'Smallville' cast to get smaller next season?

*** SPOILER ALERT ***

As has been widely reported, "Smallville" recently was renewed for a ninth season. Another season had been in doubt until Tom Welling put pen to paper and signed on to play Clark Kent for at least one more season.

Or at least that's what everyone has assumed. No official announcement has been made about Welling signing a new deal, but it is hard to fathom "Smallville" without him. A spinoff would be possible, but another season of "Smallville" would be an awfully tough sell without the man in red and blue.

However, assuming Welling does return, some of his castmates might not. According to Entertainment Weekly's Michael Ausiello, two of the show's "pivotal characters" will not be around for the show's ninth season.

Ausiello wrote, "Multiple sources confirm to me exclusively that two pivotal characters will bite the dust in this May's season finale. And in a bit of a departure for Smallville, both deaths will stick." Ausiello goes on to say his insider insists the characters "will die and they will stay dead. This is the real deal."

Of course, the show's rabid fan base immediately began to debate which characters were on the chopping block.

Further fueling the fire, Ausiello wrote that "one character qualifies as a Smallville vet ... the other one, not so much."

Clark Kent, Lois Lane, Jimmy Olsen, Chloe Sullivan, Oliver Queen (Green Arrow), John Jones (Martian Manhunter), Lana Lang, Lex Luthor and Martha Kent would seem to qualify as "vets."
Tess Mercer and Davis Bloome (Doomsday) would fall into the "not so much" category.

And although Smallville rarely shies away from shaking up the status quo of the Superman mythos, it still would be a major shock to see Clark, Lois, Jimmy, Oliver, Lex or John Jones killed off. Lana already has been dispatched from the program and Ma Kent has been a no-show for a while. That leaves Chloe (played by Alison Mack) as the most likely character to take a dirt nap at the season's end.

As for Tess and Davis, either is possible. However, fans of the show have been quick to point out that Davis Bloome (played by Sam Witwer) could die, while Doomsday could live.

Fueling speculation that Chloe and Davis are not long for the world of "Smallville" is the fact that Ausiello previously posted the following: "The Legion will return in the May finale -- in some form. Also, I'm told this season's final two episodes will focus on a manhunt for Chloe and Doomsday."

You can bet Chloe's fans will be watching that "manhunt" from the edge of their seats.

Update on Mon, March 16, 2009 by Sean Gerski

Producer Donald DeLine Lights Up The 'Green Lantern'

The excitement I feel for Green Lantern finally hitting the big screen is almost as high as the return of Superman in 2006. The possibilities for the character are endless and Hal Jordan is only the beginning. I hope WB uses the character and his environments to the absolute fullest.

Superherohype.com had the pleasure to talk with producer Donald Deline about 'Green Lantern' while covering his upcoming projects "I Love You, Man" & "Observe and Report".

"Our story is the Hal Jordan origin story, but creating the character of Hal Jordan that is a real character that will resonate with the fanbase is what we need to do. You have to make him credible and somebody to care about and tell a good story, and I think if we do that, we'll be okay."

"It's going to be a series of big stakes and big action, but it absolutely has a sense of humor, I think people accept real life, even with really serious situations, with humor as part of that situation, as we experience in life, you have to have that. That's how people cope, so they've done it so well in these other movies. I think that people are absolutely ready. It doesn't have to fall on one side of the fence vs. the other."

'New Moon' Adds New Cast Member

The long-rumored addition of Dakota Fanning to "The Twilight Saga: New Moon" is now official.

People Magazine has confirmed Fanning's involvement in the sequel to "Twilight" through a representative from Summit Entertainment.

Filming for "The Twilight Saga: New Moon" is set to begin later this month. The movie, which will be directed by Chris Weitz (About a Boy), is slated to be released Nov. 20, 2009.

 According to a Summit Entertainment release: "In 'New Moon,' Bella Swan (Kristen Stewart) is devastated by the abrupt departure of her vampire love, Edward Cullen (Robert Pattinson), but her spirit is rekindled by her growing friendship with the irresistible Jacob Black. Suddenly she finds herself drawn into the world of the werewolves, ancestral enemies of the vampires, and finds her loyalties tested."

