Jamie Foxx Cast as Electro in Amazing Spider-Man Sequel

Nobody cares about a sequel to The Amazing Spider-Man, Andrew Garfield was great but he was playing a hipster douchebag version of Peter Parker, all they're doing is further repeating Sam Raimi by including a new Mary Jane Watson, blah, blah blaaaaaaah!

But what's this? PLOT TWIST! Jamie Foxx is playing the baddie and as Variety originally scooped its Electro. "HE CAN'T PLAY ELECTRO! HE'S BLACK!" some of you more stupid readers might say. Two words: piss off. Guy's a solid, charismatic actor (See: The Kingdom). A non-issue.

Initial rumors coming outta the trades said Electro was one of several villains intended to give Spidey concern past dating Gwen Stacy, keeping his grades in check and getting Aunt May's milk-obsession at bay. Have those plans changed and Norman Osborn is merely Movie #3 set-up? We'll see.

Do us a favor, Marc Webb/Avi Arab (Bypassing through Kurtzman and Orci because, why bother?), don't spend time on Electro's origin. It's The Amazing SPIDER-MAN. Keep it on Pete and, let's face it, we're tired of "Science gone horribly wrong!"

Source: Variety

The Odds are Ever in His Favor - Francis Lawrence Directing The Hunger Games: Mockingjay

Once the machine starts up, you can't stop it.

Lionsgate has no intentions of doing so with their machine The Hunger Games. Its sequel Catching Fire is hard at work under the direction of Francis Lawrence (due out November 2013). The concluding book in Suzanne Collins' trilogy Mockingjay got split into two flicks, as you know, for November 2014 and 2015.

Collider reports the studio has retained the services of the I Am Legend director for those remaining installments. Such a move allows little down-time searching for replacements and keeping their eye on the ball. Twilight never stuck with a director between films and Harry Potter stopped searching after David Yates worked out so well. I can see the appeal of going the latter route for Hunger Games.

TMT Halloween DVD Giveaway!

Halloween has arrived and the sun has set here on the East Coast. This year we have are honored to be giving away a horror double feature. All you have to do is be the first to email me (peterg@thinkmcflythink.com). Title your email ThinkHalloweenThink and include a link to a video of your favorite horror movie moment. The winner will be notified and asked to provide shipping information.

The Cottage

In this chilling suspense-thriller, a financially struggling couple with a new baby girl needs to rent out the cottage behind their house to make ends meet. When a prospective tenant has a sudden accident and is unable to take the place, they decide to rent it to a seemingly charming novelist, only to find out he’s not who he says he is. The film also stars Ken Baumann (TV’s “The Secret Life of the American Teenager”), sisters Morissa and Alana O’Mara (Hanna’s Gold, Machine Head), Lorraine Nicholson (Soul Surfer, Click), and Bellamy Young (TV’s “Scandal”).

Supernatural Activity

The world's most beloved illusionist, armed with his team of oxymoron’s, embark on the freakiest, most adventurous paranormal investigation of all time. Terrorized at every turn by an unexplainable irregular patterns of mysterious paradox’s, this witch-hunting, ghost busting, creature questing supernatural spooftacular is the funniest footage ever found!

Flying the Middle Earth Skies - Hobbit Themed Instruction Video

Here's an interesting piece of cross-promotion: Air New Zealand and The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey. A safety video produced by WETA and the Kiwi airline showcases the standard, "What to do..." procedures. Just with Elf Flight-Attendants, Gandalf as the Captain, a Gollum-like passenger and Peter Jackson.

The joke gets old pretty quick. But it's a unique and harmless item.

Retro-Video: Living Dolls Horror Short Film

Those in their late-twenties and up are old enough to remember USA Saturday Nightmares, a weekly programming block consisting of horror films and analogy shows (including The Ray Bradbury Theater, my introduction to the legendary author) on the USA Network.

Every so often the feature wasn't long enough and to fill vacant air-time, horror shorts aired including Living Dolls. The spooker centers on a kid (emasculated at his janitorial job at a bridal shop) locked upstairs on the third floor. A room full of mannequins. In the middle of the night.

As the slasher genre ruled the roost, writer/director Todd Coleman showed you don't need mask-wearing psychos, accompanied by Tom Savini-caliber makeup effects, to scare. Mood and atmosphere (Thanks to good old-fashioned editing, cinematography and sound) work wonders. This scared the crap outta me as a little kid and to prove it isn't nostalgia talking, I showed this to Phil Gee. It freaked him out too.

