Chris Carter Pulls A CLOVERFIELD

As those watching for news leaks from the set of the upcoming X-Files: Fight The Future have learned, writer/director Chris Carter is good at keeping secrets. It should come as no surprise then that the Hollywood Reporter has uncovered that Carter is already midway through the production of his next film, Fencewalker.

The Reporter describes the film as "a coming-of-age semiautobiographical character piece with no supernatural elements." The cast reportedly includes Natalie Dormer, Katie Cassidy, Xzibit, Derek Magyar and Meckah Brooks.

The fact that the film is more of a drama than a genre piece may explain why it hasn’t shown up on the geek press radar. Both Carter’s and the cast’s agents would not confirm to the Reporter that the film was in production.

Produced independently on financing raised by Carter, the film has no distributor yet.

Poster: THE DAY THE EARHT STOOD STILL

If there is one film currently in production that I am NOT looking forward to seeing, it is the upcoming remake of The Day The Earth Stood Still. And despite what some would think, it has less to do with my continuing apathy towards star Keanu Reeves than it does towards the fact that this project even exists. The original not only is one of the best science-fiction films of all time, but one of the best films of the 1950s. Even today, though its special effects may appear dated, its message isn't. Director Scott Derrickson is going to have to go a long way to improve and come up with some worthwhile new take on the story, and I don't think he can.

The just released poster, via AintItCoolNews, doesn't give me pause to rethink my attitude towards the picture. If anything, its allusion to the scene in Steven Spielberg's Close Encounters Of The Third Kind where the aliens emerge from the mothership to greet the waiting scientists, makes me despise this film just a bit more.


Click to enlarge, if you dare.

Lee And Simon Discuss Marvel's Movie Slate; Plus: Potential AVENGERS Line-Up Revealed.

USA Today has a nice article on Marvel's slate of movies, where they speak with comic legends Stan Lee and Joe Simon about their creations who are due to hit the big screen.

But the paper also speaks with Iron Man director, Jon Favreau, who reveals that Marvel is pushing for the team line-up for 2011 Avengers film to be Captain America, Hulk, Thor, Ant-Man and Iron Man.

This should come as a surprise to no one, because by the time The Avengers is released, all of those characters should have had a film in theaters.

The movie Avengers line-up mirrors the line-up in the first several issues of the Avengers comic book. The Wasp, a female character who was the romantic interest of Ant-Man, was also a founding member of the comic book team. Hopefully, she will be a supporting character in the Ant-Man movie and eventually become part of the movie Avengers herself.

And, to further nitpick, the Hulk left the team in its second issue and Captain America wasn't defrosted until its fourth. But it is close enough for a Avengers comic book fan like me to get excited.

Could the Siegel Lawsuit Delay SUPERMAN Sequels?

Could the Big Red "S" be on the shelf due to a high-profile lawsuit? And does this mean good things for The Big Red Cheese?

In a recent press junket, Get Smart director Peter Segal was asked by AMC's SciFi Scanner blog about his upcoming Billy Batson and the Legend of Shazam, which adapts DC's Captain Marvel the screen. Segal's response raised a red flag for many comics fans.

Here is the back and forth about the comic book adaptation:

Q: You're working on an adaptation of Billy Batson and the Legend of Shazam. Why depart from comedy?

A: I think superheroes are heroes with flaws, and in their flaws, there is a sense of humor. A few people have asked me if I'm trying turn the film into a light comedy, and I'm saying absolutely not. However, real fans of Shazam know there's a great sense of humor just in the fact that a 13-year-old boy morphs into a 28-year-old superstud, Captain Marvel. There's almost a genre for movies like that - Big, 13 Going On 30 -- but they're all following in the footsteps of Shazam.

Q: There are a lot of similarities between this property and Superman. In fact, DC successfully sued for infringement in the '40s. Do you worry people will continue to connect the two?

A: I'll name two incredibly successful comics right now that are about a millionaire who wants to fight crime and uses technology to build suits and gadgets to help him do so. But quite frankly, I was concerned: Superman literally squashed Captain Marvel in the '40s. There are a lot of Captain Marvel fans who are saying he got a raw deal. And since there seems to be some legal trouble in ever bringing another Superman to the screen, now feels like the right time.

