Jane Austen zombies get a director; cameos in Muppet movie; Earth Defense Force is formed; Afterburn ; The Cape ’s debut set
According to The Hollywood Reporter, Alan Arkin, Jack Black, Billy Crystal, Jean-Claude Van Damme will all have cameo appearances in The Muppets . The James Bobin-directed film stars Jason Segel, Amy Adams, Chris Cooper, Rashida Jones, Zach Galifianakis, Danny Trejo and Donald Glover. Arkin will play a tour guide while Black is a kidnap victim and Galifianakis is a hobo.
Pierre ( Taken ) Morel is set to direct EDF , aka Earth Defense Force, a giant alien invasion movie produced by Sam Raimi and Bill Block for Warner Bros. According to The Hollywood Reporter Morel was also in the running to direct Ouija, also for Warners, but the distributor had other ideas. EDF is set after Earth is humiliated after an alien attack, and governments unite to create a space fighting force in preparation for a second attack.
Director Antoine Fuqua ( Brooklyn’s Finest ) and actor Gerard Butler ( 300 ) are set to call the shots and star in Afterburn , an adaptation of a Red 5 comic created by Paul Ens and Scott Chitwood. The story takes place a year after a solar flare burns half the surface of a planet, and treasure hunters return to retrieve what’s left of value. ( Deadline )
NBC has announced that its new superhero show The Cape will debut in the States with the two-hour pilot on 9 January. Cross fingers it’s not as turgid as No Ordinary Family .
