DC hasn’t made too many impressive entries into the super hero media wars as of yet.  Sure, there’s the Dark Knight trilogy and a successful television adaptation of Arrow, but that’s about it for now.  Man of Steel is coming out in just over a month, so we’ll see how that one does.  Despite the hit-and-miss nature of DC properties on both the big and small screens, the Chief Creative Officer over at DC, Geoff Johns is hopeful about the future.  In a recent interview with Collider, he had a few things to say on more than a few subjects.  Check out the highlights after the jump.

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Fox‘s belated “start of production” announcement for Matt Reeves’ sequel to Rise of the Planet of the Apes: Dawn of the Planet of the Apes comes with some more casting info, and a better rundown of the plot than we’ve been so far given (assuming you’re interested).

Toby Kebbell of Wrath of the Titans, and Enrique Murciano of Traffic seem to have roles of some sort in the film, though no further details have been offered. Fox also offered this synopsis:

A growing nation of genetically evolved apes led by Caesar is threatened by a band of human survivors of the devastating virus unleashed a decade earlier. They reach a fragile peace, but it proves short-lived, as both sides are brought to the brink of a war that will determine who will emerge as Earth’s dominant species.

More detailed information will, as per usual, be made available as we receive it. Dawn of the Planet of the Apes is scheduled to open May 23, 2014. It will feature Andy Serkis as Caesar, with appearances from Jason Clarke, Gary Oldman, Keri Russell, Toby Kebbell, Kodi Smit-McPhee, Enrique Murciano, Kirk Acevedo, and Judy Greer.

Source: /Film

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Surprisingly absolutely no one, Disney has confirmed via a press release that frontrunner Richard Madden will play the prince in their live-action adaptation of Cinderella. He’s joining Lily James as the titular princess, Cate Blanchet as the evil step-mother, and Kenneth Branagh as director. Looking at this talented line-up, I’m quite pleased.

And considering what Madden still has left to endure as Robb Stark in this season of Game of Thrones, getting to be the prince of a peaceful, Disney kingdom will be a well earned vacation. I can’t imagine his choosing to marry Cinderella will cause nearly as many problems as his decision to marry the Lady Talisa, amirite?

Has this casting made you any more excited for Cinderella?

Source: CBM

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A yellow jacket, that is. And the lack of April O’Neil in yellow wasn’t the biggest complaint we heard yesterday when we saw the first images of Megan Fox filming for The Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles. That honor goes to the fact it’s Megan Fox AS April O’Neil, followed by her not being a red head/them choosing not to make her a red head.

What will we find to complain about today? Somehow, I feel confidant just the fact it’s Megan Fox will get most of the ire, but maybe some of you are disappointed they’re going with a jacket over the whole yellow jumpsuit.

Personally, my feelings about Fox being cast as O’Neil aside, the jacket’s a good choice. It’s exactly the kind of nod to her most iconic outfit fans appreciate without having to see a movie where the starring actress is wearing, basically, a hazmat suit.

The film’s logo has also been revealed via a snapshot of one of the one set chairs, and it confirms the title will indeed be Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles. Emphasis on the turtles.

What do you think of the logo? Kind of a generic, reptilian look, isn’t it?

Sources: Nuke the Fridge via CBM, /Film

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Marvel‘s Cinematic Universe is a big hit, yes? Judging by all the box office records broken by The Avengers, now only to be re-broken by Iron Man 3 with its $700 million+ earned so far, it’s safe to say there’s no franchise bigger or more profitable than Marvel’s. And at this point, you have to wonder how much of this franchise’s success is from love of these characters, or was it the performances of Roberty Downey Jr., Chris Evans, and Chris Hemsworth that made Iron Man, Captain America, and Thor mega-stars?

By now, Marvel’s got themselves a reputation of tying actors into long contracts for little pay – obviously, we’re talking comparatively, whatever an actor makes can never really be called “little pay” – which works out great for Disney and Marvel when they’re looking to make at least two or three sequels. Evans’ is current signed into a six-picture deal, after renegotiating down from nine, and Mark Ruffalo is signed on for six, Avengers being his first. And what their paid is a pitiful fraction of their film’s earnings.

