This news won’t be a surprise to anyone as we’ve all been expecting it, but Vulture has word that J.J. Abrams “has finally committed to shooting Star Trek 2″.

Over the past year Abrams has been busy directing Super 8 so he was only able to focus his attention on Star Trek 2 this summer. Writers Damon Lindelof, Bob Orci and Alex Kurtzman have since been working on the script based on a 70 page outline they had in May, which now looks to be developed enough for Abrams to commit as director.

Vulture says “pre-production is underway”, “the script will be done by month’s end” and “Abrams will start shooting this winter”. Paramount had originally set a June 29, 2012 release date for the sequel, but the delay in filming caused them to give G.I. Joe 2: Retaliation that slot. The studio will likely be aiming for a summer 2013 release, unless they want to rush it for late-2012 (which is already pretty crowded).

Chris Pine, Zoe Saldana, Zachary Quinto, Karl Urban, Simon Pegg, Anton Yelchin and John Cho are all expected to return.

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On paper, action and horror can seem like a match made in heaven. Suspense and scares meets combat and destruction; complete with a supernatural presence. This combination has been hit-or-miss in the last decade (scales tipping on the side of miss). Flicks such as Blade and Underworld faired better using this formula than say Doom or the last few Resident Evil installments. So the brief 87 minute feature that is Priest, had a choice of either sticking to the pattern its predecessors in the genre have followed; or try shaking things up. Let’s just say, one will be able to tell exactly how this will be handled after the first five minutes.

Based off the graphic novel series, the story chronicles the war between vampires and humans.This war is similar to the Crusades fought in the Holy Land centuries ago.  Vampires dominated the battles for years, until the church found a secret weapon in a group of gifted individuals, creatively titled “Priests.” This blessed army captured the momentum and vanquished the vampires into a quarantined area of sorts; away from the handful of fortress-like cities that still remain. After the war was won, the Priests were disbanded and scattered throughout the Cathedral cities.

The most talented of the bunch, Priest (Paul Bettany), roams the streets in robes stolen from George Lucas’ Jedi closest. Keeping a reluctant low-profile, he senses that the vampire creatures are still along the outskirts of the massive city walls. His instincts prove true, when a young local sheriff (Cam Gigandet) goes looking for Priest, alerting him about a deadly attack on his brother’s (True Blood’s Stephen Moyer doing a cameo – or favor) land. Priest learns that his bro’s 18 year-old daughter (Lily Collins) has been taken by this rogue colony, and begs the head of the catholic order (Christopher Plummer) to allow him to leave the confines of the city to investigate. When he is told to behave, he goes against orders; and with the help of the ambitious, yet in over-his-head sheriff, they track down the vamps that kidnapped his last remaining relative.

No…There is no depiction of the great war between vampires and mankind. Unless you count the quick Anime that ran in the beginning to bring the audience up-to-speed on the back-story. It’s pretty much our quiet duo (each of them say about two sentences in every scene) riding motorcycles taken off the set of Escape from New York or Beyond Thunderdome, through baron wastelands.

The scenery and coloring are designed  to show an apocalyptic atmosphere. Think the 2010’s Book of Eli. When the action takes place against vampires, who are more creature-like than human (no eyes, walk on all fours, have a body like Gollum on steroids, can‘t speak), the fight choreography is emulating a videogame. Our lead isn’t armed with a ton of cool weapons (mainly knives & cross-shaped shooting stars); but the CGI vamp action is executed well enough to catch the eye. Issue that arises is that these are the only times where the characters begin to have a pulse.

Karl Urban ends up being the antagonist (finally) and his character is the most intriguing, since little development is given to any of the others. Why these Priests are so special is vaguely expounded upon. It’s just a shame Urban’s scenes were all too short, save for the uneventful final one-on-one battle. Whether or not writer Cory Goodman & director Scott Charles Stewart were sticking to the Korean comic this story was based off (a western-horror), the cinematography suggest they were big fans of the Star War’s footage on Tatooine. You know, when Anakin Skywalker snapped and started slashing up “Sand People.” And when you factor in the set designs and technology they tossed in, it felt as if John Carpenter decided to make a third Snake Plissken movie (Escape from NY & L.A.). At least they provided a nice scope of the surroundings.

