Posted Nov 21st 2008 9:02AM by Elisabeth Rappe
Filed under: Action, Sci-Fi & Fantasy, Deals, Warner Brothers, Fandom, Family Films, Newsstand, Comic/Superhero/Geek
The Captain Marvel film seems to finally be moving forward again, if this
Variety item is anything to go by.
Get Smart's Peter Segal has set a first-look deal at Warner Bros., and as part of the deal the studio acquired the John August-scripted
Captain Marvel which Segel is still in line to direct.
The film was originally set up at New Line, but we all remember what happened there, so Marvel fans will be relieved to know he's got a new studio to call home -- and one that all his DC friends are at. I'm curious about the title switch ... are they going to retitle it
Captain Marvel, and risk everyone being confused as to which comic brand he belongs to?
The last word we had on the project was precisely a year ago, when
Dwayne "The Rock" Johnson signed on to play
the villainous Black Adam.
Variety makes no mention as to whether he's still attached. I hope he is, the fans chose him! You can't recast after a stunt like that.
Considering it has a script, a director, a villain, and a studio, all Shazam/Marvel needs is its hero, and it could be on the big screen before Warner Bros decides what to do with Superman. I'm not the biggest fan of the character, but he's a perfect one for the kids, especially in this era of dark and gritty superheroes.
Posted Nov 20th 2008 6:32PM by Elisabeth Rappe
Filed under: Action, Comedy, Horror, Sci-Fi & Fantasy, Casting, Warner Brothers, RumorMonger, Celebrities and Controversy, Newsstand, Comic/Superhero/Geek, Western
Poor Jonah Hex. As William Goss
reported earlier, Mark Neveldine and Brian Taylor have left the scarred cowboy behind due to creative differences. But does he still have Josh Brolin to play him, or not?
The truth is, Brolin can't
decide if he is. He had a chat with
MTV News that didn't decide the question, but did reveal his enthusiasm for the project: "When I first read it I thought, oh my God it's awful! And then I had a moment a week later and I thought why is it awful? Maybe the thing to do is to do the most awful movie I can find ... [I love] the absurdity of it. It almost allows you to create a new genre. I love going back into the spaghetti western idea and completely turning it around."
Will he ever make up his mind? "Soon. In the last couple months I've been going back and forth about it. I went back to my gut. Is it a sell out? What is it I like about this movie? ... It's so tongue in cheek. It's so ridiculous. But once I started putting people in my mind and saying what if I put Malkovich in this role then what does this movie become? Now let's put this producer and director on it and think about how it plays out. Then it becomes fun. Now I love that movie. If you have a great filmmaker come in then suddenly these gags and characters become interesting."
Continue reading Josh Brolin Can't Decide Whether He's 'Jonah Hex' or Not
Posted Nov 18th 2008 7:15PM by Jessica Barnes
Filed under: Action, Sci-Fi & Fantasy, Deals, Warner Brothers, Scripts, Comic/Superhero/Geek
Is there room in Hollywood for more than one giant robot franchise? Well, Warner Bros. certainly seems to think so. The long-gestating feature film version of the classic anime
Robotech isn't dead in the water yet -- and to prove it, WB has hired two new writers to give the script another polish.
The Hollywood Reporter has
announced that
Alfred Gough and
Miles Millar have signed to write the live-action adaption.
Robotech originally aired during the '80s in North America (and was compiled from three different series' released in Japan); the film is being described as "A sprawling sci-fi epic" and takes place in a not-too-distant future where humans have developed giant robots from an alien technology. When another invasion looms, mankind hops in their giant robots to fend off the alien hoard, and the fate of the human race is left in the hands of two young pilots.
Tobey Maguire will still
produce, but it remains to be seen if Maguire will star -- and at the rate this project is moving, Maguire is going to be in his 40's by the time this film hits theaters.
Gough and Millar aren't the first writers to take a stab at the anime classic. Back in June, we
reported that Lawrence Kasdan was drafting a script, but the project seemed to stall after that. According to
THR, Warners is keen to get the film into production, and the hiring of Millar and Gough could give the film a needed boost of "geek cred" since both worked on
Spider Man 2 and
The Mummy Tomb of the Dragon Emperor, as well as a stint writing for
Smallville.
It looks like it could be some time before
Robotech finally makes its way to the big screen, but here's your chance to sound off on whether you would actually want to see it on the big screen ...
