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Rene Russo ascends to Asgard as latest to join Thor cast
5 hours ago
Kenneth Branagh'S Thor has added another goddess to its ranks in the form of Rene Russo.
Russo, 55, has been cast as Frigga, wife of Odin, reports Variety.
Odin, leader of the Norse gods and ruler of their realm Asgard, will be played by Anthony Hopkins in the Marvel Studios production.
The actress's previous credits include Lethal Weapon 3 and 4, Get Shorty and The Thomas Crown Affair.
Thor is released on May 20, 2011, and stars Star Trek actor Chris Hemsworth in the title role and Tom Hiddleston as Loki.
Contrary to Variety's report, Frigga is the step-mother of Thor and foster-mother of Loki. Thor's actual mother is the giantess Jord in the original Norse myths and the elder goddess Gaea in Marvel's comics. This may be simplified in Branagh's screenplay of course; there's only so much detailed mythological backstory you can fit in a two-hour movie.
In other Thor news,
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- David Bentley
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Taylor Swift 'top of list to play Supergirl'?
5 hours ago
Singer Taylor Swift may have been walked all over by Kanye West at the Vma Awards but according to one piece of gossip, she is about to power up and kick some serious ass as the new Supergirl.
The 20-year-old, who makes her film debut in Valentine's Day next year, is reportedly the "hot favourite of movie bosses" to play the superhero.
According to Undercover, a source said: "Hollywood is short of female heroes and the time is right for a new Supergirl.
"A number of young stars are being mentioned for the title role in a Supergirl movie and possible TV spin-off and Taylor is top of that list. She has all the right elements to be a positive role model to young girls."
It all sounds like a rather suspect piece of showbiz gossip in a year that's also promised us Beyonce as Wonder Woman, Megan Fox as Catwoman,
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- David Bentley
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Meet your Doctor Who favourites at a discount
8 hours ago
The End is near not only for David Tennant's Time Lord but also for the long-running Doctor Who exhibition at Coventry Transport Museum.
With the exhibition finishing in less than a month, the museum has announced it is slashing ticket prices by more than 20 per cent with effect from tomorrow, Saturday, December 19.
A family ticket now costs £15 (2 adults and 2 children), while adult tickets and children's tickets are £5 and £3 respectively. Tickets can also be booked online for Saturday onwards.
Gary Hall, chief executive of Coventry Transport Museum, said: "The Doctor Who exhibition has been one of our popular and longest running and exhibitions. We are pleased to be able to make this holiday offer to the visitors who have not been able to see this exhibition. We urge everyone not to miss this spectacular exhibition now at such fantastic rates".
The exhibition now has new props from the Doctor Who special Waters of Mars.
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- David Bentley
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Demand for Michael Jackson comic prompts special Thriller edition
10 hours ago
The Success of a comic book commemorating the life of Michael Jackson has led to a further print run with a new, Thriller-inspired cover.
The second edition of Tribute: Michael Jackson, King of Pop has sold out, says publisher Bluewater Productions.
It's now ordered a third edition which will hit stores in January, with a Thriller-inspired cover by Giuseppe Mazzola from Jackson's official fan club. Mazzola also provided the foreword to the expanded 30-page edition.
Bluewater president Darren Davis said: "The fans have spoken. The demand for this book has exceeded all our projections. We are very happy that fans have enjoyed the book."
Next month Bluewater will be releasing a comic telling the life-story of Harry Potter writer Jk Rowling. Upcoming biography comics include Ellen DeGeneres and Twilight novelist Stephenie Meyer.
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- David Bentley
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The Twitter effect: Which films of 2009 can claim tweet victory?
11 hours ago
Marvel Comics legend Stan Lee loves to do it, and British writer/presenter Stephen Fry is always at it. Yes, it's Twitter I'm talking about.
And based on the number of followers, according to Twitterholic, actor Ashton Kutcher is tops (4.1million) followed by Britney Spears (3.99million), Ellen DeGeneres (3.91million), Barack Obama (2.88million), CNN (2.818million) and Oprah (2.815million). I think I have a way to go before I reach those dizzy heights.
But how much does the microblogging site Twitter affect the real world of the entertainment industry?
Which movie of 2009 was most influenced by a frenzy of tweets? It seems we have an answer - you may be surprised, or you may not...
MovieTickets.com decided to find out and surveyed hundreds of ticket buyers on its site over the past two months.
