Edgar Wright Helming The Night Stalker for Johnny Depp

Edgar Wright will direct The Night Stalker, the big-screen version of the 70s supernatural mystery series starring Darren McGavin, for Disney "TOLDJA" reports. The project is expected to be a star vehicle for Johnny Depp, who will also produce.

When this was announced last July, I groaned. Oh look another retro-centric property for Depp to hone his "colorful weirdo" crap, as I like to call it, we've had an overabundance with the Jack Sparrows, Willy Wonkas, Sweeny Todds and Mad Hatters on screen. But getting a director with the skill of Wright? This I like.

Too soon to get fully invested and there's still the matter of actually having to contain Depp's shtick (If there's a fight between Depp and Wright over say direction, guess who wins? The guy whose oddball characters have made billions of dollars for the Mouse), but congratulations, Night Stalker, you now have my attention.

Sacha Baron Cohen Threatens to Make Oscar Ceremony Interesting; Academy Balks

At this rate, this Sunday's Oscar telecast will be one of the lower-rated in years.

Wonderful as The Artist may be (It is), nobody wants to spend 5 hours watching it win every award imaginable while all the celebrity presenters yuck it up about how awesome they are and kiss each other's asses. Hell, this is the first time in, well ever, that even I am seriously contemplating not watching myself. If I do, it will be back and forth when The Walking Dead comes on and that one takes priority. Sorry, Oscar!

But there has to be some kind of controversy. How else can the ceremony get ink without anyone yawning? Sacha Baron Cohen would like to spice things up a bit by walking the Red Carpet, as his character from The Dictator Admiral General Alladeen. He must suspect a snooze-fest in the making too, and hey, this also gives him a chance to plug his forthcoming, and so far unfunny looking, comedy while doing something legitimately unpredictable and thus interesting for us television viewers. A win-win, right? Sure, but the Academy hates that idea. God forbid they make fun of themselves.

And they seriously wonder every year why more and more people (Many of those the Academy makes fun of during the telecast about being stupid red-staters) tune out?

The Hunger Games Invading Your Mall

Four years ago, before the Internet decided it was cool to hate Twilight and it was just a low-budget, book adaptation from Catherine Hardwicke and a cast full of unknowns with pale skin and freaky hair, Summit arranged a series of mall tours. Drum up interest for the then-forthcoming Twilight by having the lead actors meet and greet the fans. You know how the rest of the story turned out.

Well, Lionsgate, soon to merge with Summit, knows a good idea when they see it and are doing the same for The Hunger Games, a potential franchise (That remains to be seen until its March 23^rd opening) long-touted as "the next Twilight" wrong as that statement is.

If you're in the following big cities over the next couple of weeks, you too can meet Jennifer Lawrence, Josh Hutcherson and Liam Hemsworth:

"Saturday, March 3rd - LOS ANGELES
Fan event at the Westfield Century City
Talent: Gary Ross, Jennifer Lawrence, Josh Hutcherson and Liam Hemsworth

Tuesday, March 6th - ATLANTA
Fan event at JW Marriott Atlanta Buckhead
Talent: Liam Hemsworth, Leven Rambin, Dayo Okeniyi, Amandla Stenberg and Jack Quaid

Wednesday, March 7th - PHOENIX AND CHICAGO
PHOENIX
Fan event at the Scottsdale Fashion Square
Talent: Liam Hemsworth, Leven Rambin, Dayo Okeniyi and Jack Quaid

CHICAGO
Fan event at the Westfield Fox Valley
Talent: Josh Hutcherson, Isabelle Fuhrman and Jacqueline Emerson

Thursday, March 8th - MIAMI AND DALLAS
MIAMI
Fan event at the Westfield Broward
Talent: Jennifer Lawrence, Alexander Ludwig and Amandla Stenberg

DALLAS
Fan event at Galleria Dallas
Talent: Josh Hutcherson, Isabelle Fuhrman and Jacqueline Emerson

Friday, March 9th - MINNEAPOLIS
Fan event at the Mall Of America
Talent: Jennifer Lawrence, Alexander Ludwig, Amandla Stenberg, Josh Hutcherson, Isabelle Fuhrman and Jacqueline Emerson

Saturday, March 10th - SEATTLE
Fan event at the University Village
Talent: Jennifer Lawrence, Liam Hemsworth and Josh Hutcherson"

Sam Mendes’ First Skyfall Video Blog

We all have our "personal relationship with Bond," as Sam Mendes put in his first video blog chronicling the making of Skyfall, the 23^rd James Bond installment and third starring Daniel Craig.

