Harry Potter Getting Shoved into the WB Vaults

Disney has a long history of pulling this "We're throwing the classics you grew up loving back into the vault and throwing away the key never to be released again!" Then a few years down the line when you've collected a hunger to revisit Bambi or Pinocchio, the Mouse miraculously puts them back on the home video market where they go on to earn a fortune - rinse, lather and repeat.

Warner Brothers has been paying close attention and announced they plan to do the same for their lucrative Harry Potter franchise:

"Harry Potter, the #1 motion picture franchise of all time, will soon disappear from shelves, as Warner Bros. stops shipping all Harry Potter theatrical film titles (including Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows™ – Part 2, and Harry Potter: The Complete 8-Film Collection) as of December 29, 2011 (moratorium does not include digital – Electronic Sell-Through & VOD – or games). The Harry Potter franchise has grossed more than $12.1 billion for Warner Bros. Entertainment – with $7 billion at the worldwide box office for Warner Bros. Pictures and $5.1 billion for Warner Bros. Home Entertainment Group and Warner Bros. Interactive Entertainment."

Funny thing is the studio has pushed out so many DVDs, Blu-Rays and so on, it's not like you, good consumer, will immediately see the effects after December 29. You'll still see tons of copies filling shelves at your local Wal-Mart and EBay.

Before you know it, WB will throw all eight Harry Potters back in print with superior picture/sound transfers and more supplementary features. And we'll all buy them. Because we're suckers.

Michael Shannon Promises Differences in The Man of Steel Compared to Earlier Films

We know The Man of Steel will be a new interpretation of the origin story; Zack Snyder's 2013 answer to Richard Donner's 1978 Superman: the Movie, if you will.

Oh sure there are similarities like another chubby guy as Supes' pops, General Zod as the heavy and set pictures leaking the tombstones of certain adoptive fathers played by Kevin Costner. But there will be differences, kids, we swear! From the looks of those same set pics, Henry Cavill will look like Hugh Jackman's Wolverine stand-in at some point during the story, Amy Adams looks less Margot Kidder, more...Amy Adams and of course there's Laurence Fishburne playing the first non-Caucasian Perry White for you racist assholes out there.

According to Michael Shannon (aka Zod) during this sit-down chat with Sky Sports you can also expect differences with the set-up for the Phantom Zone (Translation: there won't be one):

Well, he doesn't exactly say there won't be another floating mirror prison. But the thing is his statements gel with what we’d heard would go down. No Phantom Zone per say, more like "Krypton is to Earth what England was to Australia" as we were told with Zod acting more as a Kryptonian refugee in search for other survivors...like our red-and-blue suit-wearing hero.

In that case, Shannon is correct. That is different!

WB Smells Money – Hires Writer for Sherlock Holmes 3

Two months shy of release and Warner Brothers is confident everyone will flock to see Sherlock Holmes: A Game of Shadows when it opens on December 16. Doesn't matter if it's because we all legitimately want to see Guy Ritchie's sequel to his popular Robert Downey Jr./Jude Law-starring action-oriented Sir Arthur Conan Doyle affair or we're willing to go anywhere offering indoor heating – a case of all of the above, I'd say.

THR reports the studio, in a move echoing what they did the summer before Sherlock Holmes opened on Christmas Day 2009, is already thinking on Movie #3 with the hiring of Drew Pearce for writing duties.

Pearce is currently on rewrites for that other Downey franchise and I'm sure the conversation went something like, "Hey when you're done with Iron Man 3 I got this other thing..."

Exclusive: No Go on Nicolas Cage & John Travolta on Expendables 2

Sylvester Stallone already has his hook that'll get audiences back in for The Expendables 2. This time they'll deliver on the promise of him, Arnold Schwarzenegger and Bruce Willis kicking ass and not standing in a church making quips off one another for one scene to be played up in every trailer and TV spot.

Nevertheless, Sly and helmer Simon West have been on the hunt for more past-their-prime (or the more politically correct phrased "veteran") action stars mixed with younger blood for the currently-lensing AARP-approved epic due in theaters next August.

If you were hoping to see Nicolas Cage and John Travolta filing rank next to Sly, Jason Statham, Jett Li, Dolph Lundgren & Co, prepare to be disappointed. Despite attempts, sources tell TMT neither Cage nor Travolta will participate thus depriving the world of that Face/Off reunion. A deal for the former couldn't be worked out and word is Travolta "just didn't go for it."

This is the week of casting no-goes on The Expendables 2 it seems. Apparently we weren't the only ones to get that memo. Earlier this week came word Mickey Rourke was sitting this one out and mere minutes ago Sandwich John Films got a hold of Antonio Banderas who confirmed while an olive branch was extended his way to participate, he cordially turned them down.

