No Ra's al Ghul in Dark Knight Rises

Even though director Christopher Nolan has set his Batman films in a more or less real world setting, some fans have still speculated that Liam Neeson's Ra's al Ghul character -- last seen taking a dive onboard a plummeting train -- might return to the series. What do you think was his answer?
We spoke to Neeson this past weekend and asked him if he will play Ra's again at some point. The character, after all, is virtually immortal in the comics.

Detroit Mayor Kills Robocop Statue

Philly has a Rocky statue. But when fans in Detroit wanted a statue erected in honor of their city's fictional hero, Robocop, the idea was rebuffed by the mayor.
Detroit Mayor Dave Bing, who had asked citizens online for ideas on how to revitalize the city, shot down the statue idea via Twitter. "There are not any plans to erect a statue to Robocop," Bing tweeted. "Thank you for your suggestion."
This, of course, sent Robocop fans into a Twitter frenzy.

Shia LaBeouf Caught in a Bar Fight

Shia LaBeouf is in hot water yet again. On Friday night, the actor was caught fighting at a bar in Los Angeles. The police were alerted to the disturbance and after they showed up LaBeouf was handcuffed. Luckily for the Transformers star, they eventually decided to let him go and no further arrests were made. The actor has gotten himself into trouble before, getting charged with a misdemeanor for refusing to leave a Chicago convenience store in 2007 and getting arrested for drunk driving in 2008. How about you stop getting in bar fights okay, Shia? How about you invest in some killer Ray Bans and a collection of leather jackets, roll packs of cigarettes up in the sleeve of your tshirts and drive a motorcycle. Here's the thing about ladies: it doesn't take much to convince them you're a bad boy, so lay off the actual misdemeanors, okay?

Is James Franco Sam Raimi's 'Oz, The Great & Powerful'?

Add James Franco to the list of potential stars of Disney's developing Wizard of Oz prequel Oz, The Great and Powerful. Sam Raimi is directing the high priority project with Joe Roth producing, and together they've been courting Hollywood's most eligible leading men for the title role including Robert Downey Jr. and Johnny Depp.

Superman Villain Revealed?

So all that talk about the Superman reboot's new female character? The latest report on the matter would seem to indicate that the gal is actually a villain in the film.
Alice Eve (She's Out of your League), Diane Kruger (Inglourious Basterds) and Rosamund Pike (Die Another Day) were all reported this week to be up for the role. And now Latino Review has the scoop that "The character these lovely actresses have come out for is none other than a Kryptonian villainess who is going by the name of URSA." Sound familiar?
Ursa, of course, was General Zod's right-hand woman in Superman II. Does this mean Zod, too, will show up to battle the Man of Steel?
The site also adds that despite the fevered fanboy speculation to the contrary, Lois Lane in fact is in the reboot as well.

Cavill is the New Superman

British actor Henry Cavill has been cast in the title role in Warner Bros.' Superman reboot to be directed by Zack Snyder and produced by Christopher Nolan.
Warner Bros. and Legendary Pictures officially announced Sunday that the 27-year-old actor -- perhaps best known for his role on The Tudors and who will next be seen as "Theseus" in Immortals -- has won the role after a long search.
Snyder said in a statement, "In the pantheon of superheroes, Superman is the most recognized and revered character of all time, and I am honored to be a part of his return to the big screen. I also join Warner Bros., Legendary and the producers in saying how excited we are about the casting of Henry. He is the perfect choice to don the cape and S shield." David Goyer scripted the new Superman film. In addition to Nolan, the reboot will be produced by Charles Roven, Emma Thomas and Deborah Snyder. The film is slated for a December 2012 release.

Henry Cavill's other credits include Whatever Works, Stardust, Tristan + Isolde and The Count of Monte Cristo.

Matrix 4 and 5 in the Works?

According to AICN, Reeves met with the Wachowskis over Christmas, at which time they announced that they had "completed work on a two-picture script treatment that would see him return to the world of The Matrix as Neo."
The pair have already met with James Cameron to discuss the potential use of 3D, with Keanu claiming that they will be looking to shoot a movie that will revolutionise the action genre in the same way the original did.

