CHRIS HEMSWORTH IN STEVEN SPIELBERG'S "ROBOPOCALYPSE"! SVETLANA KHODCHENKOVA IS VIPER IN "WOLVERINE"! THRILLING TRAILER FOR "THE DINOSAUR PROJECT" ADVENTURE

Just a few days ago I told you that Jessica Biel will play Viper next to Hugh Jackman in WOLVERINE, but now that deal is off and the

 producer have hired Russian beauty and a Playboy star Svetlana Khodchenkova for the part. She has a number of Russian blockbusters behind her and the role of Irina in last year's TINKER, TAYLOR, SOLDIER, SPY. She should fit great in the role since, according to "MovieWeb", The Viper hails from an unknown Eastern European country. The character has a sorted history with the title character throughout the Marvel comics, a friendly ally at times, and a conniving enemy in other story lines. The story of the film, to be directed by James Mangold, will see WOLVERINE going to Japan to search for more clues about his true identity.

HOLLYWOOD SPY HEADLINES

 Another actor to join sf epic NOAH, which will bring a dark version of the famous apocalyptical story, is Kevin Durand who will join Russell Crowe as Noah,

Douglas Booth and Logan Lerman as his sons, Jennifer Connelly as his wife, Anthony Hopkins as Methuselah. Kevin Durand will play a watcher, a massive giant who helps Noah and his family according to "Variety". Meanwhile, rising star Chris Hemsworth, whom you've seen in THOR, THE AVENGERS and in SNOWWHITE AND THE HUNTSMAN, has been offered the lead role in Steven Spielberg's ROBOPOCALYPSE. According to "Deadline" the story, based on a novel by Daniel H. Wilson, is set in the near future where a computer scientist programs an intelligence computer called Archos. The computer, which was designed to preserve life, becomes self aware and starts systematically destroying the human race after realizing we are the planets biggest threat. The story follows a group of survivor's who struggle to stay alive in the aftermath.

THE DINOSAUR PROJECT CLIP

Your trailer for this Saturday is for sf adventure THE DINOSAUR PROJECT which hits UK cinemas later this August. Starring Richard Dillane, Peter Brooke and Matt Kane,  this found footage

 thriller will see Dillane and  Kane playing a father and son team of explorers, who head to the Congo seeking proof that dinosaurs still do exist.Once there, they will make an incredible discovery!

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IS LYNN COLLINS "WONDER WOMAN"? AMY ADAMS, BRADLEY COOPER IN "AMERICAN BULLSHIT"! ROBIN WILLIAMS, MILA KUNIS IN "THE ANGRIEST MAN IN BROOKLYN"! KEVIN KLINE, ROBERT DE NIRO, MORGAN FREEMAN IN "LAST VEGAS"

OK, people, methinks we shall have a casting news day today at HOLLYWOOD SPY: according to "Digital Spy" one of the breakthrough faces of the year, stunningly gorgeous Lynn Carter, who played exotic warrior princess Dejah Thoris in sf epic JOHN CARTER earlier this year, could be one of the candidates for the lead role in a possible project on WONDER WOMAN according to gossips which have been circling around Hollywood for a while now. The actress is not against the idea. Director Nicolas Winding Refn is also very passionate about the project which he would like to direct, but he sees MAD MEN's Christina Hendricks in the costume of the most famous female superhero.

