Sci-Fi Saturday Sunday: Hulk, Iron Man 2, Last Airbender, Transformers 2, Robocop, Jericho, Fringe + more
June 15, 2008
by Rosario T. Calabria , Filed under: Sci-Fi , trackback
June has kicked off with big returns for both the Hulk and M. Night Shyamalan. Plus will we get an Iron Man sequel in 22 months? Plus this week’s Sci-Fi news brings lots of new images, videos and posters, including one for the 2010 Robocop remake. Plus details on the TV remake of the Prisoner, Jericho fans having trouble letting go, JJ Abrams talking Fringe and much more.
MOVIE NEWS
The Incredible Hulk $50M+, The Happening $30M
"The Incredible Hulk" took in a solid $21M on Friday and is headed for a $50-55M weekend. Though that would put it slightly below the 2003 Ang Lee film ($62.1M), Universal was only expecting a take in the mid $40’s. Meanwhile, despite poor reception from critics (20% at RT), M. Night Shyamalan’s first R-Rated film "The Happening" exceeded expectations and is headed for a $30M+ weekend. Breakdowns for both films can be read here.
Captain America cameo in The Incredible Hulk DOES exist
So, wondering what’s up with that supposed Captain America cameo in "The Incredible Hulk"? Here’s the scoop. Turns out that the scene in which Captain America appears in the film with Bruce Banner was cut from the theatrical print. In an interview with SOS Hollywood, director Louis Leterrier explains where he shows up and when we may get to see the cameo: SPOILERS
"There’s a point when Bruce Banner gives up on his quest for the cure and decide to kill himself. So he travels far North and reaches the Arctic Circle. You might have seen bits of it in some of the promos. The result was a very dark and strong scene, which Marvel, me and everyone else’s considered to be too hard to young audiences to take, so we’ve cut it. Having that said, when Bruce arrives at his destination he meets up with Captain America! At some point this week, we will make it available on the internet – but I cannot tell you where or when – and the material will definitely be on the DVD."
Oh and speaking of ‘Incredible Hulk’ cameos, turns out that Spider-Man was going to appear in the movie, but Sony nixed the idea. Click here for the details. Also, Leterrier wants fans to chime in about whether they’d like to see Hulk as a villain in "The Avengers".
Shyamalan Talks The Last Airbender
Out and about doing promotion for his latest film, "The Happening", M. Night Shyamalan fielded some questions on the upcoming big screen adaption of the popular Nikelodeon animated series "Avatar: The Last Airbender", which he has also confirmed will be completely live-action. Shyamalan described the film to SCI FI Wire:
“It has martial arts and spirituality and the supernatural, and it has Buddhist philosophy and Hindu philosophy–really, everything I talk about–all in one movie,” Shyamalan said. “It has a mythology. It’s Shakespearean. It’s all this incredible stuff, and it has a balance. All these movies are plays on magic, whether it’s Lord of the Rings or The Matrix or Star Wars even, and each one of them relates to me in a different way, in its belief system.”
Iron Man 2 filming next March…with Favreau?
Iron Man is a huge hit and Paramount and Marvel want the sequel by late April 2010, but what about director Jon Favreau? There were some rumors that Marvel was ‘lowballing’ him and that he might not do it, but late last week it was reported that Marvel Studios has offered "Iron Man" director a new bigger deal to direct "Iron Man 2". In other "Iron Man" news, MTV reports that contrary to early rumors, Hillary Swank never filmed, nor was ever in contention, for a cameo in the movie. And lastly, Terrence Howard (Lt. Col. James Rhodes) tells Military.com filming on the sequel starts in March of 2009, assuming they can work out small details like getting a script and a director.
NEW IMAGES
Angels & Demons
Friday the 13th (set photos–watch a set report video here)
Harry Potter (promotional material–more here)
Hellboy II: The Golden Army (Character art–more here)
Knowing (set photos–more here)
Teaser Logos for Marvel 2010/2011 Slate
RoboCop (teaser poster)
Transformers 2: Revenge of the Fallen (set photos–more here)
X-Men Origins: Wolverine (set photo–more here)
WALL•E (British posters–more here)
NEW VIDEOS
Babylon A.D.
