Clash of the Titans Video Clip

I have purposely isolated myself from any news of this movie, because its one that I want to fully enjoy at the theaters. However, with that said, I couldn't resist watching the clip below. I've been so impressed by the trailers so far, I had to see some actual footage. Personally, I'm a little disappointed. The landscaped and that continuous flashing "lightning" is too reminiscent of New Krypton in Superman Returns for me to be comfortable. But please, take a look and let me know what you think. 

Checkout the video from Comingsoon.net HERE

Dwayne Johnson Keeps Going Faster

CBS Films is getting busy with some big names in Faster, which is set to open in theaters on November 19. Dwayne Johnson, who has recently rounded out his acting talent in a series of works for Disney, will return as a hardened, violent character we all expect a man of his size to be. He’ll portray an ex-con, who sets his sights on revenge after his brother is killed, when the two are double crossed during a heist.

Well, its an unoriginal plot, but maybe we’ll get some twists and turns that will make it worthwhile. The rest of the cast may help, too. Billy Bob Thorton, Gara Gugino, Maggie Grace and Moon Bloodgood co-star. 

Set Pics from Green Lantern

It looks like they really have gotten started on Green Lantern. It was starting to look like we’d  never get anything in the form of news or pictures from their camp. I suppose, technically, we still haven’t. But someone got some pretty decent shots of Ryan Reynolds walking around. Unfortunately, the answer to the question I already know you’re asking is, no. He’s not in costume. Well, maybe Hal Jordan costume, but not the Green Lantern. Although, if you look closely, you do see a green ring on the middle finger of his right hand. Actually, you don't even have to look that closely. Someone has all but circled the ring in crayon. There are better pics posted. It looks like this was was blown up in an effort to show the ring. 

If he’s really trying to get into the character of Hal Jordan, I guess that cup would need to be filled with bourbon. Hopefully we’ll have more on this movie soon. I know I’m anxious to see what they do with it.

You can see the rest of the images from comicbookmovie.com HERE

What's that Other Spiderman Guy Doing?

Apparently Tobey Maguire isn’t quite finished with Sony/Columbia. A report from an insider states that Maguire is committed to star as Bobby Fischer in Pawn Sacrifice. The film, which will be directed by David Fincher and is set to start production this fall, is said to include parts of Fischer’s early life but focuses more on the tortuous segments of his life. Robert James Fischer was a chess prodigy, who gained international recognition after defeating Boris Spassky in the World Championship in 1972, which was dubbed a Cold War battle.

Fischer was later known for several anti-American and anti-Semitic remarks, such as the fact that he idolized Adolf Hitler. His passport was rejected in Japan in 2004 and he was facing extradition, when Iceland granted him citizenship. Fischer lived in Iceland for the rest of his life.

The Ultimate Spiderman Reboot?

It could be. I’m afraid I’m a day late and a dollar short on this breaking news, but apparently one of our friends over at Latinoreview had the chance to sit down momentarily with Brian Michael Bendis, who, for those of you not following the Spiderman reboot, wrote Ultimate Spiderman.

It was speculated, and feared by some, from the beginning that the rebooted series would follow the storyline of the Ultimate books since director Marc Webb announced that his ideas for the film centered around Peter Parker staying in high school.

When asked about what direction the movie was going to take, Bendis, pointing at the volume 1 book of his own creation, simply said “From what I’ve heard, its going to be exactly like this”. For now, I’m going to take this with a grain of salt until I hear from someone that’s more involved with the film. If I were Bendis, I’d love for my book to be picked up for a movie, too.

Just by following some fan posts, I understand that there’s a fair amount of folks out there that are dead set against this type of storyline. Personally, having never read the books myself, I like the idea of a new spin on a great character. Besides, we’re rebooting a franchise that, until just, what, six weeks ago was still alive.

They did something similar with the animated Spectacular Spiderman, and it seemed to work very well. It could, in a perfect world, also set up some type of tie-in with all of the other Marvel Studios movies

Hopefully we’ll get some more news soon on this and I’ll let you guys know as soon as I hear it.

Dear John, Please Do NOT Let This Happen

So, the deadline for the casting of Captain America was supposed to be at the end of last month. The studio wanted to be further along in the process of preproduction than what it currently is, seeing that they have yet to make a final decision on which actor they want to sign for the nine-picture deal. They had their list of hopefuls whittled down to, what I thought, was a pretty decent lineup of talent. Then I see this over at LATINOREVIEW.

