What are going to be the biggest surprises at this year's ComicCon? Can McG and Christian Bale make us care about Terminator: Salvation? Will the movie adaptation of Twilightplease fans, or alienate them? What's behind the venom being directed at Batman's detractors on-line? And does Meryl Streep's Mamma Mia! have a chance against The Dark Knight this weekend? Joining James this week to talk all things ComicCon is Cinematical's Editor-In-Chief Erik Davis. ... Cinematical's podcast is now available through iTunes; you can subscribe at this link. Also, you can listen directly here at Cinematical by clicking below:
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Why, an enormous Austrian bodybuilder. Obviously. Did you have to ask? What's wrong with you?
More specifically, it's Roland Kickinger, a really big dude who actually played a young Schwarzenegger in the 2005 TV movie biopic See Arnold Run. He's guest-starred on a slew of sitcoms, and had a part in Lethal Weapon 4. He will also play the Hulk in the anxiously awaited (by which I mean dreaded) parody Disaster Movie this Labor Day.
Kickinger will take over Schwarzenegger's T-800 character, an early model cyborg that was sent back in time in all three Terminator films -- first as the villain and then as a hero after being reprogrammed by the resistance. In the latter two films, he bonded with his human charges and sort of became the heart of the franchise, as well as its comic relief. It was definitely Schwarzenegger's greatest achievement as an actor, such as it was. I doubt they'll be trying to recreate that in Salvation, not least because the characters encounter the robot 20 years before the events of the earlier films. (Damn time travel.)
Some slightly spoilerish quotes from the Clinton News-Record article announcing Kickinger's involvement, after the jump.
One of the most wonderful things about geekdom on the Internet is how fast it sets to work. The Watchmen trailer hasn't even been out for 24 hours, and already folks are analyzing its every second -- with one dedicated fan comparing its frames to the panels of the original book. The hardworking one is Brad Brevet over at Rope of Silicon, and he really has done a great job. If you decide to look, and are unfamiliar with the source material, beware of spoilers.
As he did with 300, Zack Snyder has really managed to bring the frames to life. His eye for this is uncanny. There are few comic book adaptations where one gets goosebumps, or jumps out of their seat and says "It looks just like the book!" Of course, Snyder has tweaked it -- he's changed the costumes, and he's given it his own style -- but it's still better than I ever thought it would be. Whether he brings the book to life is, of course, the million dollar question. I'm happy just being entertained by the possibility, though.
For me personally, the money shots were the funeral, Jon being ripped apart into particles, and Archie the Owlship. Even my sister, who loathed the book, is in love with the faithful rendering of Archie. The shot of it flying out of the water is actually enough to convince her to buy a ticket. (I'm not sure why, but let's just leave that up to her.) And surely if she can be sold on it, the rest of us can be too.
Watchmen opens March 6th, 2009.
UPDATE: Warners sent us over a whole new crop of Watchmen photos. Check them out in the gallery below ...
To all those who are unfamiliar with Alan Moore's groundbreaking graphic novel, Watchmen, the new trailer must be a confusing barrage of random images. Hopefully, it intrigues you enough to buy the book before March 6. But you want to know what this trailer is about now, don't you? That's why I'm going to explain it to you with the help of a few screen caps. We won't go point by point, I'll just try to walk you through a few chunks of storyline. It's a delicate task, as I really don't want to ruin the story for those unfamiliar with it. It deserves to be read (or seen) as freshly as possible. So on that note, those intimately familiar with the book shouldn't flame me for not explaining the intricate storyline, character relationships, or backgrounds. There are so few surprises in this world, let's try to preserve the ones awaiting the Watchmen newcomers.
Watchmen is set in an alternative 1985, and if you glance at the photos of the Owl Ship and Oxymandias, you'll see the evidence in a lost landmark, and a president long gone. Like most comic book realities, costumed superheroes ( or "costumed adventurers" as they're called in the book) are real, but most have a pronounced lack of superpowers. Watchmen centers on two generations of them -- the Minutemen, and the Crimebusters. No one is actually called "the Watchmen" in the story; the title refers to any group who's goal is to protect society from themselves. Hence the phrase, repeated throughout the book and film, "Who watches the watchmen?"
