'Thor' in 3-D

Marvel will release two 2011 summer blockbusters, Thor and Captain America: The First Avenger, in 3-D, according to the Los Angeles Times. Both went through principal photography in 2-D, but special effects were done in 3-D from the beginning, according to the report.

Thor will be released on May 6th ,and Cap will be released on July 22, 2011.

'Jane Austen Zombie' Scribe Signed for 'Dark Shadows'

Seth Grahame-Smith, the Charles Dickens of the mash-up novel who began the craze with Pride and Prejudice and Zombies, has been signed to write the screenplay for a feature film based on the long-running vampire soap, Dark Shadows. Johnny Depp is attached to star as Barnabas Collins and Tim Burton will direct, a combination that pretty much insures that the Dark Shadows film will have a great chance to be a blockbuster, if it gets made.

Warner Bros. has not yet announced a date for the film, though Variety reports that it was included on a list of up to 20 films that Warners plans to release via IMAX through 2013. Scheduling for Dark Shadows is complicated, because Johnny Depp reportedly wants to take some time off after finishing Pirates of the Caribbean 4 and Burton is involved in numerous projects.

Grahame-Smith is already working on an adaptation of his historical mash-up Abraham Lincoln: Vampire Hunter for Burton (producer) and Timur Bekmanbetov.

Nicholas Cage in 'Ghost Rider 2'

Nicolas Cage, who played the title role in Ghost Rider, revealed that he’s got a deal to reprise his role in Ghost Rider 2 on the Late Late Show with Craig Ferguson on Thursday night. The film will be directed by Mark Neveldine and Brian Taylor, who co-directed and co-wrote Crank. They also co-wrote Jonah Hex.

Columbia has been under pressure to start production soon to retain its rights to the property, and there was some question as to whether the film could be made in time with Cage in the title role.

FUNimation Announces a Host of New Licenses

At Anime Expo FUNimation demonstrated its position as the preeminent American anime company by announcing a host of new licenses including the new anime feature, Trigun: Badlands Rumble, which Funimation expects to exhibit in theaters before releasing on DVD. Among the anime that Funimation is planning to release in 2011 are the third Black Lagoon series, Black Lagoon: Roberta’s Blood Trail, Darker Than Black Season 2, Shakugan no Shana Season 2, Hellsing Ultimate Vol.s 5-7, Toaru Majutsu no Index (A Certain Index of Prohibited Books) and its related series Toaru Kagaku no Rerugan (A Certain Scientific Railgun).

Funimation also revealed that it would be simulcasting a number of anime series including Black Butler 2, Shiki, Sekirei—Pure Engagement, Sengoku Basara Two, as well as the live action Moyashimon, which is based on the manga about an ag student who can talk to bacteria and other micro organisms. FUNimation will begin simulcasting all these series this month as they air in Japan.

In addition to these new series FUNimation also announced that it had acquired the rights to a number of former Geneon properties including Ai Yori Aoshi, Armitage III, Haibane Renmei, Hellsing TV anime, Serial Experiments Lain, Tenchi in Tokyo, Tenchi Muyo!, Tenchi Universe, and Texhnolyze.

Amidst this horde of license announcements FUNimation also confirmed that it did not have the license for Evangelion: 2.0 You Can (Not) Advance. Considering that Funimation put out an excellent Blu-ray edition of the first Evangelion movie re-boot , this has to be seen as a real loss for U.S. fans. Perhaps another American anime company will release the remaining Evangelion films, but it appears that Gainax may just not realize how far the market has slipped even for a previously gilt-edged property like Evangelion. There is also the question of how many iterations of basically the same material that even the most devoted fan will buy, regardless of the substantial cosmetic improvements in the new re-booted version.

"Torchwood" on Starz Next Summer

Starz Entertainment, BBC Worldwide, and BBC Cymru Wales will produce a new 10-episode Torchwood series which will air on pay channel Starz in the U.S. and on BBC in the UK. The new series will premiere in the summer of 2011.

Series creator Russell T. Davies will lead the writing team; Jack Barrowman will star as Captain Jack; and Eve Myles will star as Gwen. The cast will also include “new faces,” according to the announcement. Storylines will widen to include settings in the U.S. and around the world.

BBC will distribute the series to other markets.

Torchwood was originally rumored to be going to Fox , but Starz got the deal.

Titan will launch a Torchwood comic series this summer

New "Thundercats" Series on Cartoon Network

Warner Bros. Animation has started production on Thundercats, an all-new animated series for Cartoon Network based on the original series from the 1980s, which followed the adventures of a team of cat-like aliens. The new version, which is a collaboration between Warner Bros. Animation and Studio4C, the Japanese animation studio responsible for The Animatrix, Gotham Knights and Halo Legends, promises to give the characters a “new cutting edge look while remaining true to the compelling storyline and mythology of the original series.”

The series is set to begin airing on Cartoon Network in 2011.

The Thundercats property has seen a whirlwind of activity recently, with a CGI movie in the works, and a license for figures recently awarded.

Rosie Huntington-Whitly to Replace Megan Fox

One of the biggest casting dramas in Hollywood may be drawing to a close. Although Paramount has not confirmed it, Victoria’s Secret has released a video congratulating leggy underwear model Rosie Huntington-Whitely for landing the ingénue role in Michael Bay’s Transformers 3.

Just a few weeks ago Paramount declined to pick up Fox’s option for the third Transformers movie, touching off a wave of speculation concerning Fox’s replacement. While Huntington-Whitely may be short on acting experience, she is definitely long where it counts--in the “gam” department--where she sports one of the best sets seen in Tinseltown since the heyday of Juliet Prowse.