WB Moves Forward with Flash

The Fastest Man Alive may be blistering his way to the big screen even more quickly than we had originally thought. News broke a few weeks ago over at IESB.net that we would soon be learning more about proposed projects concerning Wonder Woman and The Flash, which will serve as two more intricate pieces of the original Justice League.

Today, IESB learned that Greg Berlanti has been tapped by Warner Bros. to direct The Flash. Berlanti worked with Marc Guggenheim, Michael Goldenberg and Michael Green on writing the screenplay for Martin Campbell’s Green Lantern, which is set to start filming next month.

Nothing is known so far as to whether or not there is already an approved script, but if you tally this news with the fact that we’re already getting a Christopher Nolan directed Batman 3 and a David Goyer written Man of Steel to go along with Green Lantern, it seems that Warner Bros. and DC Entertainment are making great strides to make the public feel safe once again under the watch of earths greatest heroes. 

The Man of Steel Gets a Writer

Well, my story about Christopher Nolan mentoring the newly envisioned Superman Franchise was debunked last week, which may or may not turn out to just be a ploy by WB to throw us off the trail. After all, the news was leaked. But, even if it stands that Nolan isn't involved, it seems that I got at least part of it right.

According to Latino Review, David Goyer has been hired to write the script for the newest feature film involving my favorite martian to be titled The Man of Steel. The title may have been decided partly on the notion that Goyer's idea is to take Superman back to the days of John Byrne, who, in 1986, developed the comic under the same name and essentially did away with a lot of crap like Superboy and Krypto. Awww, no love for Krypto?

The article states that Goyer's story involves Lex Luthor, who I hope they make more sinister leader of Lexcorp and lose the campy ways of his predecessors, and Brainiac. As of now its unclear which version of Brainiac will be used. We won't be getting another origin story. In fact, Goyer one-ups us and assumes that the audience is already familiar with the supporting characters like Lois, Jimmy and Perry.

Other details given were that The Daily Planet would be faced with economic struggles due to battling the internet and that the film is going to set up a massive Kryptonian mythology.

Brandon Routh is said to not be a candidate for the role of Superman and Bryan Singer is not expected to direct.

Now, back the John Byrne thing. Personally, I think this could be good. Lois and Clark followed a similar formula with its successful run. Ma and Pa Kent, which Clark called Mom and Dad, were both still alive. Clark wasn’t a bumbling idiot in a suit that no reporter would wear. In fact, he was actually a pretty cool character. He was a standout athlete in high school and noticeably attractive. The reason that he wasn’t suspected as being Superman was that no one ever considered Superman to have a secret identity. He was just this being all to his own that showed up when needed. And he didn’t always stop everything with the greatest of ease. That’s boring. He has to be challenged or there’s no story. No, Superman has to get his S kicked a little.

So, good news is in the works for Superman. I’m finally excited again. 

A New Trailer for a New Nightmare

On April 30th, the Michael Bay produced A Nightmare on Elm Street slashes its way into theaters. Its a re-imagining of the story of Freddy Krueger, the hideously scarred antagonist of Wes Craven's film by the same name in 1984 that made us all think twice before closing our eyes at night. 

I really want to like this movie. See what you think of the trailer below.

A Nightmare on Elm Street Trailer 2 in HD

Trailer Park Movies | MySpace Video

Tweeting About Lantern

Newly appointed Creative Officer of DC Entertainment, Geoff Johns, takes a few moments from his busy schedule to let us in on what hes seen of the Green Lantern thus far courtesy of his Twitter account:

"Back from an amazing trip to Green Lantern town a.k.a. New Orleans!! Ryan IS Hal. And Mark Strong is going to be a brilliant Sinestro.

Kilowog, the Guardians, Oa...all breathtaking. The age of Green Lantern is upon us!!"

Seeing Johns' comments on the production so far has me all the more amped up for the release of this film. It sounds like they are really trying to give us a good depth from the Lantern lore.

Iron Man 2 - The 'Whiplash' TV Spot

Thinkmcflythink is proud to debut the brand new TV spot for 'Iron Man 2' specifically highlighting the character of Whiplash played by Mickey Rourke.

This new spot gives us the clearest indication yet of the approach the filmmakers have taken with the character and it's something to get really excited about.

Yes, I'm just kidding around.  Hope you enjoyed it.

Nolan afraid of Kryptonite?

It's a bird, its a plane, its...

A RUMOR!

As it usually goes with the wonderful world of Hollywood, the recent news of Nolan mentoring a Superman franchise has been commented as only a rumor by DC's head of entertainment, Diane Nelson.

"Wouldn't you like to know!" laughed Nelson when asked if there was any truth to the recent rumor that "The Dark Knight " director Christopher Nolan will oversee a reboot of the "Superman" movie franchise.


"We don't have any plans about that, and as I've mentioned, in the coming months we'll be making a lot of announcements about what our content plans will be," she added. "But right now, that's nothing but rumor - and we frankly don't say a whole lot more about rumor than that, so..."

It seems wise to take anything as a rumor at this point regarding any of the current DC rumblings. This statement could also be a coy move to keep Nolan's involvement as secretive as possible. Time will tell.

Conan Live?!

Possible exciting news for Conan O'Brien fans (like me) still mourning the end of his run on The Tonight Show - TheWrap is reporting that a deal is nearly in place for Conan to perform in a live show that will tour several cities in the US.

