It’s so trendy to announce or hint at sequels before a film comes out. Its a subtle statement of confidence when they let it leak that they are already planning a sequel. They know it will be a hit. Kind of like when they planned for a sequel to Street Fighter: Legend of Chun Li and Dragonball Evolution.

Filmonic shares:

If all the hype and marketing pays off Avatar could be a big earner for Fox, and they will no doubt want a sequel. James Cameron seems keen on an Avatar 2, and now producer Jon Landau has dropped a small hint at what we could see:

If the public likes Avatar, it’s a possibility. After all, here we are exploring the surface of the planet Pandora. The interior remains to be seen.

Clearly if Avatar gets a good boxoffice result they will want to make another go at it. That’s just what Hollywood does.

However I think there may be more motive to recoup some of the vast debt developing this uncanny gap technology that Cameron has been bragging about that is making Avatar a reality. This 90 minute tech reel will be a commercial for those wishing to also use the tech, and in that will be Cameron’s real money maker even if the film doesn’t overcome the costs of developing the tech.

Sometimes you have to let a small detail slip to allow for the rest of the plot. Sometimes in the earliest moments of a film the entire franchise can be averted with one simple decision.

The gang at Attack of the Show illustrate how different Twilight really could be.

But it just goes to show how highschool girls love to go after that guy that just isn’t good for them while the ones who would treat em right get tossed aside. (no, I’m not bitter)

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Hugh Jackman has had a lot of physical roles which he does really well. So when I heard he could be fighting robots in “Real Steel” I was instantly curious, but it appears he is in talks to star in a film about battle robots for sport. He wouldn’t be fighting them himself.

FirstShowing says:

Hugh Jackman is “in talks” to star in Shawn Levy’s Real Steel, the BattleBots-like movie about a father and son who take a robot to the Bot Boxing Championship. However, the bots in this aren’t small. The film is set in the near future, where people control human-like 2000-pound robots that duke it out in the boxing ring.

This does sound like the Rockem Sockem movie, and frankly I am surprised they didn’t license the classic toy property to attach it to this vaguely related plot.

We already have Battleship and Stretch Armstrong coming, so why not Rockem Sockem Robots?

This is our first peek at the Green Hornet costume found in Seth Rogen’s big screen adaptation of the classic pulp hero.

I specify that it is his costume as this is NOT Seth Rogen in the green snappy digs but very likely his stuntman. However keeping that in mind, talk of Seth Rogen shedding the pounds to take on the role (and perhaps avert heart failure) make sense seeing this less than portly stuntman in Seth’s costume. Typically Stuntmen are of similar build of the star they are doubling.

The costume seems pretty faithful to the original Green Hornet look.

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The Fantastic Mr.Fox looks odd enough to just about suck me in. And I was on the edge of that seat until the end of this trailer and then I was sold.

They had me at the flaming pinecone game.

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Back before the days of The Movie Blog, John ran a website that just did movie reviews. I was among the first of his “staff” in this fun site we did. Each week we would hit up the theater to pick up the new releases and write reviews.

Of course John got to write about all the cool films, and I would tend to get regulated into seeing Pokemon 2000 and Thomas and the Magic Railroad (notably because I was a father). Well it seems the feature version of Thomas the Tank Engine that I once reviewed is getting a second shot at the big screen!

Worst Previews shares:

We look forward to working with Josh Klausner to translate the classic ‘Thomas & Friends’ stories into a thrilling, big, modern adventure movie.”

HIT also owns the Barney and Bob the Builder franchises. The company has launched the film division to bring those family-oriented properties to the big screen.

Wait, am I reading that right? They also want to bring a big screen Barney and Bob the Builder to the big screen?

I understand there is a profitable demographic for movies made only for kids. I have a small portion of my own collection that was purchased purely so my kids can watch them. But do they honestly think there is a market for Barney? I could maybe see Bob the Builder (fortunately my kids are older now so I wont literally have to see it) but I just don’t know that there would be an appeal for a Barney movie. Maybe a direct to DVD?

But all that aside, I am still struggling to fit the marketing lingo “a thrilling, big, modern adventure movie” in the same sentence with Thomas the Tank Engine.

Speculatively overheard on the set of Green Hornet:

Crewman: Sir, we think there is a Bomb on the set.
Security: The movie’s a Bomb? How do you know? Its not even done yet!
Crewman: No sir, a bomb. A real bomb.

Worst Previews shares:

the LAPD bomb squad had to be called to investigate a mysterious bomb-like object that the crew found around the set. LAPD rushed onsite and used a remote-controlled robot to blow up the unidentified metal object, which later turned out to NOT be a bomb.

