New Justice League: Doom Clip

Justice League: Doom will be based around Mark Waid's JLA story, "Tower of Babel". In the story, Ra's al Ghul has discovered a number of secrets kept in Batman's files which reveals each area of the league members weaknesses. It looks like Ra's will be replaced by Vandal Savage in the animated feature, who is basically an immortal that travels through various time periods trying to take his spot as the ruler of that era.

DC Comics hasn't been as hot as Marvel when it comes to big screen adaptations of their characters, but there's no questioning that the animated side comes out on top everytime. DC has a number of animated movies lined up each year, and in March they will be releasing a block of programming on Cartoon Network to help boost recgonition of the company. Look for Justice League: Doom on February 28th.

Adam Sandler Headed to Candy Land

I was hoping Adam Sandler would use his strong-arm hold at Sony to fast-track Pixels, a concept cool enough (8-bit pixel video game characters come to life, attacking New York City) to serve as a star-vehicle that didn't fall on his routine formula. Instead the studio's announced this afternoon, a co-production with Hasbro for a Candy Land movie:

"Columbia Pictures, Happy Madison and Hasbro, Inc. are in final talks to develop Candy Land, a live action movie based on the bestselling Hasbro board game with Adam Sandler attached to star, it was jointly announced today by Doug Belgrad, President of Columbia Pictures, Hannah Minghella, President of Production for Columbia Pictures, and Brian Goldner, Hasbro President and CEO. Kevin Lima (Enchanted) is attached to direct the project for the studio with Sandler and Robert Smigel are in talks to write the screenplay.

Commenting on the announcement, Belgrad said, 'Candy Land is more than just a game. It is a brand that children, parents and grandparents know and love. The world of Candy Land offers an extraordinary canvas upon which to create a fantastical, live-action family adventure film with a larger than life part for Adam. We are thrilled to partner with Hasbro and Happy Madison on this project.'

'The creative talent on board for this movie is amazing and we are excited to bring alive the world of Candy Land for kids and families everywhere,’ Goldner added. “Sony/Columbia has been a wonderful creative partner as we develop another of our games, Risk, for the big screen. We are looking forward to working with Sony/Columbia and Adam Sandler and his team at Happy Madison Productions on this film.'

Candy Land is one of the most beloved and best known games of all time. Created in 1949, it has been played by generations of families. In the game, players go on a magical journey through fantastical lands made of candy, sweets, and ice cream: the Peppermint Forest, the Gum Drop Mountains, and the Lollypop Woods. Along the way, players encounter such iconic characters as Princess Frostine, Lord Licorice, Mr. Mint, and King Candy.

The project will be produced by Goldner (Transformers) and Hasbro’s Senior Vice President and Managing Director of Motion Pictures, Bennett Schneir (Battleship) along with Happy Madison Productions. At Columbia, development of Candy Land will be overseen by Sam Dickerman."

Time passes and we come to realize those ads for the "movie within a movie" in Funny People had to have come from real pitches made either by Judd Apatow or to Sandler. As if Jack & Jill wasn't enough for us.

No More Stretching Out For Taylor Lautner

Three years of unmitigated hype (Nice a kid as he seemed, that was all about his six-pack and the popularity of the books that pre-dated him) and the bubble is bursting on Taylor Lautner. But you know that's what happens with someone gets "hot" and studios' knee-jerk reaction is to start brokering projects left and right. Sometimes it's smart to avoid the rabble-rousing and see if the latest teen heartthrob transcends past the Teen Beat crowd before committing yourself to pricey "Pay or Play" deals.

As the Twilight phenomenon draws to an end this November and the failure of his first solo-vehicle Abduction, Universal has dropped their long-planned Stretch Armstrong movie Lautner was attached to headline, "TOLDJA" reports.

The GE underling isn't just getting out of the Taylor Lautner business. They've dropped the Hasbro-project altogether. For better or worse, Relativity Media seems to think there is money to be made from a Stretch Armstrong film (Under the influence that it's 1976 and not 2012?) and grabbed the rights. Noticeably not included in their plans is one Mr. Lautner.

Not that the kid will stop getting work, but his glory days are wrapping up. If he's smart, he saved his big Twilight sequels bucks.

The Avengers 3D Glasses

The Avengers is sure to be one of the bigger hits of the summer. Marvel has been building this one up since the release of Iron Man back in 2008 and fans have been waiting not so patiently for the pay off. The last few movies have suffered a bit in my opinion with the focus on the stories giving momentum to this huge on screen team-up and even promotional stuff for The Avengers so far has looked underwhelming. That won't stop it from becoming a huge success though. Add the 3D format to the hype and the box office numbers should definitely be in contention for the top spot of the year.

Marvel is releasing exclusive 3D glasses designed around the 4 main heroes for an extra price when you go see the movie. I don't know if they will add these purchases to the final box office number, but I certainly wouldn't fork over even more money for an already overpriced viewing of a movie that probably looks better in 2D anyway. Some fans will feel that these are a must though and another unnecessary product will be sold! 

New Promo Image From The Amazing Spider-Man

Sony Pictures is giving Spidey fans a sneak peek of their upcoming release, The Amazing Spider-Man. While footage won't be as widely released as The Dark Knight Rises prologue, bigger cities around the globe will have the chance to visit TheUntoldStoryBegins.com to reserve tickets to the event. I imagine the tickets are going quickly so hurry up and snag one if you're near one of the locations. 

