IRON MAN Alert: Sit Through The Credits!

The summer movie season kicks off Thursaday night at 8 o'clock as the comic book adaptation Iron Man takes to the screens. Interestingly, the buzz on the film has crescendoed over the last few weeks to a state where not just comic fans are anxious to see the movie.

But once the credits start rolling, do not jump out of your seat and head to the lobby to talk about it with your friends. Kick back and relax, because there is a special scene after the credits that you're going to want to see.

What is it?

I'm afraid I can't tell because the surprise is just too good to ruin. (And it is not in Peter David's Iron Man novelization, either.) Sure, there are a few sites that have spoiled it already, but my advice is to avoid the spoiler if at all possible. (I wish I had.) This is the thing comic fans will be obsessing on for weeks. Trust me.

Paramount Succumbs To Inevitable And Announces First BluRay Titles

Paramount Studios, the last of the major studios to announce their support of the BluRay high-definition DVD format, have finally announced their first titles to debut on the new format. Surprisingly enough, the first of those titles will be on store shelves in less than three weeks. The first five BluRay titles from Paramount have already been released on DVD, with it’s fifth planned release, The Spiderwick Chronicles on June 24, being the studio’s first simultaneous DVD and BluRay release.

Leading off the studio’s BluRay line on May 20th are two films starring Nicolas Cage- Face/Off and Next, and one film that doesn’t star him, the animated film Bee Movie. The Face/Off disc will feature multiple commentaries, deleted scenes, an alternate ending and a "Making Of Face/Off" featurette while Next will sport a "Making Of" featurette, "Visualizing the Next Move," "The Next Grand Idea" and "Two Minutes in the Future with Jessica Biel."

January’s monster film Cloverfield and Paul Thomas Anderson’s Academy Award winner There Will Be Blood will make their BluRay debuts on June 3. Cloverfield looks as if it contains the same special features as the standard DVD release, with the addition of a feature-length "Special Investigation Mode" with added details about the film. Special features for There Will Be Blood include a slideshow of vintage photos selected by the director and set to the film’s score by Radiohead’s Jonny Greenwood, deleted scenes, a featurette on dailies and more.

Unfortunately, there is no news on some of the titles that folks are most interested like the recently remastered Star Trek: The Original Series or the original Indiana Jones trilogy. Still, Paramount is just dipping their toes in the water, so hopefully they’ll take the big plunge and start digging out the gems in their vaults soon.

First Look: LAND OF THE LOST's Sleestaks!

I was never a big fan of the Sid and Marty Kroft-produced TV series Land Of The Lost as a kid. I thought that Marshall, Will and Holly - the three whitewater rafters stranded in a strange world full of dinosaurs – were boring and more than a bit stupid at times. And don’t even start me on the Neanderthal boy Chaka.

However, I would still tune in every Saturday morning, just to see if that week’s episode would have an appearance by the evil and creepy Sleestaks.

Of course, looking back now, its easy to see that they were just some guys in rather tatty costumes, but as a kid, the way they awkwardly shuffled along with their hissing breath made them the coolest villains on TV.

Fortunately, for his big screen adaptation of the 1970s series, director Brad Silberling has kept the Sleestaks’ iconic look, while updating the costuming to add a bit more realism. Don’t believe me? Check out this photo, which appeared in today’s USA Today.


The sleestaks will menace Will Farrell, Danny McBride and Anna Friel next summer.

DVD News: DARK CITY Director's Cut This July

One of the best movies of the 1990s, genre or not genre, was Alex Proyas' Dark City (1998). (This not even considering in the "Jennifer Connolly Factor," which states that any movie in which Jennifer Connolly appears is automatically 20-30% better than it would have been without her.) Proyas created a world which not only held a noir-ish mystery, but which posed some existential mysteries as well.

Now Warner Home Video has announced that a new director's cut of the film will be released on DVD and BluRay on July 29. The new edition will feature approximately 15 minutes of footage edited back into the film, as well as some improved special effects and a new sound mix. Although the studio has announced all the special features for the release, it did state that there will be three new audio commentaries for the film. Hopefully, they will also be including the commentary track that critic Roger Ebert did for the first DVD release, as it is one of the best and most knowledgable commentaries ever recorded.