Fanning, 15, will play Jane, "a sinister vampire with an angelic exterior who works for the Volturi."

As of March 1, "Twilight" has earned $190,109,313 in domestic box office since its Nov. 17, 2008, opening.

The films are based on the "Twilight" series of books by Stephenie Meyer. After "New Moon," there are two books remaining in the series, with plans to make each of the four books into a movie. In addition to her appearance in "New Moon," the character Jane appears in future installments of the saga.

In the People Magazine piece, actress Nikki Reed said there are plans to make "The Twilight Saga" films consecutively.

"We did just get a script," said Reed, who is set to play Rosalie Hale. "We're shooting the rest of the films back to back."

"Twilight" will be released on DVD and blu-ray on March 21.

MovieMoan: The Original Series - Batmoan

Hey special friends, Phil Gee here again to deliver another Youtube enhanced 'MovieMoan' special edition.

I'm sure you know the drill by now.  From 2007 - 2008, Jamie Williams and myself presented a live movie discussion show where we deconstructed, analysed, bitched and lamented the movie franchises and series that had so much potential and turned to crap for whatever reason.

Shortly after the release of 'The Dark Knight' (you might have heard of it) we took a look at the entire Batman franchise but I was shocked to learn that Jamie hadn't even seen all of 'Batman & Robin' (but he did see 'Battlefield Earth' in theatres - go figure) and we kinda like the other Bat films so we didn't have much to say that would make a good Youtube video.

Then our wonderful friend Queen Kristina called in to discuss 'The Dark Knight' and since the real strength of any film is how well it stands up to the bitching of two Americans and a Brit, we did a little nitpicking on this otherwise outstanding film.  Enjoy:-

'One Week' Ad Filled With 18 Weak 'Reviews'

The new Joshua Jackson movie "One Week" is getting some glowing reviews from a pretty strange source.

According to the movie's new print ad in Toronto's Eye Weekly, "reviewers" have praised the movie with exclamatory statements such as: "This is a fabulous movie!"; "Would highly recommend it to anyone!"; and "Fantastic! Joshua is an amazing actor!"

Sounds great, right? Well, OK, so the quotes didn't come from any of the industry's top movie critics ... or even any of the minor ones ... or anyone who actually reviews movies for a living. In fact, the quotes came from people who are signed into YouTube -- and those people have yet to see the movie.

In what has to be the lowest point ever for movie advertising, a new movie is being celebrated by using 18 quotes from YouTube users who have only viewed the trailer. That might explain why the quote in the biggest letters exclaims, "This movie looks amazing! Cannot wait to see it!!"

Sadder still is the fact that the producers couldn't even come up with enough quotes praising the trailer to fill the ad, so they padded the page with quotes such as, "Canadian actors, Canadian soundtrack, Canadian road trip -- finally!" by a YouTube user named, and I am not kidding, "FAKENPHONY."

If you somehow choose to take the advice of these YouTube users and see this movie, maybe you can can catch a ride with "AIDANCHICK," who is quoted in the ad as saying, "Hope the weather is nice so I can ride my Norton to the theatre!"

Watchmen Shoots Up The Friday Competition

Early estimates are starting to slowly weave their way through the highways of the interwebs and Watchmen seems to be a little bit behind many of the estimates which pegged a 70 Million + opening weekend. That being said it is still early and Watchmen still pulled in some significant box office penny. I'll let Steve Mason do the talking.

Watchmen has been spectacular at the box office all day long, and, after consulting with multiple sources, I am projecting a staggering $25.2M (that does include midnight previews) for Friday. That is approximately the 32nd-best opening day in modern box office history, but it is the all-time #12 opening day for a non-sequel.

