Indy's Whip Master Braces for Windfall

Lucas spent 15 years persuading Spielberg and Ford of new idea

(NEWSER) - It seems like a sure thing: Steven Spielberg and George Lucas, in on 13 of the 100 highest-grossing movies ever, revive the billion-dollar Indiana Jones franchise. But Lucas spent 15 years trying to convince Spielberg and Harrison Ford to do Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull, due out May 22. Why the discord? It all came down to what Hollywood calls a MacGuffin, Vanity Fair reports. More»

Alcon Entertainment slated to produce upcoming sequel or prequel

(NEWSER) - "I've seen things you people wouldn't believe..." But would the infamous replicant leader in Blade Runner believe that director Ridley Scott is making a new version of the 1982 sci-fi classic? Sequel or prequel, nobody seems to know—and Harrison Ford's participation is a question mark (he reportedly hated Scott)—but The Blind Side producer Alcon Entertainment will begin development, Deadline.com reports. This on the heels of Scott's Prometheus, an upcoming 3D pic that loosely revisits the Alien franchise. More»

Really? 'Hot Tub Time Machine' is the best we can do?

(NEWSER) - “2010 very possibly is the worst year in the history of motion pictures,” declares Joe Queenan in a hilarious Wall Street Journal piece bemoaning the downfall of American cinema. You know things are bad in Hollywood when:

• “Shia LaBeouf—who looks a bit like the young George W. Bush” is being passed off “as the second coming of Tom Cruise.”
• The top contenders for Next Big Action Star are Jake Gyllenhaal and Adrien Brody. “None of these are logical heirs to the throne abandoned by Arnold Schwarzenegger and Harrison Ford and Sylvester Stallone. They may not even be legitimate heirