Pirates of the Caribbean: On Stranger Tides 2011

Disneys first annual D23 expo has been a massive success, thanks in part to the incredible number of surprises that the Walt Disney Company pulled out of their hat. One of the biggest surprises came when Jack Sparrow himself (Johnny Depp in full costume), appeared on stage and announced to the entire crowd that the fourth Pirates film, On Stranger Tides, would be released in Summer 2011.

The films title treatment can be seen above, and thus far it is believed that the film will be based upon the novel of the same name by Tim Powers. The original novel sees a small time pirate being forced to take an army of living and undead pirates, led by the ruthless Blackbeard, to save the woman he loves. That definitely sounds like something that would be amazing in a Pirates film and I, for one, am immensely excited by this news.

Where The Wild Things Are Character One Sheets

Warner Bros. has been on a roll with me lately, and by lately I mean the last few years. Where The Wild Things Are is certainly no exception as I am incredibly excited for this film. It’s looking more and more fantastic with every bit of information, still, and video released.

The latest release are these character one sheets for the film’s main character, Max, as well as several of the Wild Things that are seen throughout the film. I’m INCREDIBLY impressed with the way the Wild Things were created because they look so realistic and believable. I’m definitely going to see this opening weekend.

You can hit the jump to view the character one sheets for Warner Bros. Pictures “Where The Wild Things Are”, in theaters October 16th.

Warner Bros. Creates DC Entertainment

Well, this was pretty expected, but I honestly didn’t expect it to happen so soon. In a move that is clearly in direct retaliation of the buyout and acquisition of Marvel Entertainment by the Walt Disney Company, Warner Bros. has announced the creation of DC Entertainment. A company formed to merge the many forms of media related to the properties of DC Comics, and its subsidiaries.

Diane Nelson, former President of Warner Premiere and Brand Manager of the Harry Potter film franchise has been appointed President of the new company, with former DC Comics COO Paul Levitz being put in the position of Executive Consultant, overseeing the production of DC Entertainment’s many properties throughout the different forms of media.

Hit the jump to view the full, incredibly long, press release.

Akira Gets New Screenwriters

It has been one hell of a ride for the long rumored Akira live action adaptation of the cult-classic Anime film by Katsuhiro Otomo. Just a short time ago the project was rumored to have been all but killed off, answering the prayers of many fans, but leaving us all to wonder what could have been.

Now, Warner Bros. has reported that the film is still very much in production, and screenwriters Chris Ferguson, and Hawk Ostby have been attached to write the latest draft of the film. The duo co-wrote the brilliant Children of Men film, as well as the first Iron Man adaptation. At least the script is now officially in good hands.

Pixar Eyeballing Ant-Man Film

Just a few short days after the acquisition of Marvel Entertainment by the Walt Disney Company, we have word that Pixar Animation, the crown jewel of the Disney empire has their eye on a Ant-Man film. This news comes from a rumor reported by Entertainment Weekly.

I personally would welcome Pixar involvement in virtually any Marvel franchise (Iron Man exempted), but the Ant-Man adaptation was actually announced several years ago, and Edgar Wright, director of the upcoming Scott Pilgrim vs. The World adaptation, which has just begun post production, was attached to direct the movie. Which makes me wonder, what’s going to happen to Edgar Wright in this deal? Take this with a grain of salt, as Pixar has their hands full for the next several years. So if this is true, don’t expect a Pixar produced Ant-Man adaptation anytime soon.

Halo 3: ODST Live Action Short Film

The above video is probably one of the most amazing videos that has ever hit the internet. Halo’s marketing team has always been of the highest caliber in the world, and this short film really shows it. The film, which is actually a live-action TV spot for the new game.

The short film, directed by Rupert Sanders from the Halo 3 “Believe” spot, follows the life of a UNSC Orbital Drop Shock Trooper from basic training to active duty and does so in the most beautiful manner physically possible. It’s definitely worth a watch. An extended version is set to debut on Spike TV on Monday, September 7th, at 10:30PM EST/PST.

Tom Welling in Full Costume on Smallville

The CW has finally released the first official image of long-time Clark Kent star Tom Welling in costume as the shows first iteration of the Man of Steel. The costume is really simple, and appears to be heavily inspired by The Matrix, as well as Kal-El’s Kryptonian Life Support Suit. The Kryptonian Life Support Suit is of course the outfit the real Kal-El re-appeared wearing after his supposed death at the hands of Doomsday in the original comics. After the battle with Doomsday in the Season 8 finale, Clark decides to leave his human side behind and focus primarily on his training, and his destiny to become the eventual savior of the universe. The comparison, of course, is that this essentially marks the “death” of Clark Kent, and “resurrection” of Kal-El. It’s going to be interesting to see how the show takes this direction further, and I am especially interested to see Clark in action in his new costume. Smallville premieres Friday, September 25th.

You can hit the jump to view the full image of Clark Kent, aka Kal-El in complete costume.

Guy Ritchie to Direct Lobo

Well, it would seem that these last few days have merited news on some of the more lesser known heroes (especially for DC). Today brings word on the long-rumored Lobo live action adaptation based on DC Comic’s psychotic immortal bounty hunter. The news is that Guy Ritchie has been attached to direct the film.

