!!! Two Films Enter, Three Films Leave (The Hobbit News) !!!

Yeah, I want to be more broke!

No, seriously, I don't need these pieces of paper in my wallet (or plastic if you prefer). I can sustain myself on water and small rats that I hunt and kill, so that's fine, take my hard earned cash. Peter Jackson and Warner Bros. apparently are have a money crisis and they are looking to us, the movie going public, to take up the slack. Today, in a move that shocks and surprises no one, Peter Jackson announced that "The Hobbit" will now go from two films to three. He will be drawing on material from both The Hobbit and The Appendices of The Lord of the Rings books. While I wholeheartedly welcome the decision, I find myself lamenting my lost revenue, because that's another $15.00 dollars and also another 3 hours spent in a theater so there's also a reduction in my lifespan, but no biggie. Here's what PJ had to say on his Facebook page.


It is only at the end of a shoot that you finally get the chance to sit down and have a look at the film you have made. Recently Fran, Phil and I did just this when we watched for the first time an early cut of the first movie - and a large chunk of the second. We were really pleased with the way the story was coming together, in particular, the strength of the characters and the cast who have brought them to life. All of which gave rise to a simple question: do we take this chance to tell more of the tale? And the answer from our perspective as the filmmakers, and as fans, was an unreserved ‘yes.'

We know how much of the story of Bilbo Baggins, the Wizard Gandalf, the Dwarves of Erebor, the rise of the Necromancer, and the Battle of Dol Guldur will remain untold if we do not take this chance. The richness of the story of The Hobbit, as well as some of the related material in the appendices of The Lord of the Rings, allows us to tell the full story of the adventures of Bilbo Baggins and the part he played in the sometimes dangerous, but at all times exciting, history of Middle-earth.

So, without further ado and on behalf of New Line Cinema, Warner Bros. Pictures, Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer, Wingnut Films, and the entire cast and crew of “The Hobbit” films, I’d like to announce that two films will become three.

It has been an unexpected journey indeed, and in the words of Professor Tolkien himself, "a tale that grew in the telling."

Cheers,

Peter J

Straight from the horse's mouth. No word on whether the third one will be called "The Hobbit: Cash Grab" or "The Hobbit: It's All About The Benjamins". Be back latter with more cool stuff, so stay tuned.

Todd "You Shall Not Pass" B.

[ComingSoon.net]

!!! Keep It Secret, Keep It Safe (San Diego Comic-Con Part 2) !!!

So last night I told you all about the Marvel Studio's panel and various other things at "the con" (at least stuff I thought was cool). Tonight, I will try and finish what I started last night by giving you the lowdown on the really cool Warner Bros. panel that also took place last night. Both Warner Bros. (all two of them) brought their "A" game to show the very excited crowd the awesome things they have in store for the foreseeable future.


