It was devastating the day I realized that, like, I can't do this anymore, 'cause it's too easy at this point. Like, I could do this in my sleep, but it's disingenuous. Like, I love Zack and Miri. I mean, I think it turned out well, but I look at Zack and Miri, and I look at Chasing Amy, and I go, Okay, two movies cut from similar cloth. What's the difference? One is made with the passion and brio of somebody who is desperate to get their message across, desperate to communicate desperate to say, "If I don't make this film, I'm gonna die." And, the other one was made by a guy who was, like, "Well, that's the movie I chose to do that year."

Smith said that he realizes that he "lowered the bar" with movies like Clerks, and that he doesn't "want to make that kind of movie anymore." His latest film as a director, A Couple of Dicks (which has apparently been re-titled A Couple of Cops), is a buddy-comedy starring Bruce Willis and Tracy Morgan that Smith calls "average."

And, when I say "average,", I mean that in a good way, like, it looks like everybody else's movie now. Back in the days, you'd look at my flick and you'd be, like, "Oh, that's by the motherf---er who made Clerks. You can tell, because it looks so terrible. His camera won't move." A Couple of Dicks, man, it looks like 48 Hours. It looks like Beverly Hills Cop, Lethal Weapon. And, I know some people are, like, "Great, your movie looks like an '80s movie." But, hey, I'm on a slow curve. What the f--- do you want from me?

Link | Posted 11/28/2009 by BrentJS

Bruce Willis | Tracey Morgan | Kevin Smith | Chasing Amy | Clerks | A Couple of Dicks | Zack and Miri Make a Porno

We are grinding our minds and hearts in the ground on this movie. Could we have just skated through a sequel and would it probably have made the same box-office numbers? Yes, sure.

Downey Jr. went on to say that he had an intuition about how to portray Tony Stark and his alter-ego, Iron Man, in the first film.

I have fortified my belief that if I have a creative instinct about something, usually it's not because I've had too much coffee or because I'm bored — it's because I sense there's something there. And it's always mind-blowing when you follow a hunch and realise it's exactly what the movie wanted.

Jon Favreau, the director of both Iron Man films, said that Downey Jr. brought much more to the table than what he was hired for.

Robert is a real partner in the process. He's been very involved in the screenplay. When he went away to do Sherlock Holmes he was still part of our creative process. Even in the first film, where he was originally a hired gun playing the role, he really stepped up to rewrite scenes — he's a great writer, too. So we really are sharing the responsibilities.

Iron Man Exclusive

Never before seen clip from Iron Man.

Link | Posted 11/28/2009 by BrentJS

Jon Favreau | Robert Downey Jr. | Sherlock Holmes | Iron Man | Iron Man 2

However, Abrams told MTV that Hemsworth almost lost the role to Matt Damon.

I went to Damon for the role of Kirk's father, and he declined in the most gracious and understandable and logical of reasons. Maybe it would have been distracting to have someone as massively famous as Matt Damonst in that role.... The decision was made very early on to have actors who were not necessarily the most famous but the most right for the role. We lucked out with Chris Hemsworth, and he did a great job.

Without Star Trek, it's doubtful Hemsworth would have landed the Thor gig. Here's hoping he gave thanks yesterday that that Damon had "reasons" to turn down the role.

Link | Posted 11/27/2009 by Ryan

Matt Damon | J.J. Abrams | Chris Hemsworth | Star Trek | Thor

Hawkeye could be interesting. [Marvel's] going to send me some stuff on it, see what it is. But I think they're pretty awesome, trying to make superhero movies almost plausible and not just some fantasy thing.

Renner would apparently make a cameo appearance in Thor and have a larger part in The Avengers. The casting is still unofficial.

Link | Posted 11/27/2009 by Ryan

Jeremy Renner | Thor | The Avengers

What happened was when FF2 didn't do as well as they hoped it would do, it caused them to call into question a Silver Surfer movie. The script that I wrote picked up right where FF2 left off. So if they do a Silver Surfer film down the road, it'll have to be its own separate things.

Almost immediately after the interview posted, numerous news sources declared the Silver Surfer project dead. Whether Fox got wind of this and asked Straczynski to amend his comment or he decided to of his own accord, the Babylon 5 creator quickly responded by clarifying his earlier statement:

Guys ... guys ... GUYS ... whoa, slow down, back the bus up a second.

When I was asked about the Silver Surfer script, I responded about the one I'd written around the time that FF2 was launched, and was designed to pick up where that one left off.

When FF2 didn't do as well as hoped for, that script was set aside, but that has NOTHING to do with the Silver Surfer script that is NOW under development at Fox with other folks. As far as I know, that is proceeding apace. So the hysteria that's gripped the nets about "ohmygod the Surfer movie is dead!" is not correct, as I was again referring to only that one specific script tied into FF2, NOT what's being done now.

The other script that Straczynski mentions is likely the one that Michael Green, co-executive producer of Heroes and the co-writer of Green Lantern, has been working on for Fox. Green's script will likely reboot the franchise, in light of the lackluster performance of Fantastic Four: Rise of the Silver Surfer.

