Good news for all you Ender’s Game fans out there as there is finally some forward motion on the film. Ender’s Game has had a long journey getting from a novel to the big screen and finally has a production blog. Even though there is only a single image posted so far, producer Roberto Orci promises to have exclusives from the film over the next year. This would include guest appearances by well known cast members.

For those of you unfamiliar with the Orson Scott Card book series, here is a synopsis. Set in Earth’s future, the plot presents an imperiled humankind who have barely survived two conflicts with the Formics, an insect like alien species that are usually called “Buggers”. These aliens act much like gigantic super smart Earth ants and are very protective of their queen. In preparation for an anticipated third invasion, an international fleet maintains a school to find and train future fleet commanders.

The art of the horror comedy is in danger of becoming extinct these days, if not for the zombie genre’s resurrection (pun not intended) with hits like Shaun of the Dead and Zombieland. Now, rising star in the horror genre Adam Green (Hatchet, Frozen) is taking a whack at it with his new film Killer Pizza, which just got picked up by MGM.

From Deadline:

MGM is in talks to acquire Killer Pizza, an Adam Green-scripted adaptation of the Greg Taylor book about a 14-year old boy who lands a summer job at a pizza joint that is actually a front for a monster hunting enterprise.

Rafaella De Laurentiis is producing with 1492 Pictures and CJ Entertainment. 1492 Entertainment’s Chris Columbus brought it to MGM after meeting with the brass there and sensing the studio’s appetite for Gremlins and Goonies-type fare, and Killer Pizza fit that bill.

The film is said to have a very Joe Dante-esque feel taking tonal cues from Gremlins and Matinee. Can newcomer Adam Green join in the ranks of Dante and Landis in bringing these two genres to a happy medium? We’ll have to find out when MGM brings Pizza into production in the next year.

I’m by no means a fan of reality television. That being said, I have stuck with some of the traditional shows that gave birth (in a Rosemary’s Baby kind of way) to the current reality programming genre. Those shows are COPS and America’s Most Wanted. I even remember when both shows premiered on Fox, a newbie network at the time…and I probably just dated myself with that comment given they’ve been on for over twenty years respectively.

It was because of my loyalty to America’s Most Wanted that had me shiver a little when I saw the trailer for the upcoming Jesse Eisenberg film, 30 Minutes or Less.  Here’s the premise care of IMDB:

Two fledgling criminals kidnap a pizza delivery guy, strap a bomb to his chest, and inform him that he has mere hours to rob a bank or else…

Sounds pretty funny, right? Pizza delivery guy gets a bomb strapped to him and he’s forced to rob a bank.  I’d be laughing had this not unfolded in real life with far less comedic repercussions.

On August 28, 2003 Brian Wells arrived for work at 11:00 am.  His occupation: pizza delivery driver.  At 1:30 pm Brian was asked to deliver two cheese and pepperoni pizzas to a remote location near the woods.  About an hour after that Brian entered a bank with a bomb strapped to him (around his neck in this case) and handed the teller a note demanding money.

It’s an eerie tale to be sure and when I first saw the segment on America’s Most Wanted I thought, who’s going to be the first to make a movie about that.  At the time I imagined some type of Michael Mann crime drama in the same vein as Collateral. Apparently I couldn’t have been more wrong.

Instead, this real life, horrifying event has been wrapped in what I’m sure critics will call a “laugh-out-loud” buddy comedy.  I have no way to confirm if writers Matthew Sullivan and Michael Diliberti knew anything about what has been dubbed “the collar bomb” case, but according to Wikipedia (take it with a grain of salt) that was the basis for 30 Minutes or Less.

Remember watching Zombieland and wondering why School of Rock and Nacho Libre screenwriter Mike White makes a 10 second cameo in the first half of the film? Well, it seems that’s because White is a diehard zombie fan. (Who isn’t?)

That love for zombies is a big reason why White is now at the top of the list to direct the adaptation of the Seth Grahame-Smith book Pride and Prejudice and Zombies. For those unaware, the journey to get this film a crew has actually been a trying one. Here’s the breakdown from the LA Times:

The quirky auteur David O. Russell had been on board to direct the movie. But last month the “Flirting with Disaster” filmmaker decamped to make the video game adaptation “Drake’s Fortune.” That created a vacuum behind the camera, and four weeks weeks later, no filmmaker has been selected to replace him (although Lionsgate says a choice is expected soon).

As of last week, we officially have our Director (500 Days Of Summer’s Marc Webb), our Gwen Stacy (Zombieland’s Emma Stone), and our Peter Parker/Spider-Man (Social Network’s Andrew Garfield) locked in for the upcoming untitled Spider-Man reboot from Sony Pictures. Now, word is coming in that Welsh actor Rhys Ifans has been cast as the film’s unnamed villain.

It’s been said that Ifans’ most popular role was alongside Julia Roberts and Hugh Grant in 1999’s Notting Hill, but fans of cheesy genre comedies remember him from such fare as Little Nicky, The Replacements, and Pirate Radio. Now Ifans is taking on more of a colorful role as he battles with Garfield’s Spider-Man in the upcoming reboot.

The film is said to have little-to-no correlation with the previous Sam Raimi trilogy and will reboot the entire franchise for a whole new audience. As we said, Ifans may be locked into the film, but Sony is keeping a pretty tight lid on which exact villain we can see him as.

Who would you cast Rhys Ifans as? Could he out-goblin Willem Defoe’s Green Goblin? Or is it time that Electro finally makes it to the silver screen?

Sound off and let us know what you think. Spectacular Spider-Man (tentative title) is currently slated for a July 3rd release date in 2012.

