The Morning Roundup: Fockin’ Fockers, Expendables get Indispensable, Brit Awards

Written by: Mike Leader, Special to CC2K

This morning we have new clips from Watchmen, news on the best action movie cast ever, Nintendo DSi release details, and all the usual scoops and tidbits. Short and sweet, but you love it!

– David Koepp, who wrote Indy 4, has signed a deal with Columbia to direct two features. The first will be an adaptation of Benjamin Wallace's Billionaire's Vinegar, which he will co-write with John Kamps (Ghost Town).

– Ben Stiller, Robert De Niro and Owen Wilson are all on board for Meet The Little Fockers, the latest in the Meet the… series that I'm sure someone cares about.

– We've commented on here before about the promising cast list for Sly Stallone's upcoming action flick The Expendables. Jet Li, Mickey Rourke, Dolph Lundgren, Forest Whitaker, Jason Statham. And now there's one more big star to add to that list: Arnold Schwarzenegger. Holy cow! Who cares what the film is about (a band of mercs taking down South American drug cartels), the cast alone is impressive. Also, Robert Rodriguez regular Danny Trejo is rumoured to be joining the cast as well.

– Ang Lee (Brokeback Mountain, Lust, Caution) is in talks to direct a film adaptation of Yann Martel's Booker Prize winning novel The Life of Pi.

– Last night, the annual BRIT awards took place in the UK. Akin to the Grammys, on a smaller scale, it celebrates the most commercial and artistically barren music in the country. Nevertheless, congratulations to Duffy, who won Best Female, Best Album and Best Breakthrough. Not that I have any stake in these awards – I am far too musically aloof / out of touch – but I admit I smiled broadly to see Iron Maiden win Best Live Act. Great stuff. Read the full list of winners here.

– The Nintendo DSi has now been announced for North America, Europe and Australia release. Australia gets it first, on April 2nd, Europe the day after, and the USA has to wait until the 5th. This new iteration of the hugely popular portable console comes with new features such as a camera and downloadable firmware updates. Once again, Europe and Australia get relatively shafted with the pricing, with Nintendo bleeding the equivalent of $215 and $194 out of Brits (no word on how many €s yet) and Aussies respectively, whereas Yanks get to pay $170. More details for your money here.

– Over at Den of Geek, they have 3 new Watchmen clips for your viewing pleasure – check them out!