In the film, says the trade, Lobo will be a seven-foot tall, blue-skinned, indestructible and heavily muscled anti-hero who drives a pimped out motorcycle, and lands on Earth in search of four fugitives who are bent on wreaking havoc. Lobo teams with a small town teenaged girl to stop the creatures.

Batch of New Smallville Spoilers

I know that I don’t normally post spoilers, but after reading these, something just snapped and told me to get on posting these since they’re such awesome spoilers for a television show. I have to be honest, after reading everything I have so far about the ninth season of Smallville, I’m more excited than I have ever been for this season.

First off, Green Arrow is finally getting his sidekick, Speedy, in the form of Mia Dearden. She’s HIV-positive, just like her comic book counterpart, and she’s skilled at martial arts, and has a “shady past”. Ollie steps up to train her, and she dons the red and yellow costume in episode six. In this season’s Geoff Johns episode, “Society” we meet the Justice Society, minus Alan Scott, and Jay Garrick. However, we will be seeing Hawkman, Spectre, Doctor Fate, and The Atom (RAY PALMER?!). So there’s no way in hell we can complain because THAT is pretty fucking incredible. Lastly, Perry White may finally be making his way back to the Daily Planet this year. Lets just hope they can get Michael McKean, since he was perfect for the role.

Deadman Being Brought To The Silver Screen

Continuing his conquest of as much as he can possibly handle at one time, Guillermo Del Toro has been attached as the producer for the big screen adaptation of DC Comic’s body possessing paranormal detective, Boston Brand, more commonly known as Deadman. I think it’s safe to say this movie will have a pretty dark tone, though Deadman commonly lends himself to a dark type of comedy.

Not only has Del Toro been attached to produce, but Nikolaj Arcel has been attached to direct the film as well. Deadman will of course be created under the Warner Bros. film banner, as all DC Comics properties are (at least there’s SOMETHING DC has over Marvel for movies). I almost lost track of this amidst the barrage of Marvel news today, but I prevailed.

Fox Rebooting Fantastic Four Films

Just as most of us have been thinking lately, Fox has announced their plans to reboot the Fantastic Four film franchise after just two films. It’s currently unknown whether or not any of the original actors will come back to reprise their roles. The first two films starred Ioan Gruffudd, Jessica Alba, Chris Evans, and Michael Chiklis.

Akiva Goldsman has been attached to produce the reboot, with Michael Green, co-executive producer of Heroes, and co-writer of the new Green Lantern film, to write the script.

Disney Buys Marvel Entertainment for 4 Billion

I’m sure that when most people, myself included, woke up this morning we weren’t expecting the big news of the day to be the fact that the Walt Disney Company has acquired Marvel Entertainment, Inc. for the hefty sum of 4 billion dollars. Disney is paying shareholders $30 per share, as well as 0.745 Disney shares per share that they own.

What makes this interesting is that Disney not only acquires Marvel Studios, and Marvel itself, but also acquires ownership of all 5,000+ Marvel characters. This includes Iron Man, Spider-Man, Thor, Captain America, the X-Men, and thousands of others. Can you imagine the impact that this is going to have on Disney? In one move Disney has just extended its already lengthy reach to an entire, massive, ever-growing group of people: the Geeks. Well played, Disney.

Summer Glau Joins Dollhouse *swoon*

Now it is officially official. Dollhouse now has the most beautiful cast in all of television. Now that the most beautiful woman on earth (oh yeah, I said it.) has joined the cast, all is well. Summer Glau has just signed on to join the second season of Joss Whedon’s surprising Dollhouse.

Summer is going to play the role of Bennett, a Dollhouse employee who shares a past with Echo (Eliza Dushku). I wonder what kind of past. Good god, if it’s an intimate past, there will too much to handle in that show. The second season of “Dollhouse” premieres Friday, Sept. 25 (9:00-10:00 PM ET/PT) on Fox.

Final Astro Boy Poster Hits the Net

Astro Boy is one of those movies that I have covered since the very beginning here on Ph LEVEL //. In fact, I was even on the blog of the creative director at Imagi Studios, the brilliant team behind this beauty of a movie. Therefore, it’s been awesome to see this fantastic looking movie come about.

The supposed final poster for the film has just been released on the internet and it’s definitely pretty awesome. It reminds me a lot of Speed Racer, which for me is awesome since I LOVED Speed Racer. You can hit the jump to check out a full view of the final poster for Astro Boy, which hits theaters October 23rd.

No More Heroes 2: Desperate Struggle in 2010

This is really more or less one of those “well, duh!” posts that most people already knew the answer to. However, what makes this so interesting is that No More Heroes 2: Desperate Struggle is seeing a January 2010 release. Yes, the sequel to one of the most brilliantly violent games on the Nintendo Wii will be release this coming in January. Also of note, is that Europe will be seeing two different versions of the game. The original, bloody version we are going to see here in America, and the edited version that Japan will see. The edited version replaces limbs, and pools of blood, with ash and shiny coins. That sounds like a like more fun. . .