"Iron Man 2": The North American Posters

Sneak Peek some new North American posters for the Paramount sequel "Iron Man 2", based on Marvel Comics characters created by writer Stan Lee and illustrators Don Heck/Jack Kirby.

"Iron Man 2" is set six months after the events of "Iron Man", with the secret ' S.H.I.E.L.D.' organization continuing to play a major role.

The film also explores Stark's alcoholism, his unwillingness to accept his advancing age, his glib approach to life while concealing the fact he is Iron Man and his jealously towards love interest 'Pepper' (Gwyneth Paltrow), finding another boyfriend.

Actor Robert Downey Jr. reprising his role as 'Tony Stark' aka 'Iron Man', said the film was not an adaptation of the "Demon in a Bottle" storyline from Marvel's "Iron Man" comic book series, but more about the 'interim space' between the origin and demon story arc.

"Iron Man 2" also stars actors Mickey Rourke as the villain 'Whiplash', Don Cheadle as 'Col. James "Rhodey" Rhodes, Gwyneth Paltrow as 'Pepper Potts', Sam Rockwell as 'Justin Hammer', Samuel L. Jackson as 'Nick Fury' and Scarlett Johansson as 'Natasha Romanoff' aka the 'Black Widow'.

'The Black Widow', created by writers Lee, Don Rico and illustrator Heck, debuted in Marvel Comics "Tales of Suspense" #52 (April 1964), introduced as a "gorgeous new menace" for 'Iron Man'.

Natasha appeared for the first time in a skintight black costume in "The Amazing Spider-Man" #86 (July 1970).

Born in Stalingrad, she trained as a spy/martial artist for the Soviet's 'Black Widow Ops' program, becoming 'bio-technically' enhanced.

Her gear is equipped with an arsenal of high-tech weaponry, including a pair of wrist-mounted energy weapons called the 'Widow's Bite'.

"Iron Man 2" will be released May 7, 2010.

Click the images to enlarge and Sneak Peek "Iron Man 2"...

Archie Andrews: The Mirth Of A Nation

"Archie: The Classic Newspaper Comics, Vol 1" is written/illustrated by comics great Bob Montana, co-creator of 'America's Typical Teen-Ager', whose quest for girls, made him 'The Mirth of A Nation'.

"...Long before Archie Andrews had to finally choose between Betty and Veronica, cartoonist and Archie co-creator Bob Montana guided Archie and his gang into a series of outlandish antics and gags on a daily basis for nearly 30 years.

"Starting with these very first strips from 1946-1948, Montana's brilliant storytelling and animated flair for humor comes to life in strips that have never been reprinted before.

"Fans can marvel at the laughable love triangle, sexy women, bumbling sidekicks and overbearing educators, and rediscover, or discover for the first time, the genius of Bob Montana..."

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"Party Down: Season 1" - Get Ready To Be Served April 6

Anchor Bay Entertainment and Starz Entertainment will release the Starz Originals, comedy series, "Party Down: Season 1" on DVD, April 6, following a group of waiters who serve food and drinks at the swanky parties of Hollywood's rich and famous.

Executive Produced and Co-Created by John Enbom, Ron Thomas ("Veronica Mars”), Dan Etheridge (“Cupid”), and actor Paul Rudd ("I Love You Man") the 2-disc set features 10 episodes.

"...'Party Down: Season 1' follows 'Ron Donald', the aggressively pious leader of the 'Party Down Catering' company, 'Henry Pollard', the one-time actor who has returned to the life of 'cater-waiter', 'Roman DeBeers', the team’s self-proclaimed visionary and intellectual; 'Kyle Bradway', an actor, model and front-man for an alt-rock band when not working Hollywood parties, 'Casey Klein', an insecure comedienne and 'Constance Carmel', a background performing actress..."

Guest cast includes Kristen Bell ("When in Rome"), Marilu Henner ("Taxi"), Ed Begley, Jr. ("A Mighty Wind"), Rob Corddry ("The Daily Show") and Steven Weber ("Wings"”).

"Party Down: Season 2" premieres on Starz April 23, 2010, with Emmy winner Megan Mullally joining the team...

Click the images to enlarge and Sneak Peek "Party Down"...

Legendary Pictures: In "Godzilla" We Trust

Legendary Pictures reports they are developing a new feature based on Toho Studios flame-breathing dinosaur character "Godzilla", acquiring rights to the character Toho created in 1954, touting "CIVILIZATION CRUMBLES as its death rays blast a city of six million from the face of the earth..."

Legendary is producing the new film for Warner Bros. prepping for a 2012 wide release.

Toho has kept Godzilla alive through two generations of movies, many of which were only released in Japan. The last time Godzilla arrived in North America, it was for a 50th Anniversary re-release of the original movie.

Before that, Toho released one of the Japanese films in the United States as "Godzilla 2000" and in 1998, director Roland Emmerich, with partner Dean Devlin tackled a reinvention of "Godzilla" for Sony, grossing $379 million worldwide.

"Godzilla is one of the world's most powerful pop culture icons, and we at Legendary are thrilled to be able to create a modern epic based on this long-loved Toho franchise," said Thomas Tull, Chairman, CEO of Legendary.

"Our plans are to produce the 'Godzilla' that we, as fans, would want to see. We intend to do justice to those essential elements that have allowed this character to remain as pop-culturally relevant for as long as it has."

"Godzilla is a signature Japanese character which we have nurtured over the years," said Hideyuki Takai, President, Toho Co., Ltd. "It is a great honor to reach an agreement with Legendary Pictures, the parent to many a blockbuster film, and we are delighted in rebooting the character together to realize its much anticipated return by fans from all over the world. We are anxious to find out where Godzilla's new stomping will take us."

"Godzilla is emblematic of the kind of branded, event films for which Warner Bros. and our partners at Legendary are best known," said Jeff Robinov, President, Warner Bros. Pictures Group. "We have enjoyed a great deal of success together to date and this newest opportunity represents yet another chance for us to collaborate on a property that is very clearly in their wheelhouse..."

Click the images to enlarge and Sneak Peek "Godzilla"...

AMC Runs With "The Walking Dead"

AMC ("Mad Men") has greenlit "The Walking Dead," a resurrection of the Image Comics graphic novels by Robert Kirkman and illustrators Tony Moore/Charlie Adlard, for Oscar nominated writer/director Frank Darabont ("The Green Mile"), marking AMC's first foray into full ownership of one of its series.

AMC has ordered six episodes of the 'zombie' series based on a pilot written/directed by Darabont. Executive producers of "Walking Dead" are Darabont, creator Kirkman, Gale Anne Hurd of Valhalla Motion Pictures and David Alpert of Circle of Confusion.

Funding will be provided in its entirety through AMC parent Rainbow Media.

"Walking Dead" starts shooting in June in Atlanta, sacheduled for an October debut.

Since its debut October 2003, Image has so far published 69 issues of "TheWalking Dead", with steadily increasing sales on single issues, trade paperbacks and hardcover collections.

Premise of the comics follows 'Rick Grimes', a small-town cop from 'Cynthiana', Kentucky, his family and a number of hangers-on who band together to survive a land overrun with living-dead zombies.

As "The Walking Dead" series progresses, personalities shift under the stress of the impending 'zombie apocalypse'.

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