I have to admit that I am greeting this news with a mixture of excitement and apprehension. I'm excited to see what new things Proyas is bringing back into the film in terms of story and thematic elements. I am apprehensive, as the film is about as near a perfect bit of filmmaking as one can get. Of course, I had the same misgivings about the expanded version of Tom Hanks' That Thing You Do! that was released last year, but the new material blended in seamlessly, without detriment to the film. Here's hoping that Proyas can pull off the same trick.

Via SlashFilm.

Del Toro: McKellen and Serkis Will Be Back For HOBBIT

With only just a few days having passed since it was officially announced the Guillermo del Toro would direct the adaptation of J R R Tolkein's The Hobbit, with Lord Of The Rings director Peter Jackson producing, casting news is already starting to break on the film. In an interview with Tolkein fan site TheOneRing, del Toro has confirmed that "all bureaucracy pending," Ian McKellen and Andy Serkis will be back to reprise their Lord Of The Rings roles of Gandalf the wizard and the tortured and twisted Gollum.

Both McKellen and Serkis are already listing the film on their websites, so it is probably safe to assume that any pending bureaucracy will be quickly cleared away, Del Toro also stated that several key creative people who worked on Lord Of The Rings should be back as well including composer Howard Shore, special effects supervisor Andy Taylor and conceptual artists John Howe and Alan Lee.

In the interview, del Toro stressed that he will be keeping The Hobbit very much in line with what Jackson had already established in his films, but extrapolating how things were in Middle Earth fifty years before the tumultuous events of Rings. Not surprisingly, del Toro also stated that he wants to use more animatronics to create many of Middle Earth’s beasties.

The only thing I will be pushing for more in these films that the other three are full animatronics and animatronic creatures enhanced with CGI, as opposed to CGI creatures themselves. We really want to take the state-of-the-art animatronics and take a leap ten years into the future with the technology we will develop for the creatures in the movie. We have every intention to do for animatronics and special effects what the other films did for virtual reality.

One name that does not appear in the interview is Christopher Lee’s, who played Gandalf’s fellow wizard Sauruman, who became slowly corrupted by the influence of the evil Sauron. Del Toro states that the as yet untitled film to follow The Hobbit will help to fill in what transpired in the 50 years between The Hobbit and The Lord Of The Rings, and anyone who is familiar with the background that Tolkein developed for his books can tell you, Sauruman is an important figure during that time. Lee is a self-professed fanatic for Tolkein’s Middle Earth, so I doubt he would turn down this last chance to contribute to a cinematic recreation of that world.

But while the continuing flow of new about The Hobbit film has been greeted warmly and enthusiastically through most sectors of the geek press, Salon’s Andrew O’Hehir has risen as the loudest, and most rational, voice of dissent. Where some have dismissed the news with the usual Internet bile, O’Hehir has outlined some interesting arguments as to why del Toro is not the ideal choice for the films. (That said, I’d point out that del Toro didn’t set aside his other projects like his adaptation of Lovecraft’s At The Mountains Of Madness to make The Hobbit as O’Hehir suggests so much as they were set aside for him by dint of not being able to secure the studio financing they would need.)

O’Hehir argues that since Jackson’s busy schedule finishing off The Lovely Bones and plunging into his collaboration with Steven Spielberg to adapt the European Tintin comic strip into a trilogy of films, del Toro was hired simply to serve as a "Jackson surrogate" on the set and that he would not have any degree of creative control. To hammer the point home, he invokes the name of George Lucas, perhaps in a hope to recall in movie fans’ minds the accusations that Lucas worked director Richard Marquand like a puppet on the set of Return Of The Jedi. An interesting analogy, but one that ignores one crucial fact- The Empire Strikes Back. If Lucas was in the habit of hiring directors who would simply do his bidding, why did Irv Kershner’s work on the middle film of the original Star Wars trilogy stand out so strongly compared to the two other films?

