No matter how you look at it, one group of dedicated fans aren't going to be very happy about this. In an interview with MTV Movies blog, writer/director David Goyer dropped the hint that his X-Men origin flick Magneto may be taking a back seat to his Invisible Man update -- not the choice I would have made, but maybe Goyer is a little 'Superheroed' out. Goyer tells MTV that Magneto, "may be next," but he wouldn't confirm which film is going to get priority on his schedule, saying, "So it could be 'Magneto,' or it could be 'The Invisible Man' next." -- Gee Dave, thanks for clearing that up.

Goyer's Invisible update is just the latest in a series of adaptations of the classic H.G. Wells story on the big screen. Universal famously adapted the novella in 1933, with Claude Rains as the invisible Jack Griffin, and don't forget about the embarrassingly bad comedy version starring Chevy Chase back in 1992. Goyer told MTV that his story, "involves Scotland Yard getting their hands on the current Invisible Man and basically saying, 'Wow, you'd be a really good secret agent to send into Imperial Russia right now,'" an enthusiastic Goyer said of the plot. "It starts off from there." -- I'm suddenly having flashbacks to The League of Extraordinary Gentlemen, and that is not a good sign.

So the real question is: What does this mean for Magneto? We all know that there is no danger that the film won't get made (No please, don't bring that dump truck full of money to the studio doors), but his work on The Dark Knight earned Goyer the reputation of 'Patron saint of comic book movies' (well, until Watchmen is released anyway), and it will be hard to top that; you can't blame the guy for wanting a break.

Stay tuned to Cinematical for the official word on which film will cross the finish line first.

What is the appropriate reaction to have when a movie you love, adore, and cherish is somehow ... improved? I know, it's a strange feeling. I happen to think my all-time favorite film (A L I E N) is much better in its theatrical version than in its extended -- but where Aliens is concerned, I much prefer the longer version! It's something you have to approach on a case-by-case basis, of course, and it's the sort of movie-nerd activity that should be attempted only by those with a lot of free time -- or someone who gets paid to write about this sort of stuff. (Fortunately I am both.)

So it was with MUCH enthusiasm that I sat down with the brand-new Director's Cut of Dark City, a film that I absolutely love a whole lot -- and I know I'm not nearly alone when I say that. Like many of the finest sci-fi films, Dark City was pretty much overlooked for a good long while -- put once it hit DVD and heavy rotation on the cable channels, the sci-fi freaks found a film worth watching and re-watching, to say nothing of analyzing, deconstructing, and debating. And so I happily continue that trend by explaining what the fans will find in New Line's very impressive new Dark City package...

The pop-culture appetite for Batman seems inexhaustible; thousands of comic books, several movies, endless animated iterations, some of which are quite good and some of which are rather bad. Is there any real need to return to the character beyond the profit motive, though? After the financial and critical success of Batman Begins, the powers-that-be behind The Dark Knight could have made a safe bet of a sequel; a little more action, a few more actors, more of the same and a few extra explosions.

What's telling about The Dark Knight, though, is how risky it is -- how it's bold and brave and truly exciting, full of rich and strong performances and some real ideas along the way. Why return to Batman? It turns out that for Christopher Nolan, the reason to come back is that there's something to say about, and with, the character even after decades of stories and multiple reinventions. I was hoping The Dark Knight would be good; I had no idea that director and co-writer Christopher Nolan was going to make a film that not only addressed the philosophical and political conflict between the rule of force and the rule of law but also takes on the timeless clash between order and chaos ... and, along the way, evokes everything from Michael Mann's Heat to John Ford's The Man Who Shot Liberty Valance. ...

Remember David Goyer's Jewish-themed thriller that Scott told us about back in February? About the dybhuk -- "an angry, undead spirit that possesses a human being?" The spin was that it would be the dybhuk of a boy who died in Auschwitz, and is now terrorizing a young woman played by Cloverfield's Odette Yustman. Gary Oldman signed on to play a "spiritual specialist" and The OC's Cam Gigandet took the role of the haunted girl's boyfriend. Now, The Hollywood Reporter posts that the film has a name -- Unborn -- and more cast -- Meagan Good (Stomp the Yard), Carla Gugino (Sin City), Jane Alexander (Fur), Idris Elba (American Gangster), and Rhys Coiro (24).

With the players in place, this is how it's breaking down -- Yustman's haunted girl is getting Good as a best friend, Coiro as a college professor, and Gugino as a mother. Meanwhile, Alexander is playing a Holocaust survivor and sister of the slain boy, and Elba will be a priest helping Rabbi Oldman with the exorcisms.

Oldman is enough to have me intrigued, but more in a Hebrew Hammer sort of way -- a down-and-dirty Rabbinical Spiritual Specialist. Dig it? Heck, I'm even itching to see Alexander as the sister. However, a serious Holocaust spook story? I'm not so sure. Eh, we'll see soon enough -- principal photography got underway today.

