Sci-Fi Monday Movie News: Transformers, Alien, Ghostbusters, Avatar, Hobbit, Iron Man + more | TrekMovie.com
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Sci-Fi Monday Movie News: Transformers, Alien, Ghostbusters, Avatar, Hobbit, Iron Man + more June 15, 2009

by Rosario T. Calabria , Filed under: Sci-Fi , trackback

It is a special Monday edition of our SciFi Sunday wrapup of genre movie news. We have tons of updates on the new Transformers movie, with lots of clips, quotes, etc. Plus Ridley Scott may be involved in that Alien prequel and there’s more news on Ghostbusters, Hobbit, Avatar and much more, plus lots of previews, including Iron Man2 and Shorts, featuring Star Trek’s Jimmy Bennett.

MOVIE NEWS

Michael Bay: Transformers 2 "just about finished"
"Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen"
director Michael Bay left a message on his official website informing fans that the film is "just about finished":

"In Japan today. After a month and half seven days a week most days going till midnight me and my crew have just about finished Transformers. I have never seen such a level of dedication from every crew member in a movie before."

"It has been a long hard road, but really fun one to travel. What you will notice that is strikingly different than Transformers 1, is the level of animation detail. The robot characters (42 in all), you really can feel empathy for them. What is also very different is the sheer scale of the movie. We have been very tight holding back much of the best imagery in commercials and trailers."

Additionally, here’s an excerpt from a report posted on producer Don Murphy’s website from the Tokyo, Japan premiere of the film:

Movie was incredible, I liked it much more than the first! More action, more robots, less humans! Though there are some lame sexual innuendos like Wheelie humping Megan’s leg.

The VA thing in the credits was way too fast, sorry guys. The Fallen was Todd something. Welker does voice Soundwave, and Devastator too. Devastator has one line, screaming his name. Soundwave only has a few lines but he speaks English. But he never comes down to earth and never turns into a robot. Bleah. Very little screen time, but at least he doesn’t get exploded which leaves things open for the third movie.

Much more at the source. In other "Transformers" news, the DVD and Blu-ray release of the first film, which hits tomorrow, June 16th, will feature a sneak peek at the sequel.  The bonus content will be made available online through an access code included on the DVD package, and via BD-Live for the Blu-ray release. Meanwhile, Tyrese Gibson talks with SCI FI Wire about the pressure to deliver another blockbuster.  And lastly, the first four reviews of the film have popped up on Rotten Tomatoes (all Fresh, but with reservations).  Read them at: The Daily Mirror, Total Film (4/5), Empire Magazine (3/5) and IGN UK (3/5).

New Images [Transformers Live]

Ironhide [Cinematical]

CGI shot of The Fallen [TFG2]

Images from the Tokyo, Japan premiere [more at Superhero Hype!]

Images from the Paris, France premiere [more at ComingSoon.net]

More premiere images: Berlin, Germany || Madrid, Spain

CGI Megan Fox Even Hotter This Time

ET Interview with Megan Fox

Seoul, South Korea premiere

Tokyo, Japan premiere

German-dubbed clip

TV Spot

One more at this link

Fox Wants Ridley Scott To Direct Alien Prequel
Carl Erik Rinsch was recently announced as the director of the upcoming "Alien" prequel, but Entertainment Weekly reports that the studio, 20th Century Fox, is in conflict with the filmmakers about who should direct.  Reportedly, Fox would prefer to see Ridley Scott, director of the original film, take on the project:

Sources at Fox, however, tell EW that the studio is not interested in greenlighting a prequel unless Scott himself directs. Scott and his reps didn’t respond to calls for comment. But Tony Scott, Ridley’s brother and producing partner, was unequivocal in his support for Rinsch when asked about the project last weekend at the junket for his movie The Taking of Pelham 1 2 3. ”Carl is doing the prequel to Alien,” Tony told a reporter from Collider.com, before adding: ”I’m excited because Ridley created the original and Carl is one of the family.” Just which ”family,” personal or professional or both, was unclear.

