You cannot outrun the grunting, galloping grindhouse siege that is Conan the Barbarian -- especially its marketing campaign, which barrels ahead today with a new UK trailer spotlighting a certain character who is most definitely not Conan. Behold: Grumpy Stephen Lang!
It's bad when images from a movie directed by Steven Spielberg and produced by Peter Jackson call to mind those crudely animated Empire carpet commercials, but such is life for The Adventures of Tintin. The motion-capture spectacle (with Jamie Bell voicing the titular adventurer) arrives in theaters this Christmas, and looks about as comfortable in the uncanny valley as The Polar Express. This is not a good thing. Still, cute dog! Click through for another look at Tintin and his trusty canine companion, Snowy.
Also in this Wednesday edition of The Broadsheet: Spike Lee may have found a new gig... Paramount is in the money... The To Do List potentially adds some beloved names... and more ahead.
While it's common for successful directors, writers and actors to offer advice to their aspiring peers, it's less common to hear about an established animator encouraging his fellow artists with kind words. Nevertheless, that is what Pixar's own Austin Madison (Up, Ratatouille) has done via a thoughtful, handwritten note that he contributed to the Animator Letters Project in hopes of motivating all of the gifted future animators amongst us. Take a look at the letter, which quotes Peter Jackson and appears to be inspirational to anyone in a creative field, below.
Stephenie Meyer, the dastardly empress of Twilight, is joining forces as a producer with Jerusha Hess (co-writer of Napoleon Dynamite) for Austenland, a romcom about a woman who "spends her life savings on a trip to an English resort catering to Jane Austen-crazed women." Keri Russell plays the woman, and she's flanked by J.J. Field, Bret McKenzie, Jennifer Coolidge, and Jane Seymour. Factoid: Meyer and Hess are both Mormon. Eek! I was traumatized in high school by our district's sole Mormon, who used to brag constantly that he never masturbated. Spoiler: He went bald at 19 and seems twitchy. Hold me, Dustin Lance Black! [THR]
Oscar winner, letter writer, Godfather... drum innovator? Turns out Marlon Brando was all of those things, an avid inventor with multiple patents to his name including one for a revolutionary tuning system for conga drums. Said prototype still sits in a storage facility in West L.A., which NPR visited recently to get the scoop on Brando's secret scientific pursuits.
Sports Illustrated looked back on 22 years of Major League by interviewing nearly everyone involved in the making of the sports classic with one notable exception: the incarcerated Wesley Snipes. Not that he would have wanted to contribute anyway. "A couple years after Major League I saw Wesley," recalled co-star Corbin Bernsen. "I said, "Hey, man, they're gonna make Major League II!" And he was like, 'You're gonna do that?' And I thought, 'Wow, how quickly they forget.' He'd become Wesley Snipes. That rubbed me the wrong way." [Sports Illustrated]
Spoiler alert and all, but still: truth. "And now the Chicago genocide began. We saw no less than 17 fleeing citizens disintegrated by attacking Decepticons into blood fog. Then, in a big set-piece action scene, 14 more people were disintegrated. At that point, the freaking Autobots finally decided to show up, and they freaking pulled off a Decepticon's limbs. Now, if this movie was rated R and actually awesome, they would have beaten the Decepticon to death with his own arms and legs. Stupid PG-13 rating." [EW]
Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows Part II doesn't arrive in U.S. theaters until July 15, but the franchise's most diehard fans won't have to wait that long. That's because they've likely flown to London for the July 7 world premiere of the Potter finale, and are waiting online at this very moment. The dedicated Potter-ites have gathered outside Trafalgar Square just so that they can get a glimpse of Daniel Radcliffe and Emma Watson, and to get their hands on one of those coveted premiere wristbands. Accio, dedication! Ahead, look at the overseas Potter mayhem; no plane ticket required!
Along with a handful of adorable, candid, and crush-worthy things Hayley Atwell said during a recent Esquire interview was the unexpected revelation that the Jimi Hendrix biopic OutKast's André "3000" Benjamin has been trying to make and star in for years may be back on track. Also: Atwell ad-libbed the fondling of Chris Evans's chest in Captain America and admits The Prisoner mini-series remake "was a complete joke." Make this girl a star!
Forbes compiled a (perhaps inexact) list of the highest paid women in Hollywood, and oh my gosh it's bleak! Oh my gosh! Specifically, the list highlights actresses who earned the most money from May, 2010 to May, 2011, which means plenty of tween starlets and longtime, fast-staling breadwinners make the grade. Gawk with us.
Because Adam Sandler needed another swimming pool, he's agreed to voice Count Dracula in Hotel Transylvania. Sandler will be joined by Kevin James (Frankenstein), Steve Buscemi and Molly Shannon (a couple of werewolves), David Spade (Quasimodo) and Cee-Lo Green (Murray the Mummy) in the animated 3-D comedy from Sony. [THR/Heat Vision]
While Daniel Craig is off channeling Edie Falco, Edie Falco will soon be channeling the Greek goddess Artemis in the big screen adaptation of Brit lit bestseller Gods Behaving Badly. Also on board, fleshing out what I'm predicting to be the strangest casting blitz we'll see all week: Phylicia Rashad as Demeter! John Turturro as Hades! Sharon Stone as Aphrodite! Christopher Walken as Zeus! Your full list of '90s stars playing downtrodden gods and goddesses after the jump.
Please tell me you meet the news of Charlie Sheen receiving his own Comedy Central roast with a mixture of giggles and groans. Giggles for the potential insanity, and groans for the certain eventuality of tired-ass jokes about #winning, tiger blood, warlocks, and the eternal comic goldmine that is domestic abuse. Dicey. Thankfully, Movieline remembers that Charlie Sheen was once a (spit take!) movie star, and we think there's amusing stuff to mine from his 30 years on the big screen. Join us as we offer roasters some cinephile fodder.
· With less than two weeks remaining until the final installment of the Harry Potter series arrives in theaters, what better time to start thinking about the future career prospects for your favorite Hogwarts students. Will refreshingly honest and super-talented Daniel Radcliffe take top marks going forward? Or is Emma Watson destined to rule the graduating class with her icy good looks and Hermione-like determination? Click through to leave your thoughts, then stick around for more Buzz Break.
FILM NEWS 
