If I asked you to name a half-dozen Marvel characters besides Spider-Man, Wolverine, and The Hulk, you'd probably have no problem. But if I asked you to rattle off six DC Comics superheroes besides Superman and Batman, your response might sound a little like this: "Well, The Flash, of course. And Wonder Woman. Oh, Aquaman! Um ... Green Arrow and Green Lantern, I suppose..." and then I'd rudely interrupt you with mentions of Hawkmanand Martian Manhunter before you started shaking your head in either confusion or disbelief in my nerdiness. (I can never tell which is which.)
I know all about the Justice League movie problems and the inability to get Wonder Woman flying, but really: After seeing how well-received Iron Manwas -- and after hearing about Marvel's plans regarding The Incredible Hulk, Thor, Captain America, and The Avengers -- I'm starting to feel a little bad for DC Comics' movie division. But here's the thing: As a character of popular culture, Iron Man (born 1963) is not exactly a Spider-Man or even close to a Superman -- and still Marvel and Paramount were able to bang a really excellent blockbuster out of the guy. (And let's not forget that a relatively obscure Marvel character called Blade pretty much kick-started this comic-flick renaissance.) Does anyone doubt that a character like The Flash could have similar results? Given the right cast and crew, I'm thinking The Flash could be one hell of a fun flick. So let's get moving already!
Last Wednesday, a federal judge ruled that the estate of Jerome Siegel was entitled to claim a share of the United States copyright to all things Superman. Siegel created the character with his partner Joseph Shuster in the 1930's before selling the copyright to Detective Comics (which later became DC Comics, now owned by Time Warner) for a whopping $130. Siegel has been fighting to reclaim a portion of the copyright basically ever since, though all he ever won was a $30,000 annuity that stopped in 1999. Now, 11 years after his death, it looks like he's been vindicated, pending an appeal by Time Warner. You can find more details in this New York Times article.
No one seems sure about what specific implications this will have, and I'm no expert on copyright law, but everyone seems to agree on two things: 1) Time Warner may owe the Siegel estate a lot of money from use of the character since 1999, and 2) this may have thrown at least a temporary wrench into Warner's plans for a follow-up to Bryan Singer's Superman Returns. Ordinarily, news that legal squabbling is holding up production on a favorite franchise would lead to a lot of cursing from fans who are shocked -- shocked! -- that money and greed would stand in the way of filmmaking. But this time it's a "little guy" who's causing all the trouble, not a faceless corporation, and it seems churlish to complain.
My prediction: Time Warner will pay the Siegels off. There's too much money in Superman for something like this to halt the assembly line for very long.
Take from this what you will, but Cinema Blend is reporting on a tip they received from someone who was hanging with Adam Brody in a bar up in British Columbia. What's Brody doing there? Well, apparently some of the cast is with George Miller scouting locations for Justice League Mortal. (Not sure why they'd be up there with the director scouting, but let's roll with it for now ...) Anyway, Brody, Miller and a few others were in a bar, getting wasted, when this girl (who wrote into CB) asked him what they all were doing there. Naturally he said they were scouting for Justice League Mortal (which recently had to shift production from Australia to Canada). Then it gets interesting.
Here's her full quote: "George is our director. He said he's playing The Flash, Common is playing Green Arrow (or Lantern, one or the other), Armie Hammer (sounded like Arm and Hammer) is Batman, someone from "mad max" is Martian Man-hunter (didn't catch the name) and Hayden Christensen is Superman. Brody also nodded to the woman to his right and said "she (he said her name but I didn't catch it) is in it too". Oh, and they had lots of drinks." While I'm very reluctant to believe this one, on the other hand I could totally buy them wanting Christensen to play Superman. He'd bring some more "celebrity" to the cast, even though the fanboys who hated him Star Wars would hate him again -- even more this time -- for Superman. Should be interesting to see this one play out, as Justice League Mortal is supposed to begin shooting this summer.
With the announcement today that Paramount is attempting to lure Sam Raimi into developing and directing several films based on the popular Jack Ryan character, it would certainly appear as if the man is officially done with Spidey. Of course, there's always a chance he'd stay on as producer, but will that be enough to bring back his original cast? Probably not. Paramount is targeting the summer of 2010 for their first Ryan flick, which -- from what we hear -- is right around the same time Spider-Man 4 would hit theaters (if all things stay as planned). The next Superman flick is also supposed to touch down that same summer, so it will be interesting to see a re-vamped Spidey go head-to-head against a sequel they really can't f*ck up.
