MTV snagged an exclusive photo from the mysterious Where the Wild Things Are, which they spotted at the New York Licensing Expo. Click on the tantalizing photo on the right to see the whole thing over on MTV. It isn't very big, but it is one of those evocative images that makes you absolutely crazy to see this movie. It really is perfect -- from the wolf suit down to those mysterious monster paws.

The rumors still abound about it. The fact that it is appearing at the Licensing Expo gives one hope that we will see it, and that they won't actually recast a child they have featured on the advertising. To catch you up, Kim talked to Tom Noonan at Cannes. He thought the film would be released as Spike Jonze and Dave Eggers had intended it to be.

Yet, as Monika reported at the beginning of June, Warner Bros is prepping a month of reshoots. It was unclear how much was being changed, but new casting calls went out for various stand-in roles. That suggests that it is more than a few pick-up shots, and that all the whispers of unhappiness and drastic alterations are true. The silence from all involved (with the exception Noonan and Forrest Whitaker) doesn't help. At least we can enjoy the picture and wonder.

[via Empire]

From Cannes last week, Kim shared a discussion with Tom Noonan about Spike Jonze's Where the Wild Things Are. Although she wasn't able to ask about the whole Wild kerfuffle that has been going on, between test screenings and release dates, she said: "He seemed to think the film will be released in his current iteration, though of course, if that's not the case, he wouldn't necessarily be in the loop."

No, it looks like he wasn't. According to Bloody Disgusting, Warner Brothers has scheduled reshoots for Jonze's film, which will take place in Los Angeles from June 5-30. They say: "It is unclear how much is being reshot, but there are new casting calls out for various stand-in roles."

Considering the fact that test screenings reduced some kids to tears, begging to be let out of the screening, I imagine the reshoots will try to wipe away the scary bits. That'll be good for sensitive young tykes, but not so much for adults, and those who said positive things about the test screenings. Maybe they can just put out two; it would be a shame for the original vision to go to waste. Then again, all of this depends on SAG not striking.

What do you guys think? Should kids get a less-scary version? And, what should be done with Jonze's original vision?

During the roundtable interviews for Synecdoche, NY today, actor Tom Noonan, who plays one of the "wild things" in Spike Jonze's adaptation of Maurice Sendak's classic children's book, Where the Wild Things Are, chatted with us a bit about the film.

Noonan confirmed that the film was not shot using motion capture, but is "mostly live action -- they shot us (the actors) in a room, they video-taped us doing the parts, and then they trained acrobats and dancers and had them imitate our gestures, then put them in the costumes and had our voices coming out."

John Krasinski has had a bit of a rough start transitioning his TV career into a movie career. For starters, have you seen License to Wed? Luckily for my favorite office drone, his upcoming projects look a lot more promising. Variety reports that Krasinski, SNL's Maya Rudolph, and Cheryl Hines have signed to star in Sam Mendes' new untitled comedy. News of the film first appeared back in January, and just over a month later, three top-notch comedians have signed on for the film. That has got to be a good sign, right?

Celebrity novelist Dave Eggers and Vendela Vida (author of Girls of the Verge and Egger's wife) wrote the script for the romantic comedy. Eggers made his name with his memoir, Heartbreaking Work of Staggering Genius, but is still relatively new to the screenwriting trade. In the film, Krasinski and Rudolph will play an expectant couple traveling around the country looking for a place to settle down and start a family.

If you have ever read anything written by Eggers or the McSweeney's 'brand' then you know that this slight premise is just the kind of story you would expect. Knowing Egger's penchant for personal touches, I'm sure some of the details of his life with his own family found their way into the script. The production is expected to start shooting this April in Connecticut, and the film is set for release in 2009.

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.

Look no further, the wild things are in this post ...

Another photo from Where the Wild Things Are has popped up online (see above), courtesy of CinemaBlend. There's actually two photos, but one of them we've already seen (it features the little kid dancing around a group of unseen beasts). This new photo is actually pretty cool; this time we see the "wild things," except they have their backs toward us and are looking at what appears to be a setting sun. I read this book like a thousand times when I was a kid, and I'm stoked to see Spike Jonze directing because, honestly, aside from Tim Burton he's the only one nutty enough to take the challenge. And Jonze co-wrote the script with Dave Eggers! Insanity, folks -- insanity. Cannot wait for this; it arrives in theaters on October 3rd. A heartbreaking work of staggering genius ... or just plain heartbreaking? I guess we'll see ...

And speaking of images, a new one from Hellboy II: The Golden Army has arrived online -- and for the first time we get to see what Ron Perlman looks like as Hellboy. Well, actually, it's the second time we're seeing Perlman as Hellboy, and if you caught the first flick, then the dude looks pretty much the same. I'm sure something has changed (one more rip in his shirt?), but I'll leave it up to you fanboys to discover the new material. In the Guillermo del Toro-directed film, Hellboy and his team of creatures return to defend the earth against a bunch of other creatures. I guess you could call it a "Creature Feature" ... except not really. Hellboy II: The Golden Army arrives in theaters on July 11.

Finally, Slashfilm got their hands on Darren Aronofsky's script for The Wrestler ... and they're digging it quite a bit. This is the film Aronofsky decided to make after The Fountain tanked. It was something a little more commercial -- something that might actually make money at the box office -- and it was originally supposed to star Nicolas Cage in the lead role. Things have changed, and now Mickey Rourke is in the lead role as Randy 'The Ram' Robinson, a past-his-prime wrestler whose life has gone into the toilet. But there's always that one last shot at redemption, right? Slashfilm says, "Think Rocky, which is a very apt comparison. And the ending is something you would never expect. It's not an obvious choice. I'm sure some people will leave this movie really angry, while others will love it. One thing is for sure, I can't wait to see it on the big screen."

