Stuff: Plush Birds Are Angry; So Probably is Julie Taymor

You know, some people actually have time to watch movie news websites for every scrap of stuff that comes in. They want their news immediately. This feature isn’t for them. It’s for the rest of us, who have lives, and don’t have to know what’s happening on the new live action Peanuts movie right this second. We filter out the nonsense and give you a single post with everything you need to know within. Enjoy.

Amazon’s deal of the day is for the Blu-Ray/DVD collector’s set version of The Sound of Music. If you have any interest in the film, I suggest clicking through to check it out, because it comes with a lot of stuff including a music box, scrapbook, soundtrack, souvenir program reproduction and more. You can find it on Amazon here.

Angry Birds mania continues…ThinkGeek is now offering Jumbo Angry Birds Plushes. They give this as a reason to build a cushion fort. I’m just wondering who’s bought the film rights. What do you think?

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Apparently, Russell Brand won a legal fight. He wants to put his name on clothing and Russell Athletics thought that might be confusing. Not quite sure how that works and neither was the adjudicator. So that’s something. Source.

I refuse to watch the upcoming Camelot series unless Robert Goulet at some point has a cameo. I’m just saying.

Now that At the Mountains of Madness is in limbo, Guillermo Del Toro has signed on to helming a monster movie called Pacific Rim, set to start production in September and be released the summer of 2013. Madness died because Del Toro wouldn’t budge on having a $150 million R-rated film. Universal, rightly so, was concerned. Apparently the Variety article states that talks are still underway to see if the project can be salvaged. Hey, Guillermo–shoot for unrated, release a PG-13 movie, and then do unrated to DVD and Blu-Ray, for crying out loud.

Doctor Who‘s return date is set: April 23rd. Source.

Extraordinary Tales has my attention: 3D animated anthology of Edgar Allan Poe tales. The stories are “Tell-Tale Heart,” “Fall of the House of Usher,” “The Facts in the Case of M. Valdemar,” “The Pit and the Pendulum” and “The Mask of the Red Death.” Each story is told in a different style. Expect that to hit next summer. Bring it. Source: Variety.

In an interesting move, Warner Brothers is offering films for rent and purchase via Facebook. They’re leading off with The Dark Knight, which, if you like the movie on its page, you can start watching it for “30 Facebook Credits or $3.” I didn’t even know there was such a thing as Facebook credits. Go figure. This is available only in the U.S. at present and only in certain states.

Gambit certainly sounds interesting: it’s a remake of a pic which starred Michael Caine and Shirley MacLaine. Replacing them are Colin Firth and Cameron Diaz and the script is by the Brothers Coen. Firth is an art curator who brings a Texas rodeo queen on board a con game. Production starts in May. Source.

Harry Potter has something coming up called The Quest which is called “a global online adventure” celebrating the last two movies. Registering for this thing allows you to play games, watch vids and experience other stuff. And there’s something about earning points “as a global community,” which when the rising tide raises all the boats to certain points which activate new stuff. Register for it yourself here.

Hobgoblin sounds interesting: Michael Chabon is to co-write and executive produce the series at HBO, which has a series of magicians and con artists fighting Hitler. I am apprehensive, of course, naturally…but if done properly, that could be a crapload of fun. Source.

Eddie Izzard becomes the first comedian to play the Hollywood Bowl solo on July 20th. Nice. Source.

Mad Max 4 at last. Fury Road will start production early next year. Tom Hardy is the lead and I’m assuming he’s either “the new” Mad Max in a continuing adventure and this isn’t a “Mad Max Begins” sort of deal. Charlize Theron, Nicholas Hoult (About a Boy) and Teresa Palmer (Sorcerer’s Apprentice) are also in the cast. Source.

This is going to be amusing: Men in Black 3 started production in November…and the script wasn’t finished. Why? Tax breaks they got for starting up in 2010. Apparently involving a time travel story where a returning Will Smith goes back to 1969 and meets a young version of Agent K, played by Josh Brolin. It’s due to hit next May and in 3D even. Amusing. It’s on hiatus while David Koepp tries to finish the script. Source.

Chris Rock is going to be making his Broadway debut as a drug counselor in the play The Motherf–ker With the Hat. Previews start March 15th and open officially April 11th. I have a feeling that will be worth checking out. Source.

Sideshow has a truly badass Maleficent Premium Format Figure. And because Maleficent is one of my favorite Disney villains, I just had to tell you. Of course, it’s for somebody with serious disposable income, because it’s $299. But do yourself a favor and at least go drool over it.

Spider-Man: Turn Off the Dark is in trouble. This is not news, of course, but what is news is that Julie Taymor is out. Wow. Of course, not to be a conspiracy-minded bastard (but I am one), could this be a nice way of keeping attention on the show to sell more preview tickets? Anyway, it’s not opening in a few days–the opening has been delayed to “early summer.” Source.

Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy is going to be distributed in the U.S. by Universal. Gary Oldman is playing the Alec Guinness role of George Smiley, while also on board are Tom Hardy, Colin Firth, Mark Strong, Ciaran Hinds and Benedict Cumberbatch. Production has wrapped and it’s due out later this year. With Oldman as Smiley, then I am certain the film will be worth watching. Source.

We mentioned before that the rights for Tomb Raider wound up at Warner Brothers. That was in 2009. Apparently it reverted back when Eidos was purchased by Square Enix. Anyway, GK Films (one of the companies behind Rango) now owns the rights and has their sights set on a 2013 release date. Remember: despite the first two films sucking, they did make $400 million plus, so if done correctly, there could be serious coin involved. The trouble is, how to you find somebody who can nail the role like Jolie? Because I’m sorry, she was great in a pair of terrible films. Source.

Home Video Releases

Amazon.com Widgets

Click the type of media in the description or the title to pre-order/order your copy from Amazon.

Beverly Hills Cop is going to hit Blu-Ray from Paramount on May 17th.

Black Swan is hitting DVD and Blu-Ray from Fox on March 29th. It’s fantastic. I’m just saying.

The ginormous Limited Edition Lord of the Rings Extended Edition Blu-Ray boxed set thing is now available for pre-order from Amazon.

The recent version of True Grit will be hitting DVD and Blu-Ray on June 7th. The Blu-Ray is a BD/DVD combo, so that’ll be the one to go for.

Video Game Releases

Your friend and mine, Apelad, creator of many things including Laugh-Out-Loud Cats, works on video games when he’s not working on world domination. One of the latest to get his involvement is the Cars 2 game for the Wii, which is now available for pre-order.

1 comment

InTheKnow says:

April 14, 2011 at 9:53 pm

On the “On the Mountain of Madness” with Del Toro. He wanted the R-rating because he wants it to be intense, almost no gore and very little swearing which will normally put it at PG-13. But he also wants to make the movie completely jawdropping and mind blowing, something a PG-13 movie would put kid gloves on and call it Scream.

Stuff: Plush Birds Are Angry; So Probably is Julie Taymor

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