Movie News Rush 12

The crazy busy schedule of my past month is almost up. Hopefully I can start going back to my regular posts soon. Also been trying to think of a cool way to do a multi-blogging event like a "Crisis on Infinite Blogs." Yes, taken from the famous DC Comics storyline, but what if a bunch of blogs worked together to create an event where a piece of the continuing story was on multiple blogs and to find out what was happening (I dunno - some sort of Internet evil virus taking over blogs or something) you had to go to each blog to see what was happening. It sounds cool in my head...anyway - on to movie news!

"Captain America: The First Avenger" and "The Avengers"

The news - I smell deceit! After the whole crazy issue of Jeremy Renner ("The Hurt Locker") in talks to play Hawkeye and then him saying it wasn't happening we now get news he actually is in talks to play Hawkeye. Get your head around that.

It is also being pointed out that Neal McDonough ("Minority Report") is in talks to play "Dum Dum" Dugan in "Captain America." Dugan worked with Nick Fury and SHIELD back in WWII.

McDonough and Renner join the powerful cast which already includes the recently added Tommy Lee Jones in addition to Hugo Weaving as the Red Skull, Chris Evans as Steve Rogers, Hayley Atwell as Peggy Carter, Dominic Cooper as Howard Stark and Sebastian Stan as Bucky Barnes.

Deadline (on McDonough)
THR Heat Vision(on Renner)
The Geek Files (on Renner)
The Geek Files (on McDonough)
Screen Rant (on Renner)
Screen Rant (on McDonough)
Latino Review (both)
First Showing (both)
UGO Movie Blog (on McDonough)
MTV News (on Renner)
MTV News (on McDonough)

"The Expendables"

The news - while the first trailer for the film was quite explosive, a new trailer has it the 'net and feels more like a teaser trailer as it shows no footage. Still, it does build up excitement for the film.

More The Expendables Videos

"Batman 3" and "Superman: Man of Steel"

The news - Chris Nolan, the godfather of DC Entertainment, will be bringing new Batman and Superman films to theaters in 2012. In speaking with Empire magazine, Nolan says he wants to go back to the essence of what Superman is about and that there will be no Joker in the next Batman film. So we take the good with the bad. Click on the links below for more quotes from the man himself.

Obsessed With Film (Superman)
Obsessed With Film (Batman)
First Showing
Screen Rant
MTV News
The Geek Files

Chris Nolan's 'Batman 3' Hitting Theaters Summer 2012

We may know very little about Christopher Nolan's third "Batman" movie, but now we do know its release date.

As announced by Production Weekly and listed on Box Office Mojo, Warner Bros. Pictures has set a July 20, 2012 release date for the follow-up to "The Dark Knight" in conventional and IMAX theaters. Adding to the plot - Deadline reports the film is expected to be made in 3D.

While the release date has been set, there is no official start of production date as Nolan is busy with his latest film, "Inception," which arrives in theaters on July 16.

It looks like the summer of 2012 is going to be one hell of a big blockbuster bonanza, especially in the comic book arena. "Batman 3" will hit theaters two and a half months after Marvel Studios' "The Avengers" debuts in May and roughly two weeks after Sony's "Spider-Man" reboot launches in early July.

Sooner than later I'm sure that a script, at least the first draft, will be turned in and we can start the rampant speculation on who the villain will be, not to mention casting rumors that will hit as we slowly but surely move closer to the start of shooting.

Nolan's second Batman movie, "The Dark Knight," opened July 18, 2008 and earned more than $1 billion at the worldwide box office. Will the third "Batman" film prove to be as successful if not more so? And how will it compare to the success of "Avatar"?

More news to come! Catch ya' later!
Sources: Coming Soon, First Showing, MTV News, The Geek Files, Rope of Silicon

WB/DC Get Their Act Together and Create DC Entertainment

Warner Brothers announced some big changes on the DC Comics front today—big enough to rival last week's Disney/Marvel merger.

