Sci-Fi Saturday: Marvel Movies, Indy, Dark Knight, Buck Rogers, GI Joe, Lost, Smallville + more

Sci Fi Saturday is here for a late night entry of news on a whole bunch of new movies from Marvel (Iron Man has gone to their heads), details on the Dark Knight’s two-faced Harvey Dent, the return of Buck Rogers and tons of images and vids from the upcoming summer movies. In TV news we have details on the Lost finale and future seasons, plus another possible cast defection from Smallville, and more.

MOVIE NEWS

Marvel Studios Announces five films
Marvel Studios took a break from counting all their Iron Man money to unveil a partial list of their feature film slate for 2010 and 2011:

  • Iron Man 2 – April 30, 2010 (Rumored to feature a Hulk cameo)
  • Thor – June 4, 2010 (Director Matthew Vaughn is now off the project because his holding deal expired in December)
  • The First Avenger: Captain America – May 6, 2011 (Matthew McConaughey is Marvel Studio’s top choice to play the lead role)
  • The Avengers – July, 2011
  • Ant-Man – TBD (Edgar Wright will direct, and co-write with Joe Cornish)

Robert Downey Jr. told EW that even though he’s under contract for another "Iron Man" movie, he doesn’t want to look too far into the future. Director Jon Favreau had similar thoughts: “We’ve been speaking informally about it,” Favreau told EW. “In concept we would all love to work together again. There’s no formal arrangement yet, but in theory we would all love to see it happen…. There’s definitely a lot of ideas that we all have now.” THR makes the claim that Downey’s just positioning himself for a larger contract, given that the film outperformed expectations (it’s expected to cross $250 million worldwide today).

The Dark Knight’s Two Face/Harvey Dent Speaks
Aaron Eckhart spoke to the LA Times about his role in the film as Harvey Dent/Two-Face. In the interview Eckhart proclaimed that director Christopher Nolan "is going way farther than people think" with the character of Two-Face.

“That’s right, people don’t really know yet,” actor Aaron Eckhart said with grin. “I can tell you that, basically, when you look at Two-Face, you should get sick to your stomach. Being the guy under all that, well, that was a lot of fun for me. It’s like you would feel if you met someone whose face had pretty much been ripped off or burned off with acid. I can’t talk about it beyond that because I don’t want to give away too much of the plans by Chris.”

Though he was very light on details, Eckhart did say that the wounds will be structurally deeper than in the comics: “There are fans on the Internet who have done artist’s versions of what they think it will look like, and I can tell you this: They’re thinking small; Chris is going way farther than people think.” For more, including Eckhart contrasting Batman with Two-Face (slight spoilers) click here to read the rest of the interview. If you were paying close attention to the new trailer (which you can watch here) there was a brief moment where Two-Face was viewable (snapshot below).

Production on "Terminator 4" Underway, Film will be PG-13 + Casting News
Production has begun on the fourth entry in the "Terminator" film franchise, which should excite us fans, but you may not like what you’re about to find out next. Halcyon, the company behind the film, tells Variety that they are aiming to deliver a PG-13 movie, the first time the R-rated $1 billion+ franchise will have such a rating. Halcyon produces intend to broaden the upcoming fourth film’s audience, and they believe the PG-13 rating won’t comprise the film: "The ratings have changed," said Halcyon co-founder and co-CEO Victor Kubicek. "The PG-13 has increased in intensity." Let’s hope for the best. And now that production is under way, final casting announcements are expected to hit soon. The newest addition to the film is rapper Common, who has signed on to star as a freedom fighter and member of John Connor’s (Christian Bale) inner circle. "Terminator 4" hits theaters on May 22, 2009.

Lucas Calls Indy "a real guy", No Star Wars story beyond ‘Return of the Jedi’
George Lucas tells CNN that he thinks of Indiana Jones as "a real guy. He’s just like us." Speaking of Indy, some early reviews are starting to make their way online for ‘Kingdom of the Crystal Skull’. Pick your poison: Good or Bad. Staying with Lucas, the director told the LA Times that no story exists past "The Return of the Jedi": "I get asked all the time, ‘What happens after "Return of the Jedi"?,’ and there really is no answer for that. The movies were the story of Anakin Skywalker and Luke Skywalker, and when Luke saves the galaxy and redeems his father, that’s where that story ends." (um, George, aren’t there like a few dozen books in the Star Wars canon after ROTJ?)

The Return of Buck Rogers (with Frank Miller as director?)
Classic sci-fi action hero Buck Rogers is making a return. IGN is reporting that Nu Image/Millennium Films (the production co. behind the recent revivals of "Rambo" and "Conan") is bringing the film to the big screens and that Frank Miller ("Sin City", "The Spirit") may direct it. Shortly after IGN posted the news though they were contacted by Nu Image/Millennium Films who noted that no deal is set for the rights or Miller:

IGN was contacted by Nu Image/Millennium Films who advised us that no deal is set yet for the rights or Miller, and that they are still mulling over director contenders.

NEW IMAGES

The Dark Knight (Production Photos–more here)

Hellboy (Hellboy/Futurama mash up–details here)

WALL•E (more here)

G.I. Joe (Cast Photos–more here)

Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull (more here)

Street Fighter: The Legend of Chun Li (Moon Bloodgood as Det. Maya Sunee)

Star Wars: The Clone Wars (Theatrical Poster)

Twilight (Theatrical Poster–click here for an interview with the poster’s designer)

NEW VIDEOS

Star Wars: The Clone Wars (Theatrical Trailer 1) [HD version]

The Dark Knight (Theatrical Trailer 2) [HD Version]

Twilight (Teaser Trailer)

Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull (Theatrical Trailer 3) [HD version]

Wolverine and the X-Men

Speed Racer (the first 7 minutes)

The Watchmen (Video Journal from the set)

WALL•E (WALL•E discovers a pair of headphones)

MOVIE BITES

  • Though Guillermo del Toro recently expressed interest, it’ll be "Pirates of the Caribbean" trilogy helmer Gore Verbinski who will direct and produce an adaptation of the popular video game "Bioshock". John Logan ("Aviator") is in talks to pen the script. A sequel to the 2M+ selling game is scheduled to hit in 2009. The movie isn’t expected to arrive until after that. [Variety]
  • "V for Vendetta" director James McTeigue has been set to direct "Revelation", which centers on a female journalist who is assigned to investigate a series of bizarre murders and discovers the victims were all being treated by the head of an organization that researches alien abductions, reports Variety.
  • Rob Cohen told SCI FI Wire that he expects the first trailer for "The Mummy: Tomb of the Dragon Emperor" to be released in June.
  • Lionsgate has decided to push up the release of Frank Miller’s adaptation of Will Eisner’s "The Spirit" from January 16, 2009 to December 25, 2008.
  • Though embargos are in place, Collider has a "just the basics" report from the "G.I. Joe" set.
  • CHUD has an extensive look at the upcoming "Star Wars" video game "The Force Unleashed". Check it out here.
  • Lionsgate has picked up the rights to the comic book "Deal With the Devil". Kyle Ward is set to adapt the comic to film. The comic’s story centers on a Chicago detective who is forced to take on an unlikely new partner: the original serial killer. [THR]
  • "The Descent 2" is moving forward with a budget of $10 million. No release, or start date has been announced. [THR]
  • Scott "Cyclops" Summers will be making a cameo appearance in "X-Men Origins: Wolverine". [SHH]
  • After directing the first two installments in "The Chronicles of Narnia" Andrew Adamson tells MTV that he won’t be directing the third film, "Voyage of the Dawn Treader" which is scheduled to hit theaters on May 7, 2010.
  • A couple film rights pickups to announce: Universal has picked up the rights to "The Knights Templar", a spec script written by Adam Torchia and Justin Stanley, Warner Bros. has picked up the rights to "The Ditch", a sci-fi action spec set in the future from Sascha Penn about a security prison on the moon of Jupiter and Sony Pictures has picked up the rights to "Moon". Starring Sam Rockwell, the film’s story is about a man who mines the precious gas that holds the key to reversing Earth’s energy crisis.
  • Heath Ledger’s Joker action figures are flying off the shelves and fetching a pretty penny on eBay. [New York Post]

CASTING BITES

  • Jason Segal revealed to MTV that Charles Grodin will make a special cameo in "The Muppet Movie".
  • On his personal site, Michael Bay has denied that Teresa Palmer was ever considered for a role in "Transformers 2" and confirmed the report that negotiations have ceased with Jonah Hill, who will, contrary to last week’s news, not be cast in the movie. In the mean time, IGN is reporting that Isabel Lucas has been cast as Alice.

TV NEWS

ABC make up for Lost hours of Lost + Lindelof talks end game
Last year ABC and "Lost" producers negotiated the remaining three seasons of the show, coming to terms on 48 hours (16-16-16), but when the strike hit this season was shortened by three episodes. To make up for precious lost three hours of Lost, ABC had already added on your to this year’s finale 15th and now comes news that the network will be adding 2 additional hours to the remaining two seasons. The move allows for all 48 hours originally agreed upon to be shown, now giving us 14-17-17. But showrunner Damon Lindelof says fans that is that: "(Executive producer) Carlton Cuse and I worked so hard to get the show to end that I think to suddenly say, ‘Oh, I think we got another season in us’ would be a betrayal to everybody involved in the show — but most of all the audience," he said. "It’s better to retire your number at the top of your game." Lindelof also took the opportunity to discuss the season’s finale:
"The finale this year will not be as tricky as last year," he said. "Hopefully, this year it’s a little bit more of a straightforward action-adventure narrative. But the ending of the episode will hopefully engage and intrigue people looking forward to the next season of the show." So what do they have planned for when the show comes to a close in 2010?

When it comes time to air the series finale in 2010, Lindelof said he and Cuse plan to "go into hiding for many, many months" at an "undisclosed location."

"David Chase set a great example when he went off to Paris after ‘The Sopranos’ ending, which is great because all these people are going to be asking, ‘What does it mean? What is it?’ " he said. "The fact that there’s no one really around to answer that question, it forces people to come up with what they think it means. We can guarantee our show will not end with a cut to black, it will be more clear than that. But whenever anything you love ends … there’s a certain disappointment."


promo for next week’s Lost

Could Allison Mack be the next to leave Smallville?
After last week’s announcement of the departure of Michael Rosenbaum (Lex Luther) the last thing "Smallville" needs right now is another exit, but that’s exactly what may end up happening. TV Guide’s Michael Ausiello is reporting that Allison Mack (Chloe) may not return for the show’s eighth season. The actress seemed a lock for next season, but once Rosenbaum announced his departure, everything fell apart: "Allison’s camp used Michael leaving as leverage in the negotiations with [Warner Bros.]," says one Smallville source. The source also added that Kristin Kreuk’s (Lana) decision to only return for a handful of episodes strengthened Mack’s bargaining position. "They need Chloe now more than ever — and Allison’s people know it." Mack’s importance to the series was put best by an insider who said: "If Allison leaves, they’ve essentially got Lois and Clark left," notes one insider. "And that show’s been done before."

SCI FI Pilots Caprica and Warehouse 13 Add Cast
Two upcoming SCI FI pilots have each landed two new additions. Paula Malcomson ("John from Cincinnati", "Deadwood") and Esai Morales ("Jericho") have been cast in the two hour "Caprica" pilot. Malcomson will play Amanda Graystone, a surgeon who works as a double agent. Morales will portray Joseph Adama, the father of William Adama (played by Edward James Olmos in ‘Galactica’), described as "a deeply passionate man with a strong sense of justice — and someone you wouldn’t want as your enemy". Meanwhile, Eddie McClintock and Joanne Kelly have been tapped to star in the networks two-hour dramedy pilot "Warehouse 13". Details of the two show’s follows below.

Caprica: Set 50 years before the events in "Battlestar," "Caprica" follows the evolution of the Cylon race and the fight between two families (the Adamas and the Graystones).

Warehouse 13: Revolves around two FBI agents — by-the-book Myka (Kelly) and rule-bender Peter (McClintock) — who, after saving the life of the U.S. president, are relocated to Warehouse 13, a location that houses supernatural objects the government has collected over the centuries. The duo’s assignment is to retrieve missing objects and investigate reports of new ones.

