Much ink has been spilled about how the power of Twitter lets filmmakers talk directly to fans, but hardly anything has been written about how it lets them torment fans. Several months ago, Jon Favreau whipped his followers into a frenzy about the imminent release of the first picture from Iron Man 2, then gave them a photo that looked like something the still photographer forgot to put in the EPK for Iron Man 1. Now, after some Twitter teasing from producer Brad Fuller, we have the very first image of Jackie Earle Haley as Freddy Krueger in the Nightmare as Elm Street remake. Right? Don't we? The exciting, dramatically reinvented, full-sized image, after the jump:
more »
Gidget, the Chihuahua best known for her "Yo Quiero Taco Bell" ad campaign in the last '90s, died from complications due to a stroke last night at age 15. Lesser known catchphrase: "Hasta la vista, Whopper." She will be missed. [People]
We have to (slightly) hand it to director Bryan Michael Stoller: While other associates of Michael Jackson were rushing to cash in on their relationship with the singer after his death, it took Stoller weeks! Now, though, the director of Jackson's final cinematic effort, Miss Cast Away (which, you may remember, starred Jackson opposite Joe Millionaire and Pat Morita) is ready to sell out, and he's got a very unlikely story to pitch.
more »
The synergy desk at News Corp. must have been closed this morning when MySpace decided to pull down a Fangoria cover promoting Jennifer's Body -- sister company Fox's great white hope for early fall. The site's hilarious reasoning (and the offending image) is after the jump.
more »
A little more than a month after his house was foreclosed upon, Stephen Baldwin has officially filed for bankruptcy in New York. His lawyer wasn't commenting Tuesday, but the last straw probably arrived a few weeks ago when cops found the homeless heroin dealer whom Baldwin allowed to camp out on the premises. The $1 million in tax debt couldn't have helped either. [Reuters]
· While yesterday might have been an OK day for actresses to adapt Ayn Rand opuses, today is all about big projects and the directors who love them. None are bigger than Sam Raimi and World of Warcraft, a collision of geek iconography hot enough to tan even the pastiest fanboy flesh. The filmmaker will adapt the multi-player video-game institution for Legendary Pictures and Warner Bros. after shooting Spider-Man 4 this fall, which I guess gets us to the bad news: In all likelihood, Raimi is done with the Spider-Man franchise. [NYT]
Tim Burton throws Shadows, James Mangold revisits problem kids, and more auteur-centric Hollywood Ink after the jump.
more »
European critics are pointing to the South African drama iZulu Lami (My Secret Sky) as Slumdog Millionaire's awards-ready, child-exploiting heir. Eleven-year-old Sobahle Mkhabase has drawn accolades from festival juries for her performance as a girl who, when her mother dies, heads off to a craft competition with her siblings and their only worldly possession: A traditional Zulu mat. You'll never believe what happens. Or maybe you will. The film will finally receive its South African premiere on Thursday, congrats to all. Just don't let us see Mkhabase on eBay Friday morning. [The Guardian]
· In yet another exclusive first look from the set of Iron Man 2, star Scarlett Johansson approaches director Jon Favreau with script in hand, wondering if her character Natasha Romanoff could perhaps also have her own substance-abusing pet bird or ferret of some sort.
more »
Cliffhanger resolved! Kiefer Sutherland has now officially been let off the hook for the intoxicated, Brooke-Shields-defending headbutt that broke the nose of designer Jack McCullough. Sure, most people (especially those on parole) can't headbutt someone and send them to the hospital without charges being filed, but the New York D.A. ran up against one big problem -- and it's not Sutherland's celebrity. Well, not entirely.
more »
Set a carefully planned code in front of slavering fanboys, and it'll be cracked and thrown away in less time than it takes to say, "Pepper Potts is supposed to have red hair." And so it is for the brief mystery of the Tron animated GIF, which was found to lead to the website flynnlives.com. Go forth and enjoy the site's single page, secret countdown timer, and skittering bug graphic (which recalls not the original Tron as much as it does the predicted Geocities page circa 1999). [Slashfilm]
We're very pleased to welcome Melissa Anderson -- a frequent contributor to The Village Voice, Film Comment, and Artforum.com and a member of the New York Film Critics Circle and the New York Film Festival selection committee -- who'll be Movieline's critic-in-residence this week. Her first review, of Katherine Heigl/Gerard Butler romantic pairing The Ugly Truth, will follow shortly. Say hello to Melissa, everyone!
· For the life of me, I can't figure out why fanboys are so threatened by The Twilight Saga: New Moon.
· Speaking of fanboys, Joel Silver says his Schwarzenegger-starring version of Watchmen would have been better than Zack Snyder's. Uh, let's leave Schwarzenegger's roster of playing blue, bald supermen at an even one.
· Todd Holland explains his controversial recommendation that actors should stay in the closet: he was only talking about the hotties.
· It's Point Break, as staged by the actors of Human Giant and Reno 911.
· Hey, a Comic-Con iPhone app! This is great, no one wants to have to refer to an actual map to get around. You'd look like such a nerd!
Rumors about the budget for Disney's Tron 2 have hovered around $300 million for a while now, but just so you know, it's all going on the screen. At least that's the impression left by one of the studio's first viral marketing efforts, mysteriously teasing journalists in advance of this week's Comic-Con with its circa-1998 multimedia breakthrough. If the picture to the right gets you excited, just wait until you see the mindblowing animation after the jump.
more »
One of the chief pleasures of the Harry Potter franchise is watching its young actors grow into adulthood (not that way, critics), and after its most hormonal installment yet, what better time to remember its actors' humble beginnings? Producer David Heyman shared with the LAT a picture taken of the first time Daniel Radcliffe ever met Rupert Grint, a magical day for so many obvious reasons (not least of which was commemorating the last time Radcliffe would be the same height as his costars). We've got the full-sized picture after the jump:
more »
If you saw Superhero Movie, or were even loitering around the internet during its release last year, you might have easily stumbled upon the singular talents of Miles Fisher, whom I once crowned with no amount of hyperbole The World's Greatest Tom Cruise Impressionist. (Proof here.)
more »