I think with only the merest bit of pre-production work having been done, it might be a little too early to say that del Toro is going to be Jackson’s sock puppet on these films. While there approaches to fantasy films may be different, I think that del Toro and Jackson have a lot more in common than just being two hefty guys with beards. If the time comes where it may be obvious that del Toro took the gig just for the money and to get some juice to get his other projects greenlit, and I admit that may be a remote possibility, than I’ll be one to stand up and say so. Until then, let’s enjoy the anticipation of the best of what these films can be.

Mike Judge Heading Back To The Office, Director's Chair

Mike Judge, whose debut film Office Space has become a cult comedy classic, is heading back to the workplace with his new film, Extract. According to Variety, the film will look at "what it's like to be the boss when everything seems to be shifting around you." In this case, the boss will be Jason Bateman.

This is welcome news for fans of Judge's work as both a film director and as creator of the cartoon series Beavis And Butthead and King Of The Hill. After Judge's second film Idiocracy (2006), got unceremoniously dumped in just a few theaters by some boneheads at Twentieth Century Fox, Judge sounded as if he didn't want to direct another film. (Idiocracy is now quietly building its own cult audience on DVD.) Fortunately, he has had a change of mind. Let's hope that the folks at Miramax, who are set to distribute Extract, treat Judge and the film with a bit more of the respect he deserves.

New DARK KNIGHT Poster: World Without Rules

I have to hand it to the folks at Warner brothers, who seem to be tirelessly pumping out the promotion for the upcoming The Dark Knight. Over at the Why So Serious site, there's a new page which seems to be promising some new game in four days. (In the meantime, if you can’t identify at least half the subjects of the vandalized portraits than turn off your computer and head back to school.)

If you click on the knife pinning the joker playing card to the wall, you get the new poster below. For a much bigger, high resolution version, just click.

Review: HAROLD AND KUMAR ESCAPE FROM GUANTANAMO BAY

Stoners Harold (John Cho) and Kumar (Kal Penn) are back in a second comic mis-adventure that takes some seriously funny shots at the War on Terror and the veiled racism that underlies much of the administration's policies concerning it. Don't worry though, if you don't like outrageous political satire, the movie also has some highly silly moments and some nudity to keep you entertained.

You can read our full reveiw here.

This Week's Theatrical Releases

1. Baby Mama (2,543 Theaters, 96 Minutes, Rated PG-13): Movies are all about demographics. The more successful a movie is, the more demographics it covers.

This movie seems to have the female demographic locked up. It is about a woman in her thirties (Tina Fey) who is unable to have children on her own. She needs to go through a surrogate to house her eggs. That surrogate is the white trash Angie (Amy Poehler). Hilarity ensues in the resulting culture clash.

See, that right there is a parody on about 50% of the movies on Lifetime any given month. But I’d imagine that the powers that be are hoping that Tina Fey’s cache as the dream queen of the geek crowd will bring some men in. Or at the very least help the women drag their husbands/boyfriends into the theater.

But for me, the main selling point for Fey is her writing. Don’t get me wrong, she has strong comedic skills in front of the camera. But it’s her writing that I’d pay to see. If she was writing this movie, then it would be a “must see”. I’d love to watch her take on this subject matter. But, instead, it is written and directed by SNL alum Michael McCullers. That takes it from a “must see” to a “well, what do you think” kind of movie, at least in my eyes.



2. Harold & Kumar Escape From Guantanamo Bay (2,510 Theaters, 102 Minutes, Rated R): I’m sure that there will be many of you out there that are kind of shocked to find that the stoner movie sequel appears to be taking American politics head on, but the last movie, in addition to reviving Neil Patrick Harris’ career, did touch a bit on race relations in the United States. So, this one taking on post-9/11 paranoia isn’t too far off.

This movie directly follows the last one, as Harold and Kumar try to get to Amsterdam. Unfortunately, they try to sneak a bong on the flight. Since one of them looks Korean and the other Middle Eastern, Harold and Kumar are confused for terrorists and the bong is mistakenly considered a bomb and. The pair easily gets away, because, obviously, the authorities are morons, and cross-country escape hi-jinx ensues.

