According to reports, mega-star Will Smith has latched on to a new project called The Legend of Cain. Smith is planning to not only produce the movie through his own Overbrook Entertainment, but also star in the title role of Cain. The star’s wife Jada Pinkett Smith, James Lassiter, and Ken Stovitz will also produce.

The movie is said to be a re-telling of the biblical tale of the brothers Cain and Abel. In most versions of the story, the brothers are the sons of Adam and Eve; Cain is a farmer and Abel a shepherd with both making offerings to God based on their trades. When God accepts Abel’s sacrificial animal offerings but rejects Cain’s offerings of produce, the latter becomes enraged and kills his brother in cold blood bringing the deadly sin into the world.

On its own this content could probably make a decent film, but The Legend of Cain will take the old story a step further with a little twist: vampires. Yes, it looks like the plan is for Cain to also be a bloodsucker, likely pegging him as the very first vampire. [...]

We here at Geeks of Doom like to share with you some of the world’s independent artists from time to time. We may not get to do it as often as we’d like to, but when we can it’s always exciting to share with you names and talent that you might not yet know.

Today we want to share with you someone that a lot of you may already be familiar with, but many others will not: Marian Call. Miss Call is an independent singer/songwriter/composer all the way from Anchorage, Alaska. She also happens to be quite the geek, making her the absolute perfect type of artist for us to gush about to you.

Call is on a mission unlike most you will ever see indie musicians undertaking. Her goal is to tour all 50 states, driving to all of them except for Hawaii of course, and without any kind of manager or label handling the mess that is scheduling and setting up shows in every state. No, this isn’t about the tour itself or money or anything musicians tour for; this is all about the music and the joy that it can bring in an intimate setting. [...]

Gamera: The Giant Monster
DVD
Directed by Noriaki Yuasa
Starring Eiji Funakoshi, Harumi Kiritachi
Shout! Factory
Release Date: May 18, 2010

If you’re like me, your only exposure to Gamera may be from episodes of Mystery Science Theater 3000. I’ve never seen the film without the familiar silhouettes in front, but Shout! Factory has recently released the first two Gamera films on DVD, so now is our chance to see the original film, with a new English translation. If you’re a fan of Godzilla movies, this will be right up your alley. The rest of us will find a goofy monster movie that may not be a great movie, but is fun to watch.

This is the part of the review where I would discuss the plot of the film, but you know what? Screw it. It’s a giant turtle, and he rampages. That’s all you need to know. Gamera is a pale imitator of Godzilla, but that’s okay, because it’s still good fun. You have the traditional man in the rubber suit, the scientists trying to destroy him, and the child who sees him as a misunderstood friend. Plot is largely unimportant in any of these giant monster films. It’s all about the fun of watching the monster take out a major metropolitan area [...]

When GoDfather Dave3 suggested yesterday that the best Hulk of all might be Rainn Wilson, I immediately thought of a giant green Dwight K. Schrute from The Office. Terrified yet?

Of course, Dave3 meant the actor, but I like to pretend that Wilson and Schrute are one and the same. And I can see his point. Wilson’s proven himself convincing as both an ubernerd and a frustrated ball of rage. But why stop there? John Krasinski, a.k.a. Jim Halpert, was once considered for the role of Captain America, after all.

Below are a few other Dunder-Mifflinites who could step into roles within the Marvel universe [...]

Some more casting news from the comic book adaptation X-Men: First Class is being reported. The movie, which is being directed by Matthew Vaughn (Stardust, Kick-Ass), has been on a casting tear since we discovered that Bryan Singer would not be helming (though still producing) and that Vaughn would be taking over.

First up comes a big confirmation. About a week ago came word that the great Kevin Bacon was in talks to take on the role of an unknown villain in the movie. Bacon has been officially confirmed for the role, though it is still unknown what villain he might play. Your guesses are welcome!

Next up comes word that the unpredictable Mystique has also been cast. The younger Mystique will now be played by Jennifer Lawrence, who has previously starred in titles like The Burning Plain, Devil You Know, The Bill Engvall Show, and Winter’s Bone. Mystique was of course played by Rebecca Romijn in the first three X-Men movies. [...]

