‘Darfur‘ (working title was Janjaweed) tell the story of American journalists in Sudan who are confronted with the dilemma of whether to return home to report on the atrocities they have seen, or to stay behind and help some of the victims they have encountered.

In the interview, Boll talks about using excessive violence in the film to create awareness, inspire outrage and to get people involved. This isn’t the first time we’ve spoken to the controversial director about this project. Mr. Bender also chatted with Uwe Boll in Cannes about ‘Darfur’ and Eric Fell and Shaun Stewart interviewed Dr. Boll via phone and dug into his motivations for this project.

Synopsis: Set against the genocide in Darfur, six Western journalists visit a small peaceful village and find its people overshadowed by fear. Hearing that the state sponsored Janjaweed militia is heading to the village, the journalists are faced with a difficult decision – leave and report the atrocities to the world, or risk their own lives and stay in the hope of averting a certain slaughter.

German film director Uwe Boll tends to be most known for his controversial content (i.e. ‘Tunnel Rats‘, ‘Pong’ & ‘Postal‘) rather than his academic studies (he *is* a Ph.D) and humanitarian efforts.

His newest film ‘Darfur‘ will challenge that reputation – and you can see it in Vancouver, Canada when Amnesty International presents the premiere screening of Uwe Boll’s ‘Darfur‘  on Thursday, December 10th -  International Human Rights Day – followed by a Q&A session with Director Uwe Boll and Don Wright from Amnesty International.

Win Tickets to ‘Darfur’ Premiere

Want to attend the premiere? Enter by submitting a comment and/or sending a Twitter to @movieset with #darfur tagged in the tweet – We’ll pick a handful of winners for tickets + a movie poster signed by Dr. Boll.

Kristanna Loken as Malin in 'Darfur'

More about ‘Darfur’

Directed by Uwe Boll, ‘Darfur‘ follows a group of journalists (portrayed by Edward Furlong, Kristanna Loken, Billy Zane, Matt Frewer, and David O’Hara) went in search of a country.

What they  found was genocide.

The situation in Sudan is shocking and criminal.  We hope that viewers will be moved to action through this beautiful, yet harsh portrayal of the travesties committed to the people of Darfur.

More ‘Darfur’ Interviews

Trailer for Uwe Boll’s ‘Darfur’

Uwe Boll Talks With MovieSet From Cannes About New Movie ‘Darfur’

MovieSet Exclusive Interview: UweBoll talks ‘Darfur’

Postal Director Uwe Boll no stranger to Darfur conflict

Crisis in Darfur

Since 2003 the crisis in Darfur has claimed the lives of over 300,000 civilians. 2,8 million Darfuri have been displaced within Sudan. The JANJAWEED MILITARY & SUDANESE GOVERNMENT FORCES have been responsible for the majority of the rape, torture and murder. 3,8 million people are dependent on international humanitarian aid. One half of these people are beyond the reach of such help.

In 2009 a group of international Journalists visited a village in the Darfur region under the protection of the AFRICAN UNION (AU). They were never the same again …

Interview with Dr. Boll

‘Darfur’ Screening Details

TIME: 6:30 PM
LOCATION: ScotiaBank Theatre
900 Burrard Street, Vancouver

Partners: Amnesty International, Canadian Students Against Darfur

More Darfur videos, stills and news

More Uwe Boll on MovieSet Dailies

A scene from Uwe Boll's 'The Final Storm'

‘The Final Storm‘ tells the story of a family coming to terms with the end of the world.  Having seen biblical rain, dying animals and a blood red moon, Tom and Gillian knew that something wasn’t right, but things turn out far worse then they could have ever imagined when a soft-spoken and sickly stranger named Silas stumbles onto their farm and warns them of the end of days.

As Silas slowly reveals his true colors with his murderous past, and lust for Gillian, the tension between him and Tom builds until an explosive showdown occurs, with Tom defending his family, and fighting for their survival, and perhaps the survival of all mankind.

More videos, stills and news from Uwe Boll’s  ‘Final Storm’

Set against the genocide in Darfur, six Western journalists visit a small peaceful village and find its people overshadowed by fear. Hearing that the state sponsored Janjaweed militia is heading to the village, the journalists are faced with a difficult decision – leave and report the atrocities to the world, or risk their own lives and stay in the hope of averting a certain slaughter.

