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" »