Warner Brothers Announces Big Release Dates

Everyone seems to agree that Warner Brothers was the most affected by the 2007 Writer's Guide Strike.

A number of high-profile projects the studio was depending on for their Summer 2009 lineup fell apart for various reasons whether it be delays (Clash of the Titans), cold feet (Superman: The Man of Steel) or simply just killing it altogether (Justice League: Mortal)!

This coming summer, they have Terminator: Salvation and Harry Potter & the Half-Blood Prince. And that's about it.

But they'll be coming back with a vengeance according to ERC Box Office. The studio has announced a number of their major releases for 2010, with a li'l bit of news on 2009 and 2011 as well.

First up, Guy Ritchie's revisionist take on Sherlock Holmes has been moved from its previous November 13 release to Christmas Day 2009 now.

Meanwhile for 2010, the studio is positioning their oft-mentioned remake of Clash of the Titans for a March 26 release. Jonah Hex hits cinemas on August 6, 2010. Christopher Nolan's Inception will bow out on July 16, 2010, and Zack Snyder's Sucker Punch is scheduled for an October 8 release.

In the most interesting bit of news, the studio has opted to put Green Lantern for December 17, 2010 instead of the expected mid-summer release. All I have to say is...smart move, Warner Brothers. That summer is already going to have Iron Man 2, Thor and The Green Hornet (not to mention WB's own Hex) in the "comic-book" film department!

And last but definitely not least, Harry Potter & the Deathly Hallows - Part II (the final installment of the insanely popular and profitable film series) will grace the silver screens on July 15, 2011 - where it will go head-to-head with Marvel's The Avengers!

Anyone else more convinced than ever that Avengers will be delayed now?!?

Possible Plot for Shrek Goes Fourth Leaked

Apparently getting into the Legendary Pictures official website and obtaining info on the Superman Returns sequel wasn't enough for Alex Litel's Lackluster Emporium.

Now they've stumbled onto a copyright pre-registration for Shrek Goes Fourth with the following plot synopsis:

After challenging an evil dragon, rescuing a beautiful princess and saving your in-laws' kingdom, what's an ogre to do? Well, if you're Shrek, you suddenly wind up a domesticated family man. Instead of scaring villagers away like he used to, a reluctant Shrek now agrees to autograph pitch forks. What's happened to this ogre's roar? Longing for the days when he felt like a "real ogre," Shrek is duped into signing a pact with the smooth-talking dealmaker, Rumplestiltskin. Shrek suddenly finds himself in a in a twisted, alternate version of Far Far Away, where ogres are hunted, Rumplestiltskin is king and Shrek and Fiona have never met. Now, it's up to Shrek to undo all he's done in the hopes of saving his friends, restoring his world and reclaiming his one True Love.

Well, it's definitely an upgrade from 2007's Shrek the Third when the series was clearly running out of gas (no pun intended!) But then again, that's not saying too much.

From that description, Shrek Goes Fourth has potential to reclaim the charm of the first two films. Yes...I was a fan!

Emily's Been Blunted From Iron Man 2

Sorry, folks.

It looks like you won't be seeing Emily Blunt sporting a sexy Russian-accent as the Black Widow for Iron Man 2 after all.

According to the Playlist, director Jon Favreau confirmed that Blunt is officially off the forthcoming sequel to last summer's smash-hit thanks to 20th Century Fox using their long-standing option on the British actress to appear in their fantasy comedy Guillver's Travels with Jack Black and Jason Segal.

Regarding that other "Will he or won't he appear?" question pertaining to Mickey Rourke, Favreau would only say the Wrestler star "isn't officially cast but that he is a fan."

Hmmm, that's an upgrade from Rourke's "Right now, we're not doing Iron Man 2" response last week to New York Magazine.

Some have speculated that both parties were waiting to see if Rourke would walk away with the "Best Actor" Oscar (which he ultimately didn't) as to bump up the reported $250,000 offered to the actor.