Confirming an early report on Deadline Hollywood, WB announced the creation of DC Entertainment, a new subdivision of WB aimed at better exploiting Superman, Batman and the rest of DC's stable of characters across various media platforms. The new company will be helmed by Diane Nelson, who previously served as president of Warner Premiere, the subdivision responsible for many of the animated, direct-to-DVD, DC Universe features. (Nelson also serves as caretaker for the wildly successful "Harry Potter" property at WB.)

The WB announcement also confirmed that DC president and publisher Paul Levitz will step down from his role with the company. While this certainly indicates that WB is finally beginning to take notice of the DC brand, details are slim regarding the potential effects on the publishing side of DC and any immediate changes we're likely to see on the movie front.

However, that doesn't mean we can't glean a few potential implications from the news.

According to Deadline Hollywood, WB is "calling back" many of the high-profile films in development involving DC characters. Much like Disney's desire to bring all of Marvel's properties under one roof and cut back on third-party deals to produce films based on the company's characters (i.e., "Spider-Man" and the "X-Men"), the report alledges that WB is putting a hold on many of the high-profile DC films that involved production partners outside the company.

"My understanding is that Joel Silver, who is buddies with [WB Pictures Group president Jeff] Robinov, was allowed to continue bringing low profile 'The Losers' to the big screen under his Dark Castle banner. But Silver's 10 years of developing 'Wonder Woman' is history now," reported Deadline Hollywood.

The fact that DC Entertainment—and Nelson—will now be reporting directly to Robinov also says quite a bit about the company's new approach to the DC brand. Where the home of Superman and Batman existed somewhat independently in the greater WB picture prior to today's shuffle, DC Entertainment's new role appears to be in service of the theatrical division of WB first and foremost.

Exactly where publishing comics will fit into this new picture remains one of the biggest questions surrounding the news. Will comics receive more or less attention under DC Entertainment—or is the publishing division too small for anyone to bother changing?

On the movie front, however, the move certainly looks good for WB's much-discussed problems getting films involving DC characters off the ground. Fans hoping to see the Superman franchise finally return to theaters will likely get their wish under the new, re-structured DC Entertainment banner, and many of DC's other notable properties will probably receive more attention from the studio than ever before.
Often plagued by studio interference, the starting and stopping of scripts in the works, and without any solid DC franchises, save Batman, the creation of DC Entertainment is looking to rectify this — and fast. But DC is still a far-cry away from Marvel's stranglehold on the comic book-movie genre. Perhaps under the fixated umbrella of DC Entertainment, DC Comics can more equally compete with Marvel in theaters. Though, as a branch of Warner Bros, it's as of yet unknown if WB will be as hands-off as Disney has promised for Marvel, or if DC Entertainment will hold as much control as Marvel did when they were self-financed.

Regardless, it is still exciting to see Warner Bros making a strategic and bold move with DC. Now let's roll these franchises out. Superman, Wonder Woman, Flash, Justice League — I'm hoping all these films follow the example of Nolan's successful Batman franchise. What do all of you think of this news?

Current DC properties in development and/or production at Warner Bros. Entertainment include:

–"Human Target" is being produced by Warner Bros. Television for a mid-season debut on Fox.

– "Midnight Mass" is in series development at Warner Bros. Television for consideration for the 2010-11 season.

– "Jonah Hex," Warner Bros. Pictures' supernatural Western starring Josh Brolin, Megan Fox and John Malkovich, recently wrapped production in Louisiana.

– "The Losers," Dark Castle/Warner Bros. Pictures' action-adventure drama starring Jeffrey Dean Morgan, Zoe Saldana and Chris Evans, began principal photography mid-July in Puerto Rico.

– "The Green Lantern," Warner Bros. Pictures' next big superhero tentpole release, recently cast Ryan Reynolds as the titular character. The film has a projected second quarter 2011 release date.

– "Lobo," based on the DC Comics anti-hero, has Guy Ritchie attached as a director; Joel Silver, Akiva Goldsman and Andrew Rona are producing for Silver Pictures and Warner Bros. Pictures.

– Warner Bros. Animation currently produces "Batman: The Brave and the Bold," which airs on Cartoon Network.

