Fans who thought that Peter Jackson’s presence at this year’s Comic-Con meant that he would have big news regarding the release of The Hobbit are in for a bit of a disappointment. Cinematical reports that Jackson revealed The Hobbit is much farther away than fans have been led to believe.

Prior to his appearance, rumors circulated that Jackson (who is producing with Guillermo del Toro directing) would announce who would star as Bilbo Baggins in the highly-anticipated double-feature prequel at Comic-Con. Far from announcing who was cast, he claimed they’re not even close to choosing one. “Everyone assumes we’re casting but we’re not,” he said.

Jackson related that they’re three or four weeks away from finishing the first draft of the script, and that the film isn’t even really greenlit yet. Once the draft is handed in, they still need to get approval on the script and have the budget approved before any casting decisions will be made. Fans shouldn’t panic however; the film will certainly be made, but wait a few months before you start looking for a casting announcement.

The first Hobbit film is due to hit theaters in December of 2011.

Zoe Saldana, who played Uhura in J.J. Abrams’ Star Trek, announced at Comic-Con that she believes the script for the sequel is already halfway done. Although screenwriters Roberto Orci and Alex Kurtzman, and director Abrams, have been evasive about details of the sequel, SciFiWire reports that Saldana is providing fans with a much needed progress report.

“I do know that they are germinating a script,” Saldana said during a group interview to promote Avatar. “That’s what they told us a month and a half ago, which actually means—in that kind of talk it means that they’re probably halfway done with a script. They just can’t present it to anybody. But they’re very excited, and there is a lot of pressure, because now it’s like, ‘Oh, do you do The Wrath of Khan or do you do this or whatever?’”

When Star Trek reset the canon with a time-travel story device, the opportunity to revisit classic Trek missions from a fresh perspective. However, Saldana encouraged the filmmakers to avoid succumbing to any outside influence.

“I honestly told Robert, Alex and J.J. to just do what they did first, which is just to trust themselves,” Saldana continued. “By not listening to anyone, not putting any pressures on themselves, they were able to create something very beautiful and free that we still grew attached to. If that formula worked for Star Trek, then it can certainly work for this next one.”

Saldana is also confident that the romance that was beginning to develop between Uhura and Spock (Zachary Quinto) in the first movie will continue in the sequel. “I am excited to see what they’re going to do with their relationship in relation to what happened to Vulcan and what kind of responsibilities Spock is going to have in this next journey,” she said. “Not only in his personal side but in terms of he’s a race in extinction now.”

Saldana believes work will begin on Star Trek 2 next year.

Megan Fox hadn’t finished taking photos at the end of the Warner Bros. presentation for Jonah Hex before Robert Downey Jr. leaped onstage past the starlet to the surprise and delight of the crowd gathered for the Sherlock Holmes panel. SciFiWire notes Downey acknowledged the applause of the crowd by bowing to the packed hall before screening a clip from the film..

The footage introduces Downey as Holmes, Rachel McAdams as Irene Adler, Holmes’ female foil and sometime lover, Jude Law as Watson and Mark Strong as Lord Blackwood. One sequence features Holmes squaring off in a ring against a much larger man; before they battle, he imagines (in slow motion) what he should do to maximize the damage he can inflict, then does it in real time. Later, Holmes is bested by McAdams’ character, who seduces him, chains him to a bed and leaves him for a chambermaid to discover. The clip also featured a lot of big action, including a fight scene atop a drawbridge and a showdown by the docks.

Director Guy Ritchie wasn’t in attendance to promote the film, but producers Susan Downey (Robert’s wife) and Joel Silver and co-star McAdams took the stage with Downey to talk about the character. Susan Downey suggested that Sherlock Holmes “applies as much today as he did” in Sir Arthur Conan Doyle’s, while Silver praised the interpretation of him, saying “Downey really is genius in this role. He made it come to life.”

McAdams pointed out that she had the freedom to develop her character, unencumbered by the legacy and mythology of the Holmes novels, mostly because Irene appears in only one book, for about 10 pages. She also said that Irene was uncharacteristic for Holmes’ era, explaining that “she kind of lives in the underworld. [Holmes and I] develop this kind of strange, unique love affair.”

At the end of the panel, Susan Downey revealed that although Mrs. Hudson makes an appearance in the film, none of the other Baker Street characters are in the film. Regardless, she insisted that the film has “a narrative unique to the movie.” Sherlock Holmes opens Christmas Day.

Hoping to drum up support for the lesser-known fantasy horror film, Legion, Sony Pictures paired it with the highly anticipated District 9 at Comic-Con on Friday. They then upped the ante by having producer Peter Jackson on hand to make sure the crowds showed. Variety is reporting that the daring move might just pay off.

