Chronicles of Narnia: The Voyage of the Dawn Treader Trailer

At least, 20^th Century Fox isn't following in Disney's dumbshit "Let's put our big Christmas tentpole in the summer!" mentality with the latest Chronicles of Narnia installment The Voyage of the Dawn Treader. Such common-sense may even be rewarded with buffo box-office receipts when the Christmas holidays kick into full-gear. God wouldn't it be amusing as Hell if this did better than Disney's Tron: Legacy?

Yahoo! Movies has the theatrical trailer. Don't expect to see yours truly in line for this one. I very-much enjoyed The Lion, the Witch & the Wardrobe, but passed seeing Prince Caspian. Looked boring and, honestly, so does this.

New Tron: Legacy Trailer

The CG/digital botox on Jeff Bridges still looks wonky, but it's thankfully not there too much in this latest Tron: Legacy trailer. Wisely, this new one focuses on story – in this case, the father/son relationship between Garrett Hedlund's Sam, our protagonist, and Bridges as dear old Dad Kevin Flynn from the original Tron. You've got to care about your leads and be involved in the story or all the visual eye-candy in the world will equal dick.

But I suppose that's the problem here. I don't give a shit if Sam and Daddy ever reunite, based on this trailer. Just not getting a chill up my leg on this massive Tron resurgence on Disney's part. Whole thing just seems odd to me.

The Franco Ultimatum

He's such an odd duck with his choices (saying that in a complimentary fashion!) there's no telling what James Franco will do next.

Right now, he's riding the high waves of Danny Boyle's 127 Hours. But then turn around and headline Caesar: Rise of the Apes, a property quality notwithstanding is highly likely to belly-flop next June, and the fantasy comedy Your Highness which will probably fare better. What's next after that? Who the Hell knows for certain with him. But the offers (or rumors of such offers) are pouring in.

Production Weekly says Franco is rumored to be up for the Clash of the Titans sequel few care about (outside Warner Brothers and Legendary Pictures) Wrath of the Titans.

Of greater interest is Showbiz 411 saying he's being eyed by Tony Gilroy for the Jason Bourne-less, fourth Jason Bourne movie The Bourne Legacy. Correction: nothing was specifically stated to imply Franco was up for the August 2012 blockbuster. He merely attended the 127 Hours premiere which Franco happened to appear in.

Connecting-the-dots logic does work. But...not seeing the connections here, kiddos. For all we know, Gilroy just wanted to see a good movie that night. Besides, I always pegged the new guy as some European actor like Henry Cavill.

Morgan Freeman Up for Akira

You've heard the story often.

A genre film needs an accomplished actor to add a weight of class to the project. When the filmmakers pin-point said actor, they're offered one of two options: either a bunch of money upfront or a smaller paycheck in favor of a piece of the box-office. In most of those cases, they say, "Just give me the damn money right now!" thinking nothing will become of the silly little movie they're doing. Until the movie becomes a smash and egg gets thrown in their face for passing up what would be a gold-mine.

Something tells me Morgan Freeman knows that story by heart. How many big productions, especially comic-related, has he shown up in the past decade? The Oscar-winner has appeared in two Batman films (soon to be three, that is), Bruce Almighty, The Sum of All Fears, Wanted and the still-in-theatres hit Red to name a few.

Bloody-Disgusting says another could soon be added to that list: the Hugh Brothers' Akira adaptation. He's said to be circling the role of the Colonel. This comes hot off the heels of a /film scoop that Zac Efron has been offered the lead of teenage biker, Kaneda – presumably to be renamed for American audiences. "Kenneth?" Sounds a bit too Jack McBrayer for my tastes.

My Movie Moan co-host Ed Hocken said off-air how if done properly the audience would be throwing up by the third act (Check out the anime to know what he’s talking about!) and that the subject matter was better suited for David Cronenberg. Plus, it'd so damn expensive to pull off.

Don't see the pros for Warner Brothers to be moving forward on this.

Joe Manganiello Hearts Superman

No need to mention those John Cena/Dwayne Johnson rumors. None of us here need a degree in "No shit, Sherlock!" to know this is bullshit.

On the other hand, Joe Manganiello has been telling anyone with a set of ears since late spring how badly he wants to play Superman for Zack Snyder and Christopher Nolan. While I don't doubt his sincerity, surely he knows the best route is telling his agent and making a bee-line to Warner Brothers, Legendary Pictures and Snyder/Nolan's camp instead of telling everyone out loud. That rarely (if ever) works.

According to True-Blood.net, Manganiello once again revealed his desire to hang on a wire harness for hours on end as the Man of Steel at a convention this past weekend. He, however, added a bombshell – he's actually met with the filmmakers this time. Interesting, but again why blab about any of this out loud before the studio's had a chance to announce the decision themselves (or via the websites of their choosing to "break" the story)?

Not too long after word spread of his candidacy, he clarified the matter on Twitter with these remarks:

"Just to be clear... as of today, I am not 'negotiating' to play SuperMan"

"...but keep your fingers crossed and thanks for the wishful thinking!"

I think he'd be fine, personally, and seems like a nice enough guy. As much as I think Armie Hammer was blowing smoke, Manganiello does fit the "35-40" type they're supposedly gunning for. My hunch is he was given the call privately he didn't get the gig and trying to drum up fan support.

Update: Martin Sheen Joining Spider-Man Reboot

UPDATE: I could do a separate post here, but fuck it. Tonight is officially "Spider-Man Reboot Casting Night!"

In addition to busting out President Barlet as the new Uncle Ben an hour back, Heat Vision also has word Sally Field is up for Aunt May. It's not as iron-clad as the Martin Sheen casting – the key words are "early talks" here. Her as Peter's loving-and-supporting aunt didn't jump out in one of "Of...COURSE!" fashions like Sheen, but I like it.

Also in news that will either cause cheers or groans (Have no idea how fans will react), The Wrap has reports Mary Jane Watson will not make an appearance. Word is the character not only isn't featured in the latest draft, but apparently was never there to begin with.

Honest to God, I liked Kristen Dunst in the Raimi films overall, i.e. not the third film. But I don't see any error in this call. Best to (re)start things with someone else for Peter Parker to pine over. If the reboot works and a sequel comes our way (which to, frankly, too early to even fathom), maybe then she could appear.

Still hesitant about the Spider-Man reboot and as I've frequently said, think Sony is over-estimating the appeal of the franchise's brand-name after the greatly-unpopular last film.

But the casting of Andrew Garfield as the new web-slinger is a big plus and getting fresh blood in charge (director Marc Webb) had to be done. I love Raimi, and what he did with the characters/universe. But his batteries were burnt.

We're only a month away from production starting and it's time to get roles filled outside of our hero, his main-squeeze (Emma Stone) and villain (Rhys Ifans).

Heat Vision has a big one – no, not J Jonah Jameson. Martin Sheen will play Peter Parker's Uncle Ben, the surrogate father whose death results in his path of becoming the wall-crawler.

Not much to say, to be honest, other than I find it to be excellent casting. Wondering if the plan is to include Uncle Ben via flashbacks for an already-established Spider-Man, or is this definitively going to be another origin story.

Big Mommas: Like Father, Like Son Trailer

Fanboys talk about how huge The Avengers will be in two years (It's remains a question-mark, commercially speaking).

But you know what'd be a bigger hit, knowing the general public's tastes? Get together all the black comedians in drag characters for the be-all/end-all team-up. So get ready for Eddie Murphy, Tyler Perry and Martin Lawrence in Madea, Big Momma & the Klumps Save the World coming the July 4^th 2012 weekend!

But until that movie is (never) made, just settle back and check out the trailer for Big Mommas: Like Father, Like Son courtesy of MSN.  It's the same crap you'd expect from this always-popular comedy sub-genre. But wait its two characters in drag here!? We're talking about a different beast then.

James Bond Will Return (Again) November 2012

Good to be wrong here, folks.

Bloomberg reports MGM is aiming their gun-barrel for the next James Bond  installment for a November 2012 release. If all goes according to plan, the studio will return to the tried-and-true formula of putting a new Bond out every two years.

My growing concern with their money-woes was the longer this dragged out, the less likely we'd see Daniel Craig in the role again. Since his introduction in the 2006 reboot Casino Royale was so well-received, the higher-ups were smart enough to fatten his contract from three films to, correct me if I'm wrong here, five. So retaining his services wasn't an issue.

Plans were well underway for his third outing (Peter Morgan was brought on to write and Sam Mendes to direct). But everything came to a grinding halt until MGM's problems were resolved. Thus Craig aligned himself with potentially two other franchises - David Fincher's The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo and Cowboys & Aliens. Hey, the man has to eat!

Well as we all know by now, MGM finally stopped shitting their pants and using the toilet (financially speaking), and here we are. The more we get outta the Craig tenure, the better.

New Sucker Punch Trailer

Zack Snyder has directed, what I think are, two great films (the 2004 Dawn of the Dead remake and Watchmen), and I have faith he'll deliver the goods on Superman: The Man of Steel.

But I'm not feeling Sucker Punch. I didn't with the first trailer, and I'm definitely not after this one. Sorry, but this feels like everything a hyper-active teenage boy thinks as "cool" thrown into a blender and spit out. Maybe it'll surprise, but for the time being, I'll pass.

Charlie Sheen Up for Expendables 2?

He might have troubles in his personal life - once again. But it doesn't appear to have fucked up Charlie Sheen's professional one. The public is still eating up Two & a Half Men, and plenty of people in high places want to stay in the Chuck Sheen business.

Translation: as long as you can make someone lots and lots of money, they'll put up with whatever bullshit you have.

Word from What's Playing is Sylvester Stallone is looking to utilize Sheen for "a washed-up-but-usual CIA type" helping the gang track down glorified cameo-turned-baddie Bruce Willis in The Expendables 2. I guess this means Sly has secured Willis to return for full-time villain duties this time around as well as the core cast like Jason Statham, Jett Li and Mickey Rourke.

By the time the Expendables sequel is released, it'll be 2012 (most likely) and his sitcom, as popular as it remains even into its eighth season now (Good lord, people!) could very well be dead by then. Appearing in a high-profile to a crowd-pleasing hit is a never-so-stupid career move, and, hey, it's a pay-check, Chuck. Not that he needs the dough thanks to that sitcom.