Back to the Future Game - First Look

Think of it as Back to the Future Part IV, sorta.  IGN has the first look at some new images from Back to the Future: The Game, coming soon from Telltale Games.  The five-episode video game will follow the further adventures of Marty McFly and Doc Brown several months after the events of Back to the Future Part III, and will involve plenty of puzzles and problem-solving time travel adventure madness.  And it looks pretty cool. 

The game has some major Back to the Future names behind it:  original trilogy writer/producer Bob Gale has been working on the game's story, Christopher Lloyd returns to voice Doc, and Michael J. Fox has given the rights for his likeness to be used for the game (Marty will be voiced by AJ Locascio - his freakishly good Marty McFly voice can be heard here).  It will span across several as-yet unannounced time periods and will also feature places instantly recognizable to fans such as the Hill Valley town square, the Clock Tower, and of course, the DeLorean time machine.

Back to the Future: The Game will be released for the PC and Mac in December, and versions for the iPad and Playstation 3 are set to follow.  You can pre-order the first level of the game for free here, or if you just want to take the plunge and pre-order all 5 episodes now, you can do so here, and if you do that, not only is a free copy of Telltale's Puzzle Agent game included, but $1 from your order will go to the Michael J. Fox Foundation for Parkinson's research, which is certainly another good reason to order the game early. 

Obvious Confirmed - Jeremy Renner Taking Over Mission: Impossible Franchise

Quality being another matter, I imagine audiences will flock for *clears throat* Mission: Impossible – Ghost Protocol about as much as they did for the J.J. Abrams-helmed third installment. That is to say it'll substantially under-perform, and, for the eighteenth time or so, everyone will question Tom Cruise's bankability as if it's never been picked apart before. Unless, of course, he's not in the film too terribly much.

Speaking to MTV Movies Blog, co-star Jeremy Renner confirmed what everyone assumed, and told otherwise by the key principles involved. Tom Cruise is being shown the EXIT door from any further M:I flicks with the Hurt Locker star expected to fill that void:

"It's a franchise to potentially take over. I can't predict the future and what they want, but that's certainly the idea."

We've seen those set pictures of Cruise's Ethan Hunt in action. I'm wondering if the plan is to off him in the first act and hand things over to Renner's as-yet-named agent or will Hunt walk into the sunset at the end in one piece? If so, then that's a retread of the last one. So if I'm placing money on this, and I'm not...yet, I'd say Mr. Hunt meets his demise early on.

Another Superman Origin Story, Eh?

Let's just push aside that Zac Efron rumor. We all know it's more full of shit than my nephew's Huggies. So I'm not even gonna link the fucking thing.

On the other hand, Feature Film Auditions (via What's Playing) has what appears to be the plot for Zack Snyder's Superman reboot and the sides being given the various fresh-faced no-names up for the Man of Steel. Yep, we're getting the origin story once more. As if we didn't already have enough of it from Richard Donner's '78 classic or more recently on Smallville (or as I call it "Superman: Cock-block"):

"Clark Kent is a freelance reporter in his early 20’s, traveling all around the world covering various news stories. However, Kent is forced to fly back into action to attain a fleeing assassin instead of covering an ethnic conflict between the Ghuri and Turaaba clans in West Africa. Upon his return to form, Kent returns to Smallville to learn more about his origins and become the hero he was born to be."

This also contradicts statements made by Snyder stating this incarnation wouldn't be based off any comics. The above description screams Birthright – the 2003 Mark Waid-written comic reboot on the character, myth, etc.

Oh, and Anne Hathaway is up for Lois Lane as we all expected – she reportedly met with producer Nolan for his Dark Knight Rises, but everyone assumed he also went ahead and talked about Superman while they were there.  A solid choice if picked – age-appropriate, determined and talented. Quite the looker too.

Lindsay Lohan Dropped From Inferno; Malin Akerman Takes Over

There goes her comeback.

Lindsay Lohan's been dropped from the Linda Lovelace-biopic Inferno. Depending on whom you believe it was LiLo's call or the filmmakers. I seriously doubt it was the former as just how badly she needs this to resuscitate her DOA career. The latter claim it was impossible to get her insured, and that's 99.9999% likely what ultimately happened.

But the filmmakers have already found their Lovelace in the form of Malin Akerman. I'm in the minority view on her Watchmen performance – thought she was perfectly fine. Will she be good here? I'm willing to go with it.

If this launches her career past playing supporting roles in crap like Couples Retreat or The Heartbreak Kid, it'll be especially odd to see those promo pics of Lohan as Lovelace and thinking, "What if...?"

Ghostbusters 3 Searching For New Recruits

I'm dead, aren't I? Or am I still alive and, in fact, Hell froze over?

Confirming that Production Weekly tweet a few weeks back, casting is underway for Ghostbusters 3 according to Feature Film Auditions.

Casting the new leads (It's going to be the "passing the torch" story we'd all heard for ages) will take space in Los Angeles and Chicago, the latter where production will occur.

The old gang will be back. Yes, Bill Murray too, kids! But no Rick Moranis - *frowny face* Interestingly in regards to the "next generation," Anna Faris is listed next to the returning players. While What's Playing did some digging, and although no confirmation on the Scary Movie actress, word is Bill Hader and Will Forte are being batted about for it as well. All three of whom I could imagine wearing proton-packs and running around next to CG ghosts.

Were it not for 21 Jump Street, I'd have bet some nice shiny coins Jonah Hill would have joined rank too.

Batman Thinks The Dark Knight Rises Title Is Fake!?!

This sounds like Christian Bale's subtle li'l way of saying, "It sounds stupid!"

When asked of his thoughts on the third Batman movie's title, Bale (as per Screen Junkies) is none too sure it's legit:

"Until Chris tells me, I don't know."

