The Power of the Dark Crystal, the sequel to the 1982 muppet fantasy announced last year, has officially been put on hiatus. (Sorry, Gelflings.) And Latino Review, breakers of the Heath Ledger Joker casting, says Thank You for Smoking‘s Aaron Eckhart is now in line to play Harvey Dent (a.k.a. Two-Face) in Christopher Nolan’s The Dark Knight. Great choice. (Also, apparently Katie Holmes has been kicked off the Batman Begins sequel — word is she’ll be replaced by Emily Blunt, Rachel McAdams, or Maggie Gyllenhaal.)
Tag: Fanboy
The Hallows of Death.
Year seven at Hogwarts gets its registration date: Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows comes out July 21. Look for Berk and I in the midnight line.
King (of the World) and Avatar.
“The Banshees and the other creatures are going to be about 90% or 95% animated. And with the humanoids hopefully we’re going to be coming down to 95% capture with the exception of ears and like I said clothing and hair and stuff like that.” I’m behind on this one — Sorry, I’ve been saving up links to space out the flurry of movie reviews, and then overestimating how much I can actually get written on a given day — but James Cameron has announced more details about Avatar (not to be confused with M. Night Shyamalan’s Avatar, which I couldn’t case less about) and granted AICN’s Harry Knowles an extended interview on the performance-capture project. Set for a 2009 release, the film will “star” Sam Worthington (recently in the Aussie Macbeth update) and Zoe Saldana (late of Pirates of the Caribbean II.)
The War of Middle Earth.
“I don’t want to work with that guy anymore. Why would I? So the answer is he will never make any movie with New Line Cinema again while I’m still working for the company.” More troubling news for The Hobbit: In an interview with Sci-Fi Wire, New Line president Robert Shaye lays into Peter Jackson over the outstanding lawsuit filed by Wingnut films over ascertaining LotR revenues. (PJ’s response is here, and I’m inclined to agree with him. What reason would New Line have to hide the books, unless they’ve been practicing shady math?)
Compass Heading.
More images from The Golden Compass emerge online, including new looks at Lyra (Dakota Blue Richards), Lee Scoresby (Sam Elliot), Mrs. Coulter (Nicole Kidman), and Lord Asriel (Craig. Daniel Craig.) Also in the mix, Eva Green (as Serafina Pekkala) and Ian McShane (as the voice of Ragnar Sturlusson). [They’re also posted here.]
Keeping Up with the Joneses.
We’ve heard it a few times before, but apparently this time it’s for real: A Steven Spielberg-directed Indy 4 is a go, with a David Koepp script and a planned May 2008 release.
Hallows Be Thy Name.
Old news now, but it happened while on the track: Harry Potter’s final chapter gets a title: Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows.
Me and My Shadow.
Who knows what evil lurks in the hearts of men? Sam Raimi, apparently. The Evil Dead/Spidey director looks to be moving forward on another version of The Shadow (which should in all likelihood be better than the 1994 Alec Baldwin version.)
Son of a Preacher Man.
Word officially comes down that Garth Ennis’ Preacher is being developed for HBO by Mark Steven Johnston (Daredevil, Ghost Rider) and Howard Deutch (Grumpier Old Men.) Not the most exciting development team in the world, but it’s nice to see HBO get into the comic game. (And if Zack Snyder’s take on The Watchmen falls apart for some reason, as so many earlier attempts at it have, a 12-hour series on the Home Box Office would be a good place for Alan Moore’s magnum opus.)
Venomous Veil.
I’m talking about the man in the mirror…Two new posters for Sam Raimi’s Spiderman 3 make it online, showcasing the Spidey-Venom duality.