JUNKFILM

New Frontiersman Old PSA
If you are a fan of the upcoming graphic novel turned mega film, Watchmen, you have surely already been to the viral advertising website New Frontiersman.net. Today they have posted a “old looking” PSA: “The Keene Act & You”

Senator John Keene…”One hero that doesn’t need to wear a mask”
… definitely worth checking out.

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Warner Bros Wants 7 Batman Movies
Following in the footsteps of Harry Potter, Warner Bros wants to make a 7 part series of Nolan’s rebirth of the Batman franchise. While the third film is still being written and in the pre production aspects, it would seem that Warner Bros is seeing dollar signs for a good many years to come. During today’s Time Warner earnings call, CEO Jeff Bewkes said:

“We look at Harry Potter. It’s fantastic to have franchises that last that long. We want to do that with Batman and Superman and perhaps Sherlock Holmes. The sequels are as good, with new characters added, as were the originals. That wasn’t the case in the years ago. Warner has more tent-poles as an on-going strategy that very much lifts its distribution and performance
. We think that’s going to hold up our slate in the 2009 - 2010 period. We’ve got four more big tent-poles coming this year.”

Knowing Nolan and his filmography, I would think that he may not follow in the Sam Raimi footsteps by continuing the same movie series (Raimi is signed to do Spider-Man 4 & 5) and probably end his run with the third film. Either way, it’s going to be a hard step up from Dark Knight, but I can’t wait to see what he does because the producers and company will probably give him free reigns to do what he wants, which is unheard of in that big of a film.

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Johnny Depp and Sean Penn…. in The 3 Stooges
/Film has read a rumor that the Farrelly Brothers are looking at JOhnny Depp for the lead of Moe and Sean Penn for Larry. While this seems to be a far stretching rumor-esque news, Film Drunk has confirmed that Billy West (the famous voice behind Futurama and Ren and Stimpy) is meeting this week with Penn to go over his Larry impression.
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Hell Raiser 20th Anniversary DVD Set

For the 20th anniversary of Clive Barker’s masterpiece of horror, a 3 disc set of Hell Raiser is being released April 21, 2009. The set not only comes with Hell Raiser 1 & 2, but also a Blu Ray disc of Hell Raiser… and it comes all in this super sweet Puzzle Box. The set can be preordered from Amazon.com for $53.99.
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The Orphanage Has Closed it’s Doors

If you have watched a special effects film in the past 10 years, more than likely you have seen the magic and wonder that the Orphanage has created. Their work has graced the screens in such movies as: Vanilla Sky, Hero, Seabiscuit, Charlies Angels: Full Throttle, 50 First Dates, The Day After Tomorrow, Garfield, Sky Captain and the World of Tomorrow, Hellboy, Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire, Aeon Flux, Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Man’s Chest and At World’s End, Superman Returns, Night at the Museum, The Host, Fantastic Four: Rise of the Silver Surfer, Live Free or Die Hard, Blade Runner: The Final Cut, Iron Man, a lot of the Rober Rodriguez films including Sin City, Spy Kids 3D, Shark Boy and Grindhouse.

Sadly, due to the recession (doesn’t it feel like a depression now?), they have closed their doors, with founder Stu Maschwitz writing a final letter to the industry:

“Today I had the heart-wrenching task of joining my co-founders Scott Stewart and Jonathan Rothbart in announcing that The Orphanage will be suspending operations indefinitely. We started the company ten years ago, tripled in size each year for our first three years, and worked on some of the biggest and best effects movies made. We produced shorts and even features, we spawned a commercial division and an animation company, and we hung out in the halls with Frank Miller, Ethan Hawke, and M.C. Hammer. We did DI before it was called DI, we gave birth to Magic Bullet, and we did really, really good work.

But that’s not what matters the most.

It’s no accident that our company’s name described a place for people, people who may be thrown together, but who ultimately create their own destinies. Scott once described his vision of an orphanage as “a hundred success stories waiting to happen,” and that is exactly what came to pass inside our offices. We have had the privilege of working with many “Orphans” over the years, and watching them grow and take on new responsibilities has been the single greatest part of coming to work every day.

A message to the visual effects industry: You will never find a better employee than a former Orphan.

And to the Orphans: It has been a privilege and an honor to work with you.”

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And for your moment of zen…