Fri, January 30, 2009 Within a week geekophiles were greeted with two posters from upcoming comic book films. First it was the final poster from Watchmen and now it is the teaser poster for Wolverine. I have to say I like the Wolverine poster much better, although it has a similarity to one of the X3 posters.
Fri, January 30, 2009 
When I was a kid I was HUGE on action figures. I had these great DC related action figures that would actually punch when you squeezed their legs. I remember I would repeatedly instruct Superman to kick Batman's ass with a simple squeeze. However, my favorite figures were the "Masters of the Universe" collection where the chest would take damage to them by revealing slashes that resembled wounds from an axe or sword. My battles between He-Man and Skeletor were epic within the walls of the minature Castle Greyskull. They even went into battle on their respective battle cats, Skeletor's purple and He-Mans green with orange stripes.
Hopefully we'll get an updated version of those figures because He-Man is on his way back into the mainstream. Another scoop put forth by Latino Review in November has finally been confirmed by the trades. John Stevenson is slotted to direct "Masters of the Universe" for Warner Bros.
Silver is producing through his Silver Pictures banner. Mattel's Barry Waldo will be executive producer.WB acquired the property in 2007, and Justin Marks wrote the first draft of the script based on a story he developed with Neil Ellice.
The Mattel property became iconic by way of the 1980s cartoon series "He-Man and the Masters of the Universe," and the property was previously turned into a campy flop by Cannon Films in 1987, with Dolph Lungdren as He-Man and "Frost/Nixon" star Frank Langella as the villainous Skeletor.
The film project is a big priority for Mattel, which licenses a high-end line of He-Man toys that are popular with hardcore collectors. Hollywood has become a magnet for branded toy-line properties, as DreamWorks and Paramount ready a June 26 release for "Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen" and Paramount preps for an Aug. 7 release on "G.I. Joe," both of which began as toy lines that became hit animated series.
Stevenson said the first film came to mind when he was asked to consider the job, and the impression wasn't a good one. He changed his mind when he went to Mattel headquarters and was shown into a secret lair that contained the visuals created by the toymaker staff.
I haven't bought many action figures since hair started appearing on my chest, but you can be sure if this flick gets off the ground and they bring back the "hack & slash" figures, I'll be first in line.
Fri, January 30, 2009 
It's official: Sylvester Stallone is that friend of yours who doesn't have enough sense to know when to leave something alone - you know the type I'm talking about!
Amid criticism from everyone (including myself), Sly decided to resurrect his most-popular film character with Rocky Balboa.
And you know what? He's proved us all wrong. Balboa was a well-made and fitting swan-song to the franchise that wound up surprising critics and audiences alike with it's quality and box-office success.
Soon after, it was (not surprisingly) announced that Stallone would bring back his second most well-known film persona - that of 'Nam vet/action hero John Rambo.
And although Rambo ultimately wasn't met with anywhere near the acclaim of Balboa last year, it still wound up making a nice profit in theatres and (especially) home-video.
In the midst of pre-production on his forthcoming action-epic The Expendables, Sly confirmed that indeed a fifth installment is now coming:
"Yeah, we are doing another 'Rambo,' but the conflict is whether to do it in America or a foreign country."
I realize I sound like a dick with this post - certainly not the first time, nor will it be the last.
But seriously, Rambo (like Balboa two years before it) brought the character to a proper and fitting conclusion - regardless of whether or not you liked said film.
All Sly is doing now is beating a dead horse, and looking more and more desperate...
Fri, January 30, 2009 
Prequels. Requels. Sequels. Reboots. Revamps. Reorigins.
I don't know how much longer we are going to continue down this path but my head is certainly spinning on a daily basis because of it. The trades are now confirming a September Latino Review article that announced "The Thing" prequel.
Studio has set "Battlestar Galactica" exec producer Ron Moore to write the script and commercials director Matthijs Van Heijningen to direct the re-imagining.
It is set in a Norwegian camp and chronicles how the shape-shifting alien was first discovered and overcame the inhabitants of that camp. Strike Entertainment's Eric Newman and Marc Abraham are producing. David Foster will be exec producer.
To me "The Thing" is a classic horror flick at its very best and definately one of my favorite Carpenter flicks. It is certainly an interesting idea to give the viewer a glimpse into what happened to the Norwegians, but it might be almost 30 years too late to take advantage of the story.
Fri, January 30, 2009 
A little over two weeks back, word hit that Emily Blunt was poised to play the Black Widow in the highly-anticipated Iron Man 2 - which our very-own Rob Hunter reported here.
But that might not be such a sure thing now that Blunt is set to appear in Guillver's Travels for 20th Century Fox and director Nicholas Stoller (who made last year's Forgetting Sarah Marshall).
According to Variety:
"While Blunt's reps are still trying to work out scheduling so she can play both roles, it will be an uphill battle because of scheduling overlap. 'Gulliver's Travels' will shoot in the U.K. in late March; 'Iron Man 2' is expected to begin lensing in early April in Manhattan Beach, Calif."
It only makes matters worse due to a pre-existing option with Fox - one that was inked back when she did The Devil Wears Prada with the studio.
