Deadline Hollywood is reporting that director Michael Bay has decided that will not be bringing starlet Megan Fox back for Transformers 3 when it’s released on July 1, 2011. Fox has been the female lead in the first two movies, but some angry fire has been growing between her and Bay, and this seems to be one definitive finger-of-choice from the director.

Since appearing in 2007′s Transformers, hand-selected by director Michael Bay himself, Megan Fox has gone on to super stardom and the adoration of many a young gentlemen.

After all the fame and success came, the actress famously had some negative things to say about Bay and how his movies only focus on special effects and not at all on acting, and how Transformers was “for geniuses” and impossible to understand. The director came back at by saying that Fox “had a lot of growing up to do” and that many stars became stars because of roles that he gave them. [...]

It’s been rumored for a while now that either Borat and Bruno star Sacha Baron Cohen or Jemaine Clement were being talked to about roles in Columbia Pictures’ Men in Black III. Now it’s being confirmed by Deadline Hollywood that Clement has indeed joined the cast.

In the third chapter of the massively-successful franchise about a special and mysterious agency who patrols the Earth’s alien visitors and immigrants, Clement will play the new villain, named Yaz. The actor is best known for his dry, sarcastic humor on HBO’s popular series Flight of the Conchords, and in movies like Eagle vs. Shark and Gentleman Broncos.

Men in Black III wasn’t talked about a whole lot since the second movie was released in 2002, but then, just like that, it became a real possibility. Since then, stars Will Smith and Tommy Lee Jones have been re-acquired, and new cast members like Mr. Clement and Josh Brolin have been added. [...]

The Hurt Locker was named Best Picture at the most recent Academy Awards ceremony, and though many might not think it deserved the title (including Kyle Broflovski, of course), it didn’t stop thousands and thousands from downloading it online. It also didn’t help that the movie was leaked months before its release here in the States.

Now Voltage Pictures is ready to start taking some action. The company has enlisted the services of U.S. Copyright Group, a firm who handles these types of issues and is already waist-deep in thousands of lawsuits for the illegal downloading of other films. The lawsuit regarding The Hurt Locker is expected to begin this week, with “tens of thousands of people” expected to find themselves facing legal hot water.

Hire yourselves a lawyer, get your papers in order, and head on over to the other side for more and to read Voltage Pictures’ response to one letter calling their actions “inhumane.” [...]

Ever wonder what Star Wars: The Empire Strikes Back would have been like if it had been made in the 1950s?

Well, the very clever whoiseyevan has created a sample of such a movie. Check out the video for “Premakes” The Empire Strikes Back (1950) here below.

The video was created using various black and white treasures, like Flash Gordon, Buck Rogers in the 25th Century, First Spaceship on Venus, and many more, along with music from Hoist as well as sound effects and dialogue from The Empire Strikes Back Radio Drama [...]

When I hear that Ridley Scott is making a new movie, I know I will have a movie I at least have to give a shot. I mean, Ridley Scott on a bad day is better than most directors on their good day. Tell me that he’s making a new Robin Hood movie and you’ve got my ten dollars, so yeah, I was looking forward to this movie.

Everyone pretty much knows the story of Robin Hood already. There is a reason that his story is such a long lasting and endurable myth. There have been more movies and TV shows made about his exploits than I care to count, so of course one of the questions surrounding this film was “Do we really need another one?” Well, yes, there’s always room for a new interpretation of the characters and situations, and there’s always room for a new creator to put his stamp on the myth.

Does this film succeed? Yes. Not only do you have one of the best directors of the modern era, you get one of the best casts ever assembled to tell this story. But one thing to keep in mind before seeing this is that this is not the same old story that you’ve seen before. The creators seem to have gone out of their way to change a number of the familiar elements of the myth, while keeping all of the usual characters. Some might be disappointed by those changes.

Let’s get into some of those changes. Beware, ye gentlefolk, spoilers abound! [...]

Armageddon vs. Deep Impact. Volcano vs. Dante’s Inferno. These are just a couple of the known cinematic battles that have taken place over the years when two movies of almost identical content matter are produced and released around the same time.

Recently we’ve heard about Disney’s plans to make a new movie based on the Jules Verne classic 20,000 Leagues Under the Sea, which was originally set to be directed by McG, but will now be delivered by a one David Fincher. Now comes word that 20th Century Fox is developing their very own adaptation of the underwater classic to compete.

