Movie Blogs

When asked about the progress on Superman
Returns, chief Alan Horn told Fox news, Newcomer Brandon Routh, he says,
"looks just like Superman. But we knew we had to overcome the fact that
Chris Reeve was so beloved and that everyone thinks of him in the role."

Charlie and the Chocolate Factory is number one this weekend with $55.4 million
dollars. That breaks Johnny Depp's last big opener Pirates of the Caribbean which made $46.6 million in July 2003. The Wedding Crashers were number two, and the Fantastic Four came in at number three bringing their total to 100 million dollars. War of the Worlds is number four, and Batman Begins is still hanging in there at number five.

The Chocolate Factory is based on a book and was already made into a movie once already starring Gene Wilder as Willy Wonka in 1971.

Both Superman and Batman animated dvd releases are on their way. Batman's will more than likely come first, and will be pitting Batman vs Dracula. Batman has already had quite a few of straight to video releases from the same creative team as the highly acclaimed Batman the Animated Series. Superman's dvd release will be timed to go along with Superman Returns big theatre release. Duane Capizzi, supervising producer of The Batman television series, is writing both films. Quote from Capizzi, "With Superman, I kind of fell into this project and boy, I've really grown to love him," Capizzi said. "It's a story where Superman is really driven by his passions. And it's sort of the Seven Labors of Hercules, where he literally goes to the ends of the Earth -- and then some -- to rescue somebody very important to him."

X-men 3 begins shooting August 2, 2005 at Vancouver Film studios. So far it looks like most of the gang is back including: Halle Berry, Hugh Jackman, and Patrick Stewart. Television's phsycharist Kelsey Grammer will be joining the Marvel Comics heroes as the Beast. He's best known to fans as Frasier. X3 is produced by Lauren Shuler Donner and Ralph Winter and coproduced by Ross Fanger. These guys have all worked on X2 so they have some experience with the merry band of mutants. The budget is going to be around 100 million dollars at this time.

The third sequel to the X-men is coming next year in 2006, and a brand new poster has already been released. It features Wolverine's claws in front of a giant X, as you can see below. X-men 3 will have some before unseen mutants on the bigscreen including Juggernaut, the Beast, and Angel. Kelsey Grammer is on board to play the Beast.

The new Dukes of Hazzard movie is due out August 5th. The trailer shows a rip roaring good time with a bunch of hillbillies tearing up the road, but the original Crazy Cooter, Ben Jones, doesn't think the movie is going to be as family friendly as the old Dukes of Hazzard TV show. On his website cootersplace.com he has said that after reading the script for the new movie, he found too much foul language for a Dukes film. He also wrote that the creators of the new film didn't want anything to do with the original members of the cast. Recently, Ben Jones organized what his known as the now yearly Duke Fest in Tennessee that brought in over 40 thousand fans in one weekend.

Fantastic Four is the not the last superhero movie this summer. Sky High is the next superhero flick to debut on July 29th. This one stars another superhero family led by Kurt Russell as the Commander. The story is about his son who goes to a superhero school along with other children of legendary heroes. The only problem is his powers haven't developed yet. Does it sound like a Walt Disney movie yet? Well that's because it is. Kurt Russell is reunited with the Walt Disney company for this one. He started his career working on Disney films like "The Computer Wore Tennis Shoes" and the Strongest Man in the World" which were great family classics that ran on the World of Disney television show several times over the years.

Here's my review of Batman Begins you may have already read at superherouniverse.com

Batman Begins really delivers from start to finish. It's Batman for grownups, but don't be mistaken because kids will love it to. At least my twelve year old did. I've read another review that said a 8 year old had problems with the scary scenes, but I would venture to guess that most kids would be okay. My whole family loved it. The origin details may not be quite as enjoyable for non comic book fans, but over all it's a good movie no matter if you've never even looked at a Batman comic book.

With more movie critics giving the Fantastic Four a hard time than super villains at a lawyer's convention, you would think it would flop, but the Fantastic Four have triumped over the reviews of Doom with over 56 million dollars it's first weekend to become the number one movie this week. It may not be shakespeare, but it's a lot of fun. The movie leaves you wishing for a sequel next week. The antics of the Thing vs the Human Torch are really what makes it worth while. It's like watching a couple of brothers go at it with super powers.

The War of the Worlds is a supreme effort by the Steven Spielburg and Tom Cruise. Does that make automatically the best movie of all time? No, it is well done and gives a unique perspective from Tom Cruise's character perspective. You don't know what the world leaders are doing. There are no military planning sessions, just what is going on around Cruise and his movie kids. It makes for a very suspenseful sci-fi drama. You'll be nail biting all the way through. The problem is there is nothing really new here.