A few days ago we reported that director Colin Trevorrow's Jurassic Park 4 is now set to be released in 2015. That release date was confirmed on a new banner for the film that was revealed at the Licensing Expo 2013 in Las Vegas. It was also confirmed that the movie would shoot in 3D.

The movie was originally supposed be released June 13th, 2014, but Universal Pictures ended up stalling the project for some reason. There's still no information on the plot of the story, but apparently they will be returning to the original theme park island known as Isla Sorna, a.k.a. Site B. It will also supposedly feature a new, terrifying species of Dinosaur, which you can read about here.

Source: SSH (http://www.superherohype.com/news/articles/177577-jurassic-park-4-targeted-for-2015-to-be-shot-in-3d)

The Despicable Me spin-off film Minions has an official synopsis. For those of you who love the adorably annoying yellow Minions and are looking forward to the movie, here's what the movie will be about, thanks to Comingsoon...

The Minions, breakout stars from "Despicable Me," are presented in an origin story that showcases their unpredictable personality and physicality, and pairs them with equally memorable human characters. As it turns out, Minions have existed since the beginning of time. They have evolved from single (yellow) cell organisms into the familiar beings we know, and they live for a collective purpose: to seek out and serve the most despicable master they can find. Academy Award winner Sandra Bullock will lead the voice cast of the human characters as Scarlett Overkill, the world's reigning super-villain of the 1960s.

The movie is being directed by Kyle Balda and Pierre Coffin for the Universal Pictures and Illumination Entertainment. It's set to be released on December 19th, 2014.

Source: Comingsoon (http://www.comingsoon.net/news/movienews.php?id=105595)

Armie Hammer recently showed up on The Tonight Show to promote his new film The Lone Ranger, in which he plays the title character. He shared a few fun stories and then at the 4-minute mark introduced a clip from the film that features a comedic moment with the Ranger and Tonto (Johnny Depp) on top of a train having a little disagreement about what they need to do. 

It looks like director Gore Verbinski made a fun western, and it's set to hit theaters on July 3rd, 2013!

From producer Jerry Bruckheimer and director Gore Verbinski, the filmmaking team behind the blockbuster “Pirates of the Caribbean” franchise, comes Disney/Jerry Bruckheimer Films’ “The Lone Ranger,” a thrilling adventure infused with action and humor, in which the famed masked hero is brought to life through new eyes. Native American spirit warrior Tonto (Johnny Depp) recounts the untold tales that transformed John Reid (Armie Hammer), a man of the law, into a legend of justice–taking the audience on a runaway train of epic surprises and humorous friction as the two unlikely heroes must learn to work together and fight against greed and corruption.

"I like the parts of your face that are covered in skin."

Paramount Pictures has released a new full trailer for Anchorman 2: The Legend Continues, and it looks like it's going to be just as funny as the first movie. This sequel continues the silly adventures of Ron Burgundy (Will Ferrell), Brian Fantana (Paul Rudd), Brick Tamland (Steve Carell) ,and Champ Kind (David Koechner) as they head into the 80s in New York City. Here's the synopsis:

With the 70′s behind him, San Diego’s top rated newsman, Ron Burgundy (Ferrell), returns to the news desk in “Anchorman 2: The Legend Continues.”  Also back for more are Ron’s co-anchor and wife, Veronica Corningstone (Christina Applegate), weather man Brick Tamland (Carell), man on the street Brian Fantana (Rudd) and sports guy Champ Kind (Koechner) – All of whom won’t make it easy to stay classy…while taking New York’s first 24-hour news channel by storm.

The movie also stars Kristen Wiig, James Marsden, Dylan Baker, Meagan Good, Greg Kinnear, and Harrison Ford. It comes out in theaters on December 20th, 2013, and it's sure to deliver some great comedy.

Here's a fun action-packed short film from Robert Rodriguez called Two Scoops. It stars twin actresses Electra Avellan and Elise Avellan, who have appeared in the previous Rodriguez films Machete and Grindhouse. They play "ice cream scoopers by day," and "danger seekers by night."

One of the awesome things about this project is that when it was announced, Rodriguez invited fans to shoot footage of themselves for the opportunity to collaborate with Rodriguez on finishing the film. The movie has now been completed, and you can watch it below.

Two Scoops' is a cinematic adventure, created by Robert Rodriguez with the help of his fans. In the film, you will find a scene featuring 'the agent,' a secret weapon, and the monster. Each of these elements was either created or inspired by a fan of Robert Rodriguez. Throughout the film, you will also find missing person posters. Each of these 'missing people' are fans of Robert Rodriguez, who submitted their photos in order to appear in the film.

Let us know what you think about Rodriguez's short after you watch it!

