Did Brad Pitt Appear In Sherlock Holmes?

Although it didn’t kick Avatar’s box-office ass like I originally thought, Sherlock Holmes was able to hold its own this past weekend. Having your franchise-starter open to the tune of $65 million is solid no matter what one thought of either film. If you think that’s even remotely bad, you’re a moron and I’ve got land in Otisburg to sell ya.

Some of the rumors going around before its release entailed a cameo by Brad Pitt as Professor Moriarty. We’re talking good old-fashioned sequel setup, boys and girls. Of course, negotiations between Pitt’s people and the producers for the Sherlock Holmes sequel have since started. Considering its strong debut (biggest Christmas Day opening ever) and reportedly good word-of-mouth, another one is a given at this point.

If you saw the film this holiday weekend (like me), then you merely saw Moriarty hidden behind the shadows with an undetected voice threatening Irene Adler (Rachel McAdams). Alas there was no face planted on our hero’s arch-nemesis.

While interviewing its director Guy Ritchie, UGO addressed said issue:

Matt Patches: So I have to ask, who plays the voice of Moriarty in this movie?

Guy Ritchie:  I'm not going to tell you.

Patches: I have to say, it sounded a little like Brad Pitt.

Ritchie: Can't say.

Patches: Aww, please?

Ritchie: No.

Thank God, that cleared everything up. Bad jokes aside, I'm not against Pitt playing Moriarty. The guy's a great actor. But I was hoping they would get someone else for the role to be honest. Then again, the filmmakers will need someone capable of going head-to-head against Robert Downey Jr. and be able to hold his own. Pitt could do that.

Zoe Saldana Says Star Trek Sequel Starts Up Late 2010

It wouldn’t be a day without hearing something about the Star Trek sequel. Sure, I’m looking forward to it too. But it’s easy to report non-news (or “No shit, Sherlock” items as I like to call them) in order to just throw something out there for you good folks to read along with my "colorful" commentary.

To be fair, this isn’t another "My best friend's sister's boyfriend's brother's girlfriend heard from this guy who knows this kid who's going with the girl who saw Ferris pass out at 31 Flavors last night" thing.

No, kids, this latest update is from Uhura herself. She’s also known as Zoe Saldana or Neytiri from the overrated as fuck blockbuster bore-fest Avatar.

As she explains to MTV:

"I spoke to J.J. and Bryan Burk, his producing partner at Bad Robot, and they are still in the middle of building the script with Alex Kurtzman and Bob Orci, and we'll probably be going into pre-production around this time next year."

Such a plan suggests Star Trek 2 will hit screens for summer 2012 as we've previously speculated. A Christmas 2011 isn't exactly out of the question, mind you. But I imagine Paramount will stick with summer for the time being.

Everyone is currently enjoying the success/popularity of the first film. So it makes sense that this would be the best time to get them all back together.

Captain America Readying June Start

Using my keen sense of detection, I figured something was up with Captain America or The First Avenger: Captain America as its still being called. Surely, someone at Marvel Films will nip that retard title in the bud.

Nonetheless, it’s not encouraging that we haven’t heard a word about its progress. All we know about it is it has a July 22, 2011 release date and its director is Joe Johnston and that’s about it. Compare this to Thor which starts filming next month and opens two months before it. So yeah I can’t escape the feeling that something is a foot. Or maybe I’m dead wrong (not the first time nor will it be the last) and everything is moving along smoothly according to schedule.

While doing an interview to Fangoria for his forthcoming Wolf-Man remake, Johnston gave one tiny detail to how everything is at the moment:

"'By the time I got on a plane and arrived, it was three,' recalls Johnston, speaking from the art department of THE FIRST AVENGER: CAPTAIN AMERICA, which he’s readying for a June start."

There you have it. Things are gearing up to start this coming June. If that is the case, perhaps we’ll hear some casting news. Chief among them who will play the Sentinel of Liberty? Considering that The Avengers is currently scheduled for a May 4, 2012 release, I wonder if Marvel Films might push its release back to later into the summer and have Captain America take that slot instead.

Just speculating here, folks, but it’s weird how slow this movie appears to be coming along.

