Justice League: Doom Cover Art And Release Date

Mark your calendars for February 28th, the day we get to see the JLA's secrets revealed. The story, originally written in comic form by Mark Waid, featured Ra's Al Ghul tapping into Batman's resources which held the exact secret in stopping each of his teammates. It looks like Vandal Savage will be taking the place of Ra's and also noticeable is the omission of Martian Manhunter who is replaced by Cyborg. The cover art is quite an eye catcher in my opinion. If I were a casual fan of animated flicks, this would definitely be a consideration for buying on the cover alone. 

Earth’s greatest super heroes face foes on all fronts – using a plan initiated from within – in the all-new Justice League: Doom, the next entry in the popular, ongoing series of DC Universe Animated Original Movies. Produced by Warner Premiere, DC Entertainment and Warner Bros. Animation, the all-new, PG-13 rated film arrives February 28, 2012 from Warner Home Video as a Blu-Ray™ Combo Pack ($24.98 SRP) and DVD ($19.98 SRP), On Demand and for Download. Both the Blu-Ray™ Combo Pack and DVD will include an UltraViiolet™ Digital Copy,

Justice League: Doom finds Superman, Wonder Woman, Flash, Green Lantern, Martian Manhunter, Cyborg and Batman on their heels when a team of super villains discover and implement the Dark Knight’s “contingency plans” for stopping any rogue Justice League member. The story is inspired by Mark Waid’s much-heralded “JLA: Tower of Babel.”

Primetime television stars Nathan Fillion (Castle) and Tim Daly (Private Practice), the reigning voices of Green Lantern and Superman, respectively, join a group of eight actors reprising their famed Justice League cartoon roles. Fillion made his debut as Green Lantern/Hal Jordan in the recent Green Lantern: Emerald Knights, and took his initial DC Universe movie bow as the voice of Steve Trevor in the 2008 hit Wonder Woman. Daly originated his role as Superman’s voice in the landmark cartoon, Superman: The Animated Series. He has reprised the role in two DC Universe films: the 2009 extravaganza Superman/Batman: Public Enemies and the 2010 thriller Superman/Batman: Apocalypse.

The grand reunion of actors who provided the voices of the Justice League for the cartoon of the same name and its follow-up, Justice League Unlimited, includes Kevin Conroy (Batman: The Animated Series) as Batman, Michael Rosenbaum (Smallville, Breaking In) as Flash, Susan Eisenberg (Superman/Batman: Apocalypse) as Wonder Woman and Carl Lumbly (Alias) as J’onn J’onzz/Martian Manhunter. Bumper Robinson (A Different World, Transformers: Animated) joins the cast as Cyborg.

The Justice League faces two sets of villainous teams in the film – The Royal Flush Gang and a sextet of notable evildoers. The latter group includes three voice acting alumni of the Justice League animated series: Phil Morris (Smallville, Seinfeld) as Vandal Savage, Olivia d’Abo (The Wonder Years) as Star Sapphire, and Alexis Denisof (Angel) as Mirror Master. Also opposing our heroes are Carlos Alazraqui (Reno 911) as Bane, Paul Blackthorne (The Dresden Files) as Metallo, and Claudia Black (Farscape, Stargate SG-1) as Cheetah.

David Kaufman (Danny Phantom) also reprises his Justice League role of Jimmy Olsen.

The film is executive produced by Bruce Timm (Batman: Year One), and directed by Lauren Montgomery (Batman: Year One), who is also credited as producer alongside Alan Burnett (Batman: The Animated Series). Justice League: Doom is the final DC Universe film script from the late Dwayne McDuffie (All-Star Superman, Justice League: Crisis on Two Earths), who passed away in February 2011. Casting and dialogue direction is once again in the capable hands of Andrea Romano (Batman: Year One, Justice League).

“Justice League: Doom has all the classic ingredients of a great super hero film – a cavalcade of dynamic villains, internal strife amongst our heroes, treacherous twists and turns, and a cast that brings together some of today’s popular primetime television actors with many of the fans’ favorite voices from the original series,” said Hersin Magante, Warner Home Video Marketing Director, Family & Animation. “I think fans will embrace Dwayne’s McDuffie’s final DCU script, particularly as it has been nuanced by Bruce Timm and the Warner Bros. Animation team. Warner Home Video is proud to distribute Justice League: Doom as the next DC Universe Animated Original Movie.”

Justice League: Doom Blu-Ray™ Combo Pack has 3 hours of exciting content, including:
•    Standard and high definition versions of the feature film
•    UltraViiolet™ Digital Copy,
•    Sneak Peak at Superman vs. The Elite, the next DC Universe Animated Original Movie
•    Featurette – “A Legion of One: The Dwayne McDuffie Story” – The skilled writer penned some of the best stories which consistently entertained fans. From his early writing career to adapting the popular work of All-Star Superman, this is the story of Dwayne McDuffie, as told by his family and friends.
•    Featurette – “Guarding the Balance: Batman and the JLA” – Everyone has a weakness and so do superheroes, yet when they go rogue, their power can topple more than a few egos, they can shatter worlds. The Justice League is the most powerful organization of superheroes on the planet, but what if the Justice League went rogue, and decided to use their power for harm?
•    Mini-featurette – “Their Time Has Come: Cyborg and the DC Universe’s New Diversity” – 2011 will go down in DC Comics storied history as a year when a rich diversity of characters were re-introduced into the spotlight alongside Superman, Batman and Wonder Woman. One of the most celebrated of the re-imagined characters is Cyborg, who became the new Man of Steel in Geoff Johns’ altered universe storyline, Flashpoint.
•    Creative team commentary
•    Two bonus episodes from the Justice League animated series handpicked by Bruce Timm: Wild Cards, Part 1 and 2, written by Stan Berkowitz and Dwayne McDuffie
•    Digital Comic

source: Superherohype

Weekend Box Office: December 9 - 11

Courtesy of Box Office Mojo:

1.  New Year's Eve - $13 million

2.  The Sitter - $9.8 million

3.  The Twilight Saga: Breaking Dawn Part 1 - $7.8 million

4.  The Muppets - $6.9 million

5.  Arthur Christmas - $6.5 million

6.  Hugo - $6 million

7.  The Descendants - $4.3 million

8.  Happy Feet Two - $3.6 million

9.  Jack and Jill - $3 million

10.  Immortals - $2.4 million

This was such a dud weekend at the box office that it's barely worth reporting, but here it goes:  the even-the-billboard-ads-are-annoying comedy (?) New Year's Eve topped the box office with a meager $13 million.  When that's the best any of this weekend's movies can do, we're in trouble.  So much trouble, in fact, that this was not only the weakest weekend at the box office this year, it was the worst weekend at the box office since September 2008.  Yikes.

By comparison, the New Year's Eve clone Valentine's Day opened with $56.3 million.  That makes that $13 million look that much worse, doesn't it?  So let's not expect a star-studded salute to the Fourth of July or anything next year.   

It also looks like the majority of the moviegoing audience enjoyed The Sitter much better when it was 1987 and called Adventures in Babysitting, as the Jonah Hill comedy flatlined with a mere $9.8 million.

Twilight is still chugging along, earning another $7.8 million, making it the third-highest grossing movie this year behind Transformers and Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows Part 2.  Breathe easily, fanboys, it won't come close to passing either of those. 

As far as our wonderfully reviewed family films that the masses don't seem all that interested in seeing:  The Muppets drops to fourth place with $6.9 million.  At $65 million, that makes it the highest-grossing Muppet film, but when you factor in inflation on ticket prices, it still lags behind the original Muppet Movie in 1979.  Audiences are starting to catch on that Arthur Christmas is a sweet little holiday film, since that animated film only dropped a minimal 12% drop since last weekend.

Hugo expanded into more theaters this weekend and earned another $6 million.  Despite some recent awards recognition, the movie seems to be catching on slowly, having only grossed about $33 million.

Fellow awards favorite The Descendants continues to do well, earning another $4.3 million.  In limited release, Tinker, Tailor, Soldier, Spy and Young Adult were in a virtual dead heat, with Tinker just eeking out a win by finishing the weekend barely $300 ahead. 

Next weekend will hopefully bring about an end to the recent box-office slump, as the multiplexes will be overrun by sequels Alvin & the Chipmunks 3, Sherlock Homes: A Game of Shadows, and the prologue to The Dark Knight Rises...I mean, Mission Impossible: Ghost Protocol.  If that can't save the box office, nothing will.

Arkham City Lockdown Trailer

What you see in the trailer is the actual gameplay of Arkham City Lockdown. When I first saw this I thought it was another add on for Arkham City, but those amazing visuals are what you get with this app for the "i" accessories. While the graphics alone would be worth paying the $6 price tag to experience it, there are also a number of cool extras you get when you purchase it. Wallpapers, several unlockable Batman skins for gameplay, and even a few chapters of the Arkham City tie-in comic. Even though the fighting gets repetitive, some of the boss levels change up the pace a bit to keep it interesting. It's a great little game to play while waiting at the doctor or visiting the toiletry of your choice.

Warner Bros. Interactive Entertainment and DC Entertainment today announced that the Batman: Arkham City Lockdown App for iPad, iPhone and iPod touch is now available on the App Store. Based on DC Comics’ core Batman license, the app brings the Batman: Arkham City™ franchise, one of the most highly acclaimed and best-selling videogame releases of 2011, to the App Store for the first time featuring stunning graphics and original combat gameplay created exclusively for iPad, iPhone and iPod touch.

Developed by NetherRealm Studios, creators of Mortal Kombat, Batman: Arkham City Lockdown features several of Gotham City’s most dangerous criminals, including The Joker, Two-Face and Solomon Grundy, as well as iOS-exclusive character Deathstroke, and engages players in one-on-one combat as they seek justice in a variety of Arkham City environments.

“We here at NetherRealm Studios are huge fans of Batman: Arkham City, and we were very excited to develop Batman: Arkham City Lockdown to extend the franchise experience to iPad, iPhone and iPod touch,” said Ed Boon, Creative Director, NetherRealm Studios. “The app delivers a different take on Batman gameplay in which players must combat against some of the fan favorite villains in Arkham City.”

Batman: Arkham City Lockdown takes advantage of AirPlay, one of the newly released features in iOS 5, enabling players to wirelessly stream their gameplay experience on their iPad2 or iPhone 4S to their HDTV using Apple TV.

The Batman: Arkham City Lockdown App is available for $5.99 from the App Store on iPad, iPhone and iPod touch or at www.itunes.com/appstore.

from Superherohype

G.I. Joe: Retaliation Trailer Continues the "Retardedly Awesome" Trend from Rise of Cobra

For all those fanboys who shit-talked Jon Chu without giving the guy a chance strictly because of his association with Justin Bieber, you may all shut the Hell up. AKA here's the trailer for G.I. Joe: Retaliation:

Not hard to see why this went over so well at Butt-Numb-A-Thon this weekend, and truthfully if you weren't a fan of the Stephen Sommers-directed first installment G.I. Joe: The Rise of Cobra, this isn't going to do anything to win you over. Even with the bigger names in the cast including Dwayne Johnson, clearly taking over the franchise, and Bruce Willis as the original Joe.

There's a shot where Cobra plants a flag on top of the White House for crying out loud!

A Color Corrected Superman On SFX Cover This Month

If you’re a spandex salesman, 2012 is going to be your year: Supes returns in The Man Of Steel, Andrew Garfield dons a brand new web-slinging outfit in The Amazing Spider-Man and the Marvel movie universe comes together in The Avengers. We’re taking a look at them all this issue, from dissecting the new Avengers trailer to looking at 50 thing you need to know about the new Superman movie and an interview with Andrew Garfield. Blimey!

"The Amazing Spider-Man" Video Game Teaser

An all-new Spider-Man is poised to bring the action back to New York City as Activision Publishing, Inc., a wholly owned subsidiary of Activision Blizzard, Inc., and Marvel Entertainment, LLC announce The Amazing Spider-Man™ video game, planned to launch summer 2012 tied to Sony Pictures Entertainment's upcoming feature film of the same name. Created as an epilogue story occurring entirely after the events of the movie, the game features the return of free-roaming web-slinging all over the city and evolutionary improvements to navigation and combat, as the newly anointed Spider-Man is plunged into an all-new storyline charged with protecting Manhattan from a variety of criminals.

The Amazing Spider-Man is in development at veteran game studio Beenox, and features an original narrative crafted by Hollywood writer Seamus Kevin Fahey (episodes of Spartacus: Gods of the Arena and the re-imagined Battlestar Galactica) that continues young Peter Parker's adventures following the events of the new film. Using the game's new Web Rush mechanic allows players to pull off a vast array of moves never before possible. With a story that takes players through many areas all over (and under) Manhattan, fans will feel what it's truly like to be a Super Hero, as they experience the cinematic adrenaline rush of web-swinging through the city and fighting crime using Spider-Man's spectacular acrobatic moves and attacks.

"Last Of Us" Video Game Trailer

The Last of Us is a genre-defining experience that blends survival and action elements to tell a character driven story about a population decimated by a modern plague. Abandoned cities are being reclaimed by nature and the remaining survivors are killing each other for food, weapons and whatever they can get their hands on. Joel, a ruthless survivor, and Ellie, a brave young teenage girl who is wise beyond her years, must work together to survive their journey across what remains of the United States.

"We are excited to finally unveil The Last of Us, a project the team has been working hard on for some time," said Evan Wells , Co-President of Naughty Dog. "Naughty Dog's mission is to change the way people experience videogames. We are confident The Last of Us will take a leap forward in cinematic gaming and storytelling, providing gamers with an experience unlike anything else in the industry."

The Last of Us is developed by some of the industry's most talented game designers including Bruce Straley , game director, and Neil Druckmann, creative director. Naughty Dog advanced to the forefront of the videogame industry in 1996 with the successful introduction of Crash Bandicoot on the original PlayStation system. The developer extended the franchise with Crash Bandicoot 2: Cortex Strikes Back, Crash Bandicoot 3: Warped and Crash Team Racing, selling 22 million copies worldwide and led to Naughty Dog being the most successful video game developer in the United States for that console generation. The team then created the Jak and Daxter franchise including Jak & Daxter: The Precursor Legacy®, Jak II™, Jak 3™ and Jak X: Combat Racing™. All four titles are "Greatest Hits" for the PlayStation®2 system. In 2007 the team released UNCHARTED: Drake's Fortune® and followed with UNCHARTED2: Among Thieves™ and the recent November launch of UNCHARTED 3: Drake's Deception™. Having currently sold over 13 million units worldwide, the UNCHARTED franchise represents some of the most impressive graphics, sound and processing capabilities found on the PS3™ system.

Game Trailers

Poster & Stills From "Battleship"

Peter Berg (Hancock) produces and directs Battleship, an epic action-adventure that unfolds across the seas, in the skies and over land as our planet fights for survival against a superior force. Based on Hasbro’s classic naval combat game, Battleship stars Taylor Kitsch as Lt. Alex Hopper, a Naval officer assigned to the USS John Paul Jones; Brooklyn Decker as Sam Shane, a physical therapist and Hopper’s fiancée; Alexander Skarsgard as Hopper’s older brother, Stone, Commanding Officer of the USS Sampson; Rihanna as Petty Officer Raikes, Hopper’s crewmate and a weapons specialist on the USS John Paul Jones; and international superstar Liam Neeson as Hopper and Stone’s superior (and Sam’s father), Admiral Shane.

"Game Of Thrones" Season 2 Teaser

A new teaser for Game Of Thrones season 2 has surfaced courtesy of HBO. The cable network is calling the teaser Cold Winds Are Rising which is uttered by Stannis (Stephen Dillane) at the end of the below video.

Fans should be geeked up about the return of Jon Snow, Robb Stark, Arya Stark, Daenerys Targaryen, Cersei Lannister, Tyrion Lannister and Joffrey Baratheon. Watch the premiere coming April, 2012.

"Men In Black 3" Trailer

Agents J (Will Smith) and K (Tommy Lee Jones) are back... in time. J has seen some inexplicable things in his 15 years with the Men in Black, but nothing, not even aliens, perplexes him as much as his wry, reticent partner. But when K's life and the fate of the planet are put at stake, Agent J will have to travel back in time to put things right. J discovers that there are secrets to the universe that K never told him -- secrets that will reveal themselves as he teams up with the young Agent K (Josh Brolin) to save his partner, the agency, and the future of humankind.