Bryan Singer Not Directing X-Men: First Class?

Interesting news coming from HitFix:  apparently Bryan Singer may not be returning to direct X-Men: First Class after all.

According to their souces, Singer is currently in pre-production on the Warner Bros fantasy film Jack the Giant Killer, and there is absolutely no chance that he will be able to start work on the new X-Men prequel before that film is finished. 

Fox, rolling in Avatar gazillions right now and not wanting to wait to get their next X-Men projects up and running, have apparently already met with "at least two filmmakers this week" to possibly take Singer's place if he is unavailable to direct the film.

HitFix didn't say who the possible replacement filmmakers were, but did report that they were people with comic-book movie experience who fanboys would definitely approve of. 

Going by that, I'm going to hope that Brett Ratner hasn't received any phone calls from Fox recently. 

The timing seems weird on this news.  It was just earlier this week that Singer and X-Men producer Lauren Shuler-Donner spoke with the Los Angeles Times about their plans not only for X-Men: First Class, but also hinted that Singer might possibly direct Wolverine 2 and maybe even an X-Men 4.  He's certainly seemed excited about his return to the franchise since it was announced he would be back for this film.

Now it looks like he may just have a producer role on First Class and Wolverine 2, and his directorial return will have to wait until X-Men 4 (if that happens at all).  If there's any positive to be taken from this so far, it does look like this is going down a lot more amicably than the whole X3/Superman Returns fiasco did a few years ago.

But whatever is going on...Fox, please don't screw this up!

Predators Teaser Trailer

This is a pleasant surprise, I always felt the Predators were damaged less by the AvP movies than the Aliens, but God knows both monster franchises need a reboot, the fact Fox allowed Robert Rodriguez to be the man behind rebooting the Predator franchise was a good start.

From this trailer I get the vibe the original with Arnie had, there is a sense of tension and scale not witnessed in the AvP movies, plus it does seem like maybe the aim is to do what Cameron did when following up Alien, by making this a war movie, the fact it is set on the Predators planet, which is a kind of giant game reserve, is an inspired move. I wish Rodriguez was directing instead of just producing (Nimrod Antal is driecting), but so far this is shaping up very promisingly and hopefully will restore some cred back to the Pred.

Predators opens on July 7th and you can check out the teaser below.

Sneak Peak of the Deathly Hallows

Sounds like a lot of cool stuff was shown at the 2010 Showest convention this week:  early screenings of Toy Story 3, Clash of the Titans, Prince of Persia, Kick-Ass, footage from Inception, hell...I'm even hearing terrific things about the Karate Kid remake. 

But today, the final day of this annual movie theater owners convention, the lucky attendees got to see some early footage of Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows.  And not just scenes from Part 1 of the final chapter of the Harry Potter film series either.  Going from this description on Comingsoon.net, it sounds like they got to see stuff from both parts of the final film(s). 

Unfortunately, no one has been kind enough to sneak this footage to YouTube yet (and I doubt it would stay up there long if it did), but even though it was reportedly unfinished, just from the description it sounds like it looked pretty damn awesome. 

So what was seen?  Plenty of Voldemort plotting Harry's demise, the revolt at the Ministry of Magic, the Seven Potters escaping from Privet Drive, a glimpse of Bill Nighy as Rufus Scrimgeour, Bellatrix doing her crazy Death Eater-thing at Malfoy Manor, the trio being chased by the Snatchers, some of the Harry-Ron-Herminone arguing in the tent during the Horcrux hunt, a dragon and some thestrals, and what sounds like a bit of the Battle of Hogwarts.

My favorite part of the footage description is the ending shot of Voldemort (presumably at their final confrontation in the Great Hall) asking Harry, "Why do you still live?" to which Harry reponds "Because I have something to live for."

Wow.  It sounds like it's going to be amazing.  Word is we will get a finished trailer at some point this summer, but until then I think my excitement level has already gone up a bit.

Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows Part 1 will be coming to theaters (in glorious 3D, of course) on November 19, and Part 2 arrives on July 15, 2011.  Which seems like a really long time away.

Clash of the Titans Video Clip

I have purposely isolated myself from any news of this movie, because its one that I want to fully enjoy at the theaters. However, with that said, I couldn't resist watching the clip below. I've been so impressed by the trailers so far, I had to see some actual footage. Personally, I'm a little disappointed. The landscaped and that continuous flashing "lightning" is too reminiscent of New Krypton in Superman Returns for me to be comfortable. But please, take a look and let me know what you think. 

Checkout the video from Comingsoon.net HERE

Moaning 'Bout A Movie - Network

I'll say up front folks that this one isn't very good.  The night we discussed the film I just wasn't on form and kept tripping over my words, forgetting actors names etc.

But you'll watch it anyway right?  RIGHT?  WON'T YA?

Dwayne Johnson Keeps Going Faster

CBS Films is getting busy with some big names in Faster, which is set to open in theaters on November 19. Dwayne Johnson, who has recently rounded out his acting talent in a series of works for Disney, will return as a hardened, violent character we all expect a man of his size to be. He’ll portray an ex-con, who sets his sights on revenge after his brother is killed, when the two are double crossed during a heist.

