— According to Heat Vision, the cast for Robert Zemeckis’ remake of “Yellow Submarine” has been tentatively set, with four actors in final negotiations to portray The Beatles in the upcoming film.
Should negotiations pan out, Cary Elwes, Dean Lennox Kelly, Peter Serafinowicz and Adam Campbell would portray George Harrison, John Lennon, Paul McCartney and Ringo Starr, respectively.
— The script-related hold-up will no longer be a factor for “Spider-Man 4,” reports Variety, as Columbia Pictures has scrapped its original plans for the sequel.
Instead, the studio will slot a reboot of the franchise for the summer of 2012. The new film, which chronicles Peter Parker’s high school days, will move on without franchise star Tobey Maguire and director Sam Raimi.
As Columbia anticipated the need for a contingency should problems jeopardize the fourth film, a script for the film was already developed by James Vanderbilt and is in pre-production.
Bypassing the cost associated with bringing back the star and director, the film’s tab should come in far below the expected budget of “Spider-Man 4.”
“We’re very excited about the creative possibilities that come from returning to Peter’s roots,” said Columbia’s Amy Pascal.
Axed director Sam Raimi showed no hard feelings in his response: “While we were looking forward to doing a fourth one together, the studio and Marvel have a unique opportunity to take the franchise in a new direction, and I know they will do a terrific job.”
The new director and Peter Parker should be revealed in the coming weeks.
— Sequel news: The “Star Trek” sequel hits theatres on June 29, 2012…Rhett Reese and Paul Wernick (“Zombieland”) will pen the script for the next “G.I. Joe” installment.