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I was slightly disappointed with the initial casting of John Carter of Mars, but as Andrew Stanton keeps bringing the wonderful with every addition to the roster, I just have to trust him when it comes to his choice of Taylor Kitsch. But Stanton is sending more impressive talent to Mars, as according to The Hollywood Reporter, James Purefoy, Thomas Haden Church, and Mark Strong have joined the cast.

Purefoy will be playing Kantos Kan, the captain of the Xavarian, the grand flagship of Helium. Carter meets him in the prisons of Warhoon, and they're forced to battle in a gladitorial match. They become allies as only former gladiators can, and Kan assists him on his quest to save Mars / Barsoom. I found it difficult to picture the secondary characters in Princess of Mars, so I feel lame in saying "Purefoy is perfect as Kan!" but he'll fit the part of a seasoned naval captain. He'll be quite dashing, even. (Actually, I think Purefoy would have made a good Carter.)

Church will be playing Tal Hajus, who THR calls "a vicious Thark warrior who is determined to become king." In the books, he's a Jabba the Hut type who lusts after Princess Dejah Thoris, and is happily ensconced as a leader, so this might be one of the first big changes you'll see in the story. It would probably make things a lot more interesting to have Church play him as a capable bastard than a slobby wreck.

Read more over at SciFi Squad

We here at Cinematical have been big fans of Neil Marshall since we discovered the scrappy-yet-slick charms of his Dog Soldiers. And then came The Descent, which most people think is horror brilliance supreme (I sure do), and that one was followed by the "Romero meets Carpenter" action stew Doomsday. So what is Mr. Marshall cooking up next? Our own Jessie Barnes gave us a quick pic from Centurion a few weeks back, but now (thanks to Rotten Tomatoes UK), we have 90-some seconds of footage from the UK / Scotland shoot.

The old-style swords 'n' armor action epic (written by Marshall) ponders what might have happened to the legendary "9th Legion," which was widely regarded as the ass-kickenest bunch in the whole of the Roman Empire before they fell off the face of the Earth. Bankrolled by Cloud Nine and Celador, the film hasn't snagged a U.S. distributor yet, but they can probably worry about that when the movie is finished. Thanks again to RT for doling out this video clip. If you'd like to hear just a bit about Centurion from Marshall and his stars Dominic West and Olga Kurylenko, then you don't need to go very far.

We've all seen the many ways that Jason Segel is a big dude, but now he's gearing up to see what life is like on the other side. The Hollywood Reporter posts that he's in talks to sign onto Jack Black's Gulliver's Travels along with Emily Blunt. Black's Gulliver washes up on the island of Lilliput, where people are only 6 inches tall, and befriends a wee one named Horatio (Segel). Horatio not only has the honor of having a friend who can squash him -- he's also the love interest of the island's princess (Blunt). Lucky girl.

In less lucky circles, Hilary Swank is no longer getting debonair love from Jeffrey Dean Morgan. After romancing it up in P.S. I Love You, THR posts that he's going to stalk her in The Resident. She'll play a young doc who nabs a loft in Brooklyn, only to find that her charming landlord (Morgan) is actually a psycho who pulls her into "a terrifying game of cat and mouse." They really lack the chemistry, so this should be an improvement.

Punisher: War Zone is proof of just how tenacious the people at Marvel Comics are. They're going to keep remaking and rebooting their characters' franchises whether anyone likes it or not!

This is the third time they've taken a stab at Frank Castle, aka the Punisher, the sourpuss vigilante who's been murdering villains in comic books for over 30 years. The first film, in 1989, starred Dolph Lundgren. It turned out as well as could be expected, considering it starred Dolph Lundgren. The reboot, in 2004, starred Thomas Jane and was ridiculed by critics and ignored by audiences.

But hey, third time's the charm, right? Punisher: War Zone, which is as laughably campy and violent as ever, follows the same procedure as this summer's Incredible Hulk in that it's not another origin story, but it's not really a sequel to the last entry, either. 2004's Punisher had Castle's entire extended family being murdered; here, it was only his wife and children. Maybe they realized it's hard to relate to a guy being upset that his mother-in-law was killed.

