The cast for Columbia Pictures’ upcoming remake of the 1990 Arnold Schwarzenegger sci-fi classic, Total Recall, is coming together quite nicely so far. A couple of the larger roles have already been filled, and now it’s being reported that Ethan Hawke will be joining them.

It started with the signing of Colin Farrell to play the lead role of Douglas Quaid, a factory worker one day starts to think he might be a spy — only this time around it will take place right here on Earth instead of on the planet Mars, and Quaid will be trying to figure out if he’s working for the nation of Euromerica or New Shanghai.

Then came word that Breaking Bad star Bryan Cranston had been cast as one of the villains in the movie, Vilos Cohaagen, once played by Ronny Cox.

No details on what role Hawke will be playing in Total Recall were given, only that it would be something of a cameo role. [...]

We first heard of The 39 Clues in 2008 before the books even hit store shelves. Back then some thought the new series could become the next Harry Potter in terms of franchises with the promise of ten books, games to play online, multiple authors, and collectible cards that would help readers try and solve the mysteries of the stories, creating an exciting interactive element to the series. Not to mention the fact that Steven Spielberg, who had acquired and set up the project with DreamWorks, was said to be a possibility to direct the first an expected many movies.

Unfortunately for fans, things change a great deal over time. The ten books in The 39 Clues have been released and have sold very well for Scholastic Media — so well, in fact, that an eleventh book in the series, Vespers Rising, was also just recently released — but Mr. Spielberg is not the man that will be directing the movie. [...]

Kermit the Frog made an appearance at the premiere of Pirates Of The Caribbean: On Stranger Tides.

Everyone’s favorite Muppet was a special correspondent this past Saturday at the film’s premiere, where the lovable green frog interviewed the celebrities as they arrived on the black carpet, including Pirates star Johnny Depp.

Watch the video here below of Kermit, who’s not only an awesome interviewer, he’s probably the best movie premiere correspondent ever. They need to have him do awards shows like the Academy Awards [...]

The Gold Box spotlight deal of the day over at Amazon today is Friday Night Lights Seasons 1-4 on DVD for only $11.99 each season (that’s 60% off the list price of $29.98).

Note, this sale is only for today, Tuesday, May 10, 2011, until midnight PST, while supplies last.

Friday Night Lights: The First Season
Friday Night Lights: The Second Season
Friday Night Lights: The Third Season
Friday Night Lights: The Fourth Season [...]

Just recently Universal Studios stupidly backed out of making At the Mountains of Madness, the massive R-rated horror movie set to be directed by Guillermo del Toro and produced by James Cameron that had fans salivating joyfully, with many wondering if Comcast’s purchase of the company from General Electric was to blame for the decision.

While we impatiently wait to see if another studio has the testicular fortitude to take on such an ambitious project that moviegoers actually want to see (or if Universal will even allow it), del Toro has moved on to Pacific Rim, another monster movie with a PG-13 rating that movie studios have no problem swallowing. And though not as exciting as At the Mountains of Madness, this is still Guillermo del Toro, so we’ll take what we can get from the director — one of the top talents working today — who hasn’t had a new movie of his own making since 2008′s Hellboy: The Golden Army.

To get things rolling, today comes the first casting news for Pacific Rim with the announcement that Charlie Hunnam has entered into negotiations for a role in the movie. [...]

The New York Times has our very first official look at just how accurate director Timur Bekmambetov is aiming for in his adaptation of the alternate history action/horror, Abraham Lincoln: Vampire Hunter.

In the image, which can be seen above (click to go a little larger; no high-quality version has been released yet), you’ll see star Benjamin Walker (X-Men: First Class) in full Abraham Lincoln costume making a speech. Walker, who’s not even 30 years of age yet, appears to make a decent Lincoln (from a distance), indicating some strong makeup work on the film.

Abraham Lincoln: Vampire Hunter, which is an adaptation of the Seth Grahame-Smith novel of the same name, also stars Mary Elizabeth Winstead, Rufus Sewell, Dominic Cooper, and Alan Tudyk. [...]

