Trailer for the new JUDGE DREDD movie

A trailer for the upcoming Judge Dredd film, Dredd, has been released. The film sees Judge Dredd taking on rookie Judge Anderson for training, only for both to become trapped in a 200-floor vertical slum ruled by a ruthless drug lord. The setting is Mega-City One, a vast megalopolis of 800 million people stretching down North America's eastern seaboard.

The film is set for release in the UK on 7 September 2012 and in the USA on 21 September. Karl Urban stars as Judge Dredd and Olivia Thirlby as Psi-Division Judge Anderson, with Lena Headey as the main villain, Madeline Madrigal (aka 'Ma-Ma'). The film was shot in South Africa with a budget of $45 million. It'll be in 3D (grumble) and has been R-rated in the United States.

First impressions: looks reasonable (backed up by some solid early reviews). Thirlby, Urban and Headey all look good, the costumes and sets look decent and the whole thing certainly looks more promising than the disappointing 1995 Stallone movie. However, the depiction of Mega-City One looks dull. The Stallone movie did have an impactful visual style that worked very well. This version looks fairly generic in comparison.

Before anyone asks, yes, Dredd keeps his helmet on for the duration.

Big GAME OF THRONES Season 3 news

HBO's Game of Thrones panel, held in the largest auditorium at the San Diego Comic-Con and packed out, has revealed a lot of new information about the third season of the show. Season 3 of Game of Thrones will premiere on 31 March 2013 and will feature a significant number of new characters and actors, in addition to the already-announced Diana Rigg as Olenna Tyrell. Additional roles will include (and some more still need to be case, including Mance Rayder):

Orell is a wildling raider who possesses unusual abilities. He is a close advisor to Mance Rayder, the King-beyond-the-Wall. In the novels, Orell only has a minor role at the end of A Clash of Kings, where he is killed in a struggle with Jon Snow. Orell's casting and other tidbits suggest that Orell's role has been combined with that of Varamyr Sixskins. Why he is called Orell and not Varamyr, given the latter's far greater prominence (he is even, briefly, a POV character), is unclear.

Orell is being played by Mackenzie Crook. Crook is a familiar face from television and film. On TV he is best-known for playing the pedantic, military-obsessed Gareth in the original UK version of The Office. He also played Ragetti (the pirate with the wooden eye) in all three Pirates of the Caribbean movies.

Thoros of Myr is a red priest, a follower of the Lord of Light like Melisandre. Unlike Melisandre, Thoros is a drunkard and a warrior, more at home on the battlefield with his flaming sword (a normal sword covered in wildfire) than praying. He is a former friend and drinking companion of King Robert Baratheon.

Thoros will be played by Paul Kaye. Kaye is a well-known British comedian who debuted in the 1990s, most notably for his role as shock-interviewer 'Dennis Pennis'. In the early 2000s he moved into serious acting and has appeared on British dramas including Waking the Dead and Hustle.

Edmure Tully is the younger brother of Catelyn and Lysa Tully, and the eldest son and heir of the ailing Lord Hoster Tully of Riverrun. Though brave, Edmure is also untested on the battlefield and lacks the fine political judgement of his elder sister Catelyn.

Edmure will be played by Tobias Menzies. Menzies is best-known for playing Brutus on the HBO series Rome, and more recently has starred in the British spy drama Spooks.

Brynden 'the Blackfish' Tully is the younger brother of Lord Hoster Tully and the uncle of Catelyn, Lysa and Edmure Tully. An experienced soldier, knight and warrior, he is noted for his strategic skills and obstinate nature.

As previously indicated, Brynden will be played by Clive Russell, an experienced British actor. I'd suggest checking out his performance as Mr. Vandemar in Neil Gaiman's TV mini-series Neverwhere, where he is superb.

Selyse Baratheon, formerly of House Florent, is the wife of King Stannis Baratheon. Her health has not been good ever since the devastating Siege of Storm's End during Robert's Rebellion, and she spends most of her time restricted to a tower at Dragonstone (note: info from Season 2 of the HBO series, in the novels she is somewhat more mobile). She is an ardent worshipper of the Lord of Light and follows Melisandre's every word of advice.

