'Twilight': Stephenie Meyer puts 'Midnight Sun' on back burner 'indefinitely'

What a way to kick off the Labor Day weekend for "Twilight" fans.

In a note posted to her official website Thursday, author Stephenie Meyer tells her readers she has decided to discontinue "Midnight Sun," her planned retelling of "Twilight" from the teenage vampire Edward's perspective, after an unfinished draft was illegally posted and distributed on the Internet without her knowledge or permission.

If I tried to write "Midnight Sun" now, in my current frame of mind, James would probably win and all the Cullens would die, which wouldn't dovetail too well with the original story. In any case, I feel too sad about what has happened to continue working on "Midnight Sun," and so it is on hold indefinitely.

Meyer had originally made the only first chapter available on her site. Because the project is now virtually killed, she's made the incomplete draft available as well, but cautions that "the writing is messy and flawed and full of mistakes."

I rather my fans not read this version.... It was only an incomplete draft.... But to end the confusion, I've decided to make the draft available.... I hope this fragment gives you further insight into Edward's head and adds a new dimension to the Twilight story. That's what inspired me to write it in the first place.

This has been a roller-coaster year for Meyer, who just completed a successful concert book series but has also had to answer for some of the backlash directed at "Breaking Dawn," the fourth and final installment of the "Twilight" saga.

But fans shouldn't fret: There's only three months until "Twilight" hits movie theaters.

As for Meyer, she's about to step behind the camera to direct a new music video for Jack's Mannequin's "The Resolution." The band is a favorite of the author's and appears on her online playlists.

-- Denise Martin

Related:

Good news "Twilight" fans: Santa's coming early this year

"Twilight": What does the "Breaking Dawn" backlash bode for the movie?

"Twilight": A snap judgment on "Breaking Dawn"

Top 10 list of Superman mentions in pop music

Randy Lewis, who has written about music for the Los Angeles Times since the 1980s, has a truly heroic music collection. Here's his thoughts on Superman taking flight in pop music through the years. 

When it comes to superheroes making their way into popular music, it's hard to beat Superman. Here's a list of my Top 10 favorite instances of the Man of Steel in pop tunes.

10. “You Don’t Mess Around with Jim,” Jim Croce (1971): “You don’t tug on Superman’s cape/You don’t spit into the wind.” Timeless advice.

9. “Kryptonite,” 3 Doors Down (2000): The Mississippi rock band is more interested in the super guy’s fatal flaws than his mission to protect truth, justice and the American way (seen above).

8. “Superman Lover,” Johnny "Guitar" Watson (1976): The R&B-funk-rap set often fantasizes about super powers in the boudoir, other examples including Mario’s hyper-romantic “Kryptonite” to Eminem’s outrageously self-aggrandizing and vindictive “Superman.”

7. “So Long, Superman,” Firewater (1998): A catchy pop-punk ditty anticipating Lois Lane’s Pulitzer prize-winning commentary (in “Superman Returns”) about a world with no need for the favorite son of Krypton.

6. “Superman (It’s Not Easy),” Five For Fighting (2001): The emo crowd just can’t get with the notion of invincibility, does it?

Check out the Top 5 after the jump...

'Harry Potter' vs. 'Hari Puttar'

The spell Alohomora may not be able to unlock the entanglement going on between Warner Bros.' "Harry Potter" and an Indian production company whose new film is called "Hari Puttar: A Comedy of Terrors."

Expelliarmus! The Bollywood company hopes to disarm the WB's claims, saying that they filed the title over two years ago, and that the title (pronounced Hurry Put-ter) bears no resemblance to "Harry Potter."  Really?  They're really saying that?  Wow.

Rictusempra! The film, that is supposed to open September 12, is about a boy (the eponymous Hari) fighting two criminals who are trying to steal a secret formula devised by his scientist father.  Sounds like a "Home Alone"-ish adventure comedy that is not on a "Potter" track.  But that name?

