Does The Man of Steel Feature a Female Jimmy Olsen?

Not one to take IMDB listings to heart. The Room auteur Tommy Wiseau was starring in Garth Edwards' Godzilla. According to whatever thirteen year-old who thought it'd be funny to list him. It's just that easy. But this find, from Digital Spy, is plausible.

The Man of Steel had already made changes to distinguish it from previous Superman incarnations. An English Superman (albeit not in the film itself but played by British actor Henry Cavill), changing the ethnicity of Perry White and even radical alterations to the classic red-and-blue suit. How about turning Superman's pal Jimmy Olsen to a girl?

That's what the cast listing suggests as newbie Rebecca Buller is credited as Jenny Olsen. She's spotted for a few seconds running next to Fishburne's Perry in the trailer.

Enough tweaks have been made to what we recognize as Superman canon, this one feels legit. If so, that certainly changes up the Clark Kent/Olsen dynamic.

Disney Wants Good Posters for Episode VII - Approaches Drew Struzan

Lawrence Kasdan is back at the typewriter. George Lucas is nowhere in sight. One of Mark Hamill, Carrie Fisher and Harrison Ford will most likely return. Yeah, Disney was serious. They want back in fans' good graces with their handling of Star Wars, starting with Episode VII in 2015.

Even the minor, while still important, details aren't being ignored. During an interview with Fanhattan, artist Drew Struzan, renowned for his poster artwork for both Star Wars trilogies, in addition to the Indiana Jones saga, Harry Potter and John Carpenter's The Thing, has been approached by Disney to work his magic on Episode VII:

"Oh, well, never say never, [laughs] because…in fact, I got a couple calls already this week on Star Wars from Disney. Oh my god, I'm trying to be retired! You know, I spent 35 years painting Star Wars. [laughs] I painted Star Wars before most of you were born! But I guess there is always a chance. There's no intention. But I would love to have a day off every now and again, and I have to work a weekend and all through the night. If the opportunity arises, it will be a real temptation. But it's going to have to be a real temptation to get me away from my wife and my little grandkids and my family. Away from the green trees and the blue skies for a change instead of just locked in the studio. But, you know, never say never. All things are possible."

Not exactly a "Yes" or "No" answer but encouraging and again a sign Disney is serious about taking Star Wars back to its original trilogy glory days. No, this isn't director, returning cast or release date confirmations, but it'll do.

Terminator 5 Has Writers, No Arnold

Megan Ellison and her Annapurna Pictures outspent everyone else in showbiz for the Terminator rights. With that kind of dough, they're serious about (re)reviving the T-800.

First step: secure Arnold Schwarzenegger.

They stupidly haven't done this and according to Arnold he hasn't been approached. All power to them but if you don't have Arnold back, you have no viable Terminator. Lest we forget how Salvation turned out. They thought replacing him with Christian Bale was acceptable. Sure, Bale's great and everyone loves him as Batman. But he's not Arnold.

The baby-steps they've taken instead are hiring writers: Laeta Kalogridis (Shutter Island) and Patrick Lussier (Dracula 2000). Normally apprehending the writers first is wise, but Terminator is so synched with its Austrian star anything before locking him down first is foolish. Any quasi-competent writer can work around him as long as they know they have him.

Spring Breakers Trailer

"I have a really, really bad feeling about this."

Selena Gomez and I see eye to eye here. The trailer for Spring Breakers, the latest from writer/director Harmony Korine, feels tonally all over the place. And what is up with James Franco? 

Source: MTV 

Why This Latest Gremlins Talk Could Be Real

Not the first time Warner Brothers and Amblin started a dialogue for a new Gremlins movie – sequel or remake. Where previous reports relied on Joe Dante opining, and confessing he wouldn't be asked to direct whenever that day should come or Chris Columbus saying he's open to the idea, there's weight to this update.

Jurassic Park 4 got approved. So what, you ask? Amblin's been sitting on their 80s/90s properties forever. For whatever reason, collecting dust, and residual paychecks and fading into our memories of wearing out the old, oversized VHS copies or catching repeats on TBS. Until this sudden fire under their ass.

Now Warner Brothers is willing to play ball and meet Steven Spielberg's price-tag (his upfront producing fee plus a surely obese share of box-office receipts). Not a sure sign this will happen but... a sign prospects are better than ever.

Source: Vulture

Zack Snyder - From Superman to Star Wars?

Kathleen Kennedy promised Star Wars spin-offs in addition to the new trilogy. She wasn't fooling.

Awhile back, Zack Snyder said he wasn't interested in directing Episode VII. A suspicious statement since seemingly nobody asked him and, if you'll recall, he made similar proclamations about Superman years before taking the Man of Steel gig. Something seemed up. It was.

Vulture says Snyder is developing a Seven Samurai-style epic set in the Star Wars universe. The works of Samurai director Akira Kurosawa are all over the original trilogy. George Lucas took heavily from Kurosawa's Hidden Fortress for Star Wars (Notice I didn't say Episode IV or A New Hope!) and even contemplated hiring Toshiro Mifune for Obi-Wan. And lest we forget, Battle Beyond the Stars!

