Final 'The Crazies' Poster

The scary scribes over at ShockTillYouDrop have the final poster for 'The Crazies'. I think the pitchfork says it all. If you have read anything I've ever written you would know I am not huge on remakes, but I am looking forward to this remake of the George Romero classic. I think it looks pretty damn scary and I'll just say it, crazy. How can you not want to see a zombie style flick where a biological weapon makes its way into a towns water supply and causes the citizenship to go nuts?

'Knight And Day' Website & Poster

20th Century Fox has released a poster for their upcoming Tom Cruise & Cameron Diaz thriller "Knight and Day". On top of that, the studio has launched the official website. The poster and website both have a retro James Bond feel to them. See both of them below and head over to the official website to follow the film on Twitter or become a fan on Facebook.

 Click the screenshot below to head to the official website.

Taylor Swift Is Supergirl?

Has WB/DC gotten so frustrated with the mess surrounding their flagship character Superman that they've turned to his cousin Supergirl to bail them out? Not likely.

Hollyscoop is reporting that executives at WB are searching for an actress for an upcoming Supergirl movie and spin-off television series and Taylor Swift is at the top of their list. Swift is not exactly a rookie to film, she's part of the rather large cast of "Valentines Day" which drops this February.

No offense to Swift, she is a talented singer with the jury still out on her acting, but if this was true I can't imagine she would be at the top of the list. Young Hollywood is more talented than ever in both mediums, television and film.

I also can't imagine WB/DC seriously considering going forward with a Supergirl film at this stage. A television show I think could be very likely, since it was supposedly discussed before and could take the place of Smallville.

If WB were to go forward with a Supergirl film, it would be a smaller film with a very tight budget. I would personally like to see one but not sure what the reception would be from the general public and if such a film would make sense for WB financially. See "Catwoman" and "Elektra". I'll be sure to keep my eyes open and listen for some chatter from my people at WB, but for now this sounds out there.

Did Green Lantern Finds Its Carol Ferris?

Am I the only one who finds it odd we haven’t heard a single casting announcement on Green Lantern outside of its lead Ryan Reynolds? True, he’s the most important part of casting and the film will make or break depending on how well he comes off. But Christ that was back in July and this year is almost over. We’ve heard plenty of rumors and what not but nothing official. AICN reported on Jackie Earle Haley as Sinestro and we had heard Rose Byrne for main-squeeze Carol Ferris.

On the former, the Watchmen star flat out denied any involvement. To be fair, that doesn’t 100% mean he’s telling the truth. Spoiler alert - actors do lie. On the latter, it looks like we were on the wrong side. Meh, it happens. The good folks over at Latino Review are reporting that it’s down to five actresses for Ferris. None of them are said to be Byrne. Again fuck us, we were wrong.

As per their sources, the actresses consist of Eva Green (Vesper from Casino Royale), Keri Russell (J.J. Abrams alum and long-standing Lois Lane candidate for Superman Returns), Diane Kruger (recently in Inglorious Basterds which my dad of all people loved), Blake Lively (from Gossip Girl which I’ve never watched) and Jennifer Garner.

To be honest, I don’t know too terribly much about the Ferris character. So I’m lacking towards who of these five would be the best suited. I’m sure any one of them would be fine. Suppose to boils down to who interacts the best with Reynolds. There have been so many complaints about the love-interest role in these superhero epics. We can only hope director Martin Campbell and his team are able to avoid that trap-fall.

Next Bond Promises "Shocking Story"

The third 007 installment to feature Daniel Craig (still untitled) has been in development under everyone’s radar. The hype certainly won’t hit the levels of Quantum of Solace following the popularity/success of Casino Royale. But people always look forward to seeing another one.

Speaking to MI6, screenwriter Peter Morgan confirmed he’s been typing away at his laptop (or typewriter, who knows) on Bond 3 from July to October. He even offered the tiniest of teases of what to expect:

"It’s a shocking story."

That could mean a number of things. Personally, I’ve long felt the best route to go is to kill off M (Judi Dench) and up the tension between Bond and MI6. Remember she’s the only person he trusts – maybe Felix Leiter but that’s it. Quantum of Solace (for its flaws) did a good job selling just how powerful the terrorist network was. I say have a new M step in who is connected to Quantum but there’s nothing Bond can do (yet) to bring him down. For a better angle, check out Phil’s Memo to the Executives.

