Friday Quick Caption is a weekly update of quick links and blurbs from the world of entertainment news. Expect your fast pace, A.D.D. dose of movie trailers, comic news, celebrity updates, and video game announcement from throughout the week.

Robert Kirkman Goes Robot Chicken After Walking Dead – Robert Kirkman, the creator of The Walking Dead, will be credited on 2 shows this Sunday. Not only will he of course be the executive producer of the newest episode of AMC’s The Walking Dead, but he’ll actually be listed as an actor on Cartoon Network’s Robot Chicken. Portraying himself, Kirkman will be animated in clay by Seth Green in crew only to find an ironically humorous death at the hands of claymation zombies. Kirkman is quoting as saying “Robot Chicken happens to be a fantastic show. But I’ll agree to be on any show that’ll make an action figure of me”. You can watch his appearance on Robot Chicken this Sunday, November 18^th, at midnight on Cartoon Network.

Battlestar Galactica: Blood and Chrome “Episodes 3 & 4″ – Last week saw the brilliant premier of episodes 1 & 2 of the new Battlestar Galactica prequel, Blood and Chrome. Surprising us yet again, Machinima has now given us 2 more episodes instead of one, and we didn’t even have to skip a Friday to catch up with episode 2’s original release date! Check out both episodes 3 & 4 below.

Tomb Raider Collector’s Edition Looking Good – The newest Tomb Raider game, simply titled ‘Tomb Raider’, is set to release March 5^th of 2013 for PS3, Xbox, and PC. It is the first game in a new rebooted continuity for Lara Croft, the 5^th Tomb Raider game developed by Crystal Dynamics, and the 10^th game of the franchise in its 17-year existence. Many fans are eagerly awaiting the nostalgia of playing this sexy female adventurer once again, but with the announcement of the new Collector’s Edition, even more are looking to shill out the $99.99 for this awesome collection. Packaged in a replica tin survival kit from the game’s ill-fated ship Endurance, the Collector’s Edition comes with a map 15”x19” map/poster of the island Lara gets stranded on, a 8” Play Arts figure of Lara, a 5”x7” lithograph, 3 iron-on badges, a 10-song soundtrack to the game, the ‘Weapons Pack’ DLC, and of course a copy of the game. It is quite the deal, and I must add that the action figure is just awesome!

Bleach: Hell Verse US Trailer – The 4^th Bleach movie is finally coming the USA, with a release date scheduled for December 4^th on Blu-ray and DVD. But if you can’t wait that long for the English dubbed version, Viz’s great new anime network, Neon Alley, will be airing the film on Sunday, November 25^th, at 8PM Est/5PM Pst, with a replay at midnight Est/9PM Pst. Check out the trailer below (though do ignore the trailer’s many glaring mistakes on time).

Berserk Golden Age Arc III: Descent Trailer & Poster – Speaking of anime movie trailers, here is one you likely haven’t seen yet, even in Japanese. Director Toshiyuki Kubooka’s third Berserk film, Descent, now has a new trailer and movie poster. This is the third in the series of films attempting to adapt all of the Berserk manga, having begun with its first film, The Egg of the King, back in February of this year. Descent is set for release on February 1^st, 2013 in Japan. The English dubbed version of the first Berserk movie is set for release in the US on November 27^th from Viz Media, giving American fans their first taste of Studio 4°C’s Berserk. If you want to see just how beautifully horrific the new Berserk films look, check out the trailer for Descent below.

Friday Quick Caption is a weekly update of quick links and blurbs from the world of entertainment news. Expect your fast pace, A.D.D. dose of movie trailers, comic news, celebrity updates, and video game announcement from throughout the week.

 
How Long Is The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey – Peter Jackson has become very known for making very long films ever since 2001’s The Fellowship of the Ring, which ran 2 hours and 58 minutes in theaters. Two Towers managed to beat that by a minute, Return of the King held fans in theaters for 3 hours and 21 intense minutes and all three Lord of the Rings films had extended cuts that tested viewer’s ability to hold their bladder whilst watching a movie. Even in his 2005 take on King Kong, Jackson kept movie goers in their seats for 3 hours and 7 minutes. So now with the first of The Hobbit trilogy on its way to theaters this December 13^th there is a question just how long the runtime will be on this new epic. Thanks to this week’s issue of Empire Magazine, with 5 3D lenticular covers, fans now know. The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey is currently 2 hours and 40 minutes prior to the finalization of all the effects shots and credits being added. All in all this should mean the movie will run for 160-something minutes, roughly ten minutes shorter than Fellowship, making this the shortest running Middle Earth film, yet still quite a long time to hold that extra large coke inside you at the theater. I wonder how next year’s The Desolation of Smaug or 2014’s There And Back Again will compare. If you haven’t already seen the second trailer for the film, we have it below to remind you why this will be worth the near 3 hours in a theater this winter.
 

