Black Book Magazine just reported that Josh Schwartz, creator of The O.C., Gossip Girl and Chuck is working on an X-Men prequel.

Schwartz said of the project: "I'm very well aware that I'll be bludgeoned by purists, but I love its mythology...It's not like I'm adding new characters like Toaster Head, or anything like that." He went on to take a shot at The Incredible Hulk saying, "The Hulk looks like it's going to be terrible. And why does he look like he's fighting against the monster from Cloverfield?" Black Book later issued a correction to their story, saying that some of the quotations were "erroneously reported." Perhaps an attempt on Schwartz's part to make peace with Marvel after that crack about Hulk? You wouldn't like Marvel when it's angry, Mr. Schwartz.

Continue reading "The 411 on Gossip Girl Creator's X-Men Prequel" »

Most geeks are spittle-flinging happy that Pan's Labyrinth director, Guillermo del Toro, has signed on to helm The Hobbit (and its ill-defined and almost certainly ill-advised extra-canonical sequel, which I henceforth dub The Hobbit 2: Electric Bilboloo), but most geeks are also not Salon.com film writer Andrew O'Hehir. O'Hehir describes himself as a fan of the Peter Jackson-directed Lord of the Rings series, and most del Toro films (Mimic rightfully excluded), but thinks the pairing of Jackson as producer and del Toro as director is bad news. O'Hehir's objections are A) del Toro is on record as loathing all things hobbitty, and B) del Toro will be wasting the prime of his career carrying water for Jackson on a project Jackson should do himself.

Is O'Hehir right? Hell, no. And here's why:

Peter Jackson Isn't a Better Choice
Anyone who suffered through the Star Wars prequel trilogy -- or Godfather III -- will understand when I suggest that it's not always wise for a director to return to his old stomping grounds. Jackson left Middle Earth as a hero to geeks and film investors, and on such a creative high note, he essentially slacked through King Kong and no one gave him any crap for it. That being the case, what's the upside for him to re-direct in Middle Earth? If he does it perfectly and sticks the dismount, it's still not fresh. If he screws it up, the fan response will make the Phantom Menace backlash look like a group hug.

Continue reading "Is Guillermo del Toro the Right Man for The Hobbit?" »

• Bertie Wooster as a early adopter post-humanist? Throw in an Asimovian Jeeves while you're at it.

• Shadow Unit: "It's a series "no one had ever seen. It would share DNA with 'Criminal Minds,' with 'The X-Files' and 'Millennium,' with 'Man from U.N.C.L.E.' and the old paramedic show 'Emergency" to name but a few.

• Some pretty heady spoilers for the ninth episode of Battlestar Galactica.

• Cyclops will apparently appear in the upcoming Wolverine movie.

• This bodes ill: Matthew McConaughey is top of the list to play Captain America.

• Was Mick Jagger in the running to play a droog in Clockwork Orange?

• Ten years later, Time Out looks at The Matrix.

Continue reading "Daily Scan: 05.08.08 - Catch Shadow Unit Online; Cyclops Joins Wolverine" »