Comic-Con 2008: “Watchmen” Panel July 25, 2008 10:33 pm
Posted by Rosario T. Calabria in Comic-Con, Comic-Con 2008, Movies, News, Watchmen.add a comment
Warner Bros. panel for Watchmen was moderated by Jeff Jensen of Entertainment Weekly. In attendance were Malin Ackerman (Silk Spectre), , Billy Crudup (Dr. Manhattan), Matthew Goode (Ozymandias), Carla Gugino (Sally Jupiter), Jackie Earle Haley (Rorschach), Jeffrey Dean Morgan (The Comedian), Patrick Wilson (Night Owl). Co-creator of the graphic novel Dave Gibbons was also in attendance as was director Zack Snyder. Here are the panel highlights courtesy. Here are the panel highlights courtesy SuperHeroHype.com:
- Before the panel starts, SHH notes that they were told by Carla Gugino that Zack Snyder created a special title sequence for the start of the movie that’s not in the original Moore-Gibbons graphic novel. It was created to show the passage of time fromthe early days of the Minutemen to where they are in the film.
- Snyder recapped how the project came to be. He was contacted by WB. He felt that if he didn’t say yes, the project would ahve been done poorly by someone else.
- He says the cast and crew have all remained as consistent to the book and characters as possible.
- Gibbons talked about being on the set and was excited: It was like “being a kid at Christmas”.
- Asked about Alan Moore (who is notoriously against any of his material being translated to the big screen), Gibons said: “I wish that Alan could have the same sort of excitement and experience that I have.”
They screened a few clips, here are SHH’s summary of what was shown:
Okay, no full frontal nudity, but it starts with Manhattan blowing up guys in Vietnam as promised, really blowing them up into atoms. That’s followed by an image of the Comedian’s smiley face with a drop of blood splattered on it like the classic image from the comics. We see Rorschach walking into a room, which is the Comedian’s lair and we get to see the first images of the ink on his mask changing shapes. Next image is of Patrick Wilson as Dan Dreiberg (aka Night Owl but out of costume) sitting down with a lot of angst on his face (probably after finding out about the first deaths?) There is a scene with the Minutemen from the ’50s with the Comedian and Sally Jupiter in their early guises.
We see the formation of the palace on Mars which looks pretty amazing since it’s extended from the trailer, as well as an image of a watch as we see the early stages of Dr. Manhattan’s transformation. Another shot of the modern Silk Spectre unveiling the Owl Ship, pulling the covering from it. Lots more images of clocks and watches and more of Dr. Manhattan’s transformation, again from the trailer.
The next image was really cool, showing Nite Owl and Silk Spectre kissing from the dream sequence with the nuclear mushroom in the background… very cool, as well as a shot of President Nixon, The Comedian being slashed by his Vietnamese girlfriend/wife. A little bit of Matthew Goode’s Ozymandias, and some of Silk Spectre and Night Owl fighting crime. At this point, there are a lot of images that went by very fast, but essentially, it’s all stuff that’s in the comics with little bits of each of the characters. Rorshach looks very cool, though we never see him unmasked. There was no actual dialogue or narration in the clip reel as well as no titles, just some great scoring presumably by Tyler Bates and it all ends with the sequence of the Comedian being thrown out the window with the blood-splattered smiley face button following him, which looks amazing, just like the graphic novel. It looks great and hopefully they’ll shot it again!! (We love Zack for doing that for 300 a couple years ago.
Back to panel highlights:
- Asked about whether the movie will be as dark as the book, Snyder said that is a reflection on “all of us” and that the movie is about “what is darkness?”.
- Snyder said that they tried to incorporate all the supplemental material with no images into the movie.
- Here’s what Jeffrey Dean Morgan had to say about playing the Comdian:”There were days that I got home from work and I’d be in a daze. He does some particular things that I wouldn’t naturally do as a person, but like Dan’s character, we all pull for the Comedian.” (big laugh) “Every day was a challenge. I found getting into the costume and putting a cigar in my mouth helped get me into the mood to kill people.”
