Ruffalo Is A Brother Bloom
Hot (fairly) new kid on the block Rian Johnson’s next movie, The Brothers Bloom took another leap forward today as it was announced that Mark Ruffalo has joined the cast of this conman caper. Ruffalo, who’s about to hit screens in David Fincher’s Zodiac, will play the older brother in a conman team that includes Adrien Brody and the currently Oscar-nominated Rinko Kikuchi. Rachel Weisz will star as one of the team's targets. After the success of Brick, expectations for the movie are high, but with a cast of this quality writer/director Johnson should come up smiling when the movie’s released next year.
**From Albert Square To **Hollywood
NBC are set to remake hit TV show The Bionic Woman with former Eastender’s actress Michelle Ryan in the starring role. Originally broadcast during the mid-seventies, the show was a spin-off from The Six Million Dollar Man and starred Lindsey Wagner as the powered-up lady. The Bionic Woman tells the story of top tennis player Jaime Sommers. After a crippling sky-diving accident, Sommers receives special surgery from a rather clever so-and-so named Oscar Goldman, et voilá – The Bionic Woman is born. According to her Wikipedia entry, TBW has “amplified hearing, a greatly strengthened right arm and enhanced legs that enable her to run faster than a speeding car”. All of which must come in handy during that particularly gruelling third set. The cost of putting her together has never been discussed, although it’s likely to have been around the six million dollar mark. For a while Jennifer Aniston’s name was attached to the project, but it’s now been confirmed that Ryan has beaten several Hollywood hopefuls to secure the role.
**Casting Rumours #1654 **
The latest casting rumours to hit the web concern two of the most highly anticipated comic adaptations of recent years. First up is the caped crusader’s return to the big screen in The Dark Knight. Latino Review are reporting that Maggie Gyllenhaal has been hired to replace Katie Holmes as Batman’s childhood sweetheart Rachel Dawes. The movie is scheduled for release in July 2008. Next, we move to Louis Leterrier’s The Incredible Hulk and the all important role of Bruce Banner, which according to Ain’t It Cool News, could well have been filled by the Oscar winning/piano-playing Adrien Brody. Stay tuned to Empire for more updates.
**Hellboy 2 Gets A Release Date? **
The Superhero shenanigans just keep on coming. Horror-movies are reporting that Guillermo Del Toro's **Hellboy 2: The Golden Army **will hit screens on August 12008. Unlike its poorly performing (but actually pretty good) predecessor, the second instalment in the series looks like it’s going to be somewhat leaner - with Rupert Evans’ Agent John Myers set to be removed. Hellboy’s creator, Mike Mignola, had this to say: *"*He just didn't fit into the story. We worked on getting him in there. But it would have been the case where he was the young naive guy…can we come back to that guy five years later where he's turned into a bit more of a street-wise agent? For whatever reason, it didn't quite fit." According to the site, filming is due to begin in April. Rumoured locations include London and Budapest.