Edward Norton's fantastic 2006 film The Illusionist is the latest movie to be added to the list of TV series adaptations. I really liked this movie, especially for the fact that it centered on magic, which is something I'm completely fascinated with. On top of that it had an intriguing story.

The movie was written and directed by Neil Burger, and it's set in 1889 Vienna. The story centers around a magician named Eisenheim (Norton), who is competing with the Crown Prince for the love of a noble woman (Jessica Biel). At the same time he's being chased and investigated by the chief of police (Paul Giamatti), who is suspicious of his talents. 

The series is being written by Mark Hudis (True Blood), and according to Deadline, the new adaptation will take place in turn of the century New York. "It centers on a renowned illusionist who returns home from a decade in prison to find his wife married to the ruthless crime boss who framed him. Posing as an underling in the crime boss’s own organization, the illusionist uses cunning magic to pull off elaborate heists, rising quickly through the organization in order to take down the boss from the inside and win back his one true love."

It definitely sounds like it has potential to make for a really good series. They seemed to have changed the story around completely, and it really doesn't have anything to do with the movie other than is has a magician in it and a girl he loves. The series actually sounds even more exciting than the movie. I'll definitely be checking it out. 

I love binge-watching series on Netflix and Hulu, and sometimes I wish I could binge-watch The Walking Dead for the first time. The next best thing, though, is watching people who have never seen the series before watch it for the first time. I find a lot of joy watching the reactions of people seeing something for the first time that I've already seen for myself. If you do too, you're going to enjoy this video. 

A German couple set up a camera, and filmed themselves watching all 51 episodes of The Walking Dead, and then released the footage as a time-lapse video. The video switches to regular speed at big, life-changing moments in the series. They ended up getting through the whole series in 3 days.

Via: io9

The Matrix was such an amazing groundbreaking piece of filmmaking. I remember the first time I saw that movie it completely blew my mind. I couldn't believe that kind of stuff could be done in movies. It was like seeing Star Wars for the first time. After the movie came out there was a slew of films that tried to capture that cutting-edge awesomeness. Most of them fell flat on their face though. 

Before Keanu Reeves came on board to star as Neo in the movie, the part was Will Smith's for the taking. After The Wachowskis met with Reeves, though, they knew that he was "The One." During a recent Reddit AMA the actor shared the story of meeting The Wachowskis for the first time and how he landed the role.

"I was very lucky. I got a call from my agent, saying that these directors, the Wachowskis, wanted to meet, and they sent me the script, and the script was absolutely amazing, and I went in to meet with them, and they showed me some artwork, of their vision, and an early version of 'bullet time,' and it was very exciting and inspiring.

"We ended up hanging out in a parking lot outside the offices just talking and riffing, and we basically just kinda shook hands - they told me they wanted me to train for 4 months prior to filming, and I got a big grin on my face and said: 'Yes.' That's how it happened."

I can only imagine how exciting it must have been for Reeves to land a role like this. It kind of set the course for the rest of his career. I know the actor gets a lot of crap from people, but I like him as an actor. He makes really fun movies that I enjoy, and The Matrix is easily one of his best. It would be great to see him team back up with The Wachowskis for another film project, whether it is Matrix related or something completely different. They have the ability to make really cool movies together. 

I have a lot of great memories of going on the Haunted Mansion attraction at Disneyland. It's one of my favorite rides at the park because it's entertaining as hell. There's just so much going on in it! I can only imagine how fun it must have been to have been involved with the creation of the ride. 

I've found a collection of vintage photos here from the 1960s giving us a behind-the-scenes look at the development of the ride. The photos feature famed Disney Imagineer Yale Gracey with his awesome ghostly special effects creations. There are even a few photos of him with the Hatbox Ghost, who is the most famous character in Haunted Mansion lore. I think these photos are so cool.

Thanks to Haunted Mansion Backstage for the photos.

Bill Murray is a man of many talents, and he continues to surprise his fans with the things he does, both on and off the screen. Variety reports that the actor will be reteaming with his Lost in Translation director, Sofia Coppola, for a TV Christmas musical special. The first thing I thought about when I saw this news was the live TV production of A Christmas Carol in the movie Scrooged. Of course, this special won't be anything like that, but it would be hilarious if it was!

Murray and Coppola are still trying figure sit all out, and there's not much information to share yet. Murray did have this to say, though,

“It’s not going to be live. We’re going to do it like a little movie. It won’t have a format, but it’s going to have music. It will have texture. It will have threads through it that are writing. There will be prose. It will have a patina style and wit to it. It will be nice."

