brandon routh Tagged Articles at Cinematical

When Warner Bros announced it was rebooting the Superman franchise, we all held our breath a little bit waiting to see what Gigantic News would come next. Of course, nothing happened. Last week, Omelete talked to Brandon Routh on the Scott Pilgrim set, who revealed that his Superman contract had expired, and that he had no idea when or if he would return to the character. (Pause for a moment and realize how much it has to suck to get the part of Superman, and have it go utterly sour.) That news suggested one of two things: that Warner Bros would let the franchise expire too, or that they were planning on picking out a new Man of Steel.

Now, Warner Bros and DC Comics have won a favorable ruling in the suit filed by Joanne Siegel and Laura Siegel Larson, the heirs of Superman co-creator Jerome Siegel. If you're curious about the lawsuit in its entirety, ThinkMcFlyThink has a pdf of it, but the part that concerns Superman fans is this: Warner Bros president Alan Horn testified that he'd like to make another movie, but that the project wasn't currently in development at the studio. There isn't even a script being written. The earliest another Superman film could hit theaters would be 2012.

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Cinematical has just received this exclusive clip from Life is Hot in Cracktown, which looks to be a pretty intense ensemble drama about a group of people trying to survive on the drug-infested inner-city streets. Based on Buddy Giovinazzo's novel (he also wrote and directed the film), Life is Hot in Cracktown sports an impressive cast that includes Kerry Washington, Brandon Routh, Victor Rasuk, Lara Flynn Boyle, Evan Ross, Thomas Ian Nicholas, Ileana Douglas, RZA ... and I can keep going.

In the clip below (which may be a smidge NSFW for partial nudity), we meet Marybeth (Kerry Washington), a pre-op transsexual working as a prostitute who lives with her lover Benny (Desmond Harrington), a small time burglar. Aside from following this not-so-ordinary couple while they do their best to live an ordinary life, we also infiltrate the lives of a number of other characters -- from a welfare hotel worker to a street tough to a homeless family -- as they struggle to stay afloat in Cracktown.

Life is Hot in Cracktown hits theaters on June 26.

Well, Dead of Night may not be the most recognized comic book title out there, but I can guarantee that it definitely will have it's share of man-candy. Shock Till You Drop reports an exclusive that Taye Diggs will sign to star as the bad-guy in the adaptation of the Italian horror comic, Dylan Dog (renamed Dead of Night) by Tiziano Sclavi. So if you are keeping score, this brings Dead of Night's total to one Terminator, one Superman, and now, one very hot doctor.

According to Shock, Diggs will play the leader of the vampires who goes up against the supernatural private detective played by Routh. So far most of the ink has been spilled over Routh's involvement in the film, which, with the exception of a few cameos will be marking his big return to the world of comic book movies (followed by Scott Pilgrim and Superman: Man of Steel). As for Digg, this will be his first time in a comic book flick, which is probably the only genre the man hasn't done -- if you don't believe me, take a look at they guy's resume, he's all over the map.

The casting announcements for the film have started to gain speed, and just yesterday, Shock also announced that Journey to the Center of the Earth's Anita Briem would star as Routh's love interest. So with *Sam Worthington at Routh's side, and Briem as the damsel in distress; Diggs will make a nice addition as the bloodsucking bad-guy. Although his last shot at horror was the slightly embarrassing remake of House on Haunted Hill, so here's hoping things work out a little better this time.

Dead of Night is already shooting on location in the Big Easy and should arrive in theaters later this year.

*Correction: Sam Huntington will play Routh's sidekick.

Edgar Wright's upcoming Scott Pilgrim vs. the World is a veritable puupuu platter of young talent. Some are super-recognizable -- like Michael Cera, Mary Elizabeth Winstead, Chris Evans, and Kieran Culkin. And some are new Canadian talent thrown into the mix, like Ellen Wong. Since Mr. Pilgrim is a Canadian slacker and ex-boyfriend-slayer, we're getting a little more maple leaf talent, more recognizable faces, and a superhero to boot.

The Hollywood Reporter posts that Brandon Routh has signed on to play Ramona's evil ex #3, Todd Ingram -- the rocker with vegan psychic powers, and Brie Larson (who is currently playing the struggling daughter in United States of Tara) will play Pilgrim's ex, Envy Adams. But that's only the beginning. Alison Pill (who kicked butt in Dear Wendy, and more recently served under Milk) will play the drummer in Pilgrim's band, while her Wendy co-star Mark Webber will play Stephen Stills, another bandmate. But that's not even the best reunion.

Ann Veal strikes again! Oh yes -- Mae Whitman, who played George Michael's crazy paramour on Arrested Development will play ex #4 -- the half-ninja Roxy Richter. And wrapping up the pack --- Anna Kendrick will play Pilgrim's sister, Johnny Simmons will play Young Neil, and Satya Bhabha will play "an ex-boyfriend who can summon demon hipster girls at will."

I wonder if other Can-con will follow ... Maybe some swashbuckling with Violet Miranda, or activism with Flyboy Action Figure Comes with Gasmask? Either way, I'm sold on Pilgrim. How about you?