Captain America's Title Change

We can't say we're surprised about this, but Captain America: The First Avenger isn't going to be called Captain America when its released in some international markets later this year.
Citing "Marvel Studios insiders," The Los Angeles Times reports that the Marvel-Paramount movie will be released as simply The First Avenger in Russia, South Korea and the Ukraine.
"Those involved in the decision are being careful to frame the move as a matter of brand management and consumer awareness and not as a decision tilted by cultural or political winds, " according to the paper. "In private, Marvel insiders said that early on in the project's planning there was talk that the title might need to be changed in numerous international markets but that there was a 'pleasant surprise' — the brand recognition of the comic-book superhero was so strong that it overrode those considerations in many places. That was not the case in Russia, South Korea and the Ukraine."

Catwoman Joins The Dark Knight Rises

Warner Bros. Pictures announced today that Anne Hathaway has been cast as Selina Kyle in Christopher Nolan's The Dark Knight Rises. She will be starring alongside Christian Bale, who returns in the title role of Bruce Wayne/Batman. Christopher Nolan stated, "I am thrilled to have the opportunity to work with Anne Hathaway, who will be a fantastic addition to our ensemble as we complete our story."

New Spider-Man Suit Pics

Spy pics have been coming in from the set of the Spider-Man reboot lately, and the latest batch to hit gives us a much better look at the wallcrawler's costume than the recently released official shot from Sony. Not that that's a good thing...
We see Spidey's mask in it, which seems to have red lenses rather than the usual white ones. We can also pretty clearly make out his mechanical webshooters, so score one for us old-school fans. And what's with those shoes? Air Spideys, anyone?
 Or maybe they are. One thing is clear from these images, though: This is a very different Spider-Man suit than the Sam Raimi version.

Want a 7th Season of Supernatural?

According to Jennifer Arrow of E! online, there's a more-than-good chance that The CW's Supernatural will be back next year for a seventh season.
CW president Dawn Ostroff told E! that "We haven't officially picked anything up yet, but [Supernatural] is creatively doing so well—and it's doing better on Friday night than it was on Thursday night—so I can't imagine we won't pick it up."

"Our network team works with the Supernatural team very closely," Ostroff told Arrow. "We haven't started talking about next year, but I'd be shocked if we didn't pick it up."

"Shocked?" "Shocked" is good.

Pirates 5 Writer Hired

Disney believes future installments in its Pirates of the Caribbean franchise are seaworthy enough to hire a series veteran to script Pirates of the Caribbean 5.
Deadline reports that Disney has sealed a deal with Terry Rossio, the co-writer of the previous four Pirates pics, to script the fifth entry. It will mark the first film in the series Rossio will have written without his partner, Ted Elliott.
The site adds that Disney is also angling to sign Pirates of the Caribbean: On Stranger Tides director Rob Marshall to helm the fifth movie, and that Johnny Depp has a deal to reprise his role as Jack Sparrow for another movie although he's not locked.
Depp, however, told Entertainment Weekly that he's gung-ho to set sail for another movie. "As long as we can put all the puzzle pieces together, I would most definitely consider it," said Depp.

Smallville: One More Supergirl Appearance?

We saw Supergirl return to Smallville earlier this season, but will we get one more appearance from the Girl of Steel before the show comes to an end in May? I spoke to Laura Vandervoort last night about the possibility of her returning and her answer was decidedly coy.

"I did an episode this season and I… well, we'll have to see." For what it's worth, Vandervoort had a big smile on her face as she pointedly paused before she said, "well, we'll have to see," which had me thinking the chances are at least good. But I certainly can't promise I'm right about that.

I mentioned to Vandervoort that since her last appearance on Smallville, there have been multiple references to Kara on the show, including showing photos of her in the paper. She smiled, replying, "I think that's good for me to know, actually. I'm still hanging around!"

Why Was Gandalf Holding Out?

Sir Ian McKellen was among the last of the Lord of the Rings veterans to sign on for The Hobbit. The conventional wisdom was that he was holding out for more money. but the actor claims that wasn't the case.

