Here is the OTHER post I lost due to the server time warp… Check out the high res versions at CBR

via CBR

Who watches the Watchmen? Noone, if 20th Century Fox has anything to say about it. They want a piece of the pie or they may shut down the planned March 6th release of the epic comic book movie based on the most popular graphic novel in comic book history. Fox alleges alleges that they retained distribution rights to the graphic novel through a 1991 claim. The judge has refused a motion to dismiss and a trial date has been set for January 6th.

A federal court in Los Angeles on Monday refused to dismiss the Fox lawsuit — meaning Fox can proceed with an attempt to shut down Snyder’s movie in court. The ruling offered no comment on the quality of Fox’s case or its potential for success, but clearly the judge found enough merit in the rights claim to let Fox’s lawyers take it up a notch.

Most of the buzz suggests that Fox will most likely keep up the pressure until a settlement is made that allows Warner Brothers to distribute The Watchmen and rewards Fox with some of the profits.

via Wired and CBR

After a mere 45 days in theaters The Dark Knight has grossed over 500 Million dollars, becoming only the 2nd movie to do so. And it did it in half the time it took Titanic (which took over 3 months to earn that much)! Titanic grossed 601 Million and Warner Brothers execs say they expect The Dark Knight to finish around $530 Million, but wouldn’t be surprised by $550 Million. OK everyone go see it ONE more time (on IMAX)! Lets crush the Titanic record!

via OMGBlog and ComicsContinuum

Newsarama has a great article detailing all the DCU comic book movie projects either in production or serious consideration… Here’s some highlights - check the link for the rest. Some of these are more confirmed and some are still just a step past wishful thinking. But either way the next few years should be rife with silver screen superhero spandex.

A Dark Knight Sequel a no-brainer, but if you want a talented actress who is also one fine cougar for Catwoman, I’d suggest Annette Bening over Cher (who frightens me - I still have flashbacks of that video with her in the thong on a battleship - she can’t Turn Back Time far enough to step into Selina’s shoes).

Watchmen - legal troubles may force WB to pay out some $$$ to FOX to make their March 09 release.

Green Arrow - Green Arrow has to … escape from a Super Villain prison?. This story doesn’t seem to fit the character and I think this would be better fit for another hero. It wasn’t created with Ollie Queen in mind and it shows. I think it could work for Nightwing though. Bats and friends go undercover all the time.

Green Lantern - the team describes a “respectful approach to the character” and a “loving approach to the entire mythos” - sounds good to me - lets hope they know what they are talking about and read a few issues first. And though I love his work, NO JACK BLACK.

Shazam- delayed after the writers strike, this may be getting on track again.

Justice League- According to the Wall Street Journal, DC has finally decided to do 4 solo flicks FIRST and build up to the JLA movie! YAY!!!!! Hmmm 4. Bats, Supes are the obvious choices… leaving GL and WW as the obvious FX-laden choices.

Wonder Woman- I want to see it, hope they do it right, but I’d be surprised if they give Diana her due. She should be the next movie. They did Superman and Batman, she is the last third of the DCU Trinity. IT’S HER TURN!

The Flash - Expected to feature speedster Wally West, but no news on any scripts.

Teen Titans- A Perez/Wolfman era epic!!!!! Live action Judas Contract movie was originally announced in 2007, and producers described described Warner Bros. as “absolutely committed” to doing the movie. AWESOME!!!! Fingers crossed. That ranks right up there with the Dark Phoenix X-Men movie I WANTED to see (but I got X3 instead).

Also mentioned were movies based on Jonah Hex, Deadman, Doom Patrol, Preacher, Y the Last Man, Ex Machina (Oh yeah!), Sandman and his darling goth sister Death.

via Newsarama

After 2008’s billion dollar comic book summer, no one is surprised as Hollywood frantically pounds on the doors of every comic book writer with a filmable property. With the big screen success of his Wanted, Mark Millar’s new book, Kick-Ass is an ultra-violent no-brainer for someone looking to cash in on the trend. The independently financed production will be shooting in London and Toronto this fall with Aaron Johnson as Dave Lizewski, a teenager inspired to don a costume and fight crime despite the fact that he lives in the real world (our world… no superpowers). Lyndsy Fonseca (who you may recognize as Desperate Housewives’ Dylan Mayfair) has been cast as the longtime object of Dave’s affections, Katie Deauxma who mistakenly thinks Dave is her “gay best friend.” Sweet innocent-looking Chloe Moretz will become the savage, potty mouthed, ninja sword wielding 11 year old vigilante and Christopher Mintz-Plasse, a.k.a. McLovin will portray Red Mist, the angry teen son of a mobster who tries to unmask Kick-Ass.

