Klingons, Super Models & Conan, Oh My!

By: Jarrod Sarafin, News Editor
Date: Friday, February 08, 2008

Welcome to our first edition of the Top Maniacal Rumors of the Week. This new weekly round-up, which we’ll publish every Friday, will leave the world of verified facts and enter a realm of unsubstantiated rumors. Basically, it’s a place where you can grab your morning coffee, comb your hair (if you have any), and read all the crazy shit that’s been floating around the Internet the past week.

Rumors will range from "Whoa, that's out there" to "Okay, I believe that,” and will often reflect the theories you sometimes see on various entertainment sites and forums. We’ll also strive to occasionally provide insider info, culled from our own tireless investigative research (i.e. phone calls to studio reps).

As you can probably guess, we’ll skip the nuttiest rumors with the least amount of Mania credibility. Case in point…If Harry Knowles were to write something like “Hey! Hey! Hey! I have it under good word from my reliable lucky leprechauns that Brett Ratner is indeed directing the next Hobbit films instead of Guillermo Del Toro,” I probably wouldn’t bother covering it. Bypassing the reliability of leprechauns, we already know AICN’s fascination with plugging Ratner into any high profile project like the Escape From New York remake and The Wolfman.

Our new weekly round-up of crazy and zany rumors is just the place to discuss such things. From crazy (a friend of a friend of a cousin of a friend) to credible (the director himself), all will be covered here.

With that said, let’s begin!


1. Rob Zombie is Directing the new Conan?

This is by far the wildest movie rumor to hit the net this past week. Late Thursday, Bloody Disgusting said they received 100% confirmation that director Rob Zombie has been meeting with Lionsgate and Nu Image to discuss directing the Conan remakes.

Here’s what Mr. B-D had to say:

Are you guys ready for this?! This afternoon we have confirmed 100% that Rob Zombie has been taking meetings with Lionsgate and Nu Image to get behind the director's chair for their upcoming Conan film! In my humble opinion I think this is fantastic news as I'd love to see Zombie depart from direct horror for a bit and show us what he can do outside of the genre. The first film, which starred Arnold Schwarzenegger, really could use a companion piece and I think adding a darker element to the mix could be pretty awesome. We'll let you know if anything becomes signed, but your feedback could help make this happen.

It may be true that Zombie’s taking meetings for the film, but I just don’t see this kind of thing panning out. Just last month, there were rumors of Zombie taking on a possible C.H.U.D remake, and like nearly everything else in Movie Rumor Control, it was debunked.

But keep your ears to the ground, Maniacs. If this rumor comes to fruition, coming soon to a theatre near you Conan will be dropping more F-bombs than a drunken sailor.


2. Abrams’ Star Trek to Include Klingons?

We know there’s going to be Romulans and Vulcans (obviously) in the upcoming ST film but here’s something about Klingons: On Feb. 1, actor Anton Yelchin, who will play the new Pavel Chekov, may have let something slip while talking about the production to Rotten Tomatoes. Here’s what he said in the interview…

"Chekov is just on the Enterprise. A lot of it is green screen. I mean, the Enterprise itself, J.J.'s trying to shoot as much of it as he can with out green screen, but I think a lot of space is obviously green screen -- what I'm looking at while seeing the Klingon warships."

Apparently, there may be yet another foe for the crew of the Enterprise but the question is the context of said warships. It could be that Yelchin was filming the now-famous Kobayashi Maru scene with James T. Kirk, the location of which was the Klingon Neutral Zone. So those warships would be present but would merely be a simulation. Or perhaps it’s an actual battle where the Klingons show up.

Either way I'm more curious about which version of Klingon we'll be seeing in the next film…

This version?

 
Or this version?

3. G.I Joe Finds a “Cover Girl?”

Thanks to the Sanchez clan over at IESB, we have yet another casting update on the upcoming G.I Joe movie, and that choice is easy on the eyes. European Victoria Secret model Karolina Kurkova is slated to appear in the upcoming Hasbro/Paramount adaptation as the character Courtney A. Kreiger aka “Cover Girl”.

