The remake of one of the most popular horror movies of all time, John Carpenter’s The Thing, is moving forward, and it now has officially cast its two lead star in Mary Elizabeth Winstead and Joel Edgerton.

Winstead will be playing a “Ph.D. candidate” who joins the Norwegian team after they discover an alien craft frozen solid in the ice. Edgerton will be playing a mercenary helicopter pilot, which would be the Kurt Russell role of the remake. The duo will eventually join up when a strange creature breaks free and starts killing people.

The movie is directed by Matthijs Van Heijningen, a long-time producer making his directorial debut. The screenplay is where some strong excitement can be discovered; it was written by Battlestar Galactica and Caprica god Ronald D. Moore, as well as Eric Heisserer, who wrote the A Nightmare on Elm Street remake script.

BOOM! Studios has been producing some really interesting mini-series lately and we’ve just learned about another intriguing series coming soon.

Codebreakers, written by Carey Malloy with art by Scott Godlewski, promises “clandestine thrills and excitement that only BOOM! can deliver.” There will also be covers by Unthinkable’s Julian Totino Tedesco and Brett Weldele (The Surrogates).

I’m pretty much on board with anything BOOM! produces so I’ll be picking this one up.

Crack the code with Codebreakers this April, but in the meantime, check out the official press release below.

Planet Hulk
2-Disc Special Edition DVD
Directed by Sam Liu
Starring Rick D. Wasserman, Lisa Ann Beley, Mark Hildreth, Liam O’Brien, Kevin Michael Richardson, Samuel Vincent, Advah Soudack, Michael Kopsa, Marc Worden
Lionsgate Home Entertainment
Release Date: February 2, 2010

Planet Hulk is the latest direct-to-DVD film from Marvel’s Animation Studio and it’s got a lot going for it. Director Sam Liu has previously worked on Superman/Batman: Public Enemies and screenwriter Greg Johnson worked on one of my personal favorites, Doctor Strange. The film is also based on one of the best Hulk stories of all time (written by the awesome Greg Pak) in which the Green Goliath is deemed too dangerous for Earth and exiled to another planet free of any intelligent life. Unfortunately something goes wrong and the Hulk’s ship crash lands on a war world where he’s immediately forced into slavery and forced to fight Gladiator-style for his freedom. All of these factors contributed to my Hulk-size anticipation of the film and I can thankfully say I was not disappointed.

Amazon is currently offering $10 credit towards the future purchase of a video game after you pre-order Bioshock 2 for Xbox 360, Playstation 3, or PC.

The highly anticipated video game sequel will be released tomorrow, February 9, so you have to get your pre-order in before the end of today.

Also, the pre-order price has been discounted: Xbox 360 is $54.99; PS3 is $55.99, and PC is $46.99 (a 6%-8% discount). It’s unclear whether those sale prices will continue once the game has been released.

Much like his father before him, Joe Hill (son of Stephen King) is making the transition from printed page to big screen. Our friends at Latino Review are reporting that Hill’s critically acclaimed series Locke & Key will be adapted by the writing/producing dynamic duo, Alex Kurtzman and Roberto Orci through their deal with DreamWorks.

The story centers around Keyhouse, an unlikely New England mansion with fantastic doors that transform all who dare to walk through them. Keyhouse is also home to a hate-filled and relentless creature that will not rest until it forces open the most terrible door of them all. Locke & Key is illustrated magnificently by Gabriel Rodriguez and published by IDW.

Locke & Key was nominated for Best Limited Series and Joe Hill was nominated for Best Writer at the 2009 Eisner Awards. Check out the trailer for the comic book IDW Publishing put out:

If you’re not familiar with the series, now is the time to get caught up, the series has been fantastic. Welcome to Lovecraft, the first book in the series, is available on trade paperback for around $15; $16.50 if you prefer hardcover).

Tonight was the big game, and to sum things up, booze and gumbo be flowin’ strong in the French Quarters of New Orleans tonight.

