Tron: Legacy confirmed for Comic Con 2010

The headline literally says it all! Oh happy day! Tron: Legacy is the first to officially confirm that they will have a presence at San Diego Comic Con International 2010!

I, for one, could not be more excited if I tried.

The filmmakers will be joined with Oscar winner Jeff Bridges, Garrett Hedlund, Olivia Wilde, Michael Sheen and Bruce Boxleitner on Thursday, July 21st at 11:15 AM in Hall H. For you newbies out there, Hall H is where all of the big studio presentations happen. It’s a massive room that seats over 6,500 people. Daft Punk is responsible for the original score for the film. While they aren’t the kind of people to appear for press, the panel has promised a very special guest appearance. I can only pray that it is Daft Punk… please, please, please!

The teaser trailer for Tron: Legacy was first shown at Comic Con in 2008. I was in the room when they showed the trailer on the massive screens. We weren’t given any sort of indication of what we were about to see. It didn’t take long for the audience to figure out what they were watching and consequently the room erupted with cheer.

Last year they made their presence know again with a full panel, including Jeff Bridges. Honestly, it is hard not to love everything about that man.

My favorite thing to ever be at the convention (and I have been regularly going for some years now) was the set up for Flynn’s Arcade in Downtown San Diego. It was set up to look like the original Flynn’s Arcade. Every arcade game was free and 100% from the 80′s era. In the back of the room was the Tron arcade game. It was a place frozen in time and basically every fan-boy (and fan-girl’s) fantasy.

Check out this video. This is a little taste of what we got last year.

It was the best thing EVER. I think I ended up going four times throughout the weekend.

I would imagine that their presence at the convention will be even bigger this year as the film’s release date is set for December. I want Flynn’s Arcade to return with a brand new surprise behind the game. I’m sure there is swag to have. I can’t wait!!!

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Mortal Kombat reboot?

What a way to start your morning!

Take a look at this ’cause it’s pretty amazing. This is a short known as Mortal Kombat: Rebirth. This hit the net yesterday and gives a new, gritty vision to the beloved video game franchise. Try not to completely loose your mind!

HOW COOL IS THIS?!

This short was directed by Kevin Tancharoen. If you aren’t familiar with him, he’s the guy who directed the remake of Fame. Talk about a leap! This is not a trailer for the new film, instead, this was a side project for the director. No studio was involved in the making of this and he called in a bunch of favors to bring this to life.

Warner Brothers, who currently hold the rights, had talked about rebooting the franchise for sometime and Tancharoen had been an avid fan of the game for many, many years. He had has own unique vision. This is pretty elaborate.

Here are a couple of notes regarding the production:

• They shot the short film over two days on two RED cameras
• Started in early April and it took 2 months to do the post production.  Most people donated their time.  The short was made for $7,500
• Knew if he was going to get a chance at a genre picture, he’d have to show he could do it on his own.  This is a calling card for a chance at making the next Mortal Kombat feature film and it’s his vision for how he’d do it.
• No one at any studio knew he was doing the short
• Oren Uziel wrote the short.  He’s currently listed on IMDb to write the next Mortal Kombat movie at Warner Bros.
• Says he wants to make a movie that balances the real world with the mysticism and the special powers.  Compares it to the way Harry Potter exists in two worlds.  As in there are two universes that coexist with each other.
• Confirms “fatalities” are definitely in his movie.  He wants to put them in the tournament in an “organic way”
• Definitely would use “get over here” (the classic line from the game)
• Michael Jai White plays Jax Briggs in the short and he’d definitely be a part of the feature.
• Says Scorpion is the bad guy and will stay a bad guy
• They only had 4 hours to shoot the big fight scene

I think that this is solid way to bring the franchise back. It’s something fresh and new and a far cry from most of the reboots and remakes out there. Last I heard, Threshold Entertainment (the production company that’s responsible for the first two films) had filed a “breach on contract” suit against Warner Brothers putting a reboot film in development limbo. Hopefully, this short will kick start something.

There is going to be a fan uproar for Kevin Tancharoen to helm the project if it moves forward.

What do you guys think?