Variety claims Raimi is not out of the running to direct another Spider-Man film, but since he's in the middle of helming Drag Me to Hell, it would be near impossible for the man to deliver both a new Spidey film and a Jack Ryan film at the same time. Both franchises are in need of some serious work, and it will take time to develop. There's been no word on the current Spidey script, other than it's being worked on -- so for all we know, that could be just about ready to go. Of course, the strike probably didn't help much. What do you think?
Rumors have been flying today that Bryan Singer is indeed working on the sequel toSuperman Returns. Well, it is not just rumor -- Singer himself confirmed it to Empire. "Yes, I'm just getting back with writers after the strike. We're just in the development phase. I'm starting to develop a sequel . . .with the intention of directing it." He lashes out at claims that first film was a flop, pointing out that it made $400 million.
If you're thinking "It wasn't a flop financially, Singer, it was a flop because no one liked it," well, he addresses that too. He promises the next one will up the stakes. "The first one was a romantic film and a nostalgic film. I'll be the first person to own up to that without making any apologies for it. I knew it was going to be that from the outset. And now that the characters are established, there's really an opportunity to up the threat levels . . .Clearly there'll be a body count. From frame one, it will be unrelenting terror! All those teenage girls who found the movie and mooned over James Marsden or Brandon [Routh]? Well, I'm going to wake them up!"
My problem is that I didn't find it nostalgic or romantic, I just found it rather dull. I stopped believing a man could fly, and wondered instead why James Marsden was always losing his girls to men of steel and adamantium. All the pieces were there for a fantastic reboot, a film that could reintroduce Superman to a new audience, but it simply fell flat. I do believe Singer has it in him -- and he does tend to be better with superhero sequels than his originals. So I will forgive and forget, and happily await the next installment.
Ever wished you could run around in Superman's outfit, or be a wedding-day virgin (cough) like Madonna? Now's your big chance. BBC reports that in Las Vegas March 15 and 16, a slew of items from movies and pop culture will be auctioned off.
The collection, privately owned by developer Anthony Pulgliese, is valued at over $5 million. Personally, I can't fathom having $5 million just sitting around waiting for me to spend it on a bunch of collectible stuff, no matter how cool it is, but maybe some of your folks have a spare million or two down in your couch cushions, and you'd like to spend it buying memorabilia (side note: if that description fits you, email me before you head to the auction ... I know some indie filmmakers out there who could use that money for a better purpose ...).
Anyhow, in case you're into collecting, here's a list of the items that will be up for grabs. If you were going to attend this auction and had the cash to spare, which would you bid on?
So now that the writer's strike is over and done with, what's going to happen to that planned-but-postponed Justice League flick? Well, it seems Warner Bros. kinda sorta listened to the fans on this one, and Blockbuster (of all people) reports that they've seen the updated synopsis for the film and -- guess what -- Superman and Batman are nowhere to be found. Why is that? Well, one is dead and the other has been given the boot. Here's the somewhat spoiler-filled synopsis Blockbuster claims to have received: "Feb 28, Sydney, Australia: The film is about Green Lantern, Green Arrow and others of the Justice League of America, an organization made up of the world's greatest superheroes. They must deal with the expulsion of Batman and the death of Superman at the hands of the monstrous Doomsday."
Sh*t. Now that sounds like a pretty cool ending to a film we'll never get to see. But it's also a smart move on Warner's part; this way they stay far away from the other two franchises, and use this film to launch the franchises of those other characters. Okay, great, so the film will begin shooting later this year? Not so fast says Moviehole -- they claim filmmakers are now eying a 2010 start date instead of mid-2008 because most of the cast have already gone and booked other gigs. We imagine the script will be re-tooled big time (seeing as Supes and Bats were major players), and who knows whether George Miller will remain onboard. The downside to this is that if Warners holds out on making solo films for, say, Green Lantern, Green Arrow, The Flash etc, we won't get to see those until -- what -- 2012, 2013? Or, alternatively, they could go the Marvel route and develop the solo films, cross-promote the characters within each solo film, and then come out with the group pic. In the meantime, I'm sure we'll get a third Batman flick (hopefully from Christopher Nolan), and we'll eventually get a second Superman film, from either Bryan Singer or someone else.
