Zack Snyder Officially Set For "Superman"

Some extremely big and 'super' news on the comic book movie front.

After interviews, rumors and rampant speculation, director Zack Snyder has been selected to helm the new "Superman" film, which is being godfathered by director Christopher Nolan.

According to the trades Snyder, the director of "300" and "Watchmen", beat out names such as Ben Affleck, Darren Aronofsky, Matt Reeves, Tony Scott and Robert Zemeckis for the film.

This is huge news, and welcome news for any "Superman" fans out there. Snyder
honestly is the perfect choose for this. He is no stranger to comic book adaptations, and if
you were a fan of the orginal book "Watchmen" you had to pleased with the accuracy and
detail Snyder put into it. If he even puts half of that into this film (which he won't, he'll be
in 110 percent), Clark Kent is in good hands.

General Zod is being rumored to play the villain in the project which "The Dark Knight"
director Christopher Nolan will serve as producer on, while David Goyer is penning the
script. The project is moving quick as the studio has to be in production by next year or
risk losing select copyrights to the heirs of the character's creators.

Thankfully is official that Brandon Routh will NOT be returning as the Man of Steel.
Nothing against Routh, but if you're trying to reinvent a franchise, casting the same lead
actor just doesn't make sense, so good job Zack and Chris on that one.

This project quickly will be one of the hottest ones in Hollywood with tons of actors
clamoring to play the man with the red cape.

If I had a choice, screw going young, lets take a guy like Jon Hamm. Anyone
see "The Town" or "Mad Men" lately? The dude can freaking act and he has that
good old American machismo look that could translate into Superman pretty well.

Either way, the news is about Snyder, and he really is the perfect choice for this. Having
names like Snyder, Goyer and Nolan on one project is just too much to even fathom. This
is going to be a good one, I just know it.

And I'm more of a Batman guy.

Matthew Goode Goes To Bondi For "Man"

British actor Matthew Goode ("Watchmen," "Leap Year") has joined Jonathan Teplitzky's Australian-set romantic comedy "Burning Man" says The Hollywood Reporter.

According to the Hollywood Reporter: Matthew Goode is playing rough with a bevy of beauties including Bojana Novakovic, Rachel Griffiths, Essie Davis, Kerry Fox, Kate Beahan and Gia Carides in writer-director Jonathan Teplitzky's "Burning Man."

Goode plays an English chef with a hot restaurant on Sydney's Bondi Beach trying to get his life together and re-establish his relationship with his son. Things aren't helped by all the gorgeous women that surround him.

Although at times Goode can seem a bit hollow (aka in “Watchmen”) anyone who saw him in Tom Ford’s “A Single Man” last year knows Goode is an excellent actor and he should be perfect for this role. He has the charm and charisma to take on all those females and be the leading man.

Teplitzky and Andy Paterson will produce. Produced by U.K. producer Andy Paterson and Teplitzky, the film will shoot on location in Sydney.

Brand New Pictures: Public Enemies, Watchmen and More

It's the new year, and that can mean only one thing: brand new photos! Entertainment Weekly has a gallery full of pictures previewing some of the biggest releases of 2009 including Will Ferrell in Land of the Lost, the Michael Mann directed Public Enemies and Spike Jonze's Where the Wild Things Are.

Christian Bale geared up as the grown up John Connor in Terminator Salvation.
Another one of Bale sneaking up on an unsuspecting Terminator.
John Travolta (mutton chops and all) taking charge in the Taking of Pelham 1-2-3.
A very blue collar looking Denzel racing down the streets of NYC.
Johnny Depp looking dapper as infamous criminal John Dillinger in Public Enemies.
Christian Bale as the dashing federal agent Melvin Purvis.
Depp contemplating his next move, with a nice souvenir on his arm.
A beautiful shot of Max chasing a monster in the long awaited Where the Wild Things Are.
A tender moment with Max and his crown.
Jeffery Dean Morgan as Edward Blake, aka The Comedian, in Zack Snyder's Watchmen.
Michael Cera and Jack Black in the sure to be absolutely hilarious, Year One.
Will Ferrell, Danny McBride and Anna Friel watching as danger lurks above in Land of the Lost.
Hugh Jackman looking rather angry as Logan in X-Men Origins: Wolverine.

Zach Snyder on Watchmen

Here's a video of director Zach Snyder
talking about his upcoming film Watchmen.

I hope and pray this movie will get released on time.

Boycott What?

Being up at 4:15 in the morning isn't necessarily a good thing, but I was on io9.com, and i found something that made me feel a bit better about being up so late. The article is a great rant about any fans that are planning to boycott Fox in light of the possible delay of Watchmen.

They bring up a pretty good point: what has Fox put out that anyone was really dying to see anyway? Max Payne, The Day the Earth Stood Still, Jumper? These are just a few examples they give.

One movie they have upcoming that is actually anticipated is X-Men Origins: Wolverine which will be released in May. I think the film looks good, but I have to agree with io9 that the movie is starting to look like a way to create a whole new batch of X-Men movie spinoffs by introducing a bunch of secondary characters like Gambit, Emma Frost, and Deadpool.

Hopefully the idea of a boycott will end up being a moot point because Watchmen will be released on time. Only time will tell...

And speaking of time, like three paragraphs down io9 writes in regards to Fox's former flameouts: "These are not just movies you're better off renting. These movies are the reason there's a 4:20 in the morning as well as the afternoon — they probably look pretty good if you're both sleep-deprived and stoned." Both of which i am.

More Watchmen Baby Mama Drama

With everything that has been going on with Zach Snyder's Watchmen, one wonder's how likely it is that we will see the film when it's due to be released on March 6th. According to the Associated Press an attorney for Fox says the studio will seek an order to delay the release of the movie.

There's a story on Cinematical titled "Why We Will See Watchmen on March 6th". I sure hope they are right. They think that Warner Bros. will pay whatever it is they need to get the movie released on time. Clearly a lot of time and money was put into the film, and I do not think Warner's will want to lose it or allow it to be delayed.

On io9 it seems that they think fans probably will not see Watchmen on March 6th. As of right now it is obviously just speculation, but imagine the how outraged the loyal fan base of Watchmen would be if they could not see the movie they have been so anxiously waiting for.

I pray that a settlement can be reached, because I am dying to watch the Comedian burn through Vietnam, Dr. Manhattan travel to Mars, and Rorschach grapple and crawl his way around the city.

Watchmen Trial Update

So the judge that's presiding over the legal battle for the rights to the distribution of Watchmen ruled in favor of Fox. According to the judge Warner Bros. had no right to get the ball rolling on Zack Snyder's adaptation of Watchmen.

A trial had been set for January 20th, which presumably would have been enough time for Warner Bros. and Fox to reach a settlement. That is what the judge had seemingly wanted to happen all along. But according to EW.com, both sides had pressed the judge to reconsider and issue a summary judgment to help both parties interpret the old Watchmen contract between Fox and producer Larry Gordon.

In the ruling, the judge concluded that Gordon never properly gave Fox the option to produce and distribute Snyder's version of Watchmen, and that Warner Bros. did not buy out Fox's interest in the project.

The article presents a lot of options about what will happen next and about what else the judge put in his ruling. I think the most important thing is that Snyder's film gets released on time in March for all the fans that have been anxiously awaiting its release, myself included.