According to Comic-Con organizers and the San Diego police, this is a total first in the event’s history.

Apparently, the moron in a Harry Potter shirt in the picture above got into a dispute over seating with another attendee and stabbed the guy in the side of his eye with a pen during the Resident Evil: Afterlife panel.

Ouch.

The man was detained by other guests at the scene until the police showed up and taken into custody.  Wonder if this will give the perp some much needed street cred at the next Star Trek convention he attends?

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Is CGI green the “new” black? 

Ryan Reynolds makes it look goooooood on the cover of the new issue of Entertainment Weekly, available tomorrow.

Warner Brothers has a lot riding on next summer’s Green Lantern movie, which sounds like it’s going to be all sorts of awesome (and the possible first real step towards a Justice League movie). 

It’s all part of Comic Con that begins next week in San Diego.  One of these years I’ll have to make the pilgrimage.  It’s Mecca for nerds and geeks like myself.

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OK, they didn’t actually say those words, but between the lines….

Marvel has thrown down the gauntlet regarding it’s upcoming Avengers movie which teams the characters Iron Man, Thor, Captain America, The Hulk, Nick Fury, Black Widow and several others by officially announcing that they won’t be calling on Edward Norton to reprise his role as Bruce Banner.

Norton caused a lot of headaches when he got into a well documented dispute with execs over the script and the movie’s direction.  Long story short: The notoriously difficult Norton refused to promote the film, the movie did OK at the box office, but was far from the huge draw Iron Man did (both were released the same summer).  Norton blamed the studio, the studio blamed him.

Rumour was floating around that Marvel was now going for a lesser known actor due to monetary reasons.  Then last night, the studio released a fairly blunt statement (by Hollywood standards) clarifying their position.   

“We have made the decision to not bring Ed Norton back to portray the title role of Bruce Banner in The Avengers. Our decision is definitely not one based on monetary factors, but instead rooted in the need for an actor who embodies the creativity and collaborative spirit of our other talented cast members. The Avengers demands players who thrive working as part of an ensemble, as evidenced by Robert, Chris H, Chris E, Sam, Scarlett, and all of our talented casts. We are looking to announce a name actor who fulfills these requirements, and is passionate about the iconic role in the coming weeks.”

Oh, snap.

No word from Edward Norton or his spokesminions over the jab (honest as it may be).  Of course, people are already lining up to take sides, some saying Marvel is out of line while others are saying this is simply karma.

Wonder what Eric Bana’s doing?  He originated the role in Ang Lee’s boring existential version of The Hulk several years ago, and made a great Bruce Banner.

UPDATE – Norton’s agent has responded to Marvel’s statement and predictably isn’t pleased with what he (and obviously his client) deems as a personal attack, not to mention the lost commission on a potentially huge paycheck.

“This offensive statement from Kevin Feige at Marvel is a purposefully misleading, inappropriate attempt to paint our client in a negative light.  Here are the facts:  two months ago, Kevin called me and said he wanted Edward to reprise the role of Bruce Banner in The Avengers.  He told me it would be his fantasy to bring Edward on stage with the rest of the cast at ComiCon and make it the event of the convention.  When I said that Edward was definitely open to this idea, Kevin was very excited and we agreed that Edward should meet with Joss Whedon to discuss the project.  Edward and Joss had a very good meeting (confirmed by Feige to me) at which Edward said he was enthusiastic at the prospect of being a part of the ensemble cast.  Marvel subsequently made him a financial offer to be in the film and both sides started negotiating in good faith.  This past Wednesday, after several weeks of civil, uncontentious discussions, but before we had come to terms on a deal, a representative from Marvel called to say they had decided to go in another direction with the part.  This seemed to us to be a financial decision but, whatever the case, it is completely their prerogative, and we accepted their decision with no hard feelings.

We know a lot of fans have voiced their public disappointment with this result, but this is no excuse for Feige’s mean spirited, accusatory comments.  Counter to what Kevin implies here, Edward was looking forward to the opportunity to work with Joss and the other actors in the Avengers cast, many of whom are personal friends of his.  Feige’s statement is unprofessional, disingenuous and clearly defamatory.  Mr. Norton talent, tireless work ethic and professional integrity deserve more respect, and so do Marvel’s fans.