TV BITES

  • Producer David E. Kelley ("Boston Legal") may be departing the American adaptation of the British series "Life on Mars". Insiders suggest financial considerations are playing a role in his decision. He will continue to control the series until his departure is finalized. [Variety]
  • The season four DVD set of "Stargate Atlantis" will be released on DVD July 8th.
  • Make sure you’re sending your socks to save "Reaper" to the right address. [TVSquad]
  • Felicia Day tells Patrick Rothfuss that she expects Joss Whedon’s online musical series to hit the internet sometime before ComicCon.
  • A two-season set of the British series "Spaced" will be released on Region 1 DVD by BBC video on July 22nd. [SCI FI Wire]
  • Hopefully Sophia Myles was right when she told SCI FI Wire she was certain CBS would pick up the CBS vampire drama "Moonlight" because Jason Dohring has revealed that the first season of the still on the bubble series will end with a cliffhanger.
  • In addition to brining back "Kyle XY" in January, ABC Family has added "The Middleman", to it’s lineup. The show, based on the series of graphic novels, stars Natalie Morales as a twentysomething woman who’s recruited to fight criminals. The network also announced that the miniseries "Samurai Girl" will air over the September 5-7 weekend. [Variety]
  • Head on over to Cartoon Network’s website to watch "LEGO Indiana Jones and the Raiders of the lost Brick".
  • NBC announced that Mezco Toyz will release a line of action figures (check out Claire below) tied to their hit Sci-Fi series "Heroes". The line will hit store shelves in June. [SCI FI Wire]
  • Two more characters are headed to the third season of "Heroes" Brea Grant ("Friday Night Lights") has been cast as Joy, a woman in her early twenties with the power of superspeed, and Bruce Boxleitner ("Babylon 5") has been cast in a role, perhaps a politician. The new season of "Heroes" begins on September 15th. Check out the promo below.

SCI-FI RATINGS

Top 10 SF&F Broadcast Shows  HH Rating/Share
1) Medium  6.2/10
2) Ghost Whisperer (R)  4.4/8
3) Eli Stone 4.2/7 (6.23M)
4) New Amsterdam 4.1/6 (6.58M)
5) Moonlight (R) 3.5/6
6) Lost (R)  2.8/5
7) Smallville  2.3/4
8) Supenatural (R)  1.4/2
9) Reaper (R)  1.1/2

4/14/2008 to
4/20/2008
– Source: Nielsen Media Research

Top 10 SF&F Syndicated Shows  Rating
1)
Stargate SG-1
0.9
2) Star Trek  0.9
3) Dead Zone  0.7
4) Stargate Atlantis  0.5 

4/14/2008 to
4/20/2008
– Source: Nielsen Galaxy Report via SCI FI Wire

Top 10 SCI FI CHANNEL Shows Rating 
1) Ghost Hunters  1.6 
2) Warbirds  1.5 
3)
Battlestar Galactica
1.4 
4) ECW  1.3 
5)
Doctor Who
1.1

6) The Stand, Part Four 
1.1
7) The Stand, Part Three  1.0
8) Kaw  0.9
9) The Stand, Part One  0.9
10)
The Stand, Part Two 
0.9

4/14/2008 to
4/20/2008
– Source: Nielsen Galaxy Report via SCI FI Wire

BONUS COMICS NEWS

Spider-Man Artwork Submitted to the Library of Congress
An anonymous donor has given the library of Congress the original artwork by Steve Ditko for Marvel Comics’ "Amazing Fantasy #15". Released in August of 1962, the comic book contained the first introduction of Spider-Man. In addition to featuring the story of the origin of Spider-Man, the 24 page comic also included three other short stories, all written by Stan Lee and drawn by Steve Ditko: "The Bell Ringer", "Man in the Mummy Case" and "There Are Martians Among Us". Check out the press release here. One of the illustrations can be seen below. For more photos, visit the Library of Congress blog.

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Having already seen Two-Face’s “damaged” side as seen in the movie, I can tell you Eckhart is right — it’s pretty grotesque. I am really looking forward to that movie. Iron Man was awesome, and Indy will likely be as well, but for me, The Dark Knight is the flick to see this summer.

Can’t wait for all those Marvel movies, either. :D

btw, I betcha no one at AICN has actually seen Indy 4 yet. Just a hunch. :-P

Wealth of information, as usual.

All these superhero movies, and yet so little time. A number of them will probably be breakouts, but I can hardly conceive of all of them succeeding. It would seem improbable.

The return of Buck Rogers,,,

hmmm,, I’ll be looking forward to this,if its done right !!

Saw Iron Man and give it a 7.5 out of 10…..let’s hope The Dark Knight is a darn sight better!

So that’s the final confirmation that T4 will be awful, right? PG-13 is a death knell for that franchise turning into an AVP-like craptasm (as if T3 wasn’t bad enough). Mark my words. Thank goodness for The Sarah Connor Chronicles.

