So, in theory, the trailer for The Oxford Murders hit the web a few months ago; but unless you were fluent in Spanish, there was not a lot you were going to get out of it. Stale Popcorn has finally gotten their hands on the international trailer, and now we actually get a sense of what the hell is going on. The Oxford Murders is based on the novel of the same name by Argentinian author Guillermo Martínez. The book was published in 2003, and was a best-seller that went on to be published into over fifteen languages.

The Oxford Murders stars John Hurt and Elijah Wood as a professor and a graduate student who become involved in solving a series of gruesome murders at the legendary university. Through the course of their investigations, they discover that the murderer is committing his crimes on principles of mathematical theories. So of course, the only way to stop the murders is to figure out the 'equations' before the killer strikes again. I guess you could consider it kind of like The Da Vinci Code, but with way more trigonometry.

Álex de la Iglesia wrote and directed the adaptation. The film has already been slated for release in Spain (where it opened on January 18th), Argentina, France, and Italy. Unfortunately, The Oxford Murders has yet to find a U.S distributor or release date in North America. Until then, Elijah Wood fans will just have to get their fix elsewhere. So keep your fingers crossed that the Iggy Pop movie gets made, or hold out for the possibility of just a little more Frodo after all.

Although the project has been stewing for the past few years, the Iggy Pop movie is definitely going ahead, and Elijah Wood is still attached to play the famous lanky musician. I keep looking at Pop's face and try to imagine Elijah's stretched to fit. I can't really see it, but I'm willing to stay optimistic. At the very least, Pop wasn't as gaunt back then, and was much smoother and Elijah-like (check out an old Stooges cover to the right). The biopic is still called The Passenger, and it will follow Iggy's early years with the Stooges -- meaning the late sixties and early seventies.

Passenger was penned by Eric Schmid, and it will be directed by Nick Gomez -- the man behind the questionable Drowning Mona, who has been busy lately directing television shows all over the place from Veronica Mars to The Practice. I'm a bit surprised, because this seems like the perfect project for someone with a strong musical background. And if there is one thing we've got right now, it's a large bunch of talented musically-inclined directors. The Pop man himself was given a chance to be involved, but he said: "The script ain't chopped liver... It was a work of art. But subjectively, I don't want to be involved in any way." It is set to head into production some time this year with a meager $6-$8 million budget, for a release planned in 2008. I'm waiting to see if "I'll be shakin', I'll be tremblin', I'll be happy, I'll be weak -- and [if] I'll love" this flick. There might be some questionable aspects, but at least Pop thinks the script is art.