X-Men: The Last Stand has always been a fairly divisive film among comic book fans. Many have cited its loose adaptation of “The Dark Phoenix Saga” and its excessive amount of characters as some of its major flaws. That latter point was recently brought up by Juggernaut actor Vinnie Jones, who claimed that his villainous role was heavily watered down from what he was originally intended to be. Now, The Last Stand director Brett Ratner has chimed in to give his thoughts on Jones’ comments.

In a lengthy Instagram post, Brett Ratner stated that Vinnie Jones’ claim that he “dissolved and mugged off” Juggernauts role is “inaccurate.” Ratner first joked that other mutant villains like Mystique were “easier on the eyes,” but he then went on to say that he was unable to add more to the character due to the film’s deadline:

Brett Ratner would continue to express his respect for Vinnie Jones and also said that he hopes a standalone Juggernaut film starring Vinnie Jones will be made some day. Until then, he suggested that fans go back and revist the film. You can check out his post below:

Brett Ratner does make a fair point when it comes to the sheer number of villains the film had. Aside from franchise veterans like Magneto and Mystique, X-Men: The Last Stand also introduced new faces, such as Calisto, Multiple Man and Kid Omega.

Still, it’s hard to deny that Vinnie Jones did somewhat come up with the short end of the stick when it came to screen time. Throughout the film, the character mostly served as a source of muscle for Magneto’s reformed Brotherhood of Mutants. His biggest moment would arguably come in the third act when he engaged in a battle with X-Man Kitty Pryde.

With so many characters to service, it’s understandable that Juggernaut wouldn’t get as much time to shine. Nevertheless, one still has to wonder what the original plans for the character were when Vinnie Jones first signed on. Comic book readers likely know that in the comics, Juggernaut (or Cain Marko) is Charles Xavier’s stepbrother. This relationship was never mentioned in the film, but there’s always the possible that it was going to be explored.

There’s a firm chance that we’ll never know what was actually planned for Vinnie Jones’ take on Juggernaut, which may be disappointing for some fans. But on a brighter note, Marvel Studios’ inevitable X-Men reboot has the potential to rectify things.

X-Men: The Last Stand is currently available to stream on Disney+.

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The last son of Krypton had the honor (and curse?) of being the first superhero to spawn a franchise of blockbusters back in the ‘70s with Christopher Reeves’ portrayal. Superman movies have remained a staple in Hollywood over the years, but not without some growing pains. Even as a mustachioed Henry Cavill joined Zack Snyder to reveal the upcoming exciting return of the Man of Steel for the filmmaker’s long-awaited version of Justice League coming to HBO Max, Warner Bros is technically at a stand still with Kal-El.

There have been a ton of Superman projects that were in the works at one time but never made it far enough into production. What's surprising is the amount of esteemed filmmakers that have been at the center of these scrapped projects on the hero in the past 30 years. Let's go through them:

Jonathan Lemkin’s Superman Reborn

Back in the early ‘90s after The Death of Superman comic book crossover event made waves, Warner Bros was shopping for a comeback for the superhero. The studio purchased the storyline from DC and hired Jonathan Lemkin (Devil’s Advocate, Lethal Weapon 4) to write a script. Lemkin came up with a storyline that involved Superman losing a massive fight with Doomsday. Just as he reaches his death, his life force goes through Lois Lane and she ends up being impregnated with his child through virgin birth. Yes. This was an actual Superman script.

Lois’ child quickly grows into an adult in the matter of a few weeks as a resurrected Superman who finishes the job for Sups. Warner Bros reportedly passed on the script because it had too many similarities with Bruce’s arc in Batman Forever, according to The Greatest Sci-fi Movies Never Made. Hey I don’t see it, but there you have it, that's the story of why Superman Reborn never got past the script process.

Kevin Smith And Tim Burton’s Superman Lives with Nicolas Cage

Script-writing duties were then placed into the hands of Kevin Smith, who had broken out with Clerks and Mallrats at the time. His film called Superman Lives also included Doomsday, but under the orders of Brainiac and Lex Luthor. The villains outsmart Superman by blocking the Sun (the source of his powers) from him. But he is then resurrected by the Eradicator, a Kryptonian robot, and becomes sheathed in a robotic suit to take down Brainiac.

Following his work on the Batman movies, Tim Burton was hired to direct the script and Nicolas Cage came on board to play Superman. Smith had originally thought up Ben Affleck for the role and some other frequent collaborators in key roles such as Michael Rooker as Lex Luthor and Jason Mewes as Brainiac. Big names such as Kevin Spacey, Sandra Bullock and Chris Rock were ultimately approached, but it was later put on hold for being too expensive. Burton moved on to Sleepy Hollow and its since become one of the most famous movies that never happened.

Wolfgang Peterson’s Batman vs. Superman

Wolfgang Peterson, the director of Das Boot and Outbreak was once attached to making a previous Batman vs. Superman team-up film in 2001 based off an idea from Seven writer Andrew Kevin Walker. The pitch followed a newly divorced Superman and a newlywed Batman, who has lost Robin, Alfred and Gordan and hung up his cape. When the Joker murders his new wife, Bruce blames his best man Sups for heartbreak and a rivalry forms.

It was set to shoot in 2003 ahead of its summer 2004 release date before Warner Bros changed their minds and decided to focus on independent Batman and Superman projects. Wolfgang Petersen revealed that Christian Bale was in the running for Superman to MTV back in 2010. One writer Akiva Goldsman decided to add a fun Easter Egg in I Am Legend for the cancelled film: a poster of the logo (peek the above image).

J.J. Abrams and Brett Ratner’s Superman: Flyby

Before he did Star Trek or Star Wars and even before LOST, J.J. Abrams almost wrote a Superman movie. Back in 2002, Abrams was hired to write a new origin movie for Clark Kent following his early success with Armageddon, Felicity and Alias. At first his script was put on hold for the Batman vs. Superman script, but once he turned in a rewrite then the former was placed on hold. Rush Hour director Brett Ratner was hired to direct, Christopher Reeve was put on as a consultant and actors including Paul Walker, Brendan Fraser and Jude Law were considered.

The script kept Krypton standing after Kal-El’s journey to Earth. It centered on Jor-El’s evil brother Kata-Zor who sends Jor-El to prison and launches his son to Earth. Once Superman becomes popular on the planet, Kata-Zor and three of his partners venture to Earth to defeat him. Clark dies and finds himself with his dad Jor-El in Kryptonian heaven (who committed suicide in prison). Superman somehow gets resurrected and goes back to Earth to finish the job. Over the years, some awesome storyboards have been revealed about the project that never was. Ratner left due to casting difficulties and Charlie’s Angels’ director McG came on board before Bryan Singer was replaced to make 2006’s Superman Returns.

Bryan Singer’s Superman Returns 2 with Brandon Routh

Superman Returns made some money for Warner Bros, but not enough for the studio to pursue the planned 2009 sequel Superman Returns 2: The Man of Steel. Months before the release of Superman Returns, the sequel was announced with the core cast set to return and Bryan Singer back as director. The movie was expected to finally bring Brainiac to the big screen and introduce Metallo.

Singer instead went on to make Valkyrie instead and plans for Christopher Nolan’s Man of Steel reboot began to take shape. Brandon Routh never got to reprise his version of Kal-El in another movie, but the actor did recently resume the role in Arrowverse’s Crisis on Infinite Earths crossover event in 2019 alongside Smallville’s Tom Welling.

George Miller’s Justice League: Mortal with D.J. Cotrona

Another especially high-profile Superman project that never happened is George Miller’s Justice League: Mortal. The movie to be directed by the Mad Max: Fury Road filmmaker was also in development following Superman Returns and would have offered a fresh new take on the superhero genre. D.J. Cotrona was hired to play Superman, Armie Hammer was to be Batman, Megan Gale as Wonder Woman, Adam Brody as Flash, Common as Green Lantern, Hugh Keays-Byrne as Martian Manhunter, Jay Baruchel as Maxwell Lord and Teresa Palmer would play Talia Al Ghul.

Cotrona described it as “allegorical, like a story of Greek Gods” and Brody thinks it would have “been a classic.” This movie fell through the cracks due to ill timing. Warner Bros wanted more work to be done on the script just as the 2007-2008 Writers Guild of America strike was in effect. Oddly enough, Cotrona and Brody both suited up in the third act of Shazam! As adult superhero versions of Billy Batson’s adopted brothers.

Man of Steel 2?

It took seven years between Superman Returns and Man of Steel, but many would agree it was worth the wait. Henry Cavill was an incredible choice for the role and Zack Snyder’s vision for the character was an exciting one. In 2014, a sequel was announced to be in the works (with the potential of George Miller helming even a possibility). It was reported that Man of Steel was part of a three-film arc until plans to bring Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice and Justice League took priority over another standalone flick.

Back in 2018, it was rumored that Henry Cavill was done with the DC universe and other comic book projects were being moved ahead of another Man of Steel movie. In late 2019, Cavill assured fans that he has “not given up the role” and updated the status of the hero’s future as “you’ll see”. The actor does have a packed schedule between The Witcher and an upcoming Sherlock Holmes film, but perhaps the character will find regained interest with 2021’s release of Snyder Cut?

It's been no easy journey for Superman movies. What do you think? If you could save on Man of Steel project, which one would you like to see? Vote in our poll below.

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Before he began providing the voice for Robotman on Doom Patrol, Brendan Fraser took a shot at the biggest DC superhero there is: Superman. Fraser auditioned to play Superman in the film that would become Superman Returns, and though he didn't get the part, at least he got a story out of the whole experience -- and even got to wear the Superman costume. Here's what Fraser said about trying out for the role.

Superman is one of the most iconic superheroes ever created and he's had a lot of movies that did and didn't make it to theaters. Plenty of actors came close to playing the Last Son of Krypton, the most infamous of which was Nicolas Cage in a project from Tim Burton that ultimately didn't see the light of day. Warner Bros. eventually tried to make another Superman movie, one in which Brendan Fraser came close to nabbing the title role.

Brendan Fraser told SYFY Wire that he almost got the role of Superman for the film that would eventually become Superman Returns. At the time, controversial director Brett Ratner was attached to helm the film based off a screenplay written by J.J. Abrams.

As Brendan Fraser recounts, he got to the phase where he was wearing the costume for test footage, but ultimately the role would go to Brandon Routh. Additionally, J.J. Abrams' script went unused, but according to Fraser, it was pretty cool and felt like Shakespeare in space.

Brett Ratner would eventually leave the project and another controversial director, Bryan Singer, would take over. Superman Returns ultimately didn't spark much of a fire, even though it was initially well-received by critics. It's remembered now as a pretty boring Superman movie, so maybe Fraser didn't miss out on much here.

Brendan Fraser would eventually get his chance at another DC character. He currently voices Robotman on DC Universe's Doom Patrol series. Doom Patrol has gotten pretty good reviews and the performances have gotten a thumbs up, so it all has a way of working out in the end.

You can watch new episodes of Doom Patrol on the DC Universe streaming service. As for Superman? Henry Cavill still has the job on the big screen for the DCEU. For now.

It's been just a few days since Brett Ratner started dealing with allegations of harassments on movie sets, including a lengthy narrative from actress Ellen Paige, who worked with the director and producer on the set of X-Men: The Last Stand. In the time since, news broke that Gal Gadot might be trying to get Brett Ratner's production company off future DC and Warner Bros. endeavors, like Wonder Woman 2. Warner Bros. denied the claims, and now Gal Gadot has come out to explain what actually happened with the rumors. During an appearance on Today, Gadot said:

Like a lot of complicated matters, the germ of the rumor that Gal Gadot wanted Brett Ratner off of Wonder Woman 2 is accurate, as she told Savannah Guthrie on Wednesday that she has made her feelings about the situation known. However, this comment also ties into the explanation that Warner Bros. released the other day, which noted that the story of Gal Gadot speaking out to remove Brett Ratner and RatPac-Dune Entertainment from DC films was "false." Instead it seems as if the situation was handled before Gadot really needed to say anything, and the rest of the rumors came after.