More news to come! Catch ya' later!
Sources: First Showing, MTV News, UGO Movie Blog

'Batman 3' To Be Fully Shot In IMAX?

Chris Nolan gave moviegoers a taste of what specially shot IMAX footage could do for superhero films when he used the format for a few key scenes of "The Dark Knight." Now, a breaking rumor indicates that Nolan may be considering a total IMAX approach as he heads into his third Batman installment.

Harry Knowles posted a very interesting story on Ain’t It Cool News about what could happen with the eagerly anticipated "Batman 3."

In Harry’s own words,

“The THIRD chapter of Christopher Nolan’s Caped Crusader’s saga could very well be FULLY shot in IMAX, not IMAX Digital - but the beautiful, stunning IMAX that we saw pieces of THE DARK KNIGHT in.”

Nolan has taken a break between each Batman movie to reset his creative mind, but in this case, it may be also to create some custom IMAX cameras for his use later. He may be developing new cameras and techniques during work on his most recent film "Inception," tinkering with specifications that could be used when he returns to the Caped Crusader and Gotham City.

This isn’t confirmed yet and this simply could be something that doesn’t end up working out because of the complications and costs of doing this for a large-scale full feature film.

Would you like to see "Batman 3" entirely in IMAX?
More news to come! Catch ya'later!
Sources: Screen Rant, MTV News

'Batman: Arkham Asylum' Game - Check Out The First 10 Minutes!

Sure, this isn't a movie. But who doesn't love Batman?

On a routine trip returning The Joker to Arkham Asylum, Batman himself must deal with traps set within its inner sanctums, purposely set by the now escaped Joker, along with the rest of his rogues' gallery that are now free within the premises.

The game includes: The Joker, Two Face, Poison Ivy, Bane, Ras Al Ghul, The Riddler, Harley Quinn, Victor Zsasz, The Penguin

"Batman: Arkham Asylum" hits shelves August 25 for the Xbox 360 and the PS3.
Will you be playing it?

MTV Shows

MTV Shows

All it takes is only one bad day to drive the sanest man alive to lunacy.
More news to come! Catch ya' later!

'Batman 3' Not Starting Next Year

A few days ago Gary Oldman said that the sequel to "The Dark Knight," which is being referred to as "Batman 3" (until titled otherwise) would be shooting next year.

However, later Mr. Oldman recanted his statement when he told Ain’t It Cool News, “Well, I’m sure they want to do another one… it might [be] 2 or 3 years…”

Chris Nolan, who has yet to confirm his involvement with more Batman, is currently working on his new film "Inception." So it is highly unlikely he is working on two films at once.

To further the “Nolan is busy” angle, David S. Goyer (who has a writing/story credit on both of Nolan’s Batman movies) said to MTV News:

“Right now, Chris is involved in filming ‘Inception,’ and when he finishes that, he will turn his studious gaze back to the Bat universe and we’ll see.”

Although Goyer doesn’t state it outright, we can take from his statement (or at least hope) that Nolan is going to at least consider returning to the Batman franchise for a third movie. Just because Nolan’s doing another movie totally unrelated to Batman with Inception doesn’t mean he won’t come back to the “Bat universe” after it - after all, he did "Batman Begins" then switched to "The Prestige" and then back to Batman with "The Dark Knight."

The next Batman film won't be coming out for a while, but look at the bright side - the fact that it won’t be shooting next year means that there’s more chance for Nolan to be on-board once again.

For now, "Batman 3" doesn’t have a release date. "Inception" is scheduled to hit theaters on July 9, 2010.
More news to come! Catch ya' later!
Source: Screen Rant

Movies in the Works

RESIDENT EVIL 4
ShockTillYouDrop.com spoke to Paul W.S. Anderson, who revealed that "Resident Evil: Afterlife" will be released in 3D and will kick-off a new trilogy!

