FANTASTIC FOUR: RISE OF THE SILVER SURFER

Today's the day! IESB has a last round of video interviews with the cast, and actor Ioan Gruffudd is quoted at Sci Fi Wire talking about the Fantasticar and Reed's bachelor party. Seriously. "[That's] something I had a lot of fun shooting because I was on stage, dancing with all these gorgeous girls and pretending that I'm spinning my body and elongating my arms, although it was slightly tedious at times, because it's such a repetitive process," Gruffudd said. "But when you see it all put together on the big screen it's a really fun, comedic moment in the film."

HEROES

Our pals at Herosite have posted a bunch of spoilers about new characters we'll see, some we might not and casting notices that have gone out. Fascinating!

RONIN

Somebody took a bite out of the schedule for the Frank Miller movie, according to a note in Variety. Director Sylvain White is committed to "Castlevania" next, and then he'll turn his attention to the OGN adaptation.

WATCHMEN

What sounded like "whoa" was actually "no" -- a report from Club Keanu claims that the actor was offered a role in the Alan Moore adaptation and turned it down.

GATCHAMAN

According to ICv2, Imagi Animation Studios has announced that it has signed Robert Mark Kamen to write the CGI adaptation of what most US fans know as "Battle of the Planets." The film will be directed by "TMNT" helmer Kevin Monroe, and is slated to be done by the end of 2008. A live action film is also in the works, but there's been no word on that since April.

THE LOSERS

IESB also has a video interview with director Tim Story about stylistic directions he'd like to take.

TRANSFORMERS

How's this for a new one sheet poster? Comingsoon.net has also posted new video including a TV spot and a film clip.

G.I. JOE

Producer Lorenzo di Bonaventura talked to IGN urging patience with Action Man and rumors of Action Man. "Actually, there were two incarnations of [the G.I. Joe script] and we're proceeding down both roads," di Bonaventura said. "You know, there's a lot of misinformation about this and I'm glad you asked this question. We had pursued originally a take on the project written by David Elliot and Paul Lovett, which was put aside for a period of time. And then a second avenue was taken that included Action Man, and that was being written by Skip Woods. Skip Woods' draft came and somehow leaked, which is always unfortunate. find it really unfortunate on the part of the writer, the artist, because Skip had literally, from the day he finished his contract to the day that draft came in, seven weeks [to complete it] because of the timeline that was being required by the overall deal. So, it has been judged in some circles, I think, harshly, and I think unfortunately like all creative processes it was just the very beginning of it. And I know that Skip is working hard on his next draft and is going to nail it."

THE BATMAN

Despite mounting evidence that there is no such thing as Canadia, a post at the World's Finest message boards (meaning, of course, that they are the message boards of the site World's Finest, not the finest message boards in the world, per se ... oh, never mind), fourth season episodes will start airing north of the border on August 17th, which will send the US downloading community to their keyboards by the 18th.

THE DARK KNIGHT

Keeping it in Gotham City for a bit, Superhero Hype has a great scan of a photo feature from Entertainment Weekly showing off the new Batsuit ... aaand no, no nipples in evidence.

HELLBOY 2

Superhero Hype was busy -- they also report that principal photography has started on the Mike Mignola sequel.

THAT'S A WRAP

We can't do this without you. The rumors, the scoops, the set photos -- they're all fueled by passionate fans emailing in the goods. The ones who ask, "What do you mean your sister's dating somebody who works for Miles Millar?" The ones who know the code names of movie projects and scour city permit filings for them. The devoted, the involved. Fans, just like you. Whatever you know, we wanna know, and whether you want your name shouted to the web's rafters or kept closer than a classified report, we've got you covered like a comforter. Broadcasting live from Los Angeles, this is your humble scribe Hannibal Tabu saying thank you for your time and indulgence, and "enough talk -- let's go make with the 'biff' and the 'pow' already."