Over the weekend, the AP had a short story from Busan, South Korea, where filmmaker Bryan Singer made it sound it like his return to the "X-Men" franchise may be more than just a rumor. Here's an exceprt, links added by me: 

"I'm still looking to possibly returning to the 'X-Men' franchise. I've been talking to Fox about it," Singer said at a talk at South Korea's Pusan International Film Festival.

"I love Hugh Jackman. I love the cast," he said, referring to the Australian actor who plays Wolverine.

Singer said he enjoyed making science fiction and fantasy movies because they allowed him to discuss serious issues through entertainment. He said the "X-Men" series, which follows a group of mutants with superpowers who struggle to fit in with humans, is about tolerance and social structures.

He said he likes to "trick audiences into thinking they're seeing fireworks, but they're learning about themselves and listening to what I have to say."

Singer directed the first two X-films with deft success but then left the franchise for a somewhat disappointing trip to Metropolis. Would the Marvel mutants fare better with his return? Check out our in-depth look at the future of the franchise, which answers that very question. 

-- Geoff Boucher

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Photo: Bryan Singer at "Valkyrie" premiere. Credit: Associated Press

FOUR FRANCHISES AT A CROSSROADS

Talk about heroic: Four film franchises, one decade, more than $10 billion worth of theater tickets sold.

And more than that, in their very best moments, each of these franchises shown above delivered sparkling adventure and escapism for moviegoers. Now, though, with the decade winding down and all four franchises sitting a nice tidy trilogy, the question must be asked: Isn't three the magic number? Do we really need a fourth movie from any of these aging popcorn enterprises? Clearly, all of them will be written up in the Hollywood history books but right now the indelicate must be asked: "How can we miss you if you won't leave?"

Last week we gave you an in-depth report on this quartet of mega-franchises and their quests for a fourth visit to theaters. We told you how "The Hobbit" must escape the the towering shadow of "The Lord of the Rings," while Sam Raimi's "Spider-Man" series needs to get back to its roots to thrive. We also explained that the "X-Men" future looks especially uncertain while the "Pirates of the Caribbean" franchise might be facing a one-man mutiny with Johnny Depp's distress over recent changes at Disney.

We also put the question to you: Which of these franchises is making a mistake by adding a fourth film?

You made it clear that "The Hobbit," with director Guillermo del Toro taking over with a new vision, is in a class by itself -- the other franchises may tack on new editions to cash in, but fans are expecting nothing but magic from Del Toro's arrival in Middle-earth. The remaining three franchises got a frostier reception. For five days last week, more than half of our reader voters named "Pirates" as the cinematic series that should walk the plank. Over the weekend that changed and (with a lot of late-arriving Depp fans?) the surging "X-Men" became the top choice as a franchise hitting bottom.

It's not too late, though, we'll take votes for the next 48 hours before declaring our, uh, winning loser. In the meantime, thanks for reading, commenting and voting.

-- Geoff Boucher

VOTE: WHICH FRANCHISE IS MAKING A MISTAKE WITH A FOURTH FILM?

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Photos at top, from left, Ian McKellen in "Lord of the Rings," Tobey Maguire in "Spider-Man," Halle Berry in "X-Men: The Last Stand" and Johnny Depp in "Pirates of the Caribbean."  Credits from left: New Line Cinema, Sony Pictures, 20th Century Fox, Walt Disney Studios. Bottom photo of Sam Raimi by Ken Hively / Los Angeles Times

Betsy Sharkey is one of the two film critics at the Los Angeles Times. After surveying the great glut of fanboy fare this year, she got to thinking about the nature of the modern film hero and the inner workings of their characters as well as their appeal. Here's an excerpt, or you can read the entire piece right here.  

This summer's heroes may go boldly, but in every case, someone has gone many times before: three earlier "X-Men" and "Terminators"; one earlier Michael Bay "Transformers," a 1984 animated film and the pervasive TV series; and countless iterations of "Star Trek" on every size screen known to modern man.

It hasn't been easy to be the fresh prince this year.

Yet on they came in their own distinctive ways. For "Terminator's" Christian Bale and Sam Worthington, martyrdom drips like sweat from their brows. Others swagger with a cocky smile and an endearing arrogance, as Chris Pine does in director J.J. Abrams' "Star Trek." There is the tortured struggle with a darker animal nature, as is Hugh Jackman's fate in "X-Men Origins: Wolverine," or, like Shia LaBeouf's Sam [in "Transformers"] there is the boy David facing off whatever Goliath happens to be tearing up the town.