Stupify! "We confirm that we have recently commenced proceedings against parties involved in the production and distribution of a movie entitled 'Hari Puttar'," said Warner Bros. spokeswoman Deborah Lincoln to Reuters in an e-mail.

Confundus! Hopefully both sides can produce an Orchideous spell and make up.  Though the titles are similar, the premises are pretty far apart and wouldn't confuse anyone.  Hate to go against the little guys, but the producers of "Hari Puttar" should rethink their title.  Naming their property two years ago is probably not going to sway the courts, and they could put that court money towards new promo material!

— Jevon Phillips

Photo: Associated Press

Brad Meltzer and the 'The Book of Lies'

I'm working on a long article about the author Brad Meltzer, and we had a great steak dinner last night in Hollywood Beach, Fla. I grew up here in Broward County and Meltzer spent a chunk of his childhood here too, and it turns out that we bought our comic books at the same shop, a long-gone little shop called Starship Enterprises. It's pretty amazing, actually, how much we have in common. When I told him that I'm of the opinion that "Superman vs. Muhammad Ali" from 1978 is the greatest single comic book ever, his jaw dropped.

"Maybe we should just get married right now. That is my all-time favorite too." He then started rattling off the celebrities who appear in the famous wraparound cover that shows the ring-side audience watching the bout. "Lucille Ball, Jimmy Carter, the Sweathogs ..."

Two of the people also depicted in that spectacular cover by Neal Adams are Joe Shuster and Jerry Siegel, the creators of Superman. Siegel is a key part of Meltzer's new novel, "The Book of Lies," which hits stores Sept. 2. Meltzer is fascinated by the fact that Mitchell Siegel, the father of Jerry, died in a robbery just months before his teenage son created the most famous bulletproof hero in American pop culture. Meltzer melds that story with, believe it or not, the biblical story of Cain and Abel. "I know, it sounds crazy right? You can imagine how thrilled my publisher was," Meltzer said with a grin. Meltzer can make any mystery work, as far as I'm concerned; not only did he write bestsellers such as "The Tenth Justice" and "The Zero Game," he penned "Identity Crisis," which is one of the finest and most deftly written comic books you'll ever read.

Expect to hear a lot more about this new book in the weeks to come. I'll be posting the feature on Brad in the weeks to come. In the meantime, check out the compelling trailer for the book, which you can find at Brad's website. It features Joss Whedon, Christopher Hitchens and other pals of Meltzer's.

And if you want to check out that brilliant "Superman vs. Muhammad Ali" cover, it's after the jump.

-- Geoff Boucher

Cover of "Book of Lies" courtesy of Grand Central Publishing

'The Mindscape of Alan Moore' is coming

For those who have wondered what Alan Moore is thinking, not just on the upcoming "Watchmen" movie (only 195 days left!), but "The League of Extraordinary Gentlemen" and other titles, then "The Mindscape of Alan Moore" is probably for you.

We say probably because we haven't seen it.  But we have seen this:

Wow. Do we really want to be inside the mind of Alan Moore?  Could we handle it?  Sites like Comic Book Bin have put out the word that the Shadowsnake Film DVD is coming Sept. 30, and they are excited about it.

The documentary won a special recognition award for creative achievement in documentary filmmaking at the San Francisco World Film Festival.  The film's website is not up yet, but you can be sure it'll get traffic once it's functional.

Those who aren't heavily into comic books may not know him, but just as an interesting individual with different ideas about what we might think are mundane things, Alan Moore is really someone you should learn more about.

-- Jevon Phillips

ACT-I-VATE is making dynamic webcomics

T.J. Kosinski, one of our talented interns this summer here at The Times, wandered around Comic-Con International a few weeks ago and interviewed some of his favorite comics creators. Here is his third guest post.

Like the undergound comix scene in those roiling days of the 1960s, the burgeoning online comics sector is a wide-open frontier now making up its own rules and picking its leading voices. I'd say one of the strongest players at the moment is Act-I-Vate, the webcomics collective with about 30 creators on its roster. It's both smart showcase and wild laboratory, providing consistently updated (and thoroughly interesting) comics to readers across the Web for free.

