I’m just going to go ahead and say it. I’m on the fence about NBC’s upcoming series about a young Will Graham and Hannibal Lecter called, appropriately enough, Hannibal. Don’t get me wrong, I’m a fan of the guy playing Hannibal in the show, the awesome and under-appreciated Mads Mikkelsen.

My problem is with the premise and, from what I’ve seen so far, the execution. Also, I just don’t buy the guy playing Graham, even though I’ve enjoyed Hugh Dancy in other roles. He seems out of place here

Plus, I’m not sure the world really needs a series covering this subject matter from a “regular” network that probably can’t do it justice. This really seems more like a show that belongs on FX or even HBO. But hey, who knows, I could be wrong.

You can have more to go on and judge for yourself by watching the new trailer NBC posted from the show. Be sure and check it out after the break.

Look for Hannibal to premiere on April 4th.

It seems the filming of the Hannibal pilot has devoured the time of at least two of the principle people involved. We already told you that David Slade is dropping out of the Daredevil reboot, in part to direct the pilot.

Now it seems that one of the new series’ stars is having to back out of yet another Marvel movie project. Mads Mikkelsen, who plays the titular cannibal in the new series, was all set to take on a villain role in Thor 2, but now has to back out due to conflicting schedules.

This is a real shame, because Mikkelsen has the right qualities for a foe of the God of Thunder. It was rumored that he was actually going to play The Executioner, who is basically a minion for the Enchantress, which means we might not get some one as good as Mads to fill his shoes.

The Hannibal series must really be exciting if it is winning out over Marvel projects these days, especially for a character actor like Mikkelsen who could have potentially been apart the Avengers movie-verse.

Then again it is not altogether surprising, Marvel is developing a reputation of low-balling a lot of the actors in these films. And while the exposure and potential future opportunities a movie like Thor 2 would provide, the guaranteed money and work of a TV series is tough to turn down.

A bird in the hand is worth two in the bush.

It seems as if every super hero project at Fox has to go through at least one director kerfuffle during it’s pre-production. So it is hardly a surprise to hear that Daredevil just lost its director.

David Slade has officially dropped out of the project that can ill afford any delays. If Fox can’t get this movie into production soon they run the risk of losing the rights back to Marvel. A pleasant prospect to anyone who doesn’t work for Fox.

Which is exactly why this is bitter-sweet news, because the fans ultimately win if Fox totally screws the pooch on this film and loses the rights.

That isn’t the only pertinent Fox based director news to hit today either. Josh Trank, who made the stellar super hero found footage movie Chronicle, has finally signed on the dotted line to take over Fantastic Four. Trank has been rumored for the job since the 8:00pm screenings let out on Chronicle‘s opening day, but it is nice to see the deal get inked.

While it would be nice to see FF get mired in the same sort of limbo that might bring Daredevil back to the Marvel Studios fold, I think Fox is capable of letting Trank make a Fantastic movie. Fox has done a lot to mend the fences with genre fans in the last couple of years with the resurgence of their X-Men and Apes franchises.

Just when you thought Hell’s Kitchen was safe from the grasp of Hollywood after 2003’s embarrassment to the genre which was Mark Steven Johnson’s Daredevil, it looks like the property may still be lucrative enough to garner a reboot.

Fox is so keen on the idea of rebooting the Man Without Fear, they’ve even signed Twilight: Eclipse director David Slade to take on the film.

From Variety: Slade has been considering several comicbook properties, including Fox’s “Wolverine,” but that gig wound up going to Darren Aronofsky (“Black Swan”). Though the film wound up spinning off “Elektra” with Jennifer Garner, studio had hoped “Daredevil” would earn more than its $103 million domestic take and launch a series of sequels.

Fox has been looking to redevelop the character since, but people close to the project say it’s not a reboot per se — more a continuation of the “Daredevil” saga. Studio has yet to hire a scribe, but writer would work closely with Slade.

Sadly, because Fox has been keeping the film in “pre-production” for years, they managed to retain the rights to Daredevil when Marvel was purchased by Disney. The same thing goes for The Fantastic Four, which the studio is also hoping to reboot.

One can only hope that Slade and the writer yet-to-be-decided will do a better job than the Affleck/Garner vehicle from 2003, but the most we can hope for is that we won’t get an ancillary Kevin Smith cameo. Fingers crossed.

This week on The Flickcast Chris and Matt take on a slew of new and recurring topics. Some of these include the recent Emmy Awards, Fantastic Four casting rumors, X-Men: First Class, Jimmy Fallon’s career and the Clash of the Titans Sequel.

They also discuss potential directors for X-Men Origins: Wolverine 2, True Blood, Mad Men, the Community Emmy commercials, the awesomeness of AMC network’s TV shows, the greatness of Joss Whedon’s Firefly and casting for The Expendables 2.

