Well if Rob Liefeld Said it, It MUST Be True!

I realize that 20^th Century Fox will now churn out as many X-Men related films as long as they make money as to avoid the property going to their (new) owner Disney. But after the announcement that Ryan Reynolds (who played Deadpool in the ill-received Wolverine spin-off and lined up to headline his own solo film) was to play the Green Lantern for Warner Brothers, most of us rightfully assumed that was it for seeing Wade Wilson again.

Well, his creator Rod Liefeld (via his Twitter account) claims that isn’t the case and Deadpool is still headed our way according to his updates:

“Great Deadpool movie meeting! Lauren Schuler Donner and her team are headed in the right direction!”

“Deadpool movie checklist- DP in costume-check! Breaking 4th wall-check! Loads of killing-double check!”

“Donner Company is on top of making the Deadpool movie that fans want. They get it. He’s funny, tortured, clever, a bastard and mucho action!”

Sorry, but this whole “Reynolds will headline two comic-book franchises at the same time” thing is a hard pill to swallow. Studios don’t tend to like “sharing” their leading man with one another – especially companies with the kind of constant rivalry like DC and Marvel.

To be fair, it’s not like Liefeld is some press-whoring, lie-spreading fucktard to my knowledge (read: Mark Millar). So I’ll just be nice and take him at his word. Until he's been proven otherwise.

"Fee Fi Fo Fum, I Smell the Blood of Bryan Singer!"

Initial reports indicated that Bryan Singer would most likely choose Jack the Giant Killer as his next directorial feature. This is despite the fact that he had already agreed to produce/direct another reboot of Battlestar Galactica and an Excalibur remake. Well looks like they were right.

Heat Vision (a sub-section under THR) reveals that Singer has in fact signed on the dotted line for said property. Although there’s currently no start date as of this publication, the project (being produced under Warner Brothers and Legendary Pictures who had previously worked with Singer on Superman Returns) is being put on the fast-track.

I realize it’s routine for a filmmaker to have multiple projects in development concurrently. But Bryan’s been flirting with a number of high-profile gigs for awhile now. To his credit, he pulled the ultimate “Fuck you!” on critics who immediately labeled Valkyrie as a turkey a year before it was even released. Cut to the WWII thriller being a box-office success that did so much as get Tom Cruise back in the public’s good graces. So Singer is riding high right now and been understandably cautious towards what to do next.

But come on, Bryan. If Jack is what you’re doing next, let’s get going on it.

Leaving Metropolis

One can bitch and complain all ya want about Bryan Singer going “Emo” with the Man of Steel for his “requel” Superman Returns or the recent “Columbine Kal-El” get-up passing off as a “suit” on Smallville. But love or hate them, we can all agree that we avoided one Helluva kryptonite bullet with two simple words: Superman Lives.

Back in the mid-90s, Warner Brothers re-teamed director Tim Burton and producer Jon Peters who had successfully launched the Batman film franchise with the 1989 Michael Keaton/Jack Nicholson film to do the same for the Last Son of Krypton. What resulted was one of the great “True Hollywood Stories” involving such epic debates as Peters’ desires for a non-suited, non-flying Supes, killer polar bears and giant spiders as told in vivid detail by one-time screenwriter on the project Kevin Smith here.

Using the same “thinking outside the box” mentality towards casting, Nicolas Cage (coming off his “Best Actor” Oscar win for Leaving Las Vegas and popular commercial fare like The Rock and Face/Off) signed on the dotted line to portray Superman and his alter ego Clark Kent. Of course, what worked for Burton’s Batman doesn’t automatically transcend to Superman in regards to casting eccentric character-actors as iconic superheroes.

Taking one look at test footage of Cage in a newly designed red-and-blue suit (to be shown off the 3^rd Act of the film after the Man of Tomorrow is resurrected from the dead) in addition to the sky-rocketing budget, Warner Brothers ultimately pulled the plug on Lives ironically enough replacing it with Lethal Weapon 4 helmed by Superman (and 75% of Superman II) director Richard Donner for their Summer 1998 tentpoles.

For those wondering after all these years just what the Hell Cage might have looked as Superman are in luck. A Japanese Tim Burton fan-site (who had previously leaked designs of what would have been Brainiac) claim to have the only known photograph taken of the actor in a costume fitting/test as shown in their YouTube video presentation.

If this is in fact real, words…fail to do justice what I’m thinking. “Wow” comes to mind. “That’s fucked up” is another one. Probably the defining thought that pops up is “Yeah…we were better off with Smallville and Singer’s film after all.”