Castle, now played personality-free by Ray Stevenson (HBO's Rome), has been living in the shadows of New York City and killing bad guys for either four years or five years, depending on which character in the movie you ask. He has an endless stockpile of weapons and some military training. He also has a serious grudge against organized crime -- not just the specific Mafiosi who murdered his family (he dispatched them long ago), but all Italian-named thugs, gangsters, and racketeers.

His primary opponent this time is Billy "the Beaut" Russoti (Dominic West), who renames himself Jigsaw after suffering a Punisher-related accident that tears up his face. An undercover FBI agent is killed during the same scuffle, which Castle feels incredibly guilty about. That guy had a wife and kid, after all! Of course, so did many of the hundreds of criminals Castle has murdered over the last four/five years, but never mind.

I think I can speak for most fans of Marvel Comic's Punisher when I say that in light of just how crappy previous Punisher flicks have been in the past, then a 're-boot' was really the only sensible option (though I'm not sure it's a re-boot; perhaps a continuation or something along those lines). Latino Review is now hosting three new images from Punisher: War Zone straight from director Lexi Alexander's blog (which you can also view here, to the right, and after the jump). The last picture we got wasn't exactly the most illuminating when it comes to details, and, to be honest, I couldn't make out much here either. On the up side, at least star Ray Stevenson no longer looks like Steven Seagal's long lost brother.

Taking over where Thomas Jane and Dolph Lundgren left off, Stevenson stars as Frank Castle (aka The Punisher); when his family is wiped out by the mob, he becomes a one man army pegging off criminals and mobsters everywhere. Joining Stevenson are Dominic West as Jigsaw (who fans might remember from the comics, albeit from a different storyline) and Wayne Knight (better known as Jerry's nemesis Newman) as Microchip.

Erik got the chance to talk with director Lexi Alexander about the need for a remake of the classic character. Alexander said, "I would say it's a complete different re-boot, just because neither one of the previous [films] were relevant. And with Castle, it's one story -- the mythology stays the same -- and I think I just have a very very different take on it. I was lucky to put it in the right environment, which was dark and cold". Judging by the photos on her blog, it looks like she succeeded in creating that 'environment'. Shooting for Punisher: War Zone wrapped back in December and is scheduled to hit theaters on September 12th, 2008. Check out two more pics after the jump ...

Recently, when Paddy Considine was being considered for the role of the villain Jigsaw in The Punisher: War Zone, a fan questioned why the movie would cast a Brit as an Italian mobster. That fan will probably continue wondering, because, according to The Hollywood Reporter, Lionsgate has finally announced the actor who won the part over Considine, and it is another English actor, Dominic West. If you remember, Considine was offered the role when the first choice had to pass, but then that first choice ended up taking it after all. So, West must have been that first choice. Funny, I was expecting someone more well-known, but I guess with recent appearances in 300 and Hannibal Rising and a recurring part on the popular television series The Wire, West is still more famous than Cinderella Man's Considine (personally, I can only place West in 28 Days, while I've seen much of Considine's work). For those unfamiliar with the comics, Jigsaw has a torn-up and re-stitched face, so it isn't like audiences will be recognizing West's own mug anyway.

Joining West is a more familiar actor who has also just been cast in the movie. Everyone's favorite conniving fat man, Wayne Knight (Seinfeld's "Newman"), will play Microchip (aka Linus Lieberman), the lone confidant who works with The Punisher, supplying him with guns and ammo -- think James Bond's Q meets Batman's Alfred, says Wikipedia. Because we can expect nothing less from Knight, though, I have to assume he also stabs The Punisher in the back and then gets eaten by dinosaurs. West and Knight join Ray Stevenson, as The Punisher, and the recently announced Dash Mikok (Romeo + Juliet's "Benvolio"), as Detective Soap, Colin Salmon (Resident Evil), as Agent Budiansky, and Doug Hutchison (The Green Mile) as LBJ (aka Looney Bin Jim). The comic adaptation will be directed by Lexi Alexander and may be released as early as late 2008.