As always, the sad news seems to come all at once. It’s being reported that the highly-private legendary author J.D. Salinger has passed away at the age of 91. The cause of death was of natural causes, and indications are that Salinger was healthy until recently when illness took on.

The author was something of an enigma. His classic, The Catcher in the Rye is a book that’s so prominent that it feels like it has been around for hundreds of years, even though it was only published in 1951. Over the past few years, just discovering that Salinger was still alive somewhere on this planet felt like some sort of fictional mythology created in his legend, but it was all so true and fascinating to think about.

Salinger himself had a story worthy of books (and a film we’re all but guaranteed to see some day). He was born in Manhattan in 1919 to a Jewish cheese salesman father and a half-Scottish, half-Irish Catholic mother. His father wasn’t big on his talents as an actor and writer and pressed that he learn business, which saw Salinger head to Austria to work at a meat-importing company. [...]

The Watchmen and Dark Knight films have ushered a darker, grittier super hero into our pop consciousness but it looks like Marvel is heading the opposite direction with their comics line.

For months now they’ve been hinting at a brighter, shinier future for their core superhero universe and with the solicitation of May’s Heroic Age branding Marvel has given us a first look at their plans for a post-Siege event

Currently Marvel produces four Avengers books (New Avengers, Dark Avengers, Mighty Avengers, and Avengers: The Initiative) which will all be canceled in lieu of a new core series — simply titled Avengers written by Brian Michael Bendis.

Bendis exclaimed in the story, “The ‘brand new day’ of the Heroic Age presents a tonal shift to optimism, a world filled with hope but quite hellish villains.”

Marvel Editor-in-Chief Joe Quesada also noted that in the new branding for the Marvel line “heroes will be heroes again” featuring “a throwback to the early days of the Marvel Universe, with more of a swashbuckling feel.” [...]

Last week, a sneak peek was posted online of a panel from the upcoming Twilight graphic novel [Read Sneak Peek: ‘Twilight: The Graphic Novel’ Vol. 1].

Now, more interior art for Twilight: The Graphic Novel, Vol. 1, which will be released by Yen Press on March 16, 2010 and is now available for pre-order, has popped up over at the Previews catalog site.

Check out the art, which consists of four character drawings, here at right (click the larger, full view).

I’m not sure where exactly in the graphic novel this art will appear, as it has some coloring to it, whereas the previously released interior panel was black and white.

Here’s the information about the graphic novel from the Previews listing [...]

Brian Michael Bendis is on “fire.”

He’s currently anchoring the Marvel universe, writing everything from big events like Secret Invasion and Siege to ongoing goodness like Ultimate Spider-Man and EVERY Avengers book known to man. He’s got a TV adaptation of Powers in the works at FX and he’s also working with Universal on a Jinx movie.

Bendis is again set to work with Universal on the film version of Fire, his 2001 graphic novel from Image. My favorite heartthrob Zac Efron is set to star and executive produce the film with his manager, Jason Barrett. Bendis is also on board to write the adaptation.

The product description from the Fire graphic novel reads:

Your government does not want you to read this book! Imagine that you are a shy, quiet college student. Just an average guy trying to get through each day as best he can. Then your government contacts you. They want you to be part of an experiment in the art of human covert operations. Instead of creating an agent from someone within their own ranks, they want to create an agent from nobody–from scratch- you! [...]

Back in 2007, Universal Studios Orlando announced plans to add a Harry Potter-themed land to their Islands of Adventure theme park.

Since then, we’ve only seen a bunch of concept art for Wizarding World of Harry Potter. Now, finally, is the first glimpse of an actual structure at the park: the top of the Hogwarts Castle!

Check out the image here at right (click for larger, full view); or for a super hi-res version, visit The Leaky Caudron site.

Also, below, check out the update on the Wizarding World of Harry Potter, which is scheduled to open in Spring 2010 [...]

Sad news being reported by The Boston Herald and many other news outlets today. Zelda Rubinstein, the 4-foot, 3-inch tall actress who played the spirit-fighting psychic in 1982′s Poltergeist has passed away at the age of 76.

After suffering a heart attack, she had been in a hospital for two full months with multiple illnesses before recently being taken off of life support. Reports earlier this month that she was near-death were met with contrary reports that she was actually getting better and that rumors of her demise were premature. But as hard as she appears to have fought, she has now sadly lost that battle.

Rubinstein didn’t even begin acting until she was in her 40s when she left her long run as a lab technician to pursue the more creative arts. Her first movie role was in a 1981 film called Under the Rainbow with Chevy Chase, which told the story of a hotel in 1938 that overbooks with all sorts of characters, including the cast of The Wizard of Oz. Rubinstein found it appalling that people of small stature were used as punchlines and became an activist for them as legit and talented actors. [...]

Hey, it’s The Movie God here.

As you all might be aware, we at Geeks of Doom like to do a little thing called Spoiler Talk from time to time. It is basically a forum where one of us presents a bunch of points about a movie — sometimes good, sometimes bad — and you the reader sound off with your thoughts in the comments section! This is where you can scream at the top of your lungs (as hard as your little fingers can scream) about what you liked, hated, or weren’t too sure of.

Today’s Spoiler Talk brings us Daybreakers, the new futuristic vampire tale that stars Ethan Hawke, Sam Neill, and Willem Dafoe. The movie takes place in the year 2019 and and in a time where most humans have now become vampires as natural evolution would indicate were vampires to actually exist. Because most are now vampires, a crisis is realized when it becomes apparent that there is only enough blood to sustain them for a short time longer. With rations cut thin, the vampires who eat the least begin to develop a much more aggressive nature before actually transforming into evil, wild creature-like beings. It is left up to Dr. Edward Dalton (Hawke), a hematologist, to find a way to create a synthetic blood substitute that can save his people before it’s too late.

Not that it needs to be said…but just in case, this is nothing but spoilers people, so if you don’t want it ruined, do NOT click over!

Without further delay, continue on to our Spoiler Talk, presented by Kevin of Nine, and share what you thought of Daybreakers! [...]

Marvel has just released a teaser for the upcoming X-Men storyline, ‘Second Coming.’

Check it out here at right (click for larger, full view).

The image features X-Men leader Cyclops standing over an open grave and cryptically reads “One Will Die…An X-Man will fall in Second Coming.”

The image intrigues me, but we won’t know anything for sure until March when ‘Second Coming’ begins [...]

It looks like rock gods AC/DC will be re-teaming with Tony Stark again for a just-announced film/soundtrack collaboration deal for Iron Man 2.

Pre-order for the album AC/DC: Iron Man 2 began yesterday at Amazon and Walmart online stores. Amazon shoppers will get exclusive access to an Iron Man 2 CD/DVD deluxe version, while two Vinyl LP packages will be hitting shelves April 19th.

The film opens internationally on April 28, 2010 while U.S. citizens can look forward to a May 7 release. The album will feature 15 classic AC/DC songs selected from ten of the band’s studio albums, ranging from 1976 to 2008. The complete track listing can be found below along with the first video from the soundtrack titled “Shoot To Thrill.”

This isn’t the first time AC/DC’s tunes have been set to Iron Man footage. Astute Tony Stark fans will recall the first film featured “Back In Black” played on a boom box by the U.S. Air Force convoy escorting Stark in Afghanistan [...]

If you haven’t heard of the new movie, The Crazies, then this is your chance to overload on imagery, trailers, and a fat and juicy synopsis to fill your brain with the ingredients necessary to decide if this movie is indeed for you!

The movie is actually a remake of a 1973 George A. Romero film of the same name. It takes place in your normal, everyday small town where everyone knows each other and gets along fine before some sort of mysterious toxin is released into the water supply. For those who are affected by the toxin, they slowly lose their grasp on sanity at first, and develop a violent nature. Before long, they go completely insane and want nothing but to kill everything that moves.

It’s no surprise that the movie has come from the brain of George Romero…it certainly has the “zombies with a twist” vibe to it much like The Signal. It also has a kind of The Happening feel to it, but certainly looks like it could be a hell of a lot better than that was! [...]

