Mission: Impossible 4 Begins Production

New images posted by Accidental Sexiness shows that Mission: Impossible IV has official begun production. The images, taken in Prague, Czech Republic, show Cruise both in and out of custume. The rest of the gallery can be found here.

Josh Holloway Joins M:I 4

Casting continues on Mission: Impossible 4 with the addtion of ex-Lost cast member Josh Holloway. The actor will join the Impossible Mission Force (IMF) that is lead by Tom Cruise's character of Ethan Hunt. The Brad Bird directed, JJ Abrams produced production is expected to start production sometime in the next few months.

Super 8 Filming Schedule

Super 8 News has posted the shooting schedule for JJ Abrams film Super 8 that he wrote and is directing now in Weirton, West Virginia. While I am sure the set is closed to the public, guess might see something worthwhile if in the area. There was also a description of a scene filmed on Wednesday.

Last night around 9 pm I watched them a film 1 of the scenes for the movie. The scene shows the long blonde haired girl riding a bike down a little hill turning right heading up the street, then seconds later a mustang or camaro comes flying down, slams on the breaks, and peels to the right (looks like chasing her) I took a few photos of the street..they had lights of all different colors to make it super white and a few to make it look like dusk...Along with cars from the 70s park all on the road.

9/21 and 9/22 Brightway between Hanlin and Euclid
9/23 and 9/24 Main St and Taylor
Taylor and Orchard
9/27 New Cumberland
9/28 Fernwood and Crystal
9/29, 9/30 and 10/1 20th St and Booker

10/4 St. Paul Cemetery and Greenbrier Rd
10/5 West St and Mildred then back to St Pauls
10/6 10/7 and 10/8 Taylor and Virgina
10/11, 10/12 and 10/13 Main St, Taylor, Booker, 22nd, 20th st. and 17th
10/14 Downtown Main Street then back to Weirton Hgts

Mission Impossible 4 Find A Villain

JJ Abrams' Mission: Impossible 4 has found its big bad in the form of Michael Nyqvist who most famous role (at least overseas) is playing Mikael Blomkvist in the The Girl with the Dragon Tatto and the other two film adaptations. No specifics on what the name of the character or the agenda.

Abrams' Odd Jobs Goes to NBC

In the space of a week, JJ Abrams has managed to sell three television show pitches to three networks. The latest is a series preliminarily called Odd Jobs with Lost actors Michael Emerson and Terry O'Quinn as ex-black-ops agents. THR announced that NBC has picked up the show which will likely run next season. The other two programs, Alcatraz and Person of Interest landed at Fox and CBS.

Seven More Join Super 8

Normally the casting of a movie is settled and announced months in advance of the beginning of principle photography of a movie. However, this is a JJ Abrams project and he loathes giving anything away until he has to. So despite filming apparently having begun on Super 8 in Weirton, West Virginia, it seems the cast of the film is just now being released. Friday, we learned that Elle Fanning and Kyle Chandler were part of the cast and today brings news of six more cast members.

The Wrap is reporting that Ron Eldard (Sleepers), Noah Emmerich (White Collar), Gabriel Basso (The Big C), and newcomers Joel Courtney, Riley Griffiths, Ryan Lee and Zach Mills have joined the cast of the film. No specifics on what roles they will be playing. I get the impression that the "newcomers" will be the kids that join Elle Fanning on whatever adventure is the thrust of the movie (which more and more makes me think "Flight of the Navigator" for no real reason I can pin down).

Super 8 Principle Photography Begins

Super 8, the movie written and directed by JJ Abrams, has apparently begun judging by the set pictures that Ain't It Cool News has posted. The pictures show the Marland Heights area of Weirton, West Virginia being transformed into 1979 Lillian, Ohio complete with ice cream shop, Arcade (with pin-ball and skee-ball being the prime attractions), middle school and more. Below is the set report and a few select images, with the rest here.

A buddy of mine snagged some pictures from the area where Super 8 begins shooting this week...in the Marland Heights area of Weirton, WV.

Attached are photo's of: The "Lillian Heights Pharmancy" ; "Lillian Heights Post Office" ; Interior shots of the Lillian Heights 7-11 & Post Office (once a Marland Heights Market & Ice Cream Shop) ; Lillian Middle School (once an old Marland Heights Primary School) and some shots of the 70's era buses behind the building ; Arcade from downtown Lillian, OH (actually shot in the older section of Main Street, Weirton, WV) ; Used Car Sales lot in the same vicinity. The last photo is the older area of Weirton, where the Arcade, Used Car Lot and most of the city shots will be taking place downtown.

Filming begins this week in the Marland Heights and there will be night shots around the school area. The casting calls are being sent out between Sept 20th and the end of October so we're hoping that sometime in the next couple weeks we hear something and be a part of Hollywood! Enjoy the photo's, we'll see if we can get some shots of cast or crew in the coming weeks! If ya use this, I'm Cookie and my buddy's name is 3Huck, thanks AICN!

