Christopher Nolan Goes IMAX Again

Christopher Nolan, better known as "God" to fans of Batman, is set to engulf himself in the IMAX experience yet again with Warner Bros' "Inception". "Inception", will be the director's 3rd journey into the world of IMAX, and this sci-fi actioner will enjoy the full IMAX treatment with IMAX DMR Technology and The Imax Experience. The film is set for a July 16th, 2010 release and features a stellar cast that includes; Leonardo DiCaprio, Ellen Page, Cillian Murphy and Michael Caine,

"Chris Nolan and IMAX have proven to be ideally suited to each other, and we're very excited to bring them back together again for 'Inception,'" said Dan Fellman, Warner Bros. Picture's president of domestic distribution. "With the rapidly growing IMAX network, our IMAX audience base for this release will be significantly larger than it was for 'The Dark Knight,' which will add to the film's event status."

The Brothers Warner have given Nolan the key to the city, ie 200 Million plus, to bring his vision to the big screen. Helming one of the biggest grossers of all time in "The Dark Knight" certainly gives a director a little wiggle room. As we wait for more information on "Inception" that will give us a better clue of what to expect from Nolan our minds can't help but wander. It's almost as if "Inception" is just the appetizer to the gourmet feast we are all licking our chops over. Batman III.

New Avatar Photos: Smurfs On Steroids

Our friends over at Coming Soon have treated the intergeek community with some new blue tinted photos from James Cameron's "Avatar". The characters still don't look any more real and I am still not intrigued by this over-hyped version of "The Smurfs". I know James Cameron is trying to rise from the depths like a Jack Dawson captained Titanic, but none of the marketing so far has hit me where it counts. If it has peaked your interest then enjoy the pictures below and head over to Coming Soon for the rest.

James McTeigue Yearns For Superman

The studio is insisting that Superman on film is cooling off at the Fortress of Solitude but that hasn't stopped James McTeigue from talking some "Man of Steel". In an interview with Alex Billington over at First Showing, McTeigue gave a rather vague depiction of what his film version of Superman might look like:

"I think I would be interested in doing it if they let me do it the way I wanted to do it. I would say that, if you take the Richard Donner Supermans and the last Superman [from Bryan Singer], I think that Superman is probably ripe for a bit of a change up. I think society has changed around the core idea of what Superman was."

"And I'm not saying you do the ubiquitous dark Superman, I'm not saying that… I'm just saying that I think there are some things that you could excise from the Superman mythology that people would get into it, if you took the world that he was in and changed that a bit, and maybe even project that into the future a bit. I think you don't really have to play into the origin story anymore. I think there's a whole bunch of things you could do to make that film more alive and exciting again."

Although McTeigue's quotes don't really delve deep into his take on a would be Superman film, it all sounds a lot like what we just recently were graced with during Bryan Singer's "Superman Returns". Seems to me that McTeigue meeting with Warner Bros about Superman is past tense and had to do with both of their involvement in "Ninja Assassin", which has started off with some lukewarm reviews.

It is a possibility that "Ninja Assassin" was looked at as a test by the executives at Warners to see if McTeigue was ready for a property such as Superman. It wouldn't be the first time. Tim Burton went through a similar test when he went forward with "Beetle Juice" before he took the helm on "Batman" for the studio. I'm not even close to anointing McTeigue the next Burton, I'm not even sure he wants me to.

At this point it looks like Superman has hung up his cape for the forseeable future, it's been a fun ride, but it certainly might be over for now. As one of my sources at the studio mentioned to me in a past email, it could be a situation where we receive a story they like and before you know it Superman is in production. On the other hand it could be a scenario where the next time any of us see Superman he won't even be the character we know and love anymore.