Anderson, who will write and direct, said that the fourth film in the franchise will have the largest budget of all the films so far. "I always envisioned 'Resident Evil' as a trilogy of films," he said. "And we've been very lucky where it's a trilogy where the audience has built and built. I wanted to kick off a brand new trilogy. I'm really excited we're doing it [in 3-D] and we're using the same camera system [James] Cameron used for' Avatar.' There are a lot of exciting things about this one. I don't regard it as 'Resident Evil 4,' I regard it as a re-tooling and rebirth of the entire franchise."

Milla Jovovich will return as Alice in "Afterlife," opening September 17, 2010. You can also expect some returning characters from the previous films and new characters from the video games.

PIRATES OF THE CARIBBEAN 4
ComingSoon sat down with Disney's Head of Production Oren Aviv yesterday to talk about, among other things, the fourth installment of the "Pirates of the Caribbean" franchise. And the news is very good. "We're going to shoot 'Pirates 4' in April and May of next year," Aviv said. "We are going to release it hopefully in 2011." "Pirates 4" would "hopefully be the first of another trilogy," he says, and would be shot by itself, not back-to-back again.

There's no word yet if director Gore Verbinski will be back again for "Pirates 4," but Aviv does admit that the whole franchise needs a bit of scaling down. "It's important to get the story right and it's important to me to scale it down, because we can't get bigger," Aviv said. "The movies have subsequently gotten bigger and bigger and very complicated and they were satisfying on so many levels obviously, but I want to kind of reboot the whole thing and bring it down to its core, its essence, just characters." One thing's for certain, Captain Jack Sparrow will be swashbuckling his way back into theaters again come 2011.
(First Showing)

BATMAN
According to actor Gary Oldman, filming for the project known as "Batman 3" will begin next year.

"I think the next Batman is next year," said Oldman during Friday's Warner Bros. panel at Comic-Con in San Diego. "We start shooting next year. You didn't hear that from me."

While the news will no doubt get Bat-fans excited, there's still no official word on the much-anticipated sequel to "The Dark Knight." The likelihood of the film even happening has had doubt cast upon it by everyone from Christopher Nolan to Bruce Wayne himself, Christian Bale.
(MTV News)

WANTED 2
SuperHeroHype reports that Mark Millar has completed the script for "Wanted 2" and they're starting pre-production in eight weeks. James McAvoy is back as Wesley Gibsonand director Timur Bekmambetov confirmed that he is back and and that they're preparing to shoot in the next few months.

Timur mentioned that they're trying to "wake up" Fox, the character that Angelina Jolie played, and that she might return (but isn't confirmed yet). I'm sure Universal wants her back - I would argue she was one of the big names that made it such a success in the end. But how could she come back if her character died? Well, Timur says that she ended up in one of those healing wax baths - so maybe she didn't die...
(First Showing)

Which films are you excited about the most? Notice that all of these film updates are sequels?
More news to come! Catch ya' later!

Superman/Batman: Public Enemies

This has nothing to do with the upcoming "Public Enemies" starring Christian Bale and Jonny Depp, but instead is a new animated film coming out later this year based off a popular graphic novel.

In "Superman/Batman: Public Enemies," Superman and Batman are framed by President Lex Luthor and must join forces to defeat a horde of bad guys (and some good guys) who are trying to bring them down.



Fan favorites Tim Daly, Kevin Conroy and Clancy Brown will all reprise their previous roles as the voices of Superman, Batman and Lex Luthor respectively. DC animation guru Bruce Timm will be involved with "Public Enemies" as well - although sadly director Lauren Montgomery ("Wonder Woman," "Green Lantern: First Flight") won’t be helming the film, as she is on a hiatus. Stepping into her shoes is Sam Liu, who recently directed the Marvel animated feature "Hulk vs. Thor." And, like "Green Lantern: First Flight," "Public Enemies" will boast a PG-13 rating, so older folks don’t miss out.

"Superman/Batman: Public Enemies" will be avialable for sale on September 29, 2009.
More news to come! Catch ya' later!
Source: Screen Rant

Christian Bale Says 'Batman 3' May Not Happen

MTV News spoke to actor Christian Bale on the set of his new movie "Public Enemies" about the possibility of a third Batman that would continue the legacy of "The Dark Knight." MTV News also spoke about the rumors of director Chris Nolan not returning to the franchise.

