First Look at Simon Pegg in Terry Jones' 'Absolutely Anything'

There's going to be a Monty Python reunion next summer, although probably not in the way their rabid fans would want. Terry Jones  is directing the sci-fi comedy, Absolutely Anything, which has him and his Python colleagues John Cleese, Terry Gilliam, and Michael Palin voicing a bunch of space aliens. The film stars Simon Pegg and Kate Beckinsale, and Empire have just revealed the first images of Pegg, who plays a regular guy with limitless power.

The story centers on Neil Clarke (Pegg), a secondary schoolteacher who can do literally do anything. Here's how Jones describes it: “He can make anything happen [but] he doesn’t realize it until his colleague says, ‘What would you do if you could do anything?’ and Neil responds with, ‘I’d make an alien spaceship hit class 4C and vaporize them.’ Then there’s an explosion in the school, and they run to 4C’s classroom, open the door and there’s a vast hole in the ground.”

Sounds weird and twisted and potentially hilarious, especially with Pegg in the lead role. The film includes the final performance by Robin Williams, who voices Neil's dog. Absolutely Anything opens in 2015.

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Kate Beckinsale will Return for Another 'Underworld' Film; TV Series in the Works

The Underworld franchise isn't going anywhere any time soon, not after four movies and more than $450M for the low-budget vampire flicks. Although Kate Beckinsale has been the lead "death dealer" for much of the series, a surprising move was made earlier this year when Theo James signed on to return and lead the fifth film, titled Underworld: Next Generation. So does that mean we've seen the last of Beckinsale's Selene? Not according to her husband and Underworld director, Len Wiseman, who should probably know a thing or two on the situation.

Appearing at NYCC over the weekend, Wiseman revealed to IGN that Beckinsale isn't done with Underworld just yet. Not only that, but we may be seeing the Vampire/Lycan war spread to TV!

Wiseman: There’s a few things being developed right now. There are some characters who we really liked that will be in a kind of a spin-off like we did with Rise of the Lycans, then we have another film in the works with Kate [Beckinsale] as well…and then there’s a television series. 

A television series seems like a natural move for the franchise, especially with so many new shows focusing on the supernatural world.

The spinoff Underworld: Next Generation would have Theo James returning as David, who previously appeared in 2012's Underworld: Awakening. It may also involve Eve (India Eisley), the hybrid daughter of Selene and her human lover, Michael (Scott Speedman). Filming is expected to begin next year with a script by Priest writer, Cory Goodman.

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Blu-Ray Deal of the Week: ''Underworld' and 'Resident Evil' Collections for 60% Off

Quick name two of the most successful and long-running franchises in Hollywood history! Okay, Star Wars, Lord of the Rings, and Harry Potter will probably spring to mind first but not far behind them are two unlikely options: Underworld and Resident Evil. Underworld, which began in 2003 with Kate Beckinsale as a vampire "Death Dealer" battling werewolves, has earned over $450M through four films with a fifth on the way. Resident Evil, based on the Capcom video games, has done even better with more than $900M through five movies with the sixth and final coming in 2016.

For this week only you can stock up on both franchises at an incredible price. You can get Underworld: The Legacy Collection for only $27.99, that's 63% off what you'll pay in stores! For that you get all four movies plus hours of bonus content which hopefully includes more of Beckinsale in skintight leather. And for only $31.99 you can also get The Resident Evil Collection; all five movies for 67% off.

Click on the above links and order yours today! We appreciate the support you continue to show our sponsors as it helps us a great deal. Punch Drunk Critics earns a small fee every time one of our readers buys from any of our links.

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Next 'Underworld' Film to be a Franchise Reboot

Built around Kate Beckinsale as a spandex-sporting vampire, the Underworld franchise has been surprisingly long lived and lucrative. The fourth movie in the series, 2012's Underworld: Awakening, was the highest grossing of the bunch with $160M, but apparently Lakeshore Entertainment thinks it can do better with a reboot.

THR reports that Cory Goodman, writer of the awful Paul Bettany action flick Priest, has been hired to pen an Underworld reboot. Underworld has largely been the baby of Len Wiseman (Beckinsale's husband, by the way), and he directed two of the four movies centering on Selene, a death-dealing bloodsucker stuck in the middle of a war between Lycans (werewolves) and vampires.

No word on what a reboot would actually entail, and if that means Beckinsale is out. It's an odd strategy to relaunch Underworld at a time when it's more popular globally than ever, but maybe there's more to this story than meets the eye.