It asked film fans to reveal the impact of Twitter on their desire to see a selection of 2009 releases,
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- David Bentley
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New writer hired to join Bryan Singer on X-Men: First Class
23 hours ago
There have been further developments in the news that Bryan Singer is returning to 20th Century Fox for another X-Men movie.
Singer yesterday sealed a deal to helm origin flick X-Men: First Class, which had a screenplay by Gossip Girl creator Josh Schwartz and takes its title from the First Class comic books depicting the mutant team in their teenage years.
There were behind-the-scenes whispers about bringing in new writing talent and it's now been revealed that Fox has hired scribe Jamie Moss to work with Singer on the project.
Moss worked on Ghost in the Shell for DreamWorks and wrote Street Kings, the crime drama directed by David Ayer.
Singer told Variety: "This is the formative years of Xavier and Magneto, and the formation of the school and where there relationship took a wrong turn.
"There is a romantic element, and some of the mutants from 'X-Men' will figure into the plot,
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- David Bentley
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Exclusive images and details from David Tennant's final Doctor Who story
17 December 2009 2:13 PM, PST
It's the beginning of the end for the Doctor and we have the details and pictures.
David Tennant will very soon bow out of his popular role as Doctor Who in two-part story The End of Time, with Matt Smith taking over the controls of the Tardis.
We have some new teaser images and details from the the first part of the tearjerking tale, which will be broadcast on Christmas Day. As they could be classed as spoilers, you'll have to click to the second page.
The publicity image for The End of Time featured above is of David Tennant with Bernard Cribbins as Wilf Mott and John Simm as The Master.
Click continue reading to see the other images...
In the images below from the Christmas Day special, the Time Lord's psychotic nemesis The Master is bound and gagged and under armed guard - but his smug grin suggests evil plans are being hatched.
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- David Bentley
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'Release the Kraken' - the second trailer for Clash of the Titans
17 December 2009 5:29 AM, PST
A Second trailer for the remake of Clash of the Titans surfaced online recently, showing new scenes including the first big reveal of the Kraken.
The clip seemed suspect so I didn't embed it here and, sure enough, it turned out to be a pirated version and the sites hosting it had to take it down.
The good news is that now it's been officially released...
So now you can see Liam Neeson as king of the gods Zeus yelling 'Release the Kraken' as well as giant scorpions, bat-like harpies and Medusa slithering around in her lair, all set to a rousing rock soundtrack.
Of course, there was no Kraken in the original Greek myth - the creature threatening to devour poor princess Andromeda was a giant fish called Ceto.
But the 1981 movie instead inserted the Kraken - reimagined as a many-limbed reptile and not the giant squid recently seen
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- David Bentley
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Bryan Singer signs deal to direct X-Men: First Class
17 December 2009 4:54 AM, PST
Some major news for X-Men fans has emerged at the Us premiere for James Cameron's 3D sci-fi epic Avatar.
In an interview on the red carpet, Bryan Singer has confirmed he will direct the prequel X-Men: First Class, set in the formative years of Xavier's school for mutants and featuring younger versions of Cyclops, Jean Grey, Beast, Storm and others.
For fans, it will mark his long-awaited return to the franchise. Singer directed the first two X-Men films before leaving to make Superman Returns.
Brett Ratner made the third X-Men instalment and Gavin Hood directed the Wolverine prequel earlier this year. But many felt Singer had the strongest affinity with the material and delivered the best results.
Speaking in a MySpace video clip, Singer revealed: "I am prepping up to do a movie called Jack the Giant Killer and I just yesterday signed a deal to do an X-Men: First Class
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- David Bentley
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The first official trailer for Iron Man 2 has arrived
17 December 2009 3:51 AM, PST
The first official trailer for Iron Man 2 has now debuted online, following a viral marketing campaign that built up the anticipation with images containing hidden clues.
Released on April 30 in the UK, and May 7 in the USA, the Marvel Studios' superhero sequel sees Robert Downey Jr reprise his role as the metal-encased crimefighter whose public persona is billionaire inventor Tony Stark.
The trailer shows Stark refusing to let the government take control of his hi-tech armour, and we also see Gwyneth Paltrow as his assistant Pepper Potts, Mickey Rourke causing havoc as the Russian baddie Whiplash, Scarlett Johansson in action as secret agent Natasha Romanoff aka Black Widow and Don Cheadle fighting alongside Iron Man as the similarly-armoured War Machine.
Embed-Iron Man 2 Trailer - Watch more free videos
You can also check out the trailer at Apple here.
Share your thoughts in the comments section.