Following early allegations, Brett Ratner said he would be stepping away from working with Warner Bros. In fact, the studio's first-look deal with the director and producer is set to expire in 2018 before Wonder Woman starts coming together; it's a deal that is not expected to be picked up again, and in fact Brett Ratner's upcoming Hugh Hefner biopic has already been cancelled, as well. There have also been reports that Ratner was actually forced out rather than a simple issue of the director and producer choosing to step down. Warner Bros. is still currently crediting RatPac-Dune Entertainment for works it was involved with; the company is credited, for instance, on the upcoming Justice League film.

Whether Ratner was fired or chose to step down is a moot point in relation to Gal Gadot and the Wonder Woman 2 rumors. She recently said she didn't have to say anything because the deal was already done. You can check out more from the interview, below.

Wonder Woman 2 was recently moved up to November 1, 2019 and will likely go into production sooner rather than later. In the meantime, you can catch Justice League when it hits theaters this weekend. To find out more about that movie, take a look at our full guide.

Director Brett Ratner is one of the many Hollywood heavyweights who has been accused of sexual harassment in the wake of the Harvey Weinstein scandal, which includes actress Ellen Page recently saying that Ratner emotionally abused her about her sexuality when they were working on X-Men: The Last Stand (which her co-star Anna Paquin corroborates). Not long after Page posted the account of her time with the Rush Hour helmer, it was reported that Gal Gadot has asked Warner Bros to remove Ratner and his production company, RatPac-Dune Entertainment, from Wonder Woman 2. Days later, Warner Bros has officially responded to this claim, saying it's not true. As a spokesperson for the studio bluntly put it:

Warner Bros didn't elaborate further on this Gal Gadot/Brett Ratner report, but according to Business Insider, even if Gadot is interested in removing Ratner from Wonder Woman 2, she wouldn't need to make such a demand to the studio. Apparently by the time Wonder Woman 2 enters into production, Warner Bros' deal with RatPac-Dune Entertainment will have expired. There are still several RatPac-involved movies on the way, like Ready Player One, Jungle Book and Aquaman, but given all the allegations that have been directed towards Ratner, Warner Bros isn't expected to renew its deal with his company, though perhaps it will change its mind if Ratner himself is ousted.

Brett Ratner publicly came under fire at the beginning of the month when six women came forward and accused him of sexually harassing them. Following that development, Playboy Enterprises announced that it was scrapping the Hugh Hefner biopic that Ratner had spent the better part of a decade trying to get off the ground. In addition to Ratner stepping away from his Warner Bros-related projects, his first-look deal with the studio has been terminated, he's lost the RatPack offices and he's been removed as a producer on The Goldfinch.

Released back in June and now available on home media, Wonder Woman has cemented itself as one of the biggest theatrical hits of 2017, earning critical acclaim and making over $820 million worldwide. No official details on Wonder Woman 2 have been revealed yet, but the sequel will reportedly take place in the 1980s, with Diana of Themyscira battling Soviet Union forces in the final years of the Cold War. Patty Jenkins will be back in the director's chair, and she is co-writing the script with Geoff Johns and Dave Callahan.

Stay tuned to CinemaBlend for more updates on Wonder Woman 2, which hits theaters in late 2019. For now, you can see Gal Gadot's Diana back on the big screen when Justice League is released this Friday, and you can also check out our DC movies guide to see what other projects this franchise is developing.

Stories about abuse and sexual harassment continue to pour out the entertainment industry on a near regular basis. The Harvey Weinstein scandal has broken the floodgates as women and men come forward with their own personal accounts of sexual harassment they've received from others in the film and TV worlds. Ellen Page recently wrote in a statement that she experienced sexual harassment from director Brett Ratner, who outed her publicly as a gay woman on the set of X-Men: The Last Stand. Her co-star in the film, Anna Paquin, has now corroborated Page's account of the incident.

In a Facebook post, Ellen Page wrote that Brett Ratner, a successful director and producer, outed her at a "meet and greet" between the cast and crew of X-Men: The Last Stand before filming began. Page was 18-years-old at the time. Anna Paquin, who starred as Rogue in the first three of the X-Men films, claims in a Twitter post that she was there when this happened and that Page's account is accurate. She stands with Page on her accusations of Ratner's actions.

Ellen Page joined six other women who accused Brett Ratner of inappropriate behavior and sexual harassment. The group of women includes Olivia Munn, a fellow X-Men actress. Ratner has had a long history of rumors regarding his behavior. The oftentimes crass director is known for making insensitive comments, something that has cost him work in the past. Ratner has vehemently denied any wrongdoing through his lawyer.

Following the accusations of Brett Ratner's alleged behavior, Ratner has "stepped away" from a $450 million development deal he had between Warner Bros and his production company, RatPac Entertainment. Wonder Woman actress Gal Gadot has also reportedly given Warner Bros. an ultimatum regarding their relationship with Ratner. According to rumor, Gadot is threatening to not return for a Wonder Woman sequel if RatPac Entertainment is in any way involved with the movie. (Ratner was a producer on the original film).

Brett Ratner is among several actors, producers, and executives who have been accused of sexual harassment. Since the Harvey Weinstein scandal broke, Kevin Spacey, Louis C.K., Andrew Kreisberg, and Amazon Studio boss Roy Price are among the men who have been named by several women and men for sexual harassment. Huge shifts and changes have already occurred due to the reports, which seem to grow in number by the day as the deep-rooted misbehavior in the entertainment industry is further revealed.

Hollywood heavyweight Brett Ratner has found himself at the center of some ugly allegations over the past few weeks. The super producer was initially accused by approximately a half dozen women of sexual harassment. Then, earlier this week, he was accused by Ellen Page of outing her in a particularly vicious way at a cast party on the set of X-Men: The Last Stand, as well as saying sexist and derogatory things throughout the shoot. His proposed Hugh Hefner movie was also cancelled. Now, if the latest rumors are to be believed, actress Gal Gadot has asked Warner Bros to remove Ratner and/or his company RatPac-Dune Entertainment from producing Wonder Woman 2.

Neither Gadot nor Ratner has commented publicly on the alleged request, but some smoke has been building behind the scenes of Wonder Woman 2 for awhile. The first movie was distributed by Warner Bros, but it was co-produced by RatPac-Dune Entertainment, as part of a larger deal Brett Ratner's company shares with the studio. Following the incredible success of the superhero movie, Gadot was scheduled to present Ratner with the Tree Of Life award, but around the same time as an Instagram post decrying sexual harassment and bullying, she bailed, telling the organization she had a scheduling conflict.

In the wake of the recent allegations against Ratner, the director and producer announced he was "stepping away" from Warner Bros. The studio allegedly even quickly got rid of his office on the lot, but according to Page Six, that's not enough for Gadot. She allegedly doesn't want to see Ratner profit on the backend from Wonder Woman 2. If the story is to be believed, she has asked the studio to buy him and/or his company out of the financing deal for the sequel. Warner Bros is claiming this is false; so, make sure and treat everything here as an unsubstantiated rumor.

Brett Ratner first emerged as a Hollywood force in the late 1990s after he directed Rush Hour. The film grossed almost $250,000,000 worldwide and opened up a slew of further opportunities. He later directed an X-Men movie, produced the Horrible Bosses franchise, The Revenant, War Dogs and many more. More strikingly, the company he co-founded and co-owns, RatPac-Dune Entertainment, has co-produced hundreds of additional movies including The Lego Movie, Edge Of Tomorrow, Creed, Batman V Superman and Wonder Woman.

As with The Weinstein Company, dealing with the fallout from a company's founder being accused of sexual misconduct is far more complicated than dealing with a sole actor or director. Many projects and many employees completed unrelated to the allegations are now caught in the middle of something they had nothing to do with, and there are serious legal ramifications for a studio like Warner Bros trying to extricate itself from a partnership. Beyond that, Ratner has denied all the allegations against him, and nothing has been proven in a court of law.

It's unlikely this situation will receive the same attention as ones involving more prominent actors, but given how powerful RatPac-Dune Entertainment has become, the fallout from this will likely alter and change far more films currently in development.

Stories continue to come out of Hollywood at an alarming rate, tales of abuse happening on film and television sets, theater stages and hotels where deals are supposed to get done. A door has been kicked open by the allegations levied against one-time producer and studio executive Harvey Weinstein, and names like Kevin Spacey, Louis CK and Brett Ratner have been swept up in the conversation as more stories come to light. Ellen Page is the latest to share her story about Ratner, who directed her in X-Men: The Last Stand. About that experience, Page now says:

In a lengthy post on her Facebook page, Ellen Page recounts the experiences she says she endured while filming the X-Men sequel, with Brett Ratner at the helm. She talks about how Ratner's outing of her sexual preference left her feeling ashamed. She later says that her defiance to actions proposed to her by Ratner's team left her ostracized, when she felt it was the director who should have been reprimanded for his behavior. Page elaborated:

Earlier, six women -- including fellow X-Men actress Olivia Munn -- went on record to accuse Brett Ratner of sexually harassing them. Ratner, at the time, was a director responsible for films like Rush Hour and Tower Heist. Ratner has since become a significant producer under his RatPac banner.

Ellen Page's narrative now joins a chorus of stories being published regarding people in the film industry, and the industry as a whole is reeling. Reactions to the allegations (or confirmed accusations, like the ones made against Louis CK) are leading to wholesale changes, such as roles being replaced or movies being scrapped to contain the fallout. But every time a new story drops, it reminds us how far-reaching this issue seems to be in the entertainment world.

Last month, a week after Hugh Hefner passed away, it was announced that the movie centered on the Playboy founder was finally moving forward after spending a decade in development hell. Rush Hour series director Brett Ratner has been the driving force for getting this project off the ground, and the plan was for him to helm this biopic, which reportedly would have starred Jared Leto as Hefner. However, due to the sexual harassment allegations that have been directed against Ratner, it's been announced that the Hugh Hefner biopic has been scrapped.

Earlier today, six women, including model Natasha Henstridge and actress Olivia Munn, publicly accused of Brett Ratner of sexually harassing them. Hours after this news broke, Playboy Enterprises announced that it was putting all of its projects with RatPac Entertainment, Ratner's production company, on hold until it could "review the situation further." Soon after that, the company told Yahoo that the Hugh Hefner biopic has been cancelled. Yahoo also learned from Jared Leto's representative that the actor was never attached to the biopic, and that he has no plans to collaborate with Ratner.

The Hugh Hefner biopic has had quite a few ups and downs since 2007, when Brett Ratner first expressed interest in making the movie. At one point, Robert Downey Jr. was attached to play the media mogul. It's unclear if Playboy Enterprises will attempt to get a new version of the Hugh Hefner biopic up and running once a director and/or producer has been found, but it's clear now that the movie Brett Ratner wanted to make is no more. Hefner, who founded Playboy Magazine in 1953, died on September 27 at the age of 91.

As for Brett Ratner, whose other credits include Red Dragon, X-Men: The Last Stand and Hercules (the one with Dwayne "The Rock" Johnson), following the allegations directed against him, he announced that he would step away from all of his Warner Bros-related activities. THR revealed shortly thereafter that WB has severed ties with him. Along with with his first-look deal with the studio not being renewed, Ratner is losing his RatPac Entertainment offices, though he remains a partner in the production company. Ratner has also been removed as a producer on The Goldfinch, the only upcoming WB movie where he's been active in such a role. This is the latest sexual harassment scandal to hit Hollywood in recent weeks, with other allegations having been directed towards Harvey Weinstein and Kevin Spacey, among others.

Keep checking back with CinemaBlend for all the latest in the realm of movies. To plan your upcoming visits to the theater accordingly, look through our 2017 premiere guide and 2018 premiere guide to see what's coming out over the next year.

