Tag Archives: Warner Bros.

Zack Snyder confirms “Batman & Superman” movie at SDCC…

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Every summer at San Diego Comic Con, there are all sorts of goodies that come out of it and this is one of them. Everyone knew there is gonna be a sequel to, “Man of Steel”, we just didn’t know what Zack Snyder’s plans were. Turns out that he is planning to team Batman and Superman together in one movie. It’s about time too! We always wanted Batman and Superman to have their own movie but the only problem with that is that Christian Bale no longer wants to play Batman. Bale is done with the Caped Crusader so he probably will not be in this or the “Justice League” film. That’s okay ’cause Bale wasn’t that great of a Batman anyways so let him go, ya know? So it’s looking like Batman will have to get replaced by another actor (again).

We won’t see a “Justice League” film for a long while ’cause it’s looking like Zack wants to have all the characters in “Justice League” to get their own film to build up to it. The Flash is getting his own movie too.

It wouldn’t surprise me if they get Joseph Gordon-Levitt to play Batman, though. If you’ve seen the ending to the “Dark Knight: Rises”, you would know exactly what I mean (not trying to spoil things).

Looking forward to seeing what they’re gonna do with the first “Batman/Superman” film. “Batman/Superman” is coming sooner than you think as I think it’s slated for a 2015 release date. Why is it coming this soon? Simply because Zack is a fast worker. He made “Man of Steel” pretty quick. He can get a single film done in less than a year.

In the photo above is the official logo revealed for the “Batman/Superman” movie at SDCC.

Kev

You see, Zack Snyder is a great film director, he is just a bad screenwriter…

I know Zack Snyder is not everyone’s favorite film director — his work have always been critical over the years. He’s really talented with the visuals, cinematography and camera work but his problem is the writing. He only wrote a few of his own movies that he directed but the rest of his movies in his filmography someone else wrote the screenplay. He only wrote the scripts for “300” and “Sucker-Punch”. “Dawn of the Dead”, “Watchmen”, and “Legends of the Guardians”, someone else wrote them. People were alright with his previous films but everyone hated, “Sucker-Punch”. I agree, “Sucker-Punch” was a shit movie.

Zack tries really hard to make a great movie. If he makes a bad movie, it’s not really his fault, you know? When you make a movie, sometimes you never can tell how good it’s going to be or what kind of reception the film is going to get. I’ve always thought Zack was perfect for “Man of Steel” ’cause I can’t think of no other director that would make a good Superman movie. It’s Zack talented visuals. That’s the key for WB’s wanting Zack to direct “Man of Steel”.

What Zack needs to start making better films is to quit writing his own movies. He needs to choose better scripts from other writers. I know Zack didn’t hire David Goyer for “Man of Steel”, David was already hired by Warner Bros./DC even before Zack jumped aboard. The point I’m trying to make here is that Zack just proved that he can make a good movie all-around with “Man of Steel”. He proved everyone wrong that he can be a good film maker. Not just his visuals, everything. Christopher Nolan didn’t help him much either. Nolan was on set for “Man of Steel” for a little bit but I remember in interviews Nolan was saying this was Zack’s movie in every way. Chris wanted to step back and let Zack be in charge of the direction. I’m sure Nolan helped Zack a little bit but he wanted Zack to have his time and let him do whatever he wanted with “Man of Steel”. So don’t go mistakenly thinking that Zack made a good Superman movie ’cause of Nolan’s help. Zack did it all himself, all the way. If you look around, you can see all kinds of “Man of Steel” behind the scene photos and you never see Nolan on set that much. It was always Zack, all the time.

Zack really worked hard to make the best Superman movie possible and he did exactly that. It really was an amazing movie, and I’m planning on seeing “Man of Steel” again tonight at the Drive-In movie theaters. Seeing it again with some other friends who haven’t seen it.

Congratulations to Mr. Snyder. He finally won over movie fans and got the respect back that he absolutely deserves! Hope you readers out there have seen the film this weekend. If not, see it this week! You will not be disappointed at all, trust me.

