The recently renamed Legend of the Guardians has its first trailer via Yahoo. The film is directed by Zack Snyder (Watchmen, 300) and features voice talent from Sam Neill, Geoffrey Rush, Hugo Weaving, David Wenham, Emily Barclay, Abbie Cornish, Emilie de Ravin, Ryan Kwanten, Jay Laga’aia, Miriam Margolyes, Helen Mirren, Deborra-Lee Furness and Jim Sturgess. Check out the trailer below, in HD on Yahoo, or attached to Tim Burton’s Alice In Wonderland this weekend. Read the full story

Here we are, eight months and two versions later. When Watchmen was released on March 6, 2009, the film received polarizing reviews from both critics and audiences, and the box office intake has been debated as to whether it was a success or failure, with some like me arguing it actually performed at an impressive rate for the type of film it is, while others argued that it was a complete disappointment. In July the Director’s Cut was released to a stronger reaction, as being extended by 24 minutes of new footage, many said the film felt more fleshed out and had more room to breathe than its theatrical counterpart. Now we have Watchmen: The Ultimate Cut, and this version is most likely the last version of Watchmen we’ll see for a long time, if not ever, and what a glorious send-off it is. Read the full story

While the cast of Zack Snyder’s upcoming Sucker Punch is predominately female, they’ve just added a new, male member to the cast.  Joining Emily Browning, Abbie Cornish, Vanessa Hudgens, Jamie Chung, Jena Malone, and Carla Gugino is Mad Men actor Jon Hamm, says THR.  Not too much has been revealed about the character he will be playing, although the article does mention his character’s name will be “High Roller”.  Other than that, nothing else seems to be known.

Sucker Punch is about a girl named Baby Doll (Emily Browning), who when committed to a mental institution in the 1950’s, is forced to escape with her friends into an alternate reality when she is scheduled to have a lobotomy.  The movie will be director Snyder’s fourth, after his Dawn of the Dead remake, and comic book adaptations 300 and Watchmen.  At this time, Sucker Punch is scheduled for release March 25, 2011, which is the month all of Snyder’s films have seen their release.

News like this only gets me even more excited for this movie.  Hamm has proven his skills on Mad Men as a dramatic actor, and he has a good leading man look to him, although we would assume he would play a supporting role this time around.  Snyder is also one of my favorite filmmakers of his generation, and I wonder what he can do with an original property.  He has a sensibility for visuals in his films like few others have. Unlike someone like Michael Bay, he makes movies with something to them and can actually shoot action.  Hopefully we see more news in the coming future for this movie and it’s ongoing production.

What do you think of Jon Hamm joining the cast of Sucker Punch?

Zack Snyder’s anti-superhero epic was released back in March and was met with a rather mixed response. While many seemed unimpressed by Snyder’s ambitious and faithful adaptation, the director’s cut improves on many aspects, adding to an already excellent film that did the same thing the graphic novel did for its medium. Watchmen is an entertaining and ambitious film that delivers on almost every level. The original cut did have it’s flaws, mostly narrative wise, this cut makes most of those issues perish.

The story follows practically the exact same narrative as the graphic novel and it works. Most of the events and character arcs are still the same, except Dr. Manhattan. It still opens with The Comedian’s murder which leads to Rorschach who starts investigating. He sets out to spread the warning, first going to his old partner Nite Owl aka Dan Drieberg. Dan lives an isolated life now and is left without a sense of purpose. Adrian Veidt, former superhero Ozymandius, is now the world’s smartest man and one of the richest. He doesn’t believe in the masked killer theory and is more worried about the world problems to come. The only one with real super powers is Dr. Manhattan who is continually drifting away from humanity. His only connection comes from his relationship with Laurie Jupiter aka Silk Spectre II. Laurie feels as if she is living a lie considering she was forced into this profession of vigilatism due to pressure from her mother.

Read the rest of the review below >>

When 300 was released in March 2007 to enormous box office success, Hollywood decided to be Hollywood.  Even though (spoiler alert) essentially all 300 Spartans were killed at the end, news of a possible sequel began to emerge.  Details remained miniscule for the time being, with only the idea it would be based off of a new graphic novel to be written by Frank Miller himself, and may be a hybrid of a sequel/prequel.  Otherwise, little was and continues to be known, but some new facts have emerged from producer Mark Canton himself.