The legal trouble that Segal refers to could be the ongoing lawsuit by the heirs of Jerry Siegel over the rights to the Superman character. Earlier this year, a Federal District Court in California awarded the Siegel family a share in the copyright of the Superman story in Action Comics #1. Legal theorists, both armchair and scholarly, ponder what this judgment could mean to rights to the Superman character, and if the Siegels are due any money from any film adaptation. This could certainly delay any sequel until this matter is settled once and for all.

If this lawsuit is putting a hold on the sequel to Superman Returns, someone forgot to tell its star, Brandon Routh. In an interview with Comingsoon.net, Routh stated he expects to be back in the cape and boots soon:

CS: Do you have any expectation as to when you might go to work on "Man of Steel"?
Routh: I expect that we'll be working early next year. I know that Bryan [Singer] has pretty much finished out "Valkyrie" and is back in the states and is zeroing in on the story that he wants to tell. Once that arrives it's going to move pretty quickly. I think that everybody is getting excited. It's been three years now, really. It's hard to believe that it's been long, but everyone is getting jazzed and ready to go again. I certainly am.

The Superman Returns sequel, tentatively titled Superman: The Man of Steel, has been delayed from a proposed Summer 2009 release date by the project losing its writers, Michael Dougherty and Dan Harris, and further complicated by the Writer's Guild Strike of earlier this year.

So, could the Siegel lawsuit mean that it will be 19 more years before we get another Superman sequel? Or will shooting really begin in early 2009 like Routh claims. Either way, it looks like Captain Marvel is ready to step in and hold Supes place on the movie screens until this is all settled.

Academy Invites 105 To Join.

The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences has send out its yearly round of invitations to join its organization to 105 individuals on Monday.

Each year, AMPAS can only induct a maximum of 137 people. Invitations are usually sent out to a much lower number.

Notable names on this years invitation list include Jet Li, Diablo Cody, Judd Apatow and Sacha Baron Cohen.

For the full list of all 105 Invitees, click here.

FBOL Public Service: Another DISASTER MOVIE Poster To Avoid

We here at FilmBuff Online look out for our readers. We wish to warn you away from the movies of the team of Jason Friedberg and Aaron Seltzer (Date Movie, Epic Movie, Meet the Spartans). We do this by showing you the posters for their films so you don't accidentally stumble into theaters showing their films by mistake.

FilmBuff Editor Rich Drees brought one to your attention here. But the crafty buggers have caught on to us and released another poster to try and trick you. Luckily, we caught it so we could point it out:

Click to see it larger, if you really have to.

The low-brow humor of the poster is surely only going to get worse in the actual film, which hits August 29th.

Source: Cinema Blend

GI JOE Gets A Subtitle?

Is the new Stephen Sommers live-action G. I. Joe film getting a subtitle? It appears that way for at least part of the world.

The European film site Film1 was able to get a picture of a billboard at Amsterdam's Cinema EXPO which shows Channing Tatum's Duke and the film's logo with "Rise Of Cobra" underneath it. (Click to enlarge.)



The addition of a subtitle definitely shows that the studio is planning on turning the film into a franchise. The fact that the screenplay ends with some cliffhanging subplots only reinforces that idea. It also allows the studio to move away from the franchise's longrunning "Real American Hero" catch phrase, something that probably wouldn't help its overseas marketing in the current political climate.

Via AintItCoolNews.

Tarantino Confirms INGLORIOUS BASTARDS Script Is Done

In an interview with the Boston Tribune published over the weekend, Quentin Tarantino has confirmed that, at long last, he is definitely done writing the screenplay for his World War II epic Inglorious Bastards.

“I’ve been working on it for a long time,” he said. “And I literally just finished it, so it’s too soon to talk about it. It’s too new.”

Tarantino was being interviewed in conjunction with an appearance at the recently concluded Provincetown Film Festival. Tarantino’s first film Reservoir Dogs which played at the festival in 1992.

Last month, we reported that Tarantino has stated that he was done with the first draft of his script. Is Tarantino talking about a second draft or does "literally just finished it" translate as "about a month or so ago, I finished it"?

According to the article, Tarantino still hopes to have Bastards completed in time to debut at next spring’s Cannes Film Festival. Perhaps he needs to quit the public appearances for a while and get down to shooting this film?

Roth-less HOSTEL III In The Works

Although not a fan of gore slasher films, I may have been one of the few critics who actually had some positive things to say about Eli Roth's Hostel II. As oppossed to some other, similar films, I found Hostel II to have a very interesting subtext that could be seen as commenting on the geo-political landscape of the times.