I Pity the A-Team Movie - No Mr. T Cameo

Like many of you out there, I assumed we’d see a Mr. T cameo in next summer’s A-Team movie. Possibly a brief scene where he and the new BA Baracus (Quinton Jackson) meet eye to eye and have some "passing the torch" moment. Arnie’s cameo in The Rundown immediately comes to mind.

For those clamoring to see such a sequence this coming June, Latino Review has some disappointing news. It’s not happening. Interestingly the reason behind the move had nothing to do with some jaded "E! True Hollywood Story" scenario.

In fact, the source behind this revelation came from Mr. T himself:

"He said it wasn't about money, because he turned down the chance to appear in the film before that was even discussed. He said it just wouldn't be right for him to be in it. If his B.A. isn't the main guy, then why do it? What's wrong with the film that they need him to make a cameo?"

I don’t disagree with the reasons his royal T-ness gave. They’re all fair points. But not one to be a sour puss about the ordeal, he also says he has nothing against the new A-Team cast or filmmakers and wished them the best of luck. Class, I know thy name. It's Mr. T.

I'd say how I pity this movie. But I actually think it'll surprise people not unlike how Star Trek and Iron Man did in summers past.

Bryan Singer Continues Talking Up X-Men: First Class

In what otherwise appears to be a standard Q&A trying to play up X-Men: First Class, Bryan Singer did give some new details to Heat Vision. Albeit the director is still keeping certain details (like plot) closely vested for the time being and the nuggets of information remain rather morsel.

He reveals to the trades that they will utilize some of the ideas that David Goyer cooked up for his now-aborted Magneto prequel. Since this will center on the friendship of Charles Xavier (or Professor X, for you nerds out here) and Erik Lehnsherr, that decision makes sense. Sorry, but I still can’t muster up much interest in this franchise anymore. It would be more interesting to see him helm X-Men 4 instead of going the prequel route. I’d even go for a Bryan Singer-helmed Wolverine sequel as opposed to First Class. But maybe that’s just me.

The plan is simple. First direct Jack the Giant Killer for Warner Brothers (at the moment in the planning/pre-visualization stage) and return to the merry world of mutants after-wards. That doesn’t mean those plans will in fact stick. Remember, kids, he was originally going to get Valkyrie finished in and out of 2007 and focus 2008 and 2009 on his now-dead Superman Returns sequel.

He also spoke out for the first time about the Battlestar Galactica reboot he’s signed up to produce/direct for Universal. Don’t get your hopes up expecting it anytime soon. They’re still in search of a screenwriter. Whether or not that actually sees the light of day, mind you, is another story.

New Hit-Girl Centric Trailer For Kick-Ass

Coming out of Butt-Numb-A-Thon, Kick-Ass was considered by most the film of the event. Yes, even more than Avatar that closed the ceremony.

Just as equally talked up was the character of Hit-Girl. Plenty of folks who’ve seen the film (from the marathon film-viewing and at prior screenings) have said she basically steals the show.

Now IGN has their hands on a new trailer for the Matthew Vaughn-helmed film focusing 100% on her. Its red-brand which means you kids out there will have to lie about your age to view it. We can’t have you watching something with curse words and violence. Look what happened to me. My folks let me watch Robocop...when I was 5 years old. Never been the same since.

Because Noone Asked For It...Hawkman the Movie?

This is all music to their ears I assume. Fans of the DC superhero Hawkman will soon be swimming in gravy. First he shows up on Smallville early next year in the hyped-up "TV Movie" (aka two episodes glued together) Absolute Justice. Now Pajiba (who’ve been on quite the hot-streak lately with breaking news) reports that Warner Brothers is now officially developing a feature-length movie around the character.

According to their sources, the property is out to potential screenwriters. While the WB executives are looking to angle this as "part Indiana Jones, part Da Vinci Code and part Ghost." What any of that has to do with this character I don’t know. This decision also continues the studio’s move to focus on second and third-tier heroes hoping they can strike gold like Marvel did with Iron Man. To be fair, Shellhead has always been one of the House of Idea’s top superheroes. He was never as well-known by the general public.