Just so you know, World War Z was pretty awesome. I have to say I was pleasantly surprised by how good that movie ended up being. As expected, it was very different from the book, but as a stand alone zombie movie it was great. I think fans of the zombie genre will enjoy it.

Above you'll find a new piece of poster art for the film that will be given away at Thursday night screenings of the film at AMC theaters. Click here for more details. Then below we have a new clip from the movie called "Mother Nature." It features Brad Pitt talking to the smart scientist guy who is supposed to be able find out how to stop the zombie apocalypse. 

The movie comes out on June 21st, and I suggest you check it out. It's an epic zombie movie. 

Vin Diesel's Riddick looks like it's going to be a kick-ass addition to this sci-fi action franchise. Thanks to Collider, we have 15 new photos from the film to share with you. There are some pretty cool looking shots. If you haven't seen the most recent trailer for the movie yet, make sure to click here to check it out.

The David Twohy-directed movie also stars Karl Urban, Jordi Mollà, Matt Nable, Katee Sackhoff, Dave Bautista, Bokeem Woodbine, Raoul Trujillo, and Nolan Gerard Funk. The movie hits theaters on September 8th, 2013, and I can't wait to see it!

The infamous Riddick has been left for dead on a sun-scorched planet that appears to be lifeless.  Soon, however, he finds himself fighting for survival against alien predators more lethal than any human he’s encountered.  The only way off is for Riddick to activate an emergency beacon and alert mercenaries who rapidly descend to the planet in search of their bounty.  

The first ship to arrive carries a new breed of merc, more lethal and violent, while the second is captained by a man whose pursuit of Riddick is more personal.  With time running out and a storm on the horizon that no one could survive, his hunters won’t leave the planet without Riddick’s head as their trophy.

 

Warner Bros. has released the first exciting trailer for The LEGO Movie, which is being directed by Phil Lord and Christopher Miller. This is the same talented team that brought us 21 Jump Street and Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs, and it looks like they are doing an amazing job with this LEGO movie. I love what I'm seeing in the trailer. The style they chose to bring LEGO to life is exactly what it needs to be.

The film features the voices of Chris Pratt, Elizabeth Banks, Will Arnett, Morgan Freeman, Will Ferrell, Liam Neeson, Nick Offerman, Alison Brie, and more. The trailer also features some of the LEGO characters we'll be seeing in the film such as Batman, Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles, NBA stars, and lots of other great characters. This could be an epic movie. 

The original 3D computer animated story follows Emmet, an ordinary, rules-following, perfectly average LEGO minifigure who is mistakenly identified as the most extraordinary person and the key to saving the world. He is drafted into a fellowship of strangers on an epic quest to stop an evil tyrant, a journey for which Emmet is hopelessly and hilariously underprepared.

This trailer made me happy. The movie comes out on February 7th, 2014!

Tyrants!

I’ll admit. A year ago when the first trailer for Man of Steel came out, I was doubtful. Warner Bros. seemed to have no idea how to adapt any of their DC Comic universe outside of Batman (which was thanks to Chris Nolan), and director Zack Snyder was a known abuser of slo-mo that had just come off the craptastic bomb Sucker Punch. On top of that, the less that is said about their Green Lantern attempt, the better.

Then, as more trailers came out and plot details were revealed, I became more and more optimistic. After the three minute trailer that came out around April, I noticed general anticipation had shifted dramatically in the right direction and continued to build to a crescendo ever since. I got a chance to watch Man of Steel on Friday. Did it soar…or suck? Minor spoilers ahead.

Review:
My thoughts? I loved Man of Steel. This film finally takes Superman in the right direction cinematically, dropping him in a modern world that is in desperate need of a Superman. As great as the Christopher Reeves Superman films were, the last one came out over 25 years ago. We need to move on.

Thankfully, Warner Bros saw that after the poorly received Superman Returns. Was the film perfect? Not by a long shot. While there were a few moments of levity here and there, like when Clark first learned to fly and during his interaction with Lois after he dons the famous suit, the film does feel a bit too serious and even dour.

Along with that, it would have been nice to see a distinct showcase of Superman’s abilities in use when he was fighting Zod and his cronies. That would have been his edge on these Kryptonians who had little experience with the use of their abilities.

Plus, something that was unanimously an issue with fans was how during Zod and Superman’s borderline demolition of Metropolis, Superman gave not a whit of interest in the collateral damage. That is always a big aspect of Superman, trying to contain a superpowered fight away from the civilians. The causalities must have been in the thousands given how many skyscrapers they knocked over. Even though he stopped Zod, why would the US or any country trust him given how much destruction he and his kind caused across just one major city? Just saying.

Now, what worked?

First off, Krypton does explode so we can all relax there.