So, on the one hand, you have a modern day Cheech and Chong, on the other you have a satire of sorts on American policy. Now, you don’t have to feel guilty about going to see a pot infused caper movie because you can argue that it’s making a statement. And, besides, there might be a scene with Neil Patrick Harris riding a unicorn. How can you miss that?



3. Deception (2,001 Theaters, 102 Minutes, Rated R): It is a match up that I’m sure will warm the cockles of many a fan fiction writer’s heart. Ladies and gentlemen, this week, hitting movie screens, Wolverine vs. Obi-Wan Kenobi.

Okay, it’s really Hugh Jackman going up against Ewan McGregor. But that’s darn close. Close enough to wish for the “Snikt” of claws be unsheathed and the “Vrrrrunnn” of a lightsaber coming on.

The story revolves around a pair of friends who inadvertently swap cell phones. One of the men gets a phone call from a sexy woman wanting a sexual encounter. After a night of passion, he finds himself embroiled in a web of murder and intrigue.

I don’t know about you, but if I had a friend’s cell phone, I wouldn’t even answer it, let alone sleep with a woman on the other end. I mean, that is just asking for trouble. I guess we’re supposed to feel sympathy for Ewan, but I say he deserves what he has coming to him.

Three New HAPPENING Pictures

A few new photos from the upcoming M. Night Shyamalan eco-thriller The Happening have turned up. (Click to make bigger.)

In them you can see stars John Leguizamo, Mark Wahlberg and Zooey Deschanel all starring off-camera at something. Want to what? You can check out our script review for more details.






Via SlashFilm.

Del Toro To Direct HOBBIT Films Officially

From the Tell Us Something We Didn't Already Know Department comes word that Guillermo del Toro will be directing the announced adaptation of J R R Tolkien's The Hobbit as well as a second film designed to bridge the gap between The Hobbit and The Lord Of The Rings.

The news comes via an official announcement reported in Variety earlier this evening. But it does confirm what everybody had pretty much known for several weeks now. Del Toro even stated last weekend at the New York Comic Con, that the only thing standing in the way of an official announcement was a few last minute legal details.

Variety states that del Toro will relocate to New Zealand for the four years of production work required to produce the two films back-to-back.

While there are probably some Tolkien fans who are disappointed that Lord Of The Rings director Peter Jackson won't be sitting in the director's chair for the two films, he will still be very much hands on as a producer on the film. Additionally, it is believed, though not yet confirmed, that Jackson will co-write the two films' screenplays with his Lord Of The Rings collaborators Fran Walsh and Philippa Boyens.

De Palma's THE FURY Is Next For A Remake

I really think that I'm getting "Remake Fatigue." I just can't even work up the energy to write something sarcastic or annoyed by this news of yet another horror film remake.

I'll just give you the bullet points-

• Film To Be Remade: Director Brian De Palma's The Fury (1978), which starred Kirk Douglas and John Cassavetes
• Studio To Blame: Fox 2000
Screenwriters: Brian McGreevy and Lee Shipman
• How They Got The Job: Based on the strength of their unproduced horror spec script, Of Every Wickedness
• If Their Spec Script Is So Good, Why Isn’t Fox 2000 Making That Instead?: Recent Fox 2000 releases include Eragon, Alvin And The Chipmunks and 27 Dresses. Does that answer your question?

Via Variety.

A SWORD AND THE SORCERER Follow Up? Ummm... Really?

Somehow this one skated by my attention last week as I was preparing to head out to New York Comic Con, but evidentially, director Albert Pyun will be directing a follow up to his cult 1982 fantasy film The Sword And The Sorcerer. The project, titled Tales Of An Ancient Kingdom will reunite Pyun with his Sword star Lee Horsley.

Twitch had the low down-

The new film casts Horsley as a mercenary general and father to stars Christopher Lambert - himself making a return to the genre that made him an international star - Kevin Sorbo and Victoria Maurette. There are offers out to a number of other significant stars of the genre but nothing is final on those fronts just yet.

Twitch also reports that the film is more "a sequel in spirit than in story."

