Fight Club 2!

I know, I know, I'm breaking the first rule of Fight Club by posting this, but it's been a great read!

Back in May, Dark Horse Comics released the first issue of Fight Club 2, which picks up ten years after the original Fight Club concluded.  It follows "Jack," who now goes by the name of "Sebastian" and he's now married to Marla.  They're enjoying married life until Tyler Durden shows back up!

Fight Club 2 is being written by Chuck Palahniuk and being drawn by Cameran Stewart.  It will only be a ten-issue run, so after they've all been released, expect a graphic novel to come out that covers the entire story.

Along with Jack/Sebastian, Marla, and Tyler Durden, expect other characters from the original novel to be making an appearance, as well as the group from Project Mayhem.  One interesting character that made his apperance in issue #3 was none other than Chuck Palahniuk himself!  Also, Mister Know-It-All seems to be playing a big part in the storyline.  When asked about this character in a recent interview, here's what Palahniuk had to say:

"You’re referring to Mister Know-It-All. His character is allowed to make bookish references to Joseph Campbell, Robert Bly, Victor Turner and risk seeming more erudite than Tyler could ever come across. Tyler might know all this social theory, but he knows it on an intuitive level, and generates actions which demonstrate it physically. Mister Know-It-All can simply spout academic words. It’s a nice lull between action sequences, and it might prompt someone, somewhere, to pick up a book. That said, his observations elevate the story above being merely a series of antics."

If you haven't already been reading this series, you need to start, or at least keep an eye out for the graphic novel after the ten-issue run is over.

Could Tron 3 Still Be Happening?

If you were a fan of Tron: Legacy, then you know that the follow up, Tron 3, has been in Hollywood limbo ever since Disney announced it's release date.  That date has been scrubbed, as have the plans for the film.  But could there still be hope?  Garrett Hedlund has been making the rounds to promote his upcoming movie, Pan, where he plays a young Captain Hook.  It was just a matter of time before he was asked when Tron 3 was going to happen, if ever.  Here's what he had to say about it's possible future:

"Ever since Legacy they’ve been conjuring up where this world could go and what the future holds for Tron, and they were finessing a story and just making sure the next one has the right story. As far as I know everyone is in a mutual feeling that this one will blow Legacy out of the water. New characters, new vehicles, a whole new idea in the grand scheme of things. But who knows? Nobody has said it’s done for sure. And maybe 30 years from now I’ll be in Jeff [Bridges]’ position because the gap between 1982 and 2009. Any time between now and then it could happen."

First of all, I truly hope that it doesn't take another 30 years for the next installment to be made, I actually liked Tron: Legacy.  Also, he doesn't directly say that Jeff Bridges or Olivia Wilde are still interested in being in it.  It had been reported earlier that Wilde was on board for the follow up to the 2010 movie, but since it's been shelved, there hasn't been any word if she'll return or not.  The fact that Hedlund is as excited about the script as he is makes me hope that it actually takes place.  It seems to reason that Disney is waiting for the release of Pan before making any decisions on it's future.  If Hedlund proves to be a big box office draw, then they may change their minds and movie forward with the Tron franchise.

The Shannara Chronicles

Why do they even call it MTV any more?  It's obvious that the "M" doesn't stand for "music" at all.  Maybe it stands for "mostly."  As in "mostly anything else but music."  Sorry, I'm getting off topic.  Whether or not they still play music videos is a moot point.  They are now showing television that people want to watch!  Who'd a thunk it? 

It all started with Teen Wolf, a television show based on a B-movie (and that's being very generous!  An A-list actor doesn't make a movie great!) that did okay in the box office, but really took off after it hit home video.  It became a cult classic favorite.  Apparently, so has the television show!  Again, who's a thunk it?

Now, MTV is getting ready for lightning to strike twice, as they are about to bring us The Shannara Chronicles!  I have to be honest, I haven't read any of these books (and there are quite a lot of them!)  but one of my close and personal friends (who is also a ghost hunter!  How cool is that?) told me about this next project.  He'd read the books, and said that he loved them more than The Lord of the Rings trilogy!  If he hadn't told me about this, then I never would've found out about it, because who really watches MTV any more?  So, before I get started, let me give you a glimpse into the world of Shannara:

 

 

I have to admit that with all of the upcoming comic book television shows that are getting ready to come out, it's refreshing to see something that is this new and this epic!  And when I say epic, I mean epic!  Where did MTV get the money to spend on this thing?  Welcome to the world of Shannara!

 

The story takes place in a post-apocalyptic, post-nuclear war world thousands of years in the future.  There is magic, elves, druids and princesses.  Everything that makes for a great story!  King Eventine sees that the world is getting ready to fall apart, and also sees that the only person that can help keep this from happening is Will, a half-elf that sets out to save the world.  The show is being filmed in New Zealand, where The Lord of the Rings and The Hobbit were filmed.  This country is absolutely beautiful!  They couldn't have picked a better location to film this thing!  Produced by Al Gough and Miles Millar (yes, the same Millar that brought us Smallville!), they are trying to bring us something that's never been seen on television before, and that alone is a giant feat!  Originally, Gough said that they were hired to make a show off of another Brooks property (sorry, Terry Brooks wrote this series) called Magic Kingdom For Sale, but after reading Elfstones of Shannara, he was blown away!  He said that when you usually read a science fiction novel that is 2000 pages long, maybe 800 of those pages deals with the actual story, with the rest just being filler, but with Shannara, it grabs you from the get go.

