Philip Seymour Hoffman joins 'Catching Fire' cast

Catching Fire doesn't release until Thanksgiving of next year, way too long as far as many fans are concerned. Casting for the sequel to The Hunger Games is underway, and there have been some juicy announcements lately.

Today, Philip Seymour Hoffman joined the cast to play Plutarch Heavensbee, the replacement gamemaker, or overseer of the annual televised, fight-to-the-death games. His role is significant and lasts through the third book (which will be made into two movies). Hoffman's participation reminds me of how the Harry Potter films tackled casting. Both "children's" releases cast well-regarded actors in the adult roles, instead of just filling those slots with unknowns. Hoffman joins Elizabeth Banks, Woody Harrelson, Lenny Kravitz, Stanley Tucci, Donald Sutherland, and Toby Jones (who also had a role in the Potter series), all of whom are reprising their roles. Without giving too much away, Hoffman's character has a secret. Although far from the gravity of his "did-he-or-didn't-he" role in Doubt, I'm sure some of the acting skills he deployed in that movie will be at work in this role.

Jena Malone, who I still remember best from her role in Donnie Darko, has also officially joined the cast of Catching Fire. Malone plays Johanna Mason, a tough victor who is absolutely ruthless but also a sad figure. People in the Capitol have killed all of her loved ones, so she has no one left. Katniss and Johanna share many scenes together. Reading the book, I thought of Johanna as being much older than Katniss, so this casting is something of a surprise for me.

There are still notable roles left to be cast in Catching Fire, including Finnick Odair, who has a bittersweet life story not dissimilar from Johanna's. Rounding out the list of notable Tributes in the second film is the scientifically inclined duo Beetee and Wiress and 80-year-old Mags. With so many talented older actresses in the film business, that's one announcement I'm particularly looking forward to.

Paramount announces two more fourquels and one sequel

By Sarah Sluis

It's no secret that Hollywood has been pursuing more sequels in recent years. Despite all the complaining from those that want more original content, sequels continue to do well. Audiences already have an idea of what they're getting, and with rising ticket prices many people would prefer to bet on a sure thing.

What's surprising is that so many sequels are now reaching the "fourquel" stage. This year, two such movies reached that stage: Shrek Forever After and Pirates of the Caribbean: On Stranger Tides. It's not necessarily because studios expected huge grosses domestically, but rather predictable ones: both achieved their greatest success in their second incarnation, with sliding grosses since. Now Paramount has announced three more sequels, including two fourquels: Paranormal Activity 4 and Transformers 4.

Horror movies have more of a precedent for spawning multiple sequels. Scream had its fourquel just this year, and Saw yielded an astonishing seven movies. Final Destination just reached its fifth movie this year. Back in the 1980s, series such as A Nightmare on Elm Street, Friday the 13th, and Halloween yielded numerous sequels.

More unusual is that expensive action movies like Transformers can do well enough in their subsequent outings to warrant a fourth movie. Transformers 3 only did 88% of the business of Transformers 2--domestically. Internationally, the franchise earns more and more with each outing: $390 million to $434 million to an astonishing $770 million. Turns out the same holds true for the Shrek and Pirates of the Caribbean series. Even as domestic grosses flounder, the international box office surges. The proliferation of sequels may be less about Hollywood failing to find original product and more about the siren call of the international box office.

Oliver Stone and Michael Douglas will return for 'Wall Street 2'

By Sarah Sluis

Perhaps you recall that last October, Fox planned to fast-track a sequel to 1987's Wall Street. Well, six months later, they've resurfaced to announce that two of the originals are on board: Oliver Stone has agreed to direct, and Michael Douglas will reprise his Oscar-winning performance as Gordon Gekko.

Allan Loeb, who adapted the screenplay for 21 as well as upcoming film The Baster, has been writing the sequel, and apparently the strength of the story he turned in helped win over Stone to the project. THR mentions that this project has been in development for some time, and a quick check of IMDB reveals a project called Money Never Sleeps, which may be the script Allan Loeb rewrote, or chucked.

While details

of the movie, now titled Wall Street 2, have not been revealed, six months ago the plan was to pick

up Gekko's story after he is released from jail. Shia LaBoeuf is in talks

to play a newbie, Charlie Sheen-like character that Gekko mentors, much like in the original film.

No word on where the movie will position itself in the financial

crisis. Will it dial back a couple years and let the audience revisit

the collapse of all the major banks, or position the characters as

looking to profit from the recession? Production is on track to start this summer, which puts the film at a 2010 release, and Edward R. Pressman, who produced the first film, will also handle the second.

Still, one of the greatest liabilities of this project is what I'll call the Iraq War effect. Movies like The Lucky Ones were being put into production constantly when the war was a hot topic, only to open in empty theatres because the movies either seemed not relevant enough to someone totally separated from the war, or too close to home for those with friends and family involved in the war. Or, perhaps, maybe they just weren't good enough?

I saw the original Wall Street long after 80's excess had waved good-bye, but the film still worked for me because it made the 80's seem as epic and recognizable as the considerably more distant Roaring 20's. Plus, the film wasn't dependent on being a homage to the age: it had a great script, direction, and unforgettable performances. Will the sequel to Wall Street be able to position itself as timeless even as views on the financial crisis and recession continue to change? Stone's most recent film, W., managed to do well even when though it released October 17th, on the eve of the election, during a time when public opinion of the President could have swung in any direction. If anyone can handle a story that's giving a historical perspective on the modern day, it's Stone.

