Now that we know the storyline for Crank 2: High Voltage is going to be a little wacky, it might give these latest behind-the-scenes photos some context. The Bad and the Ugly scored some pictures of the returning Amy Smart in all her topless glory (the pics are a little NSFW, so consider yourself warned), along with Jason Statham, and Corey Haim (rocking one heck of a mullet) hard at work on the action thriller.

Picking up where the last film left off, Statham returns as Chev Chelios, the hitman with a need for adrenaline. This time, though, he's got a busted artificial heart that requires jolts of electricity to keep it pumping. There is also something about a 100-year-old gangster named Hu Dong, but it all gets a little confusing after that.

Earlier in the week JFX Online paparazzi had taken some photos on set (mainly of Smart), but had been asked to remove them (the photos are still all over the web, so JFX has since put them back online). Their reporter even took a few cheap shots at the production, but has since retracted those comments. Writer-directors Brian Taylor and Mark Neveldine have already taken their fare share of criticism for the first film, but I know for a fact there are plenty of people who couldn't care less about the critics, and they can't wait until Crank 2 hits theaters in 2009.

In an age ruled by wussy PG-13 horror and sterilized action, the world cried out for a hero. And behold, for it has found one; actually, it has found two. Their names are Mark Neveldine and Brian Taylor -- usually credited as just "Neveldine/Taylor" -- and they have come to rescue us from the gutless, joyless, cynical genre films that seem to top the box-office more and more often with each passing year.

So far, Neveldine/Taylor have but two credits to their name: the deranged Jason Statham actioner Crank, and the screenplay for last weekend's twisted, frightening "medical" thriller Pathology. (Here I must respectfully dissent from my co-blogger Jeffrey M. Anderson's thoughtful negative review of the latter.) They've developed a clear m.o. -- gruesome, over-the-top violence, unhinged sexuality, frenetic plotting, a conscious disregard for plausibility -- and a certain contingent of filmgoers are eating it up with a spoon. I don't blame them: movies that don't pull their punches are pretty rare, and it's easy to love these two simply for having the fortitude to go balls-to-the-wall.

With a title like Into Hell, there are lots of plot possibilities, many of which revolve around actually going to hell. But that's not quite the case this time around. Would you have ever linked hell and "English soccer hooligans"? The Hollywood Reporter posts that Bold films is taking on this link with Into Hell, an action thriller that will be written by Dominic Morgan and Matthew Harvey.

The story focuses on this group of "English soccer hooligans" who head to Istanbul for a soccer match. "The gang soon finds themselves in over their heads, however, when they get framed for a political assassination." Now that's a crappy piece of luck, and a lesson to us all about the dangers of being a hooligan.

It seems that producer Ian Carrington has helped to develop this with an old friend in mind -- Jason Statham, who currently manages and plays for the United Hollywood soccer team. The plan is to show the action star the script once a draft is done, but there is no word about what sort of role he would play if the script interests him. Will it have a soccer star who is also some covert ops dude that sets out to help these poor fans? We'll have to wait and see.

Warning: Possible spoilers below.

We at Cinematical have gleefully kept you updated on the status of the promised sequel to Brian Taylor and Mark Neveldine's crazy-ass live-action cartoon Crank. Thanks to what must be one of the most fascinating casting calls of all time, we now have more specifics about what's in store for Jason Statham's apparently invincible Chev Chelios. (If you recall, he ended the first film by plunging a mile from a helicopter and crashing onto the concrete landing on a car. [Thanks to commenter Liam for the correction.])

In addition to the details of how Chev survived the fall, which we already knew (he gets implanted with -- what else? -- an artificial heart which he has to jolt with electricity to keep pumping), The Bad and Ugly has snagged descriptions of a couple characters from the casting call for Crank 2: High Voltage. Among them are "Hu Dong," a 100 year-old Chinese gangster who implants Chev's old heart into himself and is then "lured into Doc Miles' clutches by the seductive Vanilla." I don't know what that means, but it sounds amazing. There's also "Pepper," a stripper who turns up in the back seat of a car that Chev steals and is somehow able to give Chev information about the whereabouts of one of his nemeses. Oh, and unless you're "OKAY WITH NUDITY" -- just like that, in all caps -- don't bother auditioning for "Pepper".

