Will Woody Harrelson, Jack Black Drink the Kool Aid?

Ken Kesey, left, and Woody Harrelson in 2001.It's somewhat surprising that a movie has never been made of the book "The Electric Kool-Aid Acid Test." However, Gus Van Sant plans to rectify that with a new feature film being planned for release in 2010.

Van Sant will be working off a script from one of the hottest writers of the moment -- Dustin Lance Black, who just won an Academy Award for his "Milk" script.

"The Electric Kool-Aid Acid Test," written by Tom Wolfe in 1968, tells the story of Ken Kesey and his band of Merry Pranksters on a cross country drive in a DayGlo-painted school bus, as they reach "revelations" by using LSD and other psychedelic drugs. The book also chronicles early performances by The Grateful Dead and Kesey's exile to Mexico.

According to an interview with Rolling Stone, Van Sant (who was friends with Kesey in the 1970s) had been eyeing Heath Ledger for the lead role. Due to Ledger's untimely passing, Van Sant has shifted his focus to Woody Harrelson for the role.

Van Sant also envisions a role for Jack Black in the movie. Black likely would play Owsley "Bear" Stanley -- AKA "The Mad Chemist," an infamous LSD impresario and early sound engineer for the Grateful Dead.

Bizzaro Return For Superman To The Big Screen?

*Article courtesy of Rob Hunter and our "sister site" www.supermanlives.net

Superman...the name still equates headlines, sure the big blue boyscout has lost some ground on his cooler contemparies like Batman, Spider-Man and Iron Man as relates to the main stream, but any mention of news on a new Superman movie generates talk among fans of the comic book genre and a headline on any movie site worth it's salt.

The big talk these days is of where the movie franchise goes next after the underperforming Superman Returns. Terms such as reboot and reinvention have been thrown around with the occasional mention of the word sequel, all of which has been covered by our very own Peter Georgiou, so how about a totally left field approach ?

That is the basis for the spec script by Robert Gordon, the writer of sci fi comedies 'Men In Black 2' and 'Galaxy Quest'.
Latino Review have a script review of his spec which sees Bizarro as the lead character for much of the movie while Supes is off again in space doing the hero thing, there is an initial big battle between the two that Superman wins, sending Bizarro's "lifeless" body to the bottom of the Aegean sea, but from here the story leaps forward ten years and pretty much takes out the key ingredient of Clark/Superman and Lois Lane's relationship, replacing it with a Frankenstein-esque plot that sees Zod and Ursa bringing Bizarro back from the depths and using him to manipulate the US government, into giving them the chamber from Superman 2 that will restore their powers so they can take over the Earth, how the government have the chamber I don't know.

The script is described as comedic and the way Zod and Ursua use Bizarro is seemingly to set him off to attempt to help people but he is so clumsy he fails and ends up causing more damage and havoc than he prevents...high jinks ensue I guess, their bargaining chip is that they have blue kryptonite which is the only thing that can kill Bizarro (Yes I have no idea why he lay on the bottom of the Ocean for ten years if he wasn't dead either) and will use it to do so if the government give them the aforementioned chamber. Bizarro of course is an unwitting pawn who thinks he is doing good and will eventually realize he has been duped and turn on his manipulators.

I am a big fan of Galaxy Quest so I respect the writer, but I for one hope this is not an approach Warner Brothers even think of going when they get around to putting Superman back on the big screen.

Superman Lives: A Bizzaro Return For Superman?

Miley Cyrus Is Faster & More Furious

Weekend Estimates (Apr. 10th -Apr. 12th)

1 Hannah Montana The Movie $34,000,000
2 Fast and Furious $28,783,000
3 Monsters Vs. Aliens $22,617,000
4 Observe and Report $11,140,000
5 Knowing $6,670,000
6 I Love You, Man $6,412,000
7 The Haunting in Connecticut $5,710,000
8 Dragonball Evolution $4,650,000
9 Adventureland $3,433,000
10 Duplicity $2,997,000

Weekend Actuals (Apr. 3rd -Apr. 5th)

1 Fast and Furious $70,950,500
2 Monsters Vs. Aliens $32,609,165
3 The Haunting in Connecticut $9,481,647
4 Knowing $8,146,156
5 I Love You, Man $7,722,469
6 Adventureland $5,722,039
7 Duplicity $4,174,240
8 Race to Witch Mountain $3,212,602
9 12 Rounds $2,260,906
10 Sunshine Cleaning $1,807,164

'Riverworld,' 'Phantom' Movies May Lead To TV Series

"The Cavern of Souls" from Sci Fi Channel's upcoming movie "Riverworld"The Sci-Fi Channel will air a pair of four-hour movies next year with an eye toward making them into series.

The first movie is "Riverworld," the tale of a war correspondent and his fiancee who are killed, but awaken in a mysterious world populated by everyone who has lived on Earth.

