Dimension Lets Sin City 2 Rights Expire?

Dimension Lets Sin City 2 Rights Expire?

Source: IESB

April 22, 2009

IESB is reporting an interesting rumor saying that The Weinstein Company's Dimension Films has let the film rights for Sin City 2 expire:

The specifics are not clear but some details are emerging that the movie will now be financed by a private equity group and an announcement is expected soon.

Robert Rodriguez' Trouble Maker studios will still produce the film.

No word on what studio may end up distributing. Universal Studios' name has come up as a possible contender.

The first film, released in April of 2005, was both a critical and financial success. Made for about $40 million, the graphic novel adaptation earned $158.8 million worldwide.

UPDATE #1: MTV has debunked the above story from IESB with an official statement from The Weinstein Company attorney Bert Fields:

"TWC's rights to produce sequels to Sin City remain intact as they always have been. Any suggestion to the contrary is complete hogwash."

UPDATE #2: The Hollywood Reporter has confirmed that Hollywood producers have been shopped the rights by representatives for Frank Miller's estate, who they say are seeking a new place to set up a potential follow-up. The Weinstein Company, however, on Wednesday said it stood by its statement above.

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Shuler Donner on Magneto, Constantine 2

Source: SCI FI Wire

April 22, 2009

SCI FI Wire talked to X-Men Origins: Wolverine producer Lauren Shuler Donner about the possible Magneto film and asked whether Constantine 2 was still in the cards.

About Magneto, she said: "I don't know. We have a great script. Honestly, we have all been just so focused on getting 'Wolverine' out that we didn't take the time to sit down and explore 'What are the movies we're going to do next within the genre?' We will do that. We will do that. We all want to. 'Magneto' is a fantastic script, and hopefully we'll make it. I don't know."

She added that Constantine 2 is looking "very good. Thinking about it. Looking for a writer."

For more on what she had to say about X-Men: First Class, go here.

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Schwarzenegger Talks Terminator Salvation Cameo

Source: Los Angeles Times

April 21, 2009

The Los Angeles Times reports that Arnold Schwarzenegger discussed his possible cameo in Terminator Salvation during a webcast interview on Tuesday.

Schwarzenegger told blogger Bill Bradley that he had met with director McG and agreed to be in the movie as long as he didn't have to perform. "I made it very clear that I don't have the time to do the movie," he said. "I said that I would be willing to be in the movie if they get the technology together, and so they are working on that right now."

Spoiler alert! Schwarzenegger would be in a brief scene in which John Connor (Christian Bale) encounters him as a "future Terminator," the governor said, adding, "I think it's cool to continue on with the franchise... in case I want to jump over again and get into the acting after I'm through here."

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Sam Raimi Talks Spider-Man 4

Source: SCI FI Wire

April 21, 2009

SCI FI Wire chatted with Spider-Man 4 director Sam Raimi, who said that he's meeting soon with Kirsten Dunst to talk about her reprising the role of Mary Jane Watson. "I think she would like to. But I don't want to speak on behalf of her," he said.

He was also asked if the recent darker and edgier superhero movies will influence the fourth installment. "I hope we don't react to these very good and sometimes bad superhero movies around us. I hope that we just [look] ever deeper into the truth of who Peter Parker really is—as a human being and the unique character, and that we celebrate that, which is a lot of the reason I want to make this next picture. I still believe I have an understanding of Peter Parker as the character that I have not quite put onto the screen yet," he said.

You can read more of the interview here.

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Millar Comments on Wanted 2 Screenwriter

Source: Mark Millar

April 21, 2009

Last week, it was announced that Evan Spiliotopoulos has been hired to write the script for Universal's Wanted 2, based on a story by Chris Morgan. There was some negative feedback as Spiliotopoulos is credited as co-writer of Pooh's Heffalump Movie and its DVD Halloween spin-off. But Mark Millar, creator of the graphic novel and producer on the sequel, says that's not why he was brought on board.

"Never listen to any commentators as they never know anything about who's coming back, etc. It's just speculation and 99% of the time these guys don't have access to the people who know. 'Wanted 2' is being made in a very tight circle at the moment," Millar said on his message board.

"As a producer on the thing, I'm excited. I know who's in it and after doing 342 million at the box office we have [serious] money to spend on everything from cast to crew to script."

About Spiliotopoulos, he added that "This guy is supposed to be really good. He did a GREAT action script recently (on an unproduced movie) and that's what got him this gig."

Timur Bekmambetov is again directing and James McAvoy is expected to return for the lead role.