The studio has Ridley Scott and Tony Scott and their Scott Free Productions developing the title, with Travis Beacham writing the script. Beacham was one of the writers on the recent remake of Clash of the Titans, and also is one of the writers hired for the remake of The Black Hole, which is through Disney. [...]

Incorruptible, Vol. 1 TPB
Writer: Mark Waid
Penciler: Jean Diaz
Inker: Belardino Brabo
Letterer: Ed Dukeshire
Colorist: Andrew Dalhouse
Boom! Studios
Price: $16.99
Release date: May 5, 2010

What if you were the world’s vilest, nastiest villain? What if you decided to change your ways? Would anyone believe you? Could you permanently change everything about the way you lived your life? These are the questions that are posed by the story of Max Danger, formerly known as supervillain Max Damage.

Incorruptible takes place in the same universe as Irredeemable, the comic about Plutonian, a beloved hero who turned into an evil, heartless villain. This is the story of the flip side of that coin. Max Danger watches Plutonian attack a town, and the incident changes him. He decides to become a hero. Of course, now he has to convince everyone that his conversion is legitimate [...]

We’ve covered all of the Greek mythology epics that have been in the process of being made over the past couple of years quite a bit. Louis Leterrier’s Clash of the Titans came and went — to some pretty heavy negativity, no less — and now we wait patiently for Tarsem Singh‘s Immortals, which if you hadn’t heard, was formerly known as War of Gods.

The first set of images from Immortals have found their way to the internet by way of Rogue Pictures, and they’re good enough to make the November 11, 2011 release date sound just a little too far away.

Click on over to see the images.

In terms of excitement, you won’t find much, but stylistically you can already tell we’re probably in for a treat. It also helps knowing that Tarsem’s previous films like The Cell and The Fall have fittingly painted him as quite the master of visual film making. You’ll see Henry Cavill (The Tudors) in action as Theseus, Freida Pinto (Slumdog Millionaire) as Phaedra, and Mickey Rourke (Iron Man 2) as King Hyperion. [...]

At first, it seemed like a pretty cool idea — the thought of a beloved childhood classic like Walt Disney’s Alice in Wonderland given the live-action remake treatment. Now it might be safe to begin wondering just how far these remakes will go.

Tim Burton’s Alice in Wonderland was surely a visual treat and made lots and lots of money, but aside from that it wasn’t all that well-received. Even so, it wasn’t long before we began hearing of a new project that would take another Disney classic in Sleeping Beauty, and develop a live-action remake based on the evil villain Maleficent.

Now comes word of a third project on the horizon; Deadline Hollywood is reporting that the studio is moving forward with the development of a flesh and blood new version of Cinderella.

Disney has paid a solid seven-figures to screenwriter Aline Brosh McKenna for her pitch (yes, I find it interesting that they have to pay so much for something based on their own titles), and she’s now working on a script. [...]

Not too long ago, Shia LaBeouf was a budding young star. Before long, he was everywhere we looked, and this didn’t sit so well with a lot of movie fans. Mixed into this LaBeouf overdose was both Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen, and Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull — both of which made ridiculous amounts of money, and both of which were eviscerated by critics and fans everywhere.

Just a few days ago, LaBeouf offered up apologies to fans for how the second Transformers movie went, and promised much better things in the third one. The actor, who’s currently at the Cannes Film Festival to promote his movie, Oliver Stone’s Wall Street: Money Never Sleeps, is clearly out to do some damage control on his career (by his own free will or by the urging of his representatives, who knows). Now, LaBeouf has offered apologies and explanations for the fourth and latest Indiana Jones while talking to the LA Times, for which he takes full responsibility. [...]

Last month saw the release of Jane Slayre, a literary mash-up pitting Charlotte Bronte’s classic heroine Jane Eyre against vampyres, zombies, and other supernatural creatures. Check out our review of the book, which we gave a 4.5 out of 5 rating. A bunch of us here have read it, and loved it, so we’re sure you will too, which is why we’re excited to announced that we here at Geeks of Doom have five (5) copies of Sherri Browning Erwin’s Jane Slayre to give away to some lucky readers!

