A.J. Focht

Iron Man 3 has already grossed over a billion dollars. Pulling in roughly $285 million here in the states, it’s overseas that Iron Man 3 has been a real hit. International sales have passed $664 million dollars. Iron Man premiered a week early overseas, and it played in 79% of the foreign markets. In its first weekend internationally, it grossed over $198 million, beating the Avengers record. Domestically, Iron Man had the second biggest opening weekend ever bringing in $174 million, behind the Avengers ($204 million). But, despite the massive numbers, Iron Man 3 has been met with incredibly mixed reviews.

Marvel and Disney are raking in a fortune with these superhero movies, and now the heroes want a bigger piece of the pie. Iron Man actor, Robert Downey Jr. is currently renegotiating with Disney. He’s not the only actor wanting a larger pay day, many of the Avengers actors are seeking to renegotiate before signing on for Avengers 2. While the cast is seeking more money from the movies, director Joss Whedon has posted a blog on his site to correct some misinformation about his own payday for the Avengers.

I was going to let it slide, but I’ve got this sour taste in my mouth. (Mmmm, lemonade!). Some facts are not facts. I’m not going to go into the whole thing, but jeepers, I’m not getting $100 mil on Avengers 2. If I were, I would come on this site and laugh and laugh and laugh. I’m not making Downey money. I’m making A LOT, which is exciting. I’m not pretending to be a poor farmer, an Everyman, an ANYman. But that number is nuts. A few other things about me that have been “reported” that people should take with a grain of salt:

That I throw wild Hollywood parties where everyone is naked and dancing and wild and I remember to serve enough snacks.

That I can get a movie greenlit by sighing and staring into the middle distance.

That I ate a unicorn and made it winter for three years.

That I “can write.”

Well, that’s a load off. Sorry to get so personal — the whole thing’s a bit tawdry. But honestly, it bugged me. I’m off for a nice juicy steak. There’s a place downtown that does it with rosemary butter, it tastes just like unico — like a steak.

BYE-ee! J.

Avengers 2 might be having some negotiating trouble with old members, but Marvel’s plans moving forward also include a new lineup. Rumor is that Whedon is seeking to write the Scarlet Witch and her twin brother Quicksilver in to Avengers 2, and there are whispers that Marvel is looking to cast Saoirse Ronan in the role of Scarlet Witch. Whether Saoirse gets the part or not, the helps to give us an idea of the kind of actress they have in mind.

The new Marvel series, Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. is set to go. The first teaser trailer has been released ending with a reminder #CoulsonLives. The series core cast has been filled out, and Clark Gregg is returning as Agent Coulson. Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. is set to premier in the coming fall season.

A new trailer for Thor: The Dark World has been released as Marvel moves forward with their ‘Phase 2’. Thor 2 premiers in November of this year. Captain America is the next movie up after Thor, and Captain America will be joined by some classic heroes for the journey. Anthony Mackie will be playing the Falcon and is set to be in more than half the movie. Robert Redford will also be filling a major role as S.H.I.E.L.D. Agent Alexander Pierce. The most exciting rumor of Marvel’s casting during ‘Phase 2’ however, is that the tenth Doctor Who, David Tennant may be cast as the gun blazing master tactician Rocket Raccoon.

As Doctor Who moves toward their 50th Anniversary, a new executive producer has been found for the show. Brian Minchin, who has worked in the past on the UK Torchwood, will be taking the role of executive producer, working alongside show frontrunner Steven Moffat.

Star Trek: Into Darkness is moving into theaters this week. The very suspenseful third and final trailer was released for the film. Finally, the great debate over which Spock would win between Nimoy and Quinto is over. It’s embedded inside a commercial trying to sell Audi’s, but it’s nevertheless well worth the watch.

Ender’s Game is moving into theaters on the first of November this year. The first full length trailer for the movie has been released and is appropriately narrated by Harrison Ford. The film was directed by Gavin Hood and stars Asa Butterfield as the title character, Ender.

Comedy Central has a new late night talk show starring the Nerdists’ Chris Hardwick. The show is being co-produced by Funny or Die and will be filling the air slot immediately after The Colbert Report.

A.J. Focht

Star Wars: Episode VII is set to hit theaters in 2015. It has been confirmed that the film will focus on the next generation of the Skywalker and Solo families. Mark Hamill has been in talks to reprise his role as Luke Skywalker in the upcoming movies. Hamill mentioned that he has talked in depth with Lucas about this and has been told that if the original actors don’t reprise their roles, they won’t be recast, but instead they would be written out of the story. It doesn’t look like that will be the case though as Harrison Ford has been confirmed to be reprising the part of Han Solo in Episode VII.