Sure, it’s been just over 25 years since the original Sword And The Sorcerer was in theaters, but I say ‘Why not?’ I mean, it is not like Horsley has an impeding Matt Houston reunion project to take up his time. And I am sure that the fact that Sorbo and Lambert being only a couple of years younger than Horsley won’t be too distracting for an audience.

Earlier today, AintItCool reported some follow up casting information, stating that Yancy Butler and Leah Cairns have joined the film’s cast. They also report that production is scheduled to begin on May 5 in Buenos Aires, Argentina and will end on location in Tunisia. They also state that the three-bladed sword from the original film will make an appearance.

Cannes Lineup Announced

Well the lineup for the Cannes Film Festival is announced, and though I will not be going, there are a few titles worth watching out for.

As expected, Indiana Jones And The Kingdom Of The Crystal Skull will be screening out of competition, along with Woody Allen’s latest, Vicky Cristina Barcelona. Oddly enough, the animated Kung Fu Panda is also screening, which gives me hope that the might be better than its trailer has indicated.

Competing films include Steven Soderbergh’s epic, two-part, four-hour bio-pic Che, screenwriter Charlie Kaufman’s directorial debut Synecdoche, New York and Clint Eastwood’s latest The Changeling. Atom Egoyan is back at the festival with Adoration, while Wim Wenders unveils his latest, the romantic thriller The Palermo Shooting with Milla Jovovich and Dennis Hopper. Two-time Palme d’Or winners Luc and Jean-Pierre Dardenne are back to shoot for a hat trick with The Silence of Lorna.

The Festival’s opening and closing night films have yet to be announced.

The complete Festival line up is as follows-

Competition
Nuri Bilge Ceylan - Three Monkeys (Turkey-France-Italy)
Jean-Pierre & Luc Dardenne - Le Silence De Lorna (France-Belgium)
Arnaud Desplechin - A Christmas Story (France)
Clint Eastwood - Changeling (US)
Atom Egoyan - Adoration (Canada)
Ari Folman - Waltz With Bashir (Israel)
Philippe Garrel - La Frontiere De L'Aube (France)
Matteo Garrone - Gomorra (Italy)
Charlie Kaufman - Synecdoche, New York (US)
Eric Khoo - My Magic (Singapore)
Lucretia Martel - La Mujer Sin Cabeza (Argentina-Spain)
Brillante Mendoza - Serbis (The Philippines)
Kornel Mondruczo - Delta (Hungary-Germany)
Walter Salles & Daniela Thomas - Linha De Passe (Brazil)
Paolo Sorrentino - Il Divo (Italy)
Pablo Trapero - Leonera (Argentina-South Korea)
Wim Wenders - The Palermo Shooting (Germany)
Jia Zhangke - 24 City (China)
Steven Soderbergh - Che (US-Spain-France) -- one four-hour competion title comprised of Guerrilla and The Argentine

Out of competition
Steven Spielberg - Indiana Jones And The Kingdom Of The Crystal Skull (US)
Mark Osborne and John Stevenson - Kung Fu Panda (US)
Ji-Woon Kim - The Good, The Bad, The Weird (South Korean)
Woody Allen - Vicky Cristina Barcelona (Spain-US)

Special Screenings
Marina Zenovich - Roman Polanski: Wanted and Desired (US)
Wong Kar-wai - Ashes Of Time Redux (Hong Kong-China-Taiwan)
Daniel Leconte - C'est Dur D'etre Aime Par Des Cons (France)
Marco Tullio Giordana - Sangue Pazzo (Italy-France)
Terence Davies - Of Time And The City (UK)

Midnight Screenings
Emir Kusturica - Maradona (Spain)
Jennifer Lynch - Surveillance (US)
Hong-Jin Na - The Chaser (South Korea)

Special Jury President's Screening
Alison Thompson - The Third Wave (US)

Philadelphia Film Fest Reviews: BAGHEAD and ALEXANDRA

The 17th annual Philadelphia Film Festival may now be a week over and in the history books, but we've still got plenty of reviews in the works for what screened there.

First up today is a look at the indie comedy Baghead, from the Duplass Brothers. While it will be coming out later this year from Sony Pictures Classic, we've got an advanced look at it for you now.

Also, Michael McGonigle is back, with an intriguing review of the Russian film Alexandra.