As usual Nick Cage will play a cop. Any theories on why Hollywood keep casting Millar’s heroic blonds with brunettes? First toe-headed Wesley Gibson and now Dave Lizewski too. What’s up with that?

via ComicsContinuum and FirstShowing

Check out this deleted scene from Iron Man in which Tony Stark sets up a part in Dubai to cover his clandestine armored operation.

via traileraddict

I love the look and style of this. I had no idea the Spirit was such a player.

The only fault I found with Dark Knight was the a bit over the top Clint Eastwood style gruff whisper that Christian Bale uses for Batman’s speaking voice. Seems I wasn’t alone.

via Newsarama

When you have a big budget summer blockbuster out, you have to bite the bullet and make the rounds. Checke out Hellboys stint on American Gladiators, the Actors Studio, a PSA and Chuck…

Hellboy in Real Life

via LuckyLegendary

2008 has been THE year for Summer comic book movies!

According to figures on boxofficemojo.com, sometime on Friday, the combined box office might of the comic book-inspired The Dark Knight, Iron Man, The Incredible Hulk, Wanted, and Hellboy 2: The Golden Army, eclipsed the $1 billion dollar mark for 2008, standing roughly at $1.01 billion.

I think we can safely say there will be a deluge of silver screen adaptions of more comic book properties from DC, Marvel and even independent publishers in the next few years. Here’s hoping DC can use the momentum from Dark knight and map out a feasible strategy to getting us a blockbuster-level Justice League of America movie in the next 10 years. First we need a well received Superman movie, then Flash, Green Lantern and Wonder Woman movies (with minor cameos for Martian Manhunter and Aquaman in one or two of those movies). Finally, you get the stars of those movies to do the JLA movie and you have a DC equivalent of what Marvel rolled out after Iron Man came out strong.

via Newsarama

Everything old is new again. Warner Brothers has released seven movie posters for The Watchmen. These are directly based upon a series of full page ads that DC Comics ran in their August 1986 issues to tease the then-upcoming 12 issue maxi-series by Alan Moore and Dave Gibbons. Some are commenting that the staging of the drawing is incomplete in that there are small details in the drawings that are clues that foreshadow some important events of the story, but these details have been left out of the photos.

Here are 6 of DC Comics’ original house ads by Dave Gibbons to which the movie posters pay (apparently incomplete) homage.

via Blog at Newsarama

The cast of Watchmen sat down at SDCC for a Q&A. Thank IFC News for the footage!

via IFC News

Red Sonja that is. Check out the teaser poster for the new Robert Rodriguez Red Sonja movie starring the raven-haired homewrecker Rose McGowan. Looks like Rose has developed a taste for blood.

via Rotten Tomatoes

With an opening weekend box office of $158.3 million, The Dark Knight is already well on the way to surpassing the entire gross of Batman Begins (the Christopher Nolan relaunch of the franchise only grossed $205m domestically). I’m not one to buy the hype hook line and batarang, but in this case I must admit I was REALLY psyched to see this movie. And I want to see it again.

The Dark Knight transcends being a “Comic Book Movie” and draws the viewer into a psychological battle for nothing less than the very soul of Gotham City. (I’m keeping it cryptic so as not to spoil anything.)

Christian Bale returns to bring deeper pathos to the early years of Batman’s fight illuminate the dark streets of Gotham city. I love his Bruce Wayne and his presence as Batman, but his over the top billy goat gruff Bats voice bugs me a bit - that is my only criticism of anything in the movie. Well that and that I think the GCPD would do a better job recognizing and avoiding being corralled by Joker.

Heath Leger’s deeply disturbed Joker is an amazing update of Jack Nicholson’s 1990 far more manic interpretation of the Clown Prince of Crime. I knew from the previews that I approved of the direction the movie was going in, but I have to admit I was surprised at just how good Heath was at being bad. My heart goes out to his family, friends and costars who see this performance in a very melancholy light - I’m sure they expected to see it with him by their side. His Joker is far from your ordinary madman. In addition to being a vicious and completely demented homicidal maniac, he’s a brilliant strategist with a taste for the perversely unexpected.

