The original Transporter film was my introduction to Jason Statham as a full-fledged action star. I'd seen him pop up in Guy Ritchie's films before that, but he never made much of an impact for me until I saw him peeling out on the streets of France (doing most of his own stunt driving, by the way), and kicking some ass while following (and breaking) his own personal set of rules. The second film improved on the ridiculousness of the first one, but the third movie was an utter disaster, sucking all of the fun out of the franchise.

Now there's a new guy suiting up and getting behind the wheel. Ed Skrein, who played the first incarnation of Daario Naharis in Game of Thrones before he left to make this movie, is the new transporter in The Transporter Refueled, a soft reboot of the franchise that also stars Ray Stevenson. But will it be able to live up to the insanity of the Statham movies? This first trailer doesn't really show off the kinds of awesome set pieces I expect from this franchise (remember when Statham destroyed a bunch of guys with a hose?), so I'm not holding my breath that this will be any good.

The movie hits theaters on June 19th. What do you think?

Legendary Comics has teamed up with writer and director Michael Dougherty to bring us two graphic novels based on his film creations. The first is Trick 'r Treat, which will bring Sam back to help tell four new different tales. The second one is based on Dougherty's upcoming twisted horror/comedy Christmas film Krampus. The filmmaker had this to say in a statement:

"I've been having way too much fun working with Legendary and the rest of my team bringing the ancient legend of Krampus to the big screen, and I look forward to expanding the film's dark Christmas mythology onto the comic page. And hopefully the fans who've been patiently waiting for TRICK 'R TREAT 2 will enjoy this deeper peek into Sam's world until he finally rises from the pumpkin patch once more. Happy Holidays.”

I'm a big fan of Dougherty's work, so I'll be looking forward to getting copies of these. I've included artwork for the comics along with some details for each of them. You can see the cover for Trick 'r Treat above, and here is the synopsis:

The dark and twisted face of the cult horror hit Trick ‘R Treat is back… are you ready for the return of Sam?

With the official graphic novel Trick ‘r Treat, Legendary dares you to experience four all-new terrifying tales set in the universe of the ultimate Halloween anthology.

From the twisted imagination of series creator Dougherty (screenwriter of X-Men 2 and Superman Returns) and a top-notch team of horror storytellers and artists, comes this 4-part collection that paves the way for the Trick ‘r Treat film sequel. Across centuries of Halloween horror, wherever fear lies, Sam will be waiting.

Trick 'r Treat will be released this October. Next up is Krampus:

YOU BETTER WATCH OUT…

If you want to survive the holidays, stay off the naughty list.

Legendary Comics presents Krampus, the official graphic novel based on the upcoming horror comedy from writer/director Michael Dougherty (creator of Trick ‘r Treat).

Unleashing the ancient Christmas demon Krampus and his maniacal holiday-themed henchmen, Krampus mixes fear, fun and festive thrills for an adventure that will change the way you see the holidays forever

Krampus will be released this November.

Paper Towns comes from the same author who wrote The Fault in Our Stars, which did pretty well for itself last summer when it made over $300 million worldwide. This new film isn't the kind of tear-jerker that Stars was; this is more of a coming-of-age mystery type teen romance adventure. 

The story follows Quentin (Nat Wolff), who is an ordinary kid that has had a major crush on the girl next door since she moved in. Her name is Margo (Cara Delevingne), and he has never talked to her. Then one night she slips through his window and takes him on a little adventure of revenge against her ex-boyfriend. The next day she disappears, and with clues she left behind, Quentin embarks on a journey to find out what happened to her.

Here's the official synopsis:

Adapted from the bestselling novel by author John Green (The Fault in Our Stars), PAPER TOWNS is a coming-of-age story centering on Quentin and his enigmatic neighbor Margo, who loved mysteries so much she became one. After taking him on an all-night adventure through their hometown, Margo suddenly disappears--leaving behind cryptic clues for Quentin to decipher. The search leads Quentin and his quick-witted friends on an exhilarating adventure that is equal parts hilarious and moving. Ultimately, to track down Margo, Quentin must find a deeper understanding of true friendship--and true love.

Paper Towns was directed by Jake Schreier (Robot & Frank), and it comes out on July 24th, 2015. (The songs used in the trailer are “To the Top” by Twin Shadows and “Smile” by Mikky Ekko.)

The first time I saw Akira, I was completely shocked and blown away by what I was watching. I had no idea that animation could go this far and be so completely badass. The only anime series that I had been familiar with up until seeing Akira was Robotech. Akira really opened my eyes to the complete awesomeness of anime, and all I wanted to do was watch more and more of it.

Akira is just such a beautiful film that was way ahead of its time in terms of animation and story. It’s also one of those films that fueled the geekdom that lives inside of me. I figured it was time for me to do a Fun Facts list for this movie. So here ya go! 

• The movie consists of 2,212 shots and 160,000 single pictures, which is 2-3 times more than normal. It also used 327 different colors, which is a record for animated films. 50 of those colors were exclusively created for the film. The reason for this statistic is that most of the movie takes place at night, a setting that was traditionally avoided by animators because of the increased color requirements.
• The movie takes place in the year 2019. It depicts Neo-Tokyo building a new Olympic stadium. Coincidentally, Tokyo is scheduled to host the 2020 Summer Olympics.
• This was one of the first Japanese anime films ever to have the character's voices recorded before they were actually animated. This is a normal practice in U.S. animation, but in Japan the animation is usually produced first.
• The music for the film was completed before any of the composers saw a single frame of film or even read the script. Because of this, the music had to be edited to fit some scenes.
• In the scene where Kaneda is at the jukebox, you can see the logos of three famous classic rock bands: Cream, Led Zeppelin, and The Doors.
• The production budget was nearly $10 million, which was a record for a Japanese animated film.
• At one point in the 1990s, Sony contemplated a live-action version of the film, but scrapped the idea when the projected budget skyrocketed past $300 million. That’s the same problem that the current development is having.
• In the riot scene, Kei pushes past a man who is wearing a 'Young Magazine' t-shirt. Young Magazine was the bi-monthly comics anthology series that the original Akira manga was serialized in.
• Katsuhiro Ôtomo originally created the AKIRA manga as an homage to manga artist Mitsuteru Yokoyama, who created Tetsujin nijûhachi-go in 1963. It's also known as Tetsujin 28. Both Akira and Tetsujin 28 have a main character named Shotaro Kaneda and Akira's no. 28 designation compares with the robot's no. 28 designation.
• Johnny Yong Bosch, the English voice of Kaneda, went on to play the Black Ranger in Mighty Morphin Power Rangers in 1993.

Below you will find the original Japanese and English trailers for the film. I also included a featurette that focuses on the restoration of the movie. 

Thanks to Imdb.

Joseph Gordon-Levitt is set to produce and star in the live-action Fraggle Rock movie that is being developed by New Regency and The Henson Company.

Fraggle Rock is a musical puppet series that was created by the late Jim Henson, and a feature film adaption has been in the works for nearly a decade. The project is sure to start moving forward fast now that Gordon-Levitt is involved.

This seems like a film project that he would have a blast being a part of. This is what he had to say in a statement:

“The first screen personas I ever loved were Henson creations, first on Sesame Street, and then on Fraggle Rock. Jim Henson’s characters make you laugh and sing, but they’re also layered, surprising, and wise. From Oscar the Grouch, to Yoda, to the Fraggles. I’ve never stopped loving his work, even as a young frisky man, and on into adulthood. Collaborating with Lisa Henson makes me confident we can do something that Jim would have loved. I’m grateful and excited to be working with New Regency on this project.”

Fraggle Rock first premiered on TV in 1983 and it centered on the adventures of a group of cave-dwelling creatures called Fraggles who have to deal with the industrious Doozers and furry giants called Gorgs. I grew up watching this show, and with Gordon-Levitt on board, I trust that he'll give it the big screen adaptation it deserves. 

Source: Variety

James Gunn's Guardians of the Galaxy was widely regarded as one of the best superhero films of 2014, and the filmmaker has been extremely generous across his social media accounts, providing fans with tons of behind-the-scenes looks at the making of the movie (moreso than a lot of other filmmakers, who sometimes feel as if they're only barely living up to their end of a studio mandate - Gunn clearly cares about sharing stuff with fans).

Gunn shared a video on his Facebook page from FrameStore, the visual effects company that he and Marvel used to create Rocket Raccoon and Knowhere, the city (planet?) that has formed inside the decapitated head of a dead Celestial. These VFX reels never cease to amaze me, and the one of Knowhere is particularly impressive in the way it reveals that they designed this entire place and know exactly where each moment of ever setpiece comes into play, as the digital camera swoops along and shows us flashes of moments from the movie. Check them out below.

We've got some great news for all of you who are looking forward to EA Games' highly anticipated Star Wars: Battlefront. The video game developer has announced that the latest installment of the video game franchise will debut at Star Wars Celebration 2015! 

Thats right folks, on top of all of the other Star Wars greatness that the event will have to offer, we will get our first real look at what fans can expect from Star Wars: Battlefront. The following statement was released:

We could not think of a better or more appropriate place to debut the game officially for the first time than the premier event that celebrates the Star Wars universe and the legions of fans who have fallen in love with it.

We've gotten a few great teases of the game, which DICE wants to make sure is the best Star Wars mythology game ever. Hopefully they were actually able to pull it off! I guess we'll find out next month!

More information about Battlefront's debut will be released in the coming weeks, ahead of the Celebration event, which runs from April 16th-19th at the Anaheim Convention Center. Also appearing at the event are J.J. Abrams and Kathleen Kennedy, as well as Mark Hamill, Carrie Fisher, and the cast and crew of the Disney XD series Star Wars: Rebels.

The gang at Cinefix is back with another one of their Art of the Scene videos, this time diving into the famous opening of Raiders of the Lost Ark. It's a scene film fans know very well, but this video does a great job diving into some of the history of the movie, recounting how it all came together, analyzing the scene itself, and putting it all in context for movie geeks who may not know the behind the scenes aspects of Steven Spielberg's action adventure classic.

Raiders is one of my favorite movies of all time (not exactly a rare opinion, I know), and I've written about it a bunch on the site before, most notably in my recap of the awesome 30th anniversary screening a few years ago that featured a conversation between Spielberg and Harrison Ford, and in my extensive review of the Indiana Jones Blu-ray collection. If you like this video and want to know more about the making of Raiders, be sure to watch Jamie Benning's amazing Filmumentary about the movie.

After Joss Whedon convinced the world that he could handle the tremendous challenge of uniting the Marvel Cinematic Universe with The Avengers, he returned for the sequel, Avengers: Age of Ultron. It doesn't sound like he'll be back to direct any other Marvel films any time soon, and I don't blame him, since these shoots sound like a logistical nightmare and I can't imagine the stress of writing a movie that gives all of those characters their due. Speaking of "all of those characters," there are even more that are going to be added to the mix in this film, and we got a decent look at a couple of them in the new TV spot that was released this morning.

Scarlet Witch, Quicksilver, and Vision are three of the main players that will be given considerable screen time in this film, and in a new interview (via THR), Whedon himself offers his thoughts on why they were so important to include in this globe-spanning adventure. Plus, he confirms that we'll be seeing some other Marvel characters that haven't been featured in this movie's publicity photos yet, so that's something to look forward to.

As Disney acquires more and more companies and franchises, it's going to be harder and harder for them to keep the squeaky clean image that they've built for themselves over the years. They've had distribution labels like Touchstone and Miramax over the years where they aren't afraid to tackle violent subject matter, but one of the last places you'd expect to see some serious brawling is with their stock of characters from Walt Disney Animation. But thanks to modder Salimano 3 and PC Best Mods (via Kotaku), that's exactly what we have with this clip of Baymax and Go Go Tomago from Big Hero 6 going head to head in Street Fighter IV. Who do you think will win? Place your bets, and check out the battle below.

We already knew that Firefly, Homeland, and Gotham star Morena Baccarin was cast as the female lead in the long-brewing Deadpool movie, but now we have a better idea of who she'll be portraying.

According to a tweet from Baccarin, she's playing a character named Vanessa, which pretty much has to be Vanessa Carlysle, also known as Copycat, a shapeshifting mutant in the Marvel comics universe. Like many of these comic book characters, Copycat has a pretty complicated history, but she started out as a Boston prostitute who met and fell in love with Wade Wilson before he became involved with the Weapon X program. She has blue skin in the comics, so I'm guessing the movie will change her look to avoid aesthetic similarities to Mystique from the X-Men films, since this takes place in that universe.

This isn't the first cast member who has given away his or her character in a Tweet: just yesterday, Silicon Valley star TJ Miller basically confirmed he'd be playing Weasel in the same way.

Deadpool is filming now, and will arrive in theaters on February 12th, 2016.

Let's do this. pic.twitter.com/pNqcCGReSz

— Morena Baccarin (@missmorenab) March 19, 2015

Sometimes the bad guy isn't the villain. pic.twitter.com/Mk86LQXlPa

— Ryan Reynolds (@VancityReynolds) March 19, 2015

That new extended Avengers: Age of Ultron spot that was earlier today took us all by surprise by how incredible it was. It was completely filled to the brim with incredible mind-melting new action-packed footage. Each of the Avengers are given a moment in the trailer where they have their time to shine. And to think...there's still soooooooooo much more we haven't seen from this movie! I love seeing footage like this, but I hope this is last of the big footage dumps for Age of Ultron. I don't want to see any more, but if Marvel ends up releasing more stuff I'll have to watch it. I'm just not strong enough to say no. 

Here are 37 screenshots from the trailer, and while I was going through it frame by frame I didn't notice anything hidden. It's just a bunch of glorious footage. If you noticed something that I missed, though, by all means point it out in the comments below!

A recently leaked casting call for extras for Anthony and Joe Russo’s Captain America: Civil War revealed that the movie will start production on April 1st. So in less than two weeks, several members of the superhero team will get back together to shoot one of the darkest chapters in the MCU. The casting call also included the first synopsis that we've seen for the film:

"Following the events of Age of Ultron, the collective governments of the world pass an act designed to regulate all superhuman activity. This polarizes opinion amongst the Avengers, causing two factions to side with Iron Man or Captain America, which causes an epic battle between former allies."

Chris Evans will play Steve Rogers; Robert Downey Jr. will be back as Iron Man; Scarlett Johansson will be kicking ass as Black Widow; Anthony Mackie will be Falcon; Jeremy Renner will be coming back as Hawkeye; Daniel Brühl will most likely be playing Baron Zemo;  and of course, Spider-Man is supposed to appear in the movie, played by somebody. 

If you want to know some recent spoiler filled rumors about who else might be involved with the Civil War storyline, click here.

If they are shooting on April 1st, I imagine they’ll have to lock down an actor to take on the role of Spider-Man soon. The movie hits theaters on May 6th, 2016.

Via: Collider

Check out his awesome Batman and Robin illustration called “Night Patrol.” It was created by Ardian Syaf, and I enjoy the fact that Robin is scarfing down a burger while he’s out on patrol. But that’s nothing compared to the beautiful style of the piece. It’s really stunning work. 

Yesterday we brought you a video featuring some clips from the upcoming live-action Attack on Titan film. That gave us out first look at was was in store for us. Today we have a 30-second teaser trailer for you to watch! It contains some of the same footage from the video yesterday, and it looks like it's going to be an entertaining film.

This is the teaser for the first of two Attack on Titan movies. They were directed by Shinji Higuchi, and Attack on Titan manga creator Hajime Isayama consulted on the film. He helped create some new characters and enemies for the story that will stay true to the source material. The script for the film comes from Yuusuke Watanabe (Dragon Ball Z: Battle of Gods).

The story of Attack on Titan takes place in a world where the remnants of humanity live inside a series of connected cities, isolated by enormous walls. These walls exists to keep the Titans out, gigantic humanoid creatures who devour humans seemingly without reason. These Titans have reduced the world's population to staggeringly low numbers. The 3 main protagonists of Isayama's manga are Eren Jaeger, his adoptive sister Mikasa Ackerman, and their friend Armin Arlert. Their lives are changed forever when a "Colossal Titan" breaches the wall protecting their town, leading to thee death of Eren's mother. Vowing revenge and to reclaim the world from the Titans, Eren, Mikasa and Armin join the Survey Corps, an elite group of soldiers who fight Titans outside the walls.  Haruma Miura plays Eren. Kiko Mizuhara is Mikasa. Kanata Hongo will play Armin. Satomi Ishihara portrays Hanji. Nanami Sakuraba is Sasha. Takahiro Miura is Jean.

The first film will be released August 1st, and the second will hit theaters a month later on September 19th in Japan. I'm sure it will eventually make its way to the states. Below the teaser I also provided a translation of what is said in the the trailer.

Narration: Over one hundred years ago... Half of humanity was eaten by the titans that suddenly appeared... The humanity that remained created a giant wall, and lived peacefully.
Text: Anticipated by the whole world!!
Text: Live-action film green-lit!
Mikasa: The world is cruel...
Eren: If we mess up, that's the end for humanity.
Title: Attack on Titan
Text: The attack begins on August 1!

Via: ComicBook.com

Having grown up reading the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles comics and watching the cartoon, it's hard for me to imagine that any of the four main characters could actually die. But that’s exactly what happened in a recent comic book, and it shocked the hell out of me to learn about it.

SPOILER warning for those of you who haven’t read the comic yet. But I’m about to reveal to you who died and who did him in.

Last.

Chance. 

To.

Turn. 

Back.

Donatello has always been one of my favorite Ninja Turtles, and I’m devastated to say that he’s dead. He was brutally taken out in Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles #44, and the villains responsible for murdering him were Bebop and Rocksteady.

The comic series is written by Tom Waltz and TMNT co-creator Kevin Eastman, and thanks to IGN we have some details to share with you on the moments leading up to his death. 

"Leonardo, Raphael, and Michelangelo were trying to stop Krang from terraforming the planet using the alien ‘Technodrome,’ leaving Donatello running command from their home base. Shredder had ordered Bebop and Rocksteady to kill Donatello if anything went wrong, and sure enough, something did. Donatello tried to fight them off, even getting some help from Metalhead (being controlled by scientist Harold Lillia), but the duo was too much. The killing blow came when Rocksteady smashed his shell with a sledgehammer."

I’ve included a couple of pages from the comic for you to go through below. It’s pretty heartbreaking, but it’s hard not to think that they won’t bring him back to life somehow. The Ninja Turtles just aren’t the Ninja Turtles without him, and comic books are known for bringing big characters back to life after they kill them off. But maybe there's a chance that Donetello is really dead, never to come back again. 

What do you think about the way Donatello was killed? Do you think he’ll come back?

We have another TV spot for Avengers: Age of Ultron for you to check out! It’s basically a shorter version of that insane extended spot that was released yesterday, but there are a few bits of cool new footage sprinkled throughout. The last trailer that was released blew my freakin’ mind! I wonder if we’ll see any other trailers that like that — coming out of nowhere and surprising us with something incredible — before the film's May 1 release. 

Our friends at Sneaky Zebra have released their latest cosplay music video, and it was shot at London Super Comic Con. These guys always do great work with their cosplay videos, and this one features a ton of great costumes created by some really talented individuals. 

Sneaky Zebra is always releasing cool stuff so if you don’t want to miss anything, make sure to subscribe to their Youtube channel, like them on Facebook, and of course, follow them Twitter. 

The 1984 Marvel Comics series Crash Ryan is going to be developed for the big screen by producer Ryan Heppe, who recently acquired the rights. The comic was published under Marvel’s Epic Comics banner.

The series was created by Ron Harris and takes place in “an alternate 1935 in a world of super airplanes and giant flying airports. Crash Ryan is a pilot caught up in the battle between the heroic United Airmen and the forces of evil, led by a masked world conqueror who calls himself ‘the Doom.’”

I’m not really that familiar with the comic, but it definitely seems to have potential to be a cool flick. I enjoy stories that take place in crazy alternate universes. Harris said in a statement:

“Crash Ryan is the product of a mishmash of influences: my childhood spent on Navy airbases; the old flying movies and Masked Villain serials I loved on latenight TV, and especially my fascination with predictions of future life made in the 1930s.”

Heppe and Harris developed a 50-page outline for the film called Crash Ryan and the Eyes of Lemuria. It basically reinvents the story as an “earthbound, steampunk-inspired fusion of Indiana Jones and Star Wars.” David Cowper, who co-wrote an adaptation of Road Dawgs, has been brought on to co-write the script with Heppe, who added:

“It’s an incredible canvas, but what attracted me was the redemption story: a man who can’t save himself being tasked with saving the world.”

Hep is also the producer behind films such as the remake of Short Circuit and a feature adaptation of T.J. Hooker. I really hope that we see this movie get made, because it could really be great. 

Source: Variety

I’ve got a cool short film for you to watch called "Jack the Ripper," which offers us a modern day take on the infamous serial killer. The short was directed by Lexie and Nick Trivundza, and it’s described as taking place in a world between Mad Men and Sin City. You definitely get that vibe from the slick animation style. The brief story follows the villain on one of his evenings out in the city. The short is definitely worth watching, so check it out when you get the chance.