They won't be a regular feature here because I remember the days of nerdgasming to Blue Tights and Kong is Kong, seeing video blogs focusing on the crew, usually the director, producers, writers and their underlings telling us, "Hey, it's fun to make a big-budget blockbuster!" and showcasing the tiniest morsel of actual footage. Without the benefit of a trailer, the filmmakers hype up the production with little they can show of actors in costumes with their backs turned to the camera or shooting at vague locations, like that glass building with neon-colored Oriental writings on the wall. Gonna reserve judgment on which blog installments to post based on its content, you will always get one or two that's a whole bunch of nothing.

But sometimes, it's hard to resist, and I've been waiting patiently since the "James Bond Will Return" text closing out Quantum of Solace to see Craig walking through that gun-barrel again. I'm ready for November 9^th to get here and see what the Broccolis and Mendes have in store for Bond based on that title and that plot synopsis of "Bond's loyalty to M is tested as her past comes back to haunt her."

Talking is McG's Kryptonite

Remember when Newt Gingrich went to Florida and promised that elaborate, and expensive, plan for a moon base? That's McG. Always trying to win over whatever group he's speaking to, telling them exactly what they want to hear in order to look good. Shooting his mouth off and making claims he knows he can't make, just like a politician running for office.

Years after the debacle of Terminator: Salvation, he's still trying to win fandom’s approval, in what has to be his affliction with battered wife syndrome. Hoping he'll be cool in their eyes with his ideas. He tells The Playlist had his Superman reboot, codenamed Superman: Flyby, made its way to the silver screens in 2006 we would have gotten a much different Lex Luthor than the long-rumored Johnny Depp:

"We had Robert Downey Jr. locked up to be Lex Luthor, which I think would have been extraordinary."

Here we go again with the "Hey guys, I had the idea first! Aren't I cool?" routine? We don't need to replay how he claimed James Cameron approved the T4 script and personally recommended Sam Worthington. Were this any other director claiming this claim, I would take him at face value, but this is McG we're talking about.

Mr. McGinty (Can I call you Joseph?), we all know you were the guy who flat out cast Henry Cavill as Superman/Clark Kent years before Christopher Nolan and Zack Snyder came to the same conclusion. Hell, they're using not only your Supes but your designs for their suit in The Man of Steel. You deserve credit for this; credit which will never come, and that's bullshit. But for the love of God, dude, stop it and leave it be.

Red 2 Has Its Director

As one of their last acts before being absorbed by corporate body-snatcher Lionsgate, Summit is getting the band back together (...again...) for Red 2, the sequel to the 2010 actioner headlined by Bruce Willis, Helen Mirren, John Malkovich, Morgan Freeman and Mary-Louise Parker.

Outside of Willis, deals remain elusive on the cast and the August 2013 release date may potentially be jeopardized in lieu of Bruno's first-priority status on A Good Day to Die Hard, and that was supposed to roll cameras last month. Variety says, nevertheless, Dean Parisot will direct – no stranger to seen-their-better-days old dogs reuniting to kick ass, having helmed Galaxy Quest.

Weekend Box Office: February 17-19

Courtesy of Box Office Mojo:

1.  Safe House -  $24 million

2.  The Vow - $23.6 million

3.  Ghost Rider: Spirit of Vengence - $22 million

4.  Journey 2: The Mysterious Island - $20 million

5.  This Means War - $17.5 million

6.  Star Wars Episode I: The Phantom Menace - $7.8 million

7.  Chronicle - $7.5 million

8.  The Woman in Black - $6.6 million

9.  The Secret World of Arrietty - $6.4 million

10.  The Grey - $3 million

We had a bunch of new releases this President's Day weekend, so what was the one audiences came flocking to?  The movies that came out last week.

Safe House won the holiday weekend with $24 million, for a 10-day total of $78.3 million, making it Denzel Washington's most successful films to date.  It's also good news for co-star Ryan Reynolds, who desperately needed a hit after several box office misfires last year.

Audiences are also still in love with The Vow, which was certainly helped by some Valentine's Day business during the week and continued strong business in its second weekend.  Domestically, the romantic drama has grossed $85 million so far.

The news was not so great for Ghost Rider: Spirit of Vengence.  Sure, it did make $22 million and come in third for the weekend.  But keep in mind, the original Ghost Rider film earned $45 million on its opening weekend in 2007.  That's not good.  And going by the reviews, neither was the movie.

It looks like the families who spent last weekend enjoying Star Wars in 3D were catching up to Journey 2:  The Mysterious Island this weekend, as that 3D family adventure film dropped only 26% from last weekend to earn another $20 million.  The Phantom Menace, in the meantime, dropped faster than both halves of Darth Maul this weekend, earning $7.8 million.  But keep in mind, that all gets added to what the movie originally earned in 1999, so with $464 million, it becomes the highest-grossing Star Wars movie.