If that's the case, then the ball is clearly in Marvel's court. That said, Rourke would be smart to take the gig nonetheless to further solidify his well-publicized comeback to the general public - who contrary to popular belief haven't gone to see the Wrestler!

Will Ghostbusters 3 Be Shooting This Fall?

Dan Aykroyd could cure cancer and end world hunger, but he'd still be asked about the status of Ghostbusters 3.

Granted, there's actually more than just the usual fan-rumblings or Aykroyd talking about how "he's writing the script and waiting for get everyone's approval" ever since Sony officially hired The Office writers/executive producers Lee Eisenberg and Gene Stupnitsk for screenwriting duties.

The Man who was Elwood Blues was doing a live chat with the Boston Globe for the opening of a new House of Blues last week and as expected the inevitable Ghostbustes 3 question was asked with this answer from Aykroyd:

"Script is commenced early summer. Hope to be in production by late fall 2009"

Mind you, none of the original cast nor director Ivan Reitman have officially signed up to return. So either there's more going on behind the scenes than we're all led to believe (which is certainly possible) or Aykroyd is just theorizing when Ghostbusters 3 gets going.

Either way, I'm just going to wait for Sony to make an official announcement for now.

Oscars Winners List and Review

The 81st Annual Academy Awards are officially over, and it turned out to be quiet an enjoyable ceremony - surprisingly so despite it also being the most predictable one in years.

The one surprise came in the form of host Hugh Jackman who (at least, in my opinion) proved to be one Helluva host with his humor and multiple musical performances. Although the ratings will still probably be down, I'd be surprised if he wasn't asked back for next year's ceremony.

As expected, Slumdog Millionaire dominated with eight wins including "Best Picture" and "Best Director" for Danny Boyle.

What was considered the "Surest Thing" of the evening indeed took place with the late Heath Ledger winning a posthumous Oscar in the "Best Supporting Actor" category for his portrayal of the Joker in The Dark Knight with his family accepting in his place.

After multiple times going home empty-handed, Kate Winslet finally took home the "Best Actress" Oscar for The Reader despite the overall mixed reception of the film. No doubt, it was a "Career" win more than anything else.

Sean Penn triumphed in the "Best Actor" race over Comeback King Mickey Rourke and Penelope Cruz nabbed the "Best Supporting Actress" Oscar for Vicky Cristina Barcelona.

Here are the list of winners:

Best Picture: Slumdog Millionaire

Best Director: Danny Boyle - Slumdog Millionaire

Best Actor: Sean Penn - Milk

Best Actress: Kate Winslet - The Reader

Best Supporting Actor: Heath Ledger - The Dark Knight

Best Supporting Actress: Penelope Cruz - Vicky Cristina Barcelona

Best Animated Film: Wall-E

Best Foreign Language Film: Departures

Best Documentary Film: Man On Wire

Best Documentary Short-Film: Smile Pinki

Best Original Screenplay: Milk

Best Adapted Screenplay: Slumdog Millionaire

Best Cinematography: Slumdog Millionaire

Best Art Direction: The Curious Case of Benjamin Button

Best Editing: Slumdog Millionaire

Best Costume Design: The Duchess

Best Makeup: The Curious Case of Benjamin Button

Best Score: Slumdog Millionaire

Best Song: "Jai Ho" - Slumdog Millionaire

Best Live-Action Short Film: Spielzeugland (Toyland)

Best Sound Mixing: Slumdog Millionaire

Best Sound Editing: The Dark Knight

Best Visual Effects: The Curious Case of Benjamin Button

Third Twilight Film Already Greenlit

I have absolutely no hatred for the popular Twilight book series. Granted, I've yet to read a single word from the novels nor will I ever.

Seriously, I know they're not my cup of tea. So why jump on the "Fuck Twilight!" bandwagon when I already have zero interest in them to begin with?

Not to mention, the obsessive fans of the series are honestly no different than those walking around dressed up like characters from Star Wars or The Lord of the Rings.

All of that asside, the film adaptation of Twilight made a fortune last Fall and Summitt Entertainment (the production company behind said film) has already fast-tracked the sequel New Moon for release this coming November.

