Superman Returns...Again...

...sorta.

About a month ago, TMT's own Michael Martinez reported on a Japanese television commercial for the 2009 Toyota Prius (the first in a series most likely filmed all around the same time) featuring Chuck's Matthew Bomer as Superman/Clark Kent instead of the current silver-screen Man of Steel Brandon Routh.

Now the second installment has been unveiled this time showcasing Superman in action:

Interestingly, the filmmakers behind said ads are using the suit designed and used in Bryan Singer's Superman Returns. Hell, Bomer himself looks kinda like Singer in costume. Weird!

Mandrake headed to the big screen with Christensen & Hounsou

Comingsoon.Net reports that a movie based on Mandrake the Magician is set to go with Mimi Leder directing and Darth Wooder and Djimon Hounsou starring.

Mimi Leder (Deep Impact, The Peacemaker) will directed the film, written by Josh Oppenheimer and Thomas Dean Donnelly, JV Hart, and Ian Jeffers. The film is based on an original story by Kevin Bernhardt.
In the film, Jackson Mandrake lives life on the edge. Working as an underground magician and escapologist, his act has grown increasingly dangerous. Following a daring escape from an SUV that has been dropped out of an plane at the Burning Man Festival, he is coerced by the CIA into breaking a deep-cover agent named Xi Shing Lung out of a maximum security jail. Hypnosis, contortion, distraction and technical wizardry all come into play as Mandrake breaks the agent out from the inside within a 24-hour deadline.

But back on the outside, Mandrake learns that it was all a set-up. Xi is a CIA agent gone bad. He offers Mandrake the chance to join his crime ring. When Mandrake refuses, he's a marked man. He must escape his would-be-killers and also the real CIA who accuse him of being in league with Xi. His quest to clear his name leads him into all sorts of dangers, which he must overcome with daredevil escapes that require all his conjuring skills. And along the way, Mandrake is forced to confront his past and the girl he left behind...

My only real exposure to the character is via the old 'Flash Gordon and The Defenders of the Earth' cartoon so for me this is just a straight up action adventure film. Leder is a solid director who has won acclaim at festivals for her latest effort 'The Hurt Locker' and was the director of the quality Clooney/Kidman political espionage thriller 'The Peacemaker'.

I think the story sounds great and really lends itself to some exciting action set pieces, but with Hayden Christensen's wooden presence I'll hold my anticipation, Ive got nothing against the guy but at times he is a charisma black hole.

'New Moon' Poster Debuts, Movie Clip To Air On MTV

This poster, for "The Twilight Saga: New Moon," is slated to officially debut at 7 a.m. ET on May 19, but we have it for you a little early.

In other "New Moon" news,
E! News revealed Robert Pattinson, Kristen Stewart and Taylor Lautner will appear at the MTV Movie Awards in less than two weeks to present a brief movie clip.

"Fans can tune in to the show to see sneak peeks from the most highly anticipated movies of the year," said Mark Burnett, the show's producer. "These clips have never been seen before and we're very excited that 'The Twilight Saga: New Moon' is one of them."

The original "Twilight" and "Slumdog Millionaire" lead the MTV Movie Awards in nominations, with six nods apiece.

The MTV show, hosted by Andy Samberg, will be broadcast live on May 31 in the U.S.

Update on Tue, May 19, 2009 by Sean Gerski

It's turning into a good day for "Twilight" fans.

While hardly surprising, it's still nice for fans of the series to hear from actor Robert Pattinson that there will be a fourth movie in the series.

This is from The Hollywood Reporter:

Robert Pattinson, who shot to stardom in "Twilight" and is now filming the second and third movies in the franchise, confirmed Tuesday in Cannes that there will be a fourth installment of the vampire franchise based on the book "Breaking Dawn."

Pattinson told The Hollywood Reporter that he is committed to starring in the final outing to date but doesn't know when backers Summit Entertainment will begin production because of the actor's jam-packed shooting schedule.

'Sarah Connor's Chronicles' Officially Terminated

Summer GlauWith "Terminator: Salvation" due this weekend, you would think it would be a tremendous time for fans of all things Terminator. However, the franchise's television show, "Terminator: The Sarah Conner Chronicles," received the axe this weeko

The Fox show was firmly on the bubble in regards to returning next year, but a betting man would not have like the show's chances.

I'll be honest. I was excited about the show before it first aired. So much so, in fact, that in anticipation of its premiere, I popped in the blu-rays for the first two movies.

Afterward, I watched the first two episodes ... and I was just completely underwhelmed.

I gave up on the show -- as did many others -- but there were still a group of of loyal diehards who loved the show to the end and tried to prevent its cancellation.

It is to those viewers that the show's executive producer, Josh Friedman, penned this classy letter:

By now most of you have heard the news that T:SCC is cancelled. I received a call earlier today from Peter Roth at Warner Bros. and I appreciate both his personal and professional support throughout this show’s life. I know a lot of you are angry about the cancellation and want to find a place to direct your anger and to that I say do yourself a favor and find a way to move past it. Every network wants a big fat hit, especially one with a brand name behind it, and Fox was/is no different. They supported the show, they supported my vision of the show, and they gave it plenty of time to find an audience.

