Sir Ian McKellen Locked In for The Hobbit

Damn, that was fast!

Just a few minutes after the news broke of Andy Serkis securing a deal for The Hobbit (via "TOLDJA"), Entertainment Weekly and Heat Vision (Fuck it - give both of them credit) confirm Sir Ian McKellen is locked in to return as Gandalf the Grey for the epic two-movie shoot.

During that long doom-and-gloom period where it seemed all but assured it would fall apart, McKellen, to his credit, was the lone voice of optimism. Something that my Movie Moan pal Lou and I butted heads over in past podcasts. It appears my friend up North gets the last laugh here.

Negotiations were going on between him and Warner Brothers, who've recently taken over calling the shots on the Lord of the Rings prequels. The 3D production starts moving along next month.

Andy Serkis Returns for The Hobbit

If you were in the Lord of the Rings trilogy and are not currently expecting to pop up in The Hobbit, please leave us your contact information and we'll have someone get back with you immediately to correct this error.

A week after the confirmation of Elijah Wood's return to Middle Earth despite his character Frodo, the lead in Peter Jackson's trilogy not appearing in the J.R.R. Tolkien precursor novel comes confirmation of additional returning alum.

"TOLDJA" says a deal's been signed, sealed and delivered for Andy Serkis to reprise the Gollum role in the two movies. While a deal between the studio and Sir Ian McKellen are still ongoing, his return is expected. Hold out for every penny you can earn, Sir.

Surprisingly though (when you factor in comments in the press months back to the contrary), Christopher Lee is expected to return as Saruman and even Ian Holm as the older Bilbo, which would further explain how they plan to shoehorn Frodo into this. No word on Hugo Weaving though – odd.

Filming is expected to start in the new couple of weeks in New Zealand.

Jurassic Park 4 & Superman Fakery Strike!

For a couple of hours last night, the Internet was aghast with two items that screamed, "FAAAAAAAAKE!" But that didn't stop the talks from rumbling nonetheless on two franchises in Revival mode: one most definitely happening, the other eventually.

First up came a piece stating that not only was Jurassic Park 4 greenlit, but already filming. The item originated from Behind the Thrills, and picked up by AICN. The "evidence" as pictured on the left side of your screen stated the film was already taking space next to TV productions Desperate Housewives and Parenthood.

Didn't take too long for two separate outlets (Badass Digest and Coming Soon) to debunk it. A fourth Jurassic Park is one of those things that seem inevitable to happen. But you know, if one was really going on right now, A) don’t you think somebody would have heard about it and B) the filmmakers be working under an alternate code-name to throw everyone off?

Meanwhile, some snapshots supposedly taken for Superman: The Man of Steel popped up over on Superman Homepage. The text going along with the pics stated the actor in the trunks (unknown TV actor Geoff Ward) had read for director Zack Snyder three times prior and was now in the final screen-test stages.

No doubt the identity of the new actor will leak through the cracks on sites like "TOLDJA" or Latino Review. That shit just happens, nothing you can do to stop it. But we're supposed to believe that a production as security-tight as the Supes reboot somehow had pictures leaked from the screen-test phase - not to mention how many fan-films are there out there like this one?

Sounds like this came from the actor himself and/or his representation in an attempt to garnish fan-support. That shit never works.

C. Thomas Howell Added to Spider-Man Reboot

Holy 80s alert, Spider-Man!

C. Thomas Howell, whom history will forever remember for donning black-face for Soul Man in addition to The Outsiders, The Hitcher and Red Dawn (was a finalist for Back to the Future too!), has joined the cast of the Marc Webb/Andrew Garfield 3D reboot.

The actor confirmed the news on his Facebook account (via Movie Hole). But he's wisely not saying much beyond that.

Doesn't scream J. Jonah Jameson, a role that remains uncast to the best of everyone's knowledge - unless the cigar-chomping Daily Bugle editor doesn't appear in the redo.

Norman Osborn, on the other hand, yeah it's not hard to visualize Howell in that role. Assuming the plan involves building up the Green Goblin for any down-the-line sequel.

X-Men: First Class Trailer Described

The last two X-Men movies were basically one of those frozen Lean Cuisine meals. They smelled fan-fucking-tastic and you couldn’t wait to tear through the clear foil and chow down on your reduced fat and portioned meal. Then you took a bite. The taste was...off and you begrudgedly finished only to swear you won't buy that one ever again.

It's the fear of that bad taste in audiences' mouth you'd figure 20^th Century Fox would get the word spreading on X-Men: First Class ASAP. Assuming this latest "meal" actually tastes good. But this past Thanksgiving and Christmas holidays came and went with nary a trailer or official photo of the cast in costume on their high-profile prequel/reboot/something with Bryan Singer producing.

The Daily Blam! claims to have seen the trailer and gives the gory details:

"- The trailer opens with the 20th Century Fox logo which pans up as the two spotlight beams cross and form a white "X" on the left of the screen. A white circle goes around the 'X' forming the X-Men logo, as Magneto's helmet comes up on the right.