Frankly, that is one of the few elements that kept yours truly interested – comparing sequences to cinema’s past – since the under-developed story will fail to keep your attention. With that said, one will enjoy their over-indulgence in the cinematic wide-shots they constantly execute. After you realize the dialogue is essentially worthless, and the story is about as smooth as sandpaper, the visuals are the only elements to keep one attentive, as this story quickly moves into a new setting (inside mountains, beat-up towns, and a train for good measure). Although, the epic sounding musical score is so out of place, and introduced at all the wrong times, it will get you chuckling. The sounds needed to be moody, not Passion of the Christ.

Overall, Priest probably has enough sustenance to please the niche market of this genre. It’s not painful to sit through but it will not give your system a jolt. Be sure to save your money and avoid doing the 3D screenings. The atmosphere is there, but the uncontrollable tone, cardboard characters, and fundamental screenplay & edit, suggests that a re-watch of Blade II may satisfy your craving for this type of material. The filmmakers played it a little too safe here. Someone needs to go for it and try to evolve this genre.

RATING: 2 out of 5

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Screen Gems has released a new trailer for Priest, a post-apocalyptic sci-fi thriller starring Paul Bettany as a priest who lives in obscurity until his niece is abducted by a murderous pack of vampires.

On his travels he is joined by a trigger-fingered young wasteland sheriff (Cam Gigandet), and a former Warrior Priestess (Maggie Q) who possesses otherworldly fighting skills. Karl Urban also appears as Black Hat, a former Christian and currently a Satanist who is a cult leader of a group of vampires.

Watch the trailer below:

Priest will be released on May 13th, which means it will have to compete with Thor and Pirates of the Caribbean: On Stranger Tides.

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A concept artist working on the new film adaptation of Judge Dredd (seemingly titled Dredd at the moment) has posted what is apparently the first look at Karl Urban as the title character. You’re not missing much in the above pic (Ain’t It Cool News are hosting a ginormous version here), but hit the jump for more information about the film.

Well, firstly…it looks a bit big / clunky, doesn’t it? The picture of the suit was apparently snapped during rehearsals, but hopefully someone will realise that the helmet looks MODOK-sized soon. The image seemingly originated on 2000ADOnline. Kudos to AICN for the find.

Judge Dredd is a British sci-fi comic book series, set in a future where “Judges” in a violent city chase down criminals to arrest and / or execute them. So essentially, they go around kicking ass. As usual, if you want to know more, Wikipedia is your friend. The comic was previously made into a film in 1995 with Sylvester Stallone in the lead role – that adaptation has a 15% rating on Rotten Tomatoes, so I think the least said about it, the better.

Dredd is being directed by Pete Travis (Vantage Point, Endgame), from a script by Alex Garland (28 Days Later, Sunshine, Never Let Me Go; author of The Beach). Duncan Jones (Moon) turned down an offer to direct the film, stating that he wanted to take it in a very different direction to Garland’s screenplay. Both Jones and John Wagner (creator of Judge Dredd, who is supervising the new movie) had good things to say about the current script though.

Apparently Dredd (as in the comics), will never take his helmet off. Will this be an issue for audiences who want to relate to a main character? This was one of the key issues standing in the way of a Halo movie.

Urban as Judge Dredd is joined by Olivia Thirlby as Judge Anderson, and the movie will see a 2012 release.

I’m not too familiar with Judge Dredd as a comic, and while Vantage Point was pretty good, I don’t think that’s enough for me to completely Judge (haha…) director Pete Travis on. Still, this could be good.

Any fans of the comic out there have any views?

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If you’ve seen the trailer for Red, you know exactly what you’re getting yourself into. There’s no deception with this marketing campaign: if you’re the type of person who digs movies in which bullets and bazookas are fired at the same time and collide in the middle (causing a massive explosion, naturally), chances are you’ll probably like this movie.

