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The vfx shortlist includes the expected ("Doctor Strange," "The Jungle Book") and the unexpected ("Kubo and the Two Strings," "Arrival")

The post VFX Oscar Race is Narrowed Down To 10 Films appeared first on Cartoon Brew.

The 20 films in contention for the vfx Oscar have been announced.

The post Academy Reveals Contenders in VFX Category, Including ‘Rogue: One,’ ‘Jungle Book,’ and ‘Kubo’ appeared first on Cartoon Brew.

One of the most important executives in vfx, Marvel's Victoria Alsono, gives a rare interview on how the studio approaches visual effects on its blockbuster superhero films.

The post Marvel’s Victoria Alonso on How Her Studio Tackles VFX Differently appeared first on Cartoon Brew.

Who are the likely contenders for a visual effects Oscar? And which films might surprise this year?

The post 2017 VFX Oscar Contenders: From Most-Likely To The Outliers appeared first on Cartoon Brew.

Ah, young love-- there's nothing like it. Especially when one of the lovers is actually a 100 year old superhero and the other is the great-niece of that centenarian's former flame.

Rainmaker's approach to video game adaptations may need a rethink, while Disney is obliterating box office records in 2016.

The post ‘Ratchet & Clank”s Dreadful Second Weekend Raises Questions About ‘Sly Cooper’ Feature appeared first on Cartoon Brew.

Last night, we took in one of the public fan-screenings of Captain America: Civil War that were held in select cities. While we expect to have a more thorough, thoughtful review closer to release, here are some general, non-specific thoughts: Everywhere that Age of Ultron failed, Captain America: Civil War succeeds. Second entries for Marvel […]

At last month’s Toy Fair, I told you that all the Black Panther merchandise and toys looked super hot. He’ll be this year’s Groot/Rocket based on what I saw. And apparently, Marvel agrees, as they’ve just announced a big merchandising program for the character, tying in not only with his movie debut in Captain America […]

Just when you thought there wasn’t more to uncover about Captain America: Civil War, here comes Empire Magazine with this issue’s feature on the upcoming Marvel throw-down that looks to be their most jam-packed affair ever. Within its pages, the magazine unveiled another character, the up to this point unnamed player that Martin Freeman would […]

  Marvel Studios is getting in on the “picking your favorite hero hashtag” game, with this new short Super Bowl spot for Captain America: Civil War. It doesn’t debut much new footage, but you do get to see Ant-Man as a part of the gathering of heroes now. Get to hashtagging and you can see […]

Every Wednesday, I talk about comics with Brandon Montclare, writer of the hit Image series Rocket Girl and co-writer of Marvel’s Moon Girl and Devil Dinosaur series. We gab about what we’re reading now, what books we consider classics (Brandon loves Dark Knight Strikes Again…), and the hottest gossip of the industry.  Occasionally, the inimitable artist Amy Reeder (Rocket Girl, Batwoman) stops by.  Check out our full […]

Entertainment Weekly digs a bit into Marvel's newest big screen hero

Darn you, Kevin Feige! Chris Evans and Robert Downey Jr. made a surprise appearance on the Disney-owned Jimmy Kimmel Live and debuted a new Marvel movie trailer. And although the creaky plot machinations of Avengers: Age of Ultron weren't exactly thrilling, the new trailer for May's Captain America: Civil War has enough going on to drag you back into the interconnected world of the MCU. Directed by Joe and Anthony Russo, the film is loosely based on the Civil War storyline from the comics, written by Mark Millar and drawn by Steven McNiven. And there's enough grim faced tension and fisticuffs to last all the way to May. Plus... Read the rest of this post

Some big news came out of Marvel Studios today as they unveiled some concept art from next year’s Captain America: Civil War.  The art confirms the members of each side in the film’s hero on hero war and gives us some new information about the movie’s major players. Of note is Agent 13 Sharon Carter, who made her […]

I’m not at D23 this weekend, and I’ll reserve any of the “on the scene” impressions for Beat contributors Alex Jones and Victor Van Scoit, who are both there in person. But that doesn’t mean I won’t report on the biggest announcements that are worthy of attention and discussion, and when it comes to Disney […]

On the set of Captain America: Civil War (aka Avengers 2.5 basically), which is now filming in Germany, an intrepid photographer got the first live-action shot of the Black Panther costume that the public has seen thus far. The below photo is clearly a stuntman, but it at least gives you an idea of what […]

After months and months of speculation, we now have a 100% official new Peter Parker as Tom Holland (The Impossible) will debut as rebooted version of Spider-Man in Captain America: Civil War as well as the next stand-alone Spider-Man film hitting theaters in 2017.