Progress Update for Green Lantern Film
Screenwriter Marc Guggenheim spoke with SCI FI Wire and revealed that he has just completed a new draft for the upcoming live-action "Green Lantern" film based on a script written by him, Michael Green and Greg Berlanti:

"In fact, I’m … delivering another draft today," Guggenheim (TV’s Flash Forward) said in an exclusive interview on Friday. "So it continues to move forward."

Guggenheim was tight-lipped, but did talk about the basic goal around the film:

"The goal here is to do the best cinematic representation of the Green Lantern character. You know, there’s no desire on anyone’s part to completely change the character and just call this other character Green Lantern and try to … draft off the name recognition. This is all about ‘How do we bring the best version of this character to the silver screen?’"

Head on over to SCI FI Wire to read the rest of the interview.

Ryan Reynolds Talks Deadpool Details + Update on Wolverine Leak
Ryan Reynolds says that he and Marvel Studios are currently looking for a director and writer(s) for the proposed "Deadpool" spinoff and when it comes to story, they don’t intend to stray too far from the source material:

“I get to be the authentication police, in a weird way,” grinned Reynolds, who added: “To their credit — the studio’s credit — they want to make an authentic ‘Deadpool’ movie; they want to make it as close to the source material as possible.”

In fact, some details have already been nailed down:

With that in mind, the actor told us that he and the studio have already agreed to some key terms. “He’s going to be the Merc with the Mouth, [we’re going to give] all those answers that everyone wants,” Reynolds explained. “He’s going to have the scarred-up face, he’s going to be in the suit — and, it’s going to be incredible.”

While at the same time, there’s still much to be discussed:

 “Right now, it’s just a question of trying to figure out what is the spine of the story,” Ryan said of their current discussions. “Who is the villain? What does Wade and/or Deadpool want?”

“And how do you tell that story? Are we going to see flashbacks to his old life, flash-forwards, present-day?” an obviously enthusiastic Reynolds added. “We’re just trying to figure that stuff out.”

Keeping it in the "X-Men" family, there’s an interesting development in the "X-Men Origins: Wolverine" leak.  Apparently, Fox head Rupert Murdoch may have been the cause.  Martin Garbus, lawyer for gossip columnist Roger Friedman, who was fired from Fox News after writing up a review of the film based on the leak, told the New York Daily News that the piracy occurred because Murdoch asked the studio to make him a DVD copy of the film:

According to Garbus, the leak of “Wolverine” onto the Web traced back to Murdoch asking the studio to make him a DVD copy of the unfinished movie. “Apparently, someone made another copy for themselves,” says Garbus.

Guillermo Del Toro Talks Hobbit; Confirms Weaving, McKellen and Serkis Casting
In a chat with BBC Radio 5’s Simon Mayo [via /Film], Guillermo del Toro confirmed that three players will be back for "The Hobbit" reprising their respective roles from "The Lord of the Rings" trilogy (Andy Serkis, Ian McKellen and Hugo Weaving): "Yes [and] Ian McKellen is back, [and] Hugo Weaving in the roles they originated in the trilogy." Del Toro also discussed how now the plan is to make just two films:

"There is a whole other chapter, so to speak, which is the comings and going of Gandalf which are dealt with, people that know the lore know that Gandalf was delayed with a crisis… with a character that is very shady called the Necromancer that proves to be Sauron."

Del Toro also touched on some other projects that he has been involved in, or is currently involved in, including "Blade", "Hellboy" and "The Strain".  You can listen to the full show at the BBC’s website.

Mark Millar Talks Kick-Ass and Wanted 2
Mark Millar, co-creator of the comic book series "Kick-Ass", talked to SCI FI Wire about his involvement in the upcoming Mathew Vaughn-directed adaptation:

SCI FI Wire: How hands-on were you during production of the movie?

