Arnold Schwarzenegger announced yesterday that he would be returning to The Terminator franchise.  Rumor is that he would play a human character.  Arnold also revealed his plans to also star in the new Conan the Barbarian movie as well as a new Twins movie. Terminator 5 will start shooting in January.

Today comes news that Arnold would return to The Expendables 3.  Other Casting rumors for the new Expendables movie have Mel Gibson as the villain and Jackie Chan, Nicolas Cage, Wesley Snipes, and Milla Jovovich joining the cast.  Sylvester Stallone, Jason Statham, and Mickey Rourke are rumored to be reprising their roles from earlier movies. The Expendables 3 begins shooting in August.

Right off the bat I have to post this image, the first of Chris Evans as Captain America (big thanks to Entertainment Weekly!):

I love the color and look of the uniform (for a full body shot of the CA stunt double, click here). Revealed in the article is that Evans signed a 6 picture deal with Marvel. Epic. Okay, lets move on with some other comic book movie news…

• One thing I’m not digging, is changes to the X-Men universe. It was revealed that in the upcoming First Class, Mystique will be an insecure teenage girl who is hiding the fact that she is really a mutant. Something about that just feels off, than again I thought the character was underused and mishandled in both Singer’s and Ratner’s X-Men movies, so I shouldn’t be surprised here. Pictures also reveal James McAvoy as Charles Xavier with hair. I wasn’t sold on him originally, but with hair he feels like a completely different character. Are they going to reveal the mysterious origin of  Xavier’s baldness? Come on guys…

• Staying with the Marvel Comics universe of movies, a lot of names have joined Ghost Rider: Spirit of Vengeance, the direct sequel to the 2007 lackluster Mark Steven Johnson movie.  Nicolas Cage returns as Johnny Blaze and is joined by Christopher Lambert, Ciaran Hinds, Johnny Whitworth, Violante Placido, and Thor‘s Idris Elba.  Elba recently talked about having a multiple picture deal with Marvel, but I don’t think people expected a supporting role in the new Ghost Rider, personally I was hoping for Elba being cast as Luke Cage, but a lot more people want him as Black Panther. How many comic roles will Idris Elba need to take before he gets a real character? The film is being directed by the team of Mark Neveldine and Brian Taylor, the guys who brought us the Crank series. That gives me a lot more hope than the first one that was directed by Mark Steven Johnson, who also directed the disappointing Daredevil flick.

• Christopher Nolan’s third Batman film has a title! The Dark Knight Rises. Yeah, seriously, it is that bad. Nolan has also denied rumors that the Riddler will be featured in the film. Earlier he said no to Mr. Freeze, so we are slowly narrowing down the villain possibilities. This might be Nolan’s last Batman film, so I’m hoping for someone good (or a good combo of villains). Maybe Hugo Strange along with a couple “monster” types; Man-Bat, Clayface, or Killer Croc? They can continue the theme of the mob and give us Black Mask. Tom Hardy, who worked with Nolan on Inception, has been cast in an undisclosed role (maybe a villain?). We have until 2012 for the film, so we might not hear anything else anytime soon.

• Darren Aronofsky will be directing X-Men Origins: Wolverine 2. (I think they can remove the “X-Men Origins” from the title, seriously guys) Aronofsky works best with a gritty realistic style, as used in The Wrestler and Requiem for a Dream. His attempt at sci-fi in The Fountain fell a little flat. I want a really good Wolverine film, but I have zero faith after X-Men Origins: Wolverine.  I don’t think Fox will let a good movie happen and I don’t think Aronofsky should waste his time here.

• Right on the heels of news that Mark Wahlberg may take the leading role in a remake of The Crow comes news that director Stephen Norrington is off the project. Norrington directed the original Blade for Marvel, and while a good film it was very flawed (especially the ending). Since Blade he has only directed two films, The Last Minute, which I’ve never heard of, and the horrible adaptation of the graphic novel The League of Extraordinary Gentlemen. I think The Crow might be better off without him.

Are you excited about the upcoming crop of comic book movies? What will you be seeing?

I have loved everything I have seen about Matthew Vaughn’s film adaptation of  Kick-Ass.  These four new connecting posters that feature Red Mist, Kick-Ass, Hit-Girl, and Big Daddy are awesome. Click it for a larger image.

Matthew Vaughn directed Stardust from Niel Gaiman’s book and came very close to directing X-Men 3: The Last Stand, before he left due to the studio pressure to get the film out as quick as possible regardless of quality. I love his style and I really can’t wait for Kick-Ass. You can check out videos from the new film over at the IMDB.

Nicolas Cage will (most likely) ride again as the Ghost Rider! According to Variety, Columbia Pictures pictures is moving forward with a sequel to Mark Steven Johnson’s 2007 comic book adaptation, while leaving Johnson in the dust.

Columbia has picked up an old Ghost Rider script from David Goyer, and is hoping to rewrite it into a sequel. I’m cool with Goyer writing the film, but I hope he doesn’t direct it.  I was looking forward to both Blade: Trinity and The Invisible, but neither delivered.  Not all writers make good directors. I hope they find someone new, with a fresh perspective and a cool dark style.  Ghost Rider could make an awesome thriller, mixing the darkness of Hellraiser with the action adventure of Spider-Man. We’ll see.

It is time for our July Giveaway! By popular demand we’ll be giving away John Woo’s Face/Off on Blu-Ray!  Personally, Face/Off is my favorite John Woo and Nic Cage flick.

The official description of the film:

In this plot-twisting, high-tech thriller, relentless FBI agent Sean Archer must go dangerously undercover to investigate the location of a lethal biological weapon planted by his arch rival, the sadistic terrorist-for-hire Castor Troy. After undergoing a radical surgical procedure, Archer literally “borrows” Troy’s face and identity to carry out his mission. But things go awry when Troy, emerging from a coma, transforms into Archer and wrecks havoc upon his life, both at work and at home. As the bomb continues to tick and the tension mounts, it becomes a high stakes game of cat and mouse as both Archer and Troy, ironically trapped in their enemy’s body, try to save face — their own.

Disc Specs:

• Video resolution: 1080p
• Aspect ratio: 2.35:1
• Video codec: MPEG-4 AVC
• Audio: English DTS-ES Matrix 6.1 / Dolby Digital 5.1 EX
• Subtitles: English SDH, English, French, Spanish
• Disc: 50GB Blu-ray Disc

Special Features:

• Commentaries by director John Woo and writers Mike Webb and Michael Colleary.
• 7 deleted scenes including an Alternative Ending (with optional commentary)
• “The Light and the Dark: Making Face/Off”
• Original Theatrical Trailer

Eligibility/How to Enter

To enter this contest, you must live in the United States or Canada. Simply leave a message in the comments section of this post and tell us what your favorite action movie of all time is and you are entered into the contest. Please do not put your address in the comments. If you win, you will be notified by e-mail and asked to provide your address for shipping purposes only. No records will be kept of addresses or e-mail address information. Good Luck! We will select a winner @ the end of the month.

• A book to film review of The Kite Runner has been added to our archives. (My Hollywood Dream)