"Prometheus" Scribe Rebooting 'The Mummy'

Jason Spaihts, who co-wrote Prometheus with Damon Lindelof, has been tapped by Universal to write the screenplay for a rebooting of The Mummy franchise. In spite of often confused plots and cheesy computer effects the three modern Mummy movies were remarkably consistent with each earning over $400 million.

Spaihts told Variety, “I see it as the kind of opportunity I had with Prometheus to go back to a franchise’s roots in dark, scary source material and simultaneously open it up to an epic scale we haven’t seen before.”

Given the success of the three modern Mummy movies that debut in 1999, 2001, and 2008 respectively, the chances of another Mummy movie getting made are pretty good.

Alan Horn to Head Disney Studios

The Walt Disney Company announced today that Alan Horn has been named Chairman of The Walt Disney Studios, where he will oversee worldwide operations for the studio as well as production, distribution, and marketing for live-action and animated films from Disney, Pixar, and Marvel, as well as distribution and marketing for DreamWorks Studios films.

It appears that in Horn Disney has found someone with a wealth of studio experience. Horn, who was head of Warner Bros. for 12 years. Films released under Horn’s regime at Warner Bros. include the Harry Potter films, The Dark Knight, The Departed, Sherlock Holmes, Batman Begins, and the Oceans Eleven trilogy

The position of head of the Disney Studios has been vacant since Rich Ross was pushed out in mid-April in the wake of the box office failure of Disney’s John Carter, which forced the studio into an embarrassing $200 million write-off and upset former Marvel owner Ike Perlmutter.  There was some speculation that Marvel Studios’ Kevin Feige would take the job, but position of Disney studio chief, which involves dealing with and placating the company’s various sacrosanct fiefdoms (Pixar, Marvel, and distributing for DreamWorks), is not exactly one of the prize jobs in Hollywood , though the Disney Studio does have the potential to contend for global box office domination if all the company's units are performing at peak levels.

It certainly hasn't  taken long for Horn to make some changes at Disney. The first acts of the new regime have been schedule changes. The studio has shifted the debut of Gore Verbinski’s The Lone Ranger, which stars Johnny Depp from May 31st of 2013 to July 3rd, 2013, and it also moved Thor 2 from November 15th, 2013 to November 8th. While these scheduling tweaks appear minor, Horn appears to have definite opinions on how to get the most out of the studio’s slate of films. The move of Thor 2 makes a lot of sense in that it will give the movie a full two weeks at the box office before the debut of The Hunger Games sequel Catching Fire on November 22nd.

Fox Sets Date for 'X-Men: First Class' Sequel and 'POTA' Sequel

Twentieth Century Fox has announced that the sequel to X-Men: First Class, which for scheduling purposes is now known simply as “X-Men,” will debut on July 18th, 2014.  The X-Men: First Class sequel, which Matthew Vaughn will direct, will begin production early next year. The cast of X-Men: First Class, which includes The Hunger Games’ Jennifer Lawrence, is set to reprise their roles in the sequel.

Vaughn’s X-Men film will actually be Fox’s third summer tentpole for 2014. It will be preceded by Dawn of Planet of the Apes, the sequel to the highly successful Rise of the Planet of the Apes, which earned $483 million worldwide in 2011. As was the case with Matthew Vaughn and the X-Men: First Class sequel, the director of Rise of the Planet of the Apes, Rupert Wyatt, will return to direct the encore movie.

The first Fox blockbuster to unspool in 2014 will be Steven Spielberg’s Robopocalypse, which the studio is producing along with Dreamworks and Disney. It will debut worldwide on April 25th, 2014. Robopocalypse is based on the bestselling science fiction novel by Daniel H. Wilson.


Fox also announced that it would be re-releasing Roland Emmerich’s 1996 blockbuster Independence Day in re-processed 3-D on July 3rd, 2013, though adding “depth” to the cardboard characters in this overripe exercise in mind-numbing silliness will take more than all the computing power of Silicon Valley put together.