The Curious Case of Benjamin Button
The Dark Knight
Alternate Trailer
"Gotham Tonight"
Friday the 13th (set report–click to go back)
Hancock
The Incredible Hulk (TV spot with Tony Stark cameo)
Punisher: War Zone
Star Wars: The Clone Wars [HD Version]
Star Wars (Dance Off with the Star Wars Stars 2008)
WALL•E
MOVIE BITES
- Still intrigued by that whole Norton v. Marvel spectacle? Head to /Film to read The Incredible Hulk: The Truth About Edward Norton vs. Marvel. And be sure to leave your thoughts about "The Incredible Hulk" in the comments section below.
- Lawrence Kasdan ("Empire Strikes Back", "Raiders of the Lost Arc") is writing the big screen live-action adaptation of "Robotech". [CHUD]
- Marvel’s shortlist of names for "The First Avenger: Captain America" includes Leonardo DiCaprio and Brad Pitt. LR is quick to note though that no official offer has been made to either actor. [Latino Review]
- Columbia Pictures has decided to open "Hancock" one day earlier on Tuesday, July 1st. Screenings will begin as early as 7pm on the 1st. [/Film]
- Ken and Ryu will not appear in "Street Fighter: The Legend of Chun Li" because Capcom and the film’s producers wanted to make the movie more an origin story for Chun Li. They haven’t been ruled out for potential sequels, however. [StreetFighterMovie.net]
- Viral Marketing: Harvey Dent has been elected to Gotham District Attorney! Read about the victory at IBelieveInHarveyDent.com or in the latest edition of The Gotham Times. And on the movie front, Hollywood Elsewhere has learned that "The Dark Knight" will have a runtime of 2 hours and 32 minutes. And lastly, director Christopher Nolan has revealed that he suggested to Heath Ledger to base The Joker on punk legend Johnny Rotten.
- A live-action feature film of the "Turok" videogame is apparently headed to the big screen. Adam Beach, who voiced the title character in this year’s straight-to-DVD animated film "Turok: Son of Stone", is set to star. [MTV]
- "Fanboys" co-screenwriter Ernie Cline has revealed that director Kyle Newman has completed a new cut of "Fanboys" with the original plot intact which will be released later this year. The Weinstein Co. is expected to announce a release date soon. [UGO]
- The running time for "Star Wars: The Clone Wars" will be 2 hours and 1 minute. [TheForce.net]
- Seth Rogen and Jay Baruchel’s comedy short "Jay and Seth vs. the Apocalypse" is being adapted as a feature film by Mandate Pictures. The comedy revolves around two guys dealing with the apocalypse. [Variety]
- Columbia Pictures and Sony Pictures Animation have obtained the film rights to the "Smurfs" cartoon franchise. The film will combine live action and animation elements. "Shrek" scribes David Stern and David Weiss are in negotiations to write the screenplay. [Variety]
- Hayden Christensen told the Toronto Sun that he will probably sign on for a sequel to "Jumper": "We’re talking about it," Christensen told the newspaper. "I know that they’re having those conversations, I hear about them."
- Frank Darabont’s ‘Indiana Jones 4‘ script has been leaked online. Read it here. [IHoM]
- The title for "Transformers 2" ("Transformers 2": Revenge of the Fallen") is a reference to the character The Fallen, according to CHUD.
- Jason Segal, who is resurrecting the Muppets along with Nick Stoller, told IESB that the Muppets in the movie will be stay 100% traditional. So no need to worry about CG muppets.
- "The Dark Knight" director Christopher Nolan
- Warwick Davis told MTV that he would love to do a sequel to "Willow": “I would definitely greenlight a ‘Willow’ sequel."
- MTV has learned that the "teaser trailer and initial one-sheet" for "Terminator Salvation: The Future Begins" are "targeted for a July 18th release date tied with ‘The Dark Knight’". Check some teaser art below.
CASTING BITES
- James McAvoy has denied that he’s been cast as Bilbo Baggins in "The Hobbit". [Collider]
- Amanda Peet has been cast as the female lead opposite John Cusack in Roland Emmerich’s sci-fi epic "2012". [THR]
TV NEWS
Spaced Tour heading to US
In addition to finally getting the Region 1 DVDs of the British series "Spaced" this summer, Edgar Wright, Simon Pegg and Jessica Hynes are taking a road trip to the United States to market the DVDs. According to AICN, an appearance is even planned for Comic-Con in San Diego as well as a showing in Austin and New York (details are still forthcoming). The tour kicks off this month on the 24th at the Los Angeles Film Festival, where Edgar Wright will screen 2, as yet unknown, episodes and have a Q&A (moderated by "South Park" co-creator Matt Stone).
