ALIEN VS PREDATOR: SCOOP ON THE NEXT TWO FILMS?

According to undisclosed sources, the next two films in the Alien Vs Predator franchise are set to go into production back to back later this year.

The two films are allegedly to be called ALIEN VS PREDATOR: SURVIVAL and ALIEN VS PREDATOR: INSTINCT and take a much more hard sci-fi approach to the series, taking it back to the roots of the creatures themselves.

AVP3 is said to be set on a derelict space freighter, which is being used as a hunting ground for a band of Predators who have discovered and Alien nest on the vessel.

A group of human survivors from a skirmish on a remote outpost have landed their escape pod on the derelict station, and with failing air and supplies, they must survive the combined threats of the Predators and Aliens as the two races of alien creatures battle it out.

This is said to lead into the fourth film, INSTINCT, which sees the remaining survivors of AVP3 bringing the freighter down for a crash landing on the Alien homeworld, right into the middle of an all-out war between Aliens and Predators that is to feature the most epic battle scenes ever attempted for the franchise.

This is intended as an ending for the VS series in order for new films in the individual Alien and Predator franchises to be made in years to come.

None of the characters from previous films are to return for these two films, although various nods to the earlier films, and the original Alien and Predator films, will feature throughout. The rumour mentions a number of Colonial Marine Dropships arriving at the climax of AVP4 in order to rescue the last survivors before the planet is purged of all life.

As yet there is no confirmation as to whether these rumours are true, buit we thought we would put them out there for you as they sound awesome, and hell, they can't be any worse than Requiem...

Where next for fantastic fiction?

With Star Wars complete, the Watchmen film on the big screen, all the superhero movies we have always dreamed of and countless other much-dreamed of pieces of entertainment at our disposal, where will science fiction, fantasy and other genres go for its next fix? We have had the previously 'unfilmable' stories such as The Lord of The Rings, and now Watchmen, made into huge blockbuster movies. We have had Anakin's fall to the Dark Side.

We have had a trilogy of X-Men movies, Spider-Man films, Batman, Iron Man, Hulk, a reimagining of the Star Trek universe, video game films and TVs alight with Doctor Who, Battlestar Galactica and many other huge genre franchises.

All of which means the studios and networks will have to look a little further afield for the next big thing. The big names have been taken care of- now its time to move onto other classics of each genre and make something spectacular for audiences.

Long-mooted projects are moving forward that may provide some cause for celebration, with science fiction classics such as Asimov's Foundation books and Orson Scott Card's Ender's game heading to the screen at varying speeds being two good examples.

The possibilities are endless, but what we must also take into consideration is the possibility that new ideas will go ahead. New ones! Could you imagine that? New films and TV series based on original ideas instead of rehashed versions of the same old song and dance. That would really be something else, and while there are numerous things I would love to see adapted into movies, I would also love to see some new and vibrant original ideas go forward.

I think that the current trend for adapting everything in sight does have it's strengths, though. It is keeping the genres of the fantastic alive in the cinema and the general public consciousness with properties that are at least familiar to the masses if not well known. This keeps an interest in science fiction, superheroes and whatnot alive and helps smaller, more daring projects go ahead.

So I guess my point is that to move forward, there are areas of the entertainment industry that need to remain the same. Carry on adapting the classics, but now that the various Holy Grails have been found and made into movies, maintaining a sizable interest in the general public is going to be kind of hard. Thankfully, with two Hobbit movies, more Transformers, superheroes and epics to come, we will be enjoying this current age of wonder for some time to come.

TRANSFORMERS: REVENGE OF THE FALLEN- FALLEN AND DEVASTATOR!

Here are two awesome pictures from the new TRANSFORMERS movie- REVENGE OF THE FALLEN! These are fantastic character shots of THE FALLEN and DEVASTATOR! Of course, Devastator is made up of the CONSTRUCTICONS, hence the multicoloured look. Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen is going to be EPIC. These pictures have been floated on a number of movie sites, and originate from a Japanese toy company's site. Check out these monstrosities:

FINAL FANTASY 13 TRAILER

The trailer for the long-awaited FINAL FANTASY XIII has been posted on the front page of the Square Enix site! If you can't wait, here's a lower quality version:



It certainly looks impressive, but will the latest Final Fantasy game be able to replicate the success of the previous entries in the series? The new game looks much more sci-fi than the last couple of games, but the real test will come with the gameplay itself.

SUPERMAN- DOOMSDAY FOR THE LEGENDARY HERO?