At the time of the film's release, there was the usual talk of a sequel being a possibility, but Roth said that he had no interest in making a third installment. All the sequel talk became moot, though, after the film's unexpected underperformance.

But now that a little time has passed, it seems that the folks over at Lionsgate and Sony Screen Gems might be taking a third trip to the Eastern European establishment that allows the rich of the world to torture innocent victims. Bloody Disgusting has received confirmation from their sources that the two companies are beginning to talk about a new sequel.

While it is probably too early to know if this will be a theatrical or direct-to-DVD project, one thing for sure is that Roth will not be involved.

BREAKING: George Carlin Has Died

George Carlin, the groundbreaking social satirist whose "Seven Dirty Words You Can't Say On Television" bit sparked a court case that lead all the way to the Supreme Court and a national discussion on indecency and censorship, has passed away last night in Los Angeles. He was 71.

Primarily a stage comic, Carlin would take an occasional screen role, but a film career was something he never actively pursued with any vigor. He made his film debut in 1968's With Six You Get Eggroll, but didn’t take another film role until 1976's hit comedy Car Wash.

Carlin's most popular screen role is probably that of Rufus in 1989's Bill And Ted’s Excellent Adventure and its 1991 sequel Bill And Ted’s Bogus Journey. As the time travelling mentor to a pair of flakey would-be rock stars, he epitomized the futuristic cool society that their music would ultimately create.

He also appeared in three films by Kevin Smith. As Cardinal Glick in 1999's Dogma, Carlin portrayed a Catholic clergyman with some rather offbeat ideas about modernizing the Church. For 2001's Jay And Silent Bob Strike Back, he cameoed briefly as a hitchhiker who gives the titular duo some unorthodox advice about hitching a lift. In 2004's Jersey Girl, he was a tough, but understanding, father to single parent Ben Affleck.

Carlin also appeared in the 1987's Outrageous Fortune and 2003's Scary Movie 3. For 1991's The Prince Of Tides, he took a rare dramatic turn. He lent his voice to the animated films Cars and Happily N'Ever After (both 2006). Carlin also appeared in the 2005 comedy documentary The Aristocrats.

THE PIXAR TOUCH: Sample Chapter

Without a doubt the biggest success story in films in the past two decades has been the rise of PIXAR Animation Studios. A small sidebusiness started by George Lucas but sold off to Steve Jobs, the small northern California-based studio rose to prominence through a combination of smart business strategies and the boundless imagination of its output.

Recently, The PIXAR Touch, David A. Price's fabulously researched hostory of the company from its earlliest days to the present, has been released to some rave reviews. We haven't had a chance to dig into the book ourselves, but we can point you in the direction of something that may whet your appetite to read it.

This weekend, the New York Times, published a chapter excerpt from the book, which charts the development of Toy Story 2 from direct-to-home video quickie release to a feature film in its own right. The decisions that went into this evolution are as much practicle business ones as they were articstic, and makes for fascinating reading.

And if you're interested in reading The PIXAR Touch, click hereto order the book from Amazon.

SPIDER-MAN 4 To Come In May 2011?

If all the stars align, 2011 might be a busy year at the cineplex for Marvel movie adaptations.

Producer Laura Ziskin, promoting her one-hour Stand Up To Cancer fundraising special, announced to California and Nevada theater owners that the fourth sequel to the Spider-Man franchise is tentatively scheduled for a May 2011 release.

This might seem like a case of putting the cart before the horse because the script hasn't even been written yet, but director Sam Raimi previously stated that he'd be up for returning to the franchise if the script is up to snuff. And Tobey Maguire said he's be interesting in returning as the title character if Sam Raimi came back. So those are two dominoes that could easily fall in place if the script is quality.

If Spider-Man 4 does hit screens in 2011, it might be joining two other Marvel projects that year, The First Avenger: Captain America and The Avengers.

It might also put Marvel in the unenviable position of competing with itself. The First Avenger: Captain America is scheduled for May as well (May 6th, to be exact). Since the rights to Spider-Man franchise have been renewed by Sony, Marvel could have very little recourse if that studio decides to release Spider-Man 4 in the same month, or even on the same day.

Source: Los Angeles Times

Want To Hear The Ladies of THE SPIRIT Speak?

If you have ever wanted to hear Scarlett Johansson say to you, "On your knees then," well, this is your lucky day.