First up was the new film from director Guillermo del Toro (Hellboy, Pan's Labyrinth as if you didn't know) called "Pacific Rim". The film is about a future where nations must ban together to fight giant creatures called "Kaiju" in giant robots called "Jaegers" for the future of the planet. All is not going well and mankind must turn to unlikely heroes with outdated robot to turn the tide (yes, I know I sound like a studio PR machine). All I got to say is, "Giant robots fighting giant creatures directed by Del Toro, where do I sign up?" I love Godzilla movies, I love giant robot movies (Transformers and Iron Giant), how is this not one of the best ideas ever. Del Toro is one of us. He is a fan first and a director second. He only makes the movies that he wants to see. Luckily for us, he is one of the best directors working in Hollywood today. The first Del Toro film I saw was "Mimic". That could have easily been an extremely cheesy premise and been an even bigger disaster on film, but he turned it into a fun and scary little movie that surpassed my expectations. Next up was "Blade II" and having liked the first Blade film I was a little worried that they had changed directors too quickly. Well again, I should not have worried, because Del Toro gave it his own unique style and made a kick butt vampire movie (that didn't sparkle). Then came "Hellyboy", an adaptation of the comic created by the incredible Mike Mignola (I have been a fan for awhile). Del Toro knocked it out of the park, and did so with the help of the creator himself. It's no small coup that he got Ron Perlman to play "Big Red" and that he stayed true to the comic in all the right ways. After that I started to seek out his work from before he came to Hollywood. Films such as "The Devil's Backbone" and "Cronos" (find that one on Criterion Collection Blu -Ray, I highly recommend) are two of my favorites. Find these movies and watch them, you will be glad that you did. He continued to impress me not only with his directing and designing but also with his knowledge of all things geeky. Pan's Labyrinth is a movie every genre fan should see. After "Hellboy II" he attached himself to every film that came his way and no one knew what was next. We found out that he would be co-writing and sole directing "The Hobbit" with Peter Jackson producing (cause Peter is just as busy as Del Toro). If there was anyone that could have taken over the world of Middle Earth from Peter Jackson it was Del Toro. Alas, it was not meant to be. Contract negotiations between studios for who had the rights to "The Hobbit" dragged on and Del Toro was forced to move on. Now, here we are and we have a new film (Pacific Rim) directed by Del Toro coming this next Summer and it's going to be awesome. From the reports of the footage that was shown (which you can read about in the link at the end of this article) this sucker is set to rock your socks off. And yes, if you were wondering, Ron Perlman is in this one too (so is the always great Idris Elba so there no reason not to see this movie). I really am disappointed that there will be a media blackout from now until Christmas, cause I am dying to see anything from this thing (the rumor is we'll get a trailer in front of "The Hobbit", but that's like forever away). I can't wait.

On a side note, after the resent Make-A-Wish foundation's very cool Hellboy thing, of which you can read "here" (Ron Perlman is the greatest man alive for doing this), Del Toro has decided it's time to get the ball rolling on "Hellboy 3". We all owe that special little kid our thanks for hopefully getting Del Toro to finish one of the coolest film series to come along this side of Marvel and the Batman movies. Here's to
making that happen guys, get on that. You can check out Del Toro's comments "here".

Next up was truly a surprise to everyone there. Gareth Edwards (director, writer, and dang near everything else for his movie "Monsters", see it you'll like it) came out and blew the roof off the place with footage from his take on the Toho classic "Godzilla". We had heard very little about what was going on with this movie but now we know. Apparently it's going to grab you by the brain and rip it out through your nostril. I can't wait to see footage of this. Gareth is staying true to the spirit of the original and he even showcased the classic "Roar" in the teaser footage. This is the kind of movie that can benefit from being more dark and less campy. That's what we're getting from this one if everything pans out. Again, giant monsters can't be beat. Check out what was shown in the link below.

On the flip side, I'm still conflicted about this "Superman: Man of Steel" thing. No Williams score, no "S" shield on the cape, and a darker tone more akin to what's going on with Batman (Batman = Dark Knight, Superman = Man of Tomorrow or "Boy Scout" how hard is that?). I may be wrong and this may be great, but I could also be right and DC and Warner Bros. have once again screwed the pooch. Let's all hope I'm wrong. I guess we'll find out when the trailer shows up in front of "The Dark Knight Rises". Until then, we'll wait and see. The footage is hard to get your head around without seeing it and all the talk about making this a clean break from the Donner version does not instill me with confidence. At least he does fly in the teaser, so there's that. I'll let you know what I think after I see "Rises". Read the description of the footage at the link below.

Finally from Warner Bros. we got more info on "The Hobbit". Peter Jackson showed up and updated everyone on the progress of the film. It seems that he wants to make it fit in with the LOTRs films so everyone who's crazy enough to watch them all back to back to back etc. can do so (lots of Mt. Dew needed for that kind of task). He also said that principle photography is complete, but they could film more stuff next year. He stated that he wants to not only capture the fun and humor of the original's more child oriented story but also the heavier elements that Tolkien added in the Appendices of LOTR. He also said that there would definitely be Extended Editions of "The Hobbit" and possibly a splitting of the second movie into two. I'm ok with that. The more Middle Earth the better. Can't wait to see the next production blog that was shown at the con, should be good as always. You can check out more "here" and at the link below.