Kev

Cool Photo: See “Man of Steel” cast and Zack Snyder at the NYC premiere…

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“Man of Steel” cast and Zack Snyder hanging at the premiere in NYC. Don’t those three women look beautiful? Hell yeah, they do. Seems that Michael Shannon stands taller than everyone else, LOL! I just looked up Michael’s height and he’s 6 foot 3. Yes, that is Laurence Fishburne who plays a black Perry White in the film.

Can’t wait to see “Man of Steel”. Critics are already giving this movie rave reviews so look like everyone will be happy with this film. I’m pretty sure I’m seeing, “Man of Steel”, this weekend. I won’t be seeing it alone, I believe. I’m possibly going with several other friends in my area. I would have gone to see this movie alone but with this being, “Superman”, you can’t see it alone. You want to see this movie with other people to make it a blast. You want to have fun cheering on for Superman.

Really looking forward to this flick. When I do see it, I’ll review it for my blog for sure.

Kev

Why it’s so hard to make a great Superman movie…

Over the years, film makers struggle to make a great Superman movie. They try so hard to make the perfect Superman movie but they fail every time they make a new one. “Superman: The Movie” and “Superman II” with Christopher Reeve, those two films were perfect. People loved those two films and were happy with them. Both of those films are classic; however, when “Superman III” came out… it got mixed reviews and bombed in the box office. Then “Superman IV: The Quest For Peace”, also starring Chris Reeve got negative reviews all over the place, and that filmed bombed too. Warner Bros. and Cannon Films were going to move on with “Superman V” with Christopher Reeve once again but the filmed never happened. It was speculated that it never happened because “The Quest For Peace” bombed. Cannon Films didn’t have the budget to make it and Chris Reeve was asking too high of a paycheck that he didn’t want to do the film.

Later in the years, Tim Burton and Nicolas Cage was hired by Warner Bros. to make “Superman Lives” together but as they started to work on the film, Warner Bros. fired them and they stopped the project. “Superman Lives” never got made. Now here comes Bryan Singer’s “Superman: Returns” which was a homage to “Superman I and II”, a continuation of those two films, starring Brandon Routh as Superman/Clark Kent. That film was somewhat of a hit; it was successful but still got mixed reviews. Bryan Singer had planned to make a sequel to “Superman Returns”… but I read a little piece that Singer admits that Superman movies are extremely challenging to make and he doesn’t plan to make a new one anytime soon.

So you have to ask, why is it so hard to put Superman to the screen? I wouldn’t blame the writers and the directors for making bad Superman movies. I would blame Superman himself. Superman has always been difficult to tell stories with, and I’m pretty sure the comic book artists has a tough time as well. The same goes for the George Reeves television show.

I can think of a few good reasons why Superman flicks are so hard to make:

  1. Superman was meant to be science fiction stories – Superman is not always about action and being family-friendly. They were meant to be strictly science-fiction stories. Science-fiction stories are pretty hard to write. The same goes for Superman. With all the powers and unique characters. So challenging to make it perfect. It’s hard to tell science-fiction stories with the Superman character. 
  2. Superman stories are meant to be told with heart – The Superman character is supposed to be heartfelt. He wants to be a lovable character for everyone. The stories are meant to make people smile and the stories were supposed to be told with emotion. It’s hard to make Superman like that. The reason “III”, “IV: The Quest For Peace” and “Superman: Returns” really didn’t work is because he wasn’t heartfelt enough in those movies.
  3. Superman is just too perfect –  He certainly is much different than other superheroes. Batman was easier to tell good stories with ’cause he is different than Superman. Batman is a human character with no powers while Superman is an invincible guy. It’s hard to tell good stories with all the powers Superman has the flying, heat vision, x-ray vision, super-strength, super-hearing, speed, etc.
  4. It’s hard to make Superman fun – Everyone wants to see Superman in action. That’s what we all expect to see when watching a Superman movie. We want to see him kicking ass and fighting crime but instead we get pulled into bad storytelling. Everyone wants to have fun watching Superman movies and we haven’t had fun watching a Superman movie in a long while. Everyone thought the last couple of Superman movies were boring. Writers feel that the story is more important than action.
  5. It’s hard to create something new & different – I think this is one of the biggest reasons why Superman has a hard time making a good film. It’s hard to make something new and fresh. Every Superman movie that was made in the past was nothing new or original. They seemed like they were rehashing the same old plots and using the same old villains like Lex Luthor. It’s hard to create new stories with Superman ’cause everything has been done in the comics and everything else in the Superman world.

