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Welker to voice 'Transformers 2' villain



Michael Bay has revealed that he wants original Transformers star Frank Welker to voice a villain in the robot sequel.

Welker, who lent his vocal talents to the character Megatron in the animated series, was passed over for the 2007 movie adaptation in favour of Hugo Weaving. His co-star Peter Cullen was recruited for Optimus Prime.

Writing on his Shoot For The Edit website, Bay said that he will "pursue" Welker for the role of Soundwave, a robot who shape-shifted into a cassette player in the original cartoon, in Transformers: Revenge Of The Fallen.

Bay last week admitted that Megatron, voiced by Weaving, will return for the sequel

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Miller: 'Lesbian headlines ridiculous'



Sienna Miller has said that media reports that she shared an on-screen "romp" with co-star Keira Knightley in last year's The Edge Of Love were absurd.

The actress told Parade that the attention given to a short kiss between the pair "went way overboard".

Miller said: "In England, there were like these tabloid headlines, 'Lesbian Romp - Miller and Knightley'. It was hyperbolised to the degree of just complete ridiculousness.

"There is a scene where our lips meet very briefly, and that became the big lesbian kiss. And we do take a bath together but it's not very erotic. There'll be a few disappointed men, I'm sure."

She added that she and Knightley were friends before they made the movie and became closer by the time they finished filming.

Miller was cast for the picture as a last-minute replacement for Lindsay Lohan.

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Hartnett, Skarsgård touted for 'Thor'



Josh Hartnett and Alexander Skarsgård have been linked with roles in Kenneth Branagh's Thor movie.

According to IESB.net, Hartnett is interested in taking on the role of villain Loki in the Marvel adaptation after seeing Heath Ledger's success as The Joker in The Dark Knight.

Loki is based on the Norse god of mischief who regularly battles his adoptive brother Thor in the Marvel comic series.

In addition, Alexander Skarsgård is the latest name to be linked to the title role. The True Blood actor, who is the son of Mamma Mia! star Stellan Skarsgård, is reportedly the frontrunner to land the coveted part ahead of Channing Tatum.

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'Buffy' star joins 'The Expendables'



Charisma Carpenter has joined the cast of Sylvester Stallone's The Expendables.

Starring Stallone, Jason Statham, Jet Li, Dolph Lundgren, Forest Whittaker and Mickey Rourke, the movie centres on a group of expendable mercenaries assigned to overthrow a South American dictator by the US government.

The Buffy The Vampire Slayer and Angel actress will play the girlfriend of Statham's character, according to TV Guide.

Stallone, who is writing and directing The Expendables, reportedly injured his thumb in fight rehearsals for the film last week.

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MGM to remake Corman's 'X-Ray Eyes'



MGM and Juan Carlos Fresnadillo have teamed up for a remake of Roger Corman's X: The Man With The X-Ray Eyes, reports Variety.

The 1963 original centred on a scientist who is nearing a breakthrough in X-ray vision technology. After his funding is pulled, he continues experimenting on himself only to lose control of his powers.

Fresnadillo, who last directed 28 Weeks Later, is currently searching for a writer to pen the X remake.

Corman was a prolific B-movie director in the '50s and '60s, who tutored filmmakers such as Francis Ford Coppola, Martin Scorsese and Ron Howard early in their careers. His movies include Little Shop Of Horrors, The Raven and Death Race 2000.

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'Iron Man 2': Mickey Rourke closes deal to play villain, Whiplash

Mickey Rourke, who recently scored an Oscar nomination for The Wrestler, has closed his deal to play the villain in Iron Man 2, Variety is reporting. The 56-year-old actor had reportedly been offered only $250,000 to play the role. On Feb. 18, New York magazine reported that the deal seemed to have fallen apart, although sources told EW the next day that it wasn't necessarily dead yet. Rourke's agents have since renegotiated his deal, Variety says, but there's no word on exactly how much he'll be paid. Rourke will play a Russian character called Whiplash, using elements from another comic book bad guy, Crimson Dynamo.

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Craven 'Hurt' By Nightmare Remake

Horror movie master Wes Craven is furious he was left out of the upcoming remake of Nightmare On Elm Street and has vowed to boycott the new film.

Craven directed the original slasher film back in 1984 and created the famous Freddy Krueger character - but he sold the rights, meaning he has no authority over the remake.

But the moviemaker is still hurt film chiefs working on the new Nightmare picture haven't asked for his help.

He says, "That one kinda hurts, because I don't have any rights to participate in it at all.

"It was done (sold) at a time when I was dirt poor so I had to sell everything when I sold the script, so that one hurts a bit."

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Baruchel to star in 'Johnny Klutz'



Jay Baruchel has signed up to star in Johnny Klutz, a movie revolving around his comedy character.

According to The Hollywood Reporter, Baruchel created Klutz based on his love of slapstick humour. Klutz is a described as "a lovable loser who is impervious to pain".

Rob McKittrick (Waiting...) will pen the Johnny Klutz script for Universal.

Ben Stiller will produce the comedy through his Red Hour production company alongside Stuart Cornfeld and Jeremy Kramer.

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Radcliffe voted 'most valuable young star'



Daniel Radcliffe has been named the most valuable young star in Hollywood, according to Forbes magazine.

The Harry Potter actor, 19, topped a poll based on the inaugural Forbes Star Currency list, which measures an individual's overall financial success in the industry.

Around 150 entertainment industry members from around the world were asked to rank Hollywood's young stars, based on a combination of box office success, ability to attract funding and their appeal to audiences.

According to Forbes, Radcliffe topped the list thanks to the ongoing international success of the wizard franchise and his critically-acclaimed performance on stage in Equus.

Hannah Montana star Miley Cyrus, 16, came in second place, with the magazine crediting the widespread appeal of her Disney television series and the forthcoming spinoff movie for boosting her status.

Other young celebrities recognised were Heroes actress Hayden Panettiere, Oscar-nominated 12-year-old Abigail Breslin and The Secret Life Of Bees star Dakota Fanning, who was recently cast in New Moon.

All actors in the list were 19 years old or younger at the time the results were finalised.

The top ten most valuable young stars are:

1. Daniel Radcliffe
2. Miley Cyrus
3. Dakota Fanning
4. Abigail Breslin
5. Hayden Panettiere
6. Emma Watson
7. Freddie Highmore
8. Keke Palmer
9. Emma Roberts
10. Anton Yelchin

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Joe Wright takes 'Indian Summer'



Joe Wright will reteam with Universal and Working Title for colonial drama Indian Summer.

Wright, whose credits include Pride And Prejudice, Atonement and upcoming biopic The Soloist, will direct the film based on Alex von Tunzelmann's book.

The project focuses on the end of the UK's rule in India and its status as a world superpower.

"After making The Soloist in LA, I was looking for something that was primarily about the British experience," Wright told Variety.

Oscar-nominated Gladiator screenwriter William Nicholson has been hired to write the script.

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WWE star Steve Austin joins 'Expendables'



Wrestling star 'Stone Cold' Steve Austin has joined the cast of Sylvester Stallone's The Expendables.

Austin, whose acting credits include The Longest Yard and The Condemned, will star alongside Stallone, Jason Statham, Jet Li, Dolph Lundgren, Forest Whittaker and Mickey Rourke in the action movie.

The film centres on a group of mercenaries assigned to overthrow a South American dictator by the US government.

Buffy The Vampire Slayer and Angel actress Charisma Carpenter signed up earlier this week to play the girlfriend of Statham's character.

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Knightley Quits Pirates Of The Caribbean Franchise

Keira Knightley has turned down the chance to reprise her role in a fourth Pirates Of The Caribbean movie, insisting she's "done" with the franchise.

The actress made her name in Hollywood playing aristocrat-turned-swashbuckler Elizabeth Swann in the hit Disney trilogy.

A fourth movie is in the works, with Johnny Depp already onboard to play Captain Jack Sparrow one more time. But Knightley is keen to move on from the role.

The actress tells Moviefone.com, "It was a completely fantastic experience, and it was an amazingly large portion of my life, but I don't think I need to go there again. I think that it's done. But I'm very excited to see the next one. And he (Depp) is so wonderful in that character. I think it'll be wonderful."

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Marvel pushes back 'Thor', 'Avengers'

Marvel has delayed its superhero blockbusters Thor and The Avengers by a year, says The Hollywood Reporter.

Thor's new release date is June 17, 2011, moved from July 16, 2010, while The Avengers is now on course for a May 4, 2012 arrival having been originally planned for July 15, 2011.

Marvel Studios chairman David Maisel said that the change of dates are in order to space out the release of their solo superhero movies before uniting the characters for ensemble film The Avengers.

"[It] maximizes the visibility of our single-character-focused films, leading to the highly anticipated release of the multi-character The Avengers film in 2012," he explained.

Initial plans would have seen two Marvel movies out in 2010 (Iron Man 2 and Thor) and three the following year (The First Avenger: Captain America, Spider-Man 4 and The Avengers).