The obvious big draw of the Super Bowl is the game itself, but right behind that it the unveiling of some of the best commercials you’ll see. Recent years have been an incredible disappointment for the advertisement industries, and it has seemed like very few companies have anyone working for them with fresh and funny ideas. So would this year be the year when commercials rose back to their former glory, or would failure loom once again?

The short answer is no, no there was not any glory. The majority of this year’s commercials, like recent years, were utter garbage, and that’s just sad and honest truth. The only real bright spots of the year came from the always-popular Bud Lite ads, and Doritos made a strong showing themselves. There were a couple of decent ones scattered around in between these, but that’s about all there is to it. You can head over to SPIKE to check out all of the commercials!

Click on over for more, including videos of all of the movie and video game spots that aired!

The Super Bowl broadcast is known for having some really great commercials, as well as debut movie, TV, and game footage.

During tonight’s game (yay Saints!), as I was watching for the new TV spot for Alice In Wonderland, the first television commercial for Universal Orlando’s Wizarding World of Harry Potter came on, and I squealed. I did, I really did.

For those of you wondering what this is, it’s the new Harry Potter-themed section of Islands of Adventure, a theme park within the Universal Orlando Resort, that’s opening this Spring.

Watch the commercial, which includes an appearance by the boy wizard himself Daniel Radcliffe, here below.

It looks like one of our favorite writers is going to be lending his considerable talents to Doctor Who in the future.

British Science Fiction magazine SFX has confirmed that Neil Gaiman is writing an episode for the second Matt Smith season of the long-running scifi television series.

Gaiman, who also confirmed the news on his personal blog, sent a message to the magazine after winning the award for Best Comic at their SFX Awards (for Whatever Happened To The Caped Crusader).

A big press junket for The Wolfman was recently held in Los Angeles, but the prime objective of anyone who could get to director Joe Johnston was to find out whatever they could about his contribution to the Marvel world, The First Avenger: Captain America.

The movie isn’t set to be released until July 22, 2011, but with no sign of even the first casting announcement, folks are beginning to wonder what’s going on. Two massive Marvel movies are primed for release that summer — the other being Kenneth Branagh’s Thor, which bows May 6 — but Thor has all of its casting well in-hand, hence the question marks. These two movies are the final two pieces before 2012’s The Avengers begins its epic descent toward our eyes.

So what exactly did Johnston have to share about his movie and where things stand? Well — a lot, to be quite honest. Johnston touched on the type of gentleman he wants to cast in the all-important role and when we should meet this man, how he’s handling the tricky-but-iconic costume re-invention, and what other known characters or maybe even villains we could see showing up in the movie.

Paris, Texas – ***1/2
Criterion Collection – Blu-ray
Directed by Wim Wenders
Starring Harry Dean Stanton, Nastassja Kinski, Dean Stockwell, Aurore Clement, Hunter Carson
Release date: January 26, 2010

What a way to open a film. The image first seen conjures up a mood that is sustained throughout the entire picture. It is of a splendidly eerie sight, showing a lonely man strolling aimlessly amidst towering mountains that resemble Monument Valley in which John Ford filmed The Searchers – in which Paris, Texas resembles in a way – with a rugged, dirty suit on, wearing a tattered red baseball cap and clutching an empty jug of water as if his life is depending on it. He has been roaming for days it seems. Just glance down at his shoes, or at least what is left of them, for further evidence of the many miles of terrain this man must have journeyed over. Four years he has appeared this way. Probably shunning reality away every time it manages to creep close to him and running from inner fears that bind him to his past life. There is no doubt he is searching for something. Something that is fearful and passionate only to him. But why? For what? Paris, Texas will slowly expand its straight-edged narrative to expound upon these questions. While all the while doom is looming in the air and the ghastly guitar music is alluding to an act of terror that may have already happened or has yet to have occurred. German director Wim Wenders is able to pierce the heart and confound the mind within the very first sequence of his film: A work of a European in a manner that is so Americana.