HOLLYWOOD SPY HEADLINES

Meanwhile, Kevin Kline has rounded up the senior cast of LAST VEGAS, joining Robert De Niro, Michael Douglas and Morgan Freeman in the story which revolves around an aging womanizer (Michael Douglas), who is the last of his friends to finally settle down and get married. Kevin Kline, Robert De Niro, and Morgan Freeman play his old buddies who reunite in Las Vegas for the wedding. The problem is that some of them will also fall for the bride. Robin Williams has joined THE BUTLER, as Dwight Eisenhower. The film will see Forest Whitaker playing the butler who served a number of US presidents in the White House, next to John Cusack as Richard Nixon, Liam Neeson as Lyndon B. Johnson, Alan Rickman as Ronald Reagan, Jane Fonda as Nancy Reagan, Oprah Winfrey as the butler's wife, Minka Kelly as Jackie Kennedy. Williams will also star in THE ANGRIEST MAN IN BROOKLYN 

as a man who is wrongly told he only has 90 minutes left to live. He uses the time he has left to connect with his friends and family, while the young doctor (Mila Kunis) tries to track the patient down and tell him he was misdiagnosed.

AMY ADAMS

Another gorgeous lass, but a red headed one, Amy Adams, has meanwhile joined a film with a rather original title - AMERICAN BULLSHIT. Well, I guess those two words go nicely together. According to "MovieWeb" the project is based on the true story of a con man (Bradley Cooper) who helped the FBI unravel an enormous conspiracy spanning from Philadelphia to Washington D.C. The actress will play Maxine Gardner, the con man's mistress who helps the FBI agent (Jeremy Renner) tackle the case. As you know Amy will be seen next year as Lois Lane in MAN OF STEEL.

And a huge congrats to amazing music composer Trevor Morris who's just got nominated again for an Emmy Award for his work on THE BORGIAS. You can read HOLLYWOOD SPY's exclusive interview with him here. 

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BBC'S "MERLIN" TO BE MADE INTO FILM TRILOGY! SAM CLAFLIN, KARL URBAN, EMILIA CLARKE IN "OVERDRIVE"! "FINDING NEMO" GETS A SEQUEL! SAM RAIMI LEAVES "WORLD OF WARCRAFT"!

Now, as you might have noticed by now, HOLLYWOOD SPY has its pets among the actors, and young British star Sam Claflin is one of them, especially since we've been one of the first sites to support his early work in THE PILLARS OF THE EARTH and PIRATES OF THE CARIBBEAN.

  According to "Variety" Claflin, whom you've seen this summer as prince in SNOW WHITE AND THE HUNTSMAN as well, will join another of our dear pets, Karl Urban, in OVERDRIVE where they will be joined by lovely Emilia Clarke, or the Dragon princess and Khaleese Daenerys from GAME OF THRONES. The film will see Karl Urban and Ben Barnes playing two car thief brothers, who move to the south of France to find more challenging work. Sam Claflin has also signed on to play Finnich Odair in the sequel to that atrocious HUNGER GAMES project that we do not support /spits three times over his shoulder/.

HOLLY WOOD SPY HEAD LINES

Sam Raimi has revealed recently that when he chose to direct OZ THE GREAT AND POWERFUL, he immediately lost the gig in WORLD OF WARCRAFT project since the studio is speeding up the production on the adaptation of the most popular video game and needs another director to take the job right away. We still don't know who will

helm the movie which takes place in the world of Azeroth and centres around the battles between the Horde and Alliance forces. Meanwhile, Andrew Stanton, who had a worldwide blockbuster in JOHN CARTER epic earlier this spring, is moving onto FINDING NEMO 2! Stanton was the helmer of the first part of the film which is still Pixar's highest grossing flick after TOY STORY. He also directed WALL-E. 

MERLIN FILM TRILOGY!

Today you can also see the first poster for the fifth season of BBC's hit show MERLIN which is officially the show aired in the biggest number

 of countries around the world (the number is close to 190)! The cast of the show lead by amazing Colin Morgan has been promoting the series over at Comic Con ahead of the new season which should start later this September. The info shared at the Comic Con is that Uther Pendragon will have an episode guest role in the new season (not sure how, since methinks he died), and that the whole show could potentially turn into a movie trilogy after the series ends on TV. The plan is to reboot the whole series for the films and to go back in time and start the story again and show different parts that we didn't see in the series. The other idea is to do a continuation, but that hasn't been decided yet.