 

Mass Effect Film Gets A New Writer – Optioned for a film back in the fall of 2008, Mass Effect has grown even more popular as a video game, while the film found itself fumbling around in production hell with writer Mark Protosevich unable to produce a script. But now fans might see a new glimmer of hope as Legendary Entertainment and Avi Arad have found the film a new scribe in Morgan Davis Foehl. Foehl was a former assistant editor on the FX show Rescue Me and Adam Sandler’s I Now Pronounce You Chuck and Larry, and has written the script for the film adaption of Marc Silvestri and Jeff Katz’s comic, Crosshair. Now Foehl will be tackling something much larger and more expensive, but being a fan of the Mass Effect games we might just see a great script from him.

More Mass Effect Film News With Mass Effect: Paragon Lost Footage – Now those of you waiting for the forementioned live action version of Mass Effect will obviously be waiting for sometime. However, if you just want to see a Mass Effect movie, remember that Production I.G. and T.O. Entertainment have been working on an animated Mass Effect film for a good while now. Set for release on DVD and Blu-ray this December 28^th (a little too late for Christmas gifting), Funimation will be bringing the video game based anime to the US. Paragon Lost will be a prequel to Mass Effect 3, and follow the early career of Alliance Marine, James Vega. Vega leads an elite Special Forces squad into battle against a mysterious alien threat known as The Collectors. Stationed at a colony in a remote star system, Vega and his soldiers must protect the civilians from a ruthless invasion determined to capture the population for unknown purposes. Freddie Prinze Jr. will be providing the voice for Vega as he did in the game. Check out the trailer for the film below, and then a 9-minute sneak preview below that:

The King Of Sparta Becomes The God of War in Ascension – Skins are quickly becoming a new way of playing awesome games in a slightly different way. Commonly given as pre-order or paid for DLCs, they allow players to change the look of their protagonist or other characters in the game, making them more bad ass, sexier, or an all together different character. But normally these skins still tie pretty heavily to the game itself. Gamestop is looking to change that with a surprising twist in their newest pre-order exclusive DLC. If you pre-order the upcoming God of War: Ascension for Playstation 3 at Gamestop not only will you receive an exclusive 22”x28” double-sided God of War poster, but you’ll get a skin of King Leonidas! Yes, King Leonidas I, the Spartan King who died fighting the Persians way back in 480 BC and portrayed by Gerard Butler in 300 will replace Kratos as your playable character in the game. Depicted as Butler portrayed him in 300, King Leonidas will have his iconic red cape, helmet, and armor while also wielding his Spartan spear. Perhaps this Greek warrior king will do better than a Greek god in his war against Ares. God of War: Ascension hits stores March 12^th, 2013.

Shailene Woodley Cast As Mary Jane – Hidden in a recent Hollywood Reporter article about Shailene Woodley, George Clooney’s daughter in The Descendants. attempting to close a deal on a role in the upcoming film Divergent (based off the Veronica Roth novel) was a real gem for comic book fans. It appears that Woodley has officially booked the role of Mary Jane in the Amazing Spider-Man sequel. HR states “the Mary Jane role is proving to be only a very small part in Amazing Spider-Man 2 but blossoms into an integral lead for the planned third movie as the studio seeks to build to the classic “Death of Gwen Stacy” story”. If any of this is true, this could make the Amazing Spider-Man trilogy quite the tragedy, but also might hint at plans for the film series to expand beyond just 3 movies.

Year 2 of The New 52, Trinity War, and The New Age of Comics – At this year’s New York Comic Con, DC’s Co-publishers, Jim Lee and Dan Didio, had a laid back interview with Preview World’s Vince Brusio. The short interview covered a wide range of topics in just 2 minutes, and is well worth enjoying for any DC fans out there as they discuss The Trinity War and other upcoming New 52 topics.

The Evil Dead Rise Again In A Gruesome Trailer for the 2013 Remake – Fans in attendance of this month’s New York Comic Con were treated to a stomach churning sneak peek at the Evil Dead remake’s trailer. Now it is your turn to see the evils of the Naturan Demanto, if you think you can handle it. The film may not be out until 2013, but people are about to become quite scared of just the minute and a quarter shown in this red band trailer we have for you below.

Friday Quick Caption is a weekly update of quick links and blurbs from the world of entertainment news. Expect your fast pace, A.D.D. dose of movie trailers, comic news, celebrity updates, and video game announcement from throughout the week.

Real Life Helicarriers – After the recent Avengers movie, more than just a handful of comic fans are wishing the 1965 designed SHIELD transport was a real life naval vessel. Well such a thing is not likely to pop up in the US Navy anytime soon, RC collectors might want to start saving their money as protypes are popping up in Russia. Over at Technabob this week there is an article on RC enthusiasts bringing the Helicarrier to life in a fully working RC model that makes the SDCC Helicarrier toy look like an over priced ironing board. Check out the video below of one of the RC Helicarriers in action, then read the Technabob article for more information and videos of RC planes even being launched off the Helicarrier in flight!