The panel opened with Legion’s director, Scott Stewart, presenting the film’s clip, after commemorating the experience on his iPhone. Legion is the story of a band of strangers in a post-apocalyptic world, one of whom is a pregnant diner waitress who just happens to be carrying the new messiah. The film is exciting and visually compelling, juxtaposing hyper-violence and religious imagery to slightly campy effect.

Stewart was joined by actors Adrianne Palicki, Doug Jones, Tyrese Gibson and Paul Bettany, who talked about the joys of making their “angels with machine guns” film and the film’s religious subject matter. Stewart said that Legion was “not a religious movie,” but more of a cross between Terminator and The Exorcist. When the panel concluded, you could almost hear the collective increase in heart rates. Legion opens in theaters January 22, 2010.

The crowd was then treated to about seven minutes of footage from District 9, with Jackson sharing the stage with director Neill Blomkamp and star Sharlto Copley. Jackson explained that the creation of District 9 had been an “unusual experience” because of Blomkamp’s decision to do the film in a highly improvised manner without strict adherence to a formal script.

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There comes a point at every Comic-Con where the faithful can gather en mass to celebrate and salivate over all things Star Wars. During this year’s Lucasfilm panel, IGN reports that fans were treated to hints for Star Wars: The Clone Wars, a Star Wars In Concert preview, The Star Wars Stories Project (featuring Comic-Con fans giving YouTube like confessions about their favorite Stars Wars memories), a LucasArts videogames preview (with Star Wars: The Old Republic and Star Wars: The Force Unleashed DLC wowing the crowd), and information on the upcoming first season DVD and Blu-ray release of Star Wars: The Clone Wars. The only thing missing from the panel was information about the live action television show.

Supervising Director Dave Filoni was on hand to promote Star Wars: The Clone Wars, stating that the new season would be dark like Empire Strikes Back. He described the second season as “adult”, “serious”, “mature” and “scarier”. Apparently, The Clone Wars isn’t just for children anymore.

The second season will also feature more bounty hunters. Cad Bane will return to do the dirty work for Palpatine, and fan favorites Bossk, Aurra Sing and some guy named Boba Fett will be featured as well. Audiences were treated to a glimpse of a troubled young Boba Fett wearing a poncho and his iconic helmet determined to take down Obi-Wan and any other Jedi that got in his way.

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Of the 2007-2008 season, there were plenty of shows that got the axe. One show was able to hold together and develop enough of a fanbase to earn itself not only a second, but a third season. That show is NBC’s Chuck, of course, and we were fortunate enough to get a few minutes with stars Zachary Levi (Chuck) and Joshua Gomez (Morgan) here at San Diego Comic-Con.

Of the things we talked about, the two mentioned the direction of season 3, the overwhelming fan reception, and the “bromance” between Chuck and Morgan. Be sure to stay with us this weekend, as we bring more exclusive interviews straight to you.

Check out the interview after the jump!

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On Thursday, I had the privilege of sitting down and speaking with Scott Allie, Senior Managing Editor of Dark Horse Comics. The full interview with details on Buffy, the Umbrella Academy and other Dark Horse comics will be up this week, but here are two exclusive insights Scott gave us here at The Flickcast that won’t be announced until today’s Dark Horse panel at Comic-Con in San Diego.

In December, the Buffy comic will take a month break from the main story arc to allow for a Willow one-shot issue. The issue will focus on Willow pre-season eight and on her power greatly increased from the end of the television show and the start of the comic run. During that time span Willow became intimately involved with a snakewoman and that relationship will be intimately explored in the issue. The issue will be written by Buffy creator Joss Weadon, drawn by Fray artist Carl Meline and feature one cover from Jo Chen.

Dark Horse is also announcing today that they will be doing a series of exclusive graphic novels with Janet Evanovich, one of the best selling authors in America with a focus on girl / woman adventures. She will be working with Dark Horse to bring some of her own previously established characters in to their own comic series. The character Dark Horse will be dealing with is Alexander Barnaby, the heroine from Motor Mouth and Metrogirl.

Janet is known for taking young, identifiable female characters who aren’t meant to be detectives and putting them in that role. “The kind of stories she does is what works in a lot of Manga stuff.” Using this, Dark Horse hopes to help bring in the young women who gravitate towards Manga in to the American comics world.

Director Tim Burton is without a doubt one of the most talented and visually distinctive filmmakers working today. His films, such as Edward Scissorhands, Batman, The Nightmare Before Christmas and the recent Sweeny Todd, all have his signature stylistic stamp and once you begin to watch them, you can certainly tell you’re watching a Tim Burton film.

