Kudos to HBO for jumping into the big budget fantasy genre with Game of Thrones, an upcoming series based on George R. R. Martin’s bestselling A Song of Ice and Fire novels. Deadline has posted the show’s first teaser trailer, which features the tagline “Winter Is Coming” and gives us a few quick glimpses at what we can expect from the show.

This trailer doesn’t really give away a whole lot about the story and in truth, its more of a teaser than a trailer. Still, it’s good to see HBO seems to be on the ball in capturing the essence of the novels. Plus, the show looks great. With Treme’, True Blood, Boarwalk Empire and now Game of Thrones, HBO seems to be the place for quality and diverse entertainment these days.

Game of Thrones is set in a world where magic exists and the empire is on its last legs. It follows the machinations of various kings, lords and soldiers as they fight for control of the throne. The show stars Sean Bean, Peter Dinklage, Nikolaj Coster-Waldau, Lena Headey and Jason Momoa.

Check out the new trailer after the jump. Game of Thrones comes to HBO in 2011. Are you ready for winter?

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It’s a grab bag of items on the radar this week. Wolverine and Sabretooth have dinner together, Bruno himself could be the next Man in Black, and in honor of The Flickcast crew attending SXSW some Predators love (of which they may get a taste).

Predators get dark and scary…finally!

Robert Rodriquez‘s Predator reboot, Predators, is starting to get some buzz.  While the first film of the series was a great sci-fi/action hybrid subsequent films have been less than stellar.  Predators star, Alice Braga talked a little about the new film and what we can expect:

“The new Predators are dark. They are really, really scary. So I think the fans are really going to be happy with it. I hope so. The director Nimród Antal, he’s a fan of the Predator films. So it’s like a fan directing this, [it was] like a kid on set, and having that energy was very special. I wish I could tell you more.”

Here’s hoping “dark” and “scary” means an R-rated film and not a watered down PG-13 movie.

Conan will square off against Avatar villain

As an update to our last ‘On The Radar’ article, it has now been confirmed that actor Stephen Lang will indeed play Conan’s villain, Khalar Singh.  Speaking with MTV, Lang stated:

“I have no idea how I’m going to do it,” Lang laughed. “First I’m going to find out how I’m going to sound. I’m going to get back on a Mongolian pony and ride like the wind. I’m going to flash my scimitar. I’m going to cut the nuts off Conan and his father.”

That last threat may seem really out there, but after seeing Lang’s bad ass side in Avatar I have no doubt he can make good on it.

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There’s a lot of interesting stuff on the radar this week. An Avatar alumni could face off against Conan, Modern Warfare developers bring a fight to Activision, and director Guy Ritchie may be breathing new life into the heroes of Camelot.

Fox finds its shadow for $1 million and David Slade may be the man

Fans of the comic book series The Shadow rejoice as it seems the reboot continues to move forward.  While it was thought Sony and director Sam Raimi (Spider-Man, Army of Darkness) would bring a new version of the character to the big screen things have changed somewhat.

After Raimi began shopping the property around Fox decided to purchase the rights. Sadly, it sounds like Raimi may no longer direct, possibly replaced by David Slade.  Slade directed the vampire film Thirty Days of Night which, unfortunately, felt just that long in the theater. Here’s hoping he can put a little more adrenaline into The Shadow.

How I Met your…Smurf?

Neil Patrick Harris will be venturing to the land of blue, three apples tall creatures in Smurfs: The Movie.  The How I Met Your Mother star won’t be playing a Smurf though.  As this film will be a mix of live action and animation, Harris will be playing the lead live action character.  Too bad, I would have liked to know just which Smurf he’d play.  ”Awesome” Smurf maybe?  Let us know your picks in the comments.

‘Wolverine 2′ starts shooting next January

X-Men Origins: Wolverine was pretty good, but it was missing one thing: ninjas!  Hopefully that will be rectified in the sequel which is set to begin shooting next January.  Delving into Wolvie’s Japanese mythos the script follows stories penned by two pretty big names:

“Based on a story cycle by Frank Miller and Chris Claremont, Wolverine’s adventures in martial arts will be a love story featuring a Japanese actress, I am told. ‘It’s a beautiful story,’ says a source, ‘and will be very different than the first film.’”

Okay, I’m not really sold on the “love story” angle but considering the number of women that went to see Wolverine (pretty much for mutant hunk, Hugh Jackman) at least this will be one you can take your girlfriends to.

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Between Avatar raking in more money than any other film in the history of Hollywood, and other studios jumping around to upgrade their films for that extra 3D bump, such as Warner pushing back Clash of the Titans so they can go back and convert the film to a more 3D-happy stock, it looks like even more films will be getting this treatment.

IESB recently reported that Lionsgate’s upcoming reboot of Conan the Barbarian (now just titled Conan) will be going 3D, hoping that the film will bring in some of those fans that made Pandora a cash cow. Many other studios have fallen in line with this method, such as MGM changing the release date more than a year so that Joss Whedon’s Cabin in the Woods can get the 3D changeover.

Conan, based on the pulp series by writer Robert E. Howard, will begin filming next month, with Stargate Atlantis actor Jason Momoa stepping in as the sword-swinging barbarian. Mickey Rourke is also rumored to be joining the cast.

The story of Solomon Kane is quite epic, full of demons and monsters, the actual journey of the film getting to domestic theaters seems to be even more interesting. The film has yet to be picked up by an American distributor, which means it could be some time before we ever get to see Michael Bassett’s film in theaters, if at all.

The film follows closely to the original books by Conan and Krull creator Robert E. Howard, while taking some impressive liberties with CG work and effects. The story follows the titular Kane, a priest who sells his soul to the devil tries to redeem his soul by fighting the henchmen of Hell.

Starring Rome’s James Purefoy, with MIchael Bassett adapting the screenplay and taking the helm, the film looks to be making quite a lot of noise in the critics’ circles.

Still no word on when we’ll get to see the entire film, but in the meantime, we’ve been bringing you plenty of clips for you to feast upon. Check out an all-new behind the scenes feature after the jump.

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This week on The Flickcast, Matt and Chris fly solo again as they take on Conan’s last episode and the classy way he handles it as well as the casting of a different Conan in a reboot of Conan the Barbarian. In addition they also talk about the upcoming Powers TV series, The Goon going digital and the amazing success of Avatar. They also discuss some other topics including the new Fox show Human Target, Jackie Earle Haley’s career, Spactacus: Blood and Sand, the nature of modern movies and the greatness of Die Hard.

Chris and Matt also made more picks this week. Matt went with Swimming with Sharks, and Chris picked the cult classic Coogan’s Bluff starring Clint Easwood as a cowboy in the big city who teaches those city slickers a thing or two about justice.

As usual, if you have any comments, questions, critiques or offers of sponsorship, feel free to hit us up in the comments, on Twitterand at Facebook, MySpace or via email.

This week more than one thing involving Conan seems to be getting settled. Yesterday, we told you about Conan O’Brien making a deal with NBC to step away from The Tonight Show. Now, word comes from Deadline Hollywood that Millennium Films, Lionsgate and Paradox Entertainment have chosen an actor to take on the role of Conan the Barbarian in their brand new Conan movie — and that actor is Jason Momoa.

Momoa, who has appeared in Stargate Atlantis and also stars in HBO’s Game of Thrones, reportedly beat Kellan Lutz of Twilight fame for chance to play the titular hero. Apparently, Conan director Marcus Nispel was sold on Momoa, and won over the filmmakers by shooting some test scenes that allowed Momoa to wield a sword and behave very “Schwarzenegger-like.”

The film, which re-boots the Conan franchise and tells the origin of Robert E. Howard’s famous character, is now on course for a March 15 production start in Bulgaria. No word yet on additional casting or a release date but we have heard that producers have reached out to Mickey Rourke to play Conan’s father in the film. More on that as it develops.

Solomon Kane, based on Conan creator Robert E. Howard’s series of stories, begins the film slashing his way around the world destroying anything, and anyone, who gets in his way. He even kills his own men, especially when they show cowardice. This tirade of evil comes to a screeching halt once Kane encounters the Devil’s Reaper, whom the devil has sent to collect Kane’s soul.

Kane, barely escaping with his life, realizes his evil ways have led him to this point and decides that he must change if he is to survive. Once he realizes the error of his ways, he then embarks on a new life, relinquishing violence in an effort to achieve redemption.