Interesting that the AintItCool guy with the good review compared Indy 4 to The Wrath of Kahn. I’m taking the bad review with a grain of salt given the guy was waxing nostalgic about ‘Rocky Balboa’ as a supposedly ‘good’ film in contrast.

#1

I wonder if they reshot anything to make Two Face a larger presence, given Heath Ledger’s death. Obviously he won’t be back for a sequel, and I think they’d be afraid to replace him, so it makes sense they’d set up TF as the primary villain in the next one.

Honestly, “Terminator 3” was totally unnecessary, and T4 is equally so. It really should have ended at T2 – although I admit that the “Sarah Connor Chronicles” is an EXCELLENT continuation to the Terminator epic (and it has the added bonus of banishing the atrocity that was T3 into the realm of non-canonicity for all eternity!!!), T4 just looks like another stupid, unnecessary cash-cow made solely for the purpose of raking in the dough while spitting in the face of James Cameron’s epic. And it’ll confuse people, what with being called “T4” which seems to actually validate the sorry existance of T3…ugh, why can’t they just leave good enough alone? Something about beating a dead horse…and if it ain’t broke, don’t fix it…

Bruce Boxleitner in Heroes! Cool! And a three hour season premiere! Sweet. 8)

The normal course of sequels, with the exception of franchises like Star Trek, Indiana Jones, and the James Bond movies, seems to be for there to be just one sequel that appeals as much as a movie as the first and the third is usually the one that kills off the cinematic series from the critical point of view.

With Trek, there were several sequels that were as appealing as, if not more so than, the first: II, IV, VI, and [VIII]. Indiana Jones [III] is regarded nearly as highly as the first movie. The Bond franchise has yielded several movies as influential as the first.

By contrast, movies like Alien and Terminator seemed to yield just one good sequel. Alien yielded the far more accessible Aliens, and Terminator brought forth the hugely popular Judgment Day. The third movie of these franchises, respectively, declined drastically in popular and critical acclaim. Alien Resurrection, the fourth movie in that series, was quite disappointing. As of this moment, the Terminator movie franchise seems less than promising, but there is still hope.

Superman appears to be somewhere in the middle, as the third installment was noticeably less well-received than the first two (which were concurrently filmed, anyway), and the fourth appeared to have basically destroyed it as a movie franchise until it was reinvigorated in the last few years by the most recent one.

Batman’s reboot, on the other hand, has definitely helped put it on track to be among the more successful line of film franchises. Were it not for The Beginning, however, it seemed that it, too, would have fallen into the classic pattern.

Star Wars is another example of an exception, in that both sequels (TESB and ROTJ) did boffo box office.

It remains to see whether how T4 will characterize the Terminator franchise.

WooHoo… Buck Rogers!

The Return of Buck Rogers! Whoooo!

I hope Twiki will NOT be in the film! I cannot stand that stupid robot.

#7 Sean — From what I heard Two-Face was already being planned as the primary villain for the third film. I have not heard anything about re-shoots or additional scenes. If I remember correctly, though, Nolan said they’re releasing the film as originally planned. In other words, don’t look for Ledger’s death to cause any changes to the film short of a memoriam in the end credits.

#8 [The] TOS Purist aka The Purolator — The film is actually called Terminator: Salvation – The Future Begins. There were reports that the title was changed to Terminator 4, but that’s no longer the case from what I’ve heard. Also, Christian Bale hasn’t done a “bad” movie since, what, Reign of Fire? So I think it might be worth giving this one a shot. Also, since Sarah Connor Chronicles erases T3 from existence, what makes you think T4 won’t do the same? :P

So much good stuff. Man, you do a lot of good work on these. I could comment on several things….but I must say…and this is coming from a Texan but . . . .

The First Avenger: Captain America – May 6, 2011 (Matthew McConaughey is Marvel Studio’s top choice to play the lead role)??

C.mon. A little too old. A little not right. What about the square jawed guy that used to be on Boston Legal? I don’t know.

That Spider-Man art is cool. Wonder how much that’d fetch at auction.

NOOOO Street Fighter The Movie was piece of ***** and here comes the new SF Movie. no thanks. They should make Metal Gear or Metroid movie.

Lay off Twiki, man! Twiki rocks!!! I’d love to see a crossover spinoff with Wesley, Twiki, and Muffit on a voyage to save the life of Jar Jar Binks! That would be AWESOME!

*Wolverine and the X-Men*

Wow. Is it even possible nowadays to make Wolverine a ‘side character’ and let the other X-men characters have the center stage?