ALL-TIME TOP 15 OPENING DAYS FOR A NON-SEQUEL

1. Spider-Man - $39.4M
2. Twilight - $35.9M
3. Iron Man - $35.2M
4. Harry Potter & the Sorcerer’s Stone - $32.3M
5. The Simpsons Movie - $30.7M
6. I Am Legend - $30M
7. The Da Vinci Code - $28.6M
8. 300 - $28.1M
9. Transformers - $27.8M
10. Sex & The City - $26.7M
11. The Passion of the Christ - $26.5M
12. Watchmen - $25.2M (projected)
13. Planet of the Apes - $24.6M
14. Hulk - $24.2M
15. The Day After Tomorrow - $23.5M

When the numbers get this big, and the movie is this front-loaded, 3-day projections are problematic, but I am going with $62.5M (my final prediction on published Wednesday was $63M). It is possible that the movie will manage a better “internal multiplier” and start inching closer to $70M, but I am at $62.5M for now. If the number holds, that would give Watchmen the all-time #4 opening weekend for an R-rated movie, trailing only Matrix Reloaded, Passion of the Christ (which had better source material contrary to what fanboys may believe) and Snyder’s 300.

I would imagine that if this film stays the course this weekend than WB should be pretty happy with a $62.5 million dollar opening weekend. It all depends on the drop, which is coming, but the question is how big?

Rope Of Silicon featured Steve Mason's story and provided a early estimates on the top ten of the weekend.

Mason estimates no other films will crack the $10 million mark for the weekend as Watchmen opened against no other major releases and Tyler Perry’s Madea Goes To Jail will be closest in the second spot with an estimated $8.62 million take for the weekend.

I have included the early Friday estimates below, Laremy will be here on Sunday with a complete wrap-up.

1. Watchmen (Warner Bros) - $25 million
2. Tyler Perry’s Madea Goes To Jail (Lionsgate) - $2.43 million
3. Taken (Fox) - $2.21 million
4. Slumdog Millionaire (Fox Searchlight) - $2.05 million
5. He’s Just Not That Into You (Warner Bros) - $1.3 million
6. Jonas Brothers: The 3-D Concert Experience (Disney) - $1.27 million
7. Paul Blart: Mall Cop (Sony) - $995,000
8. Confessions of a Shopaholic (Disney) - $865,000
9. Coraline (Focus) - $725,000
10. Fired Up (Sony) - $700,000

Full Length Trailer For Pixar's 'UP'

This really is a magical trailer in a week full of big trailers that were superbly executed. The sheer charm and feel good vibes coming from this movie are palatable and no doubt Dug the Dog will become a firm favourite with audiences. Last year Pixar delivered arguably their best and certainly most ambitious film in 'WALL E', and while 'UP' may not quite reach that plateau, it certainly looks like another winner from the studio that can do no wrong.

'UP' opens May 29th, you can check the trailer out below.

Fox Begging For 'Marmaduke' Film

Fox obviously has noticed the success of films such as "Marley & Me" and has leashed up Tom Dey to start working on bringing the large and lovable pooch to the big screen. The project is in such an early stage that Fox doesn't even know if it will be live-action, animated, or a combination of both. There is no question that films based on our furry friends still can reign supreme at the box office, and look for a proven entity in other mediums like Marmaduke to be no exception.

New Star Trek Trailer Debuts

Maybe it's just the nerdgasming, but the closer we get to it's May 8 release, the more I think J.J. Abrams' Star Trek will surprise the Hell out of average film-goers in the same way that Iron Man did early last summer.

On the other hand, it might be one of those "franchise revivals" that does solid but unspectacular business - not unlike Batman Begins and Superman Returns.

The new trailer that appeared in front of Watchmen earlier this morning has also hit the interwebs and it's here for your enjoyment.

Sergei Bodrov takes Zack Snyder's 'Photograph' for Warner Brothers

Sergei Bodrov, the Russian Helmer of the epic 'Mongol' has signed on to direct a movie based on a concept by current fanboy favourite and 'Watchmen' director Zack Snyder according to Variety. Kurt Johnstad wrote the script that centers on two men who are inspired by a photograph to go to war torn Afghanistan.

So it's all pretty vague but could be interesting and is another feather in the cap for Snyder who is becoming a force in Hollywood. He will produce with partner Deborah Snyder and Hollywood Gang's Gianni Nunnari. Craig J. Flores will be executive producer with Wesley Coller.

The movie is said to be on the fast track.