At the IDW Comics panel at WonderCon over the weekend, it was revealed that the end of the four issue Star Trek comic book miniseries prequel to the movie contains “a cliffhanger and is going to continue in the first few minutes of the movie.” LatinoReview reported that one of the writers or artists on the panel said that a Next Generation cast member would be part of it. But when someone in the audience asked if this would mean that a Next Generation cast member (or members) would appear in the opening of the new Trek movie, the guy responded with “I really cannot say anything about that.” So does this mean that we’ll be seeing Picard or Data in the new JJ Abrams movie?
My sources tell me that is not the case at all, and TrekMovie also confirms that while some of the Next Generation cast members appear in the prequel comic, they will not appear on the big screen. And knowing what I know about the plot of the new movie it makes sense. Involving TNG cast members would completely confuse the new audience Abrams and Paramount hopes to bring to the franchise. You already have time travel and alternative timelines with two Spocks. As cool as it would be to see Picard or one of the other Next Generation guys on screen, it could make things too confusing for normal audiences.
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Update: This report has been debunked.
Production Weekly is reporting that Ghostbusters 3 is now officially being produced by Judd Apatow Productions. No big shock here, considering the initial rumors had most of the Apatow players cast as the film’s new Ghostbusters. Last we heard, Dan Aykroyd said that Office scribes Lee Eisenberg and Greg Stupnitsky started working on the script this Summer and that they were aiming for a fall 2009 production start. However, we’ve gotten no official word if the screenplay drafts that have been handed in thus far are worthy of a greenlight from the studio.
Discuss: Which Apatow players would you cast as the new Ghostbusters?
UPDATE: On The Tree of Life and another, separate Malick project here.
Today brings a rare update on legendary director Terrence Malick‘s forthcoming epic, The Tree of Life, that is quite the internet-tickler. Tacked for release sometime this year, the film stars Sean Penn, with Brad Pitt in a flashback role originally intended for Heath Ledger, and now apparently features meditative scenes with dinosaurs. The news arrives via a print-only excerpt in the latest issue of Empire…
“We’re just starting work on a project for Terrence Malick, animating dinosaurs, the film is The Tree of Life. It’ll be shooting in IMAX—so the dinosaurs will actually be life size — and the shots of the creatures will be long and lingering.” – Visual Effects artist Mike Fink (X2, Mars Attacks, Project X)
The above quote first surfaced at HE, where Jeff Wells explains that Malick, who also wrote the script, is incorporating prehistoric themes from a decades-defunct passion project called Q. The film is listed in post-production, and it remains unclear if the dino-scenes (and possibly others) were shot in the newly-embraced IMAX format a la The Dark Knight. Back in 2007, when Pitt’s casting was first announced, we described the project as…
In one version of the screenplay, the story opened with “a sleeping god, underwater, dreaming of the origins of the universe, starting with the big bang and moving forward, as fluorescent fish swam into the deity’s nostrils and out again.” Malick supposedly wanted to create something that has never been seen before, and dispatched cameramen all over the world. They shot micro jellyfish on the Great Barrier Reef volcanic explosions on Mount Edna, and ice shelves breaking off in Antarctica. special effects consultant Richard Taylor describes sections of the script as “pages of poetry, with no dialogue, glorious visual descriptions.”
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Batman cares about the environment. After the Tumbler was destroyed, Alfred talked Bruce into investing in a new environmentally friendly Batmobile. But when Batman found out that he has to clean the car himself, he wasn’t too pleased. Rubyred’s new Bat-Tuk-Tuk t-shirt is available in a range of colors and styles and printed on 100% cotton American Apparel tees for $26.53 on redbubble.
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Filmmaker Jason Reitman will reunite with his Juno co-star Jason Bateman, who joins George Clooney, Vera Farmiga and Anna Kendrick in the big screen adaptation of Up In The Air. The downsizing comedy which is already in production, tells the story of Ryan Bingham (Clooney), a Career Transition Counselor with a simple goal: to accumulate one million miles in his frequent flyer account.
Bateman will play Clooney’s boss. Farmiga plays a businesswoman who develops a romantic relationship with Bingham through meetings in airports and hotels around the country, while Kendrick plays a new employee who invents a computer program which will allow Career Transition Counselors to work virtually from a central office (reducing the cost of travel expenses/time and downsizing the amount of jobs).
A few months ago I was lucky enough to read Reitman’s screenplay adaptation, and all I’ll say is that it’s one of the better scripts I’ve read in the last few years.
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Warner Bros has released a new Watchmen video which introduces us to Dr. Manhattan. Check it out by clicking on the image above and then clicking of Dr. Manhattan’s head in the right sidebar of the NBC Watchmen website.
Later today, Entertainment Tonight will be premiering a sneak peek at the new Terminator Salvation movie trailer which is attached to Watchmen. But while you’re waiting, ET has aired a sneak preview of that sneak preview which features a bunch of new footage including the Moto-Terminators in action, John Connor battling it out with an T-800 endoskeleton terminator, Connor kissing his wife and fellow resistance leader Kate (Bryce Dallas Howard) and a brief PG-rated glimpse at the now infamous Moon Bloodgood “topless in the rain” scene. Watch the clip after the jump or wait until later tonight to see more.
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Jimmy Kimmel Live premiered the first movie trailer for The Colonel, Mel Gibson‘s return to the big screen. This new epic historical biopic tells the story of the most important figures of the Civil War-era America. Watch the trailer after the jump.
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