May 2008 News Archive
Jazz Returning to Transformers!
May 31, 2008
Well before the month of May ends looks like we have one more piece of news for you and it's a goodin!
Seems that Jazz will be back for Transformers 2! If you remember awhile back Michael Bay had said that Jazz wouldn't be back. But turns out, that was just one of those trickster things. DAMN YOU MICHAEL BAY!!!! Sorry had to say it.
ANYWAY.... Latino Review has a source that says the "Pontiac Solstice vehicle prop of Autobot Jazz arrived on the set of Transformers 2 today."
Also they have a couple of new set pics up. Like the one below. There might be more if you click on the image below or on Latino Review's page. It's supposed to take you to TFW2005.com but it wouldn't work for me for some reason. Maybe you'll have more luck.
Discuss this on Forums!
Forum Switch to Zetaboards
May 30, 2008
The forum has been converted to Zetaboards early this morning. The change took place around 8 AM EST, and instead of keeping the board closed, I've reopened it so you guys can still discuss things until we get our coding done. So in the meantime, please bear with us during this time of transition. We will probably be closing the boards again at some point today to put in the new skin. Thank you for your patience.
James Marsters Height Double in Dragonball!
May 29, 2008
Dragonballfilm.es has put up an interesting article about James Marsters height double. If you can read spanish go to the link above. If not here is a rough translation of what's said.
"Until now we knew that James Marsters plays Piccolo, the villain of the film. However, we still do not know what he will look like in the film except [for his costume].
If we look to the manga and anime, we see that, physically, Piccolo is green, with pointed ears, bald and very tall. However, Marsters is only about 5'9". While the character who he portrays is much taller.
This is where the work of his double [comes in]. This is Ian White, an actor who portrayed the Predators in the movies Alien vs. Predator. He measures about 7' tall and knows martial arts."
The new information sheds a lot of light on some previous pictures we had seen of this actor on set, but until now didn't know who he was supposed to be portraying. I'm refering to the pictures below.
If you visit Dragonballfilm.es they have some comparisons to the guantlets he's wearing and the ones from the piccolo costume picture we seen awhile back.
Special thanks to forum member drjcb for providing this information.
And don't forget you can discuss this new information on our Dragonball Movie Forums!
More Transformers 2 News
May 29, 2008
Yesterday MTV put up a video with Rainn Wilson (The Office) where he mentions that he has a small cameo in Transformers 2. Go here to check it out.
And today it looks like there is some confirmation that more cast members from the first film will be returning. Latino Review reports:
"We all knew that Shia LaBeouf and Tyrese Gibson were back and that newcomer Isabel Lucas was also cast in the Michael Bay sequel. But now the trades confirm that Megan Fox, Josh Duhamel, and John Turturro will reprise their roles as well."
Discuss on our Transformers Movie Forums!
New Transformers 2 Set Pictures
May 26, 2008
Looks like some pictures from the set in Bethlehem, PA have surfaced, thanks to the Transformers Live Action Movie Blog. You can view more of these pictures over on their site:
Among some of the things the source had to say is that a new concept car, possibly a Transformer, will be used on this set. Also, two black hawk helicopters will be used as well. You can read more over on the blog, and you can also discuss these new findings over on the Forums.
WETA Still Interested in Neon Genesis Evangelion LAM!
May 26, 2008
Here's something you may or may not have seen. A video posted on youtube of Richard Taylor, head of Weta Workshop, talks about his continued interest in the live action Neon Genesis Evangelion movie.
And then head over to our Neon Genesis Evangelion Movie Forums to discuss!
Where is Dragonball's Place in Fox's Lineup?
May 25, 2008
Variety has an interesting article up on what makes Fox a succesful company. Within the article there is a brief mention of the Dragonball film and it's place in their 2009 line up.
"Rothman explains its approach using marketing lingo. "As I look out from where we are, what we look forward to is that we have a consistent supply of all-audience films opening over the next 18 months, and in between those films, we have strongly targeted films like 'Max Payne," "Notorious,' 'Dragonball Z' -- films that will have a strong, defined avidity among the targeted audience," he says "
Many of us know the long in-development period that Dragonball went to, after Fox purchased the rights in 2002. On development of their films they say:
"Talent reps complain the studio has an overly long development period. And agents vent that Fox is, well, cheap.
Gianopulos says they're just fiscally responsible -- and even considers some such criticisms a compliment.
"We believe that when you're spending hundreds of millions of dollars of capital, you have to be responsible for the outcome," Gianopulos says. "I can't understand how anyone would imagine that not being financially responsible could ever be a component of running an enterprise this big."
