A little late, yes, but now with less pictures and more news! This week was obviously a huge week, what with the Spider-Man news, and don’t worry – in case our one post wasn’t enough for you, I’ve covered it again! That and MORE! It’s a pretty good week for movie news, not gonna lie. …but I say that every week don’t I? Huh. I’m such a salesman some days.
Either way, click behind the cut for the full skinny on what went down in Hollywood this week.
Let’s start this off easy. With a new poster.
I think everyone knows my opinions on the Kick-Ass movie, so I will simply say: “Ugh.”
Another quick Kick-Ass bit: MTV has an interview with Chloe Moretz, who plays Hit Girl.
“I’ve been trained since I was a baby to be this crazy assassin girl,” Moretz told us of Hit-Girl, who she hopes to reprise in sequels. “What I like about the character is that she’s an assassin, but at the same time she is still just an 11-year-old girl. She doesn’t know any better; it’s just how she was raised.”
In the interview, Moretz told us about a scene where she kills several dozen villains. As she also explained, her training for such scenes was tough but fun.
“It was absolutely amazing, and probably the hardest thing I’ve ever done in my life,” she explained. “It was four months-plus training. Learning how to roll, how to jump over barriers and land on your shoulder. I actually came home one day, and I had a big bruise all the way down my back!”
In real life, Moretz has a bed time of 9:30 and was recently grounded because she stayed on the family computer past the allotted time. At work, however, she learns how to assemble heavy weaponry.
What a silly interview.
Here’s something silly, but apparently it’s “news.” I don’t know. You be the judge. SplashPage at MTV recently broke the news that Kilowog and Sinestro would be in the upcoming Green Lantern film, as well as others like Abin Sur and Tomar Re. Apparently, according to a 2008 script review, so was a certain mild mannered reporter. Perhaps this was done in Marvel’s recent crossover initiative in their films. Never the less, when asked about it, Martin Campbell (the director) denied any such rumor that Clark would say hi.
Apparently there is no indication that Ch’p won’t appear, though.
In further Green Lantern news, don’t expect to see Sinestro pop up in a yellow uniform in the upcoming adaptation. According to an interview with Super Hero Hype, we’re sticking to the good Sinestro for now:
“I think it will stick closely to the origin story, but we all know Sinestro, for an example, is a character who goes over to the dark side, and of course, Carol, played by Blake Lively, in later versions becomes a bad guy as well. I think people will be able to see forward to the characters that in the comic went on to (become bad guys)… but people will be ahead of us on all that I think.”
Heck, I wouldn’t even think we’d be so lucky as to see the Sinestro Corps. I’d expect the black and blue costume to appear if anything. Unless…. Green Lantern trilogy with the final act being the Sinestro Corps War? Eh? Although, what does he mean by “people will be ahead of us”? I don’t get that line.
On to some Iron Man 2!
The first one is odd. Remember when Favreau tried to write an Iron Man comic? Viva Las Vegas? It was a Marvel Knights mini, and it has never seen resolution. Boo. Well, the villain of it was this crazy new techno version of Fin Fang Foom. Well, while he didn’t love the book enough to finish it, 
Favreau did love the idea enough to put an image of his re-done Fin Fang Foom in the new movie. I won’t tell you where (you can always check my source if you want), but it’s a little Easter Egg, so keep your eyes peeled when you go to see it opening night on IMAX.
Remember that SHIELD agent who popped up in Iron Man to make all us fanboys go “EEEEE!”? He’s back! And bigger than ever! Agent Phil Coulson, played by Clark Gregg (who is much more known for directing Choke then he is for playing Coulson), had previously talked to MTV about some of the interesting things that went in to the role. He has now confirmed that he will be appearing in Iron Man 2 as well as Thor. Interesting. This proves that as fantastical as Thor may be, no matter what it’ll end up in the real world by the end of it. I’m very intrigued to how Thor is going to end up.
Speaking of Thor, Branagh says it’s going well. Yeah, it better be!
Fans of the old Ultimate Universe may remember this: Ultimate War. It was an X-Men/Avengers crossover near the beginning of the books coming into relevance in reader’s eyes. It was a fun little story, albeit one of the ones easily forgotten as time went by. Never the less, apparently Marvel wanted to adapt it into a feature film. But they didn’t! Apparently the whole idea got scrapped for the Hulk Vs movie set. In an interview at Marvel Toonzone, Stewart Gordon had this to say:
I was looking forward to seeing how they handled the Pietro/Wanda relationship. It seems like they were going to try and actually ‘go there’ and I like the fact that it seemed like many of the characters would never even appear in a uniform.
