No "X-Men" for Aaron Johnson

producer Tarquin Pack had this to say about the new X Men movie during today's interview with Movieweb:

There was a rumor that Aaron Johnson was portraying Cyclops. Is that happening at all? Are there any other cast members you can tell us about?

Tarquin Pack: Nothing you don't know about, yeah. Don't believe everything you read in the papers about Aaron, unfortunately. Aaron's kind of busy, yeah.

Can you talk a bit about the tone of the film? Will this be similar to the first three films or will you be going in a different direction, tonally?

Tarquin Pack: I think the first two (X-Men and X2: X-Men United) are the closest to the sort of movie we want to make. This isn't going to be a Kick-Ass version of X-Men. It is what it is and I think Matthew will bring a freshness to it. He has a way of authoring movies, like you see in Layer Cake, Stardust and Kick-Ass, that nuanced outlook will be in X-Men because that's just the way he is as a director. That's just the way he works. I think all of the movies he's done, where you expect him to turn right, he turns left. That's why Fox asked him to do an X-Men movie and, even though it's a big, franchise American movie, and you might think he'll be turning right like everyone else would, we'll still be turning left (Laughs).

There was a story that came out a few days ago where Matthew said he had seen Inception and had to cut a few pages out of the script. Can you elaborate on those revisions at all?

Tarquin Pack: I can't go into great detail, but let's just say that an idea we thought we had that was brilliant and original... damn that Christopher Nolan (Laughs). In the end, there were cuts. You always want everything to be in your film, but they were kind of irritating changes to make, because it was a really cool idea, but I think there's a possibility that there's a version of it that we might be able to use as well. In the end, it wasn't that we had to remove all this stuff in the film that didn't make sense, it was more that it was a really cool device that we thought we were going to be using.

X-Men: First Class comes to theaters June 3rd, 2011 and stars Michael Fassbender, James McAvoy, Caleb Landry Jones, Nicholas Hoult, Kevin Bacon, Jennifer Lawrence, Edi Gathegi. The film is directed by Matthew Vaughn.

Blake Lively interview about working on Green Lantern

What about stunt work for you? Did you have to do any sort of training or anything?

I had this crazy rig that I had to be on. It was invented for The Matrix. It was 30 feet tall and 20 feet long arm, and this gyroscopic wheel that's around your waist and it moves off of your weight. It just seems like, 'Oh, that's fun and easy,' but it required so much core strength to slowly control this thing. I would also go on it and go nuts and do cartwheels and spins and send the videos to my nephews. 'Look how cool your aunt is!' That was just the best part of it to me. But if we went on to a second or third, that's when I really get to do the stunts because she becomes a villain.

What sets this one apart from every other superhero movie out there?

Well, the Green Lantern is a really unique film in that it's interplanetary. There's the city that it takes place in on Earth, and you know we have our cool things that we do there, like pilot planes. But then there's also the outer space realm. There's aliens from all over the galaxy. So it encompasses so much, it's such a big film, it's such a huge undertaking, and that's something that you don't normally see. You either see space or you see Earth, but to have both in one film is unique.

Is there a shadowing of Star Sapphire in this film?

You know, her piloting name is Star Sapphire. We drop little hints towards all the stories in the comics. But, you know, Star Sapphire is a little bit further down the road. It's more Sinestro that we [have] this time.

Are you looking excited to be a villain?

I would love to be a villain.

Oscar Winning Director says NO to Justin Bieber!

Justin Bieber’s concert movie/bio pic still needs its director. Paramount Pictures confirmed today that Academy Award-winning documentary filmmaker Davis Guggenheim will not be joining the 3-D project. The director of the upcoming Waiting for Superman documentary was a name being considered for the project, but his promotional duties surrounding his film on our nation’s troubled public education system prevents him from focusing on another movie at this time. Guggenheim officially passed on the project last night.

The helmer, whose previous credits include An Inconvenient Truth, was never attached to the project, so it’s unfair to say that he has dropped off it. Deadline Hollywood first reported the news.

Joseph Gordon shows off his bloody elbow

From JGL's Tumblr:
"My first real wreck today. Busted through the rear window of a cab. Luckily got my elbows up. Coulda been way worse. No, but it was my fault, I was going too fast. The director, Dave Koepp, was extremely concerned for my well-being, but I made him RECord the wound. Anyway, Premium Rush is gonna be awesome. Gratuitous ER footage to follow, stay tuned…"

"Hannah Montana" creators sue Disney for profits

LOS ANGELES (Hollywood Reporter) – Two of the creators of Disney Channel's "Hannah Montana" franchise have sued the network for more than $5 million in profits from the show.

In a lawsuit filed Friday in Los Angeles Superior Court, series co-creators Barry O'Brien and Richard Correll say they've been denied their fair share of the hugely successful Miley Cyrus series.

O'Brien and Correll created the show with Michael Poryes in 2005. They now say they're owed millions in pre-negotiated percentage-based bonuses based on their back-end deals and Writers Guild of America requirements for writers who receive "created by" credits. The duo claim Disney has denied repeated requests for payment and thwarted attempts to audit profits from the show.

Correll, a prolific TV director, also claims he was wrongfully terminated from the show and "blackballed" from future directing gigs by Disney.

A Disney spokesperson said the company is declining to comment on the suit.

O'Brien and Correll also are fighting Disney in a WGA arbitration over the studio's obligations to them "under certain provisions of the WGA Agreement with respect to the series," the complaint says. Those issues are not specified, though Correll says he was terminated by Disney after testifying in connection with the arbitration.

Correll believes "the real reason for Defendants' termination and blackballing of Correll was Disney's desire to retaliate" against him "for a) seeking compensation owing to Correll" and O'Brien and "b) their testimony against Disney in the WGA Arbitration," according to the complaint.

Defendants are Walt Disney Pictures, ABC Cable Networks Group, Disney Channel, producers Bigwood Films, Fuss Budget Films, Silver Creek Pictures and It's a Laugh Prods.

Poryes, the third "Hannah" creator, sued Disney on similar grounds in October 2008.

The new lawsuit, filed by Robert Nau of Los Angeles firm Alexander Nau Lawrence Frumes & Labowitz, claims damages of at least $5 million on causes of action for breach of contract, accounting and wrongful termination in violation of public policy.