Plus, the guys made some picks this week including Matt’s pick of the innovative sci-fi show Lexx and Chris’ pick of the classic series Firefly starring Nathan Fillion and Summer Glau.

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

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You know you’ve hit a milestone as a fan when you hear serious directors are fighting over the chance to direct a sequel of a spin-off. No longer will mainstream media scoff at the idea of super hero films. With Martin Campbell helming DC’s Green Lantern and Nolan’s Batman franchise making more money than sliced bread, there is finally some legitimacy to the genre.

With that comes an even more interesting story, as directors Darren Aronofsky (The Wrestler) and David Slade (Hard Candy) are currently in the running to direct the sequel to 2008’s X-Men Origins: Wolverine. From Deadline.

20th Century Fox is between David Slade and Darren Aronofsky, I’m told. Slade, who just directed the summer hit The Twilight Saga: Eclipse, met over the weekend with Hugh Jackman on location where he is shooting Real Steel for DreamWorks. Aronofsky has also been talking with Jackman, and they have a good relationship that dates back to The Fountain.  Aronofsky has some momentum of his own because of Black Swan, I’d say Slade has the edge.

As exciting as it is to think that Wolverine 2 will be Aronofsky’s first super-hero film, and even first sequel, we aren’t holding our breath. It seems more believable that Fox will go with Slade, considering the success of his work on Twilight: Eclipse, and of course every executive think that those fans will translate over to a film about a furry Canadian with claws.

What this news does mean, however, is that Aronofsky is actually interested in doing a flick in this genre. That means that if he doesn’t end up working on Wolverine 2, we could see him attached to something more original, and maybe something that doesn’t have Gavin Hood’s stink all over it.

The sequel to Origins is set to send Wolverine (Hugh Jackman) to Japan, with heavy Asian and Ninja themes throughout the film. We just hope it will set something up for Ryan Reynolds to return as Deadpool in the future.

Fans will be relieved to know that Eclipse is a vast improvement over its two predecessors, Twilight and New Moon. Director David Slade (Hard Candy, 30 Days of Night) manages to elevate almost every aspect of the film.  There is a decidedly darker and edgier tone this time around, and it is a welcome change.  It’s not a great film, but it is a lot more enjoyable than the first two.

For the uninitiated, let me quickly bring you up to speed on what has previously happened in the story.  Bella (Kristen Stewart) is  in love with a Vampire, Edward (Robert Pattinson.)  He is part of a Vampire clan who will not feed on humans based on principle.  They are “good” Vampires, if you will.  In the same town there is a Quileute tribe who can shape-shift into wolves.

They have been sworn to protect their town from Vampires.  One of the wolves (Jacob, played by Taylor Lautner) is in love with Bella, thus setting up a love triangle between Bella, Edward, and Jacob. Got it?

Slade immediately establishes that this is not going to be the same teeny-bopper fare with a brutal opening sequence that is worthy of any horror movie. A teenage boy is walking by himself at night and is stalked, assaulted, and murdered. There has also been a rash of murders in Seattle that carry the markings of Vampire killings.

Remember a couple days ago when we brought you the preview for the first trailer for the upcoming Twilight sequel Eclipse? Good, you can forget that now as we’ve got the whole thing for you today.

And now, once we’ve seen the full teaser, it only adds to what we said earlier in the week about the film. Even if you’re not a fan of the books or the movies you have to give the filmmakers credit for casting some pretty attractive and appealing people in these roles. Plus, they really seem to know how to milk the last little bit of angsty teen emotion from these situations.

Also, director David Slade comes to the table with a rather cool vampire flick to his credit (30 Days of Night) and has shown his ability to put together some pretty nice visuals while also managing to think about character at the same time. Add all this up and I’m not exactly sure what it means but if you look at this teaser, you might be able to figure it out.

Prediction: This film will make even more money than the first two. Anyone want to bet against it?

Check out the teaser after the jump. Eclipse hits theaters June 30th.

What can we say, there’s a brand new preview of the trailer for the upcoming third chapter in The Twilight saga, which is better known as Eclipse, and we’ve got it for you today. Courtesy of the fine folks at Extra, the teaser doesn’t really give us all that much to go on because, basically, it’s just a preview.

Still, what it does do is provide yet another reason to show shots of the cast of the film, which includes all your favorites such as Robert Pattinson, Kristen Stewart and Taylor Lautner, and have them walking, standing, talking and otherwise looking as good as possible. The preview also clues us in just a bit on some plot points of the film, which, if you’ve read the book, you probably already know by heart.

Still, seeing even this short preview reminds us in some way why these movies are just so damn popular. They feature attractive people going through emotional times and doing it with a certain sense of urgency.

While I’m not much of a fan of these books or movies, I can certainly understand the appeal to their target audience. People love them and these characters and in the end, that’s all that really matters.

Check out the new teaser after the jump. The full trailer will debut on Friday at 9AM ET. The Twilight Saga: Eclipse hits theaters June 30th.