The American Film Market is currently under-way and Summit Entertainment used the event to unveil some promotional material for Pompeii, a movie based on the world’s most famous volcanic eruption which killed over 10,000 people in 79 AD.

Paul W. S. Anderson (The Three Musketeers, Resident Evil: Afterlife) is directing, which isn’t encouraging, although Julian Fellowes, writer of the acclaimed ITV drama Downtown Abbey and The Young Victoria, is currently rewriting the script. Anderson may be able to pull it off with a decent script as Pompeii has the potential to be an epic and emotional tale given the subject matter.

Here’s the synopsis:

It’s late summer in 79 A.D. and the city of Pompeii glitters at the foot of the mighty Mt. Vesuvius. MILO, the slave of a shipping tycoon, dreams of the day he will buy his freedom and marry his master’s daughter, COLUMBA. What he doesn’t know is that Columba’s debt-ridden father has promised Columba to a despicable Roman Senator to pay off an overdue loan.

Milo does know that his friend, the Gladiator NIGELLUS, is being forced to compete the next day in a seemingly unwinnable battle in the Coliseum. As Milo tries to find a way to save his friend, he learns that Columba has been promised to another man and that he himself has been sold to a new master. Just as it seems things can’t get any worse, Mt. Vesuvius suddenly explodes with the power of 40 nuclear bombs, sending a torrent of 1,000-degree ash and smoke into the city. Lava flows down the mountainside, killing thousands. As Pompeii crumbles, Nigellus is imprisoned inside the Coliseum, Columba is locked inside her family’s villa, and Milo is trapped aboard a ship bound for Naples.

As the people of Pompeii flee the obliterated city, Milo is determined to return to it to save his friend and his beloved Columba. With fire and ash destroying the only world he’s ever known, an ordinary man is tested to his breaking point in this heart-pounding tale of extraordinary heroism.

In an interview with Collider last month Paul W. S. Anderson said the intention is to shoot next year after he’s finished shooting Resident Evil: Retribution. As well as a young love story, he hopes to focus on the political climate and technological developments of the time, and said he’s taken notes from James Cameron’s Titanic, whereby the audience are already “immersed” in the characters and story before the big disaster comes along.

We’ll probably start hearing more details and casting news early next year.

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There have been many film adaptations of Alexandre Dumas’ classic 1844 novel, but this steampunk-inspired version of The Three Musketeers from the director of Mortal Kombat and Alien vs. Predator looked so purposefully terrible that I just had to see it. Much to my surprise, it turns out that the first half of the movie is totally competent (and even fun!), and it’s not until the latter half when things go off the rails and drag this film down into the realm of the mediocre.

I won’t try to convince you that this is a great movie. But it is a lot better than it has any right to be, and that’s mostly due to the fact that this story, at its heart, is so much fun. There’s heroism, deception, loyalty, betrayal, romance, swordplay – so many classic elements that it’d be hard to completely destroy the inherent awesomeness of this adventure. The screenplay is laced with humor, and for the most part, the actors make it work. (There’s an additional character tossed in for “comedic relief” that was totally unnecessary, but that’s to be expected from almost any studio film like this.)

Another reason this movie is better than it should be is some fantastic casting. Say what you will about the rest of this movie, but the casting director knocked this one out of the park. Logan Lerman is excellent as the cocksure D’Artagnan, turning out my favorite performance of his career. Matthew Macfayden plays the jilted Athos with style, leading the group with a straight face through the film’s wildly anachronistic twists and turns. Up-and-comer Luke Evans (who should be a household name in a few years with upcoming roles in big time projects like The Hobbit) brings just the right level of gravitas to the role of Aramis, something that Charlie Sheen failed to do in my definitive film version of this classic tale, the 1993 Disney film of the same name. Ray Stevenson is the best fit of everyone in the cast for his character, the surly and comedic Porthos. He’s brash, charming, and easily the most entertaining of the heroes.

Perhaps the biggest casting coup was snagging such big names for the villainous roles. Academy Award winner Christoph Waltz doesn’t quite match Tim Curry’s over-the-top sliminess from the ’93 version, but brings his own level of quiet menace to the role of Cardinal Richelieu. Orlando Bloom’s ridiculous haircut makes more of an impression than the actor himself in this movie, but he’s still fun to watch as the dapper and deceptive Duke of Buckingham. Mads Mikkelsen is perfect as the evil Captain Rochefort, and even Milla Jovovich (wife of this film’s director) is sufficiently seductive and well-equipped to handle the action elements of her role as Milady de Winter, the double-crossing assassin and Athos’s former love interest.

