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It was only a few years ago that Warner Bros. released director Zack Snyder's Sucker Punch, a fantasy-action movie that Snyder often described as Alice in Wonderland with machine guns." Snyder was coming off of the much-ballyhooed comic book adaptation of Watchmen and was finally in a position to helm Sucker Punch, which Snyder co-wrote after conceiving the original story.
"A while ago I had written a script for myself and there was a sequence in it that made me think, 'How can I make a film that can have action sequences in it that aren't limited by the physical realities that normal people are limited by, but still have the story make sense so it's not, and I don't mean to be mean, like a bulls**t thing like Ultraviolet or something like that?" said Snyder of Sucker Punch way back in 2007. Unfortunately, audiences didn't agree.
Sucker Punch was set in the 1960s and followed a young girl named Babydoll (Emily Browning), who was institutionalized by her stepfather and consequently escapes into a fantasy world in order to plan her escape. Critics weren't impressed, and audiences didn't show up, with Sucker Punch just barely making back its budget. However, according to SlashFilm contributor Adam Quigley, who created a video defending the movie, claiming: "contrary to popular opinion, Sucker Punch is not a stupid movie."
watch the video >> Posted 02.02.13 by Ryan -
Last year's mega-hit The Avengers was, in some ways, the catalyst behind the spate of comic book movies created by Marvel Studios, who struck gold with 2008's Iron Man, which teased at a superhero team-up movie to come. After finding that success, Marvel followed by introducing more individual superheroes in 2008's The Incredible Hulk, 2010's Iron Man 2, and last year's Thor and Captain America: The First Avenger, embarking on an unusual strategy of creating individual movies that also worked a little bit like sequels that fed into the story of The Avengers.
The Avengers 2 will arrive in 2015 and cap off a second phase of Marvel's "cinematic universe," and will face competition from what Warner Bros.and DC Entertainment hopes will be the start of their "cinematic universe," starting with 2015's Justice League. Gangster Squad screenwriter Will Beall has already been hired to write the screenplay for the movie which will follow (if recent rumors are true) an unsurprising lineup that includes Superman, Batman, Wonder Woman, Flash, Green Lantern, Aquaman and Martian Manhunter. With the release dates being so close together, we wondered which team could take down the other, and, since there will never be a movie where the two teams face off, there's only one way to solve this hypothetical dilemma: the cybernetic walls of our Character Cage Match!
check out the teams' strengths and weaknesses before weighing in on our poll >> Posted 01.10.13 by Ryan -
It's becoming customary for comic book movie trailers to receive a fan-made, "sweded" version after release — i.e. recreations that use household- props and costumes as originally seen in 2008's Be Kind Rewind. Last month, Iron Man 3 became the latest movie to receive a sweded trailer, but when the second trailer for Man of Steel was released earlier this month, we figured it was only a matter of time before a fan decided to give it the sweded treatment, recreating the trailer shot-for-shot using only an iPhone and whatever they had at their disposal.
watch the fan-made trailer >> Posted 12.26.12 by Ryan -
Superman as a kid! Superman in handcuffs! General Zod! Lois! What's going to happen?
Last month, director Zack Snyder revealed that a "crazy" trailer for his upcoming Superman reboot, Man of Steel, was going to debut before screenings of The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey. Looks like that moment has arrived a few days prior to The Hobbit's release as Warner Bros. have officially released the reboot's second trailer.
the latest crazy trailersSaturdays 10:00a ET / 7:00a PT
watch the trailer >> Posted 12.11.12 by Ryan -
Which Director is Strongest With the Force?
Like many Star Wars fans, it took us a while to process the news that the creator and caretaker of the greatest sci-fi epic of all time, George Lucas, had sold Lucasfilm Ltd. to Disney. And, as if that news wasn't momentous enough, Disney concurrently announced that plans were already underway for an all-new Star Wars movie, a sequel to the original trilogy that would likely be the first movie in a new trilogy.
Minds thoroughly blown, we started to think about the future of the franchise. Jar Jar Binks and Hayden Christensen's horrible acting had really hurt the prequel trilogy and Lucas' constant meddling with the original trilogy tested our faith in ol' grey beard even further. With Lucas out of the picture, could the franchise regain its former glory?
In the days following the announcement, it was revealed that Michael Arndt (Little Miss Sunshine) had been hired to write the screenplay for Star Wars: Episode VII, while rumors continue to swirl that Matthew Vaughn (X-Men: First Class) is in the running to direct. Do you think that Vaughn is the right man for the job or would you like to see J.J. Abrams (Star Trek), Jon Favreau (Cowboys & Aliens) or someone else direct? Who do you think has the vision to chart the course of the future of the Star Wars franchise?