Two of the member creators are Joe Infurnari and Molly Crabapple.  Infurnari is a writer and artist who values the benefits of creating comics strictly for the Web: “Going digital is great to get yourself to a wide audience. If I write something, [someone] can place a link to it on MySpace and it gets 60,000 hits. That sort of exposure can’t be done by handing out postcards or just talking to people.”

Infurnari is working on his latest webcomic, "The Transmigration of ULTRA-Lad!" It's a reverse-Shazam sort of story in which an old man transforms into a teenage superhero. The aesthetic of the webcomic is great. The story is told on "pages" that have the browning, battered edges of a vintage comic book (one that was not stored in a Mylar bag) and the art is a shadowy valentine to super-hero artists such as Mac Raboy and Wally Wood. Infurnari also has The Process, which had been nominated for an Eisner Award.
One interesting dimension of Infurnari’s The Process is how tailored it feels to the Web. The website that hosts the comic is meticulous; even the table of contents is intricate. Infurnari took this approach seeking “an interactive experience.” He explained that “with the Web, I can control how the audience absorbs material. The whole thing is an immersive design. My goal is to teleport the viewer into the world of the story.”

Readers should check out The Process, not only for the tremendously detailed artwork, but for Infurnari’s surreal narrative. It’s self-described as “a journey and exploration through a personal ‘pleroma,’ an imaginary landscape populated by strange, wondrous creatures and archetypal characters." The Eisner nomination for Best Digital Comic speaks to the ability of Infurnari to relay his strange inner visions to a wide audience.

Hero Complex caption contest, No. 1

Submit a caption in the comments section. Winner be announced next week and celebrated forever.

-- Geoff Boucher

RELATED More random silliness at Hero Complex

Photo from a 1970s issue of Starlog, used with permission from the magazine.You can find Starlog on the internet here or subscribe to the print edition here.

Neil Gaiman doing research 'on foot in rural China' for 'big project'

There was an intriguing post last week on Neil Gaiman's journal that suggests that the usually black-clad teller of tales is by now on a monthlong trek through the hinterlands of China on a story safari:

Tonight I'm home, sitting on the sofa with my daughters who are watching the Olympics. This morning I went out and bought lots of lightweight, quick-drying clothes and other useful travel things, with my assistant Lorraine. (At one point during the clothes-buying part of things Lorraine helpfully said, "Boss you're still wearing their pants. Why don't you go back into your own?" Which seemed like a sensible idea, so I grabbed my jeans and headed back to the changing room, overhearing the sales lady saying, "Is he a professor?" and Lorraine's reply of, "He's a writer. It's the same thing.")

So I now have lots of new, light, easily washed clothes, many of them grey or white, which means I will spend much of the next four weeks feeling like I am in disguise.

I don't know if I'll be able to post while on the road -- I'm going to be very much off the beaten track doing research for the next big project, and a lot of time I'll be on foot in rural China...

The next big project sounds mighty interesting. Gaiman also said in that post that he is in talks with publisher HarperCollins about making his first novel, "Neverwhere," available for reading for free online, as was done with his book "American Gods" this past February. "Neverwhere" could be everywhere as soon as September, he wrote, and it will "be done in some different ways" than the "American Gods" approach.

In other Gaiman news, the Los Angeles Times recently had a well-done piece on the stage production inspired by his unsettling 1995 graphic novel "The Tragical Comedy or Comical Tragedy of Mr. Punch."

Paul Pope is a busy man

T.J. Kosinski, one of our talented summer interns here at The Times, wandered around Comic-Con International a few weeks ago and interviewed some of his favorite comics creators. This is the second of his guest posts.

To me, Paul Pope is a comic-book rock star. He's been called "the Jim Morrison of American comic books" for the delirious poetry he creates with his words and brushstrokes.

