After being dormant for a long time, it seems the machine is gearing up once again, big time, for the Escape from New York remake. Producer Joel Silver (Sherlock Holmes, The Matrix) recently picked up the baton and it seems that he’s moving swiftly to capitalize on the brand, so much so that the New York Daily News is reporting today that the potential replacement for Kurt Russell in the role of Snake Plissken is down to two contenders.

Contender #1: Jason Statham. Star of The Transporter series, Death Race and the recently released Parker.

Contender #2: Tom Hardy. The acclaimed actor who’s appeared in Inception, The Dark Knight Rises and the upcoming Mad Max: Fury Road.

Both actors are fine choices, although they will have big shoes to fill given the indelible mark Russell left on the character. For my money, I’d rather see Hardy because I think Statham’s had his shot at remaking a cult classic with the dud Death Race, but I digress.

What do you think, Bastards? Who do you like as Snake, in anyone?

Source: Blastr

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For those of us that were not born more than two decades ago, we missed out on a lot of things prior to our escape from nine months of solitary confinement. We missed things like parachute pants, the early days of WildStorm Productions and, aside from perhaps a few reruns, we missed some great television shows of the late 60s and 70s.

Since then, a lot of those shows have been released on DVD or remade as crappy television reboots that never see anything past a first season. There are, however, a select few that go on to be Hollywood blockbusters. One that has been waiting in limbo for years is the Warner Bros.‘ The Man From U.N.C.L.E. film reboot. Now it appears that The Man From U.N.C.L.E. may finally get its Napoleon Solo, a solid director and take another step closer to actual production.

In a report from Deadline, Warner Bros. is in “early talks” with Oblivion and Mission Impossible leading man Tom Cruise to star. A great decision seeing as the action star is a regular go to for films of the action-oriented variety. But who’s going to direct the once-cancelled feature? That answer comes in the form of Sherlock Holmes director Guy Ritchie, who will return to the film adaptation he was already attached to direct after Steven Soderbergh dropped out.

Starring Robert Vaughan and David McCallum as agents of the United Network Command for Law Enforcement, Napoleon Solo and Illya Kuryakin battled the evil  forces of “THRUSH” and their attempts at world domination. Hopefully a deal can be reached and production can begin early next year, which also happens to coincidentally be the fiftieth anniversary of the original Man From U.N.C.L.E. series that ran from 1964 till it’s mid-season cancellation in 1968.

As of right now no other details have been released, but we’ll keep you posted as more information comes our way.

Source: Comic Book Movie

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Back in the mid 1960s a man by the name of Gerry Anderson was on the cutting edge of puppet technology, creating a whole list of marionette based TV shows for British audiences. The most well know, Thunderbirds Are Go!, looks to be set to return to the small screen using a mix of CGI and live action. Deadline is reporting that the New Zealand based Pukeko Pictures and Weta Workshop will develop a modern reboot of the franchise for the Uk’s ITV with out a puppet in site. The 26 episode order is set to hit both ITV and CITV as early as 2015. ITV’s Denise O’Donoghue made the announcement:

“Thunderbirds is a highly respected brand that continues to hold recognition around the world. This cult series is often credited as changing the history of animation and action-adventure, and we look forward to taking the show to another level while retaining the much-loved heritage that has endured over the past fifty years.”

Not to harp on the obvious, and it’s purely from my nerd nostalgia based heart, why can’t they give it a shot with puppets? Come on, just try. Fans of the Thunderbirds will recall that the last time the property was rebooted for American audiences on the big screen back in 2004, they did have one wooden performance from Bill Paxton. That was a supermarionation fan service call back, right?

Please tell me it was.

Source: CBM

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Coming in somewhere between a short film and a full length feature, Reboot plays above it’s modest budget and delivers a cinematic novella that benefits from its claustrophobic setting and it’s skilled cast.

