So is this where we’re headed? It wasn’t that long ago that the blogosphere collectively tired of constant wish list reports that usually amounted to nothing, but the usually excellent Twitch seem to have rebooted the trend hard today. Earlier they reported Josh Brolin was topping the list for “Oldboy” but we have to remind everyone that wishes are just that and they don’t often turn into reality. And while you may have a good source perhaps privy to these kinds of conversations, milking them hard and fast early prevents developing more concrete info or simply creates news out of something that was never news to begin with. It’s a chicken/egg which-came-first rumor scenario that often winds up with no egg or chicken at all. Considering it was only this morning that Twitch was bemoaning more “unsubstantiated” “Evil Dead” stories, it seems odd they would follow this afternoon with all the speculation.
So with that in mind, it appears that Chris Pine is topping the wish list for MGM‘s reboot of “Robocop” to be directed by “Elite Squad” helmer Jose Padilha. Of course, Pine is part of the pack of young actors — Andrew Garfield, Emile Hirsch, Robert Pattinson, Garrett Hedlund, Michael Fassbender, Justin Timberlake — who have been linked to shortlists for Doug Liman‘s “Moon” and “Akira” already this year so don’t be surprised if those names are on there as well. And don’t be shocked either if Pine doesn’t get the part. He’s likely boarding “Star Trek 2” this fall and unless this movie starts shooting tomorrow we don’t know how the scheduling will work out. If anything, it means the casting will be going younger than Peter Weller was in the original.
And then there’s Guy Ritchie, the director whose career was in limbo for a moment there but has been reinvigorated thanks to the smash success of “Sherlock Holmes.” He’s now being linked again to “Sgt. Rock,” the comic adaptation that he was first attached to a few years ago, that came back to life last year when Francis Lawrence was attached in a futuristic take on the material. Twitch says that Ritchie is now looking over a new draft of the script that goes back to the original WWII setting of the comic and that Warner Brothers and producer Joel Silver want it to be his next film.
But if anything, 2011 has been the year of premature Ritchie news. He has already been linked to “Excalibur,” “Xerxes” and “Cannonball Run” since the beginning of the year, all positioned as his “next movie,” but it has all been too early. Ritchie is likely still wrapping “Sherlock Holmes: A Game Of Shadows” and yes, we’d wager he’s toying with the idea but it’s likely not the only thing he’s looking at right now.
So interwebs, perhaps let’s cool it on these stories that are speculative and too early? It’s bad enough we have “The Dark Knight Rises” trailer descriptions out there.