Movie Trailers - Movies Blog

Sadly, the news isn't good.
What are your thoughts on not seeing another Batman?
More news to come! Catch ya' later!

Chris Nolan May Leave Batman Behind

I had been holding off on posting about this because I wanted to wait and see if there were any updates on this story like the Michael Bay post, but nothing new has come up.

After the release and amazing success of Christopher Nolan's "The Dark Knight" last summer, the world waited with bated breath for news of a follow-up.
But the announcement never came.

The director instead moved on to his own original film idea: a sci-fi project called "Inception" about which very little is known apart from the fact it is due out in summer 2010.

Nolan has always been cautious about a third Batman movie, as there is the pressure to match and outdo "The Dark Knight" when most franchise's third installments go against this trend.

Latest reports suggest the chances of him coming back are slimmer than most people imagined and that there might be a long wait for another caped crusader adventure.

According to the fansite Batman-on-Film, Christopher Nolan's return is in doubt.

It's claimed Nolan was so shaken by the death of Heath Ledger, who played the Joker, that he wants to move on from the Batman franchise. Nolan's original plan had been for the archvillain to return in the next movie.

Although the filmmaker had been pondering possible story ideas with Batman writers Jonathan Nolan and David Goyer, his involvement is uncertain and the franchise is reportedly back to square one with no story laid down at all.

The source also said that it would be 2012 at the earliest before another Batman film might be released and possibly 2013.

More news to come! Catch ya' later!
Sources: The Geek Files

Bale on Batman 3

Total Film had the chance to talk with one of the most currently in demand actors right now in Hollywood, Christian Bale.

He spoke about Heather Ledger winning an Oscar, "Dark Knight" snubs from the Academy and coming back for a third film in the franchise.

“Heath winning Best Supporting Actor was fantastic. I had dinner with his family a couple of nights before the awards and liked very much they were the people who were picking it up for him. Of course I was really delighted that it did go that way.

“I’m not surprised by 'The Dark Knight' not getting more Oscars though. I’m not really surprised by anything to do with awards. Hey listen, awards or not it’s a wonderful movie. Chris Nolan did such a fantastic job of it and you look back at the history of the Oscars – some of the best movies never got shit.

"Will we do a third movie? It's got to be the right story. You can't make something like The Dark Knight and then come out with something disappointing.

"I would like it if people say, 'You'll never make a good third movie.' I say, 'OK, let's make a third movie in that case, let's prove them wrong. But that's just me. The fact is, I have to! I've signed up! Chris doesn't. So I'm in a bit of a fix if he says he doesn't want to!"

Whether Nolan decides to return to the “Batman” property remains up in the air, but one thing’s for certain — it won’t be the director’s next movie. Nolan is hard at work putting the Leonardo DiCaprio-starring “Inception” together for a summer shooting date. But with veteran Gotham City residents Cillian Murphy and Michael Caine aboard the cast of Nolan’s new film, it’s hopefully just a matter of time before the director starts going batty all over again.

More news to come! Catch ya' later!

Source: MTV News

Movie News Mash 5

Unnamed Comedy

According to First Showing, "Columbia Pictures has hit the jackpot! Adam Sandler, Kevin James, Chris Rock, Rob Schneider and David Spade are negations to star in an untitled comedy to be directed by 'Happy Gilmore' and 'You Don't Mess With the Zohan' helmer Dennis Dugan. Sandler's Happy Madison is developing and is planning to shoot over the upcoming summer. Taking a cue from some of Judd Apatow's comedies that take place over one day of time, the story, written by Sandler and Strange Wilderness writer Fred Wolf, is about five best friends from high school who reunite 30 years later on a Fourth of July weekend. Hilarity ensues."

That is a good list of funny people. Will have to hear more news and see a trailer to see the full potential of this film.



A New Superman

According to MTV News, "AICN tipster 'Ballack' has reported that frequent Wachowski collaborator James McTeigue (who directed their adaptation of Alan Moore’s 'V For Vendetta') told an interviewer in Berlin that the next project on the brothers’ plate was originally scheduled to be the “Plastic Man” movie — but a shakeup at the studio has delayed the film indefinitely. This development, however, has opened up a discussion with the Wachowskis to possibly helm a three-part reboot of the 'Superman' film franchise."

