During pre-production in Budapest, director Guillermo Del Toro has been speaking with The Age about Hellboy 2: The Golden Army.

‘It’s about the first year of marriage‘ said Del Toro, but it’s also about ‘a deadly war between humans and magical creatures in which the title character has a major dilemma: which side is he actually on.

Due to the sequel being written in parallel with the filming of Pan’s Labyrinth Del Toro explained that there was some cross-pollination between the two projects. When he handed the first draft over to comic creator Mike Mignola, the Mexican helmer said that the artist was horrified by how much he had deviated from what they had talked about, especially at some of the ‘whimsical elements‘. But after watching Del Toro’s dark Spanish language fantasy, Mignola realised that the two movies would have some parallels.

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Posted in Movies •

Lucasfilm Ltd fan relations boss Steve Sansweet has been talking to ifmagazine about events scheduled to celebrate the 30th anniversary of Star Wars. In brief the highlights were as follows:

• There is a possibility that Lucasfilm might do another European fan event, which still hasn’t been announced, later this year.

• As reported earlier, all six Star Wars movies will be shown in order for the first time ever but Sansweet added that the saga will be projected in digital via a Christie [CP2000] 2K theatrical projector in the form of the most recent DVD editions. There will be 20 minute breaks in between each episode with special ‘things’ scheduled for the breaks.

• Guests as Celebration IV can expect news on the Star Wars animated series, Clone Wars 3D and the Force Unleashed video game.

• Guests as Celebration IV can also expect news on Indiana Jones IV with Lucasfilm talking about as much of the movie as they can but not much about the story.

• After rumors of a DVD release to celebrate the 30th Anniversary, Sansweet confirmed that there are no plans in the short term.

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Posted in Indiana Jones, Movies, Star Wars •

Writer John August has revealed his sources of inspiration for his work on the DC comic book adaptation Shazam!.

August cites several sources of research including the DC Comics Encyclopedia, the genesis story in The Power of Shazam!, Judd Winwick’s First Thunder and Days of Vengeance (both featuring Superman) and Mark Wald’s Kingdom Come. Interestingly August says that he has steered clear of the vintage comics because they are ‘awkwardly written, crudely drawn, and bewilderingly inconsistent with their rules‘.

It was recently rumored that New Line are courting Jake Gyllenhaal for lead in the movie, based on the character created in 1939 by artist C.C. Beck and writer Bill Parker.

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Posted in Movies •

Proving that internet buzz doesn’t necessarily equal box office dollars, the Tarantino/Rodruigez faux exploitation double-header Grindhouse had a disastrous opening weekend.

Trailing in a disappointing fourth place with only $11.6 million in ticket sales, after the trades had forecasted an opening somewhere in the region of $22m to $29m, the film seems unlikely to domestically recoup its estimated $53 million production costs. The movie’s three-hour-plus running time was certainly a factor in its poor performance, with theaters unable to cram in as many screenings as rival pics, but it seems that the concept, which set the net alight, has failed to capture the imagination of the public at large.

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Batman fans might be disappointed to learn that upcoming movie The Dark Knight might not necessarily feature the coin-tossing arch villain that they were expecting. Writer David Goyer has told SCI FI Wire that although the character of Harvey Dent will appear in the Batman Begins sequel, it might not be in the form of his villainous alter ego as has been reported.

‘I think Harvey Dent has been mentioned” Goyer said ‘I don’t know that Two-Face has been mentioned.”

Goyer added that he and Nolan ‘spent a long time, a number of weeks, talking before we decided that we could come up with a story that was as exciting, if not more so, than the first one, because we really did not want to let down the fans. We had to figure out a way to top ourselves, and I think we have.‘

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Wizard Universe have revealed that comic book writer, screenwriter, and film director David Samuel Goyer’s next project will be a Green Arrow movie titled Super Max.

Shortly after Warner Bros had hired him to write and direct a Flash movie, Goyer instead sold the studio on an idea that focused on the more villainous side of the DC Universe.

Super Max tells the story of a wrongly convicted Green Arrow who is incarcerated in a super max prison for out-of-control heroes and villains where he’s forced to face a number of inmates he put there.

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Posted in Movies •