The trailer
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- David Bentley
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Man arrested over online leak of X-Men Origins: Wolverine
16 December 2009 3:27 PM, PST
The FBI tonight announced it had arrested a man in connection with the online leak of 20th Century Fox's X-Men Origins: Wolverine.
An unfinished version of the movie was illegally distributed on the internet more than a month before its release. It is estimated to have been downloaded 4.1million times and topped piracy charts for most of the summer.
Today it was revealed that 47-year-old Gilberto Sanchez was arrested at his home in the Bronx, New York, and charged with violating copyright law.
He is accused of uploading the film to filesharing network Megaupload.com on March 31 under an alias.
The $150million film was commercially released on April 29 in the UK and May 1 in the USA, taking $373million worldwide; it's not known how much the leak damaged the film's earnings.
Sanchez faces up to three years' jail and a $250,000 fine, or twice the gross gain or gross loss attributable to the offence,
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- David Bentley
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Tobey Maguire 'in talks for Bilbo Baggins role in The Hobbit'
16 December 2009 11:49 AM, PST
Spider-man star Tobey Maguire may be swinging into the Shire to play Bilbo Baggins according to the latest rumour surrounding casting for The Hobbit.
During a promotional interview, the actor gave a hint when he apparently said he'd next like to work with Guillermo del Toro - who is directing The Hobbit - and may have news on that in the near future.
Latino Review says talks are taking place for Maguire to play Bilbo but are only in the early stages.
Actors previously linked to playing the character in the Tolkien adaptation include James McAvoy and David Tennant (both of whom debunked the reports as internet fiction) and Daniel Radcliffe (who said he had no interest in the part). All three said they had never been approached about the role.
Bearing in mind this has not been officially confirmed, would Tobey Maguire make a good Bilbo? If not, who else could play the part?
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- David Bentley
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Trailer park: Robin Hood, Alice in Wonderland, Prince of Persia, Iron Man 2
16 December 2009 11:42 AM, PST
Today I've collected together a series of new clips for upcoming movies: Robin Hood, Alice in Wonderland, Prince of Persia: The Sands of Time and Iron Man 2.
Ridley Scott is directing Robin Hood, which stars Russell Crowe as the legendary outlaw and comes out on May 14, 2010. The first trailer for the movie is included below.
Tim Burton looks set to deliver a visually sumptuous Alice in Wonderland, released on March 5, 2010. It stars Mia Wasikowska in the title role, with Johnny Depp as the Mad Hatter. In this new sequel to the original story, an older Alice tumbles back into Wonderland with no memory of her earlier visit.
Other members of the star-studded cast include Helena Bonham Carter as The Red Queen, Crispin Glover as The Knave of Hearts, Anne Hathaway as The White Queen, Stephen Fry as the Cheshire Cat, Christopher Lee as The Jabberwock, Michael Sheen as The White Rabbit,
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- David Bentley
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Exclusive: Clash of the Titans gets a sequel, first look at artwork
16 December 2009 11:40 AM, PST
The gods and monsters of Greek mythology will roar on to the screen again in Louis Leterrier's remake of Clash of the Titans.
The film is due out on March 26, 2010. And with any blockbuster release comes questions, gossip and speculation about sequels.
Well, if you want the story to continue and see the Titans clashing again, I can reveal there is indeed a follow-up on the way...
Eagle One Media is to release a sequel called Wrath of the Titans on DVD on March 2, the same date that the original 1981 version comes out on Blu-ray for the first time.
With a story developed under the guidance of Ray Harryhausen - the stop-motion animation legend behind the creatures in the original and so many other classic movies - Wrath of the Titans will be presented as a 'motion comic' film and will also include a special bonus 28-page comic with a tie-in story.
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- David Bentley
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James Cameron talks Avatar sequels, Battle Angel Alita and Fantastic Voyage
16 December 2009 3:57 AM, PST
Avatar director James Cameron says he hopes his new sci-fi adventure, which is released on Friday, lays the foundation for an epic saga.
Here's the full transcript of what he told the London press conference: "Well, I always said during the making of the film, that I dreaded the movie making money, because we'd have to do it all again.
"But, in fact, when I pitched this to 20th Century Fox four and a half years ago, I said: 'You know, we're going to spend a lot of money and time and energy creating not only the process but the assets: all the CG models of every rock and tree and plant and creature and the muscle rigs for all the creatures and the facial rigging for the main characters and all that,' and this is huge - millions and millions of dollars.
"Everything you saw up there on
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- David Bentley
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Web of deceit: Spider-Man's Tobey Maguire isn't Bilbo Baggins
15 December 2009 6:07 PM, PST
First comes the rumour, then it spreads online like a virtual firestorm, only to be dashed by denial... You know the score by now with internet entertainment 'news'.