- The Smashing Pumpkins song used over the clip reel was chosen because tonally it made sense but also that it had irony. It doesn’t think it’ll be included the movie’s soundtrack though.
ComingSoon.net/SuperHeroHype.com also had a chance to talk to several of the cast and crew from the film and have provided the interviews for download. I’ve included the direct links below.
Patrick Wilson, Carla Gugino & Malin Akerman
Jackie Earle Haley & Jeffrey Dean Morgan
Click here for another report from the panel (via /Film).
Comic-Con 2008: Marvel Panel July 25, 2008 10:10 pm
Posted by Rosario T. Calabria in Ant-Man, Comic-Con 2008, Movies, News, Silver Surfer, The Avengers, The Incredible Hulk, Thor.2 comments
Marvel’s panel today at Comic-Con featured Kevin Feige From Marvel Studios, Editor-in-Chief Joe Quesada and Dan Buckley from Marvel Publishing and Craig Kyle from Marvel Animation. Here are the highlights courtesy ComingSoon.net:
- Kevin Feige said that the goal is to hire filmakers and get scripts in before casting their upcoming movies.
- Feige also said that The Incredible Hulk lived up to their expectations and that the Hulk will make a return.
- Marvel doesn’t believe they’ll ever get certain other characters back due to specific contractual obligations (i.e. it’s not likely Sony and Fox would let go of Spider-Man or X-Men).
- Thor and Ant-Man are their two highest priorities over the coming year.
- Feige wasn’t able to comment about whether Jon Favreau was officially signed on to direct Iron Man 2.
- Dr. Doom won’t be in the Avengers movie because he’s part of the 20th Century Fox contract with Marvel. He wouldn’t comment about whether he’d be apart of a future sequel.
- He confirmed that a script exists for a Silver Surfer movie, but Feige said he believes Fox is going to wait and see how X-Men Origins: Wolverine does before commiting.
- Marvel has no plans to license out any other characters that haven’t already been licensed out.
“Flashpoint” Premieres In New Timeslot With Solid Results July 25, 2008 3:53 pm
Posted by Rosario T. Calabria in CBS, Flashpoint, News, Nielsen TV Ratings, Swingtown, Television.1 comment so far
Flashpoint, the CBS series which switched timeslots with Swingtown, premiered in its new timeslot last night and drew okay ratings, improving upon its last Friday episode by 13% among the key A18-49 demographic. The series drew the following ratings: 4.5/8 HH rating/share, 6.73M viewers and a 1.7/5 A18-49 rating/share.
It was off slightly among households and viewers from its last episode (-2% among HH, -5% among viewers), but the growth among A18-49 is a key improvement, and is just 11% off from its series premiere rating in the demo (1.9).
It also was strong enough to post a first place finish in the timeslot across all three categories and improved upon last week’s timeslot occupant Swingtown by 15% among households, 27% among viewers and 6% among adults 18-49. Additionally, its retention from its lead-in was much stronger at 92% among households, 91% among viewers and 106% (or +6%) among adults 18-49 (compared to 65/60/84 for Swingtown last week), indicating that its a much better fit out of CSI, than was Swingtown. Though, that’s not all that surprising really.
Swingtown premieres in its new timeslot this evening. Be sure to check back in the future for my analysis of its ratings (Update: My post analysing Swingtown’s first Friday night ratings has been posted. Read it at this link).
Broadcast TV Ratings for Thursday, July 24, 2008 July 25, 2008 2:52 pm
Posted by Rosario T. Calabria in Broadcast TV Ratings, News, Nielsen TV Ratings, Television.add a comment
Comic-Con 2008: “Mirrors” Red-Band Featurette + MPAA Rejected Posters July 25, 2008 2:12 pm
Posted by Rosario T. Calabria in Featurettes, Mirrors, Movie Posters, Movies, News, Trailers.add a comment
20th Century Fox has released a new red-band featurette for Alex Aja’s Mirrors which has the director talking about the making of the “signature” jaw-rip scene. Check it out at this link. Also, ShockTillYouDrop.com got their hands on three posters that were rejected by the MPAA (one of them teased at the right). Check them out after the jump.