Based on the comic by Warren Ellis and Cully Hamner, Red tells the story of Frank Moses (Willis), a lonely, retired CIA black ops agent. He calls the agency just to speak with the cute customer service rep Sarah (Parker), and the two have a blossoming friendship over the phone. But when a team of agents breaks into Moses’ apartment to kill him, he knows that Sarah’s life is in danger, too. In order to stay alive, he has to “[get] the band back together” by reassembling his old (hiYO!) team: Joe (Freeman), an 80-year-old rascal; Marvin (Malkovich), made insane by years of government testing; and Victoria (Mirren), a woman who can’t force herself to fully retire. Hunted by up-and-coming agent Cooper (Karl Urban), the gang gets caught up in the remnants of a operation they worked on thirty years prior.

This movie is utterly inconsequential, but that’s exactly what it’s aiming for. The writing provides plenty of opportunities to let loose and have some fun, with almost all of the leads playing variations of characters they’ve depicted on screen before. Freeman and Willis fell right back into their natural chemistry from Lucky Number Slevin, almost as if they never left that film’s set. Malkovich was perfectly crazy, striking just the right balance of slapstick and insanity. And as the action comedy equivalent of Betty White, it was surprisingly exhilarating to see Helen Mirren (notable for playing traditional, serious roles) brazenly fire automatic weapons until all of the cartridges were spent. And Mary-Louise Parker played the “Cameron Diaz in Knight and Day” part with such effortless charm and humor that I was instantly enamored with her.

The supporting cast is really a joy to watch, with hugely entertaining performances from the always-reliable Brian Cox and Richard Dreyfuss. Even Ernest Borgnine has a small role, sure to raise the enjoyment of the older audience this film caters to. But the break-out to me was easily Karl Urban (who played Dr. Leonard “Bones” McCoy in J.J. Abrams’ Star Trek) as Cooper, standing out in an office fight scene with Willis that cements him as one of the next big blockbuster stars. [He's already been signed to play Judge Dredd in a reboot of that franchise.] Cooper’s casual indifference when executing orders was effectively chilling, and his go-getter attitude seems to mirror Urban’s own rise to movie stardom.

Perhaps my biggest surprise was with the assured confidence of the film itself, handled notably well by director Robert Schwentke. His filmography thus far (Flightplan, The Time Traveler’s Wife) didn’t seem to indicate he could pull off this type of tone, but he did an admirable job portraying the action, thankfully avoiding the quick-cut mantra of action films of the past decade. (It’s so refreshing to see an action movie that doesn’t give you a headache.) There are a couple of excellent sequences, one involving a car crash and Willis (predictably) being a total badass, and one involving the destruction of a house reminiscent of The Rocketeer and The Book of Eli.

Red is pure, self-assured escapism. It’ll surely become a staple of cable networks in the next few years, but there’s nothing wrong with that – especially when the movie is as fun as this one. The cast practically oozes enthusiasm, and their excitement seems to complement the ridiculous nature of this movie. I’d definitely recommend checking this one out if you’re a fan of the action comedy genre; Red continues this year’s trend of “team up” action flicks, but this one falls more on the The A-Team side than The Expendables side. Until next time…

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Screen Gems has released the first official trailer for Priest, a post-apocalyptic sci-fi thriller starring Paul Bettany as a priest who lives in obscurity until his niece is abducted by a murderous pack of vampires.

On his travels he is joined by a trigger-fingered young wasteland sheriff (Cam Gigandet), and a former Warrior Priestess (Maggie Q) who possesses otherworldly fighting skills. Karl Urban also appears as Black Hat, a former Christian and currently a Satanist who is a cult leader of a group of vampires.

Watch the trailer below:

Director Scott Charles Stewart is also responsible for Legion (also starring Paul Bettany) which looked cool but wasn’t all that in the end. Because of this i’m expecting an average movie, despite being slightly impressed with the trailer.

Priest will be released on May 13th, which means ir is slotted in between Thor and Pirates of the Caribbean: On Stranger Tides. Will the competition suck it dry, or will the vampire craze continue?

