The Amazing Spider-Man One-Sheet: The E! True Hollywood Story

When your one-sheet (courtesy of Super Hero Hype!) warns to embrace the audience for "the Untold Story," how many people are really thinking you're talking about The Amazing Spider-Man? Way to put yourself in a corner when you didn't have to, Sony.

Not that this wasn't the first questionable move you've made on the web-slinger in order to keep them from the clutches of the Mouse. But at least we got a cool poster out of it.

Superman & Zod Vs The Paparazzi

To their credit the spoiler-squashers on The Man of Steel are avoiding the earlier mistakes of those pictures of Henry Cavill rocking his kung-fu grip in the Superman suit in Plano or Russell Crowe walking outside the Vancouver set nonchalant.

This time Cavill and General Zod himself Michael Shannon are covered in rain-jackets between takes as witnessed by these spy pictures courtesy of Zimbo. Not that we don't get a peak at their Kryptonian get-up.

Edgar Ramirez Might Kick Kirk & Spock's Asses as the New Khan

Not been subtle the last few days with my hatred of the inclusion of Khan for the villain in Star Trek 2. But why are some of my movie-news loving colleagues still referring to his lead heavy position as a rumor at this juncture? Latino Review has too good a track record and J.J. Abrams was too quick to respond for it to be a case of the bullshits.

As talks collapsed for Benicio del Toro and production set to commence next month, everyone is scrambling for the new Khan and Variety reports Edgar Ramirez, next seen in Wrath of the Titans and most known for his villainy turn in The Bourne Ultimatum, is the front-runner. What he lacks in audience familiarity as del Toro had (A casting call that feels more like a Paramount call than a J.J. one given his track record), he makes up for in the intimidation field. Check out Carlos for proof.

This is a customer one doesn't want to fuck with, and could easily see him causing serious shit against the Federation. Assuming his Skype screen-test (which sounds so strange me reading and typing that) goes over well, we might have our new adversary for the U.S.S. Enterprise locked and ready to go before Christmas.

Three Stooges Trailer Confirms Everything You Suspected From Those Set Pictures

The 10 year old in me still finds the Three Stooges funny. There's just something that holds up about those jackasses always screwing up every job they land, every opportunity they had to get rich and every time a clearly-troubled-in-the-head woman showed interest in them. The physical pain they committed to themselves helps too.

So I asked him to watch the trailer for the Three Stooges movie (courtesy of Apple via The Film Stage), directed by the Farrelly brothers, to get his take.

Even he thought this looked stupid. Not stupid in a good way, as was the case with the old two-reelers from yesteryear and still play on television. Stupid as in "This is the movie the Farrellys have been dying to make for years?"

Michael Bay Can't Quit Transformers

Goes to show how much money talks, or in this case dangling a pet project over your head.

Vulture reports Michael Bay is in final negotiations to return for Transformers 4, a claim Bay himself has denied. He also swore up and down they weren't going to fire Megan Fox's ass off Dark of the Moon when that first got out.

What's odd is how, according to their spies, Paramount is using Pain & Gain, the crazy-awesome sounding bodybuilder/kidnap/revenge flick Bay's mounting as his next feature (and one he's had ants-in-his-pants to direct for years), as leverage to get him onboard for this. As if there weren't other directors out there who could churn out more retard robot epics? Not to mention, the man has made you billions of Benjamins from three Transformers movies already.

Hasn't he earned the right to be left alone and do his inexpensive (compared to those, at least) li'l side picture?

Exit Stage Left – Patty Jenkins Off Thor 2

Not every experiment of Marvel's was bound to work out.

Alas breaking news coming out of "TOLDJA" says Patty Jenkins has stepped down from her planned directorial duties on Thor 2, one of the House of Idea's first big post-Avengers efforts. It’s going to be weird reminiscing about how the geek world was before Avengers to our geek children years from now.

The reasoning given is the classic "creative differences." Read into that what you wish although they note Marvel and Jenkins will probably get something made together down the line; just not a sequel with a November 15, 2013 release date looming over it as the case with the Thor sequel.

Grown Ups Sequel Happening - Adam Sander's Own Stranger in a Strange Land

"Sequel" is a foreign term for Adam Sandler.

In this day and age of turning every comic-book, old Saturday morning cartoon, television show and even toy-line into a $200 million blockbuster intended for mass-market consumption, it's fascinating to note how the former SNL alum turned comedy movie-star has never done one. That's because he's never had to.

Unlike for example Star Trek, where you're selling the characters of Kirk and Spock and their familiarity in pop-culture (plus the sci-fi and action, obviously) and not the actors filling the roles Chris Pine and Zachary Quinto, Sandler's position is so unique because he is the brand-name product in his own comedies. Regardless of the premise, people go in knowing what they'll get. Sandler will be a middle-to-upper class Joe with a smoking-hot wife and kids. There will be farts, falling down, old people harmed and always room for his old SNL cohorts to pop up in either prominent or minor parts depending on the absurdity of the plot.