Starring Emily Somers as STAT, a hacker who wakes up with her smartphone attached to her hand, bruises and blood on her face, and a slowly returning memory — the film keeps our attention as STAT and her friends Bren (Martin Copping) and Eva (Sonalii Castillo) try to solve the code that keeps ominously ticking down on her phone.

As the techno terrorist villain,  Travis Aaron Wade (who looks like Jeremy Renner) creeped me out. His character, Jesse, feels like the kind of villain that could be grounded in reality. A more grounded Bond-villain type with a bent mind that both luxuriates in and despises the digital realm and technology.

Through Jesse, the filmmakers ask questions about the value of connectivity, a “plague” that Jesse and his co-conspirators are dedicated to stopping with a potentially catastrophic act.

It’s scary stuff to consider as we become more and more reliant on technology and the filmmakers use those fears against us to drive the film toward it’s end.

I give Reboot 4 stars out of 5. It’s a taut thriller that demands your attention. Directed by Joe Kawasaki with a runtime of 39 minutes, you can download Reboot for $2.99 on their website now.

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There be rumblings again that another sequel to TRON is getting underway at Disney with the hiring of a new screenwriter.

Now sure, the reception to TRON Legacy wasn’t exactly glowing, but the film did end up making $400 million worldwide, and new Disney hefe Alan Horn is apparently a fan, so you know that that means: some random screenwriter with a couple of unproduced credits to his name gets the nod!

The writer’s name is Jesse Wigutow, and he has about four produced screenplays to his credit: two shorts, a TV movie and the 2003 feature/Douglas family vanity project It Runs in the Family. He’s also written the Summit Entertainment reboot of the Crow along with the adaptation of the Peter Pan origin novel  Peter and the Starcatchers and the script for Parallel, both of which are being supervised by TRON: Legacy co-producer Justin Springer.

Wigutow will be taking a stab at re-writing a draft penned by David DiGilio author of the script for the Paul Walker “comedy” Eight Below, and the conspiracy series Traveler. Legacy director Joseph Kosinski is still expected to direct a third TRON.

So if you’re a TRON fan this is progress, right? On the other hand, in order to beat the length of time between the last two TRON films, all they have to do is deliver sometime in the next quarter century. Plenty of time to get the script right.

Source: The Hollywood Reporter

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The Highlander has taken another head. And by that, I mean the Highlander reboot by Summit Entertainment has lost another potential director. Most recently, Juan Carlos Fresnadillo (28 Weeks Later) was set to direct, after having taken over when Justin Lin (The Fast and the Furious franchise) exited. According to today’s report from Deadline Juan Carlos has walked away as well, muttering the phrase “creative differences”.

“I’m told that his exit is amicable, and that after a year of working on the project, he and Summit could not get past the fact they had differing views of the film, and finally agreed to disagree. Fresnadillo left a remake of The Crow to join Highlander. It’s unclear at the moment whether that is an option, but come Monday, he will be looking for another movie, and Summit will be looking for another Highlander helmer.”

Not a lot is known about Summit Entertainment’s planned remake of the original 1986 Highlander film except that Ryan Reynolds is set to play  Connor MacLeod, the titular sword wielding immortal who chops the heads off other immortals.

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Everyone who has watched Superman II can quote the famous line, “Kneel before Zod,” that actor Terence Stamp says in his fight with the late Christopher Reeve‘s Superman.

It’s a line that demands respect and has been uttered in countless parodies in the years since the film’s release, giving the line itself a cult status. While doing an interview on VH1′s Big Moring Buzz Live Michael Shannon, who has taken over the role of General Zod in Man of Steel, may have shattered the hopes of thousands of Zod fans revealing, “I don’t say that in the movie,” when asked about quoting the famous line in the reboot.

Now we know Zack Snyder is trying to update the franchise but “Kneel before Zod” is synonymous with Stamp’s role and it has to be said. It’s one of those lines that should be carried on in some way, much like what was done for Martin Sheen and the reworking of, “With great power comes great responsibility,” in The Amazing Spider-Man. Hopefully the line will be used in some variation to make it Shannon’s own, if anything Snyder can at least give people this:

Your welcome Zack, use something like that and you’ll calm a planet of angry nerds.

