An interesting tidbit came out of Disney’s A Christmas Carol panel today at the San Diego Comic-Con. Director Robert Zemeckis was asked during the audience Q&A if he had any intention on ever making a sequel to Who Framed Roger Rabbit?. The director try to play coy by saying several times that he “could neither confirm or deny” a sequel to his 1988 live-action/animated film, which starred Bob Hoskins as Eddie Valiant, a private eye investigating a case in the Toontown section of Hollywood where the animated “Toons” live. But something about the director’s response led the audience to believe there was more to it, perhaps there is something in the works, but he’s not at liberty to announce it yet.

Zemeckis did offer up what his plans would be for the original 2D animated characters if he were to do a sequel.

If that ever does happen… everyone doesn’t have to worry, the 2D animated characters from the original movie will remain 2D. They will not be dimensionalized, but that doesn’t exclude anything from ever being 3D… who knows? That’s just my feeling if anything were to happen down the road. [...]

Patton Oswalt moderated the Disney panel, which included a segment on Tim Burton‘s Alice In Wonderland. Director Tim Burton made a scheduled appearance, but as a surprise for the audience, one Mr. Johnny Depp came out.

Check out the images of Depp, Burton, and stills from the film here below.

Depp just came out and waved for a moment, but that was enough for this rapid audience, which had just seen new footage from the film twice. (Check out the description of the footage* here below.)

Burton mentioned that while we were able to enjoy the amazing 3D of the film, Depp is not able to (he’s color-blind).

Burton had explained that he used ideas and storylines from Lewis Carroll’s classic Alice In Wonderland tale and its sequel Through The Looking Glass, as well as poems like Jabberwocky [...]

Creator of The Dreamland Chronicles (Blue Dream Studios), an all-ages story of Alexander Carter, who visits the timeless realm called “Dreamland” whenever he falls asleep, confirmed to Geeks of Doom there was open discussion with Dreamworks studios to produce a CGI movie adaptation of the web comic and graphic Novels (published by IDW).

It’s still too early to make a definitive assessment on any of the details for a Dreamland movie.

Previously Disney optioned the movie rights to another of Creator Scott Christian Sava’s graphic novels — Pet Robots — about four kids who stumble upon the Rooty Tooty Toy Company’s military toy prototypes.

Obviously, his all-ages stories have the potential to translate very well to the big screen and producing The Dreamland Chronicles into the next great CGI toon blockbuster would be a logical choice for both Dreamworks (who needs a non Shriek related hit soon) and Disney’s Pixar [...]

The past couple of days have delivered our first very minor peeks at what to expect in the new A Nightmare on Elm Street reboot from Platinum Dunes, director Samuel Bayer, and producers Brad Fuller and Michael Bay. Various online journalists were given the opportunity to visit the set of the film recently, and while no one is allowed to get into details about that yet, a very cool title logo has been unveiled. Along with that, MySpace and IGN have both been given an exclusive image to show off: one a dark first peek at Jackie Earle Haley as Freddy Krueger, and the other a great teaser poster.

As it is with all of these horror icon reboots, people wonder how much exactly they will change from the original character (in this case, played by Robert England), and what route they’re going to take. With these two teaser images, we have some possible answers. In the image of Haley as Krueger, we see that three of the major four elements of Krueger seem to be fairly unchanged: the fedora, tattered and torn Christmas sweater, and the glove all seem to be in tact. The other major element is of course his disfigured face, which we get a small look at in the teaser poster. [...]

The Geeks of Doom posse began its invasion Wednesday night of the 2009 San Diego Comic-Con, which kicked off with a special preview night. The GoD gang stuck to the main exhibit hall, which was crazy packed with attendees, and took the opportunity to snap some pictures of some of the bigger exhibits for major movie studios, comics publishers, and toy giants, as well as of the area just outside the convention center.

Check out the images below from the exhibit hall (click for larger, full view with descriptions).

Here are some highlights from today:

• District 9: The upcoming film had a big viral presence at last year’s Con. This year, the District 9 MNU (Multi-National United) truck was parked on the side of the convention center, right on the side of the hotel I’m staying at.
• The Green Hornet: The Green Hornet car was on the exhibit hall floor, but was not yet unveiled.
• Wolverine: Madame Tussauds has created a Hugh Jackman as Wolverine wax figure, which can be viewed at the Fox booth at the convention. The figure will be relocated to Madame Tussauds in Hollywood on August 1.
• Transformers: Full-size version of Bumblebee as a car and a robot.
• Iron Man: An entire Stark Industries showcase with the various Iron Man suits.
• Jane Wiedlin: For the record, Geeks of Doom loves Go-Go’s guitarist Jane Wieldin, who not only checked into the hotel right before us, but also rode up in the elevator with us twice. Wieldin is a true geek (remember her in Bill & Ted’s Excellent Adventure?) and will be at the Con at Autograph Alley each day promoting comic book Lady Robotika and other goodies. Check out her full Con schedule at her MySpace page.