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HILARIOUS TRAILER FOR "GRABBERS" WITH RUSSELL TOVEY & RICHARD COYLE! SCARY TRAILER FOR SF ACTION "THE DAY"! ANTHONY MACKIE IS FALCON IN "CAPTAIN AMERICA: THE WINTER SOLDIER"

I have two brand new trailers for you today, people. The first one is for apocalyptic thriller THE DAY which opens in theatres later this August. A group of five

 survivors, armed with shotguns, axes and machetes, wander the back roads of a ravaged landscape looking for refuge in the film, a terrifying look into a post apocalyptic future. As war ravages humanity, destroying civilization and most of life on earth, the survivors realize they must do whatever it takes to stay alive. Lost, starving, and exhausted, they seek shelter in a seemingly safe abandoned farmhouse. However, while searching for food and resources, they unwittingly set off a trap signalling to their ruthless predators lying in wait to begin their deadly attack. With food and ammunition dwindling, the group must

make a desperate final stand-over a 24 hour period-battling for their ultimate survival. The cast is lead by Shawn Ashmore, Shannyn Sossamon and Dominic Monaghan.

HOLLYWOOD SPY HEADLINES

 More superhero news today as well! I told you yesterday that the official title for the sequel of last year's blockbuster will be CAPTAIN AMERICAN: THE WINTER SOLDIER, and a new update says that rising star Anthony Mackie (you can currently watch him in ABRAHAM LINCOLN VAMPIRE HUNTER) will join Chris Evans in

 it. According to "MovieWeb" he will play Sam Wilson, a.k.a. The Falcon. He was first introduced in 1969, and is one of the first African American superheroes. His power comes from a suit that gives him super strength and allows him to fly, along with the telepathic ability to communicate with birds. The new title also hints that Sebastian Stan's Bucky Barnes will be brought back to life as The Winter Soldier.

GRABBERS TRAILER

Your second trailer for today is for a delightful and slightly crazy Irish comedy GRABBERS which hits cinemas over at Ireland this August and has two famous British stars Russell Tovey (from BEING HUMAN) and always brilliant and hilarious Richard Coyle (COUPLING) in the lead roles. This rather unusual, but highly original,

 film is a mix of comedy, action and science fiction. The story is set on an island off the coast of Ireland which, for reasons unknown, gets invaded by horrid bloodsucking aliens, after which the heroes of the story discover that getting drunk is the only way to survive.

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TEASER FOR 2ND SEASON OF "ONCE UPON A TIME"! DWAYNE JOHNSON IS LOBO? DIANA RIGG IS QUEEN OF THORNS IN "GAME OF THRONES"! BEN KINGSLEY IS MANDARIN IN "IRON MAN 3"! "CAPTAIN AMERICA: WINTER SOLDIER", "THOR: THE DARK WORLD"

New casting updates for the third season of GAME OF THRONES show keep on coming day by day ahead of the shooting in Ireland and Croatia, and new faces in the cast are: famous Diana Rigg who will play Lady Olenna Tyrell, also known as the Queen of Thorns. There is also Mackenzie Crook (Orell), Clive Russell (Bryndon "The Blackfish" Tully), Nathalie Emmanuel (Missandei), Kerry Ingram (Shireen), Tara Fitzgerald (Selyse), Paul Kaye (Thoros of Myr), Thomas Sangster (Jojen Reed), Ellie Kendrick (Meera), Richard Dormer (Beric Dondarrion),

 Kristofer Hivju (Tormund Giantsbane), Philip McGinley (Anguy), Tobias Menzies (Edmure Tully) and Anton Lesser (Qyburn).