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First Trailer for 'Stonehearst Asylum' Starring Kate Beckinsale, Michael Caine, and Ben Kingsley

Any time there's an opportunity to see two legends like Michael Caine and Ben Kingsley in the same movie it's a good thing, but should we be concerned about the utter lack of buzz for psychological thriller, Stonehearst Asylum? Formerly titled Eliza Graves, the film stars Kate Beckinsale and Jim Sturgess, and is based on an Edgar Allen Poe short. So what's the problem? Maybe the answers can be found in the first trailer, which has just come online.

Directed by Brad Anderson, who led one of the great modern mystery films in Transsiberian, this one looks like a poor man's Shutter Island. Sturgess plays a young med school grad who takes a job at a psychiatric hospital where "the inmates are running the asylum" has never been a more appropriate turn of phrase. The mood is murky (why are asylums always placed under such dense fog?) and it looks pretty campy, so maybe there's some fun to be had?

Stonehearst Asylum hits VOD and theaters the same day on October 24th.

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Dakota Johnson is 'Forever, Interrupted'; Douglas Smith Joins 'Terminator'; Kate Beckinsale Enters 'The Disappointments Room'

* Dakota Johnson is reaping the benefits of starring in Fifty Shades of Grey, as she's now developing her own separate projects. She's set to produce and star in Forever, Interrupted, an adaptation of Taylor Jenkins Reid's book about a woman who must come to grips with the sudden death of her loving husband, a man she eloped with after a whirlwind romance. Part of that is learning to forge a connection with his mother, who she never knew existed.

* Douglas Smith (Big Love, Percy Jackson: Sea of Monsters) has joined Alan Taylor's Terminator reboot in an unspecified role. Filming is currently underway with Emilia Clarke, Jason Clarke, Arnold Schwarzenegger, and Jai Courtney starring. Look for it to open on July 1st 2015. [Deadline]

* D.J. Caruso has landed Kate Beckinsale for the lead in The Disappointments Room, a psycho-thriller and ghost story that is being compared to The Shining. The apparently true story follows Dana (Beckinsale) her  husband, and 5-year-old son who move into their dream home only to discover a secret room hidden in the attic. When unexplained events lead her to unlocking the room, she unleashes  "a host of unimaginable horrors that reveal the house’s past is terrifyingly tied with her own".

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Kate Beckinsale Joins 'Absolutely Anything'; Haley Bennett Boards 'Fathers and Daughters'

* Kate Beckinsale has come aboard the long-developing comedy, Absolutely Anything, directed by Terry Jones and featuring Monty Python in voice roles. Beckinsale will star opposite Simon Pegg, with Robin Williams, Eddie Izzard, Joanna Lumley, and Sanjeev Bhaskar also appearing in the film about a "disillusioned school teacher (Pegg) who suddenly finds he has the ability to do anything he wishes, a challenge bestowed upon him by a group of power-crazed aliens watching from space." The Monty Python troupe will voice the aliens, with Williams as Pegg's canine companion. At some point, after a string of mishaps, Pegg's character will be forced to choose between the dog or his favorite gal, played by Beckinsale. Seems like an easy choice, doesn't it? Filming begins in London next month. [Deadline]

* While we wait to see how much of Haley Bennett's performance remains in Terence Malick's upcoming film (hasn't everybody been cut out of it, basically?), and how she fares in The Equalizer with Denzel Washington, she's landed another film with a star-studded cast. Bennett has joined Fathers and Daughters, the multi-generational drama from Seven Pounds director, Gabriele Muccino. She joins Russell Crowe, Amanda Seyfried, Aaron Paul, Octavie Spencer, Quvenzhane Wallis, and Diane Kruger in the story of a mentally ill novelist trying to raise his 5-year-old daughter Katie in 1980s New York City. Twenty-five years later, his daughter is still struggling with the pains of her troubled childhood. Bennett will play a college student who watches over the young Katie. [Deadline]

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The Talent Show: Kate Beckinsale

Wait a second, The Talent Show is a weekly article where we feature an actor/actress from one of that weekend's releases...Kate doesn't have anything coming out this week! I know, I know, let me explain... this weekend we have Monuments Men (the title explains that one), The Lego Movie (I haven't found LEGO's hot since I was like, 6) and Vampire Academy. While I didn't see anyone in Vampire Academy that I wanted to single out, it DID remind me of the hottest vamp of all time, and THAT, ladies and gentleman, is how we get to Kate Beckinsale.

Something happened between Brokedown Palace and Pearl Harbor...Kate went from cute girl next door to full on girl of my dreams sexpot. I was hooked. Admittedly she's my type, prior to Kate my top tier lady was Elizabeth Hurley, the very woman who passed the "Super hot, super classy British chick" baton to Kate in the first part of the 2000's (hottie baton passing is an actual thing in Britan by the way, the Queen presides over the ceremony and everything). So then, just when I thought there was no way to improve on this classic beauty, Underworld came out and taught us all that there were two things that could launch her further into the stratosphere, fangs and leather.