It basically boils down to this, folks: If Fox so chooses, they can force her out of Iron Man 2 and into Gulliver's Travels.
Now before anyone starts screaming for the heads of Fox on a stick (certainly not the first time that's happened - what with the Watchmen lawsuit), this kind of stuff is common-practice. Not to mention, Blunt agreed to that deal back in '05.
Regardless of how this pans out, she'll be fine.
Fri, January 30, 2009 
Our pals over at IESB got updates on two DC Comic properties - one a no-brainer to damn-near everyone and the other...not so much.
As per their sources, director Christopher Nolan, his brother Jonathan and David Goyer are already hard at work on Batman 3 - which is said to be in the early writing stages.
Meanwhile, Warner Brothers (apparently impressed with his Johnny Quest script) has tapped Dan Mazeau to pen The Flash.
When questioned on both properties, producer Chuck Roven was coy - neither confirming or denying said rumors.
Fri, January 30, 2009 
Warner Brothers has set Channing Tatum to star and Dito Montel to write and direct an adaption of David Morrell's 'Brotherhood of the Rose', Morrell is an international best seller who is most famous for writing 'First Blood' which introduced John Rambo to the world, who of course was subsequently turned into an icnoic big screen action hero by Sly Stallone.
'Brotherhood of the Rose' is the story of two orphaned brothers who are trained to become assassins for the government by a man named Elliot that takes them under his wing as a father figure.
Montel and Tatum previously worked together on the directors autobiographical debut 'A Guid to recognizing your Saints' and the forthcoming 'Fighting'. Tatum has a big year coming up with the aformentioned 'Fighting' plus roles in Michael Mann's 'Public Enemies' and the Stephen Sommers comic book adaption 'GI Joe: Rise of Cobra'.
I think this is a promising project, Tatum is not quite the block of wood people initially thought he was and Montel is a director who showed promise with 'Saints', their upcoming collaboration 'Fighting' had some rolling their eyes thinking of 'Never Back Down' but I expect a bit extra grit on Montel's underground MMA flick.
Clearly here there are two more key roles and if top talent is cast in them then this could be a one to watch as it is also at WB which is the studio of the moment in my eyes.
Fri, January 30, 2009 
Tom Twyker, director of 'Run Lola Run' and 'Perfume: Story of a murderer' has been set by the Wachowski brothers to adapt the Dave Mitchel novel 'Cloud Atlas'.
Plot Synopsis
The book consists of six nested stories that take us from the remote South Pacific in the nineteenth century to the far future after a nuclear apocalypse. Each tale is revealed to be a story that is read (or watched) by the main character in the next.
You can read the details of each of the 6 stories at the link above, at this juncture it's unclear what role the Wachwoskis will play, if they intend to direct or if they are just going to produce and have Twyker direct. It also seems that they will most likely not adapt all 6 stories into the one film given the massive tonal shifts.
Another rumour that has accompnied this news over at /film is that Natalie Portman may be involved in the project as well, she starred in Twyker's segment of 'Paris, je t’aime' and apparently that was the performance that convinced the Wachowskis to cast her in 'V For Vendetta'.
Everything is early in the development stage on this one but given the interesting creative elements involved we'll be sure to keep tabs on it.
Thu, January 29, 2009 
Werewolves and vampires were no match for the rotund Paul Blart as the comedic Kevin James helped to strum up a win against Underworld: Rise of the Lycans. Just barely. Paul Blart: Mall Cop had werewolves nipping at its heels but pulled in $21.6 Million thanks to an impressive drop of only 32% in its second week. Underworld: Rise of the Lycans pulled in a solid $20.8 million to fall just short of the top spot. New films Taken, The Uninvited, and New In Town will look to overtake Paul Blart this upcoming weekend.
Weekend Estimates (Jan. 23-25)
1 Paul Blart: Mall Cop $21,623,182
2 Underworld: Rise of the Lycans $20,828,511
3 Gran Torino $16,244,462
4 Hotel for Dogs $12,860,944
5 Slumdog Millionaire $10,699,629
6 My Bloody Valentine $10,012,658
7 Inkheart $7,601,379
8 Bride Wars $6,868,664
9 The Curious Case of Benjamin Button $6,085,919
10 Notorious $5,779,692
Thu, January 29, 2009
You can always rely on Matthew McConaughey to make cutting edge films that bubble with excitement and freshenss, ok ok ok, he makes the same type of movie over and over but hey! he has chemistry with Kate Hudson that I find entertaining.
His latest co-stars the lovely and talented Jennifer Garner and legend Michael Douglas who hasn't had a good role for years, and is essentially a rom com twist on 'A Christmas Carol' which is a pretty neat idea. McConaughey's playboy character Connor Mead is shown what he is missing out on by not being with his one true love as opposed to porking loads of broads.
I honestly find the trailer quite sparky and Garner has a couple of nice lines, it's pretty straight forward stuff but looks to be at least entertaining, hopefully Douglas old playboy gets more than just a couple of scenes though because he looks fun.
'Ghosts of Girlfriends Past' opens on May 1st and you can check out the trailer below.