Perhaps sensing that the dough was going to rise (ha!) on this puppy, Papa John's Pizza is sponsoring the new trailer for The Mummy: Tomb of the Dragon Emperor over on director Rob Cohen's blog, in preparation for the three-quel's forthcoming premiere on big screens and large pizza boxes everywhere come August 1.

Anyway, what's the difference between this new trailer and the one we got just a month back? Not all that much, really, which means that the film still looks to be an improvement over its noxiously overblown predecessor. Yes, after seven years, Brendan Fraser's character remains vocal about his wearying habit of fighting mummies. No, you're not crazy, Rachel Weisz isn't just bearing a passing resemblance to Maria Bello. Sure, their son seems to have aged ahead just enough to be both handsome and cocky in equal measure.

But all qualms aside, it isn't often when one gets to say that a movie looks to have a cooler Yeti than it does a three-headed dragon, so check out Cohen's blog for that trailer and other behind-the-scenes material, and here's to hoping that the film itself manages to be the most entertaining action-adventure blockbuster surrogate for the Indiana Jones franchise since... well, last month.

Four of the most exciting movie stars in the world are currently appearing in two of the least interesting new movies, taking a back seat to less interesting stars. Jackie Chan and Jet Li are master martial artists, Chan with a comedian's touch and Li with an appealing stoic quality. They team up for the first time in The Forbidden Kingdom (105 screens), a movie about a white kid and his attempt to beat up some bullies. Chow Yun-fat and Michelle Yeoh team up for the second time in The Children of Huang Shi (43 screens), about a British journalist (not played by Chow) and an Australian nurse (not played by Yeoh) saving some orphans.

Chow had a suave, cool quality that could have turned him into the next James Bond or Cary Grant, and Yeoh is a beautiful martial artist who could have become a groundbreaking feminist action star. It's a sad state of affairs, but I guess these films are the final proof of the cold, dead corpse of the Hong Kong New Wave.

We're soon approaching the three-year anniversary of covering Vin Diesel's eternally forthcoming future-set thriller, Babylon A.D. - on the 24th, baby! - and in perhaps an uncanny move to soothe our patience pains, IGN Movies has delivered the film's first domestic trailer.

The result comes across as The Transporter by way of Children of Men, if Jason Statham and Clive Owen were then replaced by Sir Diesel and some snowmobiles. Sure, it might turn out to be zippy late-summer fun, but moving one's release date from February to August doesn't exactly qualify as a vote of confidence in any respect.

Oh, and as for those rumors that only half of Babylon will make it to the States, CHUD picked up on some counter-rumors that suggest such is not the case. We may not know how legitimate this MySpace source of theirs is, but I struggle to believe that this thing could ever have run 160 minutes, only to lose almost half of that running time in select territories. In fact, I'm fairly certain that, to some medical professionals, behavior like that qualifies as an 'episode' of some sort.

Directed by Mathieu Kassovitz, Babylon A.D. opens on August 29th, opposite Disaster Movie and College, which are bound to be 'episodes' in their own right.

Cinematical has just received a batch of exclusive images from The Mummy: Tomb of the Dragon Emperor (see gallery below for more). The first poster for this sequel hit the other day, and I imagine a trailer will be knocking on all our doors real soon. In this third Mummy installment (technically fourth if you include The Scorpion King), father-and-son duo Rick (Brendan Fraser) and Alex O'Connell (Luke Ford) find themselves in the Far East where they unearth the mummy of the first Emperor of Qin. Needless to say, said Emperor (as played by Jet Li) is your basic, run-of-the-mill shape-shifting entity, cursed by a wizard centuries ago, and out to wreak some havoc. The beautiful Maria Bello and Michelle Yeoh round out the cast.

Rob Cohen directed this one, and if you like what you see in the gallery below, make sure to head on over to Rob's official Mummy production blog. Dude's been keeping that loaded with all sorts of tasty goodies ever since production first began, so definitely check that out, as well as the film's official website (which just went live). The Mummy: Tomb of the Dragon Emperor arrives in theaters on August 1.