While Kate hasn't ever sunk her teeth (pun intended) into any Academy Award type roles she has been kind enough to grace us with the kind of fun and entertaining roles that made movies popular in the first place, Click, Total Recall, and two Underworld sequels to name a few. With two movies in the pipeline she shows no sign of slowing down. That's not even to mention that at 41 she seems more beautiful than ever making her that rare Hollywood starlet that gets better with age!

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Teaser for Michael Winterbottom's Amanda Knox Drama 'The Face of an Angel'

Michael Winterbottom has been saying for awhile that his film The Face of an Angel isn't directly based on the Amanda Knox murder trial, but judging by this first look footage it will certainly use it to draw attention. Inspired by Barbie Latza Nadeau's book Angel Face: Sex, Murder and the Inside Story of Amanda Knox, the film stars Kate Beckinsale, Daniel Bruhl, and Cara Delavingne in a renamed account of the media circus that accompanied the trial.

The project is due to be sold on the European Film Market, and it's bound to be one of the hottest properties there with all of the buzz surrounding Knox's recent conviction by an Italian court. The Seattle-born Knox had been accused of murdering her roommate in Italy, and was held in prison four years before the original conviction was overturned and a retrial ordered. Last month she was convicted of murder again, with Knox absent from the proceedings, and an appeal filed that should send the case to Italy's Supreme Court.

Winterbottom's film will deal with much more than that, centering on a struggling filmmaker, who has recently been separated from his family, who has been assigned to write a movie based on the case. While researching it with an author, he falls in love with a girl who helps him put his priorities in order. Does he keep trying to solve the case? Or return to his family?

No release date yet, but expect The Face of an Angel to be a big seller in the coming weeks, although to me it looks like something that should be airing on Oxygen.

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Kate Beckinsale Has 'The Face of an Angel'; Hugh Jackman Eyes 'Section 6'; Chris Pine is a Horrible Boss

*Kate Beckinsale has joined Daniel Bruhl (Rush) and Cara Delevingne (Anna Karenina) in The Face of an Angel, Michael Winterbottom's film based on the true story of Amanda Knox. Adapted from Barbie Latza Nadeau's book, the story offers a fictionalized account of the events that led to Knox, an American student living in Italy, who was convicted of sexually assaulting and murdering her roommate. After serving four years in prison, the conviction was overturned and a retrial ordered, but Knox remains a controversial figure. Beckinsale will play a reporter investigating the case, with Bruhl as a documentary filmmaker, and Delevingne as the Knox character. [Deadline]

* Hugh Jackman probably should have played a secret agent long ago, but he may finally have the opportunity. He's circling Section 6, based on a script by first-time writer Aaron Berg that "follows the World War I-era formation of British intelligence agency MI6 and its first director, Sir George Mansfield Cummings, who served as the inspiration for M in the 'James Bond' series." Sounds amazing, which is why Jackman Seems to be so interested. Apparently so are Justin Lin and Brett Ratner (noooooooo), who are both angling the director's chair. This is still pretty early on and nobody is officially attached but already it's obvious that this is going to be a major project. [TheWrap]

* Yeah, Horrible Bosses 2 is still happening, and now it has an actual boss. Last week we learned that Christoph Waltz and Chris Pine were being sought to play a father/son duo of douche bag bosses, and now Pine is officially on board. Waltz never really seemed to be in the picture because of scheduling, which is good because this movie might be terrible. And he's played enough villains. Horrible Bosses 2 arrives November 26, 2014 directed by Sean Anders and bringing back stars Charlie Day, Jason Bateman, Jason Sudeikis, and Jamie Foxx. [Variety]

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Kate Beckinsale to star in Brad Anderson's 'Eliza Graves'

Brad Anderson's The Call surprised many with a better-than-expected debut this weekend, beating out the star-powered cast of The Incredible Burt Wonderstone. It's already Anderson's most financially successful film, and he's not wasting any time in finding a new leading lady for his next project.

Kate Beckinsale is in talks to star in Eliza Graves, a psychological thriller which Anderson will direct from a script by Joe Grangeni. Loosely based on Edgar Allen Poe's 1845 short The System of Doctor Tarr and Professor Fether, the film has Beckinsale as the title character, a patient at a mental institution in which the inmates have taken over and are posing as doctors. She becomes the object of affection of a newly arrived Harvard Medical School grad who has no idea of the topsy-turvy world he just entered.