As for development, they're proud that they can beat a screenplay into shape, no matter how long it takes. For example, the studio has already spent more than $5 million on a script for a bigscreen version of "The A-Team," but has yet to give it the greenlight"
To read the full article click here
And don't forget you can discuss this on our Dragonball Movie Forums!
Ernie Hudson to Play Master Mutaito?
May 25, 2008
Everyone has been wondering for a while who Ernie Hudson would be playing in the upcoming Live Action Dragon Ball Movie. Well, it's possible we may have an answer.
According to a member on DragonBall Movie Blog, he had an opportunity to speak with Hudson at London Expo 2008, in which the member said, "basically he confirmed to me that his character is Master Mutaito. He said, 'I play a monk, who is Chow Yun Fat’s character’s master and he creates the jar that is used contain/trap Piccolo'. "
If true, this would be a most interesting development for the movie, and might make more sense of why Chow Yun Fat had hair in the picture we saw of him as Roshi. It could mean it is indeed from a flashback. You can discuss this new revelation over on our Forums.
Live Action Anime Podcast 3 Now Up
May 24, 2008
The 3rd episode of the LAA Podcast is finally up. We talk about the new scans on the DragonBall Movie, Speed Racer, and Death Note, and listen to some interviews from DragonBall fans at this past week's ACEN. Also, we have a special guest aboard from the forum's past. Who is it? Listen and find out!
Is This The Face Of Piccolo?
May 22, 2008
So I'm not sure if this is real or fake. Haven't really seen this posted anywhere else either, unless I've missed it. I got this from a myspace friend. It's said to be from a new poster. It's low quality. Could be a cell phone shot. Perhaps from a magazine. I'm not sure, but here it is.
EDIT: All signs are point to a fake now. Guess we'll have to wait a little longer for Piccolo.
Discuss on our Forums!
Roadshow Magazine Scans Revealed!
May 22, 2008
The scans from the heavily anticipated July issue of Roadshow Magazine have been found by DBthe Movie.com. In addition to the pictures in our last few updates, we finally get some good, clear looks at Joon Park as Yamcha and Jamie Chung as Chi Chi:
You can check out the full size of these pics, as well as the discussion on them, over on our Forums.
New Goku Image
May 22, 2008
Movieland has posted a new image of Chatwin as Goku. This new image is most likely a scan from a magazine we have seen the other images from.
You can discuss this on our forum.
More DragonBall Scans!
May 21, 2008
The Dragon Ball Movie Blog got some new scans. In these scans you can clearly see the DragonBall in Goku/Chatwin's hands.
Click on images for full size.
As you can see we can now clearly see a Dragon Ball. Also we get our first look at Master Roshi in the second image.
You can discuss this on our forum.
Thanks JP
Death Note Premieres Tonight in Select Theaters
May 20, 2008
In case you forgot, the first Death Note movie will premiere tonight in over 300 select theaters across the United States for a special two day showing. The movies begin at 7:30 PM local time today and tomorrow, so make sure you don't miss out, becuase once it's gone, it's gone.
If you're lucky enough to see the new, dubbed movie, go ahead and discuss it with other fans over on our Forums. Our Death Note section has also been updated a bit, the cast and crew list is finally up, so make sure to check that out.
Also, expect to see the third installment of the LAA podcast up within the next few days. We'll be talking about the Death Note movie, hear some fan reactions on the DragonBall movie, and much more!
More Magazines to Feature DragonBall
May 20, 2008
Looks like we can expect quite a few more magazine spreads of the upcoming Dragon Ball Live Action Movie, especially in Japan it seems. In addition to the spreads in Shonen Jump and its sister magazines, it looks like Roadshow Magazine will have an exclusive of the movie in their July 2008 issue. Thanks to JP for the heads up.
So if you happen to be in Japan this summer, you might want to pick up a few of these magazines. We'll keep you up to date as we get closer to summer. So for now, go ahead and discuss this over on our Forums.
2 New LAAs Screen At Cannes!
May 17, 2008
First up, The Hollywood Reporter mentions that Fortissimo Films (a multi-national film sales and production company) is promoting it's film Dance! Subaru at Cannes. Dance! Subaru is an adaptation of the manga about a budding ballerini.
A while back Anime News Network reported that it was a joint production with Warner Brothers, with Lee Chi-Ngai in the directors chair and, actress and model, Meisa Kuroki in the title role.
And finally Screen Daily reports that Japanese studio Nikkatsu unvealed it's manga adapatation of Yatterman at Cannes, as well. It's a $20 million project and it's being directed by Takashi Miike (Audition, Ichi The Killer).
Currently in production, it's slated for a spring 2009 release date.
Discuss on our Forums!
O' Little Town of Transformers
May 16, 2008
Mcall.com has an article up about the upcoming filming of Transformers 2 in Bethleham Pennsylvania.