Ordinarily, reading tidbits like that about an upcoming studio release (Lionsgate is footing at least part of the bill) would send me scurrying under my desk to search for my jaw. But in the Taylor/Neveldine universe, which will also soon include the vicious-looking Pathology, it sounds like par for the course. I'm psyched.

How many heist movies have been made in the past 100 years? Probably not as many as hit man movies or serial killer movies, but nevertheless quite a few. Happily, there's always room for one more, if it's a good one, and Roger Donaldson's The Bank Job is indeed a good one. Moreover, I'd venture to say that it deserves to be called a crackerjack heist movie. Donaldson is about as far from a cinematic auteur as a director can get -- his disparate credits include The Bounty (1984), Cocktail (1988), Species (1995), Thirteen Days (2000), The Recruit (2003) and The World's Fastest Indian (2005) -- but that's where thirty years of experience and skill come in. The Bank Job takes a fairly complex story with multiple players on multiple sides, and presents it cleanly, briskly and excitingly.

Jason Statham leads the huge cast as Terry, a small time London hustler deep in debt, married with kids, and running a crooked auto shop -- just till he gets back on his feet. It's 1971 and an old friend, Martine Love (Saffron Burrows), who has been working as a model, shows up with a proposition. She is dating a secret agent who told her about a bank; the nearby tube trains have been setting off the alarms, so they're being replaced, and the bank will be without alarms for a time. Plus, if they hit the safe deposit boxes, there will be no way to trace the crime, based on the theory that most people won't want to disclose what it was they wanted to keep safe. Terry rounds up a couple of his mates and launches his scheme. They rent a storefront a couple of doors down from the bank, tunnel underground and re-surface inside the vault.

Australian-born Roger Donaldson, 62, may be the perfect example of a journeyman filmmaker, or a craftsman, the exact opposite of an auteur. You could watch back-to-back, for example, Cocktail (1988), Species (1995) and Thirteen Days (2000) and never guess that the same man made all three. His filmography is a perfect cross-section of Hollywood films, good and bad. He may be the only director nominated for both the Palme d'Or (for The Bounty in 1984) and a Razzie (for Cocktail).

The best thing about these types of filmmakers is that they're level-headed and tend to learn from their mistakes, picking up new skills and bringing fresh ideas to each new film. Likewise, he has worked with an impressive roster of actors and actresses, including many future stars and Oscar winners. He began as a still photographer and a documentary filmmaker before helping to organize the New Zealand Film Commission. His first films, Sleeping Dogs (1977) and Smash Palace (1981) helped put him on the map and brought him to Hollywood, where he has worked steadily for three decades. His previous film, The World's Fastest Indian (2005), was something of a personal film for him. He revisited a subject from a documentary he made in the 1970s, wrote the script and raised the money, shot partly in New Zealand where his roots are, and even reunited with Anthony Hopkins, the co-star of The Bounty.

Well, for those of you out there who are fans of Jason Statham's Transporter franchise, I've got some good news for you: Variety reports that Statham has signed to star in a third installment! He will reprise his role as the butt-whooping mercenary driver/delivery man Frank. The film will be produced by EuropaCorp, who were behind the first two flicks. However, there have been some personnel changes for the film; the previous director for the last two films, Louis Leterrier, has been replaced by Hitman's 2nd Unit director, Olivier Megaton -- which might not exactly be a step up if you consider the reviews for that particular cinematic gem. Joining Statham in the cast is Prison Break's Robert Knepper, who judging by some of his creepy performances will probably star as the bad guy in this scenario.