- Patrick Stewart and Ian Mckellan voice over the opening lines about destiny and which side will you stand for as scenes of each in their previous X-Men movie roles flash until the entire screen flashes from white to black.

- A very young Xavier and Erik meet for the first time, followed by a different angle of the scene from the opening of X-Men in the concentration camp.

- Camera pans outside of an old castle-style building that greatly resembles the X-mansion. McAvoy and Fassbender are seen walking through the halls. The words "One wanted peace" flash by Xavier.

- Scene transitions to Erik yelling dramatically as metal tables in the room begin to float around him. Xavier and Mags shake hands with a tall man in a lab coat introduced as Dr. McCoy.

- The words 'The other was too far gone' flash as a very pissed off Erik storms through a hallway killing guards as he passes them.

- Cut scene to what appears to be a red Nightcrawler with swords taking out a room full of people; the close up reveals Azazel's face.

- The Hellfire Club stand next to Xavier on a bed as Emma goes into diamond form. Olver Platt and Kevin Bacon were next to Emma in black aristocratic clothes, with Emma wearing the exact same outfit from the Wolverine and the X-Men cartoon.

- Mystigue on a bed with her skin turning black; Beast is shown transforming, with his feet growing and toes webbing and fur growing.

- Havok shoots a red beam of energy -- looks almost exactly like cyclops's eye beam, but larger -- from his chest (SIDE NOTE: Havok's powers in comics have always had a blue energy, this change may be to relate his character to Cyclops).

- It then shows Beast all blue and furry (looking almost exactly like Kelsey Grammer in make-up) in the pilot seat of a crashing jet, followed by several rockets flying towards an island.

- Xavier's face goes all CGI and his head begins to go bald as he mentally pulls a large ship that was sinking out of the water, as well as some smaller boats around it (seems to allude to Xavier have telekinesis).

- Back to Xavier (with hair) telling Erik he only wanted peace for him, and he replies there was never a chance for anyone to have that.

- Final scene: Erik picks up a black helmet, then he is shown from behind wearing a black and red suit (no cape or coat though) and the helmet. Screen cuts to black and the X-Men: First Class logo shows up (the one described above), then the release date."

Am I the only one who thinks people will ask, "Where's Hugh Jackman?" when the release date approaches? If this report is to be believed, Fox isn't planning to put the above-described trailer out for another four-to-six weeks.

Salma Hayek and ABC Developing "Wicked" Miniseries

This should be exciting news for fans of Gregory Maguire.  According to Variety, Salma Hayek and ABC are joining forces to develop an 8-hour miniseries based on his best-selling Wizard of Oz prequel, Wicked.

Now, before you put on your Elphaba and Galinda costumes and start belting out your best version of "Defying Gravity," know that this version will be an adaptation of Maguire's original 1995 novel, not the popular Broadway musical version.  So don't start singing that song either.

Wicked: The Life and Times of the Wicked Witch of the West is the about the twisted behind-the-scenes drama going on while the Wicked Witch of the West was terrorizing the Land of Oz...or at least, that's what you were meant to believe.  In the end, after hearing the "real" story, you're left wondering who the actual wicked ones were (I'll give you a hint:  it's ain't the Witch).  A sequel, Son of a Witch, was published in 2005.

Fans of the novel have grumbled that the musical, which has been playing to packed houses worldwide since 2003, severely watered down the book.  And it did.  While the book was a dark, violent political thriller, the musical was more about how the Good Witch and the Wicked Witch were friends before the events of The Wizard of Oz.  Songs from the show have even shown up on Glee.

I can see their point, but having read Maguire's novel and seen the musical on Broadway...I liked the show better.  The book was depressing.

Erik Jendresen ("Band of Brothers") will write the script for the miniseries, who will also executive production along with Hayek and Jose Tamaz.  No word yet on whether Hayak will play a role in the movie, but I should she'd be a good fit for it if she decides to go for it.

Plans for a movie version of the musical are currently underway at Universal, who also produced the stage version. 

Weekend Box Office: January 7-9

Courtesy of Box Office Mojo:

1.  True Grit - $15 million

2.  Little Fockers - $13.7 million

3.  Season of the Witch - $10.7 million

4.  Tron Legacy - $9.8 million

5.  Black Swan - $8.3 million

6.  Country Strong - $7.3 million

7.  The Fighter - $7 million

8.  The King's Speech - $6.8 million

9.  Yogi Bear - $6.8 million

10.  Tangled - $5.2 million

Well, it's about time.  True Grit finally took the top spot this weekend over Little Fockers, earning $15 million and crossing the $100 million mark, making it the Coen Brothers' highest grossing film, and galloping past the final grosses of previous Western hits Tombstone and Unforgiven.

Despite lagging behind Meet the Fockers' $204 million at the same point in its box office run in 2005, Little Fockers is still pulling in some respectable box office, earning another $13.7 million to bring its total up to $124 million.

