You have to wonder where Jason Momoa, the new star of Conan the Barbarian, will end up. Will he go on to star in numerous worldwide blockbusters, spawn a lifetime of impersonations and wind up as the governor of the great state of California? Or will he be the next Fabio, a soft-core fantasy and fake butter salesman? Judging from the first official still from Marcus Nispel's reboot of Conan, bet money on the latter. And because any remake of Conan the Barbarian deserves the highest level of respect, Movieline is once again calling you -- dear reader -- into service. After the jump check out the first official image from Conan the Barbarian and caption it to your heart's desire.
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There is so very much to recommend the new film Pope Joan, the epic German-made, English-language biopic of the legendary (and, many would say, apocryphal) ninth-century woman who ascended to the papal throne while posing as a man. First of all, there's the idea of a woman ascending to the papal throne, which is endlessly intriguing. Then there's the other part of her myth, which involved her having a secret lover and a child before she was discovered and torn apart by a vicious mob. Last and hardly least, John Goodman plays her successor, Pope Sergius III, who is the only pope thought to have ordered the murder of a another. Pulpy! And of course the Vatican hates it. So when can we see it in the U.S.?
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In an interview yesterday, 60 Minutes curmudgeon Andy Rooney revealed that -- shockingly -- he was not at all influenced by Amanda Bynes' sudden decision to quit the business. Said the 91-year-old CBS personality, "How long am I going to work? How long am I going to live? That's the question. [...] I will work until I drop, or until I lose my head. Until somebody tells me different, I'm not going to quit." Here's to another decade worth of viewer mail rants and complaints about crowded shopping malls. [NYP]
· Disney has reportedly hired a pair of writers to adapt Marvel's Dr. Strange as a feature, sparking the instant rumor that the character will be the first of the Marvel Universe to get a prospective franchise in its new studio home. Which is kind of hilarious, since it was, like, yesterday, that Disney was apparently exploring short films based on these characters. Will the agents/publicists spinning this crap on us please either iron out -- or space -- out their stories? Thanks. [Deadline]
Kristen Bell likes Whales, 3D panic strikes, and more Hollywood Ink after the jump.
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· Mike of Red Letter Media, the man who gave you the 70-minute review of The Phantom Menace, is back. This time he's skewering (or slur-reviewing) the John Hughes gem Baby's Day Out. The criticisms and delivery are funny, sure, but the video mostly serves the purpose of reminding you that Cynthia Nixon was in Baby's Day Out. [Slashfilm]
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California: a lovely and temperate place! Kind of broke, though. And so it is that the state (currently $19 billion in the hole) is considering a bill that would convert vehicle license plates into electronic billboards "that would mimic a standard license plate when the vehicle is in motion but would switch to digital ads or other messages when it is stopped for more than four seconds, whether in traffic or at a red light," explains the Associated Press. What will end up on these digital ads? Considering that there are only three things advertised on California billboards -- casinos, lap bands, and popular entertainment -- I think we can guess.
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Last April, Movieline interviewed Mark Neveldine and Brian Taylor as they passed the Jonah Hex director's baton to live-action neophyte Jimmy Hayward, and the outgoing duo couldn't have been more charitable. "The great thing about Jonah Hex is that we love the script, we love the actors involved, we love the executives at Warner Bros involved, and we're totally happy being a part of that project," Taylor told us. "It doesn't have to be, like, this whole 'Mark and Brian thing.' We put our stamp on it, they love the script, and it's gonna be awesome." Well, that was then.
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Despite Gleek-baiting reports to the contrary, Fox has no intention of exploiting a cast contract stipulation to launch even a single Glee feature film. Said creator Ryan Murphy to EW, "There will be no Glee movie in the foreseeable future. Despite overtures, I and [Twentieth Century Fox] have decided we want to put our energy into the second season with no distractions for the cast." Except for the international guest stars, over-the-top plot twists, and hiatus-gobbling tour schedule, that is. Otherwise, no distractions. [EW]
(Whoops, spoiler alert.) Anyway, after Mad Men gave us a relatively underwhelming first still and season four poster, the stakes have now been upped with this first glimpse of Peggy rocking a very provocative hair helmet. What could it mean? Has there been a time jump? Is Peggy now the First Lady, somehow? Will Joan be rocking a Florence Henderson shag... and would we even be able to handle that? [THR]
Hey, ladies! One "feature film director" in Los Angeles has just the opportunity for you, and you don't even have to have any talent. Unless walking to the bus stop is a talent. Details after the jump.
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Will The Last Airbender herald a comeback for its director, M. Night Shyamalan? It's too soon to say, but at least he's back to his old tricks: to lure a buyer for his next film, an untitled project with Bradley Cooper, Gwyneth Paltrow, and Bruce Willis attached, he's required studio executives to read the top-secret script with one of his assistants present. Presumably, each time an exec begins to say, "Isn't that what Night did for The Happening--" the assistant is there to quickly cut them off with a stern click of the tongue. [THR]
Four months after Alan Ball revealed that True Blood would enjoy a fourth season, HBO has officially confirmed the pick-up. The next 12 episodes, set to premiere in the summer of 2011, will follow the events described in the fourth Southern Vampire Mysteries novel by Charlaine Harris, Dead to the World. [USA Today]
· The cast of the new Bachelor(ette) castoff series Bachelor Pad features some of our old favorites -- including our newest loser, the sh*tstorm-weathering Jonathan!
· More American Idol news: We shouldn't expect Fox's choice for Simon Cowell's replacement to appear at the first Nashville auditions in July. A cardboard cut-out of Nikita Khrushchev will have to do.
· The UK's X Factor knows how to win ratings back from the World Cup games -- by asking viewers to stop watching the World Cup.
· SXSW Film Festival darling Barry Munday has been picked up by Magnolia Pictures. That's good news for Movieline's new friend Colin Hanks.
· Pirates of the Caribbean's fourth chapter will concern a quest for the fountain of youth, a press release confirms. Ponce de Leon knew it had something to do with Disney sequels.
And you thought Jonah Hex had bad buzz. The stink around The Green Hornet is of the unreleasable variety, this despite coming from the fertile and imaginative minds of director Michel Gondry and screenwriters Seth Rogen and Evan Goldberg. Long since bumped from its July 7 release date to the more bomb-friendly January 14, 2011, there have been scant peeks of what to expect from this amalgam of superhero origin, 3D and -- presumably -- paper mache... until now! After the jump, help Movieline caption the first two images from The Green Hornet. Creativity awaits!
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Are you in New York? Do you like movies? If you answered "Yes" to both of these questions, then hightail it down to Tribeca tonight for a preview screening of the splendid new film Animal Kingdom, whose director and a portion of whose cast will be on hand to talk it over with you (and me, your humble moderator). Read on for details.
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