Check it out!

Eric: It’s a pleasure to speak with you Dr. Boll.

UB: No problem.

Eric: My first question is what are some of the films that have influenced you as a filmmaker?

UB: I saw thousands and thousands of movies and of course the movies that make you want to start making movies were classical movies like John Ford’s, William Wyler’s, El Dorado, westerns, Orson Welles’ Citizen Kane but big movies as well like Ben-Hur. Those made me think I’d like to work in the business, I’d like to do something like this.

Eric: How old were you when you first decided you wanted to make movies?

UB: I was ten when I told my mother I wanted to make movies. I started filming them with Super-8mm, later with video and Betamax and made my short films and documentaries. Later on I had a phase between sixteen and twenty years old where I wrote about twenty scripts; of course they never got made but there was a time when I would sit in my room and type scripts on my typewriter. This was before the computer came.

Shaun: As a ten year old filmmaker, do you remember what your first project was?

UB: Yeah, the first Super 8mm movie I made was with Big Jim Adventure puppets in the forest. It was a stop motion movie and (by the end) I burned everyone to the ground (laughs). I had from the beginning grown up with American movies and wanted to do more genre or action or horror. This was in my blood rather than relationship dramas or something.

Eric: Somewhere in my parent’s house is a video of me burning my G.I. Joes.

UB: In my neighborhood you either had Big Jim figurines or Action Team, Action Team was also out. I was a Big Jim fan which was the male version of a Barbie doll that came with weapons for a jungle expedition or a North Pole thing. I had tons of things and was happy to burn it down. Later I had battleships and airplanes you build out of plastic and I glued that all together and normally put….fireworks inside and blew those up.

Shaun: So your next movie is Darfur, can you tell us a little about that?

UB: We all saw Hotel Rwanda and it shocked us all and everybody after the Rwanda massacre said this should never happen again. And the same in Yugoslavia and now we have the same situation in Sudan and we close our eyes again and you think, “what’s going on with us?” I’m normally not pro-military intervention but the reality is this is not a civil war, this is a massacre. If you know people are getting raped and children are getting hacked to pieces on a daily basis…NATO should have no other choice to protect (these people). I think we should go in there with helicopter patrols and stop the genocide. A movie like this can definitely create awareness for that.

The documentaries about Darfur like the Devil Came on Horseback or Darfur Now are great but nobody shows the massacres. With a feature film you can do that, you can show the rape, you see what they do with babies and so on. I think it will be hard and shocking but everything we show in the movie happens every single day there. I don’t think we can close our eyes, we have to say we can stop that. From this point of view it’s kind of a genre movie with a realistic approach behind it.

Eric: How differently are you approaching this from your previous work?

UB: I think there are two sides of the movies I did. With Heart of America I dealt with school violence in a very realistic way, with Postal I did an (over-the-top) comedy, with Seed I think I did a very brutal, bitter horror movie and then of course I did action genre, horror genre, video game movies like Alone in the Dark, Bloodrayne, In the Name of the King, House of the Dead, Far Cry and at the same time I did other movies. With Stoic last year I stepped in my own footsteps with the Heart of America movie because in Stoic I showed what happened in a German jail and we almost never leave the jail cell in the movie. It’s realistic, everything that happened in Stoic happened in (real life). So it’s not the first movie I’ve done in that style. Tunnel Rats, the Vietnam war movie I did was also shot (with only) a treatment and the actors had to develop their own characters, all the dialogue was improv. With Darfur I think it makes it realistic if it’s method acting and the actors have to create their own characters.

In Darfur, it was very hard for Billy Zane, Kristanna Loken and Edward Furlong in the beginning because they played against real Sudanese refugees. The Sudanese were Sudanese people, the Arabs were Arabs and they’re talking Arabic so they had to use translators in the movie. This would happen in reality as well, (as a journalist) you would visit the towns and of course you would have a translator. I think the movie comes across super realistic and documentary style and especially then where the interview people and they answer what really happened to them. When Kristanna Loken is interviewed and plays a journalist and she answers she was raped and had her family murdered it’s true. So it’s not made up by her then you have something different than a normal movie. The American actors on set in Africa were very… shocked, they were really overwhelmed by this. And in a way they grow as actors during the process of shooting the movie I think they really grew up and recognize this is a very special movie.

