Movies

Armie Hammer is a giant, beautiful human. Now that we have that out of the way, it's very obvious -- after his scene-stealing turn as the rowing Winklevoss twins in THE SOCIAL NETWORK -- that he would make a swell giant, beautiful Kryptonian. However, as he blabs in an interview with Vulture, at 24 he's too young for the upcoming Zack Snyder Superman movie which will deal with a more mature 35-40 year old Man of Steel. Given that we've seen the original of Superman told so well in the Christopher Reeve versions, an older I-know-what-I'm-doing Man of Steel might be a good change-up. It's also more in line with the age of Christian Bale's Batman. And, it just feels more Curt Swan, y'know.

Despite worries, RED held its own against the Jackass onslaught this weekend at the ox office. The Summit Pictures film -- loosely based on the Warren Ellis/Cully Hamner comic of the same name, came in a solid second and appears to have had wide appe

Tom Hardy, lately of INCEPTION, has joined the Christopher Nolan repertory company with a role in the upcoming BATMAN 3 movie. No word on...

There is a small, snivelling and flinching part of me that would rather not have his name inextricably linked with The Last Comic Book Movie Flop Of 2010. But, you know, I am today pretty much at peace with the whole thing. I’ve met fine people and I’ve learned many useful things, and that is the most you can ask of any walk.

Did Zack Snyder get the Superman gig because he's the only director in town who could get the baggage-heavy franchise back in production before 2011? That's what Claude Brodesser-Akner is reporting over at Vulture. And why 2011? It's not because of the Mayan calendar, but rather a deadline of another sort. Based on their filings for copyright reversion (which Warner Bros. has pulled out every trick in the book to stop) the Siegel family will regain control of their half of Superman in 2013, with the Joe Shuster heirs expected to get theirs back soon after. So a movie has to get made before then.

HeyUGuys scans in the new issue of Empire and gets some new images of Chris Hemsworth as Thor. He's no Alexander Skarsgard, but we guess he'll do. The film has an innovative plot, as well, as Thor and his evil brother Loki (played by Tom Hiddleston) must team up to defeat the sinister menace of The Boom Mike.

So it's Zack Snyder who's been tapped to direct the next Superman movie. Evidently, the vacation Snyder took directing a movie about feisty little owls wearing helmets put him back in the mood for a comic book movie, following 300 and WATCHMEN.

Note: We thought this interview with Feige on the occasion of the IRON MAN 2 Blu-ray release was incredibly long and unfocused and couldn't believe he or his secretary took all the time to answer the questions, but turns out it was a ROUNDTABLE. That makes more sense. .

Now it's LABOR problems. Alas, my Beorn!

Young Chloe Moretz is adding to her geek cred by starring as yet another cartoon character, Emily the Strange, Deadline reports. Originally created as a clothing line mascot by Rob Reger, Emily is a cat-loving goth girl (like there is any other kind) who had expanded into print and graphic novels. An Emily comic is published by Dark Horse, and DH head Mike Richardson will be one of the producers.

Yes, there is a GHOST RIDER sequel being made right now, but it won't come out until 2012. And then the world will end. Nicolas Cage rides the flaming chopper again, Splash Page reports. The CRANK team of Mark Neveldine and Brian Taylor directs, and it's filming in Romania. You'll recall that although there wasn't that much enthusiasm for the first one, the rights would revert to Marvel/Disney if Sony didn't do something with the property, and Sony wouldn't want that. Because there is life in that flaming chopper.

It seems that the general air of Doompocalypsamagedden has now even extended to the comic book film, a once thriving genre that provided much of the capital that has fueled the biz for the last decade. Over at Comic Book Movie, there's an unsigned "volunteer contribution" that suggests "comic book movie" could go the way of the Western or the POLICE ACADEMY movies: