Movie News and Views May 16, 2008

Takin' it from the top!

- Eva Mendes will star in "Queen of the South." She plays a Mexican woman whose drug-runner boyfriend is murdered. She flees to Spain, where she becomes THE drug smuggler and exacts her revenge. Hmmm... isn't the "Count of Monte Cristo" theme DONE?

- Infamous director Uwe Boll WILL take Michael Bay on in a boxing match. For the price of 10 "Postal" movie tickets, you can watch them fight. This has "Jerry Springer" written all over it.

- Matt Vaughn has just left helming the "Thor" movie.

- Josh Brolin and Elizabeth Banks are playing "The Prez" and his wife in the new Oliver Stone movie, "W." Rumor has it they're still looking for Dick...

- Warner Bros. is having problems. First they shut down Picturehouse and Warner Independent. Then, "Speed Racer" hasn't performed as well as they had hoped; $150 million on the movie, $100 million on advertising. Will they make it up in time? Go Speed, go!

- Samuel L. Jackson has signed on for "Unthinkable." More info as it develops.

- A new "Buck Rogers" movie is in the works. While I grew up watching the TV show (with Erin Gray) I have to ask: is there nothing else to mine? How about a "Commando Cody" movie?

- The new movie "Manson Girls" has stopped its production because NO ONE wants to work with Lindsay Lohan. Bummer.

- Stephen Spielberg is back to working on a new movie based on Abraham Lincoln.

- "Dance the night away/ worries for another day..." Yep. A movie based on "Fraggle Rock."

- Michael Moore is working on a sequel to "Fahrenheit 9/11."

- Acclaimed director Werner Herzog is remaking the "Bad Lieutenant," with Nic Cage.

- "Shipwreck" has been cast aside from the "G.I. Joe" movie.

- Leo DiCaprio is set to be in a biopic on James Bond creator, Ian Fleming. I don't know whether I'm shaken or stirred over this...

- Jonah Hill ("Superbad," "Walk Hard") has been kicked-off of "Transformers 2." However, he has been hired to write the new "21 Jump Street," movie, so it's not all bad.

- "Beast" will appear in the new "Magneto" movie.

- Tom Cruise will play the President in the new movie, "The 28^th Amendment." He's also in talks for "Mission: Impossible 4."