Bruno was set to be released very shortly after Michael Jackson died on June 25. The problem was that Bruno featured a scene where La Toya Jackson was interviewed and Jacko’s phone number was stolen by the camp TV presenter.

This, rather inevitably, led to the scene being cut from the theatrical release of the movie. Not at the behest of the Jackson family but because Sacha Baron Cohen and the studio realized including the scene would be considered bad taste.

However, as expected, the scene has now been reinstated for the DVD release of the movie. Digital Spy reports that the last-minute edit from the film has been reversed for the DVD release, with the 90-second scene reinstated in its entirety.

I don’t see anything wrong with this as enough time has now passed since Michael Jackson’s passing that this scene is unlikely to cause offense to anyone. At least anyone who isn’t already offended by the nature of the film in the first place.

A year ago, a film version of Yogi Bear was announced. The film is set to be a mixture of CGI and live-action in the same style as Garfield and Alvin and The Chipmunks. Except it will hopefully be better than either of those two movie adaptations.

According to Variety, the cast is beginning to come together. Dan Aykroyd is being prepped to play the title character of Yogi Bear, with Justin Timberlake in talks to play his sidekick Boo-Boo. Anna Faris from The House Bunny is set to play a documentary filmmaker.

Yogi is the first of a number of Hanna-Barbera cartoons to be adapted for the big screen by Warner Bros. The others on their way to being made in the not-too-distant future are Scooby-Doo 4, Jonny Quest, and Hong Kong Phooey.

Eric Brevig is set to direct Yogi from a script written by Brad Copeland. Shooting is set to begin in New Zealand before Christmas. Casting sounds promising but knowing how the other cartoon-to-movie adaptations have turned out this is one I’ll wait to see before making judgment.

After winning the Oscar last year for “Slumdog Millionaire,” Danny Boyle can direct whatever he wants. Even a practically solo-actor movie about a one-armed mountain climber.

Variety reports that Danny Boyle has made a deal with Fox Searchlight to make “127 Hours,” the true-life story of mountaineer Aaron Ralston’s ordeal.

In 2003, while climbing a mountain in Utah, Ralston’s right forearm got pinned underneath a boulder. Ralston finally used a dull knife to amputate his arm, then climbed “a 65-foot sheer wall,” and hiked through the mountains until he finally found a family to help him. He was eventually airlifted out by helicopter.

Boyle wrote a treatment of the story and his “Slumdog Millionaire” collaborator, Simon Beaufoy is working on the script. They’re hoping to begin shooting sometime next year, with a late 2010 release in mind.

As I read Variety’s synopsis of the Ralston story, I immediately thought of “Castaway,” as this is obviously a film where an actor is going to be alone most of the time, carrying the story. Variety also thought of that and said that there have been rumors that Ryan Gosling is up for the part, but everyone involved apparently says there is no casting news. Gosling, however, would be a great choice. This is a rumor that you hope comes true.  

Peter Jackson and Guillermo del Toro: Getting in the Hobbit. Ha ha. 

The always shy and retiring Guillermo del Toro talked to TotalFilm about his plans for “The Hobbit” movies. It’s a pretty long interview, and while it’s frustrating that he constantly has to back off specifics as they would be “spoilers,” it still is a must-read for anyone who’s following the progress of the films. Some of the most interesting parts is where del Toro talks about how he is trying to put his own stamp on the creatures that populate the film, but also make sure that they relate to the aesthetic we saw in Peter Jackson’s own “Lord of the Rings” films. Here’s a quote:

The way I phrased it to Weta, I said we would keep the DNA in the same gene pool as the Rings trilogy, but that we would generate a different type of character. For example, in the trilogy most of the creatures are brutish or inarticulate.

In The Hobbit, the creatures speak: Smaug has beautiful lines of dialogue; the Great Goblin has beautiful lines of dialogue; many creatures do. So we had to design them with a different approach because you are not just designing things that are scary.

I also wanted some of the monsters in The Hobbit to be majestic.

I wanted the Wargs to have a certain beauty so that you don’t have a massively clear definition: what is beautiful is good and what is ugly is not. Some of the monsters are absolutely gorgeous.

Well, we love gorgeous monsters! Make sure you go to TotalFilm to read the whole interview.

I loved the first Transformers movie. In fact, I absolutely adored it and still watch it regularly on DVD. Then I went to see Transformers 2 and knew from about halfway in that I hated it. And I don’t ever want to see it again.

The big difference between the first and second Transformers movies was the amount of action. In the first, there was a storyline, a plot, characterization, and some kick-ass action to go with it. Whereas the second eschewed all the good things and concentrated purely on the action.

