Day One

“Star Trek 4” and the Q&A with Leonard Nimoy were the most fun I had all weekend. The film may be predictable, but the cast’s energy and the plot’s science-fiction silliness are a blast. Everyone achieved what they set out to do with this installment of the “Trek” series, which CHUD’s Devin Faraci, who was also in attendance, claims to be the “Star Trekkiest” of them all. Mr Nimoy himself was a pleasure; touching on his acting history and the emphasis on story and character above all else when making a film. He did not have kind words for “Avatar” or his work on the television show “Fringe.” Unafraid of touching on politics, Mr. Nimoy was loose and easygoing. At 79 years old, he’s ready to retire from acting and focus on his photography exhibit, art, and family. The L. A. Times has some video recapping the night.

Day Two

This was the first time I’d seen “Insomnia” and it is a tightly-wound thriller with a very good, very creepy performance by Robin Williams. I would even go so far as to say it surpasses “The Dark Knight” in quality, as sacrilegious as that may seem for so many. With a repeat viewing after such a long break between original theatrical screenings and now, I must say Heath Ledger is still an acting tornado, yet the film is much too long and dour. Director Christopher Nolan was on hand and much like his films, he was quite reserved and focused more on the technical aspect of filmmaking.

“I’m not a huge fan of 3-D.”

Mr. Nolan claims it is “a misnomer to call it 3-D versus 2-D. The whole point of cinematic imagery is it’s three-dimensional. … You know, 95% of our depth cues come from occlusion, resolution, color and so forth, so the idea of calling a 2-D movie a ’2-D movie’ is a little misleading.”

He also, like many other, including Roger Ebert, complains about screen brightness, or lack thereof. “The truth of it is when you watch a film in here, you’re looking at 16 foot-lamberts, When you watch through any of the conventional 3-D processes you’re giving up three foot-lamberts. A massive difference. You’re not that aware of it because once you’re ‘in that world,’ your eye compensates, but having struggled for years to get theaters get up to the proper brightness, we’re not sticking polarized filters in everything.”

“It’s all based on all the visual-effects technology,” he explains, “that we’re currently most engaged in with match moving, so forth, and rendering 2-D imagery into a 3-D space. … On a technical level, it’s fascinating, but on an experiential level, I find the dimness of the image extremely alienating.”

Day Three

The last night featured the science-fiction classic “Alien” and “Blade Runner” and their director, Ridley Scott. Talking a mile a minute, it was very easy for Mr. Scott to go off on a tangent; the host had to ask the same question more than once.

He is starting to work on two “Alien” prequels, with the original film ending the trilogy. The new films were inspired by a short scene from the original featuring the Nostromo crew discovering the “space jockey,” a petrified giant alien being that had obviously been a victim of the titular aliens many years ago. The prequels will focus on the history of the “space jockey,” who Mr. Scott now claims was wearing a spacesuit.

“No one ever asked that question: What’s the story there? I was always surprised that people didn’t ask that one. Now we’re going to answer that question. To me, a prequel is interesting, much more interesting than a sequel. They never asked me to do the sequels.”

Talking to MTV, Mr. Scott mentioned H. R. Giger’s role on the prequels: “Yeah, he’s still around. Once I get more serious and get going, and the big wheels start turning, we’ll certainly talk. And maybe we’ll come up with something completely different.”

In an interview with Screen Daily, the director revealed that he has plans to redesign the aliens, and show how they became the majestic killing machines we know and love.

“The film will be really tough, really nasty. It’s the dark side of the moon. We are talking about gods and engineers. Engineers of space. And were the aliens designed as a form of biological warfare? Or biology that would actually go in and clean up a planet? It will take place in the years before that, when they first come across this thing on a planet called Zeta Reticuli.”

“Yeah, the thing about “Alien vs Predator” is, I know it’s commerce, but what a pity… I think, therefore, I have to design – or redesign – earlier versions of what these elements are that led to the thing you finally see in Alien, which is the thing that catapults out of the egg, the face-hugger. I don’t want to repeat it. The alien in a sense, as a shape, is worn out.”

Tonight’s news update features a lot of old and current news that sort of summarizes the statuses of a bunch of eagerly-awaited projects. Hope you like it and please let me know any suggestions for improvements, feature requests, or news tips you might have.

Writer/director Duncan Jones came out with an excellent science fiction picture last year entitled “Moon.” He planned to follow it up with “Mute.” Set in the same universe as his first film (“Moon’s” Sam Rockwell would have even made a cameo appearance), “Mute” follows a mute bartender as he searches for his missing girlfriend and ends up clashing with a near-future Berlin’s gangsters. Like all great SF, the story would have focused more on the human characters and themes than on the futuristic technology and/or action setpieces. The budget was set to be $25 million, five times greater than “Moon’s” and it would have been greatly inspired visually by “Blade Runner,” as evidenced by this gorgeous  concept art. Unfortunately, the film is now “mired in financing difficulties.”

