Medical science tells us that there's a portion of the brain called the R-complex that, nestled low and close to the spinal cord, governs simple, automatic brain functions like respiration and reflex and heart rate; other outlying, larger brain structures cover language, culture, memory and art. I mention this because Death Race, writer-director Paul W.S. Anderson's re-visitation of the 1975 trash-classic Death Race 2000, is wholly, entirely and perfectly designed to appeal to the R-complex portion of your brain. Death Race roars, rages and races down the track, all velocity and visceral violence, unencumbered by logic, sense, reason or dignity. My more evolved brain structures kept objecting to Death Race's more ludicrous contortions as it whipped around its curves, but my R-complex didn't want to hear the high-pitched whining voice of logic and reason; it simply grunted, settled into a soft cushion of popcorn topping and said "Shut up, bigger brain; bald man who talk cool killing now."

Variety reports that Paul Bettany's Legion has just added a whole crowd of actors, including the star power of Dennis Quaid, Kate Walsh, and Tyrese Gibson. They will be headlining a cast that includes Jon Tenney, Charles S. Dutton, Lucas Black, Adrianne Palicki, Kevin Durand and Willa Holland. They've signed on just in time, as the movie is about to start shooting in New Mexico.

Legion is a thriller that stars Bettany as the archangel Michael, who is all that stands between mankind and an apocalypse after God has lost faith in humanity. But the Almighty apparently hasn't lost all hope -- a child is on the way who is the second coming of Christ, and a group of strangers who recognize the fact must band together to save it. It is director Scott Stewart's first feature film, from a script he co-wrote with Peter Schink.

I am quite intrigued by the movie, as I am a sucker for any kind of Biblical thriller. The problem is that they are almost always terrible. (Though I will always give props to The Prophecy for proving that the Devil does, in fact, wear a mullet.) The combination of Paul Bettany and Dennis Quaid gives me some hope though, since they generally pick good scripts. We'll see if this is one of them.

I pity the fool who doesn't want a Hobbit film!

I did not see I Am Legend this past weekend, but apparently there was a poster planted in the film's fictional Times Square for a Batman vs. Superman movie, due out on May 15, 2010. (Check out a screen grab above, courtesy of Slashfilm.) Folks immediately began speculating -- was this a secret teaser poster for Justice League? Had they changed the name (as previously rumored) to Batman vs. Superman? No such luck fanboys (and girls); seems it was only a gag dreamed up by screenwriter/producer Akiva Goldsman, who, long ago, was attached to write a Batman vs. Superman film. But it's still pretty cool, and a neat little Easter Egg if you ask me.

We know John Singleton has signed on to direct a big-screen A-Team movie, and that casting is currently underway, but what's the script look like? Moviehole got their hands on the script, and there's some "interesting" stuff in there. Like, B.A. Baracas (played by Mr. T on the TV show) is listed as a "22-year-old walking steel with two-percent body fat." Yup, expect Tyrese Gibson in this role. Here's a bit more from their synopsis: "I'll be honest - it's not that tantalizing. The whole action of the movie revolves around some vases and stolen art. At one point there's a scene that takes place on a yacht - and it's an art auction. It's just not that interesting." Head on over to Moviehole to read their full review of the 118-page script.

This morning it was announced that Peter Jackson and New Line had kissed and made up, and are moving ahead on the long-planned Hobbit adaptation. However, Jackson is only listed as an executive producer, which means they still need to seek out a director to helm the picture. I'd expect Sam Raimi to be the first one they call, but if Sam takes on this monstrous double-feature, don't expect the guy to be back in the director's chair for Spider-Man 4. Which will also likely mean that Tobey Maguire and Kirsten Dunst will opt out. Would you gladly take Raimi on Hobbit, or could Jackson get real nutty and somehow convince Guillermo del Toro to give up all 300 of his current projects to direct two Hobbit films? Where do you stand? Who do you want directing these movies, if not Jackson?

Though it still hasn't hit the trades (I imagine an official announcement will come tomorrow), BlackVoices has spoken with director John Singleton, and he has confirmed to them that he will indeed direct a big-screen version of The A-Team, based on the popular '80s television series (Latino Review first posted the A-Team rumor earlier this week). IESB also confirmed the news through their sources at Fox. Additionally, Singleton said he will not be directing Executive Order: Six, as previously announced through the trades, and we imagine he'll instead concentrate solely on bringing The A-Team to the big screen ... and not completely pissing off all its fans in the process.

