WB/Legendary Heart Money - Commissions Writer for The Hangover Part III

The Hangover opened big back in June 2009 and held like glue for the last of that summer. People (critics and the masses) loved it, and it grossed $280 million.

Cut to Warner Brothers/Legendary Pictures commissioning The Hangover Part II which just opened this holiday weekend to huge business. Not one to wait and see how the masses react this coming weekend (as opposed to the critics who adamantly rejected it) with word-of-mouth settling in, The Wrap says talks are "shockingly" forthright with Craig Mazin, who wrote the sequel with Scot Armstrong and director Todd Phillips, for another round of scripting duties.

We're all assuming Mazin will copy-and-paste from the first one again except I guess by process of elimination the Wolf Pack is throwing a Bachelor party for Alan. Good luck at making audiences believe there's a woman out there willing to commit to that guy. Unless he's marrying Chow, or maybe Mike Tyson.

Batman Will Kick Some Legislative Ass on Matthew Modine in Dark Knight Rises

That took a lot faster than anticipated.

Showbiz 411 already knows who the recently-cast Matthew Modine will be in The Dark Knight Rises. Per their spies, the actor will be playing a "key villain," a politician by the name of Nixon. Way to be subtle there, Nolan.

Wonder how those who interpreted The Dark Knight as right-wing propaganda will think of this?

Spy Kids 4 Trailer or Who Wouldn't Want a Dog That Sounded Like David Brent?

Don't know if any of you kids out there know. But there was a series of Spy Kids movies that were popular ten years ago. Before you were born.

Well, eight years on following the third, and 3-D centric, entry Robert Rodriguez dusted off the franchise for Spy Kids 4: All the Time in the World. Why they're calling it a "reboot" since this clearly follows the continuity of the earlier flicks and features the original child-stars all growed up. Also what's the difference between 3-D and this new fangled 4-D is lost on me. But I'm obviously not the target audience. Translation: I'm old.

Judging by the just-released trailer, those locks on Rodriguez's director jail cell are holding firm. Please note all proceeds go to the "Please Let Me Make Rose McGowan Barbarella" foundation.

Albert Hughes to Akira: "It's Not You...It's ME!"

Akira was still without actors to play leads Kaneda and Tetsuo and, as reported by JoBlo, no pre-viz team at work. You can also add director to that growing list of missing components.

"TOLDJA" says Albert Hughes has walked from the live-action manga adaptation. They say Warner Brothers/Legendary Pictures plan to grab another filmmaker to fill Hughes' place and going back to their original short-list for actors after Keanu Reeves passed.

More and more headaches for a project that most of us don't think will ever see the light of day. How much longer 'till both studios publicly throw in the towel?

I hope that one day concept work and/or test footage finds its way online. I think we all want to see just how the Hell they planned to pull this off.

The Muppets Go Hangover

OK, that was cute. I just hope they doesn't throw it in front of The Hangover Part II this weekend. Considering the blank reaction the first trailer for The Muppets got this weekend attached to Pirates of the Caribbean: On Stranger Tides with my audience, can't imagine this being any better.

Nevertheless, I laughed and this just makes me angry that my ideas for The Muppets Go Apocalypse Now and Woody Allen's The Muppets Go Crimes & Misdemeanors remain untouched. Courtesy of Yahoo! Movies:

And We're Still Waiting for Rock-Solid Star Trek 2 News...

UPDATE: Since we just brought this up, this comes as a surprise to no one, with brain cells. To be fair, there are a lot of people out there who never contemplated this scenario and always take what studios say at face value. Because they never (ever) lie about anything. Yeah, I know – dumbasses.

"TOLDJA" says all signs are pointing to a release date shift for Star Trek 2. Nothing definite but Paramount's sights are currently set for a December 2012 release now. But the upside is J.J. Abrams is expected to announce relatively soon (from the sounds of it, before Super 8 opens in three weeks) he will return to direct.

So, get ready for some competition for that nerd dollar next Christmas, Superman!

If memory serves me correctly, the last update on Star Trek 2 (a sequel that I and many nerds and non-nerds can't wait to see) was everyone waiting on a finished script from Robert Orci, Alex Kurtzman and Damon Lindelof, the thumbs up or down from J.J. Abrams to direct and Paramount went as far to shuffle their Jack Ryan reboot in order for Chris Pine to captain the U.S.S. Enterprise a second time in order to make their long-announced June 29, 2012 release.

That was back in late March and, drum roll; we're still waiting as of the end of May. Wonderful, and as Abrams makes the press rounds to pimp his latest Super 8, people will continue to ask until more definite news is announced. Talking to Fox All Access, Abrams was brief and to the point:

"We're working hard on that script, and fingers crossed, we'll be able to make an announcement on that pretty soon"

Well, that's encouraging right?