The creative mind behind Vertigo's riveting "100%" and the Eisner-winning "Batman: Year 100" is now pushing his art off the page and into toys, design, electronics and even wallpaper...

Yes, that's right, he is extremely busy.

In the past year, Pope designed exclusive screen-print posters for Diesel, worked on a clothing line for DKNY Jeans, released a monograph entitled "Pulphope," illustrated the cover of "Pop Gun: Vol. 2," and recently premiered his first action figure.

Then there's the icing on the cake: a reissue of Pope’s long out-of-print "THB" series is scheduled for sometime in 2009 with “a lot” of brand-new material, he says.

Michael Chabon on 'writers who can dwell between worlds'

Scott Timberg is a good friend of the Hero Complex who writes insightfully about authors and literature for the Los Angeles Times. He recently interviewed Michael Chabon for a Q&A that appeared in the Sunday paper recently, but due to space considerations, it was edited down. Here is the full, "director's cut" version.

Michael Chabon is well known as the author of novels such as the coming-of-age tale "The Mysteries of Pittsburgh," the exuberant, Pulitzer-winning "The Amazing Adventures of Kavalier and Clay" and "The Yiddish Policeman’s Union," an alternate-universe story that just came out in paperback and recently won the Nebula Award.

But Chabon has long harbored a related passion, which has run alongside and sometimes overlapped with his novels: to make the literary world safe for genre fiction and to expand the notion of what a serious work of fiction can be. "Entertainment has a bad name," begins the book’s opening essay, "Trickster in a Suit of Lights." "Serious people learn to mistrust and even revile it. The word wears spandex, pasties, a leisure suit studded with blinking lights."

The pieces in "Maps and Legends" range far and wide, including one on Chabon’s hometown of Columbia, Md. (a planned community that reflects some of the writer’s concerns), and memoirish pieces that give the background to his novels.

The heart of the book, though, concerns his crusade to save comics, science fiction, fantasy, horror and detective fiction from condescension.

He wants to move past the ambivalence of the Moderns — whether novelists, poets or surrealist artists — who played with pop elements such as popular songs or comics but did so behind what Chabon calls "the line of irony."

I spoke to Chabon from his home in Berkeley about a process by which sophisticated writers are kept in the genre ghetto and readers are scared away from novels and stories they might otherwise love.

Timberg: Let’s start with some of the pulp or genre writers who have spoken to you over the years and perhaps inspired your own books.

Chabon: There are so many. Raymond Chandler, Ross MacDonald, Ross Thomas, Ursula K. LeGuin, Frank Herbert, Michael Moorcock, Ray Bradbury, Jack Kirby, Steve Gerber, Alan Moore. And there is a whole list of borderland writers — John Crowley, Jorge Luis Borges, Steven Millhauser, Thomas Pynchon — writers who can dwell between worlds.

'Game' reminds Chris Bridges of 'The Running Man'

I talked Tuesday with Chris Bridges (a.k.a. Ludacris, a nickname he wants to leave behind for his Hollywood career, much like 50 Cent, The Rock and Andre 3000) for a Los Angeles Times feature on "RocknRolla" and "Max Payne" but we also talked a bit about a different movie he's filmed that also has a connection to video-game culture: "Game," the Lionsgate film due next year.

"The first thing I thought of when I read the script was the 'The Running Man,' but this goes off in a dark direction," said Bridges, who is compiling quite the acting resume after roles in "Crash," "Hustle & Flow" and "2 Fast 2 Furious," as well as two-episode appearance a while back in "Law & Order: SVU."

"Game" is a near-future thriller about a massive game in which the battles aren't between sim characters, they're fought by convicts are manipulated like flesh-and-blood puppets by gleeful gamers playing at home. Gerard Butler ("300") plays Kable, a death-row convict who is plucked from his cell and dropped into the rock-'em, sock-'em combat. He's proves so adept at carnage that he becomes a pop-culture star to the global audience watching the grisly game unfold. Bridges plays a character nicknamed Humanz who is not a fan; he's part of a resistance effort that sees the game as an ethical affront and have a plan to use Kable to bring down the entire game.