 

Gough and Millar brought in Brooks to help with this project, (and it also has John Favreau as Executive Producer!) and The Shannara Chronicles gets ready to take the world by storm this coming January.  So if you are like me, and forgot that MTV was still around, then go find it on your cable box or satellite!  This is one show that you won't want to miss!

This 3D Printer Is HUGE!

This thing can literally build a house!

Created in Italy, it is called BigDelta.  It's called the World's Advanced Saving Project...or WASP, as it's acronym, and it's the world's largest 3D printer.  it uses clay, and like a regular 3D printer, it builds up layers to create structures like no other printer out there!  Why is it unlike any other printer?  It stands 12 meters, or 40 feet, tall and like I said, it can literally build a house!

It was unveiled this week by WASP in Italy, and they are touting this as the next big thing in construction, helping build housing for the ever growing population.  The thoughts of the creators of this printer is that it could help rebuild war-torn environments, and help people in these areas get back to normal life.  It could also help with areas hit by natural disasters like tornadoes, hurricanes, or forest fires.

I know this one is short, but damn if it isn't cool!

The DC Buddy Comedy The World Has Been Waiting For!

The biggest differences between Marvel and DC movies is that one incorporates comedy into their movies...and DC doesn't.  That may be about to change, though!

Enter Booster Gold and Blue Beetle, the comedy odd couple of the comic book universe!  Booster Gold is a janitor from the future that steals a time machine from a museum that he works at to travel back to our time, the "Age of Heroes," to become a hero himself.  Blue Beetle is an insanely bright billionaire inventor, a la Tony Stark, but is a little funnier and pudgier than him.  The two are amazing and hilarious when they team up!

The movie is said to be directed by Greg Berlanti.  Does that name sound familiar to anyone?  It should!  He's part of the creative force behind Arrow and The Flash on the CW.  Considering the success that these two shows have had, I think it's safe to say that they've placed this project in the proper hands.

The only real question is which Blue Beetle are they going to go with?  Ted Kord was killed in the comic book universe and replaced by Jamie Reyes, who kind of just stumbles upon the Blue Beetle scarab and gains his powers.  For this movie to work, though, I think that they need to go with Kord, because he is the one that has the best relationship with Booster Gold, and their back-and-forth's are hilarious!  Of course, they could also make a hybrid between the two characters and meld them into one person (I mean Kord and Reyes.)

Early on, Berlanti wanted to use both of these characters in his television shows, but DC had turned down his request.  Now it seems we know why, and how cool is it that Berlanti gets to be the one who directs it?  He might not have been able to use them on television, but I can't wait to see his vision of them in a big budget action/comedy film!

Is this "Moose Jaws" First Kill?

Say it ain't so, Silent Bob!  Well, I guess he wouldn't...he's Silent Bob!

A few movies down the road, Kevin Smith will be concluding his "Canadian Bullsh*t Trilogy" with Moose Jaws.  This will be a deep and powerful movie.  It's a movie about (or "aboot," as it may be) a killer moose, so it's not just a clever title!  Like I said, though, it's still a few movies away from being made.  Smith still wants to do Mallrats 2 and possibly Clerks 3 before tackling this project.  Here's what the man himself had to say about Silent Bob going out on top:

“I just finished writing the scene where — spoilers — Silent Bob gets eaten by the moose. That’s how he f—ing goes out! Isn’t that fun? I was talking to Jay [Mewes] about Moose Jaws and I’m like, ‘I’m thinking about bringing us in as the Captain Quint character’. And he goes, ‘Yeah, but Quint gets killed!’ I was like, ‘One of us has to get eaten’. And he was like, ‘You. Not me’. I was like, ‘Why?’ And he was like, ‘Because I wanna be in other movies!’ Fair enough, dude. So, rather than let [Silent Bob] go out with dignity, he’ll be eaten by a fucking moose.”

How glorious is that?  If you're going to go out, at least go out with style!  These details came out in an interview he did in Australia recently.  Who knows, he might just be joking, but then again, Silent Bob could become moose fodder soon.

I personally can not wait for this movie to be made!  I love the modern B-movies that have been making there way out onto the screen.  Don't think that they're out there?  Go onto Netflix and check out Zombeavers!

Oiginal Theatrical Release Version Of Star Wars Coming To Blu Ray?

I know, I know, this rumor seems to pop up more and more, but this time it may be true!

Wouldn't it be nice to be able to watch the theatrical versions of the original trilogy?  You know, before George Lucas got his hands on them and screwed them all up?  Lucas himself said that he would never release these versions on video ever again, but thankfully he no longer owns the property rights to these films.  There has only been one release of these untouched films that made its way onto DVD, but that was a long time ago, in a galaxy far, far away, but like I said, that may soon be changing!