Legendary Pictures To Co-Finance “Gears of War” Movie July 25, 2008 2:03 pm
Posted by Rosario T. Calabria in Gears of War, Movies, News, Videogames.add a comment
Variety is reporting that Legendary Pictures has come on board to co-finance and co-produce the videogame adapation of Gears of War, from Microsoft and Epic Games. The film will be directed by Len Wiseman, and Chris Morgan is writing the script. The film’s being targeted for a 2009 release.
Source: Variety
Third “Harold & Kumar” On The Way July 25, 2008 2:00 pm
Posted by Rosario T. Calabria in Harold & Kumar, Movies, News.add a comment
Jon Hurwitz and Hayden Schlossberg (writers of both Harold & Kumar Go to White Castle and Harold & Kumar Escape From Guantanamo Bay, which they also directed) have been set to return to write and direct a third installment in the comedy film franchise. Both John Cho (Harold) and Kal Penn (Kumar) will reprise their roles.
Combined, the prior two films have grossed just $64.38M worldwide (23.94M for the first, $40.44M for the second), but were both made on very small budgets ($9 and $12 Million, respectively).
Source: Variety
DiCaprio Teaming With Warner Bros. on “Twilight Zone” Movie July 25, 2008 1:54 pm
Posted by Rosario T. Calabria in Casting, Movies, News, The Twilight Zone.add a comment
THR is reporting that Warner Bros. and Leonardo DiCaprio’s production company Appian Way are in the early stages of developing material for a feature film take on one ore more episodes from the classic TV series The Twilight Zone. THR adds that the companies are not looking to remake an episodic movie like the big-screen version of the movie 25 years ago did, but instead they want to build a storyline from one ore more of the episodes.
Source: THR
Singer Developing Live-Action “Freedom Formula” Feature Film July 25, 2008 1:51 pm
Posted by Rosario T. Calabria in Casting, Comic Books, Freedom Formula, Movies, News.add a comment
Bryan Singer’s Bad Hat Harry Productions studio has teamed with Radical Pictures to develop a live-action feature film from the five-issue comic book series Freedom Formula, created by Edmund Shern. The comic book will be introduced at Comic-Con and be released in August. “This is a timeless story about young people struggling to break free of authority. That’s what ultimately appealed to me,” Singer said.
Source: Variety
Lucy Liu and Mark Hamil Voicing “Afro Samurai: Resurrection” + Trailer Released July 25, 2008 1:48 pm
Posted by Rosario T. Calabria in Afro Samurai, Afro Samurai: Resurrection, Movies, News, Spike TV, Television, Trailers.add a comment
Spike TV has announced that Lucy Liu and Mark Hamil will be voicing characters in the original movie Afro Samurai: Resurrection, which debuts on the network in January 2009. The network has also released a trailer for the movie, check it out at this link.
Orci and Kurtzman Talk “Transformers 2” July 25, 2008 1:26 pm
Posted by Rosario T. Calabria in Movies, News, Transformers, Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen.add a comment
Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen writers Roberto Orci and Alex Kurtzman told MTV not to expect the Transformers going up against Dinosaurs (Dinobots) in the sequel: “We couldn’t quite figure out how to justify a robot that would pretend to be a dinosaur,” Orci said.
The duo also shot down a re-appearance of Megatron: “Didn’t he get thrown into the bottom of the ocean?” Kurtzman laughed, with Orci adding, “That would be silly” in regards to the characters return.
Lastly, Orci revealed that while the first film was about a boy and his car, this one is “about being away from home. It’s a few years later and Sam is going to finally go to college and he’s going to face being away from home just as the autobots are having to deal with being away from Cybertron.”