Also as previously hinted, Selyse will be played by British actress Tara Fitzgerald, whose list of roles is far too large to mention here.

Tormund Giantsbane is one of the wildlings' chieftains and battle commanders. A hugely gregarious, outgoing man with a tremendous sense of humour, he also has a rough sense of honour and conscience. He is one of Mance Rayder's closest allies.

Tormund is played by Norwegian actor Kristofer Hivju. Hivju most recently appeared in the prequel to The Thing and is working on the new M. Night Shyamalan movie, After Earth.

Lord Beric Dondarrion is the Lord of Blackhaven, a small castle in the Dornish Marches. Beric has already appeared in Game of Thrones, when he was dispatched by Eddard Stark in Season 1 to apprehend Gregor Clegane just before the outbreak of the War of the Five Kings.

For whatever reason, HBO has decided to recast the role of Beric. He will now be played by Northern Irish playwright and actor Richard Dormer.

Jojen and Meera Reed are the children of Lord Howland Reed of Greywater Watch, one of Eddard Stark's closest friends and allies. The Reeds guard the Neck against enemies encroaching from the south, and have a hostile relationship with House Frey. The Reeds appear in the second novel, but were delayed until the third season due to cost reasons.

Playing Jojen is Thomas Brodie Sangster, unfortunately doomed to be known as 'that kid from Love, Actually' for life. He also starred in the Roman historical movie The Last Legion.

Playing Meera is Ellie Kendrick, best-known for playing the title role in the 2009 BBC mini-series The Diary of Ann Frank. She has more recently appeared in Upstairs Downstairs.

Shireen Baratheon is the only daughter of Stannis and Selyse Baratheon, and is now Stannis's sole heir since, as mentioned in Season 2, all of his sons have been stillborn. Shireen is a gentle, sweet child who has been cursed by the greyscale, a skin disease that kills many. Those who survive are marked by an area of skin - in this case on Shireen's face - that has turned grey and scaly,

Shireen will be played by Kerryn Ingram, who recently won a Laurence Olivier Award for her appearance in the musical Matilda.

Qyburn is a former maester of the Citadel who was invited to leave after performing some rather bizarre medical experiments on corpses. Qyburn has since made his living offering his knowledge and skills to whoever needs them, and in the War of the Five Kings some interesting opportunities have arisen for him to ply his trade.

Qyburn will be played by British actor Anton Lesser. Enormously experienced on stage, screen and radio, he recently appeared in the one-off drama The Man Who Crossed Hitler, the fourth Pirates of the Carribean film and was a recurring character on Primeval. On radio he is best-known for playing Lindsey Davis's signature character of Roman investigator Falco, in adaptations of five of her novels.

Anguy is a noted archer and marksman who frequently wins archery contests at tournaments. In the Song of Ice and Fire novels he won the archery contest at the tournament in honour of Eddard Stark and afterwards joined Beric Dondarrion's mission into the Riverlands. It is unclear if this will be the same in the TV series.

Anguy is played by Philip McGinley, a British actor best-known for his recurring role on Coronation Street as Tom Kerrigan.

Missandei is a young woman from the island of Naath, enslaved by pirates and sold in the flesh-markets of Slaver's Bay. She currently serves Kraznys, a slave-trader in the city of Astapor, as a translator.

Missandei is played by Nathalie Emmanuel, who recently left a long-running stint on the soap opera Hollyoaks.

Roles still to be announced: Mance Rayder, Daario Naharis, (presumably) Kraznys, Hoster Tully and possibly a few more. At this time I think it's likely that Oberyn Martell has been delayed until Season 4.

Comic-Con posters: THE HOBBIT and THE WORLD'S END

A whole ton of interesting stuff is happening at the San Diego Comic-Con, as usual. A lot of upcoming movies have had exclusive teaser posters released for them, and these are two of the most interesting:

An Unexpected Journey is the first of two movies adapting J.R.R. Tolkien's The Hobbit to the big screen. The same crew are handling the project as the Lord of the Rings movie trilogy a decade ago, including director Peter Jackson. The first movie will be released this December. Principal filming on the two movies ended a week ago, with the production switching to editing and special effects work.