New PRINCE CASPIAN Trailer

With just a little over three weeks until it hits theaters, a second trailer for The Chronicles Of Narnia: Prince Caspian has shown up over on MySpace. If there was any doubt that this film was going to be a bit darker and perhaps a bit more action oriented than its predecessor The Lion, The Witch And The Wardrobe, than this trailer should put them to rest. Opening just a week before the highly anticipated return of Indiana Jones though seems like a risky gambit, giving the film only one week to catch it before their attention wanders away to a certain adventuring archaeologist.

Prince Caspian opens May 16.

Jessica Rabbit In The Flesh (Sort Of)

She wasn't bad, she was just drawn that way.

But now, Jessica Rabbit isn't just an image of ink and paint, thanks to the hard work by the anonymous blogger over at pixeloo. Whoever he/she is, they are quickly earning an online reputation for themselves by creating nearly photorealistic versions of cartoon characters. Previously, pixeloo has "untooned," as he/she calls it, Homer Simpson (fairly creepy) and Mario from all of those Nintendo video games (not as creepy).

For a higher res picture of what a real-life and decidely non-creepy Jessica Rabbit would look like, click on the completed picture below.


And if you're one of those types who like to know how the magician does a magic trick, click on the video below to see the first hour of pixeloo's work compressed down to ten minutes.

And here's a reminder of how Jessica moved in Who Framed Roger Rabbit?.

Via Cinematical.

NYCC: X-FILES Creator Chris Carter Wants You To BELIEVE

"All I can tell you is, is that there's a lot of information on the internet and there's a lot of speculation that stuff is planted or is leaked," states Frank Spotnitz, producer of The X-Files: I Want To Believe. "For our purposes all that speculation is perfect because we don't want anybody to trust anything they read on the internet. We don't want the surprise spoiled. I would say, 'Trust no one.'"

One thing you can trust is that during the New York Comic Con this past weekend, I and several other journalists got to sit down with Spotnitz and X-Files creator Chris Carter to discuss the upcoming movie.

You can read about that chat here.

CLOVERFIELD On DVD: A Buyer's Guide

The monster-takes-Manhattan film Cloverfield debuts on DVD tomorrow and there are a couple different versions of the disc for fans to spend their money on.

Fans who head out to Suncoast and FYE will have a choice between the disc's regular packaging and a limited edition steel book version, pictured at left.

Best Buy's Cloverfield disc comes with a special bonus DVD called "TJ Miller's Video Diary," which features nearly 30 minutes of behind-the-scenes footage shot by the actor who played Hud, Cloverfield's "cameraman."

KMart and Sears will offer free Cloverfield ringtones while Target shoppers can get a free CD, "Rob's Goin' To Japan Party Mix," with the purchase of their disc. The "Party Mix" CD will feature songs from The Vapors, Parliament, OK GO, Goldfrapp and five other bands.

New Animated STAR WARS:CLONE WARS Pics

This past weekend at New York Comic Con, Lucasfilm rep Steve Stansweet presided over a presentation promoting several things coming soon for fans of the Star Wars and Indiana Jones franchises. In addition to trailers for upcoming video games and a brief live interview with Seth Green and Matthew Senreich about the Star Wars edition of their Cartoon Netowrk show Robot Chicken, Stansweet screened a trailer for the upcoming animated theatrical film Star Wars: The Clone Wars, which will kickoff the television series of the same name.

I have to say that I wasn't really that impressed with the footage shown. I think it stems from the odd and uneasy juxtapositioning of the some elements that are far more photorealistic than others which are more stylized. It makes for an ugly and jarring combination. Of course, the writing might elevate the material, so there’s hope there.

In the meantime, Empire has scored a pair of new pictures from Star Wars: The Clone Wars' upcoming theatrical release in August. Click over to their site to check them out.

NYCC: HELLBOY 2 Creature Sneak Peak

Comic book fans looking forward to Guillermo del Toro's second adaptation of Mike Mignola's Hellboy series got an extra surprise Saturday during the New York Comic Con panel for the film, when several creatures took the stage for the duration.

