What's the biggest secret of any movie coming out this summer? Is it how Harvey Dent becomes Two-Face? What Charlize Theron's part is in Hancock? Or what those Crystal Skulls are, anyway? Nope. It's why there are no humans on Earth in Pixar's upcoming scifi feature, Wall-E. And, I'm about to spoil it for you, because it gives you a great insight into how, exactly, Pixar and Disney are marketing this film.

In Wall-E, a lovable little robot is left on Earth to clean up the mess made by humans; we know this much from the trailer. But what you don't know, and never find out in the trailer, is why the humans left, why there's so much mess, and what a human looks like.

Continue reading "Want To Know This Summer's Biggest Secret? Just Ask Wall-E" »

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" »

Let's pause for a moment to take stock of the recent news surrounding the cumbersomly titled Terminator Salvation: The Future Begins. Christian Bale is playing grown-up John Connor. Great, perfect casting. There's no Arnold. Fine, he's clearly busy with other things. It's directed my McG. Unfortunate, but then, no one would have pegged Jon Favreau to deliver one of the best superhero movies ever. Rapper Common has just been cast as a freedom fighter working with John Connor. Well, guess he's gotta do something now that Justice League: Mortal has been shelved. It's going to be rated PG-13.

Okay, let's stop right there. A Terminator movie cannot be PG-13. Here's why: It's about robots decimating the human race. For pete's sake, the new film is set during the big, bloody Terminator versus humans battle that we've only seen glimpses of in the previous films. If any entry in the franchise was begging for a "hard R," it's this one. Also, the R-rated T2 is one of the most profitable, critically acclaimed, and beloved science fiction films in history. As with Die Hard, there's a tonal precendent for keeping the R rating. (And we all saw what happened when they stripped John McClane of his foul mouth.)

So why PG-13?

Continue reading "With a PG-13 Rating, Will Terminator 4 Lose Its Edge?" »

Marvel had their first quarter conference call yesterday, conveniently timed for the Monday after Iron Man's blockbuster debut, and announced their upcoming slate for the next three years.

What might be of particular interest to those of you who stuck around through the end of Iron Man's credits is the officially announced Avengers movie, hitting theaters in July of 2011. The other self-produced Marvel Studios are:

• Iron Man 2 (April 30, 2010)
• Thor (June 4, 2010)
• The First Avenger: Captain America (May 6, 2011)

This doesn't include non-Marvel Studios fare, like Punisher: War Zone (December 5, 2008), and X-Men Origins: Wolverine (May 1, 2009); unscheduled projects like Edgar Wright's Ant-Man; and any non-officially announced sequels like Spider-Man 4, Fantastic Four 3, Young X-Men, and, if the upcoming movie does well, The Incredible Hulk 2.

The conference call also revealed Iron Man 2 will introduce the character of Thor; the Hulk may also make an appearance in Iron Man 2; and the plan is to make The Avengers a rotating team, involving virtually any character in the team's history.

So let's play armchair movie producer for a bit, and take a look at what Marvel has set up:

Continue reading "With Iron Man 2 and The First Avenger, Marvel Books Up Our Summers Through 2011" »

A second look at what Marvel's cooking up for this summer should push all those hyped-up opinions of Edward Norton straight to the side. The Hulk himself is front and center in the brand new trailer, blossoming more elaborately than ever before our eyes into the rage-filled green machine we all know and love.

This new trailer lays out the origins of the rivalry between Norton and Tim Roth's character as well. Call me old-fashioned, but as much fun as it is to watch steroidal monsters beat the crap out of each other, it's much more satisfying to know why they're beating the crap out of each other.

Looking forward to more rubbery green CGI than Hulk can shake a stick (or a car door) at when The Hulk opens on June 13th.

Prepare for a bold new vision... of the past. Land of the Lost's highly anticipated movie adaptation may give the whole series a face-lift, but the creepy Sleestaks will remain surprisingly intact, as you can see in this image from USA Today.

By opting to show a familiar, if unlovable, face from the show's heyday, instead of a bunch of cheap, sleek CGI uglies, director Brad Silberling (Lemony Snicket) shows he really does have his finger on fans' pulses. "There is a sense of humor that I loved from the original show that can only come from an actor trying to negotiate the suit," he said. "If it became CG, they'd be too perfect. For the Sleestak to remain in people's memories, it tells you that it was about who was in the suit."

