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Americatown By Peter Sciretta/Sept. 29, 2008 12:04 am EST The year is 2040, and the United States has collapsed caused “a mass exodus of its citizens.” Oz writer Bradford Winters is developing the concept as a television series for HBO. The show, Americatown, will tell the story of a cluster of newly arrived American immigrants who form a Chinatown-like district in a big foreign city. Winters has been trying to see this concept through for the last decade in various incarnations in different mediums (miniseries, movie, book)....

Andy Samberg’s SNL Digital Short “Hero Song” By Hunter Stephenson/March 9, 2008 8:42 pm EST Last night’s Saturday Night Live was pretty good, with the cast managing to maintain its surprising post-strike energy and wit. Host Amy Adams needed to be sedated though, anyone else notice? The highlight was a new superhero-spoofing SNL Digital Short starring cast member Andy Samberg entitled Hero Song. Playing a Big Apple yuppie who is increasingly distressed over the city’s rising (and totally inexistent) crime wave, Samberg’s voice builds and crescendos like Gerard McMann’s ’80s smash “Cry Little Sister” from The Lost Boys soundtrack....

Braveheart Scribe Hired To Rewrite Captain Nemo By Peter Sciretta/July 7, 2009 10:18 pm EST Braveheart scribe Randall Wallace has been hired to rewrite Disney’s 20,000 Leagues Under the Sea: Captain Nemo, which is being developed for McG. Not a good sign for the project, which has already had a couple notable writers. Geek screenwriter Justin Marks (Masters of the Universe, Super Max) was hired in February to rewrite Bill Marsilli’s (Deja Vu) original draft....

Brett Ratner No Longer Directing Conan By Peter Sciretta/May 7, 2009 12:45 pm EST Hack director Brett Ratner might not have a chance to ruin the legacy of Conan after all. That’s right, the Rat has departed from the reboot due to scheduling issues. Producer Joe Gatta tells Empire: “We’re currently in the process of hiring a director. For the past six months we were discussing the movie with Brett Ratner, and for more timing issues than anything else we had to part ways with Brett....

Clueless Director Amy Heckerling Now Officially Part Of The Vampire Craze With Romantic Comedy Vamps By Devindra Hardawar/Nov. 8, 2009 11:28 pm EST As far as filmographies go, Amy Heckerling has a weighty selection of hits among her misses. In addition to the fantastic Clueless, she also gave us Fast Times at Ridgemont High, European Vacation, and the first two Look Who’s Talking movies. While the quality of the latter two films is debatable, at least they made money, which is more than you can see for her recent string of films which include The Loser, and the direct-to-DVD I Can Never Be Your Woman (which /Filmcast guest Richard Kelly quite liked)....

Confessions Of A Shopaholic Movie Trailer By Peter Sciretta/Sept. 29, 2008 2:54 pm EST Disney has released the first trailer for the big screen adaptation of Confessions of a Shopaholic. Isla Fisher stars as Rebecca Bloomwood, “a sweet and charming New York City girl who has a tiny, little problem that is rapidly turning into a big problem: she’s hopelessly addicted to shopping and drowning in a sea of debt.”...

Cool Stuff: Admiral Ackbar Obama Parody T-Shirt By Peter Sciretta/Oct. 29, 2009 9:48 pm EST I know the Fairey Obama parody art has been overdone, but TeeFury has done it again with another awesome one-day-only t-shirt print. Tom Ledin created this Admiral Ackbar (Star Wars) / Barack Obama mash-up titled “TRAP”. As always, the t-shirts will only be on sale until midnight, and are available for only $9 plus shipping (not a bad price)....

Cool Stuff: Mighty Muggs Comic Con Exclusives - Commander Gree And Indy’s Golden Idol By Peter Sciretta/April 7, 2008 11:04 am EST We’ve already established that I’m totally obsessed with Mighty Muggs, Hasbro’s attempt at capitalizing on the hip trend of Urban vinyl collectible figures. So far they’ve released Star Wars figures, more Star Wars figures, and a line of Indiana Jones figures. And now comes a couple San Diego Comic Con exclusives: Commander Gree from Star Wars and the Golden Idol from Raiders of the Lost Ark....

By Peter Sciretta/May 7, 2009 11:06 am EST First of all, many of the people who downloaded the workprint weren’t planning on seeing the movie anyways. They downloaded the film because it was available. Many others actually downloaded the film and paid for a ticket to see the finished version on the big screen. And let’s not forget the group of people that just don’t see films in theaters anymore. I call them the downloaders....

Eminem To Star In Multiple Roles In 3D Anthology Horror Movie Shady Talez By Hunter Stephenson/Nov. 6, 2009 11:14 am EST Nationwide, Juggalos are already boycotting in parking lots, in addition to breeding. Eminem, the 37-year-old adolescent rapper, will follow up his $116 million grossing fictionalized biopic, 8 Mile, from 2002 with a 3D anthology horror movie horrifically entitled Shady Talez. The project has kicked around for a while, and is now part of a synergy package that includes a same-named four-issue comic book series due 2010 from Marvel Icons....