That must be one of the hardest calls to make on a set if you think someone is trying to maliciously attack people. How does security decide that this could be a legitimate bomb threat?

Yes, we checked the prop inventory and there were no “bombs” on it. 6 dozen fake firearms, 18 rubber hand grenades, a gallon of harmless flash powder.. but no bombs. So that ticking box over there that no one seems to know where it came from? Could be a real bomb. Make the call.

It seems that Green Hornet is doomed from the start, and sadly hearing that there was a bomb threat on set is not a surprise anymore. I think they have scheduled a tornado for next week’s interuption.

My only hope is that the film turns out awesome and all of these setbacks and hiccups end up as a DVD feature.

And of course this is where all the clever commenters already predisposed against this film make bomb puns:

To Hulk or not to Hulk, that is the question!

I guess if you say things enough times someone might take notice, and with the fan reaction to the potential that Edward Norton could return as the Hulk as an adversary for the Avengers film, I think someone might be. Well mostly Norton.

At one point he was saying he wasn’t interested in doing it again, and now he is just saying its a matter of scheduling. So which is it dammit? You’re making me angry. You won’t like me when I am angry!!!

ScreenRant quotes Norton:

“It’s purely a function of time… It’s always about just working things out on the schedule.”

“I get very busy. You have to deal with the demands of your moment… I tend to keep my head in the thing I’m doing and I don’t speculate or worry too much about what two or three blocks down the thing is going to be. I know all these things will reveal themselves and work themselves out.”

Saying its purely a matter of scheduling implies to me that they have talked about it, and provided Norton can work it in, he will be in the film.. at least the Banner parts.

I would love to see the Hulk as the first Avengers villain. Having them face off against one of their own raises questions about the Hulk that make the character interesting in the first place. They recruit this unstoppable super team to defend their country only to have one of their own members become the threat? That’s a great story to tell. I hope they don’t waste it.

And I thought Norton’s Banner was perfect.

I hope he returns.

In an interview with Ellen Page regarding her role in Whip It! the conversation deviated briefly about her role in Christopher Nolan’s mystery film Inception.

When asked about the leaked set footage of a train driving down the street Page remained silent simply countering it with a plea to leave things secret so we don’t spoil the film for ourselves.

Collider gives us:

She told us she’s still filming the movie and implored us to not seek out any spoilers. She said, “Just don’t try and find out more. Just love it when it comes out in July. It’s going to be really cool.” She also told us that it’s a five-month shoot which is typical for a big summer movie.

There are plenty of things that Miss Page could ask me that I would do without question. However when she is asked to spill and THIS is her response, you can’t help but be even MORE curious about the film.

With this job, sometimes things get spoiled for me that I really didn’t want to know before hand, but now I am even more itchy to find out about Inception.

Thanks Ellen. Now I can’t NOT try to find out more about this.

Maybe I can resist.

The franchise that seems most to be following the “First comes love, then comes Marriage, Then comes Mammy with a Baby Carriage” is the Fockers films, soon to be a trilogy introducing a third generation of Little Fockers.

And signing her body over to the whims of the director may be Jessica Alba!

Risky Business Blog reports:

The actress is in negotiations to join the Ben Stiller-Robert DeNiro comedy “Little Fockers.” She’d play the role of an attractive pharmaceutical rep whose looks wreak havoc on male characters in the story.

Say what you want about Jessica Alba, but she’s easy to look at. So when the role of a character who’s role seems to be “you’re hot and distract men” I can see why they might go with Alba.

As for Little Fockers, I think that its about time to return to the Focker world for more of Ben Stiller’s awkward charm. I just hope they don’t have babies talking like Look Who’s Talking, and just have a family comedy about the next stage in their lives.

The classic great dane comic Marmaduke will be getting his own feature film loosely based on his strip. And I use the word “loosely” very loosely. It seems that he will have owners as depicted in the comic, and he will be a great dane. Deviating from that, he will have his own voice (presumably with other animals) and a supporting cast of animals.

The voice actors announced for this is an impressive list of recognizable yet not superfamous names.

Cinema Blend shares:

We’ve heard that the live action/CG-animated film based on Brad Anderson’s comic strip Marmaduke would feature Judy Greer as Debbie Winslow and Lee Pace as Phil Winslow, but Coming Soon has dug up the details on the rest of the cast and it’s pretty impressive.

Here it goes: Amanda Seyfried voices Mazie, Jeremy Piven is Bosco, Ron Perlman is Chupadogra, Christopher Mintz-Plasse is Guiseppe, Stacy ‘Fergie’ Ferguson is Jezebel, Steve Coogan is Raisin, George Lopez is Carlos and Damon Wayans Jr. is Thunder.

