Joseph Gordon-Levitt, Tommy Lee Jones and James Spader are in talks to star in Steven Spielberg’s biopic of Abraham Lincoln. Spielberg has Lee Jones pencilled in for the role of Thaddeus Stevens, a Pennsylvanian Republican congressman who was instrumental in the abolition of slavery, while ‘Inception’ star Gordon-Levitt is being considered for the portrayal of Lincoln’s son Robert Todd in the film, simply titled Lincoln.

These high-profile stars would join an already impressive line-up, with Daniel-Day Lewis confirmed as the eponymous President, and Sally Field on board as wife Mary Todd Lincoln. As we at FilmShaft reported last year upon Day-Lewis’ confirmation for the role, the film will focus on ‘the political collision of Lincoln and the powerful men of his cabinet on the road to abolition and the end of the Civil War’. Other actors reported to be in negotiations with Spielberg include Tim Blake Nelson, Joseph Cross, David Costabile, Jeremy Strong, John Hawkes and Bruce McGill.

It has also been confirmed that filming for Lincoln will take place in Virginia, which has garnered a positive response from state and local officials ‘elated’ with the director’s choice. Filming will take place at a number of historic locations in Petersburg and Richmond. Spielberg previously chose the state to film portions of ‘War of the Worlds’ and ‘Minority Report’, and Virginia was also Tom Hooper’s choice as predominant locale for HBO’s period dramatisation ‘John Adams’.

Spielberg is set to begin shooting this autumn, with plans set in place for a late 2012 release.

Sources: Total Film, Yahoo.

I don’t think it’s unfair for me to say that there’s more than a few fans out there who are overly cautious about Millennium Pictures’ long awaited reboot of Conan the Barbarian, and with good reason too. It has taken the project several years to get off of the ground, with production dates being pushed further and further back as a result. Also, to be fair, the original films, starring Arnold Schwarzenegger are hardly classics, so what could be worth looking forward to in the reboot which crashes into cinemas later this year?

Well to start with, you may (or may not, take your pick) breath a sigh of relief to find out that the new film, directed by Marcus Nispel, is NOT based on Arnie’s movies, but rather the Robert E. Howard comicbooks. You may also be happy to hear that Conan star, Jason Momoa hasn’t even seen the original films, and is basing his characterization solely on the wealth of information in Howard’s work.

Speaking to MTV, Momoa explained what he and the crew have set out to do with this gutsy sword and sandals adventure:

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“I went to the source material, I went to Robert E. Howard. I’ve never played a role that’s this rich. So much material. I was a big comic book fan.”

“I haven’t actually seen the Arnold stuff,” he confessed. “I’m excited to see it. I was three years old when it came out…I can’t wait to see it. I want to see mine and then I’m going to watch that one, back to back. I’ve never played a role that was played by someone else,” he continued. “As an actor, to build the character I wanted to use my imagination and be creative and use my own interpretation.”

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As for the movie itself, Momoa tells a bit about what we can expect:
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“It kind of is an origin story,” he explained. “It’s rebuilding and rebooting the franchise…It starts with his birth, what happened to his family, what happened to his father—obviously his father is killed—and him going into the pirating and the thieving and wandering and being the degenerate that he is and then usurping a throne and finding out who killed his father. It’s a revenge story, with a little bit a love in there.”

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So are you excited about Conan the Barbarian? Will you be waiting in line on release day? Feel free to share your thoughts in the comments section and check out the video interview below.

Scene with Jason Momoa:

It’s been a long wait for Dark Shadows fans since Johnny Depp and director Tim Burton announced their plans to bring the series to the big screen, but now the wait is nearly over! Johnny Depp will play the character of Barnabus Collins in the film, a part immortalised by Jonathan Frid during his run from 1967-1971, and now, for the first time, the actor has spoken about his plans for the movie, and his feelings about taking on such an iconic role:

“For me, even the conversations I’ve had with Tim, what Jonathan Frid did with that character and that classic look he created, I find it very difficult to stray very far from that, I think it’s going to be somewhere in that arena, with maybe just a couple of different touches here and there.”

“There’s something about this vampire coming back after 200 years into this modern world, with a touch of the poetic, with maybe a tendency to maybe wax a little poetic now and again,” he mused. “I have a good feeling about it. But Jonathan Frid’s Barnabas was so special.”

The film is set to roll into production later this year, so expect further updates soon!

Source: MTV.