Above: Rose McGowan licking blood off a sword

The room was packed for the Red Sonja panel today featuring Robert Rodriguez, Rose McGowan and director Doug Aaroniokoski, and images of Rose McGowan in that skimpy metal bikini were everywhere (what you see above was one of around 2,000 t-shirts handed out. Below are easy-to-read notes on this particular panel:

-- Red Sonja will hit theaters in the fourth quarter of 2009 (one imagines for Christmas)
-- Robert Rodriguez is acting as a "hands on" producer, and will co-direct a good chunk of the flick. Not only is he doing this for Red Sonja, but he's also negotiating to produce a new Conan film. It seems as if they would eventually (if both are popular enough) cross promote between films.
-- The tone will be darker, like the book, and when asked if it would be R rated, Rodriguez said, "My name is double 'R'!"
--Also on tone and scope, McGowan (who's quite lively and quick-witted in person) said it's "hard, cold, dirty and bloody." And that she's looking forward to "taking a big giant sword and killing a lot of people."
-- Training is already underway, and McGowan is working with the same swords experts who helped out on Matrix and Ninja Assassin.
-- Rodriguez also admitted that Barbarella is officially off, and that Red Sonja has taken its place. He said financing of $70 million did come through from Germany for a shoot next year, but he's obligated to shoot something else for Miramax. He's negotiating right now to direct a "huge summer movie" -- but he wouldn't say which.
-- On the character, Rose McGowan said: "I will not have a mullet!" The crowd cheered.
-- Red Sonja will be shot on location (scouting now) and will use some green screen.
-- Asked who should star in the new Conan, RR shouted: "Danny Trejo!"
-- On Machete becoming a film, RR said they have plans to turn it into a Mexploitation triple feature disc (and somewhere on that disc will be a trailer for a sequel to Planet Terror.)
-- On Sin City 2, Frank Miller has finished writing the script, but no one knows whether or not that's going to happen with each working on different projects.

P.S. For those who think Rodriguez and McGowan aren't a couple anymore, check out this candid snapshot (taken right before RR kissed RM on the forehead).



Gallery from the panel below. My opinion: It looks pretty hot, and while I've bashed McGowan in the past, I'm willing to give her a chance to kick some ass here. This will be her time to shine.

Cinematical fought through the massive crowds tonight on the convention floor to bring you tons and tons of photos from the 2008 San Diego Comic Con Preview Night. While we didn't spot too many people dressed in costume (except for a group doing a Batman theme), there were some very, very cool toys, games, statues, posters and movie props. Among the larger attractions was Nite Owl's ship from Watchmen (pictured below -- see inside by clicking through the gallery), a huge Iron Monger statue (in gallery), James Bond's hot set of wheels (in gallery), a ginormous Star Wars exhibit, with Star Wars: The Clone Wars statues alongside dudes in Storm Trooper attire (pictured above), as well as monitors displaying the new video game, Star Wars: The Force Unleashed (which looks hella cool).

Check out a few images from Preview Night below, then definitely make sure to head on over to the gallery to see what this year's San Diego Con is all about.

P.S. Masters of the Web panel tomorrow morning, 10am. Be there! Say hello! Make it look like I have friends!



Nite Owl's ship from Watchmen (more images from inside the thing down in the gallery).



Our friends in Batman gear!

Cinematical's Official Comic Con Hub

Boy, you miss a few weeks work to move 2,000 miles, and you fall behind on all kinds of things going on in the world of Twilight. All you Twilighters have, no doubt, been keeping up to speed with everything that's been going on out there -- you're making plans to attend Breaking Dawn parties, planning what you're going to wear, entering giveaway contests, and getting your Twilight-inspired costumes put together (who knew there were so many varieties of vampire fangs out there?).

I know, you have it much more together than I do on all the Twilight madness, but hey, I've been on the road with four kids, a dog and a cat all crammed into a 1998 Ford Windstar, moving back to Seattle, so I'm just now getting around to catching up. So here's a rundown of all-things Twilight for you -- in case you, like me, have been having a busy summer.

We've seen Bill Murray do a lot over the years, but have we ever seen him as a tried and true, REAL stuntman? Jam! reports that the actor has signed on to parachute from a plane for an appearance at the Chicago Air and Water Show that's taking place next month. If planes buzzing about isn't something that appeals to you, maybe Murray descending from the sky will? He will perform a tandem jump with the Golden Knights skydiving team on August 15. That's a way to get new viewers -- come watch celebrities fall from the sky!

Meanwhile... Are you a Roger Dodger fan? If you haven't seen this flick, you should run out and rent it, pronto. Campbell Scott stars as an uncle who takes his young nephew (Jesse Eisenberg) out on a night on the town to teach him the ways of male adulthood. While at a bar, they come across Elizabeth Berkley and Jennifer Beals, who spend some time with the pair. Now EW has found out that the two ladies are reuniting on the final season of The L Word. Instead of playing friends who do what they can to help young Nick become a man, the Showgirls star will play the straight girl who got away from Beals' Bette in college. Oh, the possibilities!

Some very exciting news has just hit the net (though it's been quietly talked about for a good while now): Fanboys will screen at San Diego Comic Con later this week, on Thursday, July 24, and will apparently hit theaters this September. Finally! First, for the Con news: Tickets for this special screening will be given away to the first 300 people in line at the Lucasfilm's 7th Annual Star Wars Fan Movie Challenge, held on Thursday at 8:30pm in Ballroom 20. Fanboys director Kyle Newman will be on hand to introduce some footage during the awards ceremony before the full-length screening at 10:30pm. Right on!

