such a great job [that] in order to make the movie, you would need half a billion dollars.”

…
However, Reeves indicated that the writer’s adherence to the galaxy-spanning adventure of the full entire series might prove a little daunting for production.

“So the studio went, ‘This movie is fantastic and it would cost half a billion dollars,” laughed Reeves, “so he’s doing a rewrite.”

…
“The only challenge was to make a satisfying western narrative out of the kind of storytelling that happens,” he added. “There’s a great draft, so we’re just trying to pull it back a little bit now.”

Thanks Nick!