The creatures are set to appear in an otherworldly outdoor bazzar, which will feature in the film.

For del Toro, their appearance at the panel fitted in with his belief that effects produced in the virtual world of the computer have their place, but should never become a crutch for a director to lean on.

"People think that I hate CGI," del Toro stated. "I don't hate CGI, but I hate it when it's lazy CGI. If a director that is making millions of dollars decided to take the easy route when he could have done it physically, I say 'Fuck you.'

"When the craftsmanship of things like prosthetics and animatronics have been taken as far as we can take them technologically, won't do then I agree. If something is too small or too big. You can't fit a performer in or composite a puppet in, then go CG. But that should be a tool, not a tool for just executives changing their mind or directors not working as hard as they should be."


del Toro explained that when it comes to creating the creatures that inhabit his films, he allows his designers to indulge themselves.

"The only thing I ask them is that they should not look like movie monster creatures," he explains. "They should have a flair or a flavor that is more unique than that. If it looks like the last Wishmaster movie or the last whatever, I reject it. What I tell them is 'Show me the best creature, the one you want to do the most.'

NYCC: Guillermo Del Toro Discusses Doing THE HOBBIT, Not Doing THE HOBBIT

Although on hand at this weekend's New York Comic Con to discuss his upcoming comic book adaptation Hellboy II: The Golden Army, Guillermo del Toro took a few minutes to address what might be next on his directorial plate, promising that an official announcement as to whether he will be directing the Lord Of The Rings prequel, The Hobbit for Rings-director Peter Jackson, within the week.

"It is my personal belief that in the next four or five days it'll be like watching the end of American Idol with a very fat singer," he said. "In the next four or five days, we will know if we were able to conclude every legal thing that is pending for me to be able to do it or not. It can go either way, but I can assure you very soon we will know and that’s all I can say about that. I hope I get to do it."

But if his deal to direct The Hobbit unexpectedly falls apart, Del Toro has plenty of options left open to him. The only obstacle standing in his way is finding a studio willing to front the money to make one of them.

“I would love to do Mountains Of Madness, of course, but unfortunately, they don’t finance it,” he admits, mentioning his long in gestation adaptation of the classic H. P. Lovecraft tale At The Mountains Of Madness. “It’s not a movie I can finance out of pocket, which I do when I can. It’s huge to create that city and so forth. The only thing I control is the smaller movies, Pan’s Labyrinth, Devil’s Backbone and so forth. I have other things - List Of Seven – these things need huge financing.”

If he is unable to secure the financing he needs to make one of these films, he would be just as happy to go back to making the smaller horror films on which he built his reputation.

“So I’m starting to sketch, to write and it’ll take me a couple of years to write this thing,” he states. “But I’m starting to sketch one more, perhaps final, little movie about childhood and horror. It’s called Saturn And The End Of Days. It’s about a kid named Saturn watching the Rapture and the Apocalypse while on the way back and forth from the grocery store. It’s like, what would happen if the Apocalypse was viewed by you [while] doing errands. You go back and forth and nothing big happens except the entire world is being sucked into a vortex of fire.”

NYCC: Will The Avengers Assemble For A Film?

If a film adapting the Marvel Comics superhero team The Avengers never comes about, it wouldn't be for lack of planning.

For the uninitiated, the Avengers is made up of several of Marvel's more popular characters, most of whom are currently being developed for their own solo pictures. The long term goal of Marvel is to establish the characters on their own before bringing them together for an Avengers film. To facilitate the notion that they all exist in a shared world, Marvel plans on planting little references to the other heroes in each others films.

During the panel for June's The Incredible Hulk at the New York Comic Con yesterday, fans got a glimpse of some of those cross-references.

In one of two scenes from the film that were screened for con attendees, Tim Roth's Emil Blonsky is seen being given injections of a chemical to boast his physical strength and agility, in order to track down and capture the Hulk. General Ross (John Hurt) explains this is a bioweapon leftover from an abandoned World War II project which tried to create a "Super Soldier Serum."

Any semi-literate comics fan can tell you that the Super Soldier Serum is what was used to transform the 98-pound weakling Steve Rodgers into the Nazi-smashing Captain America, who would subsequently be frozen and not revived until modern times. Marvel currently has a Captain America film in development.