Toonami Has Two New Anime: Plus Four Returnees

Two anime new to broadcast in the U.S. were included in the Toonami block on Adult Swim that premiered last weekend. Deadman Wonderland aired at 12:30 a.m. ET and 3:30 ET Saturday. The U.S. anime rights are controlled by FUNimation ; home video has not yet been released. Tokyopop published five volumes of the manga.
Casshern Sins aired at 1:00 and 4:00 a.m. ET. The series was released by FUNimation in a complete set,  and in two parts.

Other shows airing in the block are Bleach; Fullmetal Alchemist: Brotherhood; Ghost in the Shell: Stand Alone Complex 2nd GIG; and Cowboy Bebop.

G. I. Joe Toys Interrupted : Some Shipped, Others Delayed

 

Hasbro will delay the release of the rest of its toys for G.I. Joe: Retaliation to early next year to tie into the revised release date for the movie , the company announced late last week. Some retailers have already put products from the first wave on sale; they were already being shipped when the move release date delay was announced. But any products not already on sale will be returned , and the remainder of the first wave and future waves will ship in 2013.

This presents an interesting situation, with G.I. Joe collectors chasing the limited amounts of product that has already been released, with the knowledge that larger quantities will eventually be available early next year. No elevated prices were noted on eBay as of Tuesday.

'G.I. Joe' Needed Work : the Real Reason for the Delay

G.I. Joe: Retaliation was testing poorly and needed reshoots, according to Deadline,  which is why the release date was pushed back from June to 2013 . Channing Tatum, who’s gotten hot since the first film, was going to be killed off early in the sequel, but was one of the few things testing audiences liked. Reshoots will help expand his role and keep him alive. And the 3D move was essential, given how the dollars on the summer blockbusters have flowed.
 

The delay of the movie at this late stage, when theaters were booked and licensed merchandise had started to flow, was a radical move, reflecting the degree of risk Paramount perceived in releasing the movie as it was and the size of the opportunity in fixing it

Universal Moves 'G.I. Joe: Retaliation' to March, 2013

Paramount has moved G.I. Joe: Retaliation, which was slated to debut on June 29th, to March 29th, 2013 in order to add 3-D in an attempt to bolster foreign sales. Paramount is giving up one of the prime dates of the summer and Universal quickly stepped in to help fill the late June void with the buzz-generating Ted, an "R" rated comedy by Seth MacFarlane about a foul-mouthed Teddy Bear that stars Mila Kunis and Mark Wahlberg.

Paramount has already spent quite a bit promoting the $125 million G.I. Joe sequel including a pricy Super Bowl ad and several trailers. Based on the Hasbro property, G.I. Joe: Retaliation was directed by Jon M. Chu and adds Bruce Willis and Dwayne "The Rock" Johnson to a solid ensemble cast.

As Deadline points out, Paramount has had some luck in the past changing release dates. The studio delayed the release of Martin Scorsese’s Shutter Island and managed to give the director his box office best.

Paramount isn’t the only studio that has delayed a studio tentpole that was supposed to debut in 2012 in order to add TV. Already smarting from what appears to be a considerable loss with Battleship, Universal has moved the Keanu Reeves-starring 47 Ronin to 2013 and is citing 3-D as the reason. However Hollywood rumor has it that the studio is afraid the $200 million plus samurai epic is too risky to open in the same year in which Battleship has already put a major dent in the Universal’s bottom line.

A Gay Wedding for Marvel in "Astonishing X-Men #51"

Spoiler Alert--As expected Marvel’s major announcement on the ABC network talk show The View this morning was that the Canadian-born mutant Northstar would be wedding his longtime boyfriend Kyle in the pages of Astonishing X-Men #51, which goes on sale in June and features a festive wraparound cover. Marvel has been teasing the event for months with a "Save the Date" poster that came out in March and warned retailers in advance that the company "had secured mainstream coverage both on-air and in print for something that has never been seen in the pages of a Marvel" for an event in the pages Astonishing X-Men #51, which pretty much convinced most observers that Marvel was going to follow Archie Comics lead and hold the first gay wedding ever in the pages of a Marvel comic.



It is pretty clear that the folks at DC had deduced what was going to happen in Astonishing X-Men #51 and what Marvel was going to announce on The View, since over the weekend DC Comics co-publisher Dan DiDio attempted to steal some of Marvel’s thunder with an announcement that "an iconic DC character" would come out of the closet in June. This sort of one-upmanship is all too representative of the frosty relationship between the country’s two leading comic publishers.