Not so for RDJ. He, smartly, had his agents renegotiate his contract after the first Iron Man which is what allowed him to take home over $50 million from The Avengers‘ haul. And he’s doing so again, because officially RDJ doesn’t have to put on the metal suit even if Tony Stark/Iron Man are an integral part of The Avengers 2. So the question is, how much will Marvel have to pony up to re-sign RDJ? And is that an option? I know, I know, it’s unimaginable to think they’d ever recast Tony Stark but if a company believes they can make a good enough product for cheaper, they will. Let us not forget, as Screen Rant rightly reminds us, Terrance Howard was the highest paid actor in Iron Man and look how quickly they recast him once he asked for more money.

Now, yes, Howard is no RDJ, but what of his Avengers‘ co-stars? How will they fare in their contract negotiations? Deadline is reporting they are rallying behind RDJ, who with his success both at the box office and in negotiations, has become something of a leader.

He’s the only guy with real power in this situation. and balls of steel, too. He’s already sent a message that he’s not going to work for a place where they treat his colleagues like shit.

What if RDJ holds off on resigning in order for his fellow Avengers to get better deals? Will Marvel play that game, or will they simply recast and possibly downsize his role? Honestly, I think it’s tough to tell what they’ll do, but I, like many of you, can’t see anyone besides RDJ in the role. And I’d figure Marvel and Disney will be checking these box office figures, collected again by Screen Rant, showing the gross of the Marvel films with and without RDJ,

With.
$585 million - Iron Man
$624 million – Iron Man 2
$1,512 million – The Avengers
$711 million – Iron Man 3 (in less than two weeks)
Without.
$263 million – The Incredible Hulk
$369 million – Captain America: The First Avengers
$449 million – Thor

Soo, where do you think this leaves us? Can Marvel re-assemble The Avengers?

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Well that didn’t take long. It seems that Robert Redford may have let slip a bit of serious spoilage in regards to his role in Captain America: The Winter Soldier. Poor guy. It’s worth noting that Redford doesn’t have a lot of experience on these big studio tentpoles in the age of internet journalism, so he didn’t know what he was in for. I mean, everyone knows that Butch and Sundance died in a shootout with the Bolivian military, right? RIGHT?!

We’ll get to Redford in a minute. In other Winter Soldier news, new cast member Anthony Mackie, AKA: Sam Wilson, AKA: The Falcon, talked about the size of role his character will play in the sequel. While talking to The Times-Picayune, Mackie said that he’s in about 60 per cent of the movie by his reckoning, but more than that, this thing is going to be so loaded with so many superheroes and super-stars, it’s going to feel like a sequel to another Marvel movie.

“Sam’s very involved. I’m in about 60 percent of the movie,” Mackie said. “Captain America, the Black Widow and The Falcon take down the Winter Solider together, and they solve the crime at hand and take down the Winter Soldier. So this movie, if you look at the cast, with everybody in (the fictional crime-fighting group) S.H.I.E.L.D. and (co-stars Robert) Redford and Sam Jackson and everybody who’s in the movie, it’s kind of turning into ‘The Avengers Part 2‘ because the cast is so big.”

Well, he just set the bar sky high.

As for Redford, he got caught spoiling by The Straits Time (then repeated by Here Be Geeks) with a potentially major reveal regarding his character Alexander Pierce, the head of S.H.I.E.L.D. “I like the idea of playing a villain,” he said. “I did that just because it’s a different thing for me to do.”

Fair enough, but was Redford speaking generally, or will Pierce turn out to be a double agent, perhaps even playing key Winter Soldier antagonist Soviet  General Aleksander Lukin, who, unless I’m mistaken, hasn’t been cast (or had his casting announced) yet.

More news as it develops.