Most of us have long since gotten past the notion that superheroes and the comic books and graphic novels they're so often rooted in are merely kids' stuff, having intellectualized their political and social undercurrents to death in recent years. But it's always interesting to look at our current boys of summer to see who we're looking to save us these days, why certain actors carry the mantle so vividly and why others struggle.

Consider Bale. One of the most intensely interesting actors around, he must have seemed the perfect match for the gritty, deconstructed post-apocalyptic future director McG and screenwriters John D. Brancato and Michael Ferris envisioned for "Terminator Salvation." But he isn't. The interior force field that works so well for him underneath the "Dark Knight's" mask is exactly what is working against him in "Salvation," a rebel-with-a-cause story that has Bale's John Connor leading an underground resistance.

Unfortunately for John Connor, to say nothing of the resistance, a leader of men Bale is not, or at least that's not a role he's been able to get his head around. His very essence seems to be solitary, which is why he was far better as Batman with that no-friends-are-required existence than as Connor, the man destined to save the human race from the "Terminator's" relentless killing machines, embodied by Arnold Schwarzenegger before he went political on us.

Bale's appeal is the icy certainty of survival that you feel deep in your bones any time you see him. That steel is at the center of his pilot in Werner Herzog's "Rescue Dawn." You believed he could survive the impossibly harsh, torturous Laotian prison and an escape into an even more unforgiving jungle. Though others start the journey with him, he walks out of the jungle alone.

But cold never draws men close, and that is why it is Sam Worthington's man/machine hybrid Marcus who emerges as the one you want to follow in "Salvation." The accidental hero, charisma hanging easy on his broad shoulders like an old coat, Worthington claims every scene he is in. His is an empathy you can feel -- he did good not because it is right, which is Bale's motivation, but because he cares.

One of Worthington's strengths is that ability to make his vulnerability accessible, that sense of a shared humanity easy for the rest of us to embrace. Cut from the same action/fantasy cloth, his next films -- "Avatar" and "Clash of the Titans" -- feel filled with promise.

READ THE REST

-- Betsy Sharkey

Illustration by Jacob Thomas / For The Times; text by Geoff Boucher

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VOTE: Which fanboy film will benefit from new Oscars format?

The cover of the Calendar section in today's Los Angeles Times has my interview with Hugh Jackman, who stars in the new film "X-Men Origins: Wolverine." Below is a longer version of the article (it was trimmed for space issues) so, um, think of this as a director's cut version for fanboys. I had never met Jackman before and, just as I had heard, the guy is extremely charismatic and engaging. I asked him if it was difficult at all to mock himself during the Oscars ceremony, with all those gags about his stage past and hairy superhero work, and he grinned: "That's just part of being from Australia. People give you grief, take you down a bit, constantly. You do it to yourself. It's the way we are." Hope you enjoy this article. I'm hearing the movie is going to do huge business this week ...

The walls of Hugh Jackman’s office are covered with posters for grand old Hollywood musicals, but on a recent afternoon the devoted song-and-dance man was in less graceful mode. Fists raised and teeth bared, he was practicing a number from swinging in the ring, not “Singin’ in the Rain.”

“When I first started the role of Wolverine, back for the first ‘X-Men’ movie, I watched a lot of Mike Tyson videos in my trailer,” Jackman said as he shadow-boxed. “The way he just goes straight in. I kept saying to the writers, ‘Don’t give me long, choreographed fights for the sake of it. Don’t make the fights pretty.’ Like Tyson, if Wolverine wants to take your freaking head off, he’s going to do it. There's a lot of Mike Tyson in Wolverine.”

Just two months removed from the dapper, soft-shoe duty as the host of the Academy Awards, the Tony winner has returned to his cinematic dark side. The ferocity of Wolverine, his haunted background and those famous claws have made him the most popular comic-book character created in the last 40 years. And, with the release of the Fox’s “X-Men Origins: Wolverine,” the Marvel Comics character is finally at the center of a fourth major film, which puts him ahead of elder creations such as Spider-Man, Hulk and the Fantastic Four. (Not to mention comics icons such as Captain America, Captain Marvel and Wonder Woman, who are still waiting for their first blockbuster opportunity).

The first three appearances of Jackman in the Wolverine role were in “X-Men” films, a trilogy that pulled in more than $1 billion at theaters worldwide with each installment making more than the last. Jackman's Wolverine was clearly the fan favorite in the franchise despite an ensemble stacked with major stars. In this new feature, Wolverine’s previously murky past is explored with revelations about his family, his secret military career and the origin of those unbreakable shiny blades that pop from his hands.