Abrams' Adds Third TV Show for Next Season

JJ Abrams seems to love exec producing shows as he has added a third show to his intended 2011-2012 TV season schedule. NYMag.com is reporting the currently title project, Odd Jobs, would team Lost castmates Terry O'Quinn and Michael Emerson together as a pair of black ops agents. EW added that already three networks have expressed interest in the show. If purchased (which is a near guarantee thanks to the power of Abrams), the show would be written by Josh Appelbaum and Andre Nemec (Alias). The other two shows, Alcatraz and Person of Interest, have recently found homes on Fox and CBS. It is probably a good thing that most of the time "Executive Producers" are the big picture guys that dip their toe in to check the temperature and then dive back out as the main producers run day to day operations. Otherwise Abrams wouldn't have time to even eat much less work on his various movie projects that are also in the works.

Two Join Super 8 Cast

The Vulture is reporting that JJ Abram's next project, Super 8, has its first official cast members. Elle Fanning (The Lost Room) and Kyle Chandler (Friday Night Lights, Early Edition) are joining the cast of the film that Abrams wrote and will direct. The casting of Fanning seems to match a casting call leak in early summer that described the character of Natalie as a 13-14 year old who is a "natural beauty – she is stunning, but not the “cheerleader” type. Strong and confident, but has an underlying sadness. Should have a Midwestern feel."

Abrams' Person of Interest Heads to CBS

Yesterday, JJ Abrams found a home for his show Alcatraz and now today he found a home with CBS for his other called Person of Interest. The show is an hour long drama that was co-created by writer Jonah Nolan (The Dark Knight, The Prestige). Following the usual television process, a pilot will be commissioned and if good enough the show will be picked up for probably the 2010-2011 television season.

"Aries" Starts Filming in December

The next Mission: Impossible film, codenamed "Aries", will start principle photography on December 6th and continue to film until March 7th according to Collider. There have been indications that the franchise might actually try to avoid using "Mission: Impossible" as part of the film's title but doubtful if Aries is that alternate title. I can't help but wonder if the codename might hint at possible plot point of the film. The film's executive producer is JJ Abrams with Tom Cruise, Ving Rhames, and Simon Pegg returning. New cast members include Jeremy Renner and Paula Patton.

Alcatraz Goes To Fox

One of JJ Abrams' television projects, Alcatraz, has found a home with Fox. The network is already the network of Abrams' Fringe and judging by the shows description, it could make a good lead-in for the new show. From The Hollywood Reporter:

The network has given a pilot commitment to Abrams' latest mysterious TV endeavor, whose official logline is as cryptic as one might expect: "A show about mysteries, secrets and the most infamous prison of all time: Alcatraz."

Abrams is reteaming with veterans from his other island-based show, "Lost" -- Elizabeth Sarnoff is the lead writer and joins Abrams as an executive producer, and Bryan Burk is an executive producer. Co-executive producers and writers include Steven Lilien and Bryan Wynbrandt.

JJ Abrams Adds Two Projects to Plate

It seems JJ Abrams doesn't have enough to do with directing Super 8, executive producing Fringe, Mission Impossible 4, Undercovers, Star Trek 12 and Boilerplate. He now seems to have signed to create two new television shows.

Not details are yet available but one of them is a crime-thriller TV series that would be collaboration between Jonah Nolan, brother of The Dark Knight and Inception director Christopher Nolan. The other project is collaboration with Lost executive producer Elizabeth Sarnoff for a show called "Alcatraz" about the San Francisco prison.

Personally all I want to know is if he will be directing Star Trek 12 or not. That decision probably will not be made until next year.

The Dark Tower Trilogy, TV Series Planned

At one time JJ Abrams was a contender to take Stephen King's epic series and bring it to movies screens worldwide. Back in April, Abrams plans were dashed when Ron Howard and Brian Grazer took over the potential franchise. Since then nothing was heard. Finally it seems there is movement on the picture with an ambitious plan involving both the TV and movie divisions at Universal(which owns NBC).

According to the Hollywood Reporter, the overall goal is to take the seven books in the series, along with comics that fill out The Gunslingers life story and create a trilogy of films with a TV series that will act as bridges to each sequel. The first film will be directed by Ron Howard and written by Oscar winner Akiva Goldsman. The pair previously worked together on A Beautiful Mind, Angels & Demons, and The Da Vinci Code.

"I've been waiting for the right team to bring the characters and stories in these books to film and TV viewers around the world," King said. "Ron, Akiva, Brian along with Universal and NBC have a deep interest and passion for the 'The Dark Tower' series and I know that will translate into an intriguing series of films and TV shows that respect the origins and the characters in 'The Dark Tower' that fans have come to love."

Howard, Grazer and Goldsman plan first film in the trilogy to be immediately followed by a TV series that will bridge the second film. After the second film, the TV series will show the adventures of The Gunslinger as a young man as a bridge to the third film and beyond.

"The worlds of Stephen King's 'The Dark Tower' series are richly detailed, inter-locking and deeply connected," Goldsman said. "By telling this story across media platforms and over multiple hours--and with a view to telling it completely--we have our best chance of translating Roland's quest to reach 'The Dark Tower' onto screen. We are proceeding with tremendous excitement, fidelity to the source material and, quite frankly, no small amount of awe at this opportunity."

This seems like an incredibly ambitious plan for a series of books that is going to be very difficult to translate to film. It should be interesting to see if this plays out but I suspect that these initial plans will undergo multiple changes.