Monopoly, Meta-mockery, Michael Moore, Iowa library kittens, and Paris Hilton: Coming soon!

By Sarah Sluis

A movie based on a theme park ride seemed like a terrible idea, but Pirates of the Caribbean IV is already in development.  So it should come as no surprise that the board game Monopoly will serve as the
narrative anchor for a screenplay to be written by Pamela Pettler.  Those expecting a top hat and monocle, do not pass go:  Ridley Scott will direct the project, and plans to add some Blade Runner touches to the idea to update the Depression-era board game.  Maybe they live in a futuristic society where everyone gets one "Get out of Jail Free" card, and drawing from the "Chance" deck is mandatory?  "Monopoly" joins Battleship, Ouija Board,"and G.I. Joe as other games receiving the feature treatment under a Universal-Hasbro development deal.

The series of Not Another Teen/Disaster/Scary Movies inspires groans among critics; review aggregator Rotten Tomatoes frequently tallies a 0% rating for these movies, a sort of accomplishment in itself given that the movies keep on getting green-lighted.  Finally, an answer to the success of "Not Another Movies": Not Another Not Another Movie.  The tertiary critique stars Chevy Chase and chronicles a struggling production studio that attempts to make a spoof of spoof movies--which actually makes the film fourth-removed from what it is actually mocking.  The "indie comedy," in all probability a synonym for "low-budget, direct-to-video," sounds so terrible that it might just inspire a rental among those burned out of films with a high production value.

Michael Moore plans to make his sequel to Farenheit 9/11 less
about foreign policy and more about the current American outrage over
the economy.  Sensing that a change in regime could weaken demand for a government critique, The Weinstein Company passed on the project months ago, but Paramount Vantage and Overture have high hopes for the film, which is currently shooting.  Certainly, with the volatility of the markets, there's a strong chance that Moore can draw an obsolete conclusion.  After all, didn't McCain get into huge trouble for stating "The fundamentals of the economy are strong" on the eve of the collapse of major financial institutions?

Perhaps receiving an extra push due to the recent success of doggie picture Beverly Hills Chihuahua, Meryl Streep signed on to the project Dewey the Library Cat, an adaptation of a pet memoir about an
orphaned cat who takes refuge in a library, influencing the lives of the residents of a small Iowa town.  The project follows an unusual wave of pet pictures--yesterday at the movie theatre I saw two side by side posters for December's Marley and Me, also based on a pet memoir, and kid picture Hotel for Dogs ("No stray gets turned away").  Woof.

Paris Hilton will appear in Todd Solondz's sequel to Happiness.  The pairing of the two seems unusual, but just might work.  If anything, the casting reminds me of Tara Reid's brief cameo as Bunny in the Coen Brothers' The Big Lebowski.  The widely lauded role gave a glimpse to how Reid could have worked her clueless party girl image to her advantage, but, unreplicated, it's the one bright spot in a career otherwise noted for Reid's botched plastic surgery and a decade-old role in American Pie.  Hilton recently starred in horror camp film Repo! The Genetic Opera, which, though I've yet to see it, seems to play Paris as kitsch, instead of straight--anticipating the mockery and eye-rolling that frequently accompany her presence.  Whoever is in charge of her career is doing an excellent job.

'Wall Street' sequel in the works; Steve Martin third man in Meyers'-directed love triangle

By Sarah Sluis

 It was only a matter of time.  Fox plans to fast-track a sequel to Wall Street, that glorious Michael

Douglas and Charlie Sheen epic that made "Greed is Good" a catchphrase for years to come--with some using the phrase more facetiously than others.

As long as this film fulfills these three requirements, I would be sold:

1. Provide a delicious villain for the audience to burn in effigy.  The film plans to start with the Michael Douglas character back from jail.  I certainly don't want him to be "reformed" and just end up in cahoots with another bad guy.  Right now Americans are in no mood for redemption; I think most would prefer him to remain evil.



2. Explain the financial crisis.  Credit default swaps are tricky things.  The first Wall Street did a good job of explaining (what seemed to me) a complicated inside trading deal.  If nothing else, it provided technical "bomb defusing" dialogue that conveyed the degree of complexity of their deals.



3. Showcase Wall Street excess.  Everyone's heard about the AIG "top earners" spending $440,000 at the St. Regis after the bailout; I want to see that scene in the movie.

Steve Martin added to cast of Nancy Meyers comedy
The untitled Nancy Meyers romantic comedy has added Steve Martin to complete the love triangle between him, Alec Baldwin, and Meryl Streep.  Each of these three actors has a signature style and humor, but will all three be able to build off each other and not cancel each other out? 

Meyers' latest work The Holiday also juggled stars (four A-listers), but its young, half-Brit cast proved much more bankable abroad than at home.  Diane Keaton-Jack Nicholson picture Something's Gotta Give, was a huge hit, so it looks like Meyers is dialing up the age of her stars to replicate the success of the romantic comedy unique for NOT targeting twenty and thirtysomethings.