Coppola added her two cents, saying, "We’re working on a Christmas special. Not sure when it will air, but my motivation is to hear him singing my song requests."

I have no idea what to expect from this project, but I can't help but imagine that it's going to be entertaining as hell. How can it not be?! Especially with Bill Murray singing away. 

A new trailer for Katie Holmes' interesting vigilante action thriller, Miss Meadows is out. In the film Holmes plays a sweet, proper teacher who wreaks havoc on evil-doers when she's not educating elementary school kids. It's a very different project for Holmes, and I like the fact that she's doing an edgy, dark, outside of the box movie like this. This is a much better trailer than the last one that was released, and it offers more footage and insight into the story and character. Here's a brief synopsis:

Miss Meadows is a school teacher with impeccable manners and grace. However, underneath the candy-sweet exterior hides a ruthless gun-toting vigilante who takes it upon herself to right the wrongs in the world by whatever means necessary. For Miss Meadows, bad behavior is simply unforgivable.

The movie also stars James Badge Dale, and it will be released in theaters on November 14th.

Artist Dave Rapoza conjured up this exhilarating variant cover art for Marvel's Spider-Verse Team Up #1 with his magical artistic powers. This guy's art style is so damn cool. He brings a certain gritty badassness to the characters he draws. 

The stunningly awesome cover features the following Spider-Man incarnations: 616 Spider-Man, Spider-Man Noir, the "Killer Spider-Man" from Superior Spider-Man #32 and Superior Spider-Man #33, Ben Reilly, and even Spider-Ham jumps in to kick some ass.

To see more art from Rapoza, click here. 

Ben Affleck and Matt Damon are teaming up for a new drama series on the SyFy Channel called Incorporated. 

According to THR the series is described as a "futuristic espionage thriller set in a world where corporations have seemingly unlimited power. The drama will be the story of one man's efforts to beat the system."

The pilot for the series will be written by brothers and writing team David and Alex Pastor (Selfless, The Last Days). Affleck and Damon on executive producers on the series, and Ted Humphrey (The Good Wife) will serve as showrunner. 

This seems like a story that will fit right in with what SyFy is doing these days with the series they are producing. There's some solid talent attached to the project, and I'm curious to see how it turns out.

Anand Jain, also known also as MrSolidSnake745 on YouTube, has created an awesome version of John Williams' classic Star Wars musical score, “The Imperial March,” using eight floppy drives. I have no idea what goes into making something like this work, but I sure do enjoy benefitting from the person that does! It's quite an enjoyable video to watch. A couple of years ago we posted the Ghostbusters theme song he made. In case you missed that, you can check it out here. Here's a note from the man behind the the floppy drives:

Three years ago today, I uploaded my first FDD cover video. I had absolutely no idea that a small side project would grow into such a big part of my life. It's crazy to think it got to the point where a museum even asked me to build them a setup (pictures on my FB Page)! To celebrate I've given that first video the remake it deserves. Compare the difference between this and the first version. Even I'm impressed by the huge change in quality.

Steven Spielberg's Close Encounter of the Third Kind is not only one of my favorite sci-fi movies, it's one of my favorite movies of all time. This film is a beautiful masterpiece that has just stuck with me. It's one of those films I revisit time and time again, and I always seem to notice something new and different.

Artist Casey Callender created this captivating poster that pays a wonderful tribute to the movie, and it has a certain amount of wondrous enchantment to it that just pulls me in. Now I want to watch the movie again! The poster is a part of the "Imagined Worlds" art show being put on by The Hero Complex Gallery. To see the artist's poster for Spielberg's Duel, click here. 

LOST co-star Mark Pellegrino stars in this very dark looking thriller called Bad Turn Worse, in which he plays a very bad dude. We have the first trailer for the movie to share with you, and it seems like one of those crazy off-beat films that I would enjoy watching. Here's the synopsis:

After a weekend of partying with stolen money, three Texas teens (Jeremy Allen White, Logan Huffman, and Mackenzie Davis) find themselves indebted to a sociopathic criminal named Giff (Mark Pellegrino in a breakout performance). To pay their debt, Giff forces the teens to steal from his boss, a money-laundering gangster named Big Red (William Devane). Things go from bad to worse when betrayal, distrust, and corruption complicate an already dangerous plan. This stylish and emotional crime thriller is the stunning directorial debut of Simon and Zeke Hawkins. An official selection of the 2013 Toronto International Film Festival.

The movie is set to be released in theaters, on iTunes and VOD on November 14th.