Comic-Con 2008: Justin Marks Writing New “Children of Men”-Style SF Film July 25, 2008 12:55 pm
Posted by Rosario T. Calabria in Comic-Con, Comic-Con 2008, Movies, News, Sci Fi, SF.add a comment
After the panel for Devil’s Due, where writer Justin Marks discussed the comic book Hack/Slash coming to the big screen, /Film had the opportunity to speak with the writer and he revealed that he is penning a new SF film in the style of Children of Men.
It deals with man’s exploration of the universe. I grew up on 2001, Alien, Aliens, Alien 3 even, are movies that I kind of love, but they have kind of steered science fiction towards horror. I want to bring the genre of space travel back to contemporary science fiction. The movie starts with a murder in zero gravity and goes from there.
Comic-Con 2008: Showtime’s “Dexter” Panel July 25, 2008 12:03 pm
Posted by Rosario T. Calabria in Comic-Con, Comic-Con 2008, Dexter, News, Showtime, Television.1 comment so far
UPDATED 7/25/2008 AT 2:55PM: The trailer has been released on Showtime’s website. Check it out at this link.
In attendance at the Showtime panel for Dexter were Michael C. Hall, Julie Benz, Clyde Phillips and Melissa Rosenberg. Kristin of E! moderated the panel. Here are the highlights courtesy TV Squad.
- The crowd booed at the mention of Dexter reruns appearing on CBS.
- Scenes from the upcoming season were screened, including a “botched kill” by Dexter. He wasn’t sure of the man’s guilt, and that seems to be one of the main themes of the new season.
- The trailer shown, which featured new addition Jimmy Smits, will appear on showtime.com shortly.
- Smit’s character is considered a friend of Dexter.
- Themes of the new season include Family values and the evolution of Dexter as a man.
- Lundy will not be back this season.
- Phillips said that comic books would be a natural fit for the show.
- A Dexter videogame was announced. It’ll appearfirst on iPhone and iPhone Touch.
- There’s a “huge shocking reveal” in the season premiere something that Dexter cannot pull back from.
Read the full report at this link, which also includes pictures.
Here’s a summary of the trailer that was shown (via /Film–click to read their full report):
The trailer started off with Dexter getting up in the morning, brushing his teeth, taking a shower…everything that everybody normally does when the get up first get up from bed. As it showed clips of him doing this, Michael C. Hall doing one of his chilling voiceovers said “life is a ritual, hurtful, and controlling”. We see quick clips with familiar characters and also one new face for this series. Jimmy Smit, of CSI-Miami fame, will be joining Miami-Dade Police Department. And this time, instead of working in the law enforcement, he’ll be a rookie hard-nose District Attorney, put in the position to clean up the crime-ridden streets. Probably not the best thing for our favorite killer.
As the trailer went on, I started to notice that Dexter might have done the unthinkable, kill a innocent person. It had a voice over of Dexter talking about how he gave in to one of his impulses and not following “Harry’s Code”. He then went on to say something very disturbing, “If I still cared what Harry thought, I’d feel bad”. The trailer ended soon after that. But not after the words “The student becomes the master.”
Comic-Con 2008: Comedy Central’s “TV Funhouse” July 25, 2008 11:28 am
Posted by Rosario T. Calabria in Adult Swim, Comedy Central, Comic-Con, Comic-Con 2008, Morel Orel, News, Television, TV Funhouse.add a comment
Comedy Central’s two-hour panel on TV Funhouse began with a speech by Triumph the insult comedy dog and the panel included Smigel, Dino, Smigel, Dino Stamatopoulos (Morel Orel) and Tommy Blacha (Metalocalypse). Odenkirk moderated the panel. Here are the highlights courtesy TV Squad.
- They showed clips from TV Funhouse.
- Dough Dale, the host of TV Funhouse, showed up via internet midway through, discussing various aspects of the show and entertained with various hats, puppets and facial expressions.