The other new releases didn't fare as well, particularly This Means War, which underwhelmed with only $17.5 million.   Fox did some last-minute shuffling with this one, bumping its original Valentine's Day release to the weekend, but that didn't seem to help, with couples clearly still preferring The Vow as their date night destination.  Disney's Japanese animated import, The Secret World of Arrietty, just barely found a place in the top ten with $6.4 million.  Doesn't seem like much, but the film has already grossed $126 million overseas, so it doesn't really matter.

Next weekend sees the releases of Act of Valor (which stars real-life Navy SEALs), the Amanda Seyfried thriller Gone, Tyler Perry returns with Tyler Perry's Good Deeds, and Paul Rudd and Jennifer Anniston pair up for Wanderlust.  Should be an interesting weekend.

First Clip from 'The Amazing Spider-Man' Online

Sony Pictures has released the first clip from this summer's The Amazing Spider-Man via the film's viral website, MarkOfTheSpider-Man.com.

Surprisingly, the clip doesn't include any footage of the webslinger in action, choosing instead to showcase Peter Paker (Andrew Garfield) attempting to visit Gwen Stacy at her home but having trouble with the intimidating doorman (this was referenced in the recently released trailer).

I pick out a few important things from this clip:

1.) Just from the dialogue alone, it's nice to no longer have to hear Sam Raimi's goofy, comical banter that was overdone so much in the previous Spider-Man trilogy.

2.) Garfield (despite being close to 30 years-old in real life) actually does look like and come off as a teenager still in high school.  The display of disbelief and dumbfoundness he portrays as he's practically interrogated by the doorman actually comes off pretty genuine as a teen still coming of age.

3.) Finally, the film just looks more realistic and grounded than what was shown in the previous Spider-Man films.  I never was the biggest fan of Raimi's trilogy and always hoped the series would be taken in a more reality-based direction.  Hopefully this clip is a nice preview for the tone of the rest of the film.

The Amazing Spider-Man hits theaters July 3rd.

Warner Brothers Laughs at the Thought of Death; Commits to I Am Legend Sequel

The Brothers Warner don't concern themselves with little road-blocks like death. Oh sure, Will Smith croaked at the end of I Am Legend sacrificing himself to save God Girl and the quiet little kid antidote intact, and lest we forget shoehorning in that awful "We are his legend" closing line. But when your movies does close to $600 million, there are always creative (Read: lazy) solutions around that problem.

The studio locked down a deal with Akiva Goldsman (who along with George Lucas, McG, Brett Ratner and Joel Schumacher is the fanboy's answer to the anti-Christ) for an I Am Legend follow-up they won't call a prequel but somehow fit Smith's character Robert Neville into the main narrative, reports "TOLDJA."

Smith isn't committed, mind you. Even he knows how stupid this could come across unless Arash Amel's script has the best deus ex machina. Why, it was all a dream! At least in that direction, they not only get Smith back (AKA: cha-ching at the box-office) but more importantly his loyal German Shepherd Sam. You laugh but that dog was the best part of the movie, and that's not even a slight against Francis Lawrence's film!

There Might Be Different Humans to Suffer Through in Transformers 4

Not buying this "reboot" talk on Transformers 4 since Michael Bay is back directing (What, he's going to reboot the franchise he started, people?) and the fact that the number 4 is in the title. That's why I always argue when people kept referring to Skyfall as Bond 23 before they settled on that Emmerich- esque title considering the entire series was rebooted with Casino Royale.

Badass Digest doesn't either thankfully and, via sources within Bay's camp, confirm the June 2014 set fourth installment will be a continuation, sans Shia LaBeouf's Sam Witwicky if not the entire human cast from the earlier films. We all know Optimus Prime and Bumblebee everyone cares about and the human protagonists who, let's face it, are interchangeable. Hence swapping out the snotty Megan Fox for the more studio-friendly, following-the-corporate-line Rosie Huntington-Whiteley and nobody complained. Except for Fox, I'm sure.

That said I assumed there would be some continuity amongst the flesh and blood characters like Josh Duhamel and Tyrese. If that is the case, Duhamel is out of the loop as he tells E! Online:

"'Whenever these movies make that much money they're going to make as many as they can,' he said. '[But] I haven't heard anything about it. They haven't called me.'"

Bay still has Pain & Gain to do first and there’s still the matter of "finding the right story" (HA!) for Transformers 4. So it's not a done deal we won’t see anyone returning. I still expect to see both Duhamel and Tyrese again.