It's only because Mark Young's upcoming The Killing Jar sounds like a nifty cross between hostage thriller and monster movie that I think this piece is worthy of note -- but there's also the fact that the film now has guys like Michael Madsen, Harold Perrineau, and Danny Trejo attached. And anyone who loves action / horror / B-movies in general has to be somewhat intrigued by that particular ensemble.

Mr. Young, who last year gave us the half-decent Tooth and Nail as part of the After Dark Horrorfest, will direct his own screenplay. The title is indeed The Killing Jar, and according to The Hollywood Reporter, it's about "a stranger armed with a shotgun who takes seven patrons hostage at a remote roadside diner. As the body count rises, the survivors discover that one of the hostages might be more dangerous than their captor." Count me in for this one. Any guesses, folks? One of the hostages is ... a werewolf! An alien! Bruce Wayne! I have no idea, but based on the flick's title, I'm guessing it's something icky and biological.

Production on The Killing Jar is presently underway in North Carolina. According to the IMDb, Kevin Gage, Lew Temple, and Lindsey Axelsson (yowza) are also on board. Needless to say (only because nobody would ever ask), this project is not a remake of this flick.

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.

A guy stars on the one the best TV series of all time, and all he can get is a lame, second-banana gig in the Matrix sequels. Then he shows up on a show of debatable quality that everyone watches, and he's got jobs coming out of his ears. Yes, I'm talking about Harold Perrineau. And no, I'm not surprised, just a little depressed. Don't get wrong -- I'm happy the man's getting gigs, just a little resentful that it didn't happen during Oz.

My own pouting aside, things are looking damn good for Perrineau these days: In the past few weeks he's signed up for gigs in three upcoming films. The first is 28 Weeks Later..., in which his role as "an upbeat American Special Forces pilot who documents and leads to safety the families returning to London after the viral outbreak" sounds likely to be pretty small (I'm thinking, like, Richard Dawson in King Rat small here). The others, however, could be more substantial. He'll be playing Richard Roundtree (who in my mind is at least three times Perrineau's size) in Matthew Wilder's Philip K. Dick movie -- recently retitled Your Name Here -- because, at least within the weirdass world of Wilder's film, Roundtree is obsessed with Dick. So to speak. In addition, Perrineau will appear in the harrowing-sounding Gardens of the Night alongside John Malkovich, Jeremy Sisto and Diana Ross' little boy Evan.