Damon Houx
'American Idol' used to be the hottest show on television, but after 13 years, it's starting to show its age. The show's ratings have slipped from regularly having 30 million viewers to now somewhere around 11 million. And though the show has had some different judges over the course of its run, it's now looking to ditch all four current judges to have a fresh face for season 13.
'X-Men: Days of Future Past' is to commence shooting in April, and it will include a lot of familiar faces. One current holdout is Halle Berry, who originated the role of Storm. Last we heard she wasn't in the picture, but now it looks like there's a strong chance of Storm appearing in 'Future Past.'
As 'Anchorman 2' has begun shooting, casting is now filling in quite nicely, and on top of the core five of Will Ferrell, Steve Carell, Paul Rudd, David Koechner, and Christina Applegate, and new additions Kristen Wiig and James Marsden, now Meagan Good and Dylan Baker have officially joined the cast.
'Dawn of the Planet of the Apes,' and the new approach to the 'PotA' films is decidedly different than the tact taken in the 1970's. There, each sequel was given a smaller and smaller budget and with fewer name talents. Not so with 'Dawn,' as it just added Gary Oldman to the cast.
In 2009, Bradley Cooper went from utility handsome guy into movie star with his turn in Todd Phillips' 'The Hangover,' and in 2012 Cooper became an Oscar nominee for his work in 'Silver Linings Playbook.' It looks like before 2015 Cooper plans to add another feather to his cap as he's looking to direct his first feature film.
About a month ago, news broke that Marvel had big plans for Hulk, and that they might be sending him to outer space at the end of 'The Avengers 2' in anticipation of a 'Planet Hulk'-style movie. Alas, those rumors have been debunked today.
'Red 2' is the sequel to 2010's surprise hit 'Red,' and it reunites Bruce Willis, John Malkovich, Mary-Louise Parker and Helen Mirren and ropes in new cast members Catherine Zeta Jones and Anthony Hopkins. Now there's a teaser for the film, and it looks fun.
Though he didn't direct it, Eli Roth stars and co-wrote 'Aftershock' in which he plays an American tourist in Chile who survives an earthquake only to realize that the aftermath is just as deadly. This could be fun. Now there's a trailer.
Superheroes need to take breathers. They can't fight bad guys all day long, and when they do take a break, it's nice to have a living room to chill out in. At least that seems to be what Robert Downey Jr.'s Tony Stark is doing in the picture above, in one of three news stills released for the upcoming movie 'Iron Man 3.'
With the holiday season about to kick into gear, we're about to see the big guns of the Oscar pictures, and one of the biggest of 2012 is 'Les Miserables.' Hugh Jackman, Anne Hathaway, Russell Crowe and Amanda Seyfried lead the cast of the awards-bait film, and now they've taken had their pictures by Annie Leibovitz for Vogue magazine.
With the news of George Lucas' decision to give Disney control of the 'Star Wars' franchise for a news series of movies, there was hope that with Disney getting the rights it might lead to a new box set of the original films, perhaps in their original cuts. That's not going to happen, at least not any time soon.
'Alex Cross' doesn't open until Friday and we just reviewed it unfavorably, but that's not stopping Tyler Perry and book writer James Patterson from finalizing a deal on a sequel called 'Double Cross.'