Hidden Sony Press Release Announces 'Venom' 'Sinister Six' Movie Projects

 3-panel poster for ASM2 featuring 3 villains: already gearing up for the Sinister Six?

A URL hidden in the new 'Amazing Spider-Man 2' trailer leads to www.electroarrives.com.  When the lone image on the page is clicked, it leads to a PDF press release from Sony pictures here:

http://flash.sonypictures.com/movies/theamazingspiderman2/microsite/electroarrives/theamazingspiderman_pressrelease_1212.pdf


The release rather unceremoniously announces the expansion of the Spider-Man franchise to include a third titular film, along with standalone 'Venom' and 'Sinister Six' films.  It also announces the involvement of creatives Alex Kurtzman, Robert Orci, Jef Pinkner, Ed Soloman, and Drew Goddard. Goddard in particular, is an interesting choice as he has recently been announced as the head writer for the Marvel project 'Daredevil' for Netflix.  Maybe in the future there may be some wiggle-room rights-wise for a crossover event.

Body of the text:

SONY PICTURES ENTERTAINMENT TO EXPAND THE SPIDER-MAN UNIVERSE ON SCREEN WITH ALL-STAR WRITING TEAM

Alex Kurtzman, Roberto Orci, Jeff Pinkner, Ed Solomon, and Drew Goddard to Collaborate with

Marc Webb and Producers Avi Arad and Matt Tolmach

on Developing the Universe and Expanding the Story in

“The Amazing Spider-Man 3,” “Venom,” and “The Sinister Six”

CULVER CITY, Calif., December 12, 2013 – In a move to forge a new legacy in the story of Peter Parker on screen, Sony Pictures Entertainment, in association with Marvel Entertainment, is developing several new projects in the Spider-Man franchise, with Alex Kurtzman, Roberto Orci, Jeff Pinkner, Ed Solomon, and Drew Goddard to collaborate on overseeing the developing story over several films that will be produced by Avi Arad and Matt Tolmach, it was announced today by Doug Belgrad, president of Columbia Pictures, and Hannah Minghella, president of Production for the studio.

The five writers, along with the two producers and Marc Webb, have formed a franchise brain trust to expand the universe for the brand and to develop a continuous tone and thread throughout the films. Under the deals, the studio announced that Kurtzman & Orci & Pinkner are writing the screenplay for The Amazing Spider-Man 3, which the studio hopes Webb will return to direct; the film will go into production next fall for release on June 10, 2016. In addition, the team will build on the cinematic foundation laid by Webb, Arad, and Tolmach in the first two movies. They will expand the franchise as Kurtzman & Orci & Solomon will write the screenplay for Venom, which Kurtzman will direct; also, Goddard will write, with an eye to direct, The Sinister Six, focusing on the villains in the franchise. Hannah Minghella and Rachel O’Connor will oversee the development and production of these films for the studio.

In tapping these five writers, the studio and the producers are guiding the future of the franchise with the writer/producers who have each played significant and key roles in developing such highly successful franchises, films, and series as Star Trek, Transformers, “Alias,” “Fringe,” Men in Black, Bill & Ted’s Excellent Adventure, World War Z, “Lost,” Cloverfield, The Cabin in the Woods, and Marvel’s upcoming “Daredevil” series.

Commenting on the announcement, Belgrad said, “The Spider-Man film franchise is one of our studio’s greatest assets. We are thrilled with the creative team we have assembled to delve more deeply into the world that Marc, Avi and Matt have begun to explore in The Amazing Spider-Man and The Amazing Spider-Man 2. We believe that Marc, Alex, and Drew have uniquely exciting visions for how to expand the Spider-Man universe in each of these upcoming films.”

Arad and Tolmach added, “This collaboration was born out of the great experience we and Marc had working with Alex, Bob, and Jeff on The Amazing Spider-Man 2. With more than fifty years’ wealth of stories in the comic books to draw upon for inspiration, the Spider-Man universe is truly boundless; in addition, the Spider-Man comics have the greatest rogues gallery of any series, and to have the chance to explore that on film is truly thrilling. Until now, we have approached each film as a separate, self-contained entity, but with this move, we have the opportunity to grow the franchise by looking to the future as we develop a continuous arc for the story. That is what Alex, Bob, Jeff, Ed, and Drew will do in this unprecedented collaboration, and we’re excited about the directions they are taking the character and the world.”

The most successful franchise in the history of Columbia Pictures, Spider-Man is embraced all over the world. The four Spider-Man films to date have taken in over $3.2 billion worldwide. Spider-Man, Venom, The Sinister Six and other Spider-Man related characters are licensed to Sony by Marvel Entertainment.

So, a hidden release definitely meant to be found... just not widely publicized and released yet.  Exciting news for the franchise, and it explains some of the speculation around the number of villains featured in the new trailer and movie poster for ASM 2.

Exciting stuff

'The Hold Steady' to Perform Song in 'Game of Thrones' Season 3

A Battle-Scarred Tyrion Lannister

Indie Rock band 'The Hold Steady' will perform a song with lyrics by George RR Martin himself this season on 'Game of Thrones'.  The band will perform the jaunty tavern tune "The Bear and Maiden Fair", lyrics penned by Martin and music composed by the show's composer Ramin Djawadi.

This isn't new territory for the show as another indie band, 'The National' performed the somber "The Rains of Castemere" during season 2.  Pretty cool for the showrunners to do stuff like this, although I'm sure there was no shortage of talent willing to participate.  But it really lends depth and character to the world created for the show.  I love the touches like this, especially for "The Rains of Castemere" which plays a big role in such a pivotal scene in the books.

Lyrics to "The Bear and the Maiden Fair":

A bear there was,

A bear, A BEAR!

All black and brown,

And covered with hair 

Oh come they said,

Oh come to the fair!

The fair? said he,

But I’m a bear!

All black and brown,

And covered in hair! 

And down the road,

From here to there,

From here!To there!

Three boys, a goat,

And a dancing bear!

They danced and spun,

All the way to the fair! 

Oh! sweet she was,

And pure and fair,

The maid with honey,

In her hair! Her hair,

The maid with honey,

in her hair! 

The bear smelled the scent,

On the summer air!

The Bear! The Bear!

All black and brown,

And covered with hair!

He smelled the scent,

On the summer air,

He sniffed and roared,

And smelled it there!

Honey on the summer air! 

Oh I’m a maid,

And I’m pure and fair,

I’ll never dance,

With a hairy bear,

A bear! A bear!

I’ll never dance,

With a hairy bear! 

The bear,the bear!

Lifted her high,

into the air!

The bear, the bear! 

I called for a knight!

But you’re a bear!

A bear! A bear,

All black and brown,

And cover in hair! 

She kicked and wailed,

The maid so fair,

But he licked the honey,

From her hair!

Her hair! Her hair!

He licked the honey,

From her hair! 

Then she sighed and squealed,

And kicked the air,

She sang: My bear so fair,

And off they went,

The bear! The bear!

And the maiden fair!

So get hyped, because season 3 starts March 31st at 9pm EST on HBO. Which means more of the enchanting Rose Leslie as Ygritte.

Rose Leslie as Ygritte

 Can't wait until then?  Check out this Season 3 extended trailer:

Doctor Who Season 7 Trailer Released

Last week, news broke that a new companion has been cast for Doctor Who.  So that means at some point in the upcoming series, we'll have to say goodbye to lovely Amy Pond and the constantly-dying Rory Williams. :( But I am excited for the new companion, Jenna Louise Coleman... who can only be described as "hot".

Anyway, in addition to that news, the BBC released a trailer for the next season/series today.  Looks like it brought back the western theme a bit from last season (Stetsons are cool).  Except this time it's actual cowboys in the actual old west.  Fun idea, the episode looks cool.  There's also a few snippets from a winter/arctic setting, maybe from a different episode.  

Also, (for better or worse) Daleks!

Either way it's nice to get a sneak peek of the new season so early into production.  Enjoy.

This reminds me I still need to watch the Christmas special... and buy a Fez

Tim Burton's 'Dark Shadows' Remake Movie Trailer Released

Tim Burton's latest movie is a remake of the late 60's-early 70's vampire soap opera 'Dark Shadows'.  And guess who stars in it... go on, guess... Johnny Depp and Helena Bonham Carter!  Shocking.  Additionally, Eva Green, Michelle Pfeiffer, and Chloe Moretz also star.

Depp as Barnabas Collins and an uncharacteristically blonde Green as Angelique Bouchard

My first gut reaction to the trailer was, "Wow, this looks awful".  My mom was a huge fan of the original show.  I've heard her talk about it before, and have even watched a few of the original series' episodes thanks to Netflix.  Based on her recollections of the show, and the episodes I saw, I have to say that this trailer is pretty off the mark.  The original show may have been unintentionally funny at times (boom mics popping into shots, some really bad dialogue), but the show was at least trying to be a serious, scary vamp drama.  The official synopsis:

In the year 1752, Joshua and Naomi Collins, with young son Barnabas, set sail from Liverpool, England to start a new life in America. But even an ocean was not enough to escape the mysterious curse that has plagued their family. Two decades pass and Barnabas (Depp) has the world at his feet–or at least the town of Collinsport, Maine. The master of Collinwood Manor, Barnabas is rich, powerful and an inveterate playboy…until he makes the grave mistake of breaking the heart of Angelique Bouchard (Green). A witch, in every sense of the word, Angelique dooms him to a fate worse than death: turning him into a vampire, and then burying him alive. Two centuries later, Barnabas is inadvertently freed from his tomb and emerges into the very changed world of 1972. He returns to Collinwood Manor to find that his once-grand estate has fallen into ruin. The dysfunctional remnants of the Collins family have fared little better, each harboring their own dark secrets. Matriarch Elizabeth Collins Stoddard (Pfeiffer) has called upon live-in psychiatrist, Dr. Julia Hoffman (Helena Bonham Carter), to help with her family troubles. Also residing in the manor is Elizabeth's ne'er-do-well brother, Roger Collins, (Jonny Lee Miller); her rebellious teenage daughter Carolyn Stoddard (Moretz); and Roger's precocious 10-year-old son, David Collins (Gulliver McGrath). The mystery extends beyond the family, to caretaker Willie Loomis (Jackie Earle Haley) and David's new nanny, Victoria Winters, played by Bella Heathcote.

Mouthful.

From the trailer, it looks like the movie ramps up the intentional comedy... which I don't like.  Once that music kicked in the trailer totally lost me.  

Depp as Barnabas Collins

I find this odd because Johnny Depp has been quoted in interviews saying he has wanted to play Barnabas Collins in a big screen adaptation for a long time.  And on a first-take, the trailer seemed to be pretty disrespectful to the source material.

But, I watched it again and paid a lot less attention to the music.  Putting that aside, the footage itself looked pretty good.  And if you ignore the framing of "Bang a Gong" and "My Everything", you can see some of the classic, creepy Tim Burton come out.

I'm willing to give this a chance.  Hopefully they downplay the uber-camp in the next trailer.  It just seemed like overkill in this one.  

And I think people are starting to get a little tired of the Burton/Depp/Bonham Carter trio.  

Game of Thrones Season 2 Trailer: Seven Devils

HBO is really ramping up their promotion for the new Game of Thrones season.  The dvd for season 1 was just released on March 6, and HBO is slowly releasing more footage to draw in viewers for the season premiere April 1.

This trailer was just released today, and shows the most in-depth footage of the upcoming season yet.  A lot more emphasis on Robb, as he is to become a major player in the main arc.  The upcoming season looks fantastic.  The production team has really outdone themselves with setting.  And it seems like the mainstream success of the show has enabled the producers to expand their budget to get some of those exotic locales.  And hopefully get some large-scale battles in, since they seemed to avoid those in season 1.

I really can't wait.  

In the meantime, I'll probably re-watch season 1... Or at least the crown of gold scene.

Abraham Lincoln: Vampire Hunter Trailer

I feel compelled to talk a bit about this with the trailer hitting the interwebs this week.  Based on Seth Grahame-Smith's 2010 book of the same name, this is a Tim Burton-produced movie.  So I think we all pretty much know what to expect.  That Burton feel and filming style.  Very distinct feel, and the time period and costumes are right in Burton's wheelhouse.

Should be an entertaining flick.  I never got around to reading the book, but it seemed like a fun idea.  I must confess though, that the first thing I think of when I hear about this is the unjustly short-lived Starz series 'Party Down' with Adam Scott.  From the sweet 16 episode, with the always awesome JK Simmons:

I also think it a little funny that this movie is slated to come out this summer, with the Daniel Day Lewis Lincoln movie also in the works.  That Daniel Day Lewis is amazing.

And here's one of DDL just eating lunch off-set looking like Lincoln

Here's the full trailer for the movie:

I like the axe-wielding.  It feels kind of fresh.  And I have to admit the axe-tree burst at the end did look pretty cool.  

What do you guys think of this one?