- The Anipals made an appearance.
- It was announced that Morel Orel will not be returning to Adult Swim after the 13 episodes air this season.
- Tommy Blacha mentioned that Metalocalypse would be returning.
- Smigel inferred that he may not be returning to Saturday Night Live this season, mentioning that he was barely on last season due to budget cuts, though he wasn’t bitter about it and defended the show when an audience member said everything on the show, save his bits, were crap.
Read the entire report at this link, which also includes pictures.
MTV Remaking “The Rocky Horror Picture Show” July 25, 2008 11:16 am
Posted by Rosario T. Calabria in Movies, MTV, News, Television, The Rocky Horror Picture Show.add a comment
It’s hard to imagine this being anything but a very, very bad thing. Variety is reporting that MTV is readying a remake of the 1975 cult classic, The Rocky Horror Picture Show. Lou Adler, the executive produce of the original film, is partnering with BermanBraun and Fox Television Studios on the two-hour remake. They say that the film will use the original screenplay by Jim Sharman and Richard O’Brien but may also include music not featured in the original. “I’d like to see it shown a year from this coming Halloween, but that’s up to MTV,” Adler said. At least Adler is involved. Then again, why make a new movie if all you’re doing is remaking it?
Comic-Con 2008: HBO’s “True Blood” Panel [UPDATE] July 24, 2008 11:55 pm
Posted by Rosario T. Calabria in Comic-Con, Comic-Con 2008, HBO, News, Television, True Blood.1 comment so far
UPDATED 7/25/2008 AT 12:00PM: /Film has put up their report on the panel for this series, and they’ve also added a few photos from the presentation and other misc. promotional material on the show at Comic-Con. Read the report at this link.
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HBO held a panel discussion on their upcoming vampire drama True Blood (premieres September 7th at 9pm). Cast and crew in attendance were Alan Ball, Charlaine Harris, Anna Paquin, Stephen Moyer, Ryan Kwanten, Rutina Wesley, Sam Trammell and Nelsan Ellis. Here are the highlights courtesy TVSquad.com.
- A trailer was shown.
- Harris is working on the 9th book in the series right now.
- Alan Ball said the show will be true to the book as much as possible without making Paquin work every single day on the set.
- Lafayette runs a gay porn website in the show, unlike in the books, and to that Harris said: “I’m good with it.” That got a laugh out of the crowd.
- The casting of Quinn. Harris said he’s her “personal homage to Vin Diesel.”
- Alan Ball said he didn’t want to give away whether Bubba would be on the show.
- Only three days of shooting are left and then the season is wrapped.
- Alan Ball said he doesn’t have time to check up on what fans are saying online. All he can do is try to be as strue to Harris’ vision and he takes fans of the books seriously.
- The first season will basically be book one and at least for the most part not show anything from the second book.
You can read the full report at this link.
Comic-Con 2008: Jackman Makes Surprise Appearance, Shows Off “X-Men Origins: Wolverine” Footage [UPDATE] July 24, 2008 11:55 pm
Posted by Rosario T. Calabria in Movies, News, X-Men, X-Men Origins: Wolverine.add a comment
UPDATED 7/25/2008 AT 1:00PM: Despite not creating the character Wolverine, Stan Lee will have a cameo in the film. [MoviesOnline.ca]
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20th Century Fox had a special treat for fans attending the studio’s presentation today at Comic-Con. The actor, who plays Wolverine/Logan in the upcoming X-Men spinoff X-Men Origins: Wolverine presented to a crowd footage from the film.
Here’s what was shown, via IGN:
The trailer-like sequence opens with Logan and Creed in a military prison cell where they survived execution by firing squad for decapitating a senior officer. They are met by Colonel William Stryker, who offers them a chance to serve their country by taking part in the Weapon X program. We then saw glimpses of the team’s different members: Blob, Deadpool. Wraith and, in perhaps the biggest mass geekgasm Hall H has ever heard, Gambit.
