New trailer for "Thor: The Dark World"

Where the first full trailer was more or less earthbound this one makes a welcome return to Asgard (where it's apparently pile-on-Loki Day). I'm glad to see Tom Hiddleston's character front and center here since it was announced recently that he will not be part of "The Avengers: Age of Ultron". Idras Elba also makes his first Thor 2 appearance, albeit briefly. Beyond that this trailer has a lot more 'umph' than the last and overall doesn't seem nearly as disconnected from the first film as the previous trailer did. Enjoy.


"Thor: The Dark World" hits theaters November 8th.

The top 10 movies for the weekend of August 2 - August 4, 2013

1) 2 Guns	$27 Million
2) The Wolverine	$21.3 Million
3) The Smurfs 2	$17.5 Million
4) The Conjuring	$13 Million
5) Despicable Me 2	$10.1 Million
6) Grown Ups 2	$7.9 Million
7) Turbo	$6.2 Million
8) Red 2	$5.5 Million
9) The Heat	$4.6 Million
10) Pacific Rim	$4.4 Million

The number one movie a year ago this week was Warner Brother's "The Dark Knight Rises" which held on to the top spot for a 3rd consecutive week with $35.7 million in box office receipts.

(Green indicates new release)

"Pacific Rim" continues to find life overseas

Though its domestic total should come to rest right around the $100 million mark - which isn't causing anyone at Warners to dance in the street - "Pacific Rim"s performance overseas is raising eyebrows and turning those domestic frowns around. In its first 5 days in communist China Guillermo del Toro's Kaiju epic pulled in a whopping $45 million which helped to bring its international total to a cool $200 million. Considering it still has to open in Spain, Brazil and Japan (and that it's run in China has just begun) "Pacific Rim" could wind up turning a tidy profit before its theatrical run is over. In fact it should ultimately be a very tidy profit when you consider TV rights and DVD sales as well.

New trailer for "Riddick"

Vin Diesel returns as Riddick in this much-welcome throwback to "Pitch Black" that keeps the badassery up front at the expense of all the intergalactic politicking that made "The Chronicles of Riddick" such a bore.


"Riddick" opens September 6th.

Whedon clarifies the whole Thanos/Avengers 2 thing; sort of

Thanos appearing for no apparent reason at the end of "The Avengers"

After implying at the end of "The Avengers" that we'd be seeing Thanos as the bad guy in "Avengers 2" Marvel threw a wrench into the expectations of Thanos fans last month by announcing that the sequel would be titled: "The Avengers: Age of Ultron". Ultron? I don't remember seeing him in any teaser footage? What happened to Thanos?

Well, Whedon has apparently heard some of the kvetching his sequel title generated because in an interview with TotalFilm he addresses it: “We have to stay grounded. It’s part of what makes the Marvel universe click – their relationship to the real world. It’s science-fiction, and Thanos is not out of the mix, but Thanos was never meant to be the next villain.”

It's your movie and you can do what you want, but don't blame fans for the expectations you set in motion Joss.

New poster for "Thor: The Dark World"

This new poster looks promising though personally I'm just hoping this film isn't too much of a letdown following as it does in the footsteps of the amazing Kenneth Branagh directed original.

"Thor: The Dark World" is due in US theaters November 8th.

New trailer for "Machete Kills"

"Machete kills! That's what he does!" What he don't do is texting and botox. But if he did he wouldn't be so damned loveable.


Mel Gibson, Jessica Alba, Charlie Sheen and more join Machete on his bloody adventure opening October 11th.

Get ready for the "Avatar" quadrilogy

Seems like only yesterday word was leaking out that James Cameron had hired Josh Friedman to help him finish the script for "Avatar 2". That's because it was! Now we have official word from the king of the world himself that he's not only hired Friedman, but Rick Jaffa, Amanda Silver (Rise of the Planet of the Apes), and Shane Salerno (Savages) as well. That's a lot of writers. But that's not all folks. No. Not by a long shot. Because in announcing that he'd hired the aforementioned writers Cameron also let slip that there will be not 2 but 3 sequels to his box office champion. Here's part of his announcement:

“Building upon the world we created with Avatar has been a rare and incredibly rewarding experience... In writing the new films, I’ve come to realize that Avatar’s world, story and characters have become even richer than I anticipated, and it became apparent that two films would not be enough to capture everything I wanted to put on screen. And to help me continue to expand this universe, I’m pleased to bring aboard Amanda, Rick, Shane and Josh — all writers I’ve long admired -­ to join me in completing the films screenplays.”

If there's a downside to this whole thing it's that he's also officially pushed back the release date of Avatar 2 to December 2016 and that's a loooooonnnngg way off yet. So enjoy the news about the extra film Avatar fans but get on with your life because it's going to be a while before we see Pandora on the big screen again.

"Pacific Rim" storms the Pacific rim box office

Box office numbers from the States have been lackluster at best for Guillermo del Toro's superb Kaiju film but that may not wind up meaning much if Wednesday's opening in communist China is any indication. GDT's film pulled in a tidy $9 million on its opening night in the land of the unelected, a new all-time high for Warner's in the territory. And with openings still looming in northern Europe as well as in Brazil and Japan and the overseas box office already at $140 million the film may actually wind up turning a small profit and perhaps even trigger a sequel. I'm keeping my fingers crossed.

"Avatar 2" has a new writer

James Cameron has been working on his "Avatar" sequels almost since the original film was released waaaayyy back in 2009 and now TheWrap is reporting that he's signed on Josh Friedman to take a stab at the screenplay for "A2". Whether that means Friedman will be expected to take a completely fresh look at the project or simply do some polishing up is unknown at this time. Neither Cameron nor his producer/bud Jon Landau are saying anything.

Friedman's previous credits include working on Cameron's established characters for the TV series "Terminator: The Sarah Connor Chronicles" and working with Steven Spielberg on his 2005 film "War of the Worlds". In theory the films are supposed to begin shooting early next year but I'm not holding my breath.

Zhake Sooley spies a new writer on the horizon