At a recent Q & A late last Friday night at Universal Studios Orlando, Empire Magazine is reporting that John Landis, a close personal friend of Lucas, shared with the audience that Disney is planning on releasing these highly coveted films onto DVD and Blu-ray.  Landis was there to talk about a new Halloween Horror Night attraction that is going to be based on his film An American Werewolf in London, and someone asked if he'd like to go back and tinker with the film to fix anything that he felt needed to be fixed.  Here's his response to that question:

"First of all, they wouldn't let me.  George owns his movies, so he can do what he wants...My personal opinion is George hurt his movies by doing what he did.  However, George said to me, 'But they're my movies.'...I thought, 'That's fair.'...Did you know Disney, by the way, is putting out the original Star Wars the way it was.  So, you know Disney, they're like money on the floor."

He's not wrong there.  If Disney really does release these unaltered films, they could probably make all the money that they spent buying the Star Wars franchise back on the first day of their sale.  Okay, that may be a bit of an exaggeration, but they would make a ton of money off of them!  Let's hope that this really happens this time!

Star Wars Episode VIII: Awww Crap.

I have to admit, I liked the way that Jay Jayson of Comicbook.com began his article:

"No!  That's not true!  That's impossible!"

Jayson reported that Making Star Wars is reporting that Hayden Christensen, who played Anakin Skywalker in the prequels, will be making an appearance in Rian Johnson's Star Wars Episode VIII.  I have to assume that this had been planned out while Star Wars: The Force Awakens was being written, because it wouldn't make sense not to write the outline for all three chapters so they would have some idea where they were going to take it.  That being said...huh???

My first thought was that he was just going to appear as a "ghost" in the film, but the leak went on to say:

"A team in the U.K. are soon heading to the U.S. to begin training Hayden Christensen for a Star Wars: Episode VIII appearance of some sort."

Why would they be training him if he was just going to be floating around in the vapors?  So, maybe he'll be appearing in a flashback of some sort?  Maybe Kylo Ren has found a way to clone Anakin?  Or maybe he's even found a way to resurrect him through using the Dark Arts?  Okay, that last one really doesn't make any sense, because if he did bring him back to life, he'd be an old, decrepit man, not the young man that the actor is.  One fan's theory is that Kylo Ren, being as obsessed with Darth Vader as he is, will actually try to "recreate" him, by attempting to turn Luke Skywalker to the Dark Side and take up his father's mantle, something that Kylo Ren might think is his destiny.  Whatever the reason turns out to be, Christensen's role in the Star Wars universe might not be over.

What do you think?  Do you have any theories that I haven't brought up?  Let me know in the comments section down below.  Star Wars: Episode VIII will arrive in theaters May 26, 2017.

Playstation VR

Next year will bring us Sony Playstation's VR headset, but if you are wanting to get one, expect to shell out some big bucks for it.  Sony said that they are going to price the VR headset like they would a separate gaming system, which would probably put it at around $399.99.  Why so much?  Here's what Sony Computer Entertainment CEO Andrew House had to say about the new device:

“VR rewrites the rule book on how you can create games,” House added. “You’re seeing a large amount of interest and work happening among smaller teams, because it’s possible to create something in VR that is very simple but still very magical.”

I guess all of that extra entertainment is what's pushing the cost up, eh?  If it works as well as they are advertising, then I guess that pricing it like a separate gaming platform is understandable, and maybe even reasonable, just too rich for my blood.  The exact date for it's release is still unknown, but it is definitely being released some time next year.  Along with it's 2016 release, Playstation will also be releasing 10 fully-featured titles that will be exclusive for the VR headset.

A Folding Smart Phone?

Samsung is about to change the smart phone industry forever...maybe.

According to an "insider" with "in-depth knowledge regarding Samsung's plans and the industry, in general" Samsung is planning on releasing a folding smart phone to the public in January 2016.  Sound far fetched?  It shouldn't.  LG Display has already unveiled a foldable and rollable screen In Korea back in August, and Samsung isn't that far away from developing their own technology that would incorporate it's use.  This is what iflscience.com had to say on the new phone:

"The tipster claims that the handset is undergoing testing in two configurations, one with a Snapdragon 620 SoC and the other with a Snapdragon 820 chipset. Both handsets will supposedly have 3GB of RAM, an inbuilt SD card slot for additional storage and a built-in non-removable battery."

So what do you think?  Is this something that you'd be interested in purchasing?  I'm just wondering how long it'll take Apple to roll out one of their own.

Can You Imagine The Power Of 100 Million Supernovae?

Something spectacular is happening.  Astronomers think that they have discovered a pair of black holes that are beginning to merge into one huge singularity.  But what does this mean?

The two black holes, dubbed PG 1302-102, are 3.5 billion light years from Earth, and are only a handful of binary black holes that we know about.  These two in particular, though, are the closest pair that we've seen.  The distance between the two is roughly the width of our Solar System, and in a little under one million years, they are going to collide.  Their collision may result in an explosion that equals 100 million supernovae.

That's a really big explosion.

Now it should be noted that it hasn't been 100% confirmed that these two will run into each other, but the data that's being collected at Columbia University in New York suggests that they are.  One of the two is consuming the other one at a faster rate, and is traveling around 7% the speed of light.  This speed is causing it to emit light and be extremely bright.  The data that the scientists have published say that if this black hole were in the Oort Cloud (the area that surrounds the planets in our Solar System) it would orbit the Sun in five years.  To give you a comparison, Pluto orbits the Sun every 248 years.

