SPIDER-MAN (BEGINS)After yesterday's wild ride with Josh Hutcheson, Columbia Pictures has spilled the beans and announced actor Andrew Garlfield has been cast as Peter Parker, the Spectacular Spider-Man. "Today's confirmation culminates what has been one of the most eagerly anticipated casting announcements in recent memory. Bloggers, pop culture speculators, and everyday fans have pored over and analyzed every conceivable online rumor in an attempt to discover the identity of the next actor to play Peter Parker," says the company in a press release. So who is our new Spidey? Garfield may be recognizable to moviegoers as Anton in "The Imaginarium of Doctor Parnassus" and to "Doctor Who" fans as Frank in the two-parter "Daleks in Manhattan/Evolution of the Daleks" from 2007. He is also in David Fincher's upcoming movie about Facebook, "The Social Network." Though born in Los Angeles, Garfield spent most of his like in the UK. Release date: May 28th, 2012CONANTime for another Conan picture courtesy of the Conan Movie Blog:

Slashy, ain't it?

Release date: 2011X-MEN: FIRST CLASSPietro Filipponi at Comic Book Movie hears tell of one of my favorite mutants reporting in for the film. "During my most recent conversation with a Marvel Studios source, I was told that one of Professor Xavier's definite students in Fox's X-franchise relaunch, 'First Class', will be Jaime Maddrox [sic], known to most fans as Multiple Man. Considering that this is the same source which clued me in to Benjamin Walker's potential casting as the mutant student Henry McCoy (Beast) several weeks ago, I feel fairly certain this information is viable," he writes. Jaime appeared in my favorite scene from "X-Men 3: The Last Stand." He's an interesting choice to fill out the School for Gifted Youngsters. Avengers News reports Kevin Pennington, linked to several Marvel roles, has been offered the part.

Release date: June 3rd, 2011SCOTT PILGRIM VS. THE WORLDAfter expressing disappointment at not being cast as Peter Parker, director Edgar Wright updated his Twitter page with the progress of the film's sound mix. "It's 2.48 a.m. Think the final mix might be done before the big hand hits 3," he began, followed by "I mean the little hand. It's late." He then reported the mix was completed at 3:13am. "Little hand and big hand together in perfect harmony," twitters Wright. The sound mix is the aural landscape of the film. Though that's complete, the director mentions the film is not complete finished. I'll guess that he is still waiting for some effects shots.

Starring Michael Cera and Mary Elizabeth Winstead, release date: August 13th 2010COWBOYS & ALIENSHeat Vision reports Abigail Spencer is joining the cast of the film. "Spencer will play a prostitute named Alice, a former lover of Craig's character who makes him change his ways," they write. Funny how "the prostitute" is now an accepted archetype in mainstream pictures as long as your film is set before World War I.

Starring Daniel Craig, release date: July 29th, 2011SIN CITY 2Robert Rodriguez tells Movieweb he still intends to make the film, but he intends to make "Spy Kids 4: Armageddon" first. "It's a re-boot of my own series from ten years ago ... But then I'll have an open slot so (Sin City 2) could go after that." He also mentions an intention to make a film based on "Madman." Rodriguez says, "I love that project and I talk to Mike Allred about that all the time."

Release date: TBATHE THING (BEGINS)Our pals at Spinoff Online have the plot synopsis for the prequel to "John Carpenter's The Thing":

Antarctica: an extraordinary continent of awesome beauty. It is also home to an isolated outpost where a discovery full of scientific possibility becomes a mission of survival when an alien is unearthed by a crew of international scientists. The shape-shifting creature, accidentally unleashed at this marooned colony, has the ability to turn itself into a perfect replica of any living being. It can look just like you or me, but inside, it remains inhuman. In the thriller THE THING, paranoia spreads like an epidemic among a group of researchers as they're infected, one by one, by a mystery from another planet. Paleontologist Kate Lloyd (Mary Elizabeth Winstead) has traveled to the desolate region for the expedition of her lifetime. Joining a Norwegian scientific team that has stumbled across an extraterrestrial ship buried in the ice, she discovers an organism that seems to have died in the crash eons ago. But it is about to wake up. When a simple experiment frees the alien from its frozen prison, Kate must join the crew's pilot, Carter (Joel Edgerton), to keep it from killing them off one at a time. And in this vast, intense land, a parasite that can mimic anything it touches will pit human against human as it tries to survive and flourish.

Release date: April 29th, 2011BATMAN: UNDER THE RED HOODHere at CBR, we have one of those press release/interview things in support of the direct-to-video project. In this one, voice actor Jason Issacs discusses taking on the role of Ra's Al Ghul. "So I read the script and I looked at the pictures. He looked like a man with a lot of dignity and authority - there's a kind of stateliness about him. He's been alive for six centuries, which would give him a certain classiness, I thought. Obviously he's been powerful all that time, and certainly possessed tons of wealth and influence. So I tried to put all of that into the tone to his voice," he says.

Release date: July 27th, 2010INDEPENDENCE WEEKEND Cue up "1776" and get me some fine corn whiskey, it's Independence Day Weekend! I'm staying in the Los Angeles area and having 4th of July filled with fireworks, grilling, and Cookie Puss. I also picked up "Predator" on Blu-Ray and while its extras are mostly from 2001, they're new to me ... and what can be more American than consuming? Meanwhile, if any of you in the great, wide Internet discover something awesome, disheartening, or just plain weird, let us know! Take credit, come up with a clever nickname, or go anonymous. The choice is yours. Fresh rumors and movie news every weekday morning. I am Erik Amaya bracing for the future threat of bottle rockets.