Thanks to the Internet, the way the average person consumes news and information has changed. Instead of individual voices like Roger Ebert telling us what to watch, there are myriad opinions on the Internet available to help you and your family weigh the pros and cons. And at least one director isn't having it. Recently, Tower Heist helmer Brett Ratner revealed that he feels Rotten Tomatoes is the worst thing to happen to contemporary movies culture. He said:

Brett Ratner does have quite a bit to say about this topic, and one thing I think he touches on that is key is bringing in Batman v Superman, which did make a ton of money relative to its Rotten Tomatoes score. (His company co-financed the film.) While this sort of averaging of opinions can be great for movies everyone loves and everyone collectively hates, it can be less great for all of those movies that land in the middle of the spectrum, with people somewhat liking or disliking them. These "movies with problems" might very well still be worth your time even if they are only running at 55% or whatever on Rotten Tomatoes, especially if they are in a genre you particularly enjoy.

The complaint about Rotten Tomatoes Brett Ratner made at the Sun Valley Film Festival (via EW) isn't exactly a new idea. Director David Cronenberg has also been open about his dislike for the service, and we're sure he's not the only one. Interestingly, Brett Ratner seems to think the biggest problem is going off of a score to determine whether a movie is positive or negative, but there's also the idea that it's Rotten Tomatoes' score specifically that might be skewed.

Even if you do kind-of like the idea of critics lumping their film scores together, Rotten Tomatoes may not be the most accurate model, as the Tomatometer just gives you the percentage of critics who liked a given movie. Its main competitor, Metacritic, on the other hand, is a weighted average of converted ratings. So a movie like Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice may run at 27% on Rotten Tomatoes and 44% on Metacritic, which reflects the fact that some critics were more in the middle about the film. Sure, 44% is not a perfect score, but it's far closer to the middle than the RT rating.

At the end of the day, while years ago you might have read one review in a newspaper that you potentially could thoroughly have disagreed with, now you can read up on the pros and cons through negative or positive reviews, and it's easy to find those opinions thanks to sites like Rotten Tomatoes. We've certainly lost something by no longer having film critic icons, but in its place, there's a convenience factor and a wealth of information that is hard to deny.

If you'd like to know specifically what CinemaBlend thinks about the latest movies, be sure to check out our reviews page. And remember, even within one site, we don't always agree on which movies are great and which aren't. (Full disclosure, I'm a 3.5/5 on Batman v Superman.)

UPDATE: Following publication of the story, Rotten Tomatoes reached out and offered the following statement...

Directors are like fingerprints; no two are completely alike. Whenever a filmmaker takes the reins on a superhero film, you can almost always guarantee that they will leave their own unique mark on that universe. In fact, from Christopher Nolan to James Gunn, some directors seem tailor-made to work with certain superheroes. That being said, time and time again we have seen franchises run into trouble whenever they swap directors midstream. For all of the filmmakers who have improved franchises by signing on to sequels (the Russos Brothers come to mind) there are plenty of others who have driven other series into the ground.

With that in mind, Deadpool 2's director, Tim Miller, recently dropped out of the highly anticipated project, and 20th Century Fox has started to look for his replacement. This has us incredibly worried. We've compiled a list of replacement directors who botched their shots at superhero franchises. Take a look at our entries and let us know what you think. Now let's get the ball rolling with one of the most famous fumbles in superhero movie history...

Batman Forever/Batman & Robin - Joel Schumacher

It's hard to argue against the importance of Tim Burton's Batman movies. Even if certain elements seem dated, the fact remains that the legendary filmmaker completely captured the gothic spirit of The Caped Crusader's city, mission, and overall aesthetic. However, that went down the drain when the franchise brought Joel Schumacher on board. Instead of dark, rich storytelling, Schumacher went full camp and embraced an interpretation of the Batman mythos that felt more interested in selling toys and marketing to kids than getting the universe right. Deadpool will unquestionably be a more popular character by the time Deadpool 2 hits theaters, but the upcoming sequel cannot forget the tone, spirit and overall style that made the first film so beloved. Play to the fans, not the masses.

X-Men: The Last Stand - Brett Ratner

Bryan Singer pretty much started the modern age of superhero movies when he painstakingly directed X-Men and X2: X-Men United. He brought a sense of passion and nerdy enthusiasm to the material that has really become the standard for comic book movies as the years have gone by. That all changed in 2006 when Brett Ratner took the reins for X-Men: The Last Stand. Compared to Singer, Ratner clearly felt much less reverence for the Dark Phoenix source material, and it showed through his shallow handling of the characters. The entire X-Men universe would subsequently remain on shaky ground for almost a decade until Bryan Singer returned for X-Men: Days of Future Past. The folks behind Deadpool 2 must heed this example, because it perfectly encapsulates one of the first rules of comic book adaptations: get someone who knows, loves, and respects the source material.

Thor: The Dark World - Alan Taylor

When Kenneth Branagh directed the first installment in the Thor series, he brought an incredibly distinct Shakespearean sensibility and off-kilter visual style to the table. It was an astonishing feat for such an obscure character, and Thor proved to be the most theatrical Phase 1 Marvel film. Sadly, when Game of Thrones alum, Alan Taylor, took over for Thor: The Dark World, all of that went out the window. Lacking a truly distinctive personal style, Taylor more or less hobbled The Dark World together using lessons clearly picked up from his time on the HBO fantasy series, as well as ample input from Marvel Studios. The resulting product was the blandest Marvel movie to date. Deadpool 2 cannot make this mistake, whoever fills in for Tim Miller needs to share the daring and risky attitude that Miller brought to Wade Wilson's original movie. To play it safe would be to miss the point of Deadpool entirely.

The Amazing Spider-Man - Marc Webb

When Marc Webb took the Spider-Man franchise off of Sam Raimi's hands for The Amazing Spider-Man series in 2012, there was quite a bit of excitement around what the director could do. Not known for blockbuster material (let alone a superhero movie), Webb's most notable credit came in the form of (500) Days of Summer. Sadly, Summer turned out to be the perfect indicator for what to expect from the film, as The Amazing Spider-Man films only really worked during Peter Parker and Gwen Stacey's romantic scenes -- helped in large part by the chemistry between Andrew Garfield and Emma Stone. Despite being a competent filmmaker, Webb proved almost immediately that he was a cursory fan of the source material by comparison to his predecessor. With Deadpool 2 on the horizon, 20th Century Fox needs to make sure they bring someone on board who can capture the style necessary for a Deadpool movie, and who also has an intimate knowledge of the comics -- not just someone who can rehash the Deadpool greatest hits.

Superman III - Richard Lester

There's a strong case to be made that Richard Donner's Superman films are the most important superhero movies of all time. They treated the source material with love, and proved that men in capes could have mainstream appeal. That being said, the legacy of the Donner-era Superman films was almost immediately tarnished when the franchise was handed to Richard Lester for Superman III. Primarily known for comedies, Lester's influence on the film led to some of the most jarring tonal shifts ever seen in a superhero franchise, often relying on slapstick humor and the unbearable presence of Richard Pryor's Gus Gorman to generate "laughs." Even Superman actor, Christopher Reeve, vocally spoke out against Lester's influence on the franchise after the film's release, citing that the filmmaker was "always looking for a gag." Deadpool is obviously quite different than Superman, but that doesn't change the fact that Tim Miller established a certain tone and style that worked for this universe. That needs to be respected by whoever takes over.

The cross-cultural comedy team up Rush Hour spawned three movies, though there hasn’t been one since 2007’s Rush Hour 3. In the ensuing years there have been sporadic rumblings that Rush Hour 4 could be in the works, and though he doesn’t rule out the possibility, director Brett Ratner says there is one key thing standing in the way: time.

Ratner was at the Television Critics Association summer press tour to promote the National Geographic series Breakthrough, on which he directed an episode. When Slashfilm had the opportunity to catch up with the filmmaker, they asked about Rush Hour 4 he said:

If you’re familiar with the franchise, you are well aware that by "Jackie," Ratner means legendary martial artist Jackie Chan. And if you didn’t know that, now you do. Along with Chris Tucker, Chan fronts the movies about mismatched cops from different countries, China’s dogged Detective Inspector Lee (Chan) and loudmouth Los Angeles Detective James Carter (Tucker), who are forced to work together. The premise is pretty standard buddy cop action-comedy territory—one is stoic one is wacky—but with Chan’s particular set of skills, it becomes a lot more fun and entertaining than the familiar plot.

Fans of Rush Hour have been waiting for this for a long time, and while it sounds like it could happen at some point, it’s not particularly pressing or imminent. Ratner is all kinds of busy. He’s still working on Beverly Hills Cop 4, which he’s attached to direct, and is producing a wide array of films, from the Johnny Depp-starring Black Mass and awards contender The Revenant to left of center documentaries like Electric Boogaloo: The Wild, Untold Story of Cannon Films.

For his part, back in 2012 Jackie Chan said that he was retiring from action movies, citing the wear and tear he regularly put his body through for decades. This could also cause a hitch in production. Granted, he clarified his position by saying that he’s not done done with action movies, but that he’s not going to do as many, or as many of his own stunts, and generally take better care of himself. He is 61-years-old after all.

So while you can be optimistic about Rush Hour 4, maybe don’t keep your fingers crossed too tight for it to happen anytime too soon. In the meantime, however, fans should be able to satisfy themselves with the impending Rush Hour television series that’s on the way. CBS has an episodic Rush Hour penciled in to debut in the middle of the 2015-2016 TV season, and though Jon Foo and Justin Hines will play Lee and Carter, Ratner assures fans that this does not automatically mean Rush Hour 4 isn’t going to happen.

The annals of movie history are littered with could-have-beens. Just do a quick Google search for famous roles that made icons out of actors that almost went to someone else. Tom Selleck almost played Indiana Jones, for example. Superhero movies seem to have even more of these stories than any other subgenre, and though he’s already been played by numerous men over the years, Magic Mike XXL’s Matt Bomer was almost Superman.

Talking to the Happy Sad Confused podcast, Bomer revealed that when he was 23-years-old he was part of a big, open audition for a Brett Ratner-directed adaptation of Superman, and that he almost walked away with the role of a lifetime. He said:

While it could have been fun to see Bomer as Kal-El, this would have been an interesting take on the Last Son of Krypton for other reasons, especially in light of the current incarnation of the character and the larger DC Comics universe, which is decidedly dark and grim in tone. Ratner’s Superman had a script written by a guy you may have heard of, J.J. Abrams, and according to reports it was a "lighthearted" look at the character when he was in college. You didn’t think Clark Kent got hired on at a major metropolitan newspaper like The Daily Planet without any credentials or education, did you?

Another interesting tidbit about this potential Superman that we never saw is that is actually has at least one connection to Zack Snyder’s 2013 Man of Steel. Amy Adams, who plays Lois Lane in that film, was up for a role in Ratner’s project and even read with Bomer while he was wearing the iconic red and blue tights. Whether she was up for the same role both times is unclear, but it’s still a funny story.

For his part, it doesn’t sound like Bomer has any lingering feelings of disappointment. He continued:

He has a point. When you play a character like Superman, no matter what else you do, you’re always going to be linked to that role. While it can be fine, like in Christopher Reeves’ case, it didn’t work out too well for Brandon Routh, who played the character in Bryan Singer’s Superman Returns and is still trying to distance himself from that movie almost a decade later.

And this way Matt Bomer gets to join a pseudo illustrious club of almost-Supermen. Nicolas Cage almost played the role in Tim Burton’s ill-fated Superman Lives in the 1990s, and both Jude Law and Ashton Kutcher almost played the part as well at various times.

Still, while you have to wonder what almost was, you can check out Bomer in Magic Mike XXL in theaters now, and you can see the latest Superman, Henry Cavill, when he tussles with the Caped Crusader next year in Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice.

It may be April, but evidently that’s not stopping New Line Cinemas from getting into the Christmas spirit. We know this because they have reportedly bought a pitch for an untitled Mariah Carey holiday movie. If the festive film isn’t entitled "All I Want For Christmas" then someone has made a huge mistake.

