This has been a really slow news week in terms of anything major developing, so finally there is some decent casting news to pass along today.  The upcoming Tony Scott (Taking of Pelham 123) directed film Potsdamer Platz will see several stars join the cast for the film.  Mickey Rourke (Iron Man 2), Jason Statham (Crank), Christopher Walken (Scott’s True Romance), and Javier Bardem (Vicky Cristina Barcelona) are all on board, so says The Playlist.  The film is about:

…a drama about two soldiers in a New Jersey-based crime family who try to expand internationally. The title is a placeholder for now, as it will change to match the location shift from Germany to Puerto Rico. The film is based on an the original script by Buddy Giovinazzo (“Life Is Hot In Cracktown”) that has been re-written by the “Sexy Beast” team of David Scinto and Louis Mellis.

Potsdamer Platz, if indeed the title changes, is actually a busy trade center in Germany where a train station resides.  Sounds kinda like Scott’s last film, especially if there is a hi-jacking.  But should we expect anything else really? Scott has made a career out of middling actioners and with this cast being assembled, the expectations might be slightly higher, but essentially the same.  Let me know if you think this could be a worthwhile endeavor based on this info. I’ll provide more on the project as it comes in.

Zach Galifianakis and Amy Adams are in negotiations to star in the comedy Town House for Fox, a project originally conceived in 2007 that was interrupted by the writer’s strike at the end of the year with director John Carney (Once) attached.

From Variety, the story is loosely based on Tish Cohen’s novel of the same name about an agoraphobic (Galifianakis) and his son who live in an historic Boston townhouse inherited through his rock-star father. With monetary troubles, he’s forced to come to terms with life as he establishes a relationship with a call girl (Adams).

Doug Wright and Carney himself adapted the script, which will be produced by Ridley and Tony Scott through their production house Scott Free.

Amy Adams is one of my favorite actresses and almost criminally underutilized and under-appreciated. She gave the best performance in the otherwise stagey and overbearing Doubt, then was given the lesser of two roles in Nora Ephron’s Julie & Julia, which hit theaters late this summer. She does have performances in the upcoming romantic-comedy Leap Day and in David O. Russell’s The Fighter opposite Christian Bale and Mark Wahlberg, a project which once had David Aronofsky tapped to direct.

Zach Galifianakis, a key cast-member in the smash-hit The Hangover, will be Seth Rogen-busy over the next few years, including another odyssey with Bradley Cooper, Ed Helms and the “Hangover” boys.

Town House is set to start filming next summer.

I thought I told you that we won’t stop.  Or something like that. Tony Scott’s Unstoppable has Chris Pine and Denzel Washington in starring roles to this point, but now Variety is reporting that actress Rosario Dawson (25^thHour) has joined the cast as well. We have been following this film’s bumpy track to the big screen for a while here at The Film Nest. We previously reported on Washington leaving the cast, only to return a few weeks later after ironing out some salary and budgetary issue with 20^th Century Fox.

Dawson has made quite a career lately out of playing the lead’s girlfriend in her last few screen appearances, most recently playing Will Smith’s love interest in last year’s, Seven Pounds. There is no word on what role she will be playing in Unstoppable, but I’m going to take a guess and say she will play either Pine’s girlfriend or Washington’s daughter.  I, for one, will gladly see Ms. Dawson in anything, her scenes in Oliver Stone’s Alexander were the only tolerable parts in the overly long biopic. What do you think about this news?

In April, we mentioned that Denzel Washington would re-team with The Taking of Pelham 123 director Tony Scott for Unstoppable. A little over a month ago, we reported that Chris Pine was added to the cast.  A few weeks ago, Denzel announced that he was leaving the runaway train project. It now seems that Washington is indeed back on the film after working out contract disputes with 20^th Century Fox reports IGN. The movie has Washington, as an engineer who teams with a conductor played by Pine (Star Trek) to rein in an unmanned train that’s carrying a load of toxic material. Washington left the project after the studio wanted to cut the budget on the film to $90 million. The studio also wanted the Oscar-winning actor to shave $4 million from his paycheck, but it seems he has worked out a deal to stay with the film. Unstoppable has resumed pre-production and is on schedule to begin filming in the Fall.

Tony & DW will work again.

