In the latest The First Avenger: Captain Americanews, HeatVision is reporting that Hugo Weaving (Matrix, Lord of the Rings) is Marvel Studio’s first choice to star as the film’s villain, Red Skull. In the comic books, Red Skull is Captain America’s archenemy, engaging in espionage and sabotage as Adolf Hitler’s right-hand man.
If Weaving is tapped, it would reunite the star with director Joe Johnston, whom he worked with in this year’s The Wolfman. In other casting news, the list of Captain America contenders appears to have thinned.
We recently reported that five actors were in the running. However, HeatVisionand Deadline New Yorkhave both reported that John Krasinski is no longer in the race for the coveted role. According to the sites, Marvel is now considering Wilson Bethel (Generation Kill), Mike Vogel (Cloverfield), Chris Evans (Fantastic Four) and Garrett Hudlund (Tron Legacy), who have all either read, tested, or received test offers.
The First Avenger: Captain America is slated for a July 11, 2011 release.
Here it is, your first look at the brand new poster for the upcoming sequel Iron Man 2, courtesy of Yahoo Movies. We don’t need to tell you that this movie is going to rock . . . and rock hard. Still, its nice to finally see some more “official’ stuff coming from the studio and the production.
As you can see from the poster, it features our hero, Iron Man, backed by another familiar “face,” the infamous War Machine. Which, you have to admit, looks pretty awesome.
This film will be released on May 7th so, sadly, we still have some time to wait. After seeing this, and all the rest of the stuff prior to it, I’m sure it’ll be well worth it.
As you know (unless you live in a cave and/or have no access to the Internet), the film stars Robert Downey Jr., Gweneth Paltrow, Don Chealde, Scarlett Johansson, Mickey Rourke, Sam Rockwell, and Jon Favreau.
Check out a much bigger version of the new poster after the jump.
International Creative Management (ICM) has started zeroing in on the comic industry’s more notable assets, with the announcement of signing writer Grant Morrison. Being one of the world’s largest talent and literary agencies, ICM already boasts an impressive list of clients such as actors Jodie Foster and Al Pacino, director Woody Allen, television personality Ellen DeGeneres, author Patricia Cornwell and musician Beyoncé, to name a few.
As detailed by The Hollywood Reporter, Morrison has 20 years under his belt, penning fan-favorite works like JLA, X-Men, Doom Patrol and the current Batman and Robin. The spotlight has shined on him even more lately thanks to his ‘Batman: R.I.P.’ and Final Crisis projects, and the gaming world got a dose of Morrison thanks to his classic Arkham Asylum: A Serious Place On Serious Earth graphic novel that became the inspiration for the hit video game Batman: Arkham Asylum.
The newly formed DC Entertainment also counts on Morrison’s contributions and consulting as their goal of emulating Marvel Studios’ approach to comic movies intensifies. Other notable comic creators under ICM’s management are Spawn creator Todd McFarlane and legendary artist Neal Adams, who signed with them in August.
Director Louis Leterrier has done quite a lot for action films, including a series of fun Transporter movies. He also helped us forget about what Ang Lee did to The Hulk. Though both fanboys and studios are split down the middle on how Leterrier’s Incredible Hulk actually turned out, he is still talking about doing more work with Marvel Studios and even the “jade giant” himself.
In an interview with the LA Times, the director talked about his real dream for the next few Marvel movies.
I’ll tell you my real dream: To work with Joe Johnston, [“Thor” director] Kenneth Branagh and Jon Favreau and make like a triptych. We do four movies. We release them one a month for the summer. Or even every two weeks or three weeks. And the whole summer would be Avengers summer. So we do it the way they make television shows. One story arc but told in installments by different directors.
So all of the directors that touch part of the Avengers world would do a part; we could make the movies shorter, maybe less than an hour and a half, and we use the same sets and save Marvel money. I would love to sit around a table with all of them a kick around the story. That’s my dream.
Earlier today, we posted a story on the first trailer for Marvel Anime’s Wolverine, which looked great, but had a unique style that was a bit different from the rugged Canadian we all know and love. With the second trailer from the new line of Warren Ellis’ direct-to-DVD hits, we get something a bit closer to both Iron Man’s comic history — and also a bit of the film’s aesthetic.
Check out the trailer below, and Anime Iron Man hits DVD shelves in 2010.
Marvel had a pretty big weekend here in San Diego for the 40th Annual Comic-Con. Among the announcements made was that a new umbrella would form under Marvel’s studio, developing direct-to-DVD Anime titles of some of their classic characters, with comics legend Warren Ellis at the helm.
The first poster was released earlier in the weekend, and now the first trailer has hit the web. Check out the trailer for Marvel Anime’s Wolverine below, Anime Wolverine hits DVD stores (and probably your shelves at home) in 2010, and check in later for another new trailer from the studio.