Source: Comic Book Movie

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News that began yesterday as a couple, now deleted, tweets from the film’s Digital Asset Manager Todd Smoyer and Concept Artist Dean Sherriff – screencaps still available at Ain’t It Cool News -  Universal Studios has now officially confirmed: Jurassic Park 4 is on hold. The reason? According to sources of Jurassic Park 4 News, the film simply isn’t “epic” enough. This isn’t to say the script isn’t any good, but there’s apparently conflict over the film’s scale. And, were they asking me, which nobody is, I’d say Jurassic Park 4 needs to be big. I mean BIG, something worthy of such a gigantic franchise.

Adding a little credence to the concern Colin Trevorrow‘s Jurassic Park 4 was lacking in that “epic” quality, here’s Universal’s official press release,

In coordination with filmmakers, Universal has decided to release Jurassic Park 4 at a later date giving the studio and filmmakers adequate time to bring audiences the best possible version of the fourth installment in Universal’s beloved franchise.  We could not be more excited about the vision that Colin Trevorrow has created for this film, and we look forward to watching as he and the producers create another great chapter in this franchise’s storied history.

Eep! “Adequate time to bring audiences the best possible version of the fourth installment,” doesn’t sound like they got things right the first time. Jurassic Park 4 was expected to begin production very soon, and was slated for a June 2014 release, a date I can’t imagine they’ll make now.

What say you bastards? Should this delay worry us? Or should we be happy a studio is so concerned with the quality of a franchise’s fourth film?

Source: /Film

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There’s lots of news in the wake of Marvel‘s release of Iron Man 3. Will Robert Downey Jr. be back for more, will there be an Iron Man 4, what other Marvel Superheroes will get a big screen treatment? Marvel’s President of Production, Kevin Feige, recently put a couple of those rumored about which heroes might get a stand alone movie to rest.

When asked by Collider if anyone at Marvel is currently developing or writing a Falcon of War Machine spinoff, Feige simply said:

“No.”

Now that just means that currently there are no plans for those two heroes, but perhaps as Marvel proceeds through Phase Two and into Phase Three some decisions could be made to bring those two characters to the big screen in their own rights.

Recently, Ms. Marvel, Blade, Doctor Strange, Iron Fist, Black Panther, and The Runaways have script development projects in the works at Marvel Studios. There’s no production dates for these yet, but scripts are being written (Runaways was already scripted by Iron Man 3‘s Drew Pearce), and concept art is in the works.

These would most likely come after the third Avengers movie, and until there is a release date or green-light announcement, keep your expectations grounded. These things have a way of getting side tracked until the real money starts getting pumped into the project.

Which of these would you like to see the most?

Via: Comicbookmovie

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Everyone figured there would be at least one X-Men cameo in James Mangold‘s upcoming The Wolverine, there needed to be some cross-over between the Wolverine movies and the rest of the X-Men franchise. When it was revealed that Famke Janssen would reprise her role as Jean Grey and appear in The Wolverine, many fans figured that was that and stopped trying to put the cameo puzzle together. After all, as far as everyone knew, the puzzle had been solved, but the question now is, has it been fully answered?

JoBlo reports that recent re-shoots that took place in Montreal suggest another important X-Men cameo in The Wolverine.

! ! ! Spoiler Alert ! ! ! Spoiler Alert ! ! !

Stop here if you don’t want to know.

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Simon Pegg and Edgar Wright‘s third film, The World’s End has its first trailer out and it looks to be another comedic blending of two film genres. Their first two movies, Shaun of the Dead and Hot Fuzz are both great late weekend night movies.

20 years after attempting an epic pub crawl, five childhood friends reunite when one of them becomes hell bent on trying the drinking marathon again. They are convinced to stage an encore by mate Gary King, a 40-year old man trapped at the cigarette end of his teens, who drags his reluctant pals to their home town and once again attempts to reach the fabled pub, The World’s End. As they attempt to reconcile the past and present, they realize the real struggle is for the future, not just theirs but humankind’s. Reaching The World’s End is the least of their worries.

The five Pub Crawling friends are played by Simon Pegg, Nick Frost, Paddy Considine, Martin Freeman and Eddie Marsan. Directed and co-written with Pegg by Wright, The World’s End opens August 23rd. You can check out the international teaser trailer below.

What did you think? Was it enough to get you into a theater seat?

Via:/Film

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