Morning News Bulletin

Good morning all.

The Morning News Bulletin is a daily roundup of film news that happened over the last couple of hours while we were fast asleep here in SA. In today's news we report on the search for the new Superman, Darren Aronofsky's dealings with Fox and the official entries for the Best Documentary Oscar. More details after the jump.

The search for the new Superman to appear in Zack Snyder's The Man Of Steel has begun. As per normal with every search for a major film role involving a well known character, the media and the fan boys alike have thrown their hats into the ring with the names of who they think should be the next man to don that famous red and blue costume. According to Deadline Hollywood, some of the current favourites for the role include Armie Hammer (Tyler and Cameron Winkelvoss in The Social Network), Joe Manganiello (Alcide Herveaux in True Blood), Ian Somerhalder (Damon Salvatore in The Vampire Diaries) and Jon Hamm (Don Draper in Mad Men). While at 39 years he may be a bit older than the 28-32 age group that Snyder and Executive Producer Christopher Nolan are looking at, my money is definitely on Mr. Hamm for this role. He has the proven acting chops and, with a bit of bulking up at the gym, the physical stature to be a convincing Superman. One of the many problems with Superman Returns was that although Brandon Routh played the Clark Kent role brilliantly, he just looked too toy-boyish and wasn't imposing enough when in costume. Hopefully whoever is eventually cast can overcome these problems and master both sides of the character.

Darren Aronofsky (The Wrestler) was recently announced as the director for the followup to X-Men Origins: Wolverine. That last Wolverine movie was directed by local boy Gavin Hood (Tsotsi) and unfortunately for him it didn't go down too well with either the critics or the fans and as a result performed poorly at the box office. This Aronofsky directed sequel will be called The Wolverine and will take place mostly in Japan. It has been said that it will be more of a stand alone movie ala the James Bond films instead of a direct sequel. According to Deadline Hollywood, part of the deal for getting Aronofsky to direct The Wolverine is that he will extend his production company's film production deal with Fox by two years. The Wolverine is set to begin production next April for a May 2012 release.

The official entries from which the nominees for the Best Documentary Oscar will be chosen have been announced by The Academy Of Motion Picture Arts And Sciences. One hundred and one documentaries had originally qualified for this category and they have now been whittled down to a list of 15. The entries are:

• “Client 9: The Rise and Fall of Eliot Spitzer” Alex Gibney, director (ES Productions LLC)
• “Enemies of the People” Rob Lemkin and Thet Sambath, directors (Old Street Films)
• “Exit through the Gift Shop” Banksy, director (Paranoid Pictures)
• “Gasland” Josh Fox, director (Gasland Productions, LLC)
• “Genius Within: The Inner Life of Glenn Gould” Michele Hozer and Peter Raymont, directors
  (White Pine Pictures)
• “Inside Job” Charles Ferguson, director (Representational Pictures)
• “The Lottery” Madeleine Sackler, director (Great Curve Films)
• “Precious Life” Shlomi Eldar, director (Origami Productions) “Megamind”
• “Quest for Honor” Mary Ann Smothers Bruni, director (Smothers Bruni Productions)
• “Restrepo” Tim Hetherington and Sebastian Junger, directors (Outpost Films)
• “This Way of Life” Thomas Burstyn, director (Cloud South Films)
  “The Tillman Story” Amir Bar-Lev, director (Passion Pictures/Axis Films)
• “Waiting for ‘Superman” Davis Guggenheim, director (Electric Kinney Films)
• “Waste Land” Lucy Walker, director (Almega Projects)
• “William Kunstler: Disturbing the Universe” Emily Kunstler and Sarah Kunstler, directors (Disturbing the Universe LLC)            

I haven't watched a good documentary in quite a while so I'll definetely keep an eye out for any of these whenever they are released locally.

One documentary that I am looking forward to seeing is one called Industrial Light And Magic: Creating The Impossible which is about the legendary special effects studio formed by George Lucas in 1975 to create the special effects for his original Star Wars films. Along with Peter Jackson's Weta Digital and Weta Workshop, ILM is one of the major special effects houses in Hollywood with credits for blockbusters such as The Transformers films and Star Trek. Sadly this documentary won't have a theatrical release but instead will go straight to television in the US but I'm sure a DVD of it will pop up soon enough on Amazon.com so we can all get a chance to marvel at the cinematic wonders that ILM has brought to life over the last 35 years. Take a look at the trailer below:



Looks wonderful doesn't it? Anyhow, that's it for today folks. The Morning News Bulletin will be back again on Monday. May the force be with you!