Brittany Murphy’s Husband Dies

Cue Twilight Zone theme. Less than half a year after the death of actress Brittany Murphy, her husband, Simon Monjack, has been found dead. The cause of death has yet to be released, but the only thing known so far is that his mother-in-law found him in his residence in California in the master bedroom around 9:30 PM on Sunday. She immediately called for help, only for the paramedics to pronounce his death upon arrival. Monjack, who died at the age of 39, leaves no children behind.

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MacGyver Movie is Actually in the Works

First there was MacGyver, it was a golden time, a better time — a time when you could make any technological device out of a piece of wood, a car battery and some strings. Then the dark ages came, and MacGyver went off the air. Time passed, the world was a gray and sad place, then MacGruber came! … and made it all worse. Now things might turn around again however, as MacGyver is about to return! Oh yes, the rumors a few months back actually spoke the truth; MacGyver is returning, cinema-style!

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Shane Black to Direct Cold Warrior Starring Mel Gibson

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If these two can learn to stand each other… the bad guys don’t stand a chance.

It’s 1987 all over again! The reformed actor Mel Gibson is in talks to star in a spy thriller from Universal Pictures titled Cold Warrior (now it’s almost 1981 all over again). If things go according to plan, this will reunite Gibson with Lethal Weapon 1 and 2 scribe Shane Black, who has been tapped to direct the flick from a script by newcomer Chuck Mondry, who hasn’t previously written any features. Gibson has spoken out about the film, saying that he hopes to begin production on it in June, segueing into it after the end of filming How I Spent My Summer Vacation, which starts in March.

The movie, which will be produced by Michelle Manning (The Eye), centers around a spy from the Cold War era who comes out of retirement to team up with a younger agent in order to confront a domestic terrorism threat by Russia. No other names have yet been attached to the project, which will be the first studio backed project Gibson is toplining since the M. Night Shyamalan-directed thriller Signs from 2002. Now if they just get Danny Glover and Bruce Spence on board, this will be seriously freaky.

Weird Al to Direct a Live Action Feature Film for The Cartoon Network

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Just what everybody has been waiting for: Weird Al’s own crappy movie for TCN, one part of the axis of evil, otherwise known as The Disneodeon Network, makers of all things bad. Okay, that might be overreacting just a tad, but come on, really? First off, why would The Cartoon Network even get involved with Weird Al Yankovic, does anybody under the age of 20 even know who he is? It might just be me being totally oblivious to this, but I can’t figure out why this is happening. While some find Weird Al funny, he’s clearly a one trick pony way past his prime, so either they’ve struck a real cheap deal or they somehow figure that there’s more to Al than musical parodies.

Here’s what Mr. Weird has to say about the whole ordeal in his statement over on his official blog:

“I’ve just signed a production deal with Cartoon Network. When I say that I’ve “just” signed, that means that I actually signed several months ago, but this is the first time I’ve been allowed to openly talk about it. Without going into too much detail, the good folks at Cartoon Network decided that they liked me and wanted me to provide some content for them – series, features, animation, live-action… they were open to anything.  So after a couple years (yes, really) of the lawyers going back and forth, we finalized a deal – now all I have to do is start making stuff! The first thing I’m on track to do for them is, in fact, a live-action feature film. You may ask all your obvious questions now.”

The “obvious questions” that Al mentions he also answers, with one of these being whether or not he’s going to star, which is a no, but he will make an appearance in the film. The focus however (cue: surprise) is that it’s going to be about a “much younger protagonist” – a teenager. If we’re lucky this will be the next Hannah Montana!!!!!!

So now that I’ve just wasted the past minute of your time Weird Al fans, instead of getting all worked up about my obvious and not very well hidden dislike of the comedian which is more or less what the whole post is about, win me over on your side! Make a comment and tell me just why Weird Al is actually great and why I should check into a mental hospital, get cured and come out realizing how I’ve wasted my life not recognizing his awesomeness. I dare you!

Zombieland Writers Take On Deadpool

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Writing duo Rhett Reese and Paul Wernick, the two fellas behind last year’s surprising comedy hit Zombieland, have been tapped to write the script for 20th Century Fox’s X-Men Origins: Wolverine spin-off Deadpool. This will not only be the second comic book franchise script from Reese and Wernick, but also the second spin-off script experience for the two, who has also written the upcoming Spider-Man 3 spin-off Venom. The tone of the film is going to be in the vein of Zombieland, while also staying true to the Deadpool universe with style, the antihero’s quirks, etc.

Sounds like a pretty sweet deal to me, overall. I liked Zombieland a lot, even though I probably wasn’t as wowed by the humor as a lot of others, so having these two on the film is A-okay in my book. Hopefully they’ll more or less ignore X-Men Origins: Wolverine though, as any influence from that travesty can only hurt the movie. I just don’t want to see Deadpool fighting a new completely random foe every 10 minutes. Especially not anybody from The Black Eyed Peas, no thank you. What do you think, will Deadpool turn out sweet, or did you hate Zombieland, making your hopes for this movie sink into the ground? Sound off in the comments below.

Is Hawkman Getting His Own Movie?

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HAWKEYE IS GETTING HIS OWN MOVIE!!!!! *Mentally high-fives Jay* … Wait, no… Hawk-..man? HAWKMAN?!! What is this! I’ve been tricked! fasuhfh12uaiou51fha… Note to self: Never pick a story to write about before fully reading and understanding it first.

On top of this major disappointment (both comedic and news-wise), I’ll continue on. Pajiba has word from their super duper secret insider source, that Warner Bros. and DC are planning to take the superhero game one step further by creating a film about one of the lesser known DC characters: Justice League’s Hawkman. The only thing I know about Hawkman is that he appears in the Justice League cartoons (or was that Hawkwoman/girl?), but other than that it’s not ringing any bells of recognition. But apparently that could be a good thing, as they seem to have hopes of creating the next sleeper hit (i.e. the next Iron Man).