One of the big non-Marvel comic book movies that’s currently on the way is of course Green Lantern. Today brings a little gift in the first peek of star Ryan Reynolds fully “dressed” up as the Lantern. I note the dressed because if you’ve not heard yet, the entire costume will actually be digitally added instead of actually producing a physical suit to wear.

It remains to be seen if this digital idea will be a disaster or not, but this first image will at least give you some sort of idea. The suit looks like a fully green take on a skinless human being’s muscle structure with the logo placed in its usual center position. The image does look like a heavy photoshop job and it will probably look a lot better once post production has reached completion, but for now it’s a solid peek for curious fans.

Continue on over to get your first look at Ryan Reynolds as the Green Lantern! [...]

Trailers for the film once known simply as the Facebook movie have been coming in quick succession lately. First came a couple brief but somewhat hypnotizing teaser trailers and now we have the first full-length trailer for The Social Network, as it’s more officially known.

The Social Network is directed by David Fincher (Se7en, Fight Club) and is based on the book The Accidental Billionaires: The Founding of Facebook, A Tale of Sex, Money, Genius, and Betrayal by Ben Mizrich.

Click over now to check out the first full trailer for The Social Network!

The new trailer begins by showing off familiar Facebook actions to Radiohead’s “Creep” as sung by a choir. It then moves into the first actual footage from the film, using all of the lines we only heard in the second teaser trailer and putting imagery to it. Everything is wrapped up with some new stuff to remedy any repetition. All-in-all a very solid trailer and well worth the watch. [...]

There’s no denying that Darth Vader is one of the most iconic villains in cinematic history. One thing that most should know bust some might not is that the dark Sith lord was brought to us by two different actors with James Earl Jones delivering the iconic voice we know so well, and the lesser-known David Prowse handling the costumed physical appearance.

Though most recognize Earl Jones as Vader, Prowse is certainly a beloved member of the Star Wars universe…at least when it comes to the fans anyway. When it comes to creator George Lucas and anything Lucasfilm related, however, things are not all sunshine and rainbows as you might assume.

The annual Star Wars Celebration V (C5) convention is coming up and Mr. Prowse was set to make an appearance, sign autographs, and meet his fans. Unfortunately he received a bit of bad news and shared it on his website. [...]

Gears of War 2 fans have something to be excited about with next week’s Comic-Con in San Diego, even if they can’t attend — actually it might be better if you can’t. Check this out: Rod Fergusson, the executive producer of the Gears of War franchise for Epic games, posted on his Twitter account about 24 hours ago a little deal for multiple experience for Gears of War 2.

“Ok, here’s my bribe. The SDCC XP event will be # of my followers divided by 500. So 4000 followers means 8x XP” [...]

Bryan Lee O’Malley, the creator of the Scott Pilgrim comic book series, posted a track today from the upcoming Scott Pilgrim vs. The World video game.

The track is entitled “Another Winter” aka
“World 1-1 of Scott Pilgrim vs. the World.” Visit O’Malley’s site radiomaru.com to hear the song, you will not be disappointed.

I have to say, it is ridiculous. It’s all done in 8-bit tones, and if I played a game as a kid on my NES with a song like this, I would have lost my mind. The track is done by chiptune punk band Anamanaguchi, who according to their website, “make loud, fast music with a hacked NES from 1985.” [...]

Predators
Directed by Nimrod Antal
Starring Adrien Brody, Alice Braga, Topher Grace, Danny Trejo, Walton Goggins
Rated R
Release date: July 9, 2010

Predators, the long-awaited second sequel to the 1987 sci-fi/action classic Predator that continued to further Arnold Schwarzenegger’s reputation as the decade’s preeminent action hero and introduced a memorable movie monster in the form of an alien hunter with a grotesque face and a nasty attitude, has a lot to live up to and a whole lot to make up for. It’s the third film in a franchise that was pronounced dead more than a decade ago after the subpar box office of 1990′s Stephen Hopkins-directed, Danny Glover-starring Predator 2 (a movie I really enjoy even though it can’t hold a candle to the original) and was buried even deeper by 20th Century Fox’s lackluster (and that’s putting it kindly) attempt to merge it with its moribund Alien franchise, a concept that worked beautifully in the novels and Dark Horse comic series, but failed miserably on the big screen.