Speaking to MTV Splash Page, Canton said that work is being done by Miller, presumably on the follow up graphic novel.  Snyder himself hinted that it’ll take place between the final Spartan’s death and the film’s last scene.  And as to whether Leonidas, 300’s main character played by Gerard Butler returning, Canton said “Never assume anything; never assume anything”.  While some people attacked 300 for playing fast and loose with historical facts, it’s hard to imagine they would blatantly fudge history to have the star return, but at this point who knows.

To me a sequel to 300 seems like an odd idea.  300 as a movie felt like a very singular experience, similar to Snyder’s last movie Watchmen, and a sequel feels like it would be a pointless endeavor, with the exception of financial reasons.  I also don’t necessarily see Zack Snyder returning, as he has six projects lined up in addition to a possible follow-up.  And lastly, many feel that writer Frank Miller has definitely gone down a steep slope in terms of quality in the last decade or so, and if a new movie decides to be as reverent to the upcoming book as the last one was to 300, for all we know that could hurt the movie greatly.  And the last time Frank Miller was given total control, we got this.

What do you think of the idea of a sequel to 300?

Before Watchmen’s release back in March, director Zack Snyder talked about possibly releasing the director’s cut of the  movie in select cities for one weekend before the DVD’s release.  After what some considered to be a disappointing performance on it’s release, many wondered whether the director’s cut would get its theatrical release.  But now Snyder has confirmed that Watchmen will be re-released the weekend before Comic-Con (and most likely the DVD’s release) in the cities of Los Angeles, Dallas, Minneapolis, and New York.

Scenes to be edited back into the picture include elemental scenes such as the two Bernies at the newsstand, Hollis Mason’s death, and other scenes interstitial to the movie that didn’t make the theatrical cut.  The original theatrical version of Watchmen ran at 162 minutes, and this new cut will run at 186.  What I find surprising about this news is after Warner Brother’s reported dissatisfaction with the movies performance, they’re still willing to let the movie run again for one more weekend.  Also revealed was news that the three-and-a-half hour cut featuring the animated Black Freighter edited back in will be released on DVD this December.

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The list of directors for the upcoming Heavy Metal adaptation just got even better.  While the slate includes David Fincher, Zack Snyder, Gore Verbinski, and Mark Osborne (Kung Fu Panda), possibly the most exciting name yet has been released:  James Cameron.  /Film (via FilmSchoolRejects) have announced that the legendary director, whose first film in twelve years Avatar will be released this December to great hype, will sign on as executive-producer and director of a segment of the film.  Heavy Metal is an adaptation of the cult 1980’s adult-based comic series, a movie scheduled for release sometime within the next few years.

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Warner Bros has given us an update on some projects and shifted some release dates. Check them out below.

• A Very Harold & Kumar Christmas in theaters on November 5th 2010.
• George Miller’s Happy Feet 2 in 3D will hit theaters on November 18th 2011.
• Martin Campbell’s DC comic book adaptation of The Green Lantern has been pushed to June 17th 2011 instead of December 17th 2010.
• Zack Snyder’s Sucker Punch will hit theaters on March 25th 2011 instead of  October 8th 2010.

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Entertainment Weekly is reporting that Amanda Seyfried (Mamma Mia) has dropped out of Zack Snyder’s (Watchmen) next film Sucker Punch. Seyfried, who was set to star as “Baby Doll”, apparently had to drop out because of scheduling issues with her show Big Love.

I’m kind of disappointed that she wont be in this. She’s a good looking actress who can act, it sure would have been cool to see her going crazy and raising hell Zack Snyder style. Hopefully, and I’m sure they will, find a suitable replacement.

What do you think of Amanda Seyfried?

- Jack Giroux

(Image via /Film)

Entertainment Weekly is reporting that Amanda Seyfried (Mean Girls), Vanessa Hudgens (High School Musical),  Abbie Cornish (Stop-Loss), Evan Rachel Wood (The Wrestler), and Emma Stone (Superbad) are in talks to star in Zack Snyder’s next film Sucker Punch.

The film is suppose to be kind of a twisted version of Alice in Wonderland in a mental institution, which sounds pretty awesome. I personally think this cast is awesome, not the best actresses, but they are girls I wouldn’t mind to see going crazy with machine guns. It is currently scheduled for October 8th, 2010.

What do you think of the casting choices?