‘James Bond 23′ Release Date Announced, Sam Mendes Officially Directing

After months of whispers, rumors, and speculation about the fate of James Bond 23, we finally have an official announcement from EON Productions and MGM Studios regarding its star, its writers, its director, and its much anticipated release date.

It’ll come as no surprise that Daniel Craig is returning to fill Bond’s very expensive shoes, with a screenplay by frequent Bond writers Neal Purvis and Robert Wade (as well as newcomer John Logan of The Aviator fame). Also unsurprising is the announcement that the oft-rumored Sam Mendes (American Beauty) will be directing.

Check out the press release below:

Michael G. Wilson and Barbara Broccoli of EON Productions, together with Gary Barber and Roger Birnbaum, Co-Chairmen and Chief Executive Officers of Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer Inc., today announced that the 23rd James Bond film will commence production in late 2011 for a worldwide release on November 9, 2012.

Daniel Craig will be returning as the legendary British secret agent, with Sam Mendes directing a screenplay written by Neal Purvis, Robert Wade and John Logan.

We reported last month that MGM and EON was keen on releasing a James Bond movie in 2012, otherwise known as the fiftieth anniversary of Dr. No., and that an announcement regarding that film and its particulars was likely forthcoming.

Besides the specific November release date — since Daniel Craig, Neal Purvis, Robert Wade, and Sam Mendes were already all but a lock — the other news in this press release is that Peter Morgan (Frost/Nixon) is off screenwriting duties and John Logan is on. Does this mean that the “shocking” work Morgan did on the film was thrown out entirely, or has it just been expanded upon by Logan? Only the ghost of Albert Broccoli knows for sure.

The last Bond film, The Quantum of Solace, was a fairly disappointing venture in my opinion — especially when juxtaposed next to the previous outing, Casino Royale. I can only speak for myself when I say that I’m cautiously optimistic about Bond 23. Sam Mendes proved with Road to Perdition that he can stage some pretty intense, not to mention gorgeous, action scenes. Hopefully he can do the same with James Bond, minus some of the more depressing aspects. (Though a little sadness and emotion in a James Bond movie can go a long way, e.g. On Her Majesty’s Secret Service.)

James Bond 23 hits theaters November 9th, 2012, fifty years, one month, and four days after the first James Bond movie. Keep your eyes on the main page for more Bond news as we get it.

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Real Steel Gets IMAX Release, Plus New Plot Details

If the moody Transformers 3 teaser trailer didn’t satisfy your need for hardcore robot fighting action, maybe this news will help. According to a press release from Dreamworks, Real Steel, the robot boxing movie starring Hugh Jackman, will be released in IMAX.

In addition to the IMAX news, we also have some new plot details about the film courtesy of a script review from science and pop culture blog io9. The plot details in i09's script review (which may not actually be genuine since io9 reviewed a draft script written before the movie went into production) mesh with the official synopsis sent out this past summer. However, they also hint at a more compelling human drama lurking beneath the flashier premise.

We’ve broken down most of the pertinent information into bullet points for easier reading. Check them out below. If you don’t want to read any potential spoilers, skip past the next section.

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SPOILERS

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In the future, human boxing has been outlawed, which is why robot boxing exists. The sport is huge and is popular for gambling. The best robo-boxer is named Colossus, controlled by a kid named Tak Mashido, who always gets first-round KOs.Official robot boxing is expensive and hard to break in to, which is why there’s also illegal underground robot boxing. Hugh Jackman plays Charlie, an ex-boxer whose success never matched his determination. Charlie’s robots frequently lose and he’s in debt to a variety of people.When Charlie’s ex-girlfriend dies, he gains temporary custody of their son. Together, the pair reconnect as Charlie begins to gain greater success in the robot boxing world.io9 characterizes the script as “predictable,” but “well played,” noting that the background subject matter involving robot boxing keeps the story fresh.

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END OF SPOILERS

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Real Steel has been intriguing to me for some time. Sports movies and sci-fi movies rank high on my list of cinematic preferences, and Shawn Levy’s film seems to be the perfect marriage between the two.

Even with the somewhat predictable nature of the story (what sports movie isn’t predictable?), I think I could end up liking this movie a lot. I loved Hugh Jackman in Darren Aranofsky’s The Fountain, and I know the actor is capable of inspiring performances. Perhaps this is a film where he can show off his acting talents once again rather than simply slicing things up with his adamantium claws (not that there’s anything wrong with that).

Source: io9

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Asus Eee Note release schedule announced.

December 2 2010 by admin in Gadgets |

Any company planning on entering a market that is thoroughly dominated by a single player must have a difficult task in differentiating its product from the market leader.