Special thanks to Blastr for spreading the word of Zod. Check out Shannon’s original interview with VH1 below,

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Shot on set by bystander Mike McPhee, this footage has either a stunt double or star Joel Kinnaman -we can’t tell which- riding this new “RoboCycle”. Since there’s nothing exploding, or Jose shouting anything that involves “boom!” we’re going to assume it’s Kinnaman.

This short video, gives us a bit of an insight into just how filming has been so far for the stars and crew in Toronto. And, as far as I know, “RoboCycle” hasn’t been trademarked yet.

The jury is still out on whether this reboot will be worth watching. The Batman inspired suit and Judge Dredd’s motorcycle aren’t doing the film any favors.

RoboCop stars stars Joel Kinnaman, Gary Oldman, Michael Keaton, and Samuel L. Jackson, Abbie Cornish, Jackie Earle Haley, Michael K. Williams, Jay Baruchel, Jennifer Ehle, Marianne Jean-Baptiste and hits theaters everywhere February 14th, 2014.

Source: Coming Soon 

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Preface: I, like I am sure many of you, oppose a reboot/remake of Sam Raimi‘s cult classic Evil Dead. Personally the original three movies stand as classics (with Evil Dead II the end all be all,) a horror holy trinity and  should be left well enough alone. Enter Bruce Campbell. Taking to the stage at this years New York Comic-Con Mr. Campbell was tasked with convincing all of us that the new rebooted/remade Evil Dead is a good thing. The hard sell took the full 30 minutes for the record.

Joining the only Ash there will ever be Bruce Campbell on stage was the reboot’s director, Fede Álvarez, and not Ash the films lead character, Jane Levy. The mission, convince everyone in attendance that a ‘new’ Evil Dead is exactly what we want. Did they succeed? Hit the jump to see (possible spoilers)! (more…)

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One constant, at every con I have ever been too, has been Neal Adams catering too a full gaggle of fans as he smiled, autographed, and sketched for them. Adams is a legend, one of the golden Gods of the comic industry who is as famous for his work on Batman, X-Men, and the Green Lantern as he is respected for his role as a key advocate for creator rights and struggling comic professionals.

Tonight at the New York Comic Con, on Preview Night, I again spied that same sight: Adams holding court. This time though, there was a rare break in the crowd and a moment where I — somewhat selfishly — went over to shake the man’s hand, tell him how much I admired his work and then — in a real height of greediness – I asked if I could ask him a question or two for you folks, and he was nice enough to agree. Here is my question (and a half*) micro-interview with Neal Adams.

And I keep on seeing these guys with these armored suits with lines all over them and wondering whether or not this is a serious attempt at refurbishing characters or just an attempt to draw lines over the suits. I mean, it’s sort of up to the film companies to clutter up the suits isn’t it? Not up to the comic book companies. Artists don’t even like to draw all these lines. So is this a permanent plan or is this a shot in the dark or just screwing around?

I have no idea and I don’t think anybody does.

Do you think the current creators are doing enough for Golden or Silver age creators who are struggling right now?”

Adams: Absolutely. As far as I know, I don’t know any who are struggling, but any problem that comes up we solve it…

—-

Alright, here is where the half a question thing comes into play, and this is one of those “only at a Con” things that I witnessed. Mid-answer, Mr. Adams was greeted at his booth by visionary director and writer Guillermo del Toro who I then happily shook hands with before standing quiet while Adams and he exchanged pleasantries and Mr. Adams said that they should work together. Afterward, I blessed that possible future union, begged Mr. Adams to let me be the first to have witnessed a neat bit of comic book history — the birth of an Adams/del Toro collaboration — and then thanked him and let him get back to his sketching. As I said, only at a con.

Be sure to check out Mr. Adams’ website and keep an eye on Nerdbastards.com for all of your NYCC needs and for more exclusive — though less guerrilla type – interviews for you during the rest of New York Comic Con.

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