Editorials > FilmWad Breaks it Down: Tuesday September 25

There have been a lot of young women attached to play Wonder Woman, whether in her own movie or in the upcoming Justice League movie. The latest name attached to the golden lasso and bullet-proof bracelets is Jessica Biel, who has previously shown her action-star abilities in Blade: Trinity. The paperwork isn't finished on her deal, but Biel is strongly believed to be playing the Amazon in the Justice League movie. 

In other superhero news, Dwayne "The Rock" Johnson is being considered for the role of Captain Marvel as well as his evil rival Black Adam for the new Shazam movie. I can already see the complaints from Arab Anti-Defamation groups. "He's called Black Adam? He's exactly like Captain Marvel but he's an Arab and he's evil? Oh hell no." 

Clint Eastwood and Morgan Freeman are teaming up again but with Eastwood in the director's seat and Freeman in Nelson Mandela's. The film is called The Human Factor, based on the book of the same name by John Carlin. Matt Damon may also appear in the picture as the captain of the South African rugby team that played in the 1995 Rugby World Cup. 

John "Die Hard" McTiernan has been sentenced to four months in jail for lying to the FBI regarding their investigation of private investigator/wiretapper Anthony Pellicano. McTiernan is appealing on the grounds that he was under the influence during questioning. Pff, that was his excuse for Rollerball.

Simon Pegg and Nick Frost are reportedly working on a road movie that takes their British slacker double-act to the good ol' USA. After Shaun of the Dead and Hot Fuzz, I'd watch those two pay their taxes so them driving around should be excellent. 

The first trailer for the day is the one for Trade, a drama about the internet sex slave trade that opens this Friday. While it has an 8.1 rating on IMDb (though with only just over 200 votes) it's largely been slammed by critics, as evidenced by its 11% rating on Rottentomatoes. That disparity was enough to make me want to take a look at the trailer. The trailer actually looks reasonably good, though in the way that an episode of Law & Order SVU looks good. You'll watch it if it's on but you know it's formulaic and usually not really worth the time. SVU at least has a good cast. This just has Kevin Kline.

The Darjeeling Limited also opens this Friday and it also has its fair share of bad reviews under its belt. People have been saying it's nothing new from Anderson, but so what? He's never professed to be an important director, just a funny one who tells stories that mix melancholy with absurdity, usually with success. Another thing you might want to remember is that the 13-minute prequel Hotel Chevalier will be available as a free download from iTunes tomorrow.