Apparently Channing “Duke” Tatum is being seriously considered for the role. According to DeadlineHollywood, Marvel Studios, along with director Joe Johnston, have approached Tatum. There’s no confirmed information yet on whether this is an official offer, or if he’s just being given the chance to test for what may end up being one of the most coveted roles of all time.

Seriously? Channing Tatum? I mean, I guess in some aspect, I have to give him props for actually making it in Hollywood, but I don’t have to like the guy’s acting ability. This Captain America movie is supposedly going to be the one that pulls it all together for the mounting Marvel movies. Say that three times fast. Does anyone really want to see Pinocchio carrying the star spangled shield? That’s a stab at Tatum’s tendency to be wooden on screen if you didn’t catch it. I admit that I haven’t seen Dear John, so I can’t base my opinion on that film. But I saw Fighting. I have to say that the only reason he wasn’t considered the worst actor in that movie was because Terrence Howard was in it…and Marvel booted Terrence from the ironman franchise. Speaking of Ironman, whoever is selected for Cap, is going to be sharing screen time with Robert Downey Jr. You need someone that can hold his own a little bit, don't you think? Then you have G.I. Joe: Rise of the Cobra. What can I say about G.I. Joe? The swords were shiny.

I shouldn’t be too hard on the guy, but he’s not right for this role. I was never a Krasinski supporter, but I’d back him before I would Tatum. There are other, better names out there. But, like always, that’s just my opinion.

And Then He Said "Let There Be Superman"

We’ve been trying to closely follow the news of Christopher Nolan mentoring the DC superhero films since it was first rumored last month. Just a few weeks ago, we reported that his brother Jonah and co-writer David Goyer had been given the nod from Warner Bros. to pen the script for The Man of Steel, which is based on a story pitched to the studio by Goyer.

Take what you will from the excerpt below, but it sounds to me that, instead of DC Entertainment and WB reaching out to Nolan for help with Superman, he first established the negotiations to move ahead with the film after hearing an impressive idea from Goyer.

“It’s very exciting, we have a fantastic story,” Christopher Nolan said while sipping tea in the sleek editing suite that fills the converted garage adjacent to his Hollywood home. “And we feel we can do it right. We know the milieu, if you will, we know the genre and how to get it done right.”

[...]

“[Goyer] basically told me, ‘I have this thought about how you would approach Superman,’” Nolan recalled. “I immediately got it, loved it and thought: That is a way of approaching the story I’ve never seen before that makes it incredibly exciting. I wanted to get [partner] Emma [Thomas] and I involved in shepherding the project right away and getting it to the studio and getting it going in an exciting way.”

In bittersweet news, the interview continues with updates on the highly anticipated sequel to The Dark Knight, which indicate that the third installment will indeed be the last.

“I’m very excited about the end of the film, the conclusion, and what we’ve done with the characters,” Nolan said.“My brother has come up with some pretty exciting stuff. Unlike the comics, these thing don’t go on forever in film and viewing it as a story with an end is useful. Viewing it as an ending, that sets you very much on the right track about the appropriate conclusion and the essence of what tale we’re telling. And it hearkens back to that priority of trying to find the reality in these fantastic stories. That’s what we do.”

Check out the entire article HERE. 

Krasinski Dropped for Captain America?

It seemed all but done that John Krasinski was going to be the lucky actor, who would finally be cast as The First Avenger in the upcoming Captain America movie. Now we’re hearing that that he didn’t make the new list of finalists.

According to Superherohype.com, both Heat Vision and Deadline New York received updates on Tuesday that Marvel has now tested or scheduled tests with Wilson Bethel (HBO’s Generation Kill), Mike Vogel (Cloverfield), Chris Evans (Fantastic Four) and Garrett Hedlund (Tron Legacy).

I’m all for dropping the ax on Krasinski. I never really thought he fit the bill. With that said, Chris Evans had his chance as Johnny Storm, aka The Human Torch in The Fantastic Four films. You know, the ones that are getting the reboot? Of course, he didn’t destroy that franchise single handedly, and its unfair to judge him solely on that performance, but I can’t see it happening. Two Marvel heroes in three years?

I won’t pick apart each of the other mentioned candidates, but I will pick a favorite. Based on looks alone, I say Mike Vogel. As with any of the hopefuls, he’s going to have to hit the gym, but, of the latest list, I think he has the best look for the character.