Eric: It must have been very intense for those actors.

UB: Yes, they came in as a more intellectual or cynical person. They came in like “OK, we’ll make the movie, maybe it’ll be good” and they come from LA from their normal life to Africa. Now they’re going on set and they have to get the feeling for it and after two days they realize they cannot deliver something mediocre you know. Let’s face it they play in a lot of great movies, but tons of cheap movies and they were not sure how to approach that thing. I think they have the talent to be great actors but it also got lost in a lot of B-movies they did and now they came to set and they saw that we built it out of… exactly how it would be with real bricks made out of dirt in the ground so nothing was fake and the real Sudanese people were sitting in that town and they got robbed and killed and family members died and they walked like a thousand kilometers through the desert to get away from there. After day two or three I think the actors were very impressed, they really pulled out their lost talents for good acting. They really got into it emotionally. I think it was a very positive thing.

Shaun: When is Darfur coming out?

UB: We will try to show it in Toronto for the first time in September and then we go from there. I think it’s definitely a very strong movie. I hope Boll-haters don’t (bash-it) up front that with this movie. They should forget I made the movie they should think about, “Wouldn’t it be positive this movie gets a big audience?”

Eric: Thank you so much for your time Dr. Boll. I’m looking forward to seeing how this movie turns out. It sounds like a very different movie from what I’ve seen.

UB: Absolutely. It was a risk to go into this film, but I was convinced you cannot have a written script. You have to play your part as a journalist and see what (happens). When you’re approaching the city, how will you react to it? It’s so easy to write a hero story and they say their lines, but I said to everybody, “Look if you were in that town and you had no weapons and you are there with two African union soldiers and now there are like forty Arab guys with AK-47s coming and they tell you, you go away or we shoot you but you now if you go away women get raped or children get burned alive. You know that, but what would you really do? You know it’s so easy to write that you’re a hero and you’ll stay and fight. If you were really in that situation and you know you’re only one of the other bad people because whatever you do you will not be victorious. You don’t go away, you can’t kill forty people with AK-47s so the question is how far will you take it. How many times will you push information away until you say OK, if I walk away from here my life is senseless so it’s better to just die and to try at least to stop these guys?” This is a question I wanted every single actor to ask themselves on the spot and I can see in the rough cut we have that the intensity of the scenes (ring) true.

I think this is a very good thing to have a movie like this, that it’s not acting. We had a guy who is very arrogant, David O’Hara (Wanted, The Departed, Braveheart) I told him “You think the black people they all kill each other” and you play it with this approach, this is your character. “Massacres are everywhere who gives a f***” basically. But then in the moment of the approach, I told a Sudanese woman to give him her baby and to actually confront him, “Please help me take this baby out of here.”

In this moment he changed because you cannot have the distance anymore. Now the Arab guy comes with an axe to hack it into pieces and you have to say where is your arrogance now. What makes you alive? I think in this moment I was very clever because the actors really had to react to it, so I surprised the actors with stuff like this. You get scenes going in a totally different direction, but a very interesting and intense direction. Let’s see if when it’s finished but I think it’s a very unique movie.

Shaun: It sounds like a very unique film and I look forward to seeing it.

UB: OK. Thank you.

Hugh Jackman reprises the role that made him a superstar – as the fierce fighting machine who possesses amazing healing powers, retractable claws and a primal fury. Leading up to the events of X-Men, X-Men Origins: Wolverine tells the story of Wolverine’s epically violent and romantic past, his complex relationship with Victor Creed, and the ominous Weapon X program. Along the way, Wolverine encounters many mutants, both familiar and new, including surprise appearances by several legends of the X-Men universe whose appearances in the film series have long been anticipated.

There were those who called him Icarus. Everyone else knew him as a divorced father working for an investment company. But they didn’t know his other side—his dark side. Because Icarus (Dolph Lundgren) was at his best when he was killing people. For years, he’d worked as a sleeper agent in America—but when the Soviet Empire collapsed, he found himself in a foreign country with no one to trust. Determined to break from his dark past, he started over with a new identity. But you can only escape your past for so long. When a sudden mishap in Hong Kong blows Icarus’ identity, past and present collide—and the assassin realizes he is now the target.

