Eva Longoria Shoots Down Avengers Rumors

If you'll remember a few months back, Eva Longoria was seen at the offices of Marvel Studios with a handful of comic-books including the Avengers.

And thus began the rumors that the Deseperate Housewives star was in the running to play super-heroine the Wasp, one of the original members of the team which will include Robert Downey Jr's Iron Man and whomever is cast as Captain America and Thor for their stand-alone films.

Since then, we haven't heard a peep from Longoria's camp or Marvel...until now.

While attending last night's Golden Globe ceremony, Longoria spoke with E! Online's Ryan Seacrest who quickly asked the actress about the Avengers.

Longoria said any and all rumors regarding her participation in the film (due out July 2011) are "not true!"

So I guess she was carrying around those comics because she's a fan(?!?)

What, no love for DC Comics?

Rourke Wrestles Away A Golden Globe!

Source: goldenglobes.org

The amazing comeback of 80's icon Mickey Rourke continued tonight as he took home the Golden Globe for 'Best performance by an actor in a motion picture - drama' for his raw and critically acclaimed role as Randy 'The Ram' Robinson in Darren Arnorsky's 'The Wrestler'. It's another step on the road to that Oscar for the grizzled hellraiser on his comeback trail!

The big winner of the night was 'Slumdog Millionaire', the Danny Boyle directed feel good drama took home 4 Globes including 'Best director' and 'Best motion picture - Drama'.

It was a good evening for British luvie Kate Winslet as well, she scooped two acting awards, one for 'Best Performance by an Actress in a Motion Picture - Drama' for her role in hubby Sam Mendes 'Revolutionary Road', and one for 'Best Performance by an Actress In A Supporting Role in a Motion Picture' for her role in 'The Reader'.

The late Heath Ledger won 'Best Performance by an Actor In A Supporting Role in a Motion Picture' for his screen searing performance as The Joker in 2008's biggest movie 'The Dark Knight'.

For a full list of the winners check this Link

Eastwood Takes Aim At The Box Office!

Source: BoxofficeMojo

The esitmates are in and Clint Eastwood proves once again that he is still the man! His latest directing and starring vehicle 'Gran Torino' opened nationwide this weekend after a month on limited release to qualify for awards contention. It's take of $29 million dollars sees it top the US charts. It is an impressive opening for a low budget action thriller starring a 78 year old man. This weekend takes 'Gran Torino' to a domestic total of $40 million dollars, which means it is already turning a profit (Budget $33 million dollars).

The combined sexiness of Anne Hathaway and Kate Hudson could only help the critically panned 'Bride Wars' to number 2 with  a $21.5 million dollar take, just $400,000 dollars more than David Goyers 'The Unborn' which came in 3rd. Rounding out the top 5 is last weeks number 1 'Marley and Me' with $11 million dollars and David Finchers Ocar hopeful 'The Curious Case of Benjamin Button' with $9 million dollars.

The top ten:

1. Gran Torino $29.0 M

2. Bride Wars $21.5 M

3. The Unborn $20.1 M

4. Marley and Me $11.3 M

5. The Curious Case of Benjamin Button $9.4 M

6. Bedtime Stories $8.5 M

7. Valkyrie $6.6 M

8. Yes Man $6.1 M

9. Not Easily Broken $5.6 M

10. Seven Pounds $3.9 M

New 2009 Movie Stills Galore!

Various studios have sent new stills out to the Los Angeles times, for their 2009 movie output, Ive posted some below and you can click the link above for the rest, it's a mixed bag with nothing new from movies such as Terminator Salvation and Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen, but still some interesting stuff!

John Cusak in Roland Emmerich's latest attempt to destroy the world '2012'.

The lovely Kate Beckinsale in 'Swordfish' director Dominic Sena's adaption of the graphic novel 'Whiteout'.

Vin Diesel and Paul Walker reunite for 'Fast and Furious'.

Denzel Washington in Tony Scott's remake of 70's classic 'The Taking of Pelham 123'.

International Franklyn Trailer Arrives!

The international trailer for Britsh sci fi curio 'Franklyn' has found it's way online at /film. Starring Ryan Phillipe (Stop Loss), Eva Green (Casino Royale) and Sam Riley, it is the first feature of writer/director Gerald McMorrow.

Here is a brief synopsis:

“It’s the story of four lost souls, divided by two parallel worlds, on course for an explosive collision when a single bullet will decide all their fates.”

The trailer shows a distinct Dark City vibe and will appeal to fans of niche sci fi, whether it can break out beyond that remains to be seen but Phillipe is not an actor with the best track record for hit movies, however the movie garnered decent feedback from the London Film Festival.

'Franklyn' hits UK cinema's on the 20th of February, no US release date at this time.

You can see the trailer at this link

Studios Lining Up Their Blockbuster Super-Bowl Ads

It's that special time of year again, boys and girls.

Yes in just a few short weeks, Super Bowl XLIII (or 43 for those unfamiliar with the roman numeral system) will be upon us.

So while everyone will be stocking up on beer, pizza and chips & dips (Rotel all the way, baby!), the major studios are lining up which of their blockbuster tentpoles they plan on unveiling this coming February 1 in the form of 30-second TV spots.

As per Variety:

Confirmed for this year’s roster are high-profile titles like Paramount’s "Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen," "Star Trek" and "G.I. Joe"; Sony’s "Angels and Demons"; DreamWorks Animation’s "Monsters vs. Aliens"; and Universal’s "Land of the Lost" and its fourth installment in "The Fast and the Furious" franchise. Disney is also planning to use the game to raise the profile for Pixar’s next toon, "Up," while a "Wolverine" spot is likely from Fox.