"I'm a renaissance man, a guy who is upset about what's going on -- people getting these chips put in their brains that control them -- and is one of the guys trying to stop it," Bridges said. "It's intense, I guarantee it. It's a movie by [writers and co-directors] Mark Neveldine and Brian Taylor, the guys that did 'Crank' with Jason Statham. And I also worked with Gerard on [the upcoming Guy Ritchie film] 'RockNRolla,' so that's great, it makes it smoother when you get to know people. It's definitely going to be a great sci-fi film."

   

'Star Trek' loses warp power in Vegas

Richard Abowitz writes The Movable Buffett, a blog about Las Vegas and all its gaudy pursuits. "Star Trek: the Experience" at the Las Vegas Hilton is in its final month of operation, and Abowitz was curious how that was echoing at the recent "Star Trek" convention in Sin City. Here's an excerpt:

I first saw Bill Lyons, 50, and his wife, Pam Lyons, 54 (pictured), dragging a suitcase behind them like any tourists going to a convention. I decided to follow them because I thought they would lead me to the convention I was covering. I did not say to them "I am from Earth. Take me to your leader." But maybe I should have.

Bill Lyons says: "We like the attention we get when we are in costume."

They are both dressed as otherworldly characters from the movie "Star Trek: Insurrection."  Pam Lyons tells me "My character doesn't have a name. I am a skin-stretching specialist."

The movie came out in 1998. That was the year Star Trek: The Experience opened at the Las Vegas Hilton. Since then the franchise has fallen on hard times. There has been only one movie since then, and the last television show ended in 2005. That is not the future but ancient history in Vegas, and the next "Star Trek" movie is not scheduled to come out until 2009. Vegas is not a town with patience.

By 2009 the convention will have to take place without what has come to be known informally as the Star Trek Experience ride, and the bar Quark's next door that has become a hangout for convention attendees. Both are closing at the end of the month. On Sept. 1, one of the most successful tourist rides in Vegas history will be "decommissioned" after more than a decade, twice as long as the USS Enterprise's five-year mission on the original series. The "Star Trek" convention in Vegas has lasted even longer. But it grew from a small affair at places like the Plaza downtown to a convention that attracted thousands with the arrival of the Experience. For a couple of years the convention and the ride were at different casinos. But inevitably the two proved a perfect complement after the convention moved to the Hilton. So perfect I wondered what impact closing the ride would have on the annual convention.

What did he find out? You can read the rest of his post here.

-- Geoff Boucher

Photo by Sarah Gerke

RELATED Complete "Star Trek" coverage on the Hero Complex

Gotham's landscape, Chicago style

Christopher Nolan decided that for "The Dark Knight" his vision of Gotham City needed to be even more reality-based that the one he presented in "Batman Begins." That took to him to Chicago where, over 65 days, he and his crew used the Windy City's shining towers and darkened corners to bring Gotham to life in a dramatically different way than Tim Burton did back in the 1980s when he envisioned a Gotham that was a mixture of gargoyle gothic and funhouse cemetery.

Some folks at the Chicago Tribune had the clever idea of mapping out the locations used by the film crew and, through a nifty interactive map, showing how place like Daley Plaza and the Berghoff became the stomping crowds of the Caped Crusader and the people he loves to punch. Take a look at it here, although I should tell you there are some quasi-spoilers in the text if you are one of the few people left who actually haven't seen the movie.

-- Geoff Boucher

RELATED All coverage of "The Dark Knight" on Hero Complex

Photo from "The Dark Knight" shows Batman astride his Batpod, which was in scenes filmed near the Metra entrance in the 200 block of E. Randolph St. in Chicago. Image from Warner Bros.

Favreau is at work on 'Iron Man' sequel and a political cause

I just talked to Jon Favreau a bit ago, and he said that while there hasn't been an formal announcement on the sequel to "Iron Man," he's begun developing it. "We're working on it now," he said, "which hasn't been officially announced. It will be released in 2010."

