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Check Out Concept Art From Marvel's Futuristic Theme Park
Filed under: Fandom, Exhibition, Comic/Superhero/Geek
Two years ago the Al Ahli Group announced a partnership with Marvel Entertainment that would see to fruition a massive, cutting-edge amusement park to be built in Dubai and feature rides and exhibits tailor themed to the likes of Spider-Man, Iron Man, The Hulk, The X-Men, and all the rest of Marvel's impressive stable of superheroes (and villains). Obviously a lot has changed since then. First, Disney purchased Marvel outright, and though there was plenty examination of what that meant for future Marvel film franchises and existing properties, I don't recall any talk of this new theme park being bandied about. Second, and more recently, the financial crisis world wide has taken a particularly heavy toll on the rather lofty model Dubai had based its construction-heavy economy on, halting many planned projects.
Considering those two bits of news, chances aren't looking too good that the Marvel park will ever be a reality, but that doesn't mean we can't run down what could have been. The Disney and More blog has posted a fascinating smattering of concept art developed by the Chimera Design Company, showcasing a number of different attractions planned for Marvel Dubailand. Obviously rollercoasters are a mainstay of any theme park, but this hypothetical wonderland looked to have been hiding a few tricks up its sleeve. Though the designs lack full explanation, some of them are too intriguing to be immune from speculation. Take the concept art above, for example, which features Spider-Man fighting off the Green Goblin and Dr. Octopus while a group of people are in free fall from a skyscraper.
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New 'Iron Man 2' Photos Have Everyone Thinking
Filed under: Action, Paramount, Fandom, Movie Marketing, Comic/Superhero/Geek, Remakes and Sequels, Images
On the heels of the first Iron Man 2 poster come a few official stills straight from Paramount. Everyone looks very serious. Whiplash is seriously working on something, surrounded by pictures of Tony Stark to keep his hate burning and his ethic cheerful. Black Widow is seriously up to no good, even if she looks slinky doing it. Even Tony isn't taking things lightly -- not the destruction to his house, and not whatever he's brewing in his latest science project.
There's nothing really new on display here -- the Black Widow photo has been around in varying degrees of resolution since before San Diego Comic Con -- but it's just nice to see the characters out and about, isn't it? If you're given to intense plot speculation, you can all give your take on just what Tony and Whiplash have brewing, and just who caused Tony's marble floor to shatter into a dozen pieces. Did he fly through the ceiling again? Is he building an access portal so that it doesn't ever happen again? Or did some nefarious individual blast a hole into his luxurious tile, hoping to get into his secret lair of Iron Man suits?
We'll know on May 7th, 2010. Until then, just spin your own stories, and delight in a peek at the finished product. The first stills from a film always remind me of the good old days of Disney Adventures when this is all you'd have to go on until summer rolled around.
Exclusive: New Harry Potter Online Game -- Death Eater's Duel!
Filed under: Action, Sci-Fi & Fantasy, Fandom, Movie Marketing, Harry Potter, Comic/Superhero/Geek
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Cinematical is happy to be the site that exclusively brings you the next piece of coolness to come out of The Road to Hogwarts Sweepstakes, which is a contest set up to promote the December 8th DVD and Blu-ray release of Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince. Essentially, fans can enter for a chance to attend Universal Orlando Resort during the grand opening of The Wizarding World of Harry Potter, which is that brand new fantastic-looking Harry Potter theme park (see concept images here) set to hit in the spring of 2010. In addition to entering the sweepstakes, folks can also earn extra entries by playing a series of Potter-themed online games where weekly winners earn more Harry Potter prizes.
And that's where we come in, see, because we have the latest Road to Hogwarts Sweepstakes game and it's called Death Eater's Duel. Here's a description: "Lord Voldemort's army of Death Eaters have been reunited with him and their power is growing. Players can recreate the scene of a duel with the Death Eaters in this online Wii remote-controlled game in preparation for dueling against Draco Malfoy, Bellatrix Lestrange, and Fenrir Greyback. Players must be ready to choose a spell to fire back at the curses the opponents will be aiming at them. This game can also be played with a computer mouse instead of a Wii control."
To play the game, click on the below link, and for more information on The Road to Hogwarts Sweepstakes, head over to their official website. Enjoy!
Click here to play Death Eater's Duel
The First 'Iron Man 2' Poster Appears!
Filed under: Action, Paramount, Fandom, Newsstand, Movie Marketing, Comic/Superhero/Geek, Remakes and Sequels, Posters
Marvel Studios, Paramount and Jon Favreau have given you an early Christmas present. Yahoo! Movies has debuted the first poster for Iron Man 2, and as cheesy as it is to go nuts over marketing, it's an awfully cool poster. It's their exclusive, so you'll have to click the picture to see the entire thing, but I've given you a tiny preview above.
