Well now, this is one thing that no one saw coming.

Let’s recap: last week, we discovered that Sony was halting production on Spider-Man 4 due to creative differences between studio executives and director Sam Raimi. This was taken as a very bad sign, but star Tobey Maguire assured all that this was only “part of the process” and the movie was still going to happen.

Now, out of nowhere, Deadline Hollywood is reporting exclusively that Sony has actually decided to completely CANCEL Spider-Man 4, and reboot the entire franchise. This means that Raimi, Maguire, Kirsten Dunst, J.K. Simmons, Bruce Campbell, and everyone else involved in the previous movies are no longer involved in any way. This also means that Sony will use a script from James Vanderbilt, who was hired to begin working on drafts for fifth and sixth Spider-Man, to start over with a brand new cast, crew, and look.

If you’ll recall, Vanderbilt wrote a draft for Spidey 4, but Raimi went out to multiple different writers to rewrite from there. [...]

The 2-hour Chuck Season 3 premiere last night did astoundingly well for NBC — bringing in preliminary numbers of 7.7 million viewers, according to reports confirmed by show creator Josh Schwartz.

These numbers don’t actually include TiVo viewers since (if I’m not mistaken) those are delayed about a week. And of course the numbers on Hulu are notable, but I’m not sure how they factor into the prime time decision making. The point is, Chuck put eyeballs on the screen that the show hasn’t done since the first season.

“Thank you for all you have done to help get us to this moment. This season is for you!” said Schwartz on his Twitter feed moments before the episode hit the air.

From what I can tell, everyone involved seems willing to go the distance to make this show stick around. First, it was stars Zach Levi and Adam Baldwin making sandwiches for hardcore fans. This push apparently worked as Subway agreed to some nontraditional advertising that got the show a third season. [Read: NBC's Chuck Saved By Sandwiches, Not Fans] Then, just months ago NBC announced it was ordering an additional six episodes — bringing the total to 19 [...]

Back in October, movie fans demanded to have the horror-thriller Paranormal Activity released in theaters in their city, which led to the film earning over $100 million at the box office.

If you didn’t get a chance to see it in your area, Paramount Home Entertainment recently the movie on DVD and Blu-ray.

To accompany your home viewings, we here at Geeks of Doom have one (1) Paranormal Activity Scare Kit to give away to one lucky reader!

One (1) winner will each receive:

- One (1) Paranormal Activity ‘Scare Kit’ containing:
- A Ouija Board
- A Barrel Sling Duffel bag
- A Satin Sleep Mask
- A Planchette
- And Baby Powder

Written and directed by Oren Peli, the intense and chilling story follows a young, middle-class couple who become increasingly disturbed by a presence that may or may not be demonic, but is certainly most active in the middle of the night. Especially while they sleep [...]

As a reminder to all fans, the third season of Chuck premieres on NBC at 8/9 EST with two (that’s right TWO) hours of Bartowski-Kung-Fu-filled fun.

It’s been a while since we’ve heard from Charles Bartowski and crew. At the end of season 2, Chuck’s long lost father (Scott Bakula) reemerged revealing that he had created ‘the Intersect,’ the technology that gave his son the entire database of top secret spy knowledge. Chuck (Zach Levi) then re-downloaded an upgraded version of ‘the Intersect’ into his mind. Oh also, Morgan announced he was moving to Hawaii, Ellie and Captain Awesome tied the knot and everyone’s love for Subway sandwiches was hinted to be getting much, much stronger.

If you can’t catch the premiere, remember to set those Tivos for the TWO hour opening episode, or catch it tomorrow on Hulu.

Check out a preview via NBC after the jump [...]

While this is not really news, it is without doubt a wholly amusing story to read. And considering it’s the weekend and slow enough on the web, why not read a quote that’ll make you chuckle, aye?

Jennifer Lopez, star of Selena, Maid in Manhattan, and Gigli, felt that her role in El Cantante should have at least nabbed her an Academy Award nomination, if not an actual win. El Cantante of course is the 2006 film in which she starred opposite of her husband Marc Antony. The movie is through the perspective of his wife Puchi (Lopez) and tells the story of Héctor Lavoe (Antony) and his arrival in America from Puerto Rico in the ’60s before rising to become one of the great Salsa singers of our time. It’s very much like Scarface, but with Salsa melodies instead of blow — though that all came with the fame as well.

While speaking to Latina Magazine, this is what Lopez had to say. [...]