There’s been plenty of speculation about who will take on the pivotal role of Mary Jane Watson, love interest of Peter Parker (aka Spider-Man) in the upcoming reboot of the franchise. Now it seems speculation can end because according to reports, the awesome Emma Stone is going to be offered the role.

Stone, coming off of great roles in Easy A and Zombieland, seems a natural for the part and according to the reports is a favorite of Sony, the studio home to the Spider-Man franchise. With the role of Mary Jane seemingly a lock for Stone, attention can then turn to the other pivotal female role in the film: Gwen Stacy.

The top contenders for that role include Glee’s Dianna Agron, Mia Wasikowska, Georgina Haig and Dominique McElligott. Of those, I would probably lean towards Agron who could definitely pull of the role. Still, at the moment, no clear front runner has emerged.

Whatever happens with the part of Gwen Stacy, its great to see Emma Stone is becoming a bigger actress in Hollywood. She’s a talented girl who can go far. I, for one, hopes she does. Of course, when this deal is finalized and the one for Gwen Stacy as well, we’ll let you know.

What do you guys think? Is Emma Stone the right choice for Mary Jane Watson? Who should be Gwen Stacy?

UPDATE: Apparently, things got a bit reversed as Emma Stone has actually made a deal to star as Gwen Stacy instead of Mary Jane Watson. Odd?

High school comedies have gotten a pretty bad reputation as of late. If it weren’t for films like Mean Girls or the original series of Scary Movie films, the genre would be completely devoid of appeal of any kinda. Then we have a film like Easy A, which looks like it could just break that mold once again.

The film stars Emma Stone, who most fans fell in love with during her role in Zombieland, and other just consider the “poor man’s Lindsay Lohan”. Either way, she’s on the rise in Hollywood, and Easy A could just be her big picture to make that happen.

The film is a modern-day take on The Scarlet Letter, except it takes place in high school, and there’s no actual sex. The cast is what will turn heads the most, bringing names like Thomas Haden Church, Patricia Clarkson, Malcolm McDowell, Stanley Tucci, Lisa Kudrow, and Fred Armisen to a film that could just turn out to be “not every other high school movie.”

Don’t take our word for it. Myspace is bringing us the first 10 minutes of the film, which you can check out after the jump. Check it out, let us know what you think, and catch Easy A in theaters this Friday.

Tom Cruise and company were all pretty quick to jump onto and set a release date for the upcoming fourth installment of the Mission Impossible franchise. The only problem was that the film had yet to sign a director. Who could possibly take the helm after sci-fi meganerd J.J. Abrams shared his vision in the last film. Well, according to THR, the studio’s number one choice is Incredibles director Brad Bird.

On the surface, Bird may seem a peculiar choice. The writer-director wrote and directed 1999’s “The Iron Giant” and 2004’s “The Incredibles” as well as 2007’s “Ratatouille” (the latter two earned Oscars for best animated picture), but he has never helmed a live-action feature.

On the other hand, nabbing Bird would be inspired. He is praised for his storytelling skills and is known for his strengths in staging thrilling and intricate action set-pieces as well as fusing the action with large dollops of heart and emotion.

Bird is just one name thrown into the hat along with others such as Edgar Wright and Zombieland director Ruben Fleischer. Brad seems the be at least Cruise’s top pick in the list.

We at The Flickcast are pretty diligent about serving up all the news that comes out each week. However, try as we may to cover it all, some things occassionally slip by. Well, no longer.

Welcome to On The Radar! This weekly post will be your premiere destination for a comprehensive roundup of items that may be developing stories we’re watching, Twitter commentary, or other relevant news that wasn’t quite ready for prime time just yet.  In short, a grab bag of geek items which are sure to please.

Let’s see what blips are on the radar this week.

‘Zombieland’ devours video rentals

Zombieland dominated the video lists this week, “…on the Nielsen VideoScan Blu-ray Disc chart, “Zombieland” went three for three, bowing at No. 1 and …racked up 31% of its total first-week sales from the Blu-ray Disc.” Way to go Zombieland, we can’t wait for the sequeal.

‘Avatar’ 3D boosts Cineplex ticket sales in Canada

3D showings of Avatar did wonders for Cineplex’s bottom line in Canada, “Despite running for only 13 days during its latest financial frame, “Avatar 3D” was Cineplex’s biggest boxoffice performer during the fourth quarter to Dec. 31, and has done around $74 million in Canadian ticket receipts to date.” No surprise really given the popularity of this film and the fact 3D showings are still being sold, out or causing line-ups.

Geek flicks drive Viacom profits

DVD and Blu-Ray disc sales from Star Trek, Transformers 2 and G.I. Joe stimulated Viacom’s fourth quarter earnings to the tune of $694 million.  Not bad considering the $173 million it made in the same quarter in 2008.  Also helping was the indie hit Paranormal Activity which increased operating expenses by 24%.

Zombieland was one of the most entertaining films I saw in 2009 and I was eagerly awaiting its arrival on Blu-ray this week. Unlike the George Romero zombie films of the past, Zombieland is a unique blend of “The Odd Couple meets the zombie apocalypse.” Woody Harrelson, Jesse Eisenberg, Emma Stone, and Abigail Breslin have great chemistry together as the last few remaining humans in a world gone zombie.

As a die-hard fan of apocalyptic films such as The Last Man on Earth, The Omega Man and The Quiet Earth, Zombieland takes you into a world that has only recently fallen into chaos and shows how those would react when hordes of flesh eating ghoules are waiting for you around every corner.

As I scrolled through the special features on the Blu-Ray disc, I was excited to see that they had added several features that made the disc worth adding to my vast collection. The first feature is “Beyond the Graveyard” which allows the viewer to access picture in picture commentary throughout the feature to learn more about the scenes and special effects associated with them.