Millar: Oh, massively. The first film I did, Wanted, I just dropped by for a few meetings, talked to the guys about the script, dropped by the set to shake everyone’s hands and then went home. But with Kick-Ass, it’s been unbelievable. Matthew did the same thing with Neil Gaiman on Stardust, where basically Matthew and I spent weeks and weeks on the phone every day for a couple of hours while he was writing the screenplay. Then I would get out to his house, and we’d spend days blocking it all out and so on and changing stuff and nailing it down. Then there was the casting process, where, every day, we were looking at actors and actresses, and that took weeks and weeks and weeks. We almost couldn’t find our lead, because there was nobody we liked, and then Aaron just came in at the last minute.

Millar also discussed the possibility of there being a sequel to another one of his comics, "Wanted":

SCI FI Wire: The success of Wanted as a film no doubt helped pave the way for Kick-Ass to get made. How much is riding on Kick-Ass? If it’s successful at the box office, do you expect it will open the door to film versions of The Unfunnies and some of your other titles?

Millar: Wanted made $350 million. So that was the thing that opened the doors. I didn’t expect that. For some reason I just assumed, "Oh, yeah, this will come out and do OK. If I get another movie at some point, wonderful." But what happened very quickly was that several of the titles got picked up to be made into movies. Kick-Ass. War Heroes. I’m doing American Jesus. Kick-Ass 2 is already being plotted out. We’re planning it, because all the actors are quite young and we have to make it relatively quickly. So we’ll definitely do that inside the next 18 to 24 months.

Read the rest of the interview at SCI FI Wire.  In terms of casting, the Russian news site RIA Novosti [via ComingSoon.net] talked to "Wanted" director Timur Bekmabetov and he says that [SPOILERS] they’ve found a way to bring back Angelina Jolie’s character.

Some More Avatar Details Trickle Out
Over the last few weeks, 20th Century Fox has screened about 25-minutes of James Cameron’s upcoming Sci-Fi 3-D epic "Avatar"/Film has spoken to some people who have seen Fox’s presentation, and while they’re under NDAs, their basic comments are very encouraging: "mind-blowing. Game-changer. Dreamlike. Completely unlike anything they’d seen before."  /Film also reports that if the film succeeds, it’s expected that Cameron will continue the project with at least one sequel.  The film’s premise was also explained in greater detail than we’ve read in the past.  Here’s an excerpt from /Film’s report:

The story begins on Earth. Jake Sully (Sam Worthington) is a soldier who hasn’t found anything worth fighting for. Adding injury to insult, he’s lost the use of his legs. So when the opportunity comes to travel to the planet Pandora and work with a mining operation there, Jake accepts.

What’s on Pandora that is so important? A mineral, found nowhere else, that is a game-changer with respect to energy production. Befitting the mineral’s status as a MacGuffin, Landau jokingly called it ‘unobtanium’. Pandora is a lush but harsh planet. The air is poisonous to humans. Plants and creatures alike are predatory and very dangerous. And the natives, ten-foot tall blue humanoids called Na’vi, aren’t exactly pleased about the men and machinery that are scarring the surface and digging to find the unobtanium.

Head on over to /Film to read the rest.  "Avatar" hits 3-D and conventional theaters on December 18, 2009.

Ghostbusters III Updates
Harold Ramis spoke with Empire Magazine [via /Film] about the upcoming "Ghostbusters III" and relayed the following bit of information about the film:

"I’m intrigued by my idea for where Egon has been. He’s been working in the International Institute For Imaginary Science, in Geneva. He’s evolved a post-rational, non-conclusive logic for dealing with problems of chaos. Someone asks him ‘What does that mean?’ and he says ‘There are no spatial, conceptual or intellectual models to describe it – so we don’t know.’ Egon’s gone so abstract, even he doesn’t know what he’s doing!"

