Comic-Con 2009 Movie News

The Hobbit: IGN got a chance to speak to producer Peter Jackson about the upcoming film, which is to be directed by Guillermo del Toro. The script is about three weeks away from being turned over to the studio. Their hope is to have Part 1 ready for release in December 2011, with Part 2 following in December 2012, much like how the Lord of the Rings films were released. By splitting the book into two films, Jackson and del Toro will include pretty much everything as well as add in events between Gandalf and the Necromancer, which had previously only been discussed in appendices. Though no roles have been cast at this time, they have a few ideas in mind, and from what I've heard from other sources, actors who played characters that appear in both LotR and The Hobbit will be sought after to reprise their roles, Bilbo excluded.

Avatar: James Cameron has been working on this film for something like 10 years now, and much of it has been kept secret, though we've been told that the 3D techniques being used are revolutionary. Well recently, extended sneak peeks have been shown, and the buzz seems to be confirming Cameron's proclamations. As IGN puts it, the peek "surpassed all expectations and anything the guy who gave us Terminator 2 has ever done." These are pretty lofty statements, but I'm hearing similar thoughts everywhere I read. They even went as far to say that the 3D is so good it is face melting. With early buzz backing up everything Cameron has said, and given his previous bodies of work, I can't help but eagerly wait for December 18.

Batman 3: Though Batman 3 always seemed inevitable after the raging success of The Dark Knight, rumors that Chris Nolan would not be directing seemed to derail these hopes. Gary Oldman, who plays Commissioner Gordon, announced that the third installment will begin shooting next year with a target release date in 2011. With Nolan working on Inception (which sounds like it will be awesome), and this film's proposed start date, the film may in fact be seeing a new director. Hopefully this will not be the case, but with a good script and a returning cast, I'm sure the film would do just fine.