With DC's apparent U-turn on all of their comic book movies, (see this article) it seems that the original DC superhero, Superman himself, is in limbo once more. With the Superman Returns film being something of a damp squib with fans, critics and the box office, it was clear that the franchise needed a new direction to survive. Now, there had been many attempts to bring Superman back to the screen before that film, and most of them would have fared better than what was eventually released. It wasn't the fault of Brandon Routh or director Bryan Singer- it was a pedestrian script and a lackluster story that just came off flat and tired, which was a shame.

How should Superman come back to the screen? We need a better villain than tired old Lex Luthor, for a start. Braniac or Darkseid would be fantastic, but then again, they might not have enough of an impact to really invigorate the series, so how about adapting that most hard-hitting (literally) of modern Superman stories...

DOOMSDAY.

If Superman was to face off against Doomsday, as in the Death of Superman story from the early 90s, we would have a massive film full of action and drama that could tie into the larger DC movie universe that so sorely needs to be created for the DC movies to survive and grow beyond the blinkered view that everything should be like The Dark Knight now. It would also provide Warners/DC with huge merchandising opportunities for the character, not to mention the other DC heroes that show up in the story. It could even be the precursor to a Justice League movie, if you think about it.

The Death of Superman storyline would even be a good idea for a trilogy of films. There could be the Death of Superman story to start with, then the second film could be the World Without a Superman/Reign of the Supermen stories rolled into one. The third would take care of the Return of Superman and maybe the second Doomsday story. think about it. It has the potential to be the greatest superhero movie trilogy ever, with genuine danger and something at stake as the heroes take on this terrifying foe.

The source material is there. The ideas are there. The graphic novels are there to be adapted. The talent is out there. Come on Warners, give us a Superman film we can be thrilled with. It's been far too long since Zod did his stuff.

80's Ninja Movies. I blame you for making me this way.

Joseph Lai has a lot to answer for. He was the man that filled the 80s with a million and one insane Ninja movies. Some of those films, such as NINJA THE PROTECTOR, NINJA HUNT, RAGE OF A NINJA and NINJA CAR BOOT SALE (I made that last one up) were amongst the most deliriously odd things ever committed to film. Haven't seen any of them? Don't, unless you are drunk, insane, or work in a comic shop. Well, go on then, watch them, but don't say I didn't warn you.

Here was a genre all by itself; Asian action movies intercut with footage of European and American actors in luridly coloured Ninja costumes, beating the hell out of each other (usually in a forest) and acting like superheroes. These Ninja movies made little sense, regularly defied all notions of physics and story, and were really quite brilliant. The fact that these films got released at all astounds me, and they remain a guilty pleasure of many geeks to this day.

Watching a film in which the major action sequences take place with a different cast and have little to do with the film itself is an odd experience, and I do wonder how many of these have been used as models for modern Hollywood flicks. They make about as much narrative sense.

I blame Joseph Lai and his merry band of demented, costumed action heroes, plots on secret documents and crime lords, explosions made of coloured smoke, music made on someone's watch and NINJA headbands for turning me into this seething mass of oddness. have you any idea what you did to my teenaged self? It's all your fault, Lai, and now I'm going to spin in the air and transform into a superhuman ninja and fly through the air, shooting fire, smoke and plastic shuriken at you.

Seriously though, you can't go wrong with guys in white/yellow/pink/red/silver ninja costumes beating each other to death with the same sound effect (BOOOCH) for every hit. These were grown men playing dress-up, with swords that shot smoke, magic teleportation powers, blunt swords and the acting abilities of a shoelace.

Quite simply, they were awesome, and you know it.

Plus, they kick the ass of pirates any day. Fact.

COWBOY BEBOP- COWBOY KEANU?!!!

Altogether now: Whoooa. According to The Hollywood Reporter, Fox are going to be bringing anime classic Cowboy Bebop to the big screen, with none other than Keanu 'One trick Pony' Reeves as lead character Spike. Now, I like a bit of anime myself, and to be frank, this is about as needed as, well, that Dragonball movie Fox are spitting out.

Maybe I'm wrong and this wwill be fantastic, but thus far we're yet to see any anime adaptations that really kick any ass. Hmm. I'll have a think about it, but I really can't think of any that have really grapsed the original feel of the source material. Maybe the two recent Appleseed movies, but they were animated!

Oh, hang on, yueah- the Death Note movies
were pretty spot on, as well as the Boogiepop adaptations, but nothing from a US based studio has been that good, and with a franchise as beloved as Cowboy Bebop, can a movie version actually do anything other than be picked apart?

Prove me wrong, Hollywood. I dare you.