Finally our hosts Eric and Shaun talk about Uwe Boll’s new movie Darfur. Uwe, who is better known for doing video game adaptations, seems to be making an attempt at real film making, but some critics are skeptical about what the final product will be like. Tell us what you think! American journalists in Sudan are confronted with the dilemma of whether to return home to report on the atrocities they have seen, or to stay behind and help some of the victims they have encountered.

Be sure to check out more Behind the Scenes! We screen 3 episodes a week.

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Personally, I gasped because it is one thing to fall short of expectations with another video game movie, and another thing entirely when taking on such a serious and emotionally sensitive topic. The genocide in Darfur has killed and displaced millions of innocent people. I can only hope that he shows the utmost respect and professionalism when addressing this conflict.

One key element that may address my concern is the fact that the actors themselves will be contributing to their own dialogue and motivations.

Uwe Boll interview on Darfur

During an interview with The Den of Geek Mr. Boll said,

“I don’t want a character to go back and be a hero if the actor doesn’t feel it: so these guys must make up their own dialogue. In the end I think it will be a better movie if we have real method actors doing something. You could not shoot a movie like Far Cry doing this, or Postal – a comedy – but you can do it with movies like Tunnel Rats, or the prison movie I did, Stoic.”

On the set of Darfur

The crew has begun uploading behind-the-scenes content, starting with still photos. Keep your eyes on the sitelet for upcoming videos, blog posts, and more photos.

Uwe Boll has cast Luke Perry, of 90210 fame, and Lauren Holly, best known for Dumb and Dumber, to star in his latest film, The Storm.

In the apocalyptic thriller, Holly plays a dedicated wife and mother who must deal with the end of days scenario — all heightened by the arrival of a mysterious stranger named Silas (Perry) who holds the key to the approaching doom.

The movie, budgeted in the $5 million range, is shooting in Vancouver. Boll is directing and producing. Brightlight Pictures’ Stephen Hegyes and Shawn Williamson also are producing. [source THR]

Later on this week, we here at MovieSet will be visiting the set of The Storm to bring you exclusive behind-the-scenes content from the film. Watch this blog for more.

The Storm centers on a couple named Tom (Basic) and Gillian (Holly). The two own a farm and have just weathered a devastating storm that’s brought upheaval to their property. As they prepare for the clean-up, a stranger named Silas (Perry) comes to their doorstep and asks for shelter. What happens next is being kept a secret but the production told us “Silas may be the only one who can help Tom, Gillian and their young son survive. But as the family comes to terms with what they have lost in the storm, they are threatened by a danger that could prove even more catastrophic than the forces of nature.” So is there a threat from the supernatural or from some psychotic human? I can’t tell you but I’m hoping that a future set visit may reveal some of the mystery.

“The Storm is action-packed, suspenseful, and scary,” said producer Shawn Williamson, a longtime business and producing partner on numerous Boll movies. “We’re glad to have Uwe at the helm and we are very excited about this cast: the Silas role is an interesting departure for Luke and Lauren is a sensational Gillian.”

Boll has also got two completed films in the can and awaiting release: an adaptation of Far Cry, based on the UbiSoft video game of the same name, and Stoic, a gritty drama set in prison and starring Terminator 2’s Edward Furlong. MovieSet is hoping on taking a visit to the set of The Storm shortly and when we do you’ll be the first to find out more about this thriller.

Disclaimer: In no way is this article intended to belittle those mentioned. Nor are we minimizing their handicap in any way shape or form. No disrespect nor ill will is intended toward anyone thus afflicted. This is just a list of our favorite actors who just happen to be little people. You will notice Warwick Davis has been left off this list as my writing partner tells me his being on the list warrants a kick in the groin for blatant hackery.

Now for the list.

Harry Earles, born in Germany as Kurt Fritz Schneider on April 3, 1902, and began his career with 3 other miniature family members known as The Doll Family in 101 Ranch Wild West Show and Ringling Brothers and Barnum and Bailey Circus. As far as film acting goes Harry is probably best remembered today for his role as the lovestruck Hans in Tod Browning’s memorable and ultra-creepy cult classic, Freaks. During his film he was seen a number of times as a cigar smoking infant in a baby carriage. Harry worked with cinema greats such as chameleon and horror movie icon Lon Chaney, and comedic duo Laurel and Hardy. Earles, along with three other members of his family known as The Doll Family, were Munchkins in 1939’s, The Wizard of Oz, in which Harry was a featured member of The Lollipop Guild who greeted Dorothy when she first sets foot in Oz.

