Disney D23: Tron Light Cycle Photos

While at the D23 Exposition event, I’ve gotten to see a lot of promo material for Disney’s upcoming 2010 film roster. One of the movies that a lot of people are waiting for is Tron Legacy. The sequel has been over 25 years in the making, and will feature the return of Jeff Bridges, and the only thing bigger than his character Flynn, is the Light Cycle he rides in on.

I was lucky enough to catch a glimpse of the latest version of the high tech bike on the convention floor, and it is amazing. Here are a couple of photos so you can experience the 3-D glow for yourself.

As you can see the new bike has a sleeker design than the original, but still has a similar look. The only bad thing about this Light Cycle is the fact that you’ll have to wait over a year to see it in action. We’ve previously posted the film’s teaser trailer, but it doesn’t do it justice.

Tron Legacy is scheduled to debut in theaters on December 17, 2010. Where is the justice in that?

By Mali Elfman

Pirates of the Caribbean 4: On Stranger Tides

At the Disney D23 Expo, some new info has been revealed regarding the upcoming fourth installment of the Pirates of the Caribbean franchise. The studio recently announced the new film’s subtitle as, On Stranger Tides. Pirates is scheduled for release during the summer of 2011, and will feature the return of Captain Jack as played by Johnny Depp. The new title isn’t as catchy as At World’s End, but it will do.

Production on Pirates 4: On Stranger Tides is scheduled to begin in the spring of 2010 around April or May. At the moment they haven’t confirmed a director for the feature even though earlier reports hadChicago helmer Rob Marshall up for the job. Since Keira Knightley and Orlando Bloom won’t be reprising their roles for the fourth film, Disney is considering On Stranger Tides the first installment of a new trilogy.

As a die hard Johnny Depp fan this is great news, but can Jack Sparrow cover another trilogy? Is there enough material for him? He is an entertaining and interesting character, but this sounds a bit like over kill. Here’s to hoping everything works out.

By Krystal Clark

Jerry Bruckheimer Purchases Shake Story

Super producer Jerry Bruckheimer has just bought the rights to the short story entitled, Shake. In a real life Cinderella tale, Bruckheimer acquired the story from a very unlikely source. He spotted Shake, on the website Popcornfiction, an outlet for television and film writers to showcase their pulpy short stories. One thing led to another and the story’s author Derek Haas was hired and paid a hefty salary to adapt a screenplay based on his original piece.

According to Yahoo, Bruckheimer paid seven figures to acquire the story and the writing talent of Derek Haas to expand Shake into a screenplay. The film centers on an FBI agent chasing a killer while he begins to lose control of his own body. The producer loved the concept and thought it would make a great film for Disney. Haas is no stranger to feature film writing, he and partner Michael Brandt co-wrote the screenplays for Wanted and 3:10 to Yuma.

It’s hard to believe that Haas had a hand in both Wanted and 3:10 to Yuma. They’re so different on so many levels, with one being pretty good and the other one not so much. Either way, he must be excited to get paid a nice amount of money to write a script based on his own work. That way he still maintains some control over the story that he originally created.

By Krystal Clark

Spider-Man 4 IMAX Release Date Set

The release date for Sam Raimi’s fourth Spider-Man film has been set. According to Superherohype, Columbia Pictures sent out an official press release announcing the news. Spider-Man 4 will hit theaters on May 5, 2011 in both conventional and IMAX venues. The film will closely follow the previous installment that debuted on May 4, 2007. This shouldn’t come as a shock to anyone who has followed the franchise closely. Spider-Man and IMAX are practically joint at the hip.

The last two Spider-Man films were given full fledged IMAX releases and this new feature will be no different. The studio and the theater think that Spider-Man 4 will be bigger than ever, because a lot more IMAX locations have been opened since the last time the webbed one was showcased on their screens.

According to Rory Bruer, President, Worldwide Distribution for Sony Pictures Releasing.”The addition of so many new IMAX locations will give even more fans of Spider-Man an opportunity to experience the action and adventure in a unique way.”