And what an audience we found: passionate, intelligent, kind of nuts in a good way. My only complaint about the T:SCC fans is that there aren’t ten million of them. But I prefer to be happy for the ones we had instead of lamenting the ones we didn’t.

Good shows are cancelled every year; smart shows, worthy shows, shows which move their viewers to write blogs and have viewing parties and create action figures and bury executives’ email accounts under thousands of messages. I miss Deadwood and The Wire and Arrested Development but thank God that I still have Rescue Me and The Office and a recently renewed Party Down written by ex-T:SCC writer John Enbom.

Bad shows are cancelled, too. And certainly there are those who did not like what we did and had their own vision for what a Terminator TV show should be. It’s easy to look at low ratings or cancellation as “failure” and for those who believe we’ve gone about this all wrong I’m sure today’s news will only serve to confirm a world view that I would never try to change. We’ve written the show as best we can, executed it to the best of our abilities, and sent it out in the world knowing that we worked out asses off to do something that wouldn’t be a waste of anybody’s forty-three minutes.

Thanks to a brave and talented cast, a feature crew working on a TV schedule, and everyone else who I could list but won’t because they know who they are. Mostly I’d like to thank those of you who’ve supported us and fought for us and given up hours of your life to watch our show. At the end of the day, that’s what it’s about. The watching.

Hope we do it again soon.

Josh Friedman

Sherlock Holmes Trailer!

Ive been a fan of the character since I was a kid, first introduced to him via the Basil Rathbone movies, I went on to read all the stories and own the entire Jeremy Brett TV series, that is for me to this day the definitive portrayal of the character.

That brings us to the first trailer for Guy Richie's 'Sherlock Holmes', It's certainly action packed and the sets and period feel are there, although tonally it comes off like 'Maverick', I am open to a new take and expected this to be a more bombastic and tongue in cheek affair, so on that level it works.

'Sherlock Holmes' is released on Christmas Day and you can check the trailer out below.

Is This How Whiplash Will Look In 'Iron Man 2'?

Latino Review has posted what someone is claiming to be the concept art for the character Whiplash, who will be played by Mickey Rourke in the movie "Iron Man 2."

Says Latin Review's El Mayimbe: "I have no way of confirming it's authenticity so be warned that this could be a fake too! Regardless, I think it's pretty cool and worth posting ... We'll know soon enough if it's legit or what not."

I agree. It's impossible to tell whether it's legit, but it's definitely worth taking a look at the illustration.

The jet pack looks clunky, but it also adds a sense of realism to the suit.

With the way pictures have been trickling in from the set, we should get an actual photo of Rourke in the suit soon enough.

What many fans are really waiting for, however, is a picture of Scarlett Johansson in the Black Widow getup. Director Jon Favreau already said she has been on the set in the outfit. How long until we all get a peak?

Angels & Demons Overcome Aliens

Weekend Actuals (May 15th - 17th)

1 Angels & Demons $46,204,168
2 Star Trek $43,034,547
3 X-Men Origins: Wolverine $14,702,425
4 Ghosts of Girlfriends Past $6,653,384
5 Obsessed $4,588,973
6 17 Again $3,368,189
7 Monsters Vs. Aliens $3,182,085
8 The Soloist $2,402,801
9 Next Day Air $2,244,878
10 Earth (2009) $1,697,956

Is Mad Max 4 Moving Forward? Apparently, Yes!

I'll admit it. I.was.wrong!

Around lunch-time, I was writing up an article about the Australian publication Daily Telegraph reporting that Mad Max 4 was a go with George Miller back at the helm (and already scouting locations and meeting with "specialised technicians") but without the presence of Mel Gibson as the title character. Granted Miller told the MTV Movies Blog a few months back that the film would be done as a 3-D anime production instead.

Then mid-sentence, I stopped and thought to myself, "This is fucking bullshit!" and deleted said article before publishing it. Why? Because some Australian out-lets have had a bad reputation for literally re-posting old news-items and/or quotes and presenting them as new. They did so regarding the cinematic abortion formerly known as Justice League: Mortal a year ago - among others. That, and this honestly sounded like 100% Grade-A Internet bullshit.

Cut to: Me having egg in my face.

Aint-It-Cool-News big-cheese Harry Knowles has come out and confirmed (via his Aussie informants) that yes Mad Max 4 is a go. Like Drew "Moriarty" McWeeny (formerly of AICN and now HitFix), Harry knows his shit. If you'll remember, he was the one who broke the casting news of Christian Bale headlining Terminator: Salvation as John Connor.

The news of Gibson being off isn't a surprise. Although I'm rather curious if the decision to move on was made by ol Mel or George Miller. Who wants to make a $200+ million production with a lead actor whose still yet to get back in the public's good graces - what with the drunken anti-semitic remarks and all. Meh - maybe that's just me...

Tom Hiddleston is Loki

Tom HiddlestonWhen Chris Hemsworth was selected to play Thor, many immediately thought the part of Loki would go to a bigger name.

