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Jon Favreau's dark reboot screens like a terrorized tale drained of humor, compared to Wolfgang Reitherman's amiable 1967 feature.

He'll stop asking for an Oscar when he gets an Oscar.

As we hastily posted from our phone last night, the AVENGERS: AGE OF ULTRON trailer was supposed to break next week during Agents of SHIELD, but last night leaked versions sprang up like bedbugs, unstoppable and immortal. Marvel Studios, being smarter than the average bear, just made a joke

Dammit, Hydra.

— Marvel Entertainment (@Marvel) October 22, 2014

and then OFFICIALLY RELEASED THE THING EARLY.

Poor Agents of SHIELD—can’t buy a break. (However I should point out that the show is FINALLY tying in lesser characters from the Marvel U, like Mockingbird, and should rebound just fine if they don’t mess it up.)

Rections to the trailer were swift, and as you read this there are probably 900 detailed frame by frame analyses of the thing. I’ve stolen the screen caps from all the other, better sites, but I must give Andrew Wheeler a shout out for noting the “shirtless, wet Thor”.

Anyway, here are some pics and thoughts, and ideas.

James Spader voices Ultron, the robot created by Tony Stark, and, wow he’s actually scary! This trailer has  a darker, Nolan-esque  feel to it, but sandwiched between some light heated outings Guardians and Ant-Man, it’s okay. The slowed down “I’ve got no strings to hold me up” song recalls the trailer for the very successful Maleficent, which also used a creepy version of a Disney classic to set up a sad, bad world.

As for what it means: Ultron is to Tony Stark as Pinocchio is to Gepetto, get it? Throughout the trailer we see Tony looking sad and other Avengers looking mad, so presumably everyone gets annoyed that Tony created this killer robot genius in the first place.  If one wishes to detect a trace of Joss Whedon in the idea of Ultron’s journey presented as a murderous, tragic take on the sturdy Pinocchio story, well go ahead. A nice solid dramatic spine is a nice thing in a superhero epic.

This is Tony Stark’s HULKBUSTER armor, as various leaks have shown the Hulkbuster fighting Donald Sterling. NO NO WHAT AM I SAYING, The Hulkbuster fights the Hulk! The internet went ape shit over the Hulkbuster. Because you see…

Mark Ruffalo’s Banner/Hulk looks to be pretty busted up in this one. As the only “Core” character without his own film series at this point, it’s time for The Hulk to get his due. Evidently he gets the feels over something, freaks out and in true Marvel Comics fashion, must be stopped by any means necessary.

Hey it’s Andy Serkis! The mocap madman did some of the acting for Ultron and gets to show his face as well…but as WHO WHO WHO? The internet has decided that he’s playing a supervillain named Klaw, and this has excited the internet because Klaw is the natural enemy of The Black Panther! And The Black Panther’s introduction into the MCu has been rumored for a long time.

This could be interesting because one of the MOST SHOCKING SHOTS IN THE TRAILER shows Captain America’s shield DESTROYED! Oh god, can someone called Stephen Colbert? IF this is not a dream, not a hoax, not an imaginary story (and I’m not convinced it isn’t) then maybe they have to go to Wakanda and get some vibranium to make a new shield? That’s the popular theory anyway.

Shirtless, wet, anguished Thor. Paging fanfic writers.

The trailer also shows the Black Widow looking jaunty on a motorcycle, Captain America looking grave, Hawkeye running around in the woods, and lots of rubble. Lots and lots of rubble.

Images are now leaking from the 'Avengers 2' trailer. Here's Ultron showing his good side, saving a helpless victim. pic.twitter.com/ttKrN6PQxg

— The Film Stage (@TheFilmStage) October 22, 2014

Finally, this was the greatest thing to come out of the Affair of the Early Avengers 2 Trailer. (That’s a still from CRASH, a movie in which Holly Hunter and James Spader play people who can only have sex at the scene of horrible auto accidents, in case you didn’t know.)

Anyway, that’s what caught MY eye. What did YOU think?

Like its predecessor, "Planes: Fire & Rescue" opened in third place at the U.S. box office. The new film, however, grossed only $18 million, or 19% less than the opening of the first "Planes."

Actor Andy Serkis may have changed his tune somewhat from earlier this spring when he insisted that animators do nothing but add 'digital makeup' on top of his acting.

"Entertainment Weekly" has published a piece on the upcoming "Dawn of the Planet of the Apes" without once mentioning the terms 'animation,' 'motion capture,' or 'performance capture.'

