In a weekend that can only be described as “lackluster,” this week’s box office winner only walks away with the prize because, I feel, no one else really bothered to turn up to the party. Lakeview Terrace came away with the prize this week, which really just explains how bad this week must have been. A movie portraying Samuel L. Jackson as an overbearing cop hassling a pair of newlyweds (that’s all I know of the movie, by the way) should not have beaten out the animated feature Igor, but I’ll get to that in a minute.

With a whopping $15.6 million, Lakeview Terrace came out on top by a pretty clear margin too, considering the next closest entry was last week’s number one, Burn After Reading, which managed only $11.3 million this week. These were the only two movies to rake in over $10 million this weekend.

Number three goes to the Dane Cook/Kate Hudson comedy My Best Friend’s Girl, which managed only $8.3 million […]

It was, in my opinion, the best portrayal of a superhero this year, but it looks as if Marvel is once again going to shortchange actor Edward Norton. The man who played Bruce Banner, aka, The Hulk, in the incredibly (teehehe) successful The Incredible Hulk, has suggested that Marvel won’t have him back.

Norton said that “the minds of Marvel are sometimes opaque. I won’t say they’re obtuse, but I don’t have any idea what they want to do.” He also noted that he is being kept thoroughly in the dark concerning Marvel’s plans for him, and whether they will want him in The Avengers movie Marvel is planning.

They’ve got this notion of collecting the Marvel characters,” said Norton, who appeared a bit skeptical of Marvel’s ambitious plans for the project. “Who knows where they’ll go?”

If Marvel does anything to hurt the chances of Norton returning to reprise The Hulk, then not only me, but a bundle of other fans are going to be thoroughly upset […]

After weeks of lackluster box office performances, and new movies struggling to make it even into the top 5, the box office reports from this past weekend show a much happier tale. All four of the movies that opened this weekend (in more than a thousand cinemas) appeared in the top four and all earned over $10 million. A much better weekend for the box office, considering last week’s top earner managed only $7.7 million.

Taking the top spot was Burn After Reading, starring George Clooney, Frances McDormand, Brad Pitt, and John Malkovich coming in with $19.4 million. Tyler Perry’s The Family That Preys took second spot close behind Burn, with $18 million.

Third spot went to the movie I was anticipating for this weekend, the crime thriller starring Robert De Niro and Al Pacino, Righteous Kill, coming in with $16.5 million.

Fourth spot went to the comedy film The Women, with a cast of women so big it’s… baffling. With $10 million on opening weekend, it’s not bad…

I posited that, though she probably wouldn’t acquire her own movie, The Wasp was almost certainly going to appear in The Avengers movie that Marvel is promising. Janet Pym, née, Van Dyne, aka, the Wasp, was a founding member of the Avengers, and Ant-Man’s wife/ex-wife. So we could conceivably see her appear in the Ant-Man movie as well.

Now, thanks to Flawed Hollywood, a photo of Eva Longoria exiting the Marvel Comics offices on Friday, carrying a pile of reading material including an Avengers book, has got me very excited. (Check out the image here and click for larger view.)

A quick look at her face and you see Janet Pym immediately. I honestly don’t think they could have picked someone better for the Wasp if they tried.

Is she going to play the Wasp? I don’t know, but I would sure love to see her in that role.

This is the epitome of what we call cult reporting. I know that most of you do not give a rat’s ass for this news, but for some of us, this is really kind of exciting.

For anyone who has spent any amount of time watching Stargate, you will probably have come across the character Major Davis. A liaison from the Pentagon, the character was portrayed by Colin Cunningham, and became a very popular character, despite being nothing more than a recurring guest star.

However, according to GateWorld, Cunningham will be returning to the Stargate franchise for the series finale of Stargate Atlantis, which is scheduled to air in January 2009.

The episode, entitled “Enemy at the Gate,” is shrouded in mystery, not surprising, but will cap off 5 seasons worth of Atlantis and bridge the way for the recently announced movie…

Last we saw of Lucius Malfoy, he had been bested attempting to kill off Harry Potter and his cohorts by members of the Order of the Phoenix in the fifth cinematic adaptation of J.K. Rowling‘s hugely popular books, Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix.

And though this effectively rules Lucius Malfoy out of being in the sixth movie, Jason Isaacs will not be entirely absent.

Speaking to MTV recently, Isaacs, who plays Lucius Malfoy in the Harry Potter movies, revealed that his character would still be involved in Harry Potter and The Half-Blood Prince, though in a very small role.

I’m not [really] in the film [but] I did one day. I went in for a day,” Isaacs revealed to MTV News of a secret cameo he gets to make in the movie. “I’m a moving portrait on the wall.”

Isaacs is one of the few things that I really love about the movies, as he perfectly portrays Malfoy…

Like a weird mix between The Batman and The Incredibles, dropping down the recommended viewing age by 10 years, The Legion of Super-Heroes is surely a big hit with the kids. And starting out with volume 3 hasn’t seemed to leave me missing information or out of the loop.

Released on the 9th, Volume 3 continues the Legion’s adventures in the 31st century. With a young Superman in the lead, along with Brainiac-5, Volume 3 sees Bouncing Boy (why I’ve no idea), Phantom Girl, Saturn Girl, Lightning Lad, and Triplicate Girl battling to uphold the laws of the United Planets.

Collecting together 5 episodes from season 1, this is one of those releases that companies put out in an effort to get the most money out of us as possible. By the time the full season is released, most likely with special features lacking from this DVD, you’ll have collected up all these mini-collections and …

With a mediocre summer now behind them, Fox Studios are apparently planning a strategy meeting to assess the future of its superhero properties. Being the only studio not to have a movie gross over $100 million in the summer (its closest was What Happens in Vegas at $80.2), and with the superhero genre being the flavor of the month, it would seem like the wisest choice.

But Fox are coming up against a lot of opposition.

First of all is the lawsuit against Warner Bros., revolving around Fox’s attempt to halt the release of Watchmen next March. Fanboys and girls across the planet are threatening to boycott Fox films, such as the upcoming X-Men Origins: Wolverine, if Fox continue through with their threat.

But Fox has a much larger problem at hand. Whereas WB has the full DC catalog of stars available to them to make movies (granted, it’s not as if they’re doing anything with them), Fox has only a few properties, including the X-Men and Daredevil…

On Tuesday I received in my inbox an email asking me, “What is this mysterious image?” Marvel didn’t want to tell me much, only that I would have to wait for in-depth interviews “on all the major announcements being made” at Marvel’s “jaw-dropping presentation at the Diamond Retailer Summit.” Well, answers to the mysterious image, and more, have definitely got me excited.

First off, the image to the right is a teaser for the upcoming Marvel Noir. “The Marvel Universe meets Film Noir next year in three limited-series re-imagining Marvel’s most iconic characters in the 30′.” The three titles will be X-Men Noir, Spider-Man Noir, and Daredevil Noir.

“The Noir line came together in one of our editorial meetings,” explains Executive Editor Axel Alonso, who will also be helming Daredevil Noir. “We had a couple of promising pitches that re-imagined Marvel characters against a Noir backdrop so we figured why stop there? If you imagine an icon like Spider-Man or the X-Men or Daredevil as a product of the 30′s, the story possibilities are endless….”

When Marvel announced its plans for future movies, it wasn’t a big surprise to see Thor on the list. One of the original Avengers obviously made Thor a ripe choice for cinematic adaptation, so with writers and producers on board, all the movie needs now is a director.

Matthew Vaughn (Layer Cake, Stardust) had previously been attached to direct the flick, but was off the project after his holding deal expired this past December. But news out of IESB is suggesting that Eagle Eye helmer DJ Caruso might be up for the directorship.