Since Nolan himself officially revealed The Dark Knight Rises as the title, it's safe to say it's for real.

Truthfully, it's a non-news item, but there's actually a point to this. If Bale is (supposedly) none-too-sure of the title, new addition Tom Hardy isn't exactly aware who he's playing and, according to Michael Caine, the script won't arrive at their doorstep until January, how would anyone outside the key players know what is going on when Nolan is well-known for his secrecy?

I'm referring to the rampant Hugo Strange rumors and the more MovieWeb recent remarks by Teresa Palmer where she (again, supposedly) revealed Talia al Ghul played a part in the threequel.

Matthew Goode: The Man of Steel(?)

When I think of serious Kal-Els/Clark Kents contenders for Zack Snyder's Superman: The Man of Steel, actors like Armie Hammer and Scott Porter pop in mind. Not so much, Matthew Goode.

Movie Newz claims the Snyder alum, having played Ozymandias in Watchmen, is the frontrunner to play a heavily CG enhanced Man of Steel for the 2012 reboot.

The latter reminds me of those Rupert Evans as Superman rumors during the Justice League: Mortal casting. Goode also, by his own admission, read for Bilbo Baggins. So a guy who could have been The Hobbit is supposed up for Superman?

The former has been floating around for years - carted around the Warner Brothers offices – long before they turned to Christopher Nolan and David Goyer. It appears the WB executives finally got that idea off the ground for Green Lantern, and notice how everyone just loves how that all CG suit looks?

Can’t say I buy either of these claims.

Weekend Box Office: November 19-21

Courtesy of Box Office Mojo:

1.  Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows, Part 1 - $125 million

2.  Megamind - $16.1 million

3.  Unstoppable - $13.1 million

4.  Due Date - $9.1 million

5.  The Next Three Days - $6.7 million

6.  Morning Glory - $5.2 million

7.  Skyline - $3.4 million

8.  Red - $2.467 million

9.  For Colored Girls - $2.400 million

10.  Fair Game - $1.4 million

Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows Part 1 raked in the galleons this weekend, earning an incredible $125 million since opening at midnight on Friday.  That beats Goblet of Fire's $102 million opening in 2005 to become the highest-grossing opening weekend of the Harry Potter series.  Overseas, the movie grossed an additional $205 million to bring its worldwide total to a staggering $330 million in just three days.  I'll bet the folks at Warner Bros are over the moon about their decision to split this film into two parts, since it's definitely paid off...and will continue to pay off well into next summer now.

Waayyyy down at #2 was Megamind, which kept the little muggles busy by earning another $16.1 million, which officially puts it over the $100 million mark.  Both Unstoppable and Due Date had not-terrible drops to earn $13 and $9 million, respectively.  That's much better than this weekend's other new release ( and who on earth decided to release another movie this weekend?), Russell Crowe's thriller The Next Three Days, which tanked with just $6.7 million.  That's the lowest opening for a Russell Crowe film since A Good Year in 2006.

The news wasn't much better for Morning Glory, which fell out of the top five with just $5.2 million.  The comedy has earned just $19 million since opening last week.  Skyline proved to be a true dud, dropping an awful 70% to earn just $3.4 million.

Red begins to wrap up it's excellent box office run with $2.4 million and bringing its total to an impressive $83 million.  Tyler Perry's For Colored Girls has more than made its budget back, earning $2.4 million to bring it to a $34 million total.  In just 386 theaters, the CIA thriller Fair Game did all right, earning $1.4 million to round out the top ten.

This Thanksgiving weekend brings a slew of new releases, including Tangled, Disney's animated take on Rapunzel, as well as Dwayne Johnson's return to action with Faster, the romantic comedy (is that a comedy?  It looks funny, but I'm getting a terminal illness vibe from the commercials) Love & Other Drugs, and the Christina Aguilera/Cher musical Burlesque.  Can any of them beat Harry Potter?  Eh, probably not.

New Trailer "Green Hornet"

Sony has released an all new trailer for their upcoming superhero comedy action adventure flick Green Hornet starring Seth Rogen, Tom Wilkinson, Jay Chou and Cameron Diaz.

I know the first couple trailers ranged between mediocre and down right "meh", and I don't know if it's just me but this new trailer looks all kinds of kick ass and awesome! So does this mean Seth Rogens comic book adaption won't  suck complete ass? Lets hope so, because this new trailer actually has me looking forward to it.

The official synopsis is as follows:

Britt Reid (Seth Rogen), son and heir to Los Angeles' largest newspaper fortune, is a rich, spoiled playboy who has been happy to maintain a direction-less existence. When his father James Reid (Tom Wilkinson) dies, Britt meets an impressive and resourceful company employee, Kato (Jay Chou). They realize that they have the resources to do something worthwhile with their lives and finally step out of James Reid's shadow. Kato builds the ultimate weapon, The Black Beauty, an indestructible car with every weapon imaginable and Britt decides that in order to be heroes, they will pose as villains. With the help of Britt’s new secretary, Lenore Case (Cameron Diaz), they learn that the chief criminal in the city is named Benjamin Chudnofsky (Christoph Waltz). He has united all the gangs under his power, and he quickly sees that the Green Hornet is a direct threat to the prosperous criminal underworld he controls.

Source Code Trailer

Duncan Jones debut "Moon" was a critical hit and for many viewed as a hit in the arm for sci fi, now the trailer for his sophomore effort "Source Code" is online.

Starring Jake Gyllenhaal, Michelle Monaghan and Vera Farmiga, "Source Code" is a sci fi thriller that in many ways uses a twist on the whole time travel concept. From the trailer it looks like the film has seen a bit of humanizing since the script but the tense time sensitive thriller aspect seems in tact.

"Source Code" Opens April 15th 2011 and you can check the trailer out below.