Peter Dinklage was born in Morristown, New Jersey to parents of average height. After graduating from Bennington College, VT, with a degree in Drama in 1991 Peter began to pursue acting. His debut film was as Tito in Living in Oblivion a humorous independent film about making an independent film. Dinklage’s breakout role was in 2003’s The Station Agent, but my personal favorite role of his is as the super cranky childrens’ book writer Miles Finch in Jon Favreau’s Elf starring SNL’s Will Ferrell.

Deep Roy, a.k.a. Gurdeep Roy was born Mohinder Purba in Nairobi, Kenya to Indian parents in 1957. He first came to international attention with his role as the Italian Assassin opposite Chief Insp. Jacques Clouseau played by the late Peter Sellers in 1976’s The Pink Panther Strikes Again. Deep has played many interesting roles throughout his career. He was a puppeteer in The Dark Crystal, was Droopy McCool in Star Wars: Episode VI – Return of the Jedi, was led around by the beautiful bad girl, Princess Aura, in 1980’s Flash Gordon (see yesterday’s post about that film for more coolness) and recently played all of the Oompa Loompas in Tim Burton’s Charlie and the Chocolate Factory.

Probably best known for his line, “Da plane! Da Plane!” at the beginning of the 1970’s television series Fantasy Island the French born Hervé Villechaize did have a film career as well. Villechaize had roles in horror and comedic films, but his coolest role had to be as Nick Nack in the 1974 Bond film The Man with the Golden Gun opposite Roger Moore as James Bond.

Born in the U.K. in 1934 as Kenneth George Baker, Kenny Baker’s 3′ 8″ stature has garnered him roles in many sci-fi, horror and fantasy films. Kenny’s most noted role is that of R2 D2 in all six of George Lucas‘ Star Wars films. Other titles of note in Baker’s career are Amadeus, Willow, Labyrinth and yes, Flash Gordon. Did I mention that Patrick did a kick ass top 10 list about Flash Gordon yesterday?

Mini Me! You knew it was coming. See more Verne Troyer content, exclusive to MovieSet, at our official page for Uwe Boll’s Postal. Especially have a look at MovieSet’s interview with Verne Troyer.

Finally, at number one is the late great Billy Barty. Billy got his start at one year old in a short film (how appropriate) called Half a Hero. He then began a stint playing Mickey Rooney’s little brother in the comedy shorts series Mickey McGuire. He used the noteriety from his over 160 roles to found Little People of America in 1957. He was quoted as being disappointed with Hervé Villechaize’s (mentioned above) insistence that they were “midgets” instead of actors with dwarfism. Little People of America continues to grow and has over 6,000 members today. Billy was the first little person I saw in entertainment and I remember him fondly, especially for his more obscure roles like those in the T.V. variety series from the late 70’s and early 80’s called Bizarre. You truly were grander than your stature Billy. You are missed.

But before the petition supports can begin warming up their mouth muscles in anticipation of their free pack of gum there is a big pothole that has to be overcome. Stride has requested that the petition has to meet its goal of one million signatures by May14 in order for their promise to be kept. That gives the troops only five more days and with the petition name count standing at 260K, there is a lot more ground to be covered if people out there really want their free chewing gum. So far I haven’t heard any counteroffer from Boll…unless…wait a minute! What if this is all some sort of crazy idea dreamed up by Uwe Boll in the first place! Maybe it was him that got the ball rolling with Stride?! Could this be some kind of crazy as a fox publicity stunt to get promotion for Uwe’s latest, “Postal”? I wouldn’t put it past that sly German guy.

So what is Steven Spielberg offering to us if we don’t like “Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull?”