For a while it seemed like the series’ devoted fans would never get the chance to see what a true Predator sequel could be, and that’s where Robert Rodriguez comes in. Back in the mid-1990′s Rodriguez, along with pal and frequent collaborator Quentin Tarantino, was the toast of the independent movie scene after his low-budget directorial debut El Mariachi became a small sensation and showed what a gifted and dedicated filmmaker could do with only a $7,000 budget and an unlimited imagination to make the movie. Hot off the success of El Mariachi, Rodriguez was courted by Fox to help revive the Predator series and Rodriguez wrote a treatment that was ambitious in scope and long rumored to contain roles for both Schwarzenegger and Glover’s characters from the first two films. It was called Predators and the treatment was put back on the shelf as Rodriguez focused on building his filmmaking career [...]

Reading that headline you’re probably feeling the exact same way that everyone else is: that this has to be a joke. The Onion must be involved somewhere, right? Wrong. This looks like it’s as true as true can be. And that means we’re all doomed.

When you think “biopic” you usually think of someone like Ray Charles or Abraham Lincoln or something along those lines. We don’t live in the double-aughts anymore, however, and apparently anyone is able to get their very own biopic these days. This is the case with young Justin Bieber, the unfathomably popular singer/rapper/something or other that has inexplicably taken over the planet’s pre-tween female species. Whatever voice-cracking subtleties the 16-year-old speaks, these girls go nut-job crazy, and this apparently warrants the less-than-two-decade-old life story we need so badly.

According to Hollywood Life, Bieber has been wanting to make a movie for a while and a script has been in the works for a while now. The idea is that this new movie will tell Bieber’s story in the same vein as Eminem’s own popular life story, 8 Mile. [...]

There’s not a whole lot that needs to be explained here and not many details known as to how all of this came together, but it’s really entertaining to watch.

Basically, a group of folks decided to go all-out in recreating one of the opening scenes from Star Wars: Episode IV — A New Hope. They even went as far as picking up a sweet set of replica costumes to really sell the show. But the real catch is that they performed the short scene on the subway — with new characters getting on at consecutive stops — surrounded by unsuspecting and eventually entertained people.

Be sure to click on over to the other side to check out the video now!

For me, the best part has to be at the very beginning when Princess Leia is reading Galactic Rebellion for Dummies and the gentleman next to her is wholly amused by this. Everyone trying to snap pictures at the end is also pretty cool as well. [...]

The recent drama involving Edward Norton and Marvel came out of nowhere and escalated quickly.

The comic book movie-making studio decided that their all-important baby, The Avengers, was too crucial to bring the actor back to play the Hulk considering his potential for becoming a loose-cannon on the set. Despite his reputation, Norton’s work on The Incredible Hulk was popular enough to see quite the backlash come of this decision, but what’s done is done and a new actor was needed to make us all happy again.

According to reports from Deadline, Marvel Studios may just have found their Hulk replacement, and you might not hate the choice. According to a source, the studio is currently in “late-stage” talks with Mark Ruffalo. If true, this means that not only is he a top choice but that they’ve settled on him and are trying to work out a deal. And assuming that Mr. Ruffalo is as he seems to us, you have to imagine it would get done.

The actor doesn’t at all seem like someone who would be difficult to negotiate with, nor is he someone that would waste your time and lead you on. [...]

All this talk of Edward Norton not being in The Avengers movie has really got me down. It’s time for a little pick me up.

And now I have one! Today Marvel has released an image of Odin (Anthony Hopkins), Thor (Chris Hemsworth), and Loki (Tom Hiddleston) standing together in the halls of Asgard from the upcoming Thor movie.

Anthony Hopkins looks pretty bad ass as Odin, even with the gold eyepatch. Loki looks like a total weasel, as he should. This is the first image we’re seeing of both of them; a partial shot of Hemsworth in Thor costume was released back in April, but this is the first full body image [...]