And just for the Hell of it (or maybe they're aware this gravy train won't have the longevity that the Harry Potter film-series has had for Warner Brothers), they've just greenlit the third installment in the series Eclipse for a June 30, 2010 release.

The studio has yet to find a director, but one can only assume it might end up being Chris Weitz - the director who will be helming New Moon.

The sequels will be released in cinemas about seven months a part from one another. I don't see why they wouldn't just go ahead and give it to him.

Funny Trailer

Whatever trepidations I had for Judd Apatow's Funny People (which to be fair had absolutely nothing to do with quality, but merely around fear of "Apatow backlash") has gone away after looking at the film's trailer.

Moviefone has the exclusive first look at the dramedy centering around a world famous stand-up comedian (Adam Sandler) who upon discovering he only has a year left to live takes a struggling yet talented up and comer (Seth Rogen) under his wing and attempts to rekindle a relationship with his now married ex-girlfriend (Leslie Mann).

So many great lines just in that trailer, and more to come in the finished film!

Among my favorites were, "I don't know how to fight! I'm a comedian!" and "You're hiding some Judaism. I don't think I can hide that. My face is circumcised."

Take a look at the trailer here and tell me you're not looking forward to Funny People this summer now.

Has The Man of Steel Been Unleashed?

Last week, Aint-It-Cool News got a scoop on a Superman reboot trilogy being possibly helmed by the Wachowskis. A rumor that turned out to be not so true.

Cut to this afternoon with Slashfilm now getting a scoop on the oft-debated sequel to Bryan Singer's Superman Returns - which last we all heard had gone the way of DivX players and Nintendo Virtual Boy.

According to a password-sensitive area of Legendary Pictures' official home-page (the company that ponied up half the budget for Returns as well as the Batman films and Watchmen), the next Superman installment will in fact be a sequel with the following synopsis listed:

"Ramping up the action of its esteemed predecessor, the sequel to 'Superman Returns' promises to raise the stakes and take the audience to heights of action that no other superhero movie can achieve."

Not to mention, the title Superman: The Man of Steel is no more and is apparently now Superman Unleashed.

It's certainly possible that Warner Brothers and Legendary executives remembered about how Batman Begins fell way below their box-office projections despite solid business (i.e. $200 million+), and nonetheless went forward with the sequel The Dark Knight. Well...you guys know how that turned out.

That said, color me skeptical on this latest development.

Update: Strike that last remark. The Superman sequel is listed in Production Weekly and the screen-capture that started this development is real. So this news is legit.

She'll Be Back...Maybe.

Yes, we know that McG talks outta his butt a bit too much - what with the infamous "I got Cameron's approval" and "Casting Sam Worthington was based on Jim's recommendation" remarks that turned out to be BS.

But when he revealed a month or so back that Linda Hamilton is on their radar to return for voice-over work on Terminator: Salvation, I have to admit it sounded like a realistic possibility.

And now Sarah Connor herself has confirmed to the MTV Movies Blog that indeed she's in talks with the producers over said gig:

“My contribution would be voiceover. I would probably be very happy to loan my voice depending on what the material is. Wait and see. They’re already writing it. We’ve been negotiating it.”

Salvation opens this coming Memorial Day weekend and we're nearing the end of February. So if they're going to get Hamilton to agree to do it, they should moving forward on this ASAP.

Thor Has (Still) Yet To Be Cast

I was hoping that things were a bit further along on Kenneth Branagh's Thor in terms of casting. But from the looks of it - not so much.

The good folks over at Corona Coming Attractions got a hold on a casting call notice for the title character:

Male MUST BE MID-LATE 20'S and SIX FEET OR TALLER. LEAD.

Physically powerful, very handsome, occasionally egotistical, petulant, and wild. A natural warrior with a quick charming wit who must be genuinely and severly humbled before becoming the compassionate, mature her of our film.

One can only assume that Marvel Films, Branagh & Co. decided not to go with Kevin McKidd who has previously met with them over playing the Norse God.