Way back in December some controversial news broke that the entire writing staff for AMC’s hit new zombie series, The Walking Dead, had been fired. At the time, it sounded like showrunner Frank Darabont, who acts as a writer, director, and producer on the series, was having to do so many rewrites and make so many adjustments, it simply wasn’t worth having an entire writing staff. Instead, they would likely be hiring out freelance writers to handle the 13 episodes of the second season, one of which looked like it might be none other than Stephen King.

Now that you’re all caught up, delete most of that information from your memories. The Hollywood Reporter was able to have a little chat with The Walking Dead comic book creator Robert Kirkman, who set the record straight on the topic and offered some minor details to where things stand now with the show. [...]

After their victory against The Silents, the Doctor (Matt Smith) and his companions decide to head off into the seas of the 17th century, where in responding to a distress signal they come face to face with the famous pirate, Captain Henry Avery (Hugh Bonneville). But not all is as it seems – for Avery’s ship is stuck in calm waters, haunted by the curse of a Siren (Lily Cole), who comes to claim those that have been marked with the Black Spot…

During TARDISblend 25, we review the events of Doctor Who: The Curse of the Black Spot, and find ourselves to be somewhat disappointed at the poor editing and pacing of what could have been a very fun episode. From missing pirates to “Kenny from South Park” (Arthur Darvill), we find the saving grace to be elements of the overarching story arc and discuss who the mysterious Madame Kovarian (Frances Barber) could possibly be and why only Amy Pond (Karen Gillan) can see her.

We also discuss some in-universe fan debating over the use of the Sonic Screwdriver during this season. Our Classic Doctor Who recommendations this week also tie into ships and/or pirates, and we take a flashback to the Secondary Console Room in the TARDIS during the Tom Baker era. All this and more on the latest TARDISblend! [...]

Recorded May 8, 2011.

Our May Doom Of The Month will be the first volume of X-Men First Class! If you want to read along with us, head on over to Instocktrades.com or DCBService.com to pick up X-Men First Class for a super price! Be sure to check back at the end of May for our special review episode.

Check out Episode 61 of Comics of Doom, the official comics podcast of Geeks of Doom. Click HERE to open the podcast player in a new window.

Podcast player is here below, along with an Episode Guide.

Listen now!

E-mail us at comicsofdoom [at] gmail.com
Follow us on Twitter – @ComicsOfDoom
Subscribe to the Podcast: RSS | iTunes | Zune [...]

ComiXology is running a sale today on issues #1-13 of Thor for only 99 cents each.

Note, the sale is only for today, Monday, May 9, 2011 and ends at 11pm EST in North America.

You can download the digital versions for the iPad or iPhone of issues of this 1998 Marvel comic book series by Dan Jurgens and John Romita for only $.99 each at the ComiXology App.

The printed versions of this run are available in Thor, Vol. 1 (for $19.79) and Thor, Vol. 2 (for $16.49), so you can see what a great discount the digital version is today (though, each printed Volume contains one extra tie-in issue) [...]

I know there are a lot of people out there who will be going to see Thor this week, and I’m betting that a lot of these people have never read any of his comic adventures. I’m here to present a few comics that are worth checking out if after you leave the theater you want to check out some of the god of thunder’s printed adventures.

If you want to check out the original stories that brought the god of thunder into the Marvel universe, there are two ways to do that. If you’re on a budget, you can pick up a volume of Essential Thor (there are 5 volumes currently available). These are nice black and white reproductions of the original Stan Lee/Jack Kirby stories (along with other creators in the later volumes) and each volume has about 25 issues each, so you get a lot of value. If you have a bit more money to spend, you might track down a copy of The Mighty Thor Omnibus. This is a massive hardcover that collects almost 40 issues’ worth of material and presents them in beautiful color. It is a little bit pricier, and may not be for the casual fan [...]

The video game deal of the day over at Amazon today is Lego Star Wars III: The Clone Wars for Nintendo Wii for only $34.99 (that’s 30% off the list price of $49.99).

Note, this deal is valid only for today, Monday, May 9, 2011, until midnight PST while supplies last.

The video game is also available on the following platform (but they are not part of today’s limited-time-only deal):

Nintendo DS: $29.99
Nintendo 3DS: $39.99
Xbox 360: $49.99
Playstation 3: $49.99
PC: $25.99
Sony PSP: $29.99 [...]

Recorded May 8, 2011.

Our May Doom Of The Month will be the first volume of X-Men First Class! If you want to read along with us, head on over to Instocktrades.com or DCBService.com to pick up X-Men First Class for a super price! Be sure to check back at the end of May for our special review episode.

Check out Episode 62 of Comics of Doom, the official comics podcast of Geeks of Doom. In this episode we review the new live-action Marvel Studios movie Thor. Click HERE to open the podcast player in a new window.

Podcast player is here below, along with an Episode Guide.

Listen now!

E-mail us at comicsofdoom [at] gmail.com
Follow us on Twitter – @ComicsOfDoom
Subscribe to the Podcast: RSS | iTunes | Zune [...]

Mjolnir, the hammer of Thor, is easily one of the most powerful weapons in the Marvel Universe and one of the most coveted, along with maybe the Silver Surfers’ surfboard and maybe Jarvis (come on having your own butler, please…). So with the Thor out in theaters I started to consider what I’d do if I had that badass hammer. Now, I’m a caring guy of course so I’d wanna bring the rain to the parched and crush some evil here and there, but there are also those guilty pleasure sorts of things that would just be fun.

There’s the five things I’m thinking of right about now. So head down the rainbow bridge with me and let’s talk five things that would just be fun to do with that hammer of Thor [...]

(WARNING. SPOILERS. A LOT OF THEM. MAYBE NOT TOO MANY, CONSIDERING I HAVEN’T REALLY SEEN THE MOVIE. SO DON’T CRY IF YOU DIDN’T REALLY WANT TO KNOW THAT THING ABOUT THAT PART IN THOR THAT HAPPENS IN MINUTE 30. BECAUSE IT’S IMPORTANT. AND WILL CHANGE YOUR LIFE AND THE LIVES AROUND YOU FOREVER. NOT ALL OF YOU WILL MAKE IT OUT OF THE THEATER WITH YOUR LIMBS INTACT DUE TO THIS REVELATION. THANKS. AND STAY THE HELL AWAY FROM SOMETHING BORROWED. YOU WERE GOING TO ANYWAY. NEVER MIND THEN. HOPE YOUR MOM’S DOING WELL BECAUSE IT’S MOTHER’S DAY AND YOU REALLY SHOULD CALL HER ONCE IN A WHILE BECAUSE SHE MISSES YOU A LOT.)

After seeing the trailer(s) to Thor late last year, I didn’t think it looked all that promising. Why? Because it’s about a guy (sorry, god) who fights with a really big hammer and has a hat with feathers. While that may work in a comic book, its translation to live action may just end up goofy. On the positive side, I do remember thinking Thor could be good… in comparison to Captain America. Why? Because he’s dressed like an American Flag, and while that might work in comic book, its transla… you get the idea [...]

The Mighty Thor Omnibus
Hardcover
Written by Walt Simonson
Drawn by Walt Simonson and Sal Buscema
1192 pages
Marvel Comics
Release Date: April 27, 2011

Whether it is a man dressed like a bat, a military super-soldier, or an Amazonian woman of wonder, superhero stories are essentially modern day myths. Of stories of modern day gods that roam the Earth, there is no hero more godly than the God of Thunder himself, Thor.

With the Thor movie out in theaters and Odin’s son playing a prominent role in the Avengers movie, it seemed only appropriate that Marvel would come out with The Mighty Thor Omnibus [...]