In case three more episodes of Star Wars weren’t enough, Disney is planning on releasing Star Wars spin-off solo adventures. The spin-off stories will allow them to establish character backgrounds and lore that wouldn’t make it into the main movie. Everyone’s favorite mini Jedi Master, Yoda, will be taking the first solo movie. That’s not all though, both young Han Solo and Boba Fett are set to receive solo films as well. There is no word on when Disney plans to start releasing these movies or what kind of movies they will be; I could see them being computer animated movies done by Disney or Pixar.

After much speculation, Entertainment Weekly may have officially confirmed and spoiled the identity of Benedict Cumberbatch’s character in Star Trek: Into Darkness. In an article they posted the title: “Voyage Into the New Star Trek Kirk & Khan.” The title was changed to exclude the final names, but it hit the internet that way and there are plenty of screen shots to prove it. It looks like all the Khan rumors were true and Cumberbatch will be reprising the role of the iconic villain.

Between directing Star Wars and Star Trek, J.J. Abrams life has to be getting pretty busy. He is now looking at taking on another dynamic project. J.J. Abrams and Valve games studios are in talks to see if they can do Portal and Half-Life movies. Half-Life and its spin-off Portal are both award winning games made by Valve. The games are story driven, so there is movie potential for both titles. But does J.J. Abrams really have the time to take on yet another project?

The Avengers cast assembled at the Oscars to present the awards for Cinematography and Visual Effects. Avengers only received one Oscar nomination in the Visual Effects category, which they then had to present to Life of Pi. Still the Avengers legacy lives on as Marvel moves into ‘Phase 2’ and S.H.I.E.L.D. series begins filming. Marvel’s Agent M gave us our first sneak peak of the S.H.I.E.L.D. set, although it’s mostly a tease.

As Marvel’s ‘Phase 2’ moves forward, a lot of focus has been on their new project, Guardians of the Galaxy. Two new actors have signed on to play main parts in the galactic team. Chris Pratt is set to play the movies lead, Peter Quill or Star-Lord. Marvel has also found their actor for Drax the Destroyer in Game of Thrones star Jason Mamoa. Guardians of the Galaxy is set to hit theaters August 1, 2014.

One of the newest Iron Man 3 posters shows Sir Ben Kingsley as the Mandarin with his ten rings of power. Some leaked concept art has revealed more suit designs for Iron Man and also gives possible spoilers for later movies. The first suit is Tony’s new ‘Space Armor’ designed specifically for going back into space. The second concept art was for the ‘Hulkbuster Armor’ a set of Armor specifically designed to fight Hulk. Could the Avengers sequel have Hulk as a villain or at least an Iron Man and Hulk showdown? Speculation aside, in a recent interview Iron Man 3 writer Shane Black gave some spoilers about the after credits scene. Apparently, at the end of the movie, Tony will receive an SOS from Star-Lord creating the first tie in for the Guardians of the Galaxy. He will then head off into space, saying this time he is ready with his Space Armor.

Batman has had a rough year in the DC New 52 comic universe. First, he fought his way through the Night of the Owls just to have to deal with Joker’s return in Death of the Family. Though no one in the family actually died as the Death of the Family story arc drew to an end, the Joker successfully pulled at the strings of distrust and tore the Bat-family apart. However, just because no one died during the Death of the Family event, that doesn’t mean the Bat-family is safe. Last week, in Batman Incorporated #8, Damian Wayne, the current Robin, was murdered. His death is reminiscent of the death of Jason Todd, except most comic fans bet that Damian Wayne will take after his mother’s side and end up resurrected in the Lazarus Pit within the year.

On the horror side of things, the Evil Dead remake is set to arrive in theaters on April 12 this year. A new all red poster for the film was released, that promises it will be the ‘most terrifying movie you will every experience’. A new Red Band trailer was released for the film as well that teases a horrifying return to the cult classic, demon rape trees included.

The Zombieland television series is picking up some steam, and some cast members while they’re at it. The kids in the movie have been cast. Tyler Ross will play the part of Columbus and Izabela Vidovic has been cast as Little Rock. That’s not all, Maiara Walsh will be playing the role of Wichita. The series is currently being produced for Amazon as an original series.