We then see Logan in the tank where he undergoes the adamantium process, awakening in a beserker rage and slashing down a number of guards. Stryker then calls on Creed, clad in a black trenchcoat and black outfit, to hunt down his old Army buddy Logan. You can imagine how that turns out.
The footage showed Gambit tossing his trademark cards and riding a motorcycle. There was plenty of shots from a chase sequence between Wolverine on a motorcycle, Army trucks and a helicopter. The wartime sequences appear to be set in the Vietnam era, with the New Zealand countryside doubling for Southeast Asia.
Click here to read ComingSoon.net’s report on the panel.
X-Men Origins: Wolverine hits theaters on May 1, 2009.
Comic-Con 2008: “Battlestar Galactica”-Related Panels [UPDATE] July 24, 2008 11:55 pm
Posted by Rosario T. Calabria in Battlestar Galactica, Comic-Con, Comic-Con 2008, News, Sci Fi, Television.add a comment
UPDATED 7/25/2008 AT 12:15pm: TV Squad has put up their report from the panel. Read it at this link.
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There are several panels going on at Comic-Con this week related to the SCI FI series Battlestar Galactica, and the Galactica SitRep blog is on top of all the events. Here is some of what’s going on:
- SCIFI.com forums members have a pinned thread at the site set up to discuss the Con and share experiences and photos and what not.
- Wired, Discover blog, and io9 have observations from today’s BSG 30th Anniversary panel that included Richard Hatch, Bear McCreary, Tom DeSanto and Kevin Grazier.
- io9 has a post up discussing the 2001 aborted Bryan Singer BSG project: “…Singer’s production company was working on a $13.5 million backdoor pilot for a new BSG, which would air on Fox and then on the Sci Fi Channel. The episodes would have been letterboxed, and the repeat airings on Sci Fi would have had extra footage. DeSanto said the story of the humans “forgetting their purpose” and living in super-capitalist decadence on New Caprica mirrored what he was seeing of his friends during the tech boom around 1999-2000, with people obsessing about their stock portfolios. And just like the Cylon attacks in the abortive Singer pilot, 9/11 brought people back to a sense of purpose.”
I’ll post more when I see it.
Comic-Con 2008: “Red Sonja” Panel + “Conan” News [UPDATE x2] July 24, 2008 11:55 pm
Posted by Rosario T. Calabria in Comic-Con, Comic-Con 2008, Conan, Movies, News, Red Sonja.add a comment
UPDATED 7/26/2008 AT 7:15PM: ComingSoon.net has put up a new article featuring several interviews with the cast and crew. Check it out at this link.
UPDATED 7/25/2008 AT 12:45PM: /Film has put up their report from the presentation. Read it at this link. Also, some photos from the panel and the film have also been released, including two posters. Check them out after the jump.
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Robert Rodriquez was present at the panel for Red Sonja, starring Rose McGowan. No footage has been shot yet, so the panel consisted mostly of promotional images that showed McGowan in character. One such promotional photo has been prepared as a mini-poster and will be handed out to fans after the panel.
Rodriquez told audience members that because of other commitments he won’t be able to direct ‘Sonja’, which will instead be directed by his friend Douglas Aarniokoski.
But perhaps the bigger news to come out of the panel was that Rodriquez revealed he’s in early talks to produce the upcoming Conan film. ComingSoon.net promises poster art and exclusive interviews with Rodriquez, McGowan, Aarniokoski and writer David White later in the day.
Comic-Con 2008: “Doctor Who” and “Torchwood” + Torchwood Star Up For Role as Captain America? [UPDATE] July 24, 2008 11:55 pm
Posted by Rosario T. Calabria in Captain America, Comic-Con, Comic-Con 2008, Doctor Who, Movies, News, Sci Fi, Television, Torchwood.1 comment so far
UPDATED 7/25/2008 AT 12:15PM: The trailer for the Doctor Who Christmas 2008 special that was screened at the panel has been leaked on YouTube. Check it out at this link, or embedded after the jump.
