Cohen Brothers to pen Steven Spielberg's new film!!!!

Wow how's this for a slice of fried gold?

"THR" reports that Steven Spielberg's upcoming, and as yet untitled film, will be written by Oscar winning directors Joel and Ethan Cohen.  Do I really have to list their resume at this point?  If you aren't familiar with the Coens and their work why are you even reading my blog right now?

Spielberg's film will be a Cold War thriller set in the early sixties involving the Soviets, the KGB, the CIA, and...drum roll...Tom Hanks!  That's right.  This will mark the fourth collaboration between Spielberg and Hanks the three previous being Saving Private Ryan, Catch Me if you Can, and The Terminal. 

Let's see Cohens + Spielberg + Hanks + Cold War spy thriller....yeah I'm pretty much all over this film. 

Here's a short synopsis:

Based on the true story revolving around James Donovan (Hanks), a prominent American attorney enlisted by the CIA during the Cold War to slip behind the iron curtain to negotiate the release of a pilot captured when his U-2 spy plane was shot down over Russia.

While Spielberg has a number of future projects on his plate, it looks like this film will be his next as there is a tentative film start date of this September.  My guess would be a release date for Fall of 2015 but again that's speculation. 

Seriously I couldn't be more excited for this film.

Horror novel "The Merciless" to get the big screen treatment

                                                        See what I did there?

Unfortunately, the new horror The Merciless will not be based on the evil villain Ming from Flash Gordon.  The film will be based on the upcoming debut novel of the same name, by author Danielle Vega.  This news comes via Twitter.

The film will be produced by Marlene King of "Pretty Little Liars" fame but no word yet on casting or a release date.  Here's a brief synopsis:

“The Merciless” is a story of “good girls gone evil, “as the new girl in a small town is forced to join in the exorcism of a punky, rebellious classmate if she wants to be in the popular crowd."

Definitely not my cup of tea as this kind of has a teeny-bopper feel to it and will likely be pretty tame. 

The Merciless hits bookstores June 12th.

In another Hollywood fuck up, Channing Tatum cast as Gambit

If you want a formula to ruin any movie, especially a tent pole movie, all need is one ingredient:  miscasting.  And this latest piece of movie news is about as bad as you can get. 

In a move that makes zero sense to me, THR and other sources report that Channing Tatum has been cast as the X-Man Gambit in the upcoming X-Men: Apocalypse and also in a spin off solo movie thereafter. 

Good God.  If my colleague over at houseofgeekery.com hadn't already written an article about actors exponentially more suited to play this role, this probably would have been my next "WTF Hollywood???" article. 

Listen I have no personal attachment to the character of Gambit, although I did like the character  on the X-Men cartoon.  However, Tatum is all wrong for this role.  The thought of him doing a Cajun accent is horrifying.  Tatum is marginally successful in comedies but I can't take him seriously as an actor.  Let's be honest all he is, is a six-pack of abs and a pretty face.  And there's nothing wrong with that.  Hollywood is full of them.  But that's no reason to cast this guy as one of the most beloved X-Men out there. 

X-Men: Apocalypse opens summer 2016.