Comic-Con Day #2: More Del Toro, Tron, and Ruffalo as 'The Hulk'

Day 2 from Comic-Con didn't bring many surprises. Nothing like Del Toro's announcement regarding The Haunted Mansion, or the sad news about The Hobbit. Still, there were some interesting things you might want to know coming out of San Diego today...

First, I'll keep you up to date on Del Toro--both on his Haunted Mansion project, and everything he's working on. Above you will find the official, just-released logo for the film. To read the full press release that accompanied the very cool and stylized logo, head over to /Film here.

Supposedly, the visionary filmmaker will only be writing and producing the theme park-inspired film, and not directing. Instead, he has a horror film and a stop-action Pinocchio in the works. I am excited for those. To read more about Del Toro's announcements of the day, click here.

Tron, Tron, Tron. You began as such a simple idea but have exploded into a cult phenomenon. Comic-Con loves you, I love you, and we all love hearing news about you. Oh, Tron, why must we wait longer to see you in your brilliant, computer-generated wonderfulness? Well, since we can't see you until December 17, we thank you for the above brand new still taken from the movie.

If that doesn't get you excited to see Tron: Legacy, I don't think anything will.

There was big news regarding The Avengers announced yesterday, and some new news today. Several weeks ago, I was very sad to discover that Edward Norton would not be reprising his role as The Hulk for Marvel's Avenger's film. He is my favorite actor, and I thought he made a great Bruce Banner. But, instead, Marvel has all but made it official that the new Hulk will be *sigh* Mark Ruffalo. Sure, he's an OK actor. Maybe even good occasionally (like in Shutter Island), but as the Hulk? Pa-lease. Don't make me laugh. They definitely should have stayed with Norton. Oh well, at least Ruffalo will be led by superstar Mr. Joss Whedon.

Above you will find a trailer for the recently announced DC Comics spinoff flick Red. Does it look a lot like the A-Team movie? Yes. That one Losers movie released a few months ago? Definitely. But, unlike those two films, this one actually looks good. And more action-y. Plus, it's starring Bruce Willis, John Malkovich and Morgan Freeman.

Sign me up for two of those, please.

Remember yesterday how I said I'd have loved to be at that panel with J.J. Abrams and Joss Whedon? Well, I couldn't be there. The next best thing to being there would have been a video of it. Well, we don't have that either, but we do have the next best thing after that: a transcription. Click over to /Film here to read through it. They talk about all kinds of different great stuff. It is definitely worth the read.

That's all there is to post for now, but as Comic-Con wraps up, I'm sure the studios will throw some more curve balls at us. Stay tuned here for all the latest Comic-Con, Disney, Pixar, and Movie news.

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Comic-Con Day #1: Guillermo, Avengers, Tron, and More

Comic-Con is a yearly gathering of entertainment buffs and geeks. It is the mecca of movies to which only the most hardcore nerds pay pilgrimage. And, being such a respected event, it is always the place for studios to reveal their most exciting news. So, after day one of Comic-Con, here is a big news post for you to find out what there is to know coming out of San Diego today.

This first bit of news isn't really news at all, but more of a confirmation of what we already knew: Joss Whedon is directing The Avengers. He announced this while on stage with fellow geek director J.J. Abrams (I would have loved to be at that panel discussion with Joss and J.J.). Whedon says that he was a fan of the early Avengers comics, and that he is "excited and humbled at having the opportunity to direct the film". As a Whedon fan (especially Dr. Horrible's Sing-a-long Blog) and an Avengers fan, I am very excited to see what the combination of the two will result in. Something epic, no doubt.

Also, the two above images were just released today from Comic-Con. Click to embiggen. (They're pretty massive--desktop wallpaper anyone?)

This next news story is definitely the most exciting of the day: Guillermo Del Toro will be co-writing and directing The Haunted Mansion! He will be roughly basing the film on the theme park ride, and, more specifically, the Hat Box Ghost. And, don't worry, Eddie Murphy won't be anywhere near this one. Del Toro humorously commented that "we are not returning Eddie Murphy's calls." He also said that "We are not making a comedy. We are making it into an e-ticket ride. It will be scary and fun, but the scary parts WILL be scary."

While speaking to THR, Guillermo said that "Walt Disney is one of the creators of some of the scariest images in my childhood. People forget that he not only made sweet images but also images of nightmare. We to honor that side of the legacy."

I agree with him on that point. I am very, very excited to see what the visionary director has in store for the grim, grinning ghosts.

While on the topic of Guillermo Del Toro, a panel at Comic-Con today made it sound as if The Hobbit is having major production issues, and may be released several years from now, if at all. The panel is said to have been like the setting of a morgue. Read more at Obsessed with Film here. It's really too bad...

Above you will find one of the many maquettes for WETA/Peter Jackson's Wind in the Willows. They were on the floor at Comic-Con today, and look really great. The film will be live-action with animatronics. Very cool. I can't wait to see what the team behind Lord of the Rings does with the classic tale from Kenneth Grahame.

Since it was announced two years ago, Tron Legacy has always been a huge topic among the Comic-Con crowd. So, this year, Disney showed 8 full minutes from the film to the mesmerized crowd. For a synopsis on what they got to see, head over to /Film.

That's all of the Comic-Con news for today, but come back tomorrow because there is sure to be another tidal wave of news all about Disney, Pixar, Movies, and everything in-between.

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Pixar Lends a Hand to 'Tron'

A film has to tell a good story and have a solid screenplay. Everything--the special effects, actors, jokes--should come after, and should cater to the movie's story. And no one in the film industry (and perhaps the world) knows more about story than the brilliant folks at Pixar. It is for this reason that the team behind Tron: Legacy asked Pixar if they'd lend a hand and beef up their script.

It was back in early March, and director Joe Kosinski decided that even though they'd finished up filming, his movie just wasn't good enough. So, he scheduled some re-shoots focused purely on giving the sci-fi flick more character, story, and heart. But first, he'd see what the masterminds in Emeryville thought of his nice little movie. He held a Tron: Legacy screening for John Lasseter, Ed Catmull, Brad Bird, TS3 screenwriter Michael Arndt, and others from the Pixar brain trust.

Following the screening, Disney hired Arndt and Bird to write some pages for the six-day reshoot, which took place last month. Sean Bailey, Disney’s president of production, had this to say on the collaboration:

What I give Joe and the filmmaking team immense credit for, is this was all born out of how do we give the fans the best movie we can. We were very fortunate that Pixar wanted to play a part in it.

This is certainly a good sign. I was weary of how Tron: Legacy would end up, but now that Pixar's Midas' Touch has graced the film, I'm a little more optimistic.

We'll know for sure come December 17...

Source: EW

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'Tron Legacy' Trailer

There's not much else to say. Enjoy.

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