With director Chris Columbus’ Percy Jackson & the Olympians: The Lightning Thief opening this Friday, I was able to talk with screenwriter Craig Titley (Scooby-Doo, Cheaper by the Dozen) about his involvement in the project yesterday afternoon.  During the interview, we talked about writing Percy Jackson, his involvement in Star Wars: The Clone Wars cartoon (he’s written two episodes), and what’s up with 20,000 Leagues Under the Sea.  And just to clarify the 20,000 Leagues story, two competing projects were going at the same time last year, one was at Disney with McG helming, and one was being developed at New Line with Sam Raimi’s company.  Titley wrote the New Line one.  During the interview he talks about his take on the material and what it’s about.

Watch the interview after the jump:

24 might be heading to movie theaters, as Twentieth Century Fox has hired Billy Ray (State of Play, Breach, Shattered Glass) to write the script for the feature version.  According to Variety, Ray pitched taking Jack Bauer to Europe, and his take met with enthusiasm with Fox execs and producers of the television series.

For a long time Kiefer Sutherland has talked about making a 24 feature film, as a year ago he told me the movie “would lose the real time aspect, which would be a huge freedom for the writers.” He went on to say the film “would be a two hour representation of a twenty-four hour day.”

More after the jump:

A few days ago, we reported the rights to the Terminator franchise were going to be auctioned off today, and after a marathon bidding session between a number of parties, it seems the Santa Barbara-based hedge fund Pacificor has won the auction and now owns the rights to all future Terminator movies and TV shows.  While Sony and Lionsgate both submitted bids, it seems the offer from Pacificor was too sweet, as they not only paid $29.5 million for the rights, but they let Halcyon keep the revenue streams from Terminator 3: Rise of the Machines and Terminator Salvation.  In addition, Halcyon will also get $5 million for every Terminator movie made from now on.  It’s a hell of deal for  Halcyon, as they not only got a nice lump sum payout, but Terminator 3 and Salvation will continue to generate money for the foreseeable future.

While the future of the Terminator franchise is not yet known, Pacificor is now in the drivers seat.  I’m confident we’re going to see more Terminator movies, it’s just a matter of time. (via Deadline)

UPDATE: It seems Pacificor is now talking with Sony and Lionsgate to handle future Terminator films. These talks are currently underway, so expect plenty of updates.  (via LATimes)

If you haven’t heard of Aaron Johnson yet…I promise you will very soon.  That’s because in director Sam Taylor Wood’s Nowhere Boy, Johnson gives an amazing performance as a teenage John Lennon.  And in a few months,  Johnson will be everywhere, as he’s one of the leads in director Matthew Vaughn’s Kick-Ass.  Trust me, this guy is going to be huge.

Anyway, at this year’s Sundance Film festival, I was able to speak with Aaron Johnson and Director Sam Taylor Wood about Nowhere Boy and our conversation is after the jump.  We talked about the delicate balancing act of trying to make a movie that’s based on such a famous person.  We also covered being at Sundance, what was it like on set, how did they prepare for the movie, and a lot more.  It’s a great interview so take a look.

Also, while Nowhere Boy has already been released in the UK, it’s still opening around the world.  I saw the film at Sundance and it’s great.  If you’re a Beatles fan, or just curious what Lennon’s life was like as a teenager, it’s really worth your time.

Opening this Friday is director Joe Johnston’s (The Rocketeer, Jurassic Park III, Jumanji) take on the classic Universal monster The Wolfman.  To help promote the film, Universal Pictures held a big press junket for journalists from around the world this past weekend.  While I already posted all the things Johnston said about his next project, The First Avenger: Captain America, it’s time for The Wolfman Q&A.