[...]

As we head into the biggest comic convention of the year, the 2009 San Diego Comic Con, I must say that the thing that has me most excited isn’t the previews, creator panels, or rare geeky loot — although all of that stuff does make me giddy beyond belief. No this year I’m psyched because Google (or iGoogle) is sponsoring free Wi-Fi for all those in attendance.

As a geek reporter, the largest reason I even want to attend the conventions has to do entirely with being able to report cool stuff back to the interested folks on the Internet. Take that away and I’m just another fan boy, with exception of the large bag of Vitamin C drops I’ll be downing to avoid Con funk. After covering NYCC earlier this year with little to no 3G connectivity, I can testify to the torture that came with trying to live-tweet the panels. (Usually I had to wait until the sessions ended and I was close enough to a door to allow for the edge network to carry over a stale comment I had typed a half hour prior.)

So yes there could be mass overload of the network due to the large number of people all trying to connect at the same time, but that should relieve some of the strain on cellphone networks.

What’s all this mean to you, the reader? Better enhanced convention coverage from the Geeks of Doom editorial staff. Check out the links below to stay connected all week…

Direct feed: http://geeksofdoom.com/category/SDCC/ [...]

Last year at New York Comic Con, Troy Duffy met with 12-Gauge Comics about possibly creating comic book based on The Boondock Saints (Read: The ‘Boondock Saints’ Comic Book?). Now, with the San Diego Comic Con upon us, it has been announced that a comic book tie-in to the highly-anticipated sequel Boondock Saints II: All Saints Day is indeed on the way and will be announced at the convention.

Duffy spoke to Comic Book Resources and explained that the comic will give us a more in-depth look into the origins of the infamous Il Duce (played in the movies by the fantastic Billy Connolly) and how he became a cold-blooded killer. You can see the first issue’s artwork above.

If you’re heading to Comic Con this week, be sure to hit the 12-Gauge booth on Friday where you can meet director Troy Duffy and check out the Boondock Saints II: All Saints Day panel on Saturday, where the Boondock II trailer will be unveiled! [...]

Harry over at Ain’t It Cool News has himself a scoop of epic proportions: Sam Raimi will direct the feature film adaptation of the virtual cult online multiplayer phenomenon that is World of Warcraft. Mr. Knowles not only sounds confident in this huge news, he sounds downright positive, and expects the trades to announce it within a week or so.

We haven’t learned or even heard anything about the proposed World of Warcraft movie in quite a while; not since the Uwe Boll incident (Read: ‘World of Warcraft’ Is Safe From Uwe Boll). The movie project has been lingering around for a bit now, but with no real movement. Obviously the movie will be a little different than the game, which doesn’t rely on story so much as individual people building up their own character and attributes. Because of this, even those who do not play the game, like myself, can look forward to this with excitement because when you take away the WoW title, you have yourself a massive fantasy movie directed by Sam Raimi, which is good things! [...]

As we all know and adore, a new mostly live-action, semi-computer-animated Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles movie is on the way (Read: Brand New ‘Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles’ Movie Goes Green!). Now this movie has made it’s first official move, hiring John Fusco to pen the movie.

Fusco seems to be a pretty decent-fitting choice for the job with both action and martial arts-heavy films under his belt. He’s written movies like both Young Guns movies, Hidalgo with Viggo Mortensen, and the recent Jackie Chan and Jet Li flick, The Forbidden Kingdom. He’s also the man that was tapped for the impossible task of writing a Seven Samurai remake — though that one isn’t an official go yet.

The movie is expected to use a method similar to that of the upcoming Where the Wild Things Are (both movies produced by Scott Mednick), where physical costumes and makeup are used for the creatures/turtles, with CGI animations added to certain parts of the film — specifically, to the faces of the turtles, which will help with realistic features and reactions. [...]

Back in November, it was announced that HBO had ordered a pilot episode for a show called Game of Thrones, which is based on the highly-popular fantasy book series by George R.R. Martin, A Song of Fire and Ice (Read: George R.R. Martin’s ‘A Song Of Ice And Fire’ Series Heads For HBO). The pilot will be directed by Tom McCarthy, who is a well-known character actor who has appeared in movies like Meet the Parents and a slew of George Clooney movies including Syriana, Good Night, and Good Luck, and Michael Clayton. Mr. McCarthy is a multi-talented man, though, and does have some writing and directing experience, having directed wonderful movies like The Station Agent and Oscar-nominated The Visitor, as well as a story writer on Pixar’s Up. The pilot is one of about ten that will attempt to obtain a full series treatment by HBO.

To assure that they give it all that they have, the show is putting together quite the cast. Most-notably, Sean Bean has just been cast in the role of Lord Eddard Stark, an honorable man who becomes an adviser to the king. [...]