Posted Nov 14th 2008 5:02PM by Eric D. Snider
Filed under: Sci-Fi & Fantasy, New Releases, Warner Brothers, Fandom, Family Films, Harry Potter, Trailers and Clips
.jpg)
That's the new two-minute trailer for
Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince below, which Warner Bros. is hoping will help stave off death threats from fans who are still resentful that the film was pushed back to next July from its original release date of next week. (Just think! If it weren't for that, you'd be seeing the film
less than seven days from now!) We featured it earlier today in
Trailer Park, but come on -- a Harry Potter trailer deserves special attention.
One thing that's notable is that there is no reference, not even a hint, to the Big Surprising Terrible Thing that occurs near the end of the book and that presumably also occurs in the movie. (Although it would be funny if it didn't happen in the movie. "Oh, yeah, So-and-So's death? Eh, we cut it. No room. Maybe in the next film.") It's not exactly a well-kept secret anymore -- hard to do that when the book has sold 65 million copies -- but I appreciate that the trailer keeps a lid on it for those who watch the movies but don't read the books.
For those who have read the book, though, the trailer has glimpses of things that surely relate to the Big Surprising Terrible Thing: a shot of Draco Malfoy looking panicked and sickly, a shot of Snape firing his wand, etc. The scenes of Death Eater attacks on London look great, and I hope the film makes full use of how scary that aspect of the story is. (Magical people fighting each other, meh. Magical people fighting each other and harming innocent bystanders, yikes!)
Continue reading Discuss: What Do You Think of the New Harry Potter Trailer?
Posted Nov 13th 2008 6:45PM by Jessica Barnes
Filed under: Action, Drama, Deals, Warner Brothers
I might not be the biggest fan of prison movies (well, except
Cool Hand Luke), but anything that could keep Francis Lawrence busy and away from an
I Am Legend prequel is all right by me.
The Hollywood Reporter announced that Lawrence has just signed to helm the story of the 1987
Atlanta Prison Riots for Warner Brothers.
Black Hawk Down writer Mark Bowden came across the still-untitled project while researching
Black Hawk, but did not have the time or resources to devote to the story. So here we are eight years later, and Bowden has enlisted the help of his brother, Aaron, to produce the film under the Wild Eyes banner.
For those of you who are a little fuzzy on their penal history, here's a primer on what Lawrence will be working with: In 1987, the Atlanta State Medium Security Prison was one of the dumping grounds for Cuban refugees from the
Mariel Boatlift who were ineligible to be released. When Cuba later agreed to repatriate 2500 inmates currently being held -- well, to be blunt, all holy hell broke loose. The ensuing riot lasted over 10 days with more than 100 hostages involved -- heck, inmates even burned down a substantial portion of the facility itself. In the end, it took the intervention of the 1st Special Forces Operational Detachment-Delta to end the siege. Sounds pretty exciting, doesn't it?
But the bad news is that before Lawrence can get to work in the big house, he still has to finish developing Sara Gruen's historical novel,
Water for Elephants for Fox 2000. Now if we could just do something about that
Legend prequel ...
Posted Nov 13th 2008 8:32AM by William Goss
Filed under: Action, Thrillers, Awards, Warner Brothers, RumorMonger, Comic/Superhero/Geek, Remakes and Sequels
The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences, in
their continued efforts to avoid awarding Oscars to deserving efforts in film scores, has apparently disqualified Hans Zimmer and James Newton Howard's work on
The Dark Knight. According to
Variety (by way of
In Contention), the same stipulation as to how many composers are technically listed on the cue sheet similarly screwed over their
Batman Begins score -- the stipulation being that listing multiple names helps to award royalties to music editors and designers as well.
I'd argue that the film -- which is bound to crack
a billion bucks worldwide any day now, and likely to rack up considerable awards nominations regardless -- owes a great deal of its sustained visceral thrills to this rousing score, and in an ideal world,
the December 9th release of the DVD would be enough for the Academy to whip around and shape up their bureaucratic brouhaha. To them, I simply ask this: why so serious?
Posted Nov 12th 2008 5:45PM by Elisabeth Rappe
Filed under: Action, Thrillers, Warner Brothers, Fandom, Newsstand, Comic/Superhero/Geek, Remakes and Sequels
Batman fans know that
The Dark Knight borrowed heavily from Jeph Loeb and Tim Sale's graphic novel,
The Long Halloween. In an interview with
Flavorwire, Sale suggested that if
Christopher Nolan was looking for a story to inspire a third Batman film, he might want to look at their
Halloween sequel,
Batman: Dark Victory.
