Merely a few weeks out from the start of filming, production has been halted on the revenge drama Motor City.  The film, from director Albert Hughes (The Book of Eli), has had a rather rocky development, with a number of actors (Dominic Cooper, Jake Gyllenhaal, Jeremy Renner) flirting with the lead only to subsequently drop out.  Gerard Butler was finally set in the starring role of a felon who, after being released from prison, begins tracking down the men who framed him, with Adrien Brody onboard as the villain and Mickey Rourke in a supporting role.  Filming was set to commence on September 17th, but the crew has now been told to go home due to some complex issues that have arisen behind the scenes.  Hit the jump for more details.

In a joint venture that will encourage all sorts of action and darkness, Joel Silver’s Dark Castle Home Entertainment has teamed with Courtney Solomon’s After Dark Films for the action-movie franchise, After Dark Action.  The team-up will include five feature films with an international cast that includes Jean Claude Van Damme, Dolph Lundgren, Christian Slater, Jim Caviezel, Peter Weller and Cung Le.  The lineup will hit video-on-demand starting on May 11th, but there will also be a theatrical showcase for each of the pictures via a film festival in nationwide markets.  Hit the jump to see what films will be part of After Dark Action.

Following on the heels of the international success of Unknown, Dark Castle Entertainment has acquired the airplane thriller spec Non-Stop. Jeff Wadlow (Never Back Down and Cry Wolf) is attached to direct the pic which is co-written by first-timers John Richardson and Chris Roach. Per Heat Vision, Non-Stop is being developed as a gritty actioner that follows an air marshall who encounters some sort of unexpected turbulence while on a domestic flight. Joel Silver will co-produce the film alongside Andrew Rona and Alex Heineman. Silver and Wadlow previously worked together on the CBS pilots Hail Mary and The Odds.

Ben 10 has grown into a massive franchise under my nose.  Since 2005, Cartoon Network has produced a hundred-some episodes of three separate animated series, not to mention one animated and two live-action telepics.  Variety reports Ben is ready to make the leap to his next medium, a live-action theatrical feature.  Joel Silver was tipped off to the property by his young boys, and reportedly sees Ben 10 as a “potential franchise starter.”  Steve Richards and Andrew Rona of Dark Castle will co-produce with Silver — Warner Bros. is in talks for distribution rights. Richards indicated the new feature will recast from any previous live-action iterations.

Read quotes from the filmmakers and background on the Ben 10 story after the break.

In a story that will make you want to check your calendar to make sure it isn’t somehow the mid-80s again, it appears that aging action titans Sylvester Stallone, super producer Joel Silver, and perpetually underrated director Walter Hill will be joining forces for a new movie. Much like on The Expendables, good ol’ Sly has pulled together a testosterone-laden dream team of genre superstars, but this time the talents come from behind the camera, which will hopefully lead to a better movie. The film is based on a graphic novel appropriately titled Bullet To The Head and will be splattering mangled corpses all over the big screen pretty damn soon given that shooting starts at the end of the month. It will be produced through a partnership of IM Global and After Dark Films, and released through Warner Brothers. Hit the jump for more info on Stallone’s latest ode to elderly ass-kickery.

Sean Penn is now looking at joining Christian Bale in the drama The Last Photograph. The film, said to be in the vein of The Searchers and Taken, is based off an original idea by Zack Snyder about a war correspondent in Afghanistan who is the sole survivor of an attack on Americans. Deadline reports that Bale is set to play the journalist, while Penn is circling the role of an ex-special ops soldier who enlists Bale’s help to find a missing family member who has been kidnapped. In exchange, Bale’s character gets the story.

Snyder’s 300 co-writer Kurt Johnstad penned the script, and Niels Arden Oplev (the Swedish version of The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo) is set to direct. The film was set up at Warner Bros. but apparently negotiations are ongoing to move the film to Dark Castle, where Joel Silver and Andrew Rona would come aboard as producers. The report states that Penn is very interested in joining the project, having just turned down roles in the Superman flick Man of Steel (the villain, perhaps?) and Ruben Fleischer’s Gangster Squad. Plans are to shoot The Last Photograph in 2012 after Bale wraps The Dark Knight Rises.

Warner Bros. has put Olatunde Osunsanmi’s “found footage” sci-fi drama Dark Moon into turnaround, and it may find a new home at Dark Castle.  For those who don’t know, the “found footage” sub-genre is where a film purports to compiled from found footage, like Cloverfield or Paranormal Activity.  Warner Bros. picked up Dark Moon in mid-October, but Heat Vision reports that the studio balked when they learned that The Weinstein Company had picked up a similar project, Apollo 18.  Both movies use the “found footage” conceit and share the premise that NASA didn’t stop sending men into space after the Apollo 17 mission in 1972.

While Warners is now no longer interested, the folks over at Dark Castle liked the script and are currently in negotiations to pick up the film.  Shooting on Dark Moon is set to begin this winter.