During the press conference, Jonston talked about his decision to use both practical and CG for the Wolfman, what changes he made when he got attached to the project, and for fans of extras on DVD/Blu-ray, Johnston says they’ll be an extended cut of The Wolfman with 17 addtional minutes added back in when it gets released on home video.  The additional footage is from the beginning of the film - before Benicio transforms.  Hit the jump for the transcript or audio from the press conference:

Over the weekend, Universal Pictures held a huge Wolfman press junket for journalists from around the world.  In attendance was the cast, as well as director Joe Johnston and make-up artist Rick Baker.  Over the next few days I’ll be posting a number of Wolfman interviews, as the movie arrives in theaters this Friday.  While I debated who to post first…I decided to go with one of the best actors working in the business, Sir Anthony Hopkins.

During the press conference, the Academy Award Winning actor talked about why he wanted to be involved with The Wolfman and a lot more.  As usual, you can either the transcript of what he said or listen to the audio of the press conference after the jump:

The official poster for the 82nd Annual Academy Awards has been released and it features co-hosts Steve Martin and Alec Baldwin sitting on the Oscar.  The ceremony is scheduled for March 7 and it’ll air on ABC live around the world.   Take a look at the full poster after the jump:

While many might scoff at paying $3 million dollars for a 30 second commercial during the Super Bowl,  if you advertised during Super Bowl XLIV last night, you made a good choice.  That’s because Super Bowl XLIV set a new all-time ratings high with 106.5 million viewers, and it was the first sports program to ever crack 100 million viewers in the United States.  This year’s Super Bowl even took down the 27-year-old ratings record held by the final episode of M*A*S*H. While there are more people watching TV now, it’s still an incredible milestone.

“It is not surprising that the Super Bowl broke viewing records,” said Bill Carroll, vp director of programming at Katz TV Group. “When you have a once-a-year event, particularly suited to HD, with little to no competition on broadcast or cable, while in this economy mostly watched from home, with a blizzard on the East Coast, it would be more surprising if the game did not set a record.”  (via THR)

The premiere of Undercover Boss, CBS’ latest reality show, also drew huge ratings with 38.6 million viewers.  That’s the biggest post Super Bowl audience since the second season premiere of Survivor back in 2001.

Around this time every year, all the networks start to cast their pilots.  While you may think every show that gets developed ends up on the air, you’d be mistaken.  The odds of creating a show that actually makes it is very small, and to become a hit show, it’s like winning the lottery.  To try and raise the odds of a successful crop of new shows, the networks develop many pilots.  In fact, the number is often two or three times what they actually need.  That way they can pick the best of the bunch, and the rest are usually never seen or heard from again.  Again, even if you hear about a pilot, it doesn’t mean you’ll ever see it.

Saying that, a number of actors (Daniel Dae Kim Cast, Michael Chiklis, Jason Ritter, Zach Gilford, Aisha Hinds, Todd Williams) have recently been cast in pilots that are about to shoot.  Hit the jump for details on what shows they landed on:

One of the many films that premiered at this year’s Sundance Film festival was writer/director Josh Radnor’s happythankyoumoreplease.  While many might have thought Radnor only got into Sundance due to his CBS sitcom How I Met Your Mother, his film won the Dramatic Audience Award at Sundance, proving he belonged in the Festival.

Starring Malin Akerman (Watchmen), Kate Mara (Shooter), Tony Hale (Arrested Development , Chuck) and Josh Radnor, happythankyoumoreplease is about six New Yorkers juggling love, and friendship.  Even though the story is nothing new in the world of movies, I really enjoyed his debut film.  Also, while many Sundance movies were tough to watch, happythankyoumoreplease is a really sweet romcom that’s sure to please audiences looking for an uplifting movie about love.  While the movie doesn’t yet have distribution , I’m sure someone will purchase the film soon.

To help promote the film, I got to talk with Malin Akerman and Josh Radnor.  You can watch the interview after the jump:

During tonight’s Super Bowl, a bunch of commercials for upcoming movies were shown.  In case you missed the game, they showed ads for Ridley Scott’s Robin Hood, Joe Johnston’s The Wolfman, Tim Burton’s Alice in Wonderland, Martin Scorsese’s Shutter Island, Mike Newell’s Prince of Persia: The Sands of Time, The Crazies, Antoine Fuqua’s Brooklyn’s Finest, and M. Night Shyamalan’s The Last Airbender.  If you missed the game or just want to rewatch the ads, they’re all after the jump, along with the synopses.