Potential Details from The Prisoner Remake
Some new, unconfirmed information on the AMC/ITV "Prisoner" miniseries has been revealed. Via AICN:
- Ian McKellen will play chief jailer Number Two
- Jim Caviezel will play chief inmate Number Six
- Jon Jones (“Cold Feet”) directs
- Six episodes will be produced
- Shooting starts the first week of August
- It shoots on location in Namibia and South Africa
- It airs next year
The information was gathered from an exclusive report at SixofOne.org.
Jared Padalecki talks Supernatural, Filming begins in July
Jared Padalecki told reporters on the set of his film "Friday the 13th" that assuming there is no writers strike, shooting will begin on the upcoming fourth season of "Supernatural" in July:
"As of right now–yeah, I guess the strike is a huge issue," Padalecki said in a group interview on the set of his film Friday the 13th in Austin, Texas, on June 6. "But as of right now, we’re supposed to start the first week of July, because they want to have it airing with "Smallville", and "Smallville" starts shooting really early, so they want us to start shooting really early also so they can air new episodes of each together."
Padaleci hasn’t seen any scripts for the new season, nor spoken with series creator Eric Kripke, but he did discus what happened to Dean Winchester (Jensen Ackles) in the season finale. SPOILERS:
"I’m assuming [that's] clearly not [the case]," Padalecki said. "I think his plan is to be in Vancouver when I’m in Vancouver. I pray to God [he is], because [if not,] then that would mean that I, all day, every day, [will have] no one to [share the show with]. I’ll bear the burden [on my own]. But, no, I’m sure Jensen is going to be a huge part of the show, as he always has been. Same as always. Just in hell [laughs]."
Jericho fans won’t let go + alternate ending revealed
Fans of the canceled CBS series "Jericho" series aren’t letting go. A group, dubbed the "Jericho Rangers", have created a 30-second ad featuring a voice-over by actor Brad Beyer (Stanley Richmond from the show) that began airing on Thursday June 12th and will run for 10 days during several popular cable shows, including "Ghost Hunters" on the SCI FI Channel. You can watch the ad below, courtesy Save Jericho Again. And in other "Jericho" news, had CBS decided to renew the show in March, this is the alternate ending we would have seen:
Fringe behind-the scenes
Producer. J.J. Abrams talks about the new Abrams/Orci/Kurtzman show Fringe coming next Fall on Fox
TV BITES
- Though it wasn’t entirely unexpected, it sucks all the same. As reported in this week’s BSG Preview, Ronald D. Moore has confirmed that there will be no new episodes of BSG until 2009. Click here for the details. On the plus side, it looks like we’ll be getting at least one additional hour and more TV movies are still a go.
- Justin Hartley (Green Arrow/Oliver Queen) will become a series regular for the upcoming eighth season of "Smallville". [E! Online]
- The complete first season of "Terminator: The Sarah Connor Chronicles" will be re-aired on Fox this August.
- Francis Capra ("Veronica Mars") has joined the cast of "Heroes". [TV Guide]
- Lost’s Naveen Andrews (Sayid Jarrah) gave an interview with E! Online discussing the show’s end and more. Read it here.
- Sarah Paulson ("Studio 60 on the Sunset Strip") has been cast as the female lead in ABC’s one-hour pilot "Cupid". [THR]
- Those hoping for a rebound in ratings for the NBC SF anthology series "Fear Itself" are in for a bit of a disappointment. Though its slide among total viewers was mild (-7%), it took a dive among the key A18-49 demo (-25%).
- Jamie Kennedy has joined the cast of the CBS drama "Ghost Whisperer" as a regular. Kennedy will play Eli, a graduate student in psychology at the local university who forms a bond with Melinda (Jennifer Love Hewitt). [THR]
MISC
Campbell Finalists Named
Finalists for this year’s John W. Campbell Memorial Award, given annually for the best science-fiction novel of the year, have been announced:
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HARM by Brian Aldiss
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The Yiddish Policeman’s Union by Michael Chabon
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In War Times by Kathleen Ann Goonan
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The New Moon’s Arms by Nalo Hopkinson
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Mainspring by Jay Lake
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The Execution Channel by Ken MacLeod
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Brasyl by Ian McDonald
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Time’s Child by Rebecca Ore
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Bad Monkeys by Matt Ruff
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Rollback by Robert J. Sawyer
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Zig Zag by Jose Carlos Somoza
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The Margarets by Sheri S. Tepper
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Deadstock by Jeffrey Thomas
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Axis by Robert Charles Wilson.
