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 suspect I may be the only one who gives a rat's keister about this (and even my interest is rather slight), because as far as I can tell I'm the only person who liked the U.S. remake of Pulse, finding it an enjoyable and refreshingly straightforward horror story, as opposed to the obtuse and hard to follow Japanese original. Still, even I fail to see the logic in producing sequels to a film that grossed all of $29 million worldwide. Granted the Pulse sequels are going direct to video, but I just don't see there being a market for it. However, since Dimension Films didn't ask for my opinion, they have released new information about the two proposed direct-to-DVD Pulse followups that Scott first posted about back in February.

Bloody Disgusting is reporting that the sequels will be written and directed by Joel Soisson, who has had writing and/or directing credits on a number of direct-to-DVD horror sequels including Hollow Man 2, Dracula 2000 (and its two sequels), Mimic 2, and several entries in the The Prophecy series; a franchise that had some pretty decent entries early on. This guy's pretty much the sequel king. The films will be called Pulse: Afterlife, which deals with a society that is afraid to use technology for fear of confronting the spirits that escaped into our world in the previous film and Pulse: Invasion, which is about a teenager who flees the safety of a relocation camp to return to the city. You can read the synopses here, although the Afterlife summary is especially vague. The more I read about this project, the further my interest wanes. Fond as I was of Pulse I don't think it merited any kind of sequel, direct-to-DVD or otherwise.

Netflix has Rancid incorrectly categorized as a horror movie. In reality, this direct-to-DVD effort is a crime thriller that I think wanted to be an erotic thriller but chickened out. I also suspect director Jack Ersgard would have liked a young Tom Cruise to play his lead. Matthew Settle plays James Hayson, a writer who hasn't been able to write anything for six years, and whose tousled hair and perpetual five o'clock shadow suggest an actor trying a little too hard to look like the star of Mission Impossible. James's life has been a shambles ever since Monica (Fay Masterson) left him. His book is going nowhere and he supports himself by writing for a local paper and moonlighting as one of those blights upon humanity known as telemarketers, though what he makes isn't enough to keep the bill collectors from calling. The one time that the film's title is evoked is when his boss at the paper asks him "how's life," and he responds, "Rancid."

Against his better judgment he attends a high school reunion at the home of Crispin Klein (NYPD Blue's Currie Graham), a former classmate that James has always despised, and their relationship has further deteriorated since Crispin married Monica. At the reunion James runs into old friend turned police detective Andy Fell, and falls victim to a plot by Monica when she gives him a hug in full view of everyone including her husband. Crispin strikes Monica repeatedly for daring to embarrass him, then sends a pair of thugs to James's apartment to rough him up, which begins an escalating cycle of violence. The story bounces back and forth between present day and flashback, with the film opening as James hides in the Klein estate after a murder. Exactly who has been killed is not revealed until fairly late in the film, which adds a nice degree of suspense. As luck would have it (or IS it luck?), Andy is one of the detectives investigating the case.

Earlier this month, we reported that star Eric Bana was not interested in making a sequel to Hulk, and mentioned that speculation was now focused on the likelihood of a direct-to-DVD release of that sequel - if it happened. Well, the latest rumors seem to confirm both: the film will not be release in theaters, and that Bana will not star. Who will fill the green body paint? Well, several different sources are reporting that David Duchovny might just be interested in doing a little smashing.

According to a report at AICN, Marvel's Vice-Chairman has been dropping Duchovny's name when asked about the project, describing the actor as a fan of the original. Since this is the sort of thing that will not lie quiet, we'll probably find out very soon if the actor actually knows anything about the sequel or not.

I don't know enough about the character of The Hulk to even speculate about what this casting would mean, but I'm sure some of you guys do - have at it.

Update: The latest news suggests that maybe it won't be straight to DVD. Expect totally new rumors by tomorrow morning.

Remember that Back to the Future 4 rumor from last week? Moviehole says The Guardian (who we got our take on it from) misinterpreted a section from a Moviehole interview with BttF''s Michael J. Fox. Fox, they say, was speaking very theoretically, and many outlets failed to requote his clearly worded skepticism. Here's the direct quote:

"I think by the time we finished two and three we were all so damn tired and then Bob [Zemeckis] went on to do Forest Gump and I went on to do some television work and some other things, you know, I started my own show, Spin City. And now the only way it would work would be if I played Doc, I’m 44 years old now and I’m not interested in running around on skateboards! I think after 1,2 and 3 we all kind of felt we had done it. And I think if now they did it again they would do it with a younger cast and just do a different realisation of it, which would be fun and I’m happy to watch it."

Now, don't lose hope just yet: you know those Direct-to-DVD sequels that keep popping up? Like Carlito's Way: Rise to Power, and American Pie: Band Camp? Both of those projects are the product of a new division at Universal called Universal DVD Originals, designed specifically to crank out DVD-only sequels to popular catalog titles. The 'hole is trying to get us all excited because USHE President Craig Kornblau sent an exclamation-point heavy email to a Back to the Future fansite, confirming that the division is "looking at" making a Future DVD sequel. Which, I guess, is great news ... except for the fact that straight-to-DVD sequels are almost generally crap.