The problem is Hawkman looks just too Goddamn silly to focus a $200 million tentpole around. True, most superhero looks juvenile (Superman, anyone?) The design of the character takes the cake. It’s early on in the process. But my hunch is this turns out to be another SuperMax and Justice League: Mortal and amounts to a whole bunch of nothing.

Did Green Lantern Finds Its Carol Ferris?

Am I the only one who finds it odd we haven’t heard a single casting announcement on Green Lantern outside of its lead Ryan Reynolds? True, he’s the most important part of casting and the film will make or break depending on how well he comes off. But Christ that was back in July and this year is almost over. We’ve heard plenty of rumors and what not but nothing official. AICN reported on Jackie Earle Haley as Sinestro and we had heard Rose Byrne for main-squeeze Carol Ferris.

On the former, the Watchmen star flat out denied any involvement. To be fair, that doesn’t 100% mean he’s telling the truth. Spoiler alert - actors do lie. On the latter, it looks like we were on the wrong side. Meh, it happens. The good folks over at Latino Review are reporting that it’s down to five actresses for Ferris. None of them are said to be Byrne. Again fuck us, we were wrong.

As per their sources, the actresses consist of Eva Green (Vesper from Casino Royale), Keri Russell (J.J. Abrams alum and long-standing Lois Lane candidate for Superman Returns), Diane Kruger (recently in Inglorious Basterds which my dad of all people loved), Blake Lively (from Gossip Girl which I’ve never watched) and Jennifer Garner.

To be honest, I don’t know too terribly much about the Ferris character. So I’m lacking towards who of these five would be the best suited. I’m sure any one of them would be fine. Suppose to boils down to who interacts the best with Reynolds. There have been so many complaints about the love-interest role in these superhero epics. We can only hope director Martin Campbell and his team are able to avoid that trap-fall.

Next Bond Promises "Shocking Story"

The third 007 installment to feature Daniel Craig (still untitled) has been in development under everyone’s radar. The hype certainly won’t hit the levels of Quantum of Solace following the popularity/success of Casino Royale. But people always look forward to seeing another one.

Speaking to MI6, screenwriter Peter Morgan confirmed he’s been typing away at his laptop (or typewriter, who knows) on Bond 3 from July to October. He even offered the tiniest of teases of what to expect:

"It’s a shocking story."

That could mean a number of things. Personally, I’ve long felt the best route to go is to kill off M (Judi Dench) and up the tension between Bond and MI6. Remember she’s the only person he trusts – maybe Felix Leiter but that’s it. Quantum of Solace (for its flaws) did a good job selling just how powerful the terrorist network was. I say have a new M step in who is connected to Quantum but there’s nothing Bond can do (yet) to bring him down. For a better angle, check out Phil’s Memo to the Executives.

Meanwhile, all pre-production has been put on hold for the time being. But don’t start thinking this is a mirror of the situation with the Spider-Man franchise. It’s only a matter of waiting for MGM to be sold off. Its new owners will in all probability (or 99.999999999% likely) green-light Bond 3 soon after all this crap is settled.

Movie Moan - The Game Changer

After two years of podcasting and friendship, it was bound to happen. Phil and Jamie have gotten into a full-fledged argument over a movie. Shockingly, it had nothing to do with James Cameron's Avatar. Instead it was all about Excalibur. Weird, huh? Nonetheless, the two discuss Avatar after the now 15 years worth of hype. All the while, Ed and Lou sit on the sidelines and ask questions now and then. 

Even more surprising was the number of big news-items that also hit this week. Did that have to do with the awesomeness that is Avatar? The world may never know. The group talks about the rumors of Spider-Man 4 (or Spider-M4n as it's apparently spelled) being "indefinitely delayed."

Coincidentally (or maybe not), Tobey Maguire is rumored to be in discussions to headline The Hobbit as Bilbo Baggins. Bryan Singer returns to the X-Men franchise to helm X-Men Origins: First Class. Can he "save" the film series he established? Will anyone outside of the Internet fanbase care? The troubles on Pirates of the Caribbean: On Stranger Tides is briefly discussed as well.

All of that plus our heroes' reactions to this week's new trailers including Iron Man 2, Clash of the Titans, Robin Hood, Shrek Forever After, Alice in Wonderland and, of course, Hot Tub Time Machine.

Movie Moan - The Game Changer