No, it's not another sequel to the Neve Campbell/Denise Richards classic! The extremely likable Lauren Ambrose (Claire on Six Feet Under, Denise Fleming in Can't Hardly Wait) will voice a character in the upcoming adaptation of Maurice Sendak's beloved childrens' book -- Where the Wild Things Are. According to The Hollywood Reporter, Ambrose is playing KW -- "one of the giant characters in the land of the Wild Things. When a young boy named Max visits their strange world, KW and company turn him into their king."

Ambrose is taking over the role from Michelle Williams. Apparently Williams got along well with the filmmakers, but "her voice didn't match their original vision of how the Wild Things should sound." Where the Wild Things Are mixes flesh-and-blood actors, computer animation, and live-action puppetry. I can't wait to see it, I adored the book as a kid and I love pretty much everyone involved with the film. Spike Jonze (Being John Malkovich, Adaptation -- a couple of my favorite flicks) will direct, and wrote the screenplay with Dave Eggers (A Heartbreaking Work of Staggering Genius, one of my favorite books). You can go into the Wild in Fall 2008.

It's certainly not much, but what appears to be the first teaser poster for next summer's The Incredible Hulk has popped up over at the Licensing Show in New York City, among an assortment of promotional material for films like Where the Wild Things Are, The Golden Compass, Beowulf, The Dark Knight, Speed Racer, Kung Fu Panda and Iron Man. That's it to the right of your screen (courtesy of Wizard); as you can see Hulk looks pretty much as he should from behind, all jacked up and what not. What's interesting about the poster (and I don't know if this was done solely because of the location of said Licensing Show), but it appears Hulk is standing in the shadows on a New York City street. Does this mean most of the film will be set there? Should we now start looking forward to Hulk hurling a taxi cab at someone? Granted, those two street signs could be anywhere, but NYC immediately popped into my mind when I saw it. You be the judge.

Also of interest (to me, at least) is the first image from Spike Jonze's Where The Wild Things Are, adapted from a book that I read about a trillion times as a kid. Jonze and Co. are taking their time with this one; originally, I thought it was supposed to hit theaters this fall, but apparently I was wrong -- the release date on IMDb shows October 3, 2008. Those interested can also check out two posters for Iron Man, as well as more shots of the Mach 5 from Speed Racer and the Batpod from The Dark Knight. Wizard has a full gallery of images up now, so head on over there to check it all out. And, as the poster declares, The Incredible Hulk will crush theaters on June 13, 2008.

Although this year's New York Comic-Con was a disappointment with regards to their coverage of upcoming geek-related films, this summer's San Diego Comic-Con (July 26-29) will be picking up the slack; they've just unveiled a fine list of films that will be giving sneak preview presentations at The Con. Hopefully we'll be getting some tasty footage out of most of these; if not, I'm sure others (which include films that just recently started production) will provide pics, plot info, etc ... The full list of films (which is subject to change at any time, and will probably grow larger as Comic-Con gets closer) is as follows:

Alien vs. Predator 2: No Peace On Earth, American Gangster, Babylon AD, Balls of Fury, Beowulf, The Bourne Ultimatum, Coraline, Fred Claus, Get Smart, The Golden Compass, Hellboy 2: The Golden Army, I Am Legend, The Incredible Hulk, Indiana Jones 4, Invasion, Iron Man, National Treasure 2, Resident Evil: Extinction, Speed Racer, The Strangers, Stardust, Star Trek XI, Sunshine, Sweeney Todd, 30 Days of Night, Trick 'r Treat, Wanted, Where The Wild Things Are, White Out.

Right off the bat, I find it interesting that Alien vs. Predator 2 has the title No Peace on Earth attached to it. That seems new, and I wonder whether or not it will stick. Also, where's The Dark Knight? There's no way Warner Bros. is letting their Batman Begins follow-up skip class that day; look for this one to show up unannounced. Some pics that folks will be especially interested in include Star Trek XI (will we finally get a finalized cast list?), Indiana Jones 4 (pics of Harrison Ford as Indy? A title? Sean Connery announcement?), The Incredible Hulk (our first peak at the brand new look of Hulk?) and Where The Wild Things Are (anyone else dying to see what Spike Jonze has done with this classic children's book?). Cinematical will be attending San Diego Comic-Con this year, so stay tuned for lots more as we get closer to the convention.

It's really hard to tell whether this is real or not -- it's in a couple of places around the web, but no one lists a precise source for the request. Plus, the email addresses are personal, not directed to a specific firm or publicist. This site (which looks like it focuses on a musical) seems to be where the call originated; I suppose, given Spike Jonze's strong music ties, that such a thing popping up there is possible.

Anyway, here's the deal: Supposedly, there's an open call (It looks like maybe they didn't find him in NYC last month.) for the actor who will play Max in Jonze's screen version of Where the Wild Things Are. If you (And if you're a kid Max's age, reading Cinematical? We love you) or your kid is between seven and nine years of age -- they'll take a precocious seven-year-old or a short, young-looking nine, but eight is ideal -- who is "sensitive, loving, lovable, smart, with a sense of humor," not to mention "playful, rambunctious, mischievous," you might want to be emailing these folks, because your boy is in demand. Of course, since that describes pretty much every eight-year-old boy I've ever met, at least during his good moments, your kid might be part of a rather massive casting pool.

If anyone has more info about the legitimacy of this call, let us know in the comments.