Aaron Eckhart’s performance as Gotham’s tragic white knight, District Attorney Harvey Dent is as compelling as his later visage is frightening. With only 1/2 a face, Eckhart powerfully expresses the anger and hatred that birthed Two-Face.

Maggie Gyllenhaal is lovely as Rachel Dawes. Screw all the mean spirited alpha bloggers who need to make themselves feel superior by slamming anyone who isn’t a Barbie doll poster girl for plastic surgery. Maggie is a charming actress and a beautiful woman. And for all those who keep asking why Katie Holmes didn’t play her. Katie has been married to/ leased to a religious zealot who probably didn’t want her kissing anyone onscreen who might remind her what a man kisses like.

Veteran actors Michael Caine, Gary Oldman and Morgan Freeman’s portrayals of Alfred Pennyworth, Lt. James Gordon and Lucius Fox respectively are as every bit as brilliant as you would expect from consummate professionals of their caliber. Caine brings power and emotion to the smallest gestures. With the fate of one small envelope, Alfred shows just how much he cares.

See it today dammit!

via Newsarama

The eagerly anticipated Watchmen trailer at last! “From the visionary director of 300″ comes the silver screen adaption of the “most celebrated graphic novel of our time.” Damn they know how to sling some hype. But it is deserved.

The trailer is just enough to give you a taste of the richness of the world that has been created here. I haven’t looked forward to a movie this much since I heard X-Men 3 was the Dark Phoenix story - but this time I don’t think there will be soul crushing disappointment.

and be sure to check out amazingly well-designed Official Watchmen Site. It is also a thing of beauty.

Can you tell I’m excited for this movie?!

Fun action, but I had to drop it down a whole gem due to the lame loom of fate lynchpin the whole plot revolved around.

I can see why there are often two sets of reviews for this film. One for those who read WANTED, the original six issue mini series it was based on, and one for those who didn’t. I’ll try to combine them. Long story short, I liked it as a summer popcorn movie but was severely disappointed in it as a castrated adaption of one of the most original comic concepts I’ve seen in my 24 years of comic reading. The story had balls and the movie cut them off.

I’m not guaranteeing no spoilers, but I’ll try to keep a lid on the big twists.

WANTED is a fast paced summer blockbuster with special effects, stunts, eye popping action and a great cast. Its the story of a 1000 year old league of assassins that choose their targets based on binary codes from a loom. I actually find this LESS plausible than the story of the original… a world where super villains killed all the superheros, made the world forget them and rule unopposed to do what they will… murdering, raping, robbing whoever they want. If you are a member of the Fraternity, the cops can’t and won’t touch you (basically owning the authorities and being in control was one element they SHOULD have kept - and still would have worked with the story as reimagined).

The only elements the film and the series REALLY have in common are… Number 1: the characters: James McAvoy is Wesley Gibson - the beat down loser son of the wold’s greatest hired gun, Angelina Jolie bounces back and forth between creepy killer and vampy vixen as an ultra sexy female assassin - The Fox (in the book lover to both Wesley AND his father - and was hinted to have been a Catwoman” type that was seduced away from a “Batman” type when the Villains won), and Wesley’s apparently now dead but long absent father - the best assassin in the world. Number 2: a few scenarios - Fox and Wesley meet in a drugstore, there is still a twist to Wesley’s fathers death (not the same twist though), there is a rogue element within the Fraternity, and finally this IS still very much the story of Wesley’s journey and evolution as he finds himself. But the journey in the book is the villain’s journey and the journey in the movie is the heroes journey. the big bad of the original story was Mr. Rictus and he is just seen as an early casualty of the internal struggle within The Fraternity.

As I see it, the FUNDAMENTAL changes that were made to this amazing story were made for 2 reasons.

1. Cost must have been a significant factor. It would have been incredibly expensive to create the story as told with its cast of dozens of costumed characters, their amazing powers and high tech sets. The special effects alone would have at least doubled or tripled production costs if not increased it tenfold.