The best part? Those of us who didn't get to see the pants-wetting footage at Comic-Con finally get a glimpse at War Machine! There's something deliciously geeky about the buddy cop stylings of this poster. I could live quite comfortably in a world where Iron Man 2 was something akin to a super-suited Lethal Weapon, couldn't you?
Of course, as nice as the poster is, it's no substitute for seeing these guys actually take flight. Faverau has hinted via Twitter that we might see the first Iron Man 2 trailer this Christmas, and that it'll be attached to that other Robert Downey Jr. franchise, Sherlock Holmes. Maybe if you're very good boys and girls, Santa will grant your wish, and we'll get it a few days before Holmes hits theaters. I can't think of a more festive way to ring in the holidays than with a flying hero of red and gold.
Jeremy Renner Wants To Be An Avenger
Filed under: Action, Paramount, RumorMonger, DIY/Filmmaking, Newsstand, Comic/Superhero/Geek
Now that Iron Man 2 is in the finish stages, and Thor will kick off filming in January, the casting rumor mill must now find some new grist in The Avengers. (Not Captain America, oddly enough. We'll just skip right over that one!) Empire sat down with Jeremy Renner, who revealed that he'd been in talks with Marvel Studios and Avengers' writer Zak Penn about tackling the part of a superhero. While he's reportedly been linked with Captain America on some dim corners of the Internet, Renner is thinking he might like to play another Avenger : Clint Barton, better known as Hawkeye. "I don't know if I'd be right for Captain America. I met with the Marvel guys, actually, but we didn't talk about Captain America. But one of the writers, Zak Penn, we've become friends over time and he was thinking maybe Hawkeye could be interesting. He sounds like an interesting character."
Renner stressed "no offer has been made ... I think there's a little ways from that" but he also speculated that Hawkeye might cameo in Thor or in First Avenger: Captain America. But Thor has an awfully big cast at this point, so tossing in an Avenger cameo seems a bit dubious, though there's always room in a post-credit sequence. Iron Man 2 would have been the ideal place (Mr. Clint Barton and the Black Widow go way back) but the ship would appear to have sailed on that one.
Gaze Upon 'The Losers' and 'Jonah Hex'!
Filed under: Action, Warner Brothers, Fandom, Newsstand, Movie Marketing, Comic/Superhero/Geek, Images, Western
At last, some comic book news that isn't centered around Batman or Spider-Man! Omelete got their hands on some official images from two of Warner Bros' upcoming comic flicks, Jonah Hex and The Losers.
We've seen paparazzi glimpses from the Hex set of Megan Fox and Josh Brolin, but there's nothing like a well-lit and spooky shot, especially when your actor looks good enough to have walked off the page. If you're a fan of the haunted gunslinger and are unconvinced, you might be comforted by the sight of his Confederate gray and mangled lip. I can't say how excited I am for this film. Jonah Hex is a character who has more in common with High Plains Drifter than the capes and superpower crowd, and I think that will surprise and delight a lot of "newbies" who still equate DC Comics with Batman.
Next up, we have our first official look at The Losers! Aren't they a handsome bunch? This is based not on the DC war squad from the 1970s, but on the Vertigo spinoff by Andy Diggle. The Losers are a Special Forces team abandoned and left to die by their mysterious commander, Max. They regroup, vow revenge, and let the bullets fly. I have hopes that this one will be a solid action flick, the kind we all long for from the 1980s. The cast is certainly a lovely one: Jeffrey Dean Morgan, Zoe Saldana, Chris Evans, Columbus Short, Idris Elba, and Oscar Jaenada are our fine Losers, and Jason Patric will be the villainous Max. You can see the whole line-up of them here, along a very sexy shot of Saldana. Even I can appreciate a lovely lady when she's packing guns. Now, if they'll just release a photo of Morgan to match ...
The photos are below in our gallery. Spend your Turkey Day geeking out.
Peter Jackson Says Spielberg's 'Tintin' is Done Filming, but...
Filed under: Action, Animation, Paramount, Sony, Tech Stuff, Comic/Superhero/Geek
Today brings good news and bad news for fans eagerly awaiting The Adventures of Tintin: The Secret of the Unicorn, the first film in a proposed trilogy of new, motion-capture animated 3D films co-produced by Steven Spielberg and Peter Jackson (among others) based on the comic book series created by Georges "Hergé" Remi. Spielberg took up directorial duties on the first in the series, which was supposed to begin filming in 2008 for a 2010 release, but Universal, burned by the under-performance of Beowulf and Monster House at the box office, decided to pull out in the pre-production process, halting progress until Paramount could partner with Sony in order to grease the gears financially. Not much has popped up in the news department since then, however at the London premiere of Peter Jackson's The Lovely Bones, the Lord of the Rings director told reporters that filming had finally been completed on Spielberg's Tintin entry. However, it's still no where close to release. Jackson went on to say that it is going to take another two years to actually animate the film, meaning fans are most likely looking at a late 2011 release date for The Secret of the Unicorn.