Meanwhile, all pre-production has been put on hold for the time being. But don’t start thinking this is a mirror of the situation with the Spider-Man franchise. It’s only a matter of waiting for MGM to be sold off. Its new owners will in all probability (or 99.999999999% likely) green-light Bond 3 soon after all this crap is settled.

Movie Moan - The Game Changer

After two years of podcasting and friendship, it was bound to happen. Phil and Jamie have gotten into a full-fledged argument over a movie. Shockingly, it had nothing to do with James Cameron's Avatar. Instead it was all about Excalibur. Weird, huh? Nonetheless, the two discuss Avatar after the now 15 years worth of hype. All the while, Ed and Lou sit on the sidelines and ask questions now and then. 

Even more surprising was the number of big news-items that also hit this week. Did that have to do with the awesomeness that is Avatar? The world may never know. The group talks about the rumors of Spider-Man 4 (or Spider-M4n as it's apparently spelled) being "indefinitely delayed."

Coincidentally (or maybe not), Tobey Maguire is rumored to be in discussions to headline The Hobbit as Bilbo Baggins. Bryan Singer returns to the X-Men franchise to helm X-Men Origins: First Class. Can he "save" the film series he established? Will anyone outside of the Internet fanbase care? The troubles on Pirates of the Caribbean: On Stranger Tides is briefly discussed as well.

All of that plus our heroes' reactions to this week's new trailers including Iron Man 2, Clash of the Titans, Robin Hood, Shrek Forever After, Alice in Wonderland and, of course, Hot Tub Time Machine.

Movie Moan - The Game Changer

New Writer Attending X-Men: First Class

Only a day after it was confirmed Bryan Singer was returning to the X-Men franchise with First Class, Heat Vision reports that Jamie Moss has been brought on board to write the newest draft. As most expected, the film will concern the exploits of Professor Xavier's original line-up as well as his friendship with Erik Lehnsherr and how their friendship went to the shitter. I’m guessing Singer and his team won’t be employing that awful CG-botox from X-Men: The Last Stand and Wolverine. Hiring younger actor who could pass off as Patrick Stewart and Sir Ian McKellen is the cheaper (and more logical) route.

As Singer explained the matter elsewhere to the trades:

"Whether it's 'Batman,' 'Lord of the Rings' or 'Star Trek,' if the characters are good, you want to see them on their journey even if you know their destiny. I put myself in the fan's position, and I think this story is something I would want to see, and so will they."

The problem, unlike Star Trek or Batman Begins, is that this is a prequel and not a reboot. Singer will be forced to adhere to continuity. That can be a bitch to pull off – especially when you’re trying to build suspense over what will happen next. Look at what happened with Terminator: Salvation.

When you think about it, the expectations for this are much higher as opposed to when Singer took over the Superman franchise. Go to the talk-back section of any website or forum and you’ll read countless "If only Bryan had done X-Men 3 instead…" statements from fanboys. The funny thing is it’s not out of left-field to suggest that maybe his version would have let fans down. I know Mike Dougherty has publicly revealed his ideas and we’ve heard rumblings of what Singer had in mind. But the fact remains that we’ll never truly know.

I say all of this because we’re now hearing from those same people "Singer is coming back. Everything will be great again!" Eh, not necessarily. He’s a filmmaker who’s yet to disappoint me. But fans had better keep their expectations within reality.

The Hangover 2 Headed For Thailand?

Yes, The Hangover was funny. It had good laughs, solid cast and plenty of great "What the fuck…?" moments. But the fact that it chugged out $280 million is still mind-boggling to tell you the truth. All the news of Warner Brothers and Legendary Pictures advancing with a sequel just left me uneasy. You just can’t repeat that kind of success – especially with a comedy.

Then a funny thing happened, I re-watched the film a few nights ago. It holds up. Really well in fact. I’d even go as far to say I laughed more upon my second viewing than I did in that mostly vacant matinee screening last June. Now I’m more open to the prospects for a follow-up. Weird, I know. What Todd Phillips has in mind for what Allen (Zack Galifianakis) is too intriguing to pass up.

The word from CHUD is the guys won’t be headed to Vegas again. Thank God. Instead the shenanigans will take place in Thailand. In fact, Phillips was planning on using that as the location for his aborted Old School sequel that fell apart. Will Farrell thought Land of the Lost was the better career movie, I suppose.

