Author: Wade Gum

After the somewhat dissapointing box office take that Superman Returns received domestically, many people expressed serious doubts as to whether or not Warner Bros. would greenlight a sequel. Apparently Bryan Singer wasn’t one of them, as the writer/director is so confident of an imminent sequel that he’s already begun working on it.

In an interview with Empire Online, Singer revealed that he’s currently in the developmental phase of the sequel, tentatively titled Superman: Man of Steel, and intends to direct it.

Singer is being quiet about the specific’s of the sequel’s storyline, but dropped a few hints about the movie’s tone:

“The first one was a romantic film and a nostalgic film,” he says. “I’ll be the first person to own up to that without making any apologies for it. I knew it was going to be that from the outset. And now that the characters are established, there’s really an opportunity to up the threat levels…Clearly there’ll be a body count [laughs]. From frame one, it will be unrelenting terror! All those teenage girls who found the movie and mooned over James Marsden or Brandon? Well, I’m going to wake them up!”

Nothing has been officially announced about a Superman Returns sequel by Warner Bros., so it’s unknown as to whether or not the cast members Singer mentioned will be returning. However, given his output since Superman Returns, it’s probably a safe bet that Brandon Routh can work a sequel into his schedule.

Sure, all those fancy suits on the previous Iron Man posters were cool, but what’s a poster without the handsome face of Tony Stark himself? Paramount has released the newest poster for the upcoming Iron Man film, which features profile shots of the film’s principle cast: Robert Downey Jr., Jeff Bridges, Terrence Howard and Gwyneth Paltrow.

Of course, the fancy armor is also in the poster, but who cares about that? People care about Terrence Howard looking pensive and Tony Stark’s immaculate facial hair.

Directed by Jon Favreau (Elf, Made), Iron Man hits theaters on May 2. Until then, you’ll just have to stare at this poster in the lobby of your local theater and anticipate all the angry message board posts you’ll write after it comes out.

(via Superhero Hype)

The live-action adaptation of Dragonball, originally set to be released on August 15, 2008, has been pushed back to April 3, 2009.

20th Century Fox has moved the film from the busy tail end of this year’s summer movie season to the beginning of next year’s, where it currently faces no competition. The nature of the box office is sure to change that situation, but for now movies like Star Wars: The Clone Wars and Wild Child can rest easy knowing they won’t have to compete against super saiyans.

The film’s story follows Goku as he races against time to collect those precious, precious dragonballs before the evil Lord Piccolo can get his hands on them. Lots of screaming and punching are involved.

Dragonball stars Justin Chatwin as Goku, Emmy Rossum as Bulma, James Marsters as Piccolo and Chow Yun-Fat as Master Roshi and is directed by James Wong (Final Destination, The One).

(via SHH)

Today the CW Network announced that it has renewed Smallville for an eighth season, which will begin airing in the fall. This announcement removes the doubt that was surrounding Smallville‘s ultimate fate after a strike shortened season.

The show may need to replace its chief villain when it films new episodes. Earlier this year, Michael Rosenbaum stated that the current season would be his last playing Lex Luthor. Whether or not he sticks to his word may depend on the alignment of the stars, his general temperment and the amount of money The CW throws at him.

(via Coming Soon)

The executive producer of the upcoming G.I. Joe movie, Brian Goldner, dropped a few hints about the film in an interview with MTV News.

According to Goldner, the movie began filming last week and is proceeding smoothly. When asked about characters that may make an appearance in the film, Goldner revealed little, but offered a few hints as to what fans can expect from the film:

We all know of the Arashikage [ninja clan], and we all know of Snake Eyes and Storm Shadow, but we need to build that story," he explained. "We all know the story of Duke, and the story of the Baroness. … We know the story of Destro, but do we really? We need to go back and tell the origin story of how you get a Scottish arms dealer, who comes forward in history — how does that happen?"

Goldner also said that the film chronicles the rise of Cobra Commander and his quest for power.

G.I. Joe is being directed by Stephen Sommers (The Mummy, Van Helsing) and features a script that long-time G.I. Joe comic book scribe Larry Hama contributed to. The film stars Dennis Quaid, Sienna Miller, Arnold Vosloo, Joseph Gordon-Levitt and Marlon Wayans. G. I. Joe is tentatively scheduled for release in August 2009.

There’s a new actor playing the childhood version of Logan in the upcoming X-Men Origins: Wolverine and his name is Troye Mellet. If that name’s unfamiliar to you, perhaps you should pay more attention to YouTube.

Mellet first attracted the interest of the film’s producers in YouTube clips such as this one, which feature his singing voice. Mellet is no stranger to acting and has received some acclaim for playing the lead in Oliver in Sydney, Australia. If there’s any need for young Logan to break into a rendition of "Hard Knock Life," Mellet has the pipes to pull it off.

The actor originally cast for the role, Kodi Smit-McPhee, has had to bow out of the project due to prior commitments and a change in shooting dates for X-Men Origins: Wolverine. McPhee is attached to the film adaptation of Cormac McCarthy’s The Road, which stars Viggo Mortensen and Charlize Theron.

(via SHH)