I was actually shocked at how much I liked the first half of this movie. The sword fight sequences are spectacularly choreographed, and at no point does it ever feel like a bunch of loosely trained actors swinging fake swords around. Paul W.S. Anderson’s direction is surprisingly confident and precise, and the editing is simple and effective. The geography of the action is well established at all times, and avoids the shaky cam trend of the past decade. Even the sets are beautiful, and Sony should take a good look at these for its upcoming film adaptation of the Assassin’s Creed video game. It’s only when the movie starts really concentrating on the steampunk elements, introducing giant airships based on stolen designs from Leonardo da Vinci – ahem, Hudson Hawk - that it starts to lose its luster. Because of how solid the first half of the movie was, this part of the film feels like studio intervention (“give us something that looks COOL!”). If they had avoided the ridiculous aspects altogether, this could have been a truly great interpretation of this story.

Despite the dreary second half, I actually liked this movie overall. It’s far better than the “so bad, it’s good” I’d initially hoped for, and if you can sit back and have fun with the spectacle of it, you’re sure to be entertained. I saw it in 3D, which provided some highlights during map transitions between countries and during the Pirates of the Caribbean-inspired airship battles, but ultimately 3D isn’t a necessity for The Three Musketeers. If nothing else, this movie has stopped my knee-jerk reaction to immediately write off Paul W.S. Anderson movies as unwatchable. This is perfect lazy afternoon home video entertainment. Until next time…

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Actress Milla Jovovich took to her Twitter account today to express her frustration about the apparent lack of promotion The Three Musketeers has recieved from Summit Entertainment. The movie hits today in the US but is expected to make half the amount of Paranormal Activity 3 this weekend, and Jovovich thinks Summit is to blame.

Here’s what she had to say to her 825,000 followers: (excuse the spelling, it’s hard to rant with a 140 character limit)

Also, “3 musketeers” opens in the US 2night! Do you think ppl know abt the movie? Ask your friends! Do they know it’s a fun family film?

Are “summit” promoting it as a family adventure movie? Or are they resting on their laurels from “twilight” n making no effort? Let me know!

I think “summit” hve swept “3 Musketeers”, a grt family adventure film, under the rug in the US. Shame on them. SHAME ON YOU “SUMMIT”.

Basically, Jovovich thinks Summit isn’t giving The Three Musketeers the marketing push it deserves because they’re releasing The Twilight Saga: Breaking Dawn – Part 1 in less than a month and are going to be flooded with money anyway. While a valid concern, a closer inspection reveals the movie, directed by her husband Paul W.S. Anderson, is getting pretty shoddy reviews (currently 24% on Rotten Tomatoes) so perhaps Summit don’t want to spend marketing money on a bad movie?

The Three Musketeers has earned $50m worldwide so far, but with a budget said to be around $80m it still has a long way to go before it’s considered a financial success (with the decline in DVD sales movies generally have to make double the budget at the box office to be worthwhile). It certainly isn’t a critical success, regardless of how Summit Entertainment is marketing it.

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Summit Entertainment has released the second official trailer for The Three Musketeers. The movie stars Matthew Macfadyen (Frost/Nixon) as Athos, Logan Lerman (Percy Jackson) as D’Artagnan, Ray Stevenson (Punisher: War Zone) as Porthos, and Luke Evans (Tamara Drewe) as Aramis. Christoph Waltz, Milla Jovovich, Mads Mikkelsen, and Orlando Bloom also appear as villains.

Watch below:

I’m not expecting much, but it looks like it might be fun (if you ignore the inevitably bad dialogue). It has a Pirates of the Caribbean-type vibe to it, which Summit may have been aiming for. Swashbuckling sells

Paul W.S. Anderson (Resident Evil: Afterlife) is directing in 3D, and the movie follows the hot-headed young D’Artagnan (Lerman) who joins forces with three rogue Musketeers (MacFadyen, Evans and Stevenson). They must stop the evil Richlieu (Waltz) and face off with Buckingham (Bloom) and the treacherous M’lady De Winter (Jovovich).

The Three Musketeers will be released October 14.

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Resident Evil: Afterlife made $296 million worldwide last September (thanks to 3D), making it the highest grossing film of the franchise. Mere days after its release Milla Jovovich said there were already plans for a 5th film and director Paul W.S. Anderson, her husband, already had some ideas.

Now according to @ERCboxoffice Screen Gems has set the Resident Evil 5 release date for September 14th, 2012.

Last year Jovovich said “we’ve been talking to a lot of fans on Twitter and stuff, so it’s probably going to be one of the first movies where we really talk to fans to see what they want, and what characters they want to see. It’s going to be a more interactive process.”

If you feel like the past four film have been missing something you want to see, feel free to bombard Jovovich with your requests here.

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Sony has announced that they will be releasing Resident Evil: Afterlife on DVD, Blu-ray and 3D Blu-ray on December 28th.