The one catch for Nolan and
Christian Bale? On its edge,
Dark Victory is a Robin origin story -- but Sale points out that he was as resistant to the idea of including the Boy Wonder as Nolan is. "Jeph had to drag me to the idea of Robin kicking and screaming, but then I started living with a single mom, and she had an 8-year-old boy who over the years became more Robin-ish. Jeph based Bruce and Dick's relationship on mine with the boy, that push-and-pull.
Dark Victory shows the change of Gotham from a town overrun by gangsters into a town that is governed by "freaks" (Jeph's term). His creation of triumvirate of Batman/Dent/Gordon - what they saw happening to their city and how they were going to address it - pushed the story farther than before. In many ways I think it is some of my best drawing. Not necessarily my best work, but my best drawing."
Dark Victory would be a great stepping stone for a third Batman film -- it's already a favorite of Bale's. Through the series, our bat-clad hero struggles with doubt, fear, working alone (refusing the help of Commissioner Gordon), and losing touch with his own humanity. Robin's intrusion into Batman's life helps center Batman, who begins treating him as something close to a son. If you are going to ever introduce Robin into the Nolan-verse, this
would be the way to do it, since he's a far cry from the versions we've been subjected to onscreen.
Continue reading 'Long Halloween' Artist Thinks Batman and Robin Should Reunite
Posted Nov 12th 2008 9:02AM by Elisabeth Rappe
Filed under: Action, Warner Brothers, Celebrities and Controversy, Newsstand, Comic/Superhero/Geek, Remakes and Sequels
Bruce Wayne just saw this story in
Variety and boy, he is not amused. It seems that in the fine country of Turkey, there is a city called Batman -- and they're now suing Christopher Nolan and Warner Bros for royalties. Huseyin Kalkan, the mayor of Batman, is accusing
The Dark Knight producers of using the city's name without permission. "There is only one Batman in the world," Kalkan said. "The American producers used the name of our city without informing us."
No one is quite sure why it took so long for the town of Batman to cop to the fact that their town was named after a DC comics character, who's been around since 1939 -- the mayor is currently trying to gather evidence to prove that the town has existed longer than the character. Everyone knows that when young Bruce Wayne was casting about for an idea, something to haunt Gotham's criminals, he looked at his map of Turkey for a name. It didn't actually have anything to do with, you know,
dressing up like a man-bat.
And because this isn't crazy enough, the mayor is also blaming Nolan and Warner Bros for the town's unsolved murders, and high female suicide rate. Something about the psychological effect of the film's success on the fine citizens of the town. (Frankly, I would think if you were in a town called Batman, you'd be a lot less likely to commit crime for fear he lived there. But that's just me.) The only believable claim Mayor Kalkan has made is that citizens have a really tough time registering businesses abroad.
As of yet, no legal action has actually been filed -- but when the lawsuit arrives,
please assign Harvey Dent to handle it!
Also of note: Warners has officially launched a
"For Your Consideration" website for
The Dark Knight, which includes the script for the film in case anyone is interested.
Posted Nov 12th 2008 8:02AM by Elisabeth Rappe
Filed under: Action, Classics, Foreign Language, Sci-Fi & Fantasy, Thrillers, Warner Brothers, Fandom, Scripts, Newsstand, Comic/Superhero/Geek, Remakes and Sequels
It's been two months since we heard anything about the
Leonardo DiCaprio-produced
Akira. This is a remake that has caused a bit of upset in our comments, as initial reports suggested DiCaprio was
set to star alongside
Joseph Gordon-Levitt.
However, Gordon-Levitt
denied having any connection to the film, and now DiCaprio has clarified his involvement. In an interview with
MTV's Splash Page, he denied that he was going to be starring in
Akira, nor will he be playing any part in
Ninja Scroll (which
he just optioned a few weeks ago). He made it clear that his only involvement is as producer, via his Appian Way banner.
So, where does
Akira stand in pre-production? Remember, this was once being fast-tracked for a summer 2009 release, which it's obviously not going to make. But that's because DiCaprio is making sure this is handled right: "We're waiting for the final draft of the script. I'm a big fan of Japanese anime ... I know there a lot of loyal fans out there of the project and die-hard fans, so we're going to try to do the best job we possibly can and we're not going to make the movie until the script is in the right shape."
