Well if nothing else, at least the legendary Chun Li is not going to be played by Jessica Biel. ComingSoon.net is reporting that Smallville's Kristin Kreuk has signed to star in the new Street Fighter film. There has been no official word on which role she is going to play, but the smart money is on her taking over where Ming-Na Wen left off in the 1994 incarnation of Capcom's classic game. News of the film first surfaced back in October, 2006 and back in July there had been an early review of Justin Marks' script. Early word had the plot centering on Li as she searches for those responsible for her father's murder all while taking down the Shadoloo organization. There has been very little mention of any of the other Street Fighter characters making an appearance, so I would expect that not much has changed in Marks original ideas of the film's direction. The flick is expected to start production this spring and will film on location in Thailand in March 2008.

This is Kreuk's third feature film, having already starred in Partition with Neve Campbell and a slightly less dignified role in the teen comedy, Eurotrip. Andrzej Bartkowiak has already signed to direct. For those of you out there worried that Street Fighter will degenerate into another cheese-fest, I can't say I blame you. Of course the worse news is that Bartkowiak's resume highlights include Cradle 2 the Grave and Romeo Must Die, so I can't be the only one thinking that this film might be destined for direct to DVD obscurity.

Apparently neither Christian Bale nor Brandon Routh are doing Warner Bros.' Justice League movie. Does that leave the studio desperate to find replacements? Not according to IESB, which always seems to have the best scoops before everyone else (to paraphrase The Joker: Where do they get these wonderful sources?). The movie site, which also broke the news that Stephen Sommers would direct G.I. Joe, claims Tom Welling is filling the cape of Superman in Justice League. This should be good news to a lot of Smallville fans -- as my comic-obsessed buddy says: "That's who they should have gotten in the first place [for Superman Returns]" -- but it hasn't been confirmed yet, so no celebrating just yet. Still, IESB seems more sure of this rumor than any the site has ever announced. They admit over there that they haven't gotten a reply from Welling's people and that the WB people have denied it, but they're still positive that it is true, because of the sources they've heard it from.

Supermanhomepage.com got an official response from Smallville producer Al Gough, who said this casting "hasn't happened, won't happen, he is under contract to Smallville through Season 8." But IESB has recognized this debunking and still isn't backing down. The site insists Welling has the role and even points out that Smallville may even revolve production around the movie's shoot. As for Bale's replacement, IESB claims to also know who's playing Batman but doesn't have a good enough amount of sources to reveal it. Meanwhile, CHUD has a sarcastic response to the whole thing. The site has a joke post up claiming that Ben Stiller and Owen Wilson (poor guy) have been cast in the movie, the former as Batman and the latter as Superman. The post also brings back the old floater that Jack Black would be Green Lantern. Of course, CHUD is obviously making fun of IESB and wonder if they could get a lot of hits by just making up casting rumors, such as Jamie Bamber as Superman and Gerard Butler as Aquaman. I guess we'll just have to wait and see if IESB's latest, including the tip that Justice League will only be partially motion capture (like every other fantasy movie these days), is true.

Last month, Erik Davis alerted us to the news that the lady-in-tights, otherwise known as Supergirl, was finally going to hit Smallville, following in the trail of other big DC names like Aquaman, The Flash and Braniac. Now we know who will be in those tights -- Canadian Laura Vandervoort. She looks like a good fit to me. The twenty-something actress has been on a number of television shows, starting with Goosebumps back in the 90's, and most recently the Canadian show, Instant Star. She also had a part in this year's Joseph Gordon-Levitt film, The Lookout. Smallville's co-creator, Al Gough, says: "She's a combination of beauty, intelligence, a certain warmth, and great attitude. We've wanted a character to shake things up. She may be Clark Kent's cousin, but that doesn't mean she's going to be the obedient one!"

If cousin Kara is going to stir up trouble and be able to fly (like previous reports stated), I would imagine that this will mean that Clark will finally figure out how to soar into the sky himself. The young Kent has been on television since 2001, and has yet to develop that flying style. The next question -- if Kara takes to the sky and gets all kinds of superhero-like, could this be the next movie hero we get to see? Special wristbands and a lasso weren't enough to make Wonder Woman something viable (yet), but maybe a cute blonde will sweep in and take over the sequel territory for Supes, since word on the possible Routh sequel keeps changing.

So guess who's coming to Smallville? No, it won't be Brandon Routh aimlessly searching for the set of the next Bryan Singer-helmed Superman flick ("Hey Brandon, I heard it was over there -- just stop when the sign says 2012"). Nope, instead the CW network has announced that Supergirl will join the cast of Smallville as it heads into its seventh season, and will make her first appearance (as Kara, Clark's cousin) in the premiere episode. Sweet! Now I just need to actually watch Smallville. The role isn't cast yet (so we can't start dissecting the actress, debating whether she's a good fit or not), but I'll bet the bank folks will be watching to see if she tests well in hopes Supergirl can return to the big screen one day.

Apparently, the writers will be sticking with Supergirl's original storyline; how she was born on Krypton as daughter to Zor-El, Jor-El's brother. If I remember correctly, in the comics Zor-El sends Supergirl to earth after the people in her city (which somehow managed to survive the initial explosion) are killed off by Kryptonite. Not sure if they'll go that route, but one of the cool things (for you fans of the show) is that Kara will come to earth with the ability to fly, which is something Clark has not developed yet. Upon arriving in Smallville, Kara will butt heads with Clark, develop a little "thing" with Jimmy Olsen and draw attention from Lex. As Zap2it points out, Supergirl will not be the first DC character to make an appearance on the show; in previous episodes Green Arrow, Aquaman, The Flash, Martian Manhunter, Cyborg and Braniac all showed up in some capacity. Since I don't watch the show, I can't geek out with you on this one, but the whole Supergirl thing seems like a cool addition. What do you fans think: Is Supergirl's appearance a good or a bad thing for the show?