Audiences seemed undeterred by the abysmal reviews for the latest WTF offering from Nicolas Cage, Season of the Witch, which wound up earning a reasonably decent $10.7 million.  I'm going to go out on a limb here and assume that it will make much less next weekend.

Tron Legacy enjoyed it's last weekend with the majority of 3D/IMAX screens (The Green Hornet will take those over next week) with $9.8 million.  At $147 million domestically, and an additional $110 overseas, it's certainly no Avatar, but it's definitely doing better than...well, the last Tron movie, anyway.

Is that an Oscar contender in the top 5?  Why, yes it is!  Black Swan continues its run as Darren Aronofsky's highest-grossing film with a domestic total of $61.5 million.  Other Oscar hopefuls The Fighter and The King's Speech also played well, earning $7 million and $6.8 million respectively, while Blue Valentine grossed $719,000 in just 40 theaters nationwide.

Country Strong opened wide this weekend to the tune of $7.3 million, which is OK, but it remains to be seen whether it has the potential to be this year's The Blind Side, which the marketing seems to be going for (at least that's the vibe I was getting from it). 

Overall, it was quiet weekend for the box office.  Next weekend sees the releases of The Green Hornet and The Dilemma.  So it might be a quiet weekend then too.

Ivan Reitman Talks 'Ghostbusters 3'

Ivan Reitman, out promoting his most recent directoral effort, No Strings Attached (aren't people sick of Ashton Kutcher yet?), was asked about the current status of the long-awaited (like over twenty-years long-awaited) Ghostbusters 3.  Via ComingSoon.net, here's what Reitman had to say:

ComingSoon.net: So, you know we have to ask you what's going on with "Ghostbusters 3," right?
Ivan Reitman: [laughs] We have a really good script, but Bill (Murray) has to read it. He hasn't read it. There has been all kinds of chatter online about him reading it and not liking it. He has not read a thing. He's never read anything. And I just sent it to him. So we'll see. God knows how long that will take. But we'll see.

CS: There have been a ton of stories online. Lots of back and forth...
Reitman: There is almost nothing that is accurate online about that film. Will you write that for me?

CS: I will!
Reitman: There is nothing... I mean, all these stories... there has been a ton of stuff about casting, about who's in... none of it is true.

CS: The whole Sigourney Weaver thing about her son taking over and Bill Murray coming back as a ghost...
Reitman: Oh, no, yeah... I mean, Sigourney Weaver has a role in this movie. All the original characters have parts. As well as a whole bunch of new characters... it's got a really good story, this one. Maybe the best of the whole series. I hope we get to do it.

My take?  If this movie don't start filming before the end of this year, it ain't ever gonna happen.  Murray has been pretty vocal about his hesitation to slap on the proton pack again (even though I think he's a complete jerk for not wanting to do the film.  Why would you not want to do the film?).  Ultimately, if he gives the OK, which I eventually think he will, then this thing should start coming together quickly.  I mean hell, Dan Aykroyd and Harold Ramis have been nursing this baby for the last decade, not like much prep work would be needed.

Stay tuned to TMT as more news should be out in the coming months.

Steve Johnson To Release Making Of Hulk & Superman DVDs

UPDATE: Looks like the animatronic version of Hulk had nothing to do with Ang Lee's movie. The animatronic version of Hulk was actually being tested for the Jonathan Hensleigh version which would mean it was back in 1997. Thanks to TMT reader Antonello Blueberry for pointing this out.

Not to long ago Steve Johnson started releasing photos and video featuring some of the work he had done prepping Tim Burton's never released Superman Lives project.

Now Johson has released a video of an animatronic version of The Incredible Hulk from his time on Ang Lee's "Hulk" flick that was released in 2003. Lee originally was hoping to use the animatronic version of Hulk but ultimately went with the CGI version we all know and hate instead.

Check out the video below courtesty of Worst Previews. Also interesting to note, Steve Johson's company EonEntertainment (Scroll Right) is planning to release all the juicy behind the scenes footage from his time on Ang's version of Hulk in addition to his work on "Superman Lives". Can I preorder this now!

Amanda Seyfried & Justin Timberlake - "Now" Set Photos

Photos from "Now" have made their way on like courtesy of EyePrime. You can enjoy yourself some Justin Timberlake running with a gingered up Amanda Seyfried if your heart desires. Click the above link for different angles of running and yelling.

Welcome to a world where time has become the ultimate currency. You stop aging at 25, but there's a catch: you're genetically-engineered to live only one more year, unless you can buy your way out of it. The rich "earn" decades at a time (remaining at age 25), becoming essentially immortal, while the rest beg, borrow or steal enough hours to make it through the day. When a man from the wrong side of the tracks is falsely accused of murder, he is forced to go on the run with a beautiful hostage. Living minute to minute, the duo's love becomes a powerful tool in their war against the system.