So it’s not just me, then? Even George Takei thinks whitewashing the cast of Akira for the planned US live-action remake is a bad idea? That’s what he tells The Advocate in a recent interview, saying that the film is destined to flop just like The Last Airbender did if it ignores the importance of Japanese culture and history in the story and use all white actors. Takei, a longtime human rights advocate, is probably right; not only would closely following the original film’s Asian characters show respect for the property, it would also do what an all-American cast couldn’t — attract the original film’s fans along with the summer popcorn crowd. Read more…
Well, specifically, Ian Holm is back as Bilbo in The Hobbit. Not for the whole movie, of course! That’s Martin Freeman’s job. But old-Bilbo will be there for bookend sequences, apparently reading his book to Frodo as a way of introducing/closing the story. Peter Jackson was happy to confirm this recently, a move that I’m sure will delight fans of the original trilogy. Heck, I’m all for it, so long as there are no weird, jarring mean-face Bilbo scenes to serve as reminders of what Peter Jackson used to do before Lord of the Rings. Read more…
The Crow is a pretty beloved genre film, not only due to the tragic death of its young star Brandon Lee (son of Bruce Lee) during filming, but also because, hey, it’s a good movie. And like any good movie made in the last thirty years, Hollywood is about to remake it. Or are they? Relativity Media is supposed to handle distribution of the remake, with Juan Carlos Fresnadillo (28 Weeks Later) directing and Bradley Cooper stated to be in the running for the lead, but they appear to have hit a snag. Miramax has filed a lawsuit claiming that they control the film’s distribution rights, a claim that Relativity Media calls “absurd.” Relativity says Miramax is just trying to sabotage production of the film and create bad press. I don’t know. Would that be so bad? Do we really need another Crow? Read more…
Of all of Marvel’s film projects, Thor has stood out as the wildcard. Iron Man grounded itself very firmly in reality (with a dash of science fiction, of course), The Hulk was more a psychodrama than a comic book movie, and Captain America is surrounded by something we can all dig — killing Nazis. Thor, on the other hand, represents the more Jack Kirby side of the Marvel universe; the powerful cosmic forces that exist unbeknownst to the general Earth public. It would’ve been easy to go full cheese mode for this one (hi, Green Lantern), but it looks like director Kenneth Branagh centered the film around the very Shakespearean politics of the god of thunder and his relatives instead. And, according to its 92% rating on Rotten Tomatoes after its Australian premiere, it looks like it worked. You’re up, Cap.
We really weren’t sure what would happen to our favorite spy after MGM filed for bankruptcy back in November. Thankfully, it seems our worries can be put to rest. Sony Pictures has struck a deal with MGM to co-finance, theatrically market and distribute the Bond films — that is, both Bond 23 and 24, assuming everything goes accordingly. It’s safe to assume production will likely move ahead as soon as possible.Read more…
As some of you may be aware, Hot Toys is known for their stunningly detailed collectibles. True to form, their upcoming 1/6th scale Pirates of the Caribbean Jack Sparrow is no exception. The figure is the latest addition to the Movie Masterpiece Deluxe line — each one bearing a striking resemblance to the actors that portray the characters they’re based on. As you can see here, they’ve done an amazing job of capturing Johnny Depp’s visage.
He’s superpowered! He’s weird-looking! He’s completely insane! He’s Deadpool, and his movie may finally have a director. The LA Times reports that Tim Miller, a visual effects wunderkind, has been given his first shot at the director’s chair for Deadpool. Miller, perhaps most well-known for this visual effects work in Scott Pilgrim vs. the World, is the latest in a long line of possible Deadpool directors, including Robert Rodriguez and Adam Berg. Ryan Reynolds, who despite his busy schedule is still attached to the project, had high praise for the film’s fourth-wall-breaking script several months back. If you’re concerned about the choice of director, just remember that Zack Snyder directed commercials before he directed comic book movies. Take that how you will. Read more…
Cosplay isn’t a new phenomenon — for pretty much as long as there’s been fandom, there’s been cosplay. These retro cosplay photos, posted on 4chan’s cosplay board, prove it! We’ve compiled the best here for your perusal, from events ranging from WonderCon to WorldCon from the 70s to the 80s. You’ll notice some patterns — Red Sonja was a very popular cosplay choice for ladies back then, and Vulcans and Elric of Melnibone were popular for men. You can even see cosplay mainstays like Orion slave girls. It’s almost comforting to know that people have been dressing themselves up like fantasy and scifi characters for this long — it means that there have always been incredibly nerdy people in the world. Read more…
Unlike The Book of Mormon, Predator isn’t quite broadway material. However, if someone told me Schwarzenegger planned on making one, I’d be there any way. Rather than waiting for that fantasy to come true, we can settle for the Kaplan brothers’ latest musical parody — and, regrettably, the final one featuring Arnold — Predator: the Musical. Like their previous videos, some of which are pretty fantastic, we’re treated to a cast of impersonators singing along to a pretty convincing soundalike of the actual score for the film. Even if you’re not fond of musicals, you’ll probably end up loving it.
