Timelines & Deadlines...

Well, it looks like Sony is trying to stake a claim on the gold they've been mining...

The Studio has just announced two more sequels to the current film that is shooting.  Here's the press release with commentary to follow:



CULVER CITY, Calif., June 17, 2013 – With Sony Pictures Entertainment now in production in New York on The Amazing Spider-Man™ 2, slated for release on May 2, 2014, the studio is planting its flag on two future release dates for one of the most successful franchises in studio history, it was announced today by Jeff Blake, Chairman, Worldwide Marketing and Distribution for Sony Pictures. The next two films in the story of Peter Parker will be released on June 10, 2016, and on May 4, 2018, respectively.

Commenting on the announcement, Blake said, “Spider-Man is our most important, most successful, and most beloved franchise, so we’re thrilled that we are in a position to lock in these prime release dates over the next five years.”

The Amazing Spider-Man 2 is directed by Marc Webb from a screenplay by Alex Kurtzman & Roberto Orci & Jeff Pinkner, with a previous draft by James Vanderbilt, and based on the Marvel Comic Book by Stan Lee and Steve Ditko. Avi Arad and Matt Tolmach are the producers. The executive producers are E. Bennett Walsh, Stan Lee, Alex Kurtzman, and Roberto Orci.
The Amazing Spider-Man took in over $750 million at the worldwide box office last year.



You think this is a huge finger in the eye to Kevin Feige and the Suits of Marvel/Disney?  Yes.  Yes it is.  It's knowing the cash cow they have has an expiration date and trying to keep it as far away as possible.  Marvel has been of late been keeping an eye on all the productions that are not under its own in-house production.  The lawyers for the Mouse are making sure each contract is kept to the letter of the agreement.  There will be no deviation.  Any such chance to get out of the deal will result in a swarm of legal activity.

It's less likely that we'll see director Marc Webb finish out these films as the production schedule is going to be insane.   He'd have to spend the better part of the next decade doing nothing but comic book films, which I'm sure he enjoys, but doesn't want to be known for it for the rest of the next decade.  I'm sure he has other stories to tell.  So expect other directors to be lined up for the fourth film, maybe even the third.  And those productions will be hard pressed to meet their dates.  Disney will be counting down the minutes until the agreement expires.  And there won't be a renewal. 

Sony knows this and that's why they planted the flag so early...

Static...

Hey Guys,

Sorry, but the real world is delaying posting right now, and it comes first, sadly.  Articles over the next few weeks will be sporatic, and hopefully will pick up again near the end of the month.  But we've got some great things to talk about, so stay tuned.

Thank you for understanding...

A Galaxy Far, Far E3...

Very soon we'll know what the direction of the Star Wars universe...

I mean the gaming part of it, of course.  EA will be at E3 next week and the announcement of their plans for the next few Star Wars games are supposed to be announced.  I don't think we'll see any game play as plans they have are still in the early stages.  The only way we'd see something like "Battlefront 3" would be if they had made a deal to acquire the already almost completed game: highly unlikely but not totally out of probability.  But at least we'll have a road map of what is to come.

Expecting artwork and titles isn't entirely out of the question, but the type of game and story that players will be involved in is what EA's head suit, Labels president Frank Gibeau will likely give us the 411 about.  Since it'll be a press briefing for their entire line up, the focus won't be on Lucas Arts/ EA Star Wars as the entire line of games they have coming out.

Still, having that Star Wars license will be something to brag about...

A Numbers Game...

Popularity is a fleeting thing...

The attendance of theme parks shows the popularity of the destination, and from time to time parks rankings will move up or down.  For long periods of history certain spots have been held by the same park.  For instance, the Magic Kingdom in Florida has maintained the top position in theme parks.

Years ago, before Tokyo Disneyland added a second gate, the stunning Tokyo DisneySEA, there was a horse race between the two parks for the top position.  Now, WDW's first park wins outright with the original here on the west coast getting the silver prize.

The Themed Entertainment Association (TEA) and AECOM have just released the figures of theme parks for 2012.  How did Disney do this year?  Where did Disney California Adventure get to after the Extreme Makeover?  Where is the rest of the world in themed entertainment?