The proposal, which has Northstar down on his knees in the traditional pose, will be depicted in the pages of Astonishing X-Men #50 that is due out tomorrow (Wednesday, May 23rd) with the wedding to follow in the traditional month of June. The ladies of The View and the audience appeared pleased with the announcement, and panelist Joy Behar, who may not have been aware of Kevin Keller’s nuptials in the pages of Archie comics, called Marvel "cutting edge."

Northstar, who is the focal point of the cover of Astonishing #50, was created by Chris Claremont and John Byrne and debuted in 1979 as a member of Alpha Flight. In Alpha Flight #120 in 1992 Northstar became one of the first openly gay superheroes. Northstar later joined the X-Men and became a regular member of the cast of Astonishing X-Men. His relationship with Kyle began in 2009 and moved to a new level when the two began living together a few months

Major, Iconic DC Character to "Come Out"

DC Comics has revealed that a "major, iconic" character will reveal "he" is gay in a June storyline, according to ABC News and announced at Kapow! Comic Convention in London last weekend. DC had previously kept the sexual orientation of all of its characters consistent in the post-New 52 world, despite changes to many other characteristics of the characters in the relaunch.

As is often the case with maneuvers by the Big Two American comic publishers, who have competed for over half a century, there’s a subplot. Marvel has teased that there will be a "major announcement" on The View on Tuesday about Astonishing X-Men #50, believed by some to be a storyline involving a gay character.

Johnny Depp's 'Nightstalker' Gets a Writer

Disney has picked High Fidelity scribe D.V. DeVincentis to pen a big screen adaptation of the ABC TV series The Night Stalker. Darren McGavin starred in the short-lived TV series that lasted just one season in 1974-1975, but became a cult hit in syndication. Edgar Wright, director of Shaun of the Dead, Hot Fuzz, and Scott Pilgrim, has signed on to direct the big screen Night Stalker.

The TV series followed the exploits of the Chicago-based investigative reporter Carl Kolchak whose specialty is stories involving bizarre occurrences, often with supernatural overtones. Depp’s Infinitum Nihil production company acquired the rights to the Night Stalker in 2011, and the signings of DeVincentis and Wright appear to signal that Disney is making the project something of a priority.

"Sin City : A Dame to Kill for" Release Date Set

Dimension Films has announced that the opening date for the screen adaptation of Frank Miller’s Sin City: A Dame to Kill For has been set for October 4th, 2013. Miller and Robert Rodriguez will co-direct the film from a screenplay written by Willam Monahan, Miller, and Rodriguez.

Deadline reports that Mickey Rourke and Jessica Alba are returning to reprise their roles from the first Sin City movie, which earned nearly $160 million back in 2005, and that "other cast members are expected to return." Rodriguez has already spoken to Rosario Dawson, who also appears set for the sequel. After years of delays the long-awaited sequel project has finally got momentum.

Downey Jr.s Cut Dwarfs Other Avengers' Take

Robert Downey Jr.’s payout from Marvel Studios’ smash hit The Avengers could reach upwards of $50 million, a level of compensation that is certainly not out of line by Hollywood blockbuster standards, but which totally dwarfs the amounts earned by Downey Jr.’s fellow Avengers. According to inside sources quoted by The Hollywood Reporter, Chris Hemsworth (Thor), Mark Ruffalo (Hulk), Jeremy Renner (Hawkeye), and Chris Evans (Captain America) should end up making $2-3 million with bonuses, while Samuel L. Jackson and Scarlett Johansson could take in roughly twice that amount.

While six million is a pretty good payday, it’s eight times less Marvel Moolah than the amount the actor playing Tony Stark will bring home. According THR after Iron Man earned $585 million worldwide in 2008, Downey Jr.’s agent negotiated a deal that gave the actor a 5-7% slice of Marvel’s take on future films featuring Iron Man.

Big payouts for charismatic stars in major franchises are hardly unknown in Hollywood. Johnny Depp has earned in excess of $250 million for the four Pirates of the Caribbean films in which he starred. What is interesting about The Avengers situation is the fact that it is the notoriously frugal Marvel that is making the payouts.