Tahmoh Penikett, best known for "Battlestar Galactica" will play the war correspondent, named Matt Ellman. The fiancee, Jessie, will be Laura Vandervoort, who previously played Supergirl on "Smallville."

Jessie and Matt will be separated in the new world. Determined to locate Jessie, Matt joins forces with a 13th-century female samurai warrior named Tomoe (Jeananne Goossen) and American novelist Sam "Mark Twain" Clemens (Mark Deklin).

Together, they will sail upriver seeking its source and attempting to discover where they are and who put them there.

Also starring in "Riverworld" will be Alan Cumming ("X2: X-Men United").

"Riverworld" is based in Philip Jose Farmer's series of books from the 1970s and '80s.

Concept art for "Phantom," from scifiwire.com.The second movie is "Phantom," based on the popular comics character. The Phantom relies on his wits, physical strength and skill with weapons, not on superhuman powers.

Set in the present, the movie will star Ryan Carnes in the lead role: The Phantom/Chris Walker.

Carnes is known primarily for guest-starring roles on "Doctor Who" and "Desperate Housewives."

According to The Hollywood Reporter, Isabella Rossellini will guest star as the movie's villain, Lithia.

Additional "Phantom" cast members include Cameron Goodman ("American High School") and Sandrine Holt ("24"). Goodman will play Walker's love interest, Renny, and Holt will star as the Phantom's trusted advisor, Guran.

Screenwriter Daniel Knauf ("Carnivàle") and his son, Charles Knauf, completed the script last July. Paolo Barzman ("The Last Templar") is directing.

Production is under way on both films, which are being produced by RHI Entertainment.

First look at Michael Myers in his mask from H2

/film got a first look at a still from Rob Zombies upcoming 'H2', the follow up to his remake of the classic John Carpenter 'Halloween'. The image shows a battered mask wearing Michael Myers, the evil iconic killer of the long running horror franchise.

'H2' opens August 28th

Great Scott! Movie News Recap

~~Terrance Howard doesn't think that Marvel is "nice" but would be interested in playing the John Stewart version of Green Lantern or another DC character, Black Lightning.~~

MTV Splash Page:Terrence Howard Talks Iron Man 2

~~"Scott Pilgrim vs The World" official website has launched and features a video blog from director David Wright discussing pre-production~~

Coming Soon: Official Scott Pilgrim Site Launches

~~Maggie Gyllenhaal is now tabbed to star with Emma Thompson in "Nanny McPhee and the Big Bang" a sequel to the original film set a century later.~~

Production Weekly's Twitter: Gyllenhaal In Nanny McPhee Sequel

~~Talks have heated up with Angelina Jolie and the filmmakers to play the role of Ava Lord in Robert Rodriguez's "Sin City 2"with IESB reporting the Weinsteins have lost the rights~~

Moviehole: Jolie Talks Resume for Sin City 2

~~Rhett Reese and Paul Wernick discuss a possible "Venom" film and their pitch to Sony which led to their work on the 1st draft.~~

SuperHeroHype: Reese and Wernick On The Venom Spin-Off

New Reason To Be Optimistic About 'Public Enemies'

To paraphrase legendary* movie producer Bob Ryan, "What if I told you I had a new movie starring both Johnny Depp and Christian Bale? Is that something you might be interested in?"

To be honest, "Public Enemies" doesn't even have to be all that great and it will still be a huge hit. And from the first trailer, it kind of looked like Depp and Bale were going to have to bring people to the theater primarily on name recognition (and they certainly are capable of doing that -- in the right roles).

Fortunately, however, the newly-released second trailer shows a lot more promise that the first one did:

The first trailer wasn't bad, but it was kind of been-there-seen-that. For my money, the new one shows promise of something more interesting.

Directed by Michael Mann, "Public Enemies" will take over theaters on July 1.

* but fictional

'Green Lantern: First Flight' Has New Trailer, Release Date

As news continues to trickle in about next year's "Green Lantern" movie, the animated movie is generating some news of its own -- and it's all good news.

First up is a change in the release date. Originally scheduled to come out on July 28 of this year, "Green Lantern: First Flight" will hit stores a week earlier. The PG-13 rated movie will be released on blu-ray and DVD on July 21.

The other good news is that a trailer has arrived:

"Green Lantern: First Flight" features the vocal talents of Christopher Meloni, Michael Madsen and Victor Garber.

Superman Limbo III: I'm Still Superman

You may not have noticed, but when the general public exited the theater after almost spending three hours viewing Superman's return to the big screen, they were shrugging their shoulders. They were either shrugging off the bad experience that was "Superman Returns" or they were shrugging their shoulders because there is no way they could pick their favorite scene. Either way, the moment they left the theater they stopped thinking about Superman.

Leading up to "Superman Returns" in 2006, Superman was indeed everywhere. Superman was featured on everything from cereal boxes to lunch boxes. When kids drank a bottle of orange juice and looked at the carton they would exclaim, "That's Superman." That is how WB feels about Brandon Routh who carried the burden of portraying the iconic character on the big screen. The last thing that WB wanted was the general public shrugging their shoulders at Superman.