Now this is just awesome.  Someone at penneydesign has imagined what modern movies and TV shows would have looked like as video games if they had been made back in the late ’70’s.   While they designed the game covers for a fake system called the CVS 2600  Cartridge Video System, it’s clear the covers are designed for the Atari 2600.  The fake games are Batman: The Dark Knight, Cloverfield, James Cameron’s Avatar, Lost, Prison Break, Snakes on a Plane, The Fast and the Furious Tokyo Drift and Wall-E.

What’s also great about the covers is the way they’ve added fake stickers, price tags and writing.  On The Dark Knight cover the writing says:

David & Mary Merry XMas ‘78.  This is to share! Love Aunt Julie

If you ever played the Atari 2600 or just want to see some awesome fake video game covers, hit the jump.

As we reported back in December, Warner Bros. was scheduled to do some reshoots on Jonah Hex in late January into early February.  While news about the reshoots has been quiet since that first story, a few images from the set have leaked and you can check them out after the jump.  While they’re nothing like those first images that featured Megan Fox in that insanely tight fitting corset, you still might dig them.

And before you start getting nervous that reshoots equal problems…almost every movie does some sort of reshoot before release.  The reason is once you start editing a movie, you often see something you missed and you do reshoots to fix those problems.  Even Lord of the Rings did reshoots…

Just an hour ago I took part in a press conference with director Joe Johnston for his upcoming movie The Wolfman.  While I’ll have a full transcript of the entire interview posted very soon, I was able to get some great updates on The First Avenger: Captain America.

Here’s some of the highlights.

– He’s definitely casting an American to play Captain America

– Needs to have casting done by March 1.  Says they are testing 5 or 6 guys ranging from 23 to 32.

– He’s shooting Captain America in HD and says if they do 3D it’ll be in post

– Says he’s going to shoot Captain America in a different way than any of the other Marvel pictures have been shot

– They’re going to shoot most of it in the UK because the movie takes place in Europe

–  Regarding casting a movie star to play Captain America…Johnston says he wants to discover an unknown and surround him with more prominent names

– The Invaders are in the movie and they’re a big part of the second half of the film.  Also The Invaders will be six members strong. (via Chud)

– And while he didn’t tell us anything about the villain of the film, AICN is reporting Johnston told someone at the junket that Red Skull is going to be the villain.  More on Red Skull here.

– Steve Rogers (Captain America) will wear two costumes in the film.  The first is close to the Jack Kirby designed costume and later in the film he’ll wear a sturdier, more muted version. (via Hero Complex)

Hit the jump for more:

If you live in the UK, a really dark and gritty thriller called Tony opened yesterday (in limited release), and it’s also on VOD and DVD Monday.  Written and directed by first time feature film director Gerard Johnson and starring Peter Ferdinando, Tony follows a week in the life of an alienated psychopath with severe social problems.

I saw a screening at Slamdance last week and thought the film was great.  You’d never know it was Johnson’s first film, and when you find out he it for 80,000 pounds, it’s even more impressive.  If you’re a fan of dark thrillers, I definitely recommend checking Tony out.  It hits DVD in the US in April.

Anyhow, when I was in Park City for the Film Festivals, I got the chance to speak with Gerard Johnson and Peter Ferdinando about Tony.  We talked about making the film, where the idea came from, how they were able to make it for such little money, and they talk about they want to make next which is an English version of Bad Lieutenant.  It’s a fantastic interview so check it out.  Again, if you’re in the UK, check out Tony…it’ll surprise you.

I don’t know when it happened, but over the last few years, a number of awesome fake movie posters have been created by very talented artists from around the world.  If I had the space and the money, I’d own a lot more of them.

The latest fake poster is courtesy of Sam Gilbey (@samgilbey on twitter) and it’s for director Edgar Wright’s Feb 19 showing of Death Wish 3 in London.  If you live in or around the city (or you have the money to fly over there), hit the jump to check out the poster and get all the details.  As Wright says, “it features a mail order rocket launcher…”