With the exception of Live Free or Die Hard, I can't say I'm all that big of a fan of Len Wiseman's work. However, I know that plenty of people still flock to his movies, so who am I to judge? Variety reports that Wiseman has signed to direct the sci-fi action flick, Shell Game.

The story centers on your prototypical gumshoe type who is investigating the black market for something just a little more valuable than pirated DVDs. In this future, for a price, you can buy yourself immortality. Justin Bondi and Andrew Ludington wrote the screenplay, but it has undergone some rewrites. The most recent draft was written by Wiseman and Chris Morgan.

Wiseman says that he considers Shell to be a passion project and told Variety, "I've been wanting to make this film for the past five years, but it's a huge film and has always been too expensive to make at the level I've wanted to make it at, now I'm finally getting a chance to do it at that level." I guess that means we can count on the film having some expensive special effects.

Also, even though he won't be directing it, Wiseman is still planning to produce the third installment of the Underworld franchise. But it looks like most of his attention is going to be placed firmly on Shell Game instead. Judging by the reaction to his last Underworld flick, I'd say it was probably a good call.

It's been over a year since we've talked about the possibility of a third Underworld movie, but leave it to sites like ComingSoon.net to ask the nerdly questions we all want answered. (Although after Underworld: Evolution I'm wondering how strong the demand still is.) While out promoting his new film (Feast of Love), producer Tom Rosenberg was asked about the status of the Underworld series.

As we told you a while back, the third Underflick promises to be A) a prequel and B) sans Kate Beckinsale. Husband / director Len Wiseman is still staying on as a producer (and possibly writer), but it looks like we'll have a new helmer and a lovely new "death dealer" to focus our eyeballs upon. We're promised an official announcement some time soon, but when asked if the next flick could re-invigorate the franchise, Mr. Rosenberg offered this: "It could. It's a prequel. Some people think it could be rebooted. I don't know. I'm not there yet."

And hey, if we can have three Resident Evils, I guess we can have three Underworlds. And just so we're all up to speed: The original Underworld came out in September of 2003, grossed just under $97 million worldwide and racked up a 30% approval rating at Rotten Tomatoes. (Sue me, I dig the first one!) Evolution struck in January of '06, pulled in about $112 million worldwide and scored a whopping 13% at RT. And as is usually the case where slickly-produced studio genre fare is concerned, both flicks sold like hotcakes on DVD.

So perhaps DVD is where the future of this series lies...

There are many directors who I think should be barred from making films, but Courtney Solomon is near the top of the list. He disappointed gamers everywhere with Dungeons & Dragons (some people humorously feel it is worth watching), a movie even he admits is awful, and then tried to redeem himself with the not-much-better An American Haunting. As head of After Dark Films, he has gotten into more than one controversy regarding his advertising practices -- going so far as to be made an example of by the MPAA -- and still hasn't even put out a decent-enough release to make the company worth Lionsgate's trouble. Now the director is looking to annoy us some more by attempting to revolutionize the zombie genre, a plan that he claims is desired by horror fans.

Solomon isn't revealing the title for this proposed movie, which he thankfully won't be directing, but describes it as a "zombie version of Underworld," which sounds bad even if you like Underworld. Worse, though, is his explanation that the zombies in this movie will be fast and emotional, something he says is completely new for the creatures (did he not see the running zombies in the Dawn of the Dead remake or the seemingly conflicted zombies in Land of the Dead?). I'm all for new takes on the genre, but I hope Solomon has more ideas than this. Supposedly the movie will feature a whole new lore for zombies (actually, he calls them part human, part zombie, which is redundant, I think) inspired by conversations had on the web between Solomon's people and real horror geeks, but unless the movie has a good sociological undercurrent -- as the best zombie movies do -- the tweaking of the genre is simply an unnecessary attempt to create something original. But if Solomon truly wants to do something original and to please us movie fans, he needs to make a good movie.

I have to admit, putting the heading of "From the Producers of Underworld" at the top of a movie poster pretty much makes me want to run in the other direction -- I wasn't exactly a big fan of the star-crossed vampire and werewolf franchise. So, I wasn't off to the best start with the release of the one-sheet for Ehren Kruger's werewolf love story Blood and Chocolate. ComingSoon.net has our first look at the poster for Katja von Garnier's romantic thriller. A teen werewolf (Agnes Bruckner) falls for a human (Hugh Dancy) with the usual Romeo and Juliet trajectory I would expect. Although, this is a PG-13 teen movie, so you never know, a happy ending might be in order.

As for the poster itself, there is not much to it except Bruckner is probably one of the prettier werewolves I've seen in awhile. Although, if you take a look at the "spooky" reflection, I couldn't help but notice that Bruckner looks a bit too much like Kate Beckinsale in Underworld. There is no trailer to speak of yet, but the film is set to open this January, so one should be along shortly. The film is aiming for a pretty empty time in the 2007 release schedule, so it should do just fine at the box-office, providing there isn't much competition.

This is good news, especially for those of you who toil away working on film and television production in Los Angeles. According to the L.A. Times and FilmLA, a nonprofit group that handles permits for on-location production in L.A., production is on the rise in my fair city and I couldn't be happier. This increase is a welcome change from what was happening only a few short years ago.

Back then, the local L.A. industry was hit very hard by the triple-threat of impeding strikes by the Screen Actors Guild and the Writers Guild of America, as well as the unfortunate trend for producers to take production out of L.A. and up to Canada or elsewhere. These three factors served to depress further an L.A. economy that was already down and also served to put many of my friends out of work.