Of course, the big question is whether or not Warner Brothers will show anything off during the big-game. They do have some pretty big films lined up for 2009 in the form of Terminator: Salvation, Harry Potter & the Half-Blood Prince, Watchmen (assuming that comes out under them) and Sherlock Holmes.

I mean, surely we'll see something from Terminator at least, right?

I'm also a bit surprised Universal isn't preparing people for Bruno, Sasha Baron Cohen's upcoming comedy that's scheduled to hit cinemas this May. Although one wonders if that will have anything near the impact that Cohen's Borat made back in 2006.

Regardless, it's always fun to point out the TV ads for the year's upcoming big releases along with commercials selling computers, colas and erectile dysfunction pills.

Something Strange In A Neighborhood

IESB has brought some attention to yet another interesting story, how does Rob find time for all of this? Rob received a mysterious email claiming to contain some spy footage from Ghostbusters 3, he did some digging which led him to a blog titled "Ghost Spy" which contained two Youtube videos and this cryptic message:

Yes, they are shooting it already. And yes, I am part of the crew. And no, I won’t tell any details. Because if I do and they find out, they will kill me. That’s why my little friend here will do the talking. Stay tuned for more …

After watching the videos I am still not sure whether the site and said videos are linked to Ghostbusters 3 but I am very sure this is an intentional leak. In the video where a large metal object crushes a NYC taxi cab just as a man exits the driver's side door, a man seems to have "discovered" the hidden camera that all of this wonderful footage is being taped with. To me it seems to be a the start of many so called "leaks" given to IESB or many other sites. I am assuming the ending of this will include them "finding out" and "killing" the blogger. Seems like a bit of "Cloverfield" style marketing if you ask me, but Ghostbusters 3 or not I sure dig it.

Head over to http://ghostspy.wordpress.com/ and you be the judge.

WB Keeps DC Heroes In The Waiting Room

The news continues to contradict itself when it comes WB's superhero film franchises. Writer/Director David Goyer is the latest to comment on their ever-changing status in an exclusive interview with Rob Sanchez at IESB.

When asked about several projects he's been involved with - i.e. Supermax, The Flash - Goyer said in a recent interview with IESB, "A lot of the DC movies at Warner Brothers are all on hold while the figure out, they're going to come up with some new plan, methodology, things like that so everything has just been pressed pause on at the moment. It was the double header of both Iron Man and The Dark Knight coming out, so more than ever I think they've realized, I think DC was responsible for 15% of Warner Brother's revenue this year, something crazy like that, so they realized that comic books, it's become a new genre, one of the most successful genres.

This statement from Goyer doesn't seem to jive with the latest info from Latino Review in which El Mayimbe informs us that "WB is actively hearing takes from writers for a new SUPERMAN movie."

It is possible that Goyer was referring to Wonder Woman, The Flash, and Supermax but not to more high profile DC characters such as Green Lantern. If DC was responsible for 15% of WB's revenue, you would think they would be trying to churn these projects out instead of putting them on hold.

Another possibility is that Goyer is indirectly referring to the Batman franchise, which although never officially announced, a Dark Knight sequel is slated in all our minds for 2011. It might be a stretch, but might we see a Batman sequel in 2012 making room for Superman in 2011 and Green Lantern in 2010?

To me it seems like WB is gearing their DC characters up for live action films, but who am I to argue with David Goyer?

Iron Man 2 Lines Up Villains

Comeback King Mickey Rourke is currently in talks to play one of the villains in Iron Man 2, the highly-anticipated sequel to last year's surprise box-office smash.

The soon-to-be Oscar nominated actor (for his acclaimed turn in Darren Aronofsky's The Wrestler) is up for the role of a Russian arms-dealer who will ultimately duke it out with Shellhead in a nuclear-powered (!?!) suit of armor. Apparently, that's the Crimson Dynamo.

Along with the man who was Marv, Sam Rockwell (Choke) is in the running for another villain - that of Justin Hammers, another multi-billionaire causing problems for our hero.

I guess that means we won't be seeing the Mandarian in Iron Man 2 after all.

It's casting-calls like these (along with the return of director Jon Favreau and star Robert Downey Jr.) that give me confidence in this project.

When Are We Watching the Watchmen?

Ever since 20th Century Fox was awarded distribution rights to Watchmen, fans have been (understandably) concerned as to whether or not this will effect its March 6 release.

According to the LA Times:

Lawyers for 20th Century Fox and Warner Bros. have agreed to let a federal judge decide whether Warner Bros. will be allowed to release "Watchmen" this spring, forgoing a jury trial that could have put the high-profile film's future into even longer limbo.

In court papers filed Monday with U.S. District Judge Gary A. Feess, attorneys for Fox and Warner Bros. jointly said they would let the judge decide Jan. 20 whether Fox could block the film's theatrical distribution, now scheduled for March 6, as Fox has been seeking all along as part of its copyright infringement lawsuit against Warner Bros.

Don't kid yourself, folks. The film will get released...eventually. And Fox will walk away with a nice-sized paycheck. There's just no two-ways around it.

And at the end of the day, that's all this ordeal with Fox and WB has been about: money.

Besides, even if (God forbid!) Watchmen is delayed, civilization will in fact not end...