Gentlemen, I implore you! Cease this madness before we are all consumed!!
This is weird:
Frank Frazzettas son broke into the Frank Frazzetta Museum with a backhoe-
Here are some details from the Beat:
The bizarre incident has unearthed a family squabble among Frazetta’s four children. It seems that children Bill, Holly and Heidi are in favor of selling the world-famous and iconic paintings that made their father a legend and created an entire genre of fantasy art – one painting sold recently for $1 million and that could be just the start of the bidding.
On the other side, we have Frank Jr., who seems to want to keep the paintings in the family – or at least out of his siblings’ hands. The paintings are currently displayed at the Frazetta Museum where, one assumes, they bring in some kind of modest income…
The REAL bombshell, however, comes from a notary who says that Frank Frazetta Sr. came to her nine days before the aborted heist and asked her to notarize a power of attorney removing control of the art from Bill, Heidi and Holly and giving it to Frank Jr! “He was in the right frame of mind,” said the notary.
Look, whether Frank Jr. was trying to steal his dad’s paintings or save them, I think we can agree that breaking into the museum with the equivalent of a mini-bulldozer was probably not the best way to go about it. Either someone’s still lying or Frank Jr. is not the sharpest sword in the Frazetta armory.
I think I and others are focusing more on the “Random” than the “news.” ^^
Here’s some though:
FFXIV (Final Fantasy XIV Online) has started accepting Beta applications for Windows (PS3 later). More info at:
http://forum.galacticwatercooler.com/showthread.php?t=9369
Mass Effect 2 producer announced if you played through ME1 as one class, you’ll be able to switch to another or stay the same class at the beginning of ME2.
http://www.gamespot.com/pc/rpg/masseffect2workingtitle/video/6243768#toggle_video (5:15 in the video)
X Men First Class
The news that Bryan Singer was returning to the mutant fold wasn’t surprising, but it sent a little thrilled wave through the geek community regardless. Question now is: what is he doing with his new film, X-Men: First Class? We know that Jamie Moss has been hired to write, and that Fox is moving fast on this one. Prior statements by producer Lauren Shuler Donner have set up that the film will cover the early days of the original X-Men team, featuring Cyclops, Beast and Jean Grey. Now we know a slight bit more.
Thanks to a statement the director gave to Variety, we have a little more info about what First Class will cover:
This is the formative years of Xavier and Magneto, and the formation of the school and where there [sic] relationship took a wrong turn. There is a romantic element, and some of the mutants from ‘X-Men’ will figure into the plot, though I don’t want to say which ones. There will be a lot of new mutants and a great villain.
The first comparison being made at this stage is to the JJ Abrams Star Trek; no surprise there, as Fox would love to replicate the success of that film. A young, inexpensive cast re-invigorating the X-Men franchise? That’s ideal for the studio.
Based only on that statement, First Class also sounds like it will supersede the long-proposed Magneto movie. That one hasn’t seemed like it had any chance of getting made after the version to be directed by David Goyer was blocked by the writer’s strike. That movie would have also used young actors to play Magneto and Charles Xavier (after the notion of de-aging original Magneto actor Ian McKellan was rejected) and explored the early days of their friendship and eventual enmity. Don’t be surprised if conceptual elements for that film end up in First Class.
Intriguingly, Variety reiterates Singer’s attachments to Battlestar Galactica and Excalibur. I’d been hoping his new Galactica was dead, so that’s a little punch in the kidney.
Threadless has a Holiday Sale… T Shirts for only 10 Dollars.
I ordered myself a couple-
Me Likes It! 
IMDb’s Top 25 Movies of the Decade
American Film Title (year) IMDb rating # of Votes # on Top 250 of all Time List
- The Dark Knight (2008) 8.8 410,450 9
- The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King (2003) 8.8 329,852 11
- City of God (2002) 8.7 148,073 16
- The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring (2001) 8.7 355,929 20
- Avatar (2009) 8.6 69,101 24
- Memento (2000) 8.6 245,089 27
- The Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers (2002) 8.6 298,750 30
- WALL·E (2008) 8.5 155,314 43
- Amélie (2001) 8.5 163,472 44
- The Departed (2006) 8.4 234,372 50
- The Pianist (2002) 8.4 118,831 53
- Spirited Away (2001) 8.4 89,403 55
- The Lives of Others (2006) 8.4 64,311 56
- Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind (2004) 8.4 198,424 59
- Requiem for a Dream (2000) 8.4 166,343 62
- Inglourious Basterds (2009) 8.4 111,441 68
- Up (2009) 8.4 68,206 69
- Pan’s Labyrinth (2006) 8.4 135,834 70
- The Prestige (2006) 8.3 178,413 74
- Slumdog Millionaire (2008) 8.3 149,605 77
- Downfall (2004) 8.3 73,214 81
- Gran Torino (2008) 8.3 101,124 83
- Sin City (2005) 8.3 233,043 93
- District 9 (2009) 8.3 101,868 97
- Batman Begins (2005) 8.3 246,001
Notable tidbits:
Christopher Nolan is the only director to have four films on the above list, making him the director of the decade according to IMDb voters.