Sherlock Holmes Sequel Already In Development

Even with all the talk about how Avatar is so revolutionary you’ll shit your pants three times over, I’ve long thought that the Guy-Ritchie directed, Robert Downey Jr. starring Sherlock Holmes would ultimately kick its ass at the box-office this coming Christmas. And although the jury is still out, it appears that at the moment Warner Brothers feels the same as I do. That or they’re just really confident in what they’ve seen so far.

THR (via their Risky Biz Blog) reports that the studio is already at work on a sequel with all the key players (the afore mentioned Ritchie and Downey as well as Jude Law’s Watson) set to return. They’ve gone as far as commission Kieran and Michele Mulroney for screenwriting duties. You may remember them from such other roles as writing the (long dead) cinematic piece of ass known as Justice League: Mortal. Well, this certainly appears to be an upgrade for the Mulroneys.

Oh and remember those rumors from a couple of months back that Brad Pitt would appear in Holmes as his arch-nemesis Professor Moriarty? Now the trades are indicating that there are “talks” between the Inglorious Basterd and the producers for him to appear in the potential sequel. Hmmm, might he show up in the finished film as originally reported after all?

If he does, we shouldn’t be surprised at this point.

Is Sean Connery Returning for Indiana Jones 5?

Even though they can do damn-near anything they desire, there are some things that even Steven Spielberg and George Lucas can’t pull off. Case in point, they had written a brief part for Sean Connery’s Professor Henry Jones (Senior) in Indiana Jones & the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull. But citing the enjoyment of his retired life, Connery opted out and his character was replaced by Dean Stanforth played by the great Jim Broadbent.

According to Ireland Online, the two Beards are once again attempting to get Connery back for Indiana Jones 5. Then again, they appeared to have resolved that issue. If you’ll remember, it’s plainly stated that his character had died off-screen. So if this is to be believed, would Henry be risen from the grave, appear in flashbacks (a bit odd considering I don’t recall the previous Indy films going that route) or just good old fashioned “I’m not really dead, Junior. I just faked it!”

Of course, Connery is the kind of guy who’s set in his ways. He wouldn’t come out of retirement for what would been a day’s worth of filming for Crystal Skull. What’s to think he’d make an exception this time out? It certainly wouldn’t be the money. God knows he doesn’t need it.

But I could see there being some morsel of truth to this (i.e. they’d really like to get Connery to return). That aside, I’m not buying this. Sounds like crap to me, folks.

Could Pirates 4 Be Headed Towards Its Watery Tomb?

Well shit, there goes the surest thing Disney had going for them.

Despite having talked up the project for about two years now (going as far as dressing up in character at two Disney-related functions), Johnny Depp’s participation in Pirates of the Caribbean: On Stranger Tides is now in question. This seems rather odd considering it appeared his deal had been signed, sealed and delivered for awhile now.

That apparently is not the case according to Captain Jack Sparrow himself. As he explains to the Los Angeles Times, a “potential deal” is in the cards that will ultimately depend upon the quality of the screenplay (being written by Pirates creators Terry Russio and Ted Elliott). So what the Hell exactly caused Depp to pull a 180 at the 11^th Hour?

Long story short, the Mouse showed long-time chairman Dick Cook the door this past Friday much to the shock of…well everyone. Cook himself had quiet the “nice-guy” reputation among executives in town (a rare feat in that) and was pals with Depp. Furthermore, he was said to be the lone figure at Disney back in 2002 during the filming of the first Pirates film to support Depp’s performance after others were campaigning to get him off upon viewing dailies.

Now does this mean that Depp is in fact walking from the franchise? At the moment, No. But it sounds like his “I want to see a good script before I 100% commit to this” remark will be his outing if he so chooses to call it a day.

And as we all know, if Johnny Depp doesn’t return as Captain Jack Sparrow, then a fourth Pirates installment doesn’t happen. It’s as simple as that. Or the Mouse will just do a direct-to-video sequel with Russell Brand as Sparrow’s third cousin or something.

Movie Moan - Movie Gloat

By our very own Phil Gee's suggestion, the title to this week's Movie Moan refers to the recent box-office failure of Jennifer's Body. It's a film that Phil along with Ed and Jamie have long thought would tank in theaters. So there you have it.