This weekend's release of The Forbidden Kingdom, starring Jackie Chan and Jet Li, features the first teaming of the two Asian action heroes. (My review is here.) Jackie is older and got established first as a comic martial arts master before making a string of modern-day thrillers and adventures. Jet came along later and became known as an ultra-serious, ultra-deadly lethal weapon. Their relative merits have been debated endlessly, and The Forbidden Kingdom finally gives fans a chance to see them go man to man -- first against each other, and then against the bad guys.

Now it's your turn to weigh in. Who's your favorite Asian action hero? (For the purposes of this poll, we'll stick to the living, so that's why Bruce Lee is not included.) Do you prefer Jackie's humor and larger than life thrill-seeking stunts? Or do you favor Jet's solemn precision and frequently death-dealing fighting?

Or ... have you always been a secret backer of Donnie Yen? (He had his own square-off against Jackie Chan in Shanghai Knights.) Sammo Hung? (The former Martial Law TV star is still active in Hong Kong.) Michelle Yeoh? (Tomorrow Never Dies, Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon) Or the younger generation represented by Tony Jaa (Ong Bak, The Protector), Collin Chou (Jade Warlord in The Forgotten Kingdom), and Wu Jing (Invislble Target, Kill Zone)? Sound off in the comments to tell us your faves and let us know about anyone else we haven't mentioned.

Is it just me, or does it seem like Vin Diesel can't catch a break when it comes to sci-fi movies? Twitch is reporting that Diesel's latest, Babylon A.D., has undergone a serious edit and the film has been reduced from a running time of 160 minutes to a mere 90. Just so we have this straight, it looks like Fox has cut the film pretty much in half. It had been reported that two distinct versions of the film (one for European audiences and one for the US) were going to hit theaters, but now we'll all be getting the same version since a 90-minute cut was submitted to the UK's BBFC for certification.

Babylon A.D. was directed by Mathieu Kassovitz, and it centers on a young woman who has been infected with a virus that could wipe out humanity. Diesel plays a mercenary who's been charged with escorting this walking time bomb from Russia to New York City. Joining Diesel is Michelle Yeoh as a butt-kicking nun and Mélanie Thierry as Aurora, the futuristic 'Typhoid Mary'. Originally the film was expected to be a dark action flick (what else could it be with Kassovitz at the helm?) but according to Twitch, the film is now aiming for a PG-13 rating.

Well to be honest, my expectations for the latest installment of The Mummy aren't too high, so if I look on the bright side then maybe I will get a pleasant surprise after all. Director Rob Cohen has announced on his production blog that The Mummy: Tomb of the Dragon Emperor has wrapped shooting in China. Starring Brendan Fraser as Rick O'Connell, this time, the O'Connells (Maria Bello, Fraser, and Luke Ford as their son, Alex) are bound for China to battle an immortal emperor (Jet Li). Rounding out the cast are John Hannah, who returns to play Evy's brother Jonathan, and Michelle Yeoh as a "double-crossing sorceress".

Cohen has made this particular announcement on his blog a veritable love fest for his cast. Cohen gushes over his new stars, Maria Bello as the 'new and improved' Evy, saying, "Her beauty and intelligence, wit and courage were something I appreciated each and every day". Jet Li wasn't left out either, and Cohen says that he was everything that "epitomizes graciousness, spiritual depth, and physical grace". Just because shooting has finished, there is still a lot of work ahead on the film, including somewhere around "800 visual effects shots" to be completed.

Considering no one was all that anxious for a third film in the series, the blog has maybe managed to improve things just a little. I know my opinion on the film has fluctuated wildly based on the few pictures that have been released so far. Just for the record: those opinions varied from everything from "Well, maybe this won't be so bad after all" to something with a lot more expletives in it that I probably shouldn't get into here. The Mummy 3 is set for release on August 1st, 2008.

To be honest, after watching some of that teaser footage for Vin Diesel's latest foray into science fiction, Babylon A.D., I kind of got the impression that the actor's career could be on a downward trajectory. Now, First Showing.net has gotten a first look at the poster for the film during ShowEast ... and in my opinion? Let's just say it's not helping -- to me there is nothing less futuristic-looking than "futuristic sunglasses." I know it's a small thing, but there isn't much else going on in the poster so it's not like I can ignore it. This probably won't be the final poster for the film, and there have also been rumblings about a teaser making an appearance some time in December.