While people still give “III”, “IV”, and “Superman Returns” mixed reviews, I still like those movies for what they were. They were still pretty cool movies even though, I’ll admit that those three films still had some problems.

Will everyone finally be happy with, “Man of Steel”? “Man of Steel” comes out next Friday and we’ll have to wait to see what kind of reception the film will get. I’m hoping the film will get nothing but positive reviews but it wouldn’t surprise me that the film could get mixed reviews as well. I’m pretty sure everybody is gonna like, “Man of Steel”. I’m 100% positive, they did a good job with this one. I’m certainly looking forward to it. If “Man of Steel” is successful and if it’s a smash hit, hopefully they do move on to the sequel.

I’m a big Superman geek. I’m proud of it too. He is the king of all superheroes, you can’t deny that. In celebration of “Man of Steel” coming out next Friday, I’m planning to re-watch the previous 5 Superman movies on BluRay with the box set that I have. I hope people will love, “Man of Steel”, and I think they got it right, this time.

Kev

Report: Ben Affleck already set to star/direct next film titled, “Live By Night”…

Since Ben Affleck’s “Argo”, got the BEST PICTURE win at the Oscars, Warner Bros. is not wasting any time for Ben to move on to his next directed/starring movie. Ben will next direct and star in a film callled, “Live By Night”, based upon the novel by, Dennis Lehane. Of course, Ben Affleck is the only cast member signed as he will probably play the leading role.

The story “Live By Night”, is set in Boston in the 1920’s. Sounds like it’s going to be a gangster story; it looks like Ben will be playing a character named, Joe Coughlin. Read the full plot synopsis, here.

Sounds like it’s gonna be a violent action movie too. Which is good ’cause Ben is great at those kind of flicks ’cause I loved that movie, “The Town”. Well, I did love the movie, “Argo”, a lot but I liked “The Town” even more.  Hopefully “Live By Night”, will finally earn Ben a BEST DIRECTOR nomination ’cause it seems he keeps getting snubbed for that category. He is a talented film maker and actor, though. I’ve always admired Ben’s work. Even the films he stars in that he didn’t direct.

Deadline, reports.

Kev

Hear the new “Man of Steel” Hans Zimmer theme here…

Ya know, at first I was pretty skeptical of Hans Zimmer scoring for “Man of Steel” because I didn’t think he would be able to top John Williams. Well, I guess I thought wrong. I’m loving the new Superman theme. Zimmer did a good job and it helped make me ignore the Richard Donner films. The new theme doesn’t really sound like a super-hero theme either. It sounds real. The song has emotion and passion in it. The new song is kind of letting you know that the new Supes flick could be a sad film.

Enjoy it, here.

Kev

Cool Photo: The official “Man of Steel” poster is finally released…

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It’s been a while but the “Man of Steel” official poster is finally here. From what I’ve read by movie fans, this poster has been getting mixed reviews; some love it, some hate it. The reason some people hate it is that they don’t like the blur and it seems fan-made to some folks. I disagree. The poster wants to give a more realistic approach to Superman’s flying. The blur is there for a reason so it can make it look like he’s flying really fast. With that being said, I love the poster and would like to get a copy of it for myself.

As you all can probably tell by now, I am a Superman geek. Loved the character ever since I was a child and I will never stop loving the character. While I miss Christopher Reeve and the Richard Donner styled Superman, I believe “Man of Steel” has what it takes to be a good Superman movie we’ve been wanting for years. Hopefully, this film will make everyone happy for once; I think it will.

Kev

“Man of Steel” soundtrack set for release on June 11th…

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I usually don’t pass along all of these press releases and spam-mail I’ve been getting in my inbox, but I thought this one would be worth posting. The Hans Zimmer score for the film “Man of Steel”, will be getting released for a Deluxe Version; two-disc soundtrack. This movie will be a John Williams-less score, so you will not hear the main theme for this movie at all. This will be completely new music for Superman. From what I heard so far, it is amazing. So maybe this movie can do good without John Williams, after all?

