Since busting on to the scene with Arrested Development in 2003, Michael Cera has worked with many of today’s most popular comedians, and you’d have to be living under a rock to not have seen at least one of his films. Some say he is risking overexposure. But I say Cera has been steadily working toward Kevin Bacon status, developing a film career worthy of his own 6 degrees game.

To be a truly effective Party Game Icon, Cera would have to link to a variety of film actors to allow for a range of players to participate:

• a major Hollywood star (for casual movie fans)
• an international film star (for film students)
• an independent film star (for hipsters)
• a film star from Hollywood’s golden age (for anyone over 25).

As you can see below – Cera’s plotted his course well:

Do you believe Michael Cera has reached Kevin Bacon status? Give us your examples in the comments below.

Is Terrence Malick actually going to start another film right after he finishes another? It’s a practice unheard for the mysterious director. The Wrap is reporting that his next project will actually start filming this October with a few new cast members. Read the full story

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Christian Bale, fresh off David O. Russell’s upcoming boxing drama The Fighter and prepping a potential Terrence Malick romance, may sign on to star in The Last Photograph, written by Kurt Johnstad from an idea by Zack Snyder. Niels Arden Oplev (The Girl With The Dragon Tattoo) is in talks to direct.

The drama concerns a photograph that causes two men to travel through modern-day, war-torn Afghanistan. Oplev is best known for his Tattoo adaptation which, despite it’s financial success and critical hype, is a fairly-standard thriller which employs the source novel’s perverse crimes more for shock value than for psychological imagination, something that Stieg Larsson, the writer of the book, does well. [Total Film]

This project could well prove beneficial in separating Oplev from the Millennium trilogy of films (Daniel Alfredson directed the last two Girl films), and Bale could use a hard-edged drama under his belt. Public Enemies didn’t quite do the trick for most. But who will play his partner traveling through Afghanistan?

Would you like to see this film get made with these potential parts? Who should play Bale’s partner?

E-mail Dan Mecca and be sure to follow him on Twitter. You can also interact with him on our Facebook page!

David O Russell’s highly-anticipated film The Fighter, starring Mark Wahlberg and Christian Bale, now has a confirmed released from Paramount Pictures. The film will hit theaters on December 10, 2011. Right now there is one other fairly big film opening that day: The Chronicles Of Narnia: The Voyage Of The Dawn Treader. [The Playlist]

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E-mail Matt Tyler and be sure to follow him on Twitter. You can also interact with him on our Facebook page!

Kevin Macdonald’s The Eagle Of The Ninth, the sword-and-sandal actioner starring Channing Tatum, Jamie Bell and Donald Sutherland, has been pushed back to February from its original September release.

Meanwhile, David O. Russell’s The Fighter, starring Mark Wahlberg and Christian Bale, will likely open sometime in December, according to Mr. Marky mark himself. [The Playlist]

Both pieces of news aren’t too surprising. We haven’t heard much of Eagle in the past months by way of teaser trailers, screen shots, etc. and Focus Features (who produced the film) pushed the Ryan Fleck/Anna Boden indie It’s Kind Of A Funny Story to Eagle‘s exact release date, suggesting a change to avoid conflict.

As for The Fighter, it’s a period drama starring to of the more high-profile actors working today and a director who many believe is a visionary, so an awards-push release date always made sense.

Both of these films are highly anticipated and some of the more ambitious cinema out there right now. One hopes they’re both well made and well seen, be it in September, December or February.

Will you see these films?

A few months back, John Hillcoat’s much-anticipated, potentially star-studded Prohibition epic The Promised Land, starring Ryan Gosling, Shia LeBeouf and Amy Adams from a screenplay by the ever-talented Nick Cave, fell apart without funding. This caused Hillcoat to spout out some sad, well-deserved opinions about the state of the film industry.

Now, it looks as though the director has returned from the brink, to deliver more standard fare, i.e. a revenge action flick starring Christian Bale. The project is an adaptation of The Revenant, a 2003 novel by Michael Punke, written for the screen by Mark L. Smith (Vacancy, The Hole 3D). [The Playlist]

Here’s a synopsis of the novel via CHUD:

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Even though he is known for being rather reclusive and hidden from the media, renowned director Terrence Malick has allowed word to get out of his latest project. Deadline Hollywood is reporting it will host a star studded cast including,”no less than Christian Bale, Javier Bardem, Rachel McAdams, and Olga Kurylenko.” The untitled feature is slated to begin shooting this autumn and is currently being described as a romantic drama. Read the full story

According to The LA Times the rights to The Terminator franchise which are currently owned by the now bankrupt Halcyon Holding Group controlled by Derek Anderson and Victor Kubicek are up for sale again. Since Terminator is Halycon’s biggest asset it is clear this is being done to cover their debt now that they are in chapter 11. The rights are on sale for $60 million which is over twice the amount that Anderson and Kubicek payed for the original rights in 2007. This will create a bidding war among studios since The Terminator is still a hot item. It is unclear at this point however how this will effect the timing of another sequel.

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A few images and video have been released (thanks to IAmRouge via /Film) for David O. Russell’s The Fighter starring Mark Wahlberg and Christian Bale. Check them out below.

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(Co-Written by Dan Mecca & Merrill Barr)

It only seems appropriate to offer a take on what is now the most popular genre in Hollywood – the remake. Not that the remake hasn’t always been popular. Just look at how many times Little Women has been made. A lot.

That being said, remakes have never been as prolific (or as potentially profitable) as they are right now. One can chalk this up as unoriginality or business savvy or both, but the fact remains the age of the remake is upon us and it has only just begin to rear it’s ugly, repetitive head.

With that said, we here at The Film Stage have attempted to break down the remake genre and decipher the gems and germs that have come out of it.

See the lists >>