Photo from contactmusic.com.

By Rob Siebert
Editor, Fanboy Wonder

Mere days after voicing his displeasure with Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen, Shia LeBeouf recently told the Los Angeles Times‘ “24 Frames” blog that he blames himself for the way Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull turned out.

“I feel like I dropped the ball on the legacy that people loved and cherished,” LeBeouf said. “You get to monkey-swinging and things like that and you can blame it on the writer and you can blame it on Steven [Spielberg]. But the actor’s job is to make it come alive and make it work, and I couldn’t do it. So that’s my fault. Simple.”

LeBeouf said Harrison Ford wasn’t happy with the film either.

“We had major discussions,” LeBeouf said. “He wasn’t happy with it either. Look, the movie could have been updated. There was a reason it wasn’t universally accepted…I’ll probably get a call. But he needs to hear this. I love him. I love Steven.”

Photo from neo1984.wordpress.com.

By Eric Stuckart
Creator, Destroyer

Ronnie James Dio, known by most as a metal god and a pioneer in the formative early days of heavy metal, died this morning. He was 67.

Having been receiving chemotherapy treatments since announcing last November that he was battling stomach cancer, Dio’s current band, Heaven and Hell, had recently cancelled all upcoming dates on their summer tour due to his worsening health. But he and his doctors were confident that he’d be onstage once again.

His wife and manager, Wendy Dio, left the following statement on his website: “Today my heart is broken, Ronnie passed away at 7:45am.” She added that “Ronnie knew how much he was loved by all. We so appreciate the love and support that you have all given us. Please give us a few days of privacy to deal with this terrible loss. Please know he loved you all and his music will live on forever.”

Famous for taking over for Ozzy Osbourne in 1980 in the band Black Sabbath, he also sang for Rainbow and a solo band bearing his namesake. Heaven and Hell was the latest incarnation of said Black Sabbath lineup. Some of his solo hits included “Holy Diver,” “Rainbow in the Dark,” and “Killing the Dragon.”

 

Photo from frmarkdwhite.wordpress.com.

By Rob Siebert
Editor, Fanboy Wonder

An animated show based on the 2004 cult favorite film Napoleon Dynamite is in development at Fox.

FishbowlLA reports that most of the original cast, including Jon Heder, Efram Ramirez, Aaron Ruell and Jon Gries, will reprise their roles. Jared and Jerusha Hess, who wrote and directed the film, are also involved.

The 2004 film starred Heder as a nerdy high schooler who sells plastic food storage containers with his Uncle Rico (Gries), and helps a Mexican transfer student become class president.

 

Photo from EOnline.com.

By Rob Siebert
Editor, Fanboy Wonder

Heroes has been canceled amid its fourth season.

The Hollywood Reporter cites high costs, declining ratings, and the number of hour-long shows debuting on NBC next season as the reason for the show’s demise.

NBC apparently considered bringing the show back for a shortened fifth season. The network may be open to concluding the show with an hour-long special or a movie in the future.

The show’s first season was a runaway success in 2006, but it lost momentum in successive seasons. It can be credited with thrusting actors Hayden Panettiere and Zachary Quinto into the national spotlight.

Heroes also starred Ali Larter, Jack Coleman, Milo Ventimiglia, Masi Oka, among several others.

The show joins Law and Order, Trauma and Mercy as shows that have been canceled this year.

By Rob Siebert
Editor, Fanboy Wonder

Photo from The Los Angeles Times.

SuperHeroHype has a brief interview up with Chris Hemsworth, in which the actor talks about playing the title role in Marvel Entertainment’s next blockbuster, Thor, which comes out May 6, 2011.

On The Anticipation: “I just finished shooting last Thursday, and saw Iron Man 2 the other day – which I loved – and saw the tag at the end. I was with a bunch of mates and we all got kind of giddy watching it. I can’t wait! It was such an incredible four months shooting that film, and I think the film’s going to be fantastic.”

On The Costume: “I put the thing on and said ‘It’s not very comfortable, but it looks amazing, so it’s all good. And then a couple of weeks in, I thought ‘It’s getting more and more uncomfortable,’ and at the end of three, four months it was pretty difficult to wake up and put on every morning. But it sells such an image in the picture. It does a lot of the work for you.

His Take On Thor: “We kept trying to humanize it all, and keep it very real. Look into all the research about the comic books that we could, but also bring it back to ‘Who is this guy as a person, and what’s his relationship with people in the individual scenes?’ And working with someone like [director] Kenneth Branagh, who has all those bases covered, and has so many ideas, it was a hell of a time!”

Photo from contactmusic.com.

By Rob Siebert
Editor, Fanboy Wonder

Evidently, Shia LaBeouf felt the same way about Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen as some of the fans.

“When I saw the second movie, I wasn’t impressed with what we did,” LaBeouf said. “There were some really wild stunts in it, but the heart was gone.”

He continued: “…we got lost. We tried to get bigger. It’s what happens to sequels. It’s like, how do you top the first one? You’ve got to go bigger…[Director Michael Bay] went so big that it became too big, and I think you lost the anchor of the movie…You lost a bit of the relationships. Unless you have those relationships, then the movie doesn’t matter.”

LaBeouf said in Transformers 3, there will be a lot of human death.

“It’s going to be the craziest action movie ever made, or we failed,” LaBeouf said.

Transformers 3 is scheduled for a July 1, 2011 release.

By Rob Siebert
Editor, Fanboy Wonder

The Associated Press reports today that Comedy Central’s The Sarah Silverman Program has been cancelled.

“Audience erosion” was cited as the reason for the show’s demise.

The show was very much faithful to Silverman’s often controversial style of comedy. During its 3-season run, Silverman, who played an exaggerated version of herself, mocked the abortion debate, seduced God, got drunk on cough syrup.

Silverman’s sister Laura was a co-star, along with Jay Johnston, and comedians Brian Posehn and Steve Agee.

By Rob Siebert
Editor, Fanboy Wonder

Photo from The Los Angeles Times.

The Los Angeles Times published an article yesterday on the possibility of Marvel using 3D technology in future films such as Thor, Captain America: The First Avenger, and The Avengers.

Kevin Feige, president of Marvel Studios, said upon seeing the success films like Avatar and Alice in Wonderland have had with 3D technology, the company has indeed considered it.

“The team has been doing a lot of research into 3D processes, and we’re looking at it on future films when we have the time,” Feige said. “We will be doing it at some point.”

While Thor is already in production, and would need to be converted to 3D after principal photography, the Captain America and Avengers films could be shot using 3D cameras.

Image from allposters.com

By Rob Siebert
Editor, Fanboy Wonder

After 15 years, Judge Dredd may be coming back to the movies in 3D. 

Deadline.com reports that DNA Films has made a deal with Reliance Big Entertainment to finance a new Judge Dredd film, which would be directed by Pete Travis. Travis is best known for his work on Vantage Point and Omagh. 

Sylvester Stallone played the character in a 1995 film, which was considered a flop as it made about $113.5 million worldwide, but was made for $70 million. The budget for this film is allegedly under $50 million.

This script, written by Alex Garland, allegedly takes the character back to its roots, placing him in a futuristic world filled with violence. Garland’s past work includes writing scripts for Sunshine, 28 Days Later, and a movie version of Halo that was turned down by Universal and Fox.