I'm sure by now everyone has seen these teaser posters released for Frank Miller's The Spirit:

However, if you want to hear the above characters say the lines of dialogue that have been photoshopped on their faces, click over to Yahoo Movies. They have a page showing the above poster montage and when you roll the cursor over the character's face, they say the dialogue.

Sound quality on the clips vary from character for character, so you might have to turn up the volume to hear anything.

Review: GET SMART

Can a television comedy with roots in the spy mania of the 1960s and the Cold War be relevant and find laughs four decades later?

That's the mission Steve Carell accepted when he stepped into Don Adams' iconic role of bumbling spy Maxwell Smart for a big screen revival of the classic televisino comedy Get Smart.

Does he succeed? Read our review to find out.

Rule Changes For Oscars Put Into Effect.

The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences approved two changes to their nomination rules Tuesday night in an effort to address controversies from years past.

A change was made in the Best Original Song category limiting the total number of songs that can be nominated from a single film to only two.

Last year, three songs from the movie Enchanted were nominated, causing a stir amongst people who believed that one or more of the songs Eddie Vedder contributed to the Into the Wild soundtrack should have been nominated.

My opinion is mixed on this rule change. Yes, if gives more songs an chance at Oscar gold. But it could also mean that there will be great songs that deserve to be nominated left of the list just because two other great songs are in the same movie.

The second rule change pertains to the Best Foreign Language Film category. In previous years, the five nominees for this category were chosen from a list of nine films determined by a 20-member Foreign Language Film Award Executive Committee. However, there were films that many felt were deserving of a nomination that didn't even make this short list.

Under the new rules, this special committee will be responsible for only three of the nine films on this short list. The rest will be determined by a "Phase 1 committee" composed of any voting member who see a minimum number of eligible films.

I think this is a great idea. It opens up the voting to a wider range of films and lets a wider range of opinions be heard. Now, if only they could apply something similar to the Best Documentary Feature category.

Via Los Angeles Times.

TCM To Air Charisse Tribute

Turner Classic Movies will honor the recent passing of one of Hollywood's greatest dancing stars, Cyd Charisse, by devoting its June 27th evening schedule to showcase three of her films.

At 8pm, TCM will present Singin' in the Rain (1952), featuring one of the most brilliant musical numbers ever filmed. As soon as her outstretched leg caught Gene Kelly's eye in the Broadway Melody sequence, you knew something magical was going to happen. Following this TCM will continue the magic by highlighting two of Charisse's famous pairings with Fred Astaire, The Band Wagon (1953) at 10pm and Silk Stockings (1957) at midnight. Time seems to stand still as they glide across screen in a combination of poise and explosiveness.

To quote our boss, FilmBuffOnline head honcho Rich Drees, "Stuff like this is one of the reasons why I think movie fans should treasure Turner Classic Movies." So take our word, allow yourself to become entranced in a complete mesmerizing experience of legs, grace, elegance and talent.

Weinsteins' Join The Movies To Broadway Caravan

The road between movies and Broadway used to be a one way street, running from the Great White Way directly to the Silver Screen.

But the success of musical theater adaptations movies such as Beauty and the Beast, Hairspray and The Producers has increased the flow of traffic in both directions. Now, The Weinstein Company is pulling on that highway with musicals based on some of their film catalog.

Variety is reporting that The Weinstein Company, who were longtime co-producers and investors on Broadway shows (including film to stage veterans The Producers and Young Frankenstein), will be taking the lead producer role on a number of film projects they will be adapting for the stage.

First up is a musical based on Finding Neverland, the 2004 movie starring Johnny Depp. They are eyeing a 2010 release for the stage production.

Another project in the pipeline is a Broadway adaptation of Pink Floyd's The Wall, with Roger Waters set to lend a hand in bringing his band's cult album to Broadway life.

Other films mentioned as Broadway fodder in the article are Shakespeare in Love, Chocolat, Cinema Paradiso, and Shall We Dance.

This is a risky proposition for the Weinsteins. Because for every Lion King there is a Tarzan, for every Hairspray there is a Cry-Baby, and for every The Producers there is a Young Frankenstein.

ZACK AND MIRI Have Ratings Problems

If you thought that a film with a title like Zack And Miri Make A Porno would sail through the MPAA's rating process with no troubles, then you probably aren't up on the long list of ridiculous and often contradictory decisions the board has made when it comes to assigning ratings to films.