Let me also say that the reimagining of Krypton was amazing. This is very different from any other iteration of that planet on or off screen. The technology is very advanced, liquid metal at times in ways that are reminiscent of The Matrix. Even the little details such as the family crests are fantastic. Apparently, they made over 300 different family crests for this film. All the political intrigue and coups prior to Krypton’s destruction really worked for me, partially due to Michael Shannon and Russell Crowe owning the scenes they were in together. I could have stayed longer on Krypton before its explosion, but obviously the story was about Superman.

And Henry Cavill IS Superman. He’s everything a fan could hope for in a new Man of Steel. The character doesn’t need to be dark and gritty just to adapt to modern times. However, I like how we see Clark choose to become Superman instead of getting brainwashed for 12 years by his bio daddy. Along with that, Clark is still finding his footing in this new role, and Cavill embodies that loneliness and confusion in the earlier parts of the movie perfectly.

I was at first hesitant about Amy Adams as Lois, mainly because of the huge age difference and that she looked more like a Lana Lang than a Lois. But she worked for me very much, a tough as nails woman who’s good at her job but still has an overwhelming knack for getting into trouble.

Michael Shannon owned as Zod. He was not a caricature, but a man who was literally made from birth to be a soldier. His sole purpose is to protect Krypton. Anyone who gets in his way is an obstacle that must be removed. Antje Traue worked wonderfully as Zod’s right-hand Faora, not saying much but delivering ass-kickings when needed.

All the supporting cast worked for me, too. Russell Crowe and Kevin Costner added gravitas as Clark’s two fathers, though I could have done with a little less of the constant hammering home of Clark’s greater destiny. Lawrence Fishburne could have gotten a little more to do as Perry White, but I’m guessing we’ll see that in later films.

I did like how the Superman name came to be in this film. Lois was about to name him that before the Army rudely interrupted. But the name got bandied about given the S on Clark’s chest, which is the family crest of House El and stands for Hope.

A big change that I enjoyed but might irk long-time fans is how Superman and Lois first meet. Not to spoil this, but it actually makes a lot of sense given the modern day context of the movie. I mean, Lois IS a Pulitzer Prize winning investigative reporter and not an idiot.

Another smart choice David Goyer and Zack Snyder made was how all the other Kryptonians in Zod’s crew didn’t adjust so quickly to Earth’s Sun (unlike in the show Smallville). Zod, when his protective helmet gets damaged, is overwhelmed at first by all his enhanced senses. And other than Zod, who worked to master his new powers, all the other Kryptonians could only Hulk-leap to get where they were going instead of flying outright.

Superman having trouble fighting Zod and his soldiers at first made perfect sense as well. For one, from what we can tell, the Superman in this film had never really used his powers in a fighting capacity before Zod arrived. Two, he has never encountered any person as strong as him, let alone several people. And three, Zod and his officers are all trained soldiers bred from birth to be the best, whereas Clark is not. This made for very interesting fight sequences in both the battle of Smallville and Metropolis.

And of course, the final battle between Zod and Superman. Other than the potential collateral damage that I had issues with, this fight made the destruction of New York City in The Avengers look like a minor earthquake. I’m glad we finally got to see Superman fighting a superpowered foe and the devastation that could occur because of this. Which leads us to how the fight ended.

MAJOR SPOILERS.

PROCEED AT YOUR OWN PERIL.

Last warning!!!!

Superman kills Zod. Now, everyone knows that Superman has a very strict no-kill policy. It's as distinct as his red underwear (which is sadly missing from his suit this time around). However, Zod had nothing left to live for after Superman foiled his plan. So he forced Superman’s hand by trying to barbeque some innocent civilians with his heat vision. Despite Superman’s pleas for him to stop, Zod refused. So Clark had no choice in the heat of the moment (no pun intended but it stays) but to kill him.

Many people hated that, but I loved this moment. Superman just killed the last remnant of his race, and hates himself for it. Henry Cavill’s reaction made that scene much more powerful. Plus, for people complaining that Superman is so perfect, he had to make a very real choice between the lives of civilians or the last of his kind. Superman chose Earth. Either way, I hope that we see the ramifications of Zod’s death ripple through the next Superman films. And, to go full geek on you all, Superman had been forced to kill a few times in the comics, mainly Zod.

What’s next?
Now that Man of Steel has come out and is cleaning house at the box office, my questions is what’s the plan? One of my biggest issues with how DC/Warners has handled their comic properties is not having a clear plan.  As of right now, we know that Warners is fast-tracking a Man of Steel sequel with both Zack Snyder and David Goyer returning. Other than that, we hear Warners is developing a Wonder Woman movie or considering a Flash film or wanting to do a Justice League film in 2015. However, they have not revealed any type of release strategy for their DC Movie Nation.

Having a clear plan and sticking all those milestones is one of many reasons why Marvel has been so successful in their Shared Cinematic Universe.