Thankfully, Mr. Jones still has work; “Source Code” is about a soldier (Jake Gyllenhaal) stuck by the U.S. government inside the body of a commuter on a train that was attacked by terrorists. Vera Farmiga is a communications officer that controls Mr. Gyllenhaal as he travels through time, forced to relive the experience over and over again until he can find the one responsible for the attack. Michelle Monaghan plays the love interest to the person Mr. Gyllenhaal inhabits. The script, by Ben Ripley, had some rewrites done by Billy Ray.

Meanwhile, Mel Gibson’s latest epic, violent period piece will focus on the Vikings and have dialogue in Old Norse and Old English. The screenplay is by William Monahan and it will star Leonardo DiCaprio. In an interesting interview with the Los Angeles Times, it’s said this may be Mr. Gibson’s last film.

Posters and Images

• “Buried“
• “Splice“
• “Survival of the Dead“

Trailers and Clips

• “The Adjustment Bureau“
• “Buried“
• “Get Him to the Greek“
• “The Imaginarium of Doctor Parnassus“
• “Inception“
• “Scott Pilgrim vs the World“
• “Tucker and Dale vs Evil“

And then there’s “True Blood,” the sexiest, bloodiest soap opera on television. You’re either a fan or you’re not. For those of us with taste, here is the new trailer for season three:

Book Adaptations of the Week

Martin Scorsese wants to direct the children’s book “The Invention of Hugo Cabret” by Brian Selznick, while the wonderful Shane Black is looking to write and direct a “Doc Savage” feature film. Speaking of pulp adventure tales, the non-Pixar “John Carter of Mars,” based on the Edgar Rice Burroughs books and directed by Pixar-director Andrew Stanton, is now in production. It stars Taylor Kitsch as a Confederate soldier in the American Civil War who mysteriously teleports to Mars and gets caught up in the ongoing war between alien races. Lynn Collins will play the princess I presume. Bryan Cranston plays a Civil War colonel. James Purefoy is “Kantos Kan, the captain of the Xavarian, the kingdom of Helium’s grand warship.” Mark Strong is “Matai Shang, the ruler of the Thems.” Thomas Haden Church is “Tal Hajus, an ambitious and vicious Thark warrior who is biding his time to be a ruler.” The film also stars Willem Dafoe, Samantha Morton, Polly Walker, and Dominic West.

Comic Book Adaptations of the Week

“Iron Man 2″ is still in theaters and the Marvel movie universe is already expanding. Following the first “Iron Man” film and “The Incredible Hulk,” “Thor” will feature Chris Hemsworth as the titular character alongside Jaimie Alexander, Colm Feore, Tom Hiddleston, Samuel L. Jackson, Natalie Portman, and Stellan Skarsgard. Kenneth Branagh is directing the film for a May 20, 2011, release date. Only a couple months later, July 22, 2011, to be exact, “Captain America: The First Avenger” will debut in theaters. Directed by Joe Johnston, the film stars Chris Evans as the Cap himself, Steve Rogers; Hayley Atwell as his WWII-era love interest, Peggy Carter; Sebastien Stan as his sidekick, Bucky Barnes; and Hugo Weaving as his nemesis, Johann Schmidt (The Red Skull). Fans of the comics will be delighted to know both The Invaders and The Howling Commandos make an appearance in the film. Then it all comes together with “The Avengers.” The big news is that Joss Whedon is not only writing and directing the big team-up movie, but might also be making some changes to the “Captain America” script as well.

Sequels of the Week

Rhett Reese and Paul Wernick, the writers behind the comedy “Zombieland,” are taking a crack at the “G.I. Joe 2” script. The much-maligned first “Joe” film was a breath of pure, little-boy fresh air and it’s a shame very few people recognize or appreciate it. Deadline reports that Megan Fox was dropped from “Transformers 3,” probably due to her badmouthing of director Michael Bay while promoting “Jennifer’s Body.” But both People and Hit Fix say it’s the other way around: Ms. Fox wanted out. And just as quickly as her departure was announced, a replacement was chosen: Victoria’s Secret-model Rosie Huntington-Whitely. It’s a shame so many people badmouth Ms. Fox. Every argument I’ve ever heard against her is that she is a “talentless skank.” Why? Because she’s pretty? Because she speaks her mind? The misogyny of fandom is astounding at times. Though she’s never really been given much of a role worth acting, she did admirably in “Jennifer’s Body” and I look forward to her future work.

The fourth Disney “Pirates” movie will be called “Pirates of the Caribbean: On Stranger Tides” and is partly based on the 1988 book by Tim Powers, “On Stranger Tides.” Directed by Rob Marshall, the film will be in 3D and begins shooting in Hawaii, Great Britain, and Los Angeles this month for a May 20, 2011, release. Johnny Depp will return as Captain Jack Sparrow, though Orlando Bloom and Keira Knightley will not make any appearances. Rather, Depp will be joined by Ian McShane as Blackbeard and Penélope Cruz as Blackbeard’s daughter, who will be an equal and a foil to Sparrow (and probably a love interest as well). Also joining the cast are Astrid Bergès-Frisbey as a mermaid named Syrena and Stephen Graham as the pirate Scram.

