Gemma Arterton in Clash of the Titans

Gemma Arterton, better known as "Strawberry Fields" from Quantum of Solace, just announced that she will be playing the character of Io in Louis Letterier's (The Incredible Hulk) remake of Clash of the Titans.

This is the second high-profile project in a row for the up-and-coming actress (she's only 23), after next summer's Prince of Persia: The Sands of Time with Jake Gyllenhaal. Clash will be a reimagining of the stop-motion influenced 1981 film, and definitely has the potential to be awesome if handled correctly. I don't have any knowledge about her character in this film (I don't remember an "Io" in the original, but it's been forever since I've seen it), so I can't say with certainty that she's a good choice for the role. But Gemma's uber-cute, so I'm just glad we'll get to see her up on screen again.

Captain Kirk = Green Lantern?

Chris Pine, the actor who portrays Kirk in J.J. Abrams' Star Trek movie out this summer, has been narrowed down as a candidate for the upcoming adaptation of Green Lantern. Conflicting sites say this isn't true, but who cares? It's amusing to talk about.

A DC superhero and member of the Justice League, Green Lantern can form any object he imagines with a special ring, bestowed on him from a dying alien. The movie version is being directed by Martin Campbell (Casino Royale, Goldeneye) and is said to be close in tone to Iron Man.

Pine hasn't really been in anything other than chick flicks so far (a forgettable role in Smokin' Aces doesn't help), but director Kevin Smith had nothing but praise for the young actor after seeing an early cut of Star Trek. I'm pulling for him - he seems like a good dude and a respectable young Kirk, so hopefully his team of representatives can pull the strings that will allow us to see him as Hal Jordan in the near future.

[Plus I'm holding out hope that Ryan Reynolds will one day be in a Flash movie, and they'd make a pretty good team in a Justice League movie. God forbid they ever decide to make that, at least those two would probably be enjoyable.]

Natalie Portman in Thor?

First ScarJo joins Iron Man 2, now Natalie Portman could be the love interest in Thor? Marvel Studios, I'm beginning to like you more every day.

This is a bit of old news, but I just felt it was worth mentioning since Portman falls on my list of Favorite Actresses Right Now and has a little more credibility to her name than the aforementioned busty blonde.

Also worth mentioning (to me, anyway) is that Josh Hartnett has tested for both the role of Thor and Thor's brother, Loki. I think he'd be great as a mischievious character, since I don't really see him as a hammer-wielding superstar. We'll see how it all plays out.

Marvel/Iron Man 2 Stuff

In case you guys haven't already heard about this, I want to give a small update on the recent happenings over at Marvel Studios.

The big news is that they have pushed back almost all of their films by nearly a year. The original announcement had Thor and Iron Man 2 coming out in 2010, and the Captain America and Avengers movie would hit in 2011. I wondered (along with Jon Favreau) if this insane pace was going to be feasible - turns out they're playing it safe and pushing everything back instead of pumping out a less-than-quality project.

New Dates
Thor - June 17th, 2011
First Avenger: Captain America - July 22nd, 2011
The Avengers - May 12th, 2012

Sony Pictures still has the rights to Spider-Man, so they're releasing Spider-Man 4 on May 6th, 2011. Looks like the death of the superhero is a long way away...

In Iron Man 2 news, Mickey Rourke has finally been confirmed as the villain for the sequel, and Scarlett Johansson will be playing the Black Widow, a character that I have never heard of before. Keep in mind that I've read exactly four Marvel comic issues in my entire life. She's hot, so I'm pumped. Look at it this way - there's no way it can be worse than her performance in The Spirit. And with Sam Jackson signing that massive 9 pic deal with the studio, you can guarantee there will be at least one scene in it that will make this film worth seeing.

Site Update

Greetings.

I realize that I've been horrible about keeping up with this site lately, and I'm going to try to explain why, but the gist of this post is: I'm going back to the way I used to do things.

Ever since we did that first "Ben's Video Roundup," I had grand visions of making those once a week and doing most of my "daily" movie blogging in that format, with the occasional text post in between. This obviously didn't happen, and it's due in part to 1) me working a full time job and 2) me being lazy. Plus, my technical errors on that second episode really threw a wrench into my cog.

I used to horde stories and wait until I could fit them into a video post, but after I couldn't find the time to make one, the stories weren't relevant anymore. So I'm going back to my text posts and giving up the idea of making videos on a consistent basis (I'll save that for my other site). So keep checking back, and I'll be hitting you with the movie news that I deem worthy at a more regular interval soon.

Leo DiCaprio Joins Inception

Doth my eyes deceive me? Two of my favorite people in Hollywood will be working together for the first time on a project that sounds extremely interesting. (High fives all around.)

Leonardo DiCaprio (who has officially worked his way to Number One on my list of Favorite Working Actors) is set to star in Christopher Nolan's upcoming film Inception. The project is veiled in mysterious phrases like "contemporary sci-fi actioner," taking place within the "architecture of the mind," so we really have no idea what it is actually about.

I have blind faith in both Nolan's directing - as I've said many times, The Prestige is one of my favorite films - and DiCaprio's acting. The two joining together is a match made in fanboy heaven. 2010, here we come.