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Sony Launches Terminator Salvation Twitter Game

Sony Launches Terminator Salvation Twitter Game

Source: Sony Pictures Releasing International

April 21, 2009

Sony Pictures Releasing International has unveiled its first major feature film online Twitter game for Terminator Salvation. The full press release:

In anticipation of the worldwide release of the motion picture Terminator Salvation, Twitter users will have the chance to join the human resistance against the machines in Sony Pictures Releasing International's first-ever game created for the social networking platform, it was announced today by Sal Ladestro, executive vice president of marketing, Sony Pictures Releasing International. Users can follow tweets from the resistance at Twitter.com/Resistance2018.

In the Terminator Salvation Twitter game, members of the human resistance communicate with each other through Twitter and turn to the community for help in decoding intercepted Skynet transmissions. Players earn points through timely assistance in decoding these messages and, with these points, rise in rank within the Resistance Army. Players must constantly be on guard against the machines, which periodically and randomly choose a number of players and penalize them a percentage of their points. A companion blog augments the information within Twitter and hosts a leader board for the game.

Sal Ladestro, Executive Vice President of Marketing, for Sony Pictures Releasing International (SPRI) commented, "Twitter users can join John Connor in the war against the machines by following the tweets at Resistance 2018. In the fight against Skynet and the Terminators, mass communication is vital, so it's no surprise that the resistance would turn to Twitter. We think this is the perfect environment for the Terminator game as it allows users to interact with the movie, their friends and other game players instantaneously."

A worldwide phenomenon, Twitter's micro-blogging social networking site has been expanding exponentially across the globe in recent months. Between February 2008 and February 2009, new accounts on Twitter were up 1,841%, with an 87% increase between January 2009 and February 2009 alone. More than 90% of Twitter users choose to make their updates public.

Terminator Salvation is set in post-apocalyptic 2018, where John Connor (Christian Bale) is the man fated to lead the human resistance against Skynet and its army of Terminators. But the future that Connor was raised to believe in is altered in part by the appearance of Marcus Wright (Sam Worthington), a stranger whose last memory is of being on death row. Connor must decide whether Marcus has been sent from the future, or rescued from the past. As Skynet prepares its final onslaught, Connor and Marcus both embark on an odyssey that takes them into the heart of Skynet's operations, where they uncover the terrible secret behind the possible annihilation of mankind.

The highly anticipated new installment of The Terminator film franchise, Terminator Salvation is directed by McG (Charlie's Angels, We Are Marshall). The screenplay is by Michael Ferris & John Brancato. Moritz Borman, Derek Anderson, Victor Kubicek and Jeffrey Silver are the producers, with Jeanne Allgood, Dan Lin, Mario F. Kassar, Andrew G. Vajna and Joel B. Michaels serving as executive producers.

The film stars Christian Bale (The Dark Knight) as John Connor, Sam Worthington (The Great Raid) as Marcus Wright, Anton Yelchin (Star Trek) as Kyle Reese, Bryce Dallas Howard (Spider-Man 3) as Kate Connor, Moon Bloodgood (What Just Happened?) as Blair Williams, Common (Wanted) as Barnes, Jane Alexander (The Unborn) as Virginia, Jadagrace as Star, and Helena Bonham Carter (Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix) as Serena Kogen

The behind-the-scenes creative team includes cinematographer Shane Hurlbut (We Are Marshall), production designer Martin Laing (Pearl Harbor), editor Conrad Buff (Shooter), costume designer Michael Wilkinson (Watchmen), visual effects supervisor Charlie Gibson (Pirates of the Caribbean: At World's End), and animatronics supervisor John Rosengrant, formerly of Stan Winston Studios. The music is by Danny Elfman (Milk, Hellboy II: The Golden Army).

Terminator Salvation will be released in the U.S. on May 21, 2009 by Warner Bros. Pictures. Sony Pictures Releasing International is distributing the film in most international territories between May 27, 2009 and June 13, 2009.

Sony Pictures Entertainment (SPE) is a subsidiary of Sony Corporation of America (SCA), a subsidiary of Tokyo-based Sony Corporation. SPE's global operations encompass motion picture production and distribution, television production and distribution, worldwide channel investments, home video acquisition and distribution, operation of studio facilities, development of new entertainment products, services and technologies, and distribution of filmed entertainment in 130 countries. Sony Pictures Entertainment can be found on the World Wide Web at SonyPictures.com.

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A Sneak Peek at the Transformers: ROTF Game!

Source:Edward Douglas

April 17, 2009

In two months, one week, a day and some number of hours, Michael Bay's highly-anticipated summer sequel Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen will finally be released, but Superhero Hype! got an advance demo of the new Activision tie-in game by Activision production coordinator Mike Mejia. The game will be released in stores one day before the movie on June 23rd. Activision has been working even closer with Michael Bay and DreamWorks to make sure that the movie and the game were intermeshed, so that they enhance each other.