Rate the Top 10 Best Directors To Helm Star Wars: Episode VII >>
Posted 11.13.12 by BrentJS -
In the realm of comic books, most regard Superman is the ultimate superhero. So it makes sense Man of Steel would get not just one but two teaser trailers.
Debuting before The Dark Knight Rises were a pair of teaser trailers for Zack Snyder's Superman reboot, starring Henry Cavill as the Son of Krypton. While both 1-minute-38-second trailers have the same footage, they both have different voice-overs, one from Superman's Earthly father, Jonathan Kent, played by Kevin Costner, and one from his Kryptonian father, Jor-El, played by Russell Crowe (fun fact: both Oscar-winning actors have played Robin Hood). Both voice-overs speak of Clark Kent/Superman's destiny as a hero.
Here's Crowe's dialogue:
You will give the people an ideal to strive towards. They'll race behind you. They will stumble. They will fall. But in time, they will join you in sun. In time, you will help them accomplish wonders.
And Costner's dialogue:
You're not just anyone. One day, you're going to have to make a choice. You have to decide what kind of man who want to grow up to be. Whoever that man is, good character or bad, is going to change the world.
watch the new teasers >> Posted 07.21.12 by Chris -
Director Zack Snyder's Superman franchise reboot, Man of Steel, has had its own Facebook page since May of last year, but it's been a pretty barren page, with only a solo image of Henry Cavill as Superman to offer eager fans. Now, Warner Bros. has updated the page with a second image, a gritty new "S" logo, and it's stirred up a bit of controversy in the nerd fan community because it differs considerably from the classic comic book "S" logo.
We think the highly-stylized new "S" symbol looks great — and makes sense in light of costume designer Michael Wilkinson's recent comments about the changes to Superman's costume for the movie stemming from the "neo-medieval" fashion prevalent on his home planet of Krypton — but don't take our word for it. Click the link below to see the new logo and decide for yourself.
CHECK OUT THE NEW LOGO >> Posted 03.30.12 by BrentJS -
Recent casting news had actor Richard Schiff (West Wing, The Lost World: Jurassic Park) joining director Zack Snyder's upcoming Superman reboot, Man of Steel, which seemed a little strange since the movie has already been shooting since August of last year. In an interview with I Am Rogue, Schiff revealed that he had actually been cast "over the summer" but is only now joining the production "for the last six weeks."
Reportedly, Schiff was cast as a character named Dr. Hamilton, which comic book fans instantly thought to be the DC Comics character Dr. Emil Hamilton, a genius-level inventor and former employee of S.T.A.R. Labs who has alternately been Superman's ally and enemy throughout the character's comic book history. Schiff played coy at first, and would not outright confirm that his character is the same Dr. Hamilton from the comic books.
I am not allowed to say but I will allow people to draw their own conclusions. They obviously have the same first and last name, so they can draw their own conclusions. I want to live up to the promise to not reveal anything I’m not allowed to reveal.
more about Schiff's character >> Posted 01.14.12 by Ryan -
Like the comic book superhero he will be fighting in director Zack Snyder's Man of Steel, actor Michael Shannon's career is on a trajectory headed straight for the stratosphere. The Kentucky-born actor had been turning in memorable performances in supporting roles in movies for more than 15 years before his performance in Revolutionary Road won him an Academy Award nomination, and now he is receiving acclaim again for his leading role in director Jeff Nichols' apocalyptic drama Take Shelter and for his part on the ensemble cast of HBO's Boardwalk Empire. On top of that, Shannon landed the coveted role of the villain General Zod in Snyder's aforementioned Superman franchise reboot, which will undoubtedly expose him to a much wider audience than any of his previous acting gigs.
what did shannon say about Man of Steel? >> Posted 12.07.11 by BrentJS -
Considering he earned an Academy Award nomination for his supporting role in Revolutionary Road and there's buzz that he might get another nomination for his performance in his latest movie, Take Shelter, you would think that actor Michael Shannon would have a pretty good estimation of his abilities as an actor. However, Shannon recently revealed to Shortlist (via DigitalSpy), that when he met with Zack Snyder to talk about playing the villain in the director's Superman franchise reboot, Man of Steel, he was "confused" about why a major role in "one of the largest films around" was being offered to him.
what did Shannon say about getting cast as Zod? >> Posted 11.20.11 by BrentJS