Empire Spill Tintin Beans Galore - Second Film Coming Really Soon! By Brendon Connelly/April 23, 2009 6:00 am EST The much lauded 20th Anniversary issue of Empire is out now and on shelves across the UK. The Oxford Cornmarket St. branch of WH Smith has definitely sold at least one copy already. I’m sat here with it now, and am quite taken aback by how brilliant it truly is. Really, this is Empire at its best....

Entertainment Tonight’s First Look At Christina Aguilera’s Burlesque By Peter Sciretta/Feb. 5, 2010 12:30 pm EST Entertainment Tonight ran a behind the scenes feature on Christina Aguilera’s live-action big screen film debut Burlesque. Steven Antin’s contemporary musical tells the story of Ali, “an ambitious small-town girl with a big voice” played by Aguilera, who “tries to escape a hollow past by performing in a neo-burlesque club in Los Angeles.” The film hopes to be Moulin Rouge meets Cabaret, with established songs that will be updated and worked into dance numbers....

ET Visits The Set Of Prince Of Persia By Peter Sciretta/Nov. 14, 2008 1:21 am EST Entertainment Tonight visited the London set of Prince of Persia: The Sands of Time. Watch the video above to see some footage from the massive Morocco shoot, and it looks like ET was on set for a night scene where Gemma Arterton’s character Princess Tamina is trying to stab Prince Dastan, played by Jake Gyllenhaal....

First Look: Jason Reitman’s Juno By Peter Sciretta/Aug. 28, 2007 5:52 pm EST One of the film’s I’m most excited to see at the Toronto International Film Festival next week is Jason Reitman’s follow-up to Thank You For Smoking: Juno. Check out the first production photo from the film above. Ellen Page stars as Juno (also the film’s title), a whip-smart teen confronting an unplanned pregnancy by her classmate Bleeker (Michael Cera)....

First Look: Pixar’s BURN-E By Peter Sciretta/Nov. 6, 2008 9:17 pm EST ThePixarBlog has a first look at Pixar’s new short film, BURN-E, which is including on the upcoming DVD/Blu-ray release of WALL-E. Directed by WALL-E lead animator Angus MacLane, the seven and a half minute short film tells the story of the unfortunate little welder droid who is trying to install a replacement lamp and find a way back inside the Axiom Starliner (if you saw WALL-E then you saw how he got locked out)....

First Look: Sandy Collora’s Hunter Prey By Peter Sciretta/Nov. 17, 2008 8:59 pm EST You might not recognize Sandy Collora’s name, but you’ve probably seen his films. Special effects artist and creature designer turned filmmaker, Collora is probably best known as the director of one of the most famous fan films of all time Batman: Dead End. If you haven’t seen it, check it out now. The film is most memorable for it’s Hollywood-level production values and a shocking climax that involves Batman battling Alien and Predator....

Hannah Montana Concert Movie Tickets Selling Out (I Know) By Hunter Stephenson/Jan. 31, 2008 5:16 pm EST The nation’s largest online movie ticket company, Fandango, has released some stats for Disney’s theatrical concert extravaganza opening this weekend, Hannah Montana and Miley Cyrus: Best of Both Worlds Concert Tour. For those who don’t know but secretly care, the movie is in 3D. What does a $15 ticket buy in 3D? Well, how about: guitar pics flying at your face, mic stands being rocked so hard the Blues Brothers would duck, the totes siked hands of huge tween audiences grabbing for you, and one twirling drum stick going “wham!...

Heath Ledger 1979-2008 / The Dark Knight’s Website Goes White By Hunter Stephenson/Jan. 25, 2008 1:00 am EST Anyone who writes on the web knows that it shares a lot in common with pinball; it’s a never-ending session of sending out information, aiming for certain point beds, watching it randomly bounce around and occasionally fire back at you in a barrage of lengthy emails, rapid comments, angry message boards and the savored angry person outside your window with a mask on....

Hulu Looking For Revenue Options, May Charge For Older Episodes From Popular Shows By Devindra Hardawar/Jan. 22, 2010 1:50 am EST Don’t hurt me, I’m just the messenger. Yesterday, I wrote about Youtube considering rental options for independent films and other content, and now we have another free service looking to charge for content. The LA Times is reporting that Hulu is currently looking for new ways of making revenue, and chief among them is a plan to charge for older TV episodes....

I Am Legend Movie Trailer To Premiere With Ocean’s 13 By Peter Sciretta/May 29, 2007 4:48 pm EST The movie trailer for the Will Smith vampire action flick I Am Legend will be attached to Ocean’s 13, which hits theaters on June 8th. According to Collider, the trailer will make an online premiere shortly before. We’ve been looking forward to this film for some time now. Based on the 1954 horror novel by Richard Matheson which has been adapted on to film twice with very mixed results....