Some of the shows that recently shot in L.A. and are helping with the recent boom include Sam Rami's Spider-Man: 3, Michael Bay's Transformers and the unfortunately named Live Free or Die Hard, directed by Underworld helmer Len Wiseman. Plus (yes I know this is not a TV site) there are several TV shows currently shooting in L.A. and contributing to the economic upswing as well -- including the new ABC hit Ugly Betty, The Nine and Jericho, starring Skeet Ulrich of Scream fame.

Now that the trend of sending production to Canada seems to have wained slightly -- mostly due to it being less of a bargain to shoot there than it used to be -- and with no potential strikes looming on the horizon, it seems like things are looking up for the L.A. based film and TV community. Unfortunately, even with this upward trend, production is still down overall from its 1996 peak, so there's still a long way to go.

Kate Beckinsale told MTV she won't be doing another Underworld movie until she's at least 55 (wouldn't that be hot?). For the time being, she's in talks to star in a Cold War spy drama called April 23. She was attracted to the film because -- who knew? -- she majored in Russian in college and she will finally be able to use her skills for a role. She also divulged the basics of the plot, which focuses on, "a Russian spy who comes into America and has to be completely undercover. He has a wife who doesn't know he's a Russian; it's actually a beautiful story. It's a serious drama."

Okay, so where does Beckinsale's bilingual ability come in? Does she play the Russian man? Or does his wife coincidentally speak the language? Maybe she's also a spy and it's simply a serious version of Mr. and Mrs. Smith. Hmm, Beckinsale sure is getting interesting with her choices of parts: A Russian man now, a 55-year-old vampire later (wait, it doesn't make any sense that she'd be older). At least it beats playing boring love interests again and again.

Anyway, if somebody starts filming this movie now, it could be released on April 23, 2007. Sure it's a Monday, but specially marketed release dates are hot for '07.

[via Coming Soon]

I recently had myself a fun little Die Hard marathon and came out the other side realizing that, hey, all three of these movies pretty much rock. OK, sure, the plot of Part 2 borders on moronic, and the third act of Part 3 is a crystalline example of seriously confused filmmaking, but all three flicks have Bruce Willis doing what he does best: Avoiding and dispatching deadly terrorists while doling out Normal Joe quips at a rapid pace. Plus the whole trilogy is rife with great character actors, rousing musical scores, and more high-end action that you can shake a Joel Silver at.

So what are my thoughts regarding the slooooow evolution of a Die Hard 4? Simple: If Harry Ford's not too old to don the Indy fedora one more time, then I say it's OK for John McClane to pull his bloody wife-beater out of mothballs and kill a few new terrorists. Fox apparently agrees with me, and the latest news is that Underworld / Underworld: Evolution director / amazingly lucky Kate Beckinsale toe-curler Len Wiseman has been offered the Die Hard 4 gig.

So while the jury is still out on whether Mr. Wiseman can direct an action scene that involves, y'know, sunlight, I think this might be a move in the right direction. Plus if he can get the missus to play the sexily evil henchwoman of the inevitably British villain, all the better. The Die Hard 4 screenplay, which deals with John McClane aborting his retirement to take down an internet terrorist ring, was written by Mark Bomback (Godsend) and Doug Richardson (Money Train), so there's that to worry about. (To be fair, Richardson co-wrote Die Hard 2, so that bodes well -- if you happen to like Die Hard 2, that is.)

Yes, there is still a new Underworld movie on the way for all you fans out there. Yes, Len Wiseman is still the man developing it. However, popular actress Kate Beckinsale will NOT be joining the cast for a third go-around, despite her husband being the man in charge. Don't worry, though, fans. It isn't that Kate doesn't love you anymore ... it's just her character doesn't exist in the story for the third film. According to Beckinsale the newest movie is a prequel to the previous two, and as such will happen before her character arrives on the scene. Presuming the film gets optioned, it will most likely go forward with no Beckinsale involvement.

Beckinsale also indicated her amusement at the Wonder Woman rumors which have been making rounds on the internet recently. "I get texted from friends all around the world saying, 'That's so awesome! I'm so happy for you. That's so great," Beckinsale said with a laugh. But she has to disappoint her friends and tell them she is not involved in Wonder Woman either. At least, not yet.

No worries, Beckinsale fans! It's not as though she won't be appearing on screen any time soon.  She may have lost out on a role in a crazy vampire/werewolf movie and a role as one of DC's most prominent super heroines -- but hey, she's still got a co-starring role with Adam Sandler in the upcoming Click! Um. Yeah. You're right, that's really not a positive either.

The marketing department behind the hotly-anticipated (at least, by Martha) vampire sequel Underworld: Revolution have apparently nixed plans to produce action figures based on the film's characters. This news comes as a pleasant surprise to star Kate Beckinsale, who was reportedly unhappy with the dolls produced in conjuction with the first film. "I looked," she says, "Like someone having a sex-change op." You'd think Kate might have enough pull with the powers-that-be to fix the doll to her liking – after all, she is married to Underworld director Len Wiseman. Why should Scott Speedman have to give up the chance to be immortalized in plastic in order to better serve Princess Kate's gender insecurities?

In totally unrelated news, there's another Beckinsale interview going around where the actress suggests that privacy-sensitive Hollywood stars should start wearing burqas to hide from paparazzi and prying fans. "Actually, I'm surprised there aren't more celebrities in burkas. You wouldn't have to work out. You could let yourself go. We should design a non-religious celebrity burka with a floral print," she apparently told GQ. "Times like this, it would be so handy to be a Saudi!" Later in the interview, she nixes the idea, based on the fact that it's seemingly impossible to "smoke a fag in a burka". Yes, yes. Those Arabs know absolutely nothing about functional design. We'll turn this tool of female oppression into a kicky contemporary seperate yet. Let's get Tom Ford right on it.