2. Morality. Even though we Americans love our media violence, we like it with consequences. The bad guy has to get it in the end, and if we are supposed to root for the bad guy, he needs to be an anti-hero. As written in the original story, Wesley Gibson’s Evolution into “The Killer” is truly a villain’s journey: Wesley exchanges post coital musings with Fox about how “this being evil all the time crap is starting to feel a little forced” after he slaughtered a Police Station FULL of officers. ALOT more innocents got cut down in the comic. The shoot out in the drugstore when Fox finds him was just her blowing away patrons to prove she wasn’t afraid of security camera or the cops.

Without giving everything away, the ending of the movie definitely shows consequences for most of the characters.

Here is a review posted by GayComicGeek about Hancock. He seemed to like it OK as a popcorn movie and didn’t mention Hancock’s “homo, homo in red, Norwegian homo” comment while looking at costume designs that GLAAD is up in arms about.

A gay friend of mine saw the movie and thought that the moment was funny… i’m waiting until I see how gay the costumes look before I decide if its funny or offensive.

Check out this great interview with Wanted creator Mark Millar. He even explains where his original villains killed the heroes idea came from. when he was a kid, his older brother convinced him that superheroes used to be real, but the villains teamed up and wiped them out. Talk about having a story handed to you.

For those who read the comic… do you think the gay sex that precedes The Killer’s (Wesley’s dad) assassination will make the final cut?

Jon Favreau says they’ve been focussed on getting Hulk out there. Well it’s out there so, Marvel talk to the driector of your biggest hit ever about what he’ll can do for you next… I could deal with someone else doing Iron Man 2 if Favreau gets to do the Avengers (which he refers to as “the fun one”).

“What if I told you we were putting together a team?” says Tony Stark in the last few minutes of The Incredible Hulk. And what a team it will be. Well eventually at least…

After the success of Iron Man, marvel announced plans for a series of movies culminating in a silver screen teamup of Earth’s Mightiest Heroes - The Avengers, and fanboys like me have been babbling about it ever since. Here are some oldschool thoughts on the subject from real life Marvel legends Stan Lee and Joe Simon…

Thor - Release date: Solo film to be released June 4, 2010
Screenwriter: Mark Protosevich (I Am Legend)
Origin: Disabled medical student Donald Blake discovers a mighty hammer that transforms him into his alter ego, the Norse warrior Thor. Lee recalls meeting years ago with Fabio, the romance-novel cover boy, about playing the part. “Someone brought him up to my office to see if he could play Thor,” Lee says. “Visually, he would have been good, but in those days we weren’t even in a position to do a movie.” Lee says Thor “will have to be someone big and strong and kind of blondish. And there should be a nobility.”

Ant-Man - Release date: Solo film, but timing not yet available
Director: Edgar Wright (Shaun of the Dead)
Screenwriters: Wright and Joe Cornish
Origin: Biochemist Hank Pym can alter his size as well as communicate with and control insects. Ant-Man creator Stan Lee recently had lunch with Wright to discuss the direction of the film. “There’s never been a hero like this in the movies,” Lee says. “I did one comic book called The Man in the Ant Hill about a guy who shrunk down and there were ants or bees chasing him. That sold so well that I thought making him into a superhero might be fun.”

The First Avenger: Captain America - Release date: Solo film to be released May 6, 2011
Origin: Captain America made his debut in 1941 as lowly U.S. Army Pvt. Steve Rogers. “We had him peeling spuds,” creator Joe Simon recalls. “The government shot him up with a super-serum, which made him the first of what was to be an army of superheroes.” Simon and comic-book artist Jack Kirby, who died in 1994, created the character during World War II as an all-American adversary to Adolf Hitler. “We were a war-consumed nation, just like today,” he says. “Hitler was a comic foil for our character, and every comic sold out that first year.” Simon now suggests that Osama bin Laden might be an appropriate foe for Captain America to pursue. But Captain America more likely will take on his most famous adversary, the Red Skull — a Nazi (later turned Communist) introduced by Simon in Captain America Comics #1.

Nick Fury - Release date: Not intended as a solo film, but character will appear in The Avengers universe in summer 2011
Origin: Stan Lee introduced the character in 1963 in the war magazine Sgt. Fury and His Howling Commandos. “It did very well, But after a couple of years, I got bored with it and wanted to kill it. Years later, I got a lot of fan mail asking, ‘What happened to Sgt. Fury?’ In those days, there was a popular show called The Man From U.N.C.L.E., so I brought Nick back as a colonel for S.H.I.E.L.D.: Supreme Headquarters, International Espionage, Law-Enforcement Division.”

via USA Today