Contraband

So just how busy is Martin Scorsese at any given moment? Well, here's a taste: he's currently in post-production on his next feature, "The Wolf Of Wall Street," he's producing a documentary about the late Roger Ebert, working on a movie project about the New York Review Of Books, developing a TV series based on "Gangs Of New York," executive producing new films for Luc Besson and Andrew Lau, and he also signed up to direct a documentary about Bill Clinton for HBO. And this is all stuff that happened in 2013. So is it a surprise that something that cropped up in 2011 might not be happening? Way back then you'll remember that Scorsese had put an adaptation of Jo Nesb?'s serial killer novel "The Snowman" on his plate, but alas, it seems it's not to be. Norwegian paper Afterposten reports (via News And Views From Norway) the lengthy waiting period for Scorsese has caused producers to start looking at other directors to take it on. Baltasar Kormakur ("Contraband") and Morten...

Well, Universal was expected to make an announcement this week and indeed, almost seven days since the news that Justin Lin wouldn't be directing "Fast & Furious 7," the studio has found their man. And it's none of the rumored Brad Furman, Harald Zwart or Jeff Wadlow. Rather surprisingly, it's low budget horror sensation James Wan -- "Saw," "Insidious" and this summer's "The Conjuring" -- who has landed the job. Deadline reveals that Universal has actually known Lin wouldn't be back since Sundance, and so they've been considering a number of options including the aforementioned Zwart and Wadlow, along with Baltasar Kormakur ("Contraband," the upcoming "2 Guns"). But Wan is the guy they are in negotiations with, and it's intriguing to say the least. It will be the first time the helmer has worked with a budget that is likely going to be nine figures (you could make about eleventy billion "Insidious" movies with that kind of cash), and surely the most major set pieces he's ever...