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April 2003

Halle Berry will play Catwoman in the upcoming film with the same title now that Ashley Judd has dropped out. Hmmm, I'm not too sure about this, I just really can't see Halle Berry playing that role. I really would have liked to have seen Ashley Judd play the part though, I think she would have been good.

Rumours were circulating that Tobey Maguire would not be playing Spider-Man in The Amazing Spider-Man set to start shooting in April, due to a back injury. When I first heard about this I thought that they could just get Jake Gyllenhaal to play the role because he looks pretty much exactly the same as Tobey Maguire and guess what? If a replacement is necessary, the main contender for the role at the moment is, you guessed it, Jake Gyllenhaal.  More recent reports have confirmed that Mr Maguire will be returning to the role so "crisis over". 

Michael Ende the author of The Neverending Story was unhappy with the film's version of his story and he refused to have his name placed in the opening credits.  There is only a small credit which appears at the end with his name.  The name that Bastian gives The Childlike Empress is "Moon Child".  I don't know about you, but I never knew what the hell he was saying so I am happy to have finally found out.  Stephen Spielberg has the Auryn from the film in his office.

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March 2003

Keanu Reeves plays Ted and Alex Winter plays Bill in the two Bill and Ted movies however, they both originally auditioned for the opposite roles.  The original title of Bill and Ted's Bogus Journey was "Bill and Ted go to Hell" but it was changed because of American objections to the the use of the word "Hell" (some people with complain about anything!). 

Wayne's World was shot in only 34 days and was originally set in Ontario, Canada.  In the early 70's some British shops banned people from playing Stairway to Heaven because it was played so often.  This is the reason why there is a "No Stairway to Heaven" sign in the store when Wayne plays the guitar.  

The film Zoolander was banned in Malaysia and Singapore because of the use of the fictional Malaysian Prime Minister as the subject of the assassination (that's just crazy talk).  Also images of the World Trade center were removed before the film's release.

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February 2003

There is a sequel to Final Destination.  The storyline sounds the same as the first one except with a car crash instead of a plane crash.  Apparently the storyline does not make much sense and according to a review I read it is not worth seeing.  When will these movie maker peoples learn?  Some movies just should not have sequels.    

There is also a sequel to Dumb and Dumber - Dumber and Dumberer: When Harry Met Lloyd.  Actually it is a prequel and it is set back in the 80's when Harry and Lloyd meet at high school.  Eugene Levy is in it, he is a funny person.  

According to The Internet Movie Database Michael Gamben will play Dumbledore in Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban, Gary Oldman with play Sirius Black and David Thewlis with play Professor Lupin.  But you can't always rely on The Internet Movie database though, so this may not be true.

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January 2003

Actors auditioning for the part of Anakin in Star Wars Episode II included Ryan Phillippe, Paul Walker, and Colin Hanks.  Like Ewan McGregor in Episode I, Hayden Christensen made "lightsabre noises" the first time he was handed one in rehearsal.  After chuckling at the young star's antics, George Lucas informed him that they probably had people in Sound Effects who could do a better job in post production.  There is no mystical significance in the colour of Mace Windu's lightsabre. Samuel L. Jackson, after a jokey conversation with stunt coordinator Nick Gillard, asked Lucas if he could have a purple lightsabre and Lucas agreed.  In an interview on UK TV, Jackson said he "thought it would be cool".

It has been reported that Richard Harris himself - who died on October 25 - may be seen again in the role of Professor Dumbledore in Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban. Apparently, digital technology could be used to superimpose his face over that of Harry Robinson, his stand-in in the first two films. Much footage of the late actor is being scanned to see if such a feat is achievable.  More recent reports however have said that Ian McKellan will take over the role.

James Franco auditioned to play Peter Parker in Spider-Man, but was cast as Harry Osborn instead.  Freddie Prinze Jr. and Leonardo DiCaprio were both considered for the role as Peter Parker/Spider-Man.

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December 2002

Hugh Grant was originally cast as Gilderoy Lockhart in Harry Potter and The Chamber of Secrets but was forced to withdraw at the last moment because of scheduling conflicts.  Daniel Radcliffe was initially only offered £125,000 (approximately US$181,500) to film Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets but The Actor's Union Equity stepped in and negotiated new terms that increased his salary to roughly £2,000,000 (US$3,000,000).  Christian Coulson landed the role as Tom Riddle, even though he is 23 and exceeds the 15-17 age group set for auditions.

For the film That Thing You Do the four actors playing The Wonders rehearsed as a band for eight weeks to get the feel of performing - but most of their performances in the film were dubbed by other musicians.

Elijah Wood dressed up in breeches and a flowing shirt and went out into the hills to shoot his audition tape for The Lord of the Rings.  Although David Bowie was said to be keen on playing Elf Lord Elrond, the part went instead to 
Hugo Weaving.

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November 2002

Stuart Townsend (Queen of the Damned) was originally cast as Aragorn in The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring, but was replaced by Viggo Mortensen after four days of shooting due to creative differences.  This is probably just a nice way of saying that he is a complete shit.

Annette Bening was cast as Catwoman in Batman II but Michelle Pfeiffer was given the role when Bening became pregnant.

Watch out for the film Ghost Ship released on December 5 2002.  Alex Dimitriades is in it so it has to be good.

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