Muppet King Arthur #1
Issue 1 of 4
Written by Paul Benjamin and Patrick Storck
Art by Patrick Storck
Cover Art by David Peterson (Cover A); Dave Alvarez (Cover B)
BOOM! Studios
Price: $2.99; Release date: February 10, 2010

Do you like Arthurian legend? How about The Muppets?

BAM! Here’s a comic for you: Muppet King Arthur #1, the first of four issues in the new BOOM! Studios comic book series from Paul Benjamin and Patrick Storck.

This series sees the famous Muppets gang in Great Britain during the Dark Ages where our favorite green guy Kermit is thrust in the role as King Arthur after he pulls the sword Excalibur from the stone, ushering in the legendary Arthurian times.

Being released on the publisher’s BOOM! Kids line implies this comic book is for children, but that’s only partially true, as I found that some of the humor was clearly adult, namely the references to modern-day politics. But yes, the kids will love it too, because the Muppets are in action, and Fozzie Bear never fails to … WOCKA WOCKA … slip in a corny joke.

Siege #2
Writer: Brian Michael Bendis
Penciller: Olivier Coipel
Inker: Mark Morales
Colorist: Laura Martin
Cover: Olivier Coipel; Gabriele Dellotto (variant)
Marvel Comics
Price: $3.99; Release date: February 3, 2010

As much as I enjoy Brian Michael Bendis‘ work on a variety of titles, his big event work at Marvel has generally left me cold. There weren’t a lot of things wrong with series like “House of M” or “Secret Invasion” per se, but the stories were never as exciting to me as they should have been. I think a lot of that can be blamed on their length. Fortunately, Bendis and Marvel made the wise decision to make their new event “Siege” only four issues, which I think has forced Bendis to cut all the filler and get straight to the killer. And as it turns out, that killer is the Sentry.

Siege #2 finds Norman Osborn’s attack on Asgard in full swing, but unfortunately, he loses control of one major player, just as the Avengers are planning their counterattack. Ares has been one of Osborn’s big guns, but when the god of war finds out that he’s been played for a fool, he decides to take Norman out. Unfortunately, Norman has another big gun, and calls in the Sentry to take on Ares.

According to LA Weekly and confirmed by Funimation, Cartoon Network will begin airing Fullmetal Alchemist: Brotherhood beginning Saturday February 13 at midnight eastern time during its Adult Swim block. Brotherhood is not a sequel to the original, but is an all new series that follows the events of the manga series by Hiromu Arakawa more closely.

The series follows the adventures of Edward and Alphonse Elric, two brothers who are attempting to repair their bodies after they try to bring their mother back to life. The attempt to bring back their mother cost Edward an arm and a leg, and cost Alphonse his entire body, forcing him to attach his soul to a suit of armor. They travel around an alternate reality, using their powers of alchemy, or the ability to change one object into another. If you’ve seen the original series, you can expect a different experience once you get past the first few issues. I’ve read the manga, (at least what has been released in the U.S. so far) and the story takes a number of turns that are completely different from what was seen in the first show.

In 2007, Disney found themselves with a new mega-hit that was called Enchanted. The movie took that classic Disney hand-drawn cartoon vibe, and brought it to a live-action modern day New York City. The movie went on to make $340 million worldwide, so fans will be thrilled to know that the studio is going full-steam ahead on a sequel, Enchanted 2.

Amy Adams, Patrick Dempsey, James Marsden, and Susan Sarandon starred in the original, but none are currently confirmed to be returning or not. You can be sure, however, that Disney will be going after them all aggressively. Barry Josephson and Barry Sonnenfeld are returning as producers on the sequel, but aside from that, the crew will be all new. Jessie Nelson has been brought in to write the screenplay, and Anne Fletcher will be directing this time around.

Planet Hulk, the latest animated feature from Marvel Studios and Lionsgate Home Entertainment, hit shelves this week and one of the special features on the DVD and Blu-ray was a first look at Thor: Tales Of Asgard, Marvel’s next animated feature.

Take a look at the sneak peek here below and let us know what you think.

The thought of a teenage Thor doesn’t quite stir my loins like previous Marvel films have but I’ll give it a shot next year.

