There Will Be More Smurfs

If you are a parent to a small child and/or are currently expecting one with your spouse, then Sony has given you a heads-up. There's going to be a Smurfs sequel. Prepare to be bragged by the little one(s) to sit through another one. Unless you have one of those cool toddlers who want to see Pacific Rim or Thor 2 instead.

This afternoon, the studio officially set an August 3, 2013 release date on Smurfs 2 following its success here and aboard. As stands, it's made just under $80 million in the states (judging  by its hold, it's looking towards a $135-$140 million haul) and around $140 million total thanks to foreign markets.

So no, your small children forcing you to sit through crap is universal.

You Can Expect Marvel Movies in Summer 2014 - Just Don't Ask Us What They Are

Strange as it is to think, there will be films coming out of Marvel Studios after The Avengers next May. What with all that Avengers being shoved down your throat since 2008 it's understandable to think that's where it all ends. I mean where do you go after all that build-up, hype, wasting time in Iron Man 2 and Captain America, etc.

Beyond the Iron Man and Thor sequels for 2013, the House of Ideas, through their master the Mouse, today announced release dates for their summer 2014 lineup. One for May 16 (two weeks following Sony's Amazing Spider-Man sequel) and another for June 27 in addition to a new Pixar feature for May 30.

So...what are the Marvel and Pixar films? Damned if we know. No one's talking. On purpose. Why not go ahead and say what the films are if you're not trying to grab attention and have everyone speculating? Mission accomplished, Disney/Marvel because that's exactly what they're doing.

Confidence or Covering Your Ass? Sony Announces May 2014 Release for Amazing Spider-Man Sequel

The Amazing Spider-Man won't swing into theaters for another 11 months. So we have plenty of time to get used to (if you haven't already!) seeing Andrew Garfield in his new web-slinger outfit, Emma Stone with blonde locks and stop asking yourself "Where's Sam and Tobey?"

This afternoon, Sony announced a May 2, 2014 release date for the as-yet-released reboot's sequel.

Does this mean studio heads like they've seen in from Marc Webb & Co. or just counting their eggs before they hatch? Probably a bit of both, I'd say. It's also standard operating procedure to go ahead and announce release dates far in advance and they'll be the first to lay claim of summer 2014 (Jesus, I'll be 30!) So if need be, they can be moved around.

As always this isn't concrete that an Amazing Spider-Man follow-up is guaranteed. I recall Universal announcing a sequel to Ang Lee's Hulk for summer 2006, Warner Brothers doing so for sequels to both Superman Returns (summer 2009) and Terminator: Salvation (summer 2011) and so on. So don't cling to this as anything beyond a studio covering their bases. Yes, the cast is locked down for sequels and James Vanderbilt is writing another one. But it's all moot until the receipts start coming in next July.

Thor 2 May Have Found Its Director

Television director Brian Kirk, responsible for helming episodes of Boardwalk Empire, Dexter and Game of Thrones, is in talks to direct Marvel's Thor 2, reports Variety.

The trades say his work covering both the fantasy genre and large ensembles was the clincher. Makes sense. Name-drop Game of Thrones to fandom now and they nerdgasm. Saying you're getting the guy who had a hand in its success and God only knows how they'd react then. Same rational as getting Joe Johnston to direct Captain America and Joss Whedon on The Avengers. I get that, and tip my fedora to Marvel for continuing to play the nerd-cred card.

Of course, this is Marvel we're talking about and everyone knows of their notoriety for being tight-asses. Kirk being cheap was probably a big factor too.

The Sitter Red-Band Trailer – Don't Let Jonah Hill Near Your Children

What's taken away from the red-band trailer for The Sitter (courtesy of IGN Movies) isn't even in the movie.

Jonah Hill's routine (long lumped into the "fatty make funny" category) won't be affected now that he's lost all that weight. You might have seen those recent pictures of him on the red carpet but wait till you see the video intro with him and some little kids. His shtick has always been about being a smart-ass with an anger problem and has never been reliant on his waistline as some would think. Good on him for dropping the pounds.

Oh and the trailer itself? Well. It has everything you expect from the glorious red-bands: pussy eating, big breasts, swearing and a new quote for the ages from Sam Rockwell - "Have you ever been emotionally butt-fucked by a friend?" Something for the whole family.

First Look at (What We're Told is) Anne Hathaway as Catwoman in The Dark Knight Rises

After photos were taken of her on set in Pittsburgh yesterday, Warner Brothers (in a move similar to going ahead and throwing out the premiere unveiling of Henry Cavill as Superman) have released the first official look at Anne Hathaway as Catwoman in The Dark Knight Rises.