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The Twilight Saga: Breaking Dawn gets a release date

FINALLY!

After months of speculation is has finally and officially confirmed that the fourth book to the Twilight book series, Breaking Dawn, will be split into two movie.  As if there was any doubt!

Remember the actor’s fight for more pay? That was a direct result of the plan to split the book. The actors had to renegotiate for the terms of five movies, instead of the original four. Now that everyone’s deals have been closed and the entire cast will be returning, they can officially confirm what we all suspected.

The Twilight Saga: Breaking Dawn Part 1 is set to hit theaters November 18, 2011.

Bill Condon (Dreamgirls) is set to direct both installments with production beginning this fall.

The Twilight Saga: Eclipse comes out on June 30th… a mere three weeks away! While we have to wait over a year for the next movie, it means that Twilight will be likely to invade Comic Con again in 2011. AWESOME.

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Countdown to Comic Con 2010!

And so it begins!!!

While I have dedicated this site mainly to films, I still appreciate all things nerdy! San Diego Comic Con International is a sacred event for me every single year. I literally drop everything in my life and head off to San Diego, California as if it were my person Mecca.

The official programming guide isn’t posted until 10 days prior to the show, but the television Networks are already starting to post their intentions to attend this years event. Now the show is 40 days away, it’s no time like the present!

Here’s a little breakdown of what some of the programming at Comic Con International 2010 is going to look like:

V, Castle, No Ordinary Family, Big Bang Theory, It’s Always Sunny in Philadelphia, Fringe, Chuck, Human Target, Supernatural, Smallville, Sons of Anarchy, Glee, Family Guy, the Simpsons, American Dad, and the Cleveland Show, among many others.

While most of these shows will find a home in Ballroom 20, let’s face it, Glee is going to be in Hall H. There is no other way to accommodate all of those people!

Last year, The Twilight Saga: New Moon swept over the Convention. Since the newest Twilight flick will be arriving before the convention and filming has to to begin on the fourth installment, chances are it won’t be around this year. My prediction: Glee is going to be in the new Twilight.

There is an even better chance that the new sign thrown around at this year’s convention will be, “Glee ruined Comic Con.” Granted, Glee is the biggest show on television, but a common complaint amongst the die-hard conventioneers (including your truly), “Is this even about comic books anymore?” The answer is, no it’s not.

Comic book aside, the list of intended programming thus far looks pretty awesome. There is always something for everyone at this Fandome Faire.

While I am looking forward to all that this year has to offer, I personally hope there is more hype for Tron: Legacy. The film is set to come out this Christmas and they have been advertising this at the Convention as early as 2008.Last year, they had set up Flynn’s Arcade in Downtown San Diego, which was easily my favorite thing to ever be at the show. I am crossing my fingers that the iconic Arcade is set up once again with different surprise behind the Tron game.

I will continue to dish the dirt on programming as more arrives. I will also be blogging while I am at the Convention itself.

San Diego Comic Con International will be running from July 22nd – 25th, with preview night on July 21st. Hope to see you there!

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Glee Season Two Spoilers!

There is some sincere irony in this post. It was less than 24 hours ago that I yelled at one of my co-workers because I HATE spoilers. Yet here I am, not only reading about them, but posting them too. There aren’t HUGE spoilers. They are vague at best. Tim, this one is for you.

Glee, the smash fit phenomena, just concluded their freshmen run of the air. According to the ratings, it has hit a record for the highest rated season finale of a first year show. It’s been renewed into its 3rd season and the writer’s and producers definitely have their work cut out for them.

Ryan Murphy, the show’s creator gave a glimpse of what is in store for Season 2, which includes adding a series of new characters: love interests for Kurt and Mercedes and a new rival for Rachel – a Christian Country music singer.

While not much else has been nailed down (or nothing they want to disclose) they do seem to know where Season 2 will end:

“I know that Season 2 ends at Nationals in New York. I don’t know if they’ll make it – we haven’t figured that out.”

As a fan… I am sincerely worried about where this show is going. What grade are they all in anyway?! You have at least three more seasons to kick out and they can’t justify how everyone is sticking around high school much longer than anyone should.

