A lot of Avengers: Age of Ultron details have been coming out over the last week. There's so much cool stuff to get excited about! It's going to be awesome we we get our first look at some footage, which is expected to premiere at Comic-Con later this week! In a recent interview with EW, Mark Ruffalo talked about Bruce Banner, a.k.a. The Hulk, and his relationship with Black Widow in the film.

“He’s trying not to Hulk-out. He knows all the science of his body, what does anger, what does excitement do physiologically speaking. You can’t have deep breathing and anxiety at one time. So he’s worked on controlling this stuff, he knows what he has to do to do it while it’s going down I’m just laying in there because I don’t know how else to be. It’s basically like she said: ‘Do not go green.’ In their relationship, she protects him. She kind of becomes his bodyguard, in a weird way. He goes with it. I mean, Bruce, he’s a pacifist, man.”

I love that she is there to help protect him. That's such a great dynamic. The badass female superhero looking out for the guy who becomes the giant green Hulk. To read more about what it was like for the cast to shoot the action film while Scarlett Johansson was pregnant, click here.

When I first laid eyes on Karen Gillan as Amy Pond in Doctor Who my heart stopped. She's just so damn beautiful. This lovely piece of fan art comes from artist Brian Stelfreeze, and it's just one of those things that make me happy.

Thanks to Brian Michael Bendis.

A couple of weeks ago, a rumor his the net detailing the future of Hulk and his possible involvement with the Guardians of the Galaxy. I won't go into any details here due to possible spoilers, so if you want to read it, click here. Not that it really matters at this point because director James Gunn has come out and said that it's complete bullshit. In an interview with The Playlist, he was asked about the rumor, and this was his reply:

"I can answer that question very easily: it is absolute, 100% bullshit. It feels like a great relief to finally say this after all the dumb stuff on the Internet. There's not going to be a Planet Hulk movie, there was never going to be a Planet Hulk movie, there was never [a] plan for the Hulk to team up with the Guardians of the Galaxy – I wouldn't want the Hulk to team up with the Guardians of the Galaxy! And it's all a bunch of complete bullshit."

So there ya have it. He's made things very clear. Of course if the rumors were true, he's not going to come out and admit it. But, he went on to explain how the rumors may have started saying:

"The whole thing is, there's Sakaraan in the movie. And the reason there's Sakaraan in the movie is because there aren't that many alien races in the Marvel Universe, and of those prominent alien races, such as the Kree and the Skrull. I have some very specific ideas for where those races go.

"The reason we picked the Sakaraan is because we don't own Badoon. In the script it originally said Badoon. So you can blame search and replace for changing Badoon to Sakaaran and leading to the whole Planet Hulk conspiracy."

I was hoping those rumors would be true. I think it could have been a great way to expand the Hulks storyline, but I guess we'll just have to be patient and see what's really going to happen. 

Monster Squad is a 1980s masterpiece. I don't know any kid from the 80s that didn't grow up loving the hell out of this movie. Over the years it's gained quite a big cult following. The movie was directed by Fred Dekker, who also co-wrote the script with Iron Man 3 director Shane Black. It was so funny watching this movie when I was older because I had no idea how dark and dirty it was when I was a kid. Here are 14 fun facts about the movie that you may or may not know. 

• According to Dekker, Black's first draft of the screenplay was so huge that the opening of the film featured Van Helsing accompanied by zeppelin's and hundreds of men on horseback storming Dracula's castle. Dekker stated that this sequence would have cost more than the final budget of the film.
• There was an idea for a sequel called Monster Squad vs. Godzilla.
• The opening sequence features two armadillos in Dracula's castle as an homage to Bela Lugosi's Dracula, which also featured armadillos.
• In the treehouse scene, the boys were supposed to be reading Playboys, but this was changed to comics later.
• The movie was criticized for not being politically correct due to the language and insults the boys use. The director rejected this by pointing out that boys of this age do not use politically correct language in the real world.
• Screech (Dustin Diamond) from Saved by the Bell has a small part as a kid selling comics that was cut from the final film. 
• The movie wasn't released on DVD until 20 years after the movie was released in theaters.
• The director said his inspiration for the film was simply [The Little Rascals] meet the Universal monsters.
• No one remembers where Dracula's car came from or where it went.
• Tom Noonan, the actor who played Frankenstein, was a method actor and would stay in character on set, meaning he wasn't very chatty.
• Gillman or the Creature form the Black Lagoon was played by Tom Woodruff Jr., who also played a xenomorph in four Alien films.
• Liam Neeson was paid to be in a small role in the film, but the scenes were never shot. The actor was also considered for the role of Dracula.
• The Wolfman was played by Jon Fries, who was also Uncle Rico in Napoleon Dynamite.
• The movie only made $3.7 million and was in theaters for only 2 weeks. It only made back a quarter of its budget, so the movie [bombed] bad. 

