Updates for AVGN movie, Steve Jobs biopic, Dumb and Dumber 2 confirmed and Daniel Craig requested by The Queen

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For those of you that follow the Angry Video Game Nerd, you’ll be pleased to know that James Rolfe (writer, director and Angry Nerd) has finally been able to start production on The Angry Video Game Nerd Movie. He reports on his home-site Cinemassacre:

“Today, cameras rolled on my first feature film. It was a surreal experience to have about 50 people all working behind the scenes. We even had a whole street blocked off just for us! Truly a big step up from shooting all by myself on the couch. We got ahead of schedule, then had some technical failures during the night. Then, we finished the day right on schedule. It’s going to be a busy and exciting month!”

He also reported on Twitter earlier today

“Day 2 of shooting went pretty well. Had to rush to get our day shots in before sundown. The nature of filmmaking.”

After initially using IndieGoGo.com to raise the necessary funds for his budget, he found that fans were so excited for the project that he made over four times the goal, gaining $325,927 in total from eager AVGN aficionados. It will be intriguing to see in the coming months how this increased budget can push this highly anticipated indie project further.

Variety reports that Two and a Half Men star Ashton Kutcher is set to play the late Steve Jobs, founder of Apple, in an upcoming biopic directed by Joshua Michael Stern (Swing Vote). The film is simply titled Jobs and will depict Jobs’ life as he became one of the most respected businessmen of our generation.

Just days after the announcements of the return of comedies Twins and Anchorman, director Peter Farrelly has confirmed a sequel to his 1994 hit comedy Dumb and Dumber, and has announced that production will commence in September, ComingSoon.net reports. Actors from the original film, Jim Carrey and Jeff Daniels, are also set to return. While the widely panned 2003 prequel Dumb and Dumberer: When Harry Met Lloyd may have audiences fearing for this project, Farrelly reassures that this is to be a very different film:

“We did not do Dumb and Dumberer, that was a studio thing. So we’ve always wanted to do a sequel and finally Jim called up. Jeff always wanted to do it. We always wanted to do it. Jim was busy, but he called and said, ‘We’ve got to do this thing again.’ He had just watched Dumb and Dumber and he said, ‘This is the perfect sequel. Let’s do it.'”

Daniel Craig, star of James Bond films Casino Royale and Quantum of Solace, has been asked personally by Queen Elizabeth II to play the part of Bond for a short film – titled The Arrival – to open to 2012 London Olympic Games, The Sun reports. This includes an invitation to film inside Buckingham Palace for the skit. Access was given to Craig, Danny Boyle (director of Trainspotting and Slumdog Millionaire, also creative director for the opening ceremony for the Olympics) and a film crew for The Queen’s private rooms on Tuesday. Helicopter and parachute scenes were also filmed. Julia McKenzie (ITV’s Miss Marple) was also part of the production. Phones and cameras were banned on set and strict instructions were given to crew members not to tell members of the public what was being filmed. This is an unprecedented, thrilling event as few are personally invited into the home of The Queen, and it will be really exciting to see the finished work. Perhaps Her Majesty will have a cameo?

Image source – The Sun

News sources – Cinemassacre, Cinemassacre’s Twitter, AVGN Movie’s IndieGoGo page, Variety, ComingSoon.net, The Sun