I think 20^th Century Fox were just tightening their belts because of the economy.  No studio right now wants to spend millions on anything but a sure fire hit. Another reason is most likely the box office performance of their last collaboration Pelham 123, which is winding down at $63mm in domestic gross versus a $100 million budget since its release in June. What do you guys think? Are you ready for another Scott-Washington flick so soon?  Denzel Washington can currently be seen in the brand new Book of Eli trailer.

Written by special “The Film Nest” guest contributor, Rob R. (Raging Rob in the Comments section).

This summer movie season thus far has been filled with mutants, star ships, angels and demons, and some really hungover guys. What we need now is another remake, right? Well, maybe not, but this movie, The Taking of Pelham 123, is the first action thriller of the summer. Its directed by Tony Scott and stars two acting powerhouses in John Travolta and Denzel Washington. Every director has one actor that they love to work with and for Tony Scott, that must be Denzel Washington. Pelham marks their fourth collaboration together after Crimson Tide, Man on Fire and Déjà Vu.

The Taking of Pelham 123, is a remake of the 1974 film of the same name. The original starred Walter Matthau and Robert Shaw in the roles now played by Travolta and Washington. The plot of this new version has Travolta as Ryder, the leader of a group of thugs who take over the New York City “Pelham 123″ subway car. Once they have successfully done so, they threaten to kill the hostages within an hour unless a ransom in the amount of $10 million cash is paid. Every minute over the hour that their money is not received, a passenger will be executed. The man unlucky enough to have the only line of communication with Travolta’s hijacker is Walter Garber, played by Denzel Washington. Garber, a veteran of the transportation system, is just sitting in as a train dispatcher after having been involved in a scandal of sorts. The two men develop a rapport with one another over the notion that Ryder feels both of them have been screwed by New York City. As the minutes count down, it’s a race against the clock to meet the hijackers demands and deliver the money.

"What's scarier, my gun or my facial hair?"

The two leads are portrayed expertly by Washington and Travolta, as both actors are accustomed to the type of roles they are playing here. Washington is a likable guy, as he is in most of his other films, and Travolta gets to go for broke as the crazy hijacker, not unlike his characters in Broken Arrow, or even Face/Off. I even wondered as I watched this, how it would’ve played out if they had switched roles? Travolta (without the silly toupee he normally sports) definitely got the flashier part, as he sports a handlebar mustache and neck tattoo. He also punctuates the end of every line with a resounding “mother fucker!”

Director Tony Scott, (Ridley’s Gladiator brother) has a very unique style of shooting movies; if you’ve seen any of his recent work, you know what I mean. He uses a lot of flash cuts, slow motion, desaturated colors, and grain. Pelham is no different, however his style does seem a little more toned down compared to his other efforts. It’s a very intense movie, with a ticker coming up every so often to inform us of the deadline for the hijackers money. The movie kept the frantic pace up almost to the very end. Unfortunately, I think that it goes on a little too long as after the film moves from out of the subway car it just feels padded for extra time. I would’ve liked to see a more concise ending that matched what the rest of the film was building up to. If you’ve seen most of the bigger movies released this summer and are looking to see something that’s not filled with CGI yet has some meat to it, I would certainly recommend going for a ride with the boys on subway car “Pelham 123.”

In a move I hadn’t remotely anticipated when I wrote last week’s “First Features” column on Tony Scott’s The Hunger, according to MTV Movies Blog, the director is eyeing a sequel to the now 26-year-old film.

“I’m controlling [the "Hunger" sequel] and it’s gone to the next level. It’s not a reinvention or reinterpretation,” Scott told Coming Soon. “It starts in New York and it ends up in Sao Paulo, so it’s a very different movie, but it springboards off the original. We’re writing it right now and we’ve got a great writer, Erinn Wilson.”

I assure you the film doesn’t merit a sequel in the least. What’s interesting to think is how his style has developed over time. I pointed out several differences in the post, but now maybe the sequel would be tinged in green, have extremely fast cuts and star Denzel Washington. Of course with vampire-related entertainment never going out of style and reaching a peak with Twilight and HBO’s “True Blood,” which I compared The Hunger to in it’s shunning of vampire conventions, perhaps this was inevitable.