A perfect example is the show Greek. Greek is one of my most treasured shows. The entire concept of the show hangs on the fact that they are all college students in the Greek system. When they first introduce most of the main characters, they are all juniors. They are now heading into season 3 and all have yet to graduate. How did they accomplish this? Messing with the space time continuum! Instead of an entire season taking place over the course of a year… a whole season would chronicle the events of a semester at school or even in some cases a quarter. This gives you plenty of time to spend with these kids and still keep them in their high school setting.

I would also love to see some character development on Mike and Matt. You know those tow guys in the back that hardly ever get any writer love!? What the pants! They are full fledge members of Glee and deserve to have a character trait beyond being know as the guy who dances or “Other Asian.” Why add more characters when you could develop the ones you have?

I also feel that the show needs to get better at the storyarchs.  Many of the great storylines that start get resolved within an episode or two. They got it right in the first half of the first season with the truth about Quinn’s Baby-Daddy and Mrs. Shue’s fake pregnancy. Maybe the Jesse St. James introduction was supposed to do that, but it fell a little flat in hitting a home run.

While I’m a big fan of the show, it’s starting to head into “Repetitive Town.”

Please Ryan Murphy! You have an amazing opportunity here, don’t screw it up!

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John Stamos to join the cast of Glee!

Oh, how I love to get my Glee on!

John Stamos

Fox’s smash hit show, that has now been renewed into it’s third season, is in the process of signing their newest recurring cast member… John Stamos!

He is best known for his role as guitar playing Uncle Jesse on Full House, but he’ll be trading in his guitar pick for a tooth pick! John Stamos is currently in talks to recur as a Dentist, Emma Pillbury’s Dentist to be exact. Their relationship is going to be a little more than Doctor-Patient; he’s going to become the romantic rival of Mr. Shue!

They are going to fight it out for Emma’s heart – with a sing off! Well, that hasn’t been confirmed, but what else could it possibly be?!

In case you were wondering, yes, John Stamos can sing. He’s appeared in several Broadway productions including Bye Bye Birdie.

I’m excited to see his return to television and this could be a great role for the actor.

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Not Ben Browder!!!

Ben Browder

Anyone else remember this guy!?

I can’t imagine that a lot of you recognize this guy, but to me he is one of the best actors in the business. Personally, Ben Browder will always hold a special place in my heart as Commander John Critchton from the Sci-Fi Channel series, Farscape. After that show ended he found himself as a regular on Stargate SG-1 along side former Farscape cast member, Claudia Black.

Basically, I’ve been waiting forever for this guy to get another good job. I’m sure Ben has too.

He got his hands into pilot season this year. He was cast as the Coach for the CW’s new cheerleading drama, Hellcats. The future of a pilot is always uncertain, but Hellcats was picked up to series this week by CW. Unfortunately while the series was picked up, our dear Mr. Browder was not. They are planning on recasting the role as well as re-tooling the character.

Please bare in mind that this sort happens is very common.

I just wanted to express that I am super bummed out about this. Just when I thought that Ben Browder was going to return to television.

I want to officially start a campaign to get Ben Browder the best job on television. Any ideas?

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Gary Oldman joins Kung Fu Panda 2

The wonderful, talented and suspicious hot for-an-older-man, Gary Oldman has joined the cast of Kung Fu Panda 2! Granted we won’t get to see that great face, but his voice will suffice.

The whole cast is supposed to be back for the sequel: Jack Black, Dustin Hoffman, Angelina Jolie, David Cross, Lucy Liu, Seth Rogen, and Jackie Chan. Oldman is a wonderful addition to the cast. Dude, it’s Gary Oldman!

Gary Oldman

Oldman is set to play a character known as Snowy White Peacock. Initially he helps Po and the gang to track down a group of bandits, but it turns out there is more to him than meets the eye. Ummm… so he’s the villain!

We’ve seen Oldman play just about everything over the years. His gentle demeanor will be perfect for deceiving Po and the Furious Five. Shouldn’t they be the Savage Six now or something?

