When Eva Mendes, Will Farrell, Adam McKay and Mark Wahlberg sit down for an interview, you can expect results to be anything but ordinary. Based on the camaraderie that was clearly present during a recent Q&A during SDCC, fans of the upcoming movie can expect a good time when the movie premiers later this summer.

Since this movie stars Will Farrell, one of the most obvious questions would be how much of the script was actually written, and how much was McKay allowing his actors to ad-lib and run with it. It turns out, McKay is so well prepared for this, he brings in a professional.

“For our bond company, we actually have to give them the exact percentages,” explained McKay. “So we brought in an actuary to break it down and this movie was 14.3789% was improvised and then the rest was scripted.”

A quick thinking Farrell noted, “that would be 86-85% scripted, if you round up.”

“It’s about 15-20% that is improvised, because we goof around in the scenes,” said McKay. “But the overall story structure obviously stays the same.”

Being a Buddy-Cop flick, comedic timing and approach are in the cards for both actors. Since Wahlberg isn’t a name that immediately springs to mind when you think summer comedy, how much did he end up learning from Farrell in the course of filming the movie?

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It’s no secret that some of us here at The Flickcast are huge Spartacus: Blood and Sand fans, having written about the Starz show during it’s premiere season, covering Andy Whitfield’s battle with a treatable form of non-Hodgkin Lymphoma, as well as Starz’ decision to film a 6- episode prequel to buy some time for Andy to recover.

So when Starz announced there would be a SDCC 2010 panel featuring Andy Whitfield and the cast and producers, we knew we’d be there to cover all of the Comic-Con exclusive news and trailers.

The panel opened with a trailer, mostly highlight from Season 1, however it was great fun to re-watch some of the best moments from the show’s first dozen or so episodes. As the lights went up, Andy Whitfield, Spartacus himself, walked onto stage to thunderous applause from the enthusiastic audience.

Andy looked great, rested and perhaps a few pounds below normal, but considering what he’s been through, medically-speaking over the past 9 months, he’s definitely recovered nicely. The rest of the panel attendees were introduced and included: Lucy Lawless (Lucretia), John Hannah (Batiatus), Viva Bianca (Ilithyia) and Steven S. DeKnight (Writer/Executive Producer)

Whitfield talked a bit about being grateful for the prequel, which bought him some time for him to undergo treatment and how thankful he was that the show stuck it out with him. He talked briefly about his illness, and joked that he can’t wait to get back to the gym to try and bulk up a bit for Season 2. Andy clarified that the doctors have cleared him to work, he’s feeling really great and has had plenty of time to really rest and reboot. “Bring it on!” He shouted as the lights started to dim for yet another video.

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Excited for Tron: Legacy? Can’t wait until the December 17 release date?

Maybe some pictures from last night’s Walt-Disney/MySpace party, which featured cast members and other filmmakers can tide you over for now. In attendance at Flynn’s Arcade during the Comic-Con International gala were stars Jeff Bridges, who reprises his role as Kevin Flynn in the new movie, Bruce Boxleitner, James Frain, Beau Garrett and director Joe Kosinski.

Also on had were producer Sean Bailey, and Tron creator Steven Lisberger. Other party-goers included directors Bryan Singer (The Usual Suspects), Eli Roth (Hostel), Len Wiseman, Michel Gondry, Nathan Fillion, Robert Orci, Tia Carrera, and Zachary Levi.

Tron: Legacy picks up where the other film left off 27 years ago with Sam Flynn (Garrett Hedlund), son of the world-famous video-game developer Kevin Flynn, investigating his father’s mysterious disappearance. His quest leads him to a virtual world where his father’s been trapped for the past 20 years. As father and son make their way across the digital landscape, the two encounter strange and futuristic inventions determined to prevent their escape.

Check out more cool photos after the jump. Be sure to check back right here for more Comic-Con 2010 news, photos, reviews and more!

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During San Diego Comic-Con today NBC showed the pilot for its eagerly awaited new Fall show The Event to an excited and appreciative crowd. The show is an ensemble drama with elements of 24, Lost and other good mystery programs of the past.

