Kill Bill Volumes 3 & 4. Maybe?

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Word on the street is that E. Bennet Walsh, an executive producer of Kill Bill, could be spilling the beans on upcoming sequels. He says Quentin Tarantino has plots worked up for two new films following the Beatrix legacy, and that he may travel to China to shoot the sequels. From FilmIck

Part 3 would revolve around the revenge of two members of the Crazy 88s. Part 4 would focus on the daughters of Beatrix Kiddo and Vernita Green getting square, as was previously rumoured. Some even claim that the (previously unrevealed) daughters of Elle Driver and Gogo Yubari would also feature.

And from Xinhua:

When asked which Chinese director he wants to cooperate with, Walsh said he would most like to work with Jiang Wen, director of Xun Qiang, or “Missing Gun”.

“I also want to collaborate with younger directors. I believe there are many outstanding young directors in China who have not been brought into the light,” Walsh said.

While I would love to see some more of Beatrix whoopin’ up on the Crazy 88’s, it’s unlikely that we’ll see either of these coming down the pipes in the very near future. The Big T. (as nobody calls him) is a very busy man, and unless he wants to entrust The Bride to members of his schlock champ camp (Eli Roth, perhaps?), these could be back-burnered for a while.

[Via If It’s Movies]

Nick Fury is Sam Jackson is Nick Fury

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Aint It Cool News is telling me that Samuel L. Jackson is shooting today on the upcoming independant Marvel film, Iron Man, as… wait for it… Colonel Nick Fury!

There are two reason I find this news particularly interesting. First, and least significantly, is that Nick Fury originally is a white dude. It looks like they’ve chosen to represent the more recently conceived “Ultimate Nick Fury”, a character from a new Marvel alternate-universe sort of dealy that is obviously very much based on Sam Jackson. Secondly, Nick Fury’s name is being tossed around in conjunction with other Marvel film rumors rolling around. An Avengers movie is supposedly in the works, and there’s even been talk of Nick Fury having a film all to himself. Is Sam Jackson’s appearance in this role indicative of future casting decisions, or will they just change actors on us mid-stream? Guess we’ll see!

Scarecrow’s back in Batman?

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Rumor has it that Cillian Murphy is returning as the mind-bending Scarecrow in the upcoming Batman sequel, Dark Knight, despite his suggestions to the contrary. According to Super Hero Hype, one of their scoopers has spotted Murphy on set and in character as Dr. Jonathan Crane on the Chicago set of Dark Knight and filming a rooftop action scene.

“The scenes were gunfire and gang members running for cover,” SHH’s spy report begins. “Around 2:30-3ish they returned to the set and started filming 2 gangs fighting with each other. Then I spotted Cillian and they filmed him yelling at the gang. The sound of gunfire blasted and everyone ran for cover. They repeated this over and over again…So after a few takes of that… they moved to the side of the van. I saw a Batman… It had to be a stunt double. And him and Scarecrow had a struggle and ended with the crow gassing Batman. Batman fell to the ground holding his face screaming.

They were still doing takes of that when I left…about 4am.”

Likely this appearance will be little more than a cameo, but who knows? I hope that’s all it is. While I wouldn’t mind seeing the good ol’ Scarecrow one more time, it’s been proven time and time again that too many villains can (and will) ruin a superhero flick. We’ve already got the Joker, and, I suspect, at least an appearance from Two-Face. Let’s hope we don’t have 3 of my favorite villains in Comicdom ever ruined as they jostle for screen time in a drawn out shitstorm of a movie (I’m looking at you Batman & Robin, Spiderman 3!).

[Thanks Feldman!]

Blockbuster Video adopts Blu-Ray exclusively, HD-DVD pouting currently

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It looks like Sony got something right this generation after all. After dogging the HD-DVD format in sales during this year’s first quarter, Sony-backed Blu-ray has gained a powerful ally in the format wars. Blockbuster Video rental stores have announced that going forward they will carry Blu-ray DVD exclusively in-store, although they will continue carrying HD-DVD in 250 initial test stores and online. They report that Blu-ray accounted for 70% of rentals between the two formats. This may deal the killing stroke to HD-DVD in a valiantly fought, yet futile, battle. And if it isn’t, rumor has it Target plans to do the same soon. Oh Noes, HD-DVD!

The North American HD DVD Promotional Group (what a name) says Blockbuster is jumping the gun, and that their decision was skewed by the success of Blu-ray titles released the first 3 months of this year. That’s right, the “TNAHDDVDPG” says that Blockbuster’s decision was skewed by RATIONAL THINKING! Logic ftw!

Thank Science I didn’t buy that HD-DVD player for my Xbox 360!

Fantastic Four Rises to its Calling

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They answered the call and rose to the challenge of taking over the box office. In fact doing $1 million more than the original film. I have yet to see Fantastic Four: Rise of the Silver Surfer so I can’t make a swift comment about what I’ve already written. So without any further ado I give you the box office chart of the weekend.

1. “Fantastic Four: Rise of the Silver Surfer,” $57.4 million.

2. “Ocean’s Thirteen,” $19.1 million.

3. “Knocked Up,” $14.5 million.

4. “Pirates of the Caribbean: At World’s End,” $12 million.

5. “Surf’s Up,” $9.3 million.

6. “Shrek the Third,” $9 million.

7. “Nancy Drew,” $7.1 million.

8. “Hostel: Part II,” $3 million.

9. “Mr. Brooks,” $2.8 million.

10. “Spider-Man 3,” $2.5 million.