Well, its an unoriginal plot, but maybe we’ll get some twists and turns that will make it worthwhile. The rest of the cast may help, too. Billy Bob Thorton, Gara Gugino, Maggie Grace and Moon Bloodgood co-star. 

Set Pics from Green Lantern

It looks like they really have gotten started on Green Lantern. It was starting to look like we’d  never get anything in the form of news or pictures from their camp. I suppose, technically, we still haven’t. But someone got some pretty decent shots of Ryan Reynolds walking around. Unfortunately, the answer to the question I already know you’re asking is, no. He’s not in costume. Well, maybe Hal Jordan costume, but not the Green Lantern. Although, if you look closely, you do see a green ring on the middle finger of his right hand. Actually, you don't even have to look that closely. Someone has all but circled the ring in crayon. There are better pics posted. It looks like this was was blown up in an effort to show the ring. 

If he’s really trying to get into the character of Hal Jordan, I guess that cup would need to be filled with bourbon. Hopefully we’ll have more on this movie soon. I know I’m anxious to see what they do with it.

You can see the rest of the images from comicbookmovie.com HERE

What's that Other Spiderman Guy Doing?

Apparently Tobey Maguire isn’t quite finished with Sony/Columbia. A report from an insider states that Maguire is committed to star as Bobby Fischer in Pawn Sacrifice. The film, which will be directed by David Fincher and is set to start production this fall, is said to include parts of Fischer’s early life but focuses more on the tortuous segments of his life. Robert James Fischer was a chess prodigy, who gained international recognition after defeating Boris Spassky in the World Championship in 1972, which was dubbed a Cold War battle.

Fischer was later known for several anti-American and anti-Semitic remarks, such as the fact that he idolized Adolf Hitler. His passport was rejected in Japan in 2004 and he was facing extradition, when Iceland granted him citizenship. Fischer lived in Iceland for the rest of his life.

The Ultimate Spiderman Reboot?

It could be. I’m afraid I’m a day late and a dollar short on this breaking news, but apparently one of our friends over at Latinoreview had the chance to sit down momentarily with Brian Michael Bendis, who, for those of you not following the Spiderman reboot, wrote Ultimate Spiderman.

It was speculated, and feared by some, from the beginning that the rebooted series would follow the storyline of the Ultimate books since director Marc Webb announced that his ideas for the film centered around Peter Parker staying in high school.

When asked about what direction the movie was going to take, Bendis, pointing at the volume 1 book of his own creation, simply said “From what I’ve heard, its going to be exactly like this”. For now, I’m going to take this with a grain of salt until I hear from someone that’s more involved with the film. If I were Bendis, I’d love for my book to be picked up for a movie, too.

Just by following some fan posts, I understand that there’s a fair amount of folks out there that are dead set against this type of storyline. Personally, having never read the books myself, I like the idea of a new spin on a great character. Besides, we’re rebooting a franchise that, until just, what, six weeks ago was still alive.

They did something similar with the animated Spectacular Spiderman, and it seemed to work very well. It could, in a perfect world, also set up some type of tie-in with all of the other Marvel Studios movies

Hopefully we’ll get some more news soon on this and I’ll let you guys know as soon as I hear it.

Dear John, Please Do NOT Let This Happen

So, the deadline for the casting of Captain America was supposed to be at the end of last month. The studio wanted to be further along in the process of preproduction than what it currently is, seeing that they have yet to make a final decision on which actor they want to sign for the nine-picture deal. They had their list of hopefuls whittled down to, what I thought, was a pretty decent lineup of talent. Then I see this over at LATINOREVIEW.

Apparently Channing “Duke” Tatum is being seriously considered for the role. According to DeadlineHollywood, Marvel Studios, along with director Joe Johnston, have approached Tatum. There’s no confirmed information yet on whether this is an official offer, or if he’s just being given the chance to test for what may end up being one of the most coveted roles of all time.

Seriously? Channing Tatum? I mean, I guess in some aspect, I have to give him props for actually making it in Hollywood, but I don’t have to like the guy’s acting ability. This Captain America movie is supposedly going to be the one that pulls it all together for the mounting Marvel movies. Say that three times fast. Does anyone really want to see Pinocchio carrying the star spangled shield? That’s a stab at Tatum’s tendency to be wooden on screen if you didn’t catch it. I admit that I haven’t seen Dear John, so I can’t base my opinion on that film. But I saw Fighting. I have to say that the only reason he wasn’t considered the worst actor in that movie was because Terrence Howard was in it…and Marvel booted Terrence from the ironman franchise. Speaking of Ironman, whoever is selected for Cap, is going to be sharing screen time with Robert Downey Jr. You need someone that can hold his own a little bit, don't you think? Then you have G.I. Joe: Rise of the Cobra. What can I say about G.I. Joe? The swords were shiny.

I shouldn’t be too hard on the guy, but he’s not right for this role. I was never a Krasinski supporter, but I’d back him before I would Tatum. There are other, better names out there. But, like always, that’s just my opinion.