Fantastic Four: Rise of the Silver Surfer - Trailer 2

The team squares off against the powerful Silver Surfer.

Link | Posted 11/27/2009 by BrentJS

Michael Green | J. Michael Straczynski | Fantastic Four: Rise of the Silver Surfer

I just felt like the project was definitely special. It jumped off the page and the chance to get to meet Clooney and work with him was definitely a draw and to just be a part of something Jason believed in, it seemed like a no-brainer. So, yeah, I signed on for it and just thought I'd give it a whirl.

Up next for McBride is Your Highness, which will reunite him with his Pineapple Express and All the Real Girls director, David Gordon Green. The movie, which McBride co-wrote, will harken back to some of the fantasy 1movies of the 1980s.

Your Highness is ... he's a guy, like with Pineapple Express, you know Pineapple Express becomes an 80's action film without making fun of 80's action films. It just kind of becomes one by the end and that's really what we wanted for Your Highness. We didn't really want to make fun of 80's fantasy films. We just wanted to make an 80's fantasy film, you know? And so that being said like the costumes, the sets, all that stuff was taken seriously and it was done on a big scale. No jokes are had from cod pieces or anything like that. You wanted to world to be real and the comedy just comes from the people that happen to be in this world and really shouldn't be.

How it is not like Pineapple Express is that Your Highness is not the middle ages stoner comedy the title may suggest.

No, it's not really accurate. I know where that comes from. It centers around two brothers, [James] Franco and myself and he's the first born and I'm the 2nd born so he's going to be King and I'm a little jealous about that and therefore I just kind of shirk responsibility and don't really try to live up to being a good Prince. And with that I mean he drinks and smokes and does all these sorts of things but that's no means like the driving force of the movie. It's not Pineapple Express 2 or anything like that.

Up In The Air opens December 4 in limited release and opens wide on December 25. Your Highness is scheduled to open October 1, 2010, and co-stars Natalie Portman, Zooey Deschanel, and Damian Lewis.

Link | Posted 11/27/2009 by Ryan

David Gordon Green | Danny McBride | Up in the Air

Fleischer says he would like to shoot Zombieland 2 in 3-D since "the genre really lends itself to [3-D]." Where the sequel will take place or what it will be about is unknown, as Fleischer and company are still trying to "crack" the story.

Before Zombieland 2, however, Fleischer says he would like to make a romantic comedy. Likely one without zombies, considering he already made America's answer to Shaun of the Dead.

Zombieland - Trailer

Woody Harrelson Stars

Link | Posted 11/26/2009 by Ryan

Ruben Fleischer | Zombieland 2 | Zombieland

The script, written by Robert Tannen, tells the story of a man (played by Cage) who becomes entangled with a vigilante group when he goes out seeking retribution on those who assaulted his wife. Rabbit is being produced by Tobey Maguire's Maguire Entertainment and Endgame.

The Tweet from PA also indicates that filming will begin in New Orleans in two weeks.

Link | Posted 11/26/2009 by BrentJS

Guy Pearce | Nicolas Cage | Tobey Maguire | January Jones | Roger Donaldson | Robert Tannen

James McTeigue (V for Vendetta) is one such director. For his latest film, Ninja Assassin, McTeigue hired comic book artist Steve Skroce to help him bring the script to life, he told ComingSoon.net.

What I usually do with Steve is that we start off with concept pieces — we call them key frames. We talk about the key frames and how they come together and then I'll say to him, "Look, I felt like this should be a cross between anime and gameplay," so then he starts sketching out the boards and I go, "Maybe look at Ninja Scroll" and then he'll go and do that and he'll draw some key frames, and then once we flesh out the aesthetic of the film, then we start getting into the action sequences. He pretty much draws a lot of them. And then after he does that, once you get the aesthetic down, you get the action choreographers —in this case, it was Chad Stahelski and David Leitch — and then we start working out the choreography exactly, like all the mechanics of how that will work. The way I do that is that we work out the basic choreography, then they get with their fight teams, and they video tape it, and then we edit it down and go, "Oh, that's good, that's not so good, let's put a bit more of that in, do a bit more of that, let's use this weapon ... the katana or the shuriken you see." So it's sort of a slowly evolving process.

Skroce has worked on The Matrix trilogy and is the artist and co-creator of Doc Frankenstein, which is published by the Wachowski Brothers' Burlyman Entertainment.

Ninja Assassin - Trailer

Rain stars - in theaters today

Link | Posted 11/25/2009 by BrentJS

James McTeigue | Ninja Assassin

The Hobbit will be two movies and we've written the first script and delivered it to the studio who seem to be happy with it. We're now halfway through the second script and Philippa [Boyens], Fran [Walsh], Guillermo [Del Toro] and myself are doing the scripts and having great fun. It was an interesting experience because eight or nine years have passed since we wrote the Lord of the Rings screenplays and I was worried it'd be weird or hard or uncomfortable to go back there, but as soon as we started writing the scripts it was fun, actually, and easy.

Del Toro will be directing The Hobbit, a situation he is "happy" about, stressing that "it's our job to support him and to help him tell the story." Jackson told BBC News that having Del Toro in on the writing process should make the transition easier.

