Indiana Jones 4:  Seemingly in never-ending perpetual development, the light at the end of the tunnel now appears in sight with the announcement that Steven Spielberg and George Lucas are courting famed Sixth Sense writer/director M. Night Shyamalan to write the script to this film, now tentively slated to lens in 2002 for a 2003 release.  Shyamalan will reportedly begin work next January on the long-overdue, highly anticipated sequel once he has completed work on Unbreakable, the film that reunites him with Bruce Willis and producers Kathleen Kennedy and Frank Marshall.  You may have heard reports that Harrison Ford recently nixed the script for the fourth Jack Ryan film — Sum of All Fears — so it seems that this project now has the greatest chance getting made now more than it ever has since it was first announced in 1993.  Ford hasn't lined anything up immediately after Robert Zemeckis' What Lies Beneath, which opens in four weeks, so this project could get placed on the development fast track.

Jurassic Park III: Rumored to begin filming in August, this third installment of Universal's most successful franchise will hit theaters during the July 4th 2001 holiday.  Steven Spielberg won't be helming this one (Joe Johnston will be directing), but will still produce the film along with Kathleen Kennedy.  With the release of the official title and logo, plus the latest news on the Jurassic Park DVDs having a direct tie-in with the third film, expect the hype to catapult into the stratosphere for the next 12 months.  Latest rumor: Sam Neill may reprise his role from the first film.

Mad Max 4: In a very interesting turn of events, it now seems that this project will actually indeed star Mel Gibson in the role which first made him famous.  This proposed sequel has been batted around for quite some time, but no one really expected Gibson to ever return for a fourth outting.  But just last week, he was quoted in an interview that he would be returning.  The project is still in development at this time, which will be produced by Kathleen Kennedy and Frank Marshall, and directed once again by George Miller.

Men in Black 2: With a script recently submitted, and the blessings of Will Smith, Tommy Lee Jones, Director Barry Sonnenfeld, and Executive Producer Steven Spielberg, this project now has been greenlighted and is expected to be released in late 2001 or Summer 2002.  This project seemed to be financially impossible to pull off given the salary demands of the key players, but something must have been worked out since Smith is officially signed on to reprise his role as Agent J.  One can only assume that the success of the recent opening of Men in Black: Alien Attack at Universal Studios Florida has helped breath new life into this one.

Superman Lives: Warner Bros. is reportedly gearing up again on this project, after a revised script had been turned in recently, and is now looking for a replacement director now that Tim Burton has long moved on from this troubled project.  You may have heard recently that Nicolas Cage has decided that he's given up on the project to star as the Man of Steel, so this will be another interesting entry into what's already been a lengthy journal for this long-delayed project.

Terminator 3: In a very interesting turn of events, Arnold Schwarzenegger has now signed the dotted line to reprise the title role in this third chapter.  As you may already know, he had distanced himself from the project after learning that James Cameron wasn't interested in directing, producing, nor writing again.  Arnie has now apparently had a change of heart, and is reportedly trying to woo Cameron back to the franchise in some capacity.  Previously reported, a fourth installment is also in development, but there's been no word as of yet as to whether Arnold would participate in a fourth chapter or not.  The reports also go on to state that Schwarzenegger and Cameron are still planning on doing True Lies 2, another project that has had a lot of false starts over the years.