Peter Jackson has three films in the top 25, the Lord of the Rings trilogy
Only the two most recent Pixar releases of the seven released in the decade place in the top 25 films of the decade.
Only Three sequels made the list: The Return of the King, The Two Towers and The Dark Knight.
Avatar is riding high on the list at #5, #24 of all time with only 69,101 votes. As what often happens on IMDb, this film will float down the list as more votes come in, and probably won’t become stable until the home video release.
Here is an adorable music vid using audio and clips from UP-
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JVxe5NIABsI&feature=player_embedded
“‘Spider-Man 4’ won’t have Maguire, Raimi
Sony to reboot franchise with new team and focus on high-school age hero”
http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/34812616/ns/entertainment-movies/
Edit: Looks like someone beat me to the punch by making a thread.
http://forum.galacticwatercooler.com/showthread.php?t=9649
“Early spring or 6 more weeks of winter?
Punxsutawney Phil to text this year’s prediction”
http://www.latimes.com/news/nationworld/nation/wire/sns-ap-us-punxsutawney-phil-texting,0,697211.story
I thought this was kind of cute.
Summit Entertainment has announced that they are teaming with E1 Entertainment to develop a television series based on the superhero movie Push. The pilot episode, which will be written by David Hayter, who penned Watchmen, The Scorpion King, X2 and X-Men, will be an “extension of the film”, a science fiction thriller, centered on people with paranormal powers who band together to take down a corrupt government agency.
I always thought that Summit had a good concept with Push, but the film was just poorly executed. So I’m excited to see how the tv show turns out. I can’t imagine it ending up worse than Heroes, and for all intents and purposes, a Push television series will be a Heroes 2.0 — let’s see if they can do it right this time around.
SUMMIT ENTERTAINMENT AND E1 ENTERTAINMENT TEAM UP FOR TELEVISION VERSION OF HIT FILM “PUSH”
Television Series Development and Production Marks Summit’s Evolution into Production for the Small Screen X-Men and Watchmen Screenwriter David Hayter to Write Pilot Script and Executive Produce with Dark Hero Studios Partner Benedict Carver
Los Angeles/Toronto – January 19, 2009 – Summit Entertainment, a worldwide theatrical motion picture development, financing, production and distribution studio, and leading independent studio E1 Entertainment announced today that they plan to jointly develop and produce a television series based on Summit’s 2009 feature film Push. The project marks a natural evolution for Summit of not only producing feature films but also developing and producing material for the global television marketplace. The television series will be an extension of the film, a science fiction thriller, centered on people with paranormal powers who band together to take down a corrupt government agency. The Push television series furthers the relationship established in 2007 between Summit and E1, with E1 licensing exclusive distribution rights to Summit produced feature films in the UK and Canada.
Screenwriter David Hayter, who penned the blockbuster films Watchmen, The Scorpion King, X2 and X-Men, will script the series pilot. E1 and Dark Hero Studios, co-owned by Hayter and producing partner Benedict Carver, will jointly produce the series based on the screenplay created by David Bourla for Summit Entertainment. Hayter and Carver will be executive producers, along with E1’s Noreen Halpern and John Morayniss. Summit, E1 and Dark Hero are currently in discussion with US broadcasters about the series. Hayter and Dark Hero Studios are repped by UTA.
“The concept behind the Push feature film offers a broad and rich canvas on which to extend the storyline and characters introduced in the feature film,” said Summit Co-Chairmen Rob Friedman and Patrick Wachsberger. “The project is also the perfect vehicle to initiate Summit’s plans of producing programming for the global television marketplace. The opportunity to do this with our trusted partners at E1 re-enforces that this is the right opportunity to grow Summit’s platform.”
Patrice Theroux, E1’s President of Filmed Entertainment says, “It’s a pleasure to witness the next step forward of our theatrical relationship with Summit take place with the television series Push. The strengths that exist between E1, Summit and Dark Hero are going to result in a phenomenal TV series, which will resonate on a worldwide basis.”
John Morayniss, CEO of E1 Television, added “This is one of those ‘perfect fit’ moments: David Hayter’s work on Watchmen gives him super-hero status on the sci-fi front, and instantly ensures that Push gets the right kind of attention.”
