Rush Hour 3 Stills Aplenty

Here's a massive heap of images from Rush Hour 3. Click on any of them for the very hi-res version. Is Jackie Chan playing 'hole tempting' in the ninth one? Looks like it to me.

Movie Minesweeper - The Satsuma Skin Edition

- Blockbuster have opted for Blu-Ray exclusivity. Once upon a time this would have been the deciding blow in a format war, but these days, Blockbuster's punch is a little less solid. All the same, I'm sticking with my earlier comments. Blu-Ray is going to win, for what it ends up being worth.

- Some pictures of Christian Bale in his new Batsuit are doing the rounds. Apparently.

- There's suddenly lots of buzz about Fox backing a Halo film, but that's not the story I read. Nope. Fox have simply signed a deal to sell Halo merchandise. I suppose this might prove to be such a money spinner the film deal is back on again (at some point) but I wouldn't expect it anytime soon.

- Ann Peacock is scripting The White Giraffe for Gabor Csupo to direct. The source is a kid's book by Lauren St. John that, honestly, I know next to nothing about. Also attached is AnnaSophia Robb, which possibly takes her out of the running for a Lovely Bones role...?

- Owen Wilson and Nick Nolte have taken roles in Tropic Thunder.

- Once again, Harry Potter has been given the M certificate in Australia. This will keep a lot of littler ones out of the screenings. The last film was branded this way also, and part 3 was too - but that decision was overturned by appeal.

- Pierce Gardener (author of Dan in Real Life which is, reputedly, very good) has sold an untitled pitch to Columbia. The premise is recounted in The Hollywood Reporter: the comedy centers on a divorced mother who is lost at her new job until she realizes that her experience dealing with spoiled toddlers gives her exactly the tools she needs to deal with spoiled executives.

- The inclusion of Diablo on the In-Development list at the Legendary Pictures website has the internet lit up this morning - but how about their other projects in that list? The Spook's Apprentice, Waterproof and the Jimi Hendrix Project were all news to me.

- The Forbidden Kingdom with Jet Li and Jackie Chan is being scheduled for release during the Beijing Olympics.

- The Legend of Secret Pass is an upcoming cartoon with Michael Chiklis, Frankie Muniz, David Cross, Ron Perlman, Christy Carlson Romano, Graham Greene and Cheryl Hines amongst the cast.

- Brightcove have signed to be the web-video tech supplier for Fox. Which I like because their videos are generally direct-linkable and therefore downloadable.

- Meanwhile, France Televisions have inked a pact with Google's YouTubeEurope.

- Matt and Mike Chapman have turned down TV deals to keep Homestar Runner a web (and DVD) exclusive.

Laszlo & Vilmos: The Story of Two Refugees Who Changed the Look of American Cinema is an upcoming documentary about... well, guess who. Haskell Wexler, Owen Roizman, Dennis Hopper and Martin Scorsese are the more predictable interview subjects.

Download The Rush Hour 3 Trailer

KinoGovno are offering a direct download of the new Rush Hour 3 trailer. A better offering than MTV's tetchy page that tries to stream the clip, anyway.

L&L For J&J

I'm being told that Liu Yifei and Li Bingbing have been cast as the two female leads for the Jackie Chan/Jet Li/Baby Cameron Crowe Boy/Rob Minkoff Hollywood-friendly Monkey King film.

I dare say that Liu will be Michael Angarano's love interest, Li will be Jackie's. Unless Li is evil, somehow.

Here they are: below, with Liu on the left, Li on the right.

Bruce Law Blasphemes

According to Bruce Law, he's doubled as a stunt man for Jackie Chan on his chinese movies. Chan's official stance is that he rarely ever uses a double outside of the American film industry.

Is Law telling the truth?

Yeah, probably. That doesn't mean Jackie isn't one of the greatest physical performers to ever run, jump and stand still before a rolling camera, it just means that he isn't indestructible and, frankly, is getting a bit long in tooth for this kind of lark.

Often enough we can clearly see it's Jackie doing the ridiculously stupid thing we can't quite believe anybody would ever do. Isn't that impressive enough?

Angarano Mismanagement

Michael Angarano is in 'final negotiations' to star in Rob Minkoff's as-yet-untitled Jackie Chan and Jet Li film. Of all the directors that could have been charged with this project...

Frankly, the appointment of Minkoff seems as good as random to me. Not to knock him, though - I'd take Minkoff over, say, Gore Verbinski any day of the week. Did Donny Yen or Cory Yuen have something better to do?

Angarano's character is to be a 17 year old who wants to be a Kung Fu hero. After getting beaten up by a street gang, he is somehow sent back in time and caught up in a quest to return the Monkey King's power staff to it's rightful, cheeky owner.

I'm thinking: Neverending Story (or 2 or 3) crossed with Sidekicks, by way of The Last Action Hero - with just a tiny modicum of Chinese folklore, but not so much that the film won't play in Kansas.