Movie & TV News: Clash of the Titans, Venom, The Phantom, TV DVD News, Pirates of the Caribbean 4, H2: Halloween 2, Bonnie & Clyde vs. Dracula, Comic Previews

Clash of the Titans
ComicBookMovie tells us here that Liam Neeson (as Zeus) and Ralph Fiennes (as Hades) join Mads Mikkelsen (as Draco), Gemma Arterton (as Io), Sam Worthington (as Perseus) and Alexa Davalos (as Andromeda) in the cast. The film, set to begin production at the end of April in the U.K., will be directed by Louis Leterrier. Scheduled for release (in the U.S.) on March 26, 2010.

Venom
Sci Fi Wire reports here that Sony is ready to move on the 2012 Spider-Man spin-off with Paul Wernick and Rhett Reese writing. Reese said: "We had a really great relationship with Sony on ['Zombieland'], and so that was a nice in for us there. It gave us a leg up. I'm terrified. It's source material that everybody knows and everybody's familiar with and everybody loves. There's a burden on you to meet the expectations of people. A lot of people are curious about Venom. We read [Venom] growing up, but we were not experts. We certainly know the mythology of Venom, but went back and learned more when it became clear that we could actually get this job." The script is already in the works Wernick confirmed, but that's all he'd give up: "We're under strict orders on Venom. We can't talk about it. It's just super secret."

The Phantom
Yesterday I bemoaned Sci Fi Channel's literary rape (again) of "Riverworld." In days past I held out hope for the feature (and follow- up series) of Lee Falk's "The Phantom." You can see above and at this story from Sci Fi Wire the designs for the lead character. In the article we find that the suit is not only rehash of the X-Men designs, but is hi-tech mesh armor like the Bat Suit in "The Dark Knight" (remember how much I hated that?) Well, herein is proof the "Mansquito Network" spirals down into the sea of mundanery. BTW: My problem with the "Body Armor" on superheroes is that what makes them awesome is that they do what they do without it. And, also, this is what The Phantom looks like.

TV DVD News
TVShowsOnDVD.com has posted info about "House M.D." (Season 5) here, "Heroes" (Season 3) here, "Lost" (Season 5) here, "The Spectacular Spider-Man" (Vol. 1) here, "Reno 911!" (Season 6) here, "Petticoat Junction" (Season 2) here.

Pirates of the Caribbean 4
Variety says here that not only has Kiera Knightley left the franchise, but now the director Gore Verbinski will be doing the "BioShock" videogame movie rather than the fourth film, slated for release in 2012. Was it the 3D thing? Friction with cast or crew? No clue from Verbinski, who said: "I had a fantastic time bringing 'Pirates' to life, and I am eternally grateful to Jerry [Bruckheimer], Johnny [Depp] and the rest of the creative and production team… I'm looking forward to all of us crossing paths again in the future."

H2: Halloween 2
Shock Till You Drop reports here that make-up FX artist Wayne Toth told them that Michael Myers will be maskless for most (70 per cent) of the film. Toth said: "That's Michael's new look for a lot of the film. Fans will be shocked. They seem pretty responsive to it. But it's like anything else, as long as you're doing something cool, people get it." But there will be masked times too: "There are a couple different versions of the mask, but none of them are the same mask from the first film. He wanted to take them a step further, even though one of them is basically supposed to be the last mask. We've changed it anyway. Then towards the end of the film is the current version of the mask which is a lot different from any of them we've seen. People are going to be surprised when they see it. It’s going to throw the Myers' fans for a loop."

Bonnie & Clyde vs. Dracula
My pal, Todd Norris, was the director of photography and editor, and his work will always be worth looking at, so you should go see it. The Kansas City premeire is Thursday, April 23 at 7:15pm at Kansas City Film Fest at the AMC Mainstreet. That's at 14th & Main, K.C. Mo.. Here is the official site and here is the trailer.

Comic Previews
Comics Continuum has posted preview pages of
Angel: Smile Time #3,