Sneak Peek "Tron: Evolution"

"Tron: Evolution" is the upcoming action-adventure video game, currently in development with Propaganda Games, to be published by Disney Interactive for release on the Microsoft Windows, PlayStation 3 and Xbox 360 platforms.

"Tron: Evolution" will also star actress Olivia Wilde, who will be reprising her role as "Quorra" from the Vancouver-lensed feature "Tron Legacy".

"Tron Legacy", the Vancouver-lensed science fiction sequel to the 1982 film "Tron" is directed by Joseph Kosinski and produced by Steven Lisberger, director of the first film.

Actor Jeff Bridges reprises his role as 'Kevin Flynn' and Bruce Boxleitner as 'Alan Bradley' with Garrett Hedlund as Flynn's adult son 'Sam'. Other cast members include Olivia Wilde, Beau Garrett and John Hurt.

"...Sam Flynn (Hedlund), tech-savvy 27-year-old son of Kevin Flynn (Bridges), looks into his father’s disappearance and finds himself pulled into the same world of fierce programs and gladiatorial games where his father has been living for 25 years.

Along with Kevin’s loyal confidante (Olivia Wilde), father and son embark on a life-and-death journey across a visually-stunning cyber universe that has become far more advanced and exceedingly dangerous..."

"Tron Legacy" will be presented in Disney Digital 3-D and IMAX 3D, December 17, 2010, alongside a "Tron Legacy" video game tie-in.

Sneak Peek "Tron Evolution"...

"The Hurt Locker" Wins Best Picture @ LAFCA Awards

The Los Angeles Film Critics Association awarded 'Best Picture of 2009' to director Kathryn "Near Dark" Bigelow's "The Hurt Locker".

Highlights included Jeff "Wild Bill" Bridges winning best actor for "Crazy Heart".

Belgian-born actress Yolande Moreau was named best actress for "Seraphine".

Wes Anderson's "Fantastic Mr. Fox" won for best animated film.

French film "Summer Hours" was named best foreign film.

Christoph Waltz won best supporting actor for "Inglourious Basterds".

Sneak Peek "The Hurt Locker"...

"Beatles: Rock Band" Bends With "Rubber Soul"

Apple has confirmed that the next "Beatles" album set for 'in-game downloadable content' for the video game "Beatles: Rock Band" is "Rubber Soul", produced by George Martin in 1965. "Rubber Soul" is the third album to appear in "Beatles: Rock Band" since its launch Sept. 9. Previously released were "Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band", originally recorded in 1967 and "Abbey Road" from 1969.

Songs include "Norwegian Wood (This Bird Has Flown)", "You Won't See Me", "Nowhere Man", "Think For Yourself", "The Word", "Michelle", "What Goes On", "Girl", "In My Life", "Wait" and "Run For Your Life".

Sneak Peek "Beatles: Rock Band"...

The Joker Goes Wild In "Batman: Arkham Asylum 2"...

Warner Bros. Interactive Entertainment has confirmed it it will be the worldwide publisher of the sequel to the video game "Batman: Arkham Asylum", currently in development with Rocksteady Studios.

"We are thrilled to build a global game franchise from 'Batman: Arkham Asylum,' which is receiving an incredible response from gamers and Batman fans around the world," said Martin Tremblay, President, Warner Bros. Interactive Entertainment.

"Rocksteady has taken Batman to a new level in the video game space and we are committed to delivering a sequel the fans will love."

"Getting the opportunity to create 'Batman: Arkham Asylum' and seeing its success has been a dream come true for the team," said Sefton Hill, Game Director, Rocksteady Studios.

"We are honored to create the next chapter in this compelling story and promise to deliver another game worthy of the Dark Knight."

"Batman: Arkham Asylum" was released May 30, 2009, picking up the 'Batman' movie story where "The Dark Kight" feature film ended.

The action-adventure 'stealth' video game is based on DC Comics' "Batman" for PlayStation 3, Xbox 360 and Microsoft Windows, developed by Rocksteady Studios and published by Eidos Interactive in conjunction with Warner Bros. Interactive Entertainment/DC Comics.

Written by veteran "Batman" comics writer Paul Dini, "Arkham Asylum" follows 'The Joker', Batman's archenemy, instigating an elaborate plot from within 'Arkham Asylum' where many of Batman's other villains have been incarcerated. Batman investigates and learns that the Joker is trying to create an army of creatures to threaten 'Gotham City', forcing him to put a stop to the Joker's plans.


The game's main characters are voiced by actors from DC's animated features including Kevin Conroy as Batman, Mark Hamill as Joker and Arleen Sorkin as 'Harley Quinn'.

The game is played as a third-person perspective action-adventure game with a primary focus on Batman's combat abilities, stealth and detective skills, using an arsenal of gadgets that can be used in both combat and exploration.