Why am I telling you all of this?  No reason.  I just thought that this is an incredible event that's taking place in our Universe, and wanted to share.  Just be glad it's as far away from us as it is.  I can only imagine what it'll do to surrounding systems.

Marvel And Their 20th Century Problem

Marvel has been slowly getting all of their old properties back, but the one movie studio that is holding out and keeping them from once again owning all of their comic book characters to be used in their movies is 20th Century Fox.  The odds of Marvel getting these rights back in the near future are slim to nil.  Here's why.

 

2016 is going to be a big year for Fox and the X-Men.  They actually have three...yes, three X-Men universe movies coming out next year.  Well, now maybe two.  Gambit seems to be going through a Fantastic Four-style meltdown.  First it was rumored that Channing Tatum was leaving the film, and now it's director Rupert Wyatt has left the film.  It's nothing nearly as dramatic as people are making it out to be, budget cuts and a bumped up release date now conflict with another project that Wyatt had signed onto, but it's not helping 20th Century Fox look any better.  That being said, if Gambit can make it's  October release date, 20th Century Fox will be releasing Gambit, Deadpool, and X-Men: Apocalypse next year.  Seems to me that Fox is doing their best to compete with Marvel and DC for superhero supremacy at the theaters.  With the exception of the Fantastic Four, they're doing a pretty good job at it, too.  Here's where Marvel is starting to play dirty...

Even though Marvel doesn't own the movie rights to these characters anymore, they still own the property rights for their comic books, and Marvel has been playing dirty with them for a while...no matter how much they try to convince us they aren't.  First, they cancelled the Fantastic Four comic book.  They said it was due to dwindling sales.  Next, they killed off Wolverine.  Their latest storyline may get rid of every mutant they own once and for all.

Marvel has an ongoing series called Extraordinary X-Men and in it there is a new strain, a more pure strain of the Terrigen Mist.  Terrigen Mist is a substance that activates an Inhuman's latent abilities upon exposure, and this new strain is lethal to mutants.  It not only kills mutants, but if the mutant survives, it renders him/her sterile, so they won't be able to procreate and start up a whole new generation of little bitty mutants.

InHumans is the term that Marvel uses now, since 20th Century Fox owns the rights to the term "mutants."  Their comic books have focused primarily on mutants, but now that the cinematic universe has become their bread and butter, they're using their comic book titles to hit the competition where it hurts...with the characters that they don't have distribution rights to.  Sony was in their crosshairs for a while, but now that they've come to an agreement with Marvel, there seems to be a renewed push in building up the Spider-Man comic book.  The difference here is that Sony's Spider-Man movies sucked, and with the exception of the Fantastic Four movie, 20th Century Fox's Marvel properties seem to be holding strong at the box office and with audiences,  It should be noted that even though the Fantastic Four movie bombed completely, there is talk of a sequel in the works.  Why, I have no idea.  Maybe 20th Century Fox is hoping to move them over to an X-Men titled movie for a bigger box office draw.  All of their Marvel properties share a same universe, so Gambit, Deadpool, the Fantastic Four, and the X-Men all exsist in the same cinematic universe.

The more money that the X-Men make for 20th Century Fox, expect Marvel and Disney to hit them back even harder each and every time.

Stephen King's "The Mist" Is Coming To Television

Just when you thought it was safe to go outside...

I have to admit, Stephen King's The Mist is one of my favorite short stories that the Master of Horror ever wrote.  It had a Hitchcock-feel to the whole thing because instead of ending with a definite conclusion, it just ended with the main characters driving off into the mist, trying to find other survivors.  The movie version, however, abandoned this move and gave us one of the most messed-up endings that I have ever seen in a film.  That wrong is about to be righted!

The Weinstein Company's (which produced the movie version of The Mist) Dimension Television is in the process of bring the Stephen King story to the small screen.  Considering how well The Walking Dead and Fear the Walking Dead has done for AMC, this version of the story could quite possibly be another cult hit for television.  Why?  It has a lot of the same ingredients as The Walking Dead.  There's a small group of survivors that are thrown together due to something happening that they don't understand.  They have to figure out everything that's happening to them as it happens.  They are given no advance warning as to what is to come, and they have to figure out how to survive as they go along.  Sound familiar?

The other reason why this is a great fit for television is because of how the short story ended.  Like I said up above, there was no real conclusion.  In the book, a small group of the survivors made their way to a car and began driving in search of safety, but as they drive, they realize that the mist has covered everything and everywhere.  It ends with them trying to pick up a radio station to see if they can find out just what the hell is going one, but all they get is static.  Then, one word come through.  A name of a town.  They start driving towards that town in hopes of finding other people.  Then the story ends.  This open-ended finish to the story is perfect for a television show because the story leaves open the possibility for so much more to happen.  It's a television writer's dream.

While The Mist is coming to television, it won't be rehashing everything that took place in the movie, and may not even use any of the movie's, or the story's, main characters, but give us a whole new group of people while keeping the same premise of the original story.  That being said, this could be one of the great scary television shows in recent memory.

