Hugh Jackman Headlining Real Steel

Fighting robots have proven to be winners for DreamWorks in the past. Both Transformers took a bite out of the box-office with a third one on the way for 2011. The newly Paramount-less studio has greenlit its first production Real Steel and they’ve now got their lead actor lined up.

Hugh Jackman will headline the sci-fi actioner being directed by Shawn Levy. It’s basically the classic Rise from the Gutter/Comeback Boxing story except the “boxers” in question are giant robots with Jackman being the human promoter who finds a discarded robot with spunk. What’s a sports movie without a little kid rooting our heroes on? Plot twist coming, Jackman’s promoter finds out he has a son and they bond over the course of the film.

I realize this is based on an old Richard Matheson story. But am I only person who thinks this sounds stupid as Hell? The Beard himself is said to be keeping an eye on the production so we can expect the usual Spielberg-isms throughout the film.

Filming is expected to commence this coming June. I guess this means that Wolverine sequel isn’t as far along as we first thought. Guess this means we won’t see Logan return till 2012 at the earliest. Like anyone cares about the X-Men film franchise at this point.

Kat Dennings Joins Thor

Because she has something quite a few actresses in Hollywood lack beyond their good looks (read: talent), we’re rooting for Kat Dennings for that star-making “break-out” role. I’ve yet to see her give a crappy performance even if the film in question is garbage. Granted this new gig will most likely not fulfill that promise just yet, but it’s another notch on her belt.

The Nick & Norah’s Infinite Playlist star has joined the cast of Thor according to Natalie Portman who revealed the casting bit to MTV. Just who the Hell she’ll play remains a mystery. Considering how they look alike, I assumed Dennings will play the little sister to Portman’s character Jane Foster. Seriously I have no idea.

Meanwhile, our pals at Hey U Guys! may have solved that little mystery. The guys did their homework and noticed a casting call via SpoilerTV from early last month with the following description:

“[MARCY LEWIS] (20) Is a college student. Aloof, jaded beyond her years, she thought her internship with scientist Kate Spelling would be an easy 6 college credits. However, she’s been stuck for months in this small New Mexico town and relegated to a wide range of unglamorous activities. Kate has been particularly hard on Marcy, making it her personal project to see that Marcy lives up to her potential. Marcy deals with her situation both by using subtle irony and by being an overt wiseass.”

If that’s not her part, it definitely fits the type of character Dennings has played in the past.

William Shatner Star Trek Cameo Revealed

J.J. Abrams and Chris Nolan have one thing in common with Star Trek and Batman. Both made the decision to simultaneously stay as true to lore as they could, but also say, “I’m not going to go out of my way to provide fan service if this doesn’t help the story I’m telling. This must play across the board to everyone no matter what.” That mentality turned both once-dead franchises to vibrant properties that the movie-going public can’t wait to see the next installments.

In the case of Abrams came the issue of including William Shatner in some form as Captain Kirk. As it turned out, the cameo he and his screenwriters Roberto Orci and Alex Kurtzman wrote didn’t suit the Priceline spokesman and he ultimately decided against it. Months after Trek’s wildly successful theatrical run (and a week after the DVD/Blu-Ray hit shelves), comes the script from that scene courtesy of Trek Movie.

It’s basically the meeting of the two Spocks (Zachary Quinto and Leonard Nimoy) near the end. Spock Prime (God I hate saying that name) shows his young counter-part proof that he and the brass Kirk (then Shatner, now Chris Pine) are destined to become best friends even in his newly altered (and thus rebooted) universe. His proof comes from a holographic image of the Shat himself. Singing. Happy Birthday. To his old friend Spock.

Now I joke, but this could have been a moving scene. But we as an audience and the film (and this new rebooted franchise as a whole) are better off without it. The point of the film (at least how I interpreted it) was how no matter what, you can’t avoid your own destiny. Kirk was always meant to become Captain of the U.S. Enterprise. He’ll just never “become” Shatner which made it more effective and by dafault the cameo pointless as Hell. Nothing more than pure fan service.

Everyone knows how Abrams is acting nice about possibly including Shatner in Star Trek 2. But who seriously thinks that's going to happen?

Tobey Maguire Confirms Spider-Man 4 Start

For all the non-answers from Sam Raimi and endless Black Cat rumors, we never heard a peep from Spider-Man himself (aka Tobey Maguire) on where things stood with the fourth installment. He’s long been confirmed to return, but nothing beyond that. Truthfully, we haven’t seen much from our favorite doey-eyed web-slinger since 2007s Spider-Man 3. Yes, I realize there was the Tropic Thunder cameo from last year, but it's not like he went out and did press for that movie.

Now the actor is out pimping for his new drama Brothers (ironically enough co-starring his almost-replacement on Spider-Man 2 Jake Gyllenhaal). The topic of Webhead was bound to be brought up in discussions. HitFix is the first to report on the matter from the press rounds:

At a press conference for his newest movie "Brothers," Maguire responded a mere "yes" when asked if audiences will be seeing a new side to Peter Parker in the third sequel of the comic book flick.

One could immediately interpret that as a "confirmation" on the Spider-Baby rumors. Then again, I don't think that many of us bought into that rumor to begin with. Maybe someone should track down Kirsten Dunst. Maybe she'll blab the villains like she did with that last one.

Avatar Featured On 60 Minutes

Last night’s episode of 60 Minutes was watched by 16 million people. Could that be due to a segment dedicated to James Cameron’s Avatar? Possible, but highly unlikely. The television newsmagazine has been a staple on our screens since the late 1960s and continues to pack quite the punch in the never-ending battle for truth, justice and ratings domination.

