Funny story, actually: growing up, my dad would always take me to the movies, and sometimes he just wasn't all that concerned about those pesky MPAA ratings. Don't get me wrong, I'm glad he did. I got to see a lot of great movies. But it is also why I saw Heavy Metal at the tender age of six. My dad saw the voice cast of John Candy, Eugene Levy and Harold Ramis and thought it couldn't be that bad ... but boy was he wrong. So you can imagine my amusement when Variety announced that David Fincher is going to head a film 'inspired' by the cult classic.

The original was released back in 1981 and was based on sci-fi and fantasy stories that were published in Heavy Metal magazine over the years. First published in the US in 1977, Metal was known for its over the top sex and violence. The update will definitely follow in the footsteps of the original film (and avoid the pitfalls of the 'sequel' in 2000), and will be an R rated animated film consisting of about eight or nine segments.

Fincher will only direct one of the segments in the film. Other segments will be helmed by Kevin Eastman (co-creator of the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles) and Tim Miller. Miller's Blur Studios will also handle the animation for the film. Fincher, Eastman and Miller will produce with Paramount, and the rest of the directors are expected to be signed soon. So what do you think about an update? Can Fincher pull this off? Or are images of chicks riding polar bears with flaming swords best left to van art?

• Notable among American films debuting in foreign territories this weekend are The Pink Panther, bowing on hundreds of screen across France, Germany, and Australia, and The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe, which is moving on to China after a tremendously successful release in Japan. Poor Tristan Isolde, meanwhile, will stagger into Spain and New Zealand, hoping that somewhere on earth, people won't have heard how bad it is.

• Catalina Sandino Moreno, an Oscar nominee for Maria Full of Grace, will lead an multi-national cast in The Heart Of The Earth, a Spanish-UK-Portugal co-production set to begin shooting in Spain and Portugal later this month. The story is yet another of those inspired-by-real-events, this one about an uprising at a British-owned silver mine in 18th century Spain. Among Moreno's costars will be Brits Sienna Guillory and Hugh Dancy, as well as Cuba's Jorge Perugorría.

• One of the increasingly rare children's book adaptation not being done by Walden Media is Aussie Unjoo Moon's version of The Wicked, Wicked Ladies In The Haunted House. Written by Pulitzer-winner Mary Close, the book, aimed at a grade-school audience, is "a suspenseful ghost story cum mystery in moody, atmospheric prose that blends dark magic and a dry wit occasionally reminiscent of Roald Dahl." Moon hopes that the film will be shot by Oscar winning Memoirs of a Geisha lensman Dion Beebe, to whom she happens to be married.

• Canada's own Walk of Fame is exploding with stars: it was announced recently that Pamela Anderson, Brendan Fraser, Eugene Levy and Robert Goulet are 2006's honorees, and will be inducted at a June ceremony. Surely Eugene Levey never imagined he's be lucky enough to one day share a stage with both Pam Anderson AND Robert Goulet.
  

So, this one time at band camp, I overheard news of a direct to DVD version of American Pie 4 and immediately wanted to take the filmmakers hostage to demand a reason why. In an attempt to drain whatever miniscule amount of funny is left out of a series that dried up a long time ago, American Pie: Band Camp will march straight onto shelves next month. However, most of the stars from the original three have jumped ship leaving only Eugene Levy and Chris (Sherminator) Owen left to piece together what's sure to be a major disappointment. As you can imagine from the title, this one uses the memorable band camp as a backdrop and revolves around the various antics Stifler's younger brother finds himself in after being forced to attend due to bad behavior. I'd expect there to be tons of meaningless co-ed nudity mixed with several different perverse ways of using a musical instrument. For those of you interested, Moviehole has the scoop on some of the DVD extras; as if watching the movie isn't enough torture for one night.