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New 'Iron Man 2' Photos Have Everyone Thinking
Filed under: Action, Paramount, Fandom, Movie Marketing, Comic/Superhero/Geek, Remakes and Sequels, Images
On the heels of the first Iron Man 2 poster come a few official stills straight from Paramount. Everyone looks very serious. Whiplash is seriously working on something, surrounded by pictures of Tony Stark to keep his hate burning and his ethic cheerful. Black Widow is seriously up to no good, even if she looks slinky doing it. Even Tony isn't taking things lightly -- not the destruction to his house, and not whatever he's brewing in his latest science project.
There's nothing really new on display here -- the Black Widow photo has been around in varying degrees of resolution since before San Diego Comic Con -- but it's just nice to see the characters out and about, isn't it? If you're given to intense plot speculation, you can all give your take on just what Tony and Whiplash have brewing, and just who caused Tony's marble floor to shatter into a dozen pieces. Did he fly through the ceiling again? Is he building an access portal so that it doesn't ever happen again? Or did some nefarious individual blast a hole into his luxurious tile, hoping to get into his secret lair of Iron Man suits?
We'll know on May 7th, 2010. Until then, just spin your own stories, and delight in a peek at the finished product. The first stills from a film always remind me of the good old days of Disney Adventures when this is all you'd have to go on until summer rolled around.
The First 'Iron Man 2' Poster Appears!
Filed under: Action, Paramount, Fandom, Newsstand, Movie Marketing, Comic/Superhero/Geek, Remakes and Sequels, Posters
Marvel Studios, Paramount and Jon Favreau have given you an early Christmas present. Yahoo! Movies has debuted the first poster for Iron Man 2, and as cheesy as it is to go nuts over marketing, it's an awfully cool poster. It's their exclusive, so you'll have to click the picture to see the entire thing, but I've given you a tiny preview above.
The best part? Those of us who didn't get to see the pants-wetting footage at Comic-Con finally get a glimpse at War Machine! There's something deliciously geeky about the buddy cop stylings of this poster. I could live quite comfortably in a world where Iron Man 2 was something akin to a super-suited Lethal Weapon, couldn't you?
Of course, as nice as the poster is, it's no substitute for seeing these guys actually take flight. Faverau has hinted via Twitter that we might see the first Iron Man 2 trailer this Christmas, and that it'll be attached to that other Robert Downey Jr. franchise, Sherlock Holmes. Maybe if you're very good boys and girls, Santa will grant your wish, and we'll get it a few days before Holmes hits theaters. I can't think of a more festive way to ring in the holidays than with a flying hero of red and gold.
Jeremy Renner Wants To Be An Avenger
Filed under: Action, Paramount, RumorMonger, DIY/Filmmaking, Newsstand, Comic/Superhero/Geek
Now that Iron Man 2 is in the finish stages, and Thor will kick off filming in January, the casting rumor mill must now find some new grist in The Avengers. (Not Captain America, oddly enough. We'll just skip right over that one!) Empire sat down with Jeremy Renner, who revealed that he'd been in talks with Marvel Studios and Avengers' writer Zak Penn about tackling the part of a superhero. While he's reportedly been linked with Captain America on some dim corners of the Internet, Renner is thinking he might like to play another Avenger : Clint Barton, better known as Hawkeye. "I don't know if I'd be right for Captain America. I met with the Marvel guys, actually, but we didn't talk about Captain America. But one of the writers, Zak Penn, we've become friends over time and he was thinking maybe Hawkeye could be interesting. He sounds like an interesting character."
Renner stressed "no offer has been made ... I think there's a little ways from that" but he also speculated that Hawkeye might cameo in Thor or in First Avenger: Captain America. But Thor has an awfully big cast at this point, so tossing in an Avenger cameo seems a bit dubious, though there's always room in a post-credit sequence. Iron Man 2 would have been the ideal place (Mr. Clint Barton and the Black Widow go way back) but the ship would appear to have sailed on that one.