A week ago, at his Seed Productions office on the Fox lot, Jackman was giddy about news that, according to one online survey, the advance tickets sales for “Wolverine” were more robust than those for last year’s “Iron Man,” a film that pulled in $98 million in its opening weekend in the U.S.

"That is great news,” the 40-year-old Aussie said. “I can’t tell you how great. We’ve been through a lot ...”

The release of “Wolverine” on Friday likely marks the start of his first solo film franchise, but for the ragged Jackman it feels more like a finish line —  very few movies have endured as many last-minute crises as “Wolverine,” chief among them a major act of piracy that sent a stolen copy of the film pinging around the world.

“People were working like dogs to get the movie finished and then to have an unfinished version get out, well, it was just crushing at first,” Jackman said, shaking his head. “I’ve moved on about it. And I think people want to see it on a big screen, see it with 500 people and yell and scream and cheer and boo.” That’s how people do it in America. It wasn’t like that in Australia though. People are quiet; it’s like going to the opera.”

Los Angeles Times film critic Kenny Turan weighs in on "X-Men Origins: Wolverine," which he found to be a satisfying and efficient bit of moviemaking that will satisfy casual moviegoers and, most likely, thrill fanboys. Here he is on video...

And here is Turan's written review of the film....

Whatever you do, you don't want to make Wolverine mad.

First comes that god-awful earth-shattering scream, then those indestructible adamantium claws pop out of his hands, all leading to a display of what insiders call "berserker rage." Believe me, it's not a pretty picture. It is, however, a picture we see a lot of in "X-Men Origins: Wolverine," the fourth movie to allow Hugh Jackman to play the darkly handsome, intense masculine poster boy for Marvel Comics' favorite band of mutants.

This is not the urbane, debonair Hugh Jackman who hosted the Oscars and did a soft-shoe routine with Beyoncé. This is a man who could say things like "you wanted the animal, you got the animal" like he means them. But does he? For as fans of the intensely popular X-Men comics and those three previous movies know, Wolverine is one conflicted dude. Yes, he gets mad -- hey, don't we all? -- but then he feels bad about it afterward and worries that trying to cut someone's head off is bad for his karma.

How did he get this way anyhow?

Funny you should ask. As its title indicates, "X-Men Origins" concerns itself with Wolverine's back story, with fleshing out the details of stuff that's only hinted at in the other movies. What's the source of that animal kingdom name, where did his disappearing memory go, and what's with those adamantium claws, anyway? Youth wants to know.

As directed by Gavin Hood from a script by David Benioff and Skip Woods, "X-Men Origins: Wolverine" answers all those questions and brings everyone up to speed with a brisk thoroughness. It's a solid, efficient comic book movie that is content to provide comic book satisfactions of the action and violence variety. If it doesn't rise to the heights of Christopher Nolan's "Batman" films, it doesn't stray into "Daredevil" territory either.

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I interviewed Hugh Jackman last week (I'll be posting it here tomorrow) and it didn't even occur to me to ask him if he is secretly gay. I really couldn't care less. (I also didn't ask who he voted for in the last election in Australia or what religion he practices.) But, well, people seem interested So here's someone else asking him about it...again...

-- Geoff Boucher

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"The thing about Wolverine," Hugh Jackman said with a smile, "is that he was such a landmark character in comics. And he's certainly been a landmark role for me. I owe that character a lot." The Aussie actor was sitting in his office at Seed Productions on the Fox Studios lot, and on the wall was a framed piece of original artwork featuring Wolverine, the Marvel Comics lone-wolf mutant who stole the show in three "X-Men" films and now gets his own film with the May 1 release of "X-Men Origins: Wolverine." 

181

The issue number of "The Incredible Hulk" that, in 1974, gave the world the first Marvel Comics story starring the mighty mutant Wolverine.

25

The cover price, in cents, of that 1974 issue.

1,600 

The price, in dollars, to buy a near-mint copy of "Hulk" No. 181 today.    

11.5

The height difference, in inches, between actor Jackman and the classic comic-book version of Wolverine, who was portrayed as a hirsute 5-foot-3-inch fireplug.

606,611,873 

The domestic box office gross, in dollars, of the three previous "X-Men" films.

0

Number of live-action box-office hits that Jackman has made when he wasn't playing a claw-popping mutant.

19th

The century that Wolverine was born in, according to "X-Men Origins: Wolverine." His mutant-healing power has slowed his aging.

1968 

The year actor Jackman was born in Sydney.