Not only did Marvel and Sony announce their newest web-slinger, but they also jointly unveiled that relatively untested directed Jon Watts will helm the solo feature. While Holland’s name had been bantied about for a while, and he was generally considered the front-runner along with Asa Butterfield, Watts is more of a surprise choice, though he did show up on the studios’ director short-list that was produced a few week’s ago. Watts’ only major feature to this point was last year’s horror outing Clown, and his recent Sundance debuting film Cop Car was met with mixed reviews.

But, at the very least, the speculation on this topic can end, and we can look forward to further discussion on villains and just how Peter Parker will play into the new Captain America feature.

Marvel Studios head Kevin Feige compared Watts to some of the other director choices made by the studio in the past:

“As with James Gunn, Joss Whedon, and the Russo brothers, we love finding new and exciting voices to bring these characters to life. We spent a lot of time with Jon and find his take and work inspiring.”

Amy Pascal, who is working hand in hand with Feige on this project, spoke to Holland’s casting specifically:

“Sony, Marvel, Kevin and I all knew that for Peter Parker, we had to find a vibrant, talented young actor capable of embodying one of the most well-known characters in the world. With Tom, we’ve found the perfect actor to bring Spider-Man’s story into the Marvel Cinematic Universe.”

So there you have it, a Spider-Man and a director are now in place. What do you think about these two choices? Are you excited about the future of everyone’s favorite wall-crawler?

You knew it had to be coming. As soon as it was reported that Sony and Marvel would collaborate on all decisions related to Spider-Man for the SECOND live-action reboot of the character, it was just a matter of time before signs of dischord might surface.

We’re talking about two billion dollar studios and one of the biggest franchises of all time. There was no way this was going to be totally sunshine and happiness.

And according to Jeff Sneider over at Meet the Movie Press, that very conflict is starting to take shape as Sony is lining up behind the casting of Tom Holland (The Impossible, Wolf Hall) and Marvel is backing Charlie Plummer (Boardwalk Empire). According to Sneider’s sources, those two along with Matthew Lintz (Kill the Messenger) are the final contenders for the role.

Surprisingly, there’s no mention of Asa Butterfield, who was long thought to be the front-runner for the role. Is he out?

Spider-Man’s scenes for Captain America: Civil War were supposed to begin shooting this month in Atlanta, but with casting at a stand-still, some changes may end up having to be made. Or perhaps something will snap into focus over the weekend or next week. Your guess is as good as mine at this point.

It’s been a slow 7-8 days on the entertainment front other than the few headlines that emerged last week, but here are a few items of notice that appeared over the weekend: (side-note: you’ll all be proud of me, as I pulled the trigger on a couple of the Hellboy library editions on Friday. I’d never read word one of those comics before, so it’s been quite the treat!)

– We’ve reported on it a few times, but yesterday, the team behind the planned documentary on George Miller‘s Justice League: Mortal released a number of pieces of concept art from the film and while none of it ever actually got used, it’s a neat peek at what might have been:

Ladies & Gentlemen – your King of Atlantis. #Aquaman#JusticeLeagueMortal#MillersJusticeLeagueMortal Lets go viral! pic.twitter.com/7zIh4jx2U2

— Miller’s JL – Doco (@JLdoco) May 30, 2015

Princess Diana flies through Themyscira #MillersjusticeLeagueMortal#JusticeLeagueMortal#Wonderwomanpic.twitter.com/LobU5m6pwB — Miller’s JL – Doco (@JLdoco) May 29, 2015

“I am Mars’ sole survivor. There is a reason for that.” – J’onn J’onzz – The Martian Manhunter. #JusticeLeagueMortal pic.twitter.com/myHMjdiukz

— Miller’s JL – Doco (@JLdoco) May 31, 2015

Princess Diana of Themyscira – or as you may know her #WonderWoman – #justiceLeagueMortal #MillersJusticeLeagueMortal pic.twitter.com/GT4ldjCzBr

— Miller’s JL – Doco (@JLdoco) May 30, 2015

Comics Artist Steve Scroce, who worked on the film, also shared some storyboards featuring a battle between Superman and Wonder Woman, which you can see a sample of below:

– THR reports that Sony is still screen-testing potential Spider-Man actors in Atlanta, where Captain America: Civil War is filming and the new Peter Parker is expected to debut. Despite earlier reports that Asa Butterfield had locked down the role, it seems that its still wide-open to a few possibilities, including: Charlie Rowe (Red Band Society), Matthew Lintz (Pixels), Charlie Plummer (Boardwalk Empire), Judah Lewis (Demolition), and the previously reported Tom Holland and Butterfield.