Directed by Gothika's Mathieu Kassovitz, the story centers on Diesel as a veteran-turned-mercenary who signs up to transport a young woman from Russia to China. Of course, in a dystopia nothing is ever that simple, and it turns out that the woman is "host to an organism that a cult wants to harvest in order to produce a genetically modified Messiah." Joining Diesel are Michelle Yeoh, Charlotte Rampling, and RocknRolla's Mark Strong.

Even though Babylon hasn't been getting much press, fans are still holding out for the "return of Diesel." Of course, there is still the possibility that Diesel will be taking over in Terminator 4 -- lord knows he has the emotional range for it. Plus, Fast and The Furious 4 is still on track with Diesel back in the driver's seat. So at least he is going to have a couple more chances at redeeming himself for The Pacifier. Babylon A.D is set for release on February 9th, 2008.

You know, if I hadn't seen any of Rob Cohen's films, I might almost feel sorry for the guy. Having already been accused of making one of the worst films of 2005, fans of The Mummy franchise have been less than thrilled when the director was tasked with breathing some life back into the series. But, Cohen has decided to let fans in on the production with his blog for The Mummy: Tomb of the Dragon Emperor. Launched last week, there isn't tons of information available, but Cohen did take the time to address some of the questions plaguing the film, mainly the loss of Rachel Weisz. Cohen says, "Rachel decided to leave the franchise many years ago, after 'The Mummy 2' finished shooting. We all had hopes that she would change her mind but I never had the opportunity to meet her or talk to her." Cohen also confirmed that he has "shot about five weeks of our twenty-week schedule".

Dragon Emperor reunites Brendan Fraser and John Hannah from the original films, alongside Maria Bello, Jet Li, Michelle Yeoh, Anthony Wong, and Luke Ford. The now-retired adventurers Rick and Evelyn O'Connell have a fully grown son (Ford), who has taken up the family business of archeology. This time, the action leaves Egypt far behind and instead is based in China and Li stars as the cursed Dragon Emperor. Cohen writes, "The family is reunited and high adventure ensues: crash landings, treks thru the Himalayas, Yeti, avalanches (bigger than the one I did in XXX), Shangri-la, three-headed dragons, pools of eternal life, epic battles, a shape-shifting Jet Li....I could go on but I don't want to give it all away" -- sure, it sounds impressive, but I still wouldn't hold my breath. The Mummy 3 is set for release on July 30th, 2008.

[via Filmstalker]

When it was finally confirmed that Rachel Weisz had opted out of the latest installment of The Mummy franchise, it was not a good sign that the new film was going to recapture a little of its former glory. Bloody Disgusting got the scoop that Universal has finally secured their cast for the third film in the series -- technically it's the fourth, but I never really counted The Scorpion King. Weisz had long since been replaced by Maria Bello and the film had already started production before this last round of casting was announced. Already confirmed was Brendan Fraser reprising his role as Rick O'Connell. But the latest additions to the cast include John Hannah -- reprising his role as the bumbling brother in-law Jonathan (the only actor aside from Fraser who's returning), Anthony Wong, and Alex Pettyfer. The cast also includes Jet Li, Michelle Yeoh, and Luke Ford as Fraser's son. The story this time centers on adventure-seeker O'Connell and his son as they unearth the cursed first Emperor of China (Li).

Weisz was not the only one who chose not to return for another go round, as director Stephen Sommers also passed. Instead, Universal hired Fast and The Furious director Rob Cohen. The script was written by Alfred Gough and Miles Millar, two writer-producers from TV's Smallville that have worked on scripts for Spider-Man 2 and Shanghai Knights. The production is currently on location in Montreal, Canada, and will also be shooting in China. Rumors had surfaced that the script for the film was less than stellar and that was what had prompted the departure of Weisz. We will have to see if she made the right decision when the film hits theaters Summer 2008.