While Marvel did what it had to do to lock down Downey, Jr. the studio sent a major message when it replaced actor Terrence Howard with Don Cheadle as Jim Rhodes (War Machine) in Iron Man 2 and kept the compensation for key supporting roles like those played by ScarJo and Mickey Rourke in Iron Man 2 at the very low end of the Hollywood talent pay scale.
Marvel Studios’ frugality makes sense not just for the studio’s bottom line, but also in view of the kind of films that Marvel wants to make. Performers’ salaries could become a major stumbling block for superhero team-up movies. As constituted for the movie, The Avengers team includes seven major performers. If they all received compensation at the level of Downey Jr., the movie would have to earn an Avatar-like $2.2 billion just to break even.

As the lead actor in Marvel Studios’ break-out film Iron Man, Downey Jr. was able to strike a very good deal for himself—and considering the fact that director Michael Bay took home $80 million for helming the first Transformers movie, the $50 million for Downey Jr. looks like a pretty good deal for Marvel too, especially since most of that money results from the fact that the movie was an absolute worldwide smash and wouldn’t have been paid out at all if the film had been an abject failure like The Green Lantern.

Toonami Returns to Adult Swim

Anime will return to Adult Swim on May 26th, when the Toonami programming block returns, the company announced. The block will run from midnight to 6 a.m. ET/PT Saturdays. The programming will be a mix of series previously seen on the Toonami block and new anime programming developed by Adult Swim.

McDonald's Serves 1st Ever Gundam Happy Meals in Japan

The McDonald's restaurant chain will begin selling its first ever Gundam Happy Meals in Japan on May 18. Sold as Happy Sets in Japan, the meals will include one of eight Gundam Try-Age cards.


The cards will feature mecha from the Mobile Suit Gundam AGE and Mobile Suit Gundam UC anime series as well as other Gundam franchise titles. The trading card arcade game Gundam Try-Age debuted in Japan last July.

Viz Media partnered with McDonald's to release toys inspired by the Naruto television anime and manga series in Latin America in 2010. McDonald's also offered Astroboy film and Bakugan Battle Brawlers toys in the United States in 2009. Previous anime-themed Happy Set prizes in Japan have included Sgt. Frog (Keroro Gunsō) figures and exclusive Tamagotchi! anime DVDs.

Sayonara 'Battle Angel Alita'

The long-running saga of director James Cameron’s adaptation of Yukito Kishiro's Battle Angel Alita manga may be over. Cameron told The New York Times: "Last year I basically disbanded my production company's development arm. So I am not interested in developing anything. I’m in the Avatar business. Period. That’s it. I’m making Avatar 2, Avatar 3, maybe Avatar 4."

There was a time when Battle Angel Alita appeared to be right around the corner, but now the prospects of seeing a Cameron-helmed adaptation of the saga of a female cyborg who is rescued from the scrap heap and becomes a world class bounty hunter appear to be very dim indeed.

"Tron: Uprising" Cartoon Debut Set

'Tron: Uprising' Cartoon Debut Set

Disney XD has announced plans for the launch of its new CGI cartoon series Tron: Uprising, which will debut on the cable channel on Thursday, June 7th at 9pm (Et, PT), its regular timeslot going forward. Prior to the launch, on Friday May 18th (at 9:30 pm) and again on Monday May 21st (at 7 pm) the Disney XD network will present Tron: Uprising, Beck’s Beginning, a 30 minute prelude to the Tron: Uprising series, the events of which take place between the original Disney Tron movie in 1982 and the recent feature film Tron: Legacy, which was released in 2010. Disney also released a new trailer for the show that is both visually stunning and highly intriguing.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wE7qsfQQGGs&feature=player_embedded

The Tron: Uprising cartoon features an all-star vocal cast that includes Elijah Wood, Bruce Boxleitner, Mandy Moore, Lance Henriksen, Reginald Vel Johnson, Paul Rubens (aka PeeWee Herman), and Tricia Helfer.


Disney XD is making the introductory Tron: Uprising, Beck’s Beginning episode available to view in a number of Internet venues starting on May 11th at Disney XD on Demand, which will be followed on May 12th by its release on the Disney XD Facebook page, and then starting on May 13th, it will be available as a free download from iTunes.