Deadline was the first to report that the studio has purchased the idea from RatPac Entertainment – the production company created by Brett Ratner – and it’s believed that Mariah Carey will play a huge part in the film. But who is responsible? Well, it turns out that the hugely successful singer is behind the plan herself. Mariah Carey, who obviously has a thing for the Yuletide season, took her idea to Ratner herself.

Clearly intrigued by the idea, Ratner got into contact with screenwriters David Diamond and David Weissman, as well as producer Jon Shestack. Between them they devised their untitled Mariah Carey Christmas film, and they obviously did a rather good job of packaging it up nicely, because it’s been sold.

Currently, we don’t know anything about the plot for the Mariah Carey-led film, other than the fact that it allegedly revolves around how the power of music can help take you back to your truest and most authentic feelings. Seriously, that's what the film is actually about. Naturally, it’s been teased that there will be songs will be performed by Carey, who will also be joined by numerous other artists on the film. And it’s probably safe to assume that it will be set at Christmas too.

Unfortunately, the video for Mariah Carey’s All I Want For Christmas Is You, the monstrously successful Christmas song that was released in 1994 and ultimately went on to sell over 14 million copies, doesn’t provide us with any further clues, but it may give you flashbacks to the holiday season in the 90s.

This is the second time that Brett Ratner and the film’s writers have collaborated on a project. The duo previously wrote the script for the Ratner directed The Family Man, which was released back in 2000. The feel-good Christmas family flick was met with mixed reviews but still managed to gross a relatively impressive $124.7 million.

Brett Ratner hasn’t been confirmed as the film’s director. And considering her distinct lack of success as an actress on the silver screen (I’m looking at you Glitter, even if her stunning turn in 2009’s Precious redeems her ever so slightly), and how preposterously cheesy her impending effort sounds, it might be a struggle to find one.

It's a little known fact in the comic book movie world, but there was a time when Jude Law was offered the opportunity to star as the titular superhero in Brett Ratner’s planned Superman film. The English actor turned down the role, despite the fact that he is a life-long comic-book fan, but now he's revealed both why he turned it down and why he doesn't have any regrets.

Jude Law made his remarks to MTV while promoting his upcoming turn in Black Sea, Discussing his lost opportunity to play the Man of Steel, the Oscar nominee admitted that at the time he just really wasn’t in the mood to play Superman, and was also very much aware of how it could impact the rest of his career. Here's what he had to say:

In the years before Bryan Singer’s 2006 reboot Superman Returns. Brett Ratner was in line to direct his own Superman movie from a script that was written by J.J. Abrams. Jude Law was picked out as their number one choice to portray the iconic superhero, but despite the huge interest in him, the actor admitted that the role never appealed to him. However, this didn’t stop Brett Ratner from pursuing.

The Rush Hour/X-Men: The Last Stand/Tower Heist director formulated a rather devious plan to try and coerce Jude Law into accepting the part: He actually convinced the actor to put on the Superman costume. His hope was that Jude Law would instantly be seduced into starring in the film once he caught a glimpse of himself inside the attire. Of course, as a super-fan, Jude Law leaped at the opportunity to try on the costume. After he saw himself in the outfit, he couldn’t help but be overjoyed with just how superb it felt to be the superhero... but rather than immediately agreeing to be Brett Ratner’s Superman, Law decided that this would be his only moment as the character. He told MTV,

In hindsight, it was probably a good move by Jude Law to turn down Brett Ratner’s proposed Superman film. As a director, Ratner has only flattered to deceive. In fact, his one superhero film, X-Men: The Last Stand, is regarded by many to be the worst of Wolverine, Professor X and Magneto’s cinematic adventures. It lacks the depth, warmth and characterization of Bryan Singer’s X-Men and X2, and instead was a loud and convoluted mess.

But would Jude Law have made a good Superman? I am struggling to picture the impossibly English actor portraying the most popular American superhero of all time. That being said, it’s easy to forget just how talented Jude Law is, and I have faith that he would have knocked it out of the park if he had been cast. It’s still likely that Brett Ratner would have been his cinematic kryptonite though.

The dust has settled on Beverly Hills Cop not becoming a series in the near future, but another hugely popular action comedy is attempting to head to television. Warner Bros. TV has sealed the deal to turn the buddy cop pic Rush Hour into an hour-long series full of big stunts and bigger laughs, with franchise director Brett Ratner serving as executive producer. We knew it was only a matter of time before Ratner went back down this road…at 100 m.p.h.

The most interesting part of this Rush Hour series, at least from a TV viewing standpoint, is that Scrubs and Cougar Town creator Bill Lawrence will serve as co-writer and co-executive producer for the series. His involvement speaks to the level of comedy that Warner Bros. TV wants to bring to this project. (His other work includes creating Spin City and Clone High.) According to Deadline, he co-wrote the pilot (presumably) with showrunner Blake McCormick, who was a writer/producer on Cougar Town and King of the Hill.

The first film was written by Jim Kouf, who has gone on to create the dark fairy tale drama Grimm, and Ross LaManna, who also wrote the non-James Cameron Titanic flick in 1996. The second two Rush Hour flicks were written by Jeff Nathanson, who penned Ratner’s Tower Heist, Steven Spielberg’s Catch Me if You Can and Speed 2: Cruise Control. It doesn’t take Sherlock to figure out that Lawrence’s sensibilities are completely different from those guys. And on the opposite side of the spectrum, Lawrence isn’t really known for writing exciting action sequences. It'll be interesting to see the jokes to car crash ratio if this thing ever comes to light.

With such a simple concept as its hook, it’s no surprise that Rush Hour’s series will stick fairly closely to the original film. In it, Jackie Chan’s detective is given an assignment in Los Angeles that eventually involves him pissing off all the bad guys, which is helped along by his arrogantly outspoken partner Detective Carter (Chris Tucker). Together, over the course of three movies, they run around causing trouble in different countries while trying to stop larger troublemakers. Chan does fight choreography, and Tucker does shrill screams. It’s a formula that seemed destined for 1980s cable television as soon as the film came out in 1998. Check out one of fight scenes in the clip below.

It’s been seven years since Rush Hour 3 came out, bringing the franchise’s worldwide earnings to over $850 million. There had been talk of a Rush Hour 4 for ages, with Chan himself offering an update just last month. But it looks like Ratner wants to take his post-Hercules career in the direction of a different-sized screen.

Will that be the right move? Do you guys want to see Rush Hour in an episode format with or without Chris Tucker involved?

Get the Detroit Lions jacket out of mothballs. Key up the trademark Harold Faltermeyer theme song. And get me Judge Reinhold on the phone! Paramount wants back in the Beverly Hills Cop business, planning a reboot of the famous franchise with producer Jerry Bruckheimer back in the fold.

Deadline reports that the longtime blockbuster producer has set up a three-year, first-look deal with Paramount that will begin with the Beverly Hills Cop feature, which the trade site describes as "a reboot," but one that will have original star Eddie Murphy back in the lead role of wise-cracking detective Axel Foley.

The site says the story will bring Foley back to his Detroit roots – which cancels out the need for Beverly Hills, no? – and will be directed by Btett Ratner. The filmmaker worked with Murphy on the hit comedy Tower Heist, and has helmed his own brand of action films with the Rush Hour films, as well as the upcoming Hercules, with Dwayne "The Rock" Johnson.

The idea of a new Cop story has been floating around for a while. At one point, it was going to be a TV series, with Foley’s son working as a detective while Murphy would be the chief of police, but the project didn't go to series. And with Bruckheimer back at Paramount, he probably feels he has enough muscle to push this into theaters, and so long as Ratner and Murphy are willing, this sequel will see the light of day. Let’s just hope Murphy remembers how to be THIS funny, and stays away from the nonsense that was Beverly Hills Cop 3.

In the same story, Bruckheimer expresses interest in pushing the dormant Top Gun 2 project, which had Tom Cruise attached to reprise his role at one point. The sequel disappeared when director Tony Scott took his own life. But again, as with Cop, if principle talents like Cruise and Bruckheimer want to get on board, Paramount has options. On the surface, it sounds like everything old will be new again at Paramount. And instead of rebooting series with new actors, the studio (and Bruckheimer) will tap directly into our nostalgia by bringing us stars like Murphy and Cruise in familiar roles. Will it work? Wait and see!

Director Brett Ratner has been developing his adaptation of Hercules for years now. First entering talks for the gig back in July of 2010, he got a bit sidetracked making the 2011 crime comedy Tower Heist, but has been focused on Greek myth since then, hiring box office superstar Dwayne Johnson to play the titular hero and collect a supporting cast that includes Ian McShane, Rufus Sewell, Joseph Fiennes, Peter Mullan, Aksel Hennie and John Hurt. And now cameras are finally ready to start rolling.

Paramount has issued a press release announcing that production has officially begun on Ratner's Hercules. Adapted by screenwriters Ryan Condal and Evan Spiliotopoulos, the new film is based on the graphic novel "Hercules: The Thracian Wars" and follows the titular hero's adventures as a mercenary. He and his companions travel the coast of Greece looking for work, but find trouble when he is hired to defeat a savage warlord. Unlike the classic myth, this version of the story eliminates all of the supernatural elements, but implements the myth that surrounds the character's name into the story. The studio previously announced that they will have the movie in theaters on July 25, 2014, and production is taking place in Budapest, Hungary.

At this point it's unclear how the production of Hercules will affect Johnson's commitments to Fast & Furious 7, which will also be shooting this summer with new director James Wan at the helm. The star was just featured a few weeks ago in Fast & Furious 6, capping off an incredible first half of 2013 for the A-lister, a time period that has also included Michael Bay's Pain & Gain, Jon Chu's G.I. Joe: Retaliation, and Ric Roman Waugh's Snitch.

Ben Mezrich isn’t Stephen King, James Patterson or Nicholas Sparks. Not yet, anyway. But he is one of those authors whose literary works regularly find their way across the desks of Hollywood decision makers who believe the plots he uncovers would make for great movies. Sometimes they do. Mezrich’s Accidental Billionaires gave way to David Fincher’s Facebook opus, The Social Network. Earlier, the movie 21 -- about math wizards counting cards in various casinos – took its cues from Mezrich’s own Bringing Down the House.

Hollywood and Mezrich are at it again, according to Deadline, which reports that 20th Century Fox is making a deal for the author’s book proposal Seven Wonders, which will have something to do with the Seven Wonders of the World. That could include the “classic” Wonders: Great Pyramid of Giza, the Hanging Gardens of Babylon, the Lighthouse of Alexandria and the Statue of Zeus at Olympia. Or it could reflect the “modern” Wonders, which were voted on in 2007 and now include: the Great Wall of China, the Taj Mahal, the Christ Redeemer statue in Brazil, and Machu Picchu.

On the surface, it sounds like this could be a project similar to National Treasure, as Deadline says Fox envisions an action/adventure story that could lead to a trilogy (if it gets off on the right foot). Preventing that, possibly, is the reported involvement of Brett Ratner in a producer’s role. Ratner executive produced 21, and is making Mezrich’s Seven Wonders the first project funded under his RatPac Entertainment label.

Ratner likely won’t direct Seven Wonders, though, as he has Hercules on tap with Dwayne Johnson. So who will? We’ll keep you posted on the latest developments.

There are plenty of law enforcement dramas out in the universe, but not a ton of them attempt super strange or high concepts when trying to make it to the small screen. Brett Ratner and Barry Schindel’s aren’t scared of a little challenge, however, and have signed on for an FBI-oriented drama project called Tomorrow at ABC.

Tomorrow was created and written by Katherine Lindberg and Ted Cyr, and will be directed by Ratner if the project goes to series. Additionally, Schindel will act as showrunner and will executive produce, alongside Lindberg, Cyr, Michael Sugar, and Nicole Romano. If you noted I mentioned “goes to series” rather than “goes to pilot” in that former sentence, that’s because Tomorrow has bargained for one hell of a deal. According to Deadline, Tomorrow has the opportunity to go straight from script to series if ABC decides it likes the project.