The first two films in the franchise were written by Luc Besson and Robert Mark Kamen, but the two have not been confirmed to pen the new script. Just like for the first two films, Besson will not be pulling any directing duties, but will be involved as a 'hands-on' producer. There is no word yet on the story, but I'm sure that Besson is keeping in mind that the franchise has a running box-office total of $130 million, so it shouldn't take long to put one together. Transporter 3 will shoot for 16 weeks on location in Russia and France starting sometime in March or April. There is no release date so far, but let's be honest, we aren't dealing with Citizen Kane here so it shouldn't take long before Transporter 3 hits theaters.

Question: Do we really need a third one?

I'll admit that for some silly reason seeing the poster for The Bank Job made me think that this flick might be a step above the usual Lock, Stock rip-off. Unfortunately, a new TV spot over at Coming Soon has me rethinking that position. CS is now hosting the new commercial for the crime caper and by the looks of things, this film is just going to be another paint-by-numbers British crime caper -- the legacy of Guy Ritchie lives on.

The Bank Job is based on the true story of the famous Baker Street Robbery. In 1971, over $900,000 was stolen from Lloyds Bank in London. The thieves were never caught and even stranger was the fact that a gag order was placed on the investigation. Well, 27 years later and director Roger Donaldson is claiming that finally the real story can be told. According to the film's writers and their "Deep Throat" source, the real reason for the heist was to cover up a scandal involving the Royal Family. The conspiracy theory also manages to incriminate high-ranking police officers, the secret service, politicians and a prominent member of the royal family.

So you can maybe understand why I'm a little disappointed that a fascinating story like this might be reduced to nothing but choppy editing and glib dialog. Screenwriters Dick Clement and Ian La Frenais (Flushed Away) have been trying to get the story of the Baker Street Robbery to the screen for years, so hopefully they wanted to do it right. I guess I will have to wait and see when The Bank Job hits theaters later this month.

Check out the theatrical trailer for The Bank Job after the jump ...

Because of Heath Ledger's premature death and the uncertainty of what will now happen to the actor's unfinished final film, The Imaginarium of Doctor Parnassus, I've been thinking a lot about The Crow this week. Aside from the Joker/Crow connection from last April, I'm sure you recall that Brandon Lee died while filming that comic book adaptation, and some clever special effects had to be employed in order for the picture to be finished. Anyway, I really loved the film when it came out back in 1994, but I eventually let go of being its fan, partly because of the kids who were too obsessed with the title character (if you ever hung out at goth clubs, you know what I'm talking about) and ruined it for me, and partly because of the crappy film franchise that it spawned. But I've been thinking about revisiting the first installment, at least for nostalgic purposes.

I'm apparently not the only one thinking of revisiting The Crow, though others seem to have different reasons for looking back. According to actor Jason Statham, who talked about available comic book roles with IESB.net, there's talk in Hollywood of a remake. The action star seemed to say that if he was offered the part of Eric Draven (aka The Crow), then he would be quick to grab it (the actual quote: "So if that one comes my way, bang!"). He also mentioned taking a meeting to play Namor (aka Sub-Mariner), but wasn't so keen on wearing the green Speedo and ankle wings. He also expressed a desire to play the Hulk, though he points out that he's glad Edward Norton, his Italian Job co-star, is doing that one (The Incredible Hulk is being helmed by Louis Leterrier, Statham's director on the first two Transporter movies, by the way). But despite continuing on with three franchises with Crank 2: High Voltage, Transporter 3 and The Brazilian Job, the actor hopes he'll be able to one day snag a comic book part. Should it be The Crow? Or should there be a remake of The Crow (or new adaptation of James O'Barr's comics) at all?

I suppose that reviewing an Uwe Boll film is a lot like having a fancy restaurant critic do a write-up on McDonald's new McGristle sandwich -- but I'm not "fancy" by any definition of the word, and I've grown madly in love with Uwe Boll's enthusiastically slipshod filmmaking techniques. So to those who thought miracles were actually possible, I have some disappointing news: Boll's latest, In the Name of the King: A Dungeon Siege Tale, is every bit as consistently awful as the director's earlier offerings -- only it's 126 minutes long. And that's just not fair.