Remakes of the Week

Joe Wright, who directed Keira Knightley in “Pride & Prejudice,” has cast his leading lady in a remake of “My Fair Lady,” itself a musical of the stage play “Pygmalion.” Meanwhile, Ethan and Joel Coen are reuniting with a few actors that have worked with them before: Jeff Bridges will star as Rooster Cogburn in a remake of the John Wayne-classic “True Grit.” His character and a lawman (Matt Damon) help a young girl (Hailee Steinfeld) track her father’s killer (Josh Brolin) into hostile Indian territory. Barry Pepper will play the outlaw “Lucky Ned.” In an interview with Rotten Tomatoes, the brothers claim their film will hew more closely to the book, which takes the young girl’s perspective and has more humor and violence. Sounds exactly like a Coen movie.

Robert E. Howard’s “Conan” is returning to the big screen. Marcus Nispel is directing a reportedly awful script Sean Hood tried to fix before production began in Bulgaria. The barbarian himself will be played by Jason Momoa. His father was going to be Mickey Rourke, but talks fell apart and the role now belongs to the great Ron Perlman. Stephen Lang plays the villain, Khalar Singh; Rachel Nichols is Tamara, Conan’s love interest; and Said Taghmaoui is a thief who is saved by Conan. Meanwhile, some pictures have leaked from the set and the DTV quality of it all is heartbreaking.

Final Words

“I wouldn’t have had to spend all that time trying to communicate thoughtfully and honestly with someone who just wanted a pat on the head, and, more importantly, I wouldn’t have had to read that godawful piece of [junk].”—Josh Olson, screenwriter of “A History of Violence”

Looks like Germans loved the revisionist history of “Inglourious Basterds.”

Meanwhile, director Joe Lynch (“Wrong Turn 2″) is next making “The Knights of Badassdom,” which John Landis describes as a “heavy metal horror adventure;” Rob Zombie would love to make a “nasty,” “realistic” pirate movie; and the Weinstein Company has pre-bought “The King’s Speech,” about a stuttering King George VI.

Photos

• “The Host 2“—This prequel will have none of the cast or crew returning from the first, exquisite film.
• “MacGruber“—Ryan Phillippe, Will Forte, and Kristen Wiig star in this film based on a “Saturday Night Live” skit that spoofs “MacGyver.”
• “Machete“—Robert Rodriguez is expanding his fake trailer from “Grindhouse” into a feature-length film starring Danny Trejo, Jessica Alba, and Lindsay Lohan.

In the Grave

Variety‘s head critic Todd McCarthy destroyed the long-awaited adaptation of author Cormac McCarthy’s “The Road,” saying it “falls dispiritingly short on every front, showing clear signs of being test-screened and futzed with to death.” He believes the star, Viggo Mortensen, “lacks the gravitas to carry the picture; suddenly resembling Gabby Hayes with his whiskers and wayward hair,” and says that director John Hillcoat “just hopscotches from scene to scene in almost random fashion without any sense of pacing or dramatic modulation.” The story, about a father and son wandering a post-apocalyptic wasteland, does flit from scene to scene, but it also does have a “sense of pacing” and “dramatic modulation.” Such a brutal review does not sound good for the film’s Oscar prospects, which is especially bad for the struggling Weinstein Company.

The “Downfall” parodies have officially come to an end:

Posters

• “2012“—Roland Emmerich’s (“Independence Day,” “The Day After Tomorrow”) latest disaster epic comes out November 13.
• “House“—The sixth season of Hugh Laurie’s medical drama television show debuts September 21.
• “Where the Wild Things Are“—There is also a new New York Times Magazine article that starts off by quoting my colleague Devin Faraci. That’s twice for him this year. Congrats!

Back From the Dead

Continuing the LACMA Misadventures, Los Angeles County Museum of Art director Michael Govan announced that he plans to raise the film program’s budget from $350,000 to $500,000 and raise between $5 million and $6 million in endowments. But his choice of naming the new $50 museum membership add-on “CineClub” infringes on UCLA’s three-year-old “Cineclub” program and he has said that the new club will be renamed immediately. Also, the Los Angeles Times recently ran a photo gallery with quotes from major movie directors remembering the museum’s film program.

Trailers

• “The Boondock Saints 2: All Saints Day“—Troy Duffy returns after a decade to continue his story of two brothers out for justice.
• “Defendor“—TAJN-fave Woody Harrelson stars as a deluded crime fighter in this comedy with Sandra Oh, Kat Dennings, and Elias Koteas.
• “Extract“—Mike Judge’s old characters, Beavis and Butt-head, introduce some clips from his new comedy.
• “Fantastic Mr. Fox“—A new behind-the-scenes featurette on Wes Anderson’s stop-motion animated film that still somehow stays within his distinctive visual style.
• “Leslie, My Name Is Evil“—A jury member at a Manson Family trial falls in love with the defendant. And it’s a comedy.
• “El Superbeasto“—Some very quick cuts from Rob Zombie’s long-awaited dirty, dirty animated film.