“I’m looking forward to translating the fantastic concept behind Push to the small screen,” said Hayter. “I’m also thrilled for Dark Hero to be in business with two independent powerhouses like Summit and E1.”
Summit and E1 will jointly arrange for the U.S. television license to the Push series. E1 is set to handle the TV sales in Canada as well as home entertainment and broadcasting rights in Canada, UK, and The Benelux. Summit will distribute home entertainment in the U.S. Both Summit and E1 will split foreign sales by each handling separate territories as part of their stated multi-territory content distribution strategy.
Summit Entertainment released the moderately budgeted feature film Push on February 6, 2009. The film, directed by Paul McGuigan and starring Chris Evans, Dakota Fanning, Camilla Belle and Djimon Hounsou, went on to gross nearly $50 million worldwide. The film is currently available on DVD and Blu-Ray.
Summit Entertainment’s blockbuster franchise The Twilight Saga continued its worldwide success as The Twilight Saga: New Moon, starring Kristen Stewart, Robert Pattinson and Taylor Lautner, arrived in theatres this past November to a record-breaking opening. The third installment of the film franchise, The Twilight Saga: Eclipse, will be released June 30, 2010. Other well-known Summit feature film titles include the Sci-fi hit Knowing starring Nicolas Cage and the critically acclaimed film The Hurt Locker directed by Kathryn Bigelow.
E1 is building worldwide recognition as one of the industry’s foremost creators, producers and international distributors of quality entertainment in all genres. The studio has the ability to attract an impressive roster of in-demand creative partners, top networks and specialty broadcasters. E1 most recently announced a partnership with Stephen King to produce and distribute the television series Haven, based on the author’s novella, The Colorado Kid. E1 recently completed a deal with Universal Networks International to provide content in support of their revitalized channel portfolio launch. E1 continues to make significant inroads with major broadcasters in the U.S. and around the world with high-profile series such as Hung for HBO, The Bridge for CBS and CTV and Copper for ABC and Canwest.
#
About Summit Entertainment, LLC
Summit Entertainment, LLC is a worldwide theatrical motion picture development, financing, production and distribution studio. The studio handles all aspects of marketing and distribution for both its own internally developed motion pictures as well as acquired pictures. Summit Entertainment, LLC also represents international sales for both its own slate and third party product. Summit Entertainment, LLC plans to release 10 to 12 films annually.
About E1 Entertainment
E1 Entertainment (AIM: ETO) is a leading independent entertainment content owner that acquires film, television and music rights and exploits these rights in all media in more than 190 countries.
The company currently operates in Canada, the U.S., the UK, Holland and Belgium through its four primary businesses units: E1 Television, E1 Films, E1 Music and E1 Distribution. These businesses collectively represent E1’s extensive expertise in film distribution, television and music production/distribution, kids’ content, licensing and distribution.
E1’s content library includes more than 3,700 feature films, 2,700 hours of original television programming and 15,000 music tracks.
About Dark Hero Studios, Inc.
David Hayter and Benedict Carver formed Los Angeles-based Dark Hero Studios to produce feature films, television programming, Internet content and videogames in the action, sci-fi and horror genres. David Hayter is one of the most accomplished screenwriters in Hollywood, with credits including X-Men, X2: X-Men United, The Scorpion King and Watchmen. Hayter started his career in Hollywood as an actor, with a decade-spanning stint in the lead role of “Solid Snake” in the massively popular Metal Gear: Solid videogame. Carver, a former reporter for Variety and Senior Vice President at Screen Gems, has produced a string of genre films, including Doomsday, directed by Neil Marshall. Dark Hero is currently prepping Hayter’s feature directing debut, Wolves.
I couldn’t finish Push. And, I was watching for free.
I thought RDJ looked like Stark. I was thinking he liked the look. It does look good on him I think.
Star Wars 3D. ): Will this extend the time before the original trilogy is on Blu-ray?
This fan built costume is amazing, check out the gallery for ossim pics.
http://www.cinematical.com/2010/01/04/fan-made-iron-man-2-war-machine-costume/
Despite the fact that I don’t think anyone is much of a fan of the Tim Burton Planet of the Apes remake, Fox has slowly been developing another film in the same vein. Dubbed Caesar, the film was written by Scott Frank, and was only sort of a Planet of the Apes movie. The film would tell the story of Caesar, an ape which becomes super-intelligent and leads a simian uprising, allowing the tale to be essentially a very early prologue to the late world of Planet of the Apes. (Though Frank said explicitly that it was not a remake of Conquest of the Planet of the Apes.)