Having the guys behind the Matrix Trilogy do Superman? I am all for it.



The Delayed Knight

According to The Hollywood Reporter, "Christopher Nolan has set up his next project with Warner Bros., an original screenplay he wrote called 'Inception.' The 'Dark Knight' director hopes to shoot the sci-fi action film in the summer for a release during summer 2010.

'Chris Nolan is a visionary filmmaker who continually raises the bar with each movie he makes,' Warner Bros. Pictures Group president Jeff Robinov said. 'We are thrilled to be collaborating again with him and Emma on this exciting new motion picture.'

This pushes back any potential filming on a new Batman film, but three years -- and 'The Prestige' -- passed between 'Batman Begins' and 'The Dark Knight.'"

With "Dark Knight" being No. 5, "Memento" No. 27, "Prestige" No. 83 and "Batman Begins" No. 105 on IMDB's Top 250 movies of all time, this man can direct anything.
I would like another Batman, but I have no doubt it will be made within the next three years.

Dark Knight Script Being Written...Now?

According to IESB.net, "The IESB was tipped off this week that the script for the third Batman film is already underway.

IESB was told by an extremely reliable source that the project has already gone into the writing stage with Christopher Nolan, Jonathan Nolan and David Goyer all hard at work.

When Jeff Otto, representing IESB, got the chance to talk to producer Chuck Roven today, he jumped at the chance to confirm...of course Roven wasn't going to say much and was very evasive but he did do a good song and dance performance,

IESB: We've been told that Jonathan, Chris and David are working on the new Batman script. Do you know the direction they’re going or do you wait for them to formulate something more complete before you get involved?

Chuck Roven: The creative driver of the project at this point is Chris. There’s really nothing more for me to say about that. When he feels that he’s got something to talk about, then we’ll be able to talk about it.

IESB: I know you can’t tell us who the villain or villains are, but do you personally know?

[Big smile and a laugh] CR: I really don’t want to talk about that project right now."

So what other news is there? It is really hard to find or even guess. Can this really even be counted as truth? No matter how much IESB says the source is reliable, an unnamed source is still one unwilling to give his or her identity, and thus, might not be give information that is worth an identity.
While Chris Nolan has not said anything about coming back as director, news should be coming out in the forthcoming months (especially if he has been working on a new script in secret).
More 'factual' news to come! Catch ya' later!

Batman 7 (or 3..)

Not even going to start on how people keep calling the next "Batman" film Batman 3, which totally disregards the previous four "Batman" films before "Batman Begins" (I have made this error in judgement myself a few months ago).

But more news has come out from the man I met, Michael Uslan (yes, I will plug it that I met him every time I talk about him).

From the Courier Post (the link doesn't seem to be active now), Uslan spoke up about returning as the executive producer for the next film and gave a possible release date for the film.

"Uslan will be onboard as executive producer for the 'Dark Knight' sequel, which he estimates will be theaters by 2011. As for the identity of the next round of Batman’s supervillains and love interests, Uslan remains tight-lipped. 'It’s one of those deals where if I told you, I’d have to kill you,' he says with a chuckle."

Hopefully they will wait to get a confirmation that Chris Nolan will be returning (he has done an excellent job so far) and if 2011 is the expected year of release, more news should be coming out in the forthcoming months.

Uslan is also working on the upcoming "The Shadow" and "Captain Marvel" films.

Now here is an awesome picture from JoshWMC with Heath Ledger as the Joker from "The Dark Knight" and Kristen Bell as Harley Quinn!

Batman 3

The Geek Files compiled everything recently said about any thoughts and ideas about the next installment in the "Batman" franchise.

"Director Christopher Nolan and writer David Goyer are 'talking and thinking' about the proposed follow-up film to The Dark Knight, says producer Charles 'Chuck' Roven [pictured above].