This is certainly the problem that Asus must have with its entry into the the tablet market.

The company chose to hit the problem head on by renaming its new product, a week ago, from Eee Tablet to Eee Note, a more accurate title going by the published specifications, that may have created its own niche market in the process.

Today, Akihabara is reporting that Asus have announced its release schedule for the newly named Eee Note.

Looking more like an ereader with a stylus, the eight inch tablet, sorry, electonic notepad with its monochrome display, wi-fi and microSD slot will go on sale first in Taiwan, later this week, for the equivalent of US$228 , followed by Hong Kong, Germany, Italy and Russia by the end of the year or early next year with the US and China sometime in the first quarter of 2011.

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Skyfire Launches First Mobile Browser for the Social Networking Generation - San Francisco Chronicle (press release)

November 25th, 2010 | Social Networking

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With this­ new vers­ion of­ the popular Android application, the com­­pany­ us­hers­ in an entirely­ new way­ to ex­perience the m­­ob­ile Internet, g­eared to the needs­ of­ the s­ocial networking­ g­eneration. S­ky­f­ire b­ring­s­ the true power of­ F­aceb­ook to y­our Android device with eas­y­ s­tream­­ing­ of­ videos­ s­hared f­rom­­ f­riends­, q­uick news­ f­eed acces­s­, an eas­y­ way­ to s­ee the m­­os­t popular ‘liked’ articles­ on any­ s­ite, and m­­ore. With a s­ing­le click, us­ers­ can q­uickly­ check their F­aceb­ook Pag­e, “Like” or s­hare any­ Internet content, s­ee the m­­os­t “liked” content on any­ s­ite recom­­m­­ended b­y­ their f­riends­ (or the g­eneral F­aceb­ook com­­m­­unity­), and s­eam­­les­s­ly­ view videos­ and other F­aceb­ook links­ pos­ted b­y­ f­riends­. The app was­ nam­­ed the #2 App of­ All-Tim­­e f­or Android b­y­ TechCrunch, and was­ the top pick in a PC World S­eptem­­b­er 2010 com­­paris­on of­ all Android b­rows­ers­. c­lic­k­ h­er­e to­ r­ead­ mo­r­e

[Tags]th­e, o­­f­, and, to­­, o­­n, f­aceb­o­­o­­k, so­­cial netwo­­rking[/Tags]

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Paranormal Activity 3 Confirmed With Release Date

After playing at a few film festivals and eventually getting a limited theatrical release, Paranormal Activity rocked the box office through a mind-blowing and plague-like spread of positive word-of-mouth and some innovative marketing. It was able to bring in nearly $200 million worldwide on a budget of a mere $15,000, making it one of the most profitable films ever made.

From there, Paranormal Activity writer and director Oren Peli earned himself a fast-tracked sequel for which he produced, and it debuted last month. While this time they had the cashflow to play with, a similar success story occurred and Paranormal Activity brought in $150 million+ on a $3 million production budget. Using rocket science-like deduction, that meant Paranormal Activity 3 would be on its way and now it’s confirmed.

Our friends at Dread Central have the exclusive after talking to Oren Peli directly and he was able to confirm for them the official release date of Paranormal Activity 3. The third installment of the supernatural-horror franchise will hit theaters October 21, 2011!

That makes it three Octobers in a row and Paranormal Activity is now a full-fledged franchise – if it wasn’t already. Paramount and Peli will have to be very creative in order to deliver another interesting sequel that can offer a similar success to that of its predecessors, in quality as well as financially.

Can Paranormal Activity be the next annual Halloween movie franchise, taking over for Saw which apparently ended with Saw 3D last month? Can they extend the story down new paths or tell different stories entirely that will keep the fans coming back for more? Our own Kofi Outlaw discussed the topic of Paranormal Activity 3 and whether the found-footage format will still work, offering an intriguing idea for the next film and its characters.

What would you like to see in Paranormal Activity 3?

Share your thoughts with us on Twitter @rob_keyes and @screenrant.

Paranormal Activity 3 hits theaters October 21, 2011 and we’ll let you know more about Micah Sloat, Katie Featherston and others as the talent officially joins the project.

Source: Dread Central

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‘Battle Royale’ Finally Getting U.S. Release (In 3D)

Have you seen the Japanese cult classic film Battle Royale? If you answered “No” to that question then do yourself a favor: open a new tab to your Netflix account right now and bump the movie to the top of your que.

For those of you who HAVE seen Battle Royale and truly appreciate it for the savage fun it is, we have good news for you: after nearly a decade the film may finally be released on American soil – and in 3D, no less.