I’d file this under the “totally legit” category, due to the fact that IESB definitely has a source close to the production. IESB also revealed castings such as Arnold Vosloo (The Mummy) playing Cobra-mercenary Zartan, which was later confirmed. The casting itself seems to fit because, like Karolina, the character “Cover Girl” is, as fans of the old Marvel comic remember, also easy on the eyes.

If true, she would join these previously confirmed actors-roles: Vosloo (Zartan), Dennis Quaid (Hawk), Channing Tatum (Duke), fellow hotties Sienna Miller (The Baroness) and Rachel Nichols (Scarlett), Ray Park (Snake Eyes), Adewale Akinnuoye-Agbaje (Heavy Duty), Marlon Wayans (Ripcord), Joseph Gordon-Levitt (Rex) and Byung-hun Lee (Storm Shadow).

4. Wolverine Prequel: Jackman Sporting the Full Costume?

Apparently, for director Gavin Hood’s X-Men Origins: Wolverine production is underway deep in the heart of a New Zealand forest. In fact, the location is the same as the one used for Fangorn Forest in the Lord of the Rings trilogy, which is how we got the rumor in the first place.

A few bystanders were enjoying a LOTR-based bus tour through the forests when they unsuspectingly ran into a set for the upcoming prequel in progress. Here’s what the blogger TravelMarla had to say about it…

Saw Hugh Jackman running thru the woods today in full Wolverine costume. Apparently he is shooting a movie of the same name as the x-men character. New Zealand is doubling as Canada. I went on a tour of the National Park where Lord of the Rings was filmed. Many films are made there. Wolverine is just the latest one. So that was the highlight of the day... We were in a van it was much like being at a theme park seeing him. He was outside the window. It was like seeing a lion at the San Diego Zoo. Although Hugh Jackman is much better looking. But I digress.

Vague, yet intriguing. The key here are the words ”full Wolverine costume.” Could we be talking about the Yellow and Blue digs of comic book fame or the scaled down Navy Blues of the X-Men movie trilogy? The news of a costume alone is strange since this tale is supposed to be about Logan’s origin. There have been rumors that the events of the movie will cover everything up to the exact moments before the first X-Men movie. Perhaps, latest rumor confirms that.

That is, if it’s true.

5. Nightmare on Elm Street: Robert Englund is back, or not, or maybe

It’s been a pretty wild week for the Nightmare on Elm Street fanbase, which has been waiting so patiently for a sequel to Wes Craven’s New Nightmare that even a Freddy vs. Jason 2 would be welcomed. As of late last week, it looked like they were getting neither, according to a press release from Variety. The trade announced a revisionist origin tale from New Line and production company Platinum Dunes, the same boys who recreated the Texas Chainsaw Massacre series in 2003 and plan to restart the Friday the 13th series in 2009. But it didn’t take long for confusion to enter the fray.

For one, the statement said “complete overhaul” to Freddy’s tale/origin. Does this mean that Robert Englund’s days of wearing the bloody razor glove have come to an end?

Apparently so. But fans want a confirmation.

On Tuesday, Ryan Rotten heard from a fly on the wall inside New Line’s offices and passed along word that Englund wasn’t getting invited back as Freddy in this update on the classic horror series. So case closed, right?

Nope. As with anything else inside Movie Rumor Control, speculation is just that. Everyone’s sources are split on this one. Just a day after sites were reporting what Ryan’s sources leaked, Bloody Disgusting reported the exact opposite. Per BD, “not only is it too early to tell (no writers attached yet), but it is still quite possible that Englund could return in some way shape or form – creative meetings haven't even begun as of yet.”

The bottom line? We have a long way to go before finding out if Englund is back or if he’s getting put out to pasture.

Stay tuned, Maniacs!

And that does it for this first installment of the Top Maniacal Rumors of the Week. If you come across any juicy (and downright crazy) rumors upon your travels across this online universe, feel free to email me those juicy scoops at jarrod@mania.com. Title your email “Top Maniac Rumor Scoop”, give your username and the juicy rumor and you may just find yourself credited inside future articles.