It seems like Scott has been linked to a lot of projects lately and with the underperformance of The Taking of Pehlam 1 2 3 last weekend, perhaps he’d better focus on something new. This sounds like a bizarre idea to me, but the film would undoubtedly be seen by more people than Scott’s intial foray into the world of vampires. Would have any interest in this project?

With Tony Scott’s The Taking of Pelham 1 2 3 to be released on Friday, “First Features“ takes a look at his feature directorial debut, The Hunger.

Ahh, vampirism. That horrific act of drinking another person’s blood to grant yourself eternal life which Hollywood has been obsessed with since its inception. Nosferatu, Dracula and even Shadow of the Vampire. The title characters of all those films are usually the same. The vampire has long fangs. He bites his victims on the neck, leaving two marks. He can’t go outside during the daytime. He can transform himself into a bat if necessary, as if he were a Noctobot. Strangely, Tony Scott’s 1983 vampire film, The Hunger possesses almost none of these qualities.

The dreaded mouth-period.

Miriam Blaylock (Catherine Deneuve) is a centuries old vampire, who must prey on the blood of humans to keep her immortality. She promises the same shot of living forever to her lovers in exchange for their blood. The catch, unbeknownst to them, is that although they live forever, their youthful appearance only lasts for so long. Once that time is up, they age faster than Robin Williams in Jack.

Miriam’s current lover is John (David Bowie). He’s content with his ability to engorge himself on the flesh of hot young things, until it’s apparent his time has come and his youthfulness wears off. Although his appearance was the product of an otherworldly gift (curse?), he decides to seek out a human doctor, Dr. Roberts (Susan Sarandon), who specializes in cases of rapid aging. Initially, she dismisses his claim as a hoax, but offers her assistance after offending him.

Dr. Roberts shows up at the Blaylock’s residence after it’s too late for John. Miriam tells her he had fled overseas, but invites Dr. Roberts inside anyway. Miriam turns up her charm toward Dr. Roberts and 25 plus years prior to Lesbian Vampire Killers, effectively seduces her. Dr. Roberts, now inflicted with the desire to suck the blood the blood of others, is none too pleased. She has to figure out a way to kill the immortal Miriam and release herself from the acquired curse.

"I've looked through all these books and can't find anything about female-female Kama Sutra."

As previously mentioned, aside from sucking blood, none of the typical vampiric traits pop-up in the film. Nobody sports any fangs, no bats make an appearance and although things are largely devoid of sun, the characters still enter the daylight. With it’s shunning of normal vampire clichés, The Hunger most closely resembles Alan Ball’s HBO series, the campy/realistic “True Blood.” It owes almost nothing to the vampire films which preceded it, which is a refreshing take on a long-in-the-blood-sucking-tooth genre.

After directing a TV episode and a couple of shorter films, Tony Scott graduated to directing features with this film. Strangely, like the film to its predecessors, the visual style bears little resemblance to the rest of Scott’s oeuvre, especially that of his next film, Top Gun. In fact, The Hunger is atrociously slow. It’s no wonder Scott would later usher in the ADD-style quick-cutting technique to adhere to the MTV generation.

Perhaps the film looks slightly larger under Scott’s tutelage than it would under someone else’s watchful eye, but there’s very little hinting toward his future career. The green tint his films have been bathed in for the past several years has no presence here. If anything, the film leans toward an amber hue. There are also a lot of flowing curtains which make it look like a music video from the era. In fact, the look of the film reminds me of the music video Jim Carrey is in at the beginning of the Dirty Harry film, The Dead Pool. The music and the whole ambience of that video seem to be directly transported from The Hunger. It’s a film for the goth chic, over a decade before The Crow.

Fans of Scott will undoubtedly feel amiss taking a gander at this film. The Jerry Bruckheimer-fueled blockbusters of Scott’s future show no traces here and the film itself provides little of interest aside from the vampire film with nary a cliché. Regardless of your opinion on Scott’s filmmaking nowadays, it’s impossible to argue that he’s improved his directorial style immensely, as well as developing a look and feel that’s uniquely his. The Hunger is as much an oddity in Scott’s resume as its leading man.

Buy this First Feature here.

Hot off the success of J. J. Abrams’ Star Trek, the man tapped as “next to blow” due to his being Captain Kirk, Chris Pine, is set to star alongside Denzel Washington for Tony Scott’s Unstoppable.