After a busy 2012 in which she starred in Contraband, Underworld: Awakening, and the Total Recall remake, Beckinsale has been pretty quiet up until now. Assuming all goes according to plan, a June 21st start date is being targeted.  [THR]

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Three actresses in contention to star in Oblivion opposite Tom Cruise

And suddenly Tom Cruise is popular again. After going through a terrible drought for a few years, he came back in a big way in Tropic Thunder, and despite the flopperoonie that was Knight and Day, he's got a lot on his plate right now. Not the least of which is Oblivion, the sci-fi follow up by Tron: Legacy director Joseph Kosinski. Taking place in a future earth where humans live above the clouds after an alien invasion destroyed the planet, Cruise will play a drone repairman who discovers a mysterious woman in a crashed ship. Her presence forces him to question everything he's ever known.

Last month, Jessica Chastain(The Help) took over the less interesting sounding female lead role as Cruise's wife. That left one more, that of the unknown woman. Deadline reports that three actresses are in contention for it and will read for the role this weekend: Kate Beckinsale; Hayley Atwell; and Diane Kruger.


Beckinsale has the most franchise experience, playing Selene in three of four Underworld flicks. Atwell is fairly new to the game, but opened a few eyes as gun-packin' Peggy Carter in Captain America: The First Avenger. And Kruger is probably best known for her recent turn in Inglourious Basterds, but she's also been a part of the National Treasure series of films. She also makes for a damn fine Helen of Troy. Just sayin'. So any one of the three would make sense. Personally I'd shoot for Kruger to land this one, but part of me thinks they'll want to pair Cruise up with a newer face and go with Atwell.

Oblivion is due to hit theaters on July 19th 2013.

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New photos: Captain America; Kate Beckinsale in Underworld 4; Thor

There are way too many new photos out there for me to collect them all, so let's just deal with the ones that are of the most interest.  First up, there's a new image from Captain America: The First Avenger, which is directed by Joe Johnston, and stars Chris Evans as the patriotic superhero.  You can check that one out above, showing Cap after taking a nice little beatdown.  The film is due out in theaters on July 22nd.

Shooting on Underworld: New Dawn is currently underway, and now we've got our first glimpse of the sexy Kate Beckinsale in full latex as the vampire Selene. That film is due out on January 20th, 2012!Thanks to TooFab for the photo!

And lastly, Superhero Hype has over two dozen new shots from Thor, directed by Kenneth Branagh and starring Chris Hemsworth as the Norse god of thunder. Natalie Portman and Anthony Hopkins co-star.  I plucked out the ones I think are the coolest. You can check those out below. Thor is scheduled for a May 6th release.

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Underworld 4 official title and plot details revealed

We learned back in September that Kate Beckinsale would be slipping into the black leather once again for a fourth installment of the Underworld franchise. Yay! At the time little was known other than the planned 3D release in January 2012. Well now that's changed.

BloodyDisgusting has managed to learn that the next film will be titled Underworld 4: New Dawn. Oh yay, another subtitle signifying rebirth of some sort. That's a new one. Why not just call it The Dark Vampire Rises? Or Werewolf Begins?  There's also a plot now, or atleast a tiny bit of one...

"After being held in a coma-like state for fifteen years, vampire Selene (Kate Beckinsale) learns that she has a fourteen-year-old vampire/Lycan hybrid daughter, Nissa, and when she finds her they must stop BioCom from creating super Lycans that will kill them all."
That's not official, so don't be surprised if it changes or is completely thrown out. I actually like the idea of following up on Selene's relationship with that human dude Scott Speedman played. Sorry, can't be bothered to look up his name.

The Swedish directing duo of Mans Marlind and Bjorn Stein will be taking over the directing reins from Patrick Tatopoulos. Len Wiseman, who helmed the first two Underworld flicks, is still on board as a producer.

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Kate Beckinsale returns for Underworld 4

After taking a break from the last film in the Underworld series, Kate Beckinsale has signed on to reprise her role as the Death Dealer Selene. Word of a fourth film was revealed not long after the success of  2009's Underworld: Rise of the Lycans.

The next flick is expected to be in 3-D, the script was written by John Hlavin with a rewrite by J. Michael Straczynski(Babylon 5). Screen Gems  has set a tentative release date set for early in 2012.  A director has not yet been named.

Without Beckinsale the series didn't exactly slow down. All three Underworld films have grossed over $90M worldwide, for a total box office take of nearly $300M. 

Good news. You can really go wrong with vampires vs. werewolves, but even so I thought Rise of the Lycans was a bit of a step down creatively. Part of the reason was the loss of Selene as a driving character, since she's really what the stories have been centered around all these years.

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