Kevin Smith and Jason Mewes are back at it with their new Jay & Silent Bob’s Super Groovy Cartoon Movie. The movie was directed by Steve Stark, who Smith and Mewes met online. The entire project cost just $69,000. They are planning on taking the movie on tour the same way Smith toured Red State. The Super Groovy Cartoon Movie is coming this April.

Finally, there are a lot of ‘How It Should Have Ended” videos out there, but the nerd Generalissimo Stan Lee has declared how a few nerd favorites should have really concluded. Not only is this one of the best Stan’s Rants yet, but you would be hard pressed to find a nerd that disagrees with him.

by Nicole Powers

“How could this have been here since the ‘50s and nobody know?”
– Jules Stewart

Jules Stewart is the mother of a certain Twilight star, but to even mention that almost does a disservice to her latest project, which is an edgy and challenging example of independent filmmaking at its finest. Having spent three decades working in Hollywood as a script supervisor, with a résumé that spans 30 films and over 50 TV shows, Stewart knows a thing or two about what makes a good story and how to avoid the grind of tired and traditional screenwriting formulas. Consequently, K-11, which she co-wrote with Jared Kurt, is a compelling and very unique take on the prison drama. The highly accomplished film, which features an extraordinary ensemble cast, also marks Stewart’s directorial debut.

Read our interview with Jules Stewart on SuicideGirls.com.

by Nicole Powers

“I’m not cynical about clicktivism.”
– Cory Doctorow

I was recently fortunate enough to spend some quality time with Cory Doctorow discussing topics related to the plot of Homeland, the thrilling follow up to his contemporary classic novel Little Brother (which serves as a primer on civil rights in the digital age). Our conversation spanned 90 minutes and ran into excess of 17,000 words, so the need for brevity dictated that I had to edit our interview heavily. However, Doctorow has an avid following, and rightly so. Hence I figured those of you that enjoyed the first installment of our interview might appreciate this second bite at the apple.

In the first part, we discussed Burning Man, which is where the action in Homeland kicks off, and the student debt bubble, which serves as a backdrop to the book. In part two, our conversation delves further into the post-Occupy politics of Homeland. In Doctorow’s book, our hacktivist hero Marcus Yallow, having been forced out of the education system due to financial pressures, gains a position as a tech guru for an independent political candidate. Our discussion therefore naturally turns to the limitations of two party systems, the potential social media has to transform the political landscape, the pros and cons of clicktivism, and the perils of online activism, which is especially poignant given that Aaron Swartz contributed an afterward to the book.

Read part two of my interview with Cory Doctorow on SuicideGirls.com/.

Cory will be embarking on a multi-city US book tour starting on Tuesday, February 5th, which also happens to be the release date for Homeland. See below for a full list of dates:

Cory Doctorow – 2013 Homeland Book Tour
Tuesday, February 05 – Seattle Public Library Central Branch, Seattle, WA
Wednesday, February 06 – Powell’s Books, Beaverton, OR
Thursday, February 07 – Booksmith, San Francisco, CA
Friday, February 08 – Borderlands Books, San Francisco, CA
Saturday, February 09 – The Leonardo, Salt Lake City, UT
Sunday, February 10 – Changing Hands Bookstore, Tempe, AZ
Tuesday, February 12 – Times Square Marriott Marquis, New York, NY
Thursday, February 14 – Joseph-Beth Booksellers, Cincinnati, OH
Friday, February 15 – Books & Books, Coral Gables, FL
Saturday, February 16 – Flyleaf Books, Chapel Hill, NC
Sunday, February 17 – Dekalb County Public Library, Decatur, GA
Monday, February 18 – Square Books, Oxford, MS
Tuesday, February 19 – Booksellers at Laurelwood, Memphis, TN
Wednesday, February 20 – Octavia Books, New Orleans, LA
Thursday, February 21 – Brazos Bookstore, Houston, TX
Friday, February 22 – Book People, Austin, TX
Saturday, February 23 – Crowne Plaza Hotel, Nashua, NH
Saturday, February 23 – RiverRun Bookstore, Portsmouth, NH
Sunday, February 24 – Gibson’s Bookstore, Concord, NH
Monday, February 25 – Busboys and Poets, Washington DC
Tuesday, February 26 – Harvard Book Store, Cambridge, MA
Wednesday, February 27 – South Broadway Cultural Center, Albuquerque, NM

Full details can be found here.