As I’ve mentioned in my prior Twilight coverage, I’ve yet to read Breaking Dawn, the fourth and as of now final novel in Stephenie Meyer’s popular book series (I’ll probably bang it out during my upcoming trip to California). Nevertheless, I already know several crucial elements of the story thanks to sites everywhere putting spoilers right in the headlines.

I didn’t want to do that here, for those of you who haven’t read the book and managed to avoid spoilers so far, but there is now an update regarding a pivotal scene that people believed would be cut from the upcoming film adaptations — the final book is being split into two films, with Bill Condon directing. Twilight Saga: Breaking Dawn screenwriter Melissa Rosenberg said that she is, in fact, writing this particular scene into her script and explains just have graphic she expects it to be.

Continuing reading for SPOILERS on Breaking Dawn and to read Rosenberg’s updates regarding her script [...]

Scott Pilgrim vs. The World is exactly one month away from release. Are you excited? I sure am.

Now, we’re being treated to a new featurette, called “A Look Inside.” In this two and a half minute clip the tale of Scott Pilgrim is explained a little more than in previous trailers. I think it’s good for those who for some reason have not read the graphic novels, and thus would have no idea what the movie is about.

This clip also has some talking points from members of the cast as well as Edgar Wright, the director. So take it all in ladies and gents, we are only one month away from the August 13 release date, so hopefully this can help to keep us occupied until then.

Check out the new featurette here [...]

The first trailer for Universal Pictures’ Devil has been released online. The movie is brought to us by producer M. Night Shyamalan, whose current film The Last Airbender is making decent money while simultaneously being critically eviscerated.

While Shyamalan is a producer on the project, Devil is being directed by John Erick Dowdle. Dowdle has previously directed The Poughkeepsie Tapes and [REC] remake, Quarantine. The movie stars Chris Messina, Geoffrey Arend, Logan Marshall-Green, Bojana Novakovic, Jenny O’Hara, Bokeem Woodbine, and Jacob Vargas.

Click on over to the other side to check out the new trailer and teaser poster for Devil and decide for yourselves whether it looks worth a peek or not.

Not too much is known about the movie thus far. The current synopsis literally only says “Devil is a supernatural thriller with M. Night Shyamalan’s signature touch.” This may not be the best route to take, all things considered.

For some, it was post Signs. For a small group of others (myself included) it was after The Village. For an even smaller group, it may have been later than that. [...]

This is fairly old news, but things have been a little slow lately, so why not.

While we impatiently wait for all of the MGM financial drama to be settled so that they (or someone) and New Line Cinema can deliver us The Hobbit, other movies are being set in motion to pass the time.

It’s being reported that New Line has begun development on a brand new live-action/CGI hybrid adaptation of the popular Looney Tunes character Speedy Gonzales. The studio has hired writers Alec Sokolow and Joel Cohen to pen the script. The duo started strong working on Toy Story but have since done titles like Cheaper by the Dozen, the Garfield movies, Evan Almighty, Daddy Day Camp, and the upcoming Walter the Farting Dog (I can’t WAIT to see the trailer for that bad boy).

The movie already has its leading man as well. George Lopez will be voicing the uncatchable Speedy Gonzales. Lopez along with Ann Lopez and Lynnette Ramirez will also be producing under George Lopez Presents.

Ann Lopez had this to say about the new project, and modernizing the Speedy of the ’50s who may or may not have sometimes been looked at as being a little racist. [...]

Now that the Halo: Reach Beta is long over, game developer Bungie has decided to tease their upcoming Xbox 360 game with a little achievement leak.

According to Bungie’s blog, there will be 49 achievements in Reach, assigned to five different groups with the following break down: 23 to the campaign, 6 to training, 9 to player experience, 4 to multiplayer, and 7 to be linked with the games co-op Firefight mode.

Also released is this awesome group of images for all 49 achievements. I hope I can get them all! See the image here at right (click for full view).

Six specific achievements have been outlined [...]