Here's my question: Would you even want to see a Justice League film without Batman and Superman? Are Warner Brothers damned if they do and damned if they don't?
Last week, a minuscule comment from Anne Thompson led to Latino Review bursting out with a scoop they claimed was true -- that Warner Bros. would not be inviting Brandon Routh back to star in the next solo Superman flick, currently titled The Man of Steel. In her article, Thompson claimed that Bryan Singer would most likely not direct the film since he was too busy working on other projects, and that the next time we see the Superman character he would be part of the much-hyped Justice League of America.
Cue AICN flying in to the rescue. According to the site, a "very high-ranking mole who is absolutely in a position to know what's happening with this film" said that whole Brandon Routh rumor was "absolutely false." That as of right now, Warner Bros. still wants Routh to return to the role, if and when another solo flick gets up and running. AICN tells us this is based on conversations as recent as a few weeks ago. One thing that's not mentioned, however, is whether Singer would return as director. Valkyrie is all but wrapped, and The Mayor of Castro Street shouldn't take that long to piece together. So if they plan to shoot this Superman film in, say, 2009 (for a summer 2010 release), then I don't see a problem with Singer making that schedule. Then again, perhaps the studio would rather someone else come in and take the reigns.
Me? I don't care ... so long as Routh wears less make-up and bulks up a little more. I want the manly man version of Supes this time, not the teenage girl version. You?
Could it be that we finally have some substantial Justice League of America news? Well, I don't know how big this news is, but at least it's something -- and it's this something that might win over a few more fans. The Dominion Post tells us that Weta Workshop will be designing all of the costumes used in the upcoming Justice League of America flick. This includes costumes for such characters as Batman, Superman, Wonder Woman, Aquaman, Green Lantern and Martian Manhunter. Barrie Osborne, the film's Wellington-based American producer confirmed the news: "They are doing all the costumes and they're doing a brilliant job. A lot of people thought it would be too hard, that you can only make those things in Hollywood."
As the article explains, " Weta Workshop specialises in physical effects such as costumes, props, models and movie sets, and Weta Digital does computer-generated visual effects." As of now, Osborne thinks it's possible Weta Digital will also be involved, however it depends on their current workload. Osborne, who worked on Peter Jackson's Lord of the Rings trilogy, as well as films like The Matrix, goes on to add: "George Miller has a great take on the material, so it elevates it to something that's not a comic-book movie."
Last we heard, Justice League of America would most likely postpone production until after the writer's strike. All this article says is that production is supposed to begin this year, but "this year" could mean anywhere from next month to later this summer to sometime during the fall to around the beginning of December. Additionally, Warner Bros. has yet to officially announce the cast. So, does knowing Weta Workshop is involved help you feel better about this film?
From the "Things We Already Figured Out, But It's Nice to See Other People Saying the Same Thing" pile ...
Instead of the usual three little tidbits, today we're bringing you one large mish-mosh of information about the future of Superman, Batman and the Justice League flick. Over on her blog, Variety's Anne Thompson talks a bit about all three of these properties, saying it's "highly unlikely" that Bryan Singer will return to the Superman franchise now that he's decided to scale down and shell out a few passion projects (namely this summer's Valkyrie and The Mayor of Castro Street). Thompson says our next big-screen meeting with the Man of Steel will probably come in the form of a much younger actor in the role as part of that planned Justice League film.
Oh, and about that planned Justice League film -- Thompson doesn't think it will be shot until after the WGA strike is resolved, which could potentially push production back to summer versus the original plan to begin shooting early in 2008. Warner Bros. still hasn't officially announced the cast for Justice League, and last we heard director George Miller was forging ahead, claiming everything was still on schedule. For Christmas, I asked Santa for this whole film to just go away. Let's see if he stands up to his end of the bargain.
Finally, as far as future solo Batman installments go, Thompson says Warner Bros. is so happy with the way The Dark Knight turned out that they seriously hope director Christopher Nolan will return to helm a third film. I always thought a third film was part of his initial contract, but I gather it wasn't. You have to imagine there will be a bunch of loose ends to tie up following Dark Knight, and so here's hoping Nolan returns to finish the job rather than hand the franchise off to someone less worthy.
