Another sign of the ENDtimes?

Editor's Note: Sign of the apocalypse, or clever idea? YOU decide....

Spider-Man makes leap to Broadway as a musical
It looks like Spider-Man will be swinging over to Broadway — and bringing Bono with him.

Marvel Entertainment announced that the iconic web-slinger will be the subject of a major Broadway musical that will be directed by Tony-winner Julie Taymor, who famously adapted The Lion King to stage, and feature music and lyrics by Bono and the Edge of U2.

Readings will start this summer for the splashy project, executives at Marvel Comics said.

There's no official word on a premiere date or any hints about early casting choices to play Peter Parker, Mary Jane Watson, Aunt May, J. Jonah Jameson or the other characters from the popular spandex soap opera.

It won't be the first time a superhero has made it to Broadway; "It's a Bird ... It's a Plane ... It's Superman" took flight in 1966 but, despite favorable reviews, didn't click with the public. Spidey is the first Marvel Comics character to leap to the stage.

The spindly wall-crawler, created in 1962 by artist Steve Ditko and writer Stan Lee, already has proved to be titan on the silver screen. The first two films in the popular Sony franchise have grossed $777 million in the United States while the third installment is poised to hit theaters on May 4.

Spider-Man has his hands full as a cross-media property, too. He will be a linchpin presence in the recently announced $1-billion Marvel Comics theme park in Dubai, set to open in 2011, and he will be the star of new animated television series for the Kids WB scheduled to launch next year. There's also the Spider-Man 3 video game from Activision due in stores also on May 4.
Bono and the Edge have done movie soundtrack work, but the rock heroes are newcomers to Broadway.

They do have some super-hero résumé lines, however: Edge wrote and played the slinky theme song for The Batman, the stylized Kids WB cartoon series that premiered in 2004; U2 also contributed Hold Me, Thrill Me, Kiss Me, Kill Me to the Batman Forever film soundtrack in 1995. Editor's Note: Which is so memorable everyone swung out of the theater humming? (Or not....)

Friday OddBOBbing...

Editor's Note: Just for us from the infamous OddBob....cause he loves us and wants us to be happy? (Or is it that he loves TORTURING us?)

TomAto/toMAHto....

The Top 10 SciFi Ben and Jerry's Ice Cream Flavors

10> Dark Matter Chocolate

9> Big Bang Banana Crunch

8> Klingon Ridge Ripple

7> Vulcanilla

6> Spocky Road

5> Obi-Wan Spumoni

Editor's Note: But is it OLD Obi-Wan Spumoni, or cute/YOUNG Obi-Wan Spumoni? (And did we just go to a bad place when we asked that question?)

4> Red Shift Raspberry

3> Wookiees & Cream

Editor's Note: LOL!!!

2> Bradbury Crunch

and the Number 1 SF Ben and Jerry's Ice Cream Flavor...

1> Bananakin Skywalker

Editor's Note: Or AniAnise?

Have a great weekend, Dweebpals!

Yep, More Potter

Potter V Gets 3-D Finale
IMAX Corp. and Warner Brothers announced that the final 20 minutes of the upcoming Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix will be digitally converted into 3-D in the version of the movie released in IMAX theaters on July 13.

The fifth film in the franchise, based on J.K. Rowling's books, will also be released in conventional theaters on that date.

IMAX said that it will use its proprietary 2-D-to-3-D conversion technology to transform the end of the film into IMAX 3-D.

The previous installment of the series, Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire, broke IMAX 2-D box-office records when it opened in November 2005, the company said.
Editor's Note: So most of the film will be 2-D IMAX, and then 20 minutes will be (faux) 3-D IMAX!!! This sounds like an excuse....as if we NEEDED one...to see the movie a second time in the theaters, yes???!!!

AND, now a bit of Rumor-mongering....

'Equus' with Radcliffe & Griffiths to come to Broadway?
Editor's Note: And now we pause for a sec whilst all of you who downloaded the nudieharry pics have a PRIVATE moment.....