No surprise there, of course. The first film in the franchise has pulled in well over a half-billion dollars in worldwide box office and was met with strong reviews.

Favreau is also busy these days championing a political cause. Here's the top of a story that I have in tomorrow's print edition of The Times.

As the state's budget crisis continues, Sacramento certainly has money on its mind, but it's hardly star-struck when it comes to Hollywood and its problems with runaway production.

Nevertheless, "Iron Man" director Jon Favreau and Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger have become unexpected partners in a push to create tax breaks for film and television shows in an effort to keep their production in California, a political cause that has very little traction with state lawmakers and, to the governor's chagrin, even less footing in celebrity fundraising circles.

There's been a 40% decline in the number of film production days shot on location in Los Angeles since 1997, and the stampede east by the makers of high-profile projects is intensifying after New York Gov. David Paterson signed a bill in April delivering a lush new package of incentives.

Favreau is one the nice guys in the industry, and I think he has a lot of credibility. But I also think he will have a hard slog with this cause.

'The Darker Mask' signing in L.A.

I just got a copy of "The Darker Mask" in the mail, and I'm really looking forward to checking it out this week when I hop on a flight to Florida.

The book is part of percolating subgenre right now: Comics-inspired tales that tell their stories without pictures. So it's pure prose, but the spirit is out of the four-color cousins with the word balloons. This is hardly a new idea, of course.

"Hellboy: Odd Jobs," an anthology of short stories about Big Red, came out eight years ago, and waaay back in 1990 was "Words Without Pictures" (a hard-to-find book now), which was edited by Steve Niles and had wonderful work in it by Alan Moore, Neil Gaiman and Jon J. Muth others. Those are just two I can see sitting on my bookshelf from where I'm sitting.

Anyway, "The Darker Mask" (edited by Gary Phillips and Christopher Chambers) has impressive names attached. Here's a rundown of the book from Tor Books:

Expanding on the concept behind Byron Preiss's Weird Heroes from the 1970s, George R. R. Martin's Wild Card series, and Michael Chabon's McSweeney's Mammoth Treasury of Thrilling Tales, The Darker Mask is a collection of original prose stories recalling the derring-do of the beings we call Superheroes and the worlds they fight to save.

The Rancor speaks out on 'Clone Wars': 'I feel betrayed'

We here at Hero Complex noticed that the Rancor -- that snarling potato-colored beastie from "Return of the Jedi" -- is mentioned in one of DK Publishing's adaptations of "Star Wars: The Clone Wars" but never showed up in the film. We dialed up LucasFilm spokesman John Singh who told us that, yes, it's true, a scene with the giant carnivore was cut from the film. We reached the Rancor by phone and found out that this is not the first time he's been burned by Hollywood.

HC: "Hello there! I's really great to talk to you today, I must admit I'm a big fan of your work."

RANCOR: "Oh, thanks very much, you're very kind. It's nice to talk to a fan, you know, 'cause it's been kind of a rough month."

HC: "Yes, let's talk about that. What exactly happened to your scene in 'The Clone Wars'?"

RANCOR: "I'm not really the right one to ask, frankly. Maybe you should ask George Lucas or [the film's director Dave] Filoni. I didn't even know I was out until I went to see it in the theater. Very embarrassing. I went with my wife, the in-laws and some friends. I choked on my popcorn. A phone call would have been nice. I mean, I started working with these people in the Reagan administration. I feel betrayed."

HC: "There have been other disappointments through the years, right? Things haven't gone as you hoped in Hollywood."

RANCOR: (Short pause and some snarling) "Yes. I suppose that's accurate. Things dried up after 'Jedi.' I had the lead role locked in for 'Godzilla' back in the late '90s. I had this great -- and I mean great -- reading with Matthew Broderick. We had a thing going, y'know? Chemistry. There was a handshake deal. That used to mean something. I fired my agent after all of that and went to CAA. They got me a reading for 'Cloverfield' but the studio said I just wasn't 'turtle-ly' enough for the role. Whatever that means. So I do the convention circuit now. I just got back from an autograph show in Milwaukee with Lou Ferrigno and George Takei."