A promotional image has also been released with Andrew Garfield in the costume. Looks like someone has been battling The Lizard. The Amazing Spider-Man is in theatres June 30th in Japan and July 3rd in the US. 

The Muppets vs. Fox News? Oh, It's On

Remember a few weeks ago, when Fox Business News commentator Eric Bolling and his band of clueless nitwits spent about seven outrageous minutes accusing The Muppets of sending anti-oil and anti-corporate messages to our children, even though it didn't?

Yeah, I'm still trying to forget that nonsense ever happened too.  However, the story re-entered the news cycle in hilarious fashion in the UK last week, when Kermit the Frog and Miss Piggy were asked what they thought of that wild accusation at a press junket for the film. 

And since Kermit predicted that Miss Piggy's response would be "all over the internet", I have no choice but to do as the frog says and pass it on:

Hilarious.  And for anyone cringing at the idea of the Muppets even acknowledging this at all, or worried that the Muppets were getting a teensy bit political here, think of it this way:  they really weren't.  They simply made a comment about a news network that aired a nasty, mean-spirited segment that for no good reason told blatant lies about their movie.

So good for the Muppets for responding as gracefully as they have here.

The Cold Light of Day Trailer Looks Not Terrible

The surprise of The Cold Light of Day trailer (via Yahoo! Movies) isn't how Henry Cavill does with an American accent. If you saw Blood Creek, you already knew he could deliver just fine in that department. It's how the action-thriller looks considerably less like a Jason Bourne rip-off as its one-sheet months back suggested and nowhere near as bad as Immortals did last year.

Until Tarsem's Greek epic (A good movie sold to the masses as 300 Part II which helped it win its opening weekend but fall like a rock quickly thereafter when it clearly wasn’t), this trailer is, by no means, awful. It looks perfectly watchable for a Friday/Saturday night at home with pizza and Blue Moon manner. It just doesn't look that good either.

At least Bruce Willis isn't sleepwalking through this.

Rooney Mara Commits to Steven Soderbergh's Side Effects

Don't know if The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo made a big enough of a splash for it to cause long-term career repercussions for Rooney Mara as much as her co-star Daniel Craig. For him, it just further solidified as great an actor he is he can’t open anything that doesn’t have the 007 logo.

Mara, on the other hand, didn’t have too much on her rap-sheet before this outside of that awful Nightmare on Elm Street remake, her small but pivotal role in The Social Network, and, as I'm told by my pal Ed Hocken, the "victim of the week" role on Law & Order: SVU as an ex-fatty-turned-fatty hater. Yes, it's as stupid as it sounds but that SVU for ya, and we all had a good laugh over that one.

So she scored an Oscar nomination and, to her credit, doesn't appear to be waiting for word on The Girl Who Played with Fire, a follow-up few are certain will come to light, to make her next move. Variety says Mara will next appear in Steven Soderbergh's Side Effects, filling in for Blake Lively in a cast that includes Catherine Zeta-Jones, Jude Law and Channing Tatum.

She'll play a "a young woman who is taking high amounts of prescription drugs to deal with anxiety and depression surrounding the upcoming release of her husband from prison." That's a role as far apart from Lisbeth Salander as possible. A smart move on her part.

Matthew Vaughn Helming X-Men: First Class Sequel

A little blurb pertaining to the re-upping of Emma Watts' contract with Fox, over at "TOLDJA," confirms Matthew Vaughn will return to direct the sequel to last summer's X-Men: First Class.

As much as I, and the Movie Moan crew, loved First Class, the thought of another retro-centric X-Men installment is iffy. If they were going full-on reboot, there'd be no concern to be had. But they're evidentially still playing with the toys first packaged by Bryan Singer (and his continuity) and asking for two awesome prequels has a sense of pressing your luck.

That said, both Vaughn and Singer are returning. So there's encouragement on that end.

Joe Carnahan To Write/Direct Death Wish Remake

Joe Carnahan has to be feeling pretty good this morning. He played in the sandbox with commercially-driven studio fare and gave the world The A-Team. Nobody showed up. Its failure not only killed the chance of that sequel with Jon Hamm as the baddie, but it, by Carnahan's admission, led him to The Grey, which just opened at the top of this weekend’s box-office.

And while yours truly dug his heavily-thematic story of death, you'd be a fool to not see the point of view from those livid at the ending. When you market your survivalist drama as "Liam Neeson vs. Wolves," you'd damn-well better deliver that. But that's all beside the point. Even if The Grey plummets next weekend (a genuine possibility), Carnahan is hot and other producers, executives, etc. are looking at him, and as 24 Frames reports, MGM and Paramount are the first to grab him.

Both studios, in a co-production deal, have committed Carnahan to write and direct the remake of Death Wish, the Charles Bronson-starrer of an architect-turned-vigilante after the murder of his wife caused a ruckus for its day with its depiction of violence and rap. Its success also turned an intended stand-alone effort into a ridiculous franchise including the fake (but amusing and dead-on) Death Wish 9 from The Simpsons in case you were curious what that picture came from.

Not what I had in mind for Carnahan post-The Grey (Was hoping he could finally get White Jazz going), but a Death Wish remake? Sure, why not.