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Fox Announces ‘Deadpool’ Spin-Off Movie

20th Century Fox has officially announced that they are ramping up production on a Deadpool spin-off. Ryan Reynolds is attached to reprise the character, in a deal that was obviously part of his X-Men Origins: Wolverine contract. Lauren Shuler Donner will produce with Marvel Entertainment. No screenwriter has yet been hired.

Wolverine viewers are likely skeptical of how this character might be handled in a film of his own especially considering some of the twists and turns the character has taken in the Hugh Jackman spin-off. A bit of a warning, if you haven’t seen Wolverine, I’m about to enter into spoiler territory after the jump.

X-Men Origins: Wolverine left Deadpool laying in the rubble, disfigured, and his mouth sewn shut. The film also deviated from the comic books, with Stryker transforming him into Weapon XI, complete with an amalgamation of other mutants superpowers. One of the easter egg endings included after the credits hinted that the character was not dead, with Deadpool reaching for his own decapitated talking head.

Some have speculated that a Deadpool spin-off could be a prequel to Wolverine, in an effort to forgo the issues created in that film. A sequel is probably more likely. The comic book version of the character wears a costume that covers his whole body, including his head, so it is possible for the character to appear without showing the face underneath the mask. Also, the character has healing powers, so it’s possible that he might look completely normal when we revisit him.

Reynolds has described the character as “a cross between Commando and Phantom of the Opera, by way of Caddyshack,” a wise-cracking mercenary with a tendency to break the fourth wall. Reynolds recently told MTV that a Deadpool movie would need to be a closer adaptation of the comic book, so that sets up the expectations.

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Hugh Jackman Officially Developing ‘Wolverine’ Sequel

Variety has confirmed that Hugh Jackman is already developing a sequel to X-Men Origins: Wolverine. This comes as no surprise, especially considering the film grossed over $158 million worldwide on opening weekend. No writer has been hired but the sequel is expected the focus on the Logan in Japan samurai storyline from the comic book series. The storyline was also hinted at in one of the film’s after-credits easter egg endings which showed Logan drinking in a Japanese bar. Seed Productions is producing with Jackman, who would also star again as Wolverine.

It makes sense that Jackman wants to explore Wolverine’s Japanese saga, because it would truly bring a superhero story someplace we haven’t seen before on the big screen. Jackman is enthusiastic of seeing his “anarchic character, the outsider, being in this world — I can see it aesthetically, too — full of honor and tradition and customs and someone who’s really anti-all of that, and trying to negotiate his way.” And lets not forget the Samurai fights.

Slumdog Millionaire screenwriter Simon Beaufoy had mentioned during an appearance at the Bradford International Film Festival that he had been approached to pen a second film, but no deal was reportedly made. Jackman also recently confessed to MTV that he’s been talking to writers about a storyline for the second film, although it was never made clear who these writers were.

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‘Wolverine’ Pulls In $87 Million In Opening Weekend

Even though X-Men Origins: Wolverine has been beaten up by critics and its opening weekend doesn’t compare with last summer’s big superhero movies, the $87 million it earned this weekend is still the 18th best debut ever. But what matters at this point is how much more it can makes this month, in possibly the busiest box office month ever.

The daily figures from Box Office Mojo point to a slight reduction in audience on Saturday and Sunday, but all and all, it was a pretty strong opening weekend. But what happens when Star Trek opens? Can it hold half of the audience from this weekend? Fox would definitely love this to make $200 million, and that’s still likely depending on what happens in the next seven days. But the bad reviews might make $225 million the ceiling rather than the basement, so it’s clearly not going to be the success Iron Man was.

The week’s other two releases, Ghosts of Girlfriends Past and Terra, barely made headlines. The McConaughey romantic comedy did roughly what was expected and as the only film of its type in theaters all month, should continue to bottom feed to earn some cash.

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Hugh Jackman Talks About Xmen Origins: Wolverine

Hugh Jackman, star of the upcoming action film X-Men Origins: Wolverine, told reporters that he thinks that character details in films like this are as important as the action sequences.

“I think comic-book fans have loved Wolverine for more than the action,” Jackman said in a news conference on Saturday in Los Angeles. “He was the first antihero, and there was not just good guys versus bad guys, but an internal battle of good and bad going on within the character. Yeah, they’re cool, and they’ve got claws or they can do amazing things, swords, cards, all of that great, fun stuff, but each one of them has a personal battle going on, and that’s why audiences can relate.”