This feature film version has been in development for a long time, and for awhile we never thought it would happen. I mean, how can you re-cast someone like Mr. T? And if you do re-cast Mr. T, then wouldn't it be weird to see someone else acting like Mr. T? I love Ving Rhames too ... but c'mon! According to Latino Review's original post, "Stephen J. Cannell, who created the show, will produce the movie with Spike Seldin. Mark Silvestri will exec produce. Alex Young will oversee the pic at Fox. The new "A-Team" will be updated from the Vietnam era and reflect contemporary issues and politics. Tone of the film will be less cartoony and more serious, in the vein of "Die Hard" and "Lethal Weapon." But the van stays, right? The black van with the red stripe has to stay? And who do you get to play The A-Team? Do they go older (Bruce Willis, Ving Rhames) or younger (Mark Wahlberg, Tyrese Gibson) ... or younger and older (Bruce Willis, Channing Tatum, Mark Wahlberg and Ving Rhames)? In your opinion, what needs to happen in order for this film to succeed?

Oh, and before you start wondering about casting -- Singleton's last film, Four Brothers, starred both Wahlberg and Gibson. So I'd like to think they'd be his first choices ...

[via Coming Soon]

A while back, we told you that Zodiac scribe James Vanderbilt has been hired to pen the script for Spidey 4, but as of right now, the leads -- Tobey Maguire, Kirsten Dunst, and James Franco -- haven't been confirmed yet to star in the film (though something tells me Franco won't be returning for "certain" reasons). That got us thinking ... what if Tobey Maguire decided to move on from playing the Webbed One? Who else could fill that Spidey-suit? Would it be best to go for someone close to Maguire in physical type, or try something completely different? From High School Musical hottie Zac Efron, to boy-wizard-and-more Daniel Radcliffe, from the "superbad" Michael Cera to the multi-talented Elijah Kelley ... who could you see taking on the role of Spider-Man if Maguire decided to retire from the role?

One thing you'll probably notice if you watch a lot of festival movies is this: When you dig beneath the big-time, A-list, "gala titles," you come across a lot of medium-sized flicks that come from relative newcomers -- but feature some great work from veteran actors. Renny Harlin's Cleaner is one such example: It's a so-so movie that's probably worth seeing just for the performances of Samuel L. Jackson and Ed Harris. Brad Furman's The Take is another one of those flicks: It's got a passably compelling story, a half-decent screenplay, some nifty touches from a young director ... and a lead performance by John Leguizamo that's really quite excellent.

Written by Josh and Jonas Pate (Deceiver), The Take opens by introducing us to a firmly middle-class (but entirely admirable) nobody: Felix De La Pena (Leguizamo) is an armored truck driver who gets kidnapped and shot in the head during a vicious robbery. Against all odds, Felix survives and (with the help of his devoted wife Marina) slowly starts down the road to recovery. But Felix isn't the same man anymore. Although he's still able to walk, talk, drive and otherwise function pretty reasonably, he's also quite a bit "slower" in the head ... plus he's now fostering one nasty little temper. Meanwhile the brutal crook who led the robbery (Tyrese Gibson) is busy tying up a bunch of loose ends -- and you just know the two men are bound to butt heads again.

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.

It's been a while since I've seen Paul Bartel's Death Race 2000, but I do remember that it's the movie that created the whole "hit that pedestrian with your automobile and you get 15 points" joke that people still (somehow) think is funny -- plus I remember it being a whole lot of grungy, campy, R-rated fun. (Most people seem to think mega-producer Roger Corman directed this particular flick, but nope. It was actually the admirably weird actor / filmmaker Paul Bartel, who'd also go on to direct Eating Raoul, Lust in the Dust and Scenes from the Class Struggle in Beverly Hills. So credit where it's due.)

Plus it's probably the only movie you'll ever see that has characters named Frankenstein, Calamity Jane, Matilda the Hun, Nero the Hero and Machine Gun Joe Viterbo. The futuristic action satire is about a cross-country car race that awards points for pedestrians slaughtered. Fun stuff indeed, but did you know that "fan favorite" filmmaker Paul W.S. Anderson is about to start shooting a remake for Universal? (Well, you should if you're a regular reader. Previous reports on this project can be enjoyed here, here and here.)