Also unfair is the stunningly blatant way in which Mr. Boll tries to rip off the Lord of the Rings trilogy in this chintzy little epic. Every other sequence has a musical cue, a costume, a bit of dialog, or a background character that just fell off the Hobbit truck. If imitation is the sincerest form of flattery, then Uwe Boll just spent 126 minutes telling Peter Jackson how thin, talented and gorgeous he is. To be completely fair, I did notice a few components (mainly the action scene editing and a few moments of strangely effective cinematography) that manage to improve upon films like Alone in the Dark, House of the Dead and BloodRayne -- but really, you could probably improve upon those three movies using only a cell phone camera and a powerful flashlight.

For a flick that runs two hours, the plot is distressingly skimpy: Villains are ransacking the countryside, so a farmer called Farmer takes up arms, grabs a few sidekicks, and heads out to destroy the evil and perpetually cackling Boss Villain. That's it, really. But we're not going to see an Uwe Boll video game adaptation for the plot, are we? No. We're usually watching his flicks for the sheer unintentional hilarity of it all, but King is even better because it's an ensemble piece! We've got...

Cinematical has just received this exclusive poster for The Bank Job (click on the image for a larger version), starring Jason Statham and the beautiful Saffron Burrows (whose name always makes me hungry for some odd reason). Love the premise for this one; check it out (from the synopsis): "In September 1971, thieves tunneled into the vault of a bank in London's Baker Street and looted safe deposit boxes of cash and jewelry worth millions and millions of pounds. None of it was recovered. Nobody was ever arrested. The robbery made headlines for a few days and then suddenly disappeared - the result of a UK Government 'D' Notice, gagging the press. This film reveals what was hidden in those boxes, involving murder, corruption and a sex scandal with links to the Royal Family - a story in which the thieves were the most innocent people involved."

Statham plays a car dealer with a shady past who gets roped into the whole ordeal. And we all know what happens when Statham gets behind the wheels of a car. I've heard this story before, and I'm definitely hungry for an old school cool heist flick with a British twist. Hopefully The Bank Job will prove to be both satisfying and compelling when it arrives in theaters on March 7.

In the midst of all the casting speculation for the big-budget version of Hasbro's G.I. Joe, I don't quite think fans expected to hear this name pop up first. Variety reports that Sienna Miller has officially become first actor to sign for the Stephen Sommers (The Mummy) film. Nothing has been simple with this film; starting back in June when it was reported that Paramount had ordered two different scripts for the film, only to do away with one entirely and then hire a brand new script writer. According to Variety, the story will center on, "Brussels-based GI OE, an acronym for the Global Integrated Joint Operating Entity, and revolves around an international co-ed force of operatives who use high-tech equipment to battle Cobra, an evil org headed by a Scottish arms dealer".

So how might Miller fit into the story, you may ask? According to Variety, she will play "raven-haired baroness and sexy femme fatale skilled in espionage" -- which is probably a compendium of some of Joe's more famous leading ladies. But considering Miller's history as a model, you think they would have made her Cover Girl.

Most of the casting is still up in the air for the film, despite some of the goofy rumors floating around; at one time or another Mark Wahlberg, George Clooney, and Jason Statham were all attached to the project. But, Miller gets the distinction of being the first actor to officially sign on to a big-screen version of a toy commercial. Paramount hopes to begin shooting this February. G.I. Joe is set for release on August 7th, 2009.

Once you get mega-famous farting around with guns and people who talk funny, it's got to be tough to see your career get Swept Away in one fell swoop. Since then, Guy Ritchie has tried to go back to what he does best -- tough guys and crime. Although he's currently filming RocknRolla, his flick about London's criminal underworld, he had already returned to form a while ago with Revolver. It debuted at TIFF two years ago, and is finally hitting North American theaters in limited release this December. The delay could be due to rumors of its crappiness, although IMDb has it resting at 6.2/10, which isn't great, but isn't terrible.