The 12 minute piece pertained to next month’s high-stakes (for 20^th Century Fox, at least) sci-fi epic, the career of its writer/director one Mr. James Cameron and its potential impact on the market with its use of 3-D technology. You can enjoy the segment in its entirety on the official 60 Minutes website or embedded below.

To their credit, this doesn’t devolve into a puff piece for the movie. Since the network is owned by Viacom and Avatar is coming our way via Fox, which was never going to be an issue. We’ve all known the story of O.J. Simpson in Terminator casting story for years, but it’s especially funny to hear it coming out of Cameron’s mouth (i.e. “I didn’t think he’d go kill his wife!”)

Tell us what you really think there, Jim.

Movie Moan - Three Men and A Lot of Bullshit

Because the Thanksgiving holidays are upon us, there isn't too terribly much news to report this week. Regardless, your pals at Movie Moan (Phil, the "mean" Ed and Jamie) are here to supply your weekly podcast needs. However due to the afore-mentioned lacks of news, the guys spend most of the hour bullshitting off-topic and so on.

Our heroes talk about the latest round of Spider-Man 4 rumors, Preacher being adapted for the big or small screen, the never ending "Will Khan appear in Star Trek 2?" question and and the Twilight phenomenon (with the $140 million opening of New Moon and all). In between those topics come conversations about the Macy's Day Parade, movies opening on Christmas Day in the U.S. vs. them opening in the U.K. on Boxing Day, Thanksgiving memories and Super Mario Brothers Wii.

Ed gives us his thoughts on G.I. Joe: The Rise of Cobra and how it made a decade too late. Jamie recreates a meeting between McG and HitFix big-cheese Drew McWeeny and discovers how 2012 is a "prequel" to District 9. It all makes sense now.

Movie Moan - Three Men and A Lot of Bullshit

Megan Fox Not Dead In Transformers 3?

If Michael Bay is going to kill off Megan Fox in Transformers 3, do you really think he’d come out and admit it? No shit, of course he wouldn’t. There is such a thing as the element of surprise. Then again who seriously doesn’t believe she’ll be swallowing a bullet or thirty after her “He’s worse than Hitler” remarks among the smack-talk she supplied. That a girl, Megan! Bite the hand that fed you. I mean, there’s no way that will come back to haunt you.

So Bay telling USA Today on the contrary doesn’t send shockwaves. That kind of answer is to beexpected. If we start hearing casting news/rumors about them looking for another hot twenty-something to tag along with Shia LaBeouf, Optimus Prime and black-face Transformer twins, then you’ll know.

It would funny if the opening shot of Transformers 3 has her character getting stomped on by a Decepticon.

Sam Worthington Commits Last American Crime

With Avatar a month away from release and Clash of the Titans hitting cinemas next March, the world is still giving a collective “We’ll get back to ya” attitude towards Sam Worthington. However that hasn’t stopped the actor from lining up roles in the next year or so. If the world doesn’t go ga-ga for him (like they didn’t after watching Terminator: Salvation), it’s smart to get shit lined up ahead of time.

Mania has the word the Aussie thesp has signed up for The Last Days of American Crime. If you haven’t heard of that, it’s a comic-book whose first issue is set for publication next month. It’s actually a damn cool concept if I say so myself.

Essentially, we’re talking about a sci-fi heist movie. Career criminals hatch their last job (oh the clichés!) before a new mind-altering technology that kills all the criminal impulses of society hits the market. Worthington will be Kevin Cash, a safecracker brought into the fold at the last minute.

As long as this doesn’t turn into Ocean’s 14, I could see audiences willing to watch this. Choosing the right director will be their next crucial step. Who the producers hire for that gig is anyone’s guess.

Brad Pitt Headed Into Dark Void

You want proof that Brad Pitt is one of the few movie-stars around? He got audiences to see The Curious Case of Benjamin Button in droves last Christmas. The great box-office and word-of-mouth on Inglorious Basterds this past summer further solidified that point. People just love the guy even after his notorious fucking around with Angelina Jolie behind his then-wife Jennifer’s Aniston’s back. Even that movie Mr. & Mrs. Smith turned out to be a big hit. Go figure.

Now the actor and his Plan B production company have bought up the film rights to Dark Void, a forthcoming video game hitting store-shelves this coming January. This is according to Variety. The story involves a pilot entering an alternate Earth after crash landing in the Bermuda Triangle. Only in this reality, humanity isn’t that advanced and an alien race is plotting to world domination.

Am I the only one getting a Sky Captain & the World of Tomorrow vibe from this? This could be fun and the designs (like the picture shown to your left) look cool. The only question I have is does Pitt even need a franchise in his juncture of his career?

I would personally say no.

Dustin Hoffman Says "Go Fock Yourself!"

As much as I hated Meet the Fockers, I’ll admit that Dustin Hoffman and Barbra Streisand were fine as Greg Focker’s parents. It’s not that typical movie bullshit where a parent and their child “look alike” because they have the same color hair. No, Ben Stiller could actually pass as the off-spring of Hoffman – which should be taken as a compliment considering he’s one of the greatest actors of his generation and all.

Both actors were expected to make an appearance (of some kind) in the currently filming threequel Little Fockers. Entertainment Weekly says we’re half-right. Their sources say despite initially giving the thumbs up for a cameo at the end of the film, all negotiations between Hoffman and Universal have fallen apart. You can thank good old fashioned arguments over money, lack of a part and “scheduling conflicts” as the reason given.

On the other hand, we can still anticipate a “prominent role” for Bab’s sex therapist for the elders. I still think it’s not the greatest idea to put this right strap in the middle of summer 2010. The first two films were killer money-makers during their holiday releases. Why mess with a proven formula?

I say that and watch Little Fockers make $600 million or something.