Pond Life Leads Us Into An Asylum Of Daleks – Pond Life is a new web series on BBC’s website that will work as a prequel to series 7 of Doctor Who. Starting this Monday, August 27^th, at noon you can watch the first of a 5 part mini-adventure following Amy Pond, Rory, and the Doctor. Directed by Saul Metzstein (Dinosaurs on Spaceship/A Town Called Mercy), the end of Pond Life will lead directly into Asylum of the Dalek’s, which premiers September 1^st. Check out a video of Karen Gillan and Arthur Darvill talking about Pond Life below.

Berserk Volume 37 To Get Limited Edition Release – Those of you who buy your manga in Japanese or just want something a little rare from the Berserk series, this is going to be the treasure piece. Shipping March 29^th of next year will be a limited edition version of Berserk volume 37 that includes a 6” figure of Guts wearing his berserker armor and two interchangeable helmets. On top of that incredible piece, well worth the purchase alone, you get a “luminous body” (astral form) Schierke and two original postcards drawn by Kentarou Miura (the creator of Berserk). The limited-edition volume will retail for 4,780 yen (or roughly $60USD).

Nintendo To No Longer Have The Power – Nintendo Power has been a monthly Nintendo magazine in the US and Canada since 1988, giving fans the latest news, reviews, and Nintendo info for the past 24 years. However, it will sadly not se a 25^th year, as the magazine has recently announced that it will cease publication this December.  Subscribers to the magazine might want to click here if they have any questions.

Axe Gundam Body Spray – No, Axe isn’t making an exclusive body spray for mechs, but they are doing the next best thing. After last years very successful bundling of One Piece toys with Axe body spray, they will now begin bundling exclusive Gundam figures! Yes, when you buy a Japanese Axe body spray or body soap after September 13^th, you can get an awesome little super deformed Gundam figure along with that clean feel. Some Gundam fans might want to google where they can order Axe online from the island nation.

How To Kill A Reaper In Leviathan – BioWare gets us read to get wet in the new Mass Effect 3 DLC, Leviathan. In the new single player mission, Commander Shepard travels to a water world in search of something that can kill the reapers. Will he find his answer? Check out the trailer below and download it this Tuesday to find out!

Borderlands 2 Soundtrack Sounds Good - Composers Jesper Kyd (Assassin’s Creed), Cris Velasco and Sascha Dikiciyan (Mass Effect 3), and Raison Varner (Gearbox Software) have come together to make an impressive sounding 23-song soundtrack for Borderlands 2. The soundtrack will be available next month, September 18^th, both physically and digitally. The track listing is as follows:

1. Ascent (Cris Velasco and Sascha Dikiciyan)

2. Ash (Jesper Kyd)

3. Caverns (Jesper Kyd)

4. Glacial (Jesper Kyd)

5. Crater Lake (Cris Velasco and Sascha Dikiciyan)

6. Dam Interior (Cris Velasco and Sascha Dikiciyan)

7. Dam Top (Jesper Kyd)

8. Fyrestone (Jesper Kyd)

9. Hyperion (Cris Velasco and Sascha Dikiciyan)

10. Ice (Jesper Kyd)

11. Interlude Combat (Jesper Kyd)

12. Interlude Ambient (Jesper Kyd)

13. Lynchwood (Cris Velasco and Sascha Dikiciyan)

14. Lynchwood Sheriff Combat (Cris Velasco and Sascha Dikiciyan)

15. Main Menu (Jesper Kyd)

16. Jack Final Boss (Cris Velasco and Sascha Dikiciyan)

17. Pandora Park (Jesper Kyd)

18. Sanctuary (Jesper Kyd)

19. Bandit Slaughter (Raison Varner)

20. The Fridge (Jesper Kyd)

21. Tundra Express (Cris Velasco and Sascha Dikiciyan)

22. Warrior Boss (Cris Velasco and Sascha Dikiciyan)

23. Vog Fight (Cris Velasco and Sascha Dikiciyan)

Move Forward Unto Dawn As Halo 4 Nears – The Halo 4 live action web series, Forward Unto Dawn, is almost upon us. The release date is October 5^th of this year, a month before Halo 4 hits consoles. Set to premier on the Machinima youtube channel, Machinima is now giving us yet another new trailer for the series, entitled Enlist. This gives us some insight into the minds of a few new UNSC recruits. You can check it out below, along with the full length trailer below that.

Friday Quick Caption is a weekly update of quick links and blurbs from the world of entertainment news. Expect your fast pace, A.D.D. dose of movie trailers, comic news, celebrity updates, and video game announcement from throughout the week.

Here Comes Kumoricon – Kumoricon has officially released their 2012 convention schedule, which looks pretty nice with everything from Pokemon LARPing to some naughty 18+ panels. There schedule, which you can find here, also includes some fun gaming tournaments throughout the weekend. You can download a PDF version of the schedule or view it online to prep for the labor day weekend event in advance. But if you really want proof that technology and anime cons are merging, check back soon to download the Kumoricon 2012 guidebook app for iOS or Android mobile devices and prepare for your futuristic con experience in Washington next month.