In honor of its ten year anniversary, Battle Royale undergone a 3D conversion for a Japanese theatrical re-release. Nippon Cinema reports that Anchor Bay has snagged the rights to the film, the 3D version and the sequel film, Battle Royale 2, and could release them stateside at long last.

For those who don’t know, Battle Royale is based on the novel by Koushun Takami, about a future in which the Japanese government has collapsed and the youth have become disenfranchised and hostile. A disgruntled ex-teacher working for the government kidnaps a class of ninth graders and deposits them on an island to wage war against one another in a last-man-standing battle to the death. The students are fitted with explosive collars and, like any good video game, a variety of weapons (ranging from bats to guns)  are distributed across the battlefield. If the students don’t kill each other off in the allotted time, the explosives in their collars will detonate, killing them all.

Battle Royale was a simple, savage, unapologetic premise that worked very effectively as a genre film – hence why the movie is now considered a cult-classic and has spawned any number of imitators (The Condemned, I’m looking at you!). However, Battle Royale was released in 2000 – just on the heels of Columbine murders – needless to say, a movie about school children killing each other was not something America was looking for at the time. There are several conspiracy theories about why the film has been kept out of U.S. theaters (was it the will of Japanese production house, Toei, or U.S. distributors?) but the bottom line is that only a small portion of American moviegoers are aware of the flick.

Hopefully Anchor Bay is planning to release the film in America sooner before later. The thought of seeing Battle Royale in an actual theater is very appealing – though I’m not 100% sold on the idea that a 3D release  is necessary (though that’s the more likely scenario for a U.S. theatrical release).

If Battle Royale is released in American theaters, would you go see it? Do you think enough time has passed for a movie like this to be released in the U.S. without controversy? After all, if The Hungers Games can get the Hollywood movie treatment, why can’t this film?

Battle Royale 3D hits theaters in Japan on November 20th; a U.S. release is being planned for sometime in 2011.

Source: Nippon Cinema via Twitch Film

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Marvel Reveals International ‘Thor’ Release Dates

Thinking about lining up on May 6th to be one of the first fans in the world to see Thor and Loki battle it out on the big-screen? You might be surprised, and possibly disappointed, to know that over 40 countries will get to see the film before moviegoers in the United States.

According to the official International release schedule for the film Thor will open internationally on April 27th in Belgium, Egypt, and France, with many other countries following shortly after.

Marvel is known for planning ahead. It’s not the first time that Marvel has opened one of their tent-pole pictures to the international crowd before film-goers in the U.S. – as Iron Man 2 followed a similar release schedule. Director Jon Favreau’s heavy-metal follow-up opened on May 7th in the U.S. – with international audiences getting a look at the film starting on April 28th.

Check out the full list of international release dates – to see when Thor is opening in your country. You can also check the official Thor international release site for links to coverage of the film – specific to your region:

North America

Latin America

Argentina – April 28Brazil – April 29Chile – April 28Colombia – April 29Mexico – April 29Panama – April 29Peru – April 28Venezuela – April 29

Middle East / Africa

Egypt – April 27Israel – April 28Lebanon – April 28South Africa – April 29United Arab Emirates – April 28

Asia Pacific

Australia – April 28Hong Kong – April 28India – April 29Indonesia – April 29Japan – July 2Korea – April 28Singapore – April 28Malaysia – April 28New Zealand – April 28Philippines – April 29Taiwan – April 29Thailand – April 29

Europe

Austria – April 29Belgium – April 27Croatia – April 28Cyprus – April 29Czech Republic / Slovakia – April 28Denmark – April 28Finland – May 6France – April 27Germany – April 28Greece – April 28Hungary – April 28Iceland – April 29Ireland – April 29Italy – April 29Netherlands – April 29Norway – April 28Poland – April 29Portugal – April 29Romania – April 28Russia – April 29Serbia & Montenegro – April 28Slovenia – April 28Spain – April 28Sweden – April 29Switzerland-French – April 29Switzerland-German – April 27Switzerland-Italian – April 29Turkey – April 29Ukraine – April 28United Kingdom – April 29 "You tell those Americans they can wait."

While some Thor fans might be disappointed that they’ll have to fly to another country to be among the first moviegoers to see Kenneth Branagh’s Marvel superhero installment, the international Thor release will pale in comparison to the irony of the impending Captain America: The First Avenger release schedule.

Personally, I don’t see any problem with Hollywood productions opening in other countries before they hit theaters in the U.S. but I can imagine some die-hard Cap fans won’t be able to resist getting worked up if the titular American hero screens in foreign theaters first.

Thor, as we all know, is actually Scandinavian after-all.

Follow us on Twitter @iambenkendrick and @screenrant.

Thor opens on May 6th in U.S. theaters and a few days earlier almost everywhere else.

Source: Official Thor Site

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