We're writing the screenplays with him, so in terms of the script, there is continuity. We're writing Ian McKellen's dialogue just the same as we did in Lord Of The Rings. But Guillermo, being the director, will obviously take the script and interpret that and shoot his film. So that'll be interesting to see. That's actually the reason I wanted him to do it. I felt like I'd be trying to compete with myself and deliberately do things differently, which is not the way I want to work. I want it to be natural.

Jackson stated that The Hobbit will be shot "in 35mm, old-fashioned film" because of Del Toro's desire to have the movie "in the same space as the original trilogy." Meanwhile, Jackson's other producing project, The Adventures of Tintin: The Secret of the Unicorn, will be in 3-D. Jackson said that the movie is complete. Mostly.

Tintin is great. It's made. The movie is cut together and now [we] are turning it into a fully-rendered film. So the movie, to some degree, exists in a very rough state.

All that's left is to turn the movie from motion capture into 3-D animation, which will only take a mere two years to complete.

Link | Posted 11/25/2009 by Ryan

Peter Jackson | Guillermo del Toro | The Hobbit | Tintin | The Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers | The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King | The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring

With so many services available, how can you make the best choice for your technology and movie-viewing preferences — especially when the details are not always easy to find? We've put together a Guide to Online Movie Services: Which One's Best for You?, just in time for your holiday wish list.

Link | Posted 11/25/2009 by reelz

Leonard Maltin's Secret's Out | At the Movies | Our Favorite Movies | ReelzChannel Spotlight | Saturday Morning @ ReelzChannel | Twilight Weekly: Spotlight | Hollywood Dailies | Hollywood and Dine | Movies and Music

I'm pretty sure at this stage that Wes is back on board to direct and Kevin [Willamson] is definitely writing it ... so it is going to be great.

Campbell says the movie will go into production "in mid-April" and is "so happy" to see that both Courteney Cox and David Arquette are returning. While Campbell has yet to see the script, she says the hardest thing about playing the character of Sidney Prescott again will be achieving the same haircut.

Physically speaking, it's all about working the bob! And the only way I can achieve that properly every day on set is through Tara Smith hair products. Seriously, if Tara didn't cut and style my hair in an amazing girly way to re-create the Sidney look, I wouldn't have a starting point [for the character]. I'm not kidding.

Scream 4 Update

David Arquette talks The Tripper and Scream 4.

Link | Posted 11/25/2009 by Ryan

Wes Craven | Neve Campbell | Scream 4

In a recent interview with MTV, Reynolds said that landing both roles was especially gratifying because he had pursued them passionately.

It's incredibly validating and gratifying when you can see that you can manifest something that you desperately want or a goal that you have. This is a difficult industry to get anything made, let alone a passion project, so when you see people understand what your vision is and come aligned with that common goal, it's pretty cool. I'm including all the creative types that are actually involved with Deadpool and Green Lantern, because those guys want to make an authentic movie, and that's something a few years ago studios disregarded.

Reynolds said that one of the "definitive" moments for him was seeing the Green Lantern costume for the first time because he could tell that the film would be "happening in the right way." In contrast, while Reynolds' portrayal of Deadpool in X-Men Origins: Wolverine was well-received by fans, the character itself was criticized by many in the fan community for straying too far from its comic book origins.

It's always difficult to fully embrace something that isn't perfect, in terms of staying true to the source material. So it was a little bit frustrating. I really wanted to play Wade, and I really wanted to play Deadpool, and it would kill me to see someone else play them. I had a kind of ham-fisted attitude that it had to be perfect, but it doesn't. The movie's called Wolverine, it's not called Deadpool or Wade. I thought it was a nice little wink and tip of the hat to things to come. Finding the tone of that character alone is such a difficult prospect. I've been in so many meetings lately about Deadpool and meeting all these writers. Everyone is always looking for that one line, "What is that character?" and for me it's kind of like, "There's a guy, and he's in a highly militarized comedic fame spiral." That's not an easy thing to write — an entire screenplay, let alone a franchise. I had a blast playing Wade. Every line I had in that was stuff I thought he would say. It wasn't something that a writer said to me. It was fun to really create that character, including everything he spits out of his awful mouth.

Reynolds admits that he knew of the character of Green Lantern his "whole life," but wasn't a fan until he had a meeting with director Martin Campbell about the film.

I fell in love with [Green Lantern] when I met with Martin Campbell. When I sat down with him, I really got what it is that this guy is all about. When you have a guy like Martin Campbell, part of his charm is that he has balls of titanium, and the other part is that he's slightly crazy, and you have to be to take on something with the scope of Green Lantern. He's less of the director and more of a general. He just really knows strategies, he knows the intricacies, and his attention to detail! It's infectious. I sat down with him, and I could not even believe what he was saying. When I went to the meeting, I was entirely cynical. I thought, 'What the hell, I'll see what they have to say,' and I left the room with a completely different perspective.

