We recently reported that Kenneth Branagh is in talks to direct Marvel’s planned big-screen adaptation of Thor. While some people have proclaimed “Nooooo!!! to this news, the general opinion around here is that Branagh is a great fit to helm the tale of the God of Thunder.

Apparently, J. Michael Straczynski thinks so too. JMS, who is the writer for Marvel’s current Thor comic book run, said he couldn’t “imagine anyone better suited” to direct the film than Branagh.

“‘Thor,’ at his best, has always had a classical bent to the character in terms of his history, the way he speaks, and the often Shakespearean intrigues and dramas that surround him. That kind of dialogue and character needs the hand of someone who comes from a theatrical/classically trained background in order for it not to sound forced or artificial. Branagh is absolutely the perfect choice.”

Filmdrunk found this little ditty among the masses of videos on that YouTube thingy the kids are raving about these days. Basically, it’s everyone’s favorite movie Batman movie — Batman and Robin — edited down to a 10-minute run time.

I highly suggest taking a few Advil before watching this. It could quite possibly be the worst 10 minutes of film ever produced.

Check it out here [...]

What would you say if you heard that a new Star Wars movie was coming along in the form of an adaptation of the video game Star Wars: The Force Unleashed?

Would you be furious at the idea of a new non-animated adventure or would you giggle with glee?

Recently, the LA Times spoke to Force Unleashed project leader Haden Blackman, who said it wasn’t as far-fetched as you’d assume.

Greetings all, the Empress here, coming to you from Disney World in Orlando, FL, where I’ve been enjoying a 6-day vacation here with The Niece. I brought my little angel here to celebrate her 15th birthday and although she’s practically grown up now (and looks it, too), she’s still my baby (and is letting me baby her too).

Why do I bring this up on a post about Neil Gaiman’s latest release, The Graveyard Book being on sale today? Because on every birthday since her 11th one, I’ve given her an autographed copy of a Neil Gaiman book as part of her gift (this was 2005’s gift - Wolves in the Walls). So after we do some rides at Disney’s Hollywood Studios today, in the spirit of tradition, we’re going to head to Downtown Disney to get our copies of The Graveyard Book.

Unfortunately, in order to be on this lovely vacation, we had to miss Gaiman’s book signing in NYC tonight. To comfort ourselves, I might have to also purchase the The Graveyard Book audio CD, as read by Neil Gaiman himself — always a great treat!

Check out the official synopsis of the book here below, as well as a widget, which has a link to Gaiman reading Chapter 1 from the audio book [...]

After the first trailer for Frank Miller’s The Spirit caused a tidal wave of negativity toward the film, it wasn’t likely that anything could save it. Even so, a second trailer has been released for whoever may be interested in checking it out.

Check out the trailer here below.

I will admit, this trailer is far better than the last, but it’s still not good. If all dialogue was taken out, it may just have some positive attention going its way, but alas, there is dialogue and it is horrible to listen to. That paired with the fact that the hero isn’t badass or intimidating and the villain is not only not scary, he’s fairly laughable, which makes for some bad chances here. Oh, and now it also apparently looks as if the movie will be PG-13; not that I know whether this content was ever supposed to be R, but it was probably the only way I might take a peek at it [...]

Before a single scene was ever filmed, the movie Choke was at a disadvantage. Whether or not the film would be any good was of little relevance. It was already handicapped by two inevitable comparisons: to the Chuck Palahniuk novel the movie was based on and to the David Fincher’s Fight Club, also adapted from a Palahniuk book. They are comparisons are fair for obvious reasons but in the interest of continuing that fairness I watched this movie with two thoughts in mind. One, this wasn’t going to be Fight Club. Choke didn’t have the director, stars or the budget to even come close to competing. Two, and most importantly, the books are always better. Saying you didn’t like a movie adapted from a book because it wasn’t as good as the book is like saying you didn’t like Star Wars because you don’t like science fiction. I’m not saying it’s not possible or that some films haven’t come close, it’s just a stupid thing to say [...]

SlashFilm caught word recently via a Q&A session involving Eagle Eye co-writer Travis Wright that he is working on a script for the sequel to one of those “untouchable” films, Blade Runner.

Apparently this is simply just writing and no studios are involved or actually making this movie at the moment. However, Wright says he’s working on more than just the script; he’s working with a team on some visuals to pitch to studios and on top of that, he has connections to Ridley Scott’s brother, Tony Scott.