There you have it. In 2011 we will literally have more Spidey than we can handle. I’m not particularly excited about this film, because the third one burned me pretty bad. It wasn’t just the story, but the overall lack of trying that really got under my skin. Spider-Man 4 has a lot of cleaning up to do, and I’m just not sure if it can do the job.

By Krystal Clark

Michael Jackson’s This is It Poster

A poster has already been printed for the upcoming concert documentary, Michael Jackson’s This is it.The film is a compilation of footage covering the singer’s last days, while rehearsing for his 2009 comeback tour. The film will hit theaters on October 28th, and will give fans the ultimate behind the scenes experience from one of the greatest performers of all time.

The following poster isn’t as over the top as I thought it would be, but it gets the message across…

I love how his silhouette is filled with images of him performing. That’s a beautiful way to remember Jackson as an artist. Now that September is here, the studio has some serious promoting to do beforeThis is it comes out. But then again, as much coverage as the Jackson family has received in the past few months I’m sure the word is out there.

One side of me thinks this is a great way to see Michael in action one last time, while the other part wishes they weren’t capitalizing so quickly off of his death. I’m at a crossroads.

By Krystal Clark

Will Smith and Charlize Theron Confirmed for Hancock 2

Shortly after two writers were hired to pen the script for Hancock 2, director Peter Berg has confirmed the film’s main cast. Over at MTV, they recently spoke to Berg about the sequel and whether or not all the original stars would make a return. Will Smith’s appearance is a given, and at this point so is Charlize Theron’s, so Jason Bateman can’t be too far behind can he?

When Peter Berg spoke to MTV while at the Toronto International Film Festival, he was asked about Smith and Theron’s return for the next film, and he responded with “Everybody’s going to come back for a sequel.” This news lines up with a few earlier statements Theron made about her possible return to the movie from last September. She said that she would be happy to reprise her role in another film if everyone else was also on board.

When we interviewed Jason Bateman a couple of weeks ago, he weighed in on his possible return to the franchise as well.

I think anytime Will does a movie, there’s not only going to be a sequel, but it’s a franchise. Listen, if I’m invited I’ll be there, but I know it’s something that they’ve talked about since day one.

So a confirmation from Bateman might not be far behind.

SPOILER ALERT…

If you’ve seen the first Hancock, you know that Smith and Theron’s characters are both powerful gods. The biggest plot point that’s been revealed for the upcoming sequel is the appearance of a third god, who will interact with the two. According to Berg they already have an actor in mind to play that character, but he won’t reveal who it is.

Hancock was an OK movie in my book, but I’ve seen everyone involved with the film do better. It’s obviously being used as a massive franchise piece for the studio, so I wouldn’t be surprised if a third or even fourth film popped up in the near future.

By Krystal Clark

Iron Man 2 Converted to 3-D?

Is it possible? Could Jon Favreau convert his upcoming Iron Man 2 into a 3-D format? Must 3-D technology touch everything I hold near and dear? According to AICN, Marvel and Paramount may be looking into a conversion of not only the Iron Man sequel, but the original film as well! What’s going on here?

Apparently, a demo is being sent around throughout Marvel’s inner circle that features a one minute clip of Iron Man 2 rendered in digital 3-D. Everything is very hush, hush at the moment, but sources say the footage looks amazing. At the moment they are shopping for bids to see how much it would cost to transfer the entire film over into the 3-D format.

Is this a legit possibility? Jon Favreau has mentioned in the past that he was interested in working with 3-D on Iron Man 2, but harsh production realities became a setback.

“I was hoping to get a shot at doing it this time around, but it didn’t work out that way. … There are a few drawbacks to it at this point — there’s more cost involved, and it also forces you to shoot digitally. My cinematographer [Matthew Libatique] really likes film, and ‘Iron Man’ had a certain look because it was film.”

If they do go through with a complete re-rendering of the footage, I wonder what this would mean for the rest of the Avengers franchise? It would be dumb to have one or two films in 3-D, and the others in 2-D. This is a costly jump that Marvel and Paramount may want to think about before taking the plunge.

I’m not totally against it, but I think the production would be a timely process. I don’t want to have to wait for my Avengers any longer than I already am, so I hope they consider the films’ release dates before they jump the gun.

By Krystal Clark