The pressure is certainly on for a third film that defies the usual 'threequel curse' of declining quality - but whether it can match the performance of The Dark Knight is a tough challenge.

Roven spoke to the press at the People's Choice Awards, where The Dark Knight won the gongs for favourite movie, favourite action movie, favourite cast, favourite superhero and favourite on-screen match-up (Christian Bale and Heath Ledger)."

Talking to MTV, he said: ""I know that Chris [Nolan] and [writer] David Goyer are talking and thinking. We're hoping, of course, that they find and rest on something that they'll find is worthy to do."



And he told Superhero Hype: "I'm waiting to see what Chris [Nolan] and David Goyer come up with and if they come up and decide if there is something worthy of making another iteration of Batman.

"The most important thing right now like we did with the last one is that we want to make sure there is a reason to make it. In other words feel like we can do something different than we had done before. We felt we had accomplished that. If we find that again, then I think we'll come back to the floor. If we don't, I don't know what we'll do."

Other than that, the most recent news (from a previous post) about DC titles came from David Goyer talking about how WB is trying to work out a strategy for its other superhero projects, meaning that other films are on hold at the moment.

Hod badly do you want to see another "Batman" movie?
More news to come! catch ya' later!

DC Movies on Hold

According to Screen Rant, "In an IESB interview for 'The Unborn,' director/writer David Goyer says all DC properties are currently on hold for the time being in regards to film development."

When asked about "Supermax" [a kind of "Green Arrow" movie] and "Justice League," Goyer had this to say.

“A lot of the DC movies at Warner Brothers are all on hold while they figure out, they’re going to come up with some new plan, methodology, things like that so everything has just been pressed pause at the moment.”

Screen Rant continued and said, "Including the two movies mentioned, 'Superman' and 'Green Lantern' would also be on hold. With an across the board freeze, Warner Bros. may be looking to create a cohesive DC Universe."

Goyer was also asked if the success of "The Dark Knight" attributed to this freeze.

“It was the double header of both ‘Iron Man’ and ‘The Dark Knight’ coming out, so more than ever I think they’ve realized, I think DC was responsible for 15% of Warner Brother’s revenue this year, something crazy like that, so they realized that comic books, it’s become a new genre, one of the most successful genres.”

What are your thoughts on this freeze? Do you think it might be that WB will try to connect the heroes the way Marvel is?
More news to come! Catch ya' later!

DC Movies

Alan Horn, President of Warner Bros., recently had some Batman, Superman and Green Lantern questions thrown at him by the good folks at Collider.
Check out the interview below!



Interesting news for DC fans! What are your thoughts?
More news to come! Catch ya' later!

Nolan on Batman 3

USA Today had the chance to interview Chris Nolan and discuss his thoughts on making the next Batman film.

"Since he took over the Batman franchise in 2005, Christopher Nolan has produced two No. 1 movies, generated $1.4 billion in worldwide ticket sales and created the second-highest-grossing film of all time in The Dark Knight.

So what's stopping him from making a third installment?

For starters, most third acts in Hollywood stink. Look at the disappointing threequels for 'The Godfather,' 'Superman' and the original 'Batman.' The conclusions weren't much better for the more recent 'Shrek,' 'Spider-Man' and 'Pirates of the Caribbean.'"

Trilogies are tough to make since the final film is usually supposed to give the grand finale that fans are expecting. Take "Star Wars" and "Lord of the Rings" for instance.

"I don't know why they're hard to do," Nolan says of making third films in trilogies. "Maybe there's so much expectation to them. But I wouldn't want to do one if it weren't going to be as good as the first or second. That's not respectful to the fans."

Out today is "The Dark Knight" on DVD and Blu-ray. I haven't checked it out myself, but I have researched the bonus material. There are no deleted scenes, bloopers or screen tests. That means no more extra scenes of the late Heath Ledger's Joker.

"For my past three films, I really haven't had scenes that didn't make it in the movie," Nolan said. "If it's in the final script, I tend put it on screen. I don't like outtakes or gag reels. I don't think it's respectful to the actors, who signed on to have their performance on screen, not the takes that didn't work out. It discourages actors from going all-out if they think every mistake is going on the disc."