The drama project still needs a script if it wants that elusive 13-episode series order, however. While Tomorrow definitely is a unique premise, following an FBI agent who gets involved with time travel, finding himself trapped in a place that is not where he wants to be. Other than its very basic premise, we don’t know much about the potential project, but the good news is, Schindel’s been around the law enforcement block more then once, producing and writing on projects like Law & Order, Castle, and Criminal Minds: Suspect Behavior. Ratner, too, is a pretty big name to direct, so hopefully Tomorrow has a good shot. We’ll have to wait until the future to find out, unless anyone happens to have a time traveling machine at his or her disposal.

Tired of remakes yet? I sure hope not, because Brett Ratner has a brand new one in store for you. The Rush Hour director is now set to produce a remake of The Flamingo Kid, based on the Garry Marshall movie from 1984 starring Matt Dillon, Richard Crenna, Hector Elizondo, Jessica Walter and Janet Jones. Walt Disney Pictures is housing the project and Ratner will be producing via his Rat Entertainment Banner.

According to Deadline, the script is being written by Nzingha Stewart, who executive produced Tyler Perry's For Colored Girls and has directed music videos for artists such as Jay-Z and 50 Cent. The original film starred Dillon as Jeffrey Willis, a young high school graduate who isn't sure which direction he wants to take his life, though his family is pressuring him to go to college. During the summer he takes a job at the Flamingo Club and meets the club's owner, Phil Brody (Crenna). Jeffrey begins to see Phil as his mentor - introducing him to a life of popularity, riches, fast cars and beautiful women. His image of Phil comes crumbling down, however, when he discovers an important flaw in his boss' character.

Michael Phillips, who produced the original film, is serving on the remake as well. Before backing the coming of age story, Phillips garnered a great reputation in Hollywood, producing movies like Taxi Driver, Close Encounters of the Third Kind and The Sting. The Flamingo Kid remake will be his first movie since 2007's The Last Mimzy.

Save for Al Pacino, there's no actor in Hollywood who has worked harder in the last ten years to undercut his own legacy than Robert De Niro. Formerly known as one of the greatest actors of all time, the two-time Oscar winner has spent the last ten years making absolute dreck like Showtime, Hide and Seek, Righteous Kill, New Year's Eve and the Meet The Parents sequels. But apparently he's not content with just making a mockery of his current career - he has to besmirch his legacy as well.

Apparently a Midnight Run 2 is now in development with De Niro attached as Deadline reports that Universal has hired David Elliot and Paul Lovett to write the script and is currently in negotiations with Brett Ratner to direct. In the original, directed by Martin Brest, De Niro played Jack Walsh, a bounty hunter who has dreams of retirement but instead gets stuck having to capture and transport a talkative accountant named Jonathan “The Duke” Mardukas, played by Charles Grodin. There is no word if Grodin will return for the sequel as well. The studio had initially hired Tim Dowling to write the script's project, but now Elliot and Lovett have been brought in for a re-write. The duo previously wrote the scripts for both Four Brothers and G.I. Joe: The Rise of Cobra.

A few years ago if you had asked me if I would want to see a Midnight Run 2 I would have said "hell yes," but this news just bums me out. De Niro just seems to be scraping the bottom of the barrel now and Brett Ratner directing? I can't even believe that's an idea someone had. With any luck this will end up being like most of Ratner's projects in that it causes a big stir when first announced and then goes absolutely nowhere.

Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson could easily compete for the title of Hollywood’s busiest actor, and yet he just keeps adding new projects to his full slate. He has Journey 2: The Mysterious Island in theaters. He’ll have a G.I. Joe sequel out before summer’s end. And he’s lining up two massive projects to ensure he’ll stay gainfully employed through 2014.

As was previously rumored, Johnson has committed to Brett Ratner’s planned production of Hercules, which Variety claims will begin production in New Zealand in October. The Tower Heist director’s version will be adapted from Steve Moore’s 2008 graphic novel Hercules: The Thracian War, which will be converted to the big screen by scripter Ryan Condal. MGM will distribute the actioner, likely at some point in 2014.

But wait … there’s more! Johnson, according to Deadline, also has signed on to the action thriller Ciudad, which will be directed by Joe and Anthony Russo. Based on a pending graphic novel (that the Russos co-wrote with Ande Parks), Ciudad centers on a black market mercenary (Johnson) who is hired by a drug lord to rescue his kidnapped daughter from one of Brazil’s toughest slums.

Where does it end for Johnson? Short answer: It doesn’t. In 2013 alone, he has the undercover drama Snitch (which he’s currently filming with Susan Sarandon), Empire State for director Dito Montiel, and the sixth Fast and the Furious, which announced a May 13, 2013 release date. Audiences seem to love Johnson in these roles, and I’d much rather see him putting his physical talents to work in stuff like Ciudad than The Tooth Fairy. Rock appears to be rolling down an action path once again, and how that he’s gaining momentum, I can’t see anything stopping him.

Without the burden of producing the Oscars this weekend, Brett Ratner has the time to start picking out other projects-- presumably ones that are perfectly fine with a director who thinks rehearsal is for fags. In the glory days before Ratner was largely known for sticking his foot in his mouth, the director was looking to jump on board a new Hercules movie over at MGM, actually an adaptation of the comic Hercules: The Thracian Wars. With Wrath of the Titans coming in a few weeks, sword and sandals are apparently still in style, and Ratner may have found pretty much the only actor who's both right for the role and capable of making this into its own franchise.

According to a tweet from Variety's Jeff Sneider, The Rock is in talks to star for Ratner as Hercules, who you might remember is the warrior of Greek myth who is half-hum and half-God. The Rock is pretty much "no duh" casting in terms of playing a buff warrior, and though at 40 this year he's a little older than you might think his starpower more than makes up for that. The real question is how he'll make the time-- he's attached to Michael Bay's Pain and Gain as well as the next Fast and Furious movie, and will be spending time this year promoting G.I. Joe: Retaliation as well.

We'll keep an eye out for more details on this and add them as we get them. In the meantime, let us know what you think about the continued, never-ending career success of the former wrestler who's now a bona fide movie star.

Maybe it was the inclusion of Matthew Broderick or maybe it was seeing Eddie Murphy in rare form, but 2011’s Tower Heist took a sort of nonsensical plot and turned into an irresistible couple of hours of fun. Director Brett Ratner is at his best when he gets to mix in jokes with wild sight gags and some shoot ‘em up fun. With that magic at his fingertips, Ratner helped Tower Heist to turn a tidy profit, making over $134 million worldwide on a $75 million budget. Now, Universal Home Studios is preparing Tower Heist for a Blu-ray and DVD release.

The likeable story about a wealthy swindler who gets his comeuppance when he messes with the wrong crew’s money will hit Blu-Ray, DVD, digital download and On Demand on February 21. Though the film is lacking in the 3D department, it will come with Universal Homes Studios now-predominant Second Screen Blu-ray technology, which lets audiences interact with the film via a connected device, such as a computer or tablet.

If the Second Screen technology isn’t appealing, Tower Heist DVD and Blu-Ray copies will come with a ton of additional footage and bonus features, including several deleted and alternative scenes. Additionally, if you weren’t happy with the way the money was delineated at the end of the film, two alternative endings will be included with purchase. A gag reel, feature commentary from Brett Ratner, and a segment on making a classic caper movie called “Plotting Tower Heist” will round out the extras. Blu-Ray copies will also come with BD Live features and the Pocket Blu app.

You can check out the tentative box art, below.

After one of the quietest debut seasons, Happy Endings still somehow ended up with a second season and good thing too, because now the sitcom is on quite a roll. ABC made the right choice staying with the young and promising show, even it was initially with a limited episode order to keep testing the waters. However, just last week, that got extended into a full sophomore season, which means plenty of time to hang out in Chicago with the funny six-some. The good news continues as ABC has also lined up an awesome guest star to play a love interest for one member of the group.

So, which member of the group will be getting lucky - or more likely unlucky - in love with a special guest star later this season? According to TVLine Party Down's Ryan Hansen (they called him Dick Casablancas but since I was not a Veronica Mars man, I had to google it to figure out what the hell they were talking about) is stepping into the show as a new love interest for Casey Wilson's Penny. The article says that he'll play a successful guy in desperate need of a make-over, which Penny feels obligated to give before finding him date-worthy. I'm sure it will all work out for Penny, just like it always does, and I'm excited to see Hansen (who I loved as Kyle) and her mix it up.

It's a little odd how ABC has been handling the show. It took a whole season for me to even hear of it and I am very thankful that I finally found it. On top of the lack of promotion, the network also took its sweet time deciding whether or not to renew it before going ahead with a measly half-season order before granting it another six episode extension. Finally, they stepped up and gave it the full season it deserves and maybe now they'll actually throw their full weight behind it and I hope so because it's one of the better traditional sitcoms on television. I love hanging out with the entire crew, even if Max is by far the best. Speaking of Max, here's Adam Pally doing Brett Ratner after the whole Oscar snafu...

Tune into Happy Endings, Wednesday nights at 9:30 p.m. ET on ABC.

Following the news that Eddie Murphy was no longer going to host The Oscars after Brett Ratner’s departure as producer, it’s looking like Billy Crystal will step up to take on the role for the ninth time.

Variety’s Jeff Sneider tweeted the confirmation after Crystal tweeted:

Apparently Crystal wasn’t just joking around. According to Sneider’s brief tweet, Crystal is indeed confirmed to host the 2012 Academy Awards. The Hollywood Reporter has also posted the confirmation.

Crystal certainly has plenty of experience at the job, having served as host eight other times, the first of which was twenty-one years ago. He still has a long way to go to catch up with Bob Hope, who hosted or co-hosted the Oscars a whopping 18 times.

This news follows earlier reports that Ricky Gervais may have been willing to take the job. And of course, some of us will be disappointed to know the Muppets didn’t get the job. At the very least, we know the show will be in capable hands with Crystal as host.

I wrote this morning that the worst decision Eddie Murphy could make would be to step back from hosting the Oscars now that Brett Ratner is out as producer; turns out, he's done it anyway. The Academy has announced in a press release that Murphy ha withdrawn as the host of next year's awards, giving out this gracious but deliberately vague statement:

It's not hard to predict why Murphy withdrew-- a notoriously press-shy actor who's done essentially nothing but vanity projects for the last decade or so ( save Dreamgirls), Murphy was likely resistant to hosting the show in the first place, and agreed to do it only thanks to his working relationship with Ratner. With Ratner gone, the respect and visibility Murphy would get from hosting the show probably isn't enough to keep him on board. Eddie Murphy earned the power long ago to work only with those he chooses, and it seemed unlikely the Academy would be able to choose another producer with the sway to keep Murphy in the fold.

So now, with a little more than three months to go until showtime, next year's Oscar ceremony is back at square one. All bets are off! Anybody could host! Anything is possible! We can hope that sense of possibility inspires the Academy to think smart and stick to what they do well, but as we all know, their desire to attract younger and newer viewers can lead to some dumb, dumb decisions (like hiring Brett Ratner in the first place, you might say). Its hard to imagine they'll find someone funnier than Murphy to find his place, but here's hoping their next picks for producer and host are at least a little less volatile.

As you've probably heard by now, yesterday Brett Ratner handed in his resignation as producer of next year's Academy Awards, finally contrite after a series of disastrous public appearances that led to him saying "rehearsal is for fags" and essentially making a fool of himself . It was probably inevitable that Ratner would resign given how much criticism he was getting, from people who probably didn't want him tackling the job to begin with, but another question remains: will Eddie Murphy follow suit?