Despite claims that Spider-Man star Tobey Maguire was in talks to play Bilbo Baggins in Guillermo del Toro's The Hobbit, it seems he won't be swapping skycrapers for the Shire after all.
It would have been quite a challenge for the actor, as Spider-Man 4 starts several months of filming in March and The Hobbit's two-part adaptation starts a year of filming in June.
Dismissing the Spider-Bilbo nonsense, Tolkien fansite TheOneRing says: "Our sources indicate this rumour is Not valid, again, this is Not true according to our sources."
And, over at Movieline, Maguire's publicist screeched: "This is false!"
And, in a fresh update to this story, Maguire spoke to The Hollywood Reporter's Heat Vision blog and said: "I have not met with del Toro.
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- David Bentley
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James Cameron gives verdict on McG's Terminator Salvation
15 December 2009 3:52 PM, PST
Avatar director James Cameron was also the man behind the first two Terminator films, in 1984 and 1991, which are regarded by many fans as the strongest in the series.
Cameron directed and co-wrote both releases, which were followed by Jonathan Mostow's Terminator 3: Rise of the Machines in 2003 and then this year by McG's power-packed, post-apocalyptic Terminator Salvation.
In the Total Film supplement King of the World: The Complete Works of James Cameron, there is an interview in which Cameron was asked what he thought of Terminator Salvation.
He responded: "It didn't quite have the emotional power that it should have had. I thought Sam Worthington was great, very powerful, and Christian Bale...people have criticised him for being one-note but that's part of the character.
"He was playing a guy who's furiously dedicated to the survival of the human species. Maybe more could have been done with that.
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- David Bentley
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Thor writers to adapt vampire comic Damn Nation
15 December 2009 2:20 PM, PST
If It has fangs and feasts on haemoglobin, then Hollywood is interested in it.
And the latest vampire project to be raised from the crypt and put on the big screen is the Dark Horse Comics title Damn Nation (published as a three-issue miniseries in 2005 and then collected into a paperback).
The Hollywood Reporter's Heat Vision blog says Ashley Edward Miller and Zack Stentz - who scripted the film adaptation of Marvel's Thor comic book - are to pen the Damn Nation screenplay for Paramount. This is the first update we've had since the studio said back in March that it wanted to fast-track the project.
In the Damn Nation comic, written by Andrew Cosby (creator of Eureka) and inked by Jason Alexander, the United States' borders and ports are locked down against a terrible threat.
And, according to Dark Horse's own synopsis of the comic: "The barbed wire and
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- David Bentley
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Frank Miller reveals name and story for prequel to 300
15 December 2009 11:33 AM, PST
When Gerard Butler was asked in October about the planned follow-up to Spartan smash-hit 300, he responded: "I don't know how real it is."
In the meantime, it appears to have become a little more real. Frank Miller - writer of the graphic novel on which 300 was based - now says he has mapped out a prequel and even has a title for it.
Speaking to Hero Complex - the Los Angeles Times' counterpart to The Geek Files - Miller says the project is called Xerxes, the name of the Persian king played by Rodrigo Santoro in 300 (see picture above).
He added that 300 director Zack Snyder is interested in returning.
"It's the Battle of Marathon through my lens," said Miller. "I've finished the plot and I'm getting started on the artwork."
With ancient Greek history and legend also surfacing in next year's Percy Jackson & The Olympians and the Clash of The Titans remake,
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- David Bentley
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New time-travel drama Murmurs planned by CBS
15 December 2009 9:13 AM, PST
Time Travel is a staple of sci-fi on the big and small screen.
It has been the driving force behind numerous TV series over the decades including The Time Tunnel, Voyagers! and Quantum Leap as well as Sapphire & Steel, Doctor Who, Life on Mars, Primeval, Ashes to Ashes and Terminator: The Sarah Connor Chronicles.
If all that's not enough temporal tampering for you, American TV network CBS is developing a time-travel drama called Murmurs. It will be written by Jason Smilovic and produced by Elaine Goldsmith-Thomas, says The Hollywood Reporter.
In a premise reminiscent of Voyagers! (pictured), which aired from 1982-83, Murmurs is "set in a world where time travel is a reality and centers on the Commission, an agency that detects and corrects alterations in time called murmurs, ensuring that history remains unchanged."
Smilovic broke into Hollywood with his script for Lucky Number Slevin and has since written four TV projects,
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- David Bentley
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