casper van dien Tagged Articles at Cinematical

Now with MORE Johnny Rico! Oh yes, those bug-killing troopers are back for a third time in the direct-to-DVD title Starship Troopers 3: Marauder, and the first trailer for the film can be seen above. What can you say? They really do attempt to bring in some of the cheese from the first film, but the smaller budget really shows. In the original, those bugs were dark, nasty and scary. Now, they're, well, kinda cute and funny. Or maybe it's just me -- by all means, watch the trailer yourself and tell me I'm dead wrong. Please. I want to be wrong here. Unfortunately, I know our readers, and I know you folks will probably feel the same way.

Good news is that Johnny Rico (Casper Van Dien) is back reprising his role from the first film, which is sad and quite hilarious (who knew Casper Van Dien would be such a selling point) at the same time. Also starring are Jolene Blalock (as Lola Beck) and Boris Kodjoe (as Dix Hauzer). I do give them credit for the names; those always fit the mood of the films. In this third installment, Johnny Rico is now a general and total bad ass, and he apparently leads a group of troops back into battle against the bugs. Isn't that what all the films are about? Look for it to hit DVD shelves later this year.

I admire the pluck of the Starship Troopers franchise. Most films that are destined for the DVD bin have an aura of shame about them -- you rarely see Steven Seagal out granting interviews for his latest straight-to-DVD action movie or any significant extras on the disc for such a movie -- but one glimpse at the website for Starship Troopers: Marauder gives the impression of a well-oiled machine that's catering to a fan base and has excited and interested people behind it. There are all kinds of interviews, production and fan art and sketches, news updates, cast biographies and other things for you to sample. Also, the names behind this thing aren't anything to sneeze at either: the movie marks the directing debut of Edward Neumeier, writer of Robocop and Verhoeven's original Starship Troopers, and it will star Starship's Casper Van Dien and Jolene Blalock, so I'm officially declaring this movie to be worth a viewing.

Sony Pictures has just launched Stage 6 Films, "a label that will acquire and produce films for theatrical and straight-to-DVD release." The Variety announcement reports that Stage 6 will focus mostly on the DVD market, and on films budgeted at $1 to $10 million dollars. They've got a lot of movies on the horizon, with some pretty big stars involved. Conspiracy is an action flick starring Val "Iceman" Kilmer, Gary "Lumbergh" Cole, and Jennifer "Hot" Esposito. Thomas Jane is acting in and directing Dark Country (hope it's not a punisher!). The Stone House is a horror film starring Shane West and JK "Schillinger" Simmons. The Lodger stars Alfred Molina, whom I always picture in his underwear singing "Sister Christian." And Felon brings us even more Kilmer thrills, with Stephen Dorff and Harold Perrineau in tow.

And you know when you're talking direct-to-DVD, you're talking about some really random sequels. Stage 6 has announced a prequel (a prequel?) to this year's pretty cool horror flick Vacancy. There will also be a second Starship Troopers sequel -- Starship Troopers: Marauder, with Casper "Van Dien" Van Dien, Boris Kodjoe, and Jolene Blalock. Wesley Snipes will star in a sequel to the absolutely terrible action movie The Art of War, which I will refer to as The Art of War 2: Seriously? And Center Stage 2 will capitalize on the public's love of melodramatic teen dance dramas. I must confess a special place in my heart for the original Stage, because it led to a memorable high school back seat rendezvous. Put that quote on your poster, Sony! "Stage 6 will also continue to leverage our vast library of studio films, as we have done with Daddy Day Camp and the I Know What You Did Last Summer franchise," threatens a Stage 6 executive.

I'm a huge fan of Paul Verhoeven's Starship Troopers, but ... not so much a supporter of Phil Tippett's direct-to-video sequel, although if you're looking for mindless mayhem, it's (just barely) watchable enough. But did you know that production is presently underway on Starship Troopers: Marauder? Yep, and not only that: Casper Van Dien is coming back to reprise his role as Johnny Rico! Imagine that! (Would you like to know more?)

This time around it's series screenwriter Ed Nuemeier who'll get the directorial reins. (Although he's making his directorial debut here, Ed Neumeier was a screenwriter on the original Robocop as well as ... Anacondas: The Hunt for the Blood Orchid.) Also on board cast-wise are Marnette Patterson, Jon Falkow and Stephen Hogan, plus Dark Horizons just chimed in with a new addition: "FHM's Sexiest South African" Tanya van Graan will play one of Rico's bug-squashing allies. (The hot model also signed on for a Jean-Claude Van Damme movie, so she's definitely got a great agent.)

According to Dark Horizons, Starship Troopers 3 is presently shooting down under. Ms. van Graan will join the production a few weeks from now in Cape Town. No word on when Sony aims to release this late-coming sequel, but you can rest assured it'll be bypassing theatrical release and landing directly onto your Netflix queue.

Just because one of my old high school pals worked on both movies, that doesn't mean I really love both Starship Troopers movies. OK, I actually do love the first one, while the DTV sequel ... meh, a Saturday afternoon DVD, at best. And now it looks like the pair is about to become a trilogy, and get this: Johnny Rico is coming back!

Yep. According to reliable sources, veteran sci-fi screenwriter Ed Neumeier is poised to make his directorial debut on Starship Troopers 3, and I wasn't kidding about Johnny Rico: Original Trooper Casper Van Dien is planning to make his return to Bug Central! Having written both entries already (in addition to the original Robocop and, um, Anaconda 2), Neumeier is obviously pretty familiar with the genre material. (The first Starship flick was based on the classic novel by Robert Heinlein and resulted in a still buzzed-about Paul Verhoeven sci-fi action satire amalgam.)

Production is set to begin in South Africa next March, which means Starship Troopers 3 should be hitting your DVD stacks by this time next year.

Odds and ends from Wednesday:

• Columbia Pictures has pre-emptively snatched up the spec script Jack and Jill as a possible starring vehicle for Adam Sandler. As of right now, the actor is only producing the pic through his Sony-based Happy Madison banner (appropriately named after the two films that made him). However, since he is involved in some capacity, it's only right to hype his possible involvement in front of the camera. The story is being under double secret probation right now, but is said to have something to do with fraternal twins.
• Call me crazy but I've never been a big Todd Phillips fan. While Road Trip and Old School definitely had their high points, I've heard too many bad stories about the guy, so much so that they have tainted my view of his films. Nevertheless, the guy does know how to direct a successful commercial comedy and, according to Variety, Warner Brothers has tapped him to helm Men. Pic, which will be an Americanized version of the German 80's comedy, will tell of a man who becomes roommates with the guy his wife is having an affair with. Seeing as Phillips already has two films in pre-production (one of them being Old School 2), I'm curious to watch him pull it all off.
• After shoving out a direct-to-dvd sequel, the folks behind Starship Troopers are now looking to produce a third installment of the cult hit. However, this time they want to go back to where it all began and, not only create a film much like the first, but also use some of the original talent. Yes folks, Casper Van Dien said he's involved and will be reprising the role of Johnny Rico. Killer awesome! Not for nothing Casper, but upon your return to the alien planet, perhaps you should try and find the acting career you accidentally left there the last time.