The 2-Disc Special Edition Blu-ray release of Fast & Furious doesn’t just come with higher definition video quality than its DVD counterpart, it’ll also comes with a free companion iPhone/iPod Touch application that grants viewers access to an exclusive “Virtual Car Garage” feature.

The iPhone/touch acts as a remote control specific to the Blu-ray disc, that allows users to control 360-degree views of the movie’s suped up racers and instantly pull up exclusive technical specs for cars featured in the film.

It’s the first of many special edition discs that will include support for a companion application with the ability to control interactive content over the Internet via Wi-Fi connected Blu-ray players, according to Universal Studios Home Entertainment. Future companion apps like this will allow viewers to use their mobile devices as a virtual remote control and also to download bonus content from the discs to their iPhone/iPod that they can watch on-the-go [...]

Summit Entertainment has released a bunch of new images from The Twilight Saga: New Moon, the upcoming sequel to last year’s Twilight.

Check out the images here below and click to see the larger, full version; some had debuted online awhile back, but are now available in hi-res. There’s also a behind-the-scenes set pic of star Kristen Stewart, who plays Bella Swan, with director Chris Weitz.

The film, which will be released in theaters on November 20, 2009, also stars Robert Pattison as Edward Cullen; Taylor Lautner as Jacob Black; and Dakota Fanning as Jane.

For fans heading out to Comic-Con in San Diego this week, the cast of The Twilight Saga: New Moon will make an appearance at the Summit Entertainment panel on Thursday at 1:45pm in Hall H. Be warned, though: Based on last year’s Twiligh presence at SDCC, it will be total mayhem, but seemingly a lot of fun for the fans (see SDCC 08: Summit Entertainment’s ‘Twilight’) [...]

Clifton Collins Jr. is one of Hollywood’s truly unheralded talents. He has appeared in an impressive amount different movies, from summer blockbusters like J.J. Abrams’ Star Trek to comedies like Sunshine Cleaning; action movies like Crank 2: High Voltage to Oscar-winning dramas like Traffic, Babel, and Capote. He’s even done popular video games like Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas.

Acting is in Clifton’s blood: his grandfather Pedro Gonzalez Gonzalez has a huge resume, appearing in movies like Rio Bravo with John Wayne and Dean Martin; as well as many TV appearances on classic shows like Gunsmoke, I Dream of Jeannie, and Perry Mason. For a while, Collins Jr. went by the name of Clifton Gonzalez Gonzalez in honor of his grandfather.

Mr. Collins Jr. was gracious enough to answer some questions for Geeks of Doom about his work on the highly-anticipated sequel Boondock Saints II: All Saints Day and Mike Judge’s new movie Extract, as well as some other areas of his great career. [...]

(500) Days Of Summer
Directed Marc Webb
Starring Joseph Gordon-Levitt, Zooey Deschanel, Chloe Moretz
Rated PG-13
Release date: July 17, 2009

“She’s gone. She gave me a pen. I gave her my heart, she gave me a pen.”
–Lloyd Dobler from Say Anything

“People don’t realize this, but loneliness is underrated.”
– Tom Hansen from 500 Days Of Summer

(500) Days Of Summer: The Architecture Of Expectations And Reality

Happy endings are for massage parlors. Reality is a stranger in most recent romantic comedies. This was not always the case, but in good and bad times, the masses demand that their characters live happily ever after. No one wants to pay ten dollars to hear that life sucks and you do not receive all the assets that come with the American Dream. Is there even an American Dream anymore, regardless of the accessories that may come with it? We do not get the romantic comedies we want, but the ones we deserve.

More recently, audiences have been blessed with three very honest films this year that have been sold as comedies, but work on a far deeper and subtler level: Greg Mottola’s Adventureland, Sam Mendes’ Away We Go, and now Marc Webb’s (500) Days Of Summer. Each of these films work as honest cinema that delivers a gut punch of epic proportions. All of the films work on a comic level, but each delivers a level of brutal honesty which is greatly appreciated by the time the closing credits start to roll. These films never preach or condescend to its audience. Instead, the films speak to us in ways we never thought possible. In harsh economic times, the last thing most people want to see is some structure of reality staring at them from the other side of screen. At the end of the day, it is the realistic film that will stay with you far longer than the far fetched fantasy film. Leaving your brain at the door does not have to be an option. Actually, as I have gotten older, I appreciate having to think about what I am watching [...]

For those of us who have not read the books or seen the movie, would you be more interested in Twilight if it were in graphic novel form?

EW’s The Shelf Life has the exclusive that Yen Press is officially working on just that: a graphic novel based on the Twilight book series. The difference here, is that author Stephenie Meyer is personally keeping a close eye on the project and reviewing every single panel herself.