Warner Bros. has admitted that the original Green Lantern trailer was underwhelming at best, so they’ve vowed to provide the public with only the coolest material from the movie from here on in. And, I’ve got to say, based on the above footage shown at WonderCon, there might be hope for this movie yet. Check out all those awesome alien lanterns! And Mark Strong is a pretty great live-action Sinestro if ever I’ve seen one (I haven’t, mind you). Guess we’ll all know for sure in a few months! Read more…
Okay, so Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen wasn’t very good. Even Michael Bay, the film’s own director, thinks so. He’s promised that the third film in the Transformers series, The Dark of the Moon, will be heaps better, and he appears to be following through on that promise by adding the one thing sure to draw nerds to a film: the venerable Leonard Nimoy. Nimoy will be lending his voice to the pre-Optimus leader of the Autobots, Sentinel Prime, whose remains are discovered on the moon in the film. This isn’t Nimoy’s first foray into the Transformers universe, either; diligent fans will recall that he was the voice of Galvatron in the Transformers movie of old. Read more…
In case you’ve been waiting, Telltale Games has finally released the third installment of Back to the Future: The Game for PC & Mac. For those of you with consoles, the PS3 release of chapter two should be available tomorrow as well, via Playstation Network. The iPad & European releases should follow in coming weeks, but so far there’s no official date. In other news, the first episode of their Jurrasic Park adventure series should be out sometime next month. Unfortunately, if you’d rather own a console version you’ll be stuck waiting until Fall. I can’t imagine why they’d wait so long to port it, but I’m sure they have a good reason. Besides, there’s really nothing like playing a point-and-click adventure with a mouse. Read more…
Like many of you, I spent last weekend wondering why I saw Zack Synder’s Sucker Punch and subsequently worrying about his upcoming Superman reboot. I tried to convince myself that the film really wasn’t so bad but I’d just be lying. It really seemed like the film had an attention deficit disorder. The poorly paced, terribly written script mixed with Snyder’s inability to direct had me wanting to lobtimize myself halfway through. Unfortunately, I’m not the only one who felt this way. So, what does this mean for The Man of Steel? Read more…
Even though it hasn’t even been released yet, Sony Pictures is banking on The Amazing Spider-Man being a big success. How big? Well, they’ve already greenlighted a sequel to the reboot, that’s how big. James Vanderbilt, screenwriter for the first film, has received the go-ahead to start a script for the sequel. Seems like a pretty big risk, but if TASM does do well, it means that they’ll have a leg up on pre-production for the sequel. If not, well, I’m not an accountant, but greenlighting a movie definitely costs some money. Maybe someone at Sony got bit by a radioactive hundred-dollar bill. Read more…
With the upcoming release of Captain America: The First Avenger, I felt we should take a moment to reflect on the Captain’s previous bid for box office gold — probably because it wasn’t much of a box office bid in the first place. Few of you probably remember 1990’s Captain America, seeing as it it never receieved a domestic theatrical release. those of you who have seen it probably were unlucky enough to stumble across a copy at your local Blockbuster — you know, those places people used to go to rent films.
We’ve been hearing about it for years, but it seems Peter Jackson’s The Hobbit has finally started production. Things had been looking pretty grim when the Tolkien Estate & British publisher HarperCollins filed suit against New Line cinema over a breach of contract. Following that debacle, Guillermo del Toro had been attached to direct the project, only to pull out when MGM’s financial issues had sidelined the project indefinitely. Thankfully, those issues have been resolved, and Jackson looks to be directing the project once again.