IESB brought up the now-stereotypical question posed to directors these days, as to whether they would like to direct a superhero movie. Apparently Caruso was a fan of Thor when he was younger, and despite fears about which Thor story to tell, Caruso said he could see himself getting into directing the movie.

IESB: Have there been any talks with Marvel?
DJ Caruso: I have had some talks with Marvel about it but I have not seen a screenplay. It could be something that I am interested in…

When it comes to pure and unadulterated hatred, the MPAA ranks pretty high on my list (right next to the RIAA). Most of the time my ire is quirked by their dealings with DRM, permissions, and distribution. But this time, I’m sitting right next to John Moore, director of the upcoming Max Payne movie, in my hatred concerning their lack of consistency with movie ratings.

Moore has expressed his derision for the MPAA’s decision to give Max Payne an adults-only R-rating. Describing their decision as being part of what he calls “Batman blowback,” Moore says that the MPAA “gave The Dark Knight a PG-13 rating and basically sucked Warner Bros. cock.”

The MPAA changes their rules willy-nilly and it depends on who’s seeing your actual movie at the time. It’s very difficult to get a hold on what’s acceptable. The only thing you can use is current standards…

Apparently, according to Derek Luke, star of the upcoming Miracle at St. Anna, the face of Captain America may not be the Arian Adonis we’ve been so used too over the past half a century and more.

“I heard they offered Will Smith ‘Captain America,’” said Luke, in an interview with MTV, adding that the intriguing casting rumor “just shows you how times have changed.”

Apparently, this is a reference to the title character of Marvel’s The First Avenger: Captain America movie.

Now let’s be clear: at the moment, this is the epitome of rumor. Some guy (who I’ve never heard of) has suggested that Will Smith (how does he know him?) will play Captain America (how would he have heard this?). But it is nevertheless an interesting thought to run through the wheels…

It is without a doubt one of the most hotly contested, debate, and speculated questions in geekdom at the moment: what villains will make their appearance in the third Batman movie, and who will play them. We’ve seen horrible rumors about Cher playing Catwoman. We haven’t even heard from Christopher Nolan as to whether he’ll even return immediately for a third. But we’re still debating it like it’s all cast in stone.
But for the first time, there is a semi-legit half-confirmation from Michael Caine, who plays Alfred in the Nolan Batman files, on a previously reported rumor that has got all the fanboys and girls in a twist: Johnny Depp as the Riddler and Philip Seymour Hoffman as the Penguin.
In a radio interview, Depp had denied the rumor to be true, yet expressed his interest in the role nonetheless.
In an interview with MTV, Caine seemed to confirm that these are the actors that Warner Bros. are currently seeking, for characters that, presumably, have already been decided upon…

If the movie studios had been banking on the first post-Labor Day weekend bringing in some profits, and let’s hope that they weren’t, they would have been thoroughly upset. It appears that, with the start of the football season, and maybe some less than sunny weather, Americans were staying home in droves this weekend.

The only newcomer to the scene this week was Nicholas Cage‘s Bangkok Dangerous, which only manage to scrape in over the top of Tropic Thunder by $300,000, taking a total of $7.8 million.

Industry observers had expected the Lionsgate movie to acquire at least $10 million on its opening debut, though poor ratings (like RT 3.5 out of 10) probably helped to keep its takings down.

As mentioned, Tropic Thunder managed to take the second spot, over The House Bunny which managed $5.9 million, and The Dark Knight, still in the top 5 with $5.7 million. Rounding out the top 10 included Babylon A.D. at 6 and Disaster Movie, which despite my best hopes, still manages to hold the 8th position…

When you get the chance to interview a comic book writer, you jump at the chance. But some chances are more special than others, and having the chance to speak to Greg Pak recently was a real treat. Fan favorite author of Marvel’s Planet Hulk, the feature film Robot Stories, and currently writing Skaar: Son of Hulk, Greg Pak is a man who really needs no further introduction. I got the chance to speak with the author recently about his past and what is coming up for him, so without further ado, let’s introduce Greg Pak!