Jason Statham has been cast in the lead of Death Race for a little while now, but The Hollywood Reporter indicates that a few cool names have joined the fray. In addition to the also-previously-announced Tyrese Gibson, the producers will now cut paychecks for not only the fantastic Joan Allen, but also the perpetually amusing Ian McShane. (Unless I'm insane, IGN Movies broke the Allen news at Comic Con last week.) Ms. Allen will play an evil warden; Statham the reluctant prisoner forced to participate in the race; McShane a racing coach; and Gibson will play "Machine Gun," the role originally played by Sly Stallone in the 1975 original.

As you're no doubt aware, Paul W.S. Anderson is the man who brought you Shopping, Mortal Kombat, Event Horizon, Soldier, Resident Evil and Alien vs. Predator. Some movie fans see this guy as the ruiner of all things potentially cool, but I see a guy who's directed six films -- two of which I really enjoy watching. In baseball that batting average gets you a new contract. (Can you guess which two flicks they are?)

ComicCon is officially over ... or has it just begun?

• MTV caught up with Sam Raimi over the weekend, and (as most of us have done and will continually do until the man either throws a punch or gives up a plot point) hassled him about Spider-Man 4. Has anything changed since the director said he wasn't sure if he'd be helming a fourth installment? Kind of. A meeting has finally taken place between Raimi, Avi Arad and Laurie Ziskin -- they're "beginning to gear up to meet with writers" and Raimi still looks extremely uncomfortable in his own skin. The man still doesn't know if he will direct, but he does "want a hand in bringing it to the screen." As far as which villains will show up, Raimi has some ideas but would like to hear from writers on where they think Spidey should go from here. I say he should go to Iraq and help solve some problems over there, but that's me.
• Dark Horizons caught up with screenwriters Ben Garant and Thomas Lennon (Reno 911, Balls of Fury) at The Con, and the boys said they're beginning work on the script to Night at the Museum 2. The duo (who also penned the original) are keeping plot details under wraps, but say "there'll be existing characters and plenty of new ones." Both Ben Stiller and Robin Williams are set to reprise their roles. Man, what I would give to see a Salvador Dali exhibit somehow factor into the equation.
• Director Paul W.S. Anderson was also blabbing to folks over the weekend. He told IGN that Tyrese Gibson and Joan Allen have joined the cast (which already has Jason Statham playing one of the leads) of Death Race 3000; a remake of the 1975 flick starring Sylvester Stallone and David Carradine. Gibson is no stranger to high-speed chases, having also starred in 2 Fast 2 Furious. The film will revolve an ultra-violent futuristic car race in which drivers are awarded points for mowing down innocent pedestrians. Can't wait to see the lawsuits that come from this flick -- "Dude, I seriously hit that guy because I thought I'd get 10,000 points. I'm innocent -- blame the movie!" Says Anderson about the film: "We start shooting in four weeks time in Montreal. Jason Statham's playing Frankenstein and Machine Gun Joe's played by Tyrese Gibson. And Joan Allen is the big villain baddie of the movie, which I'm very excited about. She's gonna kick Statham's ass!"

The last time we heard about Luke Cage, back in February, director John Singleton (Boys n the Hood) said the comic adaptation is developing slowly because of the main character's skin color. Sure, such a statement makes little sense after the popularity of the Blade franchise, but then again, for every Blade movie, there's a Spawn or Steel or Meteor Man to make studios wary about black superheroes. Apparently, though, it may be even worse for a black superhero movie that also deals with black issues. Black Panther, which for years was said to be in the works with Wesley Snipes (before he became Blade), is another project that couldn't seem to get the greenlight, possibly because its main character deals with problems in Africa.

The person most rumored to play Luke Cage in Singleton's pic is Tyrese Gibson, and in a new interview to promote Transformers, the actor has confirmed that he's set to fill the character's shoes. He also says the movie is continuing development, with the script (by Ben Ramsey) currently in a rewrite stage. Gibson will be meeting with Singleton and others soon, though, to present the project to Sony and see if they can move forward. Personally I was hoping the project would add Cage's old partner Iron Fist in order to widen the appeal, but otherwise I'm excited about the progress, and I hope Sony is into what they have. Between his Shaft remake and 2 Fast 2 Furious, Singleton is losing a lot of credit as a good filmmaker, but if he can at least make a hit with Luke Cage, if not a great film, then he might be able to save himself from becoming a hero director for hire in the future.