The Outbox

The Dark Tower

Director: Ron Howard

Actors: Javier Bardem

I’m excited to see Ron Howard behind the helm of this genre-bending, multi-film mega-adventure. Howard has an intimate knowledge of film as an art form, plus an undeniable humanistic touch that will be important to this series. I’m sure that if ever there was a director who could do justice to the masterpiece of Stephen King, it’s Ron Howard.

Casting Javier Bardem as the Gunslinger-lead is interesting, and undoubtedly a smart move. While my first choice was Sam Neil, Javier Bardem has both the look and the credibility, being experienced already with films like No Country for Old Men and Biutiful. Here’s hoping this film will finally get green-lighted by a studio and move into the development stage.

At The Mountains of Madness

Director: Undecided

Actors: Tom Cruise

I’ve been on a recent H.P. Lovecraft binge, and I have high hopes for this piece of literary-horror perfection. While I am a bit put-off by the choice of lead actor, it’s still incredibly early in this film’s development to call any shots, and Cruise’s performance on-screen will likely be at the call of whoever ends up captaining this film.

There are a few different sources linked through imdb.com that say that both James Cameran and Guillermo del Toro are hoping to step forward with Madness. I myself am pulling for del Toro, as he has that other-worldly artistic touch that would be crucial for Madness, unlike Cameran’s general industrial sci-fi track record (Aliens, Avatar, The Terminator and Terminator 2: Judgment Day). While I have no doubt that Cameran would be able to steer Madness into film history, I would prefer to see del Toro’s styles and creative eye on this potential gem, especially since Columbia and Universal aren’t interested in Hellboy 3 (idiots).

Venom

Director: Undecided

Actors: Undecided

Still floating around Hollywood is the solo-film premiere of Venom, Spider-Man’s archnemesis. With the reboot that is The Amazing Spider-Man coming out later this year, I doubt Venom will see new light any time soon, but Producer Avi Arad remains on-board for this character’s cinematic debut. I say debut, because I think we can all agree that Spider-Man 3’s Venom was a bit of a joke.

Luke Cage

Director: Undecided

Actors: Undecided

Another Marvel sleeper-title is Luke Cage, a film about the superhero of the same name, who also, at one time, went by Power Man. Checking IMDb on this film shows that the year of release has switched from 2012 to ????, and the cast list has dropped Tyrese Gibson from the lead roll. Lo and behold, Avi Arad is the only remaining name from the original list of crew, remaining as the producer of this other Marvel film that I would love to see make it big.