'Paranormal Activity' The Next 'Blair Witch'

Reader Submitted Article

'Paramormal Activity' The Next 'Blair Witch'

By Dan Gilleo

We all know the story of the “little” indie film called “The Blair Witch Project”. It came out way back in the Summer of 1999. It was made for the paltry amount of $60,000 and proceeded to rake in over $140 million domestic. Not too shabby for a bunch of kids running around in the woods getting lost.  Now a new movie  is looking to take that formula to the next level. Paramount’s “Paranormal Activity”, made for the miniscule amount of $11,000 (About the price of a decent used car.) is already garnering a ton of buzz online and in select college towns where it has opened.

“Paranormal Activity” is pulling some pages out of the Blair Witch play book by staying small with their marketing campaign and trying to work up hype via the online community. Both films have also been portrayed as true paranormal events captured via video camera. Blair Witch was given a limited release and “Paranormal Activity” is opening in limited release in 10 smaller markets. If one wants the film to un-spool in their area then they have to demand it at the below link.

Demand It!

I, for one, was a really big fan of “The Blair Witch Project”. At the time I was in college and it was a cinematic experience like no other.  I had to go to some out of the way art house movie theater to go see it. I might have enjoyed movie a little bit more because of the effort I had to make to see it. Will people like “Paranormal Activity’ just a bit more because they have to work to get it to their city? I think they might.

I believe that “The Blair Witch Project” paved the way for a lot of the “true” TV that are now strewn all over our televisions. Shows such as “Destination Truth” and “Ghost Hunters” fit into that category. If it wasn’t for Blair Witch a movie like “Paranormal Activity” would have never been made, much less released by a major player like Paramount. It remains to be seen if “Paranormal Activity” can follow suit and become the next low budget horror movie to blow up, but if I was a betting man, I might double down. 

'Meatballs' Rains Again At The Box Office

Weekend Actuals: Sept. 25th - Sept. 27th

1 Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs $25,038,803
2 Surrogates $14,902,692
3 Fame (2009) $10,011,682
4 The Informant! $6,624,085
5 Tyler Perry's I Can Do Bad All By Myself $4,759,833
6 Pandorum $4,424,126
7 Love Happens $4,307,980
8 Jennifer's Body $3,664,559
9 9 $2,959,231
10 Inglourious Basterds $2,683,198

Jawbone.TV Enters A 5D World

It's hard for me to get used to this not new but ever evolving "3D World" that has been all the rage in cinemas the past several years. Our friends over at Jawbone.TV seem to be far more advanced than myself or my colleagues as they were brave enough to dig deeper into the "5th Dimension". Todd Denis of Jawbone had the great opportunity to interview Alex McDowell and Tali Krowsky who are co- founders of "5D" and are responsible for the 5D: The Immersive Design Conference.

The conference will explore the advancement of interactive digital technology through narrative media and its impact on our creative futures. The next conference will be held at California State University, Long Beach in October 2010. Head over to Jawbone TV at the links above to learn more about the conference courtesy of the interview with its co-founders. After reading the interview be sure to explore the site for the greatest and latest advancements in technology related to the the evolution of story in all areas of media.

Mark Millar Tells True Lies

In Mark Millar's world a lie is never a lie. In his world you can say whatever you want and then erase it from existence and claim you never said it all. It doesn't matter if it is engraved in the databases of many major film websites across the internet universe. If you live in your own world that you created, anything is possible. It's a world where everybody hangs on your every word and pats you on the back with a "thumbs up" or a "smiley face" no matter how much smoke you blow up their asses. Welcome to Millar World.

In yet more non-news from our favorite publicity starved E-List celebrity, Mark Millar has again decided to chime in on the ups and downs of what is now Superman on film. You see, Mark Millar has it all figured out. If he talks about Superman, even if it is completely fabricated, he will get press. He still hasn't figured out that he has been getting enough press with "Kick-Ass" and "Wanted', along with their possible sequels. Nope, that isn't enough for "The Comic Book Writer Who Cried Wolf", he needs to bring up The Man of Steel to satisfy his cravings for attention.

