So here we go with “The Jungle Book,” as THR reports Disney has hired Justin Marks, who penned an early draft of the studio’s “20,000 Leagues Under The Sea” reboot, to write the script. Hooray! Listen, it’s just the bare, franchise necessities which is why this is happening, though since Rudyard Kipling‘s stories are in the public domain it means they have competition from Warner Bros. who have their own Mowgli feature brewing, penned by “Harry Potter” dude Steve Kloves.

Hmm. I’m not sure how much I care about this. Of course the headline caught my eye because I’ve only watched the…

Today we’ll be broadcasting The MovieByte Podcast live at 4:00 PM Central Daylight Time. Chad Hopkins will be back to discuss all the goodies and films with me this week as he was last week.

Also joining us this week for the first time is Mikey Fissel of Reel World Theology. We’ll be discussing Despicable Me 2 and he’s seen it and has some opinions on it. We’ll also talk about The Lone Ranger as well as the latest in movie news and trailers, as always. And we’d love for you to join us for the live broadcast and interact with us! So join us at 4:00 PM! Watch for it!

Another appetite wheter has made an appearance for Agents of SHIELD, and let me tell you, it’s very “Joss Whedon-y”. Consider this bit of dialog from the promo (embeded below):

“What does SHIELD” stand for Agent Ward?”

“Strategic Homeland Intervention Enforcement and Logistics Division.”

“And what does that mean to you?”

“It means someone really wanted our intials to spell out SHIELD.”

That is Joss Whedon dialog if I’ve ever heard it, and that makes me very happy. Many people may not quite get the whole Buffy and Angel phenomenon, but that type of writing is why we loved those…

This is by no means a compressive list, indeed I only have two titles here for you. Someday when I have more time, or MovieByte is a bigger deal and has more writers, and I can dedicate a writer to keep an eye on new streaming titles, I’d like to do a feature every week highlighting new titles available for streaming and download. But for now, I just wanted to highlight these two titles that I noticed. If you can’t or don’t want to make it out to the cinema this week/weekend, one of these two titles might be a fun one to catch.

The Host

iTunes | Amazon Instant

This is an extremely…

CBS has extended its multi-year licensing agreement for its library content with Netflix. Under the revised deal, new titles such as L.A. Complex, 4400, and CSI: NYwill be available to Netflix subscribers. The agreement also includes several CBS series already on Netflix including Jericho, Medium, andFlashpoint, along with episodes from all generations of Star Trek as well as Twin Peaks.

Good news! The more content available on Netflix, the happier a camper I will be. I would really like to get all my content via Netflix and Hulu, I’m tired of these companies and providers that draf…

Responding to reports of a nascent boycott against the upcoming movie version of his beloved 1985 sci-fi novel Ender’s Game because of his stated opposition to same-sex marriage, author Orson Scott Card has released a statement exclusively to EW.

...

Ender’s Game is set more than a century in the future and has nothing to do with political issues that did not exist when the book was written in 1984.

With the recent Supreme Court ruling, the gay marriage issue becomes moot. The Full Faith and Credit clause of the Constitution will, sooner or later, give legal force in every state to…

 A lot of reordered stuff, and some new scenes we haven’t yet seen. A lot of boom and bang, a lot of monsters, and a lot of high stakes. Also, GLaDOS is still present! Does that mean that her voice will be just like that in the final film? It’s still kind of strange to me that such a menacing computer voice from one universe will be a neutral (presumably) computer voice in this one.

Well in any event, in just a few days, we’ll get a chance to see for ourselves whether this film is any good, because Pacific Rim comes out on July 12.

Despite admitting that he is a fan of the Star Trek universe, Blomkamp told Filmz that he is not interested in franchise filmmaking.

“I used to be a Star Trek: The Next Generation fan. Like, big time,” he explained. “But no, I probably wouldn’t do that.

“I don’t know if me getting involved with a franchise is the best thing for me. When studios smell franchises, they smell money. And they’ll try to do what they can to the franchise to make it make the most money it can make, and a lot of those interesting ideas kind of fall by the side of the road. 

“Do I like Star Trek on its own…

Disney’s The Lone Ranger has ended up in the box office stockades, with the studio and even producer Jerry Bruckheimer facing a substantial loss after the meek opening of the Johnny Depp-Armie Hammer Western in North America and in its first overseas markets.

Just as Lone Ranger began rolling out in theaters July 3, Cowen & Co. analyst Doug Creutz predicted a $100 million write-down for Disney. Now, box office experts and rival studio insiders tell The Hollywood Reporter that the loss could approach or even surpass $150 million based on final opening numbers, although they add that…