To see some of the designs from the movie, click here and here. They look good. It could have been an interesting movie. Too bad it was scrapped all together and not just put away for a rainy day. I really liked the Ultimate Avengers movies.
At least we have Planet Hulk and Justice League: Crisis on 2 Earths coming out soon!
So remember that book Red I reviewed last week? The movie is getting underway! According to a press release put out by Summit Entertainment, principal photography is currently underway in Toronto, with director of photography Florian Boneventura at the helm. This doesn’t mean the big name cast of Bruce Willis, Mary Louise Parker, and
Speaking of, one of the BIGGEST things to hit the web is the news on the future of the Spider-Man movies. Are you ready? Are you ready for this? Director of huge favorite (500) Days Of Summer, Marc Webb, is in charge of the future of the movies. Or at least, that’s the offer. According to NY Magazine, Marc Webb has been offered a three picture deal for the future of the franchise. A self-proclaimed fan of the Ultimate Spider-Man books, it seems everyone is uber-excited about the prospect of having him reboot the franchise, and that’s mostly because it’ll bring it back to basics. The buzz is that Sony wants the movie brought back to high school and focus more on where the character of Spider-Man originally came from as opposed to where he ended up, which will reduce the cost of the film making and hopefully appeal to a new audience (as well as all the people who feel so jaded over the third film). Joseph Gordon Levitt has also heard the gossip that with Webb as the director he might be a contender for the role, but I wouldn’t count on that one just yet.
Either way, (500) Days Of Mary Jane could prove to make an interesting film. And at the very least, you’d get all the confused stoners in the theater to see it, so there’s your box office return right there!!!
Update: The offer went through and Marc Webb is now officially in charge of the next three films.
Continued belowThis is a dream come true and I couldn’t be more aware of the challenge, responsibility, or opportunity. Sam Raimi’s virtuoso rendering of Spider-Man is a humbling precedent to follow and build upon. The first three films are beloved for good reason. But I think the Spider-Man mythology transcends not only generations but directors as well. I am signing on not to ‘take over’ from Sam. That would be impossible. Not to mention arrogant. I’m here because there’s an opportunity for ideas, stories, and histories that will add a new dimension, canvas, and creative voice to Spider-Man.
Co-chairman of Sony Pictures Entertainment Amy Pascal and president of Columbia Pictures Matt Tolmach had this to say:
At its core, Spider-Man is a small, intimate human story about an everyday teenager that takes place in an epic super-human world. The key for us as we sought a new director was to identify filmmakers who could give sharp focus to Peter Parker’s life. We wanted someone who could capture the awe of being in Peter’s shoes so the audience could experience his sense of discovery while giving real heart to the emotion, anxiety, and recklessness of that age and coupling all of that with the adrenaline of Spider-Man’s adventure. We believe Marc Webb is the perfect choice to bring us on that journey.
Sweet. Or maybe not. Sony meddled like crazy with the last Spider-Man films, and look how much everyone liked those. We’ll see how well this goes down, although we clearly do all have high hopes for it.
Oh, and here’s another thing: Webb is most likely using Ultimate Spider-Man as the basis of the movie. Probably the next best thing to Bendis actually writing it himself, I guess!
Meanwhile? James Franco is sad :'(
“I guess I’m a little sad for Sam and Tobey,” said James Franco, who played Harry Osborn in all three Raimi-directed flicks, when MTV News caught up with him at the Sundance premiere of “Howl.” “I think they were a really good team. I think Sam invested so much of himself in that and he had the perfect connection to that character and that franchise and that world. He was doing probably his best work. I’m sad for both of them that they won’t get to continue to do that. And Tobey I think was an excellent Peter Parker.”
I guess it’s time for you to go back to doing roles that people actually enjoy, Franco! Freaks and Geeks 2: Electric Boogaloo?
Here is quite possibly the greatest thing ever:
Okay, am pretty drunk. I downed many Guinnesses as my gang re-watched Spidey 2 tonight (a master-piece, btw) and am now weirdly wide awake. But have spoken to three directors about the Nemesis movie in the past seven days, none of whom have read the scripts and all of whom are basing our chats entirely on the visuals and high concepts you guys have seen.