"A film crew from ''Transformers 2'' will bring those shape-shifting robots to life in south Bethlehem next month for a movie scene in front of the iconic furnaces.
The movie crew will film in Bethlehem during the first week of June and will use the blast furnaces as the scene's backdrop, Callahan said. ''It's going to bring a tremendous amount of excitement to the city,'' especially for any locals who nab walk-on roles, he added.
According to an announcement from Heery Casting of Philadelphia, the filmmakers hope to cast local ''Asian men and women, boys and girls, ages 7 [to] 65'' as paid extras in the movie. In particular, the crew hopes to recruit extras of Asian descent who have military backgrounds."
Click here to read the entire article.
And don't forget to discuss this news on our Forums!
New Scan From Weekly Young Jump
May 15, 2008
Click for full size. You can discuss this on the Forum.
Thundercats HOOOOOOO!
May 14, 2008
Ok, ok, I know that technically Thundercats is not an anime, but Japanese animation companies worked on it, so it kind of qualifies. Plus it kind of falls into that same category as Transformers. So just for all you fans out their, we're going to cover it!
And with that comes what could possibly be the first image from the film. Well at least the first 3D molds. The image comes from tgisfw.com who also has what's either a nice piece of fan art or the actual logo. As of right now it'll have to remain speculation. But no doubt that it's all pretty cool looking.
Click on Panthro's face to visit the site and check out the logo, and a hi-res version of the image below.
And don't forget you can discuss this on our Forums!
Transformers 2 News!
May 14, 2008
Hey everyone! A few new bits of information on Transformers 2 has hit the web. First off it seems that the 2008 Showest edition of Dolby news has Transformers 2 listed as a 3-D release for 2009. Most likely the entire movie won't be in 3-D but just certain parts. Either way it's pretty cool to see giant robots fighting on the big screen, let alone see them fighting on the big screen in 3-D!
Up next is some casting news posted up by Michael Bay himself on his own website's forum.
"Hey, I went to work today thinking I was four weeks away from shooting and by 11:30 I found out I'm just three weeks away. SHIT! How time fly's.
Isabel - no Steven did not pick her - it just makes a good sound bite for press. Yes, I did give her the part. - True story.
Michael"
In the last part he is referring to Isabel Lucas (below).
And finally Moviehole has an interview up with Rachel Taylor. She speaks briefly on why she won't be returning for the Transformers sequel:
"I wasn't contracted for a sequel anyway, but I also think it would be pretty ridiculous for my character just to show up and say 'We've got some more computers to play with!... More importantly, I don't think I'd wanna do it to be honest, and not for any particular reason other than the fact that I've done it. I'm just drawn to doing different things. I want to be able to mix it up all the time."
Click here to read the entire interview.
And don't forget you can discuss all this great news on our Forums!
LAA Podcast #2
May 13, 2008
The second edition of the Live Action Anime Podcast is now up! Click HERE to take a listen, and go to the podcast section on the sidebar to listen to last week's podcast if you miss it. In this edition, we discuss and review the new Speed Racer movie, talk a little bit about DragonBall and the new picture of Chatwin, as well as Street Fighter. Hope you enjoy! Remember, you can leave us feedback either at our e-mail, submissions@liveactionanime.org, or leave us some comments over on our Forums.
Picture of Chatwin as Goku Surfaces (edit: better picture)
May 10, 2008
In a Japanese magazine, a picture of Justin Chatwin as Goku as appeared in its pages, and was scanned over on Dragonball-live.fr. So far, it seems that this picture is legitimate:
Thanks to Craigdbfan for the heads up, and you can read and discuss more about it over on our Forums.
GO! Speed Racer GO! Movie Premieres!
May 8, 2008
Finally the day is upon us. The Speed Racer live action film has hit theaters! Special midnight screenings are already underway in select theaters across the nation.
So hurry and get to your local movie theater and get ready for the ride of your life! Expect to see our own reviews of the film soon, as well as a full report and review on the next podcast which should be up late this weekend. To discuss the movie, head on over to our Forums.
CHUD.com Interviews Speed Racer Producer, Joel Silver!
May 7, 2008
Following up yesterday's IESB interview with Emile Hersch (see below) comes CHUD.com's interview with Speed Racer producer Joel Silver.
"Q: Talk about the biggest challenges on the film-- technically, logistically.
Silver: It was a technical nightmare to have the realization of what the boys wanted to do. I mean, the brothers had this…when it all came about I mean they knew I had the project for awhile and after V or some point after V they called me up one day and said, “What are you doing with that Speed Racer thing?” and I said, “Well, I’m struggling” and they said, “We have an idea” and I said “Well, go for it.” They had this notion of making what they considered live-action anime and that’s what it is—live-action anime. And they said "We want to show you what we want to do and if the studio likes it, we have a way of making a movie of this, and if they don’t, then we’ll do something else."