'Paranormal Activity' on DVD and Blu-ray December 29
Filed under: Horror, Paramount, Steven Spielberg, Home Entertainment
If you still haven't seen Paranormal Activity, I don't know what you've been waiting for. Seeing the horror flick in theaters is one of those great moviegoing experiences -- the more people in the theater to scream and laugh with the better. Besides, I can only imagine that watching the thing at home would be so frightening you'll never be able to sleep soundly again. Oh, that probably appeals to many of you scary movie fans, in which case you'll be glad to know you have to wait only a little over a month more to pick up the DVD or Blu-ray of this little movie that could.Paramount will release Paranormal Activity to home video on December 29, just in time to give you something to purchase with the gift card you got over the holidays. Both the DVD and Blu-ray come with the theatrical version of the film as well as an unrated cut that includes an alternate ending (presumably the original one). And the Blu-ray includes a digital copy of the theatrical version, so you can play the movie on your iPod and watch it while hiding underneath your covers.
Peter Jackson Says Spielberg's 'Tintin' is Done Filming, but...
Filed under: Action, Animation, Paramount, Sony, Tech Stuff, Comic/Superhero/Geek
Today brings good news and bad news for fans eagerly awaiting The Adventures of Tintin: The Secret of the Unicorn, the first film in a proposed trilogy of new, motion-capture animated 3D films co-produced by Steven Spielberg and Peter Jackson (among others) based on the comic book series created by Georges "Hergé" Remi. Spielberg took up directorial duties on the first in the series, which was supposed to begin filming in 2008 for a 2010 release, but Universal, burned by the under-performance of Beowulf and Monster House at the box office, decided to pull out in the pre-production process, halting progress until Paramount could partner with Sony in order to grease the gears financially. Not much has popped up in the news department since then, however at the London premiere of Peter Jackson's The Lovely Bones, the Lord of the Rings director told reporters that filming had finally been completed on Spielberg's Tintin entry. However, it's still no where close to release. Jackson went on to say that it is going to take another two years to actually animate the film, meaning fans are most likely looking at a late 2011 release date for The Secret of the Unicorn.
DreamWorks Puts 'Real Steel' In Their Ring
Filed under: Action, Sci-Fi & Fantasy, Sports, Deals, Paramount, DIY/Filmmaking, Newsstand, Dreamworks, Steven Spielberg
If you held out faint hope that Hugh Jackman wouldn't be helping Shawn Levy box robots, and would abandon it for a feature film adaptation of A Steady Rain, kiss it goodbye now. Variety reports that DreamWorks' Steven Spielberg and Stacey Snider have green-lit Real Steel, making it the studio's first big financial project since it split with Paramount, and had to find its own money.Spielberg was attached to the project as executive producer when it was first announced, and it seems that it's been a real passion project for him. DreamWorks bought the project back in 2005, and it was one of the films they held onto after splitting from Paramount. "When we took it with us, we really highlighted it as something we would put the pedal to metal on," said DreamWorks co-president of production Mark Sourian. "It's a project that Steven always wanted to do. It just came together rapidly after we left Paramount." The film will be made for the relatively low budget of $80 million, and will begin production next June.
With a low budget to avoid Transformers excess, perhaps the magic of Spielberg and Richard Matheson can overcome the kiddie tendencies of Shawn Levy, and turn it into something special. A lot of commenters mentioned that Matheson's story was adapted into an episode of the Twilight Zone called Steel. Happily, it's online and I've embedded it below the jump. It really is a good episode, and while Levy keeps stressing that his Real Steel is grounded in its "father-son relationship," I hope it can retain a bit of Matheson's grit. I could be happy with a robot version of Million Dollar Baby.
More 'Thor': Idris Elba Guards the Bridge To Asgard
Filed under: Action, Casting, Paramount, Newsstand, Comic/Superhero/Geek
Asgard has just added another brilliant actor to their semi-immortal ranks. According to The Hollywood Reporter, Idris Elba has joined the cast of Thor as Heimdall, guardian of the Bifrost Bridge. He's the man you have to pass if you hope to start some stuff in Asgard, and as he's all-seeing and all-knowing, good luck trying to kick his butt.Elba's casting is undoubtedly going to cause a bit of a stir, as the Heimdall of the Marvel comics is a redhaired Caucasian. In the original Nordic myths, he was even called "the whitest of the gods" which seems like a thousand tasteless jokes in the making. (For the record, "whitest" refers to the light he emanated, not his skin color.) I imagine a lot of people are going to make those jokes, complain about things being PC, and just be very unpleasant.
