It looks like Captain America: The Winter Solider directors Joe and Anthony Russo are looking to produce some Spider-Man films for Sony Pictures. This news apparently comes from some additional leaked Sony emails that were found by the Brazilian site overtice.com.

The discussion took place last month between Sony Entertainment Chairman Amy Pascal and the Russo brothers. When talking about one of the proposed deals that Marvel and Sony were working on, the Russos said, "A pity that negotiations with Marvel did not work."

That deal most likely included the one that would have included Spider-Man in Captain America: Civil War, which the Russos are currently developing. They went on to reveal to they will be directing Avengers: Infinity War Part 1 and Part 2,  and they also explained that their obligation to those Marvel films wouldn't prevent them from directing another film called The Gray, which is a project they have set up at Sony.

On November 17th, Pascal got another email from Joe Russo offering to have him and his brother produce Sony's Spider-Man films through their newly-formed production company, Bullitt. The following quote is a rough (re)translation from the site:

"We can produce Spiderman. My brother and I through the new production contract. I know this would be a difficult conversation with Tomalch and Avi, but I think it can be a conversation worth having, what do you think?"

I definitely think that it's a conversation worth having! There's no recorded reply from Pascal, as Sony's computer system was shut down about week after Russo sent that email. So Pascal could have responded by now.  

It was recently reported that there is still room to negotiate a deal between the two studios, and it makes complete sense for the Russos to be involved. I would love to see the Russos take on Spider-Man! Their involvement could also help bridge the gap between Song and Marvel and finally get them to work together.

What are your thoughts on these guys developing Spider-Man films for Sony? 

This is easily the most absurdly funny Iron Man parody that I've seen. The short is called "Iron Can," and the main hero of the story is Tony Starch, a Febreze-like spray bottle who has a high tech suit of iron armor that he wears when going out to save the world. The video comes from Anders Wotzke of Moviedex, and this is what he said about his work:

From the moronic mind of BATFAN comes the motion picture event of the afternoon: IRON CAN, the incredible true story of the founding member of the legendary Appliance Alliance™.

A full trailer had been released for Summit Entertainment's The Divergent Series: Insurgent. I've never read any of the books in this series, and I thought the first movie was ok. That being said, this sequel looks a lot better. This is a thrilling action-packed trailer that I'm sure fans of the franchise will enjoy. The story also seems to take a really interesting turn. 

The movie stars Shailene Woodley, Theo James, Octavia Spencer, Jai Courtney, Ray Stevenson, Zoe Kravitz, Miles Teller, Ansel Elgort, Maggie Q, Mekhi Phifer, Daniel Dae Kim, Naomi Watts, and Kate Winslet. Here's the synopsis:

THE DIVERGENT SERIES: INSURGENT raises the stakes for Tris as she searches for allies and answers in the ruins of a futuristic Chicago. Tris (Woodley) and Four (James) are now fugitives on the run, hunted by Jeanine (Winslet), the leader of the power-hungry Erudite elite. Racing against time, they must find out what Tris’s family sacrificed their lives to protect, and why the Erudite leaders will do anything to stop them. Haunted by her past choices but desperate to protect the ones she loves, Tris, with Four at her side, faces one impossible challenge after another as they unlock the truth about the past and ultimately the future of their world.

Insurgent is set to be released on March 21st, 2014.

Stephen Colbert had one of the most epic interviews of his career last night on The Colbert Report when he brought on the dragon Smaug as a guest! My mind was blown when I came across this video this morning. It is utterly awesome. The rest of my day will all be downhill from here. The conversation they have is incredibly entertaining, and when talking about his acting career Smaug says,

“It’s hard for conservatives to get good roles in this town. That’s why Kelsey Grammer and I are always up for the same part.”

He then goes on to say he was offered a role on Sherlock, but didn't want to play “second fiddle to that hack Cumberbatch.” I also loved the There Will Be Blood milkshake reference.

During the interview they also show an action-packed clip from the film. Check it out if you haven't already (or even if you have) and enjoy!

The Colbert Report
Get More: Colbert Report Full Episodes,The Colbert Report on Facebook,Video Archive

We previously reported that Sony might be licensing Spider-Man back to Marvel with a 60/40 split and Sony controlling distribution. Spider-Man is so lucrative that such a deal could work for all parties involved. Sony has made it clear that it's not confident that Sony Pictures can make good Spider-Man movies.