We have been receiving emails all morning letting us know that Harry Potter actors Daniel Radcliffe and Richard Griffiths are planning to take the current production of Equus, which closes on June 9th on London's West End, to Broadway in 2008.

Please note that both Dan and Richard were only scheduled to participate in the play till June 9th and recent speculation of extending the run with new actors has previously been reported online and have subsequently been denied.

We are trying to have this news confirmed and will update once we know more.

Strange Confluence

Editor's Note: Does it mean anything that both Tim Curry and Hayden Christensen have birthdays on the same day?

Happy 61st birthday, Mr. Curry!

Happy 26th birthday, Haydenbaby!

(and hush up all you Haydenhaters, just HUSH!)

ttfn and mtFbwy ker

Breaking DWEEBing

Editor's Note: Now HERE's some weird and unexpected news.....

NORTON IS THE NEW HULK



Edward Norton is about to get smashed by a big, green, gamma-powered giant.

In a bit of a surprise, Variety reported last weekend that Norton will take over the role of Bruce Banner from Eric Bana (who was not expected to return) in "The Incredible Hulk."

The signing of the Oscar-nominated actor is just another impressive catch for newly independent Marvel Enterprises, which locked down Robert Downey Jr., Terrence Howard and Gwyneth Paltrow for their live-action version of "Iron Man."

The studio says this new "Hulk" will be less serious than 2003's "Hulk" (directed by Ang Lee) and will be more in line with the comic book and TV series. Marvel also says the picture will leave the monster's origin story to the first movie as it picks up with Banner on the run trying to avoid capture by turning into that misunderstood green menace (perhaps he should stop breaking things like expensive automobiles, glass windows and fire hydrants). Editor's Note: Or perhaps they can hire screenwriters and actors with actual charisma.

Just another way to go with it.....

This role is an eyebrow-raising choice for the normally dour Norton, who scored a nice hit last summer with "The Illusionist," but hasn't starred in a blatantly commercial film since 2003's "The Italian Job." (That role was forced on him by Paramount Pictures to fulfill a contract that also gave Norton his breakout role in "Primal Fear" seven years prior.)

The actor also has a reputation for spending too much time in the editing room of his movies, especially because he usually doesn't have the additional title of either director or producer. This will make for an interesting mix for "Incredible Hulk" director Louis "leverage-less" Leterrier, whose resume of "The Transporter" movies and "Unleashed" won't do much to squelch the opinions of his leading man ("Yes, Louis, Ed's on the phone again with more suggestions").

Marvel hasn't announced if Jennifer Connelly will return as Banner's love interest Betty Ross, but a spy told the Hitlist they expect to recast the role. Editor's Note: Maybe with someone who can act? (again, just a radical suggestion....)

Additionally, look for Sam Elliott who played General Ross (Betty's father and the man whose mission is to end the Hulk's reign of terror) to be the only returning actor from the first "Hulk."

In any event, "The Incredible Hulk" will start shooting this summer in Toronto in anticipation of a June 13, 2008 release.

Editor's Note: Norton is always an asset to a film. Strange choice for him, though. Wonder what they promised him to get him on board? (Yes, Mr. Norton, we'll be sending you the first-born children of each of the Marvel Board of Directors via UPS....)

Teasing Pirates

Editor's Note: Stealing PR hoakum from Disney is WAY better than writing stuff myself...

A World of Excitement Approaches

The adventurers assemble for their voyage to the edges of the Earth -- and beyond -- in "Pirates of the Caribbean: At World's End."

It's looming on the horizon -- the Jolly Roger fluttering from its mast. It's the adventure of the summer.

Although it won't make landfall until May 25, anticipation is already growing for "Pirates of the Caribbean: At World's End," the final film in the "Pirates of the Caribbean" trilogy.

This one will take Captain Jack and crew to the ends of the Earth -- literally!

And according to production designer Rick Heinrichs, it will be unlike anything you've seen before -- even in the previous "Pirates" films. Editor's Note: Yet another Disney 'cast member' who has quaffed the kool-aid!

