This latest installment of the Underworld saga has the benefit of returning vamp Kate Beckinsale but the undeniable burden of looking like a Resident Evil rip-off straight from the hauntless corridors of The Asylum. There are a number of almost identical scenes evident in the first minute of so of this trailer alone. This does not bode well.

So derivative does this trailer look that with all the goodwill for the series engendered from the first two films all but ruined by the third film, the prequel Rise of the Lycans, it seems Screen Gems has now given up any pretence of originality and gone for a blue-tinged molasses of the aforementioned Resident Evil films with a helping of The Matrix stirred into the mix.

It could be the best film of the year of course, this trailer suggests that is highly unlikely though, and the ‘PLEASE NOTICE THE 3D – HERE’S SOME FLYING WEAPONS’ element is so worn out that even Harold & Kumar are taking the mick.

Still, there’s a lot of love for this series out there. For them I present the following. Here’s your trailer fang fans,

It looks as though the worldwide zombie plague depicted in World War Z is underway, or at least the filming of it is.

Brad Pitt has been snapped on set, accompanied by two of his kids who clearly find the thing a good deal too loud for their tastes.

There are also a whole host of shots of the either dead, undead, or a bit of both lying around, perhaps newly finished off, or about to get up again. We’ve got a bunch of the shots set out below, or you can click on through to The Daily Mail here, where they’ve got a couple more.

Even by Hollywood “In Development” standards, World War Z, the film adaptation of Max Brooks’ novel about a global zombie outbreak has been dragging its heels.

We reported as long ago as last July that Brad Pitt was confirmed on board and although there is plenty of credible talent on both sides of the camera (Babylon 5 and Changeling scribe J Michael Straczynski, Lions for Lambs and State of Play scripter Matthew Carnahan, Monsters Ball and Quantum of Solace director Marc Forster helming) it seems to be taking an absolute age to get going.

Apparently filming is due to get underway this month and frankly, about time too. Newly on board the growing cast list are now Ed Harris (A History of Violence, Apollo 13, Gone Baby Gone) and Matthew Fox (Lost, Party of Five, Speed Racer, Vantage Point). Whether they will each be one of the characters who provide the first-person narration of the story of the war, which in the book is told some 10 years after the events themselves have taken place, is of course very much down to Straczynski and Carnahan and how faithful they choose to remain to the source material.

Here’s to hoping for a lot of globe-spanning zombie carnage before too long.

Sourced from purest, distilled Deadline with a dash of Bloody Disgusting.

These last few years have seen an unwelcome dearth of Kate Beckinsale jumping off of things in a PVC catsuit. Good thing then that Kate Beckinsale is back in black as Seline, ready to shoot a few lycans and show Rhona Mitra how it’s all done properly.

With Michael Ealy now cast as a detective hot on Seline’s trail, some fifteen years after the events of Underworld: Evolution, and a series of set photos showing Beckinsale’s stunt double hard at work, the time has come for a photographic teaser of our returning main attraction – my God that catsuit has held up well.

This fourth instalment will centre on Seline and her hybrid daughter as they flee from a sinister corporation determined to breed super lycans for some ambiguously nefarious means.

With Shelter’s Mans Marlin and Bjorn Stein directing a script by John Hlavin and J. Michael Straczynski, Underworld: New Dawn 3D is currently shooting in Vancouver for a January 20, 2012 release.

Source: Movie Web

Michael Ealy (Takers) will play the male lead in Underworld: New Dawn, the fourth installment in the popular vampire-werewolf franchise.

Ealy will star opposite Kate Beckinsale (Whiteout), Sandrine Holt (Resident Evil: Apocalypse) and Robert Lawrenson (Sanctuary) as a police detective.

Måns Mårlind and Björn Stein will direct from a script by J. Michael Straczynski and John Hlavin.

After being held in a coma-like state for fifteen years, vampire Selene learns that she has a fourteen-year-old vampire/Lycan hybrid daughter, Nissa, and when she finds her they must stop BioCom from creating super Lycans that will kill them all.

A co-production between Lakeshore Entertainment and Screen Gems, Underworld: New Dawn is currently in-production with a release date set for January 20, 2012.

Source: Deadline

Confirmation reaches us today, via THR, that Kate Beckinsale has officially closed a deal to reprise her role of Selene in the fourth installment of the Underworld franchise.

John Hlavin (The Shield) wrote the initial script, which went under re-writes by J. Michael Straczynski (The Changeling).

Underworld 4 will be a co-production between Screen Gems and Lakeshore Entertainment. A search is now underway for a director and the remainder of the cast.

Production is expected to commence in Vancouver during March 2011.

The vampire franchise has been hugely successful so far, with the first three films grossing over $300 million worldwide.

What do you think? Are you looking forward to seeing Underworld 4?

With Ninja Assassin going on general release in the USA, a new red band trailer has been released online and it is very different from the previous trailer. Although this new trailer has been released to help promote the film for the Thanksgiving holiday weekend, I suspect the complete change in tone from the last trailer is partially to help combat the overwhelming negative criticism the film has generally received so far.