Ratner brought on Murphy to host the Oscars back in September, and during the press rounds for Tower Heist the two talked vaguely but excitedly about their plans to work on the ceremony together. It seems pretty certain that no director other than Ratner, whom Murphy likes so much they were planning another movie together, could get Eddie Murphy back to the Oscars stage where he lost out on a Supporting Actor statue five years ago. Murphy's one of the most exciting host choices they've made in years, and his stand-up background makes him a natural fit for the awards, but Murphy is also a very prickly guy who has spent more than two decades working only with who he chooses. I have no doubt Ratner sweet-talked Murphy into the job, but now that Ratner is out, will Murphy sweet-talk his way back out?

No doubt it'd be better for him to stick around. Not only would Murphy resigning send a very strange message-- "Yeah, I'm with Brett-- rehearsing IS for fags"-- but it would be giving up one of the best PR opportunities he's had to refresh his image and get people caring about him again. Tower Heist was the beginning of that, and there's a reason Murphy did press for that film when he hadn't done interviews in years. But the Oscars, again, are one of the most-watched TV broadcasts of the year; it's guaranteed that more people will see it than saw Tower Heist, and there will be plenty who could tune in to see Murphy alone.

But Eddie Murphy is a man who likes things to go his way, and if the Academy doesn't pick a replacement producer who suits him, it's totally plausible that Murphy would walk. Then again, given Murphy's own history with the word "fag," the Academy might get really overreactionary and scrap Murphy too. That would be the stupidest move of all, but right now they're in the middle of a PR nightmare-- people make some dumb decisions when they feel under the gun. I'm hoping that by some miracle Murphy sticks around and does the hosting job we all know he's capable of. Eddie Murphy was funny and brilliant and perfect for this job while Brett Ratner was still in high school; hopefully Murphy himself can remember that too.

At this point I have to imagine that Brett Ratner's publicity staff must be kind of upset with him. With Tower Heist opening this past weekend, the director has been making the press rounds and has been doing a pretty amazing job pissing off just about everyone. From his line about rehearsal being for "fags" to the detailing of his sex life on the Howard Stern show, Ratner has used every opportunity to make himself look incredibly unlikeable. Now it looks like it's biting him in the ass.

According to unnamed sources over at THR, Brett Ratner has been ousted as the producer of next year's Academy Awards. It's unknown if this means that Eddie Murphy, who signed on to host the awards ceremony in September, will continue to be a part of the show. Earlier today The Academy of Motion Pictures Arts and Sciences, the folks behind the show, issued a statement saying that they believed Ratner's apology for the rehearsal remark was sincere and that it reflected "who he really is at heart." When asked for comment the Academy did not respond, but it's expected that they will be issuing a new statement later today.

One has to wonder what motivated the quick change of heart. From the sound of the statement this morning the Academy was ready to go to bat for Ratner, but now they are totally abandoning him. Perhaps they noticed that this isn't exactly the first time that Ratner has portrayed himself in a negative light and don't have the desire to keep cleaning up for him. Maybe the director has made yet another stupid remark that we've yet to hear about. All in all, this probably is the right move. We'll be sure to update this story as more develops.

UPDATE: Well that didn't take long. The Academy has posted a statement about the Brett Ratner business, and there's a bit of a twist: apparently Ratner is the one who wanted out. That, of course, is assuming that this isn't a situation where the Academy asked Ratner to turn in his resignation. Here is the full release:

UPDATE #2: THR has published Ratner's open letter mentioned in the Academy statement above. Read it below:

Brett Ratner, let's be honest, has never been known for the most erudite wit or even ability to say anything that made him seem like more than an overprivileged, under-talented rich kid. But he might have outdone himself at a screening of his new movie Tower Heist over the weekend, when answering a question about the kind of rehearsing he did with his actors on the shoot. According to people who were at the screening, via Vulture, Ratner "waved his hand dismissively and said, 'Rehearsing is for fags.' " No word on whether he got a laugh out of it, but given the assumptions I make about the people who paid to see Tower Heist based on how mediocre it is, I wouldn't be surprised.

On one hand, there's not really a point in attacking a guy based on a single dumb comment he made, especially when it comes hand in hand with the many other dumb Brett Ratner comments out there, like his Attack of the Show appearance in which he talked about sleeping with the show's former host, Olivia Munn. On the other hand, come on dude. He knows better than that, and proved as much when he issued an apology to The Wrap, saying it was a "dumb way of expressing myself," and trotting out the apology that's common for people who get caught saying something offensive: "Everyone who knows me knows that I don’t have a prejudiced bone in my body." Yeah, usually it sounds more believable before you say something offensive in public.

Brett Ratner is getting ready to produce the Oscars, which isn't called "the gay Super Bowl" for nothing. He hopes to direct an adaptation of Wicked, and you don't need me to tell you the historical connection between the gay community and Broadway. Ratner just stuck his foot in his mouth at the exact moment it's the least convenient for him. Really, it couldn't have happened to a more deserving guy.

"We did not plan Occupy Wall Street."

Believe it or not, Brett Ratner felt compelled to explain that at the press conference for Tower Heist, held high above Columbus Circle at the swank Mandarin Oriental Hotel. An enterprising but naive reporter asked Ratner and his Tower Heist cohorts-- stars Eddie Murphy and Ben Stiller, producer Brian Grazer-- not just what they thought about the Occupy Wall Street movement, but whether they'd travel a few miles downtown and join it. No one on the panel seemed to recognize any sense of irony as Ratner stumbled through an answer. No one snickered under their breath when Stiller said sincerely, "I think there's a lot of frustration out there that's valid. I understand where it's coming from." No one asked Grazer why he kept a stone-faced silence throughout this particular question.

That's power of celebrity and Hollywood, to see four millionaires sitting up onstage and to assume that they, too, understand the deep financial frustration of everyday Americans. To be fair, Tower Heist kind of gives you that assumption. It's a broad, innocuous farce, but also one in which a bunch of hotel employees ripped off by a Bernie Madoff-style investor strike back by breaking into his penthouse apartment and stealing his fortune. All four men at the press conference are more likely to own a million-dollar car than to steal one, but they're perfectly capable of making a movie about the revolt of the lower classes the same reason Sofia Coppola can make one about Marie Antoinette or Steven Spielberg can make one about aliens. We don't demand that our filmmakers experience what they're making movies about, just that they tell it convincingly.

Based on the rapturous audience response at my screening of Tower Heist, they've clearly pulled off this caper about the working man escaping his burden. But there's a difference between making it true onscreen and in real life, and it was more than a little hilarious watching Ratner and company not just skirt questions like 'Would you join Occupy Wall Street?" but studiously avoid any conflict whatsoever. When one questioner brought up Norbit's negative attitude toward heavy women, and compared it to the flirting Eddie Murphy's character does with Gabourey Sidibe's in Tower Heist, Murphy immediately got defensive and Ratner chimed in like the conflict-avoiding mother, "Let's stay positive! We're happy!" When Grazer was asked directly about Universal's scrapped plan to bring Tower Heist to VOD almost immediately, he had a one-sentence brushoff that basically ended the line of questioning. Maybe they each realized they had made a movie about sticking it to the Man, and sitting at the head of the table at this press conference, they were now the Man themselves.

The press conference largely went along the lines you would expect-- Ratner talked repeatedly about wanting to capture the authentic New York by shooting on location, being inspired by classic New York crime movies like The taking of Pelham 1 2 3 and Hot Rock, and how Eddie Murphy "kind of invented the action comedy genre" with Beverly Hills Cop in the 80s. Stiller talked about how he liked living in New York "because it's harder," Murphy said he made the movie because he "wanted to get out of the house and do something." But then Grazer talked about they had to make the movie "on a smarter budget," and admitted that actors changed their deals in order to get the film made, and it was hard to avoid the eyerolls again. The budget for Tower Heist, as estimated by New York Times, was $85 million-- nothing by Hollywood standards, but a serious amount of money for the 99%.

Does the fact that Tower Heist was made by millionaires make it less fun or less successful as a movie? Well, of course not-- many, many movies are made by millionaires, including those that more honestly defend the working class, like The Fighter or Erin Brockovich. But neither of those movies were sold so blatantly as a product, as a feel-good commodity that, yes, entire families can go see together, but that will make the four men at that press conference even richer. They are using the deep financial insecurity of the working-class to build another rung on their ladder of immense success, making millions off a movie that, given ticket prices, plenty of families can't even afford to see. It's hard not to be bowled over by the irony of it all. Given that Ratner and company haven't made their way down to Occupy Wall Street, as far as I know, I imagine some part of them is well aware of it too.

Tower Heist opens in theaters this Friday.

“I’m the Juggernaut, bitch.”

That classic line, as you know, comes from Brett Ratner’s X-Men: The Last Stand. It started as a lame Internet joke, yet found its way into a mainstream comic book blockbuster (where it didn’t belong) because Ratner, as a filmmaker, is eager to please a fanbase who’ll never accept him. And decisions such as this often make it hard to defend the man. But here goes nothing.

Listen, Ratner gets a ton of shit. Some is self-inflicted. He regularly comes off as a smug, self-satisfied ass in interviews. And if you happened to catch Ratner on FOX’s atrocious reality competition On the Lot, I can understand why you might have sworn off of his movies.

??Yet, if you take the time and see his actual films, you’ll realize they’re not the work of Satan many make them out to be. Ratner’s a lazy filmmaker, often content to cut corners if it means getting to a predictable visual joke faster. But he’s far less chauvinistic than Michael Bay, less sadistic than Tom Six, and more polished than Uwe Boll.

What I’m trying to say is that there are more deserving targets of movie fandom’s collective anger than Ratner, who’d just like to go on making his formulaic crowd-pleasers without the laser-focused criticism of select audience members who mistakenly believe he’s capable of delivering more.

So, with Ratner’s Tower Heist about to hit theaters, let’s be positive and come up with 10 sort of nice things to say about Ratner. Maybe we can drain some of the bile that floods the Internet on a daily basis, and turn chat rooms and comment sections into peaceful realms of intelligent discourse.

??OK, sorry. I got carried away.

Here are the 10 nicest things I can say about Brett Ratner. Seriously.

10. Since 2001, he’s the only director who has figured out how to use Eddie Murphy.

That’s when Andrew Adamson and Vicky Jenson cast Murphy in the original Shrek as the voice of Donkey. The role fit Murphy’s motor-mouthed comedy to a tee. And since then, the comic has languished in forgettable projects like Meet Dave and Imagine That. Ratner’s Tower Heist doesn’t bring Murphy all the way back to the golden years of Coming to America. But the actor’s turn as smooth-talking criminal Slide is the closest he’s come in a decade, and Ratner gets some of that credit.

9. He didn’t ruin New York, I Love You.

In fact, his short film -- with Anton Yelchin taking a wheelchair-bound Olivia Thirlby to her prom -- was surprisingly tender and heartfelt.

8. His Danger Room sequence was fairly bad-ass.

Ratner opened The Last Stand with an X-Men training sequence that actually featured Sentinels. Well, the head of a Sentinel. The rest of the movie sucked, but that scene lived up to Bryan Singer’s standards.

7. He continues to employ Tea Leoni.

The grossly underused beauty shines whenever she’s on screen, and thanks to Tower Heist and The Family Man, Ratner has doubled our Tea pleasure. Never a bad thing.

6. He executive produced John Dahl’s You Kill Me.

Which was a darkly comedic little treasure about an alcoholic hit man (Ben Kingsley, underacting for a change) settling scores in Buffalo. It deserved a larger audience. And co-starred Tea Leoni.

5. His publishing company reproduces out-of-print books about Hollywood.

Which is admirable, because the up-and-coming entertainment generation knows little about this business’s Golden Age. The first two projects “rescued” by this program were thorough books on Marlon Brando and Robert Evans. But the publishing company goes by the name of “Rat Press,” which almost negates all of the goodwill generated by Ratner’s work. Almost.

4. He made excellent costume choices for Salma Hayek in After the Sunset.

Which involved very little costuming at all.

3. He maintains a well-groomed beard.

He could live in Austin. And write for a movie blog.