When questioned about the mention of the Super Soldier Serum, Incredible Hulk director Louise Leterrier remarked, "Did you guys see the color of the serum? Blue. It's Captain America's color."

As for an Avengers movie in everyone's future, producer Kevin Feige stated, "Depending on how these films do, depending on how people respond to how we are making these films, I would certainly like to see that happen."

When asked point blank by a fan if there was any truth to the persistent rumors that Samuel L. Jackson was going to appear in the Hulk film as spymaster Nick Fury or that Iron Man star Robert Downey Jr. was going to cameo as Tony Stark, Feige remained elusive.

"I like when people are surprised in movies," he stated. "It doesn't happen very often any more. The truth is that there are some rumors you may have read about online that are not true, there are some rumors that are closer to true. You'll find out soon enough."

Fans didn’t know how soon Feige meant though. At the end of the panel, a new trailer for Incredible Hulk screened, followed by the questioned Robert Downey Jr./Tony Stark cameo. In the short scene, General Ross is in a bar, knocking back a drink, presumably after another failed attempt to capture the Hulk. Stark chides Ross over the problem he seems to be having with his bioweapon, stating he prefers mechanical weaponry. Ross, a bit drunk, compliments Stark on his suit. "You always have such nice suits."

The Incredible Hulk opens June 13, 2008.

NYCC: THE SPIRIT Teaser Trailer Premiers

As expected, yesterday's panel for comic book creator-turned-film director Frank Miller's adaptation of The Spirit at the New York Comic Con premiered the first footage seen from the film, in the f0rm of the teaser trailer below, courtesy of M-TV's Movie Blogs.





We'll have a full report on the panel presentation which featured Miller, the film's co-star Eva Mendes and two of its producers, Michael Uslan and Deborah Del Prete soon.

NYCC: WATCHMEN Figures

The photos that were released recently of the dysfuctional superheroes who populate the graphic novel adaptation Watchmen were met with criticism from some corners for appearing to be over processed. Perhaps these photos of figurines on display at Watchmen publisher DC Comics booth at this weekend's New York Comic Con will allay those fears, as they offer more detail of how the costumes will look in director Zack Snyder's upcoming epic.

NYCC: SPIRIT Teaser Poster!

While it was supposed to be unveiled later today during the New York Comic Con panel to promote Frank Miller's adaptation of the classic comic The Spirit, the teaser poster surfaced last night. Anyone familiar with Spirit creator Will Eisner's work will see the similarities here.

Stay tuned for our coverage of Miller's appearance at Comic Con, plus loads of other film related events from the show.

UPDATED: New GI JOE Cast Photos: Storm Shadow, Baroness, Duke And More!

UPDATE: Well, it seems as if WWTDD might have jumped the gun in releasing those photos, as Paramount's hired guns have sent out requests to take them down. The commentary on the photos remains though, as I am reasonably sure that Paramount Pictures does not own the copyright on my opinion.

Earlier this week, when the first picture of Scarlett from the upcoming adaptation of comic book/cartoon/toyline GI Joe showed up, I speculated that the production looks like it may be using generic black body armor for all the Joe Team members instead of their more distinctive, individual dress. It looks as if I'm right, if these new cast photos are any indication.

Below we see Channing Tatum as Duke and Marlon Wayans as Ripcord, the Joe Team's two newest members in the film, and they're sporting the same armor we've already seen on Scarlett and Snake Eyes. Randy Quaid as General Hawk and Karolina Korkova sport a slightly more comfortable look in standard issue fatigues. Rounding out the pictures is one of Byung-hun Lee as the ninja Storm Shadow and Sienna Miller as the villainous The Baroness.

My first impression is that this movie will make leather fetishists their happiest since the Matrix trilogy. My second impression is that these costumes are going to tick off loads of old school GI Joe fans.

The pictures turned up over at WWTDD, and if you head over there, you'll find a lot more where these came from.

*** PHOTOS REMOVED ***

INCREDIBLE SHRINKING MAN Remake Gets Worse