Geeks of Doom: First of all, for those who don’t already know who you are… who are you?

GP: I’m a filmmaker and writer living in New York City who’s probably best known in the film world for Robot Stories and in the comic world for Planet Hulk and World War Hulk.

GoD: What did you want to be when you grew up?

GP: I actually was just going through some old papers and found an essay I wrote when I was ten or eleven about how I wanted to be a writer when I grew up…

Just the other day we were worried that Watchmen wouldn’t make it to the cinemas on time, if at all (see Lawsuit May Delay ‘Watchmen’ Til June 2009), thanks to Fox’s lawsuit against Warner Bros.

However, things are looking up, now that U.S. District Court Judge Gary Allen Feess has set a January 6, 2009 trial date for the case.

The dispute is taking place between Warner Bros. and Fox, the latter claiming that the former has stepped over their rights to the comic book, created by Alan Moore and Dave Gibbons. To be directed by Zack Snyder, fears were that a trial date would be set after the original March 6, 2009 debut date scheduled by WB.

According to Reuters, “Feess said Fox should forgo any attempt to get a preliminary injunction against Warners to stop the release of the film because the issues were far too complex to be resolved on an interim basis…

With an October 17th release for Max Payne coming up, Fox has just released an international trailer for the movie.

Starring Mark Wahlberg as the title role, the movie is based on the legendary, hard-hitting interactive video game of the same name.

Max Payne tells the story of a maverick cop determined to track down those responsible for the brutal murder of his family and partner. Hell-bent on revenge, his obsessive investigation takes him on a nightmare journey into a dark underworld. As the mystery deepens, Max (Wahlberg) is forced to battle enemies beyond the natural world and face an unthinkable betrayal.

Check out the international trailer…

In the wake of the disappointment of Superman Returns, Warner Bros. has had to rethink its Superman franchise. However if Mark Miller has his way, the Superman franchise may very well have nothing to fear, not even Kryptonite.

Mark Miller, the award-winning Scottish graphic novelist most famous for The Ultimates, Wanted, and the current arc of Wolverine, was interviewed by G4 recently, and revealed the possibility that he could be involved with a reboot of the Superman franchise.

In addition to revealing that the movie adaptation of his comic Kick-Ass is going to be done with $70 million, rather than the measly $30 million previously reported, Miller referred to a close and very famous director that has asked him, if WB agrees, to join him on a Superman project.

Miller is definitely not new to the Superman world, being completely obsessed (apparently he owns the stuffed white cat that Superman saved in one of the movies… ?) with the DC powerhouse. Not surprisingly then, Miller revealed that he has a Lord of the Rings-style epic in mind…

It has been a very long time (very, very long time) since I desired to be a lawyer, and those youthful days where being a lawyer was viewed in the same category as superhero have long since gone. However, I can at least look at a news report about the dealings of lawyers, and get a feel for what may or may not happen.

Subsequently, it looks as if Watchmen, the Warner Bros. adaptation of the comic of the same name, directed by Zack Snyder, may end up being pushed back as far as June 2009.

After reading the NY Times article regarding the rigmarole of the fight between Fox and WB, it does not look good for a March 2009 debut for WB’s Watchmen…

With the end of Summer upon us (or for me, Winter, but whatever), cinemas are seeing less and less profits from their showings. And though Tropic Thunder has once again managed to grab the top spot at the box office, it managed to do so with a measly $11.5 million. The blockbuster summer is definitely over, and who knows how long until we get one like it again.

The highest placed newcomer to this weekend’s box office (I feel like I’m commentating at the Olympics) was Babylon A.D., which itself has been in the news lately due to its directors hatred of the movie. The movie’s director, Mathieu Kassovitz, came out earlier in the week blaming the likely poor performance on Fox, who he blamed for interfering in the process. Nevertheless, it did come in number two, with $9.7 million in takings…