Brian Swardstrom
WME”

Oh, whaaaaaa! 

Another problem with Edward Norton is (allegedly) he has to be the only star on the set.  Normally this would be a problem on almost any production, but it becomes an out and out impossibility when dealing with an ensemble cast that includes Robert Downy Jr, Scarlet Johansen and Samuel L. Jackson.

If Eric Bana is unavailable may I suggest Adiran Brody?  As the newly released Predators has just proved, he looks great half naked.

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Who knew?

Check out Snoop’s new video for “Oh Sookie”.  Does this mean Eric, Bill, and Lafayette are all going to get their own songs as well?

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Imagine if a high school kid decided to become a vigilante a’la Batman, but without any of the training or resources at Bruce Wayne’s disposal (and no superpowers what-so-ever.)  Imagine if he was somewhat successful and others started to follow suit once word got out?  What would happen?

That’s the basic premise of Kick Ass, which opens next month.  Gotta say, I’m intrigued and looking forward to seeing this one – comic book movie geek that I am.

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The Hollywood Reoporter has announced that Avatar beat Titanic’s numbers as of Monday, making the 3-D sci-fi drama the highest grossing movie of all time.  Considering some industry insiders weren’t even sure that the movie would catch on with audiences or break even given it’s $300 million dollar price-tag, this must be making James Cameron feel very, very satisfied with how things turned out.

King of the World indeed.  I’m curious to see how Cameron tops this (or if he even tries to).

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Let’s face it, watching wretchedly awful, horrendously acted, and unintentially hysterical films are a lot of fun (at least in small doses).  Mommy Dearest, Plan 9 From Outer Space, Showgirls and Die! Mommy Die! (although in all honesty that one was probably intentional) remain some of my all time favorites to hate on.

Enter film critic and Movieline contributor Michael Adam’s search to find the worst movie ever made (think the plot of Julie & Julia, except with grade Z movies instead of great recipes) in his book Showgirls, Teenwolves, And Astrozombies.

If nothing else, you have to admire the guys resolve, not to mention guts, risking his sanity and I.Q. watching some of these things.  After watching The Perils of Gwendolyn in the Land of Yik-Yak (don’t ask) years ago, I couldn’t do math.  In fact, I still have problems with it to this day.

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Calling the story “gripping” and saying the effects are spectacular, early fears that the movie might not live up to the long awaited hype are being proven wrong . 

The website for the Hollywood Reporter actually crashed this morning when they posted an early review and the Drudge Report made a reference to it.

While critics had to promise not to actually post their reviews online, some are clearly jumping the gun or using Twitter as a loophole. 

James Cameron, king of the world.  Again.

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Word out today that JJ Abrams will be partnering with Fred Seibert, ex head of Hanna Barbara,to produce a feature film based on the Cartoon Network series, Samauri Jack.   The $20 million dollar film will apparently use a combination of traditional cell animation and stereoscopic 3-D.  No word yet on when we might be seeing this, so it’s probably going to be a while.

Samurai Jack as the creation of Genndy Tartakovsky, who also created Dexter’s Laboratory and The Power Puff Girls (campiest show ever).

The premise revolved around a young samurai from feudal Japan trapped in the far future, sent there by powerful demon named Aku that he almost defeated in battle.  Episodes revolved around the samurai given the nickname Jack, trying to avoid Aku and his minions and get back to his own time. 

The series ran from 2001 to 2004, although it was never officially cancelled.  Getting inspiration from various genres such as Sci-Fi, Spagetti Westerns, and Kung-Fu, the show was a commercail and critical hit, nomminated for six Emmy A3wards and winning 4.

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The busts, which will be made to order and there-fore a limited edition that will still end up in basements, attics, and garage sales gain in value over time, will go on sale next summer, just in time to coincide with season 3 of the HBO series.

You can buy Sookie, Eric, or Bill, plus a Merlotte’s sign (the bar where Sookie works in the books and the show) for an additional $89.99. 

No word if the actors that portray the characters on the show are getting a cut, since their likenesses are being used for these busts.  Why do I get the feeling that the “Eric” is going to be the biggest seller of the three?

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