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We have some good news and bad news for you in regards to the upcoming Robocop reboot from director José Padilha of the Elite Squad series. The very talented Hugh Laurie has sadly left the project. He was set to portray the villainous CEO of OCP.

On the up side though is that the underused and just as talented Michael Keaton is stepping into the role. The former Batman just isn’t in nearly as many movies as he should be these days. He was last seen on the big screen in The Other Guys and a guest spot on the NBC comedy 30 Rock, both of which he stole the scenes he was in. Other recent cast additions to RoboCop include Jackie Earle Haley and Jay Baruchel.

It is official! The movie and television rights to Daredevil, “man without fear”, are heading back to Marvel Studios and their parent company Disney. This is especially good news with the announcement of a Joss Whedon led SHIELD television series [SEE: Marvel’s SHIELD to Save TV!].

What better way to distance Daredevil from the forgettable Mark Steven Johnson directed 2003 flick than to reintroduce him as his alter ego, the blind lawyer Matt Murdock, in a multiple episode arc that establishes him as part of the overall universe. Maybe he is defending a villain against SHIELD in court before he teams up with the agency to take out a bigger threat? Or agents recruit him for an assignment that only he can handle because of his unique senses?

Finally, someone somewhere has come to their senses and after its sixth season (that is six too many), MTV’s Jersey Shore is coming to an end. I’m sure the network will continue to find ways to make New Jersey and fake Italians look bad. They already have too many spinoffs, including Snooki & JWoww and The Pauly D Project (for the record, any amount of spinoffs from this trash is too many).

The sixth season begins on October 4th with a special marathon and retrospective/preview for the final season on September 6th before the MTV Video Music Awards. I would have preferred it if the series had been cancelled before the sixth season, but beggars can’t be choosers.

Dark Shadows just got a little hotter! According to the Hollywood Reporter, Michelle Pfeiffer is in talks to join the adaptation as Elizabeth Collins Stoddard, the head of the Collins family in the soap opera from the 60s. She joins Johnny Depp, Jackie Earle Haley, Eva Green, Bella Heatcote, and Helen Bonham Carter for director Tim Burton.

I wonder if Burton will be going ultra serious or will have a more lighthearted/dark comedy tone to Dark Shadows. I can only assume that Warner Brothers wants to launch this into a series of movies, and not just a stand alone piece.

I have an undying love for Pfeiffer and I’ll watch anything she does. She last teamed up with Tim Burton on Batman Returns, where she was the only bright spot in the otherwise disappointing sequel.  Pfeiffer is currently filming two projects, the star-studded (and likely awful) anthology flick New Year’s Eve and Welcome to People, which costars Elizabeth Banks, Olivia Wilde, and Chris Pine.

It looks like Warner Brothers and Tim Burton’s Dark Shadows remake is coming together very nicely.  First Burton cast his good luck charm Johnny Deep in the leading role of Barnabas Collins, followed this week by news of Eva Green possibly signing on to portray Angelique, the witch that curses Barnabas with the vampiric curse. Now we can add three more names into the mix…

Watchmen‘s Jackie Earle Haley is in talks to portray Willie Loomis, Australian actress Bella Heathcoate is up for Victoria Winters, and Burton’s gal pal and one of my favorite working actresses, Helena Bonham Carter is “in talks” for the role of Dr. Julia Hoffman (by in talks we can assume that she has been cast in the role from the beginning, no way should Burton do any films without Carter).

For those unfamiliar with the classic series, Willie Loomis is a violent drifter that releases Barnabas Collins from his coffin and sorta becomes his manservant.  Haley has the right creepiness to make this role even more memorable than it could be. Victoria Winters is the innocent “good next door” type that serves to bring the audience into the world of Dark Shadows. She is a governess with a mysterious past. In various incarnations of the series she has been portrayed by Alexandra Moltke, Betsy Durkin, Carolyn Groves, Joanna Going, and most recently in 2004 by Marley Shelton in a failed television pilot by the WB. Dr. Julia Hoffman is a human character that attempts to cure Barnabas of his vampirism among other things over the very long history of the series. It’ll nice for a change to see Carter in a role that is more normal. Right off that bat you’d think that Burton would cast him as an evil vampire or crazy witch.

The movie begins shooting in April, so we can expect to see a lot more casting news in the near future.

Ever have that nightmare that you can’t shake? It hits you when you least expect it and keeps you up all night. Most remakes are nightmares, but here is a nightmare that I might not mind…

The trailer for the remake of A Nightmare on Elm Street has arrived! The only thing that makes me okay with this remake is the inspired casting of the incredibly talented Jackie Earle Haley as Freddy Krueger.

So, what do you think? Are you ready for a “new” nightmare? Or are you cursing at another remake?

IGN scored the first images from the reboot of Wes Craven’s horror classic, A Nightmare on Elm Street.  The images feature Jackie Earle Haley as Freddy Krueger, and wow, he looks almost identical to Robert Englund. It’s crazy.  The update is under the hand of music video director Samuel Bayer.   The film co-stars Rooney Mara who takes over the role of Nancy Thompson, and Terminator: The Sarah Connor Chronicles star Thomas Dekker.

See more artwork and images from A Nightmare on Elm Street at IGN.

Warner Brothers have released another awesome poster for their upcoming adaptation of Watchmen.  Click on the poster to enlarge…

The movie hits theaters on March 6th, 2009.

I’m assuming everyone’s seen this and if you haven’t, you should watch it at least 3 times. Watchmen is more than just a graphic novel, it changed the face of comics by proving that something mind blowing, intelligent, and meaningful can come out of the medium. Until Watchmen, the general population assumed comic books were for children; exclusive to tales of super heroes and monsters. Then Alan Moore came along with his critically acclaimed, award winning graphic novel that changed everything.

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