Via: Imdb and Break

Surprise! Surprise! Marvel has released two new TV spots for James Gunn's Guardians of the Galaxy. Critics are raving about this movie, so if you're hoping to see a movie as awesome as the trailers make it out to be, it's safe to believe the hype! I haven't seen one bad review for it yet. All we can hope for is that it will explode at the box office as well. I don't see why it wouldn't. Even though it's not the most well-known Marvel property, it's got the making of a feature that everyone and anyone can enjoy. 

What keeps any story or idea relevant is continuous adaptation. The blanket statement that “remakes suck” discounts a lot of great remakes and ignores the fact that mankind has been retelling and remixing stories forever. A good example of reinvention is Batman, who will see his 4th cinematic incarnation and is popular worldwide and across all ages. Buck Rogers on the other hand hasn’t had a new movie since 1939 and grows more irrelevant with each passing year.

All five movies that I think are due for a remake are 15 years or older. Four of these are adaptations from other media. For each movie I break down their faults or misfortunes, the opportunity in the source material or potential in a remake, how a remake makes fiscal sense, its current and past remake status, and finally a bit of fanboy wishful thinking.

Wild Wild West (1999)

Why It's Due for a Remake

The 1965 Wild Wild West TV show, with its mix of spycraft, the old west, alternate history, and friendship was never truly adapted to screen. Instead, the 1999 film was filled with bad jokes and a rivalry dynamic between James West and Artemus Gordon that was non-existent in the TV show.

Wild Wild West is credited with being a visible origin of the steampunk subculture. Steampunk done well could add an extra layer of visual sophistication. The 1999 film had a steampunk spider, but its poor design and execution were detrimental to the film.

Of the 10 highest grossing westerns ever made, 5 were made in the last 5 years. A few high budgeted flops have “poisoned the well” a bit. But modestly budgeted films like True Grit and Django Unchained are #2 and #3 on the list of highest grossing westerns.

In 2010, Naren Shankar and Battlestar Galactica developer/executive producer Ronald D. Moore were tapped by CBS to reboot Wild Wild West for TV. Moore instead went on to develop the book series Outlander into a TV show for Starz.

Who Should Be Involved

Director — Ronald D. Moore
James West — Clive Owen
Artemus Gordon — Karl Urban
Remake Budget — $70 million

Ronald D. Moore is not only well suited to the task, he’s a big fan of the original TV series. While the TV series reboot he developed didn’t become a reality, he has lots of great ideas for Wild Wild West just waiting to be made. James West is basically James Bond as a cowboy, so why not cast a great actor who almost was Bond? Clive Owen has the stature, charm, and intelligent grittiness that would make the character believable and dangerous. Artemus Gordon is basically Sherlock Holmes as a cowboy. He’s a master of disguise, gadgetry, and deduction. Karl Urban transforms in each role he’s played but always retains a cool witted toughness.

Spawn (1997)

Why It's Due for a Remake

Spawn, the story of a man who sells his soul to the devil so that he can have his revenge, never really made sense as a PG-13 movie, other than fiscally. The effects, even in its time, didn’t look that great and look even worse now. The comic book was full of mature material that was either washed over or excised by the film. Spawn’s iconic cape was used sparingly due to budget and technical constraints. It was like a Spider-Man movie without web swinging.

Modern visual effects can finally bring Todd McFarlane’s art to the big screen. Making the movie a hard R would make the fans of the comic very happy. Making the movie more violent, scary, and gory should also bring in the horror movie crowd.

R rated films based off comic books get a smaller budget than their PG-13 brothers, but have proven to be bankable films in the hands of the right creative team. Worldwide gross examples: 300 - $456 million, Sin City - $158 million, Blade - $131 million.

McFarlane himself has said he’s been developing a script that turns the focus on other characters making Spawn into a sparingly seen presence. This could be cool for a Spawn TV show, but as a fan of the comics, I want a movie that focuses on Spawn.

Who Should Be Involved

Director — Robert Rodriguez
Al Simmons / Spawn — Jamie Foxx
Remake Budget — $85 million

Robert Rodriguez’s respect for source material and his ability to deliver visually stunning movies on a budget make him a perfect fit. Jamie Foxx has proven himself to be a badass thanks to Django Unchained, he’s an Oscar winner, and happily endured hours of daily makeup to be a comic book villain. Foxx has the name recognition that studios want to see. He’s even actively campaigning for the role. 

The Rocketeer (1991)

Why It's Due for a Remake

The Rocketeer is set in pre World War II Los Angeles and tells the story of a stunt pilot who comes into possession of a mysterious rocket pack. The film was mis-marketed and didn’t really find an audience until it hit home video and is now a cult classic. The movie is 23 years old and anyone younger than 18 likely hasn’t seen it — there are exceptions obviously.

The effects still look amazing and the story is well told. The “remake” could be a sequel of sorts like The Incredible Hulk and Superman Returns. But enough time might have passed that a full remake is deemed necessary. With elements of Indiana Jones and advanced tech via Howard Hughes, the opportunity for a great adventure story is massive.

Recent period comic book movie worldwide grosses: Captain America: The First Avenger - $370 and X-Men: First Class - $353.

In 2012 Disney said they were developing a remake and James Wan talked about directing it, but in the last 2 years we’ve heard nothing supporting that.

Who Should Be Involved

Director — Jon Favreau
Cliff Secord / The Rocketeer — Matt Bomer
Remake Budget — $110 million

Jon Favreau has proven himself as a great storyteller capable of working in lots of different genres. Comic book movies can easily turn cartoonish if mishandled. Favreau’s realistic take on Iron Man made all the action and characters believable, and it set the tone for the Marvel cinematic universe. Matt Bomer was almost Superman in a live action movie. I’m surprised that Marvel or DC have yet to snap him up for another character. Bomer not only looks like he’s from a different era but is charismatic with a smart edge to his presence.

Highlander (1986)

Why It's Due for a Remake

Highlander is about an immortal named Connor MacLeod who battles other immortals for the ultimate prize (maybe). After a terrible sequel and bit of retcon, the idea of an immortal Highland Scotsman was turned into a successful TV show with a new character, Duncan MacLeod. A third movie was made that retconned things again, followed by three more sloppy films and more retconning. The franchise has died so many deaths, but somehow keeps coming back to life.

The tale of an immortal battling other immortals is still interesting, but needs a singular vision and a real end game to the larger story. They also need to keep the films rated R, which might mean a lower budget, but Highlander without beheadings would just be wrong.

There is not a strong argument fiscally for this remake, which might be one the of reasons we’ve had 7 years without a Highlander movie. Ryan Reynolds has picked up and dropped the project a few times. With directors continually in flux, you can’t really blame him.

Who Should Be Involved

Director — Gareth Evans
Connor MacLeod — Ryan Reynolds
Remake Budget — $30 million

Gareth Evans created two crazy over-the-top action films on super small budgets, The Raid for $1.1 million and The Raid 2 for only $4.5 million. Even with a modest budget by Hollywood standards, Evans could create the most action filled Highlander film to ever exist. Ryan Reynolds needs a hit film badly. After Green Lantern and R.I.P.D. he looks like box office poison, which I think is very far from true. He’s great in indie films and rom-coms but has yet to star in a solid action franchise. Reynolds has shown he’s willing to do whatever it takes to make a good movie, and pairing him with the inventive Evans could be a winning combo.

20,000 Leagues Under the Sea (1954)

Why It's Due for a Remake

20,000 Leagues Under the Sea is a story about man versus nature, revenge, and freedom. Set in 1866, the submarine Nautilus is helmed by Captain Nemo who begins attacking American and European ships. Because the Nautilus is the first of its kind, people mistake it for a monster. 20,000 Leagues does not exist on blu-ray and was last released on DVD in 2003 — Disney has a history of permanently shelving movies that have aged badly. The movie's effects and take feel very dated by today's standards.

The source material is a classic book with themes that are still relevant today. The video game Bioshock showed what's possible with a steampunk/hydropunk aesthetic. Modern visual effects can finally realize the book's grand scope of adventures aboard the Nautilus.

Submarine movies don’t make that much money, but fantasy films rake in the box office cash. While 20,000 Leagues and Pirates of the Caribbean are very different, they do share some similar traits, and Pirates grossed $654 million worldwide.

In 2009, McG was attached to a remake envisioned as a Captain Nemo origin story with Will Smith as Nemo. In 2010 David Fincher picked up the project only to drop it in 2013 after unsuccessfully wooing Brad Pitt as Ned Land to the project. 20,000 Leagues was also made into a 1997 TV movie and a couple of un-noteworthy animated films (2000 and 2003).

Who Should Be Involved

Director — Duncan Jones
Captain Nemo — Chiwetel Ejiofor
Remake Budget — $160 million

Duncan Jones has made two solid films set in the near future and is currently in production on an epic fantasy film. He’s the perfect guy to adapt a nearly 150 year old book that's equal parts science fiction and hydropunk fantasy. Captain Nemo in the books is an Indian prince, but on film he’s usually an older European. Ignoring all that and looking purely at Captain Nemo’s characteristics as a brilliant scientist, engineer, and commander with a healthy dash of revenge fueled madness, Chiwetel Ejiofor's strong performances in both 12 Years a Slave and Serenity show he’s an actor more than worthy of the role.

The two illustrations you see here are Halloween variant art for Batgirl #35 created by Kevin Nowlan and Batman #35 by Brian Stelfreeze. They reimagine the two characters as cool yet creepy ass looking vampires.

Dimension Films has released a new TV spot for Sin City: A Damn to Kill For that is packed with awesome new footage. This movie has the makings of a great sequel, and any fan of the original film is most likely going to love what this new story has to offer. I personally think it looks a lot better than the first movie. The addition of Eva Green, Joseph Gordon-Levitt, and Josh Brolin is going to help take this thing to the next level. 

A couple new images from George Miller's Max Max: Fury Road have been released thanks to EW. The picture above features Tom Hardy as Max, and it doesn't look like he's having a very fun time. Then there's an image of Charlize Theron as Imperator Furiosa, looking like a badass. Warner Bros. has a panel for this long awaited film at Comic-Con this week, and I'm sure that's where we'll get our first look at some footage from the film.

Mad Max: Fury Road is the fourth film of George Miller‘s Road Warrior/Mad Max franchise co-written and directed by Miller. The post-apocalyptic action film is set in the furthest reaches of our planet, in a stark desert landscape where humanity is broken, and most everyone is crazed fighting for the necessities of life. Within this world of fire and blood exist two rebels on the run who just might be able to restore order… There’s Max (played by Tom Hardy from The Dark Knight Rises), a man of action and a man of few words, who seeks peace of mind following the loss of his wife and child in the aftermath of the chaos. And… Furiosa (played by Charlize Theron from Prometheus), a woman of action and a woman who believes her path to survival may be achieved if she can make it across the desert back to her childhood homeland.

Mad Max: Fury Road lands in theaters May 15th, 2015. Stay tuned for more details later this week from Comic-Con!

Via: The Playlist

AMC has released their Comic-Con banner for The Walking Dead Season 5. It shows us the gang back together and ready to fight those cannibalistic bastards at Terminus. I'm going to be so pissed if any of the characters in this banner die this next season.

The panel for the insanely awesome series is taking place on Friday, July 25th at 12:20 pm Pacific Time in Hall H. I'll be there, and I hope that they're going to show off some footage from the upcoming season! 

Here's an awesome piece of Star Wars fan art created by Chris Thornley a.k.a. Raid71. It's called "Here's Goes Nothing," and it features the Millennium Falcon racing through the Death Star in the climatic ending of Return of the Jedi. There's a numbered edition of 100, and you can buy one by clicking here for $40.

"Sometimes you gotta do bad things to do good."

FOX has released three new TV spots from the highly anticipated series Gotham. They each feature more new footage from the show that has been getting nothing but rave reviews. I'm so excited for the opportunity to watch the pilot episode at San Diego Comic-Con this weekend! We'll make sure to let you know what we thought about it.

Gotham is an origin story of the great DC Comics super villains and vigilantes, revealing an entirely new chapter that has never been told. From executive producer Bruno Heller (The Mentalist, Rome), Gotham follows one cop's rise through a dangerously corrupt city teetering on the edge of evil and chronicles the birth of one of the most popular super heroes of our time.

Gotham is based upon characters published by DC Comics and is produced by Warner Bros. Television. Heller wrote the pilot, which will be directed and executive-produced by Emmy Award nominee Danny Cannon (the CSI series, Nikita).

Ben McKenzie, Sean Pertwee, Robin Lord Taylor, Zabryna Guevara, Erin Richards, Donal Logue, Jada Pinkett Smith, David Mazouz and Camren Bicondova star in the series, which premieres September 22nd on FOX.

I Origins was one of my favorite movies at the Sundance Film Festival earlier this year. It's a faith vs science movie that makes the audience think, and it blew my mind to pieces. I just found out in a /Film interview with director Mike Cahill that this movie is actually a prequel to a script that he sold to Fox Searchlight in 2011 after he made his great sci-fi drama Another Earth. That script is called I, and this is an explanation from the director.