The official title is still in flux. The two I’ve heard being thrown around are Kung Fu Panda: The Kaboom of Doom and Kung Fu Panda: Pandamonium. While the first one sounds better, but the second one makes me giggle and is therefore my vote.

Kung Fu Panda was one of the best films to come out of 2008 and easily one of my favorite animated movies of all time. I’m excited for what they have prepared for us this time around.

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Buh Bye Megan Fox! Bay gives her the boot!

Paramount has announced that they will not be picking up Megan Fox’s option for the upcoming Transformers 3!

Megan Fox & Michael Bay

According to sources inside Paramount, this decision was initially Michael Bay’s to make. So it looks like the franchise that made her famous doesn’t want anything to do with her anymore. They are “giving Shia a new love interest makes more sense for the story.” Story has nothing to do with it.

Many may recall Megan Fox’s numerous comments about Michael Bay and compared him to Hilter. This is the classic case of the biting the hand that feeds you. Fox hasn’t had much film success outside of the Transformers films, with Jennifer’s Body only pulling in $30 million world-wide. The next on her slate is Jonah Hex which looks like it’s going to be absolutely awful.

Bay and Fox have been going through a war of words for awhile now and it looks like Bay got the final word in and the ultimate revenge.

Transformers 3 is set to hit theaters July 1, 2011

UPDATE: Since the news broke that Megan Fox was not welcomed back to the Transformers franchise, she is now stating that it was her choice not to return for the third installment and she wishes everyone the best. Doesn’t that just sound like a press release?

I’m going to go out on a limb and say that Megan Fox and Michael Bay where probably not keen on working together again in the first place. I bet both were sitting around waiting for the other to say something and when they realized they felt the same way it became a no harm, no fowl situation. No ones toes got stepped on and everyone goes home happy.

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Twilight cast FINALLY closes deals for Breaking Dawn, parts 1 & 2

What is the cast of biggest vampire franchise to do when the studio can’t cut them a good deal? Band together and take down the establishment!

Cast of Twilight

Here’s an update on the great Twilight Contract Renegotiation. Since Summit has decided that they would like to split the final book in the Twi-series into two films, there has been a lot of talk between the studio and their representation about how this is all going to work out. Back when the contracts were initially done the agreement was only for four films, not five.

An uproar hit the headlines when it was reported that Kellan Lutz and Ashley Greene had yet to close their deals because Summit was trying to “pull a fast one” on them and offered significantly less money than their co-stars. In the past, the contracts for the “kids” were all done and figured out at the same time. Summit decided to do something a little different, thusly pissing everyone off in the process. At the time, the only cast members locked down were Kristen Stewart and Robert Pattinson.

Consequently, The Cullen family had literally banded together in the contract negotiation process and there is strength in numbers. The idea of Summit dropping Greene and Lutz (although it probably would never actually happen) didn’t seem too far fetched. However, with nearly the entire vampire family banding together, along with several recurring series characters, Summit can’t back out of making a deal that will make everyone happy.

Except, while a good amount of the cast had joined together in solidarity, Nikki Reed (Rosalie Cullen) was the first to jump ship. She entered into negations, apart from her other cast members, and settled for less money in the process. I can’t begin to explain what a bad idea that is for Reed. If they all work together they would have the upper hand against the studio.

Her cast members quickly followed suit. Peter Facinelli (Carlisle Cullen), Elizabeth Reaser (Esme Cullen), Kellan Lutz (Emmett Cullen) will be taking a less desirable deal. When I say a “less desirable deal,” I mean they aren’t going to get as much money as they were hoping for. Oh well, that is show business after all. Ashley Greene and Jackson Rathbone are the last ones standing and will probably cut a deal that mirrors that of the rest of the vampire clan.

“A house divided onto itself cannot stand.” Luckily for us, the Cullen family will stand strong on screen regardless of all of this.

The good news? WE HAVE A DEAL FANS!

Everyone is going to be back and that means watching Twilight come to life will last a little longer than we thought. I just see this as another DVD I will have to buy! Goodness gracious me.

Filming will probably start later this year with releases sometime in 2011. That’s just speculation, but Summit is pretty good about churning out these flicks as fast as they can.

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