Now we've got a trailer to check out, courtesy of Yahoo. While it starts off looking like this tough-guy chess movie, with dark, pouring rain and sliding chess pieces, it then jumps into typical criminal territory: the games, cons, and fun of Las Vegas. There's piles of money, bets, scantily-clad women, murder, and everything else you could imagine. Jason Statham stars, sporting lots of distracting facial hair, with the likes of Ray Liotta, Vincent Pastore, and André Benjamin. The trailer looks like your typical bright-lights crime caper, which should work well for it. That being said, I'm kind of wishing it was all about the dangerous life of chess players. That would be cool.

Talk about your super-caffeinated, candy-coated, adrenaline-fueled head trips! Crank was like Speed on speed, an updating / rip-off of D.O.A. brought into the high octane world of hitmen and drug kingpins. Jason Statham starred as Chev Chelios, an assassin poisoned by a criminal overlord. With just an hour to live and revenge on his mind, he quickly discovers that if he doesn't keep his heart rate pumping in overdrive, he'll die even quicker. Extreme, outlandish and often ridiculous, Crank careened around Los Angeles like a drunken Formula One racer.

Critical reaction was divided upon its release last fall. Cinematical's Martha Fischer anticipated its popular success: "it's likely to do huge business with that tantalizing late-teen/early twenties male demographic, who will eat up the naughty, noisy allure of the whole thing, without ever noticing that it's sloppy and unfocused." A few months ago, Jessica Barnes told us about a report that the writing and directing team of Brian Taylor and Mark Neveldine were planning a sequel; Scott Weinberg reported a few weeks ago that Taylor and Neveldine had submitted a script that made everyone dance with joy; as further evidence that the sequel was moving forward, Patrick Walsh let us know that Statham expressed his enthusiasm for the script.

Now comes official word: Variety says that Statham is on board for Crank 2: High Voltage, in which his character "faces a Chinese mobster who has stolen his nearly indestructible heart and replaced it with a battery-powered ticker that requires regular jolts of electricity to keep working." Production will begin after Taylor and Neveldine complete Game, a futuristic thriller starring Gerard Butler and Michael C. Hall that starts shooting next week. No release date is given for Crank 2: High Voltage, but I imagine a fall 2008 release wouldn't be out of the question.

Sorry, Jason Statham fans. He's not going to be your "Real American Hero." Statham had been rumored as the likely choice to play Action Man in the upcoming G.I. Joe flick, but Statham insists he has nothing to do with the film. "The old Internet can be quite misleading at times," he tell MTV Movies Blog. "I don't know where that came from." Statham is keeping busy without Joe though, bro. The Bank Job is due out in 2008, and he's currently on the set of Death Race with a surprisingly excellent cast that includes Ian McShane and Joan Allen. That film is being directed by Paul W.S. Anderson (the terrible Soldier and the almost-terrible Alien Vs. Predator). I always wondered why that guy didn't change his name. You'd think years of people being disappointed when he's not Paul Thomas Anderson would get to the guy.

In addition to those projects, the ass-kicking Statham is lining up some sequels that will bring him back to some of his more popular roles. For starters, there's Crank 2, which Statham promises will be "effing ridiculous." "If you thought the first one was crazy, this is ridiculous. It's mad," he says. "I couldn't resist working with those chaps again. It gives me a chance to go wild in the aisles." For more on the Crank sequel, check Scott's report here. And yet another Statham sequel is in the works -- Transporter 3. "I have a massive yearning to do Part 3 with Luc (Besson). I think it will happen (soon)," says Statham. I haven't seen the Transporter films, though I hear great things. I do happen to think Crank is one of the finest pure action films in years. I'm dying for a sequel, if only to see how they make up for the fact that it sure looked like Statham's character -- spoiler warning -- died in the original. Oh, and bring Dwight Yoakam back! Man, I love that guy.