Movie Minesweeper - The Hot In The City, Supposedly, Edition

- AintItCool are reporting that DVDRama are reporting that Takeshi Kaneshiro is to take the lead role in Onimusha. Reportedly. Fair enough: he's the model for the videogame character after all.

- The script review for Prince of Persia over at LatinoReview is one of their typically sycophantic plugs for what, in fact, sounds like quite a dreadfully dull film. It seems like every last ream of banal geek fodder scriptwriting ends up on the table at LatinoReview - and almost all of the time, they shower these screenplays with praise.

- Tom Shadyac has blown his top over the marketing for Evan Almighty. According to Nikki Finke's piece, his main beef seems to be that there's not enough TV advertising for the film - though this may well be as a result of him taking the film over budget. And she does explain a history that seems like a more substantial excuse for his behavior too.... but what a shame we're even discussing this story and not resting comfortably, confident that good worth of mouth will turn the film into a genuine hit and not just a big opener.

- Three short plays by Ethan Coen are to premiere at The Atlantic Theater next January.

- Reuters have a video press conference regarding Speed Racer. Most of the major players appear, as does the Mach 5 in a weird FX moment.

- A LucasArts games division spokesperson (apparently - it isn't clear who exactly) has revealed that an upcoming Wii game will feature lightsabre battles. That's right: wield your Wii wand like a lightsabre. Even more cash tills will ring out the Nintendo anthem.

- If I Know Who Killed Me doesn't tank outright, scriptwriter Jeff Hammond's plans for sequels and prequels may well come to fruition.

- Tobe Hooper's next is to be Tequila Joe, scripted by Dan Madigan and, apparently, planned for a theatrical release. Fingers crossed.

- Some of the Family Guy/Star Wars show is currently streaming on YouTube. A preview, if you will.

- A would-be moviestar who put his genitals in a mousetrap - which then, of course, snapped shut - is suing Adam Corolla and Jimmy Kimmel, claiming they owe him $10 million. Of course, there's some kind of backstory that makes sense of this...

- The organisers of the New York Asian Film Festival appear to have been a little naive. They cooked up a handshake agreement to advertise Midway Games as their sponsor for the year, but after receiving a whole load of free publicity Midway have apparently reneged on the deal (I think there's a moral to this story, don't you?). If you want to join in, TwitchFilm are calling for a boycott of the upcoming John Woo/Midway game Stranglehold, which could be an effective strike against the publisher, if word spreads far enough.

Gemini Man

I really rather hated the Wolverine script by David Benioff, possibly rewritten by David Ayer. If I was sure, absolutely, that the blame was all Benioff's, that Ayer wasn't accountable, even the cautious interest I had in Gemini Man would evaporate. All the same, Benioff was at least partly responsible and his other scripts - particularly for Troy - have left me shaking my head...

As announced today, Benioff is doing a page-one write-over on Gemini Man for Walt Disney. Don Murphy, Chad Oman and Mike Stenson will executive produce, Jerry Bruckheimer will produce. Obvious choice Michael Bay is probably going to be busy with Prince of Persia and a second Transformers, so I've no idea who they'll rope in to direct this one.

The film's premise isn't a bad one at all: a once-great hitman comes face to face with his younger, fitter clone. Sage wisdom and 20/20 hindsight are bound to afford him the winning edge, wouldn't you expect? I see a better resolution - one as resonant as the basic premise, I think - but I'll be dashed on the rocks before I post it here.

Michael Bay's Hourglass Figure (Go Figure...)

IESB have 'confirmed' that Michael Bay will direct the Prince of Persia film once he's done with Transformers - and presumably just before he does a second Transformers.

That should keep him away from Grant Morrison's incredible We3 script for a good while anyway, eh? I was secretly frightened he might end with that one.

Who will write this Prince of Persia film? Kurzman and Orci? Elliott and Rossio? Wibberley and Wibberley?

Disney Beans Aplenty Are Spilled

At Disney they have meetings, and in meetings they use Powerpoint, and from a Powerpoint slide show came all of the above. The artwork you can is all pre-production work for Prince of Persia, which suggests things have moved along somewhat on that one already. All can be clicked an enlarged, so grab your mouse and knock yourself out.