A.J. Focht

The biggest news of the month is that J.J. Abrams, director of the recent Star Trek films, is now set to take us to a galaxy far far away. Disney has signed Abrams on to direct the 2015 Star Wars: Episode VII. While many fans were thrilled to hear this news, there are those who fear this move crosses the streams. Either way, the internet is already being plagued with bad jokes about light sabers and lens flares.

G.I. Joe: Retaliation was abruptly delayed last year, but you can now catch a four minute preview of the movie in theaters. There’s a four minute 3D preview at the start of Hansel & Gretel: Witch Hunters. The teaser is just a taste of things to come when the movie releases on March 29.

More information is coming out about the 2015 Justice League movie. It looks like only five members have made the final cut, and it’s just about who everyone would expect. Superman, Batman, the Green Lantern, the Flash, and Wonder Woman are rumored to be the core group of heroes. There is still a slight chance Aquaman or the Martian Manhunter could make an appearance, but most likely only as cameos. The one hero with the least possibility of making a cameo appearance would be Hawkman.

The Batman franchise is DC’s hottest property, and there has been talk of rebooting the series since before Christopher Nolan had a chance to even wrap up his trilogy. Now that Nolan’s Batman series has ended, DC and Warner Bros. are working Batman into their upcoming Justice League movie. Whispers of a series reboot haven’t gone away, though. Batman On Film speculates that the Batman series reboot could be in theaters as early as 2017.

Sequel to X-Men: First Class, the X-Men: Days of Futures Past will be following one of the most famous X-Men comic story arcs. The comic storyline involves an older Kitty Pride from a dystopic future transferring her consciousness to her past self to stop the events that lead to the Sentinels hunting down the mutants. This being the case, director Bryan Singer has the opportunity to combine the characters from the 1960’s storyline in X-Men: First Class with the original X-Men trilogy. Both Ian McKellen and Patrick Stewart signed on to play the elder counterparts of Michael Fassbender and James McAvoy. Now, Singer has announced that three more members from the cast of the original X-Men trilogy have joined the fray. Appeasing comic fans everywhere, Ellen Page as Kitty Pride was one of those three. The other two returning characters are Anna Paquin as Rogue and Shawn Ashmore as Iceman. Days of Future Past is set to hit theaters on July 18, 2014.

Possibly the oddest gossip to fall into the rumor mill this month is that both Adam Sandler and Jim Carrey have been asked about their availability for Marvel’s Guardians of the Galaxy project. They may both be in line for the role of Rocket Raccoon, or one may be in line for the gun-toting raccoon and the other for his partner the sentient tree, Groot. Guardians of the Galaxy is set to hit theaters August 1, 2014.

Marvel may just be entering their ‘Phase 2’, but they are already planning for the future beyond that. Guardians of the Galaxy is the only new title being released during Phase 2, the rest being sequels. Marvel plans to expand their properties during ‘Phase 3’ and have confirmed that both the long awaited Edgar Wright Ant-Man movie and the Doctor Strange film Stan Lee has been pushing to have made for years are on the docket. Kevin Feige noted that Phase 3 is when things are going to get strange, which means who knows what else Marvel has in store for us once they wrap up their current cinematic ventures.

The CW’s Arrow keeps adding classic DC icons to the show’s lineup. To make things even better, many of the actors they have chosen to go with have other sci-fi and nerd roots. John Barrowman who plays Malcom Merlyn on Arrow and Captain Jack on Doctor Who and its spinoff Torchwood is now being joined by another former Doctor Who cast member, Alex Kingston, who played the Doctor’s wife, River Song. Kingston will be playing the part of Laurel Dinah Lance’s mother on Arrow. Kingston isn’t the only new addition. Spartacus actor Manu Bennett has been cast in the major role of Slade Wilson. Wilson’s alter ego, Death Stroke, has already appeared on the show, but it looks like Manu Bennett will be the man behind the orange and blue mask.

I don’t think anyone would disagree that we could replace some of these teenage vampire shows on television with more zombie action. Walking Dead is one of the best shows on, but it alone doesn’t satisfy my craving for brain eaters. Well it looks like we may all be in luck. After being passed up by CBS and Syfy, Amazon is in negotiations to distribute a Zombieland TV show via its streaming platform. Better yet, director of acclaimed B-movie Tucker and Dale vs. Evil, Eli Craig is in talks to direct the series.