It's well known that the worst parts of Sam Raimi's and Marc Webb's respective Spider-Man movies were additions forced by Sony. We also know that Sony's Spider-Man films are in a creative tailspin, with a possible Aunt May solo film being the coup de grâce.

We reported today that Sony Pictures is trying to lure Joe and Anthony Russo to produce Spider-Man after directing Avengers: Infinity War Part 1 and Part 2. Given Sony Pictures' track record of forcing bad notes on directors, I don't know why they would want to leave Marvel.

Latino-Review reports that if Marvel gets control of Spider-Man they will wipe the slate clean, making the Raimi and Webb non-canon to the Marvel cineverse. This would also mean Andrew Garfield, who is liked by many and jeered by a vocal few, would no longer be Spider-Man. This would be bold but necessary.

Because Captain America: Civil War is so close to production, don't expect Spider-Man to show up even if a deal is made. The script is reportedly locked down. Remember, Marvel takes its time when casting larger roles. We recently had Doctor Strange casting news after an odyssey that took a solid 4 years.

DC Comics has released four great variant covers that feature art inspired by the movie posters for Warner Bros. films. This is all part of a bigger plan from the comic publisher in which every month they will have a theme for variant covers that will be created and released. The month of March in 2015 will focus on the movies of WB, and the four covers you see here are the first of many to come. They were based on the movies 300, Harry Potter, The Fugitive, and Super Fly. 

• BATMAN & ROBIN #40 inspired by HARRY POTTER, with cover art by Tommy Lee Edwards
• BATMAN/SUPERMAN #20 inspired by THE FUGITIVE, with cover art by Tony Harris
• SUPERMAN #40 inspired by SUPER FLY, with cover art by Dave Johnson
• WONDER WOMAN #40 inspired by 300, with cover art by Bill Sienkiewicz

There are a lot more coming upcoming covers, and I've included a list of them below. Thanks to /Film, who debuted the art you see here. 

Here's a list of other movie themed art that will be coming:

ACTION COMICS #40 inspired by BILL & TED’S EXCELLENT ADVENTURE, with cover art by Joe Quinones
AQUAMAN #40 inspired by FREE WILLY, with cover art by Richard Horie
BATGIRL #40 inspired by PURPLE RAIN, with cover art by Cliff Chiang
BATMAN #40 inspired by THE MASK, with cover art by Dave Johnson
BATMAN & ROBIN #40 inspired by HARRY POTTER, with cover art by Tommy Lee Edwards
BATMAN/SUPERMAN #20 inspired by THE FUGITIVE, with cover art by Tony Harris
CATWOMAN #40 inspired by BULLITT, with cover art by Dave Johnson
DETECTIVE COMICS #40 inspired by THE MATRIX, with cover art by Brian Stelfreeze
FLASH #40 inspired by NORTH BY NORTHWEST, with cover art by Bill Sienkiewicz
HARLEY QUINN #16 inspired by JAILHOUSE ROCK, with cover art by Dave Johnson
GRAYSON #8 inspired by ENTER THE DRAGON, with cover art by Bill Sienkiewicz
GREEN LANTERN #40 inspired by 2001: A SPACE ODYSSEY, with cover art by Tony Harris
GREEN LANTERN CORPS #40 inspired by FORBIDDEN PLANET, with cover cover art by Tony Harris
JUSTICE LEAGUE UNITED #10 inspired by MARS ATTACKS, with cover art by Marco D’Alphonso
JUSTICE LEAGUE #40 inspired by MAGIC MIKE, with cover art by Emanuela Lupacchino
JUSTICE LEAGUE DARK #40 inspired by BEETLEJUICE, with cover art by Joe Quinones
TEEN TITANS #8 inspired by THE LOST BOYS, with cover art by Alex Garner
SINESTRO #11 inspired by WESTWORLD, with cover art by Dave Johnson
SUPERGIRL #40 inspired by WIZARD OF OZ, with cover art by Marco D’Alphonso
SUPERMAN #40 inspired by SUPER FLY, with cover art by Dave Johnson
SUPERMAN/WONDER WOMAN #17 inspired cover by GONE WITH THE WIND, with art by Gene Ha
WONDER WOMAN #40 inspired by 300, with cover art by Bill Sienkiewicz

In case you were wondering if Disney and Lucasfilm were still planning to make some new Indiana Jones films, rest assured, because they are. But it's going to take a lot of work to get that franchise up and running again, and right now the studios are completely focused on relaunching Star Wars.