On April 6, 2010, Warner Bros. Home Entertainment will release the original A Nightmare on Elm Street on Blu-ray.

The Blu-ray edition will contain the 1984 Wes Craven-directed horror classic, which starred Robert Englund as the mass murderer Freddy Krueger, who invades the sleeping dreams of the teenagers of Elm Street.

Elm Street was also Johnny Depp‘s feature film debut, where he starred as Glen, the ill-fated boyfriend of the film’s heroine Nancy (Heather Langenkamp).

This Blu-ray edition, which is now available for pre-order, will include a Movie Money redeemable code worth $7.50 towards a ticket to see the Elm Street remake, which will be released in theaters on April 30, 2010 and stars Watchmen‘s Jackie Earle Haley as Freddy.

See below for more details on the Blu-ray edition bonus features [...]

Disney’s Alice In Wonderland movie, directed by Tim Burton, is coming to theaters (in 3D and IMAX 3D even) this March 5 (a very important date). And I, for one, just can’t wait!

Before I get to the news tidbits — new images from the film; preview of the film’s score; and video interview of Johnny Depp — I wanted to clear one thing up about the movie. If you’ve seen the trailer, you’ll notice that Alice is not a little girl anymore. I’ve had a lot of people ask me about this who think “Alice is too old” because they assume this is a retelling of the original Lewis Carroll tale. It’s not. In Burton’s new movie, Alice is a teenager who’s returned to the magical world she visited as a child, where she reunites with her old friends (all those beloved characters) and is on a mission to end the reign of the Red Queen. You can read the full official synopsis here below.

And now the news…

Most of you probably know (or at least assumed) that Burton’s longtime collaborator Danny Elfman is providing the score for the film. Now, if you visit the film’s official site, you can hear a small snippet of the score. And from what I’m hearing, I already know this is one score I’ll have to own [...]

The very first trailer for Joe Carnahan‘s (Smokin’ Aces) theatrical version of popular TV show The A-Team has found its way online. Only one official image had been released for the this movie so far, which makes this trailer everyone’s first really good look at the movie.

As far as judging books by their cover goes, this is one of those titles we kind of laughed at when hearing it would become a movie. This is because we only know it in its cheesy ’80s form, and the first thing that we think of is Mr. T. Thankfully, The A-Team is a show that is well-suited for an update, and most of it transfers to modern styles with ease. The trailer makes the movie look like a lot of fun. It also makes the movie look like it’s directed by Michael Bay, but it definitely looks like it could be great action movie.

Be sure to head over to the other side and check out the trailer for yourselves. Share your thoughts in the comments! [...]

A brand new trailer for Matthew Vaughn‘s Kick-Ass has been released, and it is of the Green Band variety. For those who don’t know: Green Band trailers are the safe-for-all-audiences trailers that you usually see in theaters. We have seen a teaser trailer that was fine for all to see and we’ve seen the graphic Red Band trailer that showcased the film’s R-rated content, and now comes the full-length trailer that kids of all ages (who won’t be able to see the movie when it comes out) can watch as many times as they wish!

While it’s the mercilessly graphic content of the adult-aimed trailer that really gets me giggly-giddy for how insanely fun this movie is going to be, this new trailer is probably the best to watch if you’re not familiar with the movie. It’s the best one yet when it comes to setting the film up and showing off its characters and just giving you an overall feel of what to expect — most likely so you can go in and get shocked by all of the stuff you didn’t expect. [...]

There is not one doubt that one of the biggest lingering questions when it comes to Marvel’s unstoppable lineup of films is the question of who would be the one to direct The Avengers when it all came to an end and all of the characters would meet in one unbelievably epic superhero movie. The majority consensus was easily in favor of Iron Man and Iron Man 2 director Jon Favreau being the best-suited for the challenging project, but sadly, Favreau decided to pass on that opportunity (Read: Jon Favreau Not Directing ‘The Avengers’; Talks Tying ‘Iron Man’ & Others Together)…at least for now.

With Favreau out the job was pretty much up in the air for anyone, but one name that seemed to fit well was The Incredible Hulk director Louis Leterrier. After making a fantastic Hulk movie that helped to wipe the memory of Ang Lee’s attempt away, Leterrier had proven that he could dance with the big boys. And better yet, as it turns out, it’s a job that he very much wants to get his hands on [...]