We will be bringing you a full review of the pilot soon so look for that. Until then I thought I would just throw out a few first impressions of the show to give potential fans more to go on.

The first thing that struck me about the pilot was something i thought of even before I saw it: the cast. NBC has assembled a diverse group of known and lesser-known actors including Blair Underwood, Laura Innes, Zelkjo Ivanek, Jason Ritter, Ian Anthony Dale and Sarah Roemer.

In the pilot each if them is given something do do and much to my happiness the pilot also manages to develop their characters in a short time. You are interested in them from the beginning and are almost immediately invested in their stories.

Also, the show has a high degree of production value and is well directed, edited and I enjoyed the score too. Obviously, you can’t tell everything about a show just from the pilot. A great pilot doesn’t always make for a great show.

However, in this case my feeling is that it will. NBC has put together a good team and a good show and I hope they can maintain the quality and the story promise they showed with the pilot.

Oh, in case you were wondering they don’t divulge what the event is during the pilot. I guess we’re just going to have to watch the show to find out. I know I will. The Event premieres on September 20th.

We sat on this news yesterday (and even speculated about it previously), because it did not appear to be confirmed, but several outlets are now reporting that Mark Ruffalo is confirmed as the new Hulk.  The beloved Marvel character experienced a setback when it was announced that Edward Norton would no longer be playing the character.

This week has been filled with lots of conjecture over who would reprise the role. Late yesterday, it was announced that Mark Ruffalo would take over the role. Ruffalo has been a strong character actor in Shutter Island, You Can Count On Me, Blindness, and Zodiac.

He will  be playing the role for the upcoming Avengers movie, featuring Chris Evans as Captain America, Robert Downey Jr. as Ironman, Chris Hemsworth as Thor, Scarlett Johansson as Black Widow, Samuel L. Jackson as Nick Fury, Jeremy Renner as Hawkeye, and Don Cheadle as War Machine.

The Avengers is scheduled for May 2012.

Mega Python vs. Gatoroid is coming to Syfy! Syfy continues a tradition of bringing us original content worth talking about with the upcoming Mega Python Vs. Gatoroid.

When we first told you about this movie all we had was some info on the plot and that it would star eighties singing rivals Debbie Gibson and Tiffany. But, now we’ve got a trailer for you today as well.

The Asylum production will premier on Syfy in early 2011. I know, can’t wait either.

Check out the preview after the jump.

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It was announced at San Diego Comic Con that Will Eisner’s groundbreaking graphic novel A Contract with God, will be made into a live action film feature.

A Contract With God is considered to be one of the most influential graphic novels of all time.

“Eisner utilizes the comic book format in an innovative and pioneering way to explore stories and memories from his childhood growing up in a New York City tenement. Each tale captures the brutality, fragility, and tenderness that exists among people living in close quarters in challenging economic times.”

The novel is divided into four distinct chapters, and it looks like each segment will be directed by a separate director. Alex Rivera, Tze Chun, Barry Jenkins, and Sean Baker will each take on a chapter of the movie.

Darren Dean will produce and adapt the book for the screen.

Five superstar artists have been announced to do the cover art for Archaia and Roddenberry’s  Days Missing: Kestus comic book series.

A different artist will illustrate each of five upcoming covers.

• Alex Ross (Kingdom Come, Astro City) , #1.  Available in September.
• Jorge Molina (Marvel Superhero Team-Up, What Is? Spiderman: House of M), #2
• Ryan Benjamin (Grifter/Midnighter, New Mutants), #3
• David Mack (Daredevil, Atomika), #4
• Dale Keown (The Darkness, Pitt), #5

Days Missing synopsis:

“Kestus continues the tale of The Steward, a mysterious
being who has the ability to literally “fold” days of time, secretly
removing critical days from history. At the end of the first series,
hints were dropped that The Steward was not alone in his powers. The
second series will focus on his relationship with a new being, Kestus,
as well as more days for him to “fold.”

David Marquez will illustrate the pages of all five episodes, and the series will be written by Phil Hester.