4 

Number of siblings for actor Jackman. His mother and father separated when he was 8,  and his dad raised the kids in Australia after  his mom moved to England.

2

Number of children adopted by Jackman and his wife, Deborra-Lee Furnes. Their son is Oscar, their daughter is Ava.

1 

Number of Grammy winners in "X-Men Origins: Wolverine." The Black Eyed Peas star will.i.am plays John Wraith, a mutant with the power of teleportation.

0

Number of Oscar winners in "X-Men Origins: Wolverine," although there is one former Academy Awards host in the cast.

 2

Number of directors who worked on "X-Men Origins: Wolverine," if rumors are true that Richard Donner ("Lethal Weapon," "Superman") stepped in for a late-in-the-game assist to Gavin Hood ("Rendition"), the credited director.

 8

Minimum number of other super-hero-projects that Jackman has flirted with. He was considered for key roles in "The Punisher,"  "Daredevil," "Superman Returns" (as Jonathan Kent), "The Dark Knight" (the Two-Face role), the Hulk and the "Fantastic Four" (as Mr. Fantastic). He also said he pursued the role of TV's Superman, George Reeve, in "Hollywoodland," and he has also expressed interest in making a bio-pic about the late Bill Bixby, who was the star of "The Incredible Hulk" on television.    

9

Number of characters from the cover of "Giant-Size X-Men" No. 1 that have made the leap to Hollywood screen. The landmark 1975 comic book ushered in the X-Men craze. And the only costumed hero on the cover who hasn't found love in Tinseltown? That would be Thunderbird, the brawny Apache hero who died on his second mission as a mutant and shares a name with a gas-guzzling Ford of yore.

2nd

The rank of the wolverine (that would be the animal version, not the mutant hero) when it comes to the largest members of the weasel family. A male South American giant otter can weigh over 100 pounds, while the notoriously bad-tempered and smelly wolverine rarely tips the scale past 70 pounds.

27

The number of years that passed before Marvel Comics published "Origin," the Wolverine comic book series that filled in key details of the hero's past, such as his real name, James Howlett.

1,000,000  

A conservative estimate of the number of Internet users who downloaded an illegal copy of "X-Men Origins: Wolverine" the first week after it was leaked.

?

The number of those Internet users who will opt not to go see the film at theaters.

90,000,000  

The projected opening-weekend box-office total, in dollars, for "X-Men Origins: Wolverine," according to moviegoer tracking survey data.

-- Geoff Boucher

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Wow, what is going to happen when "X-Men Origins: Wolverine" hits theaters on May 1?

More than 100,000 downloads of a nearly finished version of the film were snatched off of file-sharing websites this week after a copy of such a version of the 20th Century Fox film was leaked. The FBI is investigating and, believe me, the studio was badly rattled by the theft -- this film, on paper, looked like it could be one of the biggest releases of 2009 but it has been encountering considerable turbulence for a movie still sitting on the runway.

First, there were rumors of late re-shoots (suggesting that director Gavin Hood was scrambling to correct missteps or make up for missed moments) and the whispers were so nagging that star Hugh Jackman took the unusual move of approaching the fan press in a gesture of rumor-control (or, for you cynics, a measure of damage-control).

Jackman has been nothing but a gamer when it comes to this film. The famously likable star has been an enthusiastic ambassador for the project all the way back to Comic-Con International (and it's no surprise, since he is a producer on the film as well as leading man). This week he was the voice of the movie once again, this time announcing a pretty cool contest that has been stirring considerable fan interest already. Check out this video:

You can read more about the contest right here.

So I can think of a half-dozen reasons the movie could end up as a big May hit (fanboys love the character and Jackman in the role, the star is popular beyond the niche comics crowd, there's a pretty snappy trailer, there's a good cast and a gee-whiz factor of seeing Gambit on the screen...) but I can  think of just as many reasons that it might disappoint (not least among them the brand-deflation caused by Brett Ratner's groaning finale to the otherwise sublime "X-Men" franchise). There are a lot of fanboy movies that look like dead-bang hits this year ("Star Trek," "Terminator Salvation," the sixth "Harry Potter" film and "Avatar" spring to mind) but I get the feeling that "Wolverine" will have to claw its way to the top the hard way.

-- Geoff Boucher

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Here's the new poster for the May release "X-Men Origins: Wolverine."