Captain America has also been shifted back two months to July 22, 2011, with Spider-Man 4 slotting into its old May 6 release date.

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'Centre Of The Earth' sequel in the works





A sequel to last summer's 3-D blockbuster Journey To The Centre Of The Earth is in the works, according to Variety.

The follow-up will see Brendan Fraser's character Trevor Anderson and his nephew (Josh Hutcherson) visit the island that features in Jules Verne's Mysterious Island, Robert Louis Stevenson's Treasure Island and Jonathan Swift's Gulliver's Travels.

Richard Outen has penned the script for the sequel, titled Mysterious Travels: The Lost Map Of Treasure Island, and will undertake rewrites with Centre Of The Earth director Eric Brevig.

Neither Fraser or Hutcherson have committed to the sequel.

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Warner Bros revives King's 'It'



Warner Bros has hired Dave Kajganich to write a movie adaptation of Stephen King's It.

Based on the 1986 novel, the story centres on a shape-shifting child killer (called 'It') who terrorises a small town in 1958, then later again in 1985.

ABC turned the book into a miniseries in 1990 with Tim Curry taking on the role of Pennywise, a clown who appeared as It's most common guise.

Kajganich recently penned Invasion for Warner Bros. He is currently working on a remake of Escape From New York.

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Ifans joins Stiller comedy 'Greenberg'



Welsh actor Rhys Ifans has been added to the cast of Ben Stiller's latest project Greenberg, reports Variety.

Brie Larson, Juno Temple and Greta Gerwig are also signed up for the movie, which is being helmed and scripted by Squid & The Whale director Noah Baumbach.

The story follows a New Yorker (Stiller), who moves to LA to housesit for his brother and reassess his life, only to end up having a relationship with his sibling's assistant (Gerwig).

Ifans will play Stiller's best friend, who is going through a divorce, while Larson is cast as a "college-age temptation".

Shooting is scheduled to begin later this month.

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Crowe's 'Robin Hood' has 'lots of singing'



Robin Hood star Alan Doyle has revealed that the forthcoming Russell Crowe blockbuster will include several singing characters.

Doyle, who this week joined the cast as lute-playing balladeer Alan-a-Dayle, told MTV to expect "a lot of singing in the film".

"A lot of it by different people in different parts of the film," he commented. "I don't know quite yet if Russell and I will be singing together. But there will be lots of music in the film."

Doyle, who has collaborated with Crowe on several music projects, said that preparing for the medieval epic is like a dream come true.

"I was just training in Australia with a couple of the other Merry Men," he said. "It's like a ten-year-old boy's fantasy schedule; you wake up and have horse riding at ten o'clock, archery at eleven o'clock, sword fighting at twelve o'clock. It was really fun, I'm really looking forward to it all."

Robin Hood begins filming in the UK next month for a May 14, 2010 release.

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Marianne Faithfull agrees to biopic

Marianne Faithfull has agreed to allow her life story to be made into a film, adding that it makes a "great story".

The legendary rock wild child, who dated Mick Jagger for five years, published an autobiography in 1994 which will form the basis of the screenplay, reports the BBC.

Faithfull, 62, said: "I'll read the script, when it's ready, which isn't for a long time, and then I'll leave it to the director and the actress he chooses. I don't want to have much to do with it.

"I want to read the script and like the script, and then I'm going to let go of it and let them do what they want. That's the way to do it."

The 'Morphine' singer was discovered by Rolling Stones manager Andrew Loog Oldham at the age of 17. Following a string of hits in the 1960s, she was reportedly wooed by Bob Dylan before dating Jagger.

Faithfull already had one son when she fell pregnant by Jagger in 1968, but miscarried. She attempted suicide in 1969, split from Jagger and then lost custody of her child. Following two years living on the streets of London addicted to heroin, she returned to music.

Her latest album Easy Come, Easy Go is released in the UK on Monday and features guests including Keith Richards, Rufus Wainwright, Jarvis Cocker and Nick Cave.

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Alien Zoo' opens at Warner Bros

Warner Bros has hired Joe Stillman to write its big budget family comedy Alien Zoo, says Variety.

The movie, based on an idea hatched by Dylan Sellers, is described as "Jurassic Park with aliens" and will blend live-action footage with CGI.

Sellers is also serving as a producer on the movie alongside Bob Shaye and Michael Lynne.

Stillman worked on the first two Shrek movies and penned the script for Jack Black's forthcoming Gulliver's Travels.

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