As news spilled out recently that Spider-Man 4 was on an indefinite vacation, something of a panic seemed to arise from those who worried the movie was already destined for disaster. As far as we knew, it was just some script problems and issues choosing the right villain (a choice that could immediately make or break the movie for some fans), but something about the whole thing felt damaging.

While everyone else was running around trying to figure out what this means for Spidey, the star of the franchise isn’t worried one little bit. Tobey Maguire recently took part in a little web cam chit-chat with The Envelope, where he assured everyone that not only is this all just how things go with movies of this size, but that there’s actually a lot going very right as well.

Here’s what Maguire had to say in an attempt to calm people down (Quotes transcribed by Superhero Hype). [...]

Last month, Latino Review received a scoop that casting for the female lead in the Green Lantern movie had come down to five actresses, and those names were Eva Green, Kerri Russell, Diane Kruger, Blake Lively, and Jennifer Garner. At first glance, Miss Lively would have probably been considered the underdog of the bunch, but it is now being officially reported that the Gossip Girl star has in fact been cast in the role of Carol Ferris, officially landing her the biggest role of her career and her first chance to really break out as a star. Up to this point, Lively had done work in shows and movies that had young female demographics, so if she nails this, you will be seeing a whole lot more of her in the future.

Ferris becomes the love interest of Hal Jordan after hiring the pilot to work at her father’s aerospace company, which she runs. As we know, Ryan Reynolds will be playing the role of Hal Jordan, who eventually goes on to become the Green Lantern, one of an elite few who wield a special power ring that gives them unique abilities. This of course is the DC Comics adventure that Reynolds is running parallel to his Marvel adventure with Deadpool. [...]

Superstar DC Comics artist and Wildstorm editor Jim Lee is giving away the original cover artwork of Green Lantern #50 to one lucky fan on micro-blogging site Twitter.

After DC Comics official blogger Alex Segura commented about the lack of followers he had on the service, Lee (along with Geoff Johns) undertook a mini campaign to get the word out to the Twitterverse. If Alex [@alex_segura] gets to 1,500 follows before Sunday at midnight (PST), Lee will send the yet-to-be-touched-up cover art to one lucky fan. Others will have a chance to snag some unreleased Batman sketches from the popular “Hush” story arc Lee did with writer Jeff Loeb.

So this is all great but you may be asking, Who exactly is Alex Segura? Well, the short answer is he’s the official DC Comics Blogger for DC’s The Source and online publicist [...]

Coming Soon is reporting that Paramount Pictures has set June 29, 2012 as the release date for the untitled sequel to J.J. Abrams’ Star Trek.

Back in April, it was reported that Paramount had hired Roberto Orci, Alex Kurtzman, and Damon Lindelof to write the screenplay to the sequel, which was at that time aiming for a Summer 2011 release [Read ‘Star Trek’ Sequel Confirmed; Possible 2011 Release]. Orci and Kurtzman penned the Star Trek script, while Lindelof served as producer.

The new June 2012 release date, which is tentative for now, is the Friday leading up to July 4th (which falls on a Wednesday), a major stake to claim, as the holiday week is notorious for high box office numbers [...]

Bill Paxton has done a lot of work with James Cameron (The Terminator, Aliens, True Lies, Titanic), and because of this past, he’s very happy to see Cameron’s Avatar doing so well at the box office. The movie that had people nervous with its rumored record-breaking budget has made $380 million domestically and $757 million overseas, and was custom built for the new 3D technology that has swarmed theaters as of late. This three-dimensional revolution has caught the eye of Paxton, and it has his brain churning about the prospect of actually doing a sequel to his hit 1996 disaster film Twister using the format.

While doing an interview for his HBO show Big Love, Paxton was asked about his upcoming projects. Paxton went on to reveal his new found desire to revisit the world of storm chasing, and that he had already met with mega producer Kathleen Kennedy about the idea. He explained that he had recently gone on a trip to the Ozarks with friend and Twister colleague Scott Thomson, and that they followed the trail of one of the biggest tornadoes ever to touch down. [...]

(500) Days of Summer
Blu-ray Edition
Directed by Marc Webb
Starring Zooey Deschanel, Joseph Gordon-Levitt
Fox Home Entertainment
Release Date: December 22, 2009

The omniscient narrator declares that what we are watching is not a love story, but a story about love. An odd little twist that brings a kind of assurance and authenticity to (500) Days Summer. Once this statement is solidified early on in the film it makes us view the movie in a slightly different way and rightfully so. An original narrative technique is what the film has going for it. It disregards a linear story line but never capitalizes on the true potential the script really has. Many films use discombobulated narratives that are fragmented and dislocated to resemble the emotions its characters are feeling. The split screens and split narratives are too much imbued within stylistic ploys, making each scene that carries these fashionable devices incompetent and never availing.