Michael Bay isn’t the biggest fan of criticism, usually either ignoring it or facing it head-on. But it seems he has at least taken it on board when it comes to Transformers: Revenge Of The Fallen. According to Digital Spy, he speaks about Transformers 3 in the ‘All Spark Experiment’ feature on the DVD, saying:

“It can’t get bigger, we have to figure out to go sideways and I’m wondering where to start. What I’m doing is having Hasbro send me tons of lore and stuff like that, things that we can draw from, and I just got to let it simmer. Definitely more has to be made of Bumblebee in the third one, that’s a relationship you want to explore more. And I think we’re definitely going to get more into the robot characters.”

“The third one definitely doesn’t have to be as big, we could go darker. It definitely has to be more emotional, it’s not going to be just about action, action, action. And that’s where I think T3 might potentially go, where things are more undercover and not as exposed.”

I’m pleased to hear this because I was afraid that Bay would continue his effort to sap the series of all life in favor of more action and more CGI effects. Whether “sideways” is going to be enough to please I and the millions of other people disappointed by Transformers 2 remains to be seen. But Transformers 3 will likely to be a huge hit regardless of how it turns out.

Ghost Rider was a strange film. Not a wonderful strange film but a strange film in the sense that it was stuck somewhere in the middle. It was by no means terrible but it also wasn’t good enough to become the new Spider-Man or Batman series.

Regardless of this, or maybe because of it, Ghost Rider 2 was announced a few months ago, complete with Nicolas Cage taking on the title role for a second time. He could certainly do with the money if the rumors of him being broke are to be believed.

The nature of Ghost Rider 2 was unclear. Would it be a direct sequel? Or would it be a reboot and obvious attempt at positioning the series for more mainstream success? Although the rating aim is being toned down from an R to a PG-13, that doesn’t necessarily mean it’s going back to the beginning.

David Goyer explained to MTV Splash Page how Ghost Rider 2 will work:

“It’s not exactly a reboot. I hate to say it’s more realistic, because he’s got a flaming skull for a head, but it’s a bit more stripped down and darker. It’s definitely changing tone. What ‘Casino Royale’ was to the Bond movies, hopefully this will be to ‘Ghost Rider.’”

“This story picks up eight years after the first film. You don’t have to have seen the first film. It doesn’t contradict anything that happened in the first film, but we’re pretending that our audience hasn’t seen the first film. It’s as if you took that same character where things ended in the first film and then picked it up eight years later—he’s just in a much darker, existential place.”

“My script is out there on the Internet. We’re not changing much from it. It’ll be significantly the same script.”

So, not only is it a sequel rather than a reboot, you won’t have had to see the original movie to enjoy the sequel. Plus, the script is already out there on the Web for those interested and determined enough to locate it.

Man of the hour Zach Galifianakis. 

Some people may think of 2009 as the year of the ox on the Chinese calendar. Or they may think of it as the centennial of the birth of Abraham Lincoln and Edgar Allan Poe. Or they may think of it as the Year of Zach Galifianakis.

Galifianakis had been kicking around for a while, but it was his role in this summer’s surprise, bargain-priced hit “The Hangover” that maded him one of Hollywood’s Most Wanted. Today The Hollywood Reporter says that Galifianakis is in talks to join Shrek spin-off “Puss in Boots” as the voice of Humpty Dumpty.

The Puss in Boots character, voiced by Antonio Banderas, will appear in this summer’s “Shrek Forever After.” “Puss,” set to open on November 4, 2011, is actually a prequel that will detail the events that lead up to Puss’s arrival on the Shrek scene. Chris Miller is directing; Salma Hayek is also in the cast.

Here’s what Galifianakis has booked since ”The Hangover” opened:  the Jay Roach-directed  comedy “Dinner for Schmucks”; Todd Phillips comedy ”Due Date,” opposite Robert Downey Jr.; and the Ryan Fleck-Anna Boden-directed drama “It’s Kind of a Funny Story” from Focus Features. Oh, there’s also a sequel to “The Hangover,” planned for summer 2011. And then there’s “Bored to Death,” Galifianakis’s HBO series. That just got renewed for a second season.

If you’re lucky in Hollywood, you have that moment where after years of struggling and just getting by, of no one noticing what you do, you land that one role that makes everyone sit up and take notice. Then suddenly you’re the flavor of the minute, and boy, you better make sure you’re make the most of it, because you probably won’t get a second chance. Galifianakis seems to be doing a good job of making sure his moment doesn’t pass him by.
 

Johnny Depp looks ready for some international intrigue here.

