Chick 1 says:

Here are some recent (& not so recent) tidbits on casting upcoming projects.  Enjoy.

New News – Iron Man 2:  So reports are out that Terrence Howard is not returning to Iron Man 2 but will be replaced by Don Cheadle.  My first temper-tantrum like reaction is, “NOOOOOOOOOOO!  NOOOOOOO….. wait…Don…Don Cheadle…….that….that could be…..cool.”  While Robert Downey Jr’s performance & Jon Favreau’s direction & commitment to invisible CGI were the top reasons for Iron Man’s success, Downey was also backed up by a solid supporting cast.  I enjoyed Howard as Stark’s friend & military liaison James Rhodes, especially seeing a high ranking colonel with his strange little girl voice.  But let’s face it, Don Cheadle is an amazing actor & can easily fill & maybe even improve the role.  While I will miss what Howard would have done as War Machine, I very much look forward to seeing what Cheadle will do.

In a side note, while on tour promoting Tropic Thunder, RDJ reported that when the first pictures of him in black-face came out, Cheadle called him & asked, “Are you playing the black me?”

Old & New News – Sherlock Holmes: More RDJ related news – he’s currently starring in Guy Ritchie’s Sherlock Holmes in London with Jude Law as his Watson.  During the casting phase, rumors circulated & were promptly shot down that Russell Crowe might play Professor Moriarty.  It appears that Moriarty is not a part of this story but when asked about the character at a London press conference, EmpireOnline reports that Downey responded with huge grin.  Here’s my theory: wouldn’t Crowe in a cameo as Moriarty be delicious?  And what a nice teaser for following installments.  Heehee.

Here are some recent set photos of Downey & Law, & of Holmes apparently in disguise.

Old News – Spiderman 4 & 5 (I’m not kidding): A couple of weeks ago it was announced that Kirsten Dunst is returning for Spiderman 4 & 5.  Tobey Maguire & Sam Raimi were already signed.  Seriously, people, doesn’t America have enough troubles right now without subjecting us to 2 more Spiderman movies?  Don’t get me wrong.  I really liked the 1st Spiderman movie.  It gave me quite the Tobey Maguire crush.  And Spiderman 2 was one of those rare sequels that’s actually better than the original.  But I think Spiderman 3 can best be summed up by the moment my sister leaned over to me & whispered, “What are they doing?”  What were they doing? 

I might be open to more sequels if I felt the love from the cast.  But I remember a series of clips that E Channel’s The Soup ran during the press tours for Spiderman 3.  They were various snippets of Maguire & Dunst promoting the film & sounding completely bored with the whole process.  And I believe that boredom showed up on the big screen.  Come on Hollywood, do we really need these movies?  And please don’t make Tobey Maguire dance anymore.  It physically hurts me to watch.

New News – Star Trek: My sister (that’s Chick 2 to you) has been teasing me about what she thinks is my sudden Star Trek obsession.  While I am a huge fantasy geek, I’ve never really been a Trekkie.  But I have been completely fascinated by the casting in J.J. Abrams’ reboot of the series.  There are so many interesting & up & coming actors in the movie.  New pics were released today.  Have a peek.  Yes, that’s Simon Pegg in the “red shirt” but the highlight for me is the yummy Karl Urban.