Sci-Fi Movies Monday: Inception, Spider-man, Surrogates, Hobbit, Avatar, Wolf-man + more

Today we get the first look at how Christopher Nolan will follow-up his Dark Knight, with the new Inception. Elsewhere in genre movie news we have the Hobbit casting news, details on Bruce Willis’ Surrogates, an update on the next two Spider-man movies, and all the latest images and trailers, including the first trailer from The Wolfman .

GENRE MOVIE NEWS

Christopher Nolan’s Inception Teaser Trailer
The teaser trailer for Christopher Nolan’s ("The Dark Knight", "Batman Begins") next film, the sci-fi action film "Inception", has been released. Watch it below.

Teaser trailer

Ian McKellen Updates The Hobbit Casting + Peter Jackson To Direct Third "Bridge" Movie?
Ian McKellen was at London’s BFI IMAX theater Saturday night to introduce a special screening of the extended editions of all three "Lord of the Rings" films and the actor confirmed to the crowd that he will be reprising his role as Gandalf in the upcoming ‘Hobbit’ films (revealing that he expects to start work on set in March of next year).  McKellen also told the crowd that Bilbo Baggins has already been successfully cast and that the fans will be very pleased to discover who it is.  Finally, McKellen revealed that he expects his own personal copy of the script (probably of just the first film) soon.  In other news, MarketSaw reported a rumor that Peter Jackson would be filming a third "bridge" film between Del Toro’s "The Hobbit, Part II" and ‘Fellowship of the Ring’:

1. THE HOBBIT(s) will be in stereoscopic 3D.
2. THE HOBBIT will be shot in THREE movies – two Del Toro movies covering the book itself and a third bridge movie.
3. Peter Jackson will direct the bridge movie.
4. Smaug and the characters in THE HOBBIT will be darker than in the book.

"The Hobbit, Part I" will be released in December 2011, with its sequel expected to hit theaters in December, 2012.

Jonathan Mostow Discusses Changes Made in Surrogates
Jonathan Mostow, director of the upcoming Bruce Willis sci-fi film "Surrogates" talked to SCI FI Wire about the decision to make some changes to the Robert Venditti-written graphic novel of which the film is based:

"This is not an iconic property," Mostow said. "So we weren’t bound by [the feeling] that anybody would be disappointed if we did something different or changed an element of the story. At the time we decided to do this as a movie I don’t think there were more than 5,000 copies sold. Obviously the book is a little bit more known now. But Rob has been totally supportive of all the stuff we’ve done"

Speaking of those changes, here’s what Mostow told MTV: "The character of Steeplejack is not in the movie by name anymore," Mostow said.  And more:

"We tapped into certain themes more deeply in the movie than the comic book did," he explained. "We put a lot of emphasis on another big theme—which is this idea of human physical perfection. We all want to look great all the time, to an unrealistic extent."

"The comic book had this simple, original idea that was very compelling and led to these interesting questions," he said.

"Surrogates" hits theaters on September 25, 2009. Here is a new featurette.

James Vanderbilt To Write Spider-Man 5 and Spider-Man 6
Production isn’t set to begin on "Spider-Man 4" until early next year, but Sony Pictures is already looking towards the future.  Variety reports that the studio has hired James Vanderbilt to script a fifth and sixth installment in the film franchise.  Vanderbilt actually wrote the first script for "Spider-Man 4" — which was rewritten by David Lindsay-Abaire and more recently Gary Ross — and is now tasked in writing an interconnected story between "Spider-Man 5" and "Spider-Man 6".  That was actually the original idea when Vanderbilt was writing the fourth film (filming four and five back-to-back).  It’s unclear at the moment whether director Sam Raimi and the major players — Tobey Maguire (Spider-Man/Peter Parker) and Kirsten Dunst (Mary Jane Watson) — will return.  Variety notes that if they don’t, it’s more than likely that Vanderbilt will be writing a franchise reboot.

