Next month two movies will hit the cinemas and cause controversy. Both movies have the Islamic religion as the central theme but neither of them attempts to portray it in a bad way. The controversy will come from other elements in the movie and how people perceive it.

The movie “Four Lions” is a satirical look at four males - Omar, Waj, Barry (a convert), Fessel- who get radicalized and decide that they should become suicide bombers. While Omar and Waj go off to terrorist camp in Pakistan the other two stay behind and Fessel comes up with a plan to train crows to carry bombs. In Pakistan Omar and Waj recruit a fifth member to the team but they are back to four when Fessel accidentally dies in a training exercise. The ultimate plan that the team has is to blow themselves up at the London Marathon. The film will no doubt cause a lot of uncomfortable feelings in England as there are many similarities to the attacks that took place in 2005 on the London Underground.

“The Infidel” will stir up some very uncomfortable feelings as it is about a Muslim man who discovers that he was born a Jew. The movie follows the chief character as he tries to discover his roots from his main source, an alcoholic Jewish cab driver, while managing to impress his daughter-in-law to-be’s father who just happens to be a firebrand Muslim preacher.

Although both movies are just about poking fun at religion, how the Muslim community at large will receive it is completely unknown. Even though Muslim actors form a large part of the main cast, the reaction is still expected to be unfriendly.

Marcus Wright, Perseus and of course, Jake Sully are the names that have propelled Sam Worthington in to the limelight and stardom.

Although a somewhat established actor before those key roles, Worthington really came into the public eye when he played in Marcus Wright in the James Cameron franchise “Terminator Salvation.” Worthington had already been involved in the production of the mega blockbuster-to-be “Avatar” long before “Terminator”, so the reception he got based on “Terminator” was a sign of things to come.

As Jake Sully in “Avatar”, Worthington captured the hearts and minds of millions worldwide. A difficult thing to do considering that for 90 % of the movie he was represented by an animated character. Nevertheless, this prompted many to sit up and take note of this “new” talent from Australia. As a result of that Worthington, was cast as Perseus in “The Clash of the Titans”. The remake of the 1981 movie features Worthington as a demigod who fights for humanity against the Olympian Gods, especially Zeus.

The new-found popularity and success is something that Worthington is taking in his stride. He says that he already had a career before this, so this is like a new chapter which he finds exciting and full of opportunities. He is also not worried about choosing the right movies and says that he will do a movie if he feels like it would be something he would watch in a cinema. The actor already has a few movies that are varying stages of production and with Cameron’s “Avatar” sequel looming on the horizon, the future looks good for this star from down under.

The Dragon has landed - gently. The fire and rampage expected from the ticket sales of “How to Train Your Dragon” simply did not materialize. Of course, this does not mean that the movie bombed but rather that expectations were not met. Analysts expected the movie to open to at about $65 million to $70 million in revenues, but it only managed to bring in $43.3 million at the domestic box office.

Disappointing as it may be, this was perhaps only to be expected. The novelty of the 3D market is wearing off. While “Avatar” has become the highest grossing movie ever and “Alice in Wonderland” keeps bringing in the big bucks, the 3D market is perhaps not ready to have more than two movies competing at the same time. Running the “Dragon” up against “Alice” and “Avatar” while ticket prices being higher than normal 2D movies was not a good move in hindsight. The movie being released at a time when ticket prices went even further up was just plain bad luck. All in all, the circumstances did not help the “Dragon” at all.

However, this raises an interesting question. Will the moviegoers be willing to continue paying premium rates for 3D movies? For “Avatar” it was justified as the theaters that showed the 3D version had to upgrade their equipment. But as the revenues roll in, prices should drop and not go up. Addressing this important factor is crucial for the future of 3D movies.

So far it was only speculated that “The Hobbit” was in the process of being worked out. But a few days ago, Sir Ian McKellen or Gandalf as he is popularly known, dropped a bombshell on his website. According to the actor, the Tolkien fantasy will begin shooting in the month of July.