Screenwriters Scott Neustadter and Michael H. Weber, along with the innovative mind of director Marc Webb, may have dislocate the narrative a tad too much and haven’t peered thoroughly enough into the emotional angst of Tom (Joseph Gordon-Levitt), a greeting card writer, who is in love with Summer (Zooey Deschanel), his coworker. This is Tom’s story he tells to his two friends and little sister, in a way that isn’t chronological, his mishaps and successes he has experienced with Summer throughout the 500 days he believed he loved her [...]

The writing duo for popular Summer horror comedy Zombieland, Rhett Reese and Paul Wernick, are apparently the men of the moment. Just this past Tuesday, it was confirmed that the pair would be taking on the writing duties for the Ryan Reynolds Deadpool adaptation, which seems like a perfect match. Now comes word via an IESB scoop that Reese and Wernick will also be taking on the sequel to G.I. Joe: The Rise of Cobra.

If this news pans out, the hiring is definitely not that match made in heaven for the writers like Deadpool is. G.I. Joe won a lot of people over who were expecting it to be unwatchable, but it also remained unwatchable to many others. In any scenario, it is a much cheesier and action-heavy project than Zombieland was or Deadpool is likely to be. This leads one to believe that it could be a “paycheck” job for these gentleman, which is fair and deserved. One thing is for sure, though: if they can add a little Zombieland good-ness to G.I. Joe, it might just take a big step up on the entertainment levels. [...]

Thinking back on the level of excitement that people had for the promise of a live-action movie based on Ghost Rider will submerge you in a sudden depression knowing now what we do about how that film turned out. And it is with that depression drowning us that difficulties arise in finding any level of excitement for the proposed Ghost Rider 2 sequel that looks to be on the way.

For those of you few who do maintain a desire to see Ghost Rider 2 happen soon, there are now a bunch of new updates to behold. Collider recently spoke to producer Mike De Luca who had a handful of information for us, including what looks like it may become the official title: Ghost Rider: Spirit of Vengeance.

The biggest of these news bits starts with directing: when asked about whether or not original director Mark Steven Johnson would come back, De Luca was replied that Johnson will not be returning to do the sequel and that a new director would be behind the camera. He even went as far as saying that David Goyer (Blade: Trinity, The Unborn) may be a possible candidate for director. [...]

When Jay Leno officially ended his stint as the host of The Tonight Show and Conan O-Brien took over, it never really felt right. Since Leno’s new earlier show debuted and since Conan took over, ratings have been sadly mediocre, which has been growing more and more apparent as of late. With the lackluster numbers coming in, the whispers around town began growing into wide-spread rumors and unofficial reports that Leno’s show would be canceled. Amidst all of the drama that is likely flying around behind the scenes of this situation, Leno didn’t miss a beat and made sure to joke about the rumors on his show.

Though it is doubtful that Leno will be canceled, things just became a little bit more interesting: The New York Times is reporting that there may still be a plan in the works to stop the bleeding. The report claims that NBC will wait until after the upcoming Winter Olympics break, and that they would then move The Jay Leno Show back to the host’s old time slot of 11:35PM. [...]

It has been just a few days since we officially learned that some major issues were happening within the production of Spider-Man 4 (which they’re apparently presenting as SPIDER-M4N; this needs to be stopped immediately), and that the movie would be on hold indefinitely until script and character differences were fixed.

Well, it didn’t take long for other gigantic Summer 2011 titles to swarm the vacated premium real estate: Box Office Mojo has made the changes that reveal that the other Marvel powerhouse in Kenneth Branagh‘s Thor has moved up from May 20, 2011 to Spidey 4‘s empty May 6, 2011 spot. At the very same time, the fourth film in another gold mine franchise, Pirates of the Caribbean: On Stranger Tides, swooped into the now-open May 20 spot left by Thor. At the the time of the latter move, Pirates 4 had yet to settle into a specific date, having only declared a Summer 2011 release.

The move for Thor is not a huge one, but this will likely make it the first biggie of the Summer season, and if a leaked X-Men Origins: Wolverine can make $85 Million as an opener, then Thor should set the bar in hard to reach places. [...]