Access Week In Geek (July 9, 2010)

The “X-Men: First Class” casting carousel continues to spin. Who might be directing Superman’s return to the big screen? Plus, which franchise would Christopher Nolan be thrilled to take on?

It’s all in Access’ latest Week In Geek…

CHRISTOPHER NOLAN WANTS BOND. JAMES BOND.
Christopher Nolan, the mastermind behind “The Dark Knight” and “Memento,” told the BBC at the London premiere of his new film, “Inception,” that he would jump at the chance to helm the next film featuring 007.

“I’ve loved the Bond films since I was a kid. For me, they’re always about the expansiveness of cinema,” he told the BBC. “The first Bond films set up infinite possibilities about the world they create. I’d love to do a Bond film.”

Considering MGM’s reported financial woes have put an unfortunate postponement on the studio’s active development of their latest James Bond film to star Daniel Craig and reported director Sam Mendes, Nolan could possibly get what he wishes for by the time the British super spy is back in the running to return to the big screen.

CHRIS COLUMBUS IN TALKS FOR “SUPERMAN” REBOOT?
Superman Homepage reports that Chris Columbus has been offered the director’s chair of the aforementioned Christopher Nolan-produced big screen “Superman” reboot set for a December 2012 release by Warner Bros. and Legendary Pictures.

The possible news is not without merit as Columbus is well engrained in the Warner Bros. family having directed the first two “Harry Potter” films for the studio, as well as this year’s “Percy Jackson & the Olympians: The Lightning Thief.”

Screenwriter/director David Goyer, who penned the dark scripts for Nolan’s previous two Batman films and is currently working on the forthcoming third one, has been tapped to put to page the Man of Steel’s return to the big screen.

Since Superman is not an edgy troubled, character on par with Batman, the combination of Columbus (who has mostly helmed family friendly films over the past few years), Chris Nolan, and Goyer’s dark vision would seem to offer a unique new take on the Last Son Of Krypton’s big screen legacy.

This is one report worth following up on to see if it eventually rings true.

HAROLD AND KUMAR ARE BACK… AND IN 3D
Warner Bros. announced this week that production has begun on the third big screen installment of the “Harold & Kumar” series.

In addition to return of stars John Cho (who is hot off of his turn as Sulu in JJ Abrams’ “Star Trek” and ABC’s “FlashForward) and Kal Penn (having finished his stint working for the Obama Administration), the film will be shot in 3D, and (despite having taken what seemed to have been fatal gunshot wounds to the back in the last installment), Neil Patrick Harris will indeed be back as “Neil Patrick Harris.”

Also joining the cast are Thomas Lennon (“Reno 911”), Patton Oswalt and Danny Trejo.

WHO’S “IN” OR “OUT” IN “X-MEN: FIRST CLASS” THIS WEEK
While Fox has only confirmed James McAvoy as Charles Xavier and Michael Fassbender as Magneto, Alice Eve has not yet officially been announced as Emma Frost.

In this week’s mutant casting carousel, Deadline reports Kevin Bacon is in talks to play “the villain” in the film; Variety reports that “About A Boy’s” Nicholas Hoult will be playing Beast/Hank McCoy (who was portrayed by a blue fur covered Kelsey Grammar in “X-Men: The Last Stand”), and Caleb Landry Jones (who will appear in David Fincher’s “The Social Network”) has been cast as Banshee. Lucas Till (“Hannah Montana: The Movie”) is reportedly in negotiations to play the role of Havok.

Also surfer Erica Hosseini revealed via her Twitter account this week that she too had auditioned for a role in the film. ComicBookMovie.com got the scoop from her that she had read for the relatively obscure character of Willow.

You can scratch off the Aaron Johnson (“Kick Ass”) as Scott Summers/Cyclops casting rumor, as well as the far fetched idea of Taylor Lautner joining the team in any capacity, which the studio this week told Access was not true.

The list of Mutants so far leaves some questions of how this film will fit into the continuity set up in the three previous “X-Men” films and the “Wolverine” spin-off prequel, or the line up of the X-Men in the comic book storylines. Characters like Cyclops and Jean Grey will be re-cast with younger actors, while the mutants Iceman and Angel, as introduced in the “X-Men” films, would be too young to be involved in the “First Class” timeframe, despite being involved in the team’s early years in the comic books.

There is a growing train of thought that false information is being leaked to throw off fans digging deep for too many details before production begins.

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