| High Noon - Movie News Delivered Daily at, er,Noon |
| High Noon - 12th November 2007 |
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Rourke Bumps Cage
Nicolas Cage is out, Mickey Rourke is in for The Wrestler. There is no word on why Cage, who only recently attached himself to this indie drama, has now walked away, but we’re guessing the budget wasn’t quite as stretchy as his spandex pants.
The Fountain helmer Darren Aronofsky seems determined not to miss the original January start date for this tale of an over-the-hill grappler who returns to the ring for one last bout. Nobody mention Rocky Balboa.
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Bat Crazy
Shooting on Batman: The Dark Knight got underway in Hong Kong last week, but director Christopher Nolan and co. have had mixed reaction. Star struck hoards have turned out to watch scenes being filmed on the streets, but Hong Kong helmer Johnnie To has slammed the government for supporting the production whilst little help is offered to home-grown filmmakers.
At a press conference on Friday Nolan also denied rumours that he deleted a scene of Batman jumping into the Victoria Harbour because of the pollution. "It was purely changes made to the script," he insisted. Christian Bale didn’t say much, but then it’s hard to talk through those surgical masks.
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Xzibit In My Lai
Oliver Stone has cast rapper and Pimp My Ride star Xzibit in war drama Pinkville. He’ll play a patriotic soldier opposite Bruce Willis, Channing Tatum and Woody Harrelson in the 1968 story of the My Lai Massacre. More than 500 people - mostly women, children and the elderly - were killed by US soldiers in this, one of the darkest chapters of The Vietnam War.
Cameras are set to roll next year and Xzibit will report for duty under his real name: Alvin Nathaniel Joiner.
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Lions Lost Its Roar
Bee Movie has shown good sticking power at the US box office. Jerry Seinfeld’s animated caper is still No.1 after two weeks with another $26m (£12.5m), which spelled bad news for Tom Cruise. Political drama Lions For Lambs took just $6.7m (£3.2m) for a fourth place opening.
It’s a similar story at home where rat toon Ratatouille is still on a fast boil after a month in cinemas. It took another $2.6m (£1.2m) over the weekend whilst Lions For Lambs scraped $1.4m (£0.67m). Fox honcho Paul Hanneman insists, "This was not a film that we were going into with blockbuster expectations." No offence, Tom.
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McCrory Gone To Potter
CBBC reports that theatre luvvie Helen McCrory has signed up for Harry Potter And The Half Blood Prince. Last year she was hired to play Bellatrix Lestrange in the fifth Potter movie, but had to bow out after discovering she was pregnant. This time she’s accepted the role of Narcissa Malfoy, Lestrange’s sister (played by Helena Bonham Carter).
Filming began in September and is set to carry on into May 2008, during which time we expect McCrory’s hubbie Damian Lewis will be sleeping in the spare bedroom.
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