Man Of Steel 2 Possible Plot Details Revealed

Despite rumors that the sequel to Zach Snyder's Man of Steel have been permanently put on hold seemed to have been grossly exaggerated.  According to comicbook.com the plot details of the upcoming Man of Steel 2 have been leaked.  Yes, this will be Man of Steel 2, the actual sequel to the original film.  Too many people have been making the claim that Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice was going to be the sequel, but I've been trying to let people know that this isn't the case for the past year or so now.  Maybe this news will straighten out some of the beat writers out there that haven't figured this out yet.

Now, before I get started, let me state the following obvious facts: 1.) These are all just rumors at this point and may not be true, but if they are, then 2.) Possible SPOILERS are about to be revealed!  Still with me?  Good!  Let's get started!

So in the article that I was reading, they said that Heroic Hollywood is reporting that the big baddie in the upcoming film is going to be Brainiac.  This isn't really news, since it's been reported previously that he would be appearing in the film, but now we know that Brainiac is after Kal El's Kryptonian codex that was encoded into Supe's DNA.  Somehow, though, that codex ends up being transfferred over to Supergirl.

Wait...what?

Yes, it sounds like Supergirl will be making an appearance in the upcoming sequel.  She was first introduced to the Man of Steel universe in a comic book that was a prequel to the movie.  It was revealed that she was a member of the Kryptonian Explorers Guild, a group that sought out new planets for terra forming and eventual colonization by Kryptonians.  It's also being reported that the movie will focus on her just as much as it will on Superman.  But two against one?  That doesn't seem fair, right?  In order to retrieve the codex, Brainiac uses the Kryptonian data that he already possesses to create Bizzaro to help him take on the remaining members of the House of El.

It's been rumored that George Miller wants to direct the film, and it was Kara Zor-El's inclusion that made him interested in the gig.  No word was been given as to whether or not he's already signed on.  So what do you think?  Does this sound like something you'll be looking forward to?  Let me know in the comments section down below.

Is Boba Fett Dead?

There are a lot of rumors running around the web claiming that Boba Fett is alive because he was seen in the trailer for the upcoming Star Wars: Battlefront video game.  I hate to break it to everyone, but chances are that wasn't Boba Fett.  While the Mandalorian might be alive, he's running around sans armor.  I finished reading Star Wars: Aftermath, the first novel that is an official part of the Star Wars universe canon, and it paints a scene on Tatooine where a pompous and arrogant prick named Adwin Charu is trying to get the Jawas to show him their high-dollar merchandise.  Apparently, when the Jawas stop their Sandcrawler for a sale, they bring out their cheapest stuff to sell.  The more you buy from them, the better the things get that they offer to sell you.  After around a dozen or so purchases from them, they then show you their "treasure room" that holds their most valuable items that you can purchase.  In the book, Adwin Charu wants to see these items, but isn't having any luck getting in until a character named Cobb Vanth shows up and is able to get him in.  When they get to the treasure room, they find a Mandalorian suit of armor that is described as having been "picked and pocked by some sort of acid.  It had been through hell and back."  I'll let the book explain the rest.  This excerpt is courtesy of bobafettfanclub.com:


“I have a way of sussing things out. I know that things are changing. Not just in the galaxy, but here at home, too. The Hutts still haven’t shaken out who’s next up to fill Jabba’s throne — if you can call that flat slab of his a throne. Seems like this might be a new day for Tatooine.”

“Yes, we certainly hope so,” Adwin idly responds, mostly ignoring the man’s small-talk prattle. He’s happy Cobb got him in here but now wishes the man would just leave him alone. Adwin spies a large, long box on the floor. He whips off the ratty cloth that’s covering it and —

Oh, my.

From the box, he withdraws a helmet. Pitted and pocked, as if with some kind of acid. But still– he raps his knuckles on it . The Mandalorians knew how to make armor, didn’t they? “Look at this,” he says, holding it up. “Mandalorian battle armor. Whole box. Complete set, by the looks of it. Been through hell and back. I think my boss will appreciate this.”

“I actually think I might take that home with me,” Cobb says.

“I think not,” Adwin says, turning around, the helmet tucked under his arm. The blaster at his hip suddenly feels heavy, pendulous. Eager to be drawn. A strange sensation, that. Adwin feels like he’s really getting into the spirit of this planet. He’s never had to shoot a man before."

I won't spoil the rest of the story that takes place here, in case you are still reading it, or are planning on reading it, but it's obvious that the Jawas have the armor and I'm sure that they didn't go down into the Pit of Carkoon to retrieve the armor, so it somehow made it's way out on it's own.  Either Boba Fett was able to escape and shed the armor for some reason, or the mighty Sarlaac belched it up.  We'll have to wait to find out.  Whatever the answer, the person that they show in the trailer for Star Wars: Battlefront is almost certainly not Boba Fett.  One of my friends had an idea of what happened to Boba Fett, and I'll leave you with his thought:

"I think he might be the real father of Leia's kids...take that Han...just collecting his bounty or booty...Thank you...drops mic."

Is Michael Shannon Set To Haunt Henry Cavill?

Michael Shannon was recently on Larry King Now and...wait...Larry King is still alive?  What is he, like 150 years old?  Wow.  Where was I, I got distracted...oh yeah!  Michael Shannon.

So it had been reported (because he actually said it!) that Shannon had a scene in the upcoming Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice movie that required him to be wearing "flippers" on his hands.  This led to a lot of speculation as to why.  One of the thoughts was that his character, Zod, was going to turn into the Doomsday monster, and that his flipper hands were part of his mutation while changing into him.  Well, that quote was one big fat lie.

Well, the quote was real, but Shannon lied about having flippers on during the shoot.  He did give up some interesting things about the upcoming film, though.  Now he's revealing that he's actually playing General Zod's ghost.  This is what he said:

"It's the same thing like in the first one with Jor-El.  Russell Crowe's character is kind of like a ghost.  So I guess I'm a ghost, kind of."

Interesting.  But weren't all of the Kryptonian ships destroyed in the Man of Steel?  That was how Jor-El was able to reappear to Kal-El, right?  I'm going to have to go back and watch it tonight to refresh my memory.

King also asked if there were any scenes that take place with both him and Batman.  He answered with a simple, "I did not cross paths with Batman, no."

You can watch the entire interview tonight on Ora TV.

Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice comes out March 25 of next year.

Star Wars Episode VIII To Start Filming This Month

Can you believe it?  Star Wars: The Force Awakens hasn't even been released yet, and Star Wars: Rogue One won't even come out until next December, and now we hear that the third Star Wars film is getting ready to start filming!  At this rate, they'll probably have five movies in editing before The Force Awakens even gets released!

Earlier it was reported that Lucasfilm was shooting scenes at Skellig Michael, and Irish island, for what many people thought were reshoots for the upcoming Episode VII film.  This was a reasonable assumption, considering that they had been shooting there earlier for scenes in the upcoming movie.  However, we've come to find out that the shots are actually for the next chapter in the new trilogy.  This is surprising news, because they weren't supposed to start filming until next year.  So what gives?

Devin Faraci, the same writer that I quoted in yesterday's post, thinks it has to do with the weather.  This makes a lot of sense, considering it is Ireland, and they aren't necessarily known for their clear skies and sunshine.  If they know that the weather is going to be turning grey soon, better to get things out of the way now so it doesn't hold up production down the road.  He also said that Mark Hamill and Daisy Ridley were the only two actors that were involved with the shoot.

So what gives?  Is Luke training Rey to become a Jedi?  Why else would the two of them be spending so much time filming together?  There has also been a lot of speculation as to whether or not Rey is the daughter of Han and Leia (as well as Kylo Ren being her brother) which would make her "Force sensitive."  If Luke sees this, and he's the last Jedi in the universe (as it's being reported) then he'd want to train her to keep her on the Light Side of the Force and away from the Dark Side.  Don't expect to find out her heritage this December, though.  Remember that it took us until the end of The Empire Strikes Back to find out that Darth Vader was Luke's father.  Actually, we didn't find out until The Return of the Jedi that he was actually his father.  After Empire a lot of people just thought that Vader was just trying to trick Luke.

Something else that should be noted here, it's being said that the actual ruins from Skellig Michael are being used, and that they are rumored to be the remains of Sith ruins.  Makes me even more excited for this December so we can all find out just what the hack is going on in a galaxy far, far away!

Michael Bay To Try Something Different This Time

Michael Bay's Transformers franchise has been something of an anomaly with movie critics...and to be honest, movie viewers as well, because as much as people love to complain about how cheesy and hokey these films are, they keep pulling in huge amounts of money.  Because of this, it should come as no surprise that they are working on a Transformers 5 movie, as well as spin-off films that will expand their cinematic universe.  But what will the fifth movie in this franchise bring us?

According to BirthMoviesDeath.com they are going to try something different.  In their own words, "In a shocking move away from the previous four films and their general narrative incompetence and incoherence, Transformers 5 will attempt to contain two story lines instead of none."  I can't help but wonder if the writer, Devin Faraci, is a fan of the films?  He goes on to say that the movie is going to follow Mark Wahlberg and the Dinobots doing their thing here on Earth, and it's also going to follow Optimus Prime as he flies through space and eventually ends up running into Unicron.  Sounds like if you're just going for the explosions and fight scenes, you better start getting ready to actually follow a couple of plot lines and do some thinking.

All of this information comes to us through the courtesy of Mark Ryan who did the voice work of Jetfire and Lockdown in the Tranformers: Age of Extinction movie.  A little "insider information" if you will.  So what do you think?  Are you excited for the next installment of the franchise?  Are you someone who admits to actually liking the franchise?  Me?  I fall into the latter...how can you not?  It's just a fun movie!  That's why I keep going to see them!

Is Warner Brothers About To Screw Up The DCEU Before It Takes Off?

Reading stories like the one I just did infuriates me.  It's when a production company and their higher-ups tell the writer and/or director that they want to change things about their movie because it "polls" better with their audience.  In this case, that "audience" was a bunch of Warner Brothers execs that got to see the first rough draft screening of Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice.  A bunch of out-of-touch execs seem to know what works and what doesn't.  Go ask FOX about that and Firefly, and let me know what you find out!

