The Morning Roundup: Jackie Chan Mentors a Karate Kid, Steve McQueen Biopic, BAFTA Nominations

Written by: Mike Leader, Special to CC2K

This morning we've got news about upcoming biopics, adaptations and new properties. As well as your daily dose of superhero movie conjecture and some new images from Kick-Ass. Plus, BAFTA nominations. We'd like to thank the Academy: it's the Morning Roundup!

– As Joker in Tim Burton's Batman said – 'Stop the Press!'. This morning, the British Academy of Film and Television Arts announced their nominees for the annual BAFTA awards, the next step on the road to the Academy Awards. Here are the nominees for a select few of the categories. For the full list, check out the official website. Lots of interesting scoops, including in the posthumous nomination for Heath Ledger, the double nomination for Kate Winslet for Best Actress, and the across the board domination of Slumdog Millionaire.

Best Film – The Curious Case of Benjamin Button, Milk, Frost/Nixon, The Reader, Slumdog Millionaire
Best Director – Clint Eastwood (Changeling), David Fincher (…Benjamin Button), Ron Howard (Frost/Nixon), Stephen Daldry (The Reader), Danny Boyle (Slumdog Millionaire)
Film Not In English Language – The Baader Meinhoff Complex, Gomorrah, I've Loved You So Long, Persepolis, Waltz With Bashir
Animated Film – Wall.E, Persepolis, Waltz With Bashir
Leading Actor – Frank Langella (Frost/Nixon), Dev Patel (Slumdog Millionaire), Sean Penn (Milk), Brad Pitt (…Benjamin Button), Mickey Rourke (The Wrestler)
Leading Actress – Angelina Jolie (Changeling), Kristin Scott Thomas (I've Loved You So Long), Meryl Streep (Doubt), Kate Winslet (The Reader), Kate Winslet (Revolutionary Road)
Supporting Actor – Robert Downey Jr. (Tropic Thunder), Brendan Gleeson (In Bruges), Philip Seymour Hoffman (Doubt), Heath Ledger (The Dark Knight), Brad Pitt (Burn After Reading)
Supporting Actress – Amy Adams (Doubt), Penelope Cruz (Vicky Christina Barcelona), Freida Pinto (Slumdog Millionaire), Tilda Swinton (Burn After Reading), Marisa Tomei (The Wrestler)

– Jackie Chan has been cast in the upcoming remake of The Karate Kid. Chan will be playing the equivalent of the original's Mr. Miyagi (Pat Morita) in the new film. The film starts shooting in Beijing in the summer, and will be directed by Harald Zwart (One Night At McCools, Agent Cody Banks).

– Disney have picked up the rights to a currently-untitled 'supernatural' film, pitched by writers Ron Burch and David Kidd. They wrote the script for the 2005 remake Yours, Mine and Ours. Not much is known at the moment about this flick. Sounds like a slow news day.

– Back to remakes . Coming your way at some point in the not-too-distant future is an adaptation of John Steinbeck's novel East Of Eden. Yeah, the one that they made into a film with James Dean. This time, the script will be written by Brit-scribe Christopher Hampton, who is known to most for writing the film versions of Atonement and Dangerous Liaisons, but is known to me for his relatively spiffy translation of Anton Chekhov's play The Seagull. In the director's chair will be Tom Hooper (John Adams). Read more about the chequered history of the adaptation over at Empire.

– Producers Michael Cerenzie and Christine Peters have announced that they're working on a biopic of actor Steve McQueen.

– Big geek shock-horror-backlash news of the day. Is Samuel L Jackson not appearing as Nick Fury in Iron Man 2 and future Marvel Universe films?

– Big movie buff shock-horror-backlash news of the day. The shortlist for the Academy Award for Foreign-Language Film has been released and hit Swedish horror film Let The Right One In (Låt den rätte komma in) and Italian Cannes favourite Gomorrah are nowhere to be seen. Read the full shortlist, and check out some angry opinions, over at /Film .

– And to finish up, hitfix.com have some exclusive pics from the upcoming 'realistic' superhero film Kick-Ass. Check them out, and marvel at how old Nicholas Cage looks…

…notice how crappy the protagonist's outfit looks when it isn't pencilled by John Romita Jr.…

…and wonder if the comic store dialogue will be as smug, self-masturbatory and awkward as in the comics!