It’s being reported that Famke Janssen (X-Men, House on Haunted Hill) has signed on to join the cast of Hansel & Gretel: Witch Hunters, the updated sequel of sorts to the old German fairy tale, Hansel and Gretel.

Janssen is set to play the leader of a group of witches who have their hands full with the brother and sister duo of Hansel and Gretel. The story takes place 15 years after the siblings were lured to a wonderful and inviting gingerbread house by a vile witch with plans of cooking and eating them. After escaping their close encounter with the witch, the pair grow up bent on vengeance and ultimately become bounty hunters set on finding and destroying all witches.

Gemma Arterton has been cast as Gretel in Paramount Pictures’ upcoming action/horror/fantasy sequel to the classic Brothers Grimm fairy tale, Hansel and Gretel.

The new movie, titled Hansel and Gretel: Witch Hunters, is considered more of a continuation of the tale than a sequel, and sees the siblings many years later, now spending their days as bounty hunters. It also stars Jeremy Renner (The Hurt Locker, The Assassination of Jesse James by the Coward Robert Ford) as Hansel.

Arterton has been a steadily growing star over the past couple of years with appearances in films like Quantum of Solace, The Disappearance of Alice Creed, Clash of the Titans, and Prince of Persia: The Sands of Time.

A trio of new stars are reportedly in negotiations to join Barry Sonnenfeld‘s Men in Black III, the third installment in the mega franchise that began in 1997.

According to sources, 30 Rock star and “single greatest actor of all time” Alec Baldwin, District 9 and The A-Team‘s Sharlto Copley, and Clash of the Titans and Prince of Persia: The Sands of Time actress Gemma Arterton are all said to be in negotiations with Sony for roles in the new movie.

If all goes well, Baldwin will play the man who runs MiB back in 1969, the year that star Will Smith will be traveling back to in order to save a young K (Josh Brolin) from Yaz (Jemaine Clement), a nasty alien who’s been sent back in time Terminator style to take K out and ensure the destruction of Earth…if plot details we’ve heard are accurate, that is.

Clash of the Titans
Blu-ray | DVD | Video On Demand
Directed by Louis Leterrier
Starring Sam Worthington, Gemma Arterton, Liam Neeson, Ralph Fiennes, Mads Mikkelsen
Release date: July 27, 2010

Hollowness is found at the center in director Louis Leterrier‘s Clash of the Titans. What should be a glorious and romantically fueled approach to the classical Greek myth succumbs to the travesties of CGI. It results into an unnatural depiction; one in which charts Man’s rebellion against the Gods. The 1981 film of the same name managed to depict the same premise so naturally by using special effects of the older Hollywood tradition (stop-motion effects). Greek myths are almost impossible to re-imagine. Their fluency and fantastical aura surrounding them makes such tales inadaptable to the big screen. Their qualities work best when they are intertwined within a contemporary story and setting, working successfully as metaphors and allegorical tales. Leterrier’s version doesn’t depend on adventure tactics and characters’ motives. Its reliance is on solely adhering to so much CGI.

Leterrier imposes upon himself the duties of mythic storyteller. So burdened with this task he tries to elude previous depictions of this myth and venture out on his own limb and recreate the myth from his own vision. He does not want to stay in accordance with the 1981 film. All the more respect for him. But most of the time an untidy representation of this mythical world pervades Leterrier’s entire picture. His picture suggests no orderly activity, offering sporadic moments of engaging action set-pieces and others that hit rock bottom. The 1981 film feasted on extravagant action sequences that felt real and looked plausible enough to represent a Greek myth. Most importantly that film cashed in on the romantic and emotional qualities that managed to drive the film toward recognizing the different uniforms of humanity. Deliberate attention was paid to the emotional aspect whereas the 2010 film shows no inquiry into this subject, resulting with characters that manifest no worthy sentiment. We find our lack of caring and emotional attachment towards the film’s characters deriving mainly from their inabilities, or the script’s (either one), to evoke the slightest notion of feeling.

Prince of Persia: The Sands of Time
Directed by Mike Newell
Starring Jake Gyllenhaal, Gemma Arterton, Ben Kingsley, Alfred Molina
Rated PG-13
Release date: May 28, 2010

Quick, name me a good movie based on a video game. Okay, we all know the cliché that there are no good movies based on video games (Resident Evil and its sequels may be the exception to that rule), but that doesn’t mean it’s impossible, or that Hollywood is going to stop trying. Prince of Persia: The Sands of Time, is just the latest attempt to translate a popular video game series into a film, and it largely succeeds in capturing what makes the game fun, and turning it into a fun action-adventure movie.

Jake Gyllenhaal plays Dastan, an orphan boy who is adopted by the king of Persia and grows up to be a somewhat roguish but loving son. He and his older brothers attack a holy city after evidence arises that the city is supplying enemies of Persia with weapons (the first of many questionable modern world allusions). As it turns out, the city isn’t really making weapons, but they do have one weapon of possible mass destruction, in the form of a dagger that can turn back time for its user. Dastan comes into possession of the dagger, and is forced to use it after he is framed for the murder of his adopted father. Tagging along with him is Tamina (Gemma Arterton), the princess of the holy city, and the latest in a line of guardians of the dagger. Dastan and Tamina must stop evil forces from trying to use the dagger for their own dastardly plans, while also trying to clear Dastan’s name.