Unoriginal Content

Book Adaptations of the Week—John Goodman plays Paul Bunyon and Jeff Foxworthy is his faithful blue ox, Babe, in MGM’s animated “Bunyon & Babe,” about an evil developer (Kelsey Grammar) trying to ruin a small town. Paul W.S. Anderson (“Alien vs. Predator”) and Andrew Davies (“Bridget Jones’ Diary”) are working together on a “Three Musketeers” flick in 3D! (sigh)

Comic Adaptations of the Week—Jon Favreau is directing Robert Downey, Jr., in D.W. Mark Fergus’ and Hawk Ostby’s (“Iron Man”) script for “Cowboys and Aliens” for producers Steven Spielberg and Ron Howard, though Alex Kurtzman and Roberto Orci (“Transformers”) are rewriting it with Damon Lindelof (“Lost”) first. Guy Ritchie (“RocknRolla,” the upcoming “Sherlock Holmes”) will direct Don Payne’s (“Fantastic Four: Rise of the Silver Surfer”) PG-13 script for “Lobo” for Akiva Goldsman and Andrew Rona. Michel Gondry’s “The Green Hornet” finally started shooting three days ago with Seth Rogen, Edward James Olmos, Tom Wilkinson, and David Harbour. Nicolas Cage is still in negotiations to appear in the film, which is scheduled to debut December 17, 2010.

Sequels of the Week—”Tron Legacy,” which has started post-production work, will be in theaters on December 10, 2010, and Randi Mayem Singer is writing “Big Momma’s House 3.”

Remake of the Week—Rebecca De Mornay will star in director Darren Lynn Bousman’s (“Saw 2-4,” “Repo! The Genetic Opera”) “Mother’s Day.”

Final Words

“True Blood” is one of the best shows on television right now and I just recently figured out the only way to describe it: it’s the flamboyant gay guy of TV shows. And I mean that in the best way possible. It started out shaky, trying to figure out how to combine comedy and horror and sex and camp and really only started to find its voice halfway through the first season. Now that its second season is coming to an end, I’m amazed to see how far this show has progressed. It’s one of only a handful of series that I feel comfortable rewatching over and over and tonight is our chance for a whole mini-marathon. In anticipation of next week’s season finale, HBO is using this week’s timeslot to air the previous three episodes to get everyone caught up for the big showdown between the maenad, Maryann Forrester (played by the awesome Michelle Forbes), and Anna Paquin’s telepathic protagonist, Sookie Stackhouse. The festivities start at 9 P.M.

Jon Hamm (“Mad Men”) has joined Emily Browning, Vanessa Hudgens, Jamie Chung, Jena Malone, and Carla Gugino in Zack Snyder’s follow-up to “Watchmen,” the 1950s-set “dark, hardcore, actiony” story, titled “Sucker Punch,” about a girl sent to a mental hospital by her evil stepfather. Before she’s to be lobotomized, she imagines a fantasy world that sounds an awful lot like a very, very violent “Wizard of Oz.”

Continuing the theme of over-the-top violence, Nicolas Cage will star in “Drive Angry,” Patrick Lussier’s follow-up to his 3D remake of “My Bloody Valentine.” Cage plays a father whose daughter is killed and finds his granddaughter kidnapped. He then goes on a crazy road rampage revenge streak. Production starts in April in Louisiana.

To calm things down (though only a bit, looking back at Gus van Sant’s entire filmography) Brian Grazer, Ron Howard, and Bryce Howard will be producing Jason Lew’s first screenplay, “Restless,” with van Sant set to direct. The story is unknown, but it’s said to be a “contemporary and distinctive take on young love.” Van Sant last directed “Milk” and is also set to adapt “The Electric Kool-Aid Acid Test.”

Unoriginal Content

Comic Adaptations of the Week—There’s more drama in the Marvel/Disney acquisition. Fox seems to be a little blue about the whole situation, but they do have one ace up their sleeves: as long as they make more movies based on the Marvel characters to which they own the rights, said rights will be theirs “in perpetuity.” Which is why, right after the Disney deal was announced, Fox appointed Akiva Goldsman as producer of a “Fantastic Four” reboot, with “Heroes” scribe Michael Green on scripting duty. Also in this perpetual rights standoff are the characters from “X-Men,” “Daredevil,” and “Silver Surfer.” Meanwhile, “The Green Hornet” has been moved from June of 2010 to December, which will give more time for post-production and Comic-Con marketing, and Nikolaj Arcel (“Island of Lost Souls”) will be directing “Deadman” for Guillermo del Toro.

Sequels of the Week—Peter Craig will write “Bad Boys 3” for Columbia Pictures and the Weinstein Company has decided to make a third “Halloween” film in 3D for next summer, though it’s not known if writer/director Rob Zombie will return.

Final Words

The Academy Awards are turning Communist!

Under the deal, Disney gets all of Marvel’s 5,000+ characters, including Iron Man, Spider-Man, the X-Men, Captain America, the Fantastic Four, and Thor. What Disney won’t get are some of the film and theme park rights, at least not right away. Marvel’s deals with several studios will remain, including “Spider-Man” at Sony, “X-Men” at Fox, and the five remaining pictures with Paramount, which includes “Iron Man 2,” “Thor,” “The First Avenger: Captain America,” “The Avengers,” and possibly “Ant-Man.” Universal Studios also has its Marvel-based attractions in theme parks across the world. Once the deals expire Disney controls everything, but this won’t be for up to a decade or more. Paramount will really be feeling the hurt as it already lost DreamWorks to Disney earlier this year.

Disney will benefit tremendously; DVD sales, ABC advertising, and consumer spending at theme parks have all been sagging lately, contributing to the 26 percent drop in Disney’s profits in the third quarter. Expect to see Marvel characters popping up in Disney theme parks and consumer products and be used to make further inroads into the young boys demographic. Disney’s Princesses and “Hannah Montana” have been extremely popular with girls, but it’s been hard for the company to attract the opposite sex. Marvel would make a good addition to their new Disney XD channel. There are also rumblings about something brewing between Marvel and Pixar. CHUD reports that Pixar’s “John Lasseter and Marvel honchos recently met and got so excited the suits had to tell them to calm down, the deal wasn’t done yet.”

Marvel itself will be relatively unaffected. Marvel Studios won’t be moving from its Manhattan Beach headquarters and, as Bob Iger, president and CEO of Disney, said, “if it’s not broke” then Disney won’t interfere on the movie production side of things. This will also help sell comics, which is always a good thing for a comic book company. In summary, Marvel gets more money to play with and Disney gets more merchandise to sell.

Iger said in a statement: “This transaction combines Marvel’s strong global brand and world-renowned library of characters including Iron Man, Spider-Man, X-Men, Captain America, Fantastic Four and Thor with Disney’s creative skills, unparalleled global portfolio of entertainment properties, and a business structure that maximizes the value of creative properties across multiple platforms and territories.”

SOURCES

CHUD, Variety, New York Times, Disney press release

To balance that off, we also have two dumb stories today. Director James McTeigue (“V For Vendetta”) is going to direct “The Raven,” which imagines Edgar Allen Poe hunting a serial killer who models his kills on stories Poe himself has written. Secondly, prepare yourself for SIX Shakespeare plays filmed in 3D!!! Expect to be assaulted by “a ghost that hovers in front of the aud’s eyes, cannon fire that flies into the auditorium and a sword fight that appears to happen all around viewers.” Ah, literature.

Bryan Singer (“The Usual Suspects,” “X-Men,” “Superman Returns,” “Valkyrie”) has a whole lot on his plate: he might be making a cinematic remake of “Battlestar Galactica,” might be remaking “Excalibur,” and might be making up with Fox and returning to his franchise with “X-Men: First Class.” His next project though will most likely be “Jack the Giant Killer,” “a riff on the Jack and the Beanstalk legend that was developed by New Line with scripters Darren Lemke and Mark Bomback and producer Neal Moritz.”

In the Grave

Universal has moved “The Wolfman” from a fall release date to February 2010, signs that the studio has no confidence in the film whatsoever. A more puzzling release date change is that of Martin Scorsese’s “Shutter Island.” The film has also been moved to February, but rumors are that it’s due to the economy; Paramount reportedly does not have enough money to publicize the film as a nominee for the Academy Awards. Lastly, “The Green Lantern” itself may not be dead, but its original shooting location is. Due to the rising value of Australian currency, Warner Brothers has decided to move the production from down under to the big easy, New Orleans. Shooting is still scheduled for some time next year.

Back From the Dead

Just recently I reported that the LACMA film program is shutting down in the next couple of months, but just as quickly a $150,000 pledge swooped in to save the day. The Los Angeles Times says that “the Hollywood Foreign Press Assn., which organizes the annual Golden Globe Awards, and Time Warner Cable, in association with Ovation TV, have each agreed to put up $75,000 toward the LACMA film program, which had been scheduled to close in October.” The cable companies also promised to spend an additional $1.5 million across the nation to market the film program. Unfortunately this will only last them until June of next year, so please continue attending, donating, and spreading the word.

John Carpenter is back in the director’s chair! He hasn’t made a film since 2001′s “Ghosts of Mars,” and though he did direct a couple episodes of “Masters of Horror,” it just hasn’t been the same without him. He’s already deep into filming “The Ward,” about a mental hospital patient (Amber Heard) plagued by a ghost.

Also coming out of the woodwork is John Landis, who is directing “Burke and Hare,” about the duo who murdered up to 30 people and sold their bodies to science in 1800s Scotland. As if that wasn’t awesome enough, Simon Pegg is set to star as one of the two killers.

Sony Pictures Classics might possibly distribute Terry Gilliam’s latest film, “The Imaginarium of Dr. Parnassus,” Heath Ledger’s final and unfinished role, which was completed by Johnny Depp, Jude Law, and Colin Farrell. The film has already had international distribution for quite some time, which is set for the end of the year. Meanwhile, Lionsgate has picked up “Kick-Ass,” based on Mark Millar’s comic book, for 3,500 theaters. Both films were previewed at this year’s Comic-Con before they even had distribution deals.

Unoriginal Content

Book Adaptations of the Week—Steven Spielberg will direct the late Michael Crichton’s soon-to-be-published “Pirate Latitudes.” Robert Downey, Jr., will take over the role Tom Cruise originated as the vampire Lestat in a reboot of Anne Rice’s “The Vampire Chronicles.” Randall Wallace (“Braveheart,” “Pearl Harbor”) will rewrite Justin Marks’ (“Street Fighter: The Legend of Chun Li”) script for McG’s “Captain Nemo: 20,000 Leagues Under the Sea.” Al Gough and Miles Millar (“Smallville”) will be adapting James Frey’s (a fake memoir) and Jobie Hughes’ teen sci-fi novel, “I Am Number Four,” for Michael Bay (overloaded films). Lastly, “Napoleon Dynamite’s” Jon Heder will star in Bradley Denton’s sci-fi novel “Buddy Holly is Alive and Well on Ganymede.”

Comic Adaptations of the Week—Frank Darabont will adapt “The Walking Dead” as a series for the AMC television network.

Music Adaptation of the Week—Director Bobcat Goldthwait (the upcoming comedy “World’s Greatest Dad”) is next working on a movie about a spree killer. But after that he’s heading into musicals, and more precisely a musical based on an obscure Kinks rock opera called “Schoolboys in Disgrace.”

Biopics of the Week—Robin Williams has reportedly been asked to play singer Susan Boyle, who became famous after being ridiculed and then showing a ton of talent on “Britain’s Got Talent.” Robert Redford will direct “The Conspirator,” about Mary Surratt, who was involved in the conspiracy to assassinate Abraham Lincoln. Paul Giamatti will play Larry in the Farrelly Brothers’ “Three Stooges” even though both Sean Penn and Jim Carrey have dropped out. Producer David Permut has picked up the rights to “A Life in the Day,” by Tony Gittelson, about Beatles manager Brian Epstein.

Toy Adaptation of the Week—Producer Dan Lin (“Shorts,” “Sherlock Holmes”), with the help of Warner Brothers and screenwriters Kevin and Dan Hageman, will attempt to adapt Hasbro’s Lego building blocks into a live-action/CGI feature film.

Sequels of the Week—Director Peter Berg hints that there might be another superpowered god guy in “Hancock 2” and writers Adam Fierro and Glen Mazzara have been hired to try to possibly fit that into the plot. Ericson Core will direct “XXX 3.”

Remakes of the Week—James Woods and Willa Holland have joined James Marsden, Kate Bosworth, and Alexander Skarsgard (“True Blood”) in the cast of Rod Lurie’s “Straw Dogs.” Bruce Joel Rubin (“Ghost,” “The Time Traveler’s Wife”) will remake the 2002 Japanese film “Yomigaeri” (“Resurrection”) as “Rainbow Bridge.” Lastly, fresh off of “Halloween 2,” Rob Zombie will direct “The Blob.”

Final Words

Monty Python has reunited!

Moving on, here is an unused “Inglourious Basterds” poster and over here is a viral video that may or may not have anything to do with “Cloverfield 2.” Enjoy!

Clips

• “Big Fan“—Patton Oswalt’s dark football comedy.

Posters

• “Dollhouse“—Season 2 of Joss Whedon’s sci-fi TV show starts Friday, September 25.
• “The House of the Devil“—Ti West attempted to make a horror film that looks like it’s from the ’80s. The poster certainly delivers.
• “Pandorum“—A motion poster for the sci-fi/horror film.
• “Whip It“—Drew Barrymore’s directorial debut about roller derby arrives October 2.

Trailers

• “Agora“—Alejandro Amenabar’s Roman Egypt-set epic, starring Rachel Weisz, opens October 9 in Spain.
• “The Descent: Part 2“—This sequel begins right where the rather entertaining first horror film left off.
• “Inception“—Christopher Nolan’s “Matrix”-like follow-up to “The Dark Knight” (learn the plot here!)
• “The Men Who Stare At Goats“—George Clooney, Jeff Bridges, Ewan McGregor, and Kevin Spacey star in a true-life comedy about a military program devoted to harnessing psychic powers.
• “White on Rice“—A rather strange romantic comedy opens in select theaters soon.

Now that the Nickelodeon channel is turning 30 years old, it’s finally decided to “rebrand” with new logos across its entire portfolio, which includes “Nickelodeon, Nick at Nite, Nicktoons, Nick Jr. (formerly Noggin) and TeenNick (formerly the N), all of which will use similar-looking lower-case logos.” So long, little orange splat.

Ridley Scott seems to be keeping himself busy with 14 films listed as in development on IMDb. The two most recently announced films are Aldous Huxley’s science fiction classic “Brave New World” and a prequel to “Alien,” the sci-fi/horror film Scott directed back in the late ’70s.

Back From the Dead

ABC finally realized Ben Lyons and Ben Mankiewicz were an embarrassment, and has replaced them with the New York Times‘ A.O. Scott and the Chicago Tribune‘s Michael Phillips on Roger Ebert’s former show, “At the Movies.”

Lastly, we’ve reported that “Trick ‘r Treat” is finally getting a theatrical release (barely) and Wired has put together a little video featuring filmmaker Mike Dougherty saying the Internet saved his film. I’ve seen the movie twice now and I can guarantee you’ll have a good time at the movies once it comes out. Be sure to follow Dougherty on Twitter!

(Un)original Content

Book Adaptations of the Week—Willem Dafoe will portray the Martian Tars Tarkas in “John Carter of Mars,” Paramount is in talks with director Neil Burger to adapt Robert C. O’Brien’s “Mrs. Frisby and the Rats of NIMH,” and Tomas Alfredson, director of “Let the Right One In,” will next be focusing on John le Carré’s “Tinker, Tailor, Soldier, Spy.” Meanwhile, there’s lots of good news about Aaron Sorkin’s Facebook movie, “The Social Network.” Also being adapted is Dr. Seuss’ “The Lorax,” Craig Yoe’s “Secret Identity: The Fetish Art of Superman’s Co-Creator Joe Shuster,” Robert Ludlum’s “The Parsifal Mosaic” (with Ron Howard directing), John Grisham’s “The Testament,” and Vivian Schilling’s “Sacred Prey.”

Comic Adaptations of the Week—While it was rumored Justin Timberlake would play Hal Jordan in “The Green Lantern,” it’s been confirmed that Ryan Reynolds has the part. Also, Natalie Portman will appear in “Thor,” Len Wiseman will direct “Shrapnel,” and Bill Birch and Geoff Johns will co-write “Shazam!”

Television Adaptations of the Week—On the TV front, look for feature films based on “Soul Train,” “Baywatch,” “T.J. Hooker,” “The Big Valley,” and “Saturday Night Live’s” MacGruber character.

Video Game Adaptations of the Week—Juan Carlos Fresnadillo is directing “Bioshock,” Sam Raimi is directing a “World of Warcraft” movie, and “Halo” might not be dead after all, though “District 9″ had nothing to do with it. Also on the horizon is “Asteroids” and “Uncharted: Drake’s Fortune.”

Sequels of the Week—Susan Sarandon has joined the cast of “Wall Street 2: Money Never Sleeps.” Nimrod Antal will be directing Robert Rodriguez’s “Predators.” “Chicago” and “Nine” director Rob Marshall will sit in the director’s chair for “Pirates of the Caribbean 4.” “Alias’” Josh Applebaum and Andre Nemec will be writing “Mission: Impossible 4.” Japan will be the setting for “X-Men Origins: Wolverine 2.” Gary Ross has taken a turn at the “Spider-Man 4” script and strange things are afoot for “Spider-Man 5 and 6.” Joshua Zetumer will be writing the fourth “Bourne” movie. George Romero will next document the “Survival of the Dead.” Also, stay tuned for “The Strangers 2” and “Saw 7.”

Remakes of the Week—”Cloverfield” director Matt Reeves is setting “Let the Right One In” in a 1980s Colorado and will be keeping the children as 12-year-olds, with Kodi Smit-McPhee as Oskar. I get bored just thinking about a “Yellow Submarine” remake in 3D, but I can’t wait to see the Asian version of the Coen brothers’ “Blood Simple.” Meanwhile, Steven Spielberg will be remaking “Harvey” while “(500) Days of Summer’s” director, Marc Webb, will be making “Jesus Christ Superstar” more “hipstery.” Also on the horizon: “An American Werewolf in London,” “Robocop,” and “Don’t Be Afraid of the Dark.”

Final Word(s)

“White Chicks 2.”

The film however has been afflicted with the ultimate hype machine, with some working it up to be the second coming of Christ, while the majority of the world probably hasn’t even heard of it. In order to build up support, Fox and Cameron decided on a little something called “Avatar Day.” This free, 16-minute sneak peek would be shown at 6 P.M. and again at 6:45 on “342 screens in 58 countries, with 102 3-D and 3-D Imax screens here in the States,” according to the Los Angeles Times. When tickets became available last Monday, the official “Avatar” Twitter page, @officialavatar, was forced to explain that “due to the overwhelming response for tickets to the Avatar event on 8/21, [their] servers [had] crashed.” This debacle was eventually cleared up and people were able to get their tickets. Soon after, the first official photo was released showing Worthington’s Jake Sully with a still-developing Na’Vi-human hybrid. A trailer that left me a little cold was then released, leading up to the big day on Friday. There was even a marketing mishap, as the Apple page initially said “From the Director of the ‘Titanic’” instead of “From the Director of ‘Titanic.’”