Vulture points out this posting McKellen made this week at his official site where he explained his delay in agreeing to reprise his role as Gandalf in The Hobbit.

"All I had to decide was what to do with the time that is given me. I'm 71 and fit: though at my age who knows what accident is 'round the next corner? For a year or more, I have been arranging my professional commitments around the possibility of The Hobbit films starting at almost anytime," McKellen began.

He went on to say, "As my agent continued to negotiate with Warner Brothers, I kept wondering was Gandalf what I most wanted to do, more than a new play for instance or indeed a new part? Sequels aren't necessarily as rewarding to act in as their originals. Could I let Gandalf go? Would anyone else care if I did? Elsewhere, does anyone care that Michael Gambon was not the first to play Dumbledore?"

Draco Malfoy Goes Ape Over Caesar

Tom Felton is hailing Caesar.

The young Brit actor, best known for his role as the wicked Draco Malfoy in the Harry Potter films, co-stars in the upcoming Caesar: Rise of the Apes, Fox's prequel to Planet of the Apes.

In a chat with the Los Angeles Times, Felton called the project "one of my favorite scripts of any I've read." The Rupert Wyatt-directed movie recalls how the apes became intelligent, speaking beings and their ultimate rise to power over humans.

Felton plays another bad guy this time, a scientist named Dodge. The actor says that the story, which is set in contemporary San Francisco, "follows this one ape as he ends up in a primate facility, a facility where my character works. Needless to say, I'm not that keen on the monkeys at my facility. I'm not the most pleasant person they've ever come across in their life. I show this one particular ape that there is a dark side to humans, and I'm not very nice. And that leads to a backlash ..."

Andy Serkis plays Caesar, who will be created digitally via performance-capture. James Franco leads a cast that also includes Freida Pinto, Brian Cox and John Lithgow. Rise of the Apes opens June 24.

Spartacus: Gods of the Arena Unleashes Hell!

Due to a series of sad and unfortunate events, Season 2 of the hit Starz series Spartacus: Blood and Sand hasn't officially begun production yet, as the daunting task of recasting the titular role is still underway. But for those of you clamoring and frothing for that particular kind of stylized sex, violence and treachery, a six-episode prequel series, Spartacus: Gods of the Arena, was made to give us all some meaty back-story on the characters of Batiatus (John Hannah), Lucretia (Lucy Lawless) and Oenomaus (Peter Mensah) -- set a few years before the events of Season 1 took place.

Hobbit Sets Serkis, More Rumored

Andy Serkis is now set to reprise his role as Gollum in the two-part adaptation of The Hobbit.

New Line confirmed Serkis' casting to Variety. Serkis, as you know, played Gollum (and Smeagol) in the Lord of the Rings films. The Hobbit will reunite him with that trilogy's Oscar-winning director, Peter Jackson.

Meanwhile, Deadline claims "others who appeared in The Lord of the Rings poised to return at this point include Ian McKellen (who's still working out a deal to return as Gandalf in a major role), Christopher Lee is in talks to reprise the wizard Saruman, and Ian Holm to return as an older version of Bilbo Baggins (Martin Freeman is playing that title role in the two new movies)."

Pre-production on The Hobbit is currently under way in New Zealand for a February start.

Reitman on Ghostbusters 3 The original film's director sets the record straight on the threequel

Ghostbusters director Ivan Reitman is keen on the script for Ghostbusters 3, saying "it's got a really good story, this one. Maybe the best of the whole series. I hope we get to do it."

In a chat with Coming Soon, Reitman said Bill Murray "hasn't read it. There has been all kinds of chatter online about him reading it and not liking it. He has not read a thing. He's never read anything. And I just sent it to him. So we'll see. God knows how long that will take. But we'll see."

Reitman did confirm that all of the original cast, including Sigourney Weaver, are in the script, but otherwise "there has been a ton of stuff about casting about who's in... none of it is true."

Reitman also told Associated Press that Ghostbusters 3 is "good enough to do, to take the risk of doing again.