A trailer has been released for Elijah Wood's new film Set Fire to the Stars. The film is set in the 1950s, and Wood plays an aspiring poet named John M. Brinnin "who has his ordered world shaken when he embarks on a week-long retreat to save his hell raising hero, Dylan Thomas." He has basically been given the task of coordinating the first trip to the US for Thomas, who is played by Celyn Jones. It's a road trip movie that kind of has the same plot as the Jonah Hill and Russell Brand comedy Get Him to the Greek, only this one centers on a poet instead of a rockstar, and it's a black and white movie that takes place in the '50s.

The movie was directed by Andy Goddard (Downton Abbey), and it looks like an amusing and fun film. It premiered at the Edinburgh Film Festival, where it was met with positive reviews. 

"Dead or alive, you are coming with me."

Hot Toys recently revealed their 1/6 scale RoboCop collectible action figure that fans of the original movie are sure to love. The figure highlights the battle damage that the character incurred during the course of his bloody and violent adventure. It always creeped me the hell out when Murphy took off his helmet. His face on that robotic body is the thing nightmares are made of. 

Earlier this year, many fans were extremely excited to see the prototype of the new battle damaged version Robocop Collectible Figure at a number of toy fairs! In addition to the wonderfully crafted battle damage effect, it is the first ever official 1/6th scale collectible figure that features the likeness of Peter Weller! Today, we are proud to officially present the highly-anticipated 1/6th scale RoboCop (Battle Damaged Version) Collectible Figure! 

The movie-accurate RoboCop (Battle Damaged Version) Collectible Figure specially crafted based on the image of Peter Weller as the battle damaged RoboCop in the film. It features a new sculpted head sculpt with mechanical details, specially painted battle damaged armor, working thigh gun holster, detailed weapons and accessories.

Disney has treated fans to a new Halloween themed TV spot for their upcoming animated superhero adventure Big Hero 6, as well as another clip. The clip gives us a glimpse at the relationship between Hiro and his older brother Tadashi. Hiro wants to go bot fighting, but Tadashi obviously doesn't approve. Even though Tadashi isn't in the film for very long, he plays a big role in the adventure that Hiro and his friends embark on. 

The movie was inspired by the Marvel comics of the same name, and it's "an action-packed comedy-adventure about robotics prodigy Hiro Hamada, who learns to harness his genius—thanks to his brilliant brother Tadashi and their like-minded friends: adrenaline junkie Go Go Tamago, neatnik Wasabi, chemistry whiz Honey Lemon and fanboy Fred. When a devastating turn of events catapults them into the midst of a dangerous plot unfolding in the streets of San Fransokyo, Hiro turns to his closest companion—a robot named Baymax—and transforms the group into a band of high-tech heroes determined to solve the mystery." 

Big Hero 6 was directed by Don Hall (Winnie the Pooh) and Chris Williams (Bolt), and produced by Roy Conli (Tangled). The film hits theaters in 3D on November 7th, 2014.

A character size chart supposedly from Hot Toys has leaked, giving us a look at a size comparison of the various cahracters in Age of Ultron. It offers a tease of just how big Tony Stark's Hulkbuster will be, as well as Vision and Ultron II. The Hulkbuster armor is eleven freakin' feet tall, and it looks pretty damn burly. It's going to be so cool watching the eight-foot-five Hulk battling this thing! Unfortunately, the three characters here that we all want to get a look at have been blanked out, but that's ok. It gives us something to look forward to when we are overloaded with trailers, TV spots, and clips for the film. 

When Tony Stark tries to jumpstart a dormant peacekeeping program, things go awry and Earth’s Mightiest Heroes, including Iron Man, Captain America, Thor, The Incredible Hulk, Black Widow and Hawkeye, are put to the ultimate test as the fate of the planet hangs in the balance. As the villainous Ultron emerges, it is up to the Avengers to stop him from enacting his terrible plans, and soon uneasy alliances and unexpected action pave the way for an epic and unique global adventure. 

Marvel’s “Avengers: Age of Ultron” stars Robert Downey Jr., who returns as Iron Man, along with Chris Evans as Captain America, Chris Hemsworth as Thor and Mark Ruffalo as The Hulk. Together with Scarlett Johansson as Black Widow and Jeremy Renner as Hawkeye, and with the additional support of Samuel L. Jackson as Nick Fury and Cobie Smulders as Agent Maria Hill, the team must reassemble to defeat James Spader as Ultron, a terrifying technological villain hell-bent on human extinction. Along the way, they confront two mysterious and powerful newcomers, Wanda Maximoff, played by Elizabeth Olsen, and Pietro Maximoff, played by Aaron Taylor-Johnson, and meet an old friend in a new form when Paul Bettany becomes Vision. 

