Hulk Round 2?

Though the box office reciepts weren't stellar and the movie isn't the greatest of the superhero franchise, "The Incredible Hulk" was a really fun gem that gave audiences a glimps at the real Hulk and the potential for a thought provoking franchise. It looks like Marvel sees this potential and will not let the Hulk go down without a fight.

Surprisingly,Kevin Feige, an executive at Marvel Studios, announced that the plan was to continue the series with Edward Norton. How about the source material from Marvel comics? Feige had a very interesting response for that:

"We still need to give the creative people room to stretch their legs. It's a hard balancing act. 'Planet Hulk' and 'World War Hulk' didn't have a lot to do with the movie, but it generated interest in the property."

"Planet Hulk?" "World War Hulk?" Now that doesn't mean it's going to happen, and I honestly have little faith that it would, but the prospect of the maybe is quite exciting.

The big question is, will Norton want to return? He was denied a writing credit, even though most of the first movie was rewritten by him, and he desperately fought for a cut of the film that didn't make it in theaters. (But we'll probably see it on DVD.) Those are some big things Marvel will have to reconcile with. Frankly, I think they should just let Norton direct the sequel.

"I Am Legend" Prequel for Smith?

"I Am Legend" was not one of my favorite movies of the fall season last year. It wasn't bad, it simply wasn't everything it was built up to be. It was a loss of potential and waste of character study. Although, it did have a few scares and Will Smith was, as usual, stellar. A sequel or prequel is not something that interests me. However, money talks over a barely noticed movie blog and at $584 million worldwide, it was only a matter of time before more information on an "I Am Legend" follow up was announced.

Francis Lawrence, director of the film, recently confirmed that a prequel was in the workshop. Not only that, but Will Smith has communicated a desire to return as well. Currently, Lawrence is working on another story that will develop Robert Neville in a different light.

So where could this go? The creation of the zombie creatures? Everything just before the outbreak-- Because lets face it, everything we really needed to know was shown in flashbacks of the recent film. Would a prequel reveal that much more? Hopefully we'd get to see more of the dog.

More on The Venom Spin-Off

Last February is was announced that a solo Venom film would be moving forward at Sony Pictures. Very little followed the announcement, with no word if Topher Grace will return or who would write it.

As it turns out the initial draft was written by Jacob Estes ("Mean Creek"), but the Studio wants to take the character in a different direction. Supposedly, since "Spider-Man 4" isn't due until 2004, Sony hopes this will refresh the franchise until the Wall-Crawling hero returns. And for those hoping for something better than Topher Grace making sexual connotations out of Spider-Man's famous lines, fear not, Sony is looking to find someone else to play the villain turned anti-hero in this film.

There's no release date yet, but chances are Sony will rush this thing in to production and get it in theaters before "Spider-Man 4."

Venom is a cool character, but something sounds wrong about this movie. Venom's own movie? Can anyone really imagine that? All I can think of is a "Scorpion King" quality film with a CGI Venom laying waste to the city as he fights some other creature. There's simply something about that entire idea that feels..."off."

Poll Results - What Did You Think of "The Dark Knight?"

Well this was an interesting little landslide of a poll. Not surprising though. An an usually high number of people voted this time around. 52? That has to be a record. I didn't think 52 people visited my site. Maybe they don't. Maybe someone was cheating. Who knows, but as it stands "The Dark Knight" won over a lot of people's hearts.

45 (86%) people thought the film was Incredible.

6 (11%) stiffs thought it was on Good.

1 (1%) dingbat thought it was Average.

And, rightly so, the last two options (Overrated, Awful) were left at 0%.

It seems "Dark Knight-mania" has caught on hard. I agree, it is one more incredible film. I'll get a review out for it one of these days.

Thundercats: CG or Live Action?

It was recently revealed in an interview that Tyrese Gibson ("Transformers") may be playing "someone" from Warner Brothers' upcoming, big screen adaptation of "Thundercats."

(For those who weren't boys that grew up in the late 80s or had no idea what Toonami was, "Thundercats" follows heroic, cat-humanoids from the planet Thundera. In the animated series, Lion-O, and his team of Thundercats, now reside on Third-Earth where they must do battle with Mumm-Ra, an evil, mummified sorcerer.)

Sounds like fun, no? If feline-humanoids with swords and ripping muscles don't get some basement nerds' attention, the fact that one of these cat-like humans is a sexy gal, filled to the rim with fur, cat ears, a tail and D-cups, should be enough to get them to make the scary trip to the theater. Who doesn't want to watch Lion-O screaming "Thundercats-Hoooo!" while hitting that, right?

Humor aside, Gibson was very coy with the subject. Though it seems to be proof that the Thundercats film is moving forward it begs one to wonder-- Is this live action? Or is Gibson simply going to lend his voice to a CG character? Granted, a live action movie seems like a ridiculous feat, but that hasn't stopped Hollywood before, right?

