Canadian actor Ryan Reynolds has won the coveted role of “Green Lantern”. The Warner Bros. live-action film, based on the DC Comics hero, will be directed by Martin Campbell.

Reynolds, 32, who had who vied for the superhero role along with Bradley Cooper and Jared Leto, was chosen by Warners and Campbell.

The studio is still working on the picture’s budget, but production is expected to begin in January, reports Variety magazine.

Greg Berlanti wrote the script with Marc Guggenheim and Michael Green, and he will also be producing with Donald DeLine. Reynolds’ representatives at UTA are working out his deal.

LOS ANGELES, Calif. –
Paramount has released the first peek at Mickey Rourke as Whiplash, and he’s geared up to wreck havoc for Tony Stark in “Iron Man 2”

The actor is seen sporting a partial exoskeleton with a power pack on his chest reminiscent of Iron Man’s own.

The character’s alter ego, Ivan Vanko, is a Russian who “has constructed his own version of a suit,” director Jon Favreau told USA Today. He also wields a pair of whips, which are powered by his exoskeleton and should make him a formidable foe for the armored superhero.

Rourke told the paper that Whiplash “is going to light them up.”

Whiplash, along with The Black Widow (Scarlett Johansson) will take on Iron Man in the eagerly anticipated sequel, due in theaters May 7, 2010.

Source - http://www.accesshollywood.com/first-look-mickey-rourke-as-whiplash-in-iron-man-2_article_19048

NEW YORK, New York — Kirsten Dunst will return as Mary Jane Watson, “Spider-Man 4″ producer Todd Black told the New York Post.

The star will rejoin director Sam Raimi and star Tobey Maguire as Peter Parker’s love interest in the latest installment in the popular superhero franchise, which is slated for May 6, 2011.

However, don’t expect wedding bells for Mary Jane and Peter - Black told the newspaper that he was unaware of such a subplot. At the close of “Spider-Man 3,” the two had an emotional - but ambiguous - reunion after the film’s events drove the lovers apart.

Additionally, Black hinted at the film’s villain, shooting down online rumors that pegged comic book character Morbius the Living Vampire as the latest member of Spidey’s rogue gallery.

Instead, the producer told the Post that the villain had a significant connection to the Big Apple.

“We’re just coming up with who the villain is now,” he said. “We’ll be shooting in New York again. Trust me, people will appreciate who we pick, because it’ll be a big part of New York.”

In past films, Spider-Man has faced off with the Green Goblin, Dr. Octopus, Venom and Sandman, leaving a number of famous villains who could make their silver screen debut in “Spider-Man 4.”

Among the popular options are Kraven the Hunter, Chameleon, the Hobgoblin, Mysterio, Venom offspring Carnage and the Lizard, whose human alter-ego, Dr. Curt Connors, had a role in the previous two movies.

Another potential foe could be New York crime boss the Kingpin - however, the character appeared in 20th Century Fox’s “Daredevil” and would likely require a rights acquisition by Sony Pictures.

But the crime lord would give the film a New York connection - and would also be Access Hollywood film critic Scott Mantz’s top choice.

“The Kingpin is grounded in reality, and that’s the appeal of Spider-Man,” Mantz said, adding another suggestion to the mix - femme fatale the Black Cat. “I’d like to see the Kingpin and the Black Cat, to stir the pot with Peter’s relationship with Mary Jane.”

Source  - movies.yahoo.com

A sneak peek of ‘Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen’ has been shown at BotCon 2009 and its detailed description has come out.

Beside debuting a new clip of “Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen” at 2009 MTV Movie Awards, director Michael Bay had also treated fans at the annual Transformers Convention, BotCon 2009, with a special preview to the action fantasy movie. While no footage of the sneak peek has been found yet, Seibertron has got a description of the preview.

SPOILER ALERT! The sneak preview kicked off with a scene wherein John Turturro’s character and Sam Witwicky’s roomate are in the middle of a construction zone looking on to a group of construction vehicles around them. Then, the Constructicons were revealed when Mixmasters Decepticon symbol is shown and Scavenger begins to transform. At the same time, the other Constructicons move closer to form Devastator.

The footage then shows Scavenger forcing all the other Constructicons into “the gestalt ala Scorpion in Mortal Kombat”, before displaying the two humans running away. The scene moreover cuts to Sam and Mikaela running from Rampage. It is then seen that Rampage begins chasing Sam’s father. Protecting his old man, Sam jumps in front of him and says “Wait, it’s not them you want. It’s this, the MATRIX!”

Sam then holds up an item and continues to carefully persuade Rampage when Bumblebee arrives. The two robots quickly are involved in a ferocious battle. Rampage blasts Bumblebee using his hip cannons before jumping on his back. In turn, Bumblebee forces Rampage to the ground when Rampage lunges for Sam. He then rips Rampages arm off and decapitates him.

“Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen” is set a year after the end of the hit 2007 “Transformers”. It will see many of the original actors, including Shia LaBeouf, Megan Fox, Josh Duhamel and Tyrese Gibson, returning to reprise their roles. New cast members, such as Isabel Lucas and Rainn Wilson, will also contribute. This action fantasy movie has been pushed forward to see a U.S. release on June 24.

Source - www.aceshowbiz.com

With “Deadpool” movie reportedly in active development, co-creator Rob Liefeld opens up on his thoughts of the big screen adaptation for the “Merc With A Mouth” character. Talking to MTV News on the issue, the 41-year-old predicted that the movie is likely to go ahead with the story before Wade Wilson joins the Weapon X program.

“Here’s the huge problem with anything existing: You don’t hire Ryan Reynolds, who the ladies love and who has such a pretty face, to put behind a mask for the entire movie,” he stated. “Whatever movie they do on Deadpool, my money is on there being a big back story with Wade Wilson prior to submitting himself to the Weapon X program - more of the Team X stuff.”

The creator of “Youngblood” comics went on, “We’ll have an adventure with him in the present tense, dressed in his costume, probably breaking the fourth wall, with some kick-ass action.” He furthermore added, “A past love story, a past spy story, his own story of vengeance - when he said [in ‘X-Men Origins: Wolverine’] that ‘I brought swords to my girlfriend’s wedding,’ there’s something there.”

Weeks after speculations that Ryan Reynolds’ character Deadpool in “X-Men Origins: Wolverine” could be getting its own solo movie were circulating, it was reported that “Deadpool” is indeed being pushed forward. Reynolds will reprise his role with Lauren Shuler Donner and Marvel serving as the producers. No writer has been attached so far.

Source - www.aceshowbiz.com

No one was under any illusions that Ryan Reynolds’ appearance as Wade Wilson and then his evolution as the killer Deadpool in “X-Men Origins: Wolverine” wasn’t a precursor for a spinoff for the popular Marvel Comics character. In fact, 20th Century Fox quickly announced such a picture was in the works.

Questions remain however as to whether Deadpool will remain as disfigured as he is at the end of “Wolverine” or whether he’d somehow return to Reynold’s boyishly handsome good looks. Additionally, it’s unclear who the character’s protagonist would be and when the film would take place (to be clear “Wolverine” occurs years before the events in the “X-Men” trilogy).

Speaking during an interview with HitFix today for “The Proposal,” Reynolds shed more light on the project saying, “Well, I’m intimately involved with it. We’re just trying to break a story right now and figure out who the villain is going to be and all that stuff. But, it’s going to be just like the comic books. I’m gonna have a messed up face and you may see some flashbacks of Wade earlier in his life, but primarily what you see is what you get in the comics and that’s the goal. And there is no better place to draw material from then the comics which are incredible.”

Reynolds’ new romantic comedy (or “screwball” as co-star Sandra Bullock likes to refer to it) “The Proposal” opens June 19. He’ll actually play another superhero, Captain Excellent, in the indie comedy “Paper Man” alongside Jeff Daniels, Kieran Culkin, Emma Stone and Lisa Kudrow. Currently without a distributor, “Paper” was recently announced as the opening night film of this year’s Los Angeles Film Festival.

Source - www.hitfix.com

Paramount and Sony have scheduled Steven Spielberg’s “The Adventures of Tintin: The Secret of the Unicorn” for a Dec. 23, 2011, domestic release through Paramount.

An international rollout will begin weeks earlier in late October, with Sony Pictures Releasing International handling continental Europe, Latin America and India, and Paramount distributing the film in Asia, Australia, the U.K. and all other English-speaking territories.

The holiday tentpole is a 3-D motion-capture feature inspired by the globally famous character created by Herge in two dozen stories first published 80 years ago. Spielberg, Peter Jackson and Kathleen Kennedy are producing what is intended to be the first in a series of films derived from the Herge books.

Jamie Bell stars as the globetrotting young reporter Tintin, who faces off against the nefarious Red Rackham, played by Daniel Craig. Andy Serkis, Simon Pegg, Nick Frost, Gad Elmaleh, Toby Jones and Mackenzie Crook co-star.

Steven Moffat, Edgar Wright and Joe Cornish wrote the screenplay. Doug Miro and Carlo Bernard also wrote on the project.

Jackson’s Weta Digital has developed the performance-capture technology that Jackson himself will use when he directs the second film in the franchise. Spielberg started testing footage for the project last year and began filming officially in January.

Originally, Universal was going to co-finance the film, but it eventually declined at a budget it thought too steep. Paramount ultimately brought in Sony to partner.

Executive producers include Nick Rodwell, Stephane Sperry and Ken Kamins.

On the heels of DreamWorks Animation’s recent scheduling announcements, the “Tintin” news further maps out Paramount’s 2011 slate, which will include the animated adventure “Rango” (March 18); “Thor” (Marvel, May 20); “Kung Fu Panda: The Kaboom of Doom” (DWA, June 3); “The First Avenger: Captain America” (Marvel, July 22); and “The Guardians” (DWA, Nov. 4).