Apparently, we’ll have an answer as to who will be filling the role by this week.

– This is totally not comics related, though they do make comics of Game of Thrones, so perhaps it’s slightly on-topic. But last night’s episode of the HBO series was incredible, and probably one of the best episodes of the entire run. One little trivia note that I quite enjoyed was a cameo appearance by Atlanta based metal act Mastodon, of whom co-showrunner D.B. Weiss is a big fan. Here’s a picture of some of the members in a scene that’s probably a little spoilery, so I’ll leave a gap…

In a previous life, I played in a band that had a practice space in the same building as Mastodon, it was amazing getting to hear them play during the week as I walked by their door.

Funny enough, this isn’t the first time musicians have appeared on Game of Thrones, in Season 3, Coldplay drummer Will Champion appeared during the infamous “Red Wedding”.

And Icelandic art-rockers Sigur Rós showed up in Season 4 during King Joffrey’s equally attention grabbing wedding:

I’m really hoping for an appearance by The National in Season 6.

– My favorite discovery from the 2014 television season has to be Cartoon Network’s Rick and Morty, which takes the character relationship of Doc and Marty (more or less) from Back to the Future and transplants them into Doctor Who style adventures with some the sharpest humor I’ve seen in an animated program since Archer first hit the air. The series, created by Dan Harmon (Community) and Justin Roiland, has had its first season available on Blu-ray for awhile now. If you can handle some cruder, gross-out moments, I highly recommend it.

This week, Cartoon Network announced that Rick and Morty will return on Sunday, July 26th. Additionally, Roiland and Harmon guest-wrote the couch gag for the upcoming season finale of The Simpsons, which you can watch below:

– Speaking of The Simpsons, yesterday saw the news that Harry Shearer, the longtime voice of characters like Ned Flanders, Principal Skinner, and many other members of the show’s rich world, would be parting ways with the series. According to some reports, there’s still a chance that Shearer may come to terms with the show’s producers, but the roles are expected to be recast at this point.

I haven’t watched The Simpsons in years, but I’m hoping this paves the way for a Spinal Tap reunion.

– From the set of Captain America: Civil War, via JustJared, here’s the first image of Crossbones’ costume:

– Seth Rogen tweeted out the first on-set image from AMC’s Preacher last night, which sees Dominic Cooper’s Jesse Custer talking with Ian Colletti’s Arseface:

– According to Collider, the sequel to Dawn of the Planet of the Apes now has a title: War of the Planet of the Apes. It’s a bit of a mouth-full, but I guess no one would go see a movie called “Monkey Fight”, which I was lobbying pretty hard for.

– Lastly, there’s a pretty great True Detective Season 2 teaser out now via HBO. I may be more excited about this premiere than any other show this year, even the Mad Men finale!

Youthful veteran star, 18-year-old Asa Butterfield has been tapped to play Spider-Man in the MCU/Sonyverse, according to Latino Review.

Spidey’s role in the MCU is not yet known but he’ll probably appear in Captain America; Civil War because everyone else is, as well.

Butterfield previously starred in Hugo and Ender’s Game so not only have we been watching this special young man grow up before our eyes in the cinema, he knows the score on appearing as a beloved literary character. He’s also a fine actor, and the second Brit in a row to play Queens born Peter Parker, following the similarly well-coifed Andrew Garfield.

This new version of Peter Parker is going back to his teen roots, with a youthful exuberance and demeanor, we’re told. Hopefully there will not be an origin story, but the Civil War debut would remove the need for spiders, labs, experiments, oh no, etc.

Captain America: Civil War started filming in earnest over the past few weeks here in Atlanta. As a matter of fact, it turns out the cast was having lunch at the sushi restaurant down the street from our house!

Today, Marvel revealed the full cast along with the official synopsis, and while much of it is old news, the biggest surprises here are that Paul Rudd and William Hurt will be taking part in the film. For Rudd, despite my prediction that Marvel might end up treating Ant-Man in a way similar to The Incredible Hulk (a one-off that sort lies forgotten in the larger machinations of the studio) it looks as though it will matter at least somewhat for the overall MCU narrative. Speaking of The Incredible Hulk, Hurt will be reprising his role as General Ross. I guess you need to hang on to those Blu-rays after all, despite Mark Ruffalo‘s Banner seeming like a completely different character than Ed Norton‘s version.