But you know what? The Asgardians are gods. They can be any color they want, and should be. Marvel's Thor is also distinctly different than the original Norse myths, and I think a diverse cast is a fantastic and appropriate idea. Plus, this is Idris Elba. He's the kind of badass you want on that Bifrost Bridge, guarding the city gates, and having throwdowns with Thor. (He's always trying to prevent everyone's favorite blonde from going in or out of Asgard.) Kudos to Kenneth Branagh for recognizing that, and for creating an Ultimate Heimdall in the course of pre-production.
'Jackass 3-D' is Happening
Filed under: Comedy, Documentary, Paramount, RumorMonger
Back in 2007, our own Christopher Campbell (who's back on staff, baby!) told us that, back in 2006, a third Jackass film seemed like a sure thing in the wake of Jackass: Number Two. Steve-O told Howard Stern then that they'd begin shooting at the start of 2008...Cut to 2009, and the Paramount slate for 2010 in our inbox happens to list a Jackass 3-D, with a release date to be determined. Johnny Knoxville and company don't seem too busy of late, and even with the eye-popping added dimension, this sounds like a relatively cheap production to give the go-ahead to. If Wikipedia is to be believed (I know), Bam Margera confirmed in a much more recent interview for a Finnish newspaper that filming would begin this January around the world.
Since there's really not all that much else to report on this yet, let me just assure you that my pals in the Twittersphere are a bit more psyched to have their gag reflexes back in working order than I might be:
"please be true, please be true, please be true" ... "Party boy's testicles bouncing off our foreheads." ... "there is a God in heaven, and he LOVES me!" ... "Ohpleaseohpleasepohpleaseohplease..." ... "This would make up for anything that goes wrong in the next 10 years."
Yep, there's still an audience.
[Thanks to Brian O. for helping round things out.]
'Thor' Finds His Warriors Three!
Filed under: Casting, Paramount, Newsstand, Comic/Superhero/Geek
The ranks of Asgard are just about full! Marvel Studios reports that the Warriors Three will be joining Thor in all of his frosty battles, and as usual, Kenneth Branagh has done a bang up job with the casting. Stuart Townsend, Tadanobu Asano, and Ray Stevenson have joined the cast as Fandral, Hogun, and Volstagg, respectively. The official announcement comes on the heels of Zachary Levi revealing to USA Weekend that he had been cast as Fandral, but was forced to drop out due to an extended Chuck workload. While I feel for Levi, I'm actually very pleased that Townsend has stepped in, as I find him to be a bit more Errol Flynnish than Levi. (Though pulling up his Google Images reveals a guy who looks a lot more dashing than Chuck Bartowski. Wow. I might have to eat my words on that.) I'm anxious to see the once-and-never Aragorn get another shot at the fantasy genre, and prove himself to be dashing.
I'm not familiar with Asano's work beyond Mongol, but he turned in a very charismatic performance, and I'm always thrilled to see casting directors look to countries other than Northern Europe. But my heart really couldn't beat any faster than it is at Stevenson's casting. He'll be perfect, and it's awesome to see him get another shot at the Marvel Universe since it doesn't look like we'll ever see him return as Frank Castle. Filming begins in January 2010, and from there it'll just be one big geeky countdown.
Blu-ray Review: Star Trek (3-Disc Special Edition)
Filed under: Paramount, Fandom, Home Entertainment
The franchise comeback story of the year, if not the decade, is Star Trek, which arrived in theaters with an amount of buzz that could only be matched by a metric ton of tribbles, and eventually grossed almost $400 million worldwide. This week Trek debuts on Blu-ray in a 3-Disc Special Edition, and the set includes enough extras and special features that one can expect the series to continue on successfully for the foreseeable future – even if it's only because you can't get it out of your head.
Though it's unnecessary to revisit the merits of the movie itself – by now you're either with J.J. Abrams' reinvention of the series mythology or you aren't – it looks absolutely wonderful in high definition, emphasizing every last lens flare and visual flourish injected into its agile, lyrical cinematography. The color quality itself is just positively luminous, but augmented by the sound design, which offers a muscular 5.1 TrueHD mix, you're completely immersed in the film; in fact, so great is the sound on Disc One that even the menu screens rumble with house-shaking bass.
As for the encyclopedia of bonus materials.....
Check Out Concept Art From Marvel's Futuristic Theme Park
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Alec Baldwin Becomes Latest to Threaten Retirement
The First 'Iron Man 2' Poster Appears!
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