Hollis Alpert(1916-2007) - Writer and film critic who co-founded the National Society of Film Critics with Pauline Kael in 1966. He was a critic for Woman's Day and Saturday Review and was editor-in-chief for American Film Magazine. He also wrote on film for Playboy, Esquire and Cosmopolitan and authored several biographies of Hollywood personalities, including The Barrymores and Marlon Brando. He died November 18 in Naples, Florida. (NY Times)
Alan Barnard(1928-2007) - Special effects technician who worked on Full Metal Jacket, Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade, The Dirty Dozen, Octopussy, Dr. Zhivago, Lawrence of Arabia, Superman, Superman II, Superman III, Supergirl, Dragonslayer, Moonraker, Lifeforce and Gandhi. His specialty was the production and operation of machines that simulate wind, fire, rain, smoke and waves. He died in October. (Welwyn & Hatfield Times)
Pierre Granier-Deferre(1927-2007) - French filmmaker who co-wrote and directed Le Chat, La Horse, Le Train and La Cage. He also directed Alain Delon in La Race des 'seigneurs' (Creezy), La Veuve Couderc (The Widow Couderc) and Le Toubib (The Medic). He died November 16 in Paris. (Variety)
Fernando Fernán-Gómez(1921-2007) - Spanish director and actor (pictured) who is best known here for playing the father of Penelope Cruz' character in All About My Mother. He also co-stars in Fernando Trueba's Belle Epoque (also with Cruz), Victor Erice's The Spirit of the Beehive, José Luis Cuerda's Butterfly,Carlos Saura's Mama Turns 100, Antonio Hernández's The City of No Limits and José Luis Garci's El Abuelo (The Grandfather). He directed The Strange Journey and wrote and directed the comedies Life Goes On, Life Around Us and Life Ahead. He died of heart complications November 21, in Madrid. (Variety)
Emily Gamboa(1939-2007) - Production coordinator/secretary for the Mexican shoots for Predator, Romancing the Stone, Men With Guns, Remo Williams: The Adventure Begins, The Falcon and the Snowman, Missing and Medicine Man. She died of pneumonia November 11, in Mexico City. (IMDb)
If you're anything like me, upon reading some of the names that were up for roles in the new live action Justice League of America movie, your first response was probably: "Who the f*ck is that?" It's okay to feel that way; most of the actors up for roles are young up-and-comers who don't have many credits next to their name. And in order to be familiar with them, you'd need to watch The O.C. or read Teen Hotties of the Month Magazine. Forget about the film for a moment (which I do not think should be made at this time), my main problem with this cast is that they're so damn young. Armie Hammer, for example, is rumored to be playing Batman. He's 21. He looks like a baby. And am I the only one who expects my Batman and Superman to actually be, ya know, MEN?
As it stands right now, this whole film will feel like a Beverly Hills 90210 Halloween episode, in which everyone dresses up like their favorite superhero. My suggestion: They wait a few years, and instead of launching a live-action film, why not exploit the new 3D IMAX nonsense. Mo-cap the hell out of the thing. Get an older, more experienced and well-known cast to voice the roles. Let poor Christopher Nolan finish his Batman trilogy without having to deal with pics of Armie Hammer as "hottie Batman" leaking all over the web. Launch solo films for Wonder Woman, Green Lantern and The Flash before this JLA movie. Sure, one day it might be fun to watch Superman and Batman fight one another, as it's somewhat cool to watch the new Alien vs. Predator movies, but wait until those franchises have run out of steam. Those are my two cents, anyway ... How about you?
Over the weekend, a number of different sites received tips regarding the soon-to-be-released Justice League of America cast. The rumors come as The Hollywood Reporter tells us production on the film might have to be postponed due to them being without a finished shooting script, while options on actors who were screen tested are about to expire. I'll discuss whether or not this film is even worth the effort in this week's Monday Morning Poll, but for now let me go down the list and tell you who is (according to rumors) up for each role:
Superman: Scott Porter, 28 (Friday Night Lights TV show, Speed Racer) is up for this role, according to AICN and Cinema Blend, though IESB claims he never read for that part and instead was at one point up for The Flash. Meanwhile, Superhero Hype lists D.J. Cotrona, 27 (Skin, Windfall) as having nabbed the Man of Steel role.
