There’s been much speculation in recent weeks over the fate of the Peter Jackson/Phillipa Boyens/Fran Walsh-scripted adaptation of J.R.R. Tolkien’s “The Hobbit” after the news that original director Guillermo del Toro would be too busy with his myriad projects (a “Frankenstein” re-imagining, H.P. Lovecraft’s “Mountains of Madness,” etc.) to continue on as director. About his “Frankenstein” piece, del Toro says:

From SciFi: “The greatest soulless monster of Frankenstein has always been Christopher Lee, because when he stares at you, there’s really nobody home. It’s literally one of the scariest moments I remember as a kid. I thought, “Oh, my God, this thing is not human.” And the opposite, the complete polar opposite, is Boris Karloff, who is more human than humans. So you will have both those vibes in the piece.”

With del Toro officially out, it seems that Brett Ratner will now be sitting in the director’s chair.

Ratner (the director of the “Rush Hour” series) is Hollywood’s “go-to” guy for taking over valuable franchises after his work on “Red Dragon” and “X-Men: The Last Stand,” but news that he’s taking over Peter Jackson’s “Lord of the Rings” franchise is bound to piss a lot of people (like myself!) off. His latest project before this, a reboot of the “Conan the Barbarian” franchise, appears to be on hold for now.

I thought “Red Dragon” was pretty straightforward and workmanlike, with no real visual flair or anything, but at least he got the ending of the book right. I love Michael Mann’s “Manhunter” (the first filmed version of Thomas Harris’ novel), but always wondered why he ditched the book’s last pages for Iron Butterfly’s “In-A-Gadda-Da-Vida” and William Peterson breaking through full-length glass windows.

As far as “X-Men” number three, I felt that most of the characters’ story arcs were rushed and the movie didn’t have the same feel as the first two. It was a disappointing wrap-up for the series, especially given that Bryan Singer’s “X2″ was so spectacular.

But what will Ratner do with “The Hobbit”?

Sources say that Ian McKellan and Andy Serkis are rumored to still be frontrunners to remain in their respective roles of  Gandalf and Gollum, but that Bilbo Baggins, the hobbit played by Ian Holm in the “LOTR” series, will need to be replaced because his advanced age does not match up with the prequel nature of the story.

Ratner has said that he wants to replace Holm with a multitude of actors kind of like Terry Gilliam did on “The Imaginarium of Dr. Parnassus.” Casting rumors continue with names such as Chris Tucker, Jackie Chan, and Shia LaBeouf currently in talks with New Line’s reps.

“I want to expand the reach of ‘The Hobbit.’ It’s a classic story for everybody and I want to reach as many people as possible, ” Ratner says. “There is a facet of Bilbo Baggins in all of us, and having a multi-ethnic cast will really bring that feeling to the forefront.”

I think this is a bad idea, but I’m willing to give it a chance. What do you think?

Well, I got lots of emails and tweets from people who were fooled by this April Fools joke. Some of you knew it was too ridiculous to be true. (Did the Chris Tucker/Jackie Chan/Shia LaBeouf thing finally throw you off?) Anyway, hope my little joke didn’t cause you too much heartache. Del Toro is still on the job, folks! Happy April Fools! /film has a list of some of the other April Fools jokes that were out there today.

Tags: Brett Ratner, direct, director, directs, lord, of, on, peter jackson, reins, rings, takes, the, The Hobbit, to

2/12 UPDATE post with more video here– Phoenix on Letterman, rap performance

OK, I don’t know if the little amount of text I’m actually going to write for this blog justifies its own entry, but this is just too bizarre.

You read the headline correctly. Casey Affleck is directing a documentary that follows Joaquin Phoenix’s self-imposed retirement from acting to pursue a career as a rapper. Today in Las Vegas, Phoenix is making his debut performance as a rap singer. Affleck’s cameras sart rolling today. Sean “Diddy” Combs will reportedly produce the documentary.

What I can’t tell is if this is a joke or not. It could be the most elaborate put-on in the short history of the mockumentary genre. If Phoenix played a rapper like Sacha Baron Cohen plays Borat, everybody would recognize him and know it’s a joke. But if the actor plays himself pretending to want to be a rapper, everyone is forced to believe it and the illusion can then be successfully mined for laughs. It could be an Andy Kaufman-style hoax; one that Phoenix has been working on since he announced his retirement back in October.

