If you don't know who John Ortiz is yet, you probably will soon enough. He's had roles in Miami Vice, El Cantante, and American Gangster, and he's also got a handful of movies on the way, from Pride and Glory to Two Lovers. Now MTV is giving him huge praise -- they have just listed him as the man who will become the next great supporting star -- following in the footsteps of Paul Giamatti, Chris Cooper, and John C. Reilly. The site recently talked with the actor, and found out that he has nabbed himself a role in the retro gangster flick Public Enemies.

When production gears up in March, Ortiz will play Sicilian gangster Frank 'The Enforcer' Nitti -- a man who rose from small-time thief, to one of Al Capone's right-hand men, to the frontman for Scarface's gang when Al was sent away for income tax evasion. But these are big shoes for the actor to fill even behind the camera. In the past, Nitti has been played by Bruce Gordon, Sylvester Stallone, Stanley Tucci, and the creepy Billy Drago.

But if you want more action and machismo, and less drama, he's also gearing up for the next installment of The Fast and the Furious.

You know smooth-headed, cool-as-ice Vin Diesel likes to come across as a sort of tough-as-nails bad guy, right? You saw him acting tough in Pitch Black, The Fast and the Furious, and ... The Pacifier. But did you know that he made an instructional breakdancing video?

It's true, and thanks to the modern glory of the 5Min Life Videopedia, it is here for your viewing pleasure. He also has a full head of hair in it, which looks completely different than the crazy locks he had in Find Me Guilty. So take some time out from your Halloween to enjoy Vinnie in full breakdancing gear doing some synchronized breakdancing in the video below. You might learn a thing or two.

To be honest, after watching some of that teaser footage for Vin Diesel's latest foray into science fiction, Babylon A.D., I kind of got the impression that the actor's career could be on a downward trajectory. Now, First Showing.net has gotten a first look at the poster for the film during ShowEast ... and in my opinion? Let's just say it's not helping -- to me there is nothing less futuristic-looking than "futuristic sunglasses." I know it's a small thing, but there isn't much else going on in the poster so it's not like I can ignore it. This probably won't be the final poster for the film, and there have also been rumblings about a teaser making an appearance some time in December.

Directed by Gothika's Mathieu Kassovitz, the story centers on Diesel as a veteran-turned-mercenary who signs up to transport a young woman from Russia to China. Of course, in a dystopia nothing is ever that simple, and it turns out that the woman is "host to an organism that a cult wants to harvest in order to produce a genetically modified Messiah." Joining Diesel are Michelle Yeoh, Charlotte Rampling, and RocknRolla's Mark Strong.

Even though Babylon hasn't been getting much press, fans are still holding out for the "return of Diesel." Of course, there is still the possibility that Diesel will be taking over in Terminator 4 -- lord knows he has the emotional range for it. Plus, Fast and The Furious 4 is still on track with Diesel back in the driver's seat. So at least he is going to have a couple more chances at redeeming himself for The Pacifier. Babylon A.D is set for release on February 9th, 2008.

In Finishing the Game, director Justin Lin (Better Luck Tomorrow, The Fast and the Furious: Tokyo Drift) went back -- both in time and to his indie roots. Shot in 19 days with begged and borrowed equipment and props, Finishing the Game is a mock-documentary set in a never-was 1973 where, after the tragic early death of Bruce Lee, the producers behind Game of Death go on the hunt for a suitable replacement so they can wrap the film and make a few dollars. Finishing the Game doesn't just look at the representation of Asian Americans in film; it's also a sharp satire of the delusions and denials that come from both sides of the camera in movie making. Lin's no stranger to big-money Hollywood -- he recently signed on to direct a reunited Vin Diesel and Paul Walker in the fourth Fast and the Furious film -- but Finishing the Game is clearly a low-budget labor of love. Lin spoke with Cinematical in San Francisco about bad '70s kung-fu cinema, Vin Diesel's D&D game, how he said 'no' to big-studio backers to keep his vision for Finishing the Game, the pros and cons of studio movie making, why he's looking forward to the fourth Fast and the Furious and Asian representation in mass media from Bruce Lee to the here-and-now. You can download the entire interview right here.

Even though The Fast and the Furious films are not exactly classics of American cinema, apparently there's still some money to be made from the series -- so we probably should have seen this coming. Edmunds, a car enthusiast web site, is reporting that pre-production has begun on what could be the fourth film in the Furious franchise. Sources that have worked on the first three films told Edmunds that the fourth installment is "in development at Universal." So far there has yet to be any mention of a writer or director for the project, (previous directors in the series include Justin Lin and John Singleton) but it's not like it really matters. These films have never been about plot development and character study; all you really need is a crack team of stunt drivers.