20 minutes were screened for Comic-Con attendees, though I opted for Bill Plympton’s panel instead. Good thing, since apparently the footage shown last month was the same screened during “Avatar Day.” A lot of people claimed that theaters were half-full. Mine certainly wasn’t packed in the work-unfriendly 6 P.M. screening at Irvine Spectrum in Southern California, though the line for the next screening seemed much longer.

So was all the hassle and disappointment worth it? It certainly comes across much better than it does on a little computer screen. But I’m still not convinced by 3D. Several times I kept catching myself looking at the 3D itself rather than the movie, exploring the depths. I had the same problem with the “Beauty and the Beast” 3D preview footage at Comic-Con. It’s all so distracting and takes me out of the movie. But there were a few times where the 3D definitely swallowed me into the film completely. In fact, the only movie that’s worked for me all the way through in 3D was “Coraline.” And it all just leads me to ask, Why? It’s really not that big of a deal and still just comes across as one big marketing ploy. Sorry, Jeffrey Katzenberg.

The aliens themselves look kind of realistic, kind of not at all, but I never bought into all the hype anyway. This film looks beautiful with all of its bright, vibrant colors. What was disappointing was the lack of your typical James Cameron dialogue, where every line—every word!—is insanely quotable. That is what I want from “Avatar,” not state-of-the-art special effects and photo-realistic aliens. I want his trademark style. That didn’t come across during “Avatar Day,” but it also wasn’t a complete disaster; I left the theater wanting more.

Moving on, this week’s edition of Ad Watch has an impressive collection of great and very good trailers along with some decent ads for highly prominent future releases. But before we go any further, the new Coen brothers film, “A Serious Man,” has one of the best trailers I have ever seen, becoming a kind of music video. Please, please watch it. And rounding things up, “Up in the Air” has a new poster and photo and “Priest” now has an official Web site.

Clips

• “The Baader-Meinhof Complex“

Trailers

• “Alice in Wonderland“
• “Bronson“
• “Capitalism: A Love Story“
• “Cirque du Freak: The Vampire’s Assistant“
• “Gamer” (TV)
• “The Haunted World of El Superbeasto” (red band)
• “The Imaginarium of Dr. Parnassus“
• “Legion” (red band)
• “The Lovely Bones“
• “My Son, My Son, What Have Ye Done?“
• “Tron Legacy“
• “Where the Wild Things Are“
• “The Wolfman“
• “Zombieland” (red band)

There’s a movie coming out that’s riding the vampire bandwagon but I’m really hoping it delivers on the premise it’s purporting to involve: What happens after the vampires become the dominant species? What happens when their natural resources start running out, namely food, as in humans? Directors Michael and Peter Spierig try to answer those questions with “Daybreakers,” starring Ethan Hawke and Willem Dafoe. The film’s first trailer and poster have been released by Lionsgate and it looks pretty good.

So that’s it for the introductions. So far the site has been more for myself, trying to (slowly) get back into the swing of things, be it the film world or just writing in general. I’ll be regularly experimenting with the three recurring features on this site: Midnight Roundup (news), Review Snippets, and Ad Watch (any P.R.-related materials) until I “get it right.” Until then, please bear with me.

Clips

• “Flame and Citron“
• “The Hurt Locker” (opening scene)

Pictures

• “Alice in Wonderland“
• “Iron Man 2“

Posters

Turner Classic Movies has some beautiful posters for their Summer Under the Stars programming. And speaking of beautiful posters, I just bought some from Mondo, including “Electra Glide in Blue,” “Alien,” “Lifeforce,” and “Re-Animator,” as well as a t-shirt for “Troll 2.” I wish I had never discovered this company.

• “9” (characters)
• “Alice in Wonderland” (characters)
• “Avatar“
• “The Box“
• “Inglourious Basterds” (characters)
• “Jonah Hex“
• “A Nightmare on Elm Street“
• “Prince of Persia“
• “The Surrogates“

Web Sites

• “Paul“

Trailers

• “Big Fan“
• “The Box“
• “Cemetery Junction“
• “Couples Retreat“
• “District 9“
• “Flame and Citron“
• “The Girl By the Lake“
• “Halloween 2“
• “The Informant!“
• “Inglourious Basterds“
• “The Invention of Lying“
• “Jennifer’s Body” (red band)
• “The Last Airbender“
• “I Love You, Phillip Morris” (international)
• “Micmacs A Tire-Larigot” (French)
• “Ninja Assassin“
• “Ong Bak 2” (French)
• “The Pacific“
• “Percy Jackson & The Olympians: The Lightning Thief“
• “RoboGeisha“
• “Whip It“
• “Whiteout“