The image of a vampire licking their blood stain lips after feeding, or bearing their fangs may or may not send a shiver up your spine, but for viewers these are possibly a quintessential appearance of a vampire. Vampires was first mentioned in literature around the 1700’s, but until Bran Stroker’s Dracula was published around 1897, the other vampire works weren’t as definitive or influential. Now the usage of vampires is a very common tool. Viewers can easily see vampires in contemporary series like Twilight, True Blood, or The Vampire Diaries. But consider these vampires in three different categories, Movies; Television; Comics, and see if you want to be bitten, if they have their focuses on you. Read more…
Dystopian young-adult sci-fi novel “The Hunger Games” is being converted into a feature film by Seabiscuit‘s Gary Ross, and the hunt has been on for an actress to fill the role of heroine Katniss Everdeen. Names like Saoirse Ronan and Hailee Steinfeld have been tossed around as potentials, but according to The Wrap, the film has officially found its lead: Winter’s Bone actress Jennifer Lawrence. Having an Oscar nominee leading a genre film is a pretty big deal, and Lawrence is one of Hollywood’s rising female stars, so this certainly bodes well for the film. Suzanne Collins’ book series has been one of the biggest and most talked-about young adult series in years, so if The Hunger Games does well, it could mean a trilogy (and mass exposure) for Lawrence. Read more…
Director Darren Aronofsky is known for great award-season films like The Wrestler and Black Swan (and The Fountain if you like genre stuff), but he was also attached to a rather unorthodox project: a Wolverine reboot called, well, The Wolverine. At least until now, anyway. Citing the fact that the film’s schedule would keep him out of the country and away from his family for over a year, he decided to call it quits from the project. Fox insists they’re going to move forward with the project, though without Aronofsky the prospect of another Wolverine movie just doesn’t sound that great, if it ever did. Read more…
Initially Kotobukiya had limited their Bishoujo line to the Marvel license, featuring popular superheros and mutants like Rogue, Psylocke, and Black Widow. Eventually they expanded their offerings to include heroines from the DC universe, and now it seems like they’re taking it in a whole new direction. Several months ago, they debuted a sketch by artist Shunya Yamashita depicting an original character dressed in Ghostbusters attire. It had a few people scratching their heads since it appeared to be an original design, but shortly after, Kotobukiya confirmed the design is being produced as the latest entry in their Bishoujo line, “Ghostbusters Lucy.” Amazing, right?
Fresh on the heels of the news that Universal passed on Guillermo Del Toro’s adaptation of H.P. Lovecraft’s “At the Mountains of Madness,” we’re now hearing that the studio is pushing forward a $150 million 3D film reboot of Doom. That’s right, the first-person shooter that’s about a million years old. There was a pretty bad Doom movie just a few years ago, with Karl Urban and The Rock, and after that one I’m not sure anybody was really clamoring for another one. At least in 3D they can make another incredibly dumb first-person camera sequence even more gimmicky. Read more…
The Bruce Lee classic Fist of Fury — or The Chinese Connection, for those of you who remember — recently received a proper sequel after nearly 4 decades. The 2010 film Legend of the Fist: The Return of Chen Zhen, starring Donnie Yen as Lee’s replacement, will have its limited theatrical release in North America next month. Some of you might be wondering why Zhen is rocking the Kato costume, but don’t worry, there’s a reason for it aside from giving a nod to Lee who, as you should know, played the Hornet’s masked sidekick on the original TV series.
Alcon Entertainment, an investment group owned by Warner Brothers, recently acquired the rights to create new Blade Runner films, though it appears the films must be prequels or sequels, thus ruling out unnecessary remakes. This could be good news for fans of the original Blade Runner, or it could put you into a state of abject terror. Sequels to older movies generally don’t work that well. The good news is, there’s still a lot of time for popular opinion to coalesce — it doesn’t appear that the rights-owners have the slightest idea what kind of film they want to make right now, what material it would feature, anything like that. It’s almost comforting that no one involved with the project has yet piped up and said “I was thinking the best way to make this movie would be to add GIANT REPLICANTS. Squid replicants, dinosaur replicants. Transforming car replicants. That’s Blade Runner, man.” Read more…
Got anywhere to be eleven-and-a-half months from now? I hope so, because that’s when Star Wars Episode I: The Phantom Menace is returning to theaters in 3D. Specifically, it’s scheduled for theatrical release on February 10th, 2012. The good news is that you can avoid the whole thing by just holing yourself up in a secluded cabin that weekend and throwing your cell phone and laptop into the ocean so none of your friends can get a hold of you and convince you to go see it out of some misguided notion that it was “still an okay movie, just not a good Star Wars movie.” On the other hand, Lucasfilm does say that the 3D conversion is “meticulous”… Read more…