For anyone disappointed that Robin has been left out of the recent Batman films (I hope you are few), there is good news: Warner Bros. is developing a movie version of the DC comic Teen Titans. Robin is one of the original members of the young super team, and though he has not always been part of the group, it is certainly a possibility that he'll make it into the movie -- if only because of his familiarity to mainstream audiences. The Hollywood Reporter does report that Nightwing, a character who is sort of like an alternative version of Robin (he is the older incarnation of the original Robin, Dick Grayson), is already a definite character. However, because the continuities of DC Comics confuse the dickens out of me, I really have no idea if Nightwing and (the more-recognizable) Robin could both be a part of the movie's team.

Warner Bros.' interest in doing a Titans movie is not surprising, but it is interesting considering the studio is also currently working on a Justice League film. Mostly, I see this project as being an attempt to cater more to a young audience as well as to market the thing as comparable to X-Men. But will it actually be hip enough to attract the kids and smart enough to be as good as the (first two) X-Men films? So far the studio is on the right track with the hiring of Mark Verheiden to script the movie. Comic geeks and TV fans may know Verheiden as a writer for the comic books The Mask and Timecop, as well as their movie adaptations, and as writer-producer for the shows Smallville and Battlestar Galactica. The movie is being produced by Akiva Goldsman (Constantine) and Kerry Foster.

Well, this is weird. For the bulk of my 30+ years on this planet, there's been no such thing as a "televised horror awards" presentation, and now, not 15 minutes removed from geeking out over the newly-announced Fangoria Chainsaw Awards nominations -- I come across the Spike TV Scream Awards nominations! Cool!

Now, with all due respect to Spike TV and their cool new concept, I gotta say the Fango Chainsaw noms are just a little bit cooler. But hey, there's no law that says the horror freaks can't hang their hat on TWO new awards presentations. Frankly I think we could use a few more enthusiastic celebrations of juicy genre filmmaking.

Anyway, the Screams seem to run a lot like the Chainsaws do: Check out all the categories and nominees (after the jump) and then head on over to SpikeTV.com and cast your own votes! This is particularly amusing for the horror nuts -- because we're nothing if not passionately opinionated on which horror flicks rock and which ones suck the proverbial egg. Spike TV broadcasts their Scream Awards on the evening of October 10th.

Ever since HBO's Entourage featured a fictitious storyline surrounding a James Cameron-directed Aquaman film, there's been talk about bringing the underwater superhero to the big screen ... for real.

Apparently, according to four people familiar with the informal talks, Warner Brothers is interested in an Aquaman movie (apart from the recently squashed TV show), though they've denied any involvement. In a bizarre twist of life-imitating-art, uber-agent Ari Emanuel (whom Entourage's Ari Gold is based off of) is at the center of the whole thing. While James Cameron will not be involved, Charlie's Angels director McG is the name currently being tossed around.

While a pilot for the Aquaman TV show was produced by the folks who brought us Smallville, the WB decided not to pick it up. However, the studio subsequently gave the pilot to iTunes where the thing blew up, generating thousands of downloads and forcing some folks in the industry to reconsider Aquaman's further adventures. Which would you rather see: an Aquaman TV show a la Smallville or a big-budgeted feature film? Feel free to answer none of the above. I did.

Ever since I signed on to the cast of the good ship Cinematical, I've been periodically updating you about the many and varied rumors of an Aquaman movie. Eventually, it settled down and what we ended up with is an upcoming WB made-for-tv movie as a pilot for a new series. Then, the casting rumors flew for awhile, particularly fueled by the release of the casting call a short while back. Now, we once again cut through the endless stream of rumors to bring in some hard fact. That's right, the underwater adventurer has been officially cast, and will be played by none other than...wait, who? Okay, so his name is Will Toale, and he's apparently a newcomer to the acting gig, with the only substantial bit of his resume being a supporting role in in A Streetcar Named Desire at Broadway's Roundabout Theater. The pilot will begin shooting in March, and is expected to figure heavily into WB's fall lineup.

I continue to find myself oddly interested in this show. I'm not a huge DC fan to begin with, I deride Aquaman pretty regularly (and have for many years), and I'm not even all that keen on Smallville (heresy, I know). I don't expect to become a regular viewer of this new show...but I AM really curious to see what they come up with. Thoughts?

[via sci fi wire]

Apparently, Butterfly Effect impressed people enough to at least warrant a direct-to-DVD moneygrab...er...sequel. We reported the news a few days ago, and now we're back with more details on the project. Canadian actress Erica Durance, known for her role in Smallville as Lois Lane, will star opposite an as-yet-unnamed male lead, according to the folks over at Moviehole. The site claims that annonymous sources informed them that Durance and her co-lead will be in Vancouver (Canada) from January 9th until February 7th for primary shooting.  Cinematographer John Leonetti (Star Trek: Insurrection) will make his feature-film directorial debut on the sequel. New Line is said to be aiming for a DVD release sometime this year.

Does this news make people happy? I presume there have got to be fans (of both Butterfly Effect and Ms. Durance)  somewhere who are pleased to hear this- and don't get me wrong, I actually enjoyed Butterfly Effect – but it seems to me that a sequel handled in this manner is just asking for a poorly put together, halfhearted attempt at pulling in some extra cash on the coat tails of the first's success. With any luck I'm totally wrong on this, and it'll be an enjoyable sequel. Do any fans out there have some encouraging thoughts to make me look forward to this a bit more?

[via sci fi wire]