"[The end credits tease] is a whole ‘nother movie that I wanna make. And it’s called I. This is I Origins. This it has a, this has such an unusual title, right? And a lot of people are like are literally like this is grammatically confusing. It’s like what the hell is going on there? And the thing about me is I’m so literal when it comes to titles. Another Earth is about another Earth. Boxers and the Ballerina is about boxer and a ballerina. I Origins is the origin story for I. And I is another movie that I wrote and sold to Fox Searchlight when Another Earth came out. It takes place 20 years in the future. It’s basically the coda is the beginning of that film. We didn’t make it. We were developing it and I couldn’t crack it. There were some aspects of the story that was just, I just couldn’t crack it yet. And so before going engaging in like making a movie that was gonna be really like not so good. Not to say that this one is. This one just, you know, modest little movie or whatever. It’s our tiny little baby. But I was so eager to make something and I had this rich back story for I. So we made Origins first. As a very small like super low budget movie for a million bucks."

This is a rare thing to see happen, and as awesome as it is the question remains… will we ever see I get made? I Origins opens with a limited release this weekend, but will it make enough money to give the studio the confidence to move forward with the next chapter of the story? I hope so! If I Origins is playing near you you need to go watch it.

Jurassic World director Colin Trevorrow unveiled this cool piece of poster art for the film that was created by artist Mark Englert. This is a limited edition poster that will be available “to a resourceful few” at San Diego Comic-Con later this week. I'm not sure what that means, and no other details were given about the poster. I guess we'll find out more about it once we get to the convention. The poster design features a familiar dino and vehicle as the new park is being built in the background.

Here's a 17-minute behind-the-scenes video for Jonathan Liebesman's Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles. It features interviews with the cast and crew. It also shows off a decent amount of set footage and footage from the film for viewers to enjoy. It's actually an interesting video worth checking out, so here it is! 

Studio Canal and The Weinstein Company have released two trailers for Benedict Cumberbatch's intense World War II thriller The Imitation Game. The actor plays plays the brilliant yet troubled mathematician, logician, cryptologist, and computer scientist Alan Turing.

This looks like it will be a hell of a great movie, and it's based on the true story that follows Turing as he leads "the charge to crack the German Enigma Code that helped the Allies win WWII. Turing went on to assist with the development of computers at the University of Manchester after the war, but was prosecuted by the UK government in 1952 for homosexual acts which the country deemed illegal."

The movie comes out on November 21st and also stars Keira Knightley, Mark Strong, and Matthew Goode. 

This wonderful Harley Quinn cosplayer goes by the name The Artful Dodger, and the photography was done by Blake Robertson. I love the playfulness portrayed in the photos. This is one of my favorite Batman villains, and it's always nice to come across really cool art and cosplay like this. Hope you like it!

If you haven't been watching Homeland on Showtime then you're missing out on some amazing television! The last season was insane, and that ending was shocking. I can't believe they did what they did, but who knows, maybe there's a twist to what we saw.

The cable network has released the first trailer for the fourth season, and Carrie Mathison is back in action. The upcoming season is largely set in Pakistan and Afghanistan and it stars Claire Danes and Mandy Patinkin.

Homeland Season 4 will premiere on October 5th!

TV Line

ABC has released a Comic-Con poster for Pixar's upcoming holiday special Toy Story That Time Forgot. The print will be given away to fans at the San Diego Comic-Con this Thursday, and if you couldn't tell by the style, it was created by Mike Mignola (Hellboy).

In the story Buzz (Tim Allen), Woody (Tom Hanks), and the rest of the gang "find themselves in uncharted territory when 'the coolest set of action figures ever' turn out to be dangerously delusional."

The voice cast also includes Kristen Schaal as Trixie, Kevin McKidd (Rome) as Reptillus Maximus, Wallace Shawn as Rex, Timothy Dalton as Mr. Pricklepants, Don Rickles as Mr. Potato Head, and Joan Cusack as Jessie. 

The Comic-Con panel for Toy Story That Time Forgot will be held Thursday at 11:15 am PST, in Room 6A.

A little nugget of information went under the radar last week in article over at Deadline. They report that the first screenwriter to work on the script for Tom Cruise's Edge of Tomorrow, Dante Harper, is currently writing the script for Warner Bros' live-action adaptation of Akira.

I'm surprised this movie is still in development! The studio has been trying to get this project off the ground for years, and for one reason or another they've never been able to get it into production. 

Orphan director Jaume Collet-Serra is currently attached to helm the project. Edge of Tomorrow was such a great, well-written movie, and I think Harper might have the talent to deliver a solid script to the studio. 

I'm glad that this movie hasn't been made yet. I have a fear that the WB is going to butcher the story. If the movie actually moves into production, hopefully Collet-Serra and Harper will deliver a solid film that will make fans happy.

Via: Anime News Network