I’m not really into these films, but for those that are, here is the latest trailer for SAW IV. Scheduled for a 10/26/07 release, the latest installment is helmed by young director Darren Lynn Bousman who also directed Saw II and Saw III. All together, the first three Saw films only cost $15 million to produce. Worldwide, the Saw franchise has pulled in over $400 million in box office receipts. With returns like that for distributor Lions Gate, who knows when we’ll see the last Saw film.

On 9/7/07, Lionsgate is releasing 3:10 To Yuma starring Russell Crowe and Christian Bale. Directed by Cathy Konrad and James Mangold, the same team who directed Walk The Line, 3:10 To Yuma is a screen adaptation of Elmore Leonard’s take on the classic western from his 1953 short story of the same name. In 1957 Delmer Daves directed Glenn Ford in the first adaptation to critical and commerical success. 3:10 follows the capture of Ben Wade (Crowe), a notorious railroad robber, and the journey on horseback to catch the 3:10 train to Yuma where he’ll face justice. Bale plays Dan Evans, a Civil War vet who owes money on his ranch and decides to take the offer to make some quick money by escorting Wade on the dangerous mission. Along the way tension builds as Wades men track the group in an attempt to free Wade. Also starring with Crowe and Bale are Peter Fonda and Ben Foster.

Early reviews from those who have seen the film are very positive, and as a western fan I’m excited to see the return of an old school eastwood-esque movie to screens. It’s been several years since Open Range, directed by Kevin Costner, and Hollywood has been tepid towards westerns over concern about the genre’s draw. 3:10 may prove to be a benchmark that will affect how many westerns are greenlighted in the coming years. If you’re a western fan like me, make sure you support 3:10 To Yuma and let studios know that this genre is far from dead.

Check out the 3:10 To Yuma trailer at the official site.

We’ve got an image from Entertainment Weekly of Christian Bale in the newly redesigned Batman suit from ‘The Dark Knight’. Coming to theaters on July 18 of next year, the biggest feature of the new suit is the cowling which, for the first time, is a separate piece from the main suit. According to designer Lindy Hemming, previous suits were constructed with the head and body connected in one single mold. Unlike other actors who have worn the cape crusader costume, Christian has full movement of his head and can now look from side to side and nod up and down. Directed by Christopher Nolan, ‘The Dark Knight’ follows Batman and Lt. James Gordon (Gary Oldman) as they try to stop a psychopathic killer only known as ‘The Joker’ (Heath Ledger).

Scheduled to hit screens in December 2007, Warner Bros. is releasing ‘I Am Legend’, directed by Francis Lawrence and starring Will Smith. Sounding very much like ‘28 Days Later’, Smith stars as ‘Neville’, the last uninfected human being alive in a near–future New York City after the world is attacked by a plague that transforms humans into vampires. I don’t blame you if you’re not excited by that short synopsis, but the movie is based on a novella by the same name published in 1954 by science fiction writer Richard Matheson. This is the third treatment of Matheson’s book, first filmed as ‘The Last Man on Earth’ in 1964 with Vincent Price, and then a second time in 1971 as ‘The Omega Man’, starring Charlton Heston. Helming this latest adaptation, Francis Lawrence is probably most known for directing the Keanu Reeves vehicle ‘Constantine’ in 2005. Warner Bros. just released a trailer for the film in quicktime/HD format. Though its only two minutes long, the special effects of a deserted, run down New York look particularly realistic. This genre’s old hat for Smith who’s starred in several sci-fi and apocalyptic thrillers like ‘Independence Day’, ‘Men in Black’, and ‘I, Robot’. We’ve all been fooled by trailers before, but this did it’s job of getting my attention. Check out the trailer for ‘I Am Legend’ here.

In an interview with ‘Home Media Magazine’, Todd McFarlane, co-founder of Image Comics and creator of ‘Spawn’, revealed that he’s hard at work on a new ‘Spawn’ movie. If you were unfortunate enough to have seen the 1997 adaptation with Michael Jai White then you’ll no doubt welcome this news. The dark, edginess of ‘Spawn’, which really ushered in a whole new period of realism and grittiness in the world of comics, seems tailor made for film. Yet the first movie was abysmal by any standards – poor casting, poor directing, poor script, and horrible, disjointed special effects. Fans everywhere would love to see McFarlane get a ‘re-do’ on this one. I do have one qualm though. I don’t fear a repeat of the horrendous production quality seen in the first film, but I do hope McFarlane is open to a co-writer to help the script’s pacing and plot. McFarlane’s artwork is brilliant, but as a writer he’s often sub-par. Since he’s financing this ‘Spawn’ redux himself it’s unlikely he’ll take much guidance from others.