Link | Posted 11/25/2009 by BrentJS

Scarlett Johansson | Martin Campbell | Ryan Reynolds | Green Lantern | X-Men Origins: Deadpool | X-Men Origins: Wolverine

He offered me a role in his next movie.... I don't know for what character, but I said yes. I'm not an actress at all.... Maybe I will be terrible. But, in my life, I cannot let such a chance go.

The part is not for Allen's next project, You Will Meet a Tall Dark Stranger, which is currently in post-production, but for the one after that. Not much is known about that movie yet, other than that it is to be a romantic drama set in Paris.

Although Bruni-Sarkozy has not appeared in any movies, she did make one recent foray onto television: She was lampooned as a sex-mad femme fatale in a recent episode of The Simpsons called "The Devil Wears Nada." Unlike many celebrities mocked on the show, she did not lend her own voice to the segment, which has become something of an Internet sensation, especially in France. You can see the full episode on Hulu.

Link | Posted 11/25/2009 by Bill

Woody Allen

"...stupefying dimwitted."

— Roger Ebert, Chicago Sun-Times

"Wild Hogs, Old Dogs — what's next, Bumps on Logs? Truly, I would rather watch John Travolta and Robin Williams sitting on a tree trunk, doing nothing, than endure their best efforts to energize this ol' hound."

— Michael Phillips, Chicago Tribune

"Old Dogs does to the screen what old dogs do to the carpet. It's unfortunate that only the latter can be taken out and shot."

— Kyle Smith, New York Post

"So wretched that it should be unceremoniously put down, Old Dogs is a series of sub-sitcom sequences designed to destroy any affection once felt for John Travolta and Robin Williams."

— Nick Schager, Slant Magazine

"Six-year-old boys may laugh at the bowwow of a comedy Old Dogs. But then, 6-year-old boys laugh at the word poop — and the word poop plays a big steaming part in this stinky endeavor."

— Lisa Schwarzbaum, Entertainment Weekly

Old Dogs - Trailer

Robin Williams and John Travolta star - Releasing Nov. 25, 2009

Link | Posted 11/25/2009 by reelz

Old Dogs

Up next for the director is another independently financed project, Me and Orson Welles, based on the novel by Robert Kaplow about a teenager who lands a role in Orson Welles' production of Julius Ceasar. The movie stars teen heartthrob Zac Efron as the young actor and newcomer Christian McKay as Welles. The movie may seem a strange fit for someone like Linklater to direct, but in an interview with ComingSoon, Linklater says he doesn't find his resume odd at all.

I think if there's a commonality [between movies] maybe it's sort of the tone or the acting or something, but I dunno. I'm lucky I get to work on different genres, that I'm not too pigeonholed. Maybe no one cares, but I think that I've earned a certain latitude.

Despite Linklater's success working with movie studios, and the presence of Efron, Me and Orson Welles was produced and will be distributed independently, a move Linklater says is sign of the current climate in Hollywood these days.

The industry, they really don't do films like this anymore. They really weren't interested. Even once Zac was aboard they were just, "No, we're not interested." I make films now and not so long ago this would've been a studioish kinda film, but they put all their chips on these big, big, big movies that seems to be working for them.

Linklater says he usually only works on a project when he feels he's the only who can.

I've turned down numerous things that ended up being huge films, but every time I do a film I gotta think I'm the only guy who would not only be the best guy for it, but would even want to make a film like this. Because of my baseball background, I was the best guy for Bad News Bears. Because of my rock and roll, you know, whatever it was, having a daughter that age, that I was the right guy for School of Rock I feel like I'm the right guy. I mean, I have to be cast carefully. I have to feel I'm well-cast in that situation, but I turn down most things just because I've got other things I'm usually working on, but I'm always up for the kismet of a nice little marriage of personality and project.

With his upcoming Liars killed by Disney's dissolution of Miramax, Linklater has nothing specific lined up next, though one of Linklater's "kismet" projects could be his "spiritual" sequel to Dazed and Confused.

I have a script I wrote, and it's kind of a college comedy and I called it my sequel to Dazed and Confused. It's none of the same characters. It's just my own spiritual sequel like, "Oh, these are my college years, the way Dazed was my high school, this is my college." So that's all, but it's not about revisiting those exact same characters. But I do have this kinda fun college comedy about the first weekend of college.

Me and Orson Welles opens on November 25 in limited release, and opens in more cities in December.

Me and Orson Welles - Trailer

Claire Danes, Zac Efron, and Christian McKay star

Link | Posted 11/25/2009 by Ryan

Richard Linklater | Me and Orson Welles

"Funny, inspiring and gorgeously rendered, The Princess and the Frog is an instant classic."

— Dezhda Gaubert, E! Online

"...an old-fashioned charmer..."

— Lisa Schwarzbaum, Entertainment Weekly

"...the film positively overflows with color and life, and movement and characters and slapstick and music, too..."

— Jesse Hassenger, filmcritic.com

"...there's more than enough magic in The Princess and the Frog to enchant an entirely new generation of Disney fans and their parents. Tiana is a worthy addition to the Princess Hall of Fame."

— Lou Lumenick, New York Post

"...what a pleasure, after a season of bland computer-generated tales, to be swept up in the visual magic of The Princess and the Frog, the two-dimensional, handsomely hand-drawn feature that is classic, whimsical Disney."

— Claudia Puig, USA Today

The Princess and the Frog - Trailer

An updated version of the animated classic

Link | Posted 11/25/2009 by reelz

The Princess and the Frog

Hardy is now experiencing another brush with possible fame. He's been cast in both Christopher Nolan's Inception and as Mad Max in Mad Max: Fury Road. Hardy told MTV that no one is more surprised by his recent success than he is.

I didn't expect to get Mad Max. I really didn't. I didn't ever expect to get the lead in a Hollywood movie, for Chris Nolan off the bat to offer me [Inception] without an audition and then to go sit with [director] George Miller [on Fury Road] and work with him and not really audition in the orthodox way of auditioning — this year's been crazy. I've been working as an actor for a long time now, and I've been waiting for an independent film to come along because it was very hard to get cast as a character actor, as a lead — being credible but bankable. It's very hard to break in when there are plenty of people who can be cast, who can green-light, who can put bums in the seats. So this whole year has been staggering.

Inception opens July 16, 2010, while Mad Max: Fury Road is scheduled to open sometime in 2011.

Link | Posted 11/25/2009 by Ryan

Tom Hardy | Inception | Mad Max 4

"...it'll leave you exhausted, emotionally spent and with much to ponder."

— Peter Paras, E! Online

"The Road evokes the images and the characters of Cormac McCarthy's novel. It is powerful, but for me lacks the same core of emotional feeling."

— Roger Ebert, Chicago Sun-Times

"...a faithful but pale imitation of a film adaptation..."

— Ed Gonzalez, Slant Magazine

"...The Road, for all its vivid desolation, remains a curiously unmoving experience..."

— Owen Gleiberman, Entertainment Weekly

"The Road honors McCarthy's book with haunting pictures of the future's end ... but they tend to overwhelm the drama in the fore."

— Scott Tobias, Onion AV Club

"The only purpose I can detect in the smoldering wreckage is simple masochism; some people like to take a beating and others like to spend two hours cloaked in the most piteous distress. File The Road under apocalypse porn. Unlike Wall-E and Children of Men, though, this one offers no hope of renewal, no exit from the hell it so persuasively depicts."

— Kyle Smith, New York Post

The Road - Trailer

Viggo Mortensen, Robert Duvall, and Charlize Theron star

Link | Posted 11/25/2009 by reelz

The Road

Still, Superman topped the list of a recent MTV poll that asked which DC Comics character should be fast-tracked to the big screen next. In a recent interview with MTV, Kevin Spacey said that he would be "delighted" to reprise the role of Lex Luthor in a sequel to Superman Returns.

If I ran Warner Brothers I could tell you definitively we'd be making that movie. But I don't, and they haven't called me to tell me. Literally, all I know is what I've heard from press reports. I can't even confirm whether those are true or not because I haven't spoken to Bryan.

Recently, director James McTeigue's (Ninja Assassin) name has been popping up as the man who will possibly direct the next installment of the franchise. However, his take on "The Big Blue Boy Scout," would likely leave little room for Spacey, since he said the franchise is "ripe for a retooling."

Superman Returns - Trailer

Brandon Routh and Kate Bosworth stars - June 26, 2006

Link | Posted 11/24/2009 by BrentJS

Bryan Singer | James McTeigue | Kevin Spacey | Superman Returns | The Dark Knight

Season of the Witch is a departure for both the actor and director. Cage plays an American-accented crusader in the Black Plague-affected 14th century who is tasked with transporting a suspected witch to a monastery, along with Ron Perlman. Lionsgate has just released the trailer and a TV spot for Season of the Witch, both of which have Cage proclaiming, "cut off the head." Cleary they're trying to give Witch a horror edge, but considering Sena's resume, the movie will likely be more action than horror. Check out both below.

Link | Posted 11/24/2009 by Ryan

Nicolas Cage | Ron Perlman | Dominic Sena | Season of the Witch

Well I'm really excited. Kat Dennings [(Nick & Norah's Infinite Playlist, the upcoming Defendor)] is going to be in it with me and she's a good friend and an amazing actress, so I'm looking forward to that.

What role Dennings will play is unknown. A casting notice found in October mentions the role of college student Marcy Lewis, who interns with a scientist and "deals with her situation both by using subtle irony and by being an overt wiseass." Considering Portman's casting as nurse Jane Foster, coupled with Portman's enthusiasm over Dennings' casting, the role of Marcy could be a potential lock.

Thor starts production in mid-January and has filled out an impressive cast of newcomers and Academy-Award winners, including Chris Hemsworth, Anthony Hopkins, Tom Hiddleston, Jaimie Alexander, Ray Stevenson, Stuart Townsend, Tadanobu Asano, and recent addition Idris Elba.

Link | Posted 11/24/2009 by Ryan

Kat Dennings | Natalie Portman | Thor

Director Shawn Levy (Night at the Museum) will direct Real Steel, DreamWorks' first motion picture since receiving $850 million in much-needed financing following the split with Paramount last year.