The Monday after the first Iron Man film broke bank, we got a three year release schedule from Marvel. DC/Warners needs to show us what the road is to Justice League, and deliver on those dates.

Right now, they’ve grabbed the public’s interest in a larger DC Universe. Now they need to take their time, not rush into Justice League yet, introduce us to some characters other than Batman or Superman, and make movie magic.

Follow @CCEkeke
 

When talking to flicksandthecity, she is asked how it feels working on the superhero franchise to which she responded:

"I really enjoyed it because it was so different from anything I've ever done before. And just testing a different thing in you as an actor, because the scale is so enormous. but I had a really fun time."

Then the interviewer throws a curveball and asks if she is looking forward to everyone seeing her as Black Cat in the film, and this was her reply:

"Um, well, uhhh... possibly. I don't know, yeah. I kind of, it's umm...yeah, if that happens, that would be wonderful, yeah."

She was trying so hard not to saying anything because she obviously doesn't want to get in trouble for saying anything. If she wasn't playing Black Cat, she could have just denied playing the character, but she didn't.

Here's the thing. I don't think we'll actually see Black Cat in this movie. Like Mary Jane Watson, I think her character is just going to be set up in this film, but will end up playing a much larger role in the two other sequels that were announced recently. 

Check out the video interview below and skip to the 1-minute mark.

The long awaited Veronica Mars movie is officially in production, and we have a few photos from the set of the film featuring our first look at Kristen Bell and Jason Dohring! I'm a huge fan of this series, and it's exciting to see these characters back together again. It's cool that this is actually happening.

The Rob Thomas directed movie also stars Tina Majorino (Mac), Percy Daggs III (Wallace), Enrico Colantoni (Keith), Daran Norris (Cliff), Francis Capra (Weevil), Chris Lowell (Piz), Ryan Hansen (Dick), Krysten Ritter (Gia), and Amanda Noret (Madison).

Thomas previously revealed, "life has taken Veronica away from Neptune. In the years since spoiling Keith's chances to be reelected sheriff, Veronica hasn't taken a case. But something big is about to bring her back home and back to her calling." Veronica and her former classmates will be returning to Neptune for their 10-year high school reunion. For more information on what you can expect to see in the film, click here.

Warner Bros. is set to distribute the movie. It will have a presence at Comic-Con, but as of right now there's no release date set.

Source: Buzz Sugar (http://www.buzzsugar.com/Kristen-Bell-Veronica-Mars-Set-Pictures-30831495)
Source: Veronica Mars Twitter (https://twitter.com/veronicamars)

Ken Levine, the creator of the popular video game franchise Bioshock, has been hired to take a crack at the script for the remake of Logan's Run. This movie has been in development for a few years and has passed through the hands of several writers and directors. Ryan Gosling and Nicolas Winding Refn were most recently attached to develop the film, but they dropped out. Bryan Singer was even looking to direct it early on.

The movie is based on the 1967 book by William F. Nolan and George Clayton Johnson and takes place in a dystopian future set in the year 2116, where society demands the death of everyone upon reaching a certain age. Anyone who veers from that destiny is dubbed a "runner" and is hunted by operatives known as Sandmen. Logan is a Sandman who is forced to go on the run.

According to Deadline, "Levine began his career as a screenwriter and a playwright before he became one of the most influential figures in the video game industry. He’s making a rare appearance outside of video games because Logan’s Run has been such a passion project for him." Hopefully his passion pays off, and he can help steer the development of this film in the right direction.

Levine still plans on focusing on video games as a creative director and co-founder of Irrational Games, which he formed to lead the creation of Bioshock. 

This is one of the few remakes I've been interested in seeing happen. Hopefully they bring on a talented creative team that can give us something really cool. 

Here's a great t-shirt design that gives us a clever mashup of Doctor Who and Pixar's UP. "Up In Time" was created by Wirdou, and I thought you'd enjoy it.

Up in Time T-Shirt

• 100% preshrunk ComfortSoft® cotton
• Lay-flat collar and taped shoulder-to-shoulder for ultimate comfort
• Fit: T-Shirt (unisex), Oversized T-Shirt, and Ladies Fit
• Suggested Color: Navy and Black
• Design: Wirdou
• T-Shirt and Ladies Fit: S, M, L, XL, 2XL
• Note: Ladies Fit shirts run small
• Oversized T-Shirt (Limited colors): 3XL, 4XL, 5XL, 6XL

For those of you who want one, you can order it for $14.95 at NeatoShop.

Source: Geek Alerts (http://www.geekalerts.com/up-in-time-t-shirt/)

Anthony Mackie

"It’s a cool story and brings in some amazing characters and the Falcon is one of the things that fans are already excited about. It’s a movie that has kind of turned into a bigger-than-life opportunity for me. I’ve had these little milestones along the way and now to play a superhero and to work with people like Robert Redford, Sam Jackson, and Chris? It’s just turned into this amazing moment."