That still doesn't settle matters on Episode VII (Still without a director; not Snyder) and what of Snyder's hints of more Superman films or even Justice League Warner Brothers is Hellbent for 2015? With announcements like this, sounds like those plans to play in the WB/DC sandbox aren't permanent.

Julianne Moore IS Lindsay Lohan in Carrie

If you watched the Golden Globes last night, and if you didn't, Tommy Lee Jones disapproves, you heard talk about how "brave" Julianne Moore was playing Sarah Palin. Tell me, Jay Roach, how "brave" it is to play someone half the country hated outright the moment she was John McCain's VP (and who made said film) and the other half stopped caring about when she became a living cartoon.

But no, Jay, it was "brave." Keep making your "political" comedies on HBO. We all know you can't pay people to sit through your shitty theatrical comedies, so aim for pay-cable. Moron.*

Anyway Julianne Moore is in the Carrie remake (recently re-slotted from March to October 2013) playing the religious-nut mama of the title character. Here's the poster from Facebook and whether or not she's supposed to look like Lindsay Lohan is up for debate. I'm going to say it was intentional.

*Not a Palin fan/supporter, but it had to be said.

New Superman Figure Looks Nothing Like Henry Cavill - Cool Nonetheless

Courtesy of DC Collectables, you too have this big statue/figure of the new Man of Steel for $130. I was going to get my nephew a Superman action figure in juncture with The Man of Steel this June. I'll have to go with something that won't bleed my wallet.

Don't judge me! I'm working on a budget!

Jurassic Park 4 Is For Real; Roaring into Theaters June 2014

Jurassic Park 4 was never not going to get made. If it was up to Universal, we'd be at an even 10 films. Only a matter of when Amblin would approve something (Been plenty of scripts over the years) and enough time has passed since 1993, the nostalgia bug can bite. I was nine year olds when the original Steven Spielberg adventure opened (65 million years in the making!) I'll have just hit age thirty by the time 4 drops. Give me a minute. Gotta let that settle in.

Universal announced this afternoon, June 13, 2014 is the destination for Jurassic Park 4 with Spielberg producing only (Won't stop the rumor-mills or hit-whores) from a script by Rick Jaffa and Amanda Silver (They penned Rise of the Apes).

That's precious, little time to get this ready but no worries, it'll make the date. And due to that release, that throws out lots of great, oddball choices to direct - always fancied Eli Roth for no explainable reason. They'll hire a shooter who can turn this around by summer.

No Affleck or Bigelow Love & Lincoln Like a Pimp - 2013 Oscar Nominations

Gasps heard round the interwebs at the Oscar nominations this morning.

Argo, expected to be a major contender (In the interest of full disclosure, my favorite film of 2012 and had it pegged to take home big wins next month), shockingly locked out in the "Best Director" category for Ben Affleck. Ditto longtime shoe-in Kathryn Bigelow for Zero Dark Thirty while their acclaimed, political thrillers still scored "Best Picture" nods.

Lincoln led the pack (12 nods) followed by Life of Pi (11) and Silver Linings Playbook with surprise strength from critical darlings Armour and Beasts of the Southern Wild. So no complaining on that end. An unpredictable batch, I'll hand 'em that. Here are the top nominations for the rest, hit up the official Oscar site for the rest.

Best Picture:
Amour
Argo
Beasts of the Southern Wild
Django Unchained
Lincoln
Les Miserables
Life of Pi
Silver Linings Playbook
Zero Dark Thirty

Best Director:
Ang Lee - Life of Pi
Benh Zeitlin - Beasts of the Southern Wild
David O. Russell - Silver Linings Playbook
Michael Haneke - Amour
Steven Spielberg - Lincoln

Best Actor:
Daniel Day-Lewis - Lincoln
Denzel Washington - Flight
Hugh Jackman - Les Miserables
Bradley Cooper - Silver Linings Playbook
Joaquin Phoenix - The Master

Best Actress:
Naomi Watts - The Impossible
Jessica Chastain - Zero Dark Thirty
Jennifer Lawrence - Silver Linings Playbook
Emmanuelle Riva - Amour
Quvenzhané Wallis - Beasts of the Southern Wild

Best Supporting Actor:
Christoph Waltz - Django Unchained
Phillip Seymour Hoffman - The Master
Robert Deniro - Silver Linings Playbook
Alan Arkin - Argo
Tommy Lee Jones - Lincoln

Best Supporting Actress:
Sally Field - Lincoln
Anne Hathaway - Les Miserables
Jacki Weaver - Silver Linings Playbook
Helen Hunt - The Sessions
Amy Adams - The Master

Best Animated Film:
Brave
Frankenweenie
ParaNorman
The Pirates! Band of Misfits
Wreck-It Ralph

Best Foreign Language Film:
Amour
Kon-Tiki
No
A Royal Affair
War Witch