Will Smith Decides Not To Star in ‘Independence Day 2’?

Will Smith Decides Not To Star in ‘Independence Day 2’?
Kevin Jagernauth — The Playlist

Yes, no, maybe: those are the three answers Will Smith has given to 20th Century Fox about returning for “Independence Day 2” aka “ID Forever” over the past few years. But now it seems he’s made up his mind. Almost.

Deadline reports that Smith won’t be starring in the sequel that is set for a 2016 release, but they add that they were “told not to set this in stone, because Smith has been back and forth before on whether to make the movie.” That said, they do believe he’ll be letting director Roland Emmerich know shortly that he won’t be coming back. But this is why you always plan ahead.…

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To Be Taken, or Not To Be Taken…

To Be Taken, or Not To Be Taken…

The saddest of news this week: Philip Seymour Hoffman passed away from an apparent drug overdose this past week. We have lost one of the great story-tellers. Though he had one scene left to film in ‘The Hunger Games: Mocking Jay Part 2’, it will not affect the film’s release date. In lighter news, J.K. Rowling has seemingly lost her mind and decided it was not after all a good idea to put Ron and Hermione together and thinks that she should have instead put Harry and Hermione together. What a load of rubbish! There’s a lot to look forward to in the upcoming episodes of ‘Agents of SHIELD’. TJ has been nothing but thrilled with this show and doesn’t understand what the problem is for some people. This week, Chad, Fizz, and TJ gathered on ‘The MovieByte Podcast’ to discuss ‘American Hustle’. It may not quite be the film that it’s Oscar Nomination would suggest, but it’s worth watching. Netflix has renewed ‘House of Cards’ for a third season and this is great news! And continuing the “off topic” business with Nintendo, TJ talks about how Nintendo has a plan to keep it’s next generation of consoles from being a flop. Then we find out that in ‘Taken 3’ no one is going to be “take” which begs the question, what’s with the name? And of course, TJ walks you through what’s available in theaters for your viewing enjoyment.

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Find Out The Back Story Behind ‘X-Men: Days of Future Past’ (video)

Find Out The Back Story Behind ‘X-Men: Days of Future Past’ (video)

If you’re like me, you’re not really into comic books that much. I mean I had a few when I was a kid but I never got into them. And I’m not into them now. But I’m really into comic book movies. Weird, right?

Well in any event, just because I’ve never been into the comic books doesn’t mean I’m not interested in a little history lesson. In this video form from Scott Collura of IGN, the information is fun and easily digestible. I enjoyed it a lot and I thought you all might as well.

X-Men: Days of Future Past will be premiering on May 23 so go ahead and watch and get up to speed on what’s…

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Gary Oldman Says He’s been Approached by Lucasfilm about ‘Star Wars’ role

Gary Oldman Says He’s been Approached by Lucasfilm about ‘Star Wars’ role
Angie Han — /Film

Actor Gary Oldman has confirmed that he was approached for a role in the J.J. Abrams-directed adventure, though he hasn’t gone as far as saying he’s actually been cast. Read his exact words after the jump.

Sky News tossed the Star Wars question at Oldman during a Robocopevent. “They’ve called,” Oldman stated. “I’m more cynical about it now,” he continued. “I’ll believe it when I’m on the plane home. The deal isn’t done. But yeah, they’ve inquired.”

As Oldman emphasized, that doesn’t mean he’s booked the part. The word is that the filmmakers have looked at just about everyone, which…

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Vampires Save Monuments with LEGOs — What to see this weekend

Vampires Save Monuments with LEGOs — What to see this weekend

Some headlines write themselves don’t they? This one sure did. I looked at the movies being released this weekend, then I looked over at my title field and it had already filled itself in.

Seriously though, I think we have one (probably) really good film here, one maybe kind of okay film here, and one that just looks terrible. I’ll list these three newcomers to the box office in that order.

New This Weekend

The Lego Movie — PG

I’ve got to tell you, I was skeptical at first, but this film looks quite excellent. That last piece I posted with the featurette and nine clips from the film…

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Tom Hanks Could Have Been Lex Luthor? (?!?)

Tom Hanks Could Have Been Lex Luthor? (?!?)
Devin Faraci — Badass Digest

Tom Hanks’ name was brought up internally at Warner Bros as a possibility for Lex Luthor in Batman vs Superman. They went instead with Jesse Eisenberg. What does this tell us about what’s going on behind the scenes?

Well, the Hollywood Reporter story about the casting of Eisenberg (sort of misleadingly titled “Why Warner Bros.’ Superman-Batman Movie Cast a Young Lex Luthor”) doesn’t say who brought up Hanks’ name internally - was it a bunch of studio suits or was it Snyder’s team? If it was Snyder’s team we see a casting process that reveals a movie finding its way; casting Tom Hanks makes…

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Bob Iger Says ‘Captain America 2’ Sets Events in Motion for ‘Avengers’ and ‘SHIELD’

Bob Iger Says ‘Captain America 2’ Sets Events in Motion for ‘Avengers’ and ‘SHIELD’
Brent Lang — The Wrap

“Captain America: The Winter Soldier” will “set critical events in motion” that will lead directly into next year’s “The Avengers: Age of Ultron,” The Walt Disney Company CEO and Chairman Robert Iger told investors and analysts Wednesday.

In addition, the Disney chief said that the parts of the “Captain America” sequel’s plot will be reflected in ABC’s “Marvel’s Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D.”

It continues Disney’s transmedia strategy, an approach that weaves a narrative across multiple media platforms, spanning movies, television shows, comics and social media outlets.

And this is quite a good…

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No One Gets Taken in ‘Taken 3’

No One Gets Taken in ‘Taken 3’
Russ Fischer — /Film

But let’s get it from Liam Neeson, via Bleeding Cool. The actor was on the show hosted by Jonathan Ross in the UK, and explained “They called me up and I said “I’ll do it… but only as long as nobody gets taken.”

Neeson didn’t give up any more details, perhaps having been well-conditioned by the Christopher Nolan PR machine. Luc Besson and Robert Mark Kamen scripted the film, and we know that Maggie Grace, playing Neeson’s daughter, will also be back for a third turn. Kamen had actually explained this “no taking” policy for the third film back in 2012: “We’ve taken everyone we can take —…

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Honest Trailer — ‘Thor: The Dark World

Honest Trailer — ‘Thor: The Dark World

I wasn’t even sure I was going to post this one until the very end. If you’ve played the game referenced you’ll know exactly what I’m talking about and it’s awesome.

And there are definitely a few funny moments here and there so it’s worth it, even if the movie was pretty good and there’s actually not a lot to complain about in my opinion.