This just in, Nimrod Antal has been confirmed as the director of the new Predator film, Predators. Robert Rodriguez has spoken to the people over at Ain't it Cool News and confirmed that Antal has been given the reigns of the film. Antal would be known to audiences through his 2007 film Vacancy. As cool as the news of a director for the film is, even better was the comments Rodriguez had on the plot and who has the overall control over the film. Rodriguez's own studio is in charge and he's stated that he is going to be having a very hands on approach with the film so hopefully, seeing as Robert Rodriguez is such a cool guy who does a lot of cool movies, this means the new Predator will be a really good film. To me it already sounds awesome given the fact that it's going to be set on a Predator controlled planet. It's not THE home planet but a Predator controlled planet nontheless which means it should be a pretty crazy location. It was said in the itnerview that no one will remember the Alien vs Predator films after they see this and I hope that's true.










Also in awesome movie news Bill Nighy, who right now is one of my favourite actors after films like the Underworld series, The Boat That Rocked and Shaun of The Dead, I mean the guy is just so cool with one of the most amazing voices and physical presence on screen apparently being cast as Rufus Scrimgeour, the new Minister for Magic, in both parts of Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows. This casting is yet to be confirmed but Night would be a fantastic addition to a franchise already teeming with amazing actors like Ralph Fiennes and Alan Rickman. Obviously this is just rumours and speculation at the moment so I'll report back when anything official is confirmed.











Finally a rumour, which Total Film advises you take with a grain of salt is that Jessica Biel is in talks to play a role in Marvel's upcoming Thor film. They believe she'll be the love interest of Thor but outside of that it's only speculation as to what her character will actually be. It will depend largely on the story they choose for Thor, like will he appear on Earth or will it only take place in the realm of the gods as Biel could be a nurse who discovers Thor if it takes place on Earth or she could play a character whose an Asgardian warrior herself, Lady Sif. Personally I think Biel or whoever they cast as the love interest would be much cooler as an Asgardian warrior than just a nurse. You'd get Thor's old school chivalry mixed up with his admiration for other good warriors and his feelings for someone he truely cares for and it'd present an interesting emotional side of the Norse God. Once again though this is a rumour so we'll have to wait and see who is actually cast with Natalie Portman also supposedly in talks to play the character.

You would think with the success of DC Comics Batman movies, most recently The Dark Knight and the growing market for comic book films DC would have a ton of their characters and stories ready to go on the big screen. Unfortunately this isn't the case. At the moment DC only has four projects listed as being in production, two of them existing mainstays of the film industry, Batman and Superman.

Over the weekend a few interesting, almost mad stories have evolved in the video game universe. Firstly something that's not so mad but interesting to know, Halo 3:ODST is the next release from Bungie in to the Halo universe. Much has been made about the fact this game will not be as long as the originals and is more of an expansion pack to the original. Therefore people believe it's price should be decided accoridingly. Bungie originally said this was going to be a 3 to 5 hour game and would not be a $60 US retail title, it would be scaled down. Well Bungie was obviously telling porky pies or Halo 3: ODST has been vastly uprgraded since then because it has been made available for pre-order at the price of $59.99 US. Hopefully the game times been extended or they just think their multiplayer is that awesome that it's worth it. Hardcore fans can spend $100 and get the collectores edition which comes with a specialised remote. ODST drops on September 30 2009.










That story is not so much madness as it is a potential rip off. Although it is still a title that I'll probably buy regardless of the price and just hope it's a longer game experience. What I can definetley say is madness is the latest analyst prediction for Call of Duty Modern Warfare 2. It is almost udneniable that this going to be one of the biggest games of the year and possibly all time. Such was the success of the first title, it sold 12 million copies after just 17 months, that one analyst is predicting Modern Warfare 2 could sell 11.1 million copies in 2 months!! 2 MONTHS!! That isn't just madness that is insane but it doesn't stop there. They are also predicting that the potential market for Modern Warfare 2 is 25.7 million gamers. Just think about that number for a second, 25.7 million gamers. That is more people than the population of Australia!!! Now that is just madness but probably the best kind. Just think of the online potential in those first few months, it'll be huge and a challenge for Activision to keep things running smoothly. Modern Warfare 2 faces the analysts on November 10 2009.








The final and most ambitious piece of news I have for you is the huge rumour of a new Xbox console being released as early as Autumn in the US NEXT YEAR!! 1Up is reporting a new Xbox console could be released in 2010!! 2010!! This is supposedly going to tie in with the release of Project Natal, the new no controller gaming technology Microsoft is developing. Everyone is expecting Natal's launch to be big with Microsoft's spokespeople saying it will be like a console launch complete with launch titles but a new gaming system? So far the rumours are flying that it will be a development similar to Nintendo's Gamecube and the Wii, only minor technical changes (so no huge graphical leaps like Xbox to 360) but it will be focused more around Natal and its capabilities. Those more conservative analysts and well me too hope this is mere speculation and that Microsoft will instead just release a new package like the Arcade and Pro which come with the Natal software. Seriously a new system? It seems like I'm only just getting to know my 360 and same with the developers and well I don't wanna have to shell out hundreds of dollars for Natal AND a new console.








So as you can see it's been a pretty eventful weekend in the video game industry whilst it has also been an interesting weekend personally with the acquisition of Red Faction Guerilla complete with bonus Handbook so expect a review soon.