Five (5) winners will each receive:

-One (1) paperback copy of Jane Slayre

Jane Slayre, our plucky demon-slaying heroine, a courageous orphan who spurns the detestable vampyre kin who raised her, sets out on the advice of her ghostly uncle to hone her skills as the fearless slayer she’s meant to be. When she takes a job as a governess at a country estate, she falls head-over-heels for her new master, Mr. Rochester, only to discover he’s hiding a violent werewolf in the attic–in the form of his first wife. Can a menagerie of bloodthirsty, flesh-eating, savage creatures-of-the-night keep a swashbuckling nineteenth-century lady from the gentleman she intends to marry? Vampyres, zombies, and werewolves transform Charlotte Brontë’s unforgettable masterpiece into an eerie paranormal adventure that will delight and terrify. [...]

In January of 2009, it was announced that director McG, hot off of his work on the not-so-well-received Termination Salvation, would be taking on a new adaptation of Jules Verne‘s 20,000 Leagues Under the Sea for Disney. Ten months later, the project had been killed off.

Now it looks like Disney has found their replacement, and it is quite the step up on the directorial chain. The studio is set to name David Fincher the new captain of this underwater adventure. Fincher is best known for his psychological crime thriller Se7en, as well as Fight Club, Zodiac, and his recent multi-Academy Award nominee, The Curious Case of Benjamin Button.

The McG project was said to have a budget of around $150 million, so Fincher will without doubt have at least that amount to play with when he gets things moving. That production was also on the fast-track by Disney, but it is currently unknown whether they will be pushing it just as quickly this time around. Fincher is notorious for his perfectionism and determination to get the perfect scene, no matter how many takes it requires he and his cast. [...]

The creation of this image was suggested to me by a friend via Twitter, and I immediately thought ‘Horns’ and got to work making it happen.

I created ‘Horns’ to honor of one of the most inspiring people in my life and the lives of many of my friends, the Godfather of Heavy Metal — Ronnie James Dio, who passed away yesterday.

Dio’s bold music scored such a large part of the backdrop of my youth that I can rarely think of good times without thinking of him (Look Out!!).

I was lucky enough to have seen him perform in concert more times than I can rightfully put a number to and I gotta tell ya, every single time I saw him he made that concert seem like the ‘best’ performance of his career [...]

Singer and heavy metal legend Ronnie James Dio died on Sunday, May 16, 2010 at 7:45 AM after battling stomach cancer, according to an online post by his wife Wendy Dio. He was 67.

Rumors spread over this internet this weekend that Dio had died yesterday, but the truth was that he was in the hospital and not doing well. [Read Ronnie James Dio’s Wife Responds To Rumors: ‘Ronnie has NOT passed away!’]

After quelling the rumors yesterday about the singer’s death, his wife updated Dio’s official site this morning with the news of his passing today.

Today my heart is broken, Ronnie passed away at 7:45am 16th May. Many, many friends and family were able to say their private good-byes before he peacefully passed away. Ronnie knew how much he was loved by all. We so appreciate the love and support that you have all given us. Please give us a few days of privacy to deal with this terrible loss. Please know he loved you all and his music will live on forever. – Wendy Dio

Back in November, it was reported that Dio, who fronted rock greats like Black Sabbath and Rainbow, as well as his long-time solo act Dio, was diagnosed with stomach cancer [...]

Disney’s Hero Squad: Ultraheroes #4
Writers: Alessandro Ferrari & Ivan Saidenberg
Artists: Antonello Dalena & Carlos Edgard Herrero
Colorist: Mike Cossin
Letterer: Jose Masasocal, Jr.
Boom! Studios
Price: $2.99
Released: April 28, 2010

When we last left the Ultraheroes, they were involved in a conflict with Emil Eagle and the Sinister 7 over Ultrapods, 6 devices that will create the Ultramachine, a weapon of immense power. Also, the Sinister 7 captured Mickey and were holding him along with the previously captured Scrooge McDuck and the Beagle Boys. The Sinister 7 offer their prisoners in exchange for the 3 Ultrapods that the heroes have, and they have no choice but to fly their and surrender their Ultrapods. This is a very interesting tale that has the good guys facing incredible odds. One of the Ultraheroes even betrays the team!! Also, we learn that there is a 7th Ultrapod hidden in the last place anyone would think to look for it. Despite it being an “all ages” book, the first story was very engaging. I thoroughly enjoyed it, and the cliffhanger ending definitely has me interested in reading the next issue [...]