The dude (sorry, David Goyer) has come a long way over the last 17 years. He came onto the scene when he wrote the super-awesome Jean Claude Van Damme and Robert Guillaume flick, Death Warrant -- the movie that, for some reason, I had a poster of as a teen. After that came a whole slew of different supernatural flicks. His pen has been behind the likes of everything from Dark City to Batman Begins, and he's been getting into the directorial side of things with films like Blade: Trinity and the upcoming Magneto.

Now The Hollywood Reporter has posted that Goyer is signing up for his next helming gig -- an untitled supernatural thriller for Rogue Pictures. They're not saying too much about what Goyer's script entails, other than that it "follows an 18-year-old who realizes she is slowly being possessed and then begins to fight back." Am I the only one imagining a modern-day Ash? I'm sure this will be much more serious than my musings, but I can't help but picture a girl dealing with a demonic hand and chopping it off.

They're looking to start this puppy in February (not sure what that means for Magneto), so we should start hearing more soon. In the meantime -- what girl can pull this off? The only one that comes to mind for me is the young actress who has become the champion of young female talent -- Ellen Page. She'll hit 21 when the production starts, but I can't think of anyone even close to comparable. How about you?

Lately it seems that everyone loves a bloodsucker. Variety reports that David Goyer has signed to direct the adaptation of the graphic novel, Baltimore, or The Steadfast Tin Soldier and the Vampire. Phew, that title certainly is a mouthful. Baltimore was written by Hellboy creator, Mike Mignola (and finally after what seemed like an eternity to Hellboy fans; we are getting our sequel, Hellboy 2: The Golden Army, this summer) and Christopher Golden. It looked like Goyer was going to take a break from comic books for a while when he was attached to The Invisible Man this summer, but it seems he just can't stay away.

The story centers on one Lord Henry Baltimore, turned into a vampire on the battlefields of Europe during WWII. The curse eventually causes the death of his loved ones and he assembles a team to hunt down and destroy evil. Both Golden and Mignola will be on hand to write the script for the big-screen version. This will be the third adaptation deal for Golden, according to Variety, who has some previous experience in scripting the undead after writing dialogue for the Buffy the Vampire Slayer: Chaos Bleeds video game back in 2003.

Regency Pictures brokered the deal for the adaptation as part of their new strategy to make films that will appeal "to a young male demographic" -- is there any other kind lately? Some of Regency's other titles this year will be the Virgin Comics title Virulents, directed by John Moore, and an action thriller titled The Darkest Hour. Goyer is set to start work on Magneto as soon as budgets and locations have been finalized (if you can't wait for 2008 though, there are always the spoilers that Chris reported on earlier this month). So, I'm guessing that production on Baltimore will probably be a long time coming.

The word is right there at the beginning of the headline, but I'll go ahead and say it again. This post includes spoilers. Do not read this post if you don't want to know the plot of Magneto. Fans of The X-Men beware or enjoy. Yes, over at Obsessed With Film, they've learned the entire plot of the X-Men spin-off, written by David S. Goyer, who will also direct. Deciding not to reveal every plot point, OWF's Will Reynolds provides the basics, including the fact that the film will have bookending scenes set in Poland at the 60th Anniversary of the Auschwitz Liberation. After the basically present-day opening, Magneto heads back in time to that prelude in X-Men, where young Erik Lehnsherr (aka Magneto) destroys the concentration camp's gates. He's then experimented on by Nazi scientists, including a Dr. Kleinman.

Fast forward to the Ukraine, where we see Erik married to Magda, with whom he has a daughter, Anya. So far, we're following the comics pretty well. Then, apparently both Magda and Anya are killed when townspeople burn down the Lehnsherr's home (it should only be Anya, right?). From there, the spin-off follows the plotline in which Magneto goes Nazi hunting. Erik ends up in Paris and then moves to Argentina, where he searches for Dr. Kleinman with the help of a CIA agent. Eventually the plot moves on to Israel, where Erik meets a soccer-playing Charles Xavier (aka Professor X), who is said to be good at helping Holocaust survivors. Will the duo gang up to fight Baron Von Strucker and HYDRA? We'll have to wait and see ...

Of course, there are more details over at OWF, as I think if you really don't mind spoilers, you might want to check out the site. From the description they've provided so far, the film seems more like a drama, like Munich, than a super-hero action flick. OWF also says Magneto, which may actually be fully titled X-Men Origins: Magneto, will feature Senator Kelly (young and old), Victor Creed (aka Sabretooth, who also shows up in the Wolverine spin-off -- good news for Tyler Mane) and Mystique.