Ramis also revealed that if signed, Alyssa Milano would "be playing the same character [Dr. Ilyssa Selwyn] she does in the game”, who is described as a "love interest", while also mentioning that Eliza Dushku, who was also rumored to be considered for the film, would not be competing for the same character and instead would play a different role.  Meanwhile, ComingSoon.net also caught up with Ramis where he confirmed that there will be a new cast: "Oh, yeah. There will be new Ghostbusters. It’s not about us running around. We’ll be introducing new people."


Preview for "Shorts" Kid Kirk’s new movie
Nickelodeon has the exclusive preview of Shorts, the kids adventure from Spy Kids director Robert Rodriguez, starring Jimmy Bennett (aka young James T. Kirk in Star Trek).

Sorcerer’s Apprentice set visit and images
Monica Bellucci and Alfred Molina on the set of 2010 Disney feature Sorcerer’s Apprentice starring Nicholas Cage.

Plus here are some set images [more at Stitch Kingdom via CinemaBlend]


New Preview Images

9

Final poster [Film School Rejects]

Blood: The Last Vampire [more at SCI FI Wire]

Gamer [IGN]

Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince

Set images [more at io9]

Iron Man 2

First look at Mickey Rourke as Ivan Vanko/Whiplash [USA Today]

Rec² [STYD]

Scott Pilgrim Vs. the World

Set images [edgar wright here]

Surrogates [SpoilerTV-Movies]

The Twilight Saga: New Moon

Set images [more at RadarOnline]

Zombieland [more at AICN]

CASTING BITES

MOVIE BITES

MISC BITES

Follow Russ on his blog: Your Entertainment Now and on Twitter: Twitter.com/YourEntNow.


Comments»

1. jotin - June 15, 2009

I’ve very excited about iron man and transformers

2. The Invader (In Color!) - June 15, 2009

I’d be more excited about the ALIEN prequel with Ridley Scott as director AND producer!

I’ll see it either way, but would be much more confident as to the quality with Ridley behind the camera.

3. Capt Mike of the Terran Empire - June 15, 2009

I hope Ridley Scott does the Prequal of Aliens. Loved the first 2 hated the rest. Transformers should be a blast. Will be seeing Trek for an 11th time this weekend. Harry Potter will be great in Imax. Great to see Ian Mckellan back in the Hobbit. I also heard on Yahoo that the orignal Capt America is back in the Comics. Should be a good Read.

4. SarahJM - June 15, 2009

The ending of the CGI Megan Fox is hilarious!

5. Pyork (JE) - June 15, 2009

If Megan wants a serious career then she should talk to Abrams about being in the next Star Trek movie. I think if she were serious she would make a good Vulcan

6. Andy Patterson - June 15, 2009

Cool Iron Man news.

Don’t quite know what to think about the Conan news. Who is this guy? Not Ratner is good.

Haven’t been to the city to see a show since the boys were born but I’m thinking about going to see Spider-Man on Broadway. May be cool.

7. brokenbacktango - June 15, 2009

Come on Reynolds, as a Deadpool fan you ought to know he’s his own worst enemy! As for how faithful the Deadpool movie will be… well, we’ll see. That he’s actually going to be scarred up is definitely a pleasant surprise :) Would it be too much to ask to get him in his tight red-and-black suit too? None of that uniform update stuff with leather jackets or what have you. I mean, if you’re gonna have Ryan Reynolds as your star–even if he has scarring all over his body–it would be a missed opportunity if you didn’t show off that physique.

8. brokenbacktango - June 15, 2009

Also: The Dragonball movie is getting a sequel?! Wow. I almost feel guilty for paying to to see it now. I helped it spawn!

9. tenfingersofdoom - June 15, 2009

YESSSS! AKIRA is dead as a doornail! No Neo New York or whatever the hell and no white kids responding to the names of tetsuo and kaneda! Yess. Mr. Katsuhiro, please just write a sequel.

10. Sarah - June 15, 2009

Shorts looks like it’ll be a cute movie.