Perhaps a film-sized budget will make for an enhanced Sleestak presence; on the original Land of the Lost, only three creature costumes were made, which put dire limitations on the show's portrayal of Sleestak culture.

This Friday, Iron Man hits theaters. Chances are you've seen at least a poster and a commercial for the flick. There's also a good chance that you've probably seen multiple trailers, read stories about the movie online, and perhaps, viewed some promotional scenes.

Maybe you've even go so far as to watch all the promotional scenes, look at the hundreds of stills available online, buy the game, buy the novelization, and build yourself a suit of home-made Iron Man armor.

The question though, is, at what point is there too much marketing for a film? There's a lot of attention being paid to Iron Man's box office results this weekend, and for good reason.

Continue reading "Will Iron Man's Marketing Campaign Cause a Snakes on a Plane Backlash?" »

Starship Troopers fans rejoice: Johnny Rico is back. With buzz building for Starship Troopers 3: Marauder (coming to DVD in July) we caught up with Casper Van Dien, new recruit Jolene Blalock and writer/director Ed Neumeier at the New York Comic Con to discuss the return of Johnny, satire during wartime, and, of course, big scary bugs.

Q: How did the reunion come about?

Ed: I remember seeing Casper come through the door when we were casting the first Starship Troopers. He came in, and I had a rifle on my desk. He did a whole routine with it, which I guess he learned in military school. We've been friends ever since. So when Sony came to me and said they wanted to do another one, I said, "I'll only do it if we can get Casper."

Q: Was the studio worried about how the military satire of Marauder would go over in our current political climate?

Ed: No. I warned Sony that I wanted to do a satire of what's been going on in the last 10 years. And they said go. It's what I like to do, if you look at Robocop and the other things I've done, and Casper is really into it as well.

Q: Jolene, you play a new character, Captain Lola Beck. Was the character a big change for you after Enterprise?

Jolene: It was, because T'Pol was so reserved and didn't really show a lot of emotion. When you lay out your career and the types of roles you want to do, this is right in the meat of what you love, because you're going to have fun. These are the type of movies that are just a blast to do.

Q: Can we expect any new bugs for this outing?

Continue reading "Starship Troopers 3 Q&A - Johnny Rico and the Big Bugs Are Back" »

As the entertainment landscape continues to segment, movie studios are increasingly seeking  non-traditional ways to promote their product. Do these so called "viral" marketing campaigns work? And are they even viral?

Hellboy II's HETFET.org was announced at New York Comic Con this past weekend as the "viral campaign" for the sequel. HETFET.org is, supposedly, a society for the ethical treatment of fairies and other fantastical creatures that only tangentially ties into the movie. This falls under the category of marketing that ties into aspects of the movie --  rather than revealing aspects of the movie itself, unlike the current The Dark Knight viral campaign (too many sites to list here), which has already provided footage of Heath Ledger's Joker, and several trailers. Meanwhile, the new Star Trek movie is being teased with "live" cams, showing the Enterprise being built, presumably to count down to the reveal of the ship, or new footage, or... Something else.

How viral are these sites, really?

Continue reading "Hellboy's Viral Campaign Will Only Infect Die-Hard Fans" »

Guillermo del Toro and the cast of the Hellboy II: The Golden Army descended on New York Comic Con this past weekend, and they brought friends. The biggest surprise of the Hellboy II panel was the unveiling of several costumed characters from the upcoming sequel. The creatures, all created with practical effects, stood watch as del Toro (plus cast members Ron Perlman, Selma Blair, Doug Jones, Luke Goss and Hellboy creator Mike Mignola) discussed the continuation of their surprise hit franchise.

Del Toro treated the audience to a "sizzle reel" of clips from the films, many of which were still unfinished. He also revealed that while the budget was higher for the second installment ($85 million), several characters and sequences ended up on the cutting room floor. (He did promise to post images of a three-headed dog character that was excised from the film on the Hellboy movie blog.) And in a move that will likely divide fans straight down the middle, del Toro revealed that Family Guy creator Seth MacFarlane will be providing the voice of new B.P.R.D. member Johann Kraus.

Continue reading "Sneak Peek of Hellboy's Golden Army at New York Comic Con " »