The art is being handled by Young Kim, who is bringing another interesting element to the novel. Kim’s depictions of the main characters are surprisingly not replications of the film version’s stars Kristen Stewart and Robert Pattinson — they actually look nothing really like them, side for some spikey hair (click the image above to see an unfinished panel from the graphic novel). Maybe Meyer wasn’t a fan of the casting choices and had a little different visuals of her characters in mind. [...]

Earlier this week, it was reported by The Guardian that director Guillermo del Toro and producer Peter Jackson‘s The Hobbit might be staring at yet another lawsuit involving the family of author J.R.R. Tolkien. Unlike that whole mess with Watchmen that had us a little scared we may never see it, this lawsuit sounds like it’s actually legit. And if Fox can win out with a weak case, then some money is going to have to be dropped in order to ever see this movie.

When Tolkien sold the rights to his works in 1969 for £250,000, there was also an agreement that he also be given 7.5% of any profits made. Considering The Lord of the Rings trilogy took in around $6 Billion worldwide, the family is owed around $220 Million — none of which they have been given yet. This gives the family a pretty strong case, and means that if New Line doesn’t figure something out soon, The Hobbit may just not happen at all. [...]

Yeah, baby, yeah!

The Gold Box deal of the day today at Amazon is the Austin Powers Collection on DVD for only $15.99 (60% off the list price of $39.98) or Blu-ray for only $32.99 (56% off the list price of $74.98).

Both DVD and Blu-ray sets come with all three Austin Powers movies — Austin Powers: International Man of Mystery; Austin Powers: The Spy Who Shagged Me; Austin Powers in Goldmember — all of which star Mike Myers as the title character, a 1960′s British spy who awakens three decades after being cryogenically frozen not realizing that his hipster style went out long ago. In this series of spoofs of 1960′s spy films, Myers also plays several other characters, including Powers’ nemesis, Dr. Evil.

Both DVD and Blu-ray sets, dubbed the Shagadelic Edition Loaded With Extra Mojo, come with the three movies — the DVD version with three separate cases packed in a 3-pack box — and include documentaries; commentaries; deleted and alternate scenes; music videos, and trailers [...]

Here’s a story to warm the cockles of your heart. The Speed Gamers will spend one week playing through Final Fantasy 1-10 and then 12 all in an effort to raise money for ACT (Autism Care and Treatment). The marathon began yesterday and will continue through July 24.

Bringing back memories of long summer days staying up till all hours of the morning playing video games, these guys are living the dream, but more than that, they’re doing it for a good reason. It’s a great cause and a great way to raise awareness for the group, so go to thespeedgamers.com, and you can watch their progress but more importantly, you can make a donation if you’re moved to do so [...]

Richard’s Stark’s Parker: The Hunter
Adapted and Illustrated by Darwyn Cooke
Edited by Scott Dunbier
IDW Publishing
Release date: July 22, 2009

When artist/writer Darwyn Cooke finished his run on Will Eisner’s The Spirit, I am sure I was not the only one that was eagerly anticipating his next project. Would he continue to play in the DC playground or perhaps venture into Marvel territory? Or maybe he would just forgo the big two and just go the creator-owned route. When the news broke at last year’s San Diego Comic-Con on Cooke’s next project, few would have guessed it would be with IDW Publishing but even more were surprised when the project in question would be an adaptation of The Parker novels by Donald Westlake.

Donald Westlake (for those like myself who was not familiar with the author), was a critically acclaimed crime novelist back in the late 1950′s. Best known for the creation of the Parker character, Westlake had twenty-four of the twenty eight crime novels written under the Richard Stark pseudonym centered on the popular anti-hero. Even if you are not familiar with the character, you be hard pressed not to notice Westlake’s work in the mainstream media.

From Point Blank to Payback, the Parker novels have been adapted numerous times on film but never has the author allowed the Parker name to be used until now. Just before Westlake passed away in 2008, he gave Cooke permission to adapt the story and introduce the Parker character to the graphic novel world in a series of four graphic novels set to come out yearly.

Just yesterday, we got our first look at Scarlett Johansson as Black Widow in Jon Favreau‘s Iron Man 2. The images came from this weeks issue of Entertainment Weekly, which is a preview to Comic Con special. The issue has now been officially released and as it turns out, there were many more great images inside!

To go with the pictures of Black Widow, a few more tiny peeks at Iron Man 2 were offered. Among them is a look a Don Cheadle — who is stepping in for Terrence Howard as James Rhodes — sitting in front of Sam Rockwell, who will be playing Tony Stark rival Justin Hammer. There’s also a couple of new images of Robert Downey Jr. as Tony Stark: One is of him taking part in some seemingly highly-competitive competition of sorts; the other shows him speaking to new CEO of Stark Industries: Pepper Potts (Gwyneth Paltrow).

It doesn’t end there, either. [...]