Freddy vs. Jason: During some recent shooting in Vancouver, Ronny Yu talked to Sci-Fi Wire about how it wasn't his decision to re-cast the role away from Kane Hodder as maniacal killer, Jason.

"The studio has cast an unknown Canadian actor as the hockey-masked villain, despite Kane Hodder's four-film history with the franchise."

"I'm totally neutral because I don't know Kane and I'm not that familiar with that franchise anyway. So for me it's just an actor. Whomever the studio wants [is fine]."

The director noted that his unfamiliarity with either the Friday the 13th or Elm Street franchise gave him a fresh perspective on both, something he also was able to bring to the Child's Play series when he directed Bride of Chucky.

"When I did Chucky, I didn't know anything about Child's Play," Yu said. "That's exactly what the producers from Chucky and the producers from Freddy vs. Jason want. They want a fresh angle, a director with a different style."

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Our take:

{@@@newline@@@}{@@@newline@@@} With all the hype after all these years, is this really what we wanna see? Do we really want someone who knows nothing about either franchise to bring the ultimate battle from hell to the screen? Only time will tell how this all pans out...

Lord Of The Rings: The Two Towers: Dark Horizons got some great shots of the miniatures used on the Helm's Deep set from a very nice scooper! CLICK HERE

In addition, German DVD site, DVD-Inside have posted a picture of the Main Menu for the upcoming extended DVD of Fellowship Of The Ring! CLICK HERE

Thanks to War of The Ring for the heads up!

Shrek: The Musical:Broadway.com is reporting that the successful animated Dreamworks flick, Shrek, will be making it's way to the stage! CLICK HERE Thanks to DH for the heads up.

The Hulk:SuperheroHype! have gotten their hands on an apparent ad for the film. Hulk lovers, don't miss out on this: CLICK HERE

In addition, Dark Horizons got a scoop from someone close to official source regarding the up and coming Hulk website:

"Hulk should have a fantastic website coming shortly. Apparently Ang Lee is very keen on getting the authenticity of the Hulk's change right, so he brought in the same scientists Steven Spielberg used for Minority Report to make sure the bodily changes are all rooted in reality. For instance, the Hulk turns green when angry because he has the genes of a specific type of jellyfish which turns green in self-defense... they're not going to be able to explain away all his changes but a lot of them will be discussed on the the film's site".

Knockaround Guys:Prevue Magazine have posted an interview with all the cast members...CLICK HERE

Akira: Variety is reporting that Warner Bros. is set to produce a live action film bas on the 1988 anime classic, Akira. The movie will be helmed by director Stephen Norrington who also directed Blade and the upcoming League Of Extraordinary Gentlemen. Just as well, Warner Bros. plans to reteam Norrington with screenwriter James Robinson, who wrote the script for League. This remake will follow the original story of a futuristic motorbike gang leader who must rescue his younger brother from his involvement in a secret government project.

Thanks to Dark Horizons & Variety for the scoop.

Chronicles Of Riddick (The Pitch Black sequels): While talking to David Twhoy, director of Below (which hits theaters Friday), Jo Blo got to ask a few questions about the Pitch Black sequels:

How far along are you with the RIDDICK CHRONICLES?

{@@@newline@@@}{@@@newline@@@}We’re in pre-production. The script is finished and I’ve got my production designer on it. Right now we’re calling the series the CHRONICLES OF RIDDICK. We’re referring to them now as “C-1,” “C-2” and “C-3.” I’m plotting all three films as we pre-produce this first film. The reason why it’s “Chronicles” and not “Pitch Black 2” is because that would give a false impression of this next film, because not only are we changing genres – the first one was a horror film and this one will be action/adventure/sci-fi – but we’re also increasing the scope in such a way that isn’t true to the original film as well.

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Are you planning to shoot “C-2” and “C-3” simultaneously?

{@@@newline@@@}{@@@newline@@@}If the first one justifies any follow-ups at all, then yeah, we’re thinking of doing 2 and 3 together.{@@@newline@@@}{@@@newline@@@}Can you give us a peek at what THE CHRONICLES OF RIDDICK will be about?{@@@newline@@@}{@@@newline@@@}All I can say is that it takes that Riddick character and follows him through multiple worlds as he meets multiple adversaries. There’s a lot of theology in it. Even though I’m not a religious guy, I am very interested in religion and why people turn to it. In BELOW I’m interested in why people turn to supernatural explanations when there are more plausible ones. I’m not a great believer in the supernatural either, but I find it fascinating when people turn to it.

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You shot PITCH BLACK in Australia. Are you planning to shoot CHRONICLES there, too?

{@@@newline@@@}{@@@newline@@@}No. We would have gone back, but stage space was a little tight there. So we booked Vancouver and sucked up all of their available stage space, only to find out that Darren’s new film, THE FOUNTAIN, went down. He had a lot of stage space in Australia reserved and suddenly in the last two weeks all of that stage space has become available again. I would have loved to go to Australia, but now we’re booked into Vancouver, so I don’t think there’s any chance of switching back at this point.

CLICK HERE for the entire article! Thanks to JoBlo!

Stay tuned...~Brian