2. OK, OK. Fine. Ratner actually has a decent nose for casting and on-screen chemistry.

It started with 1998’s Rush Hour, which – for better or for worse – was the pioneer of the “Jackie Chan + Random American Co-Star” template. And while Ratner recycled it for multiple “Rush” efforts, he also created memorable pairs for The Family Man (Nic Cage and Tea Leoni), Red Dragon (Anthony Hopkins and Edward Norton), After the Sunset (Pierce Brosnan and Salma Hayek), and Tower Heist (Ben Stiller and Eddie Murphy). He surrounds his leads with legitimate character actors like Woody Harrelson, Ralph Fiennes, Alan Alda, Matthew Broderick, Don Cheadle and Roman Polanski. OK, that last one was weird, but the French director’s cameo is the only thing I remember about Rush Hour 3.

1. And finally, Ratner avoided making the worst Hannibal Lecter film.

Which is, and always will remain, Peter Webber’s wildly unnecessary Hannibal Rising.

When thinking of the big screen adaptation of the hit Broadway musical Wicked, Brett Ratner’s probably not at or near the top of anyone’s list, but it’s apparently a “dream project” for the Tower Heist director.

It’s only a matter of time before Wicked makes its way to the big screen, and given the popularity of the Broadway musical, it’s likely that people (a lot of girls, and maybe some men who watched this week’s episode of South Park) will flock in droves to the movie theaters to see Elphaba and G(a)linda meet at college and form an unlikely friendship. Last year, the buzz on who might direct the film ranged from Glee’s Ryan Murphy, to James Mangold, Rob Marshall, and even JJ Abrams. Brett Ratner’s name wasn’t included as one of the people interested in the project, at the time.

Ratner’s directorial work includes the Rush Hour films, X-Men: Last Stand, and the soon-to-be-released comedy caper Tower Heist. The New York Times ran an article on the director, discussing some of his work, and mentioning his plans to direct The 39 Clues. The article states that Ratner’s also busy "conjuring up future endeavors," among which is his “dream project,” a film adaptation of Wicked.

Branching out is a good thing, but it’s hard to find a strong argument for Ratner being the man for the job based on his previous films. It’s probably an understatement to say that hopes and expectations for the project will be high. People will be hoping for the film to capture the magic brought to the stage by Stephen Schwartz (music/lyrics), Winnie Holzman (book), Kristin Chenoweth (Galinda), Idina Menzel (Elphaba), and Joel Grey (The Wizard). Needless to say, the bar has been set high for this one.

Ratner describes himself as an “instinct guy.” Maybe his instincts tell him he’s the person who can do this film, but he might do well to tackle a smaller project and work his way up to something like this. Wicked is as much a story of personal growth, choices, friendship and love as it is a great musical. I might be more comfortable with the idea of Ratner directing Wicked if I’d seen at least one other film of his that touches on those elements at the same depth.

It was announced yesterday that folks in Atlanta, Georgia and Portland, Oregon will be given the opportunity to watch Brett Ratner's Tower Heist On Demand a mere three weeks after the film has been released in theaters. The catch is that in order to see it, audiences will have to pay the hefty sum of $59.99. Because the price only works out if you split the cost with at least eight other people, the question must be asked: would you pay to see this new movie for a higher-than-normal price?

Before you make your decision, check out the new trailer for the movie below or in HD over on Apple.

Starring Ben Stiller, Eddie Murphy, Alan Alda, Matthew Broderick, Téa Leoni, Gabourey Sidibe, Casey Affleck, Judd Hirsch, and Michael Peña, Tower Heist is about a group of hotel employees who lose their pensions when they are screwed by a Bernie Madoff-type character. Both seeking revenge and wanting their money back, the group devises a plan to break into the villain's villa and take back what is rightfully theirs.

The movie is scheduled to be released on November 4th and for more, including images, posters, news and trailers, be sure to head over to our Blend Film Database.

Believe it or not, there's a very good reason why movie theaters make you pay an arm and a leg for soda and popcorn: it's because they really don't make that much from ticket sales. In the opening week of release for a film, studios take almost all of the money from tickets and in each subsequent week the studio lowers their percentage take, and the cinema takes more. As a result, the two sides have been at war, as the studios have tried to reduce the amount of time movies spend in theaters and rush them on to home video. Needless to say, theater owners are going to be royally pissed when they hear this news.

The Los Angeles Times is reporting that Universal and Comcast will be releasing the new Brett Ratner movie, Tower Heist, on VOD just three weeks after the film has been released in theaters. Because it's a test of a new system, the offer will only exist in Atlanta, Georgia and Portland, Oregon. Should they feel inclined not to leave their homes, potential audience members will have the option to view the new movie in their on homes at the price of $59.99. Factoring in the average movie ticket price of $7.97, this means that it will only be worth the money if you have at least eight people watching the movie with you (not counting price of gas, food, etc.). When reached for comment, AMC Entertainment, Regal Entertainment and Cinemark - the country's three biggest theater chains - either declined comment or did not return calls.

This will be interesting if not just because Ratner's films (for whatever reason) tend to make big money at the box office and with a cast that includes Ben Stiller and Eddie Murphy Tower Heist has a chance to do the same. The next move is up to the theater owners. Will they try and boycott the movie and force Universal and Comcast to cancel their plans? Will they gamble and wait to see if the test has any major effect? These are questions that will likely be answered prior to the film's release on November 4th.

The Tower Heist trailer that was just posted online makes it look like a terrifically entertaining overmatched-underdogs-against-overprivileged-billionaires comedy that should make a fortune at the box office. And yes, I realize it’s a Brett Ratner film, but Noah Baumbach’s a credited writer and the trailer lobs a number of softballs at some very funny people (Matthew Broderick looks like he can steal this thing right from underneath Ben Stiller’s nose), then gets out of their way as they swing for the fences. Check it out for yourself (see it in HD over on Yahoo!):

Also, and this is most important, it looks like Eddie Murphy is awake, invested, fired up and ready to make people laugh for the first time since Bowfinger. That’s going all the way back to 1999, people. Comedians don’t forget how to be funny, so I can’t explain how or why Murphy chose to coast through the likes of Daddy Day Care, Norbit, Meet Dave or Imagine That for the better part of the past decade. But if Ratner somehow coaxes 48 Hours-level Murphy for Tower Heist (and tell me you didn’t think of Reggie Hammond when you saw Murphy getting sprung from jail), then I’m even more on board what’s shaping up to be a hit holiday comedy.

As the trailer suggests, Ratner’s Heist has the blue-collar grunts in a Manhattan high-rise plotting to rob the fraudulent executive (Alan Alda) who cheated them out of their pensions. Ben Stiller plays the group’s leader, while Murphy is the ex-con who may or may not be helping them out. And yes, that is Oscar nominee Gabourey Sidibe (Precious) going toe-to-toe with Murphy and holding her own. Call me crazy, but I think this one can work when it opens on Nov. 4.

For more on Tower Heist, click the movie's first poster below to visit our full gallery of high-res images.

This past weekend comic book fans were delivered a gift when, for the first time in eight years, a filmmaker crafted an excellent X-Men movie. Though the movie didn't perform exceptionally at the box office, it did get rave reviews from both critics and fans alike. There is, however, one person that isn't too thrilled about all of the reawakened X-Men love: Brett Ratner.

Yesterday the X-Men 3: The Last Stand director took to his Twitter account to post a couple of links to Box Office Mojo, namely the week-by-week breakdown of X-Men movies performance, the summary statistics for all of the X-Men movies, the day-of-the-week numbers for all of the X-Men movies, the total grosses for movies based on Marvel Comics, and, lastly, the top grossing Martial Arts movies since 1980 (this has nothing to do with X-Men, but Rush Hour 2 is on top of the list). On all of the lists, the third film in the X-Men franchise is shown as the most financially successful movie in the group. Following it all up, Ratner Tweeted a couple of hours ago, "I was the first one on line to see X Men First Class and I loved it.. I thought Matthew. Vaughn did a briliant job!! Congrats"

I understand that Vaughn is on record having said, "As it happens, I could have made something a hundred times better than the film that was eventually made. It sounds arrogant, but I could have done something with far more emotion and heart" about X-Men 3, but how petty can you get? Everybody on this planet knows that box office numbers have nothing to do with film quality - Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen made $836 million worldwide - and considering most analysts believe First Class' numbers were negatively affected by fans being burned by the two previous efforts, Ratner has nothing to be proud of here. This is just sour grapes from a director who made a poor film and is unwilling to admit it.

When it was a family adventure project picked up by Steven Spielberg in summer 2008, The 39 Clues seemed pretty promising-- adaptation of a children's book series about a family solving clues around the world to learn their true nature. But if you've been paying attention you might have noticed that Spielberg has set his sights on a lot of projects in the last few years, and now that he's finally moving forward on his long-delayed Lincoln biopic, a few things are going to have to fall by the wayside. And, as these things do, one of them has to be picked out of the scrap heap by Brett Ratner.

According to Deadline DreamWorks has assigned Ratner to the adaptation of the book and online game series, which hadn't yet been published when we first reported on it in 2008 but now includes 11 installments. Ratner's also been busy eyeing new projects lately too, and it's unclear if this gig means he won't take on the Hercules movie as rumored; either way he's still got The Tower Heist coming later this year, the first movie he's released in theaters since 2007's Rush Hour 3 (yes, it really has been that long).

Given that Spielberg never really seemed to seriously consider The 39 Clues after picking it up-- even at the time he was only thinking about directing it-- it's no surprise to see him pass it on. Maybe The Tower Heist, a caper comedy starring Ben Stiller, is making the rounds and Spielberg saw something in Ratner's work there that seemed worthy to him. Or hey, maybe Ratner was just free that day. Either way, adjust your expectations of this Spielberg project to Ratner-sized levels accordingly.

Last summer, with Clash of the Titans still a fairly fresh hit and the Conan the Barbarian remake already in production, Millennium Films was getting ready to tackle that other sword-and-sandals hero Hercules, and had gotten Brett Ratner interested in directing it. For whatever reason Ratner then moved on to direct The Tower Heist, but now that he's finished he's circled back to Hercules after all. According to Vulture Ratner is considering another take on the character at MGM, based on the comic book Hercules: The Thracian Wars.

Back in the bygone days of 2008, Peter Berg was planning to shepherd an adaptation of this very comic with Universal and Spyglass Entertainment. Since then Spyglass has taken over as co-chair of MGM, which they've essentially helped resurrect from the dead, so it makes sense for the project to switch studios. A Variety report from back in February, which the studio later disputed, listed the Hercules film among several others that the studio was considering, and said that Berg and Film 44 were still on board as producers. Obviously the prediction of the Hercules film has come true, but it's unclear how involved Berg may be.

But let's get back to the real issue here-- Brett Ratner wants to make a Hercules movie, based on a comic book, and Kevin Sorbo does not seem to have received a phone call. Who's heartbroken about this? Who wishes Brett Ratner would just settle down with his millions and leave us all alone? The guy hasn't released a feature since 2007's Rush Hour 3, so can't we all be optimistic and assume he's gotten more talented in the intervening years? OK, I'll let you laugh about that notion in the comments.

After starting her career in Lee Daniels' heavy drama Precious, it appears that Gabourey Sidibe is trying to make a career in comedy. First she signed on to the Showtime series The Big C with Laura Linney, and now she's heading back to the movies. Deadline reports that Sidibe and actor Michael Pena have joined the cast of Brett Ratner's Tower Heist. Already starring Ben Stiller, Alan Alda and Eddie Murphy, both Sidibe and Pena will play employees of a luxury high-rise who, led by Stiller's character, plan to rob a Bernie Madoff-esque character, played by Alda, who robbed them of their pensions. Production will start up in New York next month.

I'm starting to come to a realization. This film just added an Academy Award nominee and one of the more underrated comedic actors working today, and I'm still finding it impossible to think that this movie will come out anything even remotely well. Sometimes my aversion to Brett Ratner runs even deeper than I know.

