Commercial director Ash Bolland will direct killer bees as they invade Texas in his debut feature film, The Swarm, the latest B-movie remake on the cards after the surprisingly well received Piranha 3D. According to The Wrap, Vertigo Entertainment and Room 101 are behind the development, with Roy Lee (The Ring) and Steven Schneider (Paranormal Activity) producing. The original 1978 movie saw Michael Caine as an entomologist fending off the stinging nuisances as they swarmed across Texas from South America. It was based on Arthur Herzog’s novel of the same name.

Hit the jump for more buzz about The Swarm.

Director Daniel Stamm (The Last Exorcism) has been hired to helm the American remake of Pascal Laugier’s French cult horror Martyrs, a vicious and brutal account of a teenager suffering at the hands of child abusers and torturers. In interview with 24 Frames, Stamm laughed out an inaccurate rumor that Kristen Stewart would be starring in the film, saying, “That’s the first time I’ve heard that”. He also hinted that his version would shy away from the intense “nihilism” and “darkness” of the French film. To be honest, from the little he has said, it seems like he’s aiming for accessibility over authenticity. Still, if it’s as gritty and absorbing as his summer hit was, I shouldn’t think it’ll be for wimps.

Hit the jump for more on Martyrs.

Very little information has emerged about Angelina Jolie’s new and still untitled project. What we do know is that the superstar/pin up girl/media idol is credited as both directing and writing the film, and that it will be “a love story set during the Bosnian War.” The first really intriguing bit of info from the set has just sprung up via The Playlist though, and that is the news that Jolie has cast her partner, Brad Pitt, to star in a cameo role.  Amongst what is predominantly a cast of actors local to the region, Zana Marjanovic (Snow) for instance, Pitt immediately jumps out as a jarring choice. Pitt reportedly filmed two scenes and was photographed on location with a camera and tripod. He doesn’t appear to be in role during these photographs, but a Hungarian reporter from [origo] filmklub noted a costume on set with Pitt’s name attached.

Click the jump for the synopsis to the film and further news from the set.

Here’s a little gem for Back to the Future fans that has never seen the light of  day until now. You may or may not have seen Back to the Future: Part II enough times to clearly recall a short promotional video playing at the entrance to the ‘Biff Tannen Museum and Casino’ in the second film. Well BTTF.com has posted the full unseen video, a three and a half minute biography of Biff Tannen, featuring Biff Tannen (Thomas Wilson) and Lorraine Baines (Lea Thompson). The Daily What reports that the footage was obtained by a fan with family links to the film’s production, who managed to acquire the clip on VHS and has held on to it all these years! Amazingly, and perhaps disappointingly, the video is not featured on any commercial releases of the film, “including the recently released 25th Anniversary Trilogy Blu-ray Disc and DVD boxed sets”.

While it’s not exactly laugh out loud funny, the video is a fantastic and amusing piece of historical footage nonetheless, and a must-see for fans who clamour for more Hill Valley alternate history. Hit the jump for the Biff Tannen Museum biographical video.

Carl Rinsch’s first feature film, 47 Ronin, starring Keanu Reeves, has been given the green light by Universal and a release date: November 21st, 2012.  THR reports due to the green light, Rinsch has stepped down from Logan’s Run, the sci-fi feature he was previously set to direct, leaving the spot ready for another to claim. It’s unfortunate as Warner Bros. has had scant success securing a director to remake the film, but Rinsch feels he needs to prioritise and redirect his time and focus to ensure that 47 Ronin is a success.

The legend of the 47 Ronin is based on the true story of a group of samurai who avenged the forced, ritual suicide of their master back in 1702.  The leaderless samurai, or Ronin, plotted revenge for nearly a year before murdering the court officials who brought shame on their master and were rewarded by a big helping of their own forced, ritual suicide.

Hit the jump for more on the struggle to revive Logan’s Run.

Unless you have plans to buy a Panasonic 3D TV, don’t expect to get your hands on a 3D Blu-ray of James Cameron’s record breaking Avatar any time soon. According to Yahoo, Avatar producer Jon Landau has said that whilst there are plans to put an Avatar 3D Blu-ray on the market, they are waiting until 3D technology is commonplace in living rooms nationwide. He expressed caution about rushing the release before the public is ready, an error they made in the past with the release of Titanic on DVD in 1999. Landau said, “We were ahead of the curve on DVD with Titanic and we don’t want to make that mistake again.”

Hit the jump for more on Avatar and why it’s such a pain to sell in 3D.

The first poster is online for one of 2011′s most eagerly awaited films: Paul, the next hilarious adventure from comedy giants Simon Pegg and Nick Frost. Directed by Greg Mottola (Superbad), the film boasts a phenomenal line up of jokers including Seth Rogen (voicing the alien in the title), Bill Hader and Kristen Wiig, and also stars Sigourney Weaver, Jason Bateman and Jane Lynch!

Here’s our account of a truly unique visit to the set a few months back, and hit the jump for the full poster, synopsis and trailer.

We have some seriously exciting news for all the gamers out there.  You may recall Guillermo del Toro, beloved director of masterpieces Pan’s Labyrinth and Devil’s Backbone, previously spoke to us about developing three computer games, aiming to release one every three years. He initially said, “we have a video game deal, a ten year deal…we’ll announce it soon enough.”

Well to keep you on the edge of your seats, MMOMFG is reporting that this video game project will be a Role Playing Game (RPG) trilogy led by renowned game developers THQ (the Red Faction series, Saints Row, Darksiders). Del Toro describes his trilogy as, “along the lines of Mass Effect“.

Hit the jump for more on his series and the RPG genre.

Relatively fresh from his recent directorial debut A Single Man (based on Christopher Isherwood’s 1964 novel), Tom Ford has begun work on his next film project. Whilst Ford has actually been silent about his new work, in fact emphatically refusing to comment upon it – Colin Firth, Oscar nominated star of A Single Man, has apparently been somewhat more forthcoming. In an interview with Moviefone, Firth distanced himself from the new project, declaring himself “jealous” of whoever will star, and saying, “it’s gonna be very different from A Single Man.”

Hit the jump for more on the project.

Roland Emmerich is best known for his literally explosive, colossally budgeted action movies, with a CV including Godzilla, The Patriot, The Day After Tomorrow and 2012. The Zone would have been a return to the alien invasion genre, an apocalyptic setting he last tackled in his masterpiece to date, the massively successful Independence Day (1996).

However, although production was well in to the rehearsal stage with shooting due to start next week, The Zone has been inexplicably shut down with just this enigmatic comment from a representative of the director: “This is not a project (Emmerich) is pursuing at this time.”  Whilst there has been no official statement from the director’s camp regarding reasons for the shut down, hit the jump to see latest speculation from the rumour mill.