I'm not sure what to think about this film with the nagging rumors about a patchwork production (although the ever-earnest Hugh Jackman stepped up to say re-shoots were a planned part of a complicated schedule, not some late-in-the-game salvage effort). If the film is good, this is going to be a pretty massive year for fanboys with "Watchmen," a new "Harry Potter" film, "Terminator Salvation," "Star Trek" and "Avatar" topping the deep list of genre fare. To see the trailer for "Wolverine," check below...

Welcome to a presidential edition of Everyday Hero, your roundup of handpicked headlines from across the fanboy universe...

HEROIC POLITICS: There's a fun historical piece about comic-book characters claiming the White House through the years and it includes an early 1980s Marvel cover (above left) that I had sorta forgotten about and that immediately brought a smile to my face when I saw it. The piece was written by Matt Brady (an appropriate name for someone dabbling in the area of presidential imagery) and here's what he wrote about that "Mr. Rogers Goes to Washington" plot: "Captain America as President was turned into a story for Marvel’s alternate reality series What If? with 1981’s issue #26. In the story, Cap runs as the candidate for the New Populist Party with Andrew Jackson Hawk (an African American Senator) as his running mate. Keeping things real, the 'America-Hawk' ticket ran against Carter and Reagan (both of which had things to say about Cap’s political experience and the trust the public has for a masked man) and won in a landslide. Keeping a campaign promise, Cap took off his mask on Inauguration Day, and got to work -– one of his first jobs –- a comprehensive new energy policy in order to '[free] America from the tyranny of foreign oil.' One South American plot hatched by the Red Skull later, and Captain America is killed by one of his administration’s own solar satellites, but the country is saved." [Newsarama]

WOLVERINE, CONSIDERED: What's up with "X-Men Origins: Wolverine"? There were plenty of rumors burning through cyberspace that the production was experiencing considerable turbulence after the crew and some cast gathered to do reshoots. There was fanboy-press speculation that Fox was "clearly trying to salvage one of the summer tent-poles of 2009" and much handwringing about the fate of the most popular mutant character. So what's the real deal? Sources close to the production tell me the reshoots were scheduled all along but they also concede that director Gavin Hood is reworking some sections of the film to get precisely the right tone for the long, dark tale of the ultimate Marvel Comics loner. So we'll have to wait and see. In the meantime, star Hugh Jackman, known as one of the real troupers of Hollywood, has sought to quiet any fan worries. Jackman sent this note to Harry Knowles: "Hey everyone -- It's Hugh Jackman, sending this note from freezing Vancouver. I have read a lot of your online comments regarding the footage that we are currently shooting and I share your passion for the Wolverine character and the movie -- I owe it all to you guys! I wanted to reach out and let you know that due to scheduling conflicts with certain cast members and location/weather considerations, we had to wait until now to shoot a couple of scenes. Please rest assured that WOLVERINE will be badass and hopefully meet all of your expectations. I am stoked by the positive response to the teaser, which clearly reflects the tone and scope of the film. If you like that, we've got much more in store!" [Ain't It Cool News] Also, here's some Hollywood Reporter-supplied video of Jackman in the reassurance mode...

AM I THE ONLY ONE WHO'S "LOST"? Television critic Robert Lloyd has written some great pieces lately, including a wonderful appreciation of the late Patrick McGoohan and fall-down funny appraisal of the Powerpuff Girls (which includes this line: "From a preschool perspective, the series might be called transgressive, since it is a cartoon in which the characters beat each other up and destroy a lot of property. Collateral damage, thy name is Powerpuff."). And today he has a great take on "Lost" a show that, for him, is certainly living up to its name: "'Lost,' which returns for its fifth season tonight on ABC, is like a troublesome but attractive friend who comes into your house and talks a lot of nonsense that you tolerate because it's entertaining and because you aren't completely sure it is nonsense. It might make sense in some form of the language that you do not personally understand. You can either let this annoy you, or you can try to work out the meaning, or you can just enjoy the flow in a noncommittal way that does not preclude your being stimulated, shocked or held in suspense -- like a fun-house ride. I am of the third disposition, and have also been of the first. (I wager that even people who love 'Lost' a lot more than I do have at times wanted to reach right through the TV screen and give it a good slap.) As to the second, attempting to resolve all its clues, bread crumbs and loose ends into a workable whole is more than my time is worth. More important, it's a drag on the show: The more that the writers find explanations for the myriad strange phenomena that plague the survivors of Oceanic Flight 815 -- the surviving survivors -- the less interesting those phenomena become. The mysterious becomes the merely preposterous. The weirdness of a polar bear on a tropical island is more satisfying than any reason you can provide for it." [Los Angeles Times]

ON THIS DATE: It was on this day in 1926 that actor Steve Reeves, who would bring considerable muscle to Hollywood, was born in Glasgow, Montana. After his father died in a  farming accident, 10-year-old Reeves moved west to California with his mother and, in high school in Oakland, developed an interest in weightlifting. After a stint in the Pacific in World War II, he became a pioneer of the nascent bodybuilding scene and then a star of the screen, most memorably as Hercules. He died in 2000. To celebrate his birthday, let's all flex a new muscle today. To see some video of Reeves in action, continue to the bottom of this post...