HC: "What about the rumors in Hollwyood that you're hard to work with? And that you secretly devour humans?"

RANCOR: "That's just a lie. You know how this town is. They say the same stuff about Russell Crowe."

HC: "Are you eating right now? I hear a crunching sound. And is someone, uh, screaming there?"

RANCOR: (Muffled noises then a long pause) "Sorry. Anyway, so this 'Clone Wars' thing was a big letdown. But did you see 'Pineapple Express'? They gave me a shout-out! You know about this? That guy from 'Spider-Man,' James Franco, he plays a stoner who gets kidnapped and they're shoving him down in that hole, he says, 'What do you got down in there? A Rancor?' Just like that! Hah! You know the Ewoks were jealous."

HC: "So, what's next for the Rancor?"

RANCOR: "I've been talking to Will Ferrell -- he's a good friend, we play hoops, go way back -- so I been talking to him about a cameo in 'Land of the Lost.' That looks real good. And then I'd really like to work on the stage. I saw 'Equus' in London last year and thought, 'Why not me? Why not take a chance?' I need a change, too. Hollywood just makes you feel so ugly."

-- Geoff Boucher

Image of the Rancor from "Return of the Jedi," courtesy of Lucasfilm Ltd.

Fang feud: 'Jennifer's Body' vs. 'True Blood'

There's sooo many vampires.

No, that's not a line from "Buffy," but there does seem to be a blood-suckapalooza in TV and film nowadays.  It's not a new phenom, but "Twilight," "Underworld 3," "True Blood" and "Jennifer's Body" (which may not technically be vampiric, but she apparently eats people) have brought it back to the forefront. What's next, a vampire Mr. Toast? Is nothing sacred?!

Maybe it's too much for the creative marketing folks to handle. Look at the poster mash-up (that seems to be everywhere) for "True Blood," HBO's series starring Anna Paquin, and "Body," a film that once featured a barely clothed Megan Fox.

Of course!Why didn't I see it? One has a tongue with a trickle of blood going to the left, the other is going to the right. Guess that's different enough to not be confusing. Just remember -- "Body" = tongue to the left, "Blood" = tongue to the right.

-- Jevon Phillips

'Watchmen' movie under attack

Nikki Finke, who writes like an air-raid siren on her Deadline Hollywood Daily, just posted a breathless dispatch saying that there might be big trouble a-brewin' for "Watchmen" (which has now officially earned the status of "The Only Movie that Matters" to fanboys everywhere). "Watchmen," due in March, is a Warner Bros. film (what is it with this studio, can't they just be boring for a minute?) but it has a long and tangled background as a property. Which leads us to fighting Finke's frantic financial finding:

URGENT! Warner's 'Watchmen' In Legal Peril EXCLUSIVE:  A judge has denied a Warner Bros motion to dismiss 20th Century Fox's legal battle over the rights to develop, produce and distribute a film based on the graphic novel Watchmen. This is huge Hollywood news because Warner Bros plans to release on March 2009 its highly anticipated big-screen version of the popular comic book written by Alan Moore and illustrated by Dave Gibbons. Fox was seeking to enjoin Warner Bros from going forward with the project, and the judge on Friday refused to dismiss the lawsuit filed by Fox on February 12th of this year.

You can find the whole post right here. Finke, a former Los Angeles Times writer who is by all accounts one of the best-sourced reporters in town, sums up at the end:

This is indeed a stunning development which could imperil Warner Bros' entire 2009 movie slate. Sources point out to me that Warner Bros had a similar problem with the Dukes Of Hazzard movie and had to pay tens of millions of dollars to release the film. I'm in the process of obtaining more details.