Correct me on this one, but I don’t know if it’s been confirmed that Justin Bartha will be a part of this. Ditto Heather Graham. We all know that the principle three leads (i.e. Galifianakis, Ed Helms and Bradley Cooper) will. As funny as he was, let’s hope they keep Mike Tyson (or his tiger) out. Don’t need this to be one of those sequels that bring back every character just for the Hell of it like Pirates of the Caribbean.

Morpheus Vs. Predators

The currently-filming Predators have added another solid character-actor to its lineup.

Latino Review reports that Lawrence Fishburne has joined the cast of the Nimród Antal-directed, Robert Rodriquez-produced sequel. I remember back around 1999/2000 his name was brought up as a great candidate to play Doctor Who. This, of course, was back during that magical time when The Matrix was the shit, the Wachowskis and James Cameron were the official directors of choice by fanboys for every franchise known to man and George Lucas was shit on every waking moment. How times change...

I know I’ve said this before. But I’m curious to see how this will come back next July. Will it follow the path of last summer’s Terminator: Salvation (i.e. damn-near nobody cared despite all that Internet hype) or Live Free or Die Hard (i.e. damn-near nobody on the Internet cared but everyone else did!)

I could see people really digging this. If it’s nothing more than a kick-ass sci-fi action film, that’s good enough for me.

Will James Cameron Sing The Blues?

There are people out there who have already experienced "Avatar", and they have lived to tell about it. For the most part, the film has been pretty well received. As I write this "Avatar" is hovering around the mid to low 80's on Rotten Tomatoes among critics, 82% at the time of this post to be exact. Members of RT are giving it a 80%. Not too shabby, but not near the numbers of "Dark Knight" (94%) a movie that many fans think "Avatar" is going to beat at the box office.

Comparing "Avatar" to a film like "Dark Knight" is bad enough, but there are some fans out there who are comparing this film to another Cameron epic, "Titanic". Those fans need to pump the brakes, "Avatar" isn't going to surpass "Dark Knight" domestically and it certainly isn't going to challenge "Titanic".  The question is does it have to? To some fans it does, they need it to do as well is it can so it somehow justifies the fact that they enjoyed it. Not only does the movie's percentage on Rotten Tomatoes matter to them, but so does the amount of money the film pulls in.

Truthfully neither should matter to a fan, whether that be a fan of Cameron or or a fan of "Avatar" itself. Let the studio worry about the box office and the critics worry about a movies critical appeal. That is what the general public will be doing and the general public are the ones that matter. They are the ones who have been battered the last several weeks with tv spots and interviews relating to the weird and wild blue alien creatures of "Pandora".

The marketing has come late but it has come hard and often, hoping to coax the general public to the theater to enjoy the enticing world of 3D. Where this movie will score big is with its jaw dropping visuals and the 3D technology which has fueled "Avatar" to be called the "Game-Changer". The visuals and Cameron's name recognition alone will help to propel this movie to a very solid opening weekend. I'm estimating that "Avatar" will pull in a healthy 66.5 million with the real test coming the following week when "Sherlock Holmes" debuts.

"Avatar" will be hurt by opening on only 3300 screens domestically, even with the help of 3D screens and 3D prices of $15-$20 a pop. It surely could get a nice push during Christmas weekend when it faces of with "Sherlock Holmes", expect a small bump in theater counts. Christmas weekend is crucial to "Avatar's" success, this is when we'll find out if the movie really has legs and if word of mouth and repeat viewings are going to propel this film forward or sink it's ship. I expect this film to play very well overseas across all markets but "under perform" in the states. I use the term "under perform" loosely because of the gigantic budget and huge cost "Avatar" has enjoyed. What constitutes as a success? I guess it depends who you are.

What are your predictions for Avatar's opening weekend?

Update on Sat, December 19, 2009 by Rob Hunter

I'm yet to see any figures so far for Avatar but everyone I have spoken to seems to like it and those that saw it in 2D are planning to go back and see it in 3D. My guess is for a £75M opening weekend and for it to hold at just under a 50% drop off next weekend against Sherlock Holmes.

I am guessing it will just make it's way to £200M in the US in what will no doiubt be a long cinema stint, and I can see a hefty £400M overseas take.