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

First Look at Benicio Del Toro as The Collector from 'Thor: The Dark World'

Benicio Del Toro as an immortal space Elvis

You know the drill by this point.  New Marvel movie, new teaser post-credits scene.  

This one features Benicio Del Toro as The Collector.  Teasing his role in next summer's 'Guardians of the Galaxy' and perhaps foreshadowing a storyline for Avengers 3 (Infinity Gauntlet anyone?).  

The Collector is an Elder of the Universe in Marvel comics lore.  He is about as old as the universe itself and virtually immortal.  He has set up a collection of beings and artifacts as a failsafe against a vision of the future in which all life is destroyed.  One of these items is the aether from 'Thor: The Dark World', revealed here to be an infinity gem.

So, that's one infinity gem.  Another is revealed to be in Asgard's treasure room (either the tesseract or the gem placed into Loki's scepter in 'The Avengers').  That's two.  There are 6 gems total, which when put together create the infinity gauntlet.  This item has the power to unmake all life in the universe  and has long been the ultimate goal sought by Thanos.  

Who is Thanos, you may ask?  

Universal terror, Thanos

Thanos is the purple gentleman from the post-credits scene in 'The Avengers'.  Thanos is an Eternal in the comics (not as old as The Collector) who is constantly trying to court and impress Mistress Death.  And what better way is there to impress Death?  Destroy all life in the universe.  Thanos is powerful, but not powerful enough to accomplish this feat on his own.

So it would seem Marvel has set the table for an ultimate showdown with the Earth heroes and Thanos over the infinity gauntlet and the fate of the universe.  This is probably a few years down the line, maybe a potential storyline for 'Avengers 3', but it's awesome Marvel is thinking so far ahead to tie in all of their movies.  And I'm sure 'Guardians of the Galaxy' and phase 2 will expand this even further.

So these post-credits scenes might not make a whole lot of sense yet, but one day they will.  And on that day you'll have to tip your hat to the planning ability of Kevin Feige and the Marvel Cinematic Universe.

'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:

First Look at Silver Samurai on the set of 'The Wolverine'

A while back, Fox released this promo shot for 'The Wolverine', a sequel to the 2009 'X-Men Origins: Wolverine':

Just Hugh Jackman looking 80's-Stallone-level ripped for a reprisal of the title role.  Whether you liked 'X-Men Origins: Wolverine' or not (count me in the latter), it's hard not to get excited when you see a photo like this.

The plot for the new Wolverine movie is based on the 1982 mini-series 'Wolverine' by Chris Claremont and Frank Miller which has Logan battling ninjas and the Tokyo criminal underworld for the heart of his ex-lover, the daughter of a Japanese crime lord.  It leads Logan to a clash with the Silver Samurai.  Created by Steve Gerber and Bob Brown, the Silver Samurai is the son of Yakuza Shingen Yashida, and possesses the mutant the ability to charge most anything, usually his katana, with an energy described as a tachyon field. 

Just recently a pic of the villain Silver Samurai has leaked from the set, check it out:

I know, it's not much, but it gives you an idea of how the character is going to be portrayed on the big screen.  And not too bad all things considered.  I've seen worse stabs at comic villains.  For comparison:

I'm a little skeptical of the Fox Marvel movies.  X3 was terrible and the first solo Wolverine movie was kind of a mess, but an 'R' rating and some scenes taken from Frank Miller art combined with distancing the Wolverine character from the X-Men has me cautiously optimistic for this one.  

I'm curious to see how the movie continues to develop as it nears its July 23, 2013 release date. 

Short Film "Spoiler": A Post-Zombie Apocalypse Cop Drama

Came across a short film this week, Spoiler.  I usually stay away from the indie-sci-fi shorts, but this one had a decent pedigree.  The director is Daniel Thron, who has done FX work for movies like The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo and The A-Team among others.

The short itself is set in a world, post-zombie apocalypse, where the main outbreak has been isolated and civilization is back in order.  But there are still occasional small outbreaks.  The short follows a coroner (the job has changed drastically since the outbreak) to an infection where he must determine the strain and virility of the infection.  And it's ultimately up to him to pronounce the victims dead... or help them get there.

Honestly, I've seen feature-length films that were a lot less engrossing than this short.  Maybe the production team will get funding for a full-length film someday.  It's a cool premise.

Definitely worth a 20 min watch.  It's not a zombie horror gore-fest; just a tense, drama-filled story set around an isolated zombie infection.  

Enjoy.

The Walking Dead Season 2 Finale (Spoilers)

!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

2 words.  2 words to set up season 3...

Michonne.  Prison.

Michonne!!!!!!!!!!!!!

They introduced her badassery perfectly

And just off in the distance

Anyone who read the comics knows what's coming

Great finale.  I'll do a more in-depth on the episode tomorrow.  Just couldn't contain my excitement 

The Walking Dead: "Judge, Jury, and Executioner" (Major Spoilers); The Many Faces of Shane

First, I just have to get this out of my system

"He is not Judge Judy and Executioner"

Now...

Spoilers


I'm sad, just a few short weeks ago I made this post about one of my favorite characters on the show, Dale, and his ridiculous facial expressions.  And now, after winning his battle to get the group to spare the life of their prisoner, he gets killed by a zombie.

Not bitten mind you... he managed to fight off the walker's bite, only to have his gut ripped open by the creature's hands.  At least it was Daryl this time who finished someone off.  Seems like Rick ends up having to do the dirty work most of the time.

Special shout out to Carl.  His screwing around with the stuck-in-the-mud walker lead directly to Dale's attack.  Let's get this straight...Sofia wanders off, gets lost, becomes a walker, yet Lori and Rick still let Carl wander off in the woods alone.  Maybe the hat protects him...  And let's not forget his comment to Carol, Sofia's mom.  Way to emotionally torture the severely depressed lady Carl.  It's crazy how much I liked Carl in the comics compared to how much I dislike him on the show.

At least it seems like Dale's death will make the group tighter, which is ultimately what Dale wanted.



But I can't help feeling a little responsible for Dale's untimely death.  I made a post about him and his expressions, and lo and behold, he dies 2 episodes later.  Who's next?  I think it'll be Shane.

With that in mind, I now bring you The Many Faces of Shane:

"I just killed Otis and got a sweet new haircut" Shane

"Pondering Geopolitical Instability in the Middle East" Shane

"Extreme Closeup" Shane

"Angry Flowing Locks" Shane

"I'm Soooo high right now" Shane

And...................



Mega Ultra (Future) Spoiler Image Alert!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!