NEW IMAGES

2012

Publicity stills [more at IGN]

9

Concept art [io9]

Astro Boy

Desktop wallpapers [more at Project Atom via SuperPunch]

Avatar

Publicity stills [more at SCI FI Wire]

Toys [more at Flickr via Super Punch]

AMP Suit Maquette [more at /Film]

The Book of Eli

Promotional images [one more at SpoilerTV]

Buried

First look: Ryan Reynolds [twitch]

Gamer

Publicity stills [more at IGN]

Iron Man 2

Whiplash concept art [Marvel.com]

Sam Rockwell as Justin Hammer [Fantasy.fr via FilmShaft]

Kung Fu Cyborg

Concept art [More at ent.Sina.com.cn via io9]

Legion

Movie stills [one more at SCI FI Wire]

The Lovely Bones

Publicity stills [IGN]

Machete

Jessica Alba, Steven Seagal on the set [more at phun.org via BloodyDisgusting]

Pandorum

French poster [ShockTillYouDrop]

Scott Pilgrim vs. the World

Set image [edgarwrighthere]

Tron Legacy

Fan-made wallpaper [Simon Page via Super Punch]

higher resolution version is available at the source

The Wolfman

[more at IGN and SCI FI Wire]

NEW VIDEOS

9

New clip [via io9]

Watch another clip at Animation World

TV spot #4

The Adventures of Tintin: The Secret Of The Unicorn

Peter Jackson discussing Tintin

Avatar

Video game trailer

Defendor

New clip [twitch]

The Final Destination

Two death scenes

The Lovely Bones

Behind-the-scenes featurette

The Twilight Saga: New Moon

New trailer/preview: "Meet Jacob Black"

When in Rome

Theatrical trailer

The Wolfman

Theatrical trailer

CASTING BITES

• Diora Baird revealed on her Twitter account that she auditioned for a role in the film "Thor".  Here’s her description of the part she auditioned for: "Character description was ‘pretty, but sturdy with muscle’." [via CHUD]
• Jon Hamm ("Mad Men")  has joined the cast of director Zack Snyder’s action fantasy film "Sucker Punch".  His role is being kept under wraps, but his character name has been revealed: High Roller. [THR]
• Anthony Mackie ("The Hurt Locker") has been added to the cast of Universal Pictures’ sci-fi thriller "The Adjustment Bureau", joining Matt Damon and Emily Blunt in the George Nolfi-directed/scripted film. [Variety]
• Will Ferrell has replaced Robert Downey Jr. in the upcoming DreamWorks Animation film "Oobermind".  Also joining the cast are Brad Pitt (Metro Man) and Jonah Hill (Titan). [Variety]
• Robert Downey Jr. is reportedly in close talks to play the vampire Lestat in Universal Pictures’ "The Vampire Chronicles", the studio’s upcoming franchise reboot based on Anne Rice’s series of novels… [BloodyDisgusting]
• …While nothing is official yet, Anne Rice commented on the possible casting and said that if true, Downey "would make a fabulous Vampire Lestat." [BSC Review]
• Dakota Fanning ("The Twilight Saga: New Moon") is "being tipped" to play the lead role in Warner Bros. new version of "The Wizard of Oz".  [The Sunday Express via /Film]
• Samantha Morton, Dominic West and Polly Walker have joined the cast of director Andrew Stanton’s adaptation of the Edgar Rice Burroughs book series "John Carter of Mars". [THR]