As we’ve told you before, Burton is currently working on his version of the classic Lewis Carroll novel Alice in Wonderland. Of course, as can plainly be seen from the pics and the recent trailer, Burton is definitely putting his own spin on the novel and this film will, once gain, be unmistakably his.

I caught up with the auteur during Comic-Con in San Diego while he was doing press for Alice in Wonderland. Among the topics covered were his connection to the book itself, why he shot in 3D, if the film is a reboot or a re-imagining and if its a love story.

QUESTION: Lewis Carrol and Tim Burton seem to be the perfect marriage.  What is it about this particular book that you felt suited your unique sensibilities as filmmaker?

TIM BURTON: Well, it wasn’t only the books, it was growing up and you hear this kind of imagery in music and songs and I dunno it was just something about the kind of the imagery that he created. Throughout lots of different generations it still plays in peoples minds so I think any kind of thing that has strong dreamlike imagery that stays with you is important to your subconscious thinking and creative mind.

So I just felt like you try to do it a different way because I’ve never really seen a lot of any movie version that I really liked. The intent was to take that imagery and try to make it into a movie.

Q: I think we can all imagine how this story suits you visually, but what’s your emotional connection?

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There are normally many cool parties to attend when coming to San Diego for Comic-Con. Some are “ultra hip” and are more of a Hollywood-style party, and then there are some that make you truly proud to be a geek.

The Tron: Legacy Party was easily the coolest, and probably geekiest party of the weekend. It took place in an old-fashioned arcade called Flynn’s where you have your free run of about two dozen classic arcade games from Asteroid to Off Road, Afterburner, Gauntlet, and of course, Tron.

After about 30 minutes, the lights dim and the back brick wall opens up. From there, you are led into dark corridor filled with smoke and finally end at an open display of the brand new light cycle from the 2010 release of Tron Legacy, along with art concepts of the bike and free t-shirts.

Check out the video after the jump, and remember, not all parties at a comic convention need to be something out of an episode of Entourage.

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Everyone’s favorite serial killer is back, as Showtime’s hit series Dexter is about to start its fourth season as well as a new animated series of webisodes. /Film brings us the Season 4 Trailer, as well as a peak at the new animated series, Dexter: Early Cuts, both of which debuted at the Dexter panel at Comic-Con.

The fourth season of Dexter revolves around Dexter and Rita’s new son, Harrison. Deborah, Dexter’s sister, will have a former flame return as the Miami Police Department attempts to track down the Trinity Killer, played by John Lithgow.

/Film mentioned that the producers and writers of Dexter reiterated that unlike the first season, this new season of Dexter would stray from the plotline originally outlined in the books.

Dexter: Early Cuts will be an animated series of webisodes, centered around Dexter and his ominous past. We’ll get to learn more about his first kills and follow him as he perfects his technique. The webisodes will surely give some insight into this awesome character.

Dexter returns to Showtime on September 29th. Dexter: Early Cuts debuts sometime in Fall 2009 on Sho.com. You can check out the trailer after the jump.

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Yesterday was Star Wars Day at the San Diego Comic-Con, so it was no surprise to hear  that Star Wars: The Force Unleashed will soon have some new downloadable content. As in the original game, Kotaku reports that players will assume the role of the Secret Apprentice, but this time he’ll make some new friends on Tattoine, including Boba Fet and Obi-wan Kenobi.

We don’t want to give anything away, but this DLC sort of assumes that when you finished The Forced Unleashed originally, the “bad guys” won, further stretching the realms of the Star Wars universe.

LucasArts plans to release an “Ultimate Sith Edition” of the game for Xbox 360 and PS3 this holiday season. This special edition will include the original game, the new downloadable content, and a special exclusive level on Hoth.

Furthermore, PC and Mac gamers have yet another reason to give into the Dark Side, as the publishers are planning on releasing The Force Unleashed for computers later this year.

You can watch the trailer for the new Star Wars: The Force Unleashed downloadable content here.

Looks like Michael Keaton is joining the likes of Buzz Lightyear, Woody the Cowboy, and Jessie the Cowgirl, as Coming Soon is reporting that Keaton will play Ken in the newest installment in the Toy Story franchise. Director Lee Ulrich made the announcement at Comic-Con.

“It’s a totally different emotional core that this movie has,” said Ulrich about the film. “We’re really excited for it.”

Toy Story 3 will take place after Woody, Buzz, and the gang all get donated to a child day care center when Andy, their beloved owner, heads off to college.

Toy Story 3 hits theaters in 3-D on June 18th, 2010. The first two films will make an appearance on the big screen for the first time in 3-D, Toy Story on October 2nd and Toy Story 2 on February 12th.