The most important thing is this: relax, mind your business, and act Jewish.

When it comes to things that don’t mix very well, what are the first things that come to mind? Water and oil; wool caps and Cancun; peanut butter and onion sandwiches, perhaps? How about Hasidic Jews and drug smuggling? I would think that has to be one of the crazier mixes one could think of, and in 1998, it was a mix that happened quite often, and one such story is told in First Independent Pictures’ Holy Rollers.

The movie tells the true story of Sam Gold (Jesse Eisenberg), a Hasidic Jew in late ’90s Brooklyn, New York who is in the midst of studying to become a Rabbi and entering into an arranged marriage to a girl who wants eight children. Sam works for his father in their fabric store, but it’s very clear that he has a strong sense of business for such a young age. When his wife-to-be decides not to marry him, Sam wonders where he and his life have led him wrong. [...]

Rumors began spreading across the Internet last night (Saturday, May 15) that rock singer Ronnie James Dio had died early that day.

Many sites were picking up the story and reporting the rumor as fact, and Twitter and Facebook is all a buzz about this, despite the lack of attribution or official statement.

Since the rumor appeared online — leading to several revisions to Dio’s Wikipedia entry, the singer’s official site has been flooded with traffic, bringing it down (it was still down at the time of this posting).

Blabbermouth contacted Dio’s wife and manager Wendy Dio to respond to the rumors. Wendy Dio, who said she was at the hospital with her husband, responded that while the singer was not doing well, he is NOT dead [...]

The casting for Jon Favreau‘s comic book adaptation of Cowboys & Aliens has been nothing short of phenomenal so far, and they just keep adding to it.

According to Deadline, three new actors in Paul Dano, Clancy Brown, and Keith Carradine have been cast in the film. Dano is best known for his work in movies like Little Miss Sunshine and There Will Be Blood, and will be one of the many cowboys that will be battle alien invaders. Clancy Brown, known for his work as a prison guard in The Shawshank Redemption or a drill instructor in Starship Troopers, will be a cowboy as well. Carradine has appeared on the hit Showtime series Dexter and is no stranger to the western genre having appeared in plenty of movies of the genre and HBO’s Deadwood. He’ll be playing the town sheriff.

Chase your own aliens over to the other side to read a brand new official synopsis, which is much longer and much more detailed than what we’ve known about the film so far! [...]

An early draft of the screenplay for Star Wars: The Empire Strikes Back, written by late science fiction author Leigh Brackett, has been leaked online. Brackett wrote the script based on a story outline by Star Wars creator George Lucas, and submitted the draft to Lucas just before she died of cancer in March of 1978.

Apparently, Lucas didn’t like the direction of Brackett’s script, but she did receive screenwriting credit, along with director Lawrence Kasdan, for the 1980 sequel to Star Wars.

The Empire Strikes Back is my favorite movie of all time, and while I think it’s perfect as is, I couldn’t help but wonder what if?. So, I read the script and let me tell you, not only would Empire have been so much different if Brackett’s script was used, but so too would the history of the entire Star Wars universe! Reading this script was like getting a peek at an alternate Empire universe. I’m a big fan of the Star Wars expanded universe, so I would have loved to see some of the elements of Bracket’s version make it into some of those books.

Check out some of the details from Brackett’s script here below [...]

Things are starting to get rolling on Transformers 3, and as you all know, a lot of work must be done in order to make up for what we were given in the first sequel, Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen.

To helps fans start to get excited, some casting and talking has occurred this week, and both are worth peek and a read.

To start things off, The Wrap is reporting that fan-favorite Alan Tudyk has joined the cast of the third movie. It’s not known who the Firefly, Dollhouse, and V star will be playing in the movie, but he’s always a welcome addition to any movie being made. The actor joins fellow newcomers John Malkovich, Frances McDormand, and Ken Jeong Join who were cast in March, as well as Grey’s Anatomy star Patrick Dempsey.

In addition to the exciting castings so far, star Shia LaBeouf has also been talking about the next chapter and his thoughts on the last film, including the fans’ disdain. [...]