So, could this really happen? Would anyone dare take such a precious film and pile needless shit upon it? Of course they would, this is Hollywood people. Not ONE movie being made, remade, adapted, revisioned, reimagined, or sequelized/prequelized would ever surprise me anymore, so don’t be shocked if this catches some suit’s eye and the project gets the light [...]

The last few days have been nothing short of a bonanza of Marvel news.

Straight off the bat is the news that director and actor Kenneth Branagh is in line to possibly direct Thor. Director of movies such as Hamlet and Much Ado About Nothing, the Shakespearian director has also played memorable roles like Gilderoy Lockhart in Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets.

Given his penchant for the work of Shakespeare, including a lot of work on stage, Branagh may just possibly be the best possible director to bring a character like Thor to the big screen.

SciFi spoke to Andrew Stanton — writer/director for such Disney animated favorites as Finding Nemo and Wall-E — about the very longtime-coming film version of John Carter of Mars.

Essentially, we learned that anything you’ve seen in regard to John Carter won’t exist in Stanton’s version. Stanton explained that he would be going mainly with his own vision of the world and that he’s going do do what he “remembers more than what they exactly do” in the books.

Pixar GM Jim Morris said that they’re trying to re-fresh what he felt is a “stale” look of previous renditions of the story [...]

We’ve known all along that Russell Crowe would be playing the Sheriff of Nottingham in Ridley Scott’s upcoming take on the Robin Hood story, Nottingham.

Many actors were rumored to be starring across from him in the iconic role of Robin Hood, including Christian Bale, but now comes word via MTV that Crowe himself will be pulling double duty and playing both roles.

The news came straight from director Ridley Scott:

He’s playing both! … [It will be] a good old clever adjustment of characters. One becomes the other. It changes.

HorrorBid.com has gotten their hands on an impressive little collection of behind-the-scenes images from the Platinum Dunes re-imagining of Friday the 13th.

Some of the pictures show Jason Voorhees (Derek Mears) with his signature mask, some show him without makeup, and a couple show us the deformed, mask-less version of Jason we’ve seen a couple of times in previous movies.

They seem to have done a solid job, Jason looks pretty damn creepy here and some faith that I lost when I first saw the iconic killer with a head of blond hair has now been restored.

Next in a string of interviews that are either finished, underway, or soon to be started, is Marvel’s very own, but not exclusive, Matt Fraction. Author of the popular Image comic book Casanova, and currently also writing The Uncanny X-Men and Invincible Iron Man for Marvel, Matt Fraction is a favorite among many Marvel fans. Make sure you check out his website for regular updates, and a bit of Matt Fraction randomness.

And now, on with the show.

Geeks of Doom: For the comic newbie, tell us who you are.

Matt Fraction: My name is Matt Fritchman. I write under the name “Matt Fraction.” Long, uninteresting story. I write the book Casanova, at Image Comics. I write Invincible Iron Man and The Uncanny X-Men, and I co-write Punisher War Journal with Rick Remender at Marvel Comics.

For the love of all that is holy, thank GOODNESS, it finally happened, a movie that I am vaguely interested in (now that I think about it) finally took number one away from the tripe that has been rolled out recently, and managed to do so with a modest intake as well.

With a weekend gross of just under $30 million, Eagle Eye, starring Shia LaBeouf and Michelle Monaghan , took the number one spot. It’s the first time in seven weeks that a movie has made this much, since the third week of The Dark Knight.

Coming in at number two was another new release, Nights in Rodanthe, starring Richard Gere and Diane Lane. I know nothing about this movie, except that Gere is in it, which probably makes it a romance. However, though it might have scored number two, it did so with only $13.5 million.

Number three goes to last week’s number one, Lakeview Terrace, which managed $7 million even, ahead of another newbie, Fireproof, which took in $6.5 million [...]

In last night’s opening skit of Saturday Night Live former cast member Tina Fey made a second guest appearance as GOP Vice-Presidential candidate Gov. Sarah Palin.

Watch the video of it here.

In the skit, Fey mocks the Alaska Governor’s recent one-on-one television interview with CBS’s Katie Couric (a very pregnant Amy Poehler plays Couric).