That’s a pretty extensive list for the voice actors.

The inconsequential owners of Marmaduke that were a constant presence yet never mattered much to the strip will be rather secondary in the film. Aside from adding dialogue to Marmaduke’s adventures, the owners didn’t matter much, and the massive loveable mutt was the star though he never spoke a word.

So since a movie about a dog that doesn’t speak and owners that don’t matter, it makes sense that they are deviating from the source material and having this be an adventure film that gives voices to Marmaduke and an army of animal friends he never had in the single panel syndicated comic.

And while people are already assuming that this will be as dumb as Garfield or Alvin and the Chimpmunks, both of those films are repeat offenders on my kid’s DVD shelves and I figure this will do the same.

They are not making this for adults.

I do love me some Milla Jovovich and regardless of how you feel about director Paul W.S. Anderson, you have to give the guy props for scoring with her. Seems they like to work together, so the relationship is going strong (dammit) and the next chapter of the Resident Evil series “Afterlife” is beginning primary photography a stones throw from my town.

Bloody Disgusting reports:

Production has officially begin in Toronto, Canada for Screen Gems and Constantin’s Resident Evil: Afterlife, which is to be directed by Paul W.S. Anderson from his own screenplay. The international release it confirms that Milla Jovovich will return as Alice, with Ali Larter returning as Claire Redfield

This means for the next couple of months Milla will be in Toronto. And according to the restraining order I will have to keep my distance.

The film however doesn’t get me all that excited, but with all the news surrounding each of the sequels I know there is a following of sorts for this franchise, and for those Resident Evil fans, they will be happy to see yet another chapter.

Earlier this month Oprah had a Kickoff party for the 24th season of her empire.. I mean Talk Show. This was all launched by a unique performance by the Black Eyed Peas.

What does this have to do with movies? Well Oprah has movie stars on her show all the time right? Ok, this post has NOTHING to do with movies. Its just plain cool and felt moved enough to share it with the Stubs. Indulge me, or skip to the next article!

Black Eyed Peas altered the lyrics slightly for their hit single “I Gotta Feeling” to tribute Oprah in a big performance on the streets of Chicago. What Oprah didn’t know was that the 21,000 fans were not just there to watch the kickoff, but they put on a show for Oprah.

That lone dancer right in the front looked really out of place at first but you quickly catch on. I am in AWE that they pulled this off on such a grand scale. Absolutely amazing.

The best part is Oprah’s genuine surprise.

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Because the image of Trejo with Machete’s is taken, it looks like he will be an Uzi weilding badass druglord in Rodriguez new Predator reboot.

And now more is revealed on the plot of the hopeful revival of the alien action flick.

Horror Yearbook says:

Royce is under the surveillance of a Predator. He is snatched up and taken to the jungles of the Predator’s home world along with seven others. These aren’t your ordinary people being abducted. These eight are the most highly noted killers on the face of the Earth.

Danny Trejo is said to be playing a drug cartel named Cuchillo with double Uzis he straps to his back. Other characters include a Russian with a rotary machine gun, a French woman named Isabelle with a sniper rifle, Stans, a prisoner from San Quentin, Mombasa, an African leader in the Sierra Leone squad, a Japanese yakuza enforcer named Hanzo and a FBI wanted criminal named Edwin. There is no world who Royce is - but from the description of him just killing someone and then being abducted, I image he is some kind of serial killer?

I really like the dynamic of bringing violent humans to a Predator world like some sort of training excercise. Maybe the Predators have to graduate before they are permitted to travel the cosmos looking for worthy prey.

I also like that all the dangerous humans appear to be criminals, but I have this nagging feeling that Royce will turn out to be some good guy cop who kicks badguy bums and just saved a sack of kittens from being thrown into the river when the Predators scoop him up. Inevitably he will play out to be the “Hero” we can root for.

I’d prefer it was all criminals. Who do you root for then?

The three character “factions” of New Moon are each getting their own poster to advertise the second in the four book to movie series.

I am impressed that Taylor Lautner has made such a transformation from that scrawny long haired boy to this impressive pack hunter. When reading the books its very clear that his character makes a physical transformation when he realizes his heritage, and while I didn’t think they would be able to do it, he seems to have saved himself from recasting by drinking milk and working out.

Also, the classy garb and posturing of the Volturi is ripped perfectly from my mind’s eye. But I am still pretty creeped out that Dakota isn’t 8 anymore and is looking every bit the alluring beauty her character is in the books.

