Yes, There Will Be a Third Series of Sherlock

The prospects of a third Sherlock series appeared on the doubtful side looking at how stars Benedict Cumberbatch and Martin Freeman are headed for bigger things, if you've been following the movie-news beat. That's great for their perspective careers, but the downside is their growing busy schedule and, eventual, salary demands to return put a potential damper on those of you (myself included) who'd rather see the British actors in more Sherlocks and less Hobbits and Star Trek 2s.

Not helping matters was last night's series two finale of Sherlock (either being an overseas Gent watching it on the BBC or like Hicks/Yanks stateside like me had to stream it online – no way I'm waiting till May for PBS to air it). I won't spoil it here...unless you're aware of the source material it was based on, The Final Problem. Needless to say it left many wondering if that was it for this small-screen iteration of Sir Conan Doyle's literary heroes.

Rest assured series three is coming.

Following the broadcast, show-runners Mark Gatiss and Steven Moffat went straight to Twitter confirming a third series was given the go-ahead by the BBC. In a move showing smarts of their end, the network commissioned series two and three at the same time. Thus when Freeman almost missed out on The Hobbit and Peter Jackson & Co. had to work out a schedule for both productions to have him, they had to fit in a hypothetical third Sherlock series into the equation.

Past this (Hopefully will be on the airwaves this time next year) my guess is everyone will call it a day and move on. So we'd better enjoy this while we can.

Casa de mi Padre Trailer Will Appeal to Someone

Among the billions of people populating this green Earth we call home, there's somebody watching the Casa de mi Padre trailer (here from Yahoo! Movies) whose face is blood red from laughing so hard. There has to be. Will Ferrell, Adam McKay and director Matt Piedmont are banking on that. I'm just curious to hear from those who found this trailer funny.

There is a rule of thumb comedy works better played straight than having your principals self-aware of the parody at hand. That's what made Leslie Neilsen so brilliant on Police Squad! and the accompanying Naked Gun films and Robert Stack in Airplane! The cast for the Spanish-language comedy (including Diego Luna, Gael García Bernal and Génesis Rodríguez) have that down pat.

But a feature-length comedy done to the style of telenovelas and played straight? It's risky and fortune can favor the bold.

Skyfall Promises a Wet 007

There's a consensus the image of a swimsuit-wearing, muscled-up Daniel Craig early on during the shooting of Casino Royale was what sold him to women normally not into James Bond movies. I can't speak for that being I don't fit the demo in question.

Judging by this promo image from Skyfall, Craig's third 007 outing due this November courtesy of Empire, Eon Productions' publicity department figures if it ain't broke, don't fix it - a motto they've maintained since launching the series in 1962 with Dr. No.

Hansel & Gretel Will Have to Wait Till 2013 to Hunt Those Witches

Test screenings were held for Hansel & Gretel: Witch Hunters awhile back, but couldn't get anything on how it scored, and Paramount hasn't said a peep about the movie in general. Note-worthy since it remained on schedule for a March 2, 2012 release and a trailer Entertainment Weekly promised that never showed up.

So I assumed we were in a change of release. Enough time for reshoots – maybe August where horror fare does better or October. Well, yes and no. Paramount has moved it back. To January 11, 2013 – a hair shy of a year later than planned.

Not a good sign. Almost as a means to cover their ass, Paramount is telling THR the move has to do with 3D shots only now coming in, their desire to map out the 3D marketing strategy for the foreign territories where the gimmick still secures asses in seats (because slapping on a "In 3D" after the title isn't enough?) and their anticipation for co-star Jeremy Renner to boom. That last part I buy.

Renner's coming off Mission: Impossible – Ghost Protocol, a great action movie doing great business and The Avengers will be here before we know it in May. But those are ensemble pieces and in the case of M:I 4 it's not like people are talking about his performance afterwards (That continues to be Tom Cruise's vanity franchise with elbow room for Ving Rhames and, now, Simon Pegg). Won't be until The Bourne Legacy that truly tests Renner's marketability - a play that could pay off or fail miserably.

If you look up and in the spring or summer hear about reshoots on Hansel & Gretel, don't be surprised.

Brace Yourselves, Internet – First Look at Jeremy Renner in Bourne Legacy

In their annual preview of the year ahead at the movies, USA Today has the first glimpse of Jeremy Renner as new protagonist Aaron Cross in The Bourne Legacy.

I hope they don't link him to Jason Bourne like they just did to Ethan Hunt in Mission: Impossible – Ghost Protocol. That plot revelation worked fine in the context of that fourquel but Renner's a good enough actor (Two Oscar nominations, both deserved) to not be permanently branded as "the guy connected to the hero from the earlier movies in a roundabout way" guy.

Doesn't ring as the best idea to have a first look photo for a franchise where nobody has distinguishable features apart from the camera shaking and the hero kicking a heavy's ass with a rolled-up magazine.