The winner will be announced during the 2008 Campbell Conference, July 10-13 in Lawrence, Kansas.
McFarlane returns for Spawn Comics
Beginning with issue #185 in October, the "Spawn" comic will feature a new creative team, including Spawn creator Todd McFarlane, Image Comics co-founder Whilce Portacio and writer Brian Holguin.
"We’ve just been talking with everybody involved about what we can do to inspire the readers," McFarlane says. "One of them was to take the book in a different direction in terms of the storyline, and the other was to take it in a bit of a different direction artistically, too."
A hint at things to come:
"It seems that everybody had the same thought that this is a great, huge universe, and to let everybody finally see it," says Portacio. "Not just glimpse a demon here or there, but to actually get into their motivation, what factions they’re part of. Todd has even given me freedom to create new factions of spawns and new factions of angels."
Read the full press release here.
Twilight (Widget)
SCI-FI RATINGS
| Top 10 SF&F Broadcast Shows | HH Rating/Share |
| 1) Ghost Whisperer (R) | 3.7/7 |
| 2) Ghost Whisperer (R) |
3.4/7 |
| 3) Lost (R) | 2.1/3 |
| 4) Medium (R) | 2.0/4 |
| 5) Medium (R) | 1.7/4 |
| 6) Reaper | 1.6/2 |
| 7) Smallville (R) | 1.5/3 |
| 8) Supernatural (R) | 1.2/2 |
| 9) Reaper (R) | 1.0/2 |
5/19/2008 to
5/25/2008 – Source: Nielsen Media Research
| Top 10 SF&F Syndicated Shows | Rating |
| 1) Dead Zone |
0.8 |
| 2) Stargate SG-1 | 0.8 |
| 3) Star Trek | 0.7 |
| 4) Stargate Atlantis | 0.6 |
5/19/2008 to
5/25/2008 – Source: Nielsen Galaxy Report via SCI FI Wire
| Top 10 SCI FI CHANNEL Shows | Rating |
| 1) Tale of the Mummy | 1.2 |
| 2) ECW | 1.1 |
| 3) Ritual |
1.1 |
| 4) Resident Evil: Apocalypse |
1.1 |
| 5) Ghost Hunters |
1.0 |
| 6) Fire Serpent |
1.0 |
| 7) Scorcher | 0.9 |
| 8) Bordello of Blood | 0.8 |
| 9) The Hive | 0.8 |
| 10) Blood Monkey |
0.8 |
5/19/2008 to
5/25/2008 – Source: Nielsen Galaxy Report via SCI FI Wire
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Comments»
Smallville keeps losing key players…….what’s up?
Yay! RoboCop! My Hero!
Looks good.
“The Incredible Hulk” was great! Can’t wait to see the Captain America scene.
No BSG until 2009? Bummer!
I really enjoyed the first Robocop. But I don’t know why we need another one when 2 and 3 were’nt really that good. Bring on a Deathlok movie! For that’s really what Robocop is copying.
I’m jazzed about Cap being in The Hulk.
Yay the return of robocop. hmm although the poster look’s like it came straight from the 80’s so im a little sceptical, hmm or was this intentional i wonder..
Yeah that Robocop poster looks pretty lame.
I’m truly stunned at what BSG has turned out to be this year! I used to love this show…the absolutely spell-binding tension between the actors due to the outstanding writing “was” something so rare on TV these days.
However, it’s as if those fine writers have either been replaced or have lost their passion and/or imagination for this show. I expected so much more as a finale and now we’re left with…
After all these years, could there be a new Prisoner? This has been in the fires of development hell for years, so I’ll hold my hopes until I see pics from the actual filming. However, The Prisoner was such a unique series at a unique time and I don’t know that it can be replicated, replaced or remade. In any case, I will certainly tune in if this is true.
Not filed, stamped, indexed, briefed, debriefed or numbered,
Me
“There’s a point when Bruce Banner gives up on his quest for the cure and decide to kill himself. So he travels far North and reaches the Arctic Circle. You might have seen bits of it in some of the promos. The result was a very dark and strong scene, which Marvel, me and everyone else’s considered to be too hard to young audiences to take, so we’ve cut it. Having that said, when Bruce arrives at his destination he meets up with Captain America!”
hmmmmmmmmmmmmm, could it be that he finds Cap in a block of ice a la Avengers issue 4?
V!