Here’s the full cast list from Marvel, there are some potential spoilers for Age of Ultron here:

The film returns Chris Evans (“Captain America: The Winter Soldier,” Marvel’s “Avengers: Age of Ultron”) as the iconic Super Hero character Steve Rogers/Captain America along with Robert Downey Jr. (“Avengers: Age of Ultron,” Marvel’s “Iron Man 3”) as Tony Stark/Iron Man, Scarlett Johansson (“Avengers: Age of Ultron,” “Captain America: The Winter Soldier”) as Natasha Romanoff/Black Widow, Sebastian Stan (“Captain America: The Winter Soldier,” “Captain America: The First Avenger”) as Bucky Barnes/Winter Soldier, Anthony Mackie (“Avengers: Age of Ultron,” “Captain America: The Winter Soldier”) as Sam Wilson/Falcon, Paul Bettany (“Avengers: Age of Ultron,” “Iron Man 3”) as The Vision, Jeremy Renner (“Avengers: Age of Ultron,” Marvel’s “The Avengers”) as Clint Barton/Hawkeye, Don Cheadle (“Avengers: Age of Ultron,” “Iron Man 3”) as Jim Rhodes/War Machine and Elizabeth Olsen (“Avengers: Age of Ultron,” “Godzilla”) as Wanda Maximoff/Scarlet Witch.

After his debut in Marvel’s “Ant-Man” on July 17, 2015, Paul Rudd (“Ant-Man,” ”Anchorman 2: The Legend Continues”) will make his first appearance alongside the Avengers as Scott Lang/Ant-Man in “Captain America: Civil War.”

The film also includes outstanding additional cast, including Chadwick Boseman (“42,” “Get on Up”) as T’Challa/Black Panther, Emily VanCamp (“Captain America: The Winter Soldier,” “Revenge”) as Sharon Carter/Agent 13, Daniel Brühl (“Inglourious Basterds,” “Bourne Ultimatum”), Frank Grillo (“Captain America: The Winter Soldier,” “Warrior”) as Brock Rumlow/Crossbones, William Hurt (“A History of Violence,” Marvel’s “The Incredible Hulk”) as General Thaddeus “Thunderbolt” Ross and Martin Freeman (“The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey,” “The Hobbit: The Battle of the Five Armies”).

There’s no new Spider-Man listed as of yet, but Marvel and Sony may still be in auditions for that role, if the character does indeed appear in the film.

Captain America: Civil War releases on May 6, 2016, here is the new synopsis:

“Captain America: Civil War” picks up where “Avengers: Age of Ultron” left off, as Steve Rogers leads the new team of Avengers in their continued efforts to safeguard humanity. After another international incident involving the Avengers results in collateral damage, political pressure mounts to install a system of accountability and a governing body to determine when to enlist the services of the team. The new status quo fractures the Avengers while they try to protect the world from a new and nefarious villain.

– Avengers: Infinity War, which it’s been revealed will have a grueling nine month production schedule (it is two films after all), will also be shot completely in IMAX using IMAX and ARRI’s next gen 2D digital camera. This marks the first time a Hollywood feature film has ever been shot completely with IMAX cameras and utilizing its larger aspect ratio.

Here’s a statement from the Russo Bros on this announcement:

The intent with the Infinity War films is to bring ten years of accumulative storytelling to an incredible climax. We felt that the best way to exploit the scale and scope required to close out the final chapter of these three phases, was to be the first films shot entirely on the IMAX/ARRI Digital camera.

Some select action scenes of Captain America: Civil War will also utilize the IMAX camera and format.

– This week, the broadcast networks are finalizing their pick-up decisions and what will make it onto the Fall and Spring schedule. Supergirl, for example, was picked up for a full series order yesterday by CBS, while iZombie was also renewed by The CW. The Flash and Arrow have also already been renewed for their second and fourth seasons respectively.

Now, all eyes are on ABC and NBC, as the former will be making its decisions regarding Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. (which will surely be renewed) and Agent Carter (where things are far more uncertain), while the latter holds the final fate of Constantine in its hands.

My prediction? Agent Carter gets renewed for another short season, while Constantine finally sees its long-expected axe.

But even Powers got renewed, so I guess anything could still happen.

– 20th Century Fox has revealed the cover art for the upcoming X-Men: Days of Future Past “Rogue Cut”, which will include 17 minutes of additional footage, including all of Anna Paquin‘s sequences that were cut from the theatrical release:

– We’re only a week away from Mad Max: Fury Road hitting theaters across the country. While critics are still embargoed at this point, there’s a lot to be excited about, which I elaborated on a few weeks previous. Here’s a new featurette for the film:

– Here’s the new poster for Ant-Man, which is sadly pretty underwhelming, though that’s kind of par for the course with most blockbuster movie posters these days. Floating heads, so many floating heads!

– And in fun stuff, it looks like Captain America vs. Crossbones has started early:

Don’t underestimate the benefit of awe. Take time to be amazed by things. By anything. By everything.