The news comes from a talk that Disney CEO and Chairman Bob Iger had with Variety. Reporter Marc Graser was live-tweeting what was being said, and this is one of the tweets he released:

Disney's Bob Iger: "We'd love to make another Indiana Jones movie but we're pacing ourselves right now," launching Star Wars first.

There's been some news and rumors regarding the project over the last year that included Harrison Ford being in negotiations and Disney developing a reboot with Bradley Cooper, which was denied by producers. Then there's this awesome photoshopped image of Chris Pratt in the role that seemed to get the fans excited. 

The studio obviously isn't in any rush to resurrect the franchise, but when they do move on it, I'll be excited to see what their plans are going to be. At this point, anything could happen, even a reboot. Hey! Maybe they'll hire J.J. Abrams to direct the first movie! 

Ideally, Ford would come back to reprise his role at least one more time to make up for the last Indiana Jones movie that was made. I understand that he can't play the character forever, so there's always the chance that they could recast the role. Now before you get fired up about that, remember... they've been doing that with James Bond for years, and the fans still love that franchise. With that in mind, I think it's ok to cast someone else in the role of Jones as long as they continue to tell some great, adventurous stories.

Next year is 2015. The future of the Back to the Future franchise has finally caught up with us, and we're nowhere near where I'd hoped we would be. Where are all the flying cars, the funky Pepsi bottles, and kids playing in the streets with their hover boards? Most importantly,where is Jaws 19?! Oh well, looks like we're just going to have to keep awaiting for some of these things. As a tribute to the film, and a way to ring in the new year, artist Olivier Fritsch has created this great piece of fan art for us to enjoy.

Super Mario Bros. may be making it's way back to the big screen thanks to Sony Pictures and producer Avi Arad. The first 1993 movie is so classically bad that Nintendo hasn't attempted to make a movie out of one of their video game properties since. 

The news was reported by Kotaku, and it came from an email that Arad sent out, and was discovered from the Sony hack. Here's what they report:

"I am the proud father of mario the animated film [sic]," producer Avi Arad told Sony studio chief Amy Pascal in an email dated Oct. 23, 2014, with the subject line "Mario." Arad then forwarded Pascal separate images of him with Mario Bros.creator Shigeru Miyamoto and Nintendo CEO Satoru Iwata, the latter of which included the message, "Happy ceo, lets get together, it's the mother load. [sic]"

So it looks like we might just be seeing an animated Super Mario Bros. film sometime in the future. The project is in the very earliest stages of development, and other than Arad attached to it as a producer, there is no other talent involved at this point. Of course, there's also the chance that the movie will never see the light of day either. It seems like Arad is the guy who acquired the rights, so he could technically take it to another studio if Sony decides to pass on it.

I've always loved the Super Mario Bros., and even though the live-action movie was a disaster, it still holds a special place in my heart. If the movie moves forward, I hope that they bring a talented team of people together to give fans something awesome. 

It seems like the Star Wars that Disney and Lucasfilm is developing is going to include all kinds of new and different lightsaber designs. One of them, the crossguard lightsaber, was revealed in the trailer for Star Wars: The Force Awakens. There were also rumors of another one that we'll see in the movie that you can read about here. 

Now we've got another one to share with you. It is a custom made multifuction lightsaber that will be used by the character Ezra in Star Wars Rebels. I love it's unique design, and the fact that it allows him to not only disengage his lightsaber, but also use the hilt of it to fire a stun blast.

The image comes from latest issue of Star Wars Insider (via Jedi News). It seems like we could see a lot of custom made lightsabers appearing in the various parts of the franchise. You can see the custom lightsaber design below:

We've got another action-packed trailer for Jason Statham's upcoming Las Vegas gambling thriller Wild Card. I'm a big fan of the films that Statham makes. Basically, every movie he stars in manages to entertain me. This latest film of his is a remake of a 1987 movie called Heat, which starred Burt Reynolds. I vaguely remember watching that movie, but this one looks like a lot of fun. It was directed by Simon West (The Mechanic and The Expendables 2), and here's the synopsis: 

Nick Wild (Jason Statham) is a Las Vegas bodyguard with lethal professional skills and a personal gambling problem. When a friend is beaten by a sadistic thug, Nick strikes back, only to find out the thug is the son of a powerful mob boss. Suddenly Nick is plunged into the criminal underworld, chased by enforcers and wanted by the mob. Having raised the stakes, Nick has one last play to change his fortunes…and this time, it’s all or nothing. From two-time Academy® Award-winning writer William Goldman (Best Original Screenplay, Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid, 1969; Best Adapted Screenplay, All the President’s Men, 1976).

The film also stars Michael Angarano, Hope Davis, Milo Ventimiglia, Stanley Tucci, Jason Alexander, Sofía Vergara, and Anne Heche. The movie is set to be released on January 30th, 2015.

I love this piece of comic art so damn much! It's called "Thunderclaus," and it combines the awesomeness of Thundercats with the magic of Santa Claus. It was created by DeviantArt user QuadForceFive, and the result is brilliant badassery to the extreme. This is the kind of Christmas card that I would send to everyone, so this is my Christmas card to all of you! Now, someone, please animate this! 

Via: Geeksaresexy

With the recent hacking of Sony Pictures, cybercrime has been a hot topic. There's a new movie coming out called Blackhat that puts the focus on how crazy cybercrime can get. The movie was directed by Michael Mann (Public Enemies, Collateral), and it stars Chris Hemsworth in the lead role. This looks like a really great thriller! Mann is good at telling these kinds of stories. As a fan of most of his work, I'm looking forward to seeing this.

Set within the world of global cybercrime, Legendary’s Blackhat follows a furloughed convict and his American and Chinese partners as they hunt a high-level cybercrime network from Chicago to Los Angeles to Hong Kong to Jakarta. 

This makes me wonder if Sony has hired a guy like Hemsworth's character to track down and stop the people that put them in this crazy situation. The movie also stars Viola Davis, Tang Wei and Wang Leehom, and it was written by Morgan Davis Foehl and Mann. The movie is set to hit theaters on January 16th, 2015. 

Christmas is rapidly approaching, and if you have a large geeky family or group of friends, getting gifts for them can be really hard and expensive to do. I've compiled a list of 20 geeky things under $20 that can all be purchased from Urban Outfitters online or in store. I chose them for logistical reasons: they are open late, they are everywhere, and if you go the online route it's free shipping when you get over $50 worth of stuff.

World's Smallest Walkie Talkie — Set of 2  — $15

Marvel Faces Tee — $20

R2D2 String Lights — 30 inches long — $20

Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles Pint Glass — $8 or 2 for $10

Pixapet — $10

Nintendo Game Boy Tee — $20

Nightmare Before Christmas Plush Ornament — $12

Inflatable Crown — $6

Astronaut Ice Cream Sandwich — $6

Astronaut Ice Cream — $6

Kikkerland Survival Tool — $6

Buddy The Elf How Is Your Christmas Tee — $20

The Great Lakes Lucky Dice Game — $14

Oversized Mike And Ike Candy Box — $20

Nite Ize Flashflight Jr. LED Disc — $16

Pop Art Sloth Tee — $20

Refracting Prism — $6

Breaking Bad Los Pollos Hermanos Pint Glass — $8 or 2 for $10

The Star Wars Cookbook II — $19

The X-Files I Want To Believe Tee — $20

Art by Enzoe35

I very much enjoy the current Batman prequel series Gotham. I think the creative team has done a great job with it, and I'm looking forward to seeing the story continue. It turns out there was another TV series in development with the same title back in 2013, and at this point it's obvious that it will never go into development.

The series was being developed by Harry Locke IV, who spent the majority of 2013 fine tuning his idea, so that he could pitch it to Warner Bros. The treatment for this series may have carried the same name as the current show, and played with the same concept, but it would have been very different. 

One of the things that he envisioned for the project was that it would have been the first “live-action DC Comics/ Warner Bros. property to make an active and conscious effort to begin the unification of the companies’ massive properties into a shared universe." He goes on to explain:

"While Gotham is home to The Dark Knight, the show’s divergence from individualization to a focus on the expansive universe at hand allows a number of characters previously unseen in live-action adaptation form to be introduced either as cameo or regular appearances. An asset that could prove extremely beneficial for tie-ins with new comic book IPs, motion picture releases, etc, while also posing the possibility to introduce new characters that may generate enough interest to become regulars in the overall DC Comics lore and legend."

At first the plan was to self-finance the project and release it as a fan series on YouTube. But his producing partners thought the idea was so good and unique that they wanted to take it straight to WB. They were getting everything into place to take it to the studio, and even attached the showrunner of Lois & Clark: The New Adventures of Superman, to help bring it to life. Before they were able to pitch the meeting though WB announced the Gotham series that is currently airing.

I've gotta say, that must have been freakin' devastating! Locke says, "The lesson learned from all of this, was that good things do not always come to those who wait." But he has now released his full treatment of the series online for you to check out, to see what could have been.

I would have loved to see this vision brought to life. There are elements here that I really like that we aren't seeing in the current series. I've included the first part of his treatment below, which includes the synopsis. But make sure to click here to read about the characters that would have been included in the series:

G O T H A M
TREATMENT PACKAGE
AUTHORED BY
HARRY LOCKE IV
CODE 10

WE ARE EACH OUR OWN DEVIL
AND WE MAKE THIS WORLD OUR HELL
– OSCAR WILDE

Logline: The home of the Dark Knight viewed through the eyes of its citizen’s greatest threat…themselves.

Synopsis: A world asphyxiating on its own blood and moral depravity, GOTHAM thrusts us into a community at its breaking point, barreling headlong into urban warfare with the
greatest gallery of rogues known to man smelling blood in the water. Winter is upon the dark city, and its citizens are being ushered towards an inevitable confrontation against a most vicious threat… their own sins.

Olivia Sage, a struggling 21-year-old college physics student, reluctantly returns home to Gotham City following the grisly murder of her younger sister. Amidst mourning her death and tending a frayed relationship with her father, she finds the sprawling megalopolis quickly becoming engulfed by a powerful new hallucinogenic derived from Joker Venom. The drug spreads rapidly from the city’s underbelly and into its mainstream consciousness, igniting urban warfare in its wake, and exposing a corrupt political façade teetering on the edge of collapse.

GOTHAM seeks to bring forth the creation of an episodic fiction series that explores the famed city of DC Comics through an unfamiliar perspective, the lives of its very inhabitants. For over 50 years, fans around the world have made countless trips to a nightmare built from stone and metal, witnessing the world’s most revered heroes and despised villains engage in colossal warfare. However, these stories have often utilized Gotham City as a backdrop to the action, viewing the city on a macro level to the trials and tribulations survived by its patron guardian… until now. GOTHAM takes us into the city deeper than ever before, bringing specific focus to the unknown inhabitants that make the city come to life, and offering a glimpse at daily survival under the constant threat of super-villains, inexplicable supernatural occurrences, and the looming presence of an unpredictable entity known only as The Batman. 

Iron Man director Jon Favreau is currently in production on his latest film project, a live action adaptation of Rudyard Kipling's The Jungle Book. Disney has released a piece of concept art from the film that gives us our first look at the visual style Favreau is going for with the film. It's a charming little tease of what is to come. 

The story follows Mowgli, a man-cub raised in the jungle by a family of wolves, who "embarks on a captivating journey of self-discovery when he’s forced to abandon the only home he’s ever known."

The film features the voices of Ben Kingsley (The Boxtrolls, Iron Man 3), Lupita Nyong’o (12 Years a Slave) and Christopher Walken (Seven Psycopaths) as Bagheera, Raksha and King Louie. Then there's Idris Elba (The Wire) as Shere Khan, Scarlett Johansson (The Avengers) as Kaa, Bill Murray (Ghostbusters) as Baloo, and newcomer Neel Sethi plays Mowgli.

The film is set to be released on October 9th, 2015.

Art by Chema Mansilla

During a recent interview with Yahoo Movies, Mark Hamill talked about Star Wars: The Force Awakens. In the process, he revealed some pretty cool information. He talked about how he hated the beard he had to sport during the shoot, what it was like reuniting with Harrison Ford, the focus of the new film, and the fact that the new droid BB-8 is actually a practical effect! Regarding his new beard, he says,

"That is what I call my contractually obligated beard. Listen: I think they look fine on other people. It’s just not me. I mean, I never got used to it. But face foliage is almost a part of the costume. And it does bring a gravitas, perhaps unearned, but nevertheless, it makes a statement that they wanted to make, and I’m more than happy to oblige them."

I'm not a big fan of facial hair myself. I tried growing a beard a couple of times, but it itched so bad that I couldn't sleep at night! I'll never do that again. When talking about reuniting with Ford for the film, he said,

"Well, you know, he was someone that was unpredictable. I hadn’t seen him in years; I didn’t know what his feelings were. I know he’s sometimes grown impatient with people that don’t want to focus on what he’s doing currently and want to go stroll down memory lane. God knows, I’m used to that sort of thing. But who knew? And for him to jump back in so enthusiastically, I was delighted. It’s a wonderful character. Everybody loves Han Solo."

It's really good to hear that Ford was so enthusiastic about coming back for a new Star Wars adventure. It's one of those things that I never thought would happen. Then there's that interesting bit info about that BB-8 droid we saw in the trailer being a practical effect:

"They never cease to amaze me with what they’re able to come up with, you know? I said, 'How are you ever gonna top R2-D2, the most adorable droid in movie history?' And then they have this new one. I can’t even tell you his name, but you saw it in the trailer. And when they were demonstrating how they did this thing, live on set — because it’s not CGI, that’s a live prop — I was just amazed. They let me play around with it. [Laughs] I was running it all around at the creature shop up in Pinewood. I’m telling you, it’s an absolute delight. And not having thought that I’d ever go back there, to go back into that world, is just – I get the chills. It’s just so much fun."

I'd love to see that droid character in person to see how it worked! I'm really surprised to hear that that thing was practical. He then talks about the focus of the film's story:

"This is about the new generation of characters; I think that’s the most important thing. It’s the opening act of a whole new approach to the storytelling. So I never thought that the stories would be – first of all, I never thought I’d be involved in it again, period. And then when George [Lucas] said that they wanted to do more, I rightly assumed that it wouldn’t be our story, because we had a beginning, a middle, and an end. This must be our offspring and the current generation, with us there lending the kind of support that Peter Cushing and Alec Guinness did in the original. So no, [the trailer focusing on new characters] didn’t surprise me.  And I mean, I’m one of those people where I just think, 'Keep me out of it. I’ll ruin it, I’m sure!' [Laughs] I’ll show up and just ruin the whole thing."

No way! He's gonna be awesome, and I think it's safe to assume that almost every Star Wars fan in the world is looking forward to the day where we see Hamill back as Luke Skywalker. 

"Warning: Unsecured crash site on the A3. Please, take a right and do not overtake!"

Dein Sky Film put together this short video that features a couple of Imperials stranded on the German autobahn (or possibly a never-before-seen part of Hoth) after what looks like a pretty nasty crash. What caused the crash and why they’re in Stormtrooper uniforms instead of TIE fighter pilot uniforms is a mystery. One thing that is certain, though: These aren't the roads they were looking for.

Graphic artist Rob Yeo created a cool infographic that shows the parallels between the characters of the animated TV shows Futurama and Archer. It's pretty crazy that seven of these characters share so many overlapping traits.

H/T: Geek X Girls

Now that Benedict Cumberbatch has been officially announced as Doctor Strange we eagerly await news on the rest of the cast. Despite the film not being an origin story, Yoa, the Ancient One who is the mentor to Steven Strange is said to be in the movie. Latino-Review reports that their sources say that three actors are candidates for the role, namely Morgan Freeman, Bill Nighy, and Ken Watanabe. I think any one of these actors is more than capable, and it's going to come down to chemistry with Cumberbatch and director Scott Derrickson's vision for the character.

Doctor Strange expands the Marvel cineverse into the supernatural November 4th, 2016 (USA).