The Joss Whedon-directed movie comes out on May 1st, 2015.

Another incredible episode from The Walking Dead has come and gone. So far, I'm completely satisfied with what I'm seeing and where this season is going. Last night's episode was freakin' gut-wrenching, especially that last scene! Damn. AMC has released a new promo trailer and sneak peek for next week's episode, which is called "Four Walls and a Roof." In it, Rick and the others find themselves pitted against a group of very nasty people, but they may have a plan to gain the upper hand. It looks like it's going to be another great episode! I've also included three videos featuring some behind the scenes footage from the last episode, "Strangers."

This might just be some of the most amusing Avengers fan art that I've ever seen. It's a set of tarot cards featuring our favorite superheroes reimagined in a way that we've never seen before. The set features The Hierophant: Phil - Chiron; The Sun: Thor - Apollo; The Magician: Tony - Mercury; Strength: Steve - Herakles; The Hermit: Bruce - Cronus; The Lover: Natasha and Clint - Aphrodite and Adonis; and The Devil: Loki - Pan. The illustrations were done by Julia Cross, and I'm sure a lot of you will enjoy the fruits of her labor. 

In celebration of the 20th anniversary of Kevin Smith's indie indie, Clerks, the writer and director posted a little journal entry on Twitter. This is from a pre-production journal for the film that was dated 3/4/93, which was less than 2 weeks before he started shooting the movie that would become a cult classic. Here's what he wrote:

"We start shooting the end of this month, Almost all of the details are in place, and I'm about ready to put this thing to bed. The principals are good, the bit parts are funny, and I've demoted myself from second lead Randal to non-speaking Silent Bob. Yes, I am humble in spite of myself."

The 1990s brought us a surge of incredibly talented filmmakers such as Quentin Tarantino, Richard Linklater, and Smith. Clerks was made on a $27,000 budget, it premiered at The Sundance Film Festival in 1994, and people loved it. The movie got a limited release later that that year on October 19th, and it made $31,445 on its opening weekend. It made over $3.1 million in total. 

Twenty years later Smith has financing ready to go on Clerks III, which fans are really looking forward to seeing. The director recently revealed that the movie has secured its financing, and he will most likely start shooting it after he's done with his original comic book movie, Yoga Hosers, which will star himself, Johnny Depp, and their daughters. 

I wonder if we'll ever see a surge of cool indie filmmakers like this again.

We are one day closer to Halloween, and today we have an amazingly entertaining Halloween educational video from the year 1977. I tried to show this to my kids, and it creeped them out more than anything. Now I'm not sure if they want to go out trick-or-treating this year! Costumes definitely aren't as creepy and disturbing as they used to be.

The following videos were released by Tucson, Arizona-based filmmaker Jason Willis. He released the actual video in its entirety, as well as a short edited version that is wonderfully cut to the theme song of The Munsters.  Here's what said about it:

"It had been so long that I could scarcely remember a thing about my involvement, and mostly questioned whether or not it would turn out that I was even really in the damn thing after all. But as of today, for the first time in 30 years, I can confirm that: yes, yes I am. The grand screen-time-total of my glorious film debut? About 14 seconds. 14 seconds of complete fucking Halloween awesomeness."

It looks like Suicide Squad isn't the only comic book movie that Tom Hardy is up for. According to The Wrap, the British actor is also up for the role of the villain Apocalypse in director Bryan Singer's X-Men: Apocalypse!

At one point Hardy was rumored to be up for the role of Doctor Strange, but it seems like that ship has sailed, and he's not on it. One thing for sure is, it looks like he's going to be attached to another comic book project in the near future. This wouldn't be the first time either, as he also played Bane in Christopher Nolan's The Dark Knight Rises. 

I think Hardy would be great in both Suicide Squad and X-Men: Apocalypse. But if I had to choose to see him in one of those it would have to be as Apocalypse, because he would freakin' be awesome in that role!

As of right now, it doesn't seem like anyone is officially signed on to star in the film yet, but Jennifer Lawrence, Michael Fassbender, James McAvoy, and Nicholas Hoult are expected to return. Producer/co-writer Simon Kinberg previously said that the sequel will take place in the 1980s and may also feature some of the original cast, such as Hugh Jackman, Patrick Stewart, etc. Who knows how big of a role they will play in the film this time around though. 

The film will center around the mutant villain Apocalypse, who we all saw in the post-credits scene of Days of Future Past. It was also said that the story will involve Ancient Mutants. It's going to be cool to see what kind of story they have developed from these elements. 

Which of these two movies would you rather see Hardy in?