In this Issue

Batman V Casting Decision due soon
Depp talks Pirates of the Carribean
Passion gets subtitles
Cronicles of Riddick starts production

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Batman V Casting Decision due soon
(edited due to other posts)

Citing an anonymous source, the site Dark Horizons reported that director Christopher Nolan will make his choice for the next Batman in late August or early September from a list of as many as 20 actors.

The '70s Show star Aston Kutcher is Warner Brothers' first choice, but not that of director Christopher Nolan, the site reported.

The site added that Christopher Lloyd has been spotted on the Warner lot in the company of Nolan, fueling speculation that he may be in the running to play a villain called the Scarecrow.
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Depp talks Pirates of the Carribean

Johnny Depp—who stars as Capt. Jack Sparrow in Pirates of the Caribbean: The Curse of the Black Pearl—told SCI FI Wire that he had to persuade skeptical Disney executives to trust his instincts when it came to his idiosyncratic performance. "There were some in positions of power who weren't greatly enthusiastic about the choices I made for Capt. Jack early on," Depp said in an interview. "And I just had a very, very strong feeling and opinion about the guy. And I thought that if they left me alone and let me do my work and create this character that I could do something. I could make something that kiddies would like. I could make a character that kiddies could have fun with and maybe want to imitate."

Executive producer Jerry Bruckheimer explained in a separate interview that it was merely one overly cautious junior executive who objected to Depp's performance and alerted his superiors. "What happens at a studio, the [senior executives] are so busy they can't watch dailies," Bruckheimer said. "So they have a junior executive sitting there watching dailies. ... Here's this kid, who's 26 years old, and sees Johnny's flamboyant character right out there, and he says, 'Oh, my God, I'd better tell somebody. This is outrageous.' Because he doesn't know what they're going to accept. And then when they look at it, they're fine with it. So [we got] a call from him saying, 'Oh, Jesus, can you tone him down?'"

Depp went so far as to have his own dentist implant real gold teeth—some of which Bruckheimer asked him to remove before shooting began. "He had a few more gold teeth, which really freaked them out," Bruckheimer said. "So I was the one chosen to convince him to pull a couple gold teeth out. In truth, they were right. Because what happens is you start looking at his mouth rather than his performance. And it's very subtle now, but it's there. You know they're there. I mean, he had two big gold teeth in front. The light hits it, you're watching the gold teeth. And they didn't want you to do that."
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Passion gets subtitles

Mel Gibson, director of the upcoming Passion, told Empire Online that he's changed his mind and will add subtitles to the movie about the last 12 hours of Christ's life, which was shot in the ancient languages of Latin and Aramaic. The movie stars James Caviezel and Monica Bellucci.
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Cronicles of Riddick starts production

Principal photography commenced July 1 on The Chronicles of Riddick, the sequel to David Twohy's SF sleeper hit film Pitch Black, Universal Pictures announced. Universal is producing the film in association with Radar Pictures and One Race Productions.

Vin Diesel reprises the title role, antihero and convicted killer Richard B. Riddick. He is joined by Colm Feore, Alexa Davalos, Karl Urban, Linus Roache, Thandie Newton and Dame Judi Dench.

The sequel takes place five years after the events in 2000's Pitch Black. Riddick winds up on the planet Helion, home to a progressive multicultural society, which has been invaded by the Lord Marshal (Feore), a zealot who targets humans for subjugation with his army of Necromongers. In prison, Riddick encounters an old friend, Kyra (Davalos), and together they try to free themselves and take on the Lord Marshal in a battle that could determine the fate of humanity.

Twohy wrote and will direct the film, which is produced by Scott Kroopf and Diesel. Ted Field, George Zakk and David Womark executive produce.