And In Entertainment News...

[Elastic Dawg]

Wait, didn't Robocop technically symbolize Jesus? Cuz he's more or less making the same movie with less cyberpunk coolness.

[Clappy]

-Warner Brothers upcoming Lego film, Lego: The Piece of Interest is starting to peak my interest. Chris Pratt has been offered the lead role as regular Lego figure Emmett and if that wasn't icing on the cake, Lego versions of Batman and Superman are going to make appearances. Will Arnett has agreed to voice Batman and studio execs are negotiating with Channing Tatum for Lego Sups. Add the guys behind How I Met Your Mother as the directors and I might have to catch this opening weekend in February 2014.

-Aldis Hodge of TNT's Leverage wants to play Marvel's Black Panther badly.

-Some casting updates for Catching Fire. Jena Malone (Sucker Punch) is up for the role of Johanna Mason. No word yet if her nude scene will make an appearance in the movie. However, the latter casting rumors are making me go WTF. While they haven't revealed which roles yet, rapper/actor/basketball player Lil' Romeo and former WWE wrestler Kevin Nash are circling roles in the movie. I will let that sink in for a bit...as I fully expect OMJ to make a lulzy remark for me.

-Sigourney Weaver says that James Cameron wants to shoot three Avatar sequels back to back to back. Can I ask for none of the above and just give me my damn Battle Angel film adaptation? That's all I ask for Cameron...

-Steven Soderbergh is eyeing on making his newest film Magic Mike into a Broadway adaptation. Last time I checked, Broadway wasn't a strip club.

-Genndy Tartakovsky has signed on to direct an animated 3-D film of Popeye as the Dexter's Laboratory and Samurai Jack fanbase go wild!

-Speaking of nostalgia rape, 20th Century Fox has acquired the rights to make a Sesame Street movie with Shawn Levy as producer and possibly director. As long as I get my Katy Perry cameo with Elmo, then there is no doubt in my mind that I'll be seeing this.

-Jonah Hill has signed on as a last minute addition for Quentin Tarantino's Django Unchained. Five hundred doubloons says that he plays comedic relief and says the word "fuck" at least five times.

-Another Dreamworks animated movie has been announced. This one is based off the 2007 children book Happy Smekday which is about an alien invasion and a teenage girl befriending one of the aliens. Currently signed on to star is Jim Parsons (yay!) and Rihanna (um...).

-Hollywood lost a true talent today. Nora Ephron passed away today at the age of 71. She lost her three year battle with leukemia. Some of the movies she directed include Sleepless in Seattle, You've Got Mail, Bewitched, and most recently Julie & Julia. While I wasn't a fan of the latter two, the former two are some of my favorite chick flicks. She will probably be remembered for being one of the best female directors of all time. It's a shame she never got her Oscar after being nominated three times.

[Old Man Jenkins]

OMG! Kevin Nash?! WTF thought he was dead lol.

I'm not opposed to Aldis Hodge playing Black Panther. I like him on Leverage and this could be first major movie role. Either him or fellow Supernatural alum, Sterling K. Brown.

Genndy Tartakovsky? Well, blow me down!

R.I.P. Nora. Sleepless in Seattle is one of my favorite chick flicks.

[Steel Sponge]

Genndy Tartakovsky and Popeye? That would be the greatest possible combination to look forward to!

[SpongeOddFan]

Genndy Tartakovsky and Popeye? That would be the greatest possible combination to look forward to!

^This

[Wumbo]

-Twilight Saga: Breaking Dawn Part 2 Electric Boogaloo

Best. Mashup. EVER.

[Clappy]

-A brief box office update, but we have overperforming movies at the moment. Let's start with the top two movies at the box office atm. Many analysts were thinking a Brave repeat was in the works, with a bunch of new releases to follow. However, Brave might be looking at a third place finish now with anywhere between 35-40 million. Don't get me wrong, that is still a great amount for a second weekend and is holding much better than Cars 2 ever did.

However, it is Magic Mike and Ted battling it out for number 1 movie this weekend. The early advantage is going to Ted who had a Friday estimate of 21 million. This is a rare opening day for an R rated comedy. While I think this might be a bit frontloaded due to the MacFarlane fanboy rush, this is still on path to finish with about 50 million this weekend. Meanwhile, Magic Mike had 19 million this Friday and is heading anywhere between 40-45 million this weekend. As much as I hate him, Channing Tatum is on path to three 100+ million movies domestically at this rate.

As for other new releases, people still love Madea as Tyler Perry is heading back to familiar Madea box office territory with 25-30 million. Meanwhile, Chris Pine's barely advertised dramedy People Like Us is heading towards 4-5 million this weekend. Heading to a Wal-Mart $3.99 bin near you soon.

Anyway enough about box office stuff, let's get to the news stories you guys care more about

-Marvel's mystery May 2014 release has officially been revealed. Sadly it's not the Pixar project I was hoping for, but it is Guardians of the Galaxy. These guys were more recently introduced in 2008 as these guys are more like a Cosmic Avengers. Characters include Adam Warlock, Drax the Destroyer, Gamora, Moondragon, Star-Lord, Groot (a tree who only says his own name), and Rocket Raccoon, who is pretty much exactly what his name suggests. I fully expect this to develop on the Thanos cameo at the end of The Avengers and all this to lead to The Avengers 2 in 2015 or whenever Marvel makes it.

-Speaking of Marvel, there secret project with Disney was finally revealed. Marvel and Disney animation are working on a Big Hero 6 movie. The Big Hero 6 members that Disney and Marvel can use include Fredzilla (who can transformer into a giant lizard), GoGo Tomago (who can explode herself), Honey Lemon (who has a magical purse), Hiro Takachiho (a 13-year-old genius with a super flight suit), Baymax (Hiro's robot friend), and Wasabi-No-Ginger, a sword-wielding super chef. Big Hero 6 remains fairly obscure, even among comic book fans, but likeGuardians of the Galaxy, it appears to be an example of how Marvel is looking at its properties for feature film adaptations not entirely based upon any already existing popularity. Expect this to come in November 2014 as Disney's annual holiday animated feature.

-Want some more Marvel news...however, it's not exactly Marvel making it. Couldn't locate the studio that is making this, but a movie based off Marvel property The Human Fly is in development.

-Think Like a Man is getting a sequel. Act Like a Lady anyone?

-Speaking of Kevin Hart (who starred in the above movie), he has signed on to star in a remake of 1986 Rob Lowe-Demi Moore dramedy About Last Night. Screen Gems. Remaking every single movie property in their film library.

-While he is not busy self-promoting himself, Rob Reiner is still directing movies apparently. His next movie sounds just like Cape Fear, but it's called You Belong To Me. If you don't know what Cape Fear is, look it up because I don't even need to reword the plot for that movie for this one.

-Tyler Perry says that he is making a science fiction movie. Coming to a theater soon, Madea in Space. Anyone?

-Ryan Reynolds has officially been cast as the new Connor MacLeod in the new remake of Highlander. Dear Ryan Reynolds, YOU AREN'T SCOTTISH. I WOULD RATHER THE GIRL WHO PLAYED MERIDA IN BRAVE (KELLY MACDONALD) BE THE NEW CONNOR MACLEOD THAN HEAR YOU TRY TO FAKE A SCOTTISH ACCENT.

-Oh and on a final note, Scarecrow has been confirmed to make a cameo appearance in The Dark Knight Rises...you're welcome.

[JCM]

As for other new releases, people still love Madea as Tyler Perry is heading back to familiar Madea box office territory with 25-30 million. Meanwhile, Chris Pine's barely advertised dramedy People Like Us is heading towards 4-5 million this weekend. Heading to a Wal-Mart $3.99 bin near you soon.

I got bored of Madea after her third film, and I have no idea how this franchise is still making money.

[TJ]

Lol, your commentry are awesome claps XD . Medea in Space, I would love to see that.

Anyway, glad the Madea film did welll! I kinda wanna go see it. Her movies are always film. Alternatively I like her newer movies more.

[Clappy]

Brief Box Office Update:

-Ice Age 4 finished in first place this weekend with a decent start at 46 million. For those who are box office followers like me, this is the third lowest start in franchise history. The lowest being the third one, but that's due to it opening on a weekday, so I guarantee that Fox won't be happy and that they wanted MOAR. However, since the Ice Age franchise is doing mega millions overseas, expect to see an Ice Age 5 (it's been announced anyway) no matter how this one performs domestically.

-The Amazing Spider-Man held well by only falling off 43% to 35 million this weekend. However at 200 million domestic, I don't expect this one to make over 300 million like all the other Spidey films in the franchise. While this movie is not a bust moneywise, I do consider this a slight disappointment to Sony. Luckily this one will make back its budget real soon.

-The last movie I want to report on is Ted. Ted had another magnificent hold and made 22 million this weekend. Ladies and gentlemen, this movie is the most unlikely performer of the summer. I bet nobody saw a buddy comedy involving a teddy bear and Mark Wahlberg having a very realisitic shot of making as much as it has domestically. It currently stands at 158 million dollars and I have no doubt in my mind that this will make well north of 200 million if it continues to hold this well.

Overall though, this weekend was the calm before the madness as The Dark Knight Rises comes out this Friday. This movie will make mincemeat of all its competitors next weekend. The question that remains though is how big will The Dark Knight Rises be? And by how much will everyone else suffer? Now onto movie news and rumors.

-Michael Fassbender will produce and star in an adaptation of Assassin's Creed. Now I know that video game adaptations have not made good movies in the past, but with the lack of ideas out there in Hollywood, there is bound to be a good adaptation someday. I hope this one succeeds.

-The Wolverine has lined up a romantic love interest. Jessica Biel has signed on to portray Viper. I wish I could have more to say, but I still got the bad taste of Origins in my mouth that I could care less about this sequel.

-Channing Tatum is going to portray Evil Knievel. Expect a bunch of scenes of Knievel taking of his uniform just to get the ladies tingling.

-Eli Roth has signed a deal with Warner Brothers to direct the Victorian thriller Harker, which is about Bram Stroker's character as a Scotland Yard investigator. Russel Crowe will portray Dracula.

-As previously reported not so long ago, Ed Helms will officially be Rusty Griswold in the latest National Lampoon's Vacation adaptation.

-CBS Films will be making a video game adaptation of Deus Ex: Human Revolution. This one I don't have my hopes high for because...errr well...I'll give you a minute to go take a look at CBS Film's track record to see how bad their movie library is.

-They are still making a God of War movie, but now my hopes are crushed after they announced who will be writing the film. The same douchebags who wrote Saw IV, Saw V, Saw VI, and Saw 3D. I'm sad.

-What Ever Happened To Mary Jane is getting remade. For those who don't know, it was a 1962 psychological thriller. The odd thing is that they aren't going to modernize it. Instead, they are re-doing the same damn storyline with the same damn setting in the same damn time period. What Ever Happened To Original Ideas?

-20th Century Fox is trying their hardest to not return the property rights to Daredevil and Fantastic Four back to Marvel. While both contracts are expiring very soon, Fox is rushing their productions on both films just so they can keep the rights to both franchises. And this is why I hate Fox. Just let Marvel make movies on both properties dammit. As a fanboy, I got to ask this question. Take a look at solely cinematic Marvel made films and compare them to Fox's shitty adaptations of both franchises listed above. Just let these contracts expire already so Marvel can make their own versions of Daredevil and Fantastic Four the right way. Btw for those who want to know, the rights to Daredevil expire this fall and the rights to the Fantastic Four expire in 18 months. Can't you just imagine both of these franchises co-exisiting in the Marvel cinematic universe with their other franchises? That would be amazing.

[Elastic Dawg]

Her movies are always film.

I don't know why, but this made me lol hard.

btw, it's Baby Jane. Though I would lol if they casted whoever played Mary Jane in it.

[Old Man Jenkins]

Ah Clappy, only you can make Box Office numbers feel like a pastime.

Old Man Jenkins here, reporting LIVE! from the Movies section with some breaking DC Comics movie news! It appears that Dwayne "The Rock" Johnson's people are currently lobbying to have their boy be cast as Lobo in a planned motion picture adaptation of the popular 90's intergalactic bounty hunter. This reporter can only shake his head in disapproval at this possible casting choice. This reporter believes Danny Trejo would better match the part, moreso if he were about 10 years younger. Hell, they're looking up a wrestler's alley, they need not look further than Tyler Reks, who I would come to assume only Clappy has any knowledge of.

This is Old Man Jenkins, signing off.

[Clappy]

Ah Clappy, only you can make Box Office numbers feel like a pastime.

Well that's what happens when I've been following these numbers for over 10 years. xD

[Clappy]

Haven't done one of these in a while:

-OMJ is correct. Dwayne "The Rock" Johnson will become Lobo. No word on how many movies he will be portraying the character though (assuming that Lobo will be in the Justice League movie based off my post a couple pages back about a DC Comic Cinema Universe).

-Gareth Edwards (Monster) has been hired to direct the new Godzilla reboot coming out in 2014. No word yet on if Matthew Broderick and that's a lot of fish will be making cameos.

-Peter Jackson is splitting The Hobbit into three movies after all, which will be raping this cinema buff of his hard earned money.

-Guillermo Del Toro will be making Hellboy 3 after so many rumors about the franchise's fate.

-Horror comic anthology Creepy will come to the silver screen with Chris Columbus directing...definitely not who I was expecting.

-My Friend Dahmer is being made into a movie. For those who don't know of it, it's a fictional story of a boy named Derf, who's best friend happens to be a teenage version of future serial killer and cannibal Jeffrey Dahmer.

-The Minions from Despicable Me are going to be getting their own movie in 2014. This enters into Universal's stockpile of animated movie franchises in development, however, this one is going to be on the fast track. If people are going to complain about Wall-E not having enough dialogue, imagine how they will react with these little yellow fella making gibberish.

-Dreamworks Animations spent $155 million dollars to purchase the rights of company classic media. This also means they will have dozens of new projects to turn into animated films. Some of these properties includes: Where's Waldo?, many Rankin/Bass specials like Frosty the Snowman and Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer, Filmnation titles like Fat Albert and Masters of the Universe, Harvey Comics characters like Richie Rich and Casper the Friendly Ghost, the Jay Ward titles like Rocky and Bullwinkle and George of the Jungle, and many other properties including Dick Tracy, Gumby, Lassie, and Mr. Magoo.

-Ridley Scott has yet another project he owns the rights to. He will be making a disaster movie called The Day That Britain Stopped, which is about a fictional series of events that leads to the UK's transportation system collapsing. Not much else is known on who is writing, starring, etc.

-Speaking of disasters, the 2010 Gulf Oil Spill will also be getting it's own movie. Summit is putting this one on the fast track for a 2013 release.

-Kristen Stewart and Alex Pettyfer will star in a gritty action movie called Cali. It's about two lovers making a fake snuff film, but have to return to the scene to save Stewart's sister. I would be intrigued if it didn't involve Nick Cassevettes who hasn't made a good movie since the 90s.

-Despite the critical and financial bust that has been The Watch, Ben Stiller and Jonah Hill are teaming up again to do an island comedy called Aloha (gee I wonder where this will be taking place? #sarcasm).

[Old Man Jenkins]

I hope they throw in some romance between a BP exec and lowly oil rig worker, whose forbidden lovemaking inadvertently leads to the disaster in the Gulf.

Hell, make an animated movie based on the Miracle on the Hudson about a flock of young rapping birds who separate from the flock because they're rebels like that and they only realize the mistake they're making until right before WHAM, reality hits them like an airliner.

[Steel Sponge]

-Dreamworks Animations spent $155 million dollars to purchase the rights of company classic media. This also means they will have dozens of new projects to turn into animated films. Some of these properties includes: Where's Waldo?, many Rankin/Bass specials like Frosty the Snowman and Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer, Filmnation titles like Fat Albert and Masters of the Universe, Harvey Comics characters like Richie Rich and Casper the Friendly Ghost, the Jay Ward titles like Rocky and Bullwinkle and George of the Jungle, and many other properties including Dick Tracy, Gumby, Lassie, and Mr. Magoo.

God damn. Disney sure can buy a bunch of popular franchises for reasons of what I do not understand (such as Marvel), but Dreamworks got classic media?

Well, I'm unsure how it all turns out, but hopefully everybody hasn't stopped caring about hand-drawn animation, and that's still my only concern.

Plus, a BP Oil Spill movie? I almost kinda saw something like that coming.

[Clappy]

I'm going to include this news update first because this will be the most appealing to this site:

-After already announcing a sequel to The SpongeBob SquarePants Movie for 2014, Paramount is looking to re-establish their animation studios by developing more movies based on their popular Nickelodeon shows. The list of shows that might get movie adaptations includes such shows as Dora the Explorer, The Legend of Korra, and Monkey Quest with room for even more shows depending how successful this idea becomes.

-The Expendables 3 is far from official yet, but Sly has already got one actor on board. Nicolas Cage has officially signed on for the sequel. His addition peaks my interest in this project and that's not all apparently. Also in talks for roles in this includes: Wesley Snipes (once he gets out of prison), Harrison Ford, and the most surprising to me, Clint Eastwood. And here I thought they couldn't top adding JCVD and Chuck Norris, why also expanding Bruce Willis and Arnold Schwarzenegger's roles, but they possibly will for 3.

-Robert Pattinson has signed on to play Lawrence of Arabia in Werner Herzog's Queen of the Desert. First he partners with David Cronenberg, now Werner Herzog? Something tells me that Pattinson is trying to go through the library of motion picture directors that Elastic adores.

-Jesse Eisenberg, Dakota Fanning, and Peter Saarsgard have all signed on to play eco-terrorists in the independent film, Night Moves. I'm sorry, but I still can't get over the former two playing terrorists in any shape or form.

-John Goodman has signed on for a role as the antagonist for The Hangover Part III while Sean Penn and Robert Downey Jr. are also in talks for roles. It's like they are trying to make me forgive them for the mediocre sequel.

-Apparently, news has leaked that the script review for the Robocop remake is not only bad, but some are calling it incredibly brutal. And there goes all the interest I have in this remake.

-It now appears highly unlikely that Fox will get a Daredevil film produced by the October 10th deadline, and so Marvel Studios will likely soon get the rights back for Daredevil and all of his ancillary characters (which is actually fantastic news with Marvel Studio's cinema track record).

-May 1, 2015 - The Avengers 2 with Joss Whedon returning to the director's chair. You better clear your calendar of any existing priorities.

-Apparently for ten hours, Ben Affleck was attached to direct the live action Justice League movie...then those rumors died off.

-Also dying off in superhero news was Marvel possibly getting the rights back for Galactus, The Watcher, and the Silver Surfer, just so Fox can get more time to keep the rights to the Fantastic 4. Then those rumors died off as well...but who knows, Fox could still manage to fuck this reboot up and Marvel could get the whole Fantastic 4 universe back in general.

-So Bill & Ted 3 is becoming more likely to happen now with a director finally attached to the project. Dean Parisot (Galaxy Quest) is returning to the director's chair to film this new installment in the infamous franchise.

-Sony is giving former 80s sitcom ALF the Smurf treatment. Unless Martin Scorsese or David Fincher signs on, this movie is smurfed.

[JCM]

Paramount ... developing more movies based on their popular Nickelodeon shows ...The Legend of Korra

I hope they keep it as far away from M. Night Shamalangadingdong as possible.

[Steel Sponge]

Monkey Quest is being greenlit? I'm still waiting for a Toontown movie.

[Old Man Jenkins]

A movie for Legend of Korra already? They're better off keeping it as animation, screw the idea of live-action already.

And I am very much satisfied with Daredevil coming back to Marvel.