When "Captain America" Throws His Mighty Shield

Sneak Peek the new poster supporting the upcoming Marvel Studios, Paramount release "Captain America: The First Avenger".

The superhero film, based on the Marvel Comics character created by Joe Simon and Jack Kirby, stars Chris Evans as 'Captain America', with Joe Johnston directing a screenplay by David Self, Christopher Markus, Stephen McFeely and Joss Whedon.

"Captain America" will be part of the 'Marvel Cinematic Universe', with a tie-in to "Spider-Man", "Iron Man", "Thor" and "The Avengers" big screen features, also based on Marvel Comics superhero characters.

"..In 1942, 'Steve Rogers' (Evans) is deemed too physically unfit to enlist in the US Army and fight in World War II. Volunteering instead for 'Project: Rebirth', a clandestine military operation, Rogers is physically transformed into the 'super-soldier' dubbed 'Captain America'.

With his sidekick 'Bucky Barnes' (Sebastian Stan), Cap fights the 'Red Skull' (Hugo Weaving), Germany's head of advanced weaponry, whose own plan for world domination involves a seemingly magical object known as the 'Tesseract'..."

Click the images to enlarge and pre-order the official "Captain America" Movie 10" articulated action figure here before they sell out and triple in value...

VisionTV's "The Quest For The Unicorn" - February 22

The North American premiere of "The Quest For The Unicorn" airs on Canada's VisionTV, Tuesday, February 22, 10pm ET / 7pm PT.

"...From 'Ctesias' to 'Aristotle' the existence of the 'Unicorn' was attested to by people we can call scientists. It seems, however, that all historical traces of this amazing creature have been erased, buried or burned throughout the ages. 'The Quest for the Unicorn' is a jigsaw puzzle that weaves together fragments of knowledge, myth and legends, gathered by historians, artists and poets from the far corners of the world, trying to discover where the unicorn came from and why hasn't it fallen into oblivion like the 'Basilisk', 'Hydra' or 'Manticore'.

"The Quest For The Unicorn" was produced by Sally Blake and Dash Films for VisionTV, written/directed by Emmanuel Laurent .

Click the images to enlarge...

"John Carter Of Mars" In Post-Production

Oscar winning director Andrew Stanton ("WALL-E") is currently in post-production on the 2012 Disney 3D feature "John Carter of Mars", based on the series of fantasy-adventure novels by author Edgar Rice Burroughs ("Tarzan Of The Apes").

"...Academy Award-winning filmmaker Andrew Stanton brings this captivating hero to the big screen in a stunning adventure epic set on the wounded planet of Mars, a world inhabited by warrior tribes and exotic desert beings.

"Based on the first of Edgar Rice Burroughs' "Barsoom Series," the film chronicles the journey of Civil-War veteran John Carter, who finds himself battling a new and mysterious war amidst a host of strange Martian inhabitants..."

"I have been waiting my whole life to see the characters and worlds of 'John Carter of Mars' realized on the big screen," said Stanton.

"It is just a wonderful bonus to have anything to do with it".

The ensemble cast is led by Canadian actor Taylor Kitsch as 'John Carter', Lynn Collins as warrior princess 'Dejah Thoris' and Willem Dafoe as Martian 'Tars Tarkas'.

Cast also includes Thomas Haden Church, Polly Walker, Samantha Morton, Mark Strong, Ciaran Hinds, Dominic West, James Purefoy and Bryan Cranston.

Creative team includes Oscar-nominated production designer Nathan Crowley, costume designer Mayes Rubeo, DP Daniel Mindel and video effects supervisor Peter Chiang.

John Carter debuted in "A Princess of Mars", written in 1911, then serialized as "Under the Moons of Mars", February to July 1912 in the pulp magazine "All-Story", before being published in book form, October 1917.

The character reappeared in subsequent volumes of the series, including "The Gods of Mars (1918), "The Warlord of Mars" (1919), "Swords of Mars" (1936) and "Llana of Gathol (1948). Carter is also a major secondary character in the fourth volume, "Thuvia, Maid of Mars" (1920), and the ninth, "Synthetic Men of Mars" (1940).

According to Burroughs, Carter served as a captain in the American Civil War on the side of the Confederacy. After the war, he struck it rich finding gold in Arizona. But while hiding from Apaches in a cave, he seemingly dies, leaving his inanimate body behind, then mysteriously transported by astral projection to the planet Mars.

Re-embodied in a form identical to his earthly one, Carter is much stronger than the natives of Mars, because of the difference in gravity.

Click the images to enlarge...

Eva Green Stakes Out "Dark Shadows"

Actress Eva Green ("Casino Royale") will star opposite Johnny Depp ("Pirates Of The Caribbean") in the upcoming Warners feature "Dark Shadows". Green will play the character 'Angelique Bouchard Collins', an 18th century witch who invoked a 'vampiric' curse on 'Barnabas Collins' (Depp).

The Tim Burton directed feature reboot of the 1960's horror TV 'soap opera' "Dark Shadows", will start April 2011, with Depp’s Infinitum Nihil and Graham King’s GK Films producing.

Screenplay is by Seth Grahame-Smith ("Abraham Lincoln: Vampire Hunter"), who drafted a rewrite of a previous screenplay by John August.

"Dark Shadows", created by Dan Curtis ("The Night Stalker"), originally aired weekdays on the ABC television network, June 1966 to April 1971. Story 'bible' for the show was written by Art Wallace.

The series became popular a year into its run, with the introduction of Canadian actor Jonathan Frid, playing the 200-year old Barnabas Collins who encounters other vampires, werewolves, ghosts, zombies, man-made monsters, witches and warlocks.

Writer Malcolm Marmorstein, who created the character of Collins, also created series characters 'Sam Hall', 'Gordon Russell' and 'Violet Welles'.

The series often used classic horror stories including "Dracula", "Frankenstein", "Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde", "The Picture of Dorian Gray", "The Turn of the Screw" and "Wuthering Heights", freely borrowing prose from authors Edgar Allan Poe, Oscar Wilde, Bram Stoker, Mary Shelley, Nathaniel Hawthorne, Henry James and H. P. Lovecraft.

Collins was originally the object of desire, circa 1795, for the witch Angelique. In the present day, Collins is released from his coffin by 'Willie Loomis'. Collins then kidnaps waitress 'Maggie Evans', believed to be the reincarnation of lost love 'Josette du Pres'.

Composer Robert Cobert's music score for the series entered the Billboard top 20 national album chart in 1969. The spoken-word instrumental track "Quentin's Theme", earned a Grammy nomination, peaking at number 13 on the Billboard Hot 100 chart.

1,225 episodes of "Dark Shadows" were produced during its TV run, with a feature film, starring Frid, released in 1970.

Click the images to enlarge and Sneak Peek "Dark Shadows"...

"Water For Elephants": Life Is The Most Spectacular Show On Earth

From 20th Century Fox and Flashpoint Entertainment, Sneak Peek the new poster supporting the feature "Water For Elephants", based on the novel by author Sara Gruen.

Directed by Francis Lawrence, from a screenplay by Richard LaGravenes, "Water For Elephants" stars Robert Pattinson as 'Jacob Jankowski', Reese Witherspoon as 'Marlena', Christoph Waltz as 'August', Mark Povinelli as 'Kinko/Walter', Jim Norton as 'Camel', Scott MacDonald as 'Blackie', Ken Foree as 'Earl' and Paul Schneider as 'Charlie O'Brien' :

"...As a young man, 'Jacob Jankowski' (Pattinson) was tossed by fate onto a rickety train that was home to the 'Benzini Brothers Most Spectacular Show on Earth'. It was the early part of the great Depression, and for the older Jacob (Hal Holbrook), now ninety, the circus world he remembers was both his salvation and a living hell. A veterinary student just shy of a degree, he was put in charge of caring for the circus menagerie.

"...It was there that he met 'Marlena', (Witherspoon) the equestrian star married to 'August' (Waltz), the charismatic but twisted animal trainer. And he met 'Rosie', an un-trainable elephant who was the great gray hope for this third-rate traveling show.

"The bond that grew among this unlikely trio was one of love and trust, and, ultimately, it was their only hope for survival..."

"Water For Elephants" opens April 22, 2011.

Click the images to enlarge and Sneak Peek "Water For Elephants"...

The Joker Goes Wild For "Batman: Arkham City"

Warner Bros. Interactive Entertainment will release "Batman: Arkham City", the official sequel to the video game "Batman: Arkham Asylum", September 2011.

"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."

"Batman: Arkham City" features a battered 'Joker (Mark Hamill) ', recovering from wounds received in "Batman: Arkham Asylum", then nursed back to health by 'Harley Quinn' (Arlene Sorkin), as 'Gotham City' descends into chaos.

Other DC Comics villains appearing in the game include 'Mr. Freeze', 'Talia al Ghul', 'Two-Face', the 'Riddler' and 'Catwoman'.

"We are honored to create the next chapter in this compelling story and promise to deliver another game worthy of the 'Dark Knight'", said Sefton Hill, Game Director, Rocksteady Studios.

Written by veteran "Batman" comic book writer Paul Dini, "Arkham Asylum" follows 'The Joker' who instigates 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'.

The game's main characters are voiced by actors from DC's animated features including Kevin Conroy as Batman.

The game is played as a third-person perspective action-adventure with a focus on Batman's combat abilities, stealth and detective skills, using an arsenal of gadgets.

Click the images to enlarge and Sneak Peek "Batman: Arkham Asylum" and "Batman: Arkham City"...