Dwayne Johnson Added to Epic Ridiculousness Also Known as G.I. Joe 2

"He's like a dog sitting by the dinner table, hoping that a scrap will fall to the floor for him to eat.  I love him, but fuck this!"

That wasn't exactly my first thought upon this news. But Queen Kristina (co-host of the Movie Moan podcast) brings up a valid point.

Dwayne Johnson, following in the same direction as jumping aboard the established Fast & the Furious franchise, has done likewise for G.I. Joe 2: Cobra Strikes. Variety says he's the first new addition to the cast for the Jon Chu-directed sequel, following the news of most of the original cast not returning for second-helpings. He's expected to play Roadblock, the resident heavy machine gunner/cook.

Like Fast Five, Johnson teamed up with the G.I. Joe name-brand is appropriate. But again, her Majesty is on to something. The wrestler-turned-actor (and I believe turned wrestler again?) has movie-star charisma and yet since making to the silver screen with the underrated The Rundown hasn't found the perfect vehicle to utility his on-screen charm.

New Trailer for 'Super 8'

Before I even get to this footage that premiered at the MTV Movie Awards last night, let me just say this: Bravo to J.J. Abrams for sticking to his guns.  In a world today where everything and the ending is spoiled for a movie whether online, or in trailers, or in commercials, Abrams has kept the secrecy on Super 8.  I appreciate going into a film and not having been spoiled of knowing already what's going to happen and what to expect.  There's an article over at TOLDJA! that discusses this very situation and how it might hurt the film's box office opening weekend.  You know what I say to that?  Fuck 'em.  Because when this movie is as good as it's going to be, it's going to make a shit load more money weekend after weekend than a front-loaded can of crap *cough* Hangover 2 *cough* ever will.  That's what studios forget these days, if the quality is there, the movie will makes money, big opening weekend or not. 

Anyway, enough with my rant.  Last night, J.J. Abrams, Steven Speilberg and some of the cast from Super 8 premiered a brand-new look at the film at the MTV Movie Awards.

I can't wait to see this film!  I'll be there opening night.

Eight Glowing "Green Lantern" Clips

Well here is the ultimate test of willpower. 8 Green Lantern clips have surfaced online through Trailer Addict. I've embedded them above and below. This is like an itch on my nose but my hands are tied down so I'm unable to scratch. Some of these may have spoilerish content so watch at your own risk. The movie is only about a week away now so I'd suggest waiting for the movie to be released. Once you've watched the film in theatres then go crazy with these clips online as the wait begins for the Blu-ray/DVD release.

Weekend Box Office: June 3 - 5

Courtesy of Box Office Mojo: 

1.  X-Men: First Class - $55.1 million

2.  The Hangover Part 2 - $31.3 million

3.  Kung Fu Panda 2 - $23.8 million

4.  Pirates of the Caribbean: On Stranger Tides - $17.9 million

5.  Bridesmaids - $12 million

6.  Thor - $4.2 million

7.  Fast Five - $3.1 million

8.  Midnight in Paris - $2.7 milllion

9.  Something Borrowed - $848,013

10.  Jumping the Broom - $844,909

Dammit, this X-Men has been the best movie of the summer so far.  Unfortunately, as predicted, this (mostly) Wolverine-free prequel, featuring a (mostly) second-tier mutant roster, and starring (mostly) relative unknowns failed to reach the highs of the previous films in the franchise, finishing the weekend with a decent but unspectacular $55 million.  Overseas, it came in third behind Pirates 4 and Hangover 2 with an additional $64 million.  Bleah.  The people who did see it seemed to like it a lot (myself included), so it could see some stronger legs than the last two films in the series, which opened big and dropped like rocks...but realistically, there are a lot of big movies coming out in the next few weeks.  Oh well.  Here's to hoping.

Speaking of dropping like rocks, The Hangover Part 2 tumbled 63% in its second weekend, but that doesn't really matter at this point, since the thing has already grossed over $300 million worldwide and another sequel is already in the weeks (ugh, just break my heart again, X-Men!).  Pirates 4 will also turn out to be its franchise's lowest-grosser domestically, earning another $17 million to bring its total up to $190 million.  Overseas, the movie passed the $600 million mark this weekend.  Wow.

Bridesmaids, which I actually thought was much funnier than Hangover 2, had the smallest drop of the weekend, falling just 27% to cross the $100 million mark with $12 million.  The weekend's family film, Kung Fu Panda 2 also passed $100 million at the box office with $23 million. 

Next weekend brings the JJ Abrams/Steven Spielberg sci-fi/70s throwback Super 8 into theaters.  That one looks pretty good. 

But seriously, go see X-Men: First Class.  It's really good. 

New Clip from Deathly Hallows Part 2

A new clip from the finale of Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows Part II premiered tonight during the MTV Twilight Awards....or was it the Movie Awards?  I couldn't tell.  But you can see how Hagrid is going to make you cry here:  

Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows Part II opens on July 15. 