He went on to talk about his character explaining that he's "a really smart guy who went through major military training and becomes a tactical leader, he’s not some guy that fell into this." Mackie went into a little more detail about the kind of man that The Falcon is, saying:

"The most important thing I got from everybody at Marvel about the Falcon was the need to show that he’s a very righteous, man-forward kind of guy. He would do anything to protect the man next to him and to protect his country. That’s the integrity of the character and the integrity of the man and that that’s what I have focused on."

"The biggest thing for me, the most exciting thing for me, is to come out on Halloween and see all the little black kids dressed up like the Falcon. There are so many parts of our society that are not catered to or represented fully and this will give a new generation of our society someone to look up to and identify with. That’s why I am so intensely focused on bringing the character to life in a special way."

Mackie is going to be great in the role, and I'm happy he was the guy cast in it. He's a very talented actor. The film is being directed by Anthony and Joe Russo, and it also stars Chris Evans, Sebastian Stan, Frank Grillo, Samuel L. Jackson, Cobie Smulders, Scarlett Johansson, Toby Jones, Emily VanCamp, Hayley Atwell, Maximiliano Hernández, Robert Redford, and Georges St-Pierre.

Captain America: The Winter Soldier hits theaters on April 4th, 2014.

Here's an incredibly cool limited edition Man of Steel illustration created by Yehudi Mercado. The print shows Superman in the middle of his epic fight with Zod, who obviously isn't doing too well. It looks like Superman is about to throw him through a building. There was a hell of a lot of that going on in the film. The artist only made 30 of them. If you want to see if any more are available, click here. 

Thanks to the artist for sending this out to us!

DC Comics has revealed a new series they are developing called Justice League 3000, which will feature future renditions of the big superheroes from the DC Universe. The publisher has even revealed their character designs for the new series. The news comes from CBR who explains,

The book will feature versions of Superman, Batman, Wonder Woman, Green Lantern and the Flash as redesigned by artist Howard Porter, presumably taking the iconic heroes one millennium ahead of where we are now. And while the creative team on the book doubtlessly have comedy chops, touches from a militaristic Superman to a mace-wielding Wonder Woman hint that "Justice League 3000" will take up the torch of the creators more serious adventure stories -- of which many were included in their original JL run.

These are definitely different from anything we've seen before. I'm not the biggest fan of the superhero re-designs, but I guess they're ok. The Green Lantern design is my favorite from the set though. What do you think of the new designs? Are you looking forward to seeing more from this new comic series? 

Check out this impressive LEGO recreation of Songbird from the video game Bioshock Infinite. It was created by Flickr user Imagine Rigney, and I love the detail. Here's a note from the creator,

Songbird was a challenge - and huge! After about six days of building, I was pretty happy with it. But I needed a scene for Songbird to descend upon. This is a working prototype for a much larger Columbia I'm planning. 

Source: Geekologie (http://geekologie.com/2013/06/yes-bioshock-infinites-songbird-recreate.php?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+geekologie%2FiShm+%28Geekologie+-+Gadgets%2C+Gizmos%2C+and+Awesome%29)

As the dust of the news overload that is E3 begins to settle, I feel it is safe to begin analyzing what was presented.  We’ve seen Ubisoft’s rockstar line-up, EA’s slew of sports games, and a life sized Dracula statue from Konami, but what everyone is still talking about is the “Big Three” -- Nintendo, Sony, and Microsoft.

Stocks

One way market analysts determine if an event was “good” or “bad” for a company is relatively easy. Look at the stock prices. Here is a chart that shows the stock numbers for the “Big Three” from the beginning of E3 until now. It may not come as a huge surprise that Sony stock went up, 5.92% to be exact, but what took some by surprise, including me, was how good E3 was for Nintendo. Even without hosting a large press briefing like in years past, Nintendo’s stock still went up almost 11%. Microsoft was the only company that didn’t seem to benefit from the E3 week with its stocks prices dropping 1.87% since E3 opened. But what do these stock numbers mean for the success of any of the three companies? Pretty much nothing. No stock jump can predict if a console is going to be successful at launch or if people will suddenly start buying Wii U’s.  All it shows is the confidence of stock buying individuals, and those people are more confident in the future of Sony and Nintendo over Microsoft. 

Polls

Another bad omen for Microsoft took the form of an Amazon poll. On the day E3 closed, Amazon posted a poll on their Facebook asking users to vote which console they prefer between the PS4 and the Xbox One. The poll opened on June 13th and was scheduled to run until June 20th, but Amazon shut the poll down early after the voting turned immensely towards the PS4. By the time the poll was closed, the results were 38984 votes for PS4 and a mere 2162 for the Xbox One. That is a solid 94% for the PS4, a crushing majority. Other evidence of this staggering support for the PS4 over the Xbox One could be heard on Facebook, Reddit, and other social media sites. The internet had found a villain, and they wanted to let people know.