SUPERHERO HEADLINES

In superhero news today, I first have for you the official titles for two superhero blockbuster sequels: CAPTAIN AMERICA: THE WINTER SOLDIER

and THOR: THE DARK WORLD are the titles for the upcoming sequels with Chris Evans and Chris Hemsworth. Meanwhile Ben Kingsley has been announced as The Mandarin in IRON MAN 3.  The biggest superhero news is that Dwayne Johnson is in talks to become LOBO in the movie adaptation of DC comic. The character is an interstellar bounty hunter and mercenary who travels the galaxy looking for his next target. The character was created in 1980s but became even more popular in the 1990s, when he was resurrected as a renegade biker. The film will be helmed by Brad Peyton, who worked with Dwayne in spring blockbuster JOURNEY II: THE MYSTERIOUS ISLAND.

ONCE UPON A TIME 2 TEASER

When it comes to trailer time, straight from this weekend's Comic Con I have for you the first clip announcing the second season of ABC's planetary hit show ONCE UPON A TIME. The extremely intriguing teaser reveals, in a very hidden way, who will be one of the new

characters in the second run of the fantasy show filled with fairy tale characters, and it's nobody else but Captain Hook! I've announced earlier that Sleeping Beauty (Sarah Bolger), Mulan, Aladin and Ariel the Little Mermaid will also all appear in the new season. 

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FIRST OFFICIAL AND VERY GORY TRAILERS FOR "SPARTACUS: WAR OF THE DAMNED" & THIRD SEASON OF "THE WALKING DEAD"! JESSICA BIEL IS VIPER IN "THE WOLVERINE" NEXT TO HUGH JACKMAN?

Check it out, people, straight from the Comic Con this weekend the first official trailer for the third (or fourth) and the final season of SPARTACUS: WAR OF THE DAMNED! I've recently posted a spotlight on the final season, but in the first trailer you can see how the legend will be forged out of war and how Spartacus will lead his, now huge, army of slaves against Rome. The final season will have some major historical battles and will also see the appearance of young Julius Caesar. Judging from the trailer the season will be again extremely gory and filled with extreme nudity and action. I'm not sure I

like Simon Merrells who plays Marcus Crassus, I don't think he will be able to replace amazing Craig Parker who so flawlessly played Roman legatus Glaber in previous seasons! Are you excited? The season starts next January.

 HOLLYWOOD SPY HEADLINES

According to "MovieWeb", Justin Timberlake's fiancee, Jessica Biel has been offered the role of Viper in THE WOLVERINE. To be directed by James Mangold, the sequel will see Jessica as Viper, who has an intriguing past history with the title character in Marvel's comic book series. At one point she was an ally to Logan, and yet she also blackmailed him into marrying her, in another story line. It isn't known if The Viper will be a friend or foe to Hugh Jackman's Logan. Earlier this month, Will Yun Lee and Brian Tee have signed on to play villains The Silver Samurai and Noboru Mori. The story follows Logan's adventures after the events of "X-Men Origins: Wolverine", where he travels to Japan to find more information about who he really is.

THE WALKING DEAD 3 TRAILER

Fight the dead, fear the living, that's the promo line for the third season of THE WALKING DEAD which starts airing at AMC October 14th and then in more than 120 countries around the world within the same week. Straight from Comic Con this weekend, comes the first official full length trailer for the third season which will obviously be very dynamic after Rick and the survivors of the zombie outbreak find a deserted jail to hide in, but they also come upon

a new survival settlement lead by tyrannical and evil Governor.  The show will have 16 episodes, with first eight being aired from October, and the final eight from February 2013.

