Spiderman 4 Movie to be Released on May 2011

Spiderman fans will surely be happy to know that the 4th installment of Spiderman movie will be out in the cinema on May 2011. Brace yourself for another web-binding adventure of our friendly neighborhood superhero – Spiderman.

Though it is sad for Tobey Maguire fans that the actor won't be playing the role of Spiderman (like he did on the previous films), there is a humor that Patrick Fugit might be the next Spiderman.

But the casting isn't final yet. Fans still need to watch out for the upcoming news on Spiderman movie.

Laura Ziskin, the film producer, does not have a finished screenplay in hand, but she claimed that they will release a new sequel in three years.
For latest Spiderman news, pictures and updates, visit http://www.spiderman-3-trailer.com - your online source for Spiderman movies.

The Dark Knight Merchandise

MTV.COM has an exclusive first-look at TDK merchandise from DC DIRECT. All TDK collectibles will be available on June 2008.

New "Dark Knight" Set Report & Photos

The New York Times has posted a fascinating report from the set of "The Dark Knight," the upcoming sequel to "Batman Begins" and one of the biggest releases of the year.

Some new revealing facts are revealed. First up, the $180 million project doesn't employ a second-unit meaning that if it's on camera then Director Chris Nolan shot it himself.

There's definite thematic overtures of escalation as previously stated, Nolan saying that "As we looked through the comics, there was this fascinating idea that Batman's presence in Gotham actually attracts criminals to Gotham, attracts lunacy. When you’re dealing with questionable notions like people taking the law into their own hands, you have to really ask, where does that lead? That’s what makes the character so dark, because he expresses a vengeful desire."

Most revealing is a completely different look this time around from 'Begins' with Gotham City far more of a modern metropolis with sleek towers, shiny surfaces, bright lighting. Nolan's production designer Nathan Crowley says "I've tried to unclutter the Gotham we created on the last film. Gotham is in chaos. We keep blowing up stuff. So we can keep our images clean."

Source: By Garth Franklin, www.darkhorizons.com

MTV: Joshua Jackson On Batman Near Miss, Eyes Spider-Man

A few days ago we brought you news that Chris Cooper was ‘this’ close to snagging the role of Lt. James Gordon in “Batman Begins,” and wondered what it would be like if the Oscar-winner took the part instead of Gary Oldman.

That’s nothing, though, compared to the what-if game with Bruce Wayne himself.

“I went and did the screen test,” “Shutter” star Joshua Jackson revealed to MTV News. “I was one the last four or five guys [up for the role of Batman.”

Jackson as Batman over Christian Bale? It’s hard to believe how different the film would have been had he nabbed the part — perhaps most of all to Jackson himself. “I don’t like to lose any job, but they cast the right guy,” he said. “I mean, Christian Bale was excellent. I don’t really think of myself in a sort of comic book hero way, you know what I mean? This might be why I didn’t get that job.”

It’s hard to say, of course, why Jackson didn’t steal the role. But it certainly wasn’t from a lack of understanding of the character, a crime-fighting vigilante Jackson called “a tremendously f—ked up human being.”

“Batman is a man dealing with a deeply f—ed up childhood that has now carried itself forward. As a grown man he dresses up as a bat, goes and kicks the shit out of people at night. That’s a dark place,” Jackson said of what he would have focused on in his alternate universe portrayal. “And, you know, he is not a super hero so it hurts. He is obviously some sort of sadist. It’s not funny, the infliction and the feeling of pain.”

When he lost out on Wayne, Jackson seemed to have given up the goal of playing a super…for now at least.

“You know, honestly, out of the big super heroes the guy that I would most naturally be a fit to play is Spider-Man, but that one is pretty well locked up,” he said of the role made famous by Tobey Maguire. “And, frankly, I’m too old to play that character because the parable of Spiderman is the teenager going through puberty.”

But there will be a “Spider-Man 4,” and Tobey hasn’t officially signed on…

“Well then, yeah,” Jackson laughed. “That was really subtle of me putting my name in the hat.”

What do you think? What sort of Batman would Jackson have made? And would he be a good replacement for Spider-Man? Sound off below.

Source: By Shawn Adler, www.moviesblog.mtv.com

Ambitious Two-Face Plans For "Knight"

It's nice to finally see those awesome CHUD boys going positive lately about upcoming "Batman Begins" sequel "The Dark Knight" today, and in the process they've revealed a fascinating scoop (kudos guys, Devin you know I always admire your giant kahunas - literally).

The article talks about how Director Chris Nolan shot the 'Two-Face' scenes for the upcoming sequel and it's quite surprising - "Basically, Nolan shot complementary takes of Eckhart in Two-Face makeup so he could visually represent the duality of Dent in a less cartoony fashion.

What Nolan's doing doesn't sound all that far removed from the Gollum/Smeagol model, though the obvious difference here is that Dent isn't motion-capture; he's a fifty-fifty split of the same actor giving two wildly divergent performances in the same shot. And because he has two takes of each scene, Nolan has the luxury of shaping Eckhart's performance in post; it's just a matter of switching the dial between normal Harvey and bug-fuck Two-Face.

Again, both will be present in the shot, but only one will dominate the poor bastard's conflicted consciousness at any given moment. The technical audacity required in pulling this off may be the reason Two-Face was held back in the trailer."

In other 'Knight' news, the Harvey Dent viral campaign continues apace with pre-recorded calls going out from Dent (Aaron Eckhart) himself and the website IBelieveInHarveyDent.com updated with a short audio message which is taking advantage of/satirising the current political campaigning going on for the US Democratic Primaries.

Source: By Garth Franklin, www.darkhorizons.com

Nolan Talks "The Dark Knight"

THE NEW YORK TIMES has essentially what is a THE DARK KNIGHT set visit report in the Sunday March 9, 2008 edition.

The Dark Knight,” which will be released on July 18, is jammed with characters, plot and action. It picks up where BATMAN BEGINS left off, with Mr. Oldman’s police lieutenant, Jim Gordon, warning about the perils of escalation: that Batman’s extreme measures could invite a like response from the criminal element. And sure enough, a deadly new villain, The Joker, emerges to wreak havoc.

In Mr. Bale’s view THE DARK KNIGHT is an even lonelier outing for his character, who once naïvely thought his crime fighting could be a finite endeavor. “This escalation has now meant that he feels more of a duty to continue,” he said. “And now you have not just a young man in pain attempting to find some kind of an answer, you have somebody who actually has power, who is burdened by that power, and is having to recognize the difference between attaining that power and holding on to it.”

On Heath Ledger, who plays The Joker:

[The death of Heath Ledger] came well into editing, and only after the studio had introduced Mr. Ledger’s Joker through posters, trailers and a six-minute Imax short. But it automatically raised the stakes: the acclaimed actor’s final role would be...a comic-book grotesque?

[Wally] Pfister, the cinematographer, said Mr. Ledger seemed “like he was busting blood vessels in his head,” he was so intense. “It was like a séance, where the medium takes on another person and then is so completely drained.”

Will Mr. Ledger’s death cast a pall over THE DARK KNIGHT whose tragic plot turns already make it much darker than BATMAN BEGINS? “We’ll see,” said Mr. Robinov, of Warner Brothers. Mr. Nolan, for his part, said he felt a “massive sense of responsibility” to do right by Mr. Ledger’s “terrifying, amazing” performance.

“It’s stunning, it’s iconic,” he said. “It’s going to just blow people away.”

Source: By Jett, www.batman-on-film.com

JUSTICE LEAGUE ANIMATED: BATMAN Mini-Maquette

Based on sculpture by Karen Palinko

Batman continues DC Direct's series of MINI-Maquettes based on the highly collectible, sold-out 2002 MAQUETTE line! The JUSTICE LEAGUE ANIMATED: BATMAN MINI-MAQUETTE is a hand-painted, cold-cast porcelain MINI-MAQUETTE measuring approximately 6" tall x 2 1/4" wide x 1 3/4" deep and is packaged in a 4-color box. Collect all eight MINI-Maquettes!

Source: www.dccomics.com/dckids/

Batman Comics on SALE this February '08

BATMAN QUIZ!

See how much do you know about BATMAN. Take this challenge trivia quiz now! It covers Batman the movie, TV show and comic books.

1. In the 1989 film Batman, who was originally cast as Vicki Vale? (The part played by Kim Basinger.)


2. Tommy Lee Jones played district attorney Harvey Dent, better known as the acid-scarred villain Two-Face, in the film "Batman Forever." But who played the character in the first Batman film?

A.  Billy Dee Williams
B.  Jim Carrey
C.  Michael Keaton
D.  Nobody — the character wasn’t in the film


3. What are the names of Bruce Wayne's parents?


4. What exactly are Batman’s superpowers?

A.  He has the heightened senses and reflexes of a bat
B.  He can communicate with bats and command them to do his bidding
C.  He doesn’t actually have any superpowers
D.  He can disappear into shadows and otherwise cloak his presence from those he doesn’t want to see him


5. According to the comics, who murdered Bruce Wayne's parents?


6. Batman has led a very tumultuous life. He’s witnessed the murder of his parents, dealt with the death of one of his Robins, shepherded his city through a devastating earthquake and plague, and much more. But what pivotal event in Batman’s life occurred in the story "The Case of the Chemical Syndicate"?