Jackman will play an ex-fighter in a near-future world where human boxers have been replaced by robots. Jackman's character discovers a junked robot that has a knack for winning and begins promoting the electronic fighter on the Robot Boxing circuit. Along the way, he gets acquainted with the 11-year-old son that he never knew he had.

DreamWorks co-president of production Mark Sourian said that DreamWorks will "put the pedal to metal" on making the movie. Described by Levy as a "rousing sports movie," Real Steel's original script, written by Dan Gilroy, has been reworked twice, most recently by John Gatins.

Link | Posted 11/24/2009 by BrentJS

Hugh Jackman | John Gatins | Shawn Levy | Dan Gilroy

I love the Lizard. There's a great story there in the Marvel comic books about Dr. Connors.

While Raimi's comments may not be an indication that The Lizard will feature prominently in Spider-Man 4, recent comments Tobey Maguire has made to MTV lend more weight to that possibility.

I'm more familiar with Lizard and Mysterio, and I don't know — I like them as villains. I think they're great, and Lizard obviously has a really personal relationship with Peter Parker, so we often will go towards that kind of stuff.

Production on Spider-Man 4 is slated to begin in March.

Spider-Man 4 Update with Sam Raimi

The director dishes on the latest Spider-Man movie.

Link | Posted 11/24/2009 by BrentJS

Sam Raimi | Tobey Maguire | Spider-Man | Spider-Man 2 | Spider-Man 3 | Spider-Man 4

So, how did this year's movies stack up? We take a look back, identifying the 2009 Comic Book Movies: Winners and Losers. And here's a bonus tip for studios that just can't be repeated enough: Don't turn an anime property into a live-action movie.

Link | Posted 11/24/2009 by reelz

Watchmen | X-Men Origins: Wolverine | Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen | Whiteout | Surrogates | Astro Boy | Dragonball Evolution | Push | G.I. Joe: The Rise of Cobra

We get video profiles of all the main characters, including interviews and all sorts of new footage, along with features on how some of the creatures and the vehicles in the movie were designed. Also included are feeds to follow Avatar news on various social media like Twitter and Facebook. And there is more to come, with an in-depth "Pandorapedia" scheduled for launch in early December.

Still need more Avatar? Check out this extended clip of the thanator chase scene teased earlier.

Link | Posted 11/24/2009 by Bill

James Cameron | Avatar

The original, inspired by Shakespeare's The Tempest, centered on an expedition to discover what had become of a colony ship mysteriously lost decades before. When they land, romantic tensions over a scientist's beautiful young daughter famously erupt into technologically enhanced "monsters from the id." While remaining faithful to the original idea, JMS told SCI FI Wire he plans to expand the horizon of the story a bit.

We've actually decided to show more of the first ship when it first arrived 20 years earlier to sort of counterpoint what's happening in the present story. If you're a fan of the original, as I am, and have always been, I think it's very faithful to that.... There's a little more action, but it's still a strong character piece, because it's based on The Tempest and the idea of a father whose daughter is being courted by, in the original play, sailors that are washed up on shore. You need to have that dynamic still in place to respect the original and the source material. So there's a fair amount of talking, but there's some really cool action pieces in it as well.

What they have seen so far apparently has studio executives pretty excited. They are already talking about the possibility of sequels.

Warner is very excited about it, thinks it's a big franchise for them and a huge budget, so they're very much oriented toward getting it done.

No word yet on who will be directing. There was a rumor a while back that James Cameron might be interested, but nothing new on that front so far.

Link | Posted 11/24/2009 by Bill

James Cameron | J. Michael Straczynski | Forbidden Planet

"With its virtuoso tomfoolery, Fantastic Mr. Fox is like a homegrown Wallace and Gromit caper."

— Owen Gleiberman, Entertainment Weekly

"Although it may initially seem to be yet another kids-film-for-adults of the kind the industry has been pumping out of late, Mr. Fox manages to be something else entirely. Pandering to neither audience, it remains true to its story's vulpine nature."

— Chris Barsanti, filmcritic.com

"...an adventure in pure imagination that plays to the smart kid in all of us."

— Peter Travers, Rolling Stone

"Sometimes too clever by half, the film, replete with in-jokes, may in some ways work better for adults."

— Peter Rainer, Christian Science Monitor

"...exactly what one might imagine a stop-motion Anderson film to be: multitudes of quirky characters, immaculately arranged compositions and camera pans, soundtrack outbursts of classic rock, and a blend of tender humanism and melancholic existentialism."

— Nick Schager, Slant Magazine

The Fantastic Mr. Fox - Trailer

George Clooney, Meryl Streep, and Bill Murray star

Link | Posted 11/24/2009 by reelz

Fantastic Mr. Fox

In February, Universal's Wolfman arrives, in which Benicio Del Toro contends with the ancient curse. And now Variety has the news that The Howling, the 1981 werewolf movie by Joe Dante that generated a series of six sequels, is set for a franchise reboot with The Howling: Reborn.