Of course, if Kane had stuck to that decision, this would be a very short movie indeed. Fortunately, he doesn’t and inevitably must return to his violent ways. But this time around, instead of the greedy, evil mercenary he once was, Kane now has a noble purpose and an actual chance at the redemption he seeks.

The innocent daughter of a Priest (Pete Postlethwaite) who had befriended Kane is taken prisoner and to save her, Kane will do whatever he needs to do — even if that means killing a few people along the way. Plus, an all-consuming evil is threatening to take over England and Kane has decided that man of peace or not, he can’t let that happen.

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Previously on The Flickcast, Chris and Matt had to go on without Christina but were joined by special guest Rick Marshall of MTV’s Splashpage and Movie’s Blog to talk comics, movies and all things geek. Some of the topics discussed included John Carter of Mars casting, the rebirth of Captain America, the power of Twitter in movie marketing and upcoming comic-book-to-film adaptations including Whiteout, Scott Pilgrim and Iron Man 2.

This week, Christina is back and the team is ready for action with new topics such as Megan Fox as Lara Croft, the new Conan and his similarity to the old Conan, Tim Burton’s Alice In Wonderland, the sad performance of Year One, the return of Futurama and much more. And once again, the team made some interesting picks this week including one of Christina’s favorite video games, The Sims 3, Matt’s pick of Justice League Unlimited and Chris’ pick of the Steven Spielberg and Tom Hanks miniseries Band of Brothers.

As always, if you have comments, questions, critiques or offers of sponsorship, feel free to hit us up in the comments, on Twitter and at Facebook, MySpace or via email.

Rumors and speculation are circulating around the Internets this morning that Lionsgate and NU Image/Millennium films have finally cast the main role of Conan in their upcoming reboot of the franchise. Apparently, 41-year-old Austrian actor Roland Kickinger is in talks to play the title role that Arnold Schwarzenegger made famous in the 1982 classic Conan the Barbarian.

Sure, that makes sense, they want someone similar to Arnold, right? But wait, it gets a bit odder. Like Schwarzenegger, Kickinger is a bodybuilder- turned-actor from Austria. And, Kickinger also had a role as a T-800 in the Terminator franchise, which he plays in Warner Bros.’ current Terminator Salvation. And, to push it even farther over the edge, Kickinger actually played Schwarzenegger in a movie — the 2005 A&E biopic about the actor-turned-politician called See Arnold Run. I know, right?

For the moment, the deal isn’t done and few details on the new movie have been revealed. Filming is expected to start in the fall in Bulgaria and as we told you before, Marcus Nispel, of New Line’s recent Friday the 13th reboot, is set to direct. At least if Kicklinger does end up playing the role of Conan, his name is a lot easier to spell — which is great for those of us who will have to write it a thousand times until the movie comes out.

I honestly don’t know which is worse, that the director of such “classics” as Rush Hour and Red Dragon was going to be doing the new Conan movie reboot or that he’s moved on and the director of the Texas Chainsaw Massacre reboot and Pathfinder is now, according to CHUD, taking over. This change doesn’t necessary help my attitude towards the project.

Of course, it also doesn’t help that the company making the film, and has now picked Nispel to helm it, is none other than Millennium Films — the folks responsible for such cinematic gems as Alien Hunter, The Wicker Man, 88 Minutes and countless more. They don’t exactly have a fantastic track record when it comes to producing quality entertainment. However, I’m going to give them the benefit of the doubt here.

I’m going to go out on a limb and say that the choice of Nispel may be an inspired one. His work on the rebooted Friday the 13th was actually pretty good. Plus, it looked really good, as do his other films, which is a plus for a big spectacle movie like Conan. Also, making a Conan movie is reportedly something that Nispel has wanted to do since childhood, so maybe that passion will help the film turn into something?

That’s not to say that he still couldn’t screw up Conan. But really, the original movie with Arnold Schwarzenegger isn’t exactly a sterling example of filmmaking either. It was fun and as a kid I enjoyed it but he really doesn’t have that much to live up to. What I’m more concerned about is what actor will play Conan. As the film is supposed to start shoting on August 14th in Bulgaria, that question will be answered soon enough I’m sure. Whoever it ends up being, they certainly have some big, um, pecks to fill.