'Thor' Sends Kat Dennings to Asgard?
Filed under: Casting, Fandom, Comic/Superhero/Geek
By: Zachary Hermann
We can all thank Natalie Portman for letting slip this bit of casting news for the upcoming Thor movie. While plugging the American remake of Brothers (hitting theaters Dec. 4), Portman told MTV News she is "really excited" to work with her friend Kat Dennings on Thor. It just feels like cast announcements have been pouring in for the upcoming Marvel adaptation -- Dennings will join Portman (love interest Jane Foster), Chris Hemsworth (Thor), Anthony Hopkins (Odin), Stellan Skarsgård, Colm Feore, Tom Hiddleston (Loki) and just about everyone else under the sun for what is shaping up to be a very interesting stab at the Norse superhero. Kenneth Branagh will be directing from the script by Mark Protosevich (with Zack Stentz and Ashley Miller).
Of course the burning question here is who will Dennings be playing? MTV's Splash Page and /film both mention the possibility of Enchantress, which seems to make a lot of sense given Dennings's physical likeness to the character. Also, the character's ties to Iron Man and the Avengers could be crucial for connecting Thor to the more reality-based Iron Man movies and the larger Avengers universe.
Read the rest over at SciFi Squad
Sam Worthington Gets Gritty in 'American Crime'
Filed under: Action, Sci-Fi & Fantasy, Thrillers, Casting, Deals, Noir, Scripts, Newsstand, Comic/Superhero/Geek
Few of us have had the chance to read Rick Remender's upcoming series, The Last Days of American Crime, but it's already tapped for the big-screen treatment. To sweeten the deal, American Crime already has a face. An Australian one. Mania is reporting that Sam Worthington has signed on to play the series' star criminal, Graham Brick. American Crime is set in a near-future where the government has found a way to kill the criminal impulse in its citizens. That's good for everyone but the criminals, and chaos erupts as the unsavory element goes mad trying to get in one last job. One of these men is Graham Brick, who is in the midst of planning a big heist, and gets to watch all his best laid plans fall apart in a bloody fashion. I read the preview Radical handed out at Comic-Con this year, and like all previews, it was too short to really get a handle on the story. But the art was incredible, it was ridiculously violent, and it had that slimy feeling of Sin City. You can check out three pages here, and Radical has 15 pages up on MySpace. The first issue is scheduled to hit stands in December.
Remender will be penning the screenplay himself, and Radical will be producing it under their film shingle. We'll supposedly be getting a studio, a director, and more cast-members very soon, but it's tough to get excited without having read issue #1. Still, if this is really the mix of James Ellroy and David Mamet's Heist that Remender promises, Crime will be something to look out for.
More 'Thor': Idris Elba Guards the Bridge To Asgard
Filed under: Action, Casting, Paramount, Newsstand, Comic/Superhero/Geek
Asgard has just added another brilliant actor to their semi-immortal ranks. According to The Hollywood Reporter, Idris Elba has joined the cast of Thor as Heimdall, guardian of the Bifrost Bridge. He's the man you have to pass if you hope to start some stuff in Asgard, and as he's all-seeing and all-knowing, good luck trying to kick his butt.Elba's casting is undoubtedly going to cause a bit of a stir, as the Heimdall of the Marvel comics is a redhaired Caucasian. In the original Nordic myths, he was even called "the whitest of the gods" which seems like a thousand tasteless jokes in the making. (For the record, "whitest" refers to the light he emanated, not his skin color.) I imagine a lot of people are going to make those jokes, complain about things being PC, and just be very unpleasant.
But you know what? The Asgardians are gods. They can be any color they want, and should be. Marvel's Thor is also distinctly different than the original Norse myths, and I think a diverse cast is a fantastic and appropriate idea. Plus, this is Idris Elba. He's the kind of badass you want on that Bifrost Bridge, guarding the city gates, and having throwdowns with Thor. (He's always trying to prevent everyone's favorite blonde from going in or out of Asgard.) Kudos to Kenneth Branagh for recognizing that, and for creating an Ultimate Heimdall in the course of pre-production.
Check Out Concept Art From Marvel's Futuristic Theme Park
Chris Weitz to Direct Two-Part 'Breaking Dawn' Finale?
Girls on Film: The Academy's Shallow Actress Pool_thumbnail.jpg)
Alec Baldwin Becomes Latest to Threaten Retirement
The First 'Iron Man 2' Poster Appears!
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