But two weeks ago, Devin at CHUD reported that the movie was essentially dead after Scott Frank walked away from it. Now there’s a contrary report which says that, while Frank has indeed left the project, it remains very much alive.
CHUD was first to report details about the film, and then the fact that Frank had moved on. But Claude Brodesser-Akner at Vulture, who was on the money with a couple of big, early Spider-Man stories, says that Peter Chernin is now producing the film at Fox. He’s tapped Jamie Moss to rewrite Frank’s script from a structural standpoint, with Rick Jaffa and Amanda Silver brought in to polish dialogue.
Vulture’s take is that Frank (who was also primed to direct) and producer Scott Rudin left the project when Fox wanted to take the film in a direction they didn’t like. Chernin has power at Fox thanks to the deal that saw him move from News Corp chairman to Fox producer, but the report is that “the studio wants to make the Caesar project, post haste,” so Chernin doesn’t even have to push for it.
What we don’t know now is what Chernin is trying to do with Caesar. He’s a long-time fan of the Apes series, and tried to mount a film in 1992. CHUD reported that Frank’s script was a pretty classic, hard sci-fi look at the origins of the Apes storyline. If Fox brass is super-keen to make this film now, I somehow doubt that the new version will remain so focused.
Hulu is considering limiting free episodes for some TV series to the latest five, and charging $4.99 a month for access to the rest. They are looking to offer at least 20 new and older series in this fashion to entice users. More concrete pricing plans could be announced within six months.
It’s a shame that we may soon be looking back fondly at the days of a completely free Hulu, but we knew this was coming. Don’t forget that Hulu is a partnership between NBC Universal (which Comcast will soon own), News Corp., and Disney. You’d be a fool to think that the corporate overlords would allow the site to operate on ads alone.
It still doesn’t have a title, but we’ve learned a few new details — including some additions to the cast. Moon Bloodgood (Terminator Salvation, Journeyman) — who must really like science fiction since she’s always getting cast in genre work — joins as a therapist who helps children cope with the trauma of the alien invasion. Wyle plays a former professor who becomes the reluctant leader of a resistance group (is there any other kind?).
Spielberg is exec. producing this project, and he also came up with the idea for the series in conjunction with screenwriter Robert Rodat (Saving Private Ryan). Carl Franklin (Out of Time) directed the pilot, and he also did some directing work on the upcoming Spielberg series The Pacific.
While the premise is far from unique, I find Wyle endearing enough to give the pilot a shot at the very least. Who knows, it could end up being a better alien invasion series than the current V remake — a series I still find watchable despite some terrible dialog early on.
Here are the relevant bits from the press release:
Untitled Alien-Invasion Series
In this series from DreamWorks Television, Noah Wyle will star as the leader of a rag-tag group of soldiers and civilians struggling against an occupying alien force. The project is being executive-produced by Steven Spielberg, along with DreamWorks Television heads Justin Falvey and Darryl Frank and screenwriter Robert Rodat. Rodat, who earned an Oscar® nomination for his screenplay for Saving Private Ryan, wrote the pilot from an idea he co-conceived with Spielberg. The pilot was directed by Carl Franklin (One False Move, Out of Time).
“This series has the potential to be one of the most exciting and provocative shows on television,” Wright said. “It grabs your heart and mind from the start and doesn’t let go. It combines personal human drama with dynamic action to create the kind of series people will be talking about the morning after. We are especially thrilled to be working once again with Steven Spielberg and DreamWorks Television, as well as Noah Wyle and the extremely talented cast of veterans and newcomers around him.”
The series opens shortly after aliens have wiped out most of the human population. The aliens are now rounding up the few people left, but they are met with strong resistance from a group of soldiers and civilians who fight for their survival - all while struggling to maintain their humanity.
Wyle plays Tom Mason, a former college history professor who becomes the reluctant leader of one of the resistance groups. Also starring in the series are Moon Bloodgood (Terminator Salvation) as Anne Glass, a therapist who works with the surviving children to help them cope with the traumatic situation; Drew Roy (Lincoln Heights) as Hal and Maxim Knight (Brothers & Sisters) as Matt, Tom’s two sons; Jessy Schram (Crash) as Karen, who is one of the survivors’ motorcycle scouts; and Seychelle Gabriel (Weeds) as Lourdes, an orphaned teenager who helps run the group’s commissary.
This project marks Wyle’s fifth venture with TNT, following three popular Librarian action-adventure movies and the acclaimed movie Pirates of Silicon Valley. TNT previously worked with DreamWorks Television on 2005’s award-winning limited series Into the West. …
Recently we heard that Nu Image/Millennium and Lionsgate were looking at three actors as possible options to be the new Conan the Barbarian in the film to be directed by Marcus Nispel. There was Jason Momoa, from Stargate: Atlantis; Kellan Lutz from Twilight; and a third, then-unnamed actor who turned out to be Jared Padalecki. Now two sources are reporting that the choice has been made, and it is Momoa.
Latino Review and Deadline Hollywood (the latter being the source of the original casting info) broke the news at about the same time this evening. This is the first really interesting news that has come out about the film. At the time Momoa’s name came out as an option I noted that he had a great look for the character — he’s physically imposing, but also looks smart and calculating. He’s not just some brute, and therefore a lot closer to Robert E. Howard’s original version of the character than was Arnold Schwarzenegger.
Both sources report report that Momoa has been the top choice of Marcus Nispel, with LR saying that he charmed the hell out of execs and Deadline saying a few test scenes Nispel shot of Momoa in character were the tipping point. Either way, it’s an intriguing choice, and I’m happy to see that Kellan Lutz wasn’t chosen simply for the fact that he’s in Twilight.
Additionally, Latino Review is hearing that Mickey Rourke has been offered a role as Conan’s father. That’s just an offer for now, but we’ll keep on top of the cast as it develops. Shooting is scheduled for March in Bulgaria.
Before Conan hits, Momoa will be seen in the HBO adaptation of George R.R. Martin’s Game of Thrones, with the pilot directed by Thomas McCarthy.
guess Sean has to change the conan pic in his fantasy sci fi- heh heh heh 
Sounds like a remake of “Invasion America” which Spielberg also helped create.
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0161718/
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Invasion_America
Editor Jason Pitts is back at it again, this time with a trailer for a live-action adaptation of the anime Technotise - Edit i ja. Warner Bros supposedly owns the rights. Some people seem to believe that Pitts is working with Warner Bros on these trailers in order to create viral awareness of these upcoming projects in development. Not sure if I believe that one but Pitts claims that this trailer was “made for some producers in Hollywood who are making this into a live action” feature.
For those of you who haven’t seen the anime or read the comic, the story takes place in Belgrade 2074, where after a few failed exams a student named Edit decides to implant a stolen military memory chip in order to help her pass the exam. But the chip gives Edit incredible powers and begins to take over her mind and body. Edit must save humanity and escape the “nefarious parties desperate to retrieve the technology inside her.” Watch the fan created trailer.
Making a coherent Avengers film that somehow bridges the styles of the other Marvel universe movies probably won’t be an easy job for whoever gets the job. Fans of the comic series are fairly well prepared to see discordant arrangements of characters both crossover and team up, but for a mainstream crowd, the collage might seem a little jarring.
Kevin Feige, the man that Marvel has awarded with the tricky role of orchestrating the whole multi-movie shebang, has recently given an interview to SFX magazine here in the UK. As well as discussing how on earth they’re going to pull these disparate strands together, he also let slip the line-up of established characters we can expect to see in the Avengers picture.
…its three people, four including Hulk , five including Nick Fury - who you have seen before in other movies, coming together for the very first time.
That’s good to know. But will Edward Norton be returning to the role, or will Dr. Banner have to be recast again?
Feige doesn’t exactly make a promise here, but if he’s being honest they certainly seem to want Norton on the job. Here’s his answer when asked if the actor will return:
I think there’s a chance, its certainly our intention to use the same actors from film to film where we can.
It makes sense, both creatively and commerically. It’d be hard to shift quite so many Incredible Hulk Blu-rays if the film ends up being orphaned from the Avengers continuity.
The blending issue I’m most worried about is just how Thor, essentially a pseudo-science padded retelling of Norse Myth, will mesh with the relatively grounded Iron Man. SFX drilled Feige on this too:
We’re doing the Stan Lee/Jack Kirby/Walt Simonson/J Michael Straczynski Thor. We’re not doing the blow the dust of the old Norse book in your library Thor. And in the Thor of the Marvel universe there’s a race called The Asgardians, and we’re linked through this tree of life that we’re unaware of. Its real science, but we don’t know about it yet. The Thor movie is about teaching people that.
Er… whuh? Teaching people? That’s not quite what I’d call it.
I’m still half-expecting the Avengers movie to be canned in favour of an Iron Man 3, though I suppose Thor or Captain America would have to tank miserably to bring that about and I’m not expecting they will.
A final note about Wasp and Ant Man: I don’t think Feige is saying they won’t be in the film, just that we won’t be seeing them in other pictures before. So, by extension, can we expect World’s End or Baby Driver from Edgar Wright next? And will he ever even get to make his Ant Man movie? Let’s see.