New Doctor Who Companion Cast

The BBC has announced that Jenna-Louise Coleman has been cast as Doctor Who’s new companion for the 50th anniversary year of the show. Coleman will play against 11th Doctor Matt Smith, replacing Karen Gillan, who’s leaving the show with Arthur Darvill later this year. Coleman is probably best known to North American audiences for her role in Captain America: The First Avenger.The 14-episode seventh season is currently shooting; it sounds like Coleman will be introduced during this season, with her first full season in 2013, the 50th Anniversary year. The sixth season in 2011 was presented in two half-seasons.

Samurai Pizza Cats is Coming to DVD

WOW! We just got some great news, courtesy of a tip from reader Stephen Couch (thanks!). He pointed us toward the Facebook post by Discotek Media, who put up a great image representing the classic 1991 animated series Samurai Pizza Cats, and captioned it with the words, "Complete series coming soon"! In the comments attached to the picture, they give more details: "English dubbed version and a English subtitled Japanese language version"; "pricing isn't determined yet. The dub and sub versions will be separate releases"; and "Number of boxsets hasn't been determined yet. All 54 episodes for the sub version, and 52 episodes for the dub."

This is all the info we have for you so far, but hopefully Discotek Media will include us in on any updates, including details and package art. Stay tuned!Taken from:

"The Rock" Snags Two Comic Book Roles

Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson solidified his star status with roles in Journey 2: The Mysterious Island and Fast Five. In both films The Rock’s presence has resulted in far better box office than the previous movies in those franchises in which the former wrestler-turned actor did not have a role.

This summer Johnson will get a chance at the “franchise-improving” trifecta as he joins the cast of G.I. Joe: Retaliation in an attempt to heat up that lukewarm Hasbro-based franchise.

It’s clear that those in charge of casting at the major studios have noticed the effect that ‘The Rock’s” presence can have in the right film, and the mesomorphic thespian’s movie dance card is quickly filling up. Variety reports that The Rock will play the classic Greek strongman Hercules in Brett Ratner’s long-gestating adaptation of Steve Moore’s Radical Comics graphic novel Hercules: The Thracian War.

Almost simultaneously Deadline reported that Johnson has signed on to star in another comic book-based film, Ciudad, an intense action thriller based on an upcoming graphic novel from Oni Press written by Joe and Anthony Russo (with Ande Parks). The Russo brothers will direct Ciudad from a script written by Joe. Although they have directed one movie, You, Me and Dupree, the Russos are better known for their work on TV series such as Community, Happy Endings, and Arrested Development. Ciudad, a tough crime drama about a black market mercenary hired to rescue the kidnapped daughter of a Brazilian drug lord, represents something of a departure for the Russos, though not for Johnson, who should be able to ease into the movie’s key role without a hitch.

Yu-Gi-Oh Tournament in Atlanta

Konami has announced that the first tournament in the 2012 North American Yu-Gi-Oh! Championship Series will be held in Atlanta, Georgia on February 18th and 19th. This will be the first official tournament since December.

The tournament will be held at the Georgia International Convention Center and is expected to include hundreds of competitors from the region. The tournament will run over two days, with preliminary rounds starting at 8 a.m. on Saturday, with a final round on Sunday afternoon. The winner of the tournament will be awarded an Ultra Rare Blood Mefist prize card, with Super Rare versions being awarded to second and third place.

Fans of the game will also be able to participate in “Public Events” related to the game. These events include a 3-on-3 team game, “Attack of the Giant Card,” draft tournaments, Dawn of the Xyz Starter Tournament, and others. A new sealed deck format tournament will also be run, featuring the recently released Dragons Collide Structure Decks.

Younger players can join in the “Dragon Duel,” limited to individuals born in 1999 or later. The top four finishers will receive a special Dragon Duel Champion’s Medal, game mat, card binder, and an invitation to the 2012 Dragon Duel World Championship Qualifier

New Michael Bay "Transformers" in 2014

Grab your earplugs and bet the farm on bikini wax futures, Producer Lorenzo Di Bonaventura has announced that Michael Bay will direct the next Transformers movie that is currently scheduled to hit theaters on June 29th, 2014. The first three Transformers movies have earned over $2.6 billion at the worldwide box office, making it far and away Paramount’s top franchise and insuring that it will survive in some form to assault theaters in coming years.

Di Bonaventura told MTV News, “I think we are really going to do a reboot,” before indicating that he and Bay had not decided exactly how much surgery they were prepared to perform on the highly successful franchise, “It’s a hybrid because there is still continuity going on, but there will be a lot of new cast members. Whether there’s anybody from the first cast, we don’t even know yet. But it’s going to be a whole new story.”

The producer was referring to the “human” actors, whose escalating salaries add considerably to a movie’s cost as a franchise continues, and fortunately not to film’s real stars, the robots---Di Bonaventura made sure to let fans know, “But the characters that would come along would be Optimus (Prime) and Bumblebee.”

First Image from "Superman vs. The Elite"

DC Comics and Warner Bros. Animation have released the first image from the next DC direct-to-video feature film Superman vs. The Elite, which is based on the Joe Kelly story, “What’s So Funny About Truth, Justice, and the American Way?” that appeared in Action Comics #775. With the next DC animated release, Justice League: Doom releasing on February 29th, it is likely that Superman vs. The Elite will be released this summer, probably right before the San Diego Comic-Con.

TV Guide managed to get the first image of the somewhat stylized art from the cartoon for its article about TV star Pauley Perrette of NCIS fame, who will provide the voice for Lois Lane in the film with George Newbern (Justice League) vocalizing the Man of Steel’s lines. Perrette sees lots of similarities between Superman’s gal-pal and the inked-up forensic scientist Abby that Perrette plays on NCIS, telling TV Guide: “They’re both very smart and confident and really good at their jobs. They’re both really focused. Abby just doesn’t have a Superman.

Liebesman to Helm Live "TNMT" Feature

The Hollywood trades are all reporting that Jonathan Liebesman is in negotiations to direct Paramount’s live-action reboot of the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles for Paramount and producer Michael Bay. At this point in his career, Liebesman, who directed the remake of the Texas Chainsaw Massacre as well as Battle: Los Angeles and the forthcoming Wrath of the Titans, which debuts on March 30th, is a legit, if somewhat of a second-tier, director.

Created in 1984 by Kevin Eastman and Peter Laird, the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles began as a comic book parody and became a worldwide kids’ entertainment phenomenon spinning off TV cartoons, feature films, and more toys than there are bedbugs in Manhattan.

The studio has released few details about the script for the franchise reboot, which was written by Josh Appelbaum and Andre Nemec, the pair that penned the recent hit Mission: Impossible—Ghost Protocol for Tom Cruise.