"It really does go off into new locations and a new look. It has a more restrained graphic and simplified look," he says. "Pirates: At World's End" will take our heroes far from the Caribbean into the far East and uncharted waters beyond. "

[The look is] in keeping with the Asian themes, but also because we're at world's end and we're dealing more with landscapes of the mind."

We talked to Rick about the making of "Pirates: At World's End" as well as the second film, "Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Man's Chest." He gave us a peek into the upcoming excitement -- from some harrowing moments on slippery decks to a journey that none of our heroes will ever forget.

Rick is an old Disney hand -- he started his career in 1979, working under Blaine Gibson, the then-head-sculptor at WED Enterprises. He was also working under another set of heads -- the original clay head sculptures used when the Pirates of the Caribbean attraction was created.

Rick says that these busts were a great inspiration to him -- especially when the time came for him to imagine the world of "Pirates."

"[Imagineering legend] Marc Davis did such an amazing job -- you can tell it was done by people who were telling stories and developing characters, who thought about telling stories the way you do onscreen in a movie. I was very inspired by that."

Rick got his chance to put that inspiration to work when he joined the "Pirates" crew to work on the second and third films. Parts of the two movies were filmed simultaneously -- a race to take advantage of locations in The Bahamas, even as the script for "Pirates: At World's End" was still flying off the typewriters.

"When we were down in the Caribbean and The Bahamas with the special tanks that we had built there for shooting water scenes, we tried to film as much of the third movie as would make sense," Rick explains. "The third film's script wasn't completely finished when we were shooting No. 2, so there was a bit of a scramble to figure out which scenes made sense to shoot down there."

Some of the most exciting moments in the third film, however, were beyond what the film crew could create in a water tank. Rick and the rest of the team had to film one of the most elaborate ship-to-ship confrontations ever seen onscreen.

To make the scene feel completely real to audiences, the filmmakers went above and beyond, spending weeks to build unique sets and equipment that put the actors in the middle of a typhoon on the pitching, rolling decks of their ships. Editor's Note: Urp. I am getting motion sick just THINKING about it. (I thought being an actor meant dry land!) It was an impressive accomplishment -- but a demanding one.

"It was incredibly hard on the crew and the cast. They had to be out there in the wet for 16 hours a day," Rick says. "Our art department was right off the stage there, and we would stand on the stage and look up at what they were doing, and be incredibly glad we weren't up there, 30 feet in the air. They were getting drenched and blown and slipping and sliding. But nobody got hurt."

The plot of "Pirates: At World's End" is a secret as closely guarded as a pirate's treasure horde. But Rick confirms that the title should be taken literally -- expect to see the very edge of the world itself on film ... and to discover, along with Jack Sparrow, Elizabeth, and Will Turner, what lies beyond.

It's not a discovery to be taken lightly, as Captain Jack will discover.

As the trilogy draws to a close, no one can say whether the voyagers aboard the Black Pearl will have more adventures in store.

For Rick, at least, coming this far has been an amazing journey.

"I've loved Pirates of the Caribbean since I first rode the attraction, so this has been a thrilling experience -- not just because it gave me a chance to work with [director] Gore Verbinski and work with Disney again, but because this was something from my own childhood that had such a great impact on me. And I think we've succeeded in giving the movies a limitless quality that suggests we are concentrating on one portion of the pirate world, but there's so much more out there."

Next month, we'll see a lot more of that world ... and we can hardly wait. Editor's Note: Pirates/Shmirates. Bring on Johnny Depp, Orlando Bloom, and Keira Knightley! (oh...and what the heck...the undead monkey)!

I LOVES me some DROID

Editor's Note: The Houston R2 mailbox. Near City Hall. (Pictures taken about 2 weeks ago....yes the QOTD has been lax. AGAIN).


R2


R2, again








R2 and his pals (me, my dweebdog Roobeus, and a dweebpal, Samantha).

P.S. And please note the ever-so-dweebishlysnazzy R2 headgear (knitted by a NON-dweeb, believe it or not!), and my Rebellion T-Shirt. Was I totally DECKED out to meet R2, or WHAT!?