Ninja Assassin has been criticized by many for its overly complex and unnecessary plot, although it has received much praise for its stylish action sequences. Whereas the previous trailer was more dramatic and attempted to display some of the film’s back-story, this new trailer is basically an entire minute of nonstop ninja action.

The film stars Korean pop idol Rain, is produced by Joel Silver and the Wachowski Bros. (The Matrix Trilogy), is written by prolific science fiction and comic book writer J. Michael Straczynski (who also wrote Clint Eastwood’s Changeling), and is directed by James McTeigue (V for Vendetta).

Ninja Assassin is now on general release in the USA and will be released on January 22nd 2010 in the UK.

Ten years ago, the Wachowski brothers, little known at the time, released their second movie as directors, The Matrix. A product of their love of Hong Kong action movies and Manga, it became huge. The mix of stylish action and spiritual introspection struck a chord, particularly with teenage boys searching for an identity. Two inferior sequels followed, but they did’nt diminish the cultural impact the first movie made, and the Wachowskis were set – they could write their own cheques.

 Their follow up movie, Speed Racer, got very mixed reviews. They did, however, unearth a very talented young martial arts actor, Rain. Another young man, by the name of James McTeigue, had worked as a second unit director on all three Matrix movies. Having learnt his trade from the talented brothers, McTeigue made his directorial debut with 2006′s V for Vendetta. The Wachowski, along with their Matrix producer Joel Silver, brought these two talented men together for a project, Ninja Assassin.

 Rain plays Raizo, one of the world’s deadliest assassins. He learnt his trade from the shadowy Ozunu Clan, having been abducted by them as a small boy. Rain, from South Korea, is better known as a singer than an actor. Also a talented dancer and designer, his only movie credit before Speed Racer was 2006 Korean film I’m a Cyborg, But That’s OK. A friend of Raizo is executed by his clan, causing him to question his loyalty to them. He decides he can no longer work for them, and disappears. In hiding, he awaits the right time to wreak revenge on his former ‘family’.

 Actress Naomie Harris plays Mika Coretti, a Europol agent. She is following a money trail picked up during an investigation into a chain of political assassinations. Harris is probably best known for the part of Tia Dalma in the Pirates of the Caribbean movies, and is something of an up and coming star. Coretti’s investigation leads her too close to the Ozunu Clan, and she becomes a mark.

 The clan’s team of killers is led by Takeshi, played by Rick Yune. Yune is an actor and writer. He featured in 2002′s Tomorrow Never Dies, and more recently in 2008′s The Fifth Commandment, which he also wrote, and Alone in the Dark II. Inevitably, Raizo and Coretti join forces after the former assassin saves the agent’s life, and together they hatch a plan to shut down the Clan’s operations for good.

 Australian director James McTeigue is well positioned to helm this action thriller, having learnt the art of stylistic martial arts and gun play from the two brothers, working alongside them during filming of their revolutionary trilogy. In the past he also worked as second assistant director on the Street Fighter movie. Like the Wachowskis, McTeigue too has an interest in manga and anime. His debut V for Vendetta, also produced by the Wachowskis, featured just a little of their favoured martial arts action. Though containing some good ideas, the story unfortunately was a bit of a mess. V had been called ‘unfilmable’ in the past, and that assertion was proven correct. To hear what McTeigue has to say about Ninja Assassin go here.

 The script for Ninja Assassin however should be good, despite the cliched synopsis. Legendary screenwriter J Michael Straczynski re-drafted the script at the producers’ request, as they were not completely happy with it. Stracynski is best known for his ground breaking TV series Babylon 5, highly regarded as one of the best space-set television series of all time by science fiction fans. He worked as show runner on that series. He is also responsible for writing the adaptation of the Max Brooks novel World War Z for Brad Pitt’s production company Plan B, along with a screenplay for a potential Silver Surfer movie.

 Based on the trailer (which you can see here), the fight scenes in Ninja Assassin are awesome. The kung fu is fast, the gun play well choreographed. With the influence of The Matrix looming large, the movie is bound to be stylish, possibly to the detriment of it’s substance. Unlike The Matrix, the scenes on show are very darkly lit. Partly a product of it’s shadowy subject matter, but also presumably indicative of it’s lower budget.

 With 2012 still at the beginning of it’s run, and Twilight: New Moon having just opened yesterday, Ninja Assassin may struggle at the box office. An unknown star and director mean there is little name value attached, other than the Wachowskis as producers. This movie’s audience is going to be young men, teens and early twenties, searching for a remedy to Twilight fever. Nevertheless, with some great, talented people involved, Ninja Assassin could be one of the best kung fu action movies produced in the west.

 Ninja Assassin opens in the US next Friday 27th November. It does not reach the UK until 8th January.

Bazmann - You can now follow me on Twitter at www.twitter.com/baz_mann