See Harrison Ford "Watch" Indiana Jones Trilogy

The one strike against this video isn't the insistence of these clever guys of its authenticity – taken from his actual reaction to playing Uncharted 3. The fact they didn't include Harrison Ford "watching" Kingdom of the Crystal Skull "for the first time" was a missed opportunity. Perhaps due to the Red Letter Media review arriving before Christmas or the mere fact it's a cliché to whine about it.

Nevertheless, seeing Ford mumbling words here and there ("I'm dead") is worth a few chuckles. Right up there with George C. Scott "watching" the Jack & Jill trailer as one of the great fan-edit videos.

Sayonara, Akira - Again?

Not wise to up and declare Akira DOA. That project looked death straight in the face and still managed to be resurrected – a couple of times, as a matter of fact. Some executive refuses to give up on this. You have to admire their determination.

The latest death certificate was signed from Heat Vision who report production offices in Vancouver shutting down and low-level grunts behind the scenes told to start looking elsewhere for work. Meanwhile the producers and helmer Jaume Collet-Serra plan to squat grab and pull the budget closer to the vicinity of $60-$70 million as opposed to the currently-quoted $90 million (and remember this started out as a full-blown $200 million+ endeavor).

Such actions would normally make you think, "OK then...Akira just won't happen." But again we've been down this path before and Warner Brothers' death-grip on this seemingly refuses to let it go...

Benedict Cumberbatch Beams Up Villain Role in Star Trek Sequel

While he was an accomplished actor already, in the eyes of many, the name Benedict Cumberbatch drew blank stares. Honestly if you still pull the average guy off the streets and ask if they know who you're talking about, you're still pressed for luck.

But online and in the nerd circles, we all most definitely know him by name after his starring turn on the BBC smash Sherlock as a modernized version of Sir Arthur Conan Doyle's literary hero. Soon after, calls from movie-land arrived his way from the likes of Tomas Alfredson, Peter Jackson and Steven Spielberg.

As UK television watchers are in the middle of series two of Sherlock comes arguably the biggest, most high-profile role for the British actor yet. First reported by Trek Movie and clarified through Variety, Cumberbatch will face off mano-a-mano against the crew of the U.S.S. Enterprise as the villain of J.J. Abrams' Star Trek sequel.

The same baddie role first offered to Benicio Del Toro and later up in the air for others including Edgar Ramirez - Khan. A creative decision I hated then, and continue to do so now. But we're past my bitching on said subject. It doesn't open until May 2013 so there's plenty of time for that.

That notwithstanding, this will be the first time for him to make an impression on the general movie-going public and that's a good thing.

Bad Idea Alert: Universal Mulling Over Kristen Wiig-Absent Bridesmaids 2

Universal thinks Bridesmaids should be their Hangover (They spent months ahead of its release calling it a "female Hangover" after all) from the way THR says right down to their money-grubbing desire for a beat-for-beat remake posing as a sequel.

Star/co-writer Kristen Wiig and writer Annie Mumolo, however, aren't hearing anything of it, insisting on no sequel. Partially the trades hint at because of a low-balling $100,000 bonus Wiig and the other lead actresses received from the studio as they wallowed in all that hot Bridesmaids cash.

So what's a studio in desperate need of a sure-thing to do as its writing duo remain in cement against one and its star producer Judd Apatow, wisely, trying his best to stay out of it? Lop off Wiig and focus on a Melissa McCarthy-headlining Bridesmaids 2 instead.

That frame of mind didn't work for Evan Almighty (Remember that?) and despite all their public optimism the reception to the Matt Damon-absent The Bourne Legacy will not be pretty this August if they do with the marketing what everyone thinks they will, i.e. slap on clips of Damon from earlier Bournes alongside new lead Jeremy Renner and trick audiences into thinking Jason Bourne shows up.

More Superman Lives Stuff to Shake Your Head Against Tim Burton

At the rate this is getting out, real live footage will leak on YouTube.

It was nearly three years ago a Japanese Tim Burton fan-site dropped a bomb this side of Hiroshima on the interwebs: a picture of what purported to be Nicolas Cage's costume-test as Superman for Tim Burton's Superman Lives. No one from Burton, Cage or even Warner Brothers/DC Comics' camps ever stepped up to deny the photo. So we were all left to wonder if it was the real McCoy or a half-assed photoshop job of a dazed-out looking Cage on an action-figure, as some speculated.

That same site has now come out with more concept art from the ill-fated Superman revival film including their 90s-centric take on the classic red-and-blue suit he would have worn in the first act (before being killed by Doomsday), a Robocop-looking suit created by the Eradicator for the newly-resurrected, but powerless Man of Steel and an \S/ tomb among other odd, wacked out designs.

One look at these and you'll thank God it's Zack Snyder and Chris Nolan spearheading the Superman movie-series now.