This time Peter Jackson will not function as the director, preferring to get Guillermo Del Toro to fulfill that vacancy. The Mexican-born director now lives in Wellington which is also the location of Jackson’s studio. The shooting will take place in familiar surroundings in New Zealand. McKellan also stated that casting had already begun in the cities of Los Angeles, New York City and London. Many familiar faces are expected to reprise their roles from “The Lord of the Rings” trilogy, including McKellan as Gandalf, Andy Serkis as Gollum and Hugo Weaving as Elrond. The chief character of Bilbo Baggins remains unannounced.

“The Hobbit” is actually a prequel to the “The Lord of the Rings” trilogy and describes the adventures of Bilbo Baggins who set off on an adventure with a group of dwarves. Along the way he encounters Gollum and also picks up an “innocuous looking ring” which plays a huge part later on in the Lord of the Rings saga.

According to McKellan, filming could take more than a year to complete. “The Hobbit” is expected to be released as a two part movie and the rumored release date of the first part puts it in 2012, but nothing definite has been revealed yet. There is also no news from Jackson as to whether the movie will be in 3D, following the trend of new fantasy movies.

Oscar winner Jeff Bridges puts down his guitar so that he can ride a Light Cycle in his next movie. Bridges will be starring in “Tron: Legacy” alongside Garrett Hedlund as Disney gambles on turning a disappointing 80’s venture into, what it hopes will be, a 21st century epic. The plot centers on Hedlund who is looking for his father (Bridges) who disappeared into the computer generated world over two decades ago. It is not clear yet if the movie will be presented in 3D.

In related news, the director of “Tron: Legacy” is also involved in reviving an old classic - “The Black Hole”. The 1979 will not be remade but “re-imagined” according to director Joseph Kosinski. What that means remains to be seen. But what is very evident is the fact that Disney is quite prepared to bring back the old classics with a new flavor after Tim Burton’s “Alice in Wonderland” scored big time at the box office.

“The Green Zone” proved to be a no-go zone for Universal as moviegoers simply did not turn up. After spending a reported $100 million to make the movie the only green it has raked in, is $24 million. Apparently the only reason the studio agreed to do the movie was to keep Matt Damon and Paul Greengrass happy. Damon and Greengrass are the kingpins of the “Bourne” movie franchise and the studio had plans to make a fourth movie. Sadly that will not happen as Damon and Greengrass have now left the project, meaning that Universal just wasted a $100 million.

This week will mark the hundredth anniversary of the first ever Frankenstein movie made by Hollywood. Frankenstein movies have been made and remade numerous times and with the hundredth anniversary we can expect to see yet another incarnation of the monster as Dean Koontz’s Frankenstein series is being brought to life.

The very first movie was made by Thomas Edison’s studio back in 1910. Incidentally, a book titled “Edison’s Frankenstein” by Frederick C. Wiebel, Jr. was released recently and it chronicles the filming of that 1910 monster epic. Wiebel says that he first heard of the movie around 40 years ago and then was reminded of it when 20 years ago when he was visiting his in-laws and saw a clip of that movie on TV. This had prompted him to want to write an article which eventually grew into a book as the research material kept mounting up. Wiebel has also managed to locate the only surviving print of the 10 year old movie and has arranged for a DVD release after it is restored.

Although Frankenstein had been part of popular culture and stage plays for years, Mary Shelly’s book was only written in 1909. Three months later Edison shot the movie on one reel and took a grand total of four days to complete shooting. According to Wiebel, the cast would rehearse the whole movie and try and get it in one take. The actors at that time also worked in secrecy as movies were looked down on by stage actors.

Yes, a sequel to the most successful movie ever, could be made, with the emphasis on the word ‘could’. According to producer Jon Landau, the sequel was always on the cards. He said that James Cameron and himself had agreed a long time ago that they would do a sequel if “Avatar” turned out to be successful.

But Landau said that Cameron would only do it if he found the right story. He also said that in the meantime they were considering several other options, namely a love story called “The Dive” and another movie titled “Fantastic Voyage”. However, he did not elaborate if the latter would be a remake of the 1966 movie of the same name. “Battle Angel Alita” is another movie on the cards and this one is about a young female Cyborg trying to discover herself.

