Ving Rhames Out of MI4?

The Independent.ie is reporting that Ving Rhames might be out of Mission: Impossible 4 is an agreement cannot be reached on salary. The actor is pretty straight forward saying that money is the issue.

Ving, 51, is the only actor besides Tom to appear in all three installments of the franchise. But he said: "I don't know (if I'll be in the film), we're negotiating money. If I'm not paid properly, will I be working with him again on this one? No".

Ving, promoting his new film Death Race 2, added: "I live a very simple life. If I'm supposed to make 7.7 million US dollars and they're offering me three, I don't know if that's going to work. I did the last one for more than three million, there's no misunderstanding - it's 7.7 million or no!"

Considering Rhames is currently promoting direct to video Death Race 2, he sure does seem to be overly confident of his negotiating position, value and time. Usually his asking price is reserved for rising B-list or above stars with recent proven box office draw, something that Rhames no longer qualifies. The film has already been in production for well over a month so it seems likely that the studio has decided he simply isn't worth the price.

Alcatraz Cast Coming Together

JJ Abrams next major television project, Alcatraz, is starting to come together as core cast members seems to have been hired over the last few weeks. The pilot episode is being prepped on a maybe series that "centers on a group of missing Alcatraz prisoners and guards who reappear in the present day. It chronicles the efforts of a team of FBI agents to track them down and unravel the mystery behind their disappearance thirty years prior. The casting highlights include Sam Neill and the gorgeous Parminder Nagra.

The cast:
Sarah Jones (Sons of Anarchy) as Rebecca Madsen - smart, thoughtful police officer (source)
Jorge Garcia (Lost) as Dr. Diego Soto, hippy geek expert on Alcatraz (source)
Jonny Coyne (Undercovers) - lead role, specifics unknown (source)
Jason Butler Harner (Fringe) - supporting role, specifics unknown (source)
Sam Neill (Jurassic Park) as Emerson Hauser - government agency head (source)
Parminder Nagra (ER) as Lucy - Hauser's lab technician (source)
Robert Forster (Jackie Brown) as Ray Archer - retired detective, now bar owner (source)

Super 8 Monster Concept Art?

MovieWeb has posted what it claims could be a piece of concept art from JJ Abrams' Super 8 which he is currently directing in West Virginia. Like all his projects, the film is classified with even the basic details of the plot being withheld. The image has the expected Paramount and Bad Robot logos along with a design aesthetic that reminds me of the Cloverfield creature but that could also mean someone just put a little extra effort in their fake image. A strike against the picture is the source is an IDMB user who posted:

"So, my friend's brother's wife works for a company that does marketing for films, video games, music, etc. Occasionally she'll get chain mails from these companies, which aren't supposed to go to them. A few days ago she received a chain mail intended for the production staff within Paramount."

Once a project is finished, IMDB.com can be a solid source of information as I suspect they get the official details about a film or TV show direct from the studio. Until then, information is often provided by the community resulting in a lot of inaccuracies. As a result, unless Paramount issues a takedown notice, take the image as a rumor but not fact for Super 8.