No, for real this time! Summit, the studio behind tween film behemoth Twilight, is set to distribute the film adaptation of Orson Scott Card’s much-loved sci-fi novel Ender’s Game. Genre fans might worry a bit about the film’s director, X-Men Origins: Wolverine’s Gavin Hood, but he’s also made some pretty good dramas, so a novel like Ender might actually be a pretty good fit. To assuage other fears, Roberto Orci and Alex Kurtzman, two of the dudes behind TV’s Fringe and the Star Trek reboot, are co-producing. Could it be a dynamite combination? Maybe, if this project gets off the ground. Wolfgang Peterson’s 2008 attempt didn’t. Read more…
We’ve known that the upcoming Green Lantern movie is going full-blown crazy in its display of alien Lanterns, as evidenced by its recent WonderCon footage, but the latest poster really exhibits the almost Lucasian variety of alien life. Just offhand, you’ve got yourself a Boodikka, Stel, Abin Sur, Kilowog, Tomar Re, Sinestro, and that looks like R’amey Holl with the butterfly wings. And that isn’t even all of them in this poster! Being a Green Lantern must be like living in the Mos Eisley Cantina every day, you know? Let’s hope all these neat races get their due in the film, which comes out in about a month and a half. Read more…
Posted by Michael Sacco on Apr 29, 2011 in Comic Books
Zack Snyder’s upcoming Superman film, The Man of Steel, is already featuring one familiar villain by way of Michael Shannon’s General Zod, but it looks like another one is waiting in the wings: Variety reports that German actress Antje Traue will be playing Kryptonian brawler Faora. The man-hating martial artist had a number of appearances in Superman canon, including stints in classic Action Comics (where a stymied Superman was forced to flee their first encounter) and even showed up on Smallville, so it’ll be interesting to see how they tie her into the movie’s web of villainy along with Zod. Read more…
Posted by Tim Sheehy on Apr 28, 2011 in Videogames
When Square Enix originally announced plans to produce the first Chaos Rings title, I was excited by the prospect. The intent was create a fully-featured role playing experience that could harness the graphical capabilities of an iDevice. After it launched on the app store a year ago, the game was met with rave reviews and seems to have done well enough for Square Enix to consider not one, but two follow-up projects, the first of which is the upcoming prequel Chaos Rings Omega, which will be hitting the Japanese app store next month.
Posted by Tim Sheehy on Apr 28, 2011 in Videogames
Back in January, fellow fanboy Michael Sacco informed us that Warner Brothers would be adapting Kevin Tancharoen’s Mortal Kombat film pitch as a web-based miniseries. As I’m sure many of you already know, Mortal Kombat: Legacy began “airing” earlier this month. So far, they’re about three episodes in and despite some initial gripes, it’s been getting better and better. The latest episode even features a guest appearance by the game’s creator Ed Boon. While it’s not exactly as gritty as the initial pitch, I still want to see where they plan on taking the series. Who knows, if it proves to be popular enough, we may even see a transition to network television. Read more…
Here’s a fan-made trailer for a non-existent film set in the Tron universe, entitled Tron: Destiny. Not much is known about the clip, but the production quality is pretty spectacular to say the least. The acting is even decent. These fan-produced shorts keep getting prettier and prettier. Not to spoil it, but I’d have to say he did magnificent job of rendering a light-bike, and definitely leaves us wanting more. It’s a shame that nobody has come forward to claim the video yet. But when they do, I expect we’ll find out more about what he may planned. Maybe an actual web series? It worked for Mortal Kombat.
Posted by Tim Sheehy on Apr 27, 2011 in Television
Don’t worry, you can breathe a sigh of relief. According to IGN, the CW has announced plans to renew Supernatural for a seventh season. While I haven’t followed its ratings since series creator Eric Kripke handed the reins to Sera Gamble, it’s nice to know the network has confidence in her performance so far. From what I’ve seen of the sixth season, it’s not terrible, but I can’t honestly call it their best to date. While the episodes have been entertaining, the story arcs have seemed a bit rushed. Then again, Kripke had planned the series three seasons in advance while eventually stretching those plans to fit five. Given the age of the series, I’m not sure Gamble has that liberty. Still, season seven — that’s something.
I’m sure most, if not all of you, may be wondering who Norio Ohga was. A former opera singer, and Sony chairmen, Ohga was credited with developing the compact disc. Unfortunately, he passed away last weekend, but not before leaving a lasting legacy. Ohga led Sony to create what would become the standard for commercial audio and ushered in a new era of technology as a result. Read more…
It’s not as nifty as crafting your own Portal 2-themed Easter egg, but this little crossover video by YouTube user Prefim is pretty cool. The video takes the intro to Mad Men and thrusts it into the world of Portal 2 with some stunning results — it almost seems natural. Within a day of being posted, the video shot to 32,000 views. Impressive, right?
Posted by Michael Pinto on Apr 25, 2011 in Animation
This wonderfully done infographic is an informal guide to must see anime which I discovered via a topsy.com search.. The one thing I like about this chart is that it admits that it’s subjective and a matter of taste. I’ll also add that as anime is always focused on the latest and the greatest that often the old gems of yesteryear tend to be overlooked in favor of the latest eye candy. Read more…
