Monday News Round-Up

Batman Live; Final Destination 5; Ghost Rider 2 without Cage?; Brosnan admits, “I never really nailed Bond”

Batman Live
Holy criminal-infested arena, Batman. The Dark Knight is set to become the star of a travelling stage show being developed by Warners Bros, DC and the companies behind the  Walking With Dinosaurs and Mamma Mia! touring shows. It won’t be a musical, though, but rather an elaborate, stunt-filled arena production featuring a host of Bat-villains, aimed at kids and families. Alan Burnett, whose credits include the animated Batman: Mask of the Phantasm and Green Lantern: First Flight, is writing the story and script. The project is in the very early stages, but presumably it would kick off in the US before being franchised out overseas.

The Thing About Final Destination
Eric Heisserer, who worked on the prequel for The Thing which is currently in production, has been hired to write a script for Final Destination 5, according to The Hollywood Reporter’s Heat Vision Blog. That’s the one where Death is cheated by an Icelandic volcano which grounds all flights, presumably.

Ghost Rider May Ride Without Cage
According to Vulture, the Ghost Rider sequel may go into production with someone other than Nicolas Cage in the saddle: “How badly does Columbia need to get the motor running on its Ghost Rider sequel? So badly that if Nicolas Cage can’t commit to making it this year, they may have to make it without him. Insiders confirm to Vulture that Columbia is facing a ticking clock on the rights to the BBQ-skulled Marvel Comics character: Legally, if the studio isn’t in production on a sequel by November 14, 2010, the franchise automatically reverts to Marvel — which means the comic company’s new owner, Disney.”

“I Never Really Nailed Bond”
In an interview with Venice magazine, Pierce Bronsnan admits that during his four-movie stint as James Bond, “I never felt that I really nailed it.” He also reveals that promoting his second Bond outing, Tomorrow Never Dies, was a chore because he didn’t really like the film. Although he had a great time filming GoldenEye, he says of his second time as Bond, “I remember starting the first day on that film in an aircraft, flying a jet… and it was 102 degrees, and I’m wearing a helmet and sweater, and then I’m being strangled over and over again, and I thought, ‘Oh my God, this bloody character is going to kill me.’ The press tour for that film was 22 countries. When I did it I knew the movie wasn’t up to speed; it wasn’t as good as GoldenEye and you have to bang the drum loudly to get the attention.”