If only big fans could be the producers on
every beloved property, no fans would ever lose sleep. Are you slightly reassured, now? And hey, post your Akira dream cast. DiCaprio knows you're out there, and he might just listen.
Posted Nov 11th 2008 10:03AM by Elisabeth Rappe
Filed under: Action, Sci-Fi & Fantasy, Thrillers, Mystery & Suspense, Warner Brothers, Newsstand, Movie Marketing, Comic/Superhero/Geek, Images
It's a
Watchmen week! New photos and posters are hitting the Internet this week, presumably in anticipation of the second trailer that's attached to
Quantum of Solace. Yesterday Erik posted a
new Rorschach-themed poster that had popped up on Yahoo! Movies over the weekend, now we have six new ones (including an extra Rorschach) to accompany it.
Warner Bros. released the six character posters all across the Internet -- and we were able to collect most of them here in our gallery, except for the one the boys most want to see. Silk Spectre is over on your left, watermarked to MTV's Splash Page, but if you click her, you'll be taken to her full length version. I'm as straight as can be, but even I can't take my eyes off her latex. Wow.
Please give a visit and a nod to the other sites that were graced with these cool images -- my personal favorite of the bunch, The Comedian, was posted over at the always awesome
Hero Complex (who will have more
Watchmen images later today). Dr. Manhattan was posted in a tiny, low-res version at
Entertainment Weekly. (Come on, where's the
big version, guys?) The
really cool Ozymandias poster, costarring Bubastis, debuted over at
Wired. Nite Owl comes by way of
Access Hollywood, accompanied there by an automatic video of Patrick Wilson. And everyone's favorite vigilante, Rorschach, got his second poster of the week courtesy of
USA Today.
They really are pretty glorious to look upon. And now if you'll excuse me, I'm going to furiously exercise in order to wake up resembling Malin Akerman.
[via
Superhero Hype, who did the collecting]
Posted Nov 10th 2008 12:03PM by William Goss
Filed under: Drama, Independent, Romance, Sports, Artisan, Warner Brothers, Fox Searchlight, Toronto International Film Festival, Fan Rant
(from left to right) Sean Gullette in Pi, Ellen Burstyn in Requiem for a Dream, Hugh Jackman in The Fountain, and Mickey Rourke in The WrestlerI had been writing a rambling introduction to this piece, but to make a long anecdote short, I decided to re-watch the works of writer-director
Darren Aronofsky prior to seeing his new film,
The Wrestler. Out of more happenstance than planning, I began his first film exactly a day to the minute before this one would end, and now I offer up my thoughts on his career to date. (Who knows what more could come following this: 24 Hours of
Fincher? 36 Hours of
Boyle? My Dinner with Andre Benjamin's
Idlewild?)
Continue reading Fan Rant: 24 Hours of Aronofsky
Posted Nov 10th 2008 10:01AM by Elisabeth Rappe
Filed under: Action, Sci-Fi & Fantasy, Casting, Warner Brothers, RumorMonger, Fandom, Comic/Superhero/Geek
While the Internet was frantically reporting that
Megan Fox was at the head of the line to play the Amazon superheroine,
Beyonce was quietly meeting with representatives from Warner Bros and DC trying to nab the role for herself.
Hero Complex sat down with the megastar, who gushed about the recent superhero trend, noting that "they're not corny at all," and how badly she would like to be a part of them. "I want to do a superhero movie and what would be better than Wonder Woman? It would be great. And it would be a very bold choice. A black Wonder Woman would be a powerful thing. It's time for that, right?"
Her one misgiving is the costume which, despite her fantastic figure, she admits is incredibly unforgiving. "I would definitely have to keep it right for that costume. The way that Lynda Carter wore it, she was so fine. She was amazing. I saw her costume at the Met. Her waist was unbelievable. It was pretty crazy, actually, her proportions. But I love Wonder Woman and it'd be a dream come true to be that character. It sure would be handy to have that lasso. To make everybody tell the truth? I need that. It would come in very handy."
Continue reading McG to Direct Beyonce in Wonder Woman?