Even in this video where he announces his retirement, it kinda looks like Affleck and Phoenix are acting for the camera. The interviewer doesn’t even believe him. Could be a set-up for the movie!

Andy Kaufman’s wrestling antics were all pre-planned hoaxes. See him on “Letterman” above.

It has to be a hoax for the sake of a funny movie, because otherwise why would Affleck think that this is anything worth filming? If it is for real, and it’s a disaster (and Affleck is counting on this for his movie), then he’s going to mine Phoenix’s misery, and that wouldn’t be cool for two friends. (Casey is married to Joaquin’s sister Summer Phoenix.)

Then, there is the other possibility: Joaquin Phoenix, the man who earned an Oscar nomination playing Johnny Cash (and singing his songs in the movie), is a bad-ass, talented rap artist. It’s just that nobody knows it yet. Wow. Really?

UPDATE: Here is video of Phoenix’s performance in Vegas, which seems to confirm my suspicions. You heard it here. I called it first! Not sure what they were thinking; it’s too hard to get away with hoaxes like this if you’re also using your celebrity. That’s why Sacha Baron Cohen is in disguise. Kaufman did it, I suppose, but his stuff was slightly more in character for what people expected of him than Phoenix rapping. Also, media was not nearly as advanced and immediate in the 80s.

Tags: album, career, casey Affleck, chronicling, direct, documentary, hoax, Joaquin Phoenix, mockumentary, music, rap, rapper, release, singer, to

Just got this in my inbox about 10 minutes ago. I hope he does something different with it this time because his “Halloween” remake was about half good.

NEW YORK, NEW YORK (December 16, 2008) — Dimension Films - the successful genre and specialty arm of The Weinstein Company - is pleased to announce that the company will make “H2,” the sequel to Rob Zombie’s 2007 reinvention of the horror classic “Halloween.”  Once again, Rob Zombie has been tapped to write and direct.  Malek Akkad of Trancas International Films, who also produced 2007’s Halloween with Dimension, will produce the sequel, along with Andy Gould of Spectacle Entertainment Group, Zombie’s long time manager and producing partner.  The announcement was made today by Bob Weinstein, Co-Chairman of The Weinstein Company.

Dimension’s “Halloween” scored the highest Labor Day weekend opening ever with a record-breaking $30.6 million in its first four days of release and went on to gross nearly $60 million at the domestic box office in 2007.

Zombie’s “H2” will pick up at the exact moment the first movie stopped and follow the aftermath of Michael Myers murderous rampage through the eyes of heroine Laurie Strode.

“H2” will be Zombie’s fifth written and directed feature.  Prior to the success of Halloween, Zombie released the critically-acclaimed film “The Devil’s Rejects” (2005), the follow-up to his cult classic “House of 1000 Corpses” (2004).  Zombie just wrapped production on his animated feature film “The Haunted World of El Superbeasto” due to be released in 2009.  Zombie, also an accomplished recording artist, has sold over fifteen million albums worldwide, making him one of Geffen Records’ top selling and longest running artists.

Bob Weinstein stated: “Following the success of 2007’s ‘Halloween,’ we are thrilled to be back in business with Rob Zombie, bringing a sequel to theatres.  The fans have made it clear – and we agree - that they feel the franchise is in great hands with Rob Zombie.”

Rob Zombie said, ”I am very excited to be working with Bob Weinstein again and returning to the world of ‘Halloween.’ The remake laid the groundwork, now it’s time to really take Michael Myers to the next level. I believe we’ve just barely scratched the surface of where we can take this series.“

John Carpenter’s “Halloween” launched the Halloween franchise in 1978 and Moustapha Akkad, founder of Trancas International Films, executive produced the original classic. Akkad’s son Malek has continued with the franchise, producing “Halloween” (2007), “Halloween H20: 20 Years Later” (1998) and now, “H2.”

“I am thrilled to be making ‘H2’ at Dimension, the home of the ‘Halloween’ franchise for the last 15 years,” commented Malek Akkad.  “I look forward to working again with Bob Weinstein, as well as a filmmaker of Rob Zombie’s talent and stature.”

Tags: 2007, direct, H2, halloween, Rob, sequel, to, will, zombie