Another film seemed inevitable after the not-so-subtle cameo by Vin Diesel at the end of Tokyo Drift (the third film in the series). According to Edmunds sources, the script will be reuniting characters from the first three films, including Paul Walker and Tyrese Gibson. But it's not about the actors, it's all about the cars. Edmunds reports that there could be a reappearance of the 1970 Dodge Charger from the first film, as well as mention of a 1987 Buick GNX being included in the fun. Since my car knowledge is limited to what I've picked up from video games, I'll take their word for it that watching a Buick in action is something to look forward to. According to Edmunds, Universal is planning on a Summer 2008 release, but there has been no official word from the studio on the project. So stay tuned for any updates that come our way.

Stepping into David Ayer's hotel room, for the first time in my life I felt as if I was shaking hands with a screenwriter who could literally snap me in half without even flinching. It's not that he's muscular, menacing or intimidating -- in fact, he's none of those things. However, as my eyes met his, I could tell the man had traveled (mentally and physically) to some dangerous places. And, although he managed to survive a tough childhood, going on to become one of the most sought-after screenwriters in Hollywood, his gritty past was written all over his face.

While I was a big fan of Ayer's script for Training Day (a film which saw Denzel Washington take home an Oscar for Best Actor), as well as interested in talking about his directorial debut Harsh Times (opening this Friday), I really wanted to know more about Ayer, and what attracted him to such dark, rough material. Here's a guy who grew up on the streets of South Central, Los Angeles, who somehow found a way to escape by joining the Navy and then wound up writing Hollywood screenplays. How does that happen? Well, I did my best to find out ...

Cinematical: What was it about the story and the idea behind Harsh Times that made you so determined to get this thing made? I know you took out a mortgage on your home to finance it yourself -- I mean, what was about it that spoke to you that way?

David Ayer: Well, I wanted to direct and I wrote it with the intention to direct. I know the world, I know the characters and I know how to do it right. And there's also a uniqueness to it because it's so personal and I knew I could really duplicate some of what I've seen in my experiences and thoughts. I couldn't hand it over to someone else, and it was just time for me to direct -- it was time for the career change. I believed in it. It was a Sundance Institute Screenwriters Lab Script, and we ended up doing a table reading at the silent movie theater for like 350 people. People were crying at the end, and I'm like okay -- this is a movie. I have no doubt now, this thing could be a movie. So I was just determined to get it to the screen.

Okay, this one is certainly a bit odd. According to Production Weekly, director Rob Cohen (The Fast and the Furious) has taken on a Bruce Lee project called Rage & Fury. Now, seeing as Cohen is very familiar with the martial arts master, having directed the biopic Dragon: The Bruce Lee Story back in 1993, this news shouldn't really come as a surprise.

However, what if I were to tell you Bruce Lee (yes, the dude himself) will star in the movie? No joke, this is how Production Weekly put it: "Rob Cohen is set to helm Rage & Fury, featuring the legendary Bruce Lee, the most influential and famous martial artists of all time." It sounds delicious but, um, Bruce is dead. Are we talking a CGI version of Bruce? A documentary about Bruce? An animated Bruce? How on earth does Cohen plan on having Lee star if he's longer alive?

Bruce Lee is hot at the moment, what with a possible theme park, musical and biopic (put together by his family) all circling around the rumor mill. Perhaps the man secretly came back to life and none of us were aware? What do you make of this?

With the entire weekend box office down over 10% from last week, Adam Sandler's Click took the top spot, with earnings of approximately $40 million. The film's weekend total, while less than that earned by recent first week chart-toppers, is about equal to what The Break-Up made in its first weekend, albeit from 700 more screens. Suffice to say that if Click proves to have The Break-Up's surprising staying power (the latter finished the weekend in the seventh spot, with domestic earnings over $100 million), Sony will be very happy indeed.

Taking the second spot this weekend was Cars which, despite numbers that Pixar-watchers are calling disappointing, is now officially in the black domestically with total earnings over $150 million. In third place was Nacho Libre, down a shocking 57% from last weekend to $12.1 million; The Fast and the Furious: Tokyo Drift experienced an even more stagging drop, losing 62% and ending up in the fifth spot with $9.2 million. The weekend's only non-Click major debut, Waist Deep, ended up fourth for the weekend with a total of about $9.5 million on just over 1000 screens. The complete top 10 is after the jump.