 INTERVIEWS WITH DEZZ

Over the years, many of you wanted to learn more about your HOLLYWOOD SPY and now you will get an exclusive chance to do that :) My dear friend Anne O'Leary, a renowned Irish neuroscientist and an owner of a very big heart, will do a series of interviews with me next week over at her site and I expect your comments there. You will be able to learn more about me, but we will also talk about some extremely serious world issues. A very gratifying post announcing this series has been posted over at Anne's today! Be there :) 

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SPOTLIGHT ON BBC'S EPIC SERIES "THE HOLLOW CROWN" IN FOUR PARTS - "RICHARD II", "HENRY IV" & "HENRY V" WITH JEREMY IRONS, TOM HIDDLESTON, JAMES PUREFOY, PATRICK STEWART, BEN WHISHAW!, HARRY LLOYD

Hollywood Spy wrote about this project before, but it is such a magnificent treat that I just had to make a spotlight for it: BBC's THE HOLLOW CROWN

series which just started airing over in UK with the premiere of the first film in the saga - RICHARD II  followed by other three filmed adaptations of Shakespeare's History Plays - HENRY IV parts 1 and 2, and HENRY V. Starting in the year 1399, this continuous story of monarchy follows events during sixteen years of dynastic and political power play. Kings, with their families and followers, are threatened by rebellion and conflict. The story takes us from the Royal Court at Westminster to battlefields in England and France. These rich films are woven with the finest of Shakespeare's poetry and are filmed in the architecture and landscape of the period.

 RICHARD II 

The first part of THE HOLLOW CROWN saga has been aired recently in UK and should hit USA TV later on this year. In the story King Richard (Ben Whishaw) is called upon to settle a dispute between his cousin Henry Bolingbroke (Rory Kinnear) and Thomas Mowbray (James Purefoy). Richard calls for a duel but then halts it just before swords clash. Both men are banished from the realm. Richard visits John of Gaunt (Patrick Stewart), Bolingbroke's father, who, in the throes of death, reprimands the king.

After seizing Gaunt's money and land, Richard leaves for wars against the rebels in Ireland. Bolingbroke returns to claim back his inheritance. Supported by his allies, Northumberland (David Morrissey) and the

Duke of York (David Suchet), Bolingbroke takes Richard prisoner and lays claim to the throne. The cast also includes Clemency Poesy as Queen Isabella and GAME OF THRONES' Harry Lloyd.

HENRY IV

The second part of the saga was aired last weekend in UK following the heir to the throne, Prince Hal (Tom Hiddleston), who defies his father, King Henry (Jeremy Irons), by spending his time at Mistress

  Quickly's (Julie Walters) tavern in the company of the dissolute Falstaff and his companions. The King is threatened by a rebellion led by Hal's rival, Hotspur, his father Northumberland and his uncle

 Worcester. In the face of this danger to the state, Prince Hal joins his father to defeat the rebels at the Battle of Shrewsbury and kill Hotspur in single combat.

HENRY IV PART TWO 

Aired last night at BBC, the story of the third part of the saga was set in the aftermath of the Battle of Shrewsbury, where Northumberland learns of the death of his son. The Lord Chief Justice attempts on behalf

of the increasingly frail King to separate Falstaff from Prince Hal. The rebels continue to plot insurrection. Falstaff is sent to recruit soldiers and takes his leave of his mistress, Doll Tearsheet. The rebel forces are

overcome. This brings comfort to the dying king, who is finally reconciled to his son. Falstaff rushes to Hal's coronation with expectations of high office!

 HENRY V 

The final part of the saga will be aired on BBC next weekend and will see the conclusion to the story seen in the previous two films on Henry

IV.  After being crowned the new king Henry V (always deeply magnificent Tom Hiddleston) takes England to war and the English confront French in the famous epic battle at Agincourt against the French King (Lamber Wilson).

HOLLOW CROWN TIDBITS

This is BBC's most ambitious and most lavish production on Shakespeare in more than twenty years and is overseen by James Bond director Oscar winning Sam Mendes.  You can read more about all of

these film over at BBC official site! HENRY IV was directed by famous Richard Eyre! It is interesting that the production teams of all of these films include people who worked on classics such as THE PIANO,

 THE KING'S SPEECH,CRANFORD, DOWTON ABBEY, THE QUEEN... The whole project is done to mark London 2012 Festival and The Cultural Olympiad on the BBC which coincides with the summer Olympics.

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