The World's End won't start shooting until September and is planned for release later in 2013. This is the third in the thematic Three Flavours Cornetto trilogy, following on from Shaun of the Dead and Hot Fuzz, and reunites director Edgar Wright with actors Simon Pegg (who also co-writes) and Nick Frost (Paul, despite featuring Pegg and Frost, doesn't count because it was directed by someone else).

The World's End is set during an unspecified disaster that threatens the entire world. Rather that played out from a traditional large-scale, global perspective, the threat is instead glimpsed through a group of characters (including Pegg and Frost) as they recreate a pub-crawl around London from a decade earlier, culminating at the World's End pub in Camden. Expect laughs and ice cream.

The trilogy is so-called because each movie features the characters eating a Cornetto ice cream whose colour is related to the movie: blood red (strawberry) for zombie horror flick Shaun of the Dead; police blue (original flavour) for crime caper Hot Fuzz; and alien green (mint) for The World's End. The title is also a riff on Krzysztof Kieslowski's excellent Three Colours series.

Diana Rigg cast in GAME OF THRONES

Early news from the San Diega Comic-Con has revealed that Dame Diana Rigg has been cast in the third season of Game of Thrones.

Rigg is best-known for playing the role of Emma Peel on cult 1960s show The Avengers. She left the show to play Contessa Teresa di Vicenzo in the sixth James Bond film, On Her Majesty's Secret Service, famously regarded as Bond's only 'true' love and the only woman to marry him, albeit briefly. Rigg's subsequent career has focused on stage work, with occasional roles in TV series such as Mrs. Golightly in the Moll Flanders mini-series. She has also served as Chancellor of Stirling University. Rigg recently filmed an appearance in the next season of Doctor Who alongside her actress daughter, Rachael Stirling, to air in early 2013.

In Thrones Rigg will be playing the role of Olenna Tyrell, better-known as the Queen of Thorns. The formidable matriarch of House Tyrell, she was born in House Redwyne, the rulers of the Arbor, and married Lord Luthor Tyrell of Highgarden. Olenna described Luthor as a mediocre sort of man, not unskilled in certain intimate areas but also boorish. He died by riding a horse off a cliff whilst hawking, possibly one of the more comical deaths referenced in the Song of Ice and Fire novels. This led to Luthor and Olenna's magnificently fatuous son Mace becoming the ruler of the Reach. Olenna has little to no patience with her moronic son, but is fond of her grandchildren, Loras and Margaery. She is Margaery's mentor in the field of political intrigue and is a skilled player in the game of thrones, often underestimated due to her advanced age. She is almost always accompanied by two bodyguards/servants named Erryk and Arryk, twins whom she can't tell apart and usually refers to as 'Left' and 'Right'.

Rigg should totally kill in this role. Really looking forwards to her scenes with Natalie Dormer and Sophie Turner.

Cover art for Joe Abercrombie's RED COUNTRY

The UK cover art for Joe Abercrombie's Red Country has been unveiled:

And the full cover:

The US cover art, which has been previously unveiled:

The jacket blurb:

"They burned her home. They stole her brother and sister. But vengeance is following.

Shy South hoped to bury her bloody past and ride away smiling, but she’ll have to sharpen up some bad old ways to get her family back, and she’s not a woman to flinch from what needs doing. She sets off in pursuit with only a pair of oxen and her cowardly old stepfather Lamb for company. But it turns out Lamb’s buried a bloody past of his own, and out in the lawless Far Country, the past never stays buried.

Their journey will take them across the barren plains to a frontier town gripped by gold fever, through feud, duel and massacre, high into the unmapped mountains to a reckoning with the Ghosts. Even worse, it will force them into alliance with Nicomo Cosca, infamous soldier of fortune, and his feckless lawyer Temple, two men no one should ever have to trust…"

The book will be published on 18 October 2012 in the UK and 23 October in the USA.

DEUS EX to become a movie

The excellent 2011 cyber-stealth RPG Deus Ex: Human Revolution is headed for the big screen. CBS Films have picked up the rights to develop the game as a film, apparently impressed by the game's sales of 2.5 million copies to date.

