rza Tagged Articles at Cinematical

The only thing, and I mean the only thing that is keeping me from completely disowning the remake of The Last Dragon is that RZA (the driving force behind the flick) seems to have a real love for the project. MTV recently spoke with the rapper and he told them that he's currently trying to get pop star Rihanna to star in the role originally made famous by Prince protege, Vanity. RZA tells MTV, "That's the one I'm rooting for, we're keeping that same concept of the girl being in the music business."

The original film centered on a young martial arts lover by the name of Leroy who falls in love with a music TV host (played by Vanity), while battling a local bad-ass by the name of Sho'nuff, and searching for the mystical 'Glow' (a mystical energy that can make you the greatest fighter alive.) But just because RZA has a soft spot for the original flick doesn't mean that he doesn't have some changes in mind. The actor/rapper told MTV, "One thing I don't think the old movie captured - because they couldn't capture it, [there] wasn't a lot of CGI - was I think some of the action sequences could've been cooler. But this one, we're not lacking that. You will definitely have some crazy action sequences."

We've been telling you all year about the long, complicated history of American Gangster, a movie that, finally, is being brought to fruition by none other than Ridley Scott. Starring A-listers Denzel Washington and Russell Crowe, the film -- a 1970s crime drama about heroin smugged in the coffins of American soldiers returning from Viet Nam -- is currently shooting in New York. Based on nonexistent press reports about the movie's cast, you would be forgiven for thinking the set consisted entirely of Scott, a ton of cameras and PAs, and the very lonely Denzel and Russell. Today, though, Universal has finally told the trades about the supporting actors in the thing, and there are a ton of them.

According to this morning's Variety, Ted Levine ("Put the f*cking lotion in the basket!"), Chiwetel Ejiofor, Common, T.I. and RZA are all on board in various supporting roles. That's a couple of good actors and a whole lot of rappers right there, huh? Call me a sucker, but based on ATL, I am more than willing to buy T.I. as an actor. RZA (who composes incredible soundtracks) and Common, though, I've never seen on screen. Anyone?