X-MEN 3

According to a spy for Superhero Hype, "They will be filming next week at Royal Roads University, Victoria, British Columbia ... same location they used for the school the last time ... filming at RRU will be August 8th-20th."

BMI reports that actress/singer Kate Nauta ("The Transporter 2") is up for a role in X-Men 3, as a "sexy mutant who secretes a special pheromone to seduce men." The Calgary Sun said that country singer Beverley Mahood has a small role in the next film, and X-Men Films believes that there'll be no set photos from Santa Clarita, as all filming will take place on private property.

AFROSAMURAI

According to Variety (subscription required), Samuel L. Jackson is attached to topline and co-produce a live-action feature to be adapted from the Japanese comic franchise "Afrosamurai," created by Takashi Okazaki.

MEN IN BLACK 3

Producer Walker Parkes talked to Cinema Confidential about plans for a third alien-busting sequel. A reunion for Tommy Lee and the Fresh Prince? "There's been some conversations, just recently actually, because I don't think we did the best possible job on the second one. It would be great to pull the franchise back."

THE SPIRIT

Milking the San Diego panel for its last possible unused quotes, Comics Continuum has caught some of the hype and spin about the Eisner adaptation. "Hopefully, you will see this movie, and if you've never read a Spirit story, it'll just be this extraordinary visual feast, that will have action and heart and a mystery that's fun" writer Jeph Loeb said. "And at the same time, if you're a fan of The Spirit in general, you're going to go, 'Oh, they're doing a little bit of that. Oh, I remember that story. Oh, look at that visual, that's cool, too.' It has a really, really strong story that runs through it, but at the same token, we're going to attempt to tip the hat about as many times as we can to a man's vision was just bigger than anything you could bring to the screen. But we'll get an awful lot of it in there."

Producer Michael Uslan talked to the late Will Eisner about what he wanted to be seen on screen. "As opposed to the whimsical side of The Spirit, he said he'd like to see more of the adventurous Spirit, more of the film-noirish Spirit, the Alfred Hitchcock-style Spirit, with a sense of humor intact," Uslan said. "We talked about the qualities of what made the Spirit so different and why it was important to bring it to the screen. The essence of what Will discussed can be explained in two ways. One is that were not talking about a guy whos trying to save the world from alien invasions. Were talking about a real person trying his damnedest to save his neighborhood and make his city a better place to live and work. And he is maybe the only hero in the history of comics painfully aware of the absurdity of his situation -- that he is a real guy in a real city trying desperately to be like a comic-book hero and regularly having the crap beat out of him as a result, but always coming back for more."

UNWRITTEN...

We have to stop and show some love for comics creator Kaare Andrews, who wrote in to say, "it was just announced that my short film 'Unwritten...' will be making a World Premiere at the Toronto International Film Festival in mid-September. It was created as part of Crazy 8s, Canada's most successful filmmaking event. The official website can be found at http://www.unwrittenthemovie.com with downloadable clips available later this week." Congrats Kaare!

LET'S HUG IT OUT

If you have the scoop on anything related to comic book movies, TV adaptations or just want to give us a briefcase full of cash, no questions asked, drop us a line and let's coordinate. You can choose an alias if you'd like, or be mentioned by name -- we honor requests for anonymity. Broadcasting live from Los Angeles, this is your humble scribe Hannibal Tabu saying thanks for your time and indulgence, and "don't blame me, I'm drunk too!"