Source - www.hollywoodreporter.com

ComingSoon.net/Superhero Hype! talked exclusively to Justin Chatwin, Emmy Rossum, James Marsters and Jamie Chung about starring in Dragonball: Evolution, opening in theaters on Friday, April 10.

In the big screen adaptation of the popular Japanese manga created by Akira Toriyama, Chatwin plays the heroic Goku, a powerful warrior who protects the Earth from an endless stream of rogues bent on dominating the Universe and controlling the mystical objects from which the film takes its name. Rossum is Bulma, a beautiful woman intent on retrieving the mystical Dragonballs for her own reasons; Chung is Chi Chi, a young martial artist who captures Goku’s eye; and Marsters plays the villain, Lord Piccolo.

Source - http://www.superherohype.com

Since word broke last week that a rough copy of “X-Men Origins: Wolverine” was leaked onto the Web, an estimated 75,000 people hoping to see a potential blockbuster early and for free have downloaded Hugh Jackman’s comic-book actioner, set for release May 1.

“Wolverine’s” studio, 20th Century Fox, has stated the stolen print is unedited, has incomplete special effects or music and is of questionable quality, but that hasn’t de-clawed the controversy.

The situation may even result in a firing within Fox’s parent company, NewsCorp, after Fox411.com’s Roger Friedman reviewed the movie Friday.

The company, in a statement, claims Friedman’s review “encourages and promotes piracy”; it moved fast to remove Friedman’s post as insiders reportedly met on Monday to decide the online columnist’s punishment.

Let’s put aside the drama going on inside the company, as well as the argument that downloading pirated versions of poor-quality movies can negatively impact the reputations of everyone from the blue-collar guys who did the film’s lighting to the well-paid actor who stars in it.

The question is, is this really how anyone wants to watch a movie? Especially a movie that will be all about the special effects?

The “Wolverine” case — currently being looked into by the FBI — was an inside job originating during the post-production process, as opposed to the quick knock-offs secretly filmed with a camera in theaters.

And though watching movies on a laptop is now part of the home entertainment experience — from DVDs to online downloads of older and current films — there’s still a big difference between that and seeing some mutant movie two-thirds completed.

This wasn’t a song downloaded from the ‘Net, or a book read on a Kindle; “Wolverine” wasn’t finished. If the new U2 song was available online without vocals, or the latest John Grisham thriller without verbs, would that be appealing?

Sure, getting to something first is always a selling point, but even then there should be standards. The question Fox is grappling with now is, has curiosity been satisfied enough to negatively impact the box office?

In a perfect world, it wouldn’t.

Like anyone who feels close to an art form, people who love movies have criteria that can seem to border on the ridiculous.

To many, Blu-ray quality is the latest obsession akin to screen size, sound systems and DVD letterboxing.

And when a movie is a big summertime superhero smackdown, size — and special effects — matter. So if your downloaded version of “Wolverine” looks more like an episode of “Manimal,” then you didn’t really see the movie.

Source - http://www.nydailynews.com

Official Guest List

Confirmed guests to the New England Webcomics Weekend include:

Gene Ambaum - Unshelved
Bill Barnes - Unshelved
Andrew Bell - Creatures in My Head
Sam Brown - Exploding Dog
Jorge Cham - Piled High & Deeper
Steven Cloud - Boy on a Stick and Slither
Joey Comeau - A Softer World
Danielle Corsetto - Girls With Slingshots
Rob DenBleyker - Cyanide and Happiness
Lar deSouza - Least I Could Do, Looking For Group
Rene Engstrom - Anders Loves Maria
Dorothy Gambrell - Cat and Girl
Meredith Gran - Octopus Pie
KC Green - Gun Show, Horribleville
Brad Guigar - Evil, Inc.
Chris Hallbeck - The Book of Biff
Chris Hastings - Dr. McNinja
Emily Horne - A Softer World
Jeph Jacques - Questionable Content
Dave Kellett - Sheldon
Scott Kurtz - PvP
Vincent LaBate - Kitty Hawk
Braden Lamb - Kitty Hawk
Sam Logan - Sam and Fuzzy
David Malki! - Wondermark
David McGuire - Gastrophobia
Randy Milholland - Something Positive
Eric Millikin - Fetus X
Ryan North - Dinosaur Comics
Jon Rosenberg - Goats
Jeffrey Rowland - Wigu, Overcompensating
Ryan Sohmer - Least I Could Do, Looking For Group
Paul Southworth - Ugly Hill
Spike - Templar, Arizona
R. Stevens - Diesel Sweeties
Kris Straub - Starslip, Chainsawsuit
Zach Weiner - Saturday Morning Breakfast Cereal
David Willis - Shortpacked
Kris Wilson - Cyanide and Happiness
Chris Yates - Reprographics
Jeff Zugale - Just a Bit Off

Source - http://www.webcomicsweekend.com/official-guest-list/