Bryan Cranston is Breaking Bad in the Total Recall Remake

The Total Recall remake now has a bad guy, and he's someone who is known to break bad...

Variety reports that, yes, Emmy-winning Breaking Bad star Bryan Cranston is in talks to play the villain in the film. Colin Farrell is starring in the Columbia Pictures redux of the Arnold Schwarzenegger action classic.

That 1990 film featured Ronny Cox as the evil Vilos Cohaagen. Michael Ironside also played a not-so-nice guy named Richter who was in pursuit of Schwarzenegger's character Quaid (the real Quaid!).

Heat Vision reports that "The new story involves nation states Euromerica and New Shanghai, with Douglas Quaid (Farrell) a factory worker in the latter who begins to believe he is a spy, although he doesn't know for which side. … Cranston would play Vilos Cohaagen, the leader of Euromerica who, under the cover of protecting his people, is secretly readying an invasion of New Shanghai."
 

Star Wars Episode 1 3D Update

Lucasfilm and Prime Focus, the global visual entertainment services company, are proud to announce their collaboration on the 3D conversion of Star Wars: Episode I The Phantom Menace for theatrical release, heralding an exciting new era in Star Wars entertainment. Prime Focus was selected by Lucasfilm and Industrial Light & Magic (ILM) following an exhaustive testing process.

tilizing Prime Focus' proprietary View-D; process, the cutting-edge conversion is scheduled to hit 3D theater screens on February 10, 2012. Involving meticulous crafting and attention to detail by Prime Focus' global team of artists, the 3D release promises a wonderfully immersive experience for fans of the original, and a big screen introduction for a whole new generation.

"It was incredibly important to me that we have the technology, the resources and the time to do this right," said Star Wars creator George Lucas. "I'm very happy with the results I've been seeing on Episode I."

Prime Focus founder and CEO Namit Malhotra said: "Wherever you are in the world, the Star Wars films have become part of the very fabric of film-making - the epitome of the big cinema experience. To be chosen by Lucasfilm as a trusted partner, and to be given the time and opportunity to re-present this series as a new experience to both old and new audiences alike, is an incredible honor. For a project of this importance and magnitude, Lucasfilm and ILM would only have chosen a company with the best talent in the industry, leading proprietary technology and infrastructure, a production-proven pipeline and unmatched scale. I am hugely proud that Prime Focus is that company."

The extensive conversion process is being completed under the close supervision of John Knoll, Visual Effects Supervisor for ILM.

"Getting really good results from stereo conversion requires a lot of attention to detail and it is imperative that you take the time to get it right – and that's just what we're doing," said Knoll. "We're taking a different approach than you might expect. George's vision has been to add dimension to the film in subtle ways. This isn't a novelty conversion, with things jumping out at the audience; our goal has been to enhance the classic Star Wars theatrical experience, utilizing the latest cinematic tools and techniques."

Prime Focus is a global leader in 3D conversion and VFX, and has delivered work on films such as Avatar, Shrek, Tron: Legacy, Narnia: Dawn Treader and most recently Sucker Punch. Deploying its global View-D; conversion team on the Star Wars project, led out of the Prime Focus Hollywood office, artists in Los Angeles, London and Mumbai are delivering shots via Prime Focus' 'Global Digital Pipeline.' In collaboration with ILM, the meticulous conversion is being completed with the utmost respect for the source material, and with a keen eye for both technological considerations and artistic intentions.

Bill Murray to portray Franklin Roosevelt

In what might be the most unorthodox case of casting in some time, funnyman Bill Murray has been cast as President Franklin Delano Roosevelt in Hyde Park on Hudson.

Roger Michell (Morning Glory) will direct the film, which is adapted from the 2009 radio play of the same name by Richard Nelson, who also penned the screenplay adaptation. Production will reportedly begin in July.

"The project, set up at Focus Features and the UK's Film4, recounts the quasi-incestuous love affair between the president and his distant cousin, Margaret Stuckley, and takes place on the June 1939 weekend that the British King and Queen visited Roosevelt at his upstate New York cottage, in the first-ever visit to America by a member of the United Kingdom monarchy," according to Vulture.

This means we'll have to wait that much longer for Ghostbusters 3, assuming of course that Murray's even gotten around to reading the script yet. 

Madagascar Penguins Returning for Third Installment and Own Feature

In an animated film franchise with a cast that includes Ben Stiller, Chris Rock and Sacha Baron Cohen, the surprising breakout stars have turned out to be four paramilitary penguins brought to life by career voice actors you've probably never heard of.

Now, according to The Hollywood Reporter, Skipper, Kowalski, Private and Rico are getting their own feature, to be penned by Alan J. Schoolcraft and Brent Simons, the writers behind Megamind.

The penguins have previously been featured in the animated short "The Madagascar Penguins in a Christmas Caper," which appeared on the Madagascar Blu-ray, and a popular CGI-animated TV show on Nickelodeon, now in its second season.

The third installment in the Madagascar feature franchise is set to open in theaters in 2012. So far there is no director or voice talent attached.

Hawkeye to make a cameo in Thor

You won't have to wait until 2012's The Avengers to see Jeremy Renner as Hawkeye.

Cinema Blend was at CinemaCon where roughly 20 minutes of footage from the upcoming Thor movie was screened that showed the Marvel archer in action.

"The scene we saw featured Renner as Hawkeye, working with the infamous Agent Coulson, played as he was in the Iron Man movies, by Clark Gregg," according to the site.

"The scene features Hawkeye using his famous bow and arrow and he has multiple lines, so while we're talking about something a little more than a momentary cameo, there's no way to know if his involvement will go any further than that one scene."

The Wolverine Will Go On Without Aronofsky

The show must go on for The Wolverine.

Hugh Jackman spoke with Entertainment Weekly at CinemaCon in Las Vegas, where he reaffirmed his commitment to making the Marvel spin-off/prequel sequel despite the recent departure of director Darren Aronofsky due to personal issues.

"So now we're out looking for a director," said Jackman. "We were pretty much ready to go. The script is fantastic — the best we've ever had, which is why it attracted Darren in the first place. His personal situation precludes him from doing it now, and I feel for him. But now we need to find a director."

Jackman vowed that he and the studio are "not going to settle. We're going to find a director as good as Darren, if not better. Well, as good." He stressed that everyone remains committed to making the movie happen ... someday.

Jack Ryan Reboot Delayed. Star Trek Sequel Warp Speed Ahead.

Paramount Pictures has opted to push back its plans to shoot Moscow, the big screen relaunch of its Jack Ryan franchise set to star Chris Pine as the Tom Clancy creation, in favor of putting Star Trek 2, also starring Pine, on the fast track for a fall shoot.

Citing script delays on the Jack Ryan reboot -- which saw its screenwriter, Steven Zaillian, back out in the last few weeks -- Deadline reports that the Trek sequel will begin filming this fall in order to make its previously announced June 29, 2012 release date. That's a breakneck schedule worthy of X-Men: First Class!

The site adds that Paramount is still waiting for J.J. Abrams to decide whether or not he'll return to direct Trek 2.

As for Jack Ryan's return, Deadline says the "launching point of the film is one that gets a mention in Clancy's The Hunt for Red October, in the book and the original film that starred Alec Baldwin. It has to do with a terrifying helicopter crash that nearly killed Ryan when he was a 23-year old platoon leader in the US Marines. He was the only member of the platoon to survive. Insiders tell me that an okay version of Ryan could have been put into production this year, but the priority is more about launching a new franchise then filling a release slot."