She's absolutely right about "The Dukes of Hazzard" but the fact that such a truly forgettable project managed to somehow survive its courtroom ordeal makes me not worry too much about Warner Bros. saving "Watchmen," especially since they do have so much at stake in the film. Really, the upshot here is that Warner Bros. may have to cough up a lot more money to get the movie done. That news, I suspect, will be met with loud cheers by the disenchanted fans of a certain boy wizard.

-- Geoff Boucher

Photo from "Watchmen" courtesy of Warner Bros.

RELATED All "Watchmen" coverage at Hero Complex

 

'Iron Man' drops F-bomb on DC Comics

Robert Downey Jr. is having a grand old time these days.

The mercurial actor not only starred in the box-office sensation "Iron Man," he now has a spectacular scene-chewing role in "Tropic Thunder," the new No. 1 film at the box office (and recent Public Enemy No. 1 to protesters). Downey is a wonderful nut, an American treasure as far as I'm concerned, and I can tell you firsthand that interviewing him is a dizzying and exhausting experience. The man is one relentless riff.

Take this tongue-in-cheek rant I just read over at indelicately named website Moviehole.net:

"My whole thing is that that I saw 'The Dark Knight.' I feel like I'm dumb because I feel like I don't get how many things that are so smart. It's like a Ferrari engine of storytelling and script writing and I'm like, 'That's not my idea of what I want to see in a movie.' I loved 'The Prestige' but didn't understand 'The Dark Knight.' Didn't get it, still can't tell you what happened in the movie, what happened to the character and in the end they need him to be a bad guy. I'm like, 'I get it. This is so high brow and so f---ing smart, I clearly need a college education to understand this movie.' You know what? F--- DC comics. That's all I have to say and that's where I'm really coming from."

Was he serious? I doubt that. I know Perez Hilton and his readers are taking this as gospel, but they weren't sitting at the Warren Beatty tribute a few months ago when RDJ wove a long, raunchy, insulting and completely fabricated tale about the guest of honor -- which everyone, including Beatty, loved. I think this rant was every bit as real as "Celebrity Deathmatch."  Read the rest here or, better, check out this extended excerpt from the really excellent profile of Downey by Erik Hedegaard in the latest issue of Rolling Stone. (The newstand version is worth the money, it has interesting stuff on Jon Favreau championing Downey for the "Iron Man" role too, which is not in the abridged online version.)

'Potter' delay is about money, not nudity

Talk about ludicrous: Roger Friedman at FOX News is putting forth a flimsy theory that Warner Bros. postponed "Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince" because Dan Radcliffe will be on Broadway in the fall performing in "Equus." Why? Well, check out the ingredients of this half-baked idea:

Radcliffe appears naked in the play, on stage, and has sex in it as well. That's not the image Warner Bros. wants associated with bespectacled Harry, who remains chaste and virginal.

Indeed, posters for "Equus" are up all over New York, of Radcliffe's naked torso superimposed on a horse's head. This is not the sort of thing that's taught at Hogwarts. For the movie to open on Nov. 21, Radcliffe would have to do publicity entailing answering questions about blinding horses and having sex with them vs. flying around and making potions.

But, um, what about the fact that Radcliffe did the play last year in London amid intense media scrutiny? And the fact that he earned good reviews by critics and was also generally hailed by fans of the "Potter" books for his versatility and boldness? Did you miss all of that? I know Warner Bros. didn't and, in fact, they were delighted that their young star was holding his own at the Gielgud Theatre on the West End -- and they didn't mind the free stir of publicity either. I came across Roger's "theory" on The Big Picture blog by Patrick Goldstein, who had a great take on it:

Putting aside the obvious -- any 10-year-old could've told Roger that by the time of "Half-Blood Prince," the Harry Potter protagonists are quite well aware of the opposite sex -- the theory is hilariously New York-ocentric, as if Middle America were really riveted by what was happening on one stage in midtown Manhattan.

Another good point. So, sorry to break it to you, Roger, but this movie is being pushed back for one reason and one reason alone: money.