This is the first deal Pine has inked since Star Trek‘s release, but he’s already starred in two other films that have yet to be released, Carriers and Small Town Saturday Night. I’m sure it’ll a great thing for those movies as they’ll be able to bank off of his newly sparked star wattage and yet were able to sign him before he became a star. Fantastic luck for them.

As for Unstoppable, Pine will play a train conductor who joins a green engineer (Washington) on one train as they pursue a runaway carrying a cargo of toxic chemicals.

If you were so inclined, here’s a video from MTV Movies Blog outside of the MTV Movie Awards showing Denzel spilling the beans.

How big a star do you think Pine will be? We’ll set our measurables as Will Smith, Jason Statham or Liam Neeson.

Denzel Washinton is in talks to star in yet ANOTHER Tony Scott film. This one is Unstoppable, in which he’d play a train engineer trying to catch-up to and stop a runaway train carrying toxic chemicals. Although Crank is essentially Speed in a human body, this sounds like Crank on a train. [Screening Log]

In some more casting news, Matthew Macfayden will play The Sheriff of Nottingham in Ridley Scott’s Robin Hood. Although I said I liked the first pic, I think I liked the original idea of the film better, when The Sheriff was the good guy. [Filmonic]

Yesterday, we mentioned Robert Rodriguez will direct a reboot of the Predator franchise in the form of Predators. He had a chat with [Aint It Cool News] and answered a bunch of questions about the project. Turns out, he wrote a treatment for the film back in the 90′s.

Also yesterday, we mentioned Joseph Gordon-Levitt was joining a great cast for Christopher Nolan’s Inception. Today, we’re mentioning Michael Caine has also joined. [Flicks News]

Okay, I swear this is the last time I’m mentioning yesterday‘s post. We told you about the new Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen trailer debuting April 29th in front of some screenings of the original Transformers. Well, now you can get tickets.

Gore Verbinski opted to direct BioShock instead of Pirates of the Caribbean 4. Haw-haw. Now BioShock in on hold due to budget concerns and may go the way of the Halo movie. I said, “Haw-haw.” [Kotaku]

That damn “Empire” is at it again, this time with multiple behind-the-scenes pics from James Cameron’s upcoming Avatar. I look forward to not being suprised at all when I get to pick up the magazine for myself next week. [Market Saw]

Finally, stay after the credits when you see X-Men Origins: Wolverine next week, as it apparently has mutiple endings afterward. [Sci Fi Scoop]

Have a great weekend, everybody. I hope your NFL team drafts the guy you want.

Another day’s worth of film news for you from around the globe.  Let us know what intrigues you the most and enjoy.

[Cinema Blend] reveals that Leonardo DiCaprio is going to be a fighting killer in Button Man which is adapted from a comic strip.  A refreshingchange of pace for Leo it sounds like.

[Screenhead] dishes on Tobey Maguire pushing it to The Limit (not like the Scarface song), as a race car driver in a movie will both star in and produce.

Rob Zombie gives [MTV] the details of his Tyrannosaurus Rex, an “incredibly violent 70′s action movie. Not a horror film.” Think Raging Bull, I suppose.

The Scarlett Letter retelling has Emma Stone leading the cast in what is currently titled Easy A.  Not to be confused with Eazy-E, the late deceased rapper. [Collider]

Now, we might not be able to call the Karate Kid remake, a remake after all, since it the Jackie Chan and Jaden Smith starrer has a new title, The Kung Fu Kid.  Those crazy Hollywood producers have me fooled now. [Screenrant]

We missed last week’s [Entertainment Today and Beyond] blog dish on Tony Scott’s new Unstoppable movie.  It’s an action movie on a train and with action being Scott’s specialty, expect a big name to star.

Jonathan Levine, The Wackness director has a new project in The Sitter, an update of sorts on the “classic” 1987 pic Adventures in Babysitting. [The Moving Picture]

“An All New World Awaits” for James Cameron’s Avatar and [Filmonic] has some coverage on film coming to IMAX later this year.

Paul Bettany will star in Priest, based on a Korean comic-book which melds the horror and Western genres. [Superhero Hype]

Roberto Orci & Alex Kurtzman, co-writers of Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen, have a lot to say to [Sci-Fi Wire] about the robots in the movie and Leonard Nimoy voicing one of them.