Justice League : Crisis on Two Earths - New DC DVD

'Justice League: Crisis on Two Earths'
Plus a Spectre Short

Warner Premiere, DC Comics, and Warner Bros. Animation will release Justice League: Crisis on Two Earths, the seventh in the DC Universe Animated series of direct-to-DVD features, on February 23rd. The story by Dwayne McDuffie will be exec-produced by Bruce Timm and co-directed by Lauren Montgomery and Sam Liu. It will kick off when a good Lex Luthor arrives from an alternate universe to get help from the Justice League in saving his Earth from a team of villains with identical powers to the Justice League.

The voice cast will include Mark Harmon as Superman, James Woods as Owlman, Chris Noth as Lex Luthor, William Baldwin as Batman, Gina Torres as Superwoman and Bruce Davison as the President.

The film will be released in three versions: single-disc version for $19.98; two-disc Special Edition for $24.98, and Blu-ray for $29.99.

Both the Special Edition and Blu-ray versions will include the first in a new series of animated shorts, DC Showcase: The Spectre. The Spectre will be written by Steve Niles; the voice cast will include Gary Cole and Alyssa Milano. Both will also include The New World, a documentary featurette about Brad Meltzer’s Identity Crisis narrated by Michael Uslan; a sneak peak at the next DC Universe Animated feature; and two episodes of Justice League Unlimited hand-picked by Bruce Timm.

In addition to those extras, the Blu-ray version will include two additional episodes of Justice League Unlimited, plus TV pilots for the live action shows Wonder Woman and Aquaman.

The most recent DC Universe Animated feature, Superman/Batman: Public Enemies was released in September.

Three Cast for Thor Movie

Marvel has announced that actors have been chosen to play the Warriors Three (Fandral, Hogun and Volstagg) in the upcoming Thor movie. Stuart Townsend will play Fandral; Tadanobu Asano will play Hogun; and Ray Stevenson will play Volstagg.

Anthony Hopkins also recently joined the cast as Odin for the rest of the cast. The Kenneth Branagh film will premiere on May 20, 2011.

"V" Ratings Drop in 2nd and 3rd Weeks

Ratings on the new series of "V" have dropped significantly since the highly successful premiere episode . Viewership dropped a third between the first and third episodes.

After 13.9 million viewers tuned in to the first episode, 10.7 million viewers watched the second, and 9.3 million viewers watched this week’s episode.

One more episode will air in this initial grouping, followed by a long break before the season resumes.

"Chipmunks", "Tinker Bell" are Surprises Up for Oscars

Twenty films have been submitted for consideration in the Animated Feature Film category at next year's Oscars. Under rules for the category, a max of five will actually be nominated.
According to the Associated Press, 20 is a record number of submissions in the category. The previous best was 17 in 2002.

The list includes some clear favorites including Up, Coraline, and Fantastic Mr. Fox. The inclusion of the upcoming animated/live-action Alvin and the Chipmunks: The Squeakquel is a surprise since the film is mainly live-action like the first one.

Another surprise is Tinker Bell and the Lost Treasure. The movie is considered a direct-to-video release by most but must have had the necessary theatrical release shortly before its Oct. 27 DVD/Blu-ray street.

Here are the 20 films up for consideration:

Alvin and the Chipmunks: The Squeakquel
Astro Boy
Battle for Terra
Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs
Coraline
Disney's A Christmas Carol
The Dolphin – Story of a Dreamer
Fantastic Mr. Fox
Ice Age: Dawn of the Dinosaurs
Mary and Max
The Missing Lynx
Monsters vs. Aliens
9
Planet 51
Ponyo
The Princess and the Frog
The Secret of Kells
Tinker Bell and the Lost Treasure
A Town Called Panic
Up

No indication of quality is inferred in these submissions. They simply have been submitted by each film's producers and meet the necessary requirements. Obviously if they were submitted, the studio thinks the movie is good enough to at least be nominated.

The 82nd Academy Awards nominations will be announced on Tuesday, Feb. 2, 2010, at 5:30 a.m. Pacific Time. The awards will be given out on Sunday, Mar. 7.

Source: AMPAS

"Dollhouse Canceled"

Joss Whedon’s Dollhouse, which premiered to weak ratings this season , has been canceled by Fox, according to the Hollywood Reporter . It’s expected to finish its thirteen episode season, but it’s not clear when the episodes will air. It has been off the air during sweeps month and was slated to resume airing new episodes in December .

The fact that the series has been canceled does not necessarily mean the property is dead. Whedon took the ideas from his canceled series Firefly and turned them into the theatrical release Serenity, after the devotion of fans showed that there would be a market for the film.

Sony Preps "Men in Black III"

Sony has put Men in Black III on the fast track for development and could begin filming as early as next spring. The first Men in Black film, which was based on the comic book series by Lowell Cunningham, earned nearly $600 million in 1997 and spawned a Saturday morning cartoon (Men in Black: The Series), which ran from 1997-2001, as well as a 2002 sequel, Men in Black II.

Sony has hired the red hot scribe Etan Cohen to write the screenplay for the new MIB film, and Barry Sonnenfeld, who directed the first two MIB features, is attached (though not signed) to direct. Cohen, who wrote the very funny Tropic Thunder as well as Madagascar 2 and the new Sherlock Holmes film, is already “deep into his draft” of the script for MIB III.

THR also reports that MIB star Will Smith “is interested in returning” to the franchise that helped make a worldwide box office heavyweight. According to The Reporter, “Smith does not have a go movie lined up.”