But then came this quote from the film's producer Kevin Spacey: "I could not be more excited that 'Fanboys' is being released this September and is the version of the film that the fans want. I am enormously grateful to Jedi Knight Harvey Weinstein for having allowed Trigger Street to restore "Fanboys" to its original story and am thrilled that it will first screen during Comic-Con." Unfortunately, an exact date did not follow those words, but it's definitely nice to know the film will arrive (hopefully in theaters and NOT straight to DVD) with its original story in only a month or so from now. Double right on!

You bet Cinematical will be attending this screening, and we'll try our best to get you folks the inside word from the Fanboys creators as it all goes down. May the force be with you ... and feel free to read the official press release after the jump.

[via IESB]

If Harvey Weinstein didn't exist, someone would have to invent him. One week his garbage gets recycled into source material for The Village Voice, the next he and his brother Bob cut a 95-film, multi-year deal with Showtime and resurrect Scream. And then he gives a wide-ranging interview with The Hollywood Reporter which includes his explanation for why The Weinstein Co. created Third Rail Relasing, a new distribution label. Is it to showcase undiscovered independent gems? Introduce the world to global filmmaking talent?

No, it's for dumping the garbage. He told THR: "We should have had Third Rail two years ago, t's a good way of differentiating between what we really believe in, and what has been for ancillary value."

Third Rail recently released Death Defying Acts, with Guy Pearce and Catherine Zeta-Jones, admittedly only to fulfill a contractual obligation. Other barely there releases this year include music doc Lou Reed's Berlin, Hong Kong action flick Flash Point, and Aussic croc thriller Rogue. (I really liked the latter two, by the way.) The widest release (48 theaters, per Box Office Mojo) was George A. Romero's Diary of the Dead, which made just under one million dollars. But I guess Harvey didn't "really believe" in any of them.

Now that the weekend is nearly over, and you all have seen The Dark Knight multiple times, let me ask you a question: did you sneak your own snacks into the theater? Be honest. I won't get angry. I'll just let out a huge sigh.

Yes, it's time once again to ask the question, only five months after Kim asked it the last time. But it's an issue that I must continue discussing (at least once each busy movie season), because I see it as one of the worst cyclical problems affecting the exhibition industry. Of course, if you commonly do it, you'll no more listen to me now than you've listened in the past. The other day, a very good friend let the world know (via her Facebook status) that she was sneaking snacks into a movie. If I can't get through to those close to me, what's the chance I'll get through to you?

I'm fairly certain that a good majority of you will be taking full advantage of the summer weather this weekend by playing some friendly summertime games with the neighborhood children. However, if you happen to get the urge to visit your local multiplex (or IMAX theater) to watch one of them moving pictures in color and surround sound, then we here at Cinematical would be interested to know what you'll be watching.

In one corner we have the year's heavyweight champ of movie marketing in The Dark Knight. He's big, he's a bat and he's ready to take your hard-earned dollars. In another corner, we have one of Broadway's most beloved musicals arriving on the big screen for the first time: Mamma Mia! For the kids too young for Batman, we also have Space Chimps -- and for those in desperate need of an indie fix, we have Transsiberian. I'm happy to say there's a little something for everyone this weekend ... but what will you be watching?

Fans of documentary film should be happy to hear that there's a new force on the block: SnagFilms has just opened their internet doors, and in the process they've brought (and bought) our good friends over at indieWIRE with them. Founded by three former top AOL executives (Ted Leonsis, Steve Case and Miles Gilburne), SnagFilms is a unique site in that it showcases entire documentary films for you watch online for free, but then also makes those same films available to snag like, say, YouTube does, and then embed the entire film anywhere you'd like. Check out the widget below ...



Pretty cool, huh? Fans of indieWIRE will still get to read all the same, great content, as well as a new blog called Docsider, which comes to us from iLine and indieWIRE co-founder, Mark Rabinowitz. To read more about the SnagFilms/indieWIRE deal, check out this letter to readers from Eugene Hernandez. Definitely head on over to play with the site a bit; with over 225 documentaries available now (and about 750 available by the end of 2008), I'm sure there's plenty of content to keep you busy for awhile. Let us know what you think!

At risk of sounding like a lame comedian circa 1985, I will now offer some very basic rules of moviegoing that I hope we can all agree with. Because really -- if we ALL agree on them, then every one of my complaints should be remedied by this time tomorrow. And that would be great.

A. Young children in movie theaters. OK, for G or PG-rated flicks we non-breeders simply have to deal with it. That's cool. (Forget that I still can't see WALL*E in peace, but OK.) For PG-13 movies, you're kind of pushing it. I seriously doubt that your four-year-old will be disappointed if he has to wait for Return of the King on DVD. So please just drop the extra $15 on a babysitter. For R-rated movies? Nothing personal, but if your child is too young to understand the phrase "Please be silent for the next 103 minutes, except if you have to pee or you rrrreally want a soda," then that child must be left at home. I've seen three-year-olds at 300, rugrats roaming The Ruins, toddlers' troubles with 28 Days Later, daughters dazed by Doomsday, sons stunned by Sunshine, minors mucking through The Mist and babies babbling In Bruges. Seriously, cut it out.

B. When dealing with "talkage" during a screening, we should of course give the talker a brief grace period. He / she could be saying something that's actually important (like the house is on fire) or maybe they just need a quick catch-up on why Spy Assassin B just turned stoolie on Government Agent C. That person gets a handful of seconds (depending on the mood of the offended party), but once a brief exchange of words becomes anything close to an actual conversation, then SHUSHING simply must occur.