Just what you needed at the end of a long day: more stuff (and things) to look at:

-- Is anyone else getting sick of these celeb-stacked Vote videos? Election day is when? Really? I haven't heard a peep about it. (See below)



-- So remember that totally awesome Ghostbusters video game that was supposed to come and then didn't? (Watch the trailer over here) Well the good news is Atari has bought the right to publish not only the Ghostbusters game, but also The Chronicles of Riddick ... so you can spend hours pretending to be a bald Vin Diesel wearing blacked-out swim goggles. [Variety]

-- And speaking of Vin Diesel (who's currently trying to revive his acting career by going back and starring in sequels to all his older movies), Collider tells us that the new xXx film will be called xXx: The Return of Xander Cage, and Rob Marshall Cohen is currently eying a summer 2010 release.

-- A new batch of images from Sherlock Holmes have made their way online (via The Bad & Ugly), and yep, Downey Jr. and Jude Law are still wearing those hats. Until one of them is photographed beating the living crap out of a villain, I think we're about done looking at these boring set pics. Whaddya think?

-- IESB spoke to Brandon Routh recently about whether he'd be down for a darker version of Superman in the sequel. Here's what the dude has to say about which villain he'd like to square off against: " I know that DC is working on a Brainiac storyline that they are excited about and I think combining the two and have that flow between the comics and the movie would be a nice thing. I honestly think there are a lot of interesting things you can do with Brainiac. Controlling people, controlling technology, a lot of cool things."

-- Fans of Twilight will be happy to know that starting tomorrow you can pre-order your Twilight movie ticket over at Fandango. Oh, but that's totally not all -- with each ticket purchased, you'll also get a free download of "Bella's Lullaby (Remix).

While it seems that a Superman sequel is sadly underway, in the meantime, the new man in tights is keeping busy with other fare. Variety reports that Brandon Routh, along with a slew of others, have signed on for an upcoming ensemble comedy that Starz is putting together, called Table for Three. Along for the ride with Routh are Sophia Bush, Jesse Bradford, Jennifer Morrison, Johnny Galecki, and Liza Lapira.

Routh stars as a suddenly single dude with a bad sense of logic -- he invites a perfect couple, played by Bradford and Bush, to share his big apartment. This seems a bit strange, especially since every guy I know who has had to spend a lot of time with, or share space with, a couple has completely hated it, but I guess the thought of being face-to-face with couples is appealing to this guy's now-single self. But then he finds a new romance and things get tricky as they "disrupt his life when they insert themselves into his new romance."

Michael Samonek will direct from his own script, and the film is set to be released later this year.

Bahahahahahaha. Yesterday was chock full of huge, monumental movie news. A disproportionate amount of it involved the geek realm, with casting and sequel bites galore. For example, we reported that Christian Bale and Brandon Routh were headlining the new Justice League movie as Batman and Superman. JoBlo insisted that all the rumors are true and Jake Gyllenhaal is replacing Tobey Maguire in the role of Spider-Man. (On the other hand, maybe it's Nicholas Brendon, or -- dear god no -- Jason Biggs.) From GFR, we learned that the Cloverfield monster was going to be putting in an appearance in Transformers 2. IGN even created an entire fake trailer for The Legend of Zelda movie! In slightly less shocking news, it turned out that Iron Man might get an April release date after all, depending on where you live.

But my favorite piece of news announced yesterday? Slashfilm's bombshell that Daniel Day-Lewis was headlining a Peter Weir remake of Werner Herzog's Fitzcarraldo -- the one about a man who decides to build an opera house in the Peruvian jungle. This version, however, will be set 50 years in the future and feature a soundtrack by Mick Jagger. Weird, subtle, and just plausible enough (at least until you get to the futuristic setting) to make you frown before remembering what day it is. (After reading the first paragraph, I did more than frown: I rushed to start a Cinematical post!) Well-played, gentlemen.

Holy "Where the hell did this one come from" Batman! In a last ditch effort to win back fans, Warner Bros. has apparently convinced both Christian Bale and Brandon Routh to reprise the roles of Batman and Superman for their upcoming live-action Justice League of America film (currently titled Justice League Mortal). A press release just sent to Cinematical comes with this hilarious quote from a studio rep: "Brandon wasn't too hard to convince; he half-jokingly told us he's dreamt about this opportunity every night for the past several months."

Both men have signed a three-picture deal, which means Warners has plans to extend Justice League beyond the initial film, due out in 2009. Currently, there's no word on whether Armie Hammer (the actor supposed to play Batman) will still appear in some capacity, be it as a younger version of Batman or as a random extra in a background shot. On why he ultimately decided to take the role when there's a good chance it could confuse fans and screw up Nolan's franchise, Bale said, "I don't see me taking on this role getting in the way of anything, aside from someone else's paycheck. The script is awesome. Batman is awesome. Brendon and I look forward to taking this one to the next level."

Sounds like the studio is finally getting serious about this film, bringing on two actors with established fanbases -- guys they know will bolster the flick's box office. There are still a lot of unanswered questions, like what happens to Bryan Singer's The Man of Steel now and will Chris Nolan even go ahead with a third Batman film with Bale doing JLA? Well, one thing is for sure: This whole project just got a lot more interesting ...

For more, check out the entire press release over here.

Rumors have been flying today that Bryan Singer is indeed working on the sequel to Superman 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.