In the meantime, preorders for the PS4 spiked and rocketed it to the top of the Amazon.com Video Game Bestseller’s list. At the time of this writing, with the PS4 coming in first place and the Xbox One in the second place slot, eight of the top ten bestselling video game products are PS4 consoles or Sony products, like Playstation Store cards and the recently released game The Last of Us. Although the Xbox One occupies second place, the PS4 also occupies spots four, five, seven, and eight, which could lead to significantly more PS4 consoles being pre-ordered than Xbox Ones.  It is hard to know any specifics since Amazon isn’t telling the exact numbers of how many consoles of each brand are being ordered. Because this data is so nebulous, it is hard to analyze. How many more PS4s are being pre-ordered than Xbox Ones? Who knows. This is only one of many retailers where these pre-orders are available. Best Buy, Gamestop, Walmart, and other retailers all offer pre-orders and we don't know their numbers. Nevertheless, it seems to be following the pattern of Sony outpacing Microsoft, but probably not by far and definitely not by the 94% implied by the Amazon poll. People are still ordering Xbox One consoles in droves, which outlines the obvious but overlooked aspect of console success. Sales.

Sales

It doesn’t matter how upset the internet gets or how many people vote that one console is better than the other online, at the end of the day all that matters is how many of each console was sold. People may be upset at the Xbox One’s required online connection or both console’s lack of backwards compatibility, but will that prevent people from purchasing them? I doubt it. Microsoft revealed some pretty cool looking games in their massive press briefing at E3, and once the reviews and gameplay for the AAA titles like Titanfall start rolling in I think consumers will begin to forget about all of the things that turned them off of the Xbox One in the first place. “How often does my internet go out for more than 24 hours anyway?” They’ll think.  “I never really buy used games anyways.” They’ll tell themselves as they pull out their wallets. Look how quickly consumers got over the Xbox 360’s tendency to Red Ring and die, or the PS3’s sudden lack of backwards compatibility between versions. Negative attributes of the hardware fade into the background once cool games come into the picture.  

This is also assuming that the consumers purchasing the products are up to date on the current internet scandals.  Just under 43,000 people attended E3 and there are around 3 million subscribers to the gaming section of Reddit. Both of these numbers are minuscule compared to the 77.2 million Xbox 360s sold and the 70 million PS3s.  A large amount of these sales was probably “uneducated” to the bad press and controversies each console had at the time. They made their purchasing decision based on price, advertising and the prompting of their children. 

I’m not saying that the negative press won’t affect Xbox One sales this holiday season. It will. I bet Microsoft misses it’s sales predictions for the Xbox One by 10%, but in the long run I doubt it will matter. People will grow accustomed to the features of the Xbox One and the differences between the PS4 and the Xbox One will shrink down to a difference of game selection and performance, just like the what the current console generation has become. This is a situation where people need to vote with their wallets, rather than with online polls, but I doubt it is going to happen. Also, I predict the Wii U will start selling consoles again because they are finally releasing games for it.

"I have not spoken to J.J. He’s been busy with Star Trek, and I’m sure that he’ll let me know when he’s got some questions. So, you know, that’s all going well. Kathy tells me it’s working out great."

Lucas is playing a consultant role with Disney on these Star Wars films, and they will only go to him when they need him. Apparently as of right now, they're doing ok without him. I'm sure at some point they will run what they are working on by him. Earlier this spring Abrams did say,

"The advantage here is that we still have George Lucas with us to go to and ask questions and get his feedback on things, which I certainly will do."

I think the less they talk to Lucas about what they are doing the better. Abrams has been collaborating with screenwriter Michael Arndt, and they are working on developing the right story to tell. I think its great that Lucas is stepping aside to let Abrams do his thing to give us the best Star Wars sequel possible. 

Art by jprart

With Man of Steel killing it at the box office (despite its bafflingly mixed reviews), Warner Bros. is already raring for a sequel. According to a recent report, Warner Bros. is aiming for a 2014 release of Man of Steel 2, with Justice League to follow a year later. Is Warner Bros. rushing to get Justice League out to coincide with Avengers 2? Maybe. Regardless, it looks like director Zack Snyder and writer David Goyer have some plans for the quickly upcoming sequel. 

Here’s what Goyer told Bleeding Cool about their ideas for this new incarnation of Superman:

"The challenge for us moving forward is how to depict Superman in a world like this, in a world where Twitter exists, in a world with social media. To me, the interesting challenge is 'Could he solve hunger in the horn of Africa? What would he do with the Arab Spring? What would he do in Syria?'"