Show Pikachu Pride With The New Limited Edition 3DS XL – Known as the 3D LL in Japan, the new Nintendo handheld console features a 90% larger screen than the original 3DS. But that’s not all, as the one month old gaming console prepares for a new limited edition release in Japan. At Japan’s 7 Pokemon Center stores you’ll soon be able to purchase a highly limited Yellow Pikachu edition of the Nintendo 3DS XL for a fairly inexpensive 18,900 yen (that’s $238USD, a mere $39 more than the system will cost when it hits stores throughout North America next week). The new limited edition handheld comes out September 15^th in Japan and will feature a wrap around image of the popular Pokemon, Pikachu, over a bright yellow case. If you’re lucky enough to be in or around one of the Japanese Pokemon Centers, you can pre-order the system starting next week, August 25^th. There is currently no plans for a North American version, but thankfully theses systems are region free.

Mega Man RPG For the iOS – As the popular Rockman (Mega Man here in the states) celebrates his 25^th anniversary, Capcom has announced a new RPG for the iOS. Rockman Xover will be available later this year on the iPhone 3G/4/4S, iPod touch (3rd Gen+), and iPad. The story combines multiple Mega Man universes from the many games releases over its 25 year run, and should be a rather fun experience for Mega Man fanatics with apple mobile products.

Could Legend of Korra End Up On The Big Screen? – The folks over at IGN believe it is possible after Variety recently reported that Paramount Chief, Brad Grey, has recently been turning to their sister division, Nickelodeon, to provide new intellectual properties for their animation division. Variety says “Though development has not begun yet, possible Nickelodeon products that could be turned into films include Dora the Explorer, The Legend of Korra, and Monkey Quest”. As this would be an animated film if Paramount goes through with the concept, it would likely remain in the hands of the series creators rather than a director like M. Night Shyamalan, who fans blame for the horrible live action attempt at The Last Airbender series.  Right now it’s too early to tell if this rumor could become a reality, but it is worth noting there is a chance.

The Arrow Is Ripped – CW’s upcoming TV series based on the DC comic character, Green Arrow, now has a poster advertising its October 10^th premiere and rather ripped star. We all saw Stephen Amell’s impressive work out in the trailer for Arrow, and below we can see the results, along with some rather gnarly battle scars he likely collected while living on the island that made him the archer he is today. It seems CW is trying to put the sexy in Arrow with Amell’s fit body exposed above the acknowledgment of his 8PM Wednesdays time slot.

Countdown To Avengers 2 – Marvel has recently announced the new release date for Avengers 2, which will be written and directed by Joss Whedon. The Avengers 2 is now slated for release on May 1^st, 2015. Other scheduled Marvel Studios movies are as follows: Iron Man 3 on May 3, 2013; Thor: The Dark World on November 8, 2013; Captain America: The Winter Soldier on April 4, 2014; and Guardians of the Galaxy on August 1, 2014. No date is yet set for Ant-Man.

GameStop Thinks Entering DLC Codes Is For Chumps – Because typing in a 25-digit DLC code is annoying, GameStop believes it has an answer. According to Wired, GameStop president Tony Bartel intends to put a new system in place that emails a link to customers allowing them to click and download DLC content directly on to their Xbox 360 (and other systems in the near future). This could be the future of store bought DLC, as Electronic Arts said this week that it expects sales of digital content to surpass those of physical discs within a few years. We’ll just have to watch and see how well this idea unfolds at America’s #1 gaming retailer.

Batman: Arkham City Armored Edition Censors Up – The new Wii U edition of Batman: Arkham City does what we expect on a new version of the awesome Batman game for Nintendo: Censors the sexy and upgrades the technology. This new version of the game will come with new tech for Batman, that specifically takes advantage of the Wii U, and forces Catwoman to zip up her catsuit to cover up that cleavage.  Check out the blu-ray-esque non-blu-ray casing for Batman: Arkham City Armored Edition and the covered up Catwoman in the attached pictures.

Friday Quick Caption is a weekly update of quick links and blurbs from the world of entertainment news. Expect your fast pace, A.D.D. dose of movie trailers, comic news, celebrity updates, and video game announcement from throughout the week.

A Sneak Peek At Hawkeye #2 – After a rather successfully selling issue #1, Marvel gives us a peek at the art for issue #2 of Hawkeye, which goes on sale Wednesday, September 5^th.

Who’s Ready For An Adventure In Space And Time? – See the pun in that one? You will in a moment. Doctor Who fans rejoice, as the series nears its 50^th anniversary next year. The series once intended to be titled An Adventure In Space And Time began back in November of 1963. To celebrate this, BBC announced this week that BBC2 has commissioned a 90-minute drama about how Doctor Who came to be. Written by Mark Gatiss, the drama, An Adventure in Space and Time, will have Doctor Who’s current showrunners, Steven Moffat and Caroline Skinner, on as Executive Producers.