The game received a Guinness World Record for "Most Critically Acclaimed Superhero Game", selling over 2 million copies within its first two weeks of its console release.

The sequel was announced at the 2009 Spike Video Game Awards.

Sneak Peek "Batman: Arkham Asylum"...

Debra Paget: Snake Charmer

Sneak Peek the greatest moments of American actress Debra Paget, under contract to Fox studios when she starred in the 1954 costume feature "Princess Of The Nile". Set in 1249, Paget played 'Princess Shalimar' an Egyptian princess who disguises herself as 'Tara' a dancing girl, to rid her country of 'Bedouin' conquerors and form an alliance with 'Prince Haidi', son of the 'Caliph of Bagdad'.

After playing 'Lilia' the watergirl in Cecil B. DeMille's "The Ten Commandments", Paget moved to Germany, starring in director Fritz "Metropolis" Lang's "Journey To The Lost City", adding to her exotic dancing repertoire.


Sneak Peek Debra Paget...

John Barry Plays With "Beat Girl"

"Beat Girl" is the 1959 British indie film about late-fifties youth-rebellion, introducing actress Gillian Hills, who followed up with small roles in "Blowup" and "A Clockwork Orange”:

The Heat Is On For "Dante's Inferno"

Visceral Games, an Electronics Arts Inc. studio has confirmed that "Dante’s Inferno Divine Edition" exclusive for the PlayStation 3 computer entertainment system includes developer commentaries, a Wayne Barlowe digital art book, the soundtrack to the game and a digital version of the complete Longfellow translation of Dante Alighieri’s "Inferno".

This comes on the news that a movie deal for "Dante's Inferno" is very much alive as Electronic Arts and Universal Pictures, continue to develop the property with screenwriter Dan "Superman Returns" Harris.

The studio also said that a "Dante’s Inferno" downloadable demo for PlayStation 3 is currently available for free on the PlayStation Network, allowing fans to get a preview of Dante’s journey through hell.

The demo will also be available on Xbox LIVE, December 24, 2009.

In the "Dante’s Inferno" 'Gates of Hell' demo, gamers will experience the re-imagined past of 'Dante Alighieri' as a crusader who returns home to Florence to discover his true love, Beatrice taken away to the land of the dead.

Sworn to her rescue, Dante journeys through the Gates of Hell and beyond to battle monstrosities and demons, with the demo also serving as a prelude to the player’s journey through the 'nine circles of hell'.

EA’s" Dante’s Inferno" is a descent through Alighieri’s nine circles of hell – limbo, lust, gluttony, greed, anger, heresy, violence, fraud and treachery. At 60 frames per second, each circle features unique environments, all new creatures, terrifying demons and story elements scored distinctly to set a tone that fits each circle of sinners.

Sneak Peek "Dante's Inferno"...

Kristen Bell: "When In Rome"

"When in Rome" is the new comedy feature directed by Mark Steven "Daredevil" Johnson, co-written by Johnson, David Diamond and David Weissman, starring actress Kristen "Forgetting Sarah Marshall" Bell:

Hilary Duff: She's A Trip But She's No Vacation

"According to Greta" is the indie feature starring Hilary Duff, Ellen Burstyn, Michael Murphy, Evan Ross and Melissa Leo, set in Asbury Park, New Jersey, directed by Nancy Bardawil, making her feature film directing debut.

"...'Greta' (Duff) is 17, bright, beautiful and seriously rebellious, full of sarcastic wit that barely disguises the hurt inside. Pushed aside by her mother, Karen (Leo), who is on her third marriage and counting, Greta is shipped off to her grandparents for the summer, and she's not happy about it. In fact, she tells them that she fully intends to kill herself before the summer is over and is currently compiling a notebook of suicide methods.

Greta then falls for a charismatic short-order cook (Ross), only to find out he's been in and out of a juvenile correctional facility for stealing cars. Now he's determined to do something with his life, but as their romance heats up, Greta has to overcome the concerns of her grandparents (Burstyn, Murphy) about her boyfriend's criminal past.

But soon a near catastrophe gives Greta a wake-up call and demonstrates how deeply her own actions impact those around her.

Greta's growing love for her elderly grandparents, along with the excitement of her first summer romance, gradually strips away her defenses, revealing the promising, charismatic young woman underneath her shell..."

'According to Greta' is currently in a limited theatrical release with the DVD scheduled for January 19, 2010.

Click the images to enlarge and Sneak Peek "According To Greta"...

Cameron Plugs Into "Battle Angel Alita"

Following the success of "Avatar", director James Cameron will sequel his 'Pandora' universe with more "Avatar" stories, as well as continue developing other projects including the long-gestating adaptation of Japanese anime comic book "Battle Angel Alita".