"Partly you could argue 'How could he not intervene in something like the situation in Syria?' but the other argument is 'Is it a hornet’s nest if her intervenes? Does he have the wherewithal or the knowledge to intervene in something like this?'" 

I get excited when I read this. This is the Superman that I want to see. He can save Lois Lane, but can he save everyone? He can save the planet from Zod, but can he save it from hunger and poverty and war? Superman has always been the ideal, the poster boy, the archetypal super hero. I want to see how the shining beacon of morality from 1930s America fares in today’s intricately globalized world.

I like the direction that Snyder and Goyer are taking with this franchise and the way they’re moving toward Justice League. I just hope that Warner Bros.’ timetable isn’t too optimistic. If this project is rushed, it could lead to a mediocre sequel, which could in turn really hurt Justice League’s prospects.  What do you think?  Are you excited for the future of Superman and the Justice League?  What do you want to see in a Man of Steel sequel? Do you think the studio is pushing this along too fast?

Sin City: A Dame to Kill For was scheduled to be released on October 4th, 2013, but The Weinstein Company recently announced that they pushed the film's release date back to August 22nd, 2014. We have to wait almost another year before we see the movie. I don't see it as a big deal. I've already waited eight years for it, another year isn't going to hurt. There is a ton of other good films being released in the mean time to keep us busy while we wait. 

Robert Rodriguez and Frank Miller have been in production on the film for a few months. The cast includes Josh Brolin, Mickey Rourke, Jessica Alba, Bruce Willis, Rosario Dawson, Jaime King, Joseph Gordon-Levitt, Eva Green, Dennis Haysbert, Christopher Meloni, Jeremy Piven, Jamie Chung, Ray Liotta, Juno Temple, Julia Garner, and Stacy Keach.

The plot for Sin City 2 comes from the stories A Dame To Kill For, Just Another Saturday Night, and a new one Frank Miller wrote called The Long, Bad Night, which apparently centers on Alba's character, Nancy Callahan, who will be the connection between the two films.

One of the stories follows Dwight (Brolin), who is hunted down by the only woman he ever loved, Ava Lord (Green), and then watches his life go straight to hell. Chronologically, this story takes place prior to "The Big Fat Kill", which was featured in the first film. It will also explain how Dwight came to have a dramatically different face. In the first film Dwight was played by Clive Owen.

Check out these incredibly badass pieces of concept art created for Marvel's Hulk Vs. animated films. One features Hulk Vs. Wolverine, the other features Hulk Vs. Thor. I don't know about you, but I miss those movies. Hulk Vs. was my favorite. The concept art was posted by the films' producer and director Frank Paur, who had this to say about the illustration above,

This little number is an ode to the early Creepy comics cover by Frank Frazetta of Dracula vs. Frankenstein... except of course this is Hulk Vs. Wolverine. The second half of Hulk Vs., I wanted the art direction to be completely different than the Thor segment. Where Thor was all bright colors, self color lines and grandeur, Wolverine needed to be darker more down and dirty. My direction was "Make it a Universal monster movie, dammit!" and that's what I got. Again Painting by Joel Chang over rough layout by me.

There's a lot more cool production art on his Facebook page, so check it out! 

Ridley Scott's Prometheus sequel is moving forward, and 20th Century Fox has hired Jack Paglen (Transcendence) to write the film. As of right now, Scott is only attached as a producer on the film so there's a chance he won't be back to direct it. Noomi Rapace and Michael Fassbender are expected to reprise their roles though. 

There's no information on what the story will entail, but one of the last things we heard was that Scott and the studio were having a hard time cracking the story. I just don't think those issues were as bad as they were made out to be. I'm sure they had some kind of plan in place while making the first film.

A lot of fans blamed Damon Lindelof for the ridiculous aspects of the first film, but they forget that making a movie is a collaborative effort, and Scott himself could have made the call to change things if he wanted to. Anyway, I'm sure some of the complainers will be happy that Lindelof isn't coming back to work on the sequel.

We have yet to see if Paglen is a decent writer or not. His first big film is Transcendence, which is currently in production. In case you don't remember, it's a sci-fi film being produced by Christopher Nolan, directed by Wally Pfister and starring Johnny Depp, Rebecca Hall, Cillian Murphy, Paul Bettany, Morgan Freeman, and Kate Mara. For more information on the story, click here. 

Are you excited to see that this Prometheus sequel is moving forward? 

Check out this awesome set of Superman cereal box art created by Phil Postma, who's known for his Pixar style movie mashups. My favorite from the set is Bizarre O's, I love that it's just a box of sugar cubes! What makes it even more hilarious is that it says, "100% No Sugar Added." That would be so popular with the kids! These are all great. I hope you like them.

