ROTTEN TOMATOES: The Weekly Ketchup: New Bond Title, Golden Brad Bird, Del Toro To Direct Hobbits

The Weekly Ketchup: New Bond Title, Golden Brad Bird, Del Toro To Direct Hobbits

Also: Another role for Shia, new pic of Will Smith as Hancock.

by Nick Hershey | February 01, 2008

In this week's Ketchup, Bond 22 has a flashy new title, Brad Bird gets his just desserts for directing the highest rated film of 2007, and Shia LaBeouf is set to star as the last man on Earth. Also, Guillermo Del Toro is the number one choice to direct the Hobbit films, and we get a peek of Will Smith in his upcoming superhero movie.

This Week's Top News:

Bond 22 No More: New 007 Movie Gets a Title
It's going to take a little getting used to, what with months of referring to it simply as Bond 22 and all, but the next 007 caper has an official title.

Brad Bird Gets a Golden Tomato
It's no secret that Ratatouille has been hailed by critics and movie-goers alike as one of the top movies of 2007. Writer/director Brad Bird, who took on the same duties for The Incredibles, tackled the familiar, yet ever-daunting task of trying to continue Pixar's seemingly infallible Certified Fresh winning streak.

Is Shia LaBeouf The Last Man?
Those of you who had "Shia LaBeouf walking around a post-plague landscape with a monkey" on the list of things you wanted to see before you died may soon have your dreams come true.

Guillermo Del Toro in Talks to Direct Back-to-Back Hobbit Films
After the past few weeks' spate of bad news (and weather), have we got some silver lining for you: our preciousss is in motion to return to the big screen. Now that Peter Jackson has kissed and made up with the studios, New Line and MGM are in talks with Guillermo del Toro to direct two, simultaneously shot installments of The Hobbit!

New Pictures of Will Smith as Hancock
You've seen the trailer -- now you can get a look at Will Smith in full-on Hancock garb, thanks to a pair of new stills released by Sony.

Craig ponders his solace.
In Other News:

Julianne Moore will star in the horror/thriller Shelter with Swedish duo Mans Marlind and Bjorn Stein directing.
SNL alum Kevin Nealon has joined the cast of Upstairs, the Fox adventure comedy starring Ashley Tisdale.
Gerard Butler will star opposite Katherine Heigl in the battle of the sexes comedy The Ugly Truth, with Robert Luketic directing for Lakeshore Entertainment.
The Weinstein Co. has acquired Woody Allen's Vicky Cristina Barcelona for North American distribution, with the release scheduled for later this year.
Kevin MacDonald has signed on to direct Bobby Fischer Goes to War, a drama about the chess master's famed match with Boris Spassky, based on the book by David Edmonds and John Eidinow.
Michael Angarano, Sam Rockwell and Jemaine Clement will star in Jared Hess' next comedy Gentlemen Broncos.
Mike Vogel, Brittany Murphy and Danny Pino will star in the indie drama Across the Hall, from first-time director Alex Merkin.
David Bowie is in talks to join the cast of the musical Will, with Lisa Kudrow, Vanessa Hudgens and Scott Porter already onboard.
James Gandolfini has joined Jesse L. Martin in the drama Sexual Healing, based on the last years of singer Marvin Gaye.
Josh Hartnett will star in the martial arts action film Bunraku, with Guy Moshe planning to write and direct.
Brett Ratner, Frank Darabont, James Mangold and Joe Johnston have met with or plan to meet with producers of The Wolfman to discuss taking over directing duties following the exit of Mark Romanek, with Bill Condon also in consideration.

Who's your choice to take over?

Around The Site:

Check out RT's top gridiron movies ahead of the big game.
Jessica Alba talks to RT about The Eye.
RT-UK's Joe Utichi talks with Peter O'Toole and Sam Neill on the set of Dean Spanley.
Jason Biggs discusses chicks and Over Her Dead Body with RT.
Don't miss RT's ninth annual Golden Tomato Awards!

Related Items

Movie:	Quantum of Solace
	Hancock
	The Hobbit
Celeb:	Will Smith
	Brad Bird
	Guillermo Del Toro
	Shia LaBeouf

(1-6 of 6 posts) | Reply

unbreakable_samurai writes:
on Feb 02 2008 10:10 AM

That's an interesting five to take over the new Wolfman movie, they should give it to Mangold though.

(Reply to this)

slickfritz781 writes:
on Feb 02 2008 01:00 PM

I just looked into that Josh Hartnett film, Bunraku.

Sounds very interesting and Iam excited to see the first screens or previews.

Now, Hartnett is once again breaking new visual territory with "Bunraku" %u2014 a trippy film with a puppetry-meets-Origami look, which the actor compares to Alfred Hitchcock's "Rope," in that it will play out (or at least appear to play out) in one long, unedited take.

"My character is called 'The Drifter,' and he comes into this world that doesn't look like anything like you've ever seen before. It's in the vein of 'Sin City' or something like that, where the world doesn't look like reality at all."

(Reply to this)

Introducing.. writes:
on Feb 02 2008 02:21 PM

It's Jemaine Clement, not Jermaine.

(Reply to this)

Jimbo93 writes:
on Feb 03 2008 11:57 AM

Darabont, Mangold and Johnston look okay for the Wolfman film, but help me God, NOT BRETT RATNER! He can do blockbusters, but this SHOULD NOT BE A BLOCKBUSTER! It needs to be a well done psychological horror film, with awesome special effects and makeup.

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jokerboy1991 writes:
on Feb 03 2008 12:09 PM

No god not BRET RATNER, he's not that good. Sure RED DRAGON was pretty good, RUSH HOUR and RUSH HOUR 2 were funny, but he did RUSH HOUR 3, MONEY TALKS, and THE FAMILY MAN. I would Like either Frank Darabont (THE MIST was pretty good except the ending, SHAWSHANK REDEMPTION, and THE GREEN MILE) or James Mangold would be a good choice- 3:10 to YUMA was great, WALK THE LINE was really good, and IDENTITY was good to. Usually whenever a monster movie is in talks I always think DEL TORO (HELLBOY 1 and 2, PANS LABYRINTH, THE DEVIL"S BACKBONE, BLADE II) were such great movies with great monsters. But I'm really happy that DEL TORO is doing the HOBBIT movies, its a perfect choice.

(Reply to this)

jokerboy1991 writes:
on Feb 03 2008 12:12 PM

RATNER also did BEFORE THE SUNSET which really blowed!

(Reply to this)