It's a formula that's kept him, his pals in front of and behind the camera and, most importantly, Sony fat and happy over the years. So it's of interest to see Variety's scoop of Sony and Sandler's Happy Madison Productions are suddenly thinking sequel with the hiring of Fred Wolf to pen a follow-up to Grown Ups, the 2010 comedy that's hook was "See Adam Sandler and his old buddies hang out!" A hook that worked to the tune of $271 million, his biggest grossing comedy worldwide.

The official, press-release quotes will say the notion of reprising a role is what peaked his curiosity to do his first ever sequel. Don't buy into that bullshit. Sander's coming off Jack & Jill, which even his wide-demo and loyal audience looked at with contempt asking "Really, Adam?" and let's face it, one can't stay at the top forever.

Not to suggest it's all downhill from here for Sandler. He remains one of the few actors who secures asses in seats based on his mug slapped on the one-sheets. But I'd say going to a sequel to one of his bigger, and most popular, movies these days is more a sign of the times than anything else.

Del Toro is GOOOOOONE as KHAAAAAAN!

Just burns me up the more I think about it.

Why in God's name go out of your way with such a complex (and in the final product, plot-holey) approach to rebooting the Star Trek franchise creating a brand new continuity where the character dynamics are different (i.e. Spock & Uhura), they're working together as a team 10 years early and major events going down as a result (i.e. the death of Kirk's father, the obliteration of Vulcan, etc.) and have the sky be the limit with wherever you go next just so you can say, "Fuck it...let's just reboot Khan?"

Needless to say, introducing him as the villain for the first post-reboot installment hasn't sat well with me.

Vulture is here to tell us two things this afternoon. One, yep, it's Khan Noonien Singh as the chief bad-guy and, two, surprisingly it won't be Benicio del Toro leading his following of genetically engineered supermen to take over the Enterprise and woo any female cadets into mutiny. A deal couldn't be reach over money, it seems.

So Abrams will have to find someone else for Star Trek II: Whatever the Hell They’re Going to Call It of Khan. Of course if you remember back two years ago with Coming Soon's scoop about Abrams wanting Nestor Caronell for Khan in the (then) hypothetical event he'd be in the next film. Considering Star Trek had a cast full of lesser-to-complete unknowns in the leads, I get the impression Paramount are the ones pushing hard for a "name" to face off against Chris Pine and Zachary Quinto.

Either way, cameras roll next month so prepare for another month of rumors and another two years of my bitching.

The Cabin in the Woods Trailer is Intriguing, in a Good Way!

First things first, check out the trailer for The Cabin in the Woods as supplied by Yahoo! Movies:

Funny how we play up bigger than our heads in they actually are.

Case in point, yesterday evening, I began listening to the infamously, banned Criterion commentary tracks for the first three James Bond pictures Dr. No, From Russia with Love and Goldfinger. As a fan of that franchise, I knew of how after the initial run of laserdiscs were printed, Eon Productions balked at remarks made by commentary participants directors Terrence Young and Guy Hamilton, screenwriter Richard Maibaum and film editor Peter Hunt and had Criterion pull them from the market.

As a result, we the fans began building up in our minds just what they said that was so objectionable to Cubby Broccoli back in 1991. Having now heard the entirety of From Russia with Love while it was a good, brisk commentary there wasn't an instant where my jaw hit the floor as a result of an off-the-cuff quip. It would appear Eon are the thin-skinned type.

Fortunately, our first look at The Cabin in the Wood isn't a victim of heightened expectations courtesy of director Drew Goddard and writer/producer Joss Whedon. The duo kept quiet on exactly how their production played against the "young people out in the woods" sub-genre in the horror realm even as it sat on the shelf a victim of the financial struggles with original studio MGM (Lionsgate is now its distributor) and even this trailer keeps details closely vested to the chest, for the time being.

Consider me intrigued. I want to see what the deal is with that force field, if that's a big, bad corporation keeping a watchful on these college kids (including a pre-Thor Chris Hemsworth) or our government at work and the creatures hinted at. Well done, gentlemen.

Bradley Cooper Confirms Second Hangover Remake

The Hangover Part II was just a remake of The Hangover, you say? They changed the location, the subject of the bachelor party, substituted a baby with a monkey and amped up the dick factor?

Sorry, but Warner Brothers can't hear any of your complaints. All they hear is cash-registers opening to the tune of near $600 million. That also means a Hangover Part III is a sure-thing. Only thing is doubt is how long it would take to negotiate a deal for Todd Phillips, Bradley Cooper, Ed Helms and Zach Galifianakis to return.

A deal that would appear to be done or near completion since Cooper has confirmed The Hangover Part III moving forward as he tells the National Ledger (via Movie Hole):

"I hope we'll start shooting next September. I know (director) Todd Phillips is working on the script. We stuck to the formula in the second one but the third would need to close the trilogy. I think it'll take place in L.A. and not adhere to the structure."

I speak for everyone when I ask how will Mike Tyson be integrated this time and will Galifianakis once again deprive the world of a Mel Gibson cameo?