Almost as a means to calm you down, the video is immediately followed by the opening seconds of frothy 80s sitcom My Sister Sam.

Retro-Video: Baby Faced Sam Raimi Faces His Critics on UK Talk Show

Any "Scariest Movies!" list is redundant. But it is Halloween and I wanted to post something related to that special day giving us carte blanche to eat candy, scare children and indulge in horror cinema.

In 1987 as parents worried horror films, with all their sex and violence, were making masochists outta their kids, Evil Dead II opened. It got especially heated in the UK (Look up "Video Nasty" for the whole story). Not deterred of avoiding bad press or run-ins with enraged parentals, director Sam Raimi walked into the eye of the storm.

A week shy of its UK release, he appeared on the talk-show Central Weekend Live. It gets intense. But Raimi (age twenty-seven; didn't look a day past nineteen) sat there calmly and objectively defended himself and his work. Even as some in that studio audience wanted him crucified. None of them had seen Evil Dead II, mind you. Had they done so, perhaps they'd have seen it wasn't on the exploitive nature of Cannibal Holocaust and I Spit On Your Grave and just a silly cartoon with gore.

Ironic to think years later, they probably took their grandkids to see Raimi's Spider-Man films.

Bryan Singer Confirmed to Direct X-Men: Days of Future Past

As expected following the news last week of Matthew Vaughn's exit, Bryan Singer will return to the director's chair on X-Men: Days of Future Past.

He still has Jack the Giant Slayer to wrap in post-production (Assuming that's near complete) and noticeably no word on when production will commence. Filming was aiming for January as means for Fox and Lionsgate to share co-star Jennifer Lawrence. But with the change of directors and the script still written, that’s unlikely despite the studio sticking to its July 18, 2014 release date.

Don't have an idea of who will return; Lawrence, Michael Fassbender and James McAvoy are givens but Singer's role on Days of Future Past, before the director swapping, was to sweet-talk original cast members to return; like Sir Ian McKellen who bolted after his contractually-binding appearance in the Singer-absent X-Men: The Last Stand. Hugh Jackman, Patrick Stewart and Rebecca Romijn returned for directors not-named-Bryan. Nothing wrong there, just pointing that out.

And what of the returning Singer? Being as critical against Peter Jackson and Ridley Scott for "going back to well," that rule applies too. Difference is Singer has an active and bigger than given credit for, role on X-Men: First Class. It helps that Fox learned from their mistake letting him go back in 2004 instead of sharing him with Warner Brothers. We'll see.

To Those Affected By Hurricane Sandy: Stay Safe

Having lived in NJ my whole life, I was pretty fortunate not to lose power or have any damage to my home.  The same can't be said for many, many others.

On behalf of the entire ThinkMcFlyThink staff, I'd like to send out our condolences and prayers to those affected by this natural disaster and a quick recovery back.

Lucasfilm is the Property of Disney; Star Wars Episode 7 Announced for 2015

Simple words can't express how I feel. Not excitement nor is it negativity. Just...speechless... Forget the election in a week. Here is the October surprise.

Disney just announced they bought Lucasfilm and tentatively set a 2015 release for Star Wars: Episode 7. Rumors circulated few years back, from my ex-employers after our exit George Lucas was quietly assembling a third Star Wars trilogy to immediate denial. This purchase from the Mouse would presumably also include the Indiana Jones franchise.

This is the coupe of coupes for Kathleen Kennedy and Alan Horn, who brokered the deal. The possibilities of Disney/Lucasfilm are infinite and go beyond the afore-mentioned sequel. God help the competition if they meet that date; Star Wars: Episode 7 and The Avengers 2. So much potential opens up for this alliance; good and bad. You smile pondering a Pixar-produced Star Wars film, sure. But that also means endless DTV cartoons. And if you thought Lucas let the merchandising get out of hand over the decades (Spaceballs: The Flamethrower springs to mind), then don't worry your pretty li'l head over doing the ownership of Disney.

An exciting and terrifying development, I must confess. But God am I interested to see what this results in.

The Man of Steel Logo "Revealed"

Won't be too long till marketing blitz kicks into high gear for The Man of Steel. That tumble-weed passing by your computer screen is the fact the trailer is expected to be attached to The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey.  While we wait, here's some cool, professional-looking (but in all probability fan-made) logo animated for the Superman reboot.

The kind of reveal one usually sees at the end of a trailer.