A.  He had his first meeting with the The Joker, the villain who would become his worst nemesis
B.  He hired Alfred Pennyworth, his butler and lifelong friend
C.  He made his first appearance in comic books
D.  He ate at an Indian restaurant for the first time, leading to a lifelong interest in curries


7. What is the real name of the character called Catwoman?


8. Dr. Jonathan Crane, who also poses a threat to Gotham City in "Batman Begins" in his identity as the villainous Scarecrow, is a psychiatrist at Gotham’s infamous Arkham Asylum. Which horror writer’s works are homaged in Arkham’s name?

A.  Clive Barker
B.  Stephen King
C.  Dan Brown
D.  H.P. Lovecraft


9. In the film Batman Returns, what is The Penguin's real name?


10. Although she does not appear in the film, "Batman Begins" villain Ra’s Al Ghul has a daughter whose attraction to Batman often wars with her loyalty to her father. What is her name?

A.  Talia
B.  Tania
C.  Natalia
D.  Ghulette


11. What was the name of Dick Grayson's circus act in Batman Forever?


12. Commissioner Gordon has just released an all-points bulletin to the entire Gotham City police force: Oswald Cobblepot, Jarvis Tetch, Kirk Langstrom, Waylon Jones, and Preston Payne have escaped! These recurrent foes of Batman must be caught and brought back to justice — but first, you have to figure out who they are. By what nicknames are these men better known?

A.  Bane, Deathstroke, The Joker, The Riddler and The Crime Doctor
B.  Weather Wizard, The Ventriloquist, Suture, Violator and Hush
C.  Penguin, Mad Hatter, Man-Bat, Killer Croc and Clayface
D.  Cluemaster, Mr. Freeze, Corrosive Man, Calendar Man, and Abbatoir


13. In Batman & Robin, what wrestler turned actor plays a prison guard who goes up against Mr. Freeze?


14. What do Jean Paul Valley and Terry McGinnis have in common?

A.  They both died while seeking revenge against The Joker
B.  They were the first two Gotham City policemen who saw Batman in the early days of his crimefighting career
C.  They are among the very few criminals who have defeated Batman
D.  They are both Batman


15. In the comics, what Batman villain broke Batman's back?


16. In the comic books, on the night that Bruce Wayne’s parents are killed by a mugger, the family goes to see a film. Which one?

A.  "Blade Runner"
B.  "The Mark Of Zorro"
C.  "Metropolis"
D.  "King Kong"


17. Who directed Batman and Batman Returns?


18. Batman and many of the most popular characters in the DC Comics stable were teamed together in a string of 1970s children’s cartoon series. In "The Challenge Of The Super Friends," the heroes regularly faced off against an evil society consisting of their most prominent adversaries. What was that evil society called?

A.  The Legion Of Doom
B.  The League Of Extraordinarily Ungentle Men
C.  The Really Rottens
D.  The Axis Of Exil


19. What famous Star Wars actor voices The Joker in Batman the animated series?


20. Batman is well-known for his sidekick, the “boy wonder” assistant crimefighter known as Robin. Over the years, the role has been held by three different people. The current Robin, Tim Drake, took over after Jason Todd, the second Robin, was killed by the Joker. (Or was he? In recent comics, Jason has returned as a reborn Batman villain — but we digress.) What happened to the first Robin, Dick Grayson?

A.  He became rich by managing the Backstreet Boys
B.  Distraught at the idea that he’d never be able to be promoted to Batman, he took a job with the New York Yankees as batboy
C.  He grew up, moved to a new town, and fights crime as Nightwing
D.  He was given a power ring and became Green Lantern


21. In Batman Forever, what two letters does the Catwoman break out of her neon sign that says "Hello There?"


22. What singer was originally asked to write and perform the songs for Batman?


23. "Batman Begins" director Christopher Nolan’s first big hit was the crime thriller "Memento," which was told in a unique way in order to simulate the disoriented mental state of the main character, Leonard Shelby. What was it?

A.  Every line of dialogue was shouted through bullhorns
B.  All the other characters were played by the same actor
C.  It was told backwards, from the end to the beginning
D.  Every five minutes, the film would abruptly switch languages, from English to Swedish to Russian to French


24. Who plays Alfred Pennyworth, Bruce Wayne's butler, in the new film Batman Begins?


25. What was the name of the 2004 film that was about a Batman universe character?


26. In the comic books, how did Batman first meet Jason Todd who would become the second Robin?


27. Gotham City is notable for features such as Miller Harbor, Kane Memorial Bridge and the Aparo Expressway. Who are these named for?

A.  Explorers
B.  Politicians
C.  Professional athletes
D.  Writers and artists