Here’s the press release of the Soundtrack below (I’ll also post the link for the pre-order, if interested):

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MAN OF STEEL TWO DISC SOUNDTRACK FEATURING ORIGINAL MUSIC BY HANS ZIMMER SET FOR RELEASE JUNE 11th

Limited Deluxe Edition Soundtrack Also Available

 

Man of Steel: Original Motion Picture Soundtrack Available For Pre-Order

LOS ANGELES, CA – April 30, 2013 – On June 11, 2013, WaterTower Music will release two configurations of the Man Of SteelOriginal Motion Picture Soundtrack. The album will be available in standard form as well as a limited edition deluxe version at all physical and digital retailers. Academy Award®, Grammy®, and Golden Globe® – winning composer Hans Zimmer composed the music for this highly anticipated project, joining forces for the first time with director Zack Snyder.

“The challenges of creating a Superman score are daunting because Superman is so iconographic,” said Snyder. “I really feel like what Hans created is perfect. Subtle and stirring, epic and commanding. Honestly, Hans crushed it.”

Fans will have the ability to choose between the standard two disc, 18-song soundtrack, and a limited, deluxe edition of the soundtrack. This deluxe edition will be housed in a special embossed steel case, contain 24 score selections, and give fans the ability to access multiple videos showing an exclusive, behind-the-scenes look at the creation of the music. Both the standard and deluxe editions will include the epic track “Man of Steel (Hans Original Sketchbook)” which clocks in at over 28 minutes long. This exclusive track is performed solely by Zimmer, and allows listeners to experience firsthand his initial experiments with the film’s music, which ultimately lay the foundation for the film’s final score.

Those fans who purchase the CD version of the deluxe edition will have the opportunity to download all 24 songs in DTS Headphone: X, which reproduces a cinematic multi-speaker surround sound experience using only the user’s headphones. DTS Headphone: X presents a whole new way to hear mobile entertainment over headphones. The technology garnered rave reviews from the likes of The Wall Street Journal, and Cnet, among others at this year’s CES convention.

Additionally, a double, 180 gram vinyl configuration of the soundtrack is slated for a summer release.

In addition to his orchestral arrangements, Zimmer, no stranger to stepping outside the confines of traditional film scoring, has assembled two unique musical entities to contribute music to Man of Steel. The first, a “drum orchestra,” which was brought together for the album, is described by soundtrack co-producer Peter Asher as “some of the best drummers in the world all playing simultaneously in a space designed for a symphony orchestra – using not only rock drum kits but tympani and field drums as well.”

The membership of this elite assembly consists of many of today’s top musicians including John JR Robinson, Jason Bonham, Josh Freese, Pharrell Williams, Danny Carey, Satnam Ramgotra, Toss Panos, Jim Keltner, Curt Bisquera, Trevor Lawrence Jr., Matt Chamberlain, Ryeland Allison, Bernie Dresel, Vinnie Colaiuta and Sheila E. Their contribution, under Zimmer’s musical direction, creates a towering and powerful musical accompaniment to the film.

Another distinctive group the composer assembled was a gathering of eight of music’s finest pedal steel guitarists who play classical string section parts. This collective, consisting of Chas Smith, Marty Rifkin, Skip Edwards, Boo Bernstein, Peter Frieberger, Rick Schmidt, JD Maness, John McClung, was described by Asher as, “a uniquely new metallic orchestra” added its own distinct and soaring musical stamp to the soundtrack.

The Man Of SteelOriginal Motion Picture Soundtrack is currently available for preorder at Amazon and will be available for preorder on iTunes starting May 7.

 

SOUNDTRACK TRACK LISTING

  

Disc 1 – Flight

  1. Look to the Stars
  2. Oil Rig
  3. Sent here for a Reason
  4. DNA
  5. Goodbye My Son
  6. If You Love These People
  7. Krypton’s Last
  8. Terraforming
  9. Tornado
  10. You Die or I Do
  11. Launch
  12. Ignition
  13. I Will Find Him
  14. This is Clark Kent
  15. I Have So Many Questions
  16. Flight
  17. What Are You Going to Do When You Are Not Saving the World?

