De Niro "ThisClose" To Joining Mel Gibson in 'Edge of Darkness'

This would have been huge casting news in the mid-1990s, but now that their careers have cooled, there's not as much sizzle when you read that Robert De Niro and Mel Gibson will star opposite another in a cop movie. However, this isn't just some cop movie - which is the kind of aroma given off by De Niro's upcoming duet with Al Pacino in Righteous Kill - this is Martin Campbell's remake of the 1985 BBC miniseries Edge of Darkness. OK...granted, that might have zero relevance to you. But know this: Campbell (Casino Royale) also directed the original series and the new film version sports a screenplay by William Monahan (The Departed). That ought to raise your eyebrows a little. The Boston Herald says that while De Niro's casting is not confirmed, he's "thisclose to signing on." Monahan knows Boston cops, or at least his Departed script sure felt like he did, and Gibson will play one in the film. He's investigating the murder of his daughter (Bojana Novakovic), and should he ink a deal to co-star, De Niro may play a CIA agent. What the hell does a CIA agent have to do with a cop trying to uncover the truth about his dead daughter? Well, I don't know how much of this the new film will delve into because the Cold War is over, but in the original, the cop found a bunch of government cover-ups (or is it covers-up?), and even stumbled on to some nuclear espionage. Again, the political climate has changed over 20 years, so they may reposition what's being covered up, but the nuts and bolts of it will still probably be similar. Then again, having the cop find out his daughter's body was radioactive and trying to figure out why is a great plot device. I'd hate to throw that one out if I'm William Monahan. So let's take inventory: One of the BBC's best original dramas using the same director, an Oscar-winning writer, and two stalwart actors that ought to be determined to give their best. Suddenly, this one just moved up a few rungs for me.

New 'Twilight' Character Posters See the Light of Day

The kids are going to go crizzazy over Twilight this December. Now, whether or not that will translate to a lot of business among people over 25 is hard to say. The books by Stephanie Meyer hasn't been absorbed through cultural osmosis the way Harry Potter has, so its mainstream appeal is hard to quantify right now. It will pick up plenty of curiosity business if it's good, but you can definitely could on the teenage and young adult crowds flocking to this at the end of the year. But it went over pretty well at Comic Con, and because there's nothing like it under the sun (or since these are vampires, under the moon) all year. It'll be like the prom for kids who don't go to the prom. We've got a couple new posters for you of Bella and Edward, which we found on a Russian website. These appear to be digital photos of the posters seen at Comic Con, so when we get better versions, we'll share those with you.

Twilight will make its way into theaters on December 12th.

Trailer for 'The Host 2' Emerges from the Deep

South Korea's The Host was one of the best movies of 2007, a real turning point in monster movies. It's got more going for it than Cloverfield, in my opinion, even though it didn't get the hype and it doesn't use the hand-held camera technique. Now there's a sequel on the way, and that could be a good thing or a bad thing, I suppose. I've found that especially with a movie that has no inroads for you, like a director you really admire or stars you grew up with, they can become these terrific discoveries and they can lose some of their luster if you start seeing t-shirts for it everywhere or they do a big budget remake. Sequels can fall in that category. On the other hand, if the first one was so good, there's a natural tendency to believe that returning to that story armed with a little more cash and a little more confidence should make a worthwhile follow-up. It doesn't always happen that way. But I'm holding out hope for The Host 2, even though director Joon-ho Bong is not back behind the camera. Here's the 30-second teaser, courtesy of Ropes of Silicon. Expect to see The Host 2 in theaters next year, and if you haven't checked out the first film, do yourself a favor and rent it this weekend.

More Batman Rumors: Depp as The Riddler, Hoffman as The Penguin

I think we're going to see a few more of these rumors over the next few months, but could you imagine if all of them are real? First it was Angelina Jolie for Catwoman and now London's Daily Telegraph says Warner Bros. is eyeing Johnny Depp for The Riddler and Philip Seymour Hoffman for The Penguin as key villains in the next Batman movie. A source tells the paper, "Producers are convinced that the role of The Riddler is perfect for Depp. Johnny's a pro. He'll be able to take direction and still make the character his own. And what better Penguin is there than Philip Seymour Hoffman?" I've got some issues with all this, even though speculation of this nature is certainly natural with a franchise with this high a profile. Since Warner Bros. is apparently painting bulls-eyes on people's back for Batman villains, if these rumors are to be believed, you have to wonder where that leaves the development of the next story for Christopher Nolan. Shouldn't the guy with the vision for the franchise be involved? Because these rumors are louder than Batman Begins and Dark Knight co-writer David Goyer has to say on the subject.   "Batman has been published for 70 years. In the first movie, we used Ra’s Al Ghul and the Scarecrow, who had not been in the movies before, and had not been in the ’60s TV show before," Goyer told Digital Spy. “There are dozens if not hundreds of other characters that fit that bill. Everyone says it’s got to be the Penguin or Catwoman [in the next film]… well I completely disagree.” Goyer makes a lot of sense, but the trouble is The Dark Knight has become so massive that Warner Bros. might be looking at loading the next film with stars and familiar villains to guarantee a better box office that can compare with the record-setting one this summer. But with Catwoman, The Riddler, and The Penguin, that movie would be incredibly busy and overpopulated by villains. Seriously, hasn't anyone seen Spider-Man 3? Too many villains = bad movie. Although I buy Hoffman for The Penguin (I also like Paul Giamatti for the role, hypothetically), Depp seems less likely in my mind. It's not that he wouldn't or couldn't do it, but if Nolan had to acquiesce and give the studio the villains it wants at any cost, he may want to go a different direction in the casting out of principle. Also, let's not forget that Nolan hasn't exactly picked actors everyone would think are "perfect" for these roles. In fact, the series is kind of marked by that characteristic. For the record, I hope none of it is true. I hope there's no Angelina, no Depp, no Catwoman, Riddler, or Joker. There are plenty of amazing dark alleys for this series to go down and I see no reason why it should revisit places it's been before.

'Prince of Persia' Won't Start His Reign Until May 2010

So what does this mean, exactly? The Hollywood Reporter tells us that Disney has pushed back the release date for the video game adaptation Prince of Persia: The Sands of Time, but not just by a week or two. Originally, the film was supposed to hit theaters on June 19th next year but now it's been tabled until May 28, 2010.

A whole year? Did they lose every copy of the script? I mean, they just started filming it and during production they're realizing this movie that's been in the works for roughly half a decade needs to marinate another 11 months? Jake Gyllenhaal will play the title character, a Prince who...uh...has to save the day; that's the short version. The movie will also star newly-minted Bond babe Gemma Arterton, Ben Kingsley, and Alfred Molina. This is a Jerry Bruckheimer movie, and the Bruck usually doesn't move for anybody. So unless they screwed up production so royally that it would be months behind schedule (after only a few weeks on the set), this is purely a business move.

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