And the Oscar goes to ... the fanboys: How's this for an Academy Awards scenario -- Iron Man and the Joker will be competing for an award and Wolverine will be hosting the show. That's the way it could shape up with a possible nomination for Robert Downey Jr. (for "Tropic Thunder"), a seemingly certain nomination for the late Heath Ledger and the news today that Hugh Jackman, every one's favorite song-and-dance mutant, will be emceeing the trophy broadcast. Here's the academy press release: "Hugh Jackman will host the 81st Academy Awards telecast, producer Laurence Mark and executive producer Bill Condon announced today.  This will be Jackman’s first time center stage at the Oscar show, although he has previously been a presenter. 'Hugh Jackman is a consummate entertainer and an internationally renowned movie star,' said Mark and Condon in a joint statement.  'He also has style, elegance and a sense of occasion.  Hugh is the ideal choice to host a celebration of the year’s movies – and to have fun doing it.' Jackman stars in the current release 'Australia,' directed by Baz Luhrmann.  He will next be seen in “X-Men Origins: Wolverine,” having portrayed the title character in the previous three smash-hit 'X-Men' movies.  His other film credits include 'The Prestige,' 'Flushed Away,' 'The Fountain,' 'Happy Feet,' 'Van Helsing,' 'Kate & Leopold' and 'Swordfish.' A native of Australia, Jackman won the 2004 Tony Award for Best Actor in a Musical for his performance in 'The Boy from Oz.'  He has served as host of the Tony Awards ceremony and won a 2005 Emmy for that assignment. Jackman’s other stage credits include 'Carousel,' 'Oklahoma!' 'Sunset Boulevard' and 'Beauty and the Beast.' [AMPAS press release] What do people think? Well, Mary McNamara, the Los Angeles Times television critic, groaned when she heard the pick but the paper's Hollywood columnist, Patrick Goldstein, likes the notion.

"Sleepless Knights" put to bed? How many movie projects can Guillermo del Toro be associated with? Maybe the list just got shorter, according to Jennifer Vineyard, who reports that the Grant Morrison story "Sleepless Knights" is losing steam: 'Sleepless Knights' was an idea Morrison scripted that would be a sort of fairy tale, which Del Toro was attached to direct. Thanks to a time-machine error, the world gets stuck on Halloween, permanently — kind of like 'Groundhog Day,' but for everyone. Ghosts, goblins, and other creatures think of it as a free-for-all, and start running wild. That is, until a new kind of Ghostbusters, called the Sleepless Knights, start fighting them. Though the premise could work as a creep-out horror movie, Morrison thought it of it as a family-friendly, coming-of-age, fantasy-adventure film, and wrote the lead role as a 15-year-old teenager named Alex Bradbury (a nod to Ray Bradbury). The idea was sold to Dreamworks exec Michael DeLuca, and producer Don Murphy came aboard. And then nothing. Morrison continued plugging away on a second draft, and still nothing. At Comic-Con, he said the project was “resurrected” (apt for a story about the dead). But now, he’s not so sure. 'That was the last we heard, but now it seems to be doing something else,' Morrison told us. 'So it’s no longer, as far as I know. It’s not at Dreamworks anymore, as far as I know. We spoke to some people after the convention, and that aspect seems to have gone quiet again.' No matter — Morrison and Del Toro have plenty of projects to keep them both busy, what with Morrison’s 'Area 51' film and the adaptation of 'We3,' and Del Toro’s work on 'The Hobbit.'" [MTV Splash Page blog]

Wait, there were 83 movies worse than "Speed Racer"? The Times of London staff has put together their list of the 100 Worst Movies of 2008 and a lot of them were fanboy fare. "Star Wars: The Clone Wars," the first animated theatrical release in the George Lucas space opera, finished all the way up (or is that all the way down?) at No. 5. and came with this appraisal: "The latest installment of George Lucas’s interminable franchise has the charm of a cash machine. This noisy animated feature is set in a galaxy that isn’t far away enough." Ouch. Also on the list: "Speed Racer," whose "famous actors look more plastic than the sets" at No. 84; "The Eye," with plot twists "as remarkable as pasteurised cheese," at No. 57; "Babylon A.D.," a "slapdash sci-fi effort," at No. 49;  "Max Payne," a "dull cod-noir fantasy," at No. 41; "Superhero Movie," with "lots of fart jokes" at No. 40;  and"Alien vs. Predator: Requiem," which was "wrist-slittingly awful," at No. 10. Their choice of the very worst movie of the year? That would be the aptly titled "Disaster Movie."

