At the recent press day for the new rock-'em, sock-'em action film Wanted, actor and rapper Common met the press; of course, someone asked him about his rumored involvement in the on-again, off-again Justice League movie, where he was rumored to be in contention for the role of Green Lantern, Jon Stewart. His answer was a nicely-tuned mix of diplomatic evasion and general enthusiasm, culminating in a non-statement of Nixonian proportions: "I really don't know what's going on with the Justice League movie; I can say if they do do a Justice League movie, I would love to be a part of it, but I really can't speak on it, because I don't know what's happening with it . ... I like the comic, though."

Common also spoke briefly about another high-octane franchise flick he's currently shooting, Terminator: Salvation: "I'm in Terminator 4, and I'm very grateful to be part of that ... I'm playing the role of Barnes, a resistance soldier with John Connor, fighting the machines; I also have a new album coming out in August, Invincible Summer. ..." So, in other words, not exactly a bevy of new information, but, nonetheless, confirmation that a) Justice League is still a no-go and b) Common's on our side in Terminator 4; for more on Wanted, look for our interview with Common tomorrow. ...

While we're still over a month away from what is perhaps the Super Bowl of geekdom, early info on what to expect from this year's San Diego Comic Con has started to leak out. First off, I've been receiving tons of emails over the past couple days as other websites begin to mention this Masters of the Web panel, which, in case you haven't seen, includes Cinematical. Yes, I'm very happy to announce that yours truly will join the dudes from IESB, JoBlo, Dark Horizons, Ain't It Cool News, CHUD, Latino Review, Movie Web, The Movie Blog and Bloody-Disgusting for an in-depth discussion on how to make your own pizza at home! Not quite, but when you get all these folks in the same room, you'll definitely want to watch what happens next.

Wait, there's more! The panel itself will be moderated by directors Mark Neveldine and Brian Taylor (Crank, Pathology), and those in attendance will get to see the first footage from Crank 2 and that Gerard Butler flick, Game. There's also a ridiculous invite-only party being thrown featuring all kinds of celebs, "dancers" and hot internet movie writers, and if you show up to the panel, you'll have a chance to win a ticket to said party as well. Long story short: If you're going to Comic Con, you'll most definitely want to clear your schedule on Thursday, July 24th at 10am for the Masters of the Web panel. Yeah, it's early -- but we're not going to Comic Con to sleep in, we're going to get our geek on. Start early, party late -- that's always our motto.

In addition to the panel, IESB has listed an early and somewhat tentative rundown of what each studio has planned for The Con. I'm seeing names like Watchmen, Terminator: Salvation, The Spirit, Twilight, Underworld 3, Kevin Smith ... and much, much more. God, I feel like I'm seven and going to Disney World. So excited. Stay tuned ...

If you've been on any of the geeky movie sites this week, you may have come across a giant Terminator Salvation: The Future Begins spoiler. It broke on Ain't It Cool News, was confirmed as true by CHUD, and now everyone is touting it as common knowledge.

If you haven't come across it, I am not going to repost it here, as it pretty much undermines any reason you may have had to see Salvation. To steal an apt quote from Devin Faraci, it is "No, Luke, I am your father" big. Do yourselves a favor and avoid it. And if you know it, please respect innocent Cinematical readers by not posting it in the comments.

But the director now has a few (very few) words to say about the alleged leak. McG posted his second blog over on the official Salvation website, insisting the stories were false. "By the way, there are only three people who know the ending." But did they tell two friends, who told two friends? That's how these things start. It's such a vague denial that I'm skeptical, as it seems like you would be more adamant if it truly was idle speculation. But hey -- if McG is now scrambling to concoct a new ending, I'd like to offer him the encouraging reminder that knowing the end of the story never stopped the world from enjoying the story of the Trojan War. Go for it, McG. Return to the style of the classics.

I'm a pretty big fan of McG's (first) Charlie's Angels film, so I'm glad to hear that the guy (born Joseph McGinty Nichol) will be stepping back into the action genre (especially after the soppily maudlin We Are Marshall) -- but based only on the three features he's done so far, does ANYONE see him as a Terminator director? James Cameron, obviously. Jonathan Mostow, makes sense. McG? Really? Well, apparently someone thinks it's a fine idea, because according to Moviehole.net, it's a done deal:

The presently-titled Terminator Salvation: The Future Begins WILL be "a McG film."

The T4 screenplay comes from John Brancato and Michael Ferris, the team that gave us Terminator 3, so that's some good news, I suppose. (On the other hand, they also wrote The Net, Primeval and Catwoman.) Plot details are a bit sketchy at this point, but I'm sure the franchise managers have a plan took keep Terminator 4 and The Sarah Connor Chronicles as completely separate mythologies. (Or do they?)

Sir Erik Davis told us a while back that the new Terminator flicks may feature some digitally-created Schwarzeneggers, so who really knows what the future holds for this series? More details on the Terminators sequel(s) and spinoff(s) once they hit the street. But this does raise an interesting question: Does what you know of the Terminator series "mesh" with what you know of the artistry of McG? Yeah, I'm still scratching my head over this one ... but of course I'm also a bit more curious about the flick at this point.