On a different subject, video game director (or designer...?) Jerry O'Flaherty will be given the director's chair for this. It seems fitting that a video game director might do a CG adaptation of the film, so that's points for the CG argument. But if this is live action... God help us all. Of course, no matter what it is, we all know we'll see it to keep our nostalgia burning. More as it comes.

TRAILER - Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince (Teaser 2)

I have no idea how long this will remain, so let me know if the link goes to hell. I'll find another one. The new "Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince" teaser was unveiled tonight. Don't worry, it's much more impressive than the previous "teaser." I'm not totally overwhelmed or in awe from it, but it is a creepy little preview that gives us an idea for how this movie will feel. Enjoy:


November.

Bond's New Theme Goes White...

Bond theme songs are a big part of the 007 movies. The opening theme often reflects what the rest of the soundtrack will sound like and utilizes themes that often instrumental variations on the opening song. "Casino Royale" had, what I believe, was one of the very best opening themes to a Bond film. It reflected Bond's badassery, and it revealed what the movie's major (and non-musical) themes would be, without spoiling the movie.

That said, I can't tell you how unthrilled I am that The White Stripes' Jack White is part of "Quantum of Solace's" opening. The opening song, entitled "Another Way to Die," will be the first duet theme in the long running Bond series. I hope Alicia Keys can balance out Jack White, but I'm not necessarily a fan of her either. From Chris Cornell of Audioslave to Jack White of The White Stripes? That's not simply a dip in to mediocrity, that's just plain bad.

My apologies to you White Stripes and Alicia Keys fans... For you liking them.

Evil Dead...4?

Not too long ago an "Evil Dead" remake was rumored to be in the works with Raimi simply producing. Like many internet fanboys, nerds and guys who have nothing better to do but forum-stalk, I thought this was a horrible idea. The Evil Dead Trilogy is a fantastic farce made by very young filmmakers that simply love to make movies and given to those same people. It was fun, hysterical and everything a cult film should be.

"Why a remake? Just make a sequel!" I cried. It took a few years, but my desperate scream must have finally reached Sam Raimi oh-so-many miles away. "Evil Dead 4" is now in the rumor mill. At the 2008 Comic Con Raimi revealed the possibilities of a fourth Evil Dead:

I love working with Bruce Campbell and he’s like Allison [Lohman, star of Raimi’s Drag Me To Hell]. He’s super willing to do anything to make it right. He’s a very funny guy, but mostly he’s got this quality where he will physically do anything to get the shot done right, so I would love to work with Bruce again because I’d love to test those limits. I’d love to make another Evil Dead picture. And actually that’s in the wheelhouse. I’d like to work on it with my brother Ivan [Raimi] when he comes up next week.“

I think my preverbal, fanboy, love for chainsaw wielding zombie killers water just broke. More as this comes. But what would you rather have? Raimi doing Spidey 4/5 or Evil Dead 4?

Aronofsky's RoboCop Not in 3D, But it is a Reboot

For those of you who were thinking the new RoboCop's admission to the 3D world was a little gimmicky, like me, fear not! It has been confirmed that the movie is not only 2D, but an R-rated reboot of the franchise. (With Aronofsy behind it, this makes much more sense.)

Originally it was rumored that the movie would be a distant sequel of the franchise, but it seems like MGM and Aronofsky have every intention of going "Batman Begins" on this project and giving us a heavy hitting, dark film with plenty of substance. I eagerly await this movie. Aronofsky's hand on RoboCop's destiny can only do it some good. Yes. Yes I have expectations for this.

New Terminator Poster Revealed

Pretty good teaser poster I must say. I like how the design of the T-600 is not as spot on humanoid as the T-800 from the previous films. Fitting that it looks battle ravages. (Notice the bullet hole in its head.) And I wonder what those designs in its eyes could be? Just me overanalyzing? Maybe, but it is a curious design. Click to enlarge:



Not too shabby. Am I actually having *GASP* hope for this film? I'm good at the false hope thing, but I want to see another (a better) trailer before I get too carried away with Comic Con's influences.

Harry Potter and the Two Pictures

I've been behind on the Harry Potter stuff as of late. I've neglected to put a slew of pictures up that are now readily available anywhere, but I felt I should justify myself with a set of two new ones. The pictures below depict Dumbledore conjuring a blast of fire to battle some un-dead creatures. And the other is of a young Tom Riddle, obviously a flashback. Click to enlarge.



Notice Dumbledore behind Riddle-- It seems he would still maintain that spectacular beard at that point of time, but otherwise a good depiction of past times. I really like the shot Dumbledore conjuring fire. There's a taste of spectacle to that shot that seems to echo the final battle in the last movie.

This November.