In Wolverine, Jackman reprises his role as the title character, aka Logan, who originally appeared to audiences as part of the X-Men film series. In addition to discussing the prospect of helming his own franchise, Jackman spoke to reporters alongside director Gavin Hood and co-star Liev Schreiber about developing the character’s complex backstory and personal relationships. The following is an edited version of that interview. X-Men Origins: Wolverine opens Friday. (Spoilers ahead!)

Read More — Spoilers Ahead

Marvel Showcases Wolverine In B&W Adventures In ‘Rampaging Wolverine’

Rampaging Wolverine ($3.99) is both an in-joke and an interesting experiment. The in-joke appears in the very title Rampaging Wolverine, a tribute to an oversized black-and-white Rampaging Hulk magazine that Marvel published for a while a few decades back. Only longtime readers remember that one, as good as it sometimes was, but this one-shot appropriates the adjective, the cover copy and some of the design elements anyway. Fine obscure joke, but what matters, of course, is whether the interior contents do anything interesting with a character who already appears in umpty-ump comics each month.

So what do we have? "Sense Memory," written by Joshua Hale Fialkov and drawn by Fred Diaz Luque, features our six-clawed mutant dealing with old business on the island of Madripoor, which fans may remember as the site of many of his solo adventures. The art makes the most of the black-and-white format, with subtle shades more than making up for the absence of color, and fine detail work giving a realistic edge to a tale involving piracy and revenge. In both story and art, it’s the finest work in the issue.

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Latest X-Men Origins: Wolverine Update

It’s been an interesting week for 20th Century Fox and its May 1st release, X-Men Origins: Wolverine. As you may know by now, an unfinished workprint of the film was leaked onto the internet. We’ve debated whether we should even mention the leak, as it in turn gets people to search for it, but with the news so widespread we’re pretty sure you’ve heard about it elsewhere by now. We do think, however, that it’s important to post Fox’s official statement on the matter:

Last night, a stolen, incomplete and early version of X-Men Origins: Wolverine was posted illegally on websites. It was without many effects and had missing scenes and temporary sound and music. We immediately contacted the appropriate legal authorities and had it removed. We forensically mark our content so we can identify sources that make it available or download it. The source of the initial leak and any subsequent postings will be prosecuted to the fullest extent of the law — the courts have handed down significant criminal sentences for such acts. The FBI and MPAA are also actively investigating the crime.

We are encouraged by the support of fansites condemning piracy and this illegal posting and pointing out that such theft undermines the enormous efforts of the filmmakers and actors and, above all, hurts fans of the film.

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X-Men Origins: Wolverine Workprint Leaked Online

[Update: According to Carlyle (AKA Massawyrm) at Spill.com, the version of the film that's leaked online is most likely an older version that hasn't yet integrated the new material from Hood's recent reshoots.]

Gavin Hood’s X-Men Origins: Wolverine is currently slated for a May 1, 2009 release date in the U.S., but unfortunately, it looks like a few people might be getting their hands on the film a bit earlier than intended. Reports are pouring in that a full-length, DVD-quality workprint of the film has been leaked onto the internet and is quietly making its way across various bittorrent sites and other unsavory online venues. According to Drew McWeeny at HitFix, who has evidently seen parts of the video file,  the copy is “near-finished…marred only by a few unfinished FX shots.” In addition, “there’s no timecode, no watermark…nothing. It’s a clean, perfect copy.”

This is perhaps the biggest leak for a major tentpole release in recent memory. Leaving aside the well-known phenomenon of Oscar screener leaks, workprint leaks have certainly happened in the past. For example, Eli Roth’s Hostel 2 leaked onto the internet several weeks before its release (in that situation, Roth was furious and blamed the leak for the film’s weak box office performance). Other films such as Rob Zombie’s Halloween and Michael Moore’s Sicko also experienced similar issue. However, those films were all relatively small compared to X-Men Origins: Wolverine, a film which 20th Century Fox was probably betting on to help revive its recent lackluster box office performance.

The film’s production has already been plagued by bad buzz, and with a fairly pristine copy of the film floating around for consumption by the very audience the film is targeted at, it will all probably combine to have a dramatic and negative impact on this film’s opening and overall box office performance.

X-Men Origins: Wolverine Workprint Leaked Online

New Comics Shipping For The Week Of 3/11/09

INVINCIBLE IRON MAN #11 DKR
MARVEL SPOTLIGHT WOLVERINE
RESIDENT EVIL #1 (OF 6)
WALKING DEAD #59
MARVEL YOUR UNIVERSE #1

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