11. Christopher Lee - June 15, 2009

I was stoked about Transformers: Revenge Of The Fallen until Megan Fox called me a white trash, hillbilly, anti-gay, super bible-beating person that she wanted to be taken out.

12. Green-Blooded-Bastard - June 15, 2009

I’m fairly tired of actually having the ability to act in movies being an option these days, with looks being what’s most important. Megan Fox can’t act. Period.

13. Millennium Vulcan - June 15, 2009

Lil’ Kirk looks like Butt-Head in that picture.

14. Jim Nightshade - June 15, 2009

wow-i had no idea wanted made 350 mil,as good as trek—

15. Cobalt 1365 - June 16, 2009

Hooray for the Hobbit! Hugo weaving plus no bridge film, all good news.

In unrelated news: Wanted sucked, please hollywood, no more

16. Navarro - June 16, 2009

Wow, that 9 scientist website is NOT for “District 9″, it’s for Tim Burton’s new movie “9″. Do a little fact-checking why doncha.

17. bozz - June 16, 2009

What is this about the Transformers Blu-Ray? Is it being re-released with new content?

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19. Ralph F - June 16, 2009

Love how that one clip says “Monica Belluci and Alf…”

Now *that* I would pay to see.

20. Brett Campbell - June 16, 2009

Great that those three are returning for “The Hobbit.”

I would love to see Ian Hom play Bilbo again, but they will probably have to go with a younger actor for the role.

#2 — I agree with you completely about Ridley Scott and the “Alien” prequel.

21. The TOS Purist aka The Purolator - June 16, 2009

I’m so sick of Megan Fox. Sheesh, she’s not THAT hot, people.

I hope that the “Alien” prequel shows us more of the Space Jockeys!

22. ML31 - June 16, 2009

Didn’t care about the first Transformers….
Don’t care about the new Transformers.
Even as a youngster I thought the toys were dumb.

Elsewhere…
The Incredible Mr. Limpet. Well… They are remaking everything else…
The Jetsons. We all knew that had to be coming too.

I guess everything has been done. Nothing original from Hollywood anymore.

23. Ghostbusters | Blu Ray Disc Player - June 16, 2009

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24. Brett Campbell - June 16, 2009

21 – Is the Space Jockey the dead creature (with the hole in its chest) in the derelict ship that had all the eggs in its cargo hold? I figure that must be what you’re referring to, but I wasn’t sure.

25. DJT - June 17, 2009

So Wheelie has a labido and curses. WTF? What’s he gonna do next? Hump Megan Fox’s leg? Oh, wait…..

They sure don’t make Transformers like they used to. Damn those pesky SouthParkticons.

26. Stringfellow Hawke - June 17, 2009

Alien and Predator are two viable franchises that should NOT be lying dormant in a Fox desk drawer!!!! Get on these now, Fox!!!!
And Ridley Scott already directed an Alien film, let someone else do this one~!!!! I don’t blame him for immersing himself in this, but at least he and his adept brother are overseeing this!!! That is one hell of an endorsement!!!

A-Team: The motion picture…huh? What’s next? T J Hooker????

27. Shatner_Fan_Prime - June 17, 2009

So James Spader is the heavy in Shorts? He’s now worked with Kirks at both ends of the spectrum!

28. DGill - June 17, 2009

Well, I’m definitely not looking forward to the second “Transformers” film because I find Megan Fox disgusting and the humor sounds like it has not improved from the dismal comedy of the first film. I think the only movie worth seeing in the future is “Iron Man 2″, but that’s pretty much it.

29. Avatar Video Game | The OriginalUnOriginal.Com - June 18, 2009

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30. Bruce Willis Surrogates Trailer | The OriginalUnOriginal.Com - June 19, 2009

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31. Alex - July 19, 2009

Some great user reviews of Transformers 2 at Twitics Movie Reviews: http://www.twiticsmoviereviews.com/23631/Transformers:%20Revenge%20of%20the%20Fallen.html


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