I know, it’s getting to be a Uwe Boll lovefest around here but when a director challenges another director to a boxing fight, you better bet that I’m gonna blog about it. And that’s exactly what Boll did to none other than “Transformers”, “Pearl Harbor” and “The Rock” director Michael Bay today. Here’s what the German General said to the Bayanator:

“Hi, here’s Uwe Boll and you see my outfit so you know what’s coming up now basically. Michael Bay responded to my note about him in a very insulting way for me. He said that he doesn’t care about me and this was very insulting because I care about him and I think that with the money he has for his movies, he sucks big time. I think it’s time to meet in the ring actually.

“So it’s my message to Michael Bay, Michael, in between your pool parties in LA or your casting sessions with the strippers you should start training now. And I’m sure you look good, you look thin. I saw you at the Hollywood Film Festival, I think you’re a fit guy and you do like private karate Asia bullshit crap fighting stuff in LA where you think you’re super cool that you do that with your 500 bucks per hour trainer.

“So let’s meet in the ring in September or October. Pay-per-view. Mandalay Bay. Las Vegas. Twelve rounds of boxing. Boll against Bay.

“It’s also independent against the studio system and I think that this day in Mandalay Bay in Las Vegas we will clear it up who is not only the better director who is also able to fight more for that what he wants.

“OK Michael, if you see that message I expect that your people contacting me, it will be all arranged. We even make money with it, and so let’s go for it. Boll against Bay. It’s on.”

Bay was the guy that told Uwe Boll that he was a “sad being”. However, it should be noted that Boll fired first and said that he wasn’t a “fucking retard like Michael Bay”. However again, there are some that will count Bay’ s 1998 film “Armageddon” as the true first firing shot in this war.

Bay has yet to respond to Boll’s challenge. The last time that the “House of the Dead” director challenged someone to a boxing match it was when he invited several of his most vocal online critics to step into the ring. Boll won all four match-ups.

Want to see the Boll-man issue the challenge with your own eyes? Knock yourself out:

I’ll give Uwe this: if Bay accepts this could be a doozy for pay-per-view and the hype machine of both guys. Who wouldn’t want to watch this fight?

As Uwe mentions in his rebuttal, he wants someone to start a Pro-Boll petition. Use the comments section below to make sure Uwe directs movies for decades to come.

We’ve also got new photos for “Postal” and “Far Cry” to show you plus the trailer for “Tunnel Rats“. That’s THREE movies that Uwe Boll has directed, one of which he did while he had time to spare waiting for the traffic light to change. The man is a speed demon and at this rate he will be directing his 500th movie sometime in 2011.

But believe it or not there are other movies being made out there that aren’t by Germans who have doctorates. One such project is “Married Life”, the Pierce Brosnan/Rachel McAdams drama set in the 1950s. We’ve now got video interviews of McAdams, Brosnan, co-star Patricia Clarkson and the film’s writer/director Ira Sachs on the “Married Life” listing so go watch ‘em.

And don’t forget to enter our OTHER contest, the “What’s In the Bag?” one, if you haven’t already. The prize is reaaaallly cool and worth about six million dollars on eBay. No, it’s not Colonel Steve Austin, a.k.a. the Six Million Dollar Man. Nice try though

MovieSet can exclusively report to you the news that Uwe Boll has secretly acquired the film rights to yet another videogame property. The director of “House of the Dead”, “Alone in the Dark”, “BloodRayne”, “BloodRayne II”, “In the Name of the King: A Dungeon Siege Tale” and the upcoming “Far Cry” and “Postal” films is the world’s most prolific adapter of videogames into movies and he will be continuing to hold on to that mantle when filming begins later this year on the film version of the greatest of all videogames, the legendary arcade game called “Pong”.