In some comic book movies, when the lead superhero is played by an unknown or a lesser-known actor, then the lead villain role goes to a better-known actor. Think Christopher Reeves/Gene Hackman (Superman) or Brandon Routh/Kevin Spacey (Superman Returns) or Thomas Jane/John Travolta (The Punisher).

However, the creators of "Thor" are taking a different approach. They are matching a little-known title character, with a little-known lead actor and now they have added the little-known Tom Hiddleston to play Loki.

It's an interesting approach to be sure.

So far, the biggest name involved with the movie is Kenneth Branagh (who is not slated to act in the movie as of yet).

And while many people know little about Hemsworth or Hiddleston, most are willing to believe Branagh knows his stuff when it comes to actors.

So, who is Hiddleston? Good question. I'll let Wikipedia take it from here:

Thomas William Hiddleston (born in Westminster, London, in 1981) is an award-winning British actor.

He studied at Eton College, where he boarded in Durnford House, and then read classics at Pembroke College, Cambridge. He then attended the Royal Academy of Dramatic Art, from which he graduated in 2005.

Since his RADA graduation, he signed with notable actors agency Hamilton Hodell, and has played major parts in Cheek by Jowl's productions "The Changeling" (in which he played Alsemero and for which he received an Ian Charleson Award 2006 Commendation), and "Cymbeline" (Posthumus Leonatus & Cloten), for which he won the Laurence Olivier Award.

His screen credits include Randolph Churchill, son of Winston Churchill the wartime Prime Minister, in the film "The Gathering Storm." He also appeared in a leading role in Joanna Hogg's film "Unrelated" (2007).

His Donmar Warehouse credits include "Cassio" in Michael Grandage's production of Shakespeare's "Othello" alongside Chiwetel Ejiofor and Ewan McGregor to much critical acclaim and Lvov in their West End revival of Chekhov's "Ivanov."

His TV credits include Detective Martinsson in the BBC drama Wallander and Bill Hazledine in Suburban Shootout.

***

As for the movie itself:
Hmmm, a comic book property unfamilar to the general audience with actors not gererally known by the general audience. Why does this sound familiar?

I'm just saying ...

Update on Mon, May 18, 2009 by Sean Gerski

For those people who like to post "has this been confirmed?" every time a casting story breaks, here is your confirmation -- direct from Marvel.com:

Waiting for the movie hammer to fall, Thor fans? So are we! Verily!

And we're getting so much closer because now we know who Thor will be facing off against and that's Tom Hiddleston as the trickster Loki!

Marvel Studios announced today Hiddleston has been cast as the villain Loki in the highly anticipated movie "Thor." Kenneth Branagh will direct the film penned by Mark Protosevich and Ashley Miller & Zak Stentz.

Marvel Studios' Kevin Feige will produce the film. The film will be released in the U.S. on May 20, 2011 and distributed by Paramount Pictures.

Marvel Studios expands its film universe with a new type of super hero: "Thor." This epic adventure spans the Marvel Universe; from present day Earth to the realm of Asgard. At the center of the story is The Mighty Thor, a powerful but arrogant warrior whose reckless actions reignite an ancient war. Thor is cast down to Earth and forced to live among humans as punishment. Once here, Thor learns what it takes to be a true hero when the most dangerous villain of his world sends the darkest forces of Asgard to invade Earth.

"Thor" reunites Hiddleston with Branagh, with whom he worked on the London production of Chekhov's "Ivanov." The talented actor and Branagh also starred together in the BBC miniseries "Wallander."

Hiddleston's credits also include "Othello," in which he starred with Chiwetel Ejiofor and Ewan McGregor at the Donmar Warehouse, and he played Winston Churchill's son in HBO's "The Gathering Storm."

In 2008, Hiddleston was nominated twice for the Laurence Olivier Award for Best Newcomer – for his role in Othello" and for his role in "Cymbeline." He won the award for the latter.

In addition to "Thor," Marvel Studios is also scheduled to release a slate of films based on the Marvel characters including "Iron Man 2" on May 7, 2010, "The First Avenger: Captain America" on July 22, 2011, and "The Avengers" on May 4, 2012.

Movie Moan - So Many Simpsons References, So Little Time

On this week's edition, Phil and Jamie are joined by their pal Ed Hocken whose working to become a member of Pod Caust. So jump over there, listen to their shows and let em know you want Ed on more often, dammit!

Among the many topics brought up on this special extended Movie Moan, the news of Chris Hemsworth (aka Captain Kirk's ill-fated father) being cast as Thor, the future of Terminator 5 and just who the Hell will actually make it, the much anticipated (by about ten people) film version of American Gladiators and how Harlan Ellison probably stalked Jamie as a child.

All of that plus Phil reviews Angels & Demons which Ed and Jamie refuse to watch due to the lack of Ewan McGregor full-frontal nudity. As well as the second edition of "A Memo to the Executives" discussing the next James Bond film, Nikki Finke, The Apprentice, Hal Sparks and exactly what Aaron Sorkin might write for television after Studio 60 on the Sunset Strip bombed a few years back.

And yes by the title of this week's show, our heroes quote The Simpsons...a lot.

"Heh heh, it's funny because I don't know them!"

Movie Moan - So Many Simpsons References, So Little Time