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Writers Julie Gardner and Steven Moffat were in attendance today at the Doctor Who panel. Here are some highlights courtesy TVSquad:
- Series 5’s premiere was being written on the plane over by Steven Moffat.
- Steven Moffat is hilarious. When asked about writing for the show: “I decided to give up a life of friends to write for it” and “a life of virginity has kept me pure.”
- Gardner asked Moffat about the first time writing “INTERIOR: Tardis” in a script. Moffat said it was like giving him “an enormous toy to play with.”
- Some highlights were shown from episodes Steven Moffat wrote. One was an episode about a spaceship from the 51st century stalking a woman from 18th century, ‘Blink’, an episode about “The Library,” though not an episode about “The Empty Child,” which Moffat wrote and he was disappointed wasn’t shown.
- An attendee mentioned attending a reading by Niel Gaiman where she asked him if he’d write an episode of Doctor Who with Moffat, to which he said “would be nice.” Moffat replied with the same “that would be nice.” So who knows? Hell I’d start watching this show if that happened!
- Lots of questions were asked that could be big spoilers, and Moffat simply wouldn’t say a word about them or would jokingly whisper the answer to Gardner. There was one mention of one character having met more than one of the Doctors before, but I’ll have to go back to listen to that again.
- When asked about whether he had a hard time getting into the country for Comic-Con, Moffat joked, “Yes! I don’t know if you know this about your country, but you hate us!”
- We were treated to an extended trailer for the 2008 Christmas episode, featuring the return of the Cybermen.
There was also a panel for the Doctor Who spin off Torchwood, where it was revealed that the series was just this morning given a green light for a third season. It will air first in the U.K., followed by a US release shortly thereafter.
Also, Steven Moffat gave an interview with ComingSoon.net. Click here to read it.
Also, John Barrowman, star of Torchwood, was just asked at the panel forthe show if ther was any possibility he would be playing Captain America in the upcoming film The First Avenger: Captain America (May 6, 2011). Here’s what Barrowman said (via ComingSoon.net):
He smiled and gave the stock answer that he’d love to play the character and that Captain America has always been his favorite comic book superhero. Clearly, though, the notion did not take him by surprise and he ended up admitting there had been discussions with his agents and meetings on that very issue.
Comic-Con 2008: Title Change for “Wizard’s First Rule”, Now Called “Legend of the Seeker” + New Trailer July 24, 2008 10:56 pm
Posted by Rosario T. Calabria in Comic-Con, Comic-Con 2008, Legend of the Seeker, News, Syndication, Television, Wizard's First Rule.5 comments
The biggest news out of the panel for the Sam Raimi produced Syndicated series Wizard’s First Rule, was that the show has a new title: Legend of the Seeker. According to the panelists and the author, Terry Goodkind, the name change was made to focus on the hero of the book, rather than the main book of the series. Here are some highlights from the panel courtesy TVSquad.com.
- The show will begin airing in Syndication on November 1st (filming has already begun) and has been cleared in about 97% of the nation. It will air on Saturday nights.
- The first season will be 22 episodes, including the two-hour season premiere. Each episode will be standalone and feature a beginning and an end. It will cover the main plot points of Wizard’s First Rule.
- Everyone on the panel agreed that the syndication market was the right avenue for the series.
- They announced that Bruce Spence (The Matrix Revolutions) will portray Zedd and Jay Laga’aia (Star Wars: Attack of the Clones and Revenge of the Sith) will portray the boundary patrolman Chase.
Click here to read the full report and to check out some photos from the panel.
They also debuted a new trailer which can be found at this link.
