Likely to help squelch the rampant bad buzz since the Ratner hiring, Fox releases this X3 teaser poster. I dunno…the AICN guys got their hands on a spoiler-laden script review, and right now it seems this might turn into a fiasco of Fantastic Four-like proportions.
Category: Comics
Broken Watch / Darth Empathy.
As feared, Paramount axes the Watchmen movie. My reaction is very similar to Megg‘s concerning Ratner on X3…Fortunately, the Dark Lord of the Sith can empathize.
Mutant Massacre.
With Matthew Vaughn gone, is Marvel really going to put X3 in the hands of Brett Hackner? Oh, lordy, that’s terrible. Apparently, the film will include three surprising deaths and a sex scene to boot. Well, shucks, I hope they find a way to fit some car chases in there too. I always thought X-Men needed more car chases. Update: It seems official…Ratner’s in.
Fall of the Mutants.
Layer Cake director Matthew Vaughn is off X-3, citing the hectic production schedule. That’s too bad…I was looking forward to seeing what he did with the franchise.
Crazed and Lost >
Two links of note courtesy of other fine blogs: LinkMachineGo points the way to online scans of Dave Sim’s Cerebus notebooks, and Fresh Hell discovers Lost reconceived as an Infocom game. I only caught the first episode, but perhaps the mystery creature is a lurking grue…?
V for Vitiated?
As creator Alan Moore removes his name from the forthcoming V for Vendetta film, word leaks back that the Wachowskis’ shooting script substitutes Moore’s characters for Matrix 2/3-style ponderousness. Hmm. Well, perhaps they’ll tighten it up on set (and at least there’s still the possibility of Watchmen, if Paramount will get their act together.)
In the Company of Spiders.
That ’70s Show and In Good Company star Topher Grace joins the cast of Spiderman 3, likely as a villain. It seems pretty clear Thomas Haden Church is The Sandman, but I can’t think offhand of who Grace might be playing. Electro, perhaps? Or will he be Venom?
Four, War, and a Bore.
Big-time summer trailers piggybacking off of Sith this week include the final trailer for Fantastic Four (I actually liked the Magic Johnson NBA spot, but this is looking lame again) and a new War of the Worlds trailer, with our first brief look at the invaders. Also, Top Guns Jamie Foxx, Jessica Biel, and Josh Lucas go up against a renegade Skynet-like fighter in the new trailer for Stealth. Oof, Sam Shepard and Joe Morton must have some bills to pay.
Frasier goes mental.
Some strange fanboy news afoot on this day of Sith: Avi Arad announces Kelsey Grammer will play Beast in X3. Also, Angel and Kitty Pryde have yet to be cast, although Maggie Grace of Lost is apparently in the running for the latter. (On the villain side, we already knew Vinnie Jones is Juggernaut.) That’s…weird. But y’know, I could actually see it working.