So what are they wanting to have changed?  After they all watched the movie, they decided that there needs to be more Batman than Superman in the film.  They're having the editing department go back and make changes to the final cut to allow this.  Problems?  One, they're watching this movie with rose-colored glasses!  Do you honestly think any one of them wants this movie to suck?  Do you think that this attitude might be clouding their judgement?  Two, audiences haven't really got a taste of how well Ben Affleck will do as the Dark Knight.  He might be having great success as an actor and a director right now, but let's not forget Daredevil!  You don't think he screwed that movie up?  Then why is the Netflix series doing so well?  Three, Warner Brothers has to have Batman be successful.  Not only is he one of the headliners in the movie, he'll be taking the lead in the upcoming Justice League movies, be making an appearance in the upcoming Suicide Squad movie, and reports are that he's signed on to help write, direct, and star in three stand-alone Batman movies, where as Henry Cavill and Superman's Man of Steel 2 has recently been shelved.  This is how they say thanks to the guy after kick-starting the DCEU with the Man of Steel movie.  Thanks Henry, go sit in the corner and wait for us to call you.

One of the reasons that they're hesitant to go forward with the Superman follow-up was due to the lack luster showing of The Man From U.N.C.L.E., which even though didn't perform well at the box office, was a pretty damn good movie.  But dollars will win out over everything else with these guys every single time.

What are your thoughts on the whole thing?  Should Warner Brothers get involved, or let the director give us his original vision?  Leave me your thought in the comments down below.

JJ Abrams Is Trying To Keep This A Secret Until Opening Night

JJ Abrams said that this was the one thing that fans will not find out about until the movie, Star Wars: The Force Awakens, begins to roll on December 18th for the very first time.  Trying to guess what it is?  I mean, what crucial element to the film could be so important as to maintain it's secrecy until opening night?

Give up?  It happens to be the John WIlliams score that was composed for the next chapter to the Star Wars saga.  Think about it.  We've only really seen two trailers and both of them use narration as it's focal point of blending each of the scenes together, not the music.

This is a pretty big departure from the way things are usually done.  Back in 1977, the iconic score that has come to symbolize Star Wars was attached to every commercial for the film and for all of their toys that were released.  Even before Star Wars: The Phantom Menace was released, the soundtrack came out and gave us a large amount of spoilers from the song titles alone.  There were the Duel of the Fates which they were promoting like crazy before the film came out, telling us of...well, an epic duel.  That alone in it's self might not seem like a big spoiler, but then you go down the list of tracks and you come to Qui-Gon's Noble End.  So even before we've seen the movie, we now know that there is a new character named Qui-Gon who's going to eat it in the third act of the film.  Just one more reasons why I hated the way the prequels were handled and made.

This past mistake by the handlers of the film may be the driving force (no pun intended) behind Abrams' decision to keep the movie soundtrack under wraps until opening night.  My guess, though, is that he wants your first look at his vision of the Star Wars Universe to be a special one, and the soundtrack will absolutely set the mood for each of the scenes in the film.  Why spoil that?

Did Kylo Ren Jack Darth Vader's Helmet For Himself?

             

Last Friday was Force Friday, and with the release of the toys for the upcoming Star Wars: The Force Awakens there were a few spoilers that were revealed with their debut.  Take a look at the picture above!  Does it look familiar?

We already saw in the trailer for the upcoming movie that the melted helmet of Darth Vader was recovered, but we didn't know by who or why.  Now it looks like the helmet was recovered by Kylo Ren, and he incorporated it into his own armor.  It's been reported in interviews with the cast and the director that Kylo Ren has an obsession with Darth Vader and the Empire's past, so this shouldn't come as a shock or surprise.  It is pretty cool, though!

Another of the big sellers this past weekend was the new remote controlled BB-8.  It is absolutely incredible, and a lot of fun to play with,  It's a little pricey, though.  It runs around $150.  The "black series" figures are also a great buy, and the attention to detail that they put into them is spot on.  There were a lot of other toys and figues that were released, but way too many for me to comment about.

Did you get to head out to the stores last Friday?  If you did, what did you end up getting?  Let me know in the comments below and make sure you share your pictures!

What Happened At The Battle Of Jakku?

Lucasfilm and Disney are beginning to release the stories that took place in the Star Wars universe slowly but surely.  One of these reveals will come in the form of a new book that was released today called Aftermath.

                          

This story takes place after the Battle of Endor, where we as viewers, thought that the war was over.  We saw the people of Coruscant tearing down the statue of Emperor Palpatine and cheering.  What we don't see is that immediately after that, Imperial Police swoop in and unload laser canons on the crowd.  The Empire is determined to keep hold of their power.

Chuck Wendig is a popular sci-fi/fantasy author that will be bringing us a trilogy of books, Aftermath being the first, that takes a look at the galaxy far, far away over the last thirty years and will help connect The Return of the Jedi to The Force Awakens.

But back to the title of this entry...what happened at the Battle of Jakku, and that downed X-Wing and Star Destroyer in the background of the movie trailer?  To find out what happened here, you're going to need to be a gamer!

On November 17th, EA and DICE will be releasing Star Wars: Battlefront for the XBox One and PS4.  However, starting in December, they will be releasing a DLC pack for the game that is described as:

[...] the pivotal moment when the New Republic confronted key Imperial holdouts on a remote desert planet on the Outer Rim. Taking place in the aftermath of the Rebel victory in the Battle of Endor, players will experience the events that created the massive, battle-scarred landscape of Jakku.