Robert Kirkman Explains Continuity on The Walking Dead Novels – Some fans of The Walking Dead series have been a little curious about just where the prose novels fit in within the comic and television continuity, especially with the solicitation of “The Road to Woodbury” featuring a little known character named Lily. Thanks to a Previews World (Diamond Distribution) interview at SDCC, we now know. Check out this short Robert Kirkman interview below:

Guest Creators On DC Comics – This week we already saw Becky Cloonan step in to the art duties of Batman for issue #12, but all this week on The Source (DC’s official blog) there has been talk of guest creators stepping in. Whether this is a sign of Editors once more trying to keep books coming out on time or a potential shake up for new creative teams…who knows but those sitting in the DC offices. However, here is what we do know: Pascal Alixe will be taking over art on Red Hood and the Outlaws #14, just before the next Batman event, ‘Death of the Family’. Artist Pete Woods will be working on Aquaman #14 alongside Geoff Johns. On Nightwing, fans will get an entire new guest creative team for issues #13 and 14, as Tom DeFalco, Andres Guinaldo and Mark Irwin take over, once again, right before the big Batman event.

Gotta Catch ‘Em All At Gamestop – Pokemon, the ever loved franchise of video games that has you catching now somewhere around 650 different super powered critters for intense battles, is about to introduce a new pocket monster to the mix. Exclusive to Gamestop, Nintendo has revealed their newest mythic Pokemon. Well, they sort of have…right now she’s more of a silhouette. However, come August 20^th you’ll get the name and full image of the new Pokemon at Pokemon.com, and from August 27^th through October 6^th you can attend special distribution events at participating Gamestops to catch your own! Until then, we can only look at the silhouette below and presume Nintendo’s Pokemon designers have come down with a case of Brony love. (Note: this new Pokemon will only be available to gamers with the Black or White version of Pokemon for DS. If you were hoping to get this guy on Black ver.2 or White ver.2, you might need to invest in their original releases first, as both sequels come out the day after this event ends!)

Friday Quick Caption is a weekly update of quick links and blurbs from the world of entertainment news. Expect your fast pace, A.D.D. dose of movie trailers, comic news, celebrity updates, and video game announcement from throughout the week.

More Marvel Vs Capcom Toys – Thanks to the guys and girls at Diamond Select Toys, we’re about to see the release of some brand new Minimates. What makes these Minimates so special? Well, some of them will be based on Capcom characters! That’s right, the popular video game series, Marvel Vs Capcom, is spawning off some awesome two inch tall figures. There will be 4 box sets of two characters a piece, featuring Captain America and Ryu, She-Hulk and Chun Li, Doctor Doom and Albert Wesker, and X-23 and Felicia! The female characters are only available at comic shops, so make sure to swing by you local comic store when these figures come out next week.

Grant Morrison To Leave Superhero Comics – Atleast he’ll be off the monthlies for a while, according to a recent interview over at CBR. It would seem he’s run dry on stories and desires in relation to the superhero genre of comics. He does note that this isn’t an absolute end, but a temporary one at the least. He will finish up his current DC on-goings with Action Comics on issue #16 and Batman Inc at #12.

Want To Be A Comic Book Writer? – Breaking into the comic book industry is hardly an easy task, especially for writers. However, the keen people at Orlando’s MegaCon are giving you the chance right now. In a contest that started earlier this week, aspiring writers can submit a 15-page comic script based on a short sypnosis listed on the site to possibly win a free trip to MegaCon as well as a cash prize and potential employment writing comics professionally! Click here to learn more.

What Follows Spartacus? – Spartacus is preparing to wrap up the sex and violence fueled gladiator TV series that has rocked Starz for 3 seasons as the show enters its 4^th and final season. But what does Starz have planned for afterwards? Well, Spartacus creator and executive producer, Steven S. DeKnight spoke to IGN at San Diego Comic Con about his new Starz TV series, Incursion. A mix between the military drama, Band of Brothers, and galactic warfare, as you might find in Halo, Incursion looks like it might be a real winner for the premium television network, as DeKnight describes below.

Kickstarter Bans Retailer Incentive Rewards – Many new games, comics, and other projects that involve getting a smaller company product into retail stores rely on Kickstarter and special reward incentives for retailers. However, Kickstarter has now banned this and what they are referring to as “rewards in bulk quantities”. This could hugely effect many current and upcoming Kickstarter campaigns, like Top Cow’s Cyberforce campaign.

A Marvel Live Action TV Show Could Possibly Find Its Way To ABC – Of course, as Deadline is reporting, the concept is just “a kernel of an idea” at the moment. But thanks to the highly successful Avengers movie, ABC Studios might be crazy not to make some kind of Marvel universe live action show. Alias perhaps?

The Hobbit Officially Becomes 3 Films Long – News from Peter Jackson this week might not have come as a surprise to many, with rumors that The Hobbit would be spread out over 3 films first arising during San Diego Comic Con. However, this Monday Peter made it official with an announcement he shared on his Facebook, stating:

It is only at the end of a shoot that you finally get the chance to sit down and have a look at the film you have made. Recently Fran, Phil and I did just this when we watched for the first time an early cut of the first movie – and a large chunk of the second. We were really pleased with the way the story was coming together, in particular, the strength of the characters and the cast who have brought them to life.  All of which gave rise to a simple question: do we take this chance to tell more of the tale? And the answer from our perspective as the filmmakers, and as fans, was an unreserved ‘yes.’

We know how much of the story of Bilbo Baggins, the Wizard Gandalf, the Dwarves of Erebor, the rise of the Necromancer, and the Battle of Dol Guldur will remain untold if we do not take this chance.  The richness of the story of The Hobbit, as well as some of the related material in the appendices of The Lord of the Rings, allows us to tell the full story of the adventures of Bilbo Baggins and the part he played in the sometimes dangerous, but at all times exciting, history of Middle-earth.

So, without further ado and on behalf of New Line Cinema, Warner Bros. Pictures, Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer, Wingnut Films, and the entire cast and crew of “The Hobbit” films, I’d like to announce that two films will become three.

It has been an unexpected journey indeed, and in the words of Professor Tolkien himself, “a tale that grew in the telling.”

Cheers,

Peter J

Peter Jackson is notoriously considered poor at cutting down his films, with movies known for running a lot longer than necessary. But perhaps expanding all this footage over an extra film might make Peter Jackson’s The Hobbit trilogy come in with a series of movies that all actually run under 3 hours per film.

Doctor Who And The Daleks…All The Daleks – Series 7 of the new Doctor Who is about to air, with the first screening taking place at BFI Southbank on August 14^th. From there we just have to wait for Fall to see the premiere of season 7 on the BBC and BBCAmerica. But until then, we have a brand new image and trailer for season 7 below!

Friday Quick Caption is a weekly update of quick links and blurbs from the world of entertainment news. Expect your fast pace, A.D.D. dose of movie trailers, comic news, celebrity updates, and video game announcement from throughout the week.

Microsoft’s Xbox720 Gets A Little Leaky- No that isn’t leaky in a bad way…unless you’re working for Xbox’s PR department and you wanted a little more control over your companies news releases. It would seem the Internet has got a hold of some interesting new Xbox720 information, and Microsoft is doing a grand job of using their legal department to quell the news. Thankfully IGN is quick to copying and pasting the content of these leaks, before the legal department gets to the smaller sites. So what do we know? It sounds like the Xbox720 will actually be called that, will come with Blu-ray player, Kinect sensor, cloud steaming, and special virtual reality glasses being called Fortaleza. Best of all, if these rumors are true it will all run for about $299…which leads me to call BS, but I could be wrong. Even better is there is also leaks about an Xbox tablet, currently rumored to be called the Xbox Surface, which might just bring an interesting new twist to Xbox gaming.

Time For More TimeSplitters – TimeSplitters was always a rather fun first person shooter series, that the younger generation may only remember as the game played in Shaun of the Dead. Never the less, TimeSplitters is probably the only FPS comparable to N64’s Goldeneye 007 game (probably because it was developed by some members of Rare who had worked on the title) and that is guaranteed to draw the attention of many FPS fans. Yet it has been 7 years since TimeSplitters: Future Perfect came out for Xbox and PS2, and many fans had long since given up hope on a fourth game after Free Radical Design (the game’s developer) went under and was bought up by Crytek. However, after some discussion between game developers at Crytek, a new campaign has formed to get TimeSplitters 4 back into production. You can check out the facebook page for TimeSplitters 4 here to learn more, and like the page to show your support. Who knows, maybe TS4 might just become a reality.

Mini Avengers Vs X-men at Toys ‘R’ US – Minimates are fun little, Lego/Kubrick like toys that mainly feature comic and other Geek characters as somewhat posable figures. They are particularly great in the comic circles because they focus on characters and variations that might not normally see life as an action figure. Right now, thanks to Diamond Select Toys, Toys ‘R’ Us, and Marvel you can now choose what new characters will come to life as Minimates this fall. The choices are all from Avengers Vs X-men and will make up a 4-figure box set, much like last years Heralds of Galactus box set. Even better is some of the new phoenix forms of our favorite X-men are potential candidates. Of course this isn’t the first time Minimate figures have been created based on fan voting, as polls are still open at Marvel.com for what figures will be made in Series #50 of the marvel minimates. Go to Toys ‘R’ Us now to vote on which AvX minimates you want this fall!

Bruce Campbell: Extreme Reporter of Amazing Spider-man – Bruce Campbell was a hilarious addition to Sam Raimi’s Spider-man movies, but he’s not likely to appear in Marc Webb’s new Amazing Spider-Man film. Thankfully we already know that he is atleast making an appearance in the Amazing Spider-Man video game (along with Stan Lee, who will be in the movie). But now we finally know just who he will be voicing and can hear a bit of the legendary zombie killer with a chin once more defeat Spider-Man (mind you, as Bruce loves to point out, he was the only character to stop Spider-Man in the second film). Check out the video below to hear Bruce talk about his role as The Extreme Reporter. Remember, the game comes out this Tuesday, June 26^th.

Friday Quick Caption is a weekly update of quick links and blurbs from the world of entertainment news. Expect your fast pace, A.D.D. dose of movie trailers, comic news, celebrity updates, and video game announcement from throughout the week.

DC Subscribers Don’t Get What They Ordered- We start off this week’s FQC with some potentially bad news for DC comics subscribers. It seems a fair amount of you will have received letters this week or next from the company that may as well have been delivered by crows (Dark Wings, Dark Words). It seems Justice League International subscribers will be missing out on the final 2-issues of the series, with a consolation of Superman issues instead. There is no reason seen for this, but issue #10 will be the end point for this, and several other DC series delivered through subscriptions. Aquaman subscribers will begin receiving Justice League (at no extra cost), Swamp Thing subscribers will soon be getting issues of Batman, and Justice League Dark subscribers will get Batman: The Dark Knight. Rich Johnston has some nice scans of the letters subscribers are receiving over at his site, if you’re interested in checking them out.

Robert Downey Jr. Plays Billionaire, Makes 50 Million – That’s right, the hilarious star of Marvel’s The Avengers movie is set to gross $50,000,000 for his role in the film! This, as the Daily Star reports, is in stark (no pun intended) contrast to the 2-3 million most of his co-stars will make on the movie. This all comes from a rather brilliant deal Downey made while working on Iron Man that allows him to make a percentage of the films profit rather than a flat fee. Good thing Avengers didn’t bomb…but how likely was that to happen?

While You’re Playing Diablo, George RR Martin Is Playing Game of Thrones – Though sadly he might be the only one. Game of Thrones the video game, by Cyanide Studios, also came out this Tuesday and is finding…poor reviews at best. The general word on the console game is that it has a brilliant story and bad everything else. But the bonus that makes it worth going out and grabbing? There is a little cameo from George RR Martin, the series’ creator, hidden in the game! Portraying Maester Martin, George gets some of the funniest lines in the series, commenting on his own books and narrative style. Check out the hilarious video below for his appearance.

Tekken Live Action Prequel In The Works – Steven Paul, CEO of Crystal Sky, is looking to make a prequel to the 2010 Live Action Tekken movie. Based off the popular fighting game franchise, Tekken: Rise of the Tournament, will be directed by Prachya Pinkaew, the director of Ong Bak. Paul is hoping this time around that the movie will see domestic theater release, unlike the direct to DVD format of the 2010 film. He claims that the movie will not have any big name stars, but will rather feature actors who look like the characters in the video games. I’d say its about time a film adaption of a video game or comic took that approach!

DC Shows You The Lead In To Trinity War For Free – Didn’t get a chance to pick up either of DC’s free comic book day issues earlier this month? No worries, they’re still free in digital format! DC has just begun offering their New 52 FCBD Special Edition #1 and DC Nation/Superman Family Adventures flipbook for free on their website, as well as on comixology! Go read it now, if you haven’t already, so you can know the story behind Pandora and the other key figures of the New 52.

Friday Quick Caption is a weekly update of quick links and blurbs from the world of entertainment news. Expect your fast pace, A.D.D. dose of movie trailers, comic news, celebrity updates, and video game announcement from throughout the week.

A quick reminder before we get into this week’s FQC. I know we’re all Geeks here, and thusly we often have a ton of things running through our mind. Because of this, sometimes we forget little things, such as to thank our mothers for (hopefully) supporting our Geeky interests. Well, remember that this Sunday, May 13^th, is Mother’s Day in many parts of the world, so do something awesome for your mom! (I recommend taking her to see Avengers)

Will Kingdom Hearts Return To Console For Its Next Game?- Kingdom Heats’ series director, Tetsuya Nomura certainly feels it should. In an interview set to come out in the June issue of Game Informer, Nomura makes a few powerful statements that Kingdom Hearts fans might want to check out. Particularly lines like “I also feel that it’s about time that Kingdom Hearts should go back to being on a console.” and, in relation to Kingdom Hearts 3 being the next game in the series, “I’m not able to disclose any information on what’s coming next or any other future plans, but you may be able to find a hint if you play through Dream Drop Distance to the very end.” You can read more of the interview here, or wait until the June release of the magazine to pick up your own copy. Remember, Kingdom Hearts: Dream Drop Distance hits stores July 20^th in Europe and July 31^st in North America.
 

Who Watches The Creator’s Interests At DC – Rich Johnston, over at Bleeding Cool, has written a rather incredible article that leaves his normal style of rumours and news for some analytical content that is just great. Looking at modern quotes combined with some 80’s/90’s comic publishing history, Johnston puts together some interesting thoughts about Before Watchmen and how DC & Warner have treated creator owned series in the past. Click here to check out the article and see some interesting finds from 1980’s issues of The Comics Journal.

Sweet Tooth To Have Sweet Goodbye – Jeff Lemire’s popular and quirky post-apocalyptic series, Sweet Tooth, is officially set to end at issue #40. Lemire announced this in his blog on Monday, and spoke a little more about it on Vertigo’s blog as well. He wishes to stress that the book has not been cancelled by DC, even thanking many of DC and Vertigo’s staff, and that this ending came of his own choice as natural conclusion to the series. Issue #40 is set to be double-sized and released in December. The final storyline, The Wild Kingdom, will begin in August’s issue #36  and will begin a 4-issue set of interlocking covers. If you want to read collaborator, Jose Villarrubia thoughts on the series conclusion, click here.