Porno star Seth Rogen, now there's a phrase I'm sure he's proud to be a part of, has let slip to MTV Movies Blog that writer/director Kevin Smith's latest film may be facing some rough waters in terms of getting an R rating from the board.

The MPAA is gunning for us, I think… It's a really filthy movie. I hear they are having some problems getting an R rating from an NC-17 rating, which is never good.

Smith is no stranger to problems with the MPAA's rating system. His first film Clerks initially received an NC-17 rating based simply on the number of F-bombs dropped in it. The rating was changed on appeal. More recently, Smith's Clerks 2 featured a bachelor party scene with implied bestiality that reportedly passed the board's review with no problems. The ratings board's mindset on these matters is something that Rogen can’t fathom.

A guy f---ing a donkey, they ain't got no problem with. But a man and a woman having sex they seem to have real issues with, for some weird reason. It's insane. It's completely insane… They [fight against] sex stuff. Isn't that weird? It's really crazy to me that Hostel is fine, with people gouging their eyes out and sh-- like that. But you can't show two people having sex — that's too much.

Smith has already had one run-in with the MPAA over Zack And Miri, when he posted an internet-only teaser trailer for the film. Although the teaser contained no actual footage from the movie, he was asked to take it down by the MPAA as they had not approved it for release.

Smith has not commented directly on any further trouble he may be having with the film and the ratings board, though last night in a brief online Q & A he did mention that he has "been too busy dealing with the MPAA on other matters."

As most people who have watched the MPAA's decisions over the years, succinctly summed up in Kirby Dick's documentary This Film Is Not Yet Rated, know that consistency and common sense are two words that are not often associated with the MPAA or their film ratings process.

Zack And Miri Make A Porno will be released at the end of October.

This Week's Theatrical Releases

1. Get Smart (3,911 Theaters, 110 Minutes, Rated PG-13): Sometimes, Hollywood just mystifies me. The summer movie season is four months long, yet two of the biggest comedies of the season are opening on the same week.

Yes, instead of separating them by a week or two, where they won't take audiences away from one another, they have them fight it out on the same weekend.

Of the two, I am leaning towards this one. It just has higher concentration of my favorite things. It has Steve Carell, Anne Hathaway, Dwayne Johnson, Terrence Stamp, Masi Oka, Bill Murray, Alan Arkin and Maxwell Smart. How can anything compare with that combo?

Of course, having a great cast (or at least one where I like almost all of the actors) doesn't necessarily mean that it will be good. You have to take it for granted that it won't compare to the original TV show. But I am going in realizing that so my mind is slightly more open. But I have liked all the trailers I have seen. So, if I can see only one of the two movies opening this week, it's going to be this one.



2. The Love Guru (3,012 Theaters, 88 Minutes, Rated PG-13): Which isn't to say I am opposed to this movie. There has been a whole lot of snark aimed at this film. Everything to mean comments about the trailer and the released footage to Mike Myers reputation. But I'm not a hater of either Myers or this film.

As a matter of fact, I was getting the same vibe from this film's trailer as I did from the ones for the Austin Powers films. It appears to be a good mix of silly slapstick and weird humor.

So, I do want to see this movie, but Get Smart gets precedence this week. I wonder if I will be the only one who feels this way? And will that and the lower theater count equal up to bad box office for this flick?

The film is about an American child raised in an ashram and who eventually becomes a guru specializing in romance. He comes to the States to make his name as a self-help guru. His first task is to help a star Hockey player whose play is suffering because his wife left him.

Tarantino's INGLORIOUS BASTARDS To Be Two Part Film?

Quentin Tarantino is no stranger to long movies. Pulp Fiction and Jackie Brown both clock in at just over two and a half hours each while his martial arts/revenge saga Kill Bill needed to be split into two films.

Now it looks like his next film, the World War II film Inglorious Bastards is going to be a two part epic as well.

The news comes from AintItCoolNews' founder Harry Knowles, who has seen a forty minute interview Tarantino has done with Enzo Castellari, director of the 1978 film Inglorious Bastards, from which Tarantino is using as a starting point for his own film. The interview is set to be included on the film's DVD release on July 29.

Both films will share the same premise- a group of military criminals are being transported by plane to prison, when they are shot down by Nazi fighters. Surviving the crash, the criminals make their way to hoped for sanctuary in Switzerland, dodging both Allied and Axis troops.

Tarantino also stated that while in the past he often wrote dialogue for his characters based on who he wanted cast in the parts, he was writing this script with no specific actors in mind for the roles.