In all the noise leading up to summer, Batman seems to have gone dark (no pun intended).

I have been inundated on US TV with Iron Man, Indy, Narnia and Speed Racer, but where is Batman? The trailer shown here is utterly uninteresting. Heath Ledger (RIP) is channeling Jim Carrey on downers, and Alfred seems to steal the show.

The return of Buck Rogers?! Hmm can they get someone more beautiful the Erin Gray to play Colonel Wilma Deering?

Harry — with you on Dark Knight over Iron Man. Anyone who want to disagree, is welcome to, because I am passing judgement on Iron Man based solely on the trailers. (Ditto Speed Racer) My knock is that IM has the smell of a formula piece geared to churning out videogames. Dark Knigh, like Batman Returns, has the feel of something done with care. We’ll really follow a character, albeit one in a bat suit. In fact, the trailers (including this bittersweet Joker Trailer) look so good, I’m going to bet the only things that could kill this movie are a) some psuedo-famous fat chick stuffed into a Batgirl suit, or b) the sudden appearance of Batmite.

#13

True, I just recall reading an interview that installment 3 would also feature the Joker along with Two Face, but with Ledger’s death I’d assume they would drop that plot element. Remains to be seen I guess.

Also, they indicated that T4 would follow in the timeline of T3. So it won’t erase T3 as handily as TSCC has. Besides, the mere fact that McG is invovled, as well as the writers from T3…I mean, I think Bale is fantastic but he can only overcome so much. And now it’s supposedly called “Terminator: Return of the Terminator”? Oi vey!

Still, since we do have TSCC, I’ll just ignore this latest mistake and look forward to its return in the fall! :)

#20

Dude, did you just call Alicia SIlverstone fat?

sean — in that film, yes. They could rename her character Muffintop.

#23

Interesting. I’ve always considered her curvy but never fat. Do you think Scarlett Johannson is fat? Because I’ve heard the same critique offered for her but I never found her fat either.

(um, George, aren’t there like a few dozen books in the Lucas Star Wars canon after ROTJ?)

lol yea like George Lucas would knows anything about that , he just wants to know where the money is coming from thats all

McConaughey as Cap??!? NOOOOOOOO! I hate that guy.

I really hope they kill the Rachel Dawes character in The Dark Knight. It’s not because I don’t like her, but it would show just how evil the Joker is and make Batman even more bitter. That and it would be good motivation for Two-Face to go out and try to kill the Joker. Of course, at this time last year I was hoping they would kill Mary Jane in Spider-Man 3. But no. They didn’t. God I hated that movie.

George Lucas is a jerk. I have spent tons of time and money on those books, and this is how he repays me? The Clone Wars is already ignoring pre-existing canon. Did I seriously hear someone say “The Hutt Clan”? Hutt’s are a species, not a clan. Also, If Jabba’s son isn’t born asexually I’ll be pissed. Hutt’s produce asexually (Or, as McCoy says it, bisexually).

And I dig the bonus comic news.

Biddy Biddy Biddy

sean — to clarify — there’s fat (sorry, but if you’re over 270 pounds, you’re straining your heart) and then there’s fat for film. Alicia Silverstone was fat for Batman and Robin. There’s a scene where Robin is holding her while climbing a batrope that’s just laughable. I wouldn’t hesitate a second to date Alicia. I’m just saying that she was cast for the wrong reasons, to fill seats. Ironically, that movie pretty much marks the end of A-List stardom for her (the highwater mark since 1997 has been Scooby-Doo 2!) and for Chris O’Donnell (pretty much exclusively a TV star now.)

CmdrR, you made me crack up laughing when you mentioned Batmite! Haven’t thought of that stupid character for at least thirty years!

As to Iron Man, it’s frustrating! I grew up collecting the comics, loved the character, waited for the movie…….went to see it and………Downey is superb, the effects are good, story o.k…….BUT, the Director should be horsewhipped for how flat the pacing is done and Paltrow’s character is SO irritating you want to slap her upside the head!

Now that I think about it, I’d have to be in a generous mood to give the film a 7.5 out of 10! Let’s hope the next IM movie is it’s Wrath Of Khan!

-That X-Men cartoon looks pretty cool.

-Totally excited about Bruce Boxleitner on Heroes!

-Iron was very good, a bit overrated, Batman is gonna be sweet.