Warners are describing Hawkman as part Indiana Jones, part Da Vinci Code and part Ghost. Err, whatever that adds up to I don’t really know, but it doesn’t sound all that reassuring to me. Pajiba also mentions that Warners are hoping to not only have medium success with the movie, but make it one of their tentpole franchises. Seems like they’re slowly gearing up for a Justice League flick, eh? If you can’t see Hawkman on the big screen, he will also be making a test run on the TV series Smallville this February in a special 2-hour TV movie. Personally I won’t be catching that and neither do I really have any interest in a full-fledged Hawkguymanwhatever movie, but what about you? Speak up in the comments below.

No Topher Grace in Venom Spinoff?

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The much talked about Spider-Man 3 spinoff about the movie’s villain Venom, has yet to really materialize and everything about the project is still pretty unclear. I wouldn’t even be surprised if the movie never happens. But if it does, will Topher Grace then return as Venom? Not likely, as the actor doesn’t seem to have a clue about what is going on with the movie. When asked if he would like to return to take another turn as Venom, he gave the answer: “Um, I don’t know. I guess… I haven’t heard anything.” Very reassuring!

The answer, however, could mean several things (or nothing, really). 1. Grace, with his “I guess,” could be interested in taking on the role once again, but has not been asked to return, or 2. he has no idea about what’s going on at all. Most likely it’s the second option. Whatever happens, if the flick does go into production, I have full confidence that it’ll turn out awesome with the script by the two Zombieland writers Paul Wernick and Rhett Reese getting a rewrite by Gary Ross, who has previously written Seabiscuit. Three awesome writers should equal a good movie, right?

An Early Review of MacGruber Is… Positive?

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The evil genius Dieter Von Cunth is on the loose with a diabolical plan to acquire and detonate a nuclear warhead. Only one man can stop him. It’s time for MacGruber to get on his feet and pound some cunth!

Over at The Vertex Blog, Amir Bednarsh has been so fortunate as to get into an early screening of the newest SNL-feature film MacGruber. Okay, so some might raise an eyebrow as to the fortunate part, but in truth, it seems Amir actually was fortunate, as MacGruber has broken SNL-tradition and is actually … good? Yes, that’s right, Amir goes so far as to claim this the best SNL-flick since Wayne’s World — but then again, have there even been any half-decent films since Wayne’s World anyway? Here’s an excerpt of the review (no spoilers):

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Matt Damon: No Greengrass, No Bourne

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Tough luck Bourne fans: no Greengrass, no Damon… no Bourne.

As reported earlier, Paul Greengrass has officially quit the fourth Jason Bourne flick, explaining his leave in a statement that he simply needs new challenges — something another go around of Bourne can’t give. Now, as most people more or less expected, Matt Damon, the star of the franchise, has also jumped ship saying that as long as there’s no more Greengrass, then there will be no more Bourne.

“I’ll just wait for him and when he wants to do one, we’ll do it,” Matt Damon said while out promoting his latest theatrical effort, Clint Eastwood’s Invictus. When asked if the comment meant that he would not do another Bourne flick without Greengrass, Damon had this to say: “Yeah, I’ve always said that. But I think it will happen down the road. We just don’t have a script right now.” So all in all, hope is not yet dead, but unless Greengrass changes his mind we won’t see Jason Bourne running around anytime soon. Until the franchise eventually gets rebooted some ten or fifteen years from now anyway.

Reminder: Steven Seagal Lawman Debuts Tonight!

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Just as a quick reminder for those who, for some odd reason, haven’t marked this glorious day on their calendar. Tonight is the night to end all nights. The one show that has been on everybody’s lips debuts this evening: Steven Seagal Lawman on A&E. Once the first episode of Steven Seagal’s new reality series showing him as a New Orleans cop has run, it’ll be the end for all other cop shows. Both reality and scripted shows will bow down and step back, leaving Steven Seagal Lawman as the only cop show on the air. Not even Cops will be able to withstand the awesomeness of Seagal in a uniform, doing the real deal, being cop-ish and shit.

Read more about Steven Seagal Lawman over on the official site, where you can also see a variety of videos and trailers from the show. It’s awesome… watch and be amazed. The show starts at 10 pm EST (9 pm CST). Share the Seagal love and discuss the show once the first episode has run, in the comments below. Enjoy!

Dreamworks Animation’s Oobermind Gets A New Title

Previously it went under the bland title of Master Mind, then changed to Oobermind, and is now called MegaMind, a title equally as bland.

Jeremy Renner Updates his Hawkeye Situation

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Seeing as Jay is as hyped for Jeremy Renner as Hawkeye as you can be, I thought I’d give him — and by that, you — a quick update from Renner himself about the situation. Will Renner play Hawkeye? Will Hawkeye be played by someone else? Is Hawkeye even being considered for the movie in the first place? Who the hell is Hawkeye actually (seriously, I’ve never heard of this character before!)? Some of these questions, as well as more, will be answered below.

As to whether or not Renner is actively in the running for this, and if Marvel is even pursuing Hawkeye in either The Avengers or Thor, Renner can confirm that they are interested in including Hawkeye and they are interested in having him playing Hawkeye, but there hasn’t really been any development on it for the past three weeks. Apparently Marvel doesn’t want to choose who should play the character without having a director attached, so that he/she can also give an opinion on who should be cast. Renner has also mentioned that the Hawkeye that we (apparently) know, won’t be the one that we’ll be seeing, but rather an updated and hip new Hawkeye without the awesome purple mask and tights, but instead with cool sunglasses and a vest — because nothing says cool like wearing a vest.