Last month, we told you about Tarantino's boast at the Cannes Film Festival that he would be back with Inglorious Bastards for the 2009 fest. Completing a two-part film as complicated as Inglorious Bastards undoubtedly is in 11 months when not even a a frame of film has already been shot seems like a bit of wishful thinking at this point. However, it does look as if Tarantino is getting closer to actually getting close to starting work on this film. I think.

Stamp Looking Forward To WANTED 2

Terence Stamp fans have it lucky this month. Not only is he appearing as the head of the evil terrorist organization KAOS in this Friday's Get Smart, he will be making an appearance in the Angelina Jolie action pic Wanted. But don’t be too discouraged if he only has a small role in that film. Stamp told MTV Movies Blog that his appearance in Wanted may be small, he will return taking a substantial part in a hoped-for sequel.

"I play a character who's called Pekwarsky," Stamp explained. "He’s an enigmatic character who doesn't feature a lot in the first one, but it’s something that’s written for a sequel."

It is exciting to see that long term franchise planning is not being restricted to just the typical three picture deals actors sign when hired for a film project. Producers are starting to think ahead and plan for potential franchises not just in their casting but in their storytelling as well. Marvel Studios has already come out of the gate with their plan to build to an Avengers superhero team film. Hopefully other producers are contemplating this as well, and not just in the superhero film genre. How interesting would it be to see another genre of film attempt the same thing?

What's Next For Leterrier? INCREDIBLE HULK 2? RUNAWAYS? 1602?

Even though The Incredible Hulk performed slightly under expectations ($5 million short of the projected $60 gross), Louis Leterrier is quickly becoming a name to be reckoned with in comic book movie circles. And some of his comments in the press junket for The Incredible Hulk lead fans to believe that the film will not be the last comic adaptation which will feature Leterrier's name in the credits.

First and formost might be Incredible Hulk 2. The sequel to Friday's opening is not set in stone just yet, but as of June 16th, the film had made over $92 million worldwide. This is over two-thirds of its $150 Million budget and a good sign that the film will make a profit. If it does, and word of mouth is strong on the film so it probably will, a sequel might be inevitable.

Not only does Leterrier seem receptive to returning for another shot at the Jade Giant, but he appears open to involving the fans in the process. He recently told MTV News the following regarding possible villains for the sequel:

I think that if we get to ‘Hulk 2′ I would go to Comic-Con and ask the crowd of people that actually love the movies, which one would you prefer to see, (Doc) Samson or the Leader?

I'll keep an eye out if Leterrier is there at San Diego this year so I can cast my vote.

But the sequel is not the only comic book movie that the director might be involved with. In a recent interview with IGN.com, Leterrier expressed interest in bring two other Marvel properties to the big screen, Runaways and 1602.

The most likely of the two would be Runaways. Last month, it was announced that series co-creator Brian K. Vaughan, currently a co-producer and writer on ABC's Lost, had started working on a script adapting his creation to the silver screen.

Leterrier had this to say about the property:

I know they are doing The Runaways and I really love The Runaways. I think it's a really good, smart comic book and I really like it.

The concept, a group of teenagers who runaway from home when they find out their parents are superhuman criminals, seems to be right up Leterrier's alley. The story should be filled with suspense, chases and action.

However, the project the director is most enthusiastic about is Neil Gaiman's miniseries 1602. He gushes:

You know what I'd love to do? 1602. I'd love to do that because it's so different. That's why Kevin [Feige, Marvel Studios honcho] and all of these guys are so smart because superhero movies will sort of fade away. If they keep them separate, people are going to get bored of them. How many Hulk movies, how many Spider-Man movies can you see? But by making them cross-pollinate and crisscross and have different stories and good guys become bad guys and all of that stuff… that will make them good. But 1602 is great because it's another take on the superhero. It's almost like Freaks and Clash of the Titans and all of this stuff that I love. And Neil Gaiman is a genius.

Unfortunately, while 1602 was a great series, adapting it to the screen would be a logistical nightmare. The story, which relocates the heroes of the Marvel Universe back in time to Elizabethan age, has a cast which features the X-Men, Fantastic Four and Daredevil--whose film rights are controlled by Fox, Spider-Man--whose film rights are controlled by Sony, and Doctor Strange and Nick Fury--who I'm sure Marvel would like to headline their own movies at some point.