Though he's only made five films in the last ten years, and zero in the last two, Alan Alda is ready to get back into gear. The former star of M.A.S.H. has booked two new film gigs, Wanderlust and Tower Heist, according to THR. In the first film, directed by David Wain, Alda will play the leader of a naturalist village that Jennifer Aniston and Paul Rudd escape modernity to join. In Tower Heist, a Brett Ratner directed, Ben Stiller-starring comedy, Alda will play the villain, a Bernie Madoff-type character, whom Stiller plans to rob.

Now 74, Alda is getting up there in years, but it doesn't seem as though his talent is in anyway deteriorating. He was fantastic when he played Alec Baldwin's father on the third season of 30 Rock and his time as Senator Arnold Vinick on West Wing only ended four years ago. Here's looking forward to seeing what he can do in these two films.

I think Brett Ratner must be aware that the very sound of his name is enough to send certain film fans into spasms of panic, because he sure seems to relish attaching his name to dozens of projects that never get made, seemingly just to watch us squirm. Latest on the agenda is The Reluctant Communist, an adaptation of Charles Robert Jenkins and Jim Frederick's memoir about Jenkins' 40-year imprisonment in North Korea. Yes, 40 years. And he surrendered to them while drunk.

Clearly this is a fantastic story, and given that Ratner has merely optioned the rights to the book, it's entirely likely another filmmaker will wind up making it with Ratner's company Rat Entertainment. Ross Katz has been hired to write the screenplay, and while they're hoping to set up the project at a studio, they probably need to get some actors on board to make that happen. So calm down from the time being, and actually be glad that Ratner has picked up a great story that could make for a decent movie. Between this and shepherding the excellent doc Catfish to a wide release, Ratner might find his way off the collective Internet's shit list before too long.

Back in June the news came out that Brett Ratner was developing a dark and gritty movie version of Snow White. It was a wretched story on two levels: 1) it perpetuates the whole "people liked The Dark Knight because it was dark, not because it was great filmmaking" thing and 2) Brett Ratner is involved. With those two elements in mind, plus the fact that it would be almost impossible to top the Disney classic, the project doesn't really serve any purpose. If the newest rumors are true, however, that may change.

Pajiba's inside source The Hollywood Cog has caught wind of a rumor that Natalie Portman has expressed interest in the title role and that Jean-Pierre Jeunet, the director of Micmacs, is considering the director's chair. Both of them have experienced a terrific year at film festivals, the former getting rave reviews for her performance in Darren Aronofsky's Black Swan, while Micmacs has shown at South by Southwest and Tribeca amongst others and received great marks at each.

Is it possible that Brett Ratner is becoming a respectable name? He picked up the festival hit Catfish, which I loved, after Sundance and now this is shaping up to look good to. What's that? He's still the man who directed X-Men: The Last Stand and Rush Hour 3? Oh, well screw him then.

Brett Ratner is still around, I'm sorry to tell you. The director widely loathed for tanking the X-Men series was coming close to a comeback when he was being considered to direct X-Men: First Class, but that fate was happily avoided when Matthew Vaughn took the job. Ratner still doesn't exactly have a directing project on his plate, but as reported by Variety, he's keeping busy as a producer, and sticking with comics.

His company Rat Entertainment has optioned the rights to The Unknowns, a comic book series by Mark A. Altman, Steven Kriozere and Monica Olsen about a young woman who realizes she was once the leader of an elite killing team called The Unknowns. Like many great movie heroes before her, she then goes on a journey to discover her true identity and, I'm guessing, employ her long-dormant ass-kicking skills. There's no word on whether or not Ratner would direct or even what kind of a priority this is for the studio-- they've got plenty of other projects in development-- so try not to panic just yet, fans of the comic. This could be so far away from happening that it will never exist at all.

After Brett Ratner straight up tanked the once illustrious X-Men franchise the mere mention of his name has struck fear into the hearts of film lovers everywhere. His name even popped up as a potential director for The Hobbit and nerds everywhere sighed a collective “thank god” when Peter Jackson stepped in to prevent a travesty from happening. His one successful series Rush Hour has somehow survived after two dreadful sequels, and unfortunately the director doesn’t seem to be going anywhere anytime soon.

The LA Times is reporting that Ratner is in talks to direct a live-action Hercules film for Conan producers Nu Image/Millenium. Apparently he wants to prove to the masses that he can make a Gladiator clone, since he didn’t get the job when Nu Image was shopping for helmers for the Jason Momoa Conan update. There’s no details about the production just yet, but expect quick updates as soon as people start getting attached.

The article asks the question “Is Ratner the right choice?” The answer of course is no. He hasn’t made a watchable film since 1998 and has been walking around Hollywood like he’s hot shit for the past 12 years. Him landing this job wouldn’t break my heart, as I have no vested interest in anything that has to do with Hercules, but this guy doesn’t need to be directing real movies ever. Send him to the Lifetime Movie Network and let them have their way with him.

When David Yates was rumored yesterday to be in line to direct The Hobbit, I speculated this was more of just a discussion than actual talks, since he'll be busy wrapping up the Harry Potter franchise for a few more months and may not want to immediately jump into another massive fantasy project. Turns out Yates might not be as close to the project as it seems because the studio is still trying hard to get someone else to do the job: Peter Jackson.

Deadline Hollywood reports today that MGM and New Line are trying desperately to get Peter Jackson to do what seems like the logical thing and take over on this two-part finale to the franchise he built. Even as they beg Peter, though, they're coming up with some truly ridiculous potential replacements. Deadline mentions Yates, who is a somewhat logical choice, but also David Dobkin-- the guy who brought you Wedding Crashers and Fred Claus-- and that reliable harbinger of the apocalypse Brett Ratner. Really they would only need to throw McG and Roger Corman on the shortlist to prove they were going for a Producers-style "worst movie ever made" to swindle some old ladies out of their money.

Apparently one of the big problems is that there's not that much money to pay a director, and presumably Jackson would demand a pretty high salary for swooping in and single-handedly saving the film. And sure, Brett Ratner might be cheaper, but at what cost MGM? Learn from Bryan Singer. This is not a road you want to go down.

Ever since that incident a few years ago when Richard Gere found himself being burned in effigy in India for having the audacity simply to kiss an Indian actress, I think for a lot of people their impression of anything coming out of Bollywood has been one of censorship and sexual repression. They dance because they can’t do anything real, it’s all a sad metaphor for the physical contact they’re trying to deny. And maybe, to some extent, that view has been justified. Enter Brett Ratner.

Ratner’s reputation couldn’t be anything further from the Bollywood norm. He’s known for movies full of fast cars, fast women, and big explosions. Subtlety isn’t his thing and involving him in a Bollywood production sounds like a recipe for disaster, or at least another protest march. But on May 28th the movie Kites hits theaters thanks to Brett Ratner, and though it’s a Bollywood production, never has any movie looked less like a Bollywood movie.

On May 21 the original version of Kites will open globally, including in 200 locations here in America. But the Ratner version, something they’re calling Kites: The Remix, will open a week later on May 28th. This is a re-edited version of the 130 minute movie. This Remixed version is only 90-minutes long and it’s been reworked by Ratner to be faster, younger, hipper, and let’s face it, probably more like Rush Hour.

But judging from the movie’s trailer, doing that that may not have been as challenging as it sounds. The trailer is filled with all the things you don’t really expect from Bollywood movies, things which had to be there long before Ratner touched it. The film’s female lead spends most of the trailer running around in a string bikini. It’s full of fast cars, fast women, and lusty physical contact. It feels like a high-octane American movie and not all of that is simply the work of Ratner. Shot entirely on location in America, it’s unlike any Bollywood movie you’ve seen before.

The really surprising thing here is that the trailer is good, really good. It’s a visually stunning film, and not just because Indian star Hrithik Roshan and Mexcican actress Barbara Mori spend so much of the teaser barely clothed. The cinematography on display is simply eye-popping and if there’s a decent story here Kites could be, at the least, entertaining. Watch the trailer explanation free, then I’ll give you the full plot description:

Here’s the official plot synopsis: “In the harsh terrain of the Mexican desert, a mortally wounded man is left for dead in the heat of the desert sun. This is J. Once a street smart, carefree young guy. Now, a wanted man. As death looms, the only thing that keeps him alive is the quest to find the love of his life, Natasha. A woman betrothed to another man, but surely destined for J. A woman who comes into his life like a bolt of lightning and changes it forever “

The film’s distributor is pushing the notion that this is more than just a Bollywood film, but a movie which much like any big Hollywood release, has international appeal. From the trailer, they certainly seem right. I wonder though, if Ratner’s edit will really help it, or hurt it? It’s not the first time Hollywood has tried something like this, though I don’t think they’ve ever actually used this kind of editing as a marketing tactic before. If it works, does this mean we’re in for a whole slew of international “Remix” movies? If Kites: The Remix works as well as the trailer, maybe that’s not a bad thing.

For more information on Kites and Kites: The Remix click the image below to visit our preview page, complete with detailed information and a huge gallery of images.

Whether you call them remakes, reboots, re-imaginings or re-"I-can't-take-this-shit-anymore", it is a simple fact that Hollywood loves to double back on itself. And why shouldn't they? The film industry is a business, after all, and if you have a stack of original scripts that you aren't sure will find an audience and a twenty-year-old movie that was a box office hit, any smart executive would bank on proven success before trying anything new. It is sound logic, and while many in the movie-going community bitch and moan about it constantly (myself included), it usually works. But when you start bringing back cult classics that have a built-in audience that would utterly loathe the idea of a remake, you have to wonder what exactly is going through the minds of the Hollywood brass.

Pajiba's sources are reporting that remakes are now in the works for the classic early Val Kilmer movie Real Genius and the Kid n' Play "classic" House Party. For those unaware or possibly too young to remember, the former is about a teenager who is accepted into one of the most prestigious tech schools in the country who, along with his roommate, is fooled into developing a laser that can be used by the military to kill individual targets. The latter is about a high school student who, after being grounded, tries to make it to his friend's party while being pursued by both his father and the school bullies. One is a satire of the escalating Cold War, the other would be lucky to fall into the "so bad it's good category." Oh, and did I mention that neither film made more than $30 million at the box office?

Do I really have to explain why this story is filled with dumb? Choosing to ignore the fact that it is Brett Ratner who is bringing back the House Party part of this story (I theorize that he is like Pennywise The Clown from It and will just disappear if ignored) both of these films were fine for their time and age but would have no relevance today. As said above, people who are actually fans of the originals aren't going to want to see these films stripped of what made them enjoyable in the first place, which is inevitable when updating them for the "modern audience." Also, the idea of recasting the character of Chris Knight is a sin worthy of the seventh ring of hell, but most studio execs probably know they are going to end up there anyway.

A few days ago we brought you the news that Paramount might be trying to pick up the Sundance sensation Catfish, given that they were holding test screenings of the documentary on the lot. Now apparently in the wake of good-but-not-great test screenings, the movie has gone to another bidder-- Deadline Hollywood is reporting that Rogue Pictures, owned by Relativity Media, has picked up the film.

What this means for moviegoers is pretty much nothing-- Universal distributes most of Rogue's films, and therefore Catfish will likely be seeing a much wider release than most movies that go into Sundance with zero buzz and stars. And yet, the name Brett Ratner is attached to the project-- he's apparently planning to "refresh" the film, which sounds kind of ballsy given that it's a documentary. Anyone who has a Pavlovian response to run, run away the minute Ratner's name is mentioned may need to take a knee right now.

The fact is that Catfish is a remarkable movie but not necessarily a perfect one, and studio treatment might be able to gloss it up a bit. By the same token, the joys of Catfish are so specific that it's hard to see them ruined entirely. Then again, this is the first time I've gone to Sundance and fallen in love with a movie there. I may be setting myself up for massive, massive disappointment.