Category Archives: DVD Releases

The Walking Dead To Be Featured At Halloween Horror Nights Experience

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Robert Kirkman’s “The Walking Dead” has become the first television series to be featured at Universal Studios and its Orlando counterpart’s Halloween Horror Nights experience.

The event will include mazes designed to resemble the post-apocalyptic world of the AMC series. The sets will be elaborate, and will include iconic locations and scenes from the show, according to The Hollywood Reporter. “Walkers” will also be wandering around both parks.

“We want people to experience the same terror of the walker-filled reality our characters faced in Seasons 1 and 2 — and will continue to face in our third season,” said Greg Nicotero, co-executive producer and special effects makeup artist. “Our collaboration with Universal’s creative teams is exciting as we work to truly capture the essence of the show.”

Halloween Horror Nights has been an annual event for Universal Studios for more than 20 years, featuring stage shows, mazes and other interactive events.

Season three of AMC’s “The Walking Dead” will begin Oct. 14.

Molly Quinn To Voice Supergirl

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Molly Quinn, of “Castle” fame, will voice Supergirl in the upcoming DC Comics film adaptation of “Superman: Brainiac.” According to TV Guide, despite not having a booth, the 18-year-old actress headed down to San Diego ComicCon to announce her new project.

“I’m so excited to be a part of the DC family, not to mention helping Superman fight crime,” Quinn said. “Yes! I am Supergirl!”

Quinn will be the second actress to play the role since Nicholle Tom stopped voicing the character in 2006. Tom had been voicing the animated Supergirl since the character debuted in “Superman: The Animated Series” in 1998.Interestingly, Tom also had a guest spot on Castle a few years back.

The film will be produced by Warner Bros. Animation and DC Entertainment, and will be based on Action Comics #866-870. The story, collected in the graphic novel “Superman: Brainiac,” features the first post-Infinite Crisis appearance of Brainiac, and includes the death of Superman’s adopted father, Jonathan Kent.

This isn’t Brainiac’s first title role in a DC film. In 2006’s “Superman: Brainiac Attacks,” he was voiced by Lance Henriksen. No word on who will be voicing the character in the upcoming film.

This looks to be DC’s first project after they finish a 2-part The Dark Knight Returns adaptation, currently planned for a Fall 2012 release.

“Superman: Braniac” will be released in 2013.

Sleeping Beauty To Become A Pesky Stalker

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This is the Sleeping Beauty you probably remember. It’s not going to be anything like this. 

Fresh on the heels of two Snow White adaptations this year alone (Mirror Mirror and Snow White and the Huntsman), another classic fairy tale is getting the big-screen makeover. Neal Moritz, producer of 21 Jump Street, is developing a new take on the old story of Sleeping Beauty. 

Keeping up with the idea of edgy remakes, Moritz’s Sleeping Beauty, which is set to be released in 2014, will take some liberties with the typical charming princess character, according to The Hollywood Reporter. Instead, Aurora will be portrayed as a “pesky stalker.”

The new version of the Brothers Grimm story will be a “modern-day retelling” in which the male lead accidentally awakens the princess, who then becomes lovestruck and stalks him. You may remember watching the original film adaptation created by Disney, in which the princess in cursed by the evil seen Maleficent into a perpetually sleep until a kiss awakes her, complete with songs and happy endings. Though, it doesn’t seem Moritz new retelling will go in this direction.

The film will be a comedy, according to AceShowbiz, and Moritz will produce through his Original Film banner.

However, the project does not yet have a studio.

Moritz’s Sleeping Beauty should not be confused with the currently in production film Maleficent, starring Angelina Joli, another retelling of the same fairytale from the point of view of the evil queen.

Casting Update for Catching Fire Film

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Fans are finally getting what they have been waiting for over the last few months. Casting news for the highly anticipated film adaptation sequel, Catching Fire. The film, based on the novel of the same name by Suzanne Collins, is the film and book sequel to The Hunger Games. 

Catching Fire includes some new characters that fans have been dying to know about. Last week it was announced that actress Jena Malone had the role of Johanna Mason, an important role in the second and third books of the trilogy.

Then this week, it was announced that Amanda Plummer, most know for her role as Honey Bunny in cult film Pulp Fiction has secured the role of Wiress, nicknamed “Nuts” by the other tributes due to her lunacy. In reality, Wiress, is actually very smart, catching on to the clock theme of the Arena early on.

Wiress is a part of a duo, though, with the character of Beetee, nicknamed “Bolts,” effectively making the duo “Nuts and Bolts.” The word announced today is that award winning actor Tony Shaloub has gotten the part. Shaloub is most known for his role as the titular character in the USA series,”Monk.” While the role has not been confirmed it seems pretty reasonable.

The biggest news of all is the casting of Finnick Odair. Fans have spent MONTHS speculating who would land the highly coveted role and it seems we finally have a winner. According to Zap2it, british actor Sam Claflin has been officially offered the role of Finnick. Claflin is most known for his role in Snow White and the Huntsman. 

The Hunger Games: Catching Fire is set to hit theaters on November 22, 2013.

The Devil’s Knot Begins Principal Photography

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Atom Egoyan’s The Devil’s Knot has announced that the project has begun its principal photography in Atlanta, Georgia.

The film, which stars Academy Award winners Colin Firth and Reese Witherspoon, is a biopic based on the 2002 bestselling book entitled, “Devil’s Knot: The True Story of the West Memphis Three” written by investigative journalist Mara Leveritt.

The Devil’s Knot film adaptation will tell the story of the murders of three young children that sparked a controversial trial of three teenagers accused of killing the kids as part of a satanic ritual. The accused killers, Damien Echols, Jason Baldwin and Jessie Misskelley, were believed to have been arrested as a result of “Satanic panic” rather than actual evidence, according the author’s assertion.

The tale of the killers, known to the world as The West Memphis Three overtook headlines for months leading up to and after their arrest. Since then, they have periodically appeared in the news with new evidence. The trial recently made headlines when the defendants were released in Aug. 2011 after 18 years in prison, due to new evidence uncovered by the defense.

Aside from Firth and Witherspoon, the cast includes Alessandro Nivola (Coco Before Chanel, Junebug), Stephen Moyer (True Blood), Amy Ryan (Win Win, Gone Baby Gone), Matt Letscher (Scandal), Michael Gladis (Mad Men), Rex Linn (Appaloosa), Mireille Enos (The Killing, Gangster Squad), Dane DeHaan (Lawless Chronicle) and Bruce Greenwood (The Place Beyond the Pines, Star Trek).

Additional Footage To Be Shot for The Hobbit

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Director Peter Jackson may be looking to shoot additional material for The Hobbit, according to ComingSoon. The filmmaker is not only relying on J.R.R. Tolkien’s novels for source material.

While Jackson said nothing is confirmed, he added that there is always a possibility.

“It’s very premature,” he said. “I mean we have an incredible source material with the appendices because The Hobbit is obviously a novel, but we also have the rights to use this 125-pages of additional notes where Tolkien expanded the world of The Hobbit, published at the end of Return of the King, and we’ve used some of it so far.”

Jackson said that as his crew began wrapping up shooting and thinking about the shape of the story, he began thinking about doing more.

“Fran and I have been talking to the studio about other things we haven’t been able to shoot and seeing if we persuade them to do a few more weeks of shooting– probably more than a few weeks actually, next year.”

Jackson said he doesn’t want The Hobbit to be a kid film, but one that fits into the Lord of the Rings universe and feels the same. Discussions are still in the early stages, but Jackson said he would like to be able to tell the other parts of the sprawling story.

He has already used more source material than just The Hobbit. When Gandalf disappears without explanation for multiple chapters in The Hobbit, Jackson turned to the appendices where Tolkien later explained the absence.

“It was all together a lot darker and more serious than what is written in The Hobbit,” Jackson said. “And also to be honest, I want to make a series of movies that run together so if any crazy lunatic wants to watch them all in a row, there will be a consistency to it, a consistency of tone.”

Jackson said he did not want to make a children’s story to lead into The Lord of the Rings, so the material from the appendices provides balance to the film’s tone.

“I mean a lot of the comedy and the charm comes from the characters,” Jackson said. “You’re dealing with Bilbo Baggins who is a bit more reluctant to go on an adventure than Frodo was, and with Dwarves who have a personality and camaraderie all of their own, so there’s a lot of humor, but there are still some serious themes involved.”

The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey will open in theaters Dec. 14.

The Marvel Studios Comic-Con Panel Announces Big News

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The Marvel Studios Comic-Con panel got off to a big start this weekend when they announced the full titles for the upcoming Thor and Captain America sequels, and showed concept art for Guardians of the Galaxy.

They also announced the team for the planned Marvel Studios movie, as well as showing Edgar Wright’s test footage for Ant-Man.

The Thor sequel will be called Thor: The Dark World. Captain America’s sequel will be called Captain America: The Winter Soldier. After unveiling some concept art, the panel announced the team that will appear in Guardians of the Galaxy: Star-Lord, Drax the Destroyer, Groot, Rocket Racoon and Gamorra.

This is essentially the same line-up as the group that will appear in Marvel Comics’ Avengers Assemble, according to ComingSoon. Wright then came on stage to show test footage he had filmed for the upcoming film Ant-Man, though the film has not yet been cast.

ComingSoon is keeping a live blog of Marvel’s actions at Comic-Con. To follow the updates, click here.