People can pre-order the DLC pack for an early release of December 1st, but will be made available for free to everyone on December 8th.

So are you getting excited for the upcoming movie yet?  If you haven't been, then maybe all of these new stories will start to put you in that mood!  The Force Awakens comes out in theaters December 18, 2015.

Which One Will Play Art3mis In Ready Player One?

Unless you've been living under a rock, then you are familiar with the amazingly popular novel Ready Player One by Ernest Cline.  You also know that the movie rights have been picked up, it's going to be a major motion picture that will release in December 2017, and that Steven Spielberg is going to direct.  Outside of that, details on the movie have been scarce...

...That is until the other day when The Wrap reported that there is a short list of three actresses up for the role of Art3mis.  They are Ellie Fanning, Olivia Cooke, and Lola Kirke.  Each one would make a powerful Art3mis, and each one has things that fall in their favor for the role.  Let's take a look at each of them.

Ellie Fanning has a little bit of an in with Spielberg.  She starred in the movie Super 8, which Spielberg produced, and he also has experience working with her older sister who starred in his adaptation of War of the Worlds.  In my personal opinion, this would be my third choice out of the group.

A lot of fans of the book may be pulling for Olivia Cooke.  Cooke is mostly known for her work on Bates Motel, and more recently starred in this summer's movie Me and Earl and the Dying Girl, which won her huge praise for her role as a cancer-stricken patient.  Her name recognition alone could be a big help for the film.  Give her an Art3mis haircut, and she could pull this role of with no problem whatsoever.  One thing that may work against her?  She's been reported to be on the short list for Rian Johnson's Star Wars: Episode VIII which would be released at the same time as Ready Player One, December of 2017.

Lola Kirke is an up-and-comer that wowed audiences with her appearance in last year's Gone Girl.  This helped her land a role opposite Greta Gerwig in the Noah Baumbach-directed Mistress America.

Ellen Lewis, Ready Player One's casting director definitely has her work cut out for her.  It should be noted that there are also two other unnamed actresses that are being considered for the role, as well.

So who do you think should get the role as Art3mis?  Leave your comments in the section below!

CW's New Vixen Is Pretty Amazing!

If you haven't watched it already, then you need to download the CW Seed app and check out the latest hero(?) in the Arrow-verse.  The pilot is up and streaming, and new episodes will be uploaded every Tuesday.  Unlike the other spin-offs from CW that take place in the Arrow-verse, this one is an animated series.  Okay, I use the term "series" kind of loosely.  Each "episode" is only going to be five or six minutes long, but they pack a lot of action into that short amount of time!

The first episode begins with the title character, Vixen, being chased by two familiar faces...Arrow and the Flash, but we have no idea what leads to this chase.  Vixen does a pretty good job of out maneuvering them and is all set to get away when whoops!  She slips off the edge of a building and starts to fall towards the ground.  Before she goes splat, though, it jumps back three days in a flashback with her in jail.  Her foster dad posts her bail, and they go out for coffee and talk.  She tells him that she's going to go look for her real parents, and he seems to understand.  as they are leaving, they get mugged, and they try to take Vixen's necklace.

It sounds like her necklace is a sort of talisman, and it gives her her powers. She can summon the abilities and strength of any animal that has walked the Earth.  Now you know why this is an animated series!  Could you imagine the production value for a live-action version of this show?  Even though she's just a cartoon character right now, it sounds like the producers for Arrow are planning for her to show up in real life on their show, maybe even shows (i.e. Arrow, Flash, Legends of Tomorrow.)

So if you like Arrow and The Flash, make sure you give this new series a shot.  You won't be disappointed!

Star Trek Beyond

The coolest thing about this cast photo for the upcoming Star Trek Beyond film?  Idris Elba!  This guy has got to be born under a lucky star!  I mean, he's a big part of the Marvel Universe, and now he's taking on the Final Frontier!  Okay, it's definitely not luck, this guy has talent.  Have you seen Luther?

He's not the only newcomer to the Star Trek family, though.  Lydia Wilson, Joe Taslim and Sofia Boutella have also joined the film.  Wilson (About Time, Ripper Street) Taslim (Fast And Furious 6) and Boutella (Kingsman: The Secret Service) will be joining the returning cast members of the USS Enterprise.

There was a time that it seemed that this film wasn't going to get made.  After JJ Abrams jumped ship to film Star Wars: The Force Awakens, there was serious doubt on who would take over the threequel.  There also seemed to be a rush by Paramount Pictures to get it made so it would be released for the 50th anniversary of the franchise, which made a lot of fans nervous that all we would get would be another Star Trek Into Darkness.  We now know that Justin Lin is going to be it's director, and that the script is being written by Simon Pegg and Doug Jones. 

With the passing of Leonard Nimoy, expect to see some sort of tribute to him in the film.  Considering that he was the only one of the original USS Enterprise crew to appear in the reboot, it's safe to say that the actors that worked with him will be experiencing a huge void on the set due to his absence. 

As far as the villian of the film goes, Simon Pegg promised that Idis Elba's character will be completely different from Benedict Cumberbatch's Khan.  He said thar making the new villian too similar to Khan would be a retread, and be a disservice to the fans.

Star Trek Beyond hits theaters July 8, 2016.