You can find the answers to all these and many more here.  It's an exhaustive analyses of where, what and why of theme parks.  It's also quite readable with graphs, charts and lists that put in perspective the theme parks of the world, not just Disney's world.  But here is a list of the top 25 theme parks for the Cliffs Notes version:

1. Magic Kingdom 17,536,000  +2.3%
2. Disneyland 15,963,000 -1.1%
3. Tokyo Disneyland 14,847,000 +8.5%
4. Tokyo Disney Sea 12,656,000 +8.5%
5. Disneyland Park at Disneyland Paris 11,200,000 +1.9%
6. Epcot 11,063,000 +2.2%
7. Disney's Animal Kingdom 9,998,999 +2.2%
8. Disney's Hollywood Studios 9,912,000 +2.2%
9. Universal Studios Japan 9,700,000 +14.1%
10. Islands of Adventure 7,981,000 +4%
11. Disney California Adventure 7,775,000 +22.6%
14. Hong Kong Disneyland 6,700,000 +13.6%
15. Universal Studios Orlando 6,195,000 +2.5%
19. Sea World Florida 5,358,000 +3.0%
20. Walt Disney Studios Park at Disneyland Paris 4,800,000 +1.9%
23. Busch Gardens Tampa Bay 4,348,000 +1.5%

24. DeeFTeLING  Kaatsheuvel, Netherlands 4,200,000 +1.8%

25. OcT eAST Shenzhen, China 4,196,000 +7.9%



Now, if this intrigues you then head over to the actual report for a detailed look...

Fairy Taled...

The Bunny has been trying to get this one made for a millennium...

Or it might just seem that long.  While Warner is taking their time getting the primary DC Comics characters to the silver screen, they are moving forward with some of their other DC properties.  Their Vertigo properties to be precise.

"Fables" which tells the tale of a group of fairy tale characters that get throw out of their own world and into ours.  No, I'm not talking about "Once Upon A Time" or even "Grimm" really.  This is, or was around well before those series were created.  In fact, it might be the reason that the studio decided to go the film route since there are already series with similar themes on network television.

Originally they were going to try and film it with the Jim Henson Company involved and that fell through.  A few years ago there was an attempt to make it as a television series for ABC and that went nowhere.  You have to love development hell, right?

Now Warner Bros. is going the feature route again and has attached Nikolaj Arcel to helm the film based on a script by Jeremy Slater (latest draft of the current "Fantastic Four" reboot).  David Heyman and Jeffrey Clifford of Harry Pottor fame will be producing the film.  No one is currently attached as stars, but with the writer/director/producers all lined up expect casting to announced shortly.

I wonder if DC Entertainment has anything to do with this since it's an imprint of theirs...

Spirit Of The West...

The Man of Steel isn't the only hero coming out soon...

A Masked Man with silver bullets will be out soon as well.  The film looks to have crazy action and Gore Verbinski's twisted take on the Wild West also.  If you've seen the trailers then you've seen the scene where the Lone Ranger wakes up after being dead to find himself on a spirit tower and almost falling off.

Walt Disney Pictures has released a new featurette of the filming of that scene.  It shows you the prep that it takes to film even a shot that last only a few seconds.  But it's unique shots that make films stand out in this crowded summer of films.  Or maybe it's story that make films stand out?  Yeah, that's it: a great script.

I've been hanging around development suits too long...

Unplugged...

And here we have another game cancellation from the Mouse...

Only it's a game that never was intended to exist.  If you saw "Wreck-It Ralph" last year then you remember the gaming environments that Ralph got to experience.  From the Donkey Kong-like world of Fix-It Felix Jr. that he inhabited, to the Mario Cart feel of the sickeningly sweet world of Sugar Rush, to the Halo inspired world of Hero's Duty.  But there was another gaming world that didn't make the cut.

Extreme Easy Living 2, a fictional game that appears in a scene that audiences never actually saw, it was never actually rendered because it was cut well before that process could begin.  Here you can watch an animatic of the exclusive scene courtesy of Total Film (their exclusive, not ours).  It has a unique charm to it, but I agree with the cut.  It didn't add anything else to the story and would likely have slowed down the story.  Something that really wouldn't work for the ADD minds of the film going audience.

You know, the ones that would actually be the audience to play these games...