Posted 2 hours ago by Josh Wigler in DC Comics, Marvel, News
How's this for a frightening thought: Nicolas Cage was almost Scarecrow in a Batman movie.
Of course, the role of psychotic psychiatrist Jonathan Crane eventually went to Cillian Murphy in Christopher Nolan's "Batman Begins." But well before that, the once and future "Ghost Rider" star was approached to stuff himself full of straw for Joel Schumacher's planned trip to Gotham in "Batman Triumphant," which would have been the director's third dance with the Dark Knight.
Posted 5 hours ago by Josh Wigler in DC Comics, News, TV
Star City is becoming quite the popular destination these days as casting continues to heat up for "Arrow," The CW's television adaptation of DC Comics' "Green Arrow" franchise.
We already know Stephen Amell has been cast as the titular emerald archer, and "Dexter" alum David Ramsey has also come on board as ex-military operative and Oliver's security expert John Diggle. Now, TV Line reports that "Once And Again" actress Susanna Thompson has joined the cast as Moira Queen, mother of Oliver.
Posted 7 hours ago by Josh Wigler in DC Comics, News
It shouldn't come as a shock to anyone who's been paying attention to "Dark Knight Rises" and its development that this film is going to have action, and plenty of it. In fact, director Christopher Nolan's third and final trip to Gotham City is going to be so action-packed, that one could describe it as a war film.
Indeed, that's exactly how "Dark Knight Rises" concept artist Tully Summers has described the upcoming comic book flick. Summers spoke with Cineweb Radio (via Batman On Film) about the film's wartime aesthetic.
"'The Dark Knight Rises' is a war movie," said Summers. "One of the things that makes [Christopher Nolan's] Batman films so good is [the realistic tone]. He often prefers something crude — a more gritty style of design — rather than something very smooth and nice. It's military aesthetic."
"Ghost Rider: Spirit of Vengeance" is one of the most all-out insane superhero films I've ever seen. I mean this in the best of ways. A lot of the madness can be attributed to the kindred spirit connection between directors Mark Neveldine and Brian Taylor and leading man Nicolas Cage, of course. But there are other ingredients in place. Darker ingredients.
Take Blackout, for instance. "Limitless" actor Johnny Whitworth stands in the way of the hellcycle this go around as Ray Carrigan, a psychotic mercenary doing the Devil's bidding. In this case, doing the Devil's bidding involves Carrigan tracking down his ex-girlfriend's son Danny and bringing him to his hellish leader's doorstep. Things don't go exactly as planned, needless to say, and the mortal killer is left in desperate need of a decidedly demonic upgrade to take on Johnny Blaze from there on out.
MTV News spoke with Whitworth for his take on Carrigan and Blackout, a dangerous fella he happily described as a true blue psychopath.
Posted 2/14/12 5:33 pm EST by Josh Wigler in Marvel, News
The web of Spider-Man grows ever more complicated with each passing day. Yesterday, I showed you Peter Parker's backpack, which just so happened to find its way to Splash Page headquarters with all sorts of goodies inside from books, shoes, keys and more. But that's not all I was in store for.
Today, I got a package in the mail containing a pair of Spider-Man sweatshirts, a cell phone and charger, and a crumpled piece of paper with a message intended "for your eyes only." We'll honor the agreement, but the long and short of it is this: your friendly neighborhood Splash Page editor has to keep this cell phone with him at all times, fully charged, to await further instructors. Furthermore, I need to "find a friend you can trust." Beyond that, the whens, wheres and whats of this situation are completely unknown to me.
Posted 2/14/12 3:52 pm EST by Terri Schwartz in interviews, News
Despite lots of interest, "Hancock 2" has yet to take flight. Back in 2009, screenwriters were hired and the cast of Will Smith, Charlize Theron and Jason Bateman seemed back on board, but the movie stalled out due to scheduling issues.
Recently, there's been a renewed interest in the project. Director Peter Berg let it slip that Smith had some great new ideas for the sequel that the two of them had been toying around with. MTV News caught up with Berg recently while he was promoting his new film "Battleship" to try to get the record straight. Turns out a "Hancock 2" will definitely happen ... if he and Smith are able to actually meet with one another.
Posted 2/14/12 12:14 pm EST by Jeremy Gordon in DC Comics, News
It would be nice if we could stop ourselves from devouring more "Dark Knight Rises" details, but no, that doesn’t seem very possible as the film’s release date draws closer. Interviews like Total Film’s talk with producer Emma Thomas don’t help the matter very much. Talking about details like Tom Hardy’s rapport with Christian Bale and Anne Hathaway’s role, Mrs. Christopher Nolan, as she’s otherwise known, was half-forthright, half-coy.
"Tom made a massive physical transformation for the role... It really is an intense performance," Thomas said. "He finally feels like a match for Batman – both physically and mentally."
Posted 2/14/12 11:01 am EST by Jeremy Gordon in News
"The Adventures of Tintin" was one of 2011’s more charming animated films, and audiences agreed: though it didn’t take in tons of money at the American box office, it was a huge overseas success. That’s enough to greenlight a sequel for hypothetical release in 2014 or 2015, depending on how things shake out.
Speaking to TotalFilm, director Steven Spielberg discussed the tentative plans for "Tintin 2," like who will be directing it and what stories they’ll be using.
First off: Spielberg won’t be directing the sequel, unsurprising given his busy work load. "Peter [Jackson]’s doing it," he said. "I wanted to do it, but Peter has to because we made a deal. I said, ‘I’ll direct the first one, you direct the second one.’
Posted 2/14/12 9:06 am EST by Josh Wigler in Image Comics, News, TV
While I can't imagine anyone particularly wanting to transform themselves into a zombie, that doesn't stop the mainstream masses from wanting to hang out with the flesh-eaters. That's my takeaway from the latest ratings numbers to come in on behalf of "The Walking Dead," at least!
Deadline reports that the "Walking Dead" midseason premiere on Sunday (February 12) bested series highs and broke all new basic cable ratings. The premiere of the episode "Nebraska" at 9PM netted 8.1 million total viewers, with 5.4 million aged 18-49 and 4.4 million in the 25-54 range. Those deliveries are the highest ever for a basic cable drama series, according to Deadline, with the record previously established by — you guessed it — the "Walking Dead" season two premiere in October.
How To Reboot 'Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles'
Posted 3 hours ago by Kevin P. Sullivan in Commentary, News
This morning, Variety reported that the long-in-development "Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles" reboot has finally found a director in Jonathan Liebesman, the man responsible for "Battle: Los Angeles." Frankly, I think we're in trouble here. The more I'm hearing about this project, the less it's sounding like the Turtles I know.
This is the last thing I want to see, so I've devised a series of measures that need to be followed closely in order to save the next TMNT. With strict adherence and a little luck, all may not be lost.
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Tags Battle Los Angeles, Jonathan Liebesman, teenage mutant ninja turtles