On top of that, the concept might be manna for the hardcore comic fan, who is schooled in the histories and origins of these characters, but it could be difficult for the uninitiated to follow.

But if these two aren't enough, Leterrier has other comic properties he'd like to see made. He gave a list to the Los Angeles Times, although many of the projects are in the works with other directors. The list includes both Runaways and 1602 and other properties such as:

• The Avengers: A film of which is scheduled for a 2011 release. No writer or director is currently attached.
• The Adventures of Tintin: The European comic series which is set to be adapted as a live-action trilogy by Steven Spielberg and Peter Jackson. Spielberg is set to direct the first film, Jackson the second, and they will co-direct the third.
• The Boys: The ultraviolent Garth Ennis comic which takes a darky skewed look at the world of superheroes. The rights to the property have been acquired by Columbia Pictures.
• Y: The Last Man: Another Brian K. Vaughan comic, telling the tale of the only male to survive a plague which wiped out every other man in the world. DJ Caruso is attached to direct with his Disturbia star Shia LeBeouf in negotiations to star.
• Fables: The Vertigo comic book about fairy tale character exiled to the real world was being developed by CBS as a possible TV show in 2005, but it never made it to the air.

Of the projects mention without a director attached, Leterrier might be the best fit for The Boys. It will have to be toned down a bit for the screen, but the concept lends itself to the action movie genre that Leterrier has the most experience in.

AFI Names 10 Top 10.

This might not be news to anybody who stopped by their local CBS affiliate while flipping through the channels last night, but The American Film Institute has named the top ten films in ten different genres.

The genres selected were Animation (# 1: Snow White), Fantasy (#1: The Wizard of Oz), Sci-Fi (#1: 2001: A Space Odyssey), Westerns (#1: The Searchers), Courtroom (#1: To Kill A Mockingbird), Romantic Comedy (#1: City Lights), Gangster (#1: The Godfather), Sports (#1: Raging Bull), Mystery (#1: Vertigo), and Epic (#1: Lawrence of Arabia).

This format was a break from the usual, more cohesive Top 100 Lists the AFI usually presents. This means perennial AFI favorites like Citizen Kane and Casablanca were not on the list because they didn't fit into any genre, but films such as Back To The Future and Scarface were able to get some screen time.

For a full list of all 100 films, click here. And if you want to discuss any mistakes the AFI made in terms of omissions or inclusions, come back here and discuss it in our comments section.

SPEED RACER Postmortem: Is Anne Thompson Right?

There is an old maxim that goes: "Success has many fathers, but failure is an orphan".

This year's cinematic orphan has to be Speed Racer. The film, which cost an estimated $120 million to produce, has made just over $80 million worldwide in six weeks of release. It looks unlikely that it will recoup its budget and if it does, it will just barely.

Variety columnist Anne Thompson is acting as a one woman child services to try and find this failure's parents. She has recently published a column listing the ten reasons why Speed Racer sputtered.

As with any lists of this type, some of Thompson's logic has merit, some of it doesn't, and well, some of her logic doesn't make sense. We here at FilmBuff Online will go through her arguments, supporting some of her points and airing our disagreements with others. Because, even though Thompson is presenting her top ten list as fact, unless she interviewed every single person who didn't see the movie, her reasons are up for debate.

And, in honor of Speed Racer's automobile theme (and one of FilmBuff Online's favorite British journalists), we will be giving Green Lights to points we think are correct, Yellow Lights to points we think have some merit, and Red Lights to those we think Thompson is off base on.

1. “Speed” was simply too costly to score a hit with its target audience.

The logic behind this argument is that there is not a lot of money behind kid flicks. Well, the grosses for Kung Fu Panda ($164 million worldwide and counting), Chronicles of Narnia: Prince Caspian ($233 million worldwide and counting), and Horton Hears a Who ($293 million worldwide and counting) beg to differ. Family friendly flicks can make money at the box office, and the above grosses say that Speed Racer's $120 million budget isn't too high to be recouped from the family audience. So this argument is flawed. Red Light.

2. Producer Joel Silver is on a three-year losing streak.

I do not deny that Silver has produced a disappointing slate of movies in the past three years. How much this effects people coming to see his films, I really can't say. I doubt the casual moviegoer would know Joel Silver from the Silver Surfer. However, this might be more calling his eye for films to produce into question, and that issue might have merit. Yellow Light.