So you know that 15-second Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince teaser that's playing before The Dark Knight? Yeah, well it's just hit The Tube ... and you can see it above. Unfortunately, it's very much a teaser in that there's no actual footage from the film at all. All we hear is Dumbledore's voice saying, "Once again, I must ask too much of you Harry." Then there's some lights, and -- ta da -- we get the title: Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince. Following the title, there's this: Select Sequences in IMAX 3-D. Yeah, I'm thinking that will look pretty damn cool. I wish we had more to give you Potter nuts right now (you can also check out our nifty gallery below), but this is all there is. However, a little wizard told me there might be some more gifts arriving soon ...
Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince hits theaters on November 21.
It looks like there will be some Star Trek in San Diego after all. Entertainment Weeklyfeatured these four posters in their Comic Con preview, and at last, fans get a glimpse of the young characters populating this reboot. Zoe Saldana does make a lovely Uhura, Chris Pine is a I-guess-that's-Captain Kirk, but Zachary Quinto takes the lookalike cake as Spock. Very eerie! As for Eric Bana's Nero, well, I find myself disturbingly attracted to his tattoos.
These posters will be handed out next week at Comic Con, probably at the Paramount booth. Each character gets their own one-sheet, and when combined, form the logo. Expect hysteria from the hapless studio interns handing out the swag, people snagging ten Kirks and no Uhuras, Nero to be littering the gutters between here and the Gaslamp District, and Spock to be commanding ridiculous prices on Ebay. The swag grabs are never pretty.
Right about here is where all the gushing and excitement and enthusiasm should begin, because I'll tell you right off the "bat" that Christopher Nolan's The Dark Knight is cause for celebration indeed. But then you'll figure out -- after only one sentence -- that I pretty much loved this movie, and then you'll head off to another, more unpredictable film critic. But it's the WHY that interests me so much. What I enjoyed about Iron Man, The Incredible Hulk, and Hellboy 2 could probably be covered in one lengthy -- and inevitably nerd-tastic -- conversation between the two of us. But The Dark Knight... Well, clearly we're approaching a whole new level here.
Several of the pre-release gushings are accurate. Some say "Scorsesian" and others reference Michael Mann. Many spend paragraphs on the (truly amazing) penultimate performance by Heath Ledger, while others will revel in the grown-up tone or epic scope of the film. What amazed me most about The Dark Knight, among several things, is that the flick's got more layers than an onion farm -- and yet it never loses touch with the idea of FUN. True that we're talking about a comic book fun that's decidedly more melancholy than the cinematic exploits of The Marvel Gang, but dang if TDK isn't supremely satisfying for about a dozen different reasons.
Earlier today, you saw the trailer for one of the most anticipated adaptations of all time (no, not that one, this one). And it was amazing. Well, I thought so, anyway, and I'm one of the few people who said "ehh" after reading the graphic novel. Anyway, some of you bigger fans probably watched the new Watchmentrailer over and over and over again, forward and backward, in slow-motion and sped-up to compare the film with the panels in the book. But did you notice the odd lack of continuity in the sequence shown above? Unless you read MTV Movies Blog, or unless you were looking really hard for something like last year's 300 trailer surprise, there's a good chance you missed it. Fortunately, for you, I've done my best to highlight the anomaly after the jump.
Update 3: Beautiful trailer stills in the gallery below ...
We could have embedded a half-decent YouTube version a few hours ago, but considering the movie we're dealing with (and owing in no small part to professional courtesy) we decided to wait for the official release of the very first Watchmen trailer. It's available (exclusively, for the time being) at Empire, although you'll almost definitely see the clip this weekend when you head out to see The Dark Knight. (Notice I didn't say "if.") Again, click here for the trailer.
Having read Moore & Gibbons' Watchmen only once -- and therefore being a relative newbie -- I cannot comment on the geek-tastic little pieces of minutiae that are undoubtedly bouncing through this trailer. Is Dr. Manhattan the right shade of blue? Does Rorshach's mask look accurate? How Batmanny does Nite Owl look? And what of the infamous newsstand? (Are there pirates?)
As a huge fan of trailers in general, I'd say this is a very well-balanced and powerful promo clip. Newcomers will see a stylish-looking adventure story full of weird-looking characters -- and the hardcore fans will probably really like what they see. (Plus that's one unique explosion I just saw.) I'll leave it to our resident comics wizards to delve a bit deeper. Well, our wizards and our readers, obviously.
Topics for discussion: The music. The costumes. The cast. The production design. The heart-crushing disappointment you'll feel if the movie sucks even though you know if probably won't. At all.
It's absolute trailer madness today! Not long after the very awesome Watchmen trailer premiered, Yahoo Movies! has thrown up a brand new Twilight trailer for you folks to feast on. Twilight, of course, is based on the super popular series of books that have teenagers everywhere reaching levels of mass hysteria. Me? I'm just stoked that vampires are cool again. In the film, which is directed by Catherine Hardwicke, Kristen Stewart stars as a teenage girl who moves to a small town, meets a boy and -- whoops -- discovers he's a vampire. I haven't read the book, but I imagine things then take a hairy (or is it toothy?) turn for the worse. Check out the trailer above and let us know what you think.
How well do you think Twilight will do when it arrives in theaters on December 12?
Aw yeah, this is just about my own personal version of Christmas Eve. The first wave of titles for the Austin's lovely Fantastic Fest has splattered into my inbox, so instead of me rambling on about how great Austin is in late September, especially if you're a massive fan of films gory, scary, sexy, twisted and weird, I'll just direct you to a very handy FF press release.
But not before I say this: Of the flicks chosen already, I've seen precisely five: Let the Right One In, Donkey Punch, Spine Tingler, Terra, and Jack Brooks: Monster Slayer. A Swedish vampire coming-of-age story, a British thriller about boat-bound terror, an American documentary about a beloved schlock-slinger, a multi-national animated adventure story, and a scrappy little indie full of monsters that Rick Baker would adore. So from just one random sampling, this is one eclectic mixture of movies. Oh, and for the Hollywood fans: DJ Caruso's Eagle Eye will have its premiere at Fantastic Fest. By only a few days but damn cool anyway. Oh, and a screening of The Tingler? Beyond cool.
Click on in for the first full press release on Fantastic Fest 2008.
There is a real trend of King Arthur revisionism lately -- first there wasGalahad, then Brian K. Vaughn's Roundtable, and now John Woo is taking a crack at it with Caliber. Variety reports that the rights to the series have been snatched up by Johnny Depp's Infinitum Nihil, Barry Levine's Radical Comics (also the book's publisher), and Woo's Lion Rock.
Caliber sets King Arthur firmly into the American Old West, which is rather fitting, since as a location it's nearly as mythical as Camelot. Arthur is given Caliber, a tattooed six-shooter (how do you tattoo a gun?) given to him by the Native Americans. It's no ordinary gun, as it's never loaded with bullets. Only a man with Justice on his side can fire it, at which point it shoots lightning. Accompanying him through the Pacific Northwest are the The Knights of the Round Table, all noble gunslingers, bound by a code of honor to protect the weak and defend the innocent. I guess they have to carry regular guns, though. I can't find an online preview of the comic for you, unfortunately, so we'll just have to hope a Cinematical reader out there can fill us in on the first issue. It certainly has a pretty cover, but I'm not sold on the premise yet.
It's a good time to be a cinematic super hero, and Jules Verne proved that his work still has legs 103 years after his death, but Eddie Murphy's Meet Dave died a thousand deaths pulling in a mere $5.2 million and not even making the top five. Here are the totals: 1. Hellboy II: The Golden Army: $34.5 million 2. Hancock: $32 million 3. Journey to the Center of the Earth: $21 million 4. Wall-E: $18.7 million 5. Wanted: $11.9 million
Three new releases this week, and in the very broadest of terms we have one for the guys, one for the gals and one for the kids.
The Dark Knight What's It All About: Do I really need to explain this one? Christian Bale returns to the role of Batman in the sequel to the series rebooting Batman Begins, with Christopher Nolan once again in the director's chair. There's a new crime boss in Gotham City and he's called The Joker (Heath Ledger). The two clash, things blow up, awesomeness ensues. Why It Might Do Well: This will be the movie to beat this Summer. Batman is so ingrained into American pop culture that he's bonded to our collective DNA. Batman Begins grossed $205 million domestically and $371 million worldwide. The Dark Knight is scoring 88% over at Rottentomatoes.com and Cinematical's own James Rocchi had some good things to say about it. Why It Might Not Do Well: There remains the possibility that people with a fear of bats will join forces with those with a fear of clowns and boycott the film, which of course means more popcorn for the rest of us. Number of Theaters: 4,300 Prediction: $125 million
UPDATE: Teaser online now above (and over at Yahoo!). Whaddya think?
Cinematical has been informed that the first teaser trailer for Terminator Salvation will most likely arrive tonight, around 9pm EST. Where? We do not know yet. Cinematical reader RossBond alerted us to the fact that Warner Bros. has sent out satellite coordinates for the worldwide trailer debut, and the time given for said coordinates is tonight between 9pm and 9:15pm EST. Additionally, there's also a 15-minute time slot tomorrow morning at 6am EST. However, if I were a betting man, I'd say the trailer will hit tonight. Fun stuff!
Here's the film's synopsis: In the highly anticipated new installment of The Terminator film franchise, set in post-apocalyptic 2018, Christian Bale stars as John Connor, the man fated to lead the human resistance against Skynet and its army of Terminators. But the future Connor was raised to believe in is altered in part by the appearance of Marcus Wright (Sam Worthington), a stranger whose last memory is of being on death row. Connor must decide whether Marcus has been sent from the future, or rescued from the past. As Skynet prepares its final onslaught, Connor and Marcus both embark on an odyssey that takes them into the heart of Skynet's operations, where they uncover the terrible secret behind the possible annihilation of mankind.
We're on it, and we'll let you know when we hear more ...
Just about every studio is still trying to find its Lord of the Rings or Harry Potter franchise, and here is DreamWorks' latest attempt. According to The Hollywood Reporter, they bought the rights to P.B. Kerr's Children of the Lamp series a while back. Lee Hall wrote a draft before the WGA strike, but the duty of adaptation has now been handed to Dave Guion and Michael Handelman. No time-frame or director has been set for the project.
Children of the Lamp is a series of four books that deals with a family of dijinn (known casually to Western culture as genies) who disguise themselves as humans, but can still grant wishes to humans. It centers around two young dijinn twins, John and Philippa Gaunt (nice nod to the Plantegenets there), and their challenges adapting to the world of magic and wish-granting. While honing their skills, they must often confront the powers of evil in order to keep the balance between good and evil. Their adventures take them from their childhood home in Manhattan to the snowy reaches of Nepal.
Yes, it sounds more than a little like Harry Potter, albeit with more globe-trekking. Hopefully, that's just a misconception born of Wikipedia and not a reflection of the actual books. Has anyone out there in Cinematical comment land actually read them, and can fill us in?
Why, an enormous Austrian bodybuilder. Obviously. Did you have to ask? What's wrong with you?.jpg)
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Aw yeah, this is just about my own personal version of Christmas Eve. The first wave of titles for the Austin's lovely 
There is a real trend of King Arthur revisionism lately -- first there was
Just about every studio is still trying to find its Lord of the Rings or Harry Potter franchise, and here is DreamWorks' latest attempt. According to 
