After a lot of hemming and hawing, some hopeful casting news, and outrage over McG being attached to direct, it looks like Terminator 4 is good to go.

There are a few things to glean from this Hollywood Reporter story. First, obviously, is what's in the headline: Moon Bloodgood, who played Generic Love Interest in Pathfinder and starred in the canceled television series Journeyman, has been cast as the female lead, a survivor of the nuclear holocaust we witnessed at the end of Terminator 3: Rise of the Machines. She joins Christian Bale, Sam Worthington, and Anton Yelchin. Second, notwithstanding earlier reports to the contrary, the third sequel is apparently still called Terminator Salvation: The Future Begins. Finally, the movie is scheduled to begin principal photography on May 5th, which means that barring some Terry Gilliam-scale disaster, this long-speculated-about project is actually happening.

Count me among the McG skeptics. Previous installments of this franchise have been helmed by world-class action movie craftsmen (disclaimer: I am a fan of Jonathan Mostow), and I'm not convinced that McG has either the chops or the instincts to fill their shoes. The mincemeat he made of a terrific story in We Are Marshall doesn't inspire confidence, and the pyrotechnics of the Charlie's Angels films don't tell me much. That said, I'm excited for the Terminator saga to continue, since there's a lot more of this story to tell (and since Google is currently building SkyNet). Has anyone been watching the Fox TV show?

According to Coming Soon, Radha Mitchell has joined the cast of Jonathan Mostow's sci-fi thriller, The Surrogates. The movie is based on the graphic novel from Robert Venditti and was adapted by the screenwriting duo of Michael Ferris and John D. Brancato. The bad news is that these guys have written some pretty crappy movies in the past. Hopefully, these two are better at adaptations than they are at original ideas.

In The Surrogates, Bruce Willis stars as a cop in a futuristic world where all human interaction is performed by look-alike robots called Surrogates. Not only do the robots do all the talking for us, but they're even better looking too (when it comes to Mitchell, though, the original is none too shabby ... so I can't imagine what they would do to make her even better looking). When someone begins murdering 'surrogates' right and left, Willis is forced to venture into the outside world for the first time to track down the killer.

Variety reports that Virgin Comics will partner with Jonathan Mostow for a feature film version of his just-published comic, The Megas. Based off an idea from Mostow about a group of elites, it is part of Virgin's Directors Cut line of comics. Mostow is perhaps best known as the director of Terminator 3, but he is in good company at Virgin. Other directors who have signed up include John Woo, Guy Ritchie, Ed Burns, and Terry Gilliam.

The story "revolves around Detective Jack Madison and his race-against-the-clock investigation to uncover secrets behind the mysterious sex-fueled suicide of a Prince in The Megas royal family. Meanwhile, the King is on his deathbed at The White Palace (yes, at 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue!), and society is bracing for the inevitable chaos that will surely ensue once he dies." Basically, it seems to be about a corrupted ruling class and the everyman who is forced to bring them down.

There is no word yet on whether Mostow will be involved with writing the script, or directing it for that matter. Mostow already has a remake of The Swiss Family Robinson, and the sci-fi thriller The Surrogates, with Bruce Willis, lined up for 2009. If Virgin wants to get this production going any time soon, they might have to start looking for someone else to take over. The original model for the Director's Cut series was to create comics that were tailor-made for film adaptations, so I would assume that we are going to start to see a lot of Virgin comic book movies in the near future.

He was supposed to head up Oliver Stone's latest Vietnam drama, Pinkville -- but that is on indefinite hold due to the strike. So, instead of some really depressing accounts of war, Bruce Willis is going sci-fi. Variety reports that the actor has signed on to star in The Surrogates -- Jonathan Mostow's robot production that Erik Davis blogged about back in March. The team that collaborated with the director on T3, Michael Ferris and John Brancato, wrote the script, which is based on a graphic novel from Robert Venditti.

Similar to the game Second Life, Surrogates is set in the near future, where humans live in isolation and interact through surrogate robots who are "better-looking versions" of themselves, rather than making the effort to step out of doors themselves. (A comment on the electronic age? Undoubtedly.) Bruce will play a cop, big surprise, who uses his surrogate to investigate the murders of other surrogates. (Wouldn't that be robotocide?) As the mystery unfolds, he has to do the unthinkable -- leave his house for the first time in years to solve the crime. While I don't go gaga for Willis, he's an attractive man, so I can't wait to see these "better-looking" robotic versions. Will good-looking celebs play sequestered humans who then play with even better-looking robots? This could get tricky really fast. The film will get released through Touchstone, and will gear up to shoot in early 2008.

Once again, I'm going to pretend like I made something happen. Two days ago, on this very Cinematical program, I declared that there can be only one Snake Plissken in movieland, and he shall be forever played by Kurt Russell. Well, perhaps Gerard Butler agrees with me, because he's now dropped out of the remake of Escape from New York, according to Variety. The trade says the decision was due to creative differences, which could very well mean that New Line wants to go with the Snake Plissken name, while Butler sided with me in saying that was a bad idea. Of course, I don't want to be responsible for Butler quitting a gig; after all, I implied that it was okay for the 300 star to do the remake, just that he needed another, less-iconic character name. Regardless, though, Butler's departure follows news that Brett Ratner is no longer or was never attached to direct the movie, which had followed news that Len Wiseman was also not involved. And suddenly the project is empty of talent. But for those three of you who are looking forward to it, the remake is not dead yet. New Line has hired Jonathan Mostow to script a rewrite and has apparently offered him the option to direct as well.