Disney has released the first teaser trailer, and five new photos from their upcoming animated feature film Frozen. I'll be honest, it's not really what I was expecting from this movie. The teaser center on a snowman and a reindeer racing after a carrot in the middle of a frozen lake. The film is based on Hans Christian Anderson’s classic story The Snow Queen. The two main characters in the film, Anna and Elsa, are voiced by Kristen Bell and Idina Menzel. Bell talked about the character she plays in an interview with USA Today saying,

Since I was 4 years old, I dreamed of being in a Disney animated film. It was the first goal I ever set for myself. It seemed like it would be a very unrealistic one.

Anna is the sibling who doesn't normally get that much attention and is used to kind of just spazzing out on her own. But she's forced into a position where her sister needs her, and she has to step up to the plate.

She's not a good fighter, she doesn't have good posture, she's not very elegant, and she's constantly putting her foot in her mouth, but she's a good person and she's utterly determined.

The movie will also feature original music by Tony-award winner Robert Lopez (The Book of Mormon, Avenue Q) and Kristen Anderson-Lopez (In Transit). It's being directed by Chris Buck (Tarzan, Surf’s Up) and Jennifer Lee (Wreck-It Ralph screenwriter). 

In Frozen, a prophecy traps a kingdom in eternal winter, so Anna (voice of Bell) must team up with Kristoff, a daring mountain man, on the grandest of journeys to find the Snow Queen (voice of Menzel) and put an end to the icy spell. Encountering Everest-like extremes, mystical creatures and magic at every turn, Anna and Kristoff battle the elements in a race to save the kingdom from destruction.

The movie will be released in November 27th, 2013. Here's the teaser trailer:

The movie is simply called Plan 9, and I assume they are trying to capture that bad movie charm. I'm not sure though, it might just be a naturally bad looking film. Writer and director John Johnson had this to say about the clip you're about the watch,

I wanted to release this scene to kinda give a better feel of what the movie holds. We showed plenty of zombie mayhem in the teaser trailer and I thought the sneak peek would be focused more on the characters within. We have an extremely talented cast and it’s fun to show them off!

Plan 9 will be available on demand and DVD/Blu-ray in late August. To watch the teaser trailer, click here. One thing is for sure, I won't pay money to watch this movie. What are your thoughts on this Plan 9 remake? 

28 Weeks Later director Juan Carlos Fresnadillo was most recently attached to direct the film, but apparently his vision for the project wasn't in line with what the studio was looking for, so they parted ways last year. They've been on the hunt for a director since, but they didn't find one fast enough, and Reynolds wasn't going to wait around any longer. 

The studio is now on the hunt for not only a director, but an actor to take on the lead role as well. According to The Wrap, a studio insider said that "Reynolds' exit may actually prove beneficial for the project, as a new director will be able to cast a new leading man rather than inherit a previous filmmaker's decision."

The story follows a character named Conner MacLeod, "a Highlander who discovers he is one of a dwindling group of immortals who wander the earth and kill each other in combat for the final “Prize” – immortality."

I think Reynolds would have been great in this movie, but it will be interesting to see who they bring on to direct and star in it next. We'll probably end up waiting another four or five years before this movie actually happens, but I'm sure it will happen one day. 

Justin Lin was originally attached to direct the movie back in 2009, but he ended up leaving to focus on Fast and Furious 6.

Monsters University opens this week, and out of excitement, Lance Ford created this fun trailer mashup using the audio from the latest Monsters University trailer and footage from the classic college comedy Revenge of the Nerds. Here's a note that came along with the video:

I'm extremely excited to see Monsters University when it comes out this Summer, though I couldn't help but notice some similarities to one of my favorite movies of the 80's - Revenge of the Nerds. They're both buddy movies with a cast of misfit characters, Greek Week games, college parties... oh, and the talents of John Goodman! So, of course I mashed them up. I hope you enjoy.

When you watch Monsters University you'll see that it was heavily influenced by classic 80s college movies like Revenge of the Nerds. I'm sure fans of Pixar are going to love this prequel. 

Here's a poster for the entertaining looking new World War II horror thriller, Frankenstein's Army. The movie was directed by Richard Raaphorst, and it stars Karel Roden (Hellboy, The Bourne Supremacy). The movie has a great concept, and it's sure to be an incredibly bloody good time.

Here's the synopsis:

In the waning days of World War II, a battalion of Russian soldiers find themselves lost in enemy territory. Stumbling upon a village decimated by an unseen terror, they discover that a mad scientist (Hellboy's Karel Roden) conducts experiments to fuse flesh and steel, creating an unstoppable army of undead soldiers. Leaderless and faced with dissention amongst their dwindling ranks, they must find the courage to face down an altogether new menace - or die trying. 

The movie comes out on July 26th, 2013. To watch a great red-band trailer for the movie, click here.