Landau said that so far they haven’t decided which movie to go after, but that the decision would be made within six months. With all this uncertainty he did offer one piece of solid fact - whatever the movie, it will be in 3D. He also that all movies he would make from now on would be in 3D. “Why would we make a movie in black and white if we have color?” he said.

So now that 3D seems to firmly entrench in the movie industry, what’s next? Well, according to Landau the next big thing will be where the audience determines the path of the movie. Landau is of the opinion that this type of movie will give an audience member a different experience every time they go to watch the movie.

It appears that a math lesson is in order to update everyone on what could happen at the Oscars. The subject at hand is multiple nominations for the same movie in the same category. For example Vera Farmiga and Anna Kendrick are nominated in the Best Supporting Actress category for “Up in the Air”. Historical data suggests that neither of them stand a chance of taking home the golden statue.

Statistically speaking, of a total of 65 occurrences, co-stars competing in the same category have gone home without the Oscar for a total of 45 times. Mathematically, as two actors nominated from the same movie, Farmiga and Kendrick have a 40 % chance of winning the award. However, historically the number falls to 32 % as only 19 actors have succeeded out of 60 nominations. The numbers are worse when three actors are involved.

Even though the math suggests only a 40 % chance of success for one of them, history says otherwise. Out of the five occurrences of this circumstance only one actor, Robert De Niro, has succeeded in winning. He did this for his role in the 1974 epic flick “Godfather II” and won in the Best Supporting Actor category.

Multiple actors being nominated in a category situation is not a new thing while its first occurrence happened in 1935 when Franchot Tone, Charles Laughton and Clark Gable were nominated for “Mutiny on the Bounty.” The last successful winner when two actors were nominated was Catherine Zeta-Jones when she won against her co-star Queen Latifah in 2002 for “Chicago”.
Whether Farmiga and Kendrick can break the eight year hoodoo remains to be seen.

Could it be that the Oscar nominated war drama “Hurt Locker” was plagiarized? That’s the claim 38 year old Master Sergeant Jeffrey S. Sarver is making. He says that the movie clearly draws from his experiences in Iraq.

In 2005, an article was written about Sarver in Playboy magazine. The article was written by Mark Boal who observed the Master Sergeant and his squad in Iraq when he served as an embedded reporter. Later on, Boal turned out the script for the movie which attracted nine Oscar nominations. Sarver says the movie is a clear representation of him and his life in Iraq and even points out that the chief character in the movie has the same call signal he had, “Blaster One”.

Sarver has filed suit against Summit Entertainment, the movie’s distributor, a few days ago. The lawsuit is a result of failed communications between Sarvers’s lawyer and the people behind the movie. Producer Nicholas Chartier denied any wrongdoing and said he had never heard of the Master Sergeant.

For Chartier, this is yet another controversy to get over as he is already embroiled in the email campaigning issue. He is guilty of canvassing for the movie by emailing Oscar voters and therefore has been banned from attending the Oscar Awards ceremony.

Sarver said he would have been more than happy to serve as a consultant to the scriptwriter and director, but he was never even approached. As the evidence mounts against the moviemakers, the hurt caused by plagiarism could prove to be very painful.

There have been numerous Superman movies and TV series over the years and it seems like the trend is set to continue. Yes, the man who wears his briefs over his tights is set to return in the near future.

However, the good news is that this time he might turn out to be a Superman that you have never seen before. Writer David Goyer has been sought out to breathe new life into an old character. If you are not familiar with the name Goyer, think back to “Batman Begins” and to the more recent “The Dark Knight”. Goyer was instrumental in revamping Batman and Warner Bros. and hopes to do the same for “The Man of Steel”, which is currently the title for the upcoming movie.

The possibility of the movie is more or less assured as the studio is required to begin production by next year due to a deal with Jerry Siegel’s (Co-creator of Superman) heirs. The good news is further boosted by the rumors that director Christopher Nolan (responsible for the previous two Batman Movies) will be taking on a consultant role in the movie and subsequent releases. Brandon Routh is not expected to reprise his role as the Man of Steel in the new movie; as yet no actors have been mentioned as possible candidates.

Although no deals have been made yet between the studio and Goyer, collaboration seems to be the only logical way for the studio to salvage the Superman franchise and turn it into a successful money spinner like Batman.