This is a lot more information than I was able to provide last week, and I have to thank OWF for giving just enough of a synopsis to keep me excited without feeling like I don't need to see the movie (like I would ever think I didn't need to see this!). The site likens the screenplay to Goyer's script for Batman Begins, combined with The Boys from Brazil (which is being remade just in time to go head to head with Magneto) and, of course, the X-Men trilogy. Keep in mind, as always, these are only rumors and the completed film could always head in a different direction.

Unfortunately, David S. Goyer doesn't have a lot to tell us about any of the many projects he's working on, but most of us will no doubt settle for even the tiniest updates. So, just as I was, you'll probably be satisfied with the little interview he gave to Wizard magazine, in which he was asked about the hottest things he's got in the pipeline. First up is Magneto, the X-Men spin-off/prequel that he scripted and will soon be directing. All he could say is that he's been scouting locations and right now it looks like he'll be primarily filming in Europe and Argentina. He also hinted that he's going to have to budget wisely to get the thing in for a cheap enough price (meaning he wrote some expensive-to-do scenes or Fox doesn't see good reason to spend too much on this one).

Of further interest to comic geeks, Goyer shared that his script for Super Max (aka the Green Lantern Arrow prison movie*) features a number of obscure, "third-tier" super villains, including Icicle from the comic JSA. He says that he gave DC a list of villains he wanted to use and then the comic publisher weeded out the ones it didn't want appearing in the movie. Speaking of DC, Goyer also told Wizard that he's returning to comic books soon with his JSA writing partner Geoff Johns. All he could reveal is that it takes place following the upcoming Final Crisis series.

Goyer isn't all comics, though. He shared with Wizard his inspiration and basic idea for The Invisible Man, which he sees as sort of a sequel to H.G. Wells' novel, and mentioned that he also played loose with the young adult books that Jumper is based upon. The most exciting thing he had to say, at least for Heroes fans, is that he's really interested in scripting an episode of Heroes: Origins. I don't know how he has the time to tackle all of these things right now -- all I can think of is that his real name must be Jamie Madrox -- but I'll just have to patiently await each one in due time.

[ Thanks to ComingSoon.net for the tip. ]

*You know, I think if I had actually been a DC fan, I still would have confused the two Green characters. Apologies to the fans and readers.

Talk about one of the busiest men in Hollywood as of late, David Goyer has decided to drop the comic book characters for the moment and move onto what is, essentially, a sequel to the H.G. wells classic The Invisible Man. Forget about the fact that he just directed a flick called The Invisible (about a kid who dies and realizes he's invisible to those around him), it appears Goyer's Invisible Man will go in a different direction from Wells' book, with the only connection being that the main character is a nephew of the original Invisible Man. Plot will revolve around this nephew who, after discovering his uncle's invisible formula, is recruited by British intelligence agency MI5 during World War II.

Universal Pictures and Imagine Entertainment will be behind this one, with Brian Grazer producing. Goyer will write and direct the film, saying "I've always been a fan of the original H.G. Wells book as well as the Universal film and felt the property was ripe for reimagining." Honestly, I think Goyer is just a fan of characters who turn invisible. Apart from this project, Goyer is also tapped to write and direct the X-Men spin off Magneto, as well as help Justin Marx write the Green Arrow flick Supermax. No word on who they'd get to play the invisible man, but with Grazer and Goyer involved I'd imagine they'll be going after some A-list talent (as long as it's not Chevy Chase, I'm down). While Goyer is a tremendous writer, his directorial efforts haven't exactly been homeruns. But I dig the guy, so here's hoping this next venture doesn't suffer the same fate as its character and simply disappear into the background.

After X-Men: The Last Stand, Marvel spokesman Avi Arad had put the brakes on any plans for an X-Men 4 -- much to the relief to anyone who was worried that Brett Ratner was going to return for another film. Instead, fan focus has been directed towards the Wolverine and Magneto solo films. MTV Movie Blog sat down with Arad to talk about the upcoming Magneto prequel recently, and Arad seems enthusiastic about what writer/director David Goyer (Batman Begins) has shown him so far, saying that the script will finally give Magneto,"the origin story he so richly deserves."

There is no word yet on who will play the young Magneto, but last year we had received confirmation from X-Men's F/X supervisor John Bruno that Ian McKellen would be in the film in some capactiy -- but despite talk of "de-aging" McKellen for the film, there is no way around hiring a much younger actor. Some sites are already reporting that Justin Chatwin, the star of Goyer's recent film The Invisible, is in talks, but that's all rumor. So far, details are still sketchy on plot detail, and whether 'The Brotherhood', or any other X-Men will be making an appearance in the film. Arad did give some hints of what to expect, saying‚ "Think of meeting him in [the first ‚ X-Men movie] as a young boy in a concentration camp. What happens to his life after the war? If [his powers are] real or not and the whole journey of [his] survival as a young man." Magneto is set for release in 2008, so stay tuned for updates as they come our way.