My Friend Dahmer Is heading To The Big Screen

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Two-time Eisner award nominee Derf Backderf’s autobiographical graphic novel “My Friend Dahmer” is getting a big screen adaptation.

The story follows Jeffrey Dahmer from age 12 right up to the day he kills his first victim, two weeks after his high school graduation.

Ibid Filmworks partners Marc Meyers and Jody Girgenti will produce.

According to a press release about the film, the story is set in the bizarre world of 1970s suburbia.

From the release:

“Jeff Dahmer, a troubled teenager, descends into darkness as his divorcing parents, high school teachers and peers stand by and do nothing. Told through the eyes of his friend Derf, this is a touching, realistic look at some oddball teens trying to find their identities in the tumultuous 1970’s.”

There are macabre elements to the story, but the release states it will be more of a coming-of-age story of “teenagers teetering on the abyss” than a horror film.

The film is described as Welcome to the Dollhouse meets Dazed and Confused by way of Henry: Portrait of a Serial Killer.

Indie publisher Abrams ComicArts released the critically acclaimed bestseller in March. The book recalls Dahmer’s “isolation, binge drinking, bizarre behavior to get attention, and his disturbing fascination with roadkill.”

Backderf and his friends created the Dahmer Fan Club and encouraged Dahmer to act out, including fake epileptic fits and his imitation of a cerebral palsy victim, according to the release.

No word has been released yet on who will portray Dahmer in the upcoming film, though the role carries potential star-making power.

The last actor to portray Dahmer in film was Jeremy Renner in 2002’s Dahmer, a role that won him an Independent Spirit Award nomination, and helped launch his career.

Check back for more details as they are released.

Game of Thrones: Seven Kingdoms MMORPG to be released in 2013

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The massively huge world created by author George R.R. Martin for his series A Song of Ice and Fire lends itself well to a MMORPG and thankfully that is about to happen. A new video game (which begs to be better than the game released earlier this year) will be called “Game of Thrones: Seven Kingdoms.”  The fantasy genre massive multiplayer online role-playing game (MMORPG) is scheduled to be released sometime in 2013.

A trailer was released on July 11th during Comic-Con and it appears that elements from the critically acclaimed HBO series will be included in the game such as the show’s opening credits.

The game will be browser based and will have players pledging allegiances to either the Stark, Lannister, or Barantheon houses to rule the land and the Iron Throne. One drawback is that players can only be human-sized characters, however more character types will be added at a later date. Player-versus-player combat will also be part of the game, as will stealth attacks and brutal sword play. The game takes place after the deaths of King Robert Baratheon and Ned Stark.

The world of the game, at least at the beginning, will include a playable area from the Wall in the north to the south beyond King’s Landing. You won’t actually join directly with a faction, though. Instead, you’ll join a lesser house in Westeros – your guild – that can align with one of the three great houses.Players can also possibly swap allegiance between fractions using bribes and swaying your guild.

Be aware though, once out in the open on the continent of Westeros, player versus environment content will be testing you. While the game is PvP driven, it is possible to level (at least a bit) without them.

In terms of controls, the mechanics of combat will include, “You’ll move with WASD and attack with 1, 2 and 3 keys, which correspond to light, medium and heavy attacks. If you combine the attacks in the right ways you’ll trigger combos and attack faster, and can perform special combo finishers. There isn’t really a strict class system. Instead, you select skills as you go, and there’ll be around 60 available at launch. There’ll also be a weapon leveling system, which should help out if you happen to find a weapon you really like,” according to IGN.

Don’t worry, Mac users! The game is not only free to play but it is will also be compatible for both PC and Mac operating systems. Bigpoint is developing the game with HBO and is known for developing popular games such as Farmerama,Battlestar Galactica Online, and SkyRama.

City Of Bones Film Adds New Actor To The Cast

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A quasi-main character from the popular YA novel series “City of Bones” has been cast in the upcoming film adaption. Irish actor, Robert Sheehan will be playing Simon Lewis in the film opposite of Lily Collins as protagonist Clary Fray and Jamie Campbell Bower as Jace Wayland.

Sheehan is most known for his role on the television series “Misfits.” The news was announced via the author, Cassandra Clare’s official Tumblr earlier today. She revealed the news after fans were able to get the hashtag #WeWantSimon to be a trending topic on the social media site Twitter.

The novel follows Clary Fray, a seemingly ordinary human girl who discovers that she can see supernatural beings that no one else can and gets drawn into the world of the Shadowhunters, humans who hunt and kill demons. Campbell-Bower is male lead and Clary’s love interest Jace Wayland, while West plays fellow Shadowhunter Isabelle. Sheehan’s Simon is Clary’s best friend who harbors a secret crush on her and plays in a band. He, too, gets drawn into the secret underground world of the Shadowhunters in New York City.

Director Harald Zwart will direct the film in Toronto this summer, aiming for an August 23, 2013 release.