Known in Japan as 'Gunnm', the manga series was created in 1990 by Yukito Kishiro, originally published in 'Shueisha's Business Jump' magazine.

Set in the 26th Century, "Battle Angel Alita" follows the story of 'Alita', an amnesiac female cyborg, whose body is found in a state of suspended animation by 'cybermedic' expert 'Daisuke Ido'.

Naming her 'Alita' after his recently deceased cat, Ido revives and rebuilds the girl, discovering she possesses an instinctive knowledge of the martial art 'Panzer Kunst', although she has no other memories of a previous life.

Alita uses Panzer Kunst as a link to a lost past, leading her to become a mercenary 'Hunter-Warrior', killing cyborg criminals in the 'Scrapyard' and in the brutal sport of 'Motorball'. Then while pushing her limits in combat, Alita awakens memories of an earlier life on Mars.

Cameron's feature would be a live-action adaption of the first three volumes of the manga series in a trilogy, lensed with the digital 3D system he developed for "Avatar"...

Purefoy Makes The Cut As "Solomon Kane"

Sneak Peek the 'House Of Mirrors' sequence from director Michael J. Bassett's upcoming sword 'n sorcery feature "Solomon Kane", starring actor James Purefoy, adapting "Conan" author Robert E. Howard's 1928 pulp magazine swashbuckler.

"Solomon Kane" is to be the first of a trilogy of films starring the 16th Century adventurer, following the origins of Kane, a soldier-for-hire, fighting in Africa for Queen Elizabeth I, who has a fateful encounter with a demon called 'The Reaper'.

Kane realizes he must seek redemption or have his soul damned forever in Hell, returning to England for a life of peace and converting to 'puritanism'.

But soon the machinations of an evil sorcerer upset his plans and he is forced to take up arms again, giving up his oath, surrendering himself to whatever fate is being prepared for him.

Click the poster images to enlarge and Sneak Peek "Solomon Kane"...

Hook Up With Marvel's "Cable"

Sneak Peek the new issue of Marvel's "Cable" comic book series, featuring the mutant character that first appeared in Marvel's "The New Mutants" #87 (March 1990), created by writer Louise Simonson and illustrator/co-writer Rob Liefeld.

This year Marvel hired a team of writers to develop concepts for launching "Cable", "Black Panther", "Iron Fist" and "The Vision" into film properties.

Regarded as the cryptic 'Man With No Name' of mutantkind, Cable is a tough anti-hero, a soldier born with telepathic and telekinetic abilities.

His powers are limited by his need to restrain a 'techno-organic' infection in his body that enhanced his limbs with super-strength and his eyesight with the ability to see in the infrared spectrum.

Cable can also interface his body parts with machinery, using them to hack into computers, open electronic locks and travel through time.

In "Homecoming" Part 1:

'Cable' previously jumped into the time stream with the infant 'mutant messiah,' with only one goal in mind. To keep 'Hope' alive until she could choose her own destiny.

But now stranded on a planet in its death throes, eating fried rat on a stick for the millionth time, an older and wiser Hope turns to Cable and says she's ready to go home..."

Cable continues to be popular with fans, appearing in "X-Men: The Animated Series", voiced by Lawrence Bayne, as a 'bionic construct'.

In video games, Cable is a playable character in "Marvel vs. Capcom 2", a hidden character in the PSP version of role-playing game "X-Men Legends II: Rise of Apocalypse", a hidden character in the Sega Game Gear platform game "X-Men 2: Game Master's Legacy", is seen in the "X-Men: Reign of Apocalypse" video game for the GBA and appears in "Marvel: Ultimate Alliance 2", voiced by Robin Atkin Downes.

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

Paramount Focusing On 'Micro Budget" Division

After picking up the $15,000 budgeted feature "Paranormal Activity", grossing $107 million domestically to date, Paramount Pictures has reportedly decided to launch a new 'micro-budget" movie division in 2010, allocating $2 million to finance 20 movies at $100,000 each.

There are no details if these low-budget features will be 'non-union' in terms of engaging technical/performing talent for less than current industry rates, (which is why most studios do not 'produce' micro-budgeted features in the first place.)

With their own micro product in the can, Paramount will also reportedly stop acquiring low-budget art and 'genre' movies at film festivals/markets. This could be a drastic move considering Festival pick-ups of cheap movies are a good deal, with the studio having no direct involvement with producers, in terms of planning/financing films, deftly avoiding 'unfair' engagement accusations from the unions.

Not all of the micro movies Paramount intends to make will be released theatrically, with some going straight to DVD, or remain 'incubated', 'calling card' properties for development into larger vehicles.

Those that will screen in thousands of theatres now equipped to show digital movies, will be distributed without the additional overhead expense of striking film prints.

Sneak Peek "Paranormal Activity"...