One more bit of news I missed yesterday, in the Iron Man 3 panel (which Downey Jr. made a surprise appearance and did so thru the audience, he's so cool) footage was shown of RDJ and John Favreau playing off each other as Tony Stark and Happy Hogan (Favreau gets a bigger part because he's not actually directing the film, but it's also good to know that Shane West has him there to help guide the production as an executive producer). While that's cool stuff that touches on things from "The Avengers", the real highlight was the first footage of Ben Kingsley as the Mandarin (yes it's official now, no more "truth avoiding"). This is great news because they would have sold themselves short if they had not paid off all the little hints throughout the first two films. Again, it seems that Marvel is listening in on the thoughts in my head and going with that for their story ideas. First we have "The Winter Soldier" storyline in Captain America, now we have the Mandarin in Iron Man 3, that's what I call service. Now all Marvel has to do is either get back all their characters from the other studios or make deals to have those characters appear in Marvel Universe movies (I figure I'll put it out there and see if I can go three for three, can't hurt right?).

I'll be back back soon with my thoughts and hopes for the last season of the greatest show that no one watches, "Fringe". You can check out a play by play of everything in this article about the Warner Bros. panel "here" and the Iron Man 3 panel "here". I'm still working on that Spider-man review (Comic-Con kinda pushed it to the side) and I hope to have it up soon. Hold on tight and "Stay Classy".

Todd "Ringwraith" B.

One more thing, Karl Urban is under a gag order from J.J. Abrams about his comments on the Star Trek 2 villain and the deny machine is in full operation. Kahn? Gary Mitchell? Clint Howard? You guy's guesses are as good as ours. Let us know what you think in the comments below or in the forums. Thanks to Ain't It Cool News for the story and picture.

[ComingSoon.net and SuperHero Hype]

!!! The Nerd Apocalypse Is Here (San Diego Comic-Con News) !!!

It is finally here. The biggest geek, nerd, and dork convention in the world. So far it's been pretty good. Within the first three days, it's already beat E3 for big announcements and it doesn't appear that will change. Since there has been a lot going on both there and here (my life got a little crazy this week) I decided to put all the Comic-Con news in one post (at least the first three days). I've also got my review of Spider-man coming so keep checking back for that. Also my computer's decided to go on vacation this week, so I will try my best with what I got. Here. We. Go.


Like I said, Comic-Con is punching E3 in the bejewels and giving us more cool things to be excited about than the Punisher in a wise guy factory (come on admit it, you laughed). First up is the king of superhero movies, Marvel (DC doesn't count because Batman's just one hero and they screwed up Green Lantern). Marvel is kicking on all cylinders following the total domination inflicted by "The Avengers" (that's 1.5 billion dollars for everyone keeping count) and the "Amazing" (I so funny) numbers that "Spider-man" is putting up. But not content to rest, Marvel went full tilt at their Marvel Studios' panel and can I just say, "excelsior". This is some crazy stuff that their attempting. This is like over the top, i just bought the USS Flag off of eBay in it's original box for a ungodly amount of money crazy (I don't actually have to buy it off of eBay because I still have mine from when I was a kid, but you know that kind of crazy). Marvel announced that they will be making two more movies to go along with the already announced, Iron Man 3, Thor, and Captain America films that they intend to release between now and the second Avengers flick. So, Todd, what might these two movies be? Well, I'm glad you asked. It looks like we'll have "Guardians of the Galaxy" on August 1st, 2014 (art below). You heard that right, we will have a movie that has a gun-toting raccoon in it. If that doesn't get you excited, I don't know what will. Raccoons with guns, good golly miss Molly (not to mention a full on butt kicking tree or Ent for all you LOTR fans). Marvel eased the audience into the whole otherworldly stuff by going from the "grounded in reality" vibe of Iron Man, to the "magic is just what we know as science" in Thor (you know plus gods and ice giants and Asgard), to the Tesseract and Super Soldier Serum of Captain America (not to mention the Gamma irradiated man who turns into a giant green monster), then, BAM, aliens and flying aircraft carriers and Scarlett Johansson's breasts (well we already knew about that last one) and of course "Thanos". Now it appears they trust you, the audience, to go wherever they want to take you (and you know you will). Congratulations, audience, you passed suspension of disbelief 101 and may now move on to the advanced course, "Gun Carrying, Explosive Expert Raccoons and You". This is gonna rock.

Second, they showed a logo and test footage for Edgar Wright's "Ant-Man" (again, see below). No firm date for when we'll see it but it's coming. Henry Pym on the big screen, who would have thought. Here's hoping we get some Janet Van Dyne to go along with my order of Pym. An Ant-Man movie from the maker of "Shawn of the Dead" and "Hot Fuzz" sounds like a hot Krispy Kreme doughnut (happy 75 years best doughnut in the world). Can't wait.

Marvel also gave us a very vague hint at what we can expect from the next Thor movie with a new title and logo. "Thor: The Dark World" will be headed to theaters on November 8, 2013. I have absolutely no idea what that title could mean and I'm sure there will be a lot of speculation over the next year and a half, but hey, I'm in.

Then, Marvel gave us a gigantic hint at what we will see in the next "Cap" film. "Captain America: The Winter Soldier" tells you everything you need to know about what the "man out of time" will be doing next. If you don't want to be spoiled in anyway, that's fine. For everyone else, if you have never read Ed Brubaker's run on the Captain America comic book (that will soon come to an end, "tear"), do yourself a favor and pick it up. You'll not only find out the general storyline for the next Captain America film but get some of the best stories Marvel has put out about the premiere Super Soldier and his greatest "friends" and "foes". This is the right way to go and I applaud Marvel for taking us there. The Winter Soldier arrives in theaters on April 24, 2014.

Tony Stark's new Iron Man suit for Iron Man 3 was on display at "the con" surrounded by the suits from all the previous films and the Avengers. Less red, more gold, maybe Downey Jr. wants everyone to know that he made so much money off the Avengers that he had the suit gold plated (that's just rubbing it in).

Extra Marvel stuff included, Jessica Biel may be playing "Viper" (Madame Hydra, for you comic nerds) in the new Wolverine film, Josh Trank (the director of "Chronicle" of which you must watch if you haven't) has signed on to direct the Fantastic Four reboot (this is very good), David Slade is out as director of the Daredevil reboot (not good, you know for Fox, but maybe for Marvel), and a fairly candid interview from ComingSoon.net with Simon Kinberg who is one of the writers on the X-Men: First Class sequel which you can check out "here". He's surprisingly forthcoming for someone who, "can't breath a word" about the film. There's also a little short film on the Avengers home video release called "Item 47". It's good from what I've heard. Fun stuff.

The Marvel news is huge, but that's not all we got in San Diego. A new clip from "Dredd" (cause Judge Dredd is too long) debuted and it is certainly not for the timid. Consider it "Red Band" material and know that you have been warned before you trot off to watch it "here". From the reviews that have been popping up on the "world wide web" (yeah, old school, right?), this is going to kick some serious tail. So that means, you people need to get off your mama's couch and go see this movie, cause if it make 50 million we get a sequel, according to producers. Go, watch, be amazed.

For all you Mortal Kombat freaks out there (yes, you too, Josh), if you have never see the "Legacy" web series you can check it out now on Blu-ray (my personal preference) and you can still find it online for free. It was written and directed by Kevin Tancharoen, who directed a short Mortal Kombat film called "Rebirth" (also online) that was a more gritty realistic take on the franchise. NetherRealm and Warner Bros. were so impressed that they green lit the Legacy web series, and what a web series it is. With the likes of Michael Jai White, Jeri Ryan (yes, Seven of Nine), and Tahmoh Penikett, this little gem is like an intimate fatality to the face. It takes place before the original tournament and serves as a prequel. So, it's with no small amount of joy that I found out that a second season of Legacy has been given the go ahead. Tancharoen announced it himself at San Diego via a video clip "here" that also gives us a look at which characters we can expect to see. But the best news of all is that the second season will be about the tournament itself, fraking cool. I'm a Kombat fan from way back (I remember playing the first one in the arcade, shut up, I know I'm old) and I've had every version of the game on every system. I can't play for crap, but I love the story and characters. And who doesn't like to see Sub-Zero rip a guy's head off his body with the spine still attached, dripping blood, ah, good times. The first series was very popular so we may be seeing the future of small budget cinema right here. Web series that bring people in for free, then move to big budget mega films with a ready made fan base sounds like a plan to me.

Speaking of web series, not all of you guys out there like "Halo". I tend to be one of those few people (Halo is an indie game after all) who does. Again, I'm very much about story as opposed to the playing of the game itself (love to play, but still suck at it). I was super excited when we were told that Peter Jackson was producing a live action version of the game. He decided to get an unknown director by the name of Neill Blomkamp. The studios all said, "no thanks" to Peter because he had an unproven director at the helm (even though Blomkamp and Weta had put together a kick butt demo reel of what a live action Halo would look like and it was "Boo Yow", and can still be found online "here"). Big mistake Hollywood, because Neill Blomkamp went on to make "District 9", great film, and his new film "Elysium" that's getting very good buzz from everyone who has seen footage. So, here we are a few years later and 343 studios is finally giving us the live action Halo we've been longing for. But guess what Hollywood, it'll be free on the Internet in a web series prequel to Halo 4. Put that in your pipe and flush it down the toilet (cause, the police just pulled up outside), Hollywood. You can watch the first trailer "here" and it starts out pretty good. We get to see a Warthog very briefly, and some cadet training. Then things get crazy, everyone is looking up in the sky in fear (of the Covenant, more that likely) then everyone is running away in fear (we see a shot of a puddle of water in the foreground and a bunch of blurry cadets running in the background, then invisible feet splash in the water, the Elites have arrived), everyone huddle into a room and the door starts to be broken down. We think it's the bad guys but when the doors blows inward, guess who standing there to rescue those scared little cadets. The Master Chief, boyee, come to stop your grinning and drop your linen. We just kicked it up a notch, Emeril. Maybe this will get the wheel turning and maybe we get a real big budget movie out of the deal. Looks promising so far.

Alright, now for some odds and ends. The Robocop remake showed off some viral images this week and went a good ways to make me more excited to see it. They showed off the "ED-209" and it looks like an advanced version of the original, not bad I say. We'll definitely keep an open mind on this one. Check out the picture below, and the synopsis for the film "here". We got our first look at "Q" in the new James Bond film "Skyfall", played by Ben Wishaw (see below). He looks like a young Desmond Llewelyn, perfect. The Trolls from "The Hobbit" are on display at the Weta booth and are full size, cool. To promote the Blu-Ray release of the "Indiana Jones" films they put up a Well of Souls complete with live snakes (why did it have to be snakes).

That what I got for now, I'll be back tomorrow with more news from Comic-Con including the Warner Bros. panel with news and previews of "Pacific Rim", "The Hobbit", and "Man of Steel". Also, a little "Hellboy 3" news that ties into my post the other day, very cool stuff. As always, you can check out all the cool stuff from the experts on ComingSoon.net. Until then, "live long and prosper" dorks!!!

Todd "now preparing for the zombie apocalypse" B.

[ComingSoon.net]