Variety reports that Johnny Depp is in talks to join the cast of “The Tourist.” Angelina Jolie is set to star.

This is a movie where you need a scorecard to keep track of all the comings and goings. Here’s the rundown:

Once upon a time there was a French thriller called “Anthony Zimmer.” An English language remake was planned.

Tom Cruise was set to star in the remake, now called “The Tourist.” In it Cruise would play an Interpol agent who draws an American tourist into a web of intrigue while attempting to locate a criminal who was once her lover. Bharat Nalluri was set to direct. Charlize Theron was thinking of joining the cast.

Cruise dropped out to make “Wichita,” now called “Knight and Day,” with Cameron Diaz.

Angelina Jolie was interested, though, so the script was rejiggered to be about a female interpol agent who drags an American tourist into her troubles while searching for a criminal/ex-lover. That bumped Theron out of the picture; Nalluri also got kicked to the curb. Then Sam Worthington was supposed to co-star, and just a week or two ago, Florian von Donnersmarck was announced as a new director.

Now Worthington and von Donnersmarck have left the project, citing “creative differences.”

Which leads us to today’s revision, the news about Depp’s interest. On the director front, top of the list names are surfacing, for example Alfonso Cuaron.

The pairing of Depp and Jolie would seem like box office gold, but more importantly, I think Depp would be a good foil for Jolie. The interesting thing about Depp signing on is that it must mean that “Pirates of the Caribbean 4″ and “The Lone Ranger,” projects Depp has planned at Disney, must be a long way away from happening.

“The Tourist” is supposed to start filming in February. We’ll see. Stay tuned for more changes to this one.

The red and green people battle over world domination!

ComingSoon says that Sony Pictures has acquired the film rights to the board game Risk. Toymaker Hasbro’s Brian Goldner and Bennett Schneir and Overbrook Entertainment’s James Lassiter will develop and produce the film. Of course there isn’t any director or stars attached yet.

Risk is the game of world domination. It was created in 1957 by French filmmaker Albert Lamorisse and introduced in the US in 1959. It quickly became one of the best-selling board games in the world.

ComingSoon says that Risk was the first board game to offer nonlinear movement. Boardgamecentral calls it “the game of world domination” (which is also how Kramer and Newman describe it in the “Seinfeld” episode where they become obsessed with the game):

“…where the object is to conquer the world. To win, you must attack and defend – attacking to acquire territory, and defending to keep it from your opponents.

The game board features a map of six continents divided into 42 territories. It’s a game of strategy as you battle to win by launching daring attacks, defending your territory, and moving across continents with your cunning plan! Play three variations: World Domination, Capital Risk, and Secret Mission Risk. This game will engage and challenge any player to join the ranks of world leaders!

Needless to say, there’s also a video game version, as well as numerous versions set in alternate worlds: the Star Wars universe, Middle Earth, Narnia, etc.

Board games are indeed the latest hot source material in Hollywood; news about adaptations of board games have been outpacing news about graphic novel rights’ purchases, which was huge last year. As you can tell from the description, Risk has the setup that naturally fits the big screen. In fact, it’s so natural, that one would wonder what would make it any different from any other large scale, war, action movie? Probably not much–what Sony paid for is the familiarity that comes with the name, and studios always hope that familiarity will buy them an audience.

A year ago, in November 2008, rumors abounded of a new sequel in the Three Men and A… series. We’ve already had Three Men and A Baby and Three Men and A Little Lady, and now Three Men and A Bride is on its way. Allegedly.

Strangely, the rumors disappeared for a full year only to be rekindled by Contact Music, which is now repeating the story. The film is still thought to be Three Men and A Bride and Tom Selleck, Steve Guttenberg, and Ted Danson are all thought to have signed up to appear. However, Disney hasn’t yet commented on the speculation, let alone announced such a project.

Steve Guttenberg is the man allegedly in the know, and on top of prematurely announcing Three Men and A Bride, he also spoke of his desire to see sequels to Police Academy and Cocoon. I’m sure it’s merely a coincedence that these were his biggest hits as an actor back in the day.

“Disney’s developing Three Men and a Bride. That’s going to be a smash. A smash hit. They’re bringing everybody back for that. Nobody knows about it. I’m the first to talk about it.”

“It’s definitely time for another Police Academy. And I think they could make another Cocoon. They’re surefire hits and I think they’re good for the world. They make the world a better place and that’s what it’s all about.”

When these rumors first appeared last year I described Three Men and A Bride as “the most unnecessary sequel ever.” And my feelings haven’t changed on this subject. The three leads are all too old now and it’s not a film I have ever wished to be made. There are so many more sequels I spend time wishing for than this.