Mostow, who interestingly enough directed Russell in Breakdown, will be revising the current script penned by Ken Nolan. Back in July, Aint it Cool News posted a review of the earlier draft; revealing that it was relatively faithful to John Carpenter's original while also being modernized with timely relevance to the Middle East conflicts. The script also was said to feature flashbacks to Snake's military career in order to show background for his imprisonment. We'll have to wait and see if Mostow changes much of the details from that version, but I think we can trust the project in his hands. Sure, he's been known to play with history, substituting Americans for British in significant WWII plots, and he seemed to piss off a lot of fans with his direction of Terminator 3: Rise o the Machines (not me, though; I enjoyed it), but Mostow is a heck of a lot better than Wiseman and Ratner. So, should he direct? Is it like choosing the lesser of evils? Do you wish New Line would just scrap the whole thing altogether (they won't -- they paid too much for it)? And most importantly, who should play Snake, or "guy who isn't called Snake" as I suggested the character to be named, now that Butler is out?

I know I'm not completely in the minority with this, but I have to admit first off that I loved Terminator 3: Rise of the Machines. I really thought Jonathan Mostow did a great job delivering the action -- obviously not close to as good as James Cameron would have done, but better than many others could have. When it was revealed that a fourth Terminator was in the works, I hoped Mostow would be rehired for the gig. But I guess he's either doing something else (Swiss Family Robinson perhaps?) or for some reason he's not welcome back. According to CHUD.com, his replacement on the franchise may be McG, who I find to be one of the most annoying guys working in Hollywood these days. Really, though, I just hate on the guy because of his stupid name. I guiltily kinda enjoyed his two Charlie's Angels movies. Apparently, McG is currently in talks to take the helm of the sequel, for a pre-strike production start, but it isn't for certain that he'll get the job.

I'm sure many of you will probably be upset if McG officially signs on, even if you too just criticize him for his name. It could be the nail on the coffin for a lot of fans already nervous about the continuation of the storyline without any definite sign of Arnold Schwarzenegger, Linda Hamilton, Michael Biehn, Robert Patrick, Edward Furlong, Nick Stahl, Claire Danes or anyone else who has previously starred in the series. From what we've so far heard, it seems part 4 will focus on the post-apocalyptic period involving the war between the machines and John Connor's army. Everything else, regarding an Arnie cameo, or whatever, I'm still considering to be hearsay. Anyway, all I care about now is that at least Terminator 4 has been scripted by T3's Michael Ferris and John D. Brancato, a duo I'm sure are well-enough-versed in the Terminator universe to make this next installment interesting and worth seeing.

The producers of the James Bond series have historically taken on very traditional directors -- guys who got the job done solidly, with little innovation or originality. It seems, though, that the huge success of Casino Royale has the producers understanding that shaking (not stirring) up the formula can be a good thing. LatinoReview is reporting a rumor (and it is, at this point, still a rumor) that an offer has gone out to Marc Forster to helm Bond 22. Forster made his name with Monster's Ball, solidified his status as a major player with the entertaining but overrated Finding Neverland, and his last project was the interesting Stranger Than Fiction. According to LR, several major directors have met about the possibility of directing Bond 22, including Tony Scott (Top Gun, True Romance), Alex Proyas (The Crow, Dark City), and Jonathan Mostow (the excellent Breakdown, T3).

This isn't the first time Forster has been offered a major franchise. He was asked to direct Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban, but chose to work on Finding Neverland instead. I would imagine taking on a Bond film creates the same concerns in a director that it does in the actor who steps into the tuxedo. You don't want to get pigeonholed. But each of these guys has established himself, and each would bring a completely different take to the material. Considering all the love for Casino Royale, it's a little strange Martin Campbell is not in the running, but I think fresh blood is definitely the way to go. Out of the candidates above, I personally would want to see Tony Scott's take most, just because his trashy pop sensibilities might just be what the often stuffy Bond series needs. And I know it's wishful thinking, but wouldn't you love to see what Spike Jonze, Darren Aronofsky, or Alfonso Cuaron would do with the superspy?

As a lifelong devotee to the Fantastic Four, I've had a long and complicated relationship with Namor (aka The Sub-Mariner). As a character, he is truly fantastic -- one of the original anti-heroes for Marvel Comics. Entirely looking out for the interests of his underwater kingdom, Atlantis, Namor has landed on nearly every side of the fence over the years, and has fought alongside and against practically every significant character in the Marvel Universe (most recently, Wolverine tried to kill him in Atlantis).

A Namor movie has been rumored for quite some time now, and it looks as though it may be regaining some traction. The most recent script, written by David Self, has been tossed out the window, and the entire project has been handed over to Terminator 3: Rise of the Machines director Jonathan Mostow, who will rewrite and then direct the movie. It sounds as though The Sub-Mariner will follow in the path of all Marvel Comics movies and start with an origins script, explaining how Namor came to be a pivotal character in both our world and his undersea kingdom.

Erik reported just last month about the change at the helm of Will Smith-starrer Tonight, He Comes. At that time, Gabrielle Muccino (who just directed Smith in The Pursuit of Happyness) had come on board to replace the dearly departed Jonathan Mostow, who left the project because of that old standby, "creative differences." Mostow, in turn, had taken the place of Michael Mann, who apparently decided that Miami Vice was more worth his time than a movie about a "superhero in midlife crisis" (though he's still producing).

And now, just weeks after Muccino's arrival, Variety is reporting that he, too, is gone. This time, though, the split is amicable (That instance sort of makes you wonder about the other two departures, huh?) -- the director just didn't think the story was a good fit for his style and sensibilities, so he and his pal Will shook hands and went their separate ways. They still totally like each other. Really.

So, anyone out there got any free time and want to take over what is rapidly becoming a "troubled project?" The start has already been pushed back from this summer to early 2007, if that makes any difference. Please send your resumes to Will Smith, c/o Sony Pictures.