The Playlist

The 'Madagascar' Penguins To Get Their Own Spin-Off Movie

By Kevin Jagernauth
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March 29, 2011 7:50 AM
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5 Comments

DreamWorks Animation recently announced their slate of films through 2014 and it was a pretty balanced blend of sequels/spinoffs and original content. Simply put, established franchises pay the bills while original content are things that the studio hopes catches on in a big enough way so it can be turned into a franchise. We're living in a spinoff world these days so it's no surprise that another film is being added to the DreamWorks slate and yep, it features characters you've seen before.

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David Ellison's Skydance May Help Save Brad Pitt & Marc Forster's 'World War Z'

By Kevin Jagernauth
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March 29, 2011 7:08 AM
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0 Comments

Film Might Shoot As Early As JuneLast we heard on the long-gestating zombie pic "World War Z" -- set to star Brad Pitt and directed by Marc Forster -- word wasn't good. The $125 million film was said to be in danger of getting folded as Paramount was having difficulty in getting backers for the very expensive genre film. And certainly, after the financial underperformers of films like "Scott Pilgrim vs. the World" and more recently "Sucker Punch" around Hollywood, studios are getting more wary of footing the bill themselves for roll-of-the-dice fare that has niche appeal. But it looks like the film may have found a saviour in a name that is quickly rising as one of the eminent producers around Hollywood.

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WB Admits First 'Green Lantern' Trailer Was Terrible; Michael Clarke Duncan In Talks For Kilowog

By Kevin Jagernauth
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March 29, 2011 6:51 AM
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10 Comments

It's going to be a spandex-filled summer. There are four superhero movies on the way -- "Thor," "X-Men: First Class," "Captain America: The First Avenger" and "Green Lantern" -- and most everybody can agree that out of all of them, the latter has received the worst buzz so far. A trailer dropped last fall and it wasn't promising. Sporting a dorky tone, cheesy special effects and nothing in the way of a hook, it was met with a collective shrug and then quickly forgotten and there has been little in the way of marketing since. However, Warner Bros. admits they got it wrong, are licking their wounds and are planning an assault of marketing in the run up to the film's release in June.

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Danny McBride Looking To Direct; Could Helm Any Number Of The Rough House Projects In Development

By Gabe Toro
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March 29, 2011 5:38 AM
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1 Comment

Comedian Calls The 'L.A.P.I.' Detective Project A Mix Of 'Chinatown & 'The Long Goodbye'Exclusive: Danny McBride is first and foremost known as a comic actor, and these days he's perhaps best known as Kenny Powers, the shameless and insufferable former professional baseball pitcher on HBO's "Eastbound & Down." But McBride is also a writer, penning "The Foot Fist Way," which essentially was his calling card into Hollywood; many episodes for "Eastbound & Down," which he is a creator on; and "Your Highness," his upcoming medieval stoner comedy co-starring James Franco, Natalie Portman and Zooey Deschanel and directed by David Gordon Green ("Pineaaple Express") that hits theaters April 8.

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Johnny Depp's 'The Rum Diary' Will Hit Theaters On October 28th Via Film District

By Kevin Jagernauth
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March 29, 2011 5:02 AM
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4 Comments

Updated: This is all confirmed. As you were.

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Warner Bros. Chief Jeff Robinov Says They'll Reboot Batman Franchise & Chris Nolan Will Produce

By Kevin Jagernauth
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March 29, 2011 4:14 AM
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14 Comments

Justice League, Wonder Woman & The Flash Films All In The WorksWhile we had our doubts yesterday about just how soon Warner Bros. planned on getting a Justice League movie into theaters, Hero Complex today confirms that yes, 2013 is the planned date -- just one year after both Christopher Nolan's "The Dark Knight Rises" and Zack Snyder's "Superman: Man of Steel" hit theaters. It's a bold move and one we're not quite sure is the best option, however, comic fans have been salivating for the mega DC-superhero team up and the script is currently in the works. As fans know, George Miller nearly got his version off the ground but it was complicated by the writers' strike and subsequently fell apart. And while it remains to be seen who is directing and starring in the film (we presume Christian Bale won't be involved, but Henry Cavill will) the bottom line is: cinemagoers won't be without the iconic superheroes for too long.

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'Pirates Of The Caribbean' & 'Australia' Writer Stuart Beattie To Direct 'I, Frankenstein'

By Kevin Jagernauth
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March 29, 2011 3:46 AM
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0 Comments

Writer Stuart Beattie knows his way around a blockbuster. With films like "Pirates of the Caribbean: The Curse of the Black Pearl," "30 Days of Night," "G.I. Joe: The Rise of Cobra" and "Australia" under his belt, Beattie certainly has a handle on big screen spectacles and genre fare -- and he's about to tackle one of cinema's most famed monsters of all time.

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Steven Zaillian Bails On Jack Ryan Reboot, Project Stalled As Paramount Focuses On 'Star Trek 2'

By Kevin Jagernauth
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March 29, 2011 3:29 AM
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3 Comments

It's been a helluva merry-go-round of writers on Paramount's gestating reboot of the Jack Ryan franchise. A little bit of history: it started as an origin story penned by Hossein Amini ("The Four Feathers," the upcoming "Drive"); then Paramount picked up the spec script "Dubai" by Adam Cozad tasking the writer to re-draft it for a Jack Ryan vehicle; Anthony Peckham ("Sherlock Holmes," "Invictus") then put his hands on the script, only for Cozad to come back and give it another tinker; finally, last month, expensive and very hot screenwriter Steve Zaillian was hired to give it another rewrite but it looks like they need to find someone else.

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Darren Aronofsky & Mila Kunis Defend Natalie Portman In 'Black Swan' Dancing "Controversy"

By Kevin Jagernauth
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March 29, 2011 2:46 AM
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4 Comments

Well, this is one of the lamer talking points around a movie to come down the line in the past little while. A "controversy" of sorts has popped up around "Black Swan" regarding just how much of the dancing Natalie Portman did in the film. Earlier this month, Portman’s fiancé and "Black Swan" choreographer Benjamin Millepied told the LA Times that the actress did 85% of the dancing witnessed in the film. But that didn't sit right with Sarah Lane, an American Ballet Theatre soloist who doubled for Portman and in some instances, had the actress' face digitally grafted onto hers Armie Hammer style.

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Jennifer Garner Is Miss Marple In Disney Franchise Vehicle Written By 'Fantastic Four' Scribe

By Kevin Jagernauth
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March 29, 2011 2:25 AM
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6 Comments

Agatha Christie's famed sleuth Miss Marple is getting taken out of her fussy period clothes, sexed up and made over for the the new wave of blockbuster filmmaking. So hang on to your tea cozies grandma, your dainty little detective is no more.

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