Thanks to his NBC exit deal, Conan will not be allowed to appear on TV until at least September.  Speculation is that his next show will end up on Fox, but nothing official has been announced yet, and probably won't be for some time.  In the meantime, fans who united during last month's late night wars have kept themselves entertained by sharing classic Conan clips through various social networking sites - such as the "Walker Texas Ranger Lever" clip that was posted by the 'I'm With Coco' group on Facebook today:

Conan O'Brien - Walker Texas Ranger Clips

Alheretic | MySpace Video

I really miss Conan.  And it's only been a month. 

Again, nothing is official yet, but a live show should be a lot of fun - especially if this tour should launch just as Jay Leno returns to The Tonight Show (which may soon be minus a bandleader).  Shows like Family Guy and It's Always Sunny in Philadelphia have done successful live events, and members of SNL's cast also did live shows during the writer's strike.  It would also keep the Team Coco momentum going straight into whatever TV project Conan ends up at next.  Let's hope it happens - and that we get a TV announcement soon as well. 

Leonardo DiCaprio to be a Prisoner?

His new Scorsese directed thriller "Shutter Island" just hit cinemas yesterday and he has "Inception" to come later this year but Leonardo DiCaprio is not one to let the grass grow under his feet.

Deadline Hollywood is reporting the Leo is circling "Prisoners," a film initially set to star Christian Bale and Mark Wahlberg and to be directed by Bryan Singer but that has struggled to get off the ground.

Leo DiCaprio is taken with Prisoners, an Aaron Guzikowski-scripted drama that Alcon Entertainment partners Andrew Kosove and Broderick Johnson bought last year. At the time, they signed Antoine Fuqua to direct. He has since dropped out. DiCaprio’s very particular about his directors — since 2002, he has made 4 films with Martin Scorsese and the only other directors he's worked with have been Chris Nolan, Ridley Scott, Sam Mendes, and Ed Zwick. So Leo's participation will depend on who's helming.

Prisoner has a Mystic River-meets-Takenstoryline, and DiCaprio wants to play a small-town carpenter who takes matters into his own hands when his daughter and her friend are kidnapped. “In the 12 years we’ve run this company, this is the most interesting, morally complex thriller we’ve ever gotten, and we can’t wait to make the movie,” Kosove told me. The script made the most recent Black List. And the Alcon duo, who with Gil Netter are up for Best Picture for The Blind Side, are producing with Kira Davis and Adam Kohlbrenner. Warner Bros will distribute. I’m told Leo will likely make another movie before taking Prisoners.

Given the talent that has been attracted to this project we have to gather that the script is at the very least decent, now DiCaprio has signaled his interest I am sure it wont take long for a top level director to become attached, hopefully this time it finally gets made as I dig the premise.

Maggie Q is Nikita

The Hollywood Reporter has the scoop that the CW has cast "Mission Impossible III" and "Live Free or Die Hard" star Maggie Q in their new take on "Nikita."

In a pilot season shaping up as the most diverse ever for leads in dramas, Maggie Q is in talks to play the title character in the CW's "Nikita" reboot.

The casting of Maggie Q is particularly significant as it jumps off an iconic character historically portrayed as Caucasian, first by Anne Parillaud in Luc Besson's 1990 film, followed by Bridget Fonda in the 1993 redo "Point of No Return" and Peta Wilson in the 1997 USA Network series.

The CW pilot's premise of a new Nikita being trained to replace the original one after she goes rogue gave creator Craig Silverstein an opportunity to break the stereotype, and he wrote the lead as "beautiful and exotic."

The pending hire of Maggie Q in "Nikita," from WBTV and McG's Wonderland, would mark the highest-profile series role for an Asian actress on a broadcast drama series and the highest-profile CW minority casting in the network's four-year history.

Hawaii-born Maggie Q made a name for herself as a Hong Kong action movie star before landing roles in "Mission: Impossible III" and "Live Free or Die Hard."

I first saw Maggie Q in an English language Hong Kong film called "Naked Weapon" (Mind out the gutter gentlemen, posted a trailer below for those curious) and it was basically a riff on the Nikita premise, Maggie certainly has the right ingredients for the role so best of luck to her and the show.

This Week on DVD : Law Abiding Citizen

If there was ever a year and a candidate for over exposure in the film medium it was 2009 for a certain Mr. Gerard Butler. But, if there’s a way to battle and survive such a curse, if you want to call it that, it would be to keep making good films. I’ve got to say, I’m a fan of the guy. So far, I think he’s done well on what scripts he’s accepted. This week’s DVD pick is no exception.

What would you do if you watched your family be slain in front of you in the worst way imaginable, then watched one of the killers walk free…and you happened to be one of the most brilliant and conniving sons of bitches in the world? They say revenge is a dish best served cold. Well, that’s debatable.You can blow people up. Or catch them on fire. Neither one of those are exactly cold. Entertaining though.

That’s the basic premise of Law Abiding Citizen. The interesting thing is that we get two protagonists in this film, which serve as oppositions to each other. One, you can’t help but cheer on after seeing what happened to his family. The other’s only downfall is that he’s career driven, but otherwise a good person.

It serves as a pretty decent mystery as the audience is left out, until the end, on how exactly things are working. The answer to that was a little disappointing for me, but is definitely no reason to pass this one up if you see it on the shelf.

Law Abiding Citizen: Recommend