According to the USA Today article, "Nolan says he is jotting notes and doing some rough outlines for a third story, but he hasn't yet found anything he's willing to commit to film, despite Warner Bros.' eagerness to get a new film underway."

"It was obvious when the box office was so big ($530 million domestically) that we had underestimated how ready fans were to reboot the franchise," Nolan said. "The worst thing you could do now that you've gotten the plane back in the air is mess up the landing."

How badly do you want Chris Nolan to make a Batman 3? DO you even want another Batman?
More news to come! Catch ya' later!

Meeting Michael Uslan, Batman Producer

I met Michael Ulsan today. Who is he you may ask? I shall tell you.

Michael Ulsan is the world's first professor to teach a class about comic books. This made the news back in the 70's at Indiana University.

Two weeks into his classes he got a phone call.
"Hi, is this Michael Ulsan,' said the voice on the phone. Ulsan replied yes. "This is Stan Lee," continued the voice. Stan Lee wanted to congratulate Ulsan on his job and success for the comic industry. A few hours after that the head of DC comics called and gave Ulsan a job (more like an internship).

Ulsan then helped pen a story for the comic "The Shadow," (which is another comic-to-movie adaptation, "The Shadow") and later got the job to write for Batman.

After that he went to law school and then worked for United Artists and learned about the film industry. He knew what he wanted to do. On Oct. 3, 1979 he bought the rights to Batman, quit his job, and began to start his dream of bringing a dark Batman to the silver screen.

He has produced an amazing list of films including: "Batman," "Batman Returns," "Batman Forever," "Batman and Robin," Constantine," "Batman Begins," "The Dark Knight," and the upcoming "The Spirit."

After his speech I went up to him and shook his hand and got his autograph. I asked him where he got his tie (which was a full on Spider-Man tie) and he asked where I got my shirt (Joker from "The Dark Knight"). I replied, "I bought it at Hot Topic."
He replied, "Stan Lee gave me this tie." My jaw dropped.

I managed to ask him one brief question. What were his thoughts about Marvel building the "Avengers" franchise and about a possible "Justice League" movie being made. He said that DC had to do it right by making solo films of all the characters, just like what Marvel was doing (he loved "Iron Man"), but that Nolan's Batman might not get along with other superheroes (I did mention an interview with Nolan where Nolan thought his Batman vision wouldn't work in a Justice League world).

Another note of interest that Ulsan said was that the idea to take away from "The Dark Knight" is not to make heroes dark, but to let directors be creative and to stay true to the hero. If all heroes end up being dark, serious, and violent, it would be terrible.

It was a momentous night for me....and I shall not forget it anytime soon.

Also he let out a bit of movie news. He said he is partnering with Sam Raimi (of "Spider-Man") and making a new "The Shadow." You heard it here first folks!

Batman sues Chris Nolan

No, the Batman in the films isn't suing the big name director, the town of Batman is.

Hüseyin Kalkan, the pro-Kurdish Democratic Society Party mayor of the southeastern city of Batman in Istanbul, declared war against his city’s namesake superhero, Batman.

“The royalty of the name ‘Batman’ belongs to us … There is only one Batman in the world. The American producers used the name of our city without informing us,” Kalkan told to the Doğan news agency. Batman is a centuries old city, taking root in the Neolithic age but becoming significant when oil was found in the region at the end of 1940s. Almost a decade before that, Batman was created as a comic hero. Kalkan is going to sue Christopher Nolan, the director of the latest Batman movie, not DC Comics, the creator of the superhero.

Mayor Kalkan, speaking to the Hürriyet Daily News and the Economic Review, said last year foreign media picked up on Batman and the city’s increasing suicide rates among women. He said a columnist asked why Batman’s mayor did not sue the movie Batman for royalties while struggling with economic problems. 'We found this criticism right and started to look for legal possibilities of a case like that,' he said."

Read more of this hilarity at the Hürriyet Daily News and form your own decision on whether Chris Nolan should be sued for using the town name of Batman.