"Dragon Ball" rolling: How popular is the "Dragon Ball" manga adventures? I've seen sales reports that list 150 million copies of "Dragon Ball" volumes being sold -- and that's just in Japan. The massive audience for Akira Toriyama's mystical martial arts tale is the chief motivation for the April 2009 live-action film "Dragonball Evolution" from Twentieth Century Fox. The director is James Wong, who also helmed "The One" with Jet Li and "Final Destination." " Wong was also co-creator of "Space: Above and Beyond" and a writer for "The X-Files" (Do you remember "Home," the creepiest episode ever? Wong co-wrote it.) The "Dragon Ball" script is by Ben Ramsey (who is also working on "Luke Cage") and the producer is Stephen Chow, who is now at work on "The Green Hornet." Sound promising, right? Well, maybe not. Here's a trailer for the film which looks, um, not so great.

Do you have to eat haggis?: Newsarama is having a contest that will send the lucky winner to Scotland for dinner with Mark Millar. The lowdown: "To mark the DVD and Blu-ray release of Universal's 'Wanted' (based on Millar's "Top Cow" series) this month, we're picking one lucky fan and a companion to take an expenses-paid trip to Scotland, which includes a a personal dinner with the writer. Want to ask him whose side of the 'Civil War' he was really on? What’s coming up in 'Ultimate Avengers' or his next wave of creator-owned books? Did he get to meet Angelina Jolie in person? Here is your chance to ask, as well as an opportunity to soak in a European culture to boot. Grand prize includes a four-day/three night trip for 2 to Scotland, including accommodations, round trip airfare for two, airport transportation, and tax, along with $500 spending money that doesn't necessarily have to be exhausted in Scottish comic book shops." [Newsarama]

-- Geoff Boucher

Hugh Jackson at the premiere of "Australia," photo by Carl De Souza AFP/Getty Images. Guillermo del Toro on the set of "Hellboy 2: The Golden Army," photographed by Egon Endrenyi and courtesy of Universal. "Speed Racer" image courtesy of Warner Bros.

Today's edition of Everyday Hero, a roundup of handpicked headlines from the fanboy universe ...

The magic of Christmas: Muggles, mark your calendars. It's sad that you can't spend this holiday season with a new "Harry Potter" film, but that doesn't mean you can't have a bit of the boy wizard's magic. Here's a press release that came over yesterday: "ABC Family continues the holiday cheer with its “Harry Potter” weekend on December 5-7, airing the first four installments of the popular film series as part of the network’s “25 Days of Christmas” programming event. In the world television premiere of the special extended edition of “Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire,” viewers will also see deleted scenes not included in the original film version. To add to the magic, ABC Family will also be airing exclusive first looks at the new film “Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince” (opening in theatres July 17) throughout the weekend’s 3-day event. Daniel Radcliffe, Rupert Grint, Emma Watson and Michael Gambon discuss the upcoming film’s exciting story lines as well as revealing insider information. ABC Family’s first looks at the latest Harry Potter feature film also offers viewers a sneak peek of never-before-seen footage of love running rampant through Hogwarts, a look into Tom Riddle’s past and an introduction of Hogwarts new Defense Against the Dark Arts teacher, Professor Horace Slughorn. [ABC Family press release]...If you want to see a day-by-day program listing, click through to the second page of this post.