Names who have reportedly joined Krasinski in being dropped for consideration for the role are Michael Cassidy, Chace Crawford, Scott Porter and Patrick Flueger.

If this is true, I’m glad to see Scott Porter is off of the list, too. I have another blue suit in mind for him. 

TMT's Casting Couch: DareDevil

It seems that Marvel has become increasingly aggressive with its slate of heroes going to the big screen. I’ll have to do a little more research into the purchasing deal with Disney, but I’m starting to wonder if a clause may exist that enables Marvel to prolong their movie rights to the characters if an extended deal, like that of a trilogy, is marked before the deadline.

With that said, it looks like New York City is going to house not one, not two, but three superhero reboots. At least NYC is where all the characters are based in their comic book pages. Fantastic Four, which, let’s just face it, needed to be redrawn from the beginning will be getting its fresh start as will your friendly neighborhood Spiderman. However, it’s the other man in red I want to talk about today. The man from the other side of the tracks. The man without Fear. Daredevil.

Most of you will remember that Ben Affleck donned the red leather costume just earlier this decade for 2003’s Daredevil. If you don’t remember it, just save yourself the time and trust me. Developed through 20^th Century Fox, the film proved that Matt Murdock should fear at least one thing; The box office.

So, now only seven years later, Marvel has decided to add Daredevil to its list of reboots. It was reported in February that Fox/New Regency had already assigned the writing duties of the new script to David Scarpa (The Day the Earth Stood Still).

Unfortunately, and I hope I’m wrong here, with bigger character names like Spiderman getting the treatment at approximately the same time, I look for Daredevil to fall by the wayside. But just in case we get a nice, brutal story and a talented director that focuses a little more on telling that good story and a little less on the soundtrack and cut rate CGI, lets talk about casting.

The film has been labeled a reboot, so we’ll assume first that we’re either getting another spin on the origin story or a year one type arc, which will put our hero in his mid to late twenties. Now, I’m not one to beat a dead Bat. At least I try not to be. But one thing that I loved about the new Batman movies is the way the mask fits so organically well with Bale’s facial structure. By exaggerating certain features like the cheekbones and the brow on the mask, you get a very menacing, animalistic feel.

I think that’s exactly what would need to happen with Daredevil. With that said, I propose Chris Pine. Born in 1980, Pine is most recently noted for his phenomenal job at portraying the infamous James T. Kirk in J.J. Abrams’ Star Trek, although he has done extensive work in television and had a break out performance in Smokin’ Aces. In my opinion, he’s already proven himself as not only a great actor, but also as a good action star. I think he fits the criteria and the mask pretty well. But I’d love to hear the thoughts of the readers. Who knows? You might change my mind.

The Brothers Nolan's Aggressive Expansion

Its been somewhat of an on again off again (and more recently on again) rumor that the director of Batman Begins and The Dark Knight, Christopher Nolan, was approached by Warner Bros. and  the newly formed entity of DC Entertainment to serve as a mentor for the Superman film reboot.

Yesterday we reported that Chris’ little brother Jonah was working alongside David Goyer on a script for The Man of Steel, which has already set the internet ablaze with the few details released about Goyer’s intentions for the flick.

Cut back to today. Now we’re hearing rumblings from over at IESB.net that they’re hearing rumors that Jonah Nolan, who has already done writing detail on The Dark Knight, Batman 3 and now Superman, may be setting up to rest his heels in the director seat for a major Warner Bros. film. Its one about an alien that makes his home on earth as an infant and grows up to don a pair of blue tights and a red cape.

Yep, that’s right. Rumor has it (emphasis on rumor) that Jonah will make his directorial debut in Metropolis. Again, with big brother overseeing the progressions.

Speaking of big brother, we know that Chris has already agreed to direct the third installment of the Christian Bale era of Batman movies (a little less emphasis on the patented growl please) but what’s next for him? Unconfirmed reports mention the possibility of Chris being a father figure to not only Batman and Superman, but Green Lantern and Flash as well in an attempt to cultivate them into the perfectly seasoned blend of what would be needed for a Justice League movie. Who would take on such an epic film as director you ask? Well, that would be Christopher Nolan as well.

Remember, its all rumor until we have confirmation, but our good pals over at IESB.net are knocking on every door they can to get the nod from Warner and/or DC Entertainment. We’ll keep you up to date as we learn more.