Comic-Con 2008: New “Eagle Eye” Clip and Viral July 24, 2008 10:28 pm
Posted by Rosario T. Calabria in Eagle Eye, Movie Trailers, Movies, News, Viral.add a comment
Today at Comic-Con, DreamWorks/Paramount unveiled a new extended clip from the D.J. Caruso-directed thriller Eagle Eye, starring Shia LaBeouf, Michelle Monaghan, Rosario Dawson, Michael Chiklis, Anthony Mackie and Billy Bob Thornton. The clip can be viewed at this link and promotes an upcoming viral game at EagleEyeMovie.com/FreeFall, which itself launches on September 5th.
Synopsis
In the wake of his overachieving twin brother’s mysterious death, a young slacker (Shia LaBeouf) learns that he and a single mother (Michelle Monaghan) have been framed as terrorists by an unknown source in this thriller from Disturbia director D.J. Caruso. As a result of the accusation, the desperate pair is forced into an alliance with a dangerous sleeper cell preparing to carry out a high-profile political assassination. Only by infiltrating and exposing the masterminds behind this diabolical plot will the unjustly accused pair be able to prove their innocence and prevent a series of catastrophic events from unfolding. Rosario Dawson, Billy Bob Thornton, and Michael Chiklis co-star.
Eagle Eye hits theaters on September 26.
Aronofsky and Self Confirmed for “Robocop” July 24, 2008 9:58 pm
Posted by Rosario T. Calabria in Casting, Movies, News, RoboCop.add a comment
Darren Aronofsky (The Fountain) is no longer the rumored director of the upcoming Robocop installment. MGM today announced that they’ve signed Aronofsky to direct and David Self (Road to Perdition) to write a new installment for its RoboCop franchise. The press release follows after the jump.
Comic-Con 2008: “Tron 2” Teaser Debut + Jeff Bridges Returning July 24, 2008 9:49 pm
Posted by Rosario T. Calabria in Comic-Con, Comic-Con 2008, Movies, News, Tron 2.add a comment
Disney treated Comic-Con goers to a pleasant surprise today, as the studio unveiled the first teaser trailer/footage for the highly anticipated sequel to the 1982 film Tron. Here’s what was shown (via ComingSoon.net):
A blue figure – obviously on the run – is being tracked down by a yellow figure on a cycle. The blue figure dives forward with a bar in hand. Around the bar – and figure – a super sleek blue lightcycle forms and the chase in on.
The figures are cool updates of the 1982 warriors. Gone are the glowing blue/red/yellow faces, now replaced by helmets with clear facemasks housing what looks like holographs of human faces.
The cycles dip and dodge through a translucent, multi-level track that appears both digital and organic. The blue cycle is forced down a narrow crevasse between two ledges while the yellow bike takes the high road. The blue cycle emerges at the end of the path only to be cut off by the yellow bike’s ‘laser trail’. The blue bike smashes into a million pieces sending the blue rider flying in slow motion and flipping through the air. He lands and skids to a halt.
All of this activity is being observed from a high, cliff-side structure by a human figure – an older, bearded Kevin Flynn! Played again by Jeff Bridges, a very serene looking Flynn appeared first in a meditative position in the center of a large room. He arises, then walks to the window and peers down onto the action below.
The yellow figure ‘retracts’ his lightcycle walks over to the downed blue figure… and finishes the job.
The footage ended with a ‘2’ appearing in the traditional Tron font and the TR2N emerging around it. The TRN faded away leaving the 2 alone on the screen again.
Click here for another account of the presentation (via /Film).
Comic-Con 2008: New ‘Punisher: War Zone’ Poster [UPDATE] July 24, 2008 8:00 pm
Posted by Rosario T. Calabria in Movie Posters, Movies, News, The Punisher: War Zone.add a comment
UPDATED 7/25/2008 AT 2:00PM: The extended red-band trailer that was shown at the panel has been released online. Check it out at this link via IGN, or watch it embedded after the jump.
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SuperHeroHype got their hands on a brand new poster for The Punisher: War Zone [October 5, 2008]. Check it out below.
(click to enlarge)
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