Posted Nov 8th 2008 1:03PM by Jessica Barnes
Filed under: Action, Deals, Warner Brothers, DIY/Filmmaking, Comic/Superhero/Geek
So remember back in 2007 when no one could understand why Warner Bros. had chosen to
hire Tim Story (
Taxi) to direct a feature film version of Vertigo's
The Losers? Well, it looks like WB might have come to the same conclusion as we did because Variety
reports that Story has now been replaced by
Sylvain White. Personally, I haven't been able to wrap my head around either of WB's choices for the comic book flick. It is nothing against either one of these guys, but keep in mind that White directed
Stomp the Yard and
I'll Always Know What You Did Last Summer .
The Losers was originally a DC title about a group of
WWII bad-a**es, but in 2003, Andy Diggle revived the title with a few minor changes for Vertigo. The 'new' Losers still centered on a Special Forces team, but the story was now set in the 1990's with the team reporting to the C.I.A. and a mysterious handler known as Max. When the team is betrayed by Max during a dangerous operation and left for dead, the group reunites for revenge.
White has already been setting up some other 'fan boy friendly' projects for 2009, and even though he won't be heading to
Castlevania any time soon, there is still his adaptation of
Frank Miller's Ronin for WB, and the futuristic thriller
Static for Columbia Pictures.
James Vanderbilt (
Wolverine, Spiderman 4) has already completed the
Losers script for Warner Bros, and even though the jury might still out on White's skills, at least Vanderbilt has enough comic book cred for the both of them.
Let's just keep our fingers crossed that White has left his mall sensibilities behind him for good, because I don't think I could take a teen version of
The Losers -- could you?
Posted Nov 6th 2008 8:15PM by Elisabeth Rappe
Filed under: Action, Classics, Sci-Fi & Fantasy, Thrillers, Warner Brothers, RumorMonger, Fandom, Scripts, Newsstand, Remakes and Sequels
The remake of
The Forbidden Planet has danced around Hollywood for years, with various big names like James Cameron dropping in and out of the project. Now it's finally moving forward at Warner Bros, with determined producer
Joel Silver at the production helm, and the ever-popular
J. Michael Straczynski penning the script. Still, it was news that wasn't welcome to several of our readers, which is understandable. It's a sci-fi classic, and beloved by many.
Well, this might ease your fears a little bit. The gang over at
Ain't It Cool News snagged some exclusive details. Apparently, Straczynski's script will be more of a continuation, or a companion piece, than an actual remake. It's possible the new movie retcons the story a bit, and leaves Altair 4 intact and alive. The beloved Robby the Robot
will be in it, and the movie will be "an enormous, giant, retro sci-fi movie ... nothing sleek or 'chromy'" in its visuals.
If you were a
Babylon 5 fan, you know Straczynski's love for the original film runs as deep as anyone else's. It sounds like he's trying to do right by the story, and yet give fans a little something new. If it's a movie that
continues the nightmares of the original, I think that could be pretty darn cool, and a nice break from the reboots and outright remakes that are taking over Hollywood. But, let's turn it over to you
Planet fans in the comments, and see if this softens the blow, or just rubs salt in the wound.
Posted Nov 6th 2008 7:32PM by Elisabeth Rappe
Filed under: Action, Classics, Independent, Sci-Fi & Fantasy, Casting, Warner Brothers, Newsstand, Remakes and Sequels, War
There's
two Greek epics racing to production as we speak -- Relativity Media's
War of the Gods, directed by
Tarsem Singh, and
Louis Leterrier's Clash of the Titans for Warner Bros. Both are looking to fill the muscle-and-sandal void left by
300, and plan to employ the stylish green-screen effects that made
300 so darn pretty to look at, and cheap to make.
And it looks like they'll be borrowing something else from
300 -- manly eye candy. According to
Variety, both films are in negotiations for their lead actors.
War of the Gods is looking to cast
Henry Cavill as Theseus, legendary king of Athens. Cavill is best known as the rakish Charles Brandon on Showtime's
The Tudors, and as Albert Mondego in
The Count of Monte Cristo. That's him on the right. He's ridiculously handsome, and thus an ideal candidate for a mythic Greek.
Meanwhile, the increasingly in-demand
Sam Worthington is in talks to play Perseus in
Clash of the Titans. By now, Warner Bros has undoubtedly seen him in action in
Terminator: Salvation so they'll know if he's the right man to take on Medusa. Again, he's not a bad looking fellow, and should look good in bronze and leather. Incidentally, both he and Cavill were once in the running to play James Bond.
Both films are expected to start production in late winter or early spring, so this will be the first of many casting announcements. I wonder if both films are doomed to move in sync, lumped together in the trades until the day they hit theaters.
Next Page >