Hello, McFly! Michael J. Fox to Appear in Back to the Future: The Game

Well, if you've seen the incredibly awesome X-Men: First Class, you would know this is certainly the week for scene-stealing cameos.  But this particular cameo - two cameos, in fact - are even cooler:

Telltale Games has announced that the final episode of Back to the Future: The Game, which arrives on June 23, will include a special appearance by the original Marty McFly himself, Michael J. Fox, who will voice two different characters in the game.  Which characters he will be playing are being kept under wraps for now (Marty has been played almost frighteningly well by AJ LoCascio), but Telltale did hint that one will be a character that Marty met during the films.

My guess, judging from the clip below and the 1930s timeframe the game takes place?  William McFly, who Marty met as a baby in Part III.

He sounds great.  And it's nice to have him back. 

Fox joins Christopher Lloyd and Claudia Wells (the original Jennifer), who have also provided their voices for the game, which so far has been a lot of fun to play.  I've heard that it's actually way too easy, but since I'm terrible at these games and I'm a huge Back to the Future fan, I love it.  Can't wait to play the next episode. 

Hunger Games Smells Money That Isn't There (Yet) – Going for 4 Film-Series

It's stupid, it's gimmicky and it's nothing more than a cash-grab.

But when Warner Brothers announced their plans to split Harry Potter & the Deathly Hallows into two separate films, financially-speaking it made sense. That franchise shits money and that move gave the studio more time to build up to the final installment and squeeze out every penny from movie-goers' pockets. The same applies for the Twilight series. Not so much for The Hobbit since the long time-frame between The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King opening to The Hobbit: An Expected Journey and how long that series has been away from the public's eye.

Joining the ranks of those franchises is The Hunger Games, reports Coming Soon. Lions Gate is aiming to turn what was expected to be a trilogy (since it is three books - duh!) into, you guessed it, four films.

Now I happen to think that The Hunger Games will be one of the bigger hits of 2012 whenever Lionsgate opts to release it. It has a March 23, 2012 opening. But it wouldn't surprise if they moved to somewhere higher-profile such as June 29, 2012, a date that will soon be vacated by Star Trek 2 and Relativity Media's untitled Snow White with Tarsem Signh which jumped up to that March a few weeks back.

Even though yours truly does think the money will be there and people will show up. It's not the brightest idea for them to go ahead and admit their intentions to whore your money outta you when the first movie hasn't opened yet and won't for awhile. Might have been a wiser call to hold off on making said plans public.

Apes Rose Up, Bananas Were Peeled & Poo May Be Slung – New Rise of the Planet of the Apes Trailer Hits

Note to self: never play God and never feed monkeys at the zoo.

Alright so there's more to the new trailer for Rise of the Planet of the Apes here thanks to Yahoo! Movies. But why do I get the feeling we’ve just sat through all the major beats from this prequel?

I still say if you're going to make a Planet of the Apes movie, just restart the whole damn thing and put your own spin to the material instead of trying to link it to the earlier (and speaking for most of them, better) films. You tell me I'm wrong, folks.

Oh for Christ's Sake, Terminator 5 Might Copy Star Trek Reboot?!

The problem with this idea is going off the history of how they always retcon whatever came before, this idea won't stick. They'll throw in some bullshit "You can't change history" line and carry on. But when you’re backed in a corner like the new Terminator filmmakers are, I guess one has to take that risk if they really want to get the damn thing made.

What's Playing reports Justin Lin might take a cue from J.J. Abrams' Star Trek for Terminator 5.

Translation: go for the "time-travel resulting in a reboot" continuity story/gimmick and hand the reign over to a new younger actor with Paul Walker, who's worked with Lin on two Fast & the Furious flicks, as a name of interest.

Why even go in this direction? Because if you don't have a television and/or any communication with the outside world, Arnold Schwarzenegger is having his ass torn to shreds in the eyes of the public and soon enough in divorce courts (rightfully so, I'd add) and has held off his plans to fully commit to a fifth Terminator since the scandal broke. He'd still be involved in a "fairly substantial role in the new story" but with substainally less screen-time to take some weight off him. Because Lin and the new rights-holders are smart enough to know a Terminator film without Arnold involved is on the stupid side of things. See Terminator: Salvation and The Sarah Connor Chronicles.

Look this idea worked for Trek, but to this day, I remember reacting about how stupid and convoluted that sounded on paper. Then again, the Terminator franchise is already pretty damn convoluted with its timeline. So...I guess this can't do any more (...or less...) damage.

Dark Knight Rises Viral Videos Suggest Gotham Might Not Be a Friendly City

Following that clever unveiling of Tom Hardy's Bane a couple of weeks back, new videos have appeared on YouTube under handle of The Fire Rises. That's the same phrase that launched the viral marketing for The Dark Knight Rises.

Assuming this is the real McCoy, see if you can decipher anything. Once we get pictures of Christian Bale as Batman, Anne Hathaway's Catwoman, etc. then I can give an honest assessment of what's in front of me. Viral campaigns, on the other hand, give me a headache. Something about Arkham Asylum inmates escpaing is all my little brain can process.