A full cast list is rumored to be officially released later this week.

The Battlestar Galactica Movie Only Bryan Singer Cares About Has a Writer

Let's play a game, kids – Six Degrees of Bryan. I'll start.

Bryan Singer is directing Battlestar Galactica, which (according to "TOLDJA") will be written by John Orloff who earlier wrote Legend of the Guardians: The Owls of Ga'Hoole that was directed by Zack Snyder who is directing The Man of Steel and the previous Superman movie was Superman Returns directed by Bryan Singer.

I'm just not psyched about a $200-$300 million of Battlestar Galactica on the silver screen. Thing is I'm a big fan of his work and friends with associates of his. So I can, and have, asked them what the Hell is up with this?

"He's in love with his youth," they tell me. Bryan's big into nostalgic geek properties from his childhood including the afore-mentioned Superman, Galactica (which before this movie-centric version was developed as a TV series) and the ill-fated remakes of Logan's Run and Excalibur he was long attached to direct. Much like Spielberg and Lucas took their love of the serials from the 1940s and made Star Wars and Raiders of the Lost Ark Singer has been attempting to do the same with the products of his youth.

That's all well and good but at least with those guys they didn't just outright sequelize or reboot something clearly established. They took those archetypes and turned them into their own thing. One could see the influence but also how they'd made something original out of it. This far along into his career, I'd much prefer him go back to the thriller genre which gave us The Usual Suspects, Apt Pupil and Valkyrie instead of another homage/sequel and this is coming from someone who loves Singer's Superman!

Akira Has Been Greenlit

In a time when Peter Jackson can turn New Zealand into Middle Earth, Sam Raimi made Spider-Man swing through Manhattan for a decade and Zack Snyder can faithfully (too much so according to some) adapt Watchmen, we can’t truthfully say a live-action take of Akira is unfilmable.

It's doable with today's advanced technology, yes. That doesn't mean it's necessarily a good idea. If you've read the manga or like most saw the 1988 anime film, anyone would think to themselves, "OK, how do you turn that into a movie and spend more money than James Cameron did on Avatar?"

Such a task has been tried by Warner Brothers and the Leonardo DiCaprio-co run production-company Appian Way dating back to 2008. During the build-up to the WGA Strike in the fall of 2007 and fear of SAG following suit the next summer, Akira was one of several properties the studio announced they intended to fast-track to fill their empty-summer 2009 slots.

It went through several directors like Ruairi Robinson and Albert Hughes, many of the "Hot" twenty-to-thirtysomething actors for the lead roles of Kaneda and Tetsuo and even serious intentions for this to be a two-film series. None of those plans transpired but the studio kept fighting the good fight with the hiring of Spanish filmmaker Jaume Collet-Serra (recently delivering the Liam Neeson-starring actioner Unknown) this past July.

I never thought Akira was going to happen. Honestly, I still don't but this wouldn't be the first time I'm wrong. Variety reports after months worth of budget-trimmings and number-crunching WB has greenlit the production with the end of February/beginning of March being eyed as the start date and Garrett Hedlund (who didn't light the world on fire after Tron: Legacy) is a front-runner for one of the afore-mentioned leads; probably Kaneda if you want me to guess.

Besides the obvious "We'll shoot the whole damn thing on green-screen" approach, I don't see how they can pull this off for the reported below $100 million budget. But again, I'm in the "I'll believe it when I see it" stage with this one.

The Dark Knight Rises Opening Will Play Before M: I 4 in IMAX

Not been confirmed by anyone, but judging by their strategy of how they sold The Dark Knight and how religiously they're following that pattern for The Dark Knight Rises, everyone is expecting a full-length theatrical trailer in December.

One big move in their game plan was attaching the opening sequence from Christopher Nolan's first Batman sequel in front of Warner Brother's big Christmas 2007 tentpole I Am Legend. /film says WB, being the superstitious types, will mirror that play by attaching the opening minutes of Rises to a big IMAX release. In this case, it won't be their own Sherlock Holmes: A Game of Shadows but surprisingly Mission: Impossible – Ghost Protocol from rival Paramount. M:I 4 (Word from early screenings is Josh Holloway steals the damn movie away from everyone else and the action sequences deliver) opens exclusively in IMAX theaters on December 16, the same day the Holmes sequel opens everywhere, before dropping on all screens on the 21^st.

Just what will be in those cock-teasing few minutes for IMAX audiences is the $64,000 question. Although early indications suggest it may not be heavy on the action side as was the case for the bank-robbery opening from The Dark Knight. Something more on the side of exposition, i.e. the leaked Liam Neeson cameo perhaps.