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Hollywood has always had an obsession with casting young, good looking actors and actresses in movies so they can capture the teen demographic. However Bradley Cooper getting his abs out in The A-Team and Zoe Saldana firing guns in her underwear in The Losers is nothing compared to Dame Helen Mirren, John Malkovich and Morgan Freeman kicking ass in Red.

A second trailer for the film was revealed today at Comic-Con, and you can watch it below;

Red, directed by Robert Schwentke (Flightplan and The Time Traveler’s Wife) is the story of Frank Moses (Willis), a former black-ops CIA agent, who is now living a quiet life. That is, until the day a hi-tech assassin shows up intent on killing him. With his identity compromised and the life of the woman he cares for endangered, Frank reassembles his old team (Freeman, Malkovich and Mirren) in a last ditch effort to survive.

The film also includes Brian Cox as a former Cold War spy and nemesis of Willis, Richard Dreyfuss as a wealthy man who builds a fortune out of lucrative government contracts, and Julian McMahon as the Vice President with a dark side who is at the center of a conspiracy.

Red will be released by Summit Entertainment on October 15th.

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Helen Mirren firing a 50-caliber machine gun, Morgan Freeman getting frisky looking at ladies bottoms, John Malkovich getting all paranoid thinking that everyone is out to kill him, and Bruce Willis having a brutal fight in an office with Karl Urban.

I present to you the teaser trailer for Red!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_EREb0EZHHE

Red, directed by Robert Schwentke (Flightplan and The Time Traveler’s Wife) is the story of Frank Moses (Willis), a former black-ops CIA agent, who is now living a quiet life. That is, until the day a hi-tech assassin shows up intent on killing him. With his identity compromised and the life of the woman he cares for endangered, Frank reassembles his old team (Freeman, Malkovich and Mirren) in a last ditch effort to survive.

The film also includes Brian Cox as a former Cold War spy and nemesis of Willis, Richard Dreyfuss as a wealthy man who builds a fortune out of lucrative government contracts, and Julian McMahon as the Vice President with a dark side who is at the center of a conspiracy.

Summit Entertainment has set an October 15th release date for Red. It’s good to see they are putting their revenue from Twilight into good use.

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Shooting of Robert Schwentke’s adaptation of comic book Red began shooting today in Toronto. I’ll be honest – I know little to nothing about the comics, but they seem to have a cool visual style. Surprisingly it seems to involve a lot of red.

Robert Schwentke’s previous efforts include Flightplan and The Time Traveler’s Wife, which doesn’t put him in a hugely great stead – and the screenplay for Red was written by Jon & Erich Hoeber, who previously scripted 2009′s Whiteout, starring Kate Beckinsale. I haven’t seen Whiteout, but it didn’t get brilliant reviews… Why be interested in Red at all then?

The press release, available in its entirety over at Latino Review, lists an absolutely incredible cast: Bruce Willis, Mary-Louise Parker (Weeds), Helen Mirren, Morgan Freeman, John Malkovich, Karl Urban, Brian Cox, and Richard Dreyfuss. It’s star-studded anyway, and I like at least 6 of those actors. And that’s what we want to see.

Our good friend Brucie portrays Paul Moses, a retired CIA agent whose assassination is ordered by said agency’s new director. Naturally, he’s not too happy about it, resulting in many bullets and explosions, presumably. Where have we heard that before? It doesn’t sound original by any means, but then I haven’t read the comics, so I won’t make any assumptions. Well…I can hazard a guess that the plot won’t be majorly involving. I’ll gladly be proved wrong however, and despite the storyline, the combination of a great cast and a striking visual style could make this a very fun watch. We want fun, don’t we?

Red hits screens in October this year.

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MTV have got an exclusive banner from J.J. Abrams’ upcoming Star Trek movie. I have one comment on this. What on earth have they done to Simon Pegg?! Everybody else looks normal apart from him. Bad photoshop work Paramount!

The film stars Chris Pine, Zachary Quinto, John Cho, Ben Cross, Bruce Greenwood, Simon Pegg, Winona Ryder, Zoe Saldana, Karl Urban, Anton Yelchin, Eric Bana, Leonard Nimoy, Marlene Forte, and Jimmy Bennett.

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