-Can’t wait to see Indy, but I’m keeping my enthusiasm in check

So much cool stuff with a few things that well…;)

The DARK KNIGHT looks great and Two Face was always the focus of the 3rd film. Two Face can be a very cool character if written well. In some comics and the 90’s BATMAN Animated series he was done in an interesting way. Two Face in BATMAN FOREVER the less said the better. I still have to see IRONMAN which most of my friends seemed to enjoy. It sounds like Marvel is building a series of character films to lead into an AVENGERS film. This could end up very cool if handled right or a good campy crapfest. Live action superhero films can be so hard to get right most of the time. They can be done but for the most part work superheroes work the best in comic books or in animated form. It really depends on a solid script and direction/acting in the end to sell the whacky idea live on the big screen.

Man I love the bit on the Steve Ditko Spider Man page. What a piece of history and probably worth some big bucks!

Maybe Frank Miller helming a BUCK ROGERS film seems a touch odd. But then what are the rules in the creative process? It would be cool if they went to the source material for the whole Buck Rogers saga. That would be the short novel Armageddon 2419 A.D. where Buck Rogers was Anthony Rogers. While not set in space it did have many of the elements that would make up the Buck Rogers experience. I read it as a kid and enjoyed it for what it was, a fun but not the greatest read. I found the Film/series of the early 80’s fun as a kid, but now find it not so interesting to revisit for the most part. Although even that show had a few elements from the original novel which were also used in the comic strip, which is how the vast majority of people know the character.

It kills me a HELLBOY/FUTURAMA comicbook mashup I missed!? I dig both of those properties!

Feeling nervous about the new INDY film. I want to enjoy it and hope I can. It is hard to believe I have no feelings for T4. At one time I would of been loving the idea. Maybe I am Teed out.;)

WALL .E could be another Pixar winner. Nuff said and see you at the moving pictures!

PS: Here is also hoping for a good WATCHMAN film and isn’t there some film called STAR TREK happening?;)

There aren’t a hell of a lot of things to bitch about concerning Ironman. Come on, it was awesome! Especially given most superhero depictions. Especially compared to the putrid Spider-man 3. Now, as for the new Hulk, I’m VERY skeptical. That trailer… been there, done that.

For me Buck Rogers will always be Buster Crabbe!
(From reruns in the 60’s, that is– yeah, I’m THAT old.)

Speaking of the new Indy film, wonder if it’ll have any references to Roswell in it, since it takes place in the ’50’s and all. That giant government warehouse would be the ideal place to put all the flying sauc– I mean, the weather balloons that caused such a sensation there.

Maybe they could even show an artifact from it that looked a little like a lightsaber.

;)

(Clarification: Roswell took place in 1947, which would make it possible for Indy to interact with artifacts from it.)

So with Speed Racer doing a dismal $20 mil at the box office, I’m really worried about STAR TREK. Wolverine opens the weekend before and I’m sure it’ll do very well and then there’s Angels and Demons the weekend after. I think trek will do a little better than Speed Racer, but this is concerning.

It reminds me of Paramount releasing Nemesis against 4 other movies in the same day and less than week for The Two Towers.

If Trek doesn’t perform well, we may have a bigger drought of Trek! The stakes are very high.

#35

Uhhh, Trek and Speed Racer are WORLDS apart. Speed Racer was a bad cartoon based on a bad cartoon. Who was actually holding their breath hoping for a live-action Speed Racer? I mean, really?! The little kid, monkey, et al?

I’d be looking at Indy or Batman as better indicators than Speed Racer.

#21 sean — You’re right, they were planning to bring Joker back for the third movie, according to reports. However, they seem to be unwilling to recast the role so Joker is probably out. I think I agree with that decision. Ledger was probably just too good in the role to the point where recasting him was just out of the question. (You’ll notice, though, they had no quarrels about replacing Katie Holmes with Maggie Gyllenhaal , lol!)

As for T3, I must admit, I never watched it in its entirety… I think maybe the last 40 minutes or so. I wasn’t that impressed. Seemed kinda pointless to me, actually. So I’m with you on being concerned about T4. But with Bale in the movie, I’m willing to give it a shot. The fact that McG is directing does concern me, though.

I totally missed out on the report for the new title, but apparently that is one of the possible titles floating around. This concerns me, as well. Worse title since “The Phantom Menace,” by far. :P

#37

I’m hoping they realize the title would be an absolute joke, and rename it. Of course, the movie might be an absolute joke, so maybe the title is just fair warning! :)

I’m sure the folks at Warner Brothers are trying figure out who to blame for Speed Racer.

