News Week in Review 25th June – 1st July 2007

It was a sloooooooowwwww news week this week. I've tried to bring you the stories that matter below but the fact is these were pretty much the only stories this week. Lets hope that next week picks up……

* After the disaster that was Revolver, Guy Ritchie is revving up on another crime caper. The story for Rocknrolla concerns a crooked land deal by a Russian mobster which throws all of Britain's criminal factions into a bloody battle for a piece of the millions at stake. The cast so far includes Gerard Butler, Tom Wilkinson, Thandie Newton and Ludacris. What no Jason Statham!?!?. Ritchie really needs to make another film on a par with his first two if he wants to be remembered as anything except Madonna's husband at this stage. This sounds like a familiar concept so lets just hope its not going to get bogged down in the meta-physical mumbo jumbo that ruined Revolver.

* Frederator Films this week announced that they would be producing a film version of animated cartoon network series Samurai Jack with original creator Genndy Tarkovsky writing and directing. As this is an independent company there is a chance that Tarkovsky will be given the freedom to do what he wants and make this a hard violent version  which lets face it, is what we all want when we see a dude swinging a samurai sword.

* DJ Caruso the director of the underrated The Salton Sea as well as box office hit Disturbia, is to re-team with actor Shia LeBouef on Eagle Eye. The story concerns a mother and son who are framed as terrorists and end up involved with a group plotting a political assassination. Steven Spielberg apparently came up with the story. Caruso is a good director and after Transformers Shia LeBouef will be a big star so this sounds promising.

* Sam Raimi this week broke his silence over Spider-Man 4. He said he would only be willing to direct a fourth installment if the script was good enough. When asked who he would like to see as the villains he mentioned The Vulture and Electro but also that he would like to see the Sinister Six, A team of six supervillains from the comics. Although no doubt this would be great visually to see Spider-Man battling six villains, In Spider-Man 3 the major problem was that it had too many villains and fell apart trying to wrap all the stories up. I think with a fourth installment we really need to go back to one villain and develop it from there, but that's just my opinion and that has nothing to do with the obscene amount of cash Spidey 3 took in.

* Jim Carrey has finally signed on for a wacky comedy, hurrah! Sober Buddies concerns a software executive who gets into some trouble and is appointed a sober buddy by a judge, meaning he can't drink and has to ferry his friends around as a designated driver. He then has to accompany some work colleagues on a business trip to Las Vegas and hilarity ensues. I can't wait for this one, its been far too long since a proper wacky Jim Carrey film where he fires on all cylinders.

* Cameron Diaz has been signed to star in Richard Kelly's version of Richard Matheson story The Box. The story was previously the basis for a Twilight Zone episode and concerns a box that arrives on the doorstep of a young couple. If you press a button on the box you get the riches you crave, but someone will die. Its an intriguing concept and Kelly is an interesting choice of director as he probably needs a hit after the Southland Tales delay. Richard also announced in his Myspace blog this week that there was still extensive special effects work to be done on Southland Tales and that a company was currently working on a trailer. When we get to see it though is anyone's guess….