MOVIE BITES

• Juan Carlos Fresnadillo ("28 Weeks Later") is in talks to direct Universal Pictures’ adaptation of the Take-Two video game "Bioshock".  Gore Verbinski, who was originally slated to direct the feature, will stay on board as a producer. [Variety]
• Four of the top five and six of the top 10 films in IMDb’s "Top Rated Films of the New Millennium" were in the sci-fi/fantasy/comic book genres, with "The Dark Knight" placing first and "The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King" following in second. [IMDb]
• Oscra-winning screenwriter Bruce Joel Rubin ("The Time Traveler’s Wife") has been hired by DreamWorks to write an adaptation of the Japanese cult hit "Resurrection".  The film, tentatively titled "Rainbow Bridge", centers on "a town in which people who have been dead for decades come back to life. Instead of engaging in zombie behavior, though, the townspeople simply return to their normal lives as though nothing changed." [THR]
• "G.I. Joe: The Rise of Cobra" has pulled in $236.8 million worldwide since its release on August 7th. [BOM]
• Jason Schwartzman has wrapped his work on Edgar Wright’s adaptation of "Scott Pilgrim vs. the World" and describes his character: “I’ve played people who have some villain-esque tendencies, but I’ve never played an-out-and-out enemy of the people before,” he explained of his character, Gideon Gordon Graves. “It was incredible. I loved it.” [MTV News]
• Warner Bros. is remaking the 1981 Sean Conner-starring space Western "Outland".  Chad St. John will write the script, with Michael Davis on board to direct.  The new film will expand the concept of the original, "making it tentpole-sized, while keeping the original’s theme". [THR]
• George Lucas will make his first appearance at the Venice Film Festival to present the Golden Lion for Lifetime Achievement to John Lasseter and the directors of the Disney/Pixar team.  Lucas is also being hailed by the fest as "a leader in Hollywood’s digital revolution." [Variety]
• Don Cheadle discusses his role as James "Rhodey" Rhodes/War Machine in the upcoming "Iron Man 2" in a new interview with CBR…
• …While fellow co-star Scarlett Johansson (Natasha Romanoff/Black Widow) recently said that she would like to reprise her role in "The Avengers": "I’m hoping that if the fans like the character and support the character, we’ll see her again…I hope I get to come back and do it again. The character certainly comes back. We see that she does in the comics and certainly she is a big part of The Avengers. I don’t know if that is where it’s going to go but she is definitely a big part of The Avengers."… [Comic Book Movie]
• …In an interview discussing the upcoming film slate at Marvel Studios, president Kevin Feige confirmed that Johansson will appear in the film: "She’s signed on for all of those should we be lucky enough to have an audience that wants to see them." [Comic Book Resources]
• "Machete" may not be only faux trailer-turned-film from "Grindhouse".  Eli Roth has confirmed that he has plans to turn his trailer "Thanksgiving" into a full feature: "There is hope for Thanksgiving, because that one I retain the rights to, and that, I love it," Roth said.  Roth added that he has already thought up a feature-length story. [SCI FI Wire]
• As a follow-up to last week’s news, Lionsgate has acquired the U.S. and Canadian distribution rights to writer/director Matthew Vaughn’s adaptation of the Mark Millar comic book series "Kick-Ass". The studio reportedly paid $50 million for the rights to the film, which they intend to release sometime in 2010… [HitFix]
• …In related news, check out an interview with Mark Millar discussing the music of the film at Comic Book Resources. [via io9]
• 20th Century Fox has hired Martin Hynes to adapt Kate DiCamillo’s soon-to-be-published children’s book "The Magician’s Elephant". [Variety]
• The sci-fi film "Mr. Nobody", starring Jared Leto and Diane Kruger, will compete in the Venice Film Festival.  Here’s how Kruger explained the film: "You see Jared Leto, he’s 120 when the movie starts, and it’s all in flashbacks," Kruger explained. The memories include alternate versions of events from the main character’s life. "Like his memory of what would have been, what [was] not, people that he met along the way or may not have." [SCI FI Wire]
• Warner Bros. has closed a deal to remake the 1981 film "Excalibur", with Bryan Singer on board to produce and develop the project as a potential directing vehicle. [Variety]
• T Asset Acquisition, LLC and related entities that own the rights to the Terminator movie franchise have filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection. The news comes just a day after Halcyon, the company behind "Terminator Salvation", announced that they were suing the main financing company behind the film. [The Wrap and Deadline Hollywood Daily]
• Previously on TrekMovie: The trailer for "Avatar" was discussed in this recent TrekMovie article.  Here are more news bites related to the film…
• …James Cameron and 20th Century Fox have signed on with Panasonic to promote new 3-D TV’s.  Beginning next month, Panasonic plans to have several trailer-vans around the U.S. and Europe equipped with large-screen 3-D TV’s showing footage from "Avatar"… [THR]
• …Motion-capture actor, Reuben Langdon talked about working on the film… [io9]
• …The teaser trailer has become the most-watched trailer in Apple.com history, logging more than 4 million streams in its first day (the previous record was 1.7 million). [via /Film]
• Check out some images from the "Shaun of the Dead"-inspired bar Donny Dirk’s Zombie Den in Minneapolis [Star Tribune via /Film]:

• The "Shazam!" reboot is back on track at Warner Bros.  The studio has announced that actor-turned writer Bill Birch has been tapped to co-write the film — feauturing the DC Comics character Captain Marvel — along with DC Comics writer Geoff Johns. [THR]
• Doug Jones on how violent the film "Legion" gets: "Pretty darn. Pretty darn violent, but in such a creative way that it’s not like blood-on-the-wall horror film at all. It’s apocalyptic, it’s epic, it’s going to make you shudder, possibly yell an scream. I think; that’s how I would feel…" [io9]
• …Meanwhile, check out reports from the set of the film at SCI FI Wire and ShockTillYouDrop.  "Legion" hits theaters on January 22, 2010.
• Blu-ray release of all three films in the "Back to the Future" and "Jurassic Park" trilogies are expected to be released sometime in October/November 2010. [Nuke the Fridge]
• "Zombieland" writers Rhett Reese and Paul Wernick describe their "big, epic sci-fi war movie" "Earth vs. Moon": "It’s about two societies at war, but it’s also about a family, not at war, but a fractured family. Half of them have gone to the moon and the other half are still on Earth and so they are on opposite sides of this conflict…It’s just this huge post-apocalyptic landscape, but we really want it to work on an interpersonal level for just a few people who are the stars." [First Showing]
• Takashi Shimizu ("Ju-On" and the U.S. remake of "The Grudge") will direct a thriller about a haunted song that drives its listeners to suicide.  The script was written by Chris Philpott from an idea by Shimizu and producer Taka Ichise. [Variety]
• Summit Entertainment and Creation Entertainment have announced a partnership for a series of official "Twilight" fan conventions over the next three years.  Details at TwilightConvention.com…
• …And in related news, Summit has announced that it has begun principal photography on the third film in the franchise, "The Twilight Saga: Eclipse", directed by David Slade.  The film is currently filming on location in Vancouver, B.C. and is slated to hit theaters on June 30, 2010. [LA Times]
• Beginning on October 2nd, Universal Studios Hollywood’s "Halloween Horror Nights" will present a 16-night run of "The Life and Crimes of Michael Myers", an interactive horror walk-through based on the horror franchise. [via SCI FI Wire]
• Columbia Pictures has moved up the release of "Zombieland" by one week.  The film will now hit theaters on October 2, 2009. Other films changing release dates include "Pandorum" (from 9/18/2009 to 9/25/2009), "Gulliver’s Travels" (from 12/24/2010 to 12/22/2010) and "The Fantastic Mr. Fox" (from 11/13/2009 to 11/25/2009). [BOM]
• The World Soundtrack Academy have announced the list of nominees for three of the the categories from the "World Soundtrack Awards".  Michael Giacchino was nominated as Film Composer of the Year ("Star Trek", "Up", "Land of the Lost") along with Hans Zimmer ("Angels & Demons", "The Dark Knight" — plus "Frost/Nixon") and Alexandre Desplat ("The Curious Case of Benjamin Button" — plus "Coco Avant Chanel", "Largo Winch" and "Cheri").  Alexandre Desplat was also nominated for Best Original Score of the Year for his work on "The Curious Case of Benjamin Button". [/Film]
• If a sequel to "Who Framed Roger Rabbit" moves forward, Bob Hoskins says he would likely not return as Valiant: “The thing is, you act with cartoons, you got to be able to bounce off the walls like a cartoon,” Hoskins said."  Adding: “He wouldn’t be able to do it with me. I’m too old!” [MTV]