There are a couple of distinct differences between the new game and the previous Transformers game, released in 2007 in conjunction with the first movie, the biggest one being that Activision has created a separate game specifically geared to the Wii platform, rather than just the same game across all platforms. (More on the those differences below.) According to Mejia, Activision played close attention to what gamers liked and didn't like about the earlier game and made three big changes: The first is that they've allowed the player to choose a lot more characters on both sides of the battle, as well as a lot of different missions, rather than just following the same story linearly. Mejia confirmed that they've completely redesigned the robots' transformations, so that the changes happen more fluidly without causing a loss in momentum during gameplay. For the first time, they're also taking advantage of the Xbox Live environment allowing for full-feature multiplayer games like "Death Match" and "Capture the Flag" that can either be played via factions (user chooses which side and can only work with others on their side) or non-faction. Mejia described the latter as a way people can simulate "playing with their toys" in that basically anything goes.

Being that the sequel is shrouded in secrecy, the Activision reps couldn't say too much about the voice cast for the game--which apparently includes a few people not in the movie--nor could they talk about how many Autobots and Decepticons you will be able to play nor the other robots that will be available for purchase via Xbox DLC (downloadable content). None of that has been announced yet, but we got a great look at some of the things you'll be able to do in the new game and the overall gameplay in various modes.

At the end of the last movie, Megatron was defeated, and since then, Starscream has taken over the leadership of the Decepticons as various incursions have been popping up all over the globe. The humans are now working closer with the Autobots to stop those incursions, particularly the human's military unit NEST (standing for Networked Elements: Supporters and Transformers), all of which comes into play in the new movie and game.

The first mission we were shown takes place in Shanghai and takes full advantage of the new gameplay feature as you have a choice of a number of Autobots or Decepticons with which to play the level. Mejia went with Ironhide, and the level intro showed Tyrese Gibson's Sgt Epps briefing Ironhide on his mission as he lands on a roof in the city and immediately starts battling against the Decepticon Sideways (the one in the trailer we see turning into an Audio RI inside a building). Each of the robots in the game has their own special abilities and specific weapons, Ironhide having a gun turret that can be laid down to provide extra fire. Ironhide's transformation did seem more fluid than with the previous game as the Autobot was able to change back and forth to his jeep mode with ease, as well as being able to climb up buildings in his robot form.

We were then shown how that same mission might be played from the other side, as we went through the same level as Sideways, a completely different experience in that the Decepticon not only fought Ironhide, but also had to take on the Autobot's military assistance. His objective and M.O. is considerably more destructive--his special weapon is a landmine--and it essentially enhances the playability of each level depending on which robot you decide to play it with.

Mejio ran us through another level using Bumblebee, showing how the robots will integrate with humans in the game; in this case, it was Shia LaBeouf's Sam, who becomes a part of that particular mission. After that, we were given a demo of Starscream's new flight mode in a scenario where he attacks a fleet of aircraft carriers.

The big question on our minds when we came to this demo was answered as Mejio showed us presumably one of the later missions in the game, where Optimus Prime faces the Devastator, the enormous amalgam of six Constructicons that appears briefly in the trailer. The Devastator looks AMAZING, completely to a scale that makes the 30-foot Optimus look puny, and the game gives us a really good look at the amount of enhanced detail that went into its design, as Mejida paused the game and used the camera controls to zoom in and around the enormous robot to show that the giant adversary was just as detailed from every angle. Seriously, if the Devastator looks this good in the video game, we can only hope that it'll be even more amazing when we see it on the IMAX screen; it's certainly one of the more impressive and imposing game bosses we've seen in a long time. (They couldn't say whether the Devastator would be playable or whether we might see it in its six individual components sometime earlier in the game, but let's hope so.)

Afterwards, we were given a brief demo of the Wii version, which looks and feels very different, although is also much closer to the previous version of the game in some ways, being more linear than the Xbox version and with fewer choices along the way. What's enhanced is the ability to play with two players at once, taking advantage of the Wii's Co-Op capabilities for teamplay, where a second player can jump in at any time and help the robot facing the level. In the case of Ironhide, the second player gets a Remote Weapons System that can create a shield in front of the robot or provide added fire, as well as share energy in case the primary player is running low. There will also be an "Arena Mode" in which two players can each play a robot taking on hundreds of adversaries. We were also shown the same Starscream level we saw earlier in Wii mode, again using some of the same Co-Op features, but also taking advantage of the Wii nunchuk controller, which can be used to make Starscream do elaborate rolls while in jet mode. The important thing to note is that the levels in the Wii version follow a similar story as the main version and presumably the movie, although we were told there were things that one might only see briefly in the movie that are expanded upon for the game.

The Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen video game will hit stores on June 23, followed a day later by the Michael Bay movie of the same name (Sorry, that one you can just watch, not play.) You can already pre-order the game for all the varying platforms from Amazon.com and check out more screenshots from the game at the newly-launched official site, though you'll just have to take our word on how cool the Devastator looks.

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