I thought the Hulk was really good, it was like The Bourne movies on steroids! I really like how they’re doing these crossovers, makes things a lot more possible.
Why a Robocop “remake”? The original 1987 movie is perfetct, with stunning sfx, good plot and terrific acting by Peter Weller. OK for a sequel, but imo a remake is unnecessary.
I don’t really think we need a remake of The Prisoner (LOST is, in some ways, a much more inventive descendant)… that is unless they get a real genius like Terry Gilliam (who seems perfectly suited for it) or David Lynch to re-invent it for a post 9/11 sensibility.
I say remake the hell out of Robocop. In order to reintroduce him to audiences they HAVE to start from the beginning. I think it’s a good movie, but it’s very very dated. Not to mention every incarnation since has been atrocious: the sequels, the series, and the miniseries I just hope they keep the level of violence.
Man, The SciFi Channel is just destroying every last bit of momentum that’s built up on BSG. They are effectively making four seasons last six years.
I would love a ROBOCOP sequel with Peter Weller. I would imagine that 20 years after the original, the character would evolve into a Dirty Harry type of cop. I would rather see an older, badass Robocop than a new actor rebooting the series.
I loved the Hulk, and I would have LOVED a Cap scene. I’ve been wanting a shared film universe for a long time. To bad it looks like we have to wait til 2010 to see another movie in that universe. :(
Edward Norton better return in the sequels. He was great. And I’d like to see him be a good guy in The Avengers. I know in the comics they formed to fight the Hulk, but it’d be nice to see Iron Man, Cap, Thor, Ant-Man and the Hulk fight Loki or Doom or something.
That Robocop poster sucks.
This one is much better.
Link might help…
http://img293.imageshack.us/img293/1992/postercopyps2.jpg
Will “Fringe” be my X-Files replacement?
Woohoo!
It is wrong to remake RoboCop, it is pissing me off all these bloody remakes and reboots. Robocop is one of my fav films and they should be making a proper sequel with Peter Weller. a remake would lose the social satire and the violence of the original.
Thanks Hollywood you are just crapping on my childhood
#23
Yes, I don’t see any reason to remake Robocop apart from special effects. The original story is wonderful and the overall atmosphere of the movie is totally adequate to 2008. Peter Weller as Robocop was stunning.
They can think about updating the special effects (not needed, in my opinion, but I can live with that) but remaking a good movie is kind of silly.
Do they want to introduce Robocop to the new generations? Bring the movie back in theaters for a while.
What I hate about reboots and remakes is that the new generation will prefer the more mediocre actor playing the character in the remake rather than the actor who originated the role.
let the kids watch the old ones, not give them a remake and making sure they never bother watching the original, that means it continues in name only rather than in spirit.
JJ Abrams is likely to need body armour, when his screwed up version of Star trek comes out.
That overrated geek SHOULD of NEVER been involved!
Robo what? it’s RoboCop :) i bet they will remake the original SW trilogy :)
Am I the only one who thinks that RoboCop poster looks stupid?
I just spoke to a good source who spent some time with RDM last week and it looks like we will get at least 2 or 3 new BSG movies (like RAZOR) and will not effect the ending,remember this was directly from RDM. So even though we will have to wait until early 09 before we will see 4.5 of BSG, the last episode / season finale, it will be 3 hours. And it probably be broken into multiple nights
So for all of us BSG fans, we actually have alot to look forward to, A 3 hour series finale, up to 3 movies and Caprica.
Also we wiki be getting those mini webisodes.
Even though the movies are not in stone, it looks really good.
I saw the Incredible Hulk and it was smashing. I think it would be a serious mistake on Marvel’s part to make Hulk a villain in the Avengers movie. I can see a scenario whereby they team up to stop him to defuse a threat and then work with him for the greater good during the course of the movie.
But to make him a villain and have him face the Avengers would be confusing for the audience, especially the kids. The audience in the theatre I saw the Hulk in this past weekend was packed and really into this movie, especially towards the end when Hulk fights the Abomination. They actually cheered wildly when the Hulk took it to Abomination.
Having him face the Avengers might make for a fun fight scene, but I can see where the audience would be conflicted and possibly turned off.
Nice try for the “Jericho Rangers”, but the fact is CBS never seriously backed this show and the writer strike delivered the coup-de-grace. The show may live on in fanfic, but never on network TV.
If Robocop is going to be remade- and I agree that it shouldn’t be- then Peter Weller should play The Old Man.