Our post about Andy Serkis's inflammatory rhetoric about the limited role of animators on his performances generated a robust discussion in the comments. By far, the most informative comment was provided by Randall William Cook, who was the animation supervisor and designer at WETA on the "Lord of the Rings" trilogy that was released between 2001 and 2003.

In his never-ending quest to be recognized as a serious thespian, character actor Andy Serkis continues to minimize the role of the animators who make his performances possible. With each interview he gives, Serkis seems to do more and more of the work, and the animators less and less. About the only thing Serkis doesn't do at this point is build his own motion capture rigs and provide his own craft services.

Two movie studios, Disney and Warner Bros., plan to create new adaptations of Rudyard Kipling’s beloved classic, The Jungle Book.

According to The Hollywood Reporter, the Warner Bros. production will mark the feature directorial debut of Lord of the Rings actor Andy Serkis. This project features a screenplay written by Callie Kloves. Her father Steve Kloves, the screenwriter of the Harry Potter film franchise, will serve as a producer.

Disney’s live action/CG hybrid version will be helmed by Iron Man director Jon Favreau. Long Walk to Freedom actor Idris Elba has signed on to lend his voice as the evil tiger, Shere Khan. Other potential cast members include Oscar winner Lupita Nyong’o and The Avengers actress Scarlett Johansson.

New Career Opportunities Daily: The best jobs in media.

Actor Andy Serkis has signed on to direct Warner Bros.’ live action adaptation of The Jungle Book. Ron Howard was reportedly considering the role last month, but the meetings didn’t go far.

The Hollywood Reporter has more: “ Jungle Book would be Serkis’ feature directorial debut after directing second unit on Peter Jackson‘s The Hobbit movies, the third of which Warners is due to open in December. Some of the shoots involved the creation of elaborate and lively action sequences. For example, Serkis helmed the widely praised barrel-chase sequence in The Hobbit: The Desolation of Smaug.”

In 1967, Disney adapted the book into an animated film directed by Wolfgang Reitherman.

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Oscar-winning director Peter Jackson discussed his upcoming film adaptation of The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey at San Diego Comic-Con.

Since then, rumors have swirled that Jackson had shot enough footage to turn J.R.R. Tolkein‘s novel into a trilogy. Do you think the novel could work as a trilogy?

Here’s more from Deadline: “On the trilogy possibility, I’m told that while Jackson shot plenty of extra footage, he has already stretched a single book into two movies. His DVD editions of The Lord of the Rings were so compellingly loaded with extended cuts of each film—they actually filled in storytelling gaps for hard core fans–that my bet is he indulges those fans that way again, even though no final decision has yet been made.”

continued…

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Release dates have been announced for the Peter Jackson‘s two Hobbit movies.

According to Variety, The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey will come out on December 14, 2012 and The Hobbit: There and Back Again will hit theaters on December 13, 2013. The video embedded above features a tour of The Hobbit‘s set.

Here’s more from the article: “Jackson began shooting the two films in New Zealand in 3D in mid-March with a cast including Martin Freeman as Bilbo Baggins and Orlando Bloom, Andy Serkis, Elijah Wood, Hugo Weaving, Ian McKellen and Cate Blanchett reprising their roles from The Lord of the Rings trilogy. Bloom joined the cast Friday to portray the elf Legolas.”

continued…

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Actor Elijah Wood will return to Middle Earth in the two-part film adaptation of J.R.R. Tolkien‘s The Hobbit.

Deadline New York reported: “Wood is confirmed to star in Peter Jackson’s The Hobbit to be shot in New Zealand. In addition, he has signed on to play ‘Ben Gunn’ in Stewart Harcourt’s adaptation of Robert Louis Stevenson’s Treasure Island along side Eddie Izzard.”

Besides Wood (pictured, via), other castmates returning from Lord of the Rings include: Cate Blanchett as Galadriel, Sir Ian McKellen as Gandalf, and Andy Serkis as Gollum. At the moment, Orlando Bloom is rumored to be considering his return as Legolas.

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On Friday, news broke that Peter Jackson finally received the g0-ahead for his two-part adaptation of The Hobbit. Production could start as soon as February 2011.

Deadline Hollywood has the scoop: “Things must be getting close on The Hobbit, because casting buzz is getting strong in Hollywood. Word is Martin Freeman will soon be set to play Bilbo Baggins, that Jimmy Nesbitt has been offered a role and that Michael Fassbender is being pursued for another as is David Tennant. Ian McKellan and Andy Serkis are expected to reprise Gandalf and Gollum.”

As you wait for the production, we recommend watching the English translation of a Finnish miniseries (embedded above) that adapted J. R. R. Tolkien’s work way back in 1993.

New Career Opportunities Daily: The best jobs in media.