The Flash: Adam Brody, 28 (The O.C.) has been signed for this role, if you listen to AICN and IESB. However, Superhero Hype claims it's gone to Anton Yelchin, 18.
Green Lantern: Everyone believes this role has indeed gone to the rapper-turned-actor Common, 35.
Martian Manhunter: At this time, no one has received information regarding this character.
Wonder Woman: Megan Gale, 21 (Stealth), according to SH.
Talia al Ghul: Everyone believes this role will go to Teresa Palmer, 21.
Cinematical Man: According to our own inside studio sources, Scott Weinberg is a lock for this role. Age unknown.
So there you have it. You're all up to date on the currently rumored cast. Warner Bros. is supposed to officially announce the roles this week, however that could change if production gets postponed.
The first set of official photos from the upcoming comic adaptation of Wanted have hit the net, courtesy of Empire. Among the pics, we get this pretty dazzling image of Angelina Jolie hanging off the side of a car blasting a flame thrower. I'm sure those who loved Jolie in Mr. & Mrs. Smith will adore her even more in Wanted; here she plays a badass (not to mention sexy) assassin named The Fox. Apart from Jolie, the photos also give us our first look at fellow co-stars Morgan Freeman, James McAvoy and David O'Hara, who plays a villain named Mr. X. Based on the series of comic books written by Mark Millar (who probably would've created a wonderful new Superman flick ... if the powers that be allowed him to do so, that is), Wanted was directed by Timur Bekmambetov (Day Watch) in his first big, balls-to-the-wall Hollywood flick.
The film follows a regular Joe (McAvoy) who works some mindless job until he meets up with The Fox (Jolie) and Sloan (Morgan Freeman), who teach the young man how to harness the same powers his recently-deceased father (who was also a great assassin named The Killer) possessed. I have a feeling this movie will surprise a lot of people, and the images we're seeing so far look pretty insane (especially the one of Mr. X). I never had a chance to read Wanted, though I hear a lot of the characters are based on other, more popular DC villains. If Bekmambetov (say that ten times fast) hits this one out of the park, I'm sure he'll be called upon for similar comic duty in the years to come. Wanted arrives in theaters on March 28.
The other day we told you how someone wrote in to Dark Horizons claiming to have information on the casting of Superman in the Justice League movie. According to the scooper, Brit actor Rupert Evans had landed the part. Not so fast says IESB, who spent hours upon hours trying to get a hold of someone who represents Evans. Eventually they did, and were told the rumor is indeed false. Exact quote: "We don't know where that rumor started, there's no truth to the rumor at all." When asked if Evans had even auditioned, they replied, "No, not at all." Yay, another ridiculous rumor spreads like wildfire and then gets squashed -- how fun! No other casting tidbits to report at this time, sorry.
About that long-delayed follow-up to Superman Returns. I suggested a long time ago that this project was being delayed and delayed for a reason, and all you readers did was yell at me -- bow down to Bryan Singer -- and call me all sorts of devilish names. Well, look where we are now: the original writers were yanked off the film, and Warners is looking for some new writers to most likely reboot the franchise, a la The Incredible Hulk. I like to call these "movie do-overs." The first candidate to pop up was writer Mark Millar (Wanted), who went after this project with full force. Unfortunately, because he had done some work for Marvel (and is still under contract with them), he cannot cross over to work on a DC property. So there goes that. Will Warners seduce Kurtzman and Orci into taking on Superman? They'll probably try, but as it stands right now, we've got nada ... and I'd expect Singer to be off the project too. Back to the drawing board ... and how about this time we scratch Brandon Routh and bring in Channing Tatum. He'd make a much better Superman; whaddya think?
Last Wednesday, a federal judge ruled that the estate of Jerome Siegel was entitled to claim a share of the United States copyright to all things Superman. Siegel created the character with his partner Joseph Shuster in the 1930's before selling the copyright to Detective Comics (which later became DC Comics, now owned by Time Warner) for a whopping $130. Siegel has been fighting to reclaim a portion of the copyright basically ever since, though all he ever won was a $30,000 annuity that stopped in 1999. Now, 11 years after his death, it looks like he's been vindicated, pending an appeal by Time Warner. You can find more details in .jpg)
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SCOOP: Spider-Man 4 and 5 Might be Shot at the Same Time!
Cinematical Seven: Disney's Awesome Live-Action Kid Adventures