Justice League Just Wont Stop – Almost an entire year later, the Justice League #1 is still in print and selling out. The opening salvo of DC’s New 52 by the company’s CCO, Geoff Johns, and co-publisher, Jim Lee, is about to enter its 8^th printing! That is pretty near unheard of in this modern era of comics to see an issue see 8 separate printings. The new printing is set to hit stores June 6^th, and the question becomes how many more ways can this comic see varying covers?

Who Is The Fairest First Of All? – MTV is currently offering an exclusive first look style clip of Snow White and the Hunstman, starring The Avenger’s Chris Hemsworth alongside a unhacked Charlize Theron and a Kristen Stewart that tempts me into going out and watching a Twilight movie. Check out the clip here.

Joss Whedon Not Responsible For This Whedon Moment – For Whedon fans who have already seen The Avengers, it probably wasn’t too shocking to see a death on film. Joss has become quite known for kill a character in each of his films and many of his TV shows. However, in an interview by i09’s Meredith Woerner at The Avengers’ press junket, Joss claims this death isn’t on him. We like to keep the FQC spoiler free, so click the button below to see who was killed and Joss’ explanation for it:

Canada Gets Hollywood - Canada’s Fan Expo has just announced some bigger movie guests for this year’s August show. Rose McGowan (Charmed, Conan), Chris Sarandon (Nightmare Before Christmas, Princess Bride), and Tony Todd (The Candyman) have all been added as guests of the show.

In The Name Of Liberty, Assassin’s Creed- Now before we let you go from this week’s FQC, who wants to see the newest Assassin’s Creed trailer? The outsider trailer for Assassin’s Creed 3 shows some early game play footage and offers a bloodier look at the revolutionary era game.

Friday Quick Caption is a weekly update of quick links and blurbs from the world of entertainment news. Expect your fast pace, A.D.D. dose of movie trailers, comic news, celebrity updates, and video game announcement from throughout the week.

Xbox360 To Become Very Affordable – Rumors starting up over at The Verge have it that Microsoft is looking to cut costs of a 4GB Xbox with Kinect for just $99 and a 2-year subscription to Xbox Live Gold. Soon may be the time to add to your console collection if you don’t already have Microsoft’s gaming monster.

Higher Earth Sells Higher Than Fanboys Vs Zombies – Sam Humphries, the man behind Our Love Is Real and Fanboys Vs Zombies, has a new series coming out next week (May 9^th). This new series, Higher Earth, is yet another one of Boom Studio’s famous $1 issue #1’s. But the big news is that this comic is not even out yet and has already sold out, with plans for a second printing. Humphries describes the series by saying  “Space is dead. Why conquer other planets when there’s a perfectly good Earth in the universe next door? Heidi, a girl born in garbage. Rex, a soldier gone rogue. The only thing between them and their destiny is an empire of a hundred different Earths, across a hundred alternate timelines. One majestic planet dominates them all: Higher Earth.” The second printing for Higher Earth #1 will have brand new cover by Zach Howard.

Black Sails On The Horizon For Starz – Starz has jumped straight to the point in commissioning 8-episodes of a new pirate TV series called Black Sails. The series will be produced by director Michael Bay and play as a prequel to the well known Robert Louis Stevenson novel, Treasure Island. The story of Black Sails will take place 20 years prior to the adventures of James Hawkins, following the exploits of Captain J. Flint, John Silver, and their crew. The series will begin filming in Cape Town, South Africa next year and air on the premium movie channel in 2014. Expect this to be the next Spartacus.

AM2 Reveals Their Passport Covers – AM2, the free convention in Anaheim California on June 15-17, 2012, has a unique way of admitting entry to its events. Being a ‘free’ convention, the way this convention funds itself is charging for just specific events, which you purchase a ‘passport’ for. This year the passport has been designed to look like the Japanese passport. This will be the limited edition version of the passport and will also act as a ‘fast pass’ of sorts to the convention while also gaining owners discounts at theme parks and local restaurants in the Anaheim area.

SPJA to Adopt San Diego’s Anime Conji – The Society for the Promotion of Japanese Animation (SPJA) is adopting the San Diego anime convention Anime Conji. In the weeks to come papers are going to be drawn up and meetings will be held to handle the details of this transition. The SPJA is the same group that puts together Pacific Media Expo (PMX) and Anime Expo (AX) in Los Angeles.

John Romita Jr. To Attempt Guinness World Record For Most Signatures – John Romita Jr., the famous Marvel artist who helped create Kick Ass and is currently working on Avengers VS X-men, is attempting to break a record. Having started earlier today, JR Jr. will attempt to break the Guinness World Record for Most Signatures in a 48 hour period, with all the proceeds going to the Heroes for Jordan charity that benefits research for his niece, Jordan Alyssa Atherton, and other children suffering from cancer. The signing is happening right now through Sunday, May 6^th, at the Hard Rock Café in Las Vegas, NV. You can watch it live by checking out the stream below. Of course, if you are in or around Vegas, it might be worth getting some awesome comics signed or sketched.