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Ridley Scott has teased that the prequels to his 1979 horror movie Alien will be “really nasty”.

The 72-year-old director, who recently revealed plot details of the upcoming films, warned Virgin Media that his intention to explore the back story of the extraterrestrial monsters would not make for easy viewing.

“The film will be really tough, really nasty. It’s the dark side of the moon. We are talking about gods and engineers. Engineers of space. And were the aliens designed as a form of biological warfare? Or biology that would go in and clean up a planet?”

The Gladiator mastermind added that he was determined to craft a superior product to James Cameron’s own intergalactic epic Avatar.

“Jim’s raised the bar and I’ve got to jump to it,” Scott stated. “He’s not going to get away with it.”

James Cameron has blasted critics of his Avatar star Sam Worthington.

In an interview with ShortList, Cameron compared the Australian actor to Russell Crowe and Hugh Jackman and suggested that people who see him as “bland and wooden” are “idiots”.

He said: “If you think about actors who can do the tough-guy thing, whether it’s Russell Crowe or Hugh Jackman, he’s certainly in that league, and I think he’s got a capacity to evoke emotion that some of the lesser tough-guy actors couldn’t even think about getting close to.

“Sam’s amazing. He’s got great range and vulnerability. Wooden is absurd. Just as absurd characterisation.”

Avatar: Special Edition is currently playing in cinemas.

J.J. Abrams is reportedly developing a new drama series based around the famous prison Alcatraz.

According to Deadline, Abrams will work alongside former Lost executive producer Elizabeth Sarnoff on the show. Sarnoff will produce and has also written the script for the pilot episode.

The plot of the programme is currently shrouded in secrecy. The prison island of Alcatraz was once home to famous criminals such as Al Capone.

The project is based on an initial idea sold to Abrams’s production company Bad Robot by writers Steve Lilien and Bryan Wynbrandt.

Bad Robot currently produces Fringe for Fox and is also behind upcoming NBC spy drama Undercovers.

Warner Bros has named Jonathan Liebesman as the director for its upcoming Clash Of The Titans sequel.

The Battle: Los Angeles helmer will steer the second Clash after Louis Leterrier declined an offer to return to the director’s chair for the follow-up.

Stars Sam Worthington and Gemma Arterton will be back for the second movie, which begins production in the UK next February.

Clash Of The Titans banked close to $500 million at the worldwide box office during its theatrical run earlier this year despite a critical panning and complaints about its 3D conversion.

The sequel, like its predecessor, will be filmed in 2D and retrofitted to 3D, reports Deadline.

Piranha 3D producer Mark Canton has hit back at James Cameron for criticising his horror remake.

The Avatar director had suggested that the makers of Piranha 3D were reaching for the “bottom of the barrel” by using new technology to revive the dormant franchise. In a letter Canton circulated to journalists, the producer accused Cameron of being “ridiculous” and “self-serving”.

“Mr Cameron, who singles himself out to be a visionary of movie-making, seems to have a small vision regarding any motion pictures that are not his own,” Canton wrote.

“It is amazing that in the movie-making process – which is certainly a team sport – that Cameron consistently celebrates himself as though he is a team of one.

“His comments are ridiculous, self-serving and insulting to those of us who are not caught up in serving his ego and his rhetoric.”

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Bill & Ted star Alex Winter has revealed that a third movie in the time-travelling comedy series is being discussed, reports Ain’t It Cool News.

Winter addressed rumours of a third instalment following a double bill screening of Bill & Ted’s Excellent Adventure and Bill & Ted’s Bogus Journey at the New Beverly Cinema in Los Angeles.

The actor disclosed that himself, co-star Keanu Reeves and screenwriter Ed Solomon have been “kicking ideas around” for a new movie.

Winter added that a sequel will only move forward if the trio can come up with a storyline they are all satisfied with. He also hinted that their ideas so far may be too dark for children to see.

The Bill & Ted movies focused on two Californian teens travelling through time in a phone booth after discovering that their band Wyld Stallyns becomes the cornerstone of the future’s Utopian society.

James Cameron has blasted the Piranha remake, claiming that it has cheapened the 3D medium.

Speaking to Vanity Fair, Cameron – who was dismissed from the director’s chair for Piranha Part Two: The Spawning in the early ’80s – admitted that he had “zero” nostalgic feelings for Alexandre Aja’s 3D reworking.

“You’ve got to remember: I worked on Piranha 2 for a few days and got fired off of it; I don’t put it on my official filmography,” he said. “So there’s no sort of fond connection for me whatsoever.”

Cameron continued: “I tend almost never to throw other films under the bus, but [Piranha 3D] is exactly an example of what we should not be doing in 3D. Because it just cheapens the medium and reminds you of the bad 3D horror films from the ’70s and ’80s, like Friday The 13th 3D.

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Ron Perlman has claimed that there are no plans to begin production on Hellboy 3.

Speaking to Movieweb, the Sons of Anarchy star said that the sequel is not currently in the works.

However, he added: “But the world is full of surprises. Write your congressman.”

Perlman played the title character in both Hellboy movies from director Guillermo del Toro.

The actor further revealed that rumoured Bubba Ho-Tep sequel Bubba Nosferatu is also not moving forward.

“There is no movement on Bubba,” he said.

Mad Men creator Matthew Weiner has revealed that he would like to set an end date for the series.

Earlier this year, Weiner reportedly suggested that he wants the show to finish in 2012.

However, the programme’s network AMC later played down the speculation.

Weiner has now told Fancast that he still wants to know when the series will end.

“Yes [I do],” he said. “And I don’t know what it is yet. We’re all enjoying [doing the show]. So I don’t know what [the end date] is yet.”

Mad Men continues on Sundays at 10/9c on AMC. The fourth season will premiere in the UK on September 8 at 10pm on BBC Four.

The Last Exorcism has debuted at the top of the US box office, earning $21.3 million over the weekend.

In a tight race, the action thriller Takers claims second place with $21 million.

The Expendables falls to number three with $9 million, followed by Eat Pray Love and The Other Guys, while Inception climbs up two spots to seventh place. With a budget of $160 million, Christopher Nolan’s sci-fi film has now made over $110 million for Warner Bros.

Finally, Jennifer Aniston’s The Switch takes the number nine spot, and Piranha 3D lands at number ten.

The US box office top ten in full:
1. (-) The Last Exorcism – $21,300,000
2. (-) Takers – $21,000,000
3. (2) The Expendables – $9,500,000
4. (-) Eat Pray Love – $7,000,000
5. (5) The Other Guys – $6,600,000
6. (2) Vampires Suck – $5,300,000
7. (9) Inception – $5,105,000
8. (8) Nanny McPhee Returns – $4,743,000
9. (7) The Switch – $4,658,000
10. (6) Piranha 3D – $4,308,000