robert rodriguez

What exactly do producer Robert Rodriguez and director Nimrod Antal have up their sleeves that will re-vitalize the Predator franchise after suffering increasingly lukewarm installments? SXSW attendees will get to find out on March 12 at 10:15pm, when Rodriguez and Antal take the stage at the Alamo Drafthouse Ritz in Austin, Texas for a special extended sneak preview of this Summer's Predators.

The sci-fi action film stars Adrien Brody as a mercenary who bands with a group of cutthroat human survivors on an alien world, awaiting their turn as the Predators' game. The film co-stars Topher Grace, Alice Braga, and Lawrence Fishburne. "My director Nimród Antal and I are excited to bring this first look at Predators to Austin's SXSW Film Festival, an event that's become vital to the filmmaking scene," said Rodriguez in a press statement. "Austin is my home and I'm proud that Predators was conceived and filmed here."

Most are viewing Predators as the second sequel to 1987's Predator, and not the fifth in the series -- ignoring the two AVP films all together. One of the problems with the franchise has been finding a decent foil for the Predator to hunt. No one has come close to the swaggering, larger-than-life hero that Arnold Schwarzenegger played so well in the original film. On paper, it doesn't seem like Brody is any better a choice than Danny Glover or Sanaa Lathan, but we'll know if Brody's got the goods by the time Predators hits theatres on July 9, 2010.

With the critical verdict on Nimrod Antal's Armored being about as favorable as you could hope for, things are looking brighter all the time for Antal's directorial involvement on the Robert Rodriguez-produced Predators. The cast on Predators was already looking pretty damn solid: Adrian Brody, Danny Trejo and Topher Grace. Now, you can add Laurence Fishburne to the list.

Dispatched from a visit to the Predators set in Austin, JoBlo.com broke the news of Fishburne's spot in the cast, as well as a little bit on his character. Noland, unlike most of his comrades, is not new to the Predator-hunting game, in fact, he's something of a seasoned veteran. From Othello to Morpheus to "Whitey" Powers, Fishburne has honed that badass on-screen persona, so I definitely buy the guy as someone who has seen a few scuffles with a Predator over the years.

As far as hearsay goes on the project, according to Ain't It Cool News, everyone has been pretty bowled over by what Rodriguez and Co. have cooked up on the Predators set. With a July 7, 2010 release date and the film nearing the end of production, you have to figure we can't be too far off from a teaser of some sort.

This movie should've happened fifteen years ago, and it should've starred Tim Allen. It didn't, so here we are in 2009 talking about whether or not a live-action movie based on Hanna-Barbera's animated "futuristic" sitcom The Jetsons will ever see the light of day.

Pajiba says yes, and they say that Peter Segal (Get Smart, Tommy Boy) is the director currently circling the long-dormant project. Director Robert Rodriguez (Shorts) was once enthusiastic about taking a crack at the material, but Warner Brothers wants to move on the project soon and Rodriguez keeps a full plate. Unlike Pajiba, though, I don't see this potential shift in directors as a huge step down.

Segal is studio-slick in a way that Rodriguez isn't, and I think he's better able to create a film that would appeal to both adults and kids. Rodriguez's The Jetsons would certainly be funky, but his family film output, while imaginative, is often too immature for grown-up tastes. I'm still hopeful about the project, despite the existence of two completely forgettable mega-budget Flintstones feature films, proving that I'm just a total nerd when it comes to Hanna-Barbera cartoons.

By: Elisabeth Rappe

When you think of a man of brawn who can outwit the ruthless Predator, you think of two men: Arnold Schwarzenegger and Adrien Brody. What, you didn't picture that last one? Well, Robert Rodriguez and Nimrod Antal did. According to The Hollywood Reporter, Brody and Topher Grace are both set to join Alice Braga, Mahershalalhashbaz Ali, Walt Goggins, Danny Trejo and Oleg Taktarov in Predators, a franchise reboot of sorts that will follow several of earth's "killers" who are kidnapped and dropped on the Predator's home planet for a game of hide, seek and be brutally murdered.

All joking aside, Brody and Grace's unassuming demeanors will be a big part of their characters. Brody will play a soldier forced to become a leader (presumably because the Predator killed the old one), but is fit for the job because he's "a hunter of men." Grace will play a nerdy, accountant type whose very ordinariness hides the fact that he's a serial killer.

Check out the rest of the cast over at Cinematical

While we sit around waiting for Robert Rodriguez to make a live-action Jetsons movie (if it ever actually happens), the folks over at College Humor have thankfully pieced together a brand new intro for the Jetsons cartoon that, well, extends the story a bit. George has his wife and two kids, sure, but what we now find out thanks to this never-before-aired footage is that apart from having an ex-wife and another kid, George is also screwing around with Rosie the Robot (in more ways than one) and ... um ... maybe you should just watch the video for yourselves.

After the jump: The brand spanking new (and hilarious) Jetsons show intro ...

Lots of movie geeks (yes, like us) have been abuzz with the vague discussions regarding the Predator remake / reboot / sequel / whatever. All we really knew was that the generally kick-ass Robert Rodriguez was on board to oversee, as the producer, but now we have confirmation have Robert's good pal that the director has been named. And that name ... is Nimrod.

Nimrod Antal, to be precise, who fest-goers will know from Kontroll and thriller fans will recall from Vacancy. Harry's got a whole bunch of cool info on the project right here, but I've chosen a small segment that makes me particularly happy: "It involves a very intense group of people stranded on a Predator planet discovering unspeakable horrors." Yes! Plus Mr. Rodriguez shares some enthusiasm from a Fox colleague: "No one is going to talk about AVP again after this movie. I stake my life on it."

Read the rest at Cinematical

We were skeptical when it was announced that Robert Rodriguez was producing a new Predator movie titled Predators, but if this very cool rumor is correct then here's a film that just shot up to the top of our Awesomeness meter. Here's Peter Martin reporting for Cinematical:

My principles may be crumbling, just a little. Neil Marshall (pictured) is in talks to direct Predators, according to Bloody Disgusting, citing an anonymous tipster. At this point, it's very much a rumor -- for all we know, Marshall was visiting a friend in the commissary at 20th Century Fox and was seen in close proximity to an executive -- but of all the possible candidates to helm a sequel to the alien hunter franchise, I'd definitely be down with Marshall.

He has three features to his credit: The Descent is the best and most widely-acclaimed, a feverish nightmare in which a group of women explore a cave and discover deadly denizens, to their dismay. I got a huge kick out of the bloody, funny, pulse-pounding Dog Soldiers, featuring Scottish soldiers on a training run who encounter werewolves, and, though I was decidedly in the minority, really enjoyed the post-Apocalyptic action epic Doomsday. The latter was his first with a Hollywood studio (Rogue Pictures). Upcoming is his "old-style swords 'n' armor action epic" Centurion, which looks promising but doesn't yet have US distribution.

Read the rest at Cinematical

Discuss: Is Neil Marshall the right man to breathe life back into this sci-fi franchise?