The original starred Dee Wallace-Stone as a news anchor stalked by a serial killer, who turns out to be a werewolf. The plot details of the reboot are being kept tightly under wraps for now, but production is already set to start in February for a Halloween release. There's no word yet on whether they'll still use Gary Brandner's original novel as source material.

Link | Posted 11/24/2009 by Jim

Benicio Del Toro | Joe Dante | Dee Wallace-Stone | Gary Brandner | The Howling | The Wolfman | The Twilight Saga: New Moon

As of Monday night, New Moon's opening-weekend ticket sales have been recorded at $16.1 million MORE than what Summit originally estimated. Overseas box-office figures are still "trickling in" according to the LA Times, but right now the worldwide total stands at $274.9 million.

The final U.S. number for the weekend came in at $142.9 million, up $2 million from Sunday's estimates.

Twilight Saga: New Moon - Box Office Record

Did it live up to the hype?

Link | Posted 11/23/2009 by reelz

Taylor Lautner | Robert Pattinson | Kristen Stewart | The Twilight Saga: New Moon

Before they escaped, the bulls were being held on set in Cadiz, Spain. The bulls ran through the streets of the city before eventually making their way to the beach, where they were captured. Filming was expected to begin today, but Cruise and Diaz's scenes were not slated to be shot until the weekend. There is currently no indication of when the production will resume.

On an ironic note, Moviefone reports that Cruise and Diaz were urged not to star in the film by CAS International, an anti-bullfighting organization that feels that depicting bull runs in movies will only interest more people in the ritual.

Link | Posted 11/23/2009 by BrentJS

Cameron Diaz | Tom Cruise | James Mangold | Wichita

In a recent interview with Latino Review, Rain corrected McTeigue's statement, saying that his training was even more intense, lasting "eight months, five days a week, eight hours a day."

There is no wire, no camera tricks. I had to make my body fit like Bruce Lee.

Rain said that he does not have formal martial arts training — except for studying tae kwon do when he was 10 — but that he learned "a lot of martial arts" to star in the movie, including "tai chi, ninja techniques, karate ... a lot."

As for learning how to play the role of a ninja, Rain said that inspiration wasn't hard to find.

From when I was young I loved martial arts films so I love ninja, ninja techniques ... you know, in Asia, there's so many ninja films so I saw a lot of ninja films.

Ninja Assassin - Trailer

Rain stars - releasing Nov. 25, 2009

Link | Posted 11/23/2009 by BrentJS

James McTeigue | Ji-Hoon (Rain) Jung | Ninja Assassin

As part of the effort to make Avatar a completely realized world, down to to the blades of grass, he has commissioned a whole new language for his blue-skinned aliens. The LA Times has posted a interview with Professor Paul Frommer, who has spent the past four years gleefully working out the sound, syntax, and vocabulary of this Na'vi native tongue, constrained only by the limits the human voice, itself.

Perhaps not quite constrained enough, though, suggests Zoe Saldana who plays the alien Neytiri in Avatar. Despite her role as the linguistics expert Uhura in Star Trek — and what Kirk (Chris Pine) salaciously describes as "a talented tongue" — Saldana confesses that she found the experience a real challenge:

Oh, it was so hard and I was really concerned about it. I didn't think I could get through it. I'm not good with languages. All the actors, we worked together. It was the only way.

Nonetheless, the language is far more gentle and more melodious than Klingon, the professor insists, and he has high hopes that it will catch on and develop a life of its own. It's lonely, he says, being the only person really speaking the language. No word yet on any plans to teach it to a baby as a first language, as it was recently reported someone did with Klingon.

Avatar - Trailer

James Cameron Directs

Link | Posted 11/23/2009 by Bill

Chris Pine | James Cameron | Zoe Saldana | Avatar

Link | Posted 11/22/2009 by reelz

The Twilight Saga: New Moon

With so many different projects, it's hard to keep track of the status of all of them. Thankfully, Latino Review caught up with Silver and probed him about several of the fan-favorite films he is working on. While Silver didn't mention anything about the 3-D adaptation of DC Comics' Swamp Thing that he teased back in August, he did say that he is working on Lobo, another DC adaptation.

We're working really close on that. It's close, yeah. There is a good shot we can make that happen.

While many fans have been clamoring to see Jeffrey Dean Morgan (Watchmen) in the lead role of "The Last Czarnian," Silver stated back in August that his intention for Lobo was to go full CGI with the super-ripped alien bounty hunger, a la Avatar. When asked about the possibility of Morgan playing Lobo, Silver said that he is "very talented" and mentioned that Morgan was already tapped for yet another DC Comics adaptation, The Losers, and that they're still trying to figure out what will work best for Lobo.

There's been some interesting tests. It's pretty spectacular. So that's gonna come about soon I think.

After Ninja Assassin, Silver has the Guy Ritchie-directed Sherlock Holmes hitting theaters, which Silver would "love" to see turn into a franchise.

There are plenty of Sherlock Holmes stories. But let's get the movie open, let's see how it goes and we'lll see what happens.

Silver will no longer be teaming with Ritchie on an adaptation of Sgt. Rock after Sherlock Holmes, but he said that Ritchie is "involved" with Gamekeeper, which is "in development." He is also re-teaming with his Ninja Assassin writer, J. Michael Straczynski, an another project.