Thor: Tales Of Asgard arrives on shelves in 2011 — just in time to piggy back onto Kenneth Branagh’s live-action Thor when it hits theaters.

I’m not big on this whole 3D craze, as those who read the site might have been able to tell. It works for some movies — like James Cameron’s Avatar, of course — but there is absolutely no need for every movie made to have so many dimensions.

But as 3D is taking over your movie theaters, do not think for one moment that it ends there. No, no — there is indeed a fourth dimension out there in the great beyond, and the technology is well on its way as we speak!

Reports out of Seoul, South Korea share that 4D is no new thing to Koreans. Last year, they set up a special theater in one of their largest chains that would allow them to offer the perfect movie/ride combination, and began with movies like Journey to the Center of the Earth. Since then, they’ve added a few more of these specialty screens, and have been been preparing for Avatar since last summer. While these movies play, over THIRTY special effects are set to add this new dimension to your experience, including light water spraying, lights and lasers, smells such as explosions/gunfire, gusts of wind, and even moving seats!

New banners and poster for Louis Letterier’s Clash Of The Titans remake have been released, all of which show off the film’s new April 2, 2010 release date and 3D status.

Check out the four new banners and one new poster here below; visit UGO for the high-res versions.

The four banners show the legendary characters in action, so if you know your Greek mythology, you’ll appreciate how well these were put together. The new poster is of the Kraken sea monster in mid-roar trying to take a chomp at the Pegasus-riding Perseus.

I’ve said it with the trailers, now I’ll say it with the poster — too much Kraken! Don’t get me wrong, nothing against the Kraken, but there’s a whole new generation of moviegoers who’ve never seen the original Clash, so why reveal so much in the promo items? It almost feels like they’re trying to show fans of the original movie that they haven’t strayed too far, like, ‘Hey, look here’s the Kraken, we didn’t forget him, we’re releasing him, we got all the Kraken you need!’ And now we have ‘Look, it’s 3D Kraken!’

It’s amazing how Hollywood works these days, especially when it comes to the world of superhero and comic book-related film projects. Sometimes these movies get made and turn into some of the biggest franchises ever seen, while others don’t do so well and are considered failures. Either way — whether it be Spider-Man or The Incredible Hulk — studios don’t seem to have the slightest issue with throwing franchises or entire $100-$150 million films in the trash, and starting anew…just like that.

One of the titles that we’ve heard was up for a possible reboot, was Daredevil. Along with Elektra, many fans weren’t pleased with how the franchise was shaping up, so Fox seemed ready and willing to give it another go with new faces. This move is now confirmed, and according to Deadline Hollywood, they have also hired David Scarpa to pen the script for the do-over.

Universal Pictures is making some big moves with two upcoming titles based on toys by Hasbro: Stretch Armstrong and Battleship.

The biggest announcement comes in the form of Taylor Lautner, star of The Twilight Saga, who has yet again been cast as a superhero of sorts with incredible abilities: Stretch Armstrong. Just in the past few months, we’ve discovered that Lautner was being cast in the title role of teen hero flick, Max Steel, and also that he might be showing up in the not-so-superhero-based remake of 1985’s Vision Quest.

Aside from this casting announcement and the shocking reveal that the movie will be in 3D, not much has been said of the Stretch Armstrong movie. It, like so many other toy-based movie projects, was simply announced and then ventured off to do whatever it has been doing. All we do know is that Steve Oedekerk (Bruce Almighty, Kung-Pow) has written the screenplay, and that mega-producer Brian Grazer is one of the names behind the production.

The T-shirt offer of the day over at Teefury today is a “Spock On” tee, which shows Captain Kirk and Mr. Spock of classic Star Trek fame rockin’ out.

The limited edition blue t-shirt, available in both men’s (slate blue) and women’s (powder blue) sizes, sells for just $9 but will be sold today only [Saturday, February 6] — after that, it’s gone forever (at the top right corner of the site, there’s a countdown to sell-out time).