• Columbia Pictures has set a February 18, 2011 release date for the sci-fi alien invasion film "Battle: Los Angeles". Directed by Jonathan Liebesman, the film stars Aaron Eckhart as a Marine staff sergeant in charge of battling against an alien invasion on the streets of Los Angeles. [via ComingSoon.net]
• On Wednesday, September 23rd at 7:00 p.m. (local time), NCM Fathom, Warner Home Video and Turner Classic Movies will present a one-night only high definition presentation of "The Wizard of Oz" in over 440 theaters nationwide. "The Wizard of Oz 70th Anniversary Hi-Def Event" will feature a special introduction by Robert Osbourne (a classic film historian and host at TCM) and will be followed by the featurette "We’re Off to See the Wizard" about L. Frank Baum’s classic novel. [NCM]
• Mark Johnson, director of "The Chronicles of Narnia: The Voyage of the Dawn Treader", talked about the film in an interview with ComingSoon.net.
• Director James McTeigue, who has long been rumored as a possible director for a new "Superman" film, thinks "people would probably like something a little darker," adding: "I think if I was ever going to go near Superman, I would do a complete reboot—take it in a direction that you would absolutely not expect, actually," McTeigue said. "So, that would be my thinking on it, if I was ever going to go near Superman." [MTV]
• Although Steven Spielberg opted to make "Harvey" his next film instead of a feature based on "Matt Helm", producer Roberto Orci said that Spielberg is still creatively influential in the project: "He has still been very involved…He helped us develop it. It’s something we all are still working on together, and he is no less excited about it," Orci said. [SCI FI Wire]
• Catherine Hardwicke ("Twilight") will direct "The Girl With the Red Riding Hood", a gothic retelling of the Little Red Riding Hood story, with a teenage love triangle at its center. [Variety]
• "The Imaginarium of Doctor Parnassus" director Terry Gilliam took part in a lengthy interview about his upcoming film and also touched on his thoughts on Zack Snyder’s "Watchmen", a property he at one time was trying to get off the ground.  Read the interview at AICN.
• There’s talk of doing a third "X-Files" film, with the possibility of it being a reboot. [BloodyDisgusting]
• Liev Schreiber hasn’t been asked to reprise his role as Sabretooth in a "X-Men Origins: Wolverine" sequel, but if asked, the actor would agree to return: "There’s been some smatterings of conversation about it, but nothing concrete yet…I had a ball doing it, so I’d do it again." [MTV]
• Disney has announced the lineup for this year’s D23 Expo, running September 10-13th. [via /Film]
• "9" director Shane Acker already has ideas for a sequel: The sequel "would have to do with the last images you see in the movie, where there’s the suggestion that the life may be coming back to the planet, that maybe the planet has renewed itself…So the question now is, how will these mechanical creatures that represents humanity in some way deal with the natural environment when it comes back? [SCI FI Wire]
• An excerpt from "The Wild Things", writer Dave Eggers novelization of director Spike Jonze’s "Where the Wild Things Are" has been published in The New Yorker (click to read).  The New Yorker has also posted an interview with Eggers, who co-wrote the film.  Check that out here.  The book will be released on October 1st, while the film hits conventional and IMAX theaters on October 16th. [via SCI FI Wire]

MISC VIDEOS

Hi, I’m a Marvel…and I’m a DC

Deadpool and Green Lantern

Watchmen

Snoop Dogg asked a question about Watchmen on Who Wants to Be a Millionaire

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