Ryan Kavanaugh’s Relativity Media has announced that it has acquired Overture Film’s distribution and marketing operation from Starz LLC which allows for Relativity to become a full service studio. About 2/3 of the Overture staff will be moved over to Relativity during the transition, including executives Peter Adee and Kyle Davies, who will retain their titles.

Relativity recently struck a favorable deal with Netflix.  The Overture film library was not part of the deal, it will stay under the Starz umbrella.  Starz will also retain Anchor Bay home video.

Previously, Relativity has had to distribute its films through other companies, but now it will be able to distribute its own movies, including Rogue pictures.  Relativity hopes to put out 25 titles by 2012.

Now Overture will release its last three films, Stone, Jack Goes Boating, and Let Me In through Relativity.  Chris Albrecht, Starz LLC, expressed that an increased emphasis on original programming helped shape the decision.  He also was pleased that many of Overture’s employees would be able to retain their jobs after the move.

Relativity is the company behind this weekend’s Salt.

Big news out of the Burn Notice panel, as the ever charismatic Bruce Campbell revealed he is set to star in a prequel story to the hit USA TV show Burn Notice. The prequel will follow the exploits of Campbell’s character Sam Axe on a mission in Latin America. The prequel will give some background into the sarcastic spy’s life before he became tied up in the events of the TV show.

The Burn Notice prequel will be co-produced by USA and Fox TV Studios.  Most of the filming will take place on location in Latin America and will be scheduled between the filming of seasons 4 and 5 of Burn Notice. It will be a one shot movie rather than a spin-off TV show.

When asked about the planned prequel star Bruce Campbell respond with his typical humor: “What do I have to say about that? I have to say that USA finally got their s#!t together.”

I for one can’t argue with that. With the explosive response from the audience in the panel one can only assume that other spin-offs can’t be far behind –  especially if this one is a success.  Are there any TV shows that you are currently watching that you would like to see a character spin-off of?

For more San Diego Comic-Con coverage, keep it here at The Flickcast.

In a recent interview promoting the new BBC mini series Sherlock, Benedict Cumberbatch candidly implies his interest in becoming the next Doctor Who. With current Doctor Who show runner Steven Moffat also heading up the Sherlock mini-series, the possibility is much higher than with most similar rumors.

During the interview with Digital Spy, the interviewer unassumingly asked if Cumberbunch had any interest in appearing on an episode of Doctor Who, to which he responded that he wouldn’t want to be in an episode. Then the interviewer realized that Cumberbatch was asserting that he didn’t want to just have a single episode run and asked if he wanted to be the doctor, and with a sly smile he responds with a quizzical maybe.

Cumberbatch then explains that after Sherlock, it would be more fitting to have a substantial role in his next project. The video is open to interpretation, as Cumberbatch has previously been rumored to be Moffat’s choice for a role as The Master, but he does seem to imply that he wouldn’t be in a supporting role if he were to join the cast of Doctor Who.

Whether this lends any credence to the rumor that Matt Smith is looking to leave the role after next season has also yet to be determined. One thing is for sure, the bravado I saw Cumberbatch display as he responded to the question assures me that he will no doubt be having an impact on Doctor Who sooner rather than later.

How do you feel about the possibility of Matt Smith leaving Doctor Who? Do you think Benedict Cumberbatch would make a fitting replacement?

To see Cumberbatch’s response check out the video after the jump and for all your Doctor Who news stick with The Flickcast.

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Yesterday, we brought you an exclusive interview with Andrew Lincoln, the star of one of the most anticipated upcoming series on AMC, The Walking Dead. Based on the comic series by Robert Kirkman, the show adapts this “zombie apocalypse” story into a 6-episode season, coming this October on AMC.

The series is said to be an amazing hybrid of both comic story elements, as well as horror elements from Hollywood. One name that can attest to that is horror director Frank Darabont. Darabont helped take Kirkman’s series to AMC, and he’s also executive producer of the show, as well as stepping behind the camera to direct a few episodes.

We got the opportunity to speak with Mr. Darabont about the upcoming series, as well as what attracted him to the project. Check out the interview after the jump and keep it here for more coverage of the upcoming The Walking Dead series.

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