New Sherlock Holmes: A Game of Shadows Trailer Approaches Revenge of the Fallen Levels of Retardation

Way to make me pull a 180 of my feelings there, Guy Ritchie.

The first trailer for Sherlock Holmes: A Game of Shadows from back in July I liked fine. But only under the terms it promised more of the same. That was a-OK in my book, since I quite enjoyed the 2009 original and preferred it, and its Robert Downey Jr. performance, to Iron Man.

This new trailer (available through iTunes Movie Trailers and below) is...off. It plays similar to the afore-mention first trailer only longer, with more face time for Jared Harris' Professor Moriarty, a brief glimpse of Rachel McAdams (How quickly are they going to kill her off is my question), some time for the lovely Kelly Reilly and obviously more action. Way, way, more action and too much of the "Sherlock-Vision" used just enough in Sherlock Holmes.

Sitting here next to my cup of coffee in my office, that last part (the overuse of "Sherlock-Vision") is what's giving me such strong Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen vibes. Everything that worked in Holmes ramped up to extreme levels it reaches full-retard. Minus the racist 'bots, of course. My anticipation on this sequel which I'm still looking forward to has suddenly turned to caution.

"Passing the Torch" Crap Extends to Die Hard 5 – Search is on for John McClane Jr.

As long there's a beloved franchise studios dust off the shelf with the returning lead actor, you're always going to hear the notions of him having a new, younger sidekick. You know, so they can "pass the torch" in case the aging star decides his paycheck isn’t enough to cover the hot wax job on his fourth yacht.

Indiana Jones & the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull introduced Mutt Williams, the bastard-son of our leather jacket and fedora-sporting hero and there were talks of a spin-off adventure for Steven Spielberg's Golden Boy (at the time) Shia LaBeouf. Notice the world hasn’t been graced by Mutt Williams & the Lost City of Atlantis three years on? There's also Tron: Legacy, a sequel supposed to branch off from Jeff Bridges and Bruce Boxleitner to Garrett Hedlund and Olivia Wilde. Where's Tron 3? Anyone?

Paramount's gung-ho on following that trend with this Christmas' Mission: Impossible – Ghost Protocol with all that chatter about Tom Cruise "passing the torch" to Jeremy Renner, something that isn't evidence in its trailer. Side-note: my guess is this is all a ploy and Renner ends up being the baddie in a twist.

20^th Century Fox hope they're the ones to succeed in this odd trend with A Good Day to Die Hard. Bruce Willis' John McClane will be in the wrong place at the wrong time, for the fifth time. This time in Russia and his son (Remember, folks, John McClane had two kids. Our pals at Movie Hole have the incriminating evidence from the original Die Hard) as his partner-in-crime taking the place of Reginald VelJohnson, Sam Jackson and Justin Long.

Variety says Willis will soon test with a short-list of young thespians including Aaron Paul (Emmy winner from AMC's Breaking Bad), Paul Dano (One of the few young actors who can claim they held their own against Daniel Day-Lewis from There Will Be Blood) and Ben Foster. All fine actors, although I'm having trouble imagining Dano as an skull-thumper. Him playing McClane Jr. as a little weenie - that's easy. But him handing some bad-guy their ass in a fight is harder to grasp.

The studio denied this short-list (that also included Paul Walker and Milo Ventimiglia) it should be said. You and I both know that translates to dick. Of course, they're going wave red-flags with "NU-UH!" claims. The fact they responded that quick to the initial report from the trade means the original information is true.

Pacific Rim Beating Robopocalypse to the Punch - Moves Up to May 2013

The mid/late July spot has been good to Warner Brothers.

Since The Dark Knight in 2008, they've relied on putting a tentpole towards the middle-to-end of July and have it serve as the last "Event" picture of that summer, facing less severe competition. Notice the big returns on Harry Potter & the Half-Blood Prince in 2009 (The second installment to break $300 million stateside), Inception in 2010 and this past summer with the Potter swan-song Deathly Hallows – Part II being the highest grosser in the franchise’s history and 2011's #1 box-office champ.

That formula is no fluke and the anticipation for 2013 was for that movie to be Pacific Rim. But today the studio announced the futuristic "Giant fucking monsters against giant fucking robots" epic from Guillermo del Toro will instead bow out on May 10, 2013.

Had it stuck it out in July, you can't help but see the general movie-going public interpreting Rim as being too similar to Steven Spielberg's Robopocalypse. So slotting it just as the summer movie season is starting should be viewed as a wise decision.

Given WB's hard-on for that month, Pacific Rim now moved up and Disney/Marvel's decision this morning to jettison Thor 2 from July to November 2013, don't be surprised if the studio announces The Man of Steel going for their coveted July position.