Human Revolution was a prequel to two earlier games in the series: Deus Ex (2000), which is frequently-cited as the best RPG (if not the best game) of all time, and Deus Ex: Invisible War (2003), which is not. The game is set in Detroit in 2027, where a former SWAT team member, Adam Jensen, is rebuilt with 'augments', cybernetic implants and limbs which allow him to function after suffering near-fatal injuries. The plot of the game, and presumably the movie, revolves around the tensions over the differences between augmented people and 'normal' citizens, against a backdrop of the rising power of international corporations. The game was highly acclaimed upon release.

Producer Roy Lee encouragingly worked on last year's well-received movie, The Woman in Black. Less encouragingly, his collaborator Adrian Askarieh is responsible for the Hitman movie (which was 'not well-received', to put it mildly) and seems to have a lot of game-to-film adaptations on his plate. The original game designers will be working as consultants, though the level of their work on the movie is open to debate, given they are currently hard at work on Thief 4.

GAME OF THRONES Season 3 news round-up

A round-up of news regarding Season 3 of Game of Thrones (note: one minor spoiler if you haven't read A Storm of Swords).

Season 3 will likely feature less massive fleet-destroying subnuclear explosions.

• Season 3 started shooting today in Northern Ireland. Director Daniel Minahan - returning from Season 1 after a break last year - was the first director to set to work. Season 2 directors Alik Sakharov and David Nutter are also returning (the latter will handle the final two seasons of the season, which will allegedly be the most ambitious the show has attempted to date). Producers David Benioff and Dan Weiss will also try their hands at directing. Two very high-profile directors are also joining the team: Alex Graves, a producer and director on The West Wing, and Michelle McLaren, a producer and director on both Breaking Bad and The Walking Dead, are lending their considerable talents to the series.
• The writing roster is unchanged from last year: David Benioff and D.B. Weiss, Bryan Cogman, Vanessa Taylor and George R.R. Martin. Martin has already written the seventh episode of the season, Autumn Storms, the only episode to be named so far.
• As well as returning to Northern Ireland, Croatia and Iceland, the show will be filming the Slaver's Bay storyline in Morocco. The show's unaired pilot episode used Morocco as a location, but moved to Malta and then Croatia for the series itself.
• Unfortunately, actor Clive Mantle - who played Greatjon Umber in Season 1 - will not be returning to the series this year. He was absent from Season 2 due to a scheduling conflict and was apparently not invited back for Season 3. Whether this means his role will be temporarily removed (allowing him to return in Season 4 or later), the character quietly dropped or the role recast remains unclear.
• Liam Cunningham has signed a six-year contract with HBO to reprise his role as Davos Seaworth. Whilst some have taken this to mean that HBO envisage the show lasting for at least eight seasons (backed up by comments from the producers, who have said they are planning an 80-90 episode story), it's also been pointed out that six-year contracts are fairly standard in the industry, regardless of how long the show will go on for.
• The characters of Tormund Giantsbane, Daario Naharis, Thoros of Myr, Olenna Redwyne (the Queen of Thorns), Ramsay Bolton, Vargo Hoat, Edmure and Brynden Tully, and the Reed children (Jojen and Meera) are all apparently being cast for Season 3.
• Well-known British actors Mackenzie Crook (noted for his roles in the UK version of The Office and the Pirates of the Caribbean trilogy), Clive Russell (Neil Gaiman's Neverwhere) and Tara Fitzgerald (too many films and plays to mention) are all rumoured to have been cast. Crook attended a cast read-through but his role has not been announced: fans speculate it's Ramsay Bolton, Varamyr Sixskins, one of the Brotherhood Without Banners (including a recast Beric Dondarrion) or even Mance Rayder. He's been specifically ruled out from the role of Vargo Hoat. Russell seems more of a lock as Brynden 'the Blackfish' Tully and Fitzgerald as a recast Selyse Baratheon.
• Newcomer Charlotte Hope has been cast in the role of 'Myranda'. It is unclear whether this is a new character, Myranda Royce from the books (who is much older) or a renamed Meera Reed. Nathalie Emmanuel, who was on Hollyoaks for three years, has also been cast in an undisclosed role. Asim Ahmad has been linked to the role of Thoros of Myr. Coronation Street actor Philip McGinley has also been spotted at read-throughs. Fans speculate he could be playing the role of Edmure Tully. Actress Kerry Ingram has also been linked to the role of Shireen Baratheon.