1/ I don't think I said they couldn't afford me now. If I did I was joking because writing Superman would be a massive payday so if I said that I was obviously laughing at the time. It's possible though as I like being glib.

2/ Nobody has ever seen my Superman idea besides Matthew. We never pitched. I've never done a pitch in my life (it's demeaning) so all this stuff about people hating my Superman ideas, etc, is just bullsh*t. Nobody's seen it. I don't write or give ideas away for free and simply wouldn't. I mentioned a big epic idea to Empire in a Wanted interview which was a couple of lines long, but no story stuff at all. So the stuff about me pitching is nonsense. I don't and will never pitch. That's why I like working in comics.

Really Mark Millar? You didn't say that WB/DC "couldn't afford you"? For some reason I don't believe you. It could possibly be because I'm still waiting for the lost footage of Eminem in "Wanted".  I'm not sure if Mark Millar could be glib if a "very well known American action director" like the BRITISH Matthew Vaughn was guiding him. On top of that, apparently pitch meetings are below somebody of Mark Millar's and he's never done a pitch in his life? He never pitched Superman, they didn't hate it, that is bullshit and nonsense...

 “…for about fifteen minutes things were looking very sweet. I had a massive three-picture epic in mind, cribbed from notes I’ve been putting together for the last five years for a Superman comic-book revamp and the people I spoke to absolutely loved it. Everyone said this was very, very exciting, but…

Well, sadly, I’m a Marvel guy and we were surprised to find out that WB couldn’t hire me for a DC property. They were incredibly nice and superbly apologetic about it, but when they discussed the matter seriously DC explained just how associated I am with Marvel Comics at the moment and it’s against company policy to hire the competition. It’s absolutely nothing personal. I spoke to some friends at DC and they explained this has happened with a couple of big Marvel writers in the last couple of years and I absolutely respect that.

So first Mark Millar pitched some type of epic Superman film to DC, WB, or both. They liked it but couldn't hire him because he is a "Marvel Guy".  Didn't Ryan Reynolds just star in "Wolverine" as Deadpool? Wasn't he in one of those "Blade" films? He's playing Green Lantern right? I believe this is a very real scenario. Back to fantasy land for a moment, now Mark Millar never pitched Superman because it is demeaning to pitch films. I can't wait to create my own world.

The truth is that Mark Millar has been knocking at WB's door for years trying to get them to go forward with his Superman ideas and they've been swatting him away like a fly. I really dig what Mark Millar has done in his career, especially with Superman. "Superman: Red Son" is still one of the best Superman reads I've ever flipped through. The problem is, every time Mark Millar cries out for publicity by mentioning Superman I want to cancel my internet access. Let's face it Mark, you're not going be involved with whatever the next Superman film is. The sooner you accept that the safer it is for the rest of us to start reading articles again.

Cloudy With A Chance Of Box Office

Weekend Actuals: Sept. 18th - Sept. 20th

1 Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs $30,304,648
2 The Informant! $10,464,314
3 Tyler Perry's I Can Do Bad All By Myself $9,877,436
4 Love Happens $8,057,010
5 Jennifer's Body $6,868,397
6 9 $5,563,134
7 Inglourious Basterds $3,818,142
8 All About Steve $3,373,212
9 Sorority Row $2,499,758
10 The Final Destination $2,388,473

Hill Valley Restoration Society Presents: Clips & TV Spots

Coming Soon: Three Clips From The Disappearance Of Alice Creed

Coming Soon: New Zombieland TV Spots And Photos

MTV: New Solomon Kane Featurette

Yahoo: 7 New Jennifer Body Clips

Track The Trailers

'Everybodys Fine' Theatrical Trailer @ Yahoo! Video

Trailer: "Everybody's Fine"

Trailer: "From Paris With Love"

Trailer: "Paranormal Activity"

Trailer: "The Twilight Saga: New Moon"

Thanks to Yahoo & Coming Soon for the above trailers.