MovieSet has learned that Boll’s “Pong” film will take the basic premise of the 1972 coin-op that sparked the videogame revolution and adapt it into a feature format. Since the “Pong” game featured two lines and a single ball that traveled back and forth unendingly, understandably there will be some changes made to turn the game into a movie. Instead of two lines and a ball, the movie will cast two actors and an actress. According to a MovieSet source that spoke to us on condition of anonymity, Boll wants to create an analogy using the two lines and ball to represent a love triangle between two men and a woman. The film that is being looked to as a template for Boll’s “Pong” is Michael Bay’s 2001 “Pearl Harbor” which saw a romantic triangle between the characters played by Josh Hartnett, Ben Affleck and Kate Beckinsale. Similarly to “Pearl Harbor” which used the backdrop of the Japanese 1941 sneak attack on Hawaii as the film’s drama which propelled the love story, Boll wants to create a similar milieu for “Pong” using the controversial Beijing Olympics as a backdrop. The two actors will be professional table tennis players, one American, the other from a country at ideological odds with America (think North Korea or an Islamic country), both competing for the affection of a woman who cannot commit to either athlete because she is one of the judges at the Olympic games. Also factoring into the storyline will be a subplot involving a brewing scandal that could threaten to not just disrupt the Olympic games itself but jeopardize the state of peace between China and the west. The three main characters at the center of this storm will be torn between their emotions, their personal drive to win no matter what the cost and the escalating state of international tension that could engulf the world in a war. “It’s ‘Titanic’ meets ‘The Hunt For Red October’ at the Olympics,” our source told us. “Scary stuff and when you factor in the videogame, the world better look out. This is scary stuff.”

The idea is that Boll wants to make “Pong: The Movie” directly after wrapping the presently filming “Jail” movie. Again, according to our source, storyboarding and pre-vis is already taking place so that the film’s intense action sequences can be planned for in advance. Casting isn’t expected to happen until after the project is announced at the Cannes Film Festival to attract maximum international exposure and lucrative investment dollars. While it’s still in the early days, word is that Boll wants to be as faithful to the source material as humanly possible and therefore cast two tall, thinner actors to play the two love-struck ping pong’ers. Similarly, the hope is to find a full-figured actress that isn’t afraid to add a little more weight to her frame to play the part of the back-and-forth love interest. Names that are being kept in mind include Queen Latifah, Jennifer Love Hewitt and a younger Jennifer Connelly back in the days before “A Beautiful Mind”.

Finally, one other item was conveyed by our source: Boll envisions a trilogy of “Pong” movies. The director has employed a similar tactic with almost all of his videogame movie franchises; sequels to “BloodRayne”, “Alone in the Dark” and “Dungeon Siege” are already in various stages of development or in the can. By selling the concept of a “Pong” trilogy of films Boll can potentially attract more investors and pre-sell the films to international markets. Already there has been talk of moving ahead with a sequel, tentatively titled “Pong 2: Breakout”, right after filming of the first film is wrapped. The third film could be timed to coincide with a new videogame version of “Pong”, updated for 21st century gamers and their gaming consoles, sometime in 2010. Ball meets Boll? We’re told that that tagline is already being considered by the producers and director to play up to the audience and Uwe Boll’s videogame reputation.

I contacted a representative for Uwe Boll who told us that the director would be unavailable to comment because he was out of the country attending a “sporting/business event” connected to his recent appearance in last month’s “GQ” pictoral. When asked directly about whether Uwe was planning on making a movie out of “Pong” for his next film project or that he may be planning on making a teaser trailer to play in front of “Postal” for “Pong: The Movie”, the rep was silent before issuing “We have no comment at this time.”

MovieSet will continue to follow this story and hopefully be able to have an official comment from Uwe Boll once he returns.

The film stars Edward Furlong (“Terminator 2: Judgment Day”) and is based on a true account of a young man imprisoned in a German penitentiary and then tortured by the inmates. Uwe told us that he is striving to make it as hard as he can and to pull no punches; he wants to show the audience how brutal the experience was for the man. In-between setting up shots for “Jail” we got Uwe to sit down and discuss in his own words what the movie will be like. We also snagged some exclusive behind-the-scenes video showing the horrific set where the violence takes place. You can watch all of MovieSet’s exclusive videos about Boll’s next work on our new “Jail” page.

Stay tuned for more exclusive MovieSet interviews with the filmmakers and our trips to the sets of upcoming movies.

Uwe also told us how you can catch a FREE advance screening of “Postal” if you live in New York City or Chicago. The NYC screening will happen on April 1 @ 8:00 PM at the Tribeca Film Center, and if you would like to get the opportunity to come see the movie that has the internet buzzing all you need to do is join the “Postal” Facebook Fan Page and leave a related wall post before March 28. We’re giving away 5 pairs of tickets and if you’re one of the lucky winners we’ll contact you so you can come claim your prize! Follow this link to the “Postal” Facebook Fan Page and enter right away!