Fan’s of ‘Spawn’ will also be interested to know that HBO plans to release a 10th anniversary DVD box set of ‘Todd McFarlane’s Spawn’. The set includes all 18 episodes of the three season animated show that ran between 1997 and 1999. As well as the show, the four DVD’s feature storyboards, commentaries, and interviews. The box set goes on sale July 24.

Among the general film-going public, the response to Jet Li is either luke-warm or “Jet who?”. But among martial art fans, he’s universally worshiped – almost to Bruce Lee standards. Even though I haven’t always agreed with his movie choices, I count myself among the fans who think Li is among the top action stars of all time. Like Bruce, Jet is the real deal. He’s a bona fide martial arts champion. Even his stoic acting lends itself to the on-screen mystic that permeates his film work. Li’s next project is ‘War’ for Lions Gate scheduled for release this September. The film stars Li and Jason Statham of ‘Transporter’ fame as an FBI Agent (Statham) on the hunt for his partner’s killer (Li). The action takes place while a crime war between rival Asian gangs rages in the streets. The plot seems pretty standard fare but the teaming of Li and Statham could be a good match. To get a better feel for the film check out the ‘War’ official site.

On a barely related note, Lions Gate is also behind Eli Roth’s ‘Hostel: Part II’ which is scheduled for a June 8^th release. Eli Roth is apparently pushing the gore-o-meter to the limit in this film and some aren’t taking it lightly. Nikki Finke, who writes the brilliant ‘Deadline Hollywood’ blog, posted a highly critical article about Roth and the ‘torture porn’ genre of horror films coming out of Hollywood. These films aren’t my thing and I don’t give them much thought, however reading Finke’s post and Roths own words didn’t leave me with a good taste in my mouth. Is the success of these films a reflection of some post-modern apathy that’s rampant in our culture – or are critics just taking these films too seriously? Read Finke’s post about Eli Roth.

I’ve been excitedly waiting for 2005’s ‘Sin City’ sequel. The first Robert Rodriguez film that I really liked and the best Frank Miller screen adaptation to date, ‘Sin City’ blew me away with it’s brilliant mixture of noir-ish black and white cinematophy, CGI backdrops, and great performances from Mickey Rourke and Clive Owen. After seeing ‘Planet Terror’, the better of the two ‘Grindhouse’ films, I become a confirmed Rodriguez fan. I can’t wait to see Rodriguez and Miller team up again for ‘Sin City 2’. However some disappointing news is making the rounds on the net. Origninally scheduled for a 2008 release, the sequel is now looking questionable. Doubts first cropped up when Michael Madsen said in an interview that he hadn’t seen a script and principle photography, scheduled to begin this June, wasn’t going to happen. Some feared the film was canceled but Frank Miller has said ‘Sin City 2’ is still on track for production, just not right now. Both Miller and Rodriguez have moved on to different projects – Miller is working on ‘The Spirit’ and Rodriguez is remaking ‘Barbarella’. No word yet on exactly why both director’s have postponed production of ‘Sin City 2’. Even though Miller seems optimistic the movie will still see the light of day, if history is any indicator, it would be unlikely Miller and Rodriguez’s schedules will line up again for both to shoot the film together. If it’s made, I would expect either Miller to work with a different director or Rodriguez to shoot the film without Millers active input. Either way, don’t expect to see ‘Sin City 2’ in theaters for a couple of years – at least.

The third installment of the animation juggernaut ‘Shrek’ pulled in an amazing $122 million this past weekend. That far out paces past animated flicks and puts the film third on the all time list behind ‘Spiderman 3’ and last summers ‘Pirates of the Caribbean 2’. What makes ‘Shrek The Third’ different than ‘Spiderman 3’ and ‘Pirates’ is that reviews so far have panned the movie. Also unlike the other three-quels showing this summer, the first two Shrek films were well regarded by fans and critics alike. But with a built-in family audience, ‘Shrek’ is proving cirtic-proof.

Hollywood is having one heck of a summer. Coming this Memorial day weekend, ‘Pirates of the Caribbean 3: Dead Man’s Chest’ is projected to have a $180 million opening. One thing to watch for during this craptacular release is whether the nearly 3 hour running time hurts ‘Pirates’ box office take – especially after the initial rush of die hard fans. The failure of ‘Grindhouse’ is popularly blamed on it’s 3 hour plus edit. Hasn’t Hollywood learned yet that Americans can’t sit still for longer than 90 minutes? With the outstanding success of these films – all of which are mediocre at best – we can expect more of the same from studios. God help us all.