Since the moment I first saw the Speed Racer trailer I've said that, THAT is a "live action anime!" And apparently I was on the right track because that's exactactly what the Wachowski's were going for.
Speed Racer opens in just two days and I can't wait!
Read then interview then "GO" and discuss on our Forums!
IESB's Interview with Speed Racer himself!
May 6, 2008
The IESB.net has a nice interview up with Speed Racer himself, Emile Hirsch. Here's a little snippet:
"Q: Did you look at Viva Las Vegas? Elvis was the model for Speed.
EH: Oh yeah, I love Elvis and the hair was super exacting on getting every little hair right.
Q: How long did that take?
EH: Like five minutes. No, no, no. It took a while. We experimented with some different styles and we had a bunch of photos we were looking at. It was good.
Q: How does having Elvis's hair affect one?
EH: Your lip goes like that a lot. No, the whole '60s Elvis kind of James Bond-y kind of vibe to the character was really a big attraction. It was just fun. It feels like it's this huge futuristic weird dimension but it's got a lot of the aesthetics from the '60s. It's a nice mix."
Head on over to IESB.net to read the, very funny, full interview. Then come back and discuss your favorite part on our Forums!
Speed Racer opens nationwide this Friday!
Street Fighter Movie Blog Updated!
May 6, 2008
The official production blog for the new Street Fighter: The Legend of Chun Li, has been updated with new images.
"For this week’s exclusive first-look, feast your eyes on the beautiful Moon Bloodgood as Det. Maya Sunee. The character probably won’t sound familiar to you die-hard SF fans out there. And it shouldn’t. Maya’s new to the Street Fighter universe."
Also check out the new storyboard of a fight between Vega and Chun Li! Plus they've opened up an email line for any questions you might have about the movie! Just send them to aaron@streetfightermovie.net!
And don't forget you can discuss on our Forums!
Batman: Gotham Knight Trailer!
May 5, 2008
So apparently this trailer came out back in April, but for some reason I never caught it. I thought maybe there are more like me out there that didn't know the trailer for the new Batman anime movies was released. Check it over at Yahoo! Movies. They also have HD versions you can watch! Just look below the video player.
Batman: Gotham Knight is a direct-to-DVD Japanese anime style anthology film. It contains six shorts set in-between Batman Begins and The Dark Knight. Similar to the tie in between The Matrix films and The Animatrix.
The films are written by Josh Olson, David S. Goyer, Alan Burnett, Jordan Goldberg, Greg Rucka and Brian Azzarello. And directed by Shojiro Nishimi, Futoshi Higashide, Hiroshi Morioka, Yasuhiro Aoki and Toshiyuki Kubooka.
The DVD is set to release July 8, 2008!
And don't forget you can discuss this and other animes on our Forums!
New Reviews Up
May 4, 2008
For your reading pleasure, we have a plethora of new Reviews up on some anime, anime movies, and a primer on Eastern Culture. These reviews were done by several of our members, including Thrash Til' Death, KkThnxBai, and Stryyder. Check out the rest of the reviews on our new page, HERE. However, there are some broken links around the site as of this moment, so try to acess the review page from either the home page, LAA section, or Columns section at this time. We'll fix the rest of those links soon.
School Rumble - May's Anime of The Month!
May 3, 2008
Check out Styyder's Review of May's Anime of The Month, School Rumble!
"Here it is, School Rumble, the most madcap, funny, romantic comedy you've ever seen that isn't about anything that rumbles!"
While you're at it check out April's Anime of the Month review of Mushi-Shi.
And don't forget you can discuss these and other Anime's on our Forums!
James Marsters Signed for 2 Sequels
May 2, 2008
Well it looks like James Marsters will be playing Piccolo in at least two sequels of Dragonball. Forum member craigdbfan has given us a link to a Q&A session with Marsters.
"People put their hands up and he picked them out. We didn't need a
microphone. I will try to remember some of the answers he gave. He said
at the beginning that he wouldn't take questions on the children.
* he is signed up for two more Dragonball movies."
You can join the discussion on our Forums.
Again thanks crigdbfan.
Update on DragonBall Posters
May 1, 2008
So the past couple of days we've been getting all kinds of information coming in from all over regarding the DragonBall teaser posters which appeared and were subsequently removed. Fox apparently tried to quell this little uprising by clouding the issue, but now we have solid evidence, the posters which appeared a few days ago are 100% real.
Major thanks to forum member Youkaisama who took pictures of the posters at his local cinema. These haven't popped up in US theaters yet, but hopefully they will soon. To check it all out and join the discussion, no need to look further than over on our Forums.
You can discuss this over on our Forums.