Fey’s portrayal is spot-on and hilarious, as she humorously responds to questions about foreign policy and the current financial crisis. To see just how well this skit was done, check out the actual 2-part Palin interview here [...]

I’m not quite sure when this was originally released, but here’s a video preview of the upcoming animated television series Star Wars: The Clone Wars.

The series starts October 3, 2008 and is basically a TV show continuation of the recently released film of the same name.

The video comes via the official Clone Wars website on Cartoon Network, where you can also play a semi-boredom-helping game and peek at some character info.

Check out the video below, or go to the website to check out the pretty version. Also below is the official press release for the show, which includes air times.

In honor of the upcoming release of Iron Man on DVD and Blu-ray on September 30, we here at Geeks of Doom have two (2) Iron Man prize packs for up for grabs!

Two (2) winners will each receive:
- an 18” x 27” Iron Man poster
- Stark Industries/Iron Man extendable poster case
- a 512 MB Stark Industries flash drive with behind-the-scenes videos

This summer’s first blockbuster, Iron Man, will be released by Paramount Home Entertainment on September 30, 2008, as a single-disc DVD, as well as 2-disc Ultimate Edition DVD and Blu-Ray sets.

The IRON MAN Ultimate Edition two-disc sets are super-charged with hours of explosive bonus features that take viewers inside the suit of self-made Super Hero Tony Stark and his invincible alter ego. The sets offer the ultimate IRON MAN experience with extensive explorations of the origins of the character in a six-part featurette, as well as a seven-part in-depth look at the making of the film, a revealing documentary on the stellar visual effects, Robert Downey Jr.’s original screen test, deleted and extended scenes, a photo gallery of concept art and behind-the-scenes images on the set and more.

Earlier this month, I spoke with The Forbidden Kingdom screenwriter John Fusco and his influences that helped forge the script. Now, I am lucky enough to speak with one of the film’s co-stars, Li Bing-Bing, who makes her Hollywood debut playing Ni Chang, better known as The Bride With White Hair.

Geeks Of Doom: Thank you for taking some time today to answer some questions about your current film, The Forbidden Kingdom which is your first English language film, after ten years of acting in Hong Kong cinema. Did you have any trouble adapting to an American production work schedule?

Li Bing-Bing: I was very lucky to be part of The Forbidden Kingdom. The Forbidden Kingdom has a fantastic filmmaking team with director Rob Minkoff, cinematographer Peter Pau, martial arts choreographer Yuen Woo-Ping, and Jet Li, and Jackie as world class martial artists and teachers. Everyone was very professional. The Forbidden Kingdom cast and crew also had a great team spirit attitude — they had high expectation for all cast members, no matter that their backgrounds maybe. Everyone had the same treatment and everyone was thoughtful as well. I quickly became accustomed to the U.S. filmmaking culture and learned a lot from the experience [...]

Access Hollywood has learned that Guy Ritchie has cast Rachel McAdams in the main female role for his version of Arthur Conan Doyle’s world of Sherlock Holmes.

For Sherlock Holmes, McAdams will be joining a great cast including Robert Downey Jr. as Holmes, Jude Law as Watson, and Mark Strong (Stardust, Syriana) as Lord Blackwood.

Oh happy day, it’s been “officialized”… Will Smith is in for a prequel to the incredibly inexplicable success that was I Am Legend with director Francis Lawrence. D.B. Weiss is the man currently working on the screenplay.

Naturally a sequel without the Fresh Prince was out of the question, so the prequel will follow Smith as Robert Neville when everything was still normal and then the transition to a virus-destroyed humanity [...]

Boom, Bang, Vroom, Huh?, Crash, Kablam = Eagle Eye. A true escapist movie, Eagle Eye is explosive fun, as long as you don’t think too much and you don’t mind commercials.

Jerry Shaw (Shia LaBeouf), an underachieving slacker, is blackmailed into a criminal situation, directed only by a woman over the phone that seems able to access all the electronics connected by some kind of network. Rachel Hollowman (Michelle Monaghan) is driven into the same situation with Jerry when her son is threatened. FBI Agent Thomas Morgan (Billy Bob Thorton) and Air Force Investigator Zoe Perez (Rosario Dawson) are assigned to investigate Shaw, and, as a consequence, Rachael. They all are led by the seat of their pants on the path the woman on the phone decides [...]