Where there's a Wil...: Writer Matthew Fleischer went out for beers with child-star-turned-blogger Wil Wheaton, who is apparently just as geeky as you thought he was. "It’s three o’ clock on a weekday afternoon and I’m in an Old Town Pasadena bar having drinks with a former child star. Were this person a faded pop tartlet, or perhaps named Corey, we might be planning a trip to a nudie bar or recollecting days spent riding the silver bullet. But this star is Wil Wheaton, and instead of strippers and blow, we’re talking science fiction with the bartender — a squirrelly looking but pleasant British fellow who looks as if he’s been playing this moment on loop in his head for a decade, waiting for it to finally come true. 'I’d have to say the past two seasons of 'DSN' ['Star Trek: Deep Space Nine'] are as good as anything I’ve seen on television,' he tells Wheaton provocatively. 'The storyline with the Cardassian war is unparalleled.' For many former Star Trek actors — Wheaton played Wesley Crusher on 'Star Trek: The Next Generation', or 'TNG' in today’s parlance — I imagine this is the kind of conversation they dread getting sucked into. Out for a quiet afternoon drink when suddenly a nerdy fan-boy wants to talk phasers and Cardassians, the stuff of 'Galaxy Quest' parody. But for Wheaton, such a statement can’t go unchallenged. 'No way!' he responds with genuine incredulity, jumping to his Chuck Taylor–clad feet to lean over the bar. 'Better than 'Battlestar Galactica'?'  Wheaton, you see, is an unabashed geek. “It’s like high school,” he tells me later, “you’re either one of the cool kids or you’re not — and I am definitely not.” [LA Weekly] And Wheaton's blog is here.

Batman crank calls Wolverine: Actor Hugh Jackman is in the new Baz Luhrmann film "Australia" but Hero Complex readers are likely far more interested in his reprising his clawed mutant role in "X-Men Origins: Wolverine," due in theaters in May. Jackman has been doing press for the Luhrmann epic and dealing with the fallout of being named the "sexiest man alive" by People magazine: 'George Clooney rang me at two in the morning,' Jackman told 'People' Monday at the 'Australia' premiere in New York City. 'I was half asleep and I said to him, 'Ah, George sweetie, good to hear from you.'' But this was not a courtesy call. 'He goes, 'Shut up, Jackman!'' the Aussie actor jokingly recounted. '[He said,] 'I know what you did! You started this big campaign that's been going on and [you] took the title away from me.' I thought that was unnecessary,' Jackman deadpanned. The Wolverine star has also been getting a ribbing from his friends and family. 'My old man traveled over with me and we landed in America ... and all of sudden we were stopped at the airport and saw the 'Sexiest Man Alive' magazine and everyone is talking about it,' the actor said. 'My father found it really uncomfortable. [My dad] said to me, 'I can't really talk to you about being sexy. It's a little weird,'' Jackman recalled. 'Mind you, I'm still waiting for the birds and the bees pitch from him. That hasn't happened either!'" [People ]... More from Jackman: Here's video from an MTV News interview with the Aussie actor that suggests that a second "Wolverine" film would likely take the hero into the character's history with samurai and ninja. “The most intriguing thing to me was the Japan story. I love the Japan story,” Jackman says. “I wanted to do the Japan story from around ‘X-Men 2.’ Can you just picture Wolverine in Japan with the triads and the samurai? It’s just genius.”

Seeking "Asylum": The new video game "Batman: Arkham Asylum" isn't due until sometime next year but, of course, when it comes to the fanboy audience there's no such thing as "too early" when it comes to a promotional campaign. Here's a preview below showing the atmosphere of Gotham (rainy) and the vibe of Arkham (unhygienic). The most famous looney bin in comics comes off like an HMO version of "Hostel" or perhaps a Transylvania revamp of "One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest." Anyway, the game will feature a considerable connection to the great "Batman: The Animated Series," as Mark Hamill again handles the lunatic laughs of the Joker, Kevin Conroy gives voices to Gotham's stolid manhunter and Paul Dini contributes his considerable expertise to the game story. Killer Croc and the Riddler are among the villains expected to be in the game, and here's a guess that there will be many, many more.

-- Geoff Boucher

Harry Potter and "Batman & Robin" photos courtesy of Warner Bros.

Hugh Jackman:  'It's badass."  And it was!

In a Comic-Con surprise, and straight from Australia, Hugh Jackman hopped off a plane and jumped on stage with a trailer for "X-Men Origins: Wolverine," and it was a huge hit!  From what I could see, popular characters Sabretooth and Silver Fox were there ... and Gambit!!

Jackman enthusiastically bounded off stage to shake the hand of Wolverine creator Len Wein, who was in the audience.  It was a wonderful moment and pretty genuine when he told Wein that he "gave him a career."

-- Jevon Phillips

Photo: A Comic-Con moment, actor Hugh Jackman, right, freshly arrived from the set of "X-Men Origins: Wolverine," leaves the stage in Hall H at the Comic-Con convention to shake hands with Len Wein, the comic book writer and editor who helped create the character Wolverine.

More than 125,000 people are expected to attend the four-day event which features the latest  and greatest in comic-related books, toys, games and memorabilia. Credit: Spencer Weiner  / Los Angeles Times