The Unwritten
Written by Mike Carey
Art by Peter Gross
Cover by Yuko Shimizu
DC/Vertigo Comics

In The Unwritten, Mike Carey weaves a fantastic narrative in which Tom Taylor finds his life unraveling one strand at a time when fans of his father’s book series believe him to be the novel’s protagonist come to life.

The premise is brilliant and to put it in our reality’s terms, “What if J.K Rowling had a son named Harold Potter and fans around the world thought the Harry Potter series was real and based on the actual adventures of the real life Harold Potter?” I guess you can say it’s like when kids go to Disneyland and get Donald Duck’s autograph thinking this guy in a duck costume is the same cartoon they marvel at in their home.

DC’s Vertigo website has the the first issue as a FREE download [downloadable PDF - 22MB] and you can also purchase the series’ first five issues collected in one volume — Unwritten Vol. 1: Tommy Taylor and the Bogus Identity — for $9.99. Check it out for yourself and watch Tom Taylor become Unwritten [...]

Amazon is currently running a deal where you can get $5 off your order when you purchase Michael Jackson: This Is It on Blu-ray along with another Blu-ray title from a select list.

Visit the Deal page for a list of qualifying Blu-ray titles.

On the Deal page, there’s subcategories listed along the top with names of Jackson’s songs that represent a different movie genre. For instance, movies like Ghostbusters, Hellboy, Dracula are listed in “Thriller”; Resident Evil is in “Bad” (as in ‘badass’, I presume); Casino Royale in “Smooth Criminal”; Across The Universe in “Rock With You”; Groundhog Day in “Off The Wall”; and Ghandi in “Black or White.” There’s more choices in each subcategory, so be sure to click through these.

Remember to purchase the This Is It Blu-ray at the same time as one of the other qualifying titles, and the $5 discount will be displayed at checkout. Offer ends on February 8, 2010 [...]

Back in December, we found out that The Twilight Saga studio Summit Entertainment was developing another vampire movie about the original Dracula, Vlad the Impaler (Read: ‘Twilight’ Vamps Just Don’t Cut It; Summit Developing Dracula Movie). That movie is called Vlad, and it’s being produced based on a script by Sons of Anarchy star Charlie Hunnam, but we soon discovered that it wouldn’t have any type of vampire in it at all (Read: Check That: Summit Stays Faithful To ‘Twilight;’ Won’t Use Vampires In ‘Vlad’). Though the movie still seems like it could be really good, this was also sad news because a period film about the first vampire sounded pretty awesome.

Worry not, fans of the nocturnal feeders — with their resurrection of the old 1940s monster movies set to materialize with The Wolfman, Universal Pictures isn’t stopping there. Latino Review first got the scoop that the studio has to decided to go ahead and make that Dracula period movie WITH vampires called Dracula: Year Zero, and it looks like Avatar and Terminator Salvation star Sam Worthington will play the main man with a thirst for blood. [...]

Ni-Hao, Twihards! (for those of you who either a) do not speak Chinese or b )do not have a 5-year-old who watches Ni-Hao Kai Lan so much she’s becoming bi-lingual, that means HELLO).

Did you pre-order your copy of The Twilight Saga: New Moon yet?

As previously reported, the DVD and Blu-ray editions are available for pre-order now through several U.S. sources.

When the pre-order went up late last night, only a few details were known about the bonus features included. Now, more details have surfaced.

The two-disc special edition DVD and Blu-ray, to be released on March 20, 2010, are slated to include the following bonus features [...]

Hey, remember that time that director Louis Leterrier told us that his upcoming Clash of the Titans wouldn’t do that 3D thing that everyone else was doing? (Read: Director Louis Leterrier Wants ‘The Avengers’; ‘Clash Of The Titans’ Will NOT Be 3D) Yeah, well, we were lied to.

Whether Letterier thought it would happen or not, Warner Brothers has decided that they will indeed give the film the cheap $5 million 3D makeover before releasing it. The studio has also decided that both parts 1 and 2 of their massive franchise-closing Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows would also get a release in 3D. The news was first reported by MarketSaw, who are getting all of the big scoops in this realm of film making, and then later confirmed by the trades, who once again gave no credit.

When we heard from Leterrier earlier this month, he explained that they did put in an effort to get Titans done in 3D, but there would simply be no time. That part was true. [...]