News Hour with Routinely Average

Here are some news stories about whats going on in the movie business, accompanied by RA's take.

News: The notorious Tom Cruise might be reprising his wildly popular role as Les Grossman, the foul-mouthed movie exec from the 2008 comedy Tropic Thunder, in a spin-off movie with Grossman as the main character. He also recently made an appearance as Grossman at the MTV movie awards where he performed a dance number with J. Lo. LINK
RA's Take: I'm not usually a big fan of spin-offs, but Cruise was hysterical in Tropic Thunder. Some smart writing, and maybe Ben Stiller back to direct could lead to very funny things. Plus its nice to see Tom back in the spotlight in a positive way.

News: It sounds like Sony has settled on Jamie Bell as the new Peter Parker for the upcoming Spider Man reboot. Cinematical looks at how appropriate the choice is. LINK
RA's Take: I don't really get why we need a reboot anyway considering we just finished a trilogy with a significantly more popular actor in Tobey Maguire. Cinematical raises some interesting points though, and who knows. I try not to write off a project before it has even begun filming.

News: Guillermo Del Toro is no longer directing The Hobbit. The director of Pan's Labyrinth seemed to be the perfect fit to bring the world of Middle-Earth to life in his own distinct way. Apparently filming delays and uncertainty surrounding the financial side of the movie were too much for Del Toro. LINK
RA's Take: I was truly excited about a Del Toro version of The Hobbit and it seems that this troubled production might never get made. MGM's financial woes, combined with the difficulty of finding a new director to not only step in so late, but also be up to the task artistically seem like they might be insurmountable obstacles. Very disappointing news.

News: Ashton Kutcher and Katherine Heigl's new comedy, Killers gets panned by critics once they were finally able to see it. LINK
RA's Take: Not all the surprising. It looked crappy, and then gave the figurative finger to movie critics everywhere. Can't imagine Lionsgate execs are shocked.

News: The annual actresses under 30 power rankings by lovefilm.com were just released with some surprising entries. LINK
RA's Take: It's not that the usual suspects aren't on there, but many of them are much lower than expected as a new group of young women have burst onto the scene in the past year.

News: Since we are getting so close to the World Cup, here is an interesting LA Times article for you about why there is no definitive Hollywood soccer movie. LINK
RA's Take: I love soccer, and have often lamented the lack of a major soccer movie. Maybe one is coming down the pike as soccer (or should I say football) continues to increase in popularity in the US.