Warner Bros. has released a ton of new images from  director Sylvain White’s The Losers, which stars Jeffrey Dean Morgan, Zoë Saldana, Chris Evans, Idris Elba, Columbus Short, Oscar Jaenada and Jason Patric.  The reason the images were released today is the press junket is this weekend in Los Angeles,  which means we’re also going to get a lot of clips from the film soon.

I’m catching a screening tonight and interviewing the cast this weekend, so expect a lot of Losers coverage in the coming days.  If I can, look for a tweet reaction after the screening tonight.  Until then, hit the jump to check out 36 high resolution images from the film:

One of the best films I saw at this year’s Sundance Film festival was director Vincenzo Natali’s Splice. Starring Adrien Brody and Sarah Polley as genetic scientists that create a new life form with severe consequences, the film is original, dark, twisted, and it looks like a Hollywood produced film.   That’s probably why Joel Silver agreed to distribute Splice through his Dark Castle label (via Warner Bros.) on June 4th.  Trust me, the film is absolutely worth seeing.

Anyway, a few days ago I was at WonderCon and got to speak with Vincenzo Natali.  We discussed what edits he’s made since Sundance, how the film came together, how Joel Silver got involved, some possible next projects like High Rise and Tunnels, and a lot more.  Watch it after the jump:

Last week I got to visit the set of The Apparition – which stars Sebastian Stan and Ashley Greene.  While we’re embargoed from writing about the set visit (for now), we’ve been given permission to run parts of our interviews that don’t pertain to the film.  Since producer Alex Heineman is involved in other projects as he works for Joel Silver, we got updates on Hot Wheels, Logan’s Run, and Sherlock Holmes 2.

While the updates are brief, the important thing to take away from this article is when I asked Heineman what else he’s working on, he said they’re really focused on Hot Wheels and Logan’s Run.  While I knew Hot Wheels was moving forward, I didn’t realize Logan’s Run was such a priority at Silver Pictures.  He went on to say they’re trying to find the right director for Logan’s Run, which means while it’s a priority, it’s not that close to being in front of the cameras.  Hit the jump for exactly what he said:

As I have said a few times, one of the best films I saw at this year’s Sundance Film Festival was director Vincenzo Natali’s Splice.  Starring Adrien Brody and Sarah Polley as genetic scientists that create a new life form with severe consequences, the film is original, dark, twisted, and it looks like a Hollywood produced film.  And that’s probably the reason producer Joel Silver picked up the movie through his Dark Castle label and is going to release it through WB this summer.

But it looks like the version I saw at Sundance is getting at least a small makeover, as Fangoria spoke to Natali today and he told them he’s making a few alterations mandated by WB:

“You’re going to see a slightly nipped-and-tucked version.  I’m actually going into the editing room next week, and if they’re true to their word, it’s just going to be cosmetic. It really comes down to Joel. He loves the movie and actually enjoys the parts that would scare most producers away. He’s being very courageous releasing this. There are also a few things I’m changing after seeing the film with an audience. I believe what will come out of it will be a new and improved cut, but in essence, it’ll be the same film.”

Without revealing too much, I’ll tell you the last act is pretty awesome and I can see how it might frighten a studio.  As long as his edits are not changing the storyline and are just “cosmetic”, I’m cool.  But if he’s forced to neuter his film, I’ll be pissed.  More as I hear it.

One of the best films I saw at this year’s Sundance Film Festival was director Vincenzo Natali’s Splice.  Starring Adrien Brody and Sarah Polley as genetic scientists that create a new life form with severe consequences, the film is original, dark, twisted, and it looks like a Hollywood produced film.  Basically, it’s a perfect film for a studio to buy and release on thousands of screens around the world.

And it looks like that’s going to happen, as Joel Silver and his Dark Castle label are close to landing the film with a P&A commitment north of $25 million (the money they’re going to spend to promote the film).  Also, part of the deal calls for the film to get released this summer on 3,000 screens.  Trust me, if they market the film right, this thing could be huge.

While most Sundance deals get made for a few million and the promise of a limited release, if this thing comes together, it will be one of the biggest deals in the history of Sundance and one of the widest releases.  Hit the jump for a few images from the film.  (via Deadline)

Men, if you find yourself forced into watching “Twilight” or “New Moon”, don’t panic.  There is a way to survive.  Be on the lookout for Ashley Greene, who plays some vampire lady, I wasn’t really paying attention because her character is not the point.  The point is Ashley Greene is jaw-droppingly attractive and every time the camera looks at her the suffering momentarily ends.  She is the life-saver which you must cling to for dear life.  At the end of it all, you will thank the gods and the casting director for putting her in that franchise.

Today we have news that she’ll be starring in Dark Castle’s upcoming horror movie “The Apparition”, which means you won’t spend time between scenes praying she’ll show up.  You just get to gaze upon her and let your adulation creep out others around you.  Hit the jump to go Greene.