3. Franchise fever.

Thompson's reasoning is that Warner's was so desperate for another franchise, that they threw too much money at this project, hoping for a string of Speed Racer movies in the years to come.

This might hold water if Warner's didn't have a boatload of franchises in its catalog already (you think Mel Gibson couldn't be convinced to do another Lethal Weapon?). And, let us not forget that Warner is the parent company of the potential franchise factory that is DC Comics. All they need to do is follow the template laid down by Marvel and they could have loads of franchises to support them for decades to come. Red Light.

4. Brand confusion.

Thompson claims that the audience for the Wachowski's, who are known for R-rated fare such as Bound and The Matrix, aren't willing to accept them doing family friendly fare. To that I say that Ron Howard has gone from Ransom to How the Grinch Stole Christmas and Rob Reiner went from This Is Spinal Tap to The Princess Bride. So a successful trip from R-rated films to PG-rated films is not unheard of, if marketed correctly. Red Light.

5. Marketing Misdirection.

The idea is that Warner marketing to adults as an intense action film to fans of the Wachowski's stood at odds with their marketing it to parents and kids as a family film. I agree. It caused confusion in both audiences. The result? Both stayed away. Green Light.

6. Pixel fatigue.

I'm not really sure what Thompson is getting at here, but the gist is that the bright and bouncy CGI might have turned people away. I have to say that in a sense this is true. My wife suffers from a form of motion sickness and can't watch anything shot with a hand cam. The bright colors and blurred action in the trailer told her that this film wasn't for her. Green Light.

7. The pic’s soda-pop look might have worked better with older smarthouse audiences.

So, what Thompson is saying that the kid friendly audience is too small to support a blockbuster, but the arthouse, oh, excuse me, "smarthouse" audience isn't? Really? Red Light.

8. The running time was simply too long for a family film.

Simply put, the longer a movie is, the less showings theaters can fit in in one day. Less showings mean less income, especially in the first weekend before word of mouth hits. Add to that the short attention span many kids have, and that can equal less than stellar box office. Green Light.

9. The movie didn’t work anywhere in the world.

If by this, Thompson means that people didn't like it, she might be on to something. She continually points out that the movie tested well, but it was lambasted by the critics. Green Light.

10. The movie was ahead of its time.

The people who did like the film, like FilmBuff Online head honcho Rich Drees and comic book writer Peter David compare it to Blade Runner, a movie that was under appreciated in its time but grew to become a fan favorite. This certainly is possible. Green Light.

In summation, the failure of Speed Racer could be summed up in a combination of all of these reasons or for a totally different reason all together. Or, it could be simply that audiences didn't like it. But this could end up being a case of an orphan whose parents are never found.

Poster: Coen Brothers' BURN AFTER READING

If there's one thing I like about the Coen Brothers, it is that there films routinely show a wide knowledge of film history. Classic genres as diverse as slapstick, farce, suspense and film noir all inform their various movies. And sometimes, like in their upcoming dark spy comedy Burn After Reading, its possible that all those influences come into play. We don't want to give too much of the plot away, but the movie centers on anunpublished memoir written by a disgruntled former-CIA operative (John Malkovich) that falls into the hands of two dimwitted gym instructors (Frances McDormand and Brad Pitt).

What's great is the film's first released poster (click to make bigger), which appeared over at Cinematical. The bold color design and off-kilter, blockish design recall the style of poster artist Saul Bass, who created memorable promotional art for such films as Vertigo, Anatomy Of A Murder and The Man With The Golden Arm. The Coens are definitely giving us a hint of what to expect from the film when it opens on September 12.

BREAKING: Dancer Cyd Charisse Has Died

Cyd Charisse, the dancer known for her long, athletic legs, has passed away earlier today. She was 86.

One of the great dancers from Hollywood's Golden Age, Charisse starred in numerous musicals at MGM Studios and is perhaps best remembered for her work with Gene Kelly in Singin' In The Rain (1952) and Brigadoon (1954) and Fred Astaire in The Band Wagon (1953) and Silk Stockings (1957). Kelly, impressed with her talent, often stated that he felt that the management of the studio never knew how to properly showcase the dancer to the best of her abilities.

Below is Charisse's memorable appearance with Gene Kelly in Singin' In The Rain.

Via USA Today.

Own A Piece Of THE INCREDIBLE HULK.

Marvel.com is reporting that certain articles of clothing and set pieces from The Incredible Hulk are set to be auctioned off.

To the right is a gre