As if he didn't have too many comic book adaptations to write, Zak Penn (X-Men: The Last Stand) has been named as the new screenwriter of Joel Silver's remake of The Dirty Dozen, which we unfortunately heard about early last year. Originally it was reported that the movie was being scripted by three high-profile writers, André Nemec, Josh Appelbaum and Scott Rosenberg, but apparently their work isn't good enough and a rewrite is now necessary. Of course, one has to wonder why Silver needs to go through so many writers when there's already a perfectly good screenplay by Nunnally Johnson and Lukas Heller. It isn't like too much needs to be updated; the movie is set in World War II. I'm not familiar with E.M. Nathanson's original novel, though, and I guess the first movie may have omitted some things that the new adaptation could include. Anyway, I guess it just isn't common practice to reuse an old script when remaking an old movie.

For those who haven't seen The Dirty Dozen, it's about a group of military criminals sent on a suicide mission to assassinate Nazi officers. It features an iconic ensemble of actors, most of whom were reunited to voice characters in Small Soldiers as a sort of homage. To the faithful, it will be very, very difficult to see a new version without Lee Marvin, Charles Bronson, Jim Brown, Ernest Borgnine, Telly Savalas, Donald Sutherland, George Kennedy and the rest. I don't know what the time frame is for the production of the remake, but we may get to see it as early as next year. And if Silver can get the project going soon, maybe it can even go head to head with Penn's buddy Bryan Singer's Hitler assassination movie, Valkyrie. They might even make a good double feature -- or you can rent the original Dirty Dozen and then go see Valkyrie and more possibly experience a great double feature.

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Why mess up a good thing? The trio that made Casino Royale work so well is now in place for the sequel. We already brought you news that the script for Bond 22 has been turned in by original scripters Neal Purvis and Robert Wade, but now comes word that, just like last time, Paul Haggis is being brought on board to inject his own voice and do some re-working. The LA Times speculates that with all of the projects he has going on, including editing In the Valley of Elah, Haggis might have asked for a hefty raise to do this again, but I personally can't imagine that it's really a chore -- who wouldn't want to take a more or less finished Bond script and add their own changes to it? The Times goes pretty far in giving Haggis credit for the success of the last Bond film, saying that his writing "helped to revitalize the aging franchise and give it the edgier credibility it needed to hook a new generation of fans." Wow -- sounds like someone is a fan.

Further down in the article, the Times goes the Variety and HR route of re-hashing what has been reported on the online movie sites, when they tell us that four directors are now in contention to helm Bond 22. The "whisperings" --as they call them -- have Tony Scott, Jonathan Mostow, Marc Forster, and Alex Proyas being in talks for the chair, although what LatinoReview actually said is that an offer is already out to Forster, and that makes a lot of sense to me. There's no way Barbara Broccoli is going to go toe to toe with Tony Scott every day on the set -- she wants someone she can keep a lid on. Jonathan Mostow? It's possible, but Forster sounds so right that I'm digging around right now to see if I can confirm it. Stay tuned to Cinematical for updates.

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Continue reading Cinematical Presents: Bondcast -- Episode Five

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Continue reading Cinematical Presents: Bondcast -- Episode Four

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• The 007 Stage reopens: visit their revamped website and check things out.
• The James Bond Car collection: subscribe and have Bond replica cars sent to you.
• Spy-Fi Archives at the Queen Mary: on exhibit April 7th through September 2007.
• John's amazing Young Bond Dossier site: check out the links to the Young Bond "apache" gadget, and the new Centenary Bond novel coming out next year.

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• England got the Region 2 DVD release of Casino Royale earlier this week (3/19), while the States got the Region 1 discs last week (3/13). Sort of ironic that we get Britain's superspy in our homes before they do.
• CommanderBond reports that after battling with The Secret, Casino Royale has indeed ended up as #1 on the DVD sales charts.
• Pussy Galore's bevy of flying beauties is the eponymous 'Pussy Galore's Flying Circus.' An interesting fact is that while the group is comprised solely of women, it was actually men wearing blonde wigs. Yow.
• Robbie Coltrane portrayed Valentin Zukovsky in both GoldenEye and The World Is Not Enough. Plus, he also plays Hagrid in the Harry Potter films. The guy is versatile.
• The Tudors actually premieres on Showtime on April 1st.

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With Casino Royale coming out on DVD next week, rumors abounding about Bond 22 everywhere, and a general love (on our part) for all things having to do with that certain British secret agent, we're bringing you our very first Bondcast. Filled with news, rumors, speculations, stories ... and co-hosted by the lovely and talented Athena Stamos from CommanderBond.net. We'll have a new episode every two weeks in which we'll bring you interviews, reports, and more news on the next Bond film.

Plus, be sure to let us know what you'd like to hear. Got a favorite Bond flick? We'll break it down for you. Want the skinny on a particular gadget and its background? We'll dig it up. One of the Bond girls really tickle your fancy? We'll interview her. The sky's the limit. A big thanks to Athena for co-hosting, and to CommanderBond.net for letting us poach her, and for having such a great website devoted to all things James Bond. Swing by and check them out.

Be sure and swing by Moviefone's Casino Royale page which is jam-packed with trailers, interviews, and a great Unscripted where Daniel Craig and director Martin Campbell interview each other.

Corrections: I mistakenly refer to Vesper's boyfriend as Argentinian, not Algerian, whoops. Hopefully he won't be coming after me. Also, the Wal-Mart Casino Royale DVD set does come with a deck of cards and a poker chip, but sadly no briefcase.

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