 

Disc 2 – Experiments from the Fortress of Solitude

  1. Man of Steel                                (Hans’ Original Sketchbook)
  2. Are You Listening, Clark?             (Deluxe Edition Only)
  3. General Zod                                (Deluxe Edition Only)
  4. You Led Us Here                         (Deluxe Edition Only)
  5. This Is Madness!                         (Deluxe Edition Only)
  6. Earth                                          (Deluxe Edition Only)
  7. Arcade                                       (Deluxe Edition Only)

Hans Zimmer has scored more than 100 films, which have, combined, grossed over 19.6 billion dollars at the worldwide box office.  He has been honored with an Academy Award®, two Golden Globes®, three Grammys®, an American Music Award, and a Tony® Award. In 2003, ASCAP presented him with the prestigious Henry Mancini award for Lifetime Achievement for his impressive and influential body of work. He also received his Star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame in December 2010.  Some of his most recent works include the History Channel’s miniseries The Bible; the Christopher Nolan-directed films Inception, The Dark Knight and The Dark Knight Rises; and Guy Ritchie’s Sherlock Holmes: A Game of Shadows. Upcoming titles include Ron Howard’s Rush, Gore Verbinski’s The Lone Ranger and Steve McQueen’s Twelve Years a Slave.

Zack Snyder directed Man of Steel from a screenplay by David S. Goyer from a story by Goyer & Nolan, based upon Superman characters created by Jerry Siegel & Joe Shuster and published by DC Entertainment.  Charles Roven, Christopher Nolan, Emma Thomas and Deborah Snyder are the producers, with Thomas Tull, Lloyd Phillips and Jon Peters serving as executive producers.  The film stars Henry Cavill, Amy Adams, Michael Shannon, Kevin Costner, Diane Lane, Laurence Fishburne, Antje Traue, Ayelet Zurer, Christopher Meloni and Russell Crowe.

Warner Bros. Pictures presents, in association with Legendary Pictures, a Syncopy Production, a Zack Snyder Film, Man of Steel.  The film will be released in 3D and 2D in select theaters and IMAX®, and is slated for release on June 14, 2013.  It will be distributed worldwide by Warner Bros. Pictures, a Warner Bros. Entertainment Company.

About Headphone: X

DTS Headphone: X enables content owners (e.g., movie studios, music labels or retail) to capture the acoustics of a high quality audio production studio and control the manner by which they are reproduced at the consumer end. Content providers can rest assured that the sonic reproduction presented to the listener can match the mix they so carefully crafted.

About WaterTower Music:

WaterTower Music, the in house music label for Warner Bros., has been releasing recorded music since 2001.  Distributed through InGrooves Fontana, WTM has released over 150 titles, including the film soundtracks to “The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey,” “The Dark Knight Rises,” “Project X,”, “Rock of Ages,” “Hairspray,” “Sex and the City,” “Elf,” “The Notebook,” and “Love and Basketball” among others.  Its 2013 schedule includes “42,” “Pacific Rim,” and “The Hobbit: The Desolation of Smaug.”

Happy 75 years, Superman…

Today officially marks the 75th Anniversary of Superman. The first Superman “Action Comics” was published: April 18th, 1938.

Superman is over hyped for a lot of reasons. First of all, the character means so much to so many people — including me. Secondly, the character just rules and he is the king of all superheroes. I loved Superman ever since I was a kid and still love him now. Watched all the Superman movies over the years, the George Reeves TV show, and all the Max Fleischer cartoons. Of course, I read a lot of comics as well.

What mattered to people the most was the Superman films; most notably, the films with Christopher Reeve who helped made the character more iconic. Chris Reeve will always be the best Superman of them all. Nobody will be able to top him ever. Not even Henry Cavill or Brandon Routh. I thought “Superman: The Movie” and “Superman II” were both amazing films but “III” was pretty good — “The Quest For Peace” was garbage. Then comes “Superman: Returns” in which Bryan Singer directed; that film was okay but needed a lot of improvements and the script was a mess.

Here comes the new Superman flick, “Man of Steel”, directed by Zack Snyder and produced by Christopher Nolan. The trailer was released this week to help celebrate the 75 years of Superman. I can’t wait for, “Man Of Steel”. I’m sure it will be a Superman flick that will make all of us fanboys happy.

I’ll post the trailer again.

Kev