Maybe it was in the Wachowski brothers’ contract somewhere….

#35 MORN SPEAKS — Did you just compare Speed Racer to Star Trek? Whoa… I always thought the visuals for SR looked nifty but I never thought for an instance it would be a “good” movie, or that it would actually make a lot of money. As sean said, Speed Racer and Trek are nothing alike; SR is a kid’s movie (hence the PG rating), and one with horrible reviews, I might add.

A better comparison, in terms of box office, would be Batman Begins ($48mil) or Casino Royale ($40mil) or even Superman Returns ($52mil). All of those are re-imaginings of long-established franchises. If promoted right and if it gets good reviews, look for Trek to earn between $40 and $50 million in its opening weekend, which is just what Paramount is aiming for.

#38 sean — LOL! Maybe. ;)

#39 Captain Robert April — I’m not sure they can blame anyone. I’m sure they knew what they were getting into. It’s a kids flick ala Spy Kids, after all.

Charles Trotter and sean. Not comparing movies comparing situations of big movies being released around other blockbusters.

During the summer movie season, big movies open every weekend. Transformers (which made more than 700 mil world wide) opened a week after Ratatouille and a week before the last Harry Potter movie. It only had one number one weekend. . There is no such thing as a free ride during the summer.

The best you can hope for is to get a weekend to yourself…which Trek has. The rest is up to the film and the marketing.

Someone say Bruce Boxleitner and mention Babylon 5 in parenthesis? Let me check…..he did! Damn, I miss that show, I wish they’d syndicate it on TV on like sci-fi or something, I’d definately sit down to watch it, even though I have the whole series downloaded on my computer anyway, plus the movies, lol. I have yet to download the spin of series Crusade, even though it only ran for 13 episodes (should have been more, I would have watched it). But yeah, I haven’t seen much of Bruce Boxleitner on TV for a while. Last I saw of him was in a Sci-Fi channel movie in 2007, and no it wasn’t a Babylon 5 movie, even though one did come out in 2007, but it was direct to DVD, I think, as were the others, but I’m not sure. Anyway, I LOVE this weekly article, it always keeps me up to date on the goings on with the movies and tv shows and such that are in production or are coming soon. I am definately looking forward to The Chronicles of Narnia and Indy 4, and still have yet to see Iron Man. And please don’t spoil it for me by giving me the details, LOL!

#42

You have to compare movies, though. Star Trek is a different animal than Speed Racer, so you can’t really use Speed Racer’s situation as a predictor for Trek. Like Anthony said, Transformers was only #1 for one week before it became #2, yet it still did massive business. Speed Racer was never going to be a blockbuster, despite whatever delusions the producers had. Every time I’ve seen the preview trailer in the local theatre, people laugh out loud or groan when it’s over. Maybe they should have done a few more test screenings before letting that stinker out.

Wasn’t that a treat? Mr Anthony with these tid bits you are spoiling us!

Gold on gold, its a good feeling to be fed these morsels with minimal effort on my part.

However if I get fat and lazy…….i will blame your bad self!

Harry and CmdrR, I respectfully disagree with you guys re. Iron Man. I thought it was a fine example of its genre, mainly because it did not forget the most important thing a movie like that should be: fun (compare this to the boring 2003 Hulk or the positively dreary Superman Returns). It also didn’t disgrace the source material like – ugh! – Fantastic 4.

That said, like you, I do expect and hope for Dark Knight to kick some Iron ass…

I so much enjoy these “Sci-Fi Saturday” reports! I look forward to them every weekend!

Thanks so much, and keep up the good work! :))

Wait.. Hulk’s now gonna be in Iron Man II?? I had read last week that Thor was gonna be in it…maybe both of em will? *lol*

#49 Dierna — There are probably going to be more and more characters cameoing in the movies as each movie comes out. (Iron Man spoiler coming up!) Iron Man had Nick Fury coming in to talk with Tony Stark about the Avenger Initiative. Hulk will have a Tony Stark cameo, likely with Stark asking Bruce Banner if he would be interested in joining the Avengers. Hulk and Iron Man will then appear in Thor, then Thor, Hulk, and Iron Man will all appear in Captain America. I’m just speculating, of course. :)