I love seeing old film. I'm glad that I first saw Touch of Evil in an old theater with a gritty and grainy copy. I wouldn't be too thrilled to see a current film that way, but there's just something about the mixture of squiggles and grains on a piece of old film that makes the oldies pop and become a whole different experience.

However, the more time that passes, the more damaged film becomes, and restorative measures have to be taken. And of course, not everyone wants those squiggles. The Hollywood Reporter posts that Warner Bros. Technical Operations is restoring George Cukor's A Star is Born in 6K resolution as a test run. Right now, most restoration is at 2K, and an increasing amount are done at 4K, but of course, that still loses a lot of information. So, this is the first jump into even more.

The project is scheduled to take four-six months, and at some point, this restored version will then get released on Blue-ray and normal DVD. This is a test run, but who knows what's next? What old WB films would you like to see get the 6K treatment?

Near the end of last week, Defamer spread the rumor that Picturehouse, once the indie arm of New Line Cinema and currently dangling from the edge of the hulking entity known as Warner Bros., has its days numbered. Now that New Line is history and Warners, like many studios, has faced increasing cutbacks, it may give short shrift to the shingles responsible for handling artier fare. Along with Picturehouse, this also includes Warner Independent Pictures, whose recent release slate includes David Gordon Green's magnificent Snow Angels.

Defamer suggested that Picturehouse president Bob Berney might wind up at WIP or head up a new, currently anonymous company. On Friday, Variety's Anne Thompson put it in more coherent terms: It appears quite likely that WIP and Picturehouse will merge together as a single company, with current WIP president Polly Cohen working alongside Berney. Whatever happens, let's just hope that the final result still leaves room for the sharp selection of independent and foreign titles that Picturehouse has handled since its birth three years ago. Defamer points out that Marion Cotillard's unexpected Oscar win for La Vie en Rose matters less than the flop of Run, Fatboy, Run, while the John Simpson-directed horror film Amusement might get dumped on DVD. It was just last year, however, that the company helped edgy fare like The Orphanage and Rocket Science get the sort of release most studios would never try. Let's hope that bravery lives on, somewhere.

There's been lots of talk behind the scenes regarding trouble with New Line Cinema, who took a massive hit late last year with The Golden Compass, and haven't had much luck at the box office throughout the past year. This afternoon, it was officially announced that New Line will now become part of Warner Bros., with New Line chiefs, Bob Shaye and Michael Lynne, officially stepping down. There are two announcements floating around: One is a press release, and the other is a note to New Line employees from Bob and Michael which just dropped into my inbox.

According to the internal letter, "New Line will maintain its own identity and will continue to produce, market, and distribute movies. But New Line will now do so as part of Warner Bros. and will probably be a much smaller operation than in the past. Time Warner hopes that operating New Line as a unit of Warner Bros. will allow New Line to focus on the creative side of movie-making, while reducing costs and taking advantage of Warner Bros.' distribution systems. The company will be holding group meeting with New Line employees tomorrow in Los Angeles and New York to discuss this announcement, and is committed to letting employees know as soon as possible about how this change affects them individually."

We here at Cinematical have some good friends over at New Line, and we wish them well in their future endeavors. For more on this, read the official press release here, and the internal letter after the jump ...

With the writer's strike over, Warner Bros. believes they have a winner in this Justice League movie, and they're once again plowing ahead to try to get the film up and running for a debut in 2009. Variety tells us that writers Kieran and Michele Mulroney are currently re-tooling the script, while George Miller remains in pre-production in Australia. Additionally, the cast have been told to keep training for their roles. As previously reported, JLA will feature Adam Brody (the Flash), Common (Green Lantern), Armie Hammer Jr. (Batman) and Megan Gale (Wonder Woman). Other actors are rumored to have landed roles, but nothing seems to be official yet.

By mentioning Armie Hammer Jr., we assume this means Batman and Superman will play key roles in the film. Just recently, there was a rumor going around that had both characters scrapped from the new flick. Then again, since the script is still being re-tooled, we really don't know what the final outcome will look like. Assuming all goes right, Warners will use Justice League to launch solo films for a few of these other characters, like the Flash and Wonder Woman. Marvel, on the other hand, is taking the exact opposite approach: They're launching solo films -- and cross-promoting characters within each solo film -- before stepping up to the plate with an Avengers film. Which do you think will be the more successful route?

Also of note: Warners has set a October 16, 2009 release date for Spike Jonze's Where the Wild Things Are.

Back when I first wrote about the planned Valerie Plame biopic, I said that I expected Nicole Kidman to be an immediate frontrunner to play Plame. And -- whaddya know -- today MTV Movies Blog found out the actress has, indeed, landed the part. Not only that, but they found out from the man directing the film -- none other than Doug Liman. Oh yes. It's on! Last March, Warner Bros. snagged the life rights for Plame and her husband Ambassador Joseph Wilson after "someone" outed Plame as a CIA agent following an op-ed piece in the New York Times her husband wrote in which he attacked the Bush administration. Hmmm ...

Liman admitted that Kidman was supposed to star in Mr. and Mrs. Smith as the latter, and that "we owe a movie together. That's an unrequited thing between me and an actor where I fell in love with them for a role and never get to consummate it." On how he plans to tell the highly-publicized story (remember "Scooter" Libby?), Liman said, "I have a really, really insane take on how to tell it. It's so outrageous. Ultimately, I'd be doing something no one has ever done before. Therefore it's automatically appealing to me. I'm just starting to explore whether [what I have in mind] is even possible to do." There's been no official announcement yet; last we heard the studio was jumping through some hoops in order to get this on the big screen, but it certainly appears as if it's moving along just fine. Doug Liman and Nicole Kidman? Next up, my prediction for Wilson is going to Richard Gere. What do you think about that pairing ... for this story?

I'm actually glad we sat on this story a bit today, because now more info has come out of the CES show in Las Vegas. First off, the London Financial Times reported that Paramount was preparing to follow Warner Bros. and drop HD-DVD to sign an exclusive deal with Blu-ray. Should such a move take place, it would leave Universal all alone in the HD-DVD camp, and most likely signal an end to this long, hard-fought format war. How could Paramount do this? Would they be breaking a contract with HD-DVD? According to sources, there's a clause in Paramount's contract that states if Warners goes Blu-ray, they would have the option to do the same. So did Paramount leave? Was there a huge announcement today?

YES! Only it was a different kind of an announcement from Paramount. Basically, they denied all rumors and issued the following statement: "We are still supporting HD DVD." Ah, but then later on in the day, Paramount said they would not be announcing the titles of future HD-DVDs during the CES conference. Hmm. They're sticking with HD-DVD, but they refuse to announce future titles? Seems a bit ... sketchy.

I know what you're about to ask, so let me beat you to the punch -- what does Michael Bay (who, you might remember, threw up a stink when Transformers came out in only HD-DVD) think of all this? Am I right? That's what you were thinking, right? Well, following the Warner Bros. announcement, Bay had this to say over on his official site: "Well another studio down. Maybe I was right? Blu ray is just better. HD will die a slow death. It's what I predicted a year ago. Now with Warner's down for the count with Blu Ray. That makes it easier for Wal-Mart to push Blu Ray. And whatever Wal-Mart pushes - wins. Hd better start giving out those $120 million dollars checks to stay alive. Maybe they can give me some so I can give it to my Make-A-Wish charity, just to shut me up. Have faith people Transformers will come out in Blu-ray one day!"

So how long before Paramount and Universal give in and switch teams?

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?

Score one for Blu-ray! According to a press release, Warner Brothers has struck a deal to release all of their films exclusively on DVD and Blu-ray, beginning in May 2008. The studio will continue to release their films on both HD-DVD and Blu-ray until May, but from then on out they're going strictly with the latter. Which is great for me, seeing as I finally chose to side with Blu-ray this past Christmas when I received a PS3 from Santa. We'll have to see how this breaks down for HD-DVD in the long run, but having Warners exclusively on your side is definitely a great thing. Now, in your opinion, how big of a move is this? And is Blu-ray in a great position to finally win the format war? Check out the official press release below:

(January 4, 2008 – Burbank, CA) – In response to consumer demand, Warner Bros. Entertainment will release its high-definition DVD titles exclusively in the Blu-ray disc format beginning later this year, it was announced today by Barry Meyer, Chairman & CEO, Warner Bros. and Kevin Tsujihara, President, Warner Bros. Home Entertainment Group.

"Warner Bros.' move to exclusively release in the Blu-ray disc format is a strategic decision focused on the long term and the most direct way to give consumers what they want," said Meyer. "The window of opportunity for high-definition DVD could be missed if format confusion continues to linger. We believe that exclusively distributing in Blu-ray will further the potential for mass market success and ultimately benefit retailers, producers, and most importantly, consumers."

More after the jump ...

[via Engadget HD]

I remember when folks like Madonna first had a kid, I wondered whether they would follow in her footsteps and head into show business as a sex-crazed tramp. I actually played a game once with my friends: Whose Kid Will Turn Out the Most F**ked Up? These days, kids of well known actors and actresses are doing pretty good; most notably Will Smith's son Jaden was great in last year's The Pursuit of Happyness. But Smith was never known as a tabloid whore, and so folks like Madonna, Britney Spears and, God forbid, eventually Paris Hilton and Lindsay Lohan -- what will their kids grow up to be? Well, according to Hollywood.com (via a story in The Sun), Madonna's oldest daughter Lourdes has apparently been offered a role in Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince. The sources indicate that Madonna is currently considering an offer made by Warner Bros.

Lourdes, who's 11-years-old and nicknamed Lola, is the daughter of Madonna and fitness trainer Carlos Leon (ya know, the guy before Guy Ritchie). In addition to Potter, she's also said to be up for a starring role in a Warner Bros. kids' musical "similar to Bugsy Malone." Here's what a tipster told The Sun (not the most reliable source in the world): "An executive at Warners wanted to cast Lola in the last Potter film and has renewed his interest for the next movie. Lola would love to do it--she is a huge fan." It's not known what part she was offered, or whether that part went to someone else (keep in mind, an official press release with the full cast was unveiled earlier in the week). Could Lourdes become the next Potter star? And, if so, would she put on a fake British accent like her mom?

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:

• Batman: Armie Hammer: Random actor who's appeared in Flicka, and in one episode of Veronica Mars. He's 21. (Sources: Batman on Film, Superhero Hype)
• 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.
• Aquaman: Santiago Cabrera, 29 (Heroes), according to SH.
• 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.