It is my opinion that a supervillian and some action featuring said supervillian would have went a long way towards boosting the box office of "Superman Returns". I think the general public was turned off by Superman having a kid, lack of action, which a lack of a supervillian contributed to. WB ended up in the worst position possible. They ended up with a film that didn't flop, but didn't meet their projections. WB's one constant was that they are happy with Brandon Routh in the role.

WB's President & Chief Operating Officer Alan Horn, Legendary Pictures Chairman & CEO Thomas Tull, and DC Comic President Paul Levitz are reportedly all in agreement that Routh embodies the character of Superman both in and out of the suit. This is why Routh's likeness is still finding its way on Valentine's Day cards and stationary even today. Most of the information coming from various web sites and sources inside and affiliated WB suggest that they are looking to go forward with a Superman film that would still star Routh as Superman. Kellvin Chavez of Latino Review had a chance to talk to Paul Levitz back in October of 08 about Superman and Brandon Routh:

I saw the one and only Paul Levitz, the President of DC Comics. I walked over to him and had a moment to hang out and chat with him briefly. I could not keep my mouth shut and had to ask the questions that Latino readers are asking. So I went in straight for the kill.

“So Paul, what the fuck is happening with Superman?” Well not in those words actually. Paul looked over both shoulders like he was about to score some basura and said that things are still brewing.

In fact, he told me that “Last week Brandon Routh has come around the offices in New York and Los Angeles as of late to talk about Superman and what we want to do”……blah blah blah!

At first I thought it was the Apple Martini I was drinking but I soon realized that I just heard a bombshell go off in my brain! Brandon? He did say Brandon Routh was coming around talking about Superman! Why the hell would they be talking to Brandon if he was not going to be part of the reboot? Because he’s still in the mix!!!

Granted it is now April of 2009 and a lot has changed over at WB. They've been going through Superman ideas over there in Burbank like Zod dishes out the word "kneel". There are certainly fans of Routh in places that count but actors Tom Welling and Henry Cavill certainly have strong backing in the "fanperson" community. Welling has been every Smallville fans top choice for almost a decade. The worst thing that happened to Welling's chances is they made another Superman film while he was taking Smallville by storm. Henry Cavill has been up for a handful of high profile roles, James Bond among them, but is most known for being a "Top 3 Candidate".

What Would Peter Do:

I would go forward with a "Superman Film". I wouldn't worry about the "Donnerverse" or the "Singerverse". I would tell a Superman: Year One type story in a similar vein to Batman Begins. The story arc would feature Lex Luthor's rise to power in Metropolis coinciding with Superman's first year in Metropolis and how they both deal with the arrival of Brainiac. I would recast every role including Superman searching worldwide for the new "Man of Steel"

What Will Warners Do:

This will depend on what else, time. If they get moving sooner rather than later with Horn still at the wheel and before a transition to Robinov, they will stick with Brandon Routh as Superman. They will also stick with some of the cast. Frank Langella, Kevin Spacey, and Sam Huntington the favorites to return. They will transition to Lex Luthor and Luthorcorp and bring a Supervillian like Brainiac or Doomsday.

Who will write? Who will direct?

To Be Continued...

Superman Limbo: Where Has He Gone?

Superman Limbo II: Why The World Needs Superman

Hulu Offers More than Just TV Shows

Like not very many people, I'm a big Chris Eigeman fan.

The actor, who has starred in the movies of Walt Sillman and Noah Baumbach, has always had a dry, distinct style. If you don't know the name, you may know his work. Eigeman appeared in "Metropolitan," "Barcelona," "Kicking and Screaming," "Mr. Jealousy," "The Last Days of Disco" and the TV show "It's Like, You Know ..."

Anyway, I make it a point to see his new movies as they come out, but a movie of his that came out in 2006 has been unavailable to me. "The Treatment" played the festival circuit, where it was well received, but it never hit theaters and has been difficult to find on DVD.

Plainly stated, the movie -- despite a top-notch cast that also includes Ian Holm, Famke Janssen and Blair Brown -- has remained elusive to me.

Until now.

In a move that makes me pretty happy, "The Treatment" is one of several movies that have been made available to view for free at Hulu.com. The site, which primarily is known for making TV shows available for viewership, has been adding movies.

A nice feature of the site is that I can embed the movie (such as is done with YouTube videos) and make it available to you here:

It's going to be fun to see how the internet affects movie in the future. How long will it be until movies are released to the internet on the same day they come out in theaters? Or will movies bypass theaters and be released straight to your computer? The answers may come sooner than we realize.

Heck, in some cases (such as "X-Men Secret Origins: Wolverine") the movies are "premiering" on the internet a month before they hit theaters. In the future, that may be more than just a big mistake -- it may be a business model.