It doesn't exactly look like what I imagined the actress would when she was first announced in the role. Not going to fall on the standard "In Nolan we trust..." reply because one, I find that rather lazy at this point (i.e. It's OK to say you didn't like it at first glance. Even if it is something from Christopher Nolan, Internet!) and two, the truth is I always give the filmmakers the benefit of the doubt. I still remember back in early 2000 when those X-Men suits leaked and everyone was freaking out, and the movie turned out fine.

Having said that, no I don't care for this look.

Ryan Reynolds Wishes You'd Stop Asking Jason Bateman about An Arrested Development Movie

How much is Jason Bateman sick and tired of being asked about that Arrested Development movie? Enough for Ryan Reynolds to "mockingly" send up his real thoughts to Coming Soon on that question asked every single time he has a new movie to promote:

For real, how many more times can Bateman, Will Arnett or Jeffrey Tambor keep using the same "Mitch Hurwitz is writing it and we'll hopefully start filming by next year" answer before it sinks into these idiot interviewer's skulls that it's a pipe-dream?

As a fan of the television-series (neck-in-neck with The Simpsons as my favorite show) and curious to see what Hurwitz could concoct for the Bluths circa 2011, even I don't think it's ever going to happen. Stop wasting everyone's time with these hit-whoring questions and move the fuck on.

Laurence Fishburne IS Perry White in The Man of Steel

The Man of Steel was already breaking ground by featuring the first non-American as Superman with Englishman Henry Cavill donning the red-and-blue suit.

Entertainment Weekly says it'll also sport the first non-Caucasian Perry White: Laurence Fishburne.

This I can get behind. I can't imagine too many folks who would be against this inspired bit of casting. Besides racist morons, of course. You can easily imagine Fishburne hounding the Daily Planet staff on a regular basis and bantering back and forth with Amy Adams' Lois Lane. He's come a long way since those Cowboy Curtis days on Pee-Wee's Playhouse.

Now...how will his "Great Caesar's ghost!" delivery sound?

Zack Snyder Goes From Metropolis to Afghanistan

Zack Snyder has been Zack Snyder too long and while it benefited at first, it's become a hindrance. All that slow-motion action, overly-stylized cinematography and production design, etc.

The Man of Steel is almost a Godsend for the director following three expensive flops. Keeping with his attempt to step away from his onscreen trademarks (Word is he's been held under the tightest of tight leashes since being hired for Superman), he's lined up his latest once he's done with the Last Son of Krypton.

Twitchfilm reports he's set to helm The Last Photograph with Christian Bale and Sean Penn starring.

For those who don't remember, this was the project that originated from an idea of Snyder's and he handed it off to his screenwriter Kurt Johnstad to work his magic on the keyboard. Snyder was initially going to keep it strictly as a producer first with Sergey Bodrov (Mongol: The Rise of Genghis Khan) and later Niels Arden Oplev (The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo) directing. Our pals at Pajiba first unearthed this for those curious.

Don't know what's transpired between then and now, but Oplev is out and Snyder is sitting comfortably in his place. If The Man of Steel is the cash cow everyone at Warner Brothers is praying for with Harry Potter over, then there shouldn't be any real issues getting this Afghanistan War-set thriller from happening and Snyder gets to continue trying something new outside of his comfort zone. A win-win for everyone.

WB Still Talking Up Green Lantern Sequel...For Some Reason

He might be the big-kahuna at Warner Brothers adding weight to his comments, but we've been down this road before with Jeff Robinov. Do we have to dig up the infamous Wall-Street Journal article promising "darker, grittier" DC movies post-The Dark Knight? Whatever happened to those epic announcements of big comic flicks from the Brothers Warner and Detective Comics?

Post-Green Lantern bombing, the term "sequel" is still being bantered around by the One They Call Jeff as he tells Hero Complex they know what they have to do with a hypothetical Green Lantern 2:

"To go forward we need to make it a little edgier and darker with more emphasis on action.... And we have to find a way to balance the time the movie spends in space versus on Earth."

Notice the absence of a definitive "Yes, we're making a sequel!" statement. This sounds like nothing more than circling the wagons and talking up the character and property in order to keep it in the conversation (just in time for the home-video release!) when, by now, everyone would rather talk about how X-Men: First Class was great or how much they can't wait to see The Dark Knight Rises.