Finally, Doctor Who fans can now get back to their roots, since BBC America will being airing classic episodes of the show. They are going through the Doctors in order, airing a serial special each month. They have already begun with the four-part serial, “The Aztecs” that aired last weekend.

by Alex Dueben

“John Tallow is, basically, anyone who’s lost enthusiasm for their work. Anyone who was doing great right up until they realised it didn’t matter. Anyone who let themselves get disengaged from the world and then discovered they liked it better that way.”
– Warren Ellis

Warren Ellis is a name familiar to comics readers because of the many great series he’s written over the past two decades including Transmetropolitan, Planetary, The Authority, Nextwave, Global Frequency, Fell and FreakAngels. The graphic novel Red, which he wrote, was adapted into a 2010 movie starring Bruce Willis, John Malkovich and Helen Mirren. The film’s sequel, Red 2, will be released this August.

He’s also written multiple videogames including Dead Space. Ellis’ first novel, Crooked Little Vein, was released in 2007. He’s also written extensively about futurism, design and other topics for Reuters, here at SuicideGirls and currently for Vice.

Ellis’ new novel is Gun Machine, thriller set in New York City about a policeman who has to hunt a serial killer. Using that armature, Ellis uses the novel to comment on the nature of police work, explore the history of New York City, the meaning of wampum and more. We spoke with Ellis over e-mail about the book, the future of the webseries Wastelanders, which he’s writing with Joss Whedon, and whether he’s abandoned comics.

Read our interview with Warren Ellis on SuicideGirls.com.

A.J. Focht

A new batch of photos from Star Trek: Into Darkness have been released. While we’ll all have to wait until May 15 to see the full movie, in a heartwarming act of compassion, J.J. Abrams and Paramount arranged for Star Trek fan Dan Craft, who served as the director of the New York Asian Film Festival and was dying of cancer, to see the film on his deathbed. He had a expressed a desire to see the nine minute Star Trek preview, but instead he was allowed to watch a rough cut of the entire movie on DVD. Craft passed away earlier this week, his final words were: “I’m going… into the future.”

This year is the Doctor Who 50th anniversary bash. The BBC has announced that as part of the celebration they will be releasing eleven short stories written by beloved children’s authors set in the Doctor Who universe. No authors are confirmed, yet, but at the top of the assumed list is J.K. Rowling, author of the Harry Potter series. Each of the eleven authors will write one story about one of the eleven Doctors. The first short story will be out at the end of the month, and the book will be available in November.

Joss Whedon is back behind the camera and filming the pilot for the S.H.I.E.L.D. television series for ABC. Whedon is currently working on both the pilot and the sequel to the Avengers movie. He mentioned that he wants to spend as much time on the show as possible, but he needs to maintain balance between the projects. While the Avengers sequel is his number one priority, Whedon is confident that he has enough people he trusts to take care of the S.H.I.E.L.D. show. There is not a set release date for the pilot, but you can count on seeing it sometime next fall.

Captain America: The Winter Soldier will be coming out on April 4, 2014, but not everyone is returning. Hayley Atwell played Peggy Carter in the first Captain America, but she confirmed she will not be in the sequel. Winter Soldier will take place in the present day so her character would be older, if in the movie at all. This also means we shouldn’t expect to see her in flashbacks, unless they were directly from the first movie. It is likely that the character Sharon Carter will replace Peggy Carter as the love interest in the upcoming film.

Possible character details from the 2015 Justice League movie have been released. If an inside source is correct, the movie will follow Gerry Conway’s 1980 Justice League of America story arc from issues 183-185. The main team will consist of: Superman, Wonder Woman, Batman, Flash, Green Lantern, Martian Manhunter, and Aquaman. Both Alfred Pennyworth and Lois Lane are listed as having cameos. While the notes don’t mention if Batman will be linked to the Dark Knight series, most sources believe not. The source does mention Superman is being written like the incarnation in Man of Steel, with a little help from Zack Snyder who is consulting. It looks like Green Lantern will be Ryan Reynold’s character, with a complete revamp. Also, the Wonder Woman script is in development currently as well, and will be set before the Justice League movie. Assuming this information is correct, the Justice League film will not only be more tied in to past DC movie continuity than previously expected, but it will also be a very elaborate venture requiring several rewrites to tie in anticipated sequels.

Universal Studios first added the Wonderful World of Harry Potter, and now Universal and Tolkien Estate are planning a Middle Earth theme park. For everyone who can’t afford to fly out to New Zealand in order to experience a Hobbit-like landscape, there is a chance a little slice of Middle Earth will be coming to the US.