— Chris Evans (@ChrisEvans) May 7, 2015

@FrankGrillo I’m amazed you can read. Be honest, your kids are helping you sound out the words. — Chris Evans (@ChrisEvans) May 7, 2015

@ChrisEvans I can read the hospital report for you after wake up from that that little snooze your gonna take hero boy.

— frank grillo (@FrankGrillo) May 7, 2015

I’m really looking forward to Civil War.

On this New Comic Book Day, here are some of the non-Joss Whedon related headlines that are making waves today:

– Not long ago, after the Marvel-Sony deal was struck over the usage of Spider-Man, it seemed a surety that Sony would hang onto Drew Goddard to helm the newest entry. Not so, reports Deadline, as they’ve uncovered what is reportedly Sony’s director shortlist for the film:

Jonathan Levine – Warm Bodies, 50/50

Ted Melfi – St. Vincent

Jason Moore – Pitch Perfect

John Francis Daley and Jonathan M. Goldstein – Vacation

Jared Hess – Napoleon Dynamite

From this list, it seems like Sony is still aiming for the comedic-slanted mindset that brought us the Marc Webb entries. We all saw how that turned out. Hopefully this is an incomplete list and Goddard is still in contention. With a 2017 release date, a decision will have to be made by January at the very least, if not much sooner.

– Following in the footsteps of Peter Serafinowicz and Chris O’Dowd, British actor Martin Freeman (The Hobbit Trilogy) is stepping into the Marvel Universe, as he’s joined the cast of Captain America: Civil War in an undisclosed role. Considering the cast is already fit to burst at this point, I have a hard time imagining he’s playing anything beyond a utility player (like the above two actors). Your guess is as good as mine.

– Machinima, the online network that is already producing the animated DC series Justice League: Gods and Monsters Chronicles, set to debut next month, announced this week two more DC related programs that will go into production in the near future along with a second season of Gods and Monsters Chronicles. The two new series include #4Hero, a modern adaptation of Dial H For Hero (this time it’s based out of a smart-phone app) and The DC Hero Project, a contest show where eight competitors must battle it out in elimination challenges to develop a short video based on their own interpretation of characters from the 90’s Starman series.

– For those thirsting for more X-Men: Days of Future Past, you’re in luck! The “Rogue Cut” that restores all of Anna Paquin‘s cut scenes from the feature, and adds 17 minutes to the film, will hit stores on July 14th. That date is also the 15th anniversary of the release of the first X-Men film. Now, don’t we all feel terribly old?

It’s the start of another week, here are the headlines that are making waves this morning!

– Bryan Singer is keeping the teases rolling for X-Men: Apocalypse, this time around, he shared some concept art for Kodi Smit-McPhee’s younger version of Nightcrawler:

This new Nightcrawler isn’t too terribly far afield from Alan Cumming‘s appearance in X2: X-Men United, which is surely the point. I do wonder though if we’ll get any explicit connection between Kurt and Mystique (and/or Azazel), perhaps that’s a road best not taken.

– Even though we pretty much knew this already, Daniel Brühl recently confirmed in an interview with The Independent that he will indeed by playing Baron Helmut Zemo in Captain America: Civil War, as he responded in the affirmative to a question about his upcoming role:

“I think I can tell you that without being thrown into Marvel prison… For the first few days I’ll walk around like a little boy, just amazed by the megalomania of it. It’s such a huge project. We could do 20 films with the budget.”

So there you have it folks, along with whatever is happening between Iron Man and Captain America, the appearances of Spider-Man and Black Panther, and whatever angle the Winter Soldier story takes, we’re also getting Baron Zemo. This movie is looking more stuffed than Age of Ultron.

– Over the weekend, and somewhat lost in the hoopla over Jared Leto’s Joker, TheWrap reported that Green Lantern and Blade Runner sequel screenwriter Michael Green will be penning the upcoming sequel to James Mangold‘s The Wolverine.

I’m not sure how much blame Green should take for what ended up on screen in Green Lantern, but given his recent high profile gigs (that also includes work on Prometheus 2), we’ll keep our fingers crossed that it was just an aberration on his resume.

Hugh Jackman has stated that this will be his final outing as Logan, so perhaps the time is right to adapt Old Man Logan, especially since it’ll be a while before the Wolverine films and the X-Men films catch up to each other on the timeline, most likely. The new film is scheduled to release on March 3, 2017.

– For those interested, Fox has updated the Fantastic Four movie website to now include bios of the team, with some interesting descriptions of their powers; for example Reed now has abilities that “can warp the space around him, and appear to stretch his body into impossible forms and to incredible lengths.”

Check out further details at the site.