SWAT Team Raids Set of World War Z; News on Alexander Payne's Newest Film

I've seen and heard about a lot of weird shit that's happened in the production of the film. But this is something that even baffles me. On Monday, a SWAT team raided a warehouse in Budapest that was holding weapons that were being used as props in his upcoming movie World War Z. Sources tell Us Weekly that Brad Pitt, both the star and a producer for the film, "is furious." The police seized 85 fully-functional weapons, majority of them being automatic, military-style assault rifles. The guns came with paper claiming that they were non-functional. This paperwork was wrong. The guns are actually in working order, which is an extremely huge issue. The film is already over budget and over schedule, so this whole delay certainly does not help the film being released on time. The film is set to be released December 21st, 2012.

After the break, certain budgetary issues with Alexander Payne's newest film, Nebraska.

After directing Sideways, Alexander Payne stayed out of the spotlight for seven years. Now his newest film,  The Descendants, is getting a lot of high praise and a ton of Oscar-buzz as it's release date in November nears. Unfortunately, he's been having a bit of trouble getting his next project up and running. His next film, Nebraska, centers on an aging alcoholic father who decides to take a road trip from Montana to Nebraska to collect what he believes to be a million dollar Publisher's Clearing House prize. His estranged son decides to accompany his father in order to keep him out of trouble.

Payne wanted to shot the film in black and white and wanted production to start around April, but Paramount prevented that from happening. After some back and forth though, Payne won his battle to get the film made in black and white.Vulture reports that in order for the film to go through, they want Payne to secure a big-name actor to play the father and for the budget to be trimmed down to $10 million. Now, the list of actors being considered to play the role of the father? Gene Hackman, Robert Duvall, Robert Forster, and Jack Nicholson. As for the role of the son, Casey Affleck was rumored to possibly play the role, but there's been no news to confirm that he's still attached to the project.

Forster seems to be the possible front runner, due to the fact that he stars in The Descendants. But it seems like whoever they choose for the role, they'll each bring something different. Nicholson may bring a bit of the crazy to the role. Duvall seems like you can put him in any movie, no matter how large or small the role, and he'll make it seem natural. The most interesting option would be Gene Hackman though. His last movie was Welcome to Mooseport. That was in 2004. He's been out of film for this long. It's sad. Seeing him back on the screen, and with a role that seems like it could bring him back to his Royal Tenenbaums form, I'd love to see how he would fit in.