In addition to chatting about Jamie's dislike of Megan Fox's "biting the hand that feeds you" mentality towards Michael Bay (regardless of his being a bastard) and the Transformers films, the guys have a few other topics to talk up. The recent revelation of "no current plans" for the next Superman movie (and Phil giving Jamie another excuse to bring up the Japanese Toyota Prius commercials), Johnny Depp being not-so-crazy about doing Pirates of the Caribbean: On Stranger Tides now after the firing of Disney chairman Dick Cook, what to think of the Star Trek sequel potentially going for "modern-day issues" and more importantly what should its subtitle be and the fact that Indiana Jones 5 looks to be actually happening. *Sigh*

In between those topics come the random off-topic bullshit including Phil having to putting up with Gwyneth Paltrow, the 1970s Japanese Spider-Man television series, Peter Berg directing a film version of the board-game Battleship and of course James Woods. Wrapping up the podcast is Moanin' Bout a Movie. This week, its Jamie's turn and he picks Mike Nichols' Closer from 2004.

Movie Moan - Movie Gloat

Abrams & Co. Hinting at "Modern Day Issues" in Star Trek Sequel

The J.J. Abrams-helmed reboot of Star Trek was quiet the commerical smash this past May. It seems that audiences and critics alike are eating outta his hand in anticipation for its sequel which is scheduled to beam into theaters Summer 2011.

And although they were successfully faithful to Trek "lore" for the hard-core fans while making it new and exciting to the average movie-going Joe, it lacked the "social commentary" the original series was well-known and revered for back in the day.

Now Abrams tells the Los Angeles Times that Star Trek 2 (or whatever the Hell they end up calling it) might be headed in that direction. As Abrams himself explains:

"It needs to do what [the late 'Trek' creator Gene] Roddenberry did so well, which is allegory. It needs to tell a story that has connection to what is familiar and what is relevant. It also needs to tell it in a spectacular way that hides the machinery and in a primarily entertaining and hopefully moving story. There needs to be relevance, yes, and that doesn't mean it should be pretentious."

Co-screenwriter Roberto Orci throws his $.02 on the matter:

"We’re trying to keep it as up-to-date and as reflective of what’s going on today as possible. So that’s one thing, to make it reflect the things that we are all dealing with today."

Keep in mind, one of the reasons Trek clicked with the public was because it was 100% escapist entertainment. With the world in such a financial shit hole right now, people want to be able to get away from it as long as possible. So it might not be the wisest of moves to make.

But just going off that quote for Abrams, he seems to understand that one doesn't want to come off as too heavy-handed. They don't want to see Kirk, Spock and Bones appearing on the Starship McLaughlin Group. So I think he can effectively balance it out well.

Spider-Man 4 Heads to IMAX and...the Chin?

Yep, looks like Sony wasn't bullshitting about making another Web-slinger film with Sam Raimi after all. Color me surprised, folks. This morning, the studio and IMAX issued a press-release stating that Spider-Man 4 would be headed to IMAX screens concurrent with its "Day and Date" release in regular theaters across the globe.

That's all fine and good. But...meh. Still can't get myself excited about seeing a doey-eyed Tobey Maguire pinning to tap Kirsten Dunst's ass while fighting another "science gone horribly wrong" villain for the fourth time now. Oh, and Peter Parker will have money problems, J.K. Simmons will chew the scenery off the wall as J. Jonah Jameson and Aunt May will give an awe-inspiring speech. At least, James Franco won't be around anymore (...unless...Damn you, Raimi!)

Meanwhile, Raimi's hetero life mate Bruce Campbell told Access Hollywood that he would in fact show up for Spider-Man 4. So what kind of "wacky" cameo can we expect to see from the Chin this time out? Well, he actually doesn't know at the moment. Other than the fact that it's a "major part."

Then again, there's always the chance that Campbell is pulling our leg. I believe he's made tongue-in-cheek remarks in the past about how his "Snooty Usher" character from Spider-Man 2 played a big role in the film. Gotta love the Chin's sense of humor.

No Current Plans for Superman's "Return"

It looks like those Japanese newspaper ads and television commercials for the 2010 Toyota Prius (shown here) might be the closest thing we get to another Superman movie after all. At least for the time being according to newly-appointed DC big-cheese Diane Nelson.

To their credit, MTV actually did their homework in the non-Twilight department and quizzed Nelson on the status of the next Superman cinematic installment:

"We actually don't have any current plans for Superman."

Of course with last week's official announcement of DC Entertainment being formed, everyone assumed that Kal-El would be dusting off his red-and-blue suit to return to the silver screen sooner rather than later. Plus there's those pesky legal issues between Warner Brothers and the Siegel/Shuster estates and the "2011 or else!" court ruling to boot.

So said remark does come as a surprise. But there you have it. Then again, Warner Brothers are big into keeping things "hush hush" on their properties. For all we know, they could unveil plans for a $400 million Superman trilogy next Friday unbeknownst to anyone. Or just have good ol Clark sit it out for the time being. Either one.