[Straczynski's] writing Forbidden Planet now. We'll see a script before the end of the year and that's exciting too.

Silver also mentioned that the reason he let Sony have He-Man was because it was a "weird one" that they couldn't figure out how to adapt. And, no, there will be no sequel to Speed Racer, not that too many people will shed a tear over that news.

Ninja Assassin - Trailer

Jung-Ji Hoon (aka Rain) stars - Releases Nov. 25, 2009

Sherlock Holmes - Trailer

Robert Downey Jr. stars - Releases Dec. 25, 2009

Link | Posted 11/22/2009 by BrentJS

Joel Silver | Guy Ritchie | J. Michael Straczynski | Jeffrey Dean Morgan | Ninja Assassin | Sherlock Holmes

However, despite his recent success, Downey Jr. may be ready to walk away from it all. In a recent interview with Entertainment Weekly, Downey Jr. said that he has "no set plans" for the future.

I've never had it this good — this is my day in the sun — and I certainly don't want to look a gift horse in the molars. But [my wife] Susan and I want to begin to be in our lives as much as we are in our jobs. I'd love just to sit here and say, 'What movie's playing tonight?' I'd love to finish the new book about D-day I'm reading. I love painting, I love music.

I'm f---ing really good at what I do — and have been for a long time, so I don't waver on that. But here's the thing: I can only be a guy on a call sheet probably, I don't know, maybe a couple more times. It's something I'm so grateful to have in my palm, and yet I already see its inevitable decay.

For the fans who would be devastated by his retirement, Downey, Jr. offered some hope in a thinly veiled plug for his new movie.

If Sherlock Holmes performs well, I could be busy for the next 5 or 7 or 10 years.

Sherlock Holmes - Trailer

Guy Ritchie directs and Robert Downey Jr. stars

Link | Posted 11/22/2009 by BrentJS

Robert Downey Jr. | Sherlock Holmes | Iron Man | Iron Man 2

While out promoting Brothers, Portman told SuperHeroHype that the opportunity to work with the multiple Academy Award-nominated director was reason enough to consider Thor.

I just thought it sounded like a weird idea because Kenneth Branagh's directing it, so I was just like, "Kenneth Branagh doing Thor is super-weird. I've gotta do it."

Other Thor cast members include Tom Hiddleston, Jaimie Alexander, Ray Stevenson, Stuart Townsend, Tadanobu Asano, and the most recent addition, Idris Elba. Thor is scheduled to begin filming in January.

Link | Posted 11/22/2009 by BrentJS

Anthony Hopkins | Natalie Portman | Kenneth Branagh | Thor | Brothers

Every shot we get back raises the standard for what follows.

Amid all these hectic, last-minute adjustments though, one key aspect of the final edit has been locked in. Despite widespread rumors that the movie would run more than three hours, the studio is now saying that, in part due to the constraints of Imax technology, the film will clock in at a more modest 150 minutes.

Link | Posted 11/21/2009 by Bill

James Cameron | Jon Landau | Avatar

Rain in the movie uses this blade and chain weapon, but when we're training him, it's with an actual martial arts weapon called the rope dart, so he trained with that so he knew how to swing it around, because then ultimately when you get into it, you need something for him to physically use. He'll use that, and the visual FX guys will put tracking markers on it, so that way, it gives the stunt guys something to react to and then we'll replace it later. But with swords and katanas and other things, sometimes we'll use bamboo painted silver for example, they're actually real sometimes.

Many critics have commented on how violent and bloody the movie is, but McTeigue said that he didn't have any problem with the MPAA ratings board.

When we submitted the movie, we said, "Look, it's really stylized." In no way is this Henry: Portrait of a Serial Killer or one of those movies that's so extreme it's meant to make you feel sick. This is like a game, it is like anime, it is like a comic book. I think they saw it as that, so henceforth, they gave me an R-rating and if you look at the ratings card, it goes "For stylized violence and blood." I think they got it.

Ninja Assassin - Trailer

Follows, from boy to man, a deadly assassin

Link | Posted 11/21/2009 by BrentJS

James McTeigue | Ji-Hoon (Rain) Jung | Ninja Assassin | Henry: Portrait of a Serial Killer

With thousands of extras in its battle scenes, Red Cliff is the most-expensive production in the history of Asian movies. The movie opens as power-hungry General Cao Cao (Zhang Fengyi) seeks permission from the Han dynasty Emperor to organize a southward-bound mission designed to crush the two troublesome warlords who stand in his way, Liu Bei (Yong You) and Sun Quan (Chen Chang). Red Cliff shows the events during the end of the Han Dynasty and right before the Three Kingdoms period in ancient China.

Tune in for the Secret's Out premiere on Friday, November 27, at 6:30 PM ET/ 3:30 PM PT. Or catch one of its encore showings.

Red Cliff - Trailer

The battle that effectively ended the Han dynasty's rule of China

Link | Posted 11/21/2009 by reelz

Leonard Maltin's Secret's Out | John Woo | Red Cliff