Despite negative reviews the movie was helped by 3D ticket prices and made $273 million worldwide, which is an all new high for the franchise (Resident Evil: Extinction made $150 million in 2007). Obviously a Resident Evil 5 is in the works so this won’t be the last time we see Milla Jovovich running around with guns.

Check out the specifications below:

• BD Exclusive: PS3 Wallpaper Theme
• BD Exclusive: movieIQ™+sync and BD-Live
• BD Exclusive: Undead Vision: Picture-in-Picture
• BD Exclusive: Deleted & Extended Scenes
• BD Exclusive: Outtakes
• Filmmaker Commentary
• Back Under the Umbrella: Directing Afterlife
• Band of Survivors: Casting Afterlife
• Undead Dimension: Resident Evil in 3D
• Fighting Back: The Action of Afterlife
• Vision of the Apocalypse: The Design of Afterlife
• New Blood: The Undead of Afterlife
• Pwning the Undead: Gamers of the Afterlife

Resident Evil: Afterlife is now available to pre-order on DVD and Blu-ray.

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Negative reviews aside, Resident Evil: Afterlife will open at the #1 spot this weekend with around $28 million (+ $45 million internationally) which is great for a budget of $60 million. Thanks to 3D ticket prices it will probably end up as the highest grossing film of the franchise.

When a franchise continues to provide the goods the makers will be more than happy to continue it, and Milla Jovovich recently revealed that is the intention.

From Vulture:

“This new Resident Evil is the first one to ever open at number one worldwide. It’s the biggest movie in the franchise,” she told us, “So we’re definitely going to make another one,” she said, adding that director Paul W.S. Anderson, her husband, already has some ideas for the fifth Resident Evil installment, and this time he wants the audiences’ ideas, too. “We’ve been talking to a lot of fans on Twitter and stuff, so it’s probably going to be one of the first movies where we really talk to fans to see what they want, and what characters they want to see. It’s going to be a more interactive process.”

You can bombard Jovovich with your requests here.

Did you see Resident Evil: Afterlife this weekend? Where do you think they could go with the 5th film?

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A second movie trailer for Resident Evil: Afterlife has YouTubed its way online. The first half of the trailer gives us more information about the story, where as the second half is just an opportunity for Screen Gems to show off all the scenes they filmed with the ‘latest 3D technology’ (they used the same team behind James Cameron’s Avatar).

Watch the trailer below:

In a world ravaged by a virus infection, turning its victims into the Undead, Alice continues on her journey to find survivors and lead them to safety. Her deadly battle with the Umbrella Corporation reaches new heights, but Alice gets some unexpected help from an old friend. A new lead that promises a safe haven from the Undead leads them to Los Angeles, but when they arrive the city is overrun by thousands of Undead and Alice and her comrades are about to step into a deadly trap.

Resident Evil: Afterlife will be released on September 10th and is directed by Paul W.S. Anderson.

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The marketing machine for Resident Evil: Afterlife just stepped up a gear with the release of the first official poster, along with a bunch of new stills from the film. The image above gives us our first look at Wentworth Miller who plays Chris Redfield alongside Ali Larter (Claire Redfield) and Milla Jovovich (Alice).

Check out the poster below from Ultimate Resident Evil:

You can find more images by heading over to UGO!

In a world ravaged by a virus infection, turning its victims into the Undead, Alice continues on her journey to find survivors and lead them to safety. Her deadly battle with the Umbrella Corporation reaches new heights, but Alice gets some unexpected help from an old friend. A new lead that promises a safe haven from the Undead leads them to Los Angeles, but when they arrive the city is overrun by thousands of Undead and Alice and her comrades are about to step into a deadly trap.

Resident Evil: Afterlife will be released on September 10th and is directed by Paul W.S. Anderson.

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Orlando Bloom has joined the cast of Paul W.S. Anderson’s The Three Musketeers according to Variety. Bloom will play the Duke of Buckingham who is the arch-nemesis to the Musketeers, and British comedian James Corden will portray a servant named Planchet.

The previously announced cast for Musketeers includes Christoph Waltz as Cardinal Richelieu; Logan Lerman as D’Artagnan; Matthew MacFadyen, Ray Stevenson and Luke Evans as Athos, Porthos and Aramis, respectively; Milla Jovovich as M’lady De Winter; and Mads Mikkelsen as Rochefort.

Summit Entertainment has set a release date for summer 2011, and filming will begin later this summer after director Paul W.S. Anderson has finished work on Resident Evil: Afterlife.

Warner Bros. also has a Three Musketeers movie in the works, with Bourne Identity director Doug Liman set to direct his take later this year. I’d say Summit’s has the edge at the moment.

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