I am actually looking forward to this a bit more than I would have thought I would.

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Here is a listing you might not see on Craigslist. The rights to Terminator are going up for sale.

The reasons why this property is available stem from producers Derek Anderson and Victor Kubicek filing for bankruptcy less than two years after purchasing these rights and less than four months after Terminator Salvation was released. The producers claim that Terminator is worth about $60 million, but this one is probably priced to move because of the bankruptcy.

So perhaps Anderson and Kubicek didn’t get that bailout over their financial difficulties that they were hoping for, and like any business that gets in over its head sometimes closing doors or selling off assets is the only way out.

Personally for me the Terminator thing has more than run its course. Maybe if the last two films even held a candle to the first two I might feel differently, but I don’t see a need for anything more from this universe.

Hopefully whoever buys these rights does something with it to reinvigorate the franchise. I was all pumped to see the war that was only talked about in the previous chapters, but I was less than impressed with the story and characters.

Unless something shiny comes out with the Terminator name on it, I would be hard to get excited about beating that dead horse.

I like hearing about actors doing more than just movies. Daniel Craig and Hugh Jackman did a Broadway play called “A Steady Rain,” about two Chicago cops whose friendship is challenged after they deal with a domestic disturbance.

Well it seems like a simple production, and I don’t condone the individual who is attempting to record the performance this video is entertaining.

Right in the middle of a dramatic scene a patron’s phone rings. Jackman attempts to stay in character but calls the guy out over it.

He maintains a degree of charm making sure the audience doesn’t hate him for escalating the distraction into a disturbance. They even seem to enjoy his break of character.

If only this could happen in a movie theater. Stop the film… someone’s phone is ringing! Yes you Mr Jerk who can’t at least manage to put your phone on vibrate. If you NEED to have a phone in here (on call doctor, parent being available for babysitter crisis) at least turn it to silent ring.

But of course stopping the whole movie to call him out would be more disruptive, and counter productive.

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Wild speculation has been littering the web lately that Johnny Depp is less than enthusiastic about returning to the Pirates of the Caribbean after his buddy was let go from Disney.

Latino Review says:

Disney CEO Robert Iger got rid of Dick Cook. It turns out that Dick Cook and Johnny Depp were tight and Cook’s departure took place days after Pirates of the Caribbean: On Stranger Tides was announced. Depp went public saying his enthusiasm for the franchise had waned since Cook left and everyone panicked.

I have been hearing this for a couple days now, but honestly I think there is little to it.

Are we honestly lead to believe that Depp would give up on the character he repeatedly said he loved because his friend is no longer with the company making the films? Sure Dick Cook may have been the connection that put Depp on the deck, but was Cook on set every day cheering him on from the sidelines? Was Cook the reason for him to come back to the character 2 more times?

I recall Depp claiming his love for the character and claiming he really loved playing Sparrow.

This just sounds like Depp expressing his disappointment over Disney’s decision. I don’t think this means he will abandon the franchise.

I know he can write his own ticket and he doesn’t “have” to be in any film he doesn’t want to. But he has said before he loves playing Sparrow, and I despite appreciating who put him there I don’t think that’s going to change because someone got fired from a studio.

Today the trailer for Michael Bay’s reboot of the Nightmare on Elm Street is making the rounds on the intarweb.

I don’t care much for how this gives away the origin of Freddie right in the trailer, so if you are avoiding spoilers - you might want to skip this.

So yeah, it gives away a bit much in the opening of the trailer, but I read enough to expect us to actually see Kreuger’s introduction into the supernatural instead of the verbal tradition of the previous films. But all the visuals and dreamscapes, as cool as they were, was not what what I was waiting for.

I wanted to see a glimpse of Jackie Earle Haley in full on Freddy mode, and we get that glimpse, and get to hear his voice.

And I like it!

With an action flick like Surrogates and Bruce Willis for insurance, I was certain that it would hold the number one spot at the boxoffice this weekend. But it would seem the forecast is still showing those looming meatballs holding their own adding another $24million to the pot and taking the top spot.

Collider

1 - Cloudy w/a Chance of Meatballs $24,600,000 (Total:$60,036,000)
2 - Surrogates $15,000,000
3 - Fame $10,000,000

Third on the list is the remake of Fame, which although I was interested to see, I was not surprised to see it wasn’t on top.

I never underestimate a family film, but I did overestimate the broad appeal of a Willis’ action flick.

With The Invention of Lying, Zombieland and the re-release of Toy Story and Toy Story 2 in 3D scheduled for this coming week, could Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs hold the pole position again?