Adding to that, co-screenwriter/producer Orci went to the Trek Movie forums and addressed some (truthfully realistic) concerns brought up by posters, adding just how much has been cooked up for the untitled Trek sequel:

"Orci: [to Capt. Crash] None of the above. Just been waiting for JJ to be free to really decide if he likes the story and hear his suggestions before we finish the script. Once he says go, we'll have it in no time. Meanwhile, our outline is detailed enough (70+ pages!) to do some prep :)"

It's possible (Look at how balls-tight the X-Men shoots have been, including First Class) but, at this juncture, I just don't see how they're going to make their late June '12 opening. Maybe they'll prove me wrong, but I say Paramount will wind up pushing Star Trek 2 to Christmas 2012 and instead of butt-hurting The Amazing Spider-Man they'll put the pain to The Man of Steel.

That Other Sherlock Star Joins The Hobbit

Benedict Cumberbatch has a couple of things going for him. One, his name is awesomely British. Two, he stars in Sherlock – the BBC series which happens to be both very awesome and very British. Three, he has a striking resemblance to Movie Moan co-star Ed Hocken. So if they ever make The Ed Hocken Movie, we know who'll play the title role. Four, it appears he's the latest non-American actor to join the cast of the two Hobbit flicks currently in production down in New Zealand.

Cumberbatch's co-star Martin Freeman is off the Lord of the Rings prequels to film the second Sherlock series this summer. Incidentally while at the BAFTAs last night (first leaked via the Twitter of BBC correspondent Lizo Mzimba), Freeman let it slip that when he returns to the Kiwi set he'll be taking the Sherlock to his Watson back with him.

I have nary a clue who the Sherlock star would play. He certainly looks like one of the Elves. Any suggestions?

Cute & Charming Trailer for The Muppets Hits

Much to my surprise and chagrin, Disney attached the trailer for The Muppets in front of Pirates of the Caribbean: On Stranger Tides this weekend. When I first saw Jason Segel and new Lois Lane Amy Adams onscreen with that Disney logo, I laughed, "Hey! It’s the Muppets!" and nobody reacted.

To be fair, it does pull a fast one on you playing like a dime-a-dozen romantic comedy. Until Kermit the Frog shows up. But even after the trailer is over my audience sat there blankly. Yet they clapped like retarded seals during the umpteenth time Captain Jack Sparrow gave a funny look during the surprisingly-not-so-shit Pirates fourquel.

Morons, but I digress. Here's the trailer for your viewing pleasure:

This Loser is Why Superman Renounced His U.S. Citizenship

My pal Ron Purtee said it best with this tweet.

I don't know if this is fake or not. Perhaps this is the real McCoy. There are people who act that way in real life surprisingly. Either way, check out this schmuck's (supposedly) live nerdgasming to the last few minutes of Superman: Cockblock. Definitely got some loud chuckles out of me.

Why he's even excited is beyond me since Tom Welling never wears the red-and-blue suit, that's clearly Brandon Routh's CG body-double from Superman Returns and...that tee-shirt. I'm sorry to those who've (somehow and still) convinced themselves Welling likes the Superman lore and respects his fans. Total dick move in my never-so-humble opinion. Fans have been wanting to see him in full-on Man of Steel mode (iconic suit and all) and he didn't do it.

An Avatar Spoof? How 2010 of Them!

Congratulations are in order to Jason Friedberg and Aaron Seltzer. As per Coming Soon, the guys behind classic modern-comedy spoofs like Date Movie, Disaster Movie, Epic Movie, Meet the Spartans and Vampires Suck have thought of the revolutionary idea of spoofing, wait for it, Avatar in the soon-to-be masterpiece The Biggest Movie of All-Time 3D.

What a bold idea. If it were 2010.

Here's the description and poster for your "enjoyment:"

"In 'Scary Movie' we spoofed the creepy teen horror genre, in 'Date Movie' we took on cliché romantic comedies, 'Epic Movie' we parodied bloated blockbusters, 'Meet the Spartans' we lampooned the ultra macho '300' and in 'Vampires Suck' we skewered the cultural phenomenon 'Twilight.' But our new movie will dare spoof the biggest, boldest and most successful movie ever made – James Cameron's 'Avatar.'

With a domestic box office of nearly 700 million dollars and an overseas haul of over 2 billion, it was only a matter time before this behemoth got a good ribbing. And what could possibly be riper for satire? You got half naked blue people plugging their hair into strange flying horses so they can read their thoughts! And nothing in this mega blockbuster is off limits, from its overly simplified message of 'big corporations = bad; tree hugging environmentalist = good,' to the broadly drawn characters like the buffed out Colonel who's in a perpetual 'roid rage to the very colorful, glowing and... come on, totally stony world of Pandora. And just like 'Avatar' our movie will be in eye popping 3-D – making it the very first spoof movie ever in this format. It's a perfect showcase for our outrageous sight gags, physical comedy and audacious stunts that will make for a hilarious film and uproarious audience experience."

Between now and whenever-the-Hell-this-crap-is-released, we're sure there will plenty of other pop-culture reference to date this one. The world has yet to have its fill of American Idol and Jersey Shore jokes, after all.