Skullkickers #7
Five Funerals and a Bucket of Blood, Part 1
Story by Jim Zub
Art by Edwin Huang, Misty Coates
Cover by Chris Stevens
Variant cover by Steven Cummings and Espen Grundetjern
Image Comics
Price: $2.99
Street Date: May 25, 2011

How could you not love a comic book with a name like Skullkickers? It does bring up images of thick, steel-toed boots bashing in brains, splattering them onto the pavement, doesn’t it?

Well, if that’s what you’re expecting, it’s not what you’re going to get.

Skullkickers is a fantasy series, obviously heavily influenced visually and creatively by World of Warcraft and the Final Fantasy video game series. The story revolves around a pair of monster hunters: an alcoholic dwarf with an axe and a stoic bald warrior with a revolver. In the first six issues, the good Skullkickers are forced to travel from the village of Mudwich to do battle with necromancers, demons, living corpses, and giant primordial demon lords. As Five Funerals and a Bucket of Blood Part 1 opens in Skullkickers #7, the Skullkickers return to Mudwich celebrated heroes only to become wanted fugitives, embroiled in an assassination plot against the city’s nobility by a pointy-eared elfin killer and a pair of murderous fairies [...]

Thor
Directed by Kenneth Branagh
Starring: Chris Hemsworth, Anthony Hopkins, Natalie Portman, Stellan Skarsgard, Kat Dennings, Tom Hiddleston, Clark Gregg, Idris Elba
Release Date: May 6, 2011

“Can I come home?”

Rarely do we hear these words come from a man of enormous stature. It is hard to conceive a man who hasn’t felt the anguish of defeat utter these words while in a state of utter helplessness. It is only right that we become even more incredulous when we have a God asking “Can I come home?” Thor, the long blond-haired hammer-pounding God of Thunder, and zealously worshipped during the Viking Age of what is referred to as Norse mythology, has become overwhelmed by the time he asks the dejected question. Prior to this Thor (Chris Hemsworth) has endured brutal battles occurring in the magical realm of Asgard. He has dealt with familial angst between his father and King of Asgard, Odin (Anthony Hopkins) and his brother, Loki (Tom Hiddleston). But all has taken an immense toll on Thor and he is unable to maintain any kind of emotional balance, causing his potency and permanence as a war-thirsty God to become less formidable. Instead, he is rendered humble, disconsolate, and love stricken. A once-fierce God enjoying the pleasures of immortality, Thor needs to redefine his life as he suffers, emotionally and physically, the uncomfortable truths of mortality [...]

Thor: Original Motion Picture Soundtrack
CD | MP3
By Patrick Doyle
Buena Vista Records
Release Date: May 3, 2011

One of the things I love most about seeing a movie for the first time is experiencing its music score. I have many favorites but the ones that affect me the most are the great adventure scores, from Erich Wolfgang Korngold’s jaunty and propulsive The Adventures of Robin Hood to John Williams’ endlessly hum-worthy Raiders of the Lost Ark. The best of these scores tend to plant themselves deep in my mind and always pipe up at moments when I need those sounds the most and my MP3 player is nowhere to be found. They calm my soul and motivate me to conquer each of life’s challenges, be they minor or potentially life-threatening, with a hearty laugh and my arms jutted forward like I could take off flying at any moment [...]

A live-action American adaptation of the popular Japanese manga and animated feature film, Akira, has been on the way for a while now with Albert Hughes (of the Hughes Brothers) attached to direct.

Many rumors have swirled around the proposed film, but nothing quite solid has ever manifested yet. And that seems to be just fine with Akira fans everywhere, who have made it pretty clear that they don’t think a live-action adaptation would work and they don’t want to see it happen. Of course that’s just what they say now, and if a really well-done movie is made with the proper cast and an intriguing trailer is released, those very same fans would likely be singing a different tune.

Which brings us to today. Heath Vision is reporting that Warner Brothers has had some discussions with Keanu Reeves, star of the very successful Matrix franchise, about playing one of the lead roles in Akira, Kaneda. Keep in mind that Reeves isn’t even officially “in talks” for the role yet, but all signs point to he and Warner Bros. being very interested. [...]