Anyway, as you know I don’t want anyone to see this until the whole series is written and that’s at least into next month. THAT SAID, the director I got hooked up with early this evening is literally one of the best in the biz. He’s someone I totally trust in terms of movie-making and he knows his comics too. We chatted about the property for an hour and his ideas were insane, the stuff that had me buzzing being his notion of DiCaprio as Nemesis versus Daniel Day-freakin-Lewis as America’s best cop.
Yes, just maybe the two greatest actors in contemporary cinema.
He’s friends with one of these guys, reckons we could be in production by the end of the year and the movie out possibly as early as 2012, which is just insane. My plan was to hold off til March and take advantage of the Kick-Ass movie hoopla, but to be honest it doesn’t get much better than this. I love movies and I love comics and this guys speaks our language. I’m wasted and ready for bed, but also v excited at the prospect.
What do you guys reckon? Should I stick to my guns and wait until the script is finished next month or take this off the market and go with one of the best modern directors around?
MM
PS Quite brilliantly, he also suggested Tobey Maguire. Who, of course, is an absolutely brilliant actor and, let’s face it, feels quite comfortable in a pair of tights. It would be a great headline too for those, like me, who are gloing to miss that wee guy as Spider-Man.
That’s from Mark Millar STRAIGHT OFF of his Millar World forums. NEMESIS ISN’T EVEN OUT YET! And he wants Daniel Day-Lewis in it! Holy frakkin’ lol! I love Mark Millar. The man is ridiculous and insane and brings some of the craziest ideas to the comic book table. And while I am not looking forward to Kick-Ass at all, I would LOVE a movie starring Daniel Day-Lewis vs. Leo DiCaprio. EL OH EL OH EL, you guys.
Continued belowThis isn’t exactly movie news, but I love Powers so I’m writing about it anyways. You know how Powers has been sort of in development hell for a while as to becoming a TV show on the FX network? Well, don’t fret your pretty little heads about it. It’s still happening, and we’ve got a new writer on board. Who? Kevin Falls! Who is Kevin Falls? He’s the writer of … oh. Oh. Really? He’s the writer of Journeyman. Remember that show? Premiered after Heroes and proceeded to bomb? Eh. Not so jazzed. I mean, I’m Jazzed for Powers, buuuuuut not so much the show right now. We’ll see. Bendis is still working on it himself, so that’s a good sign.
Here’s a quickie on the Avengers film: the director of The Incredible Hulk? Not so jazzed on the Hulk being the villain.
“He’s not really a villain,” said the filmmaker. “If Hulk is a villain, that’s too simplistic.”
“What’s great about Marvel is that it’s never good guy and bad guy, hero and villain – it’s more complex than that,” he explained. “Hulk could be in trouble and chased by Iron Man, no problem. But I don’t think he would end up the villain, killing people and being villainous of his own free will.”
Of course, as most comics are well aware, Hulk was indeed the destructive force that originally prompted Iron Man, Thor and the rest of the Avengers to unite. (Captain America didn’t join until “Avengers” #4.)
“In the Avengers stories when he was the villain, he was always controlled by Loki or someone else, and it was never of his own doing,” said Leterrier.
MTV did a good job of hitting the nail on the head for that one… I mean, as long as they keep Freddie Prince Jr away, I’m sure the Hulk won’t get too murderous.
(God, so much MTV this week…) MTV did an interview with Edgar Wright about the upcoming Scott Pilgrim adaptation:
“Yeah, we have a cut, and we’re still tinkering with that,” said Wright of the film’s current status. “It’s a different thing doing a film with lots of effects in it; it’s like another stage to have production be going on during the edit, which is an on-going thing. It’s like a painting, basically.”
“There will probably come a point where the film will be essentially finished, apart from the effects which will still be ongoing,” he explained. “But [our release date] is in August…so, we’re not rushing the effects or anything.
I can’t wait for August.
And finally, that Red film I’m so excited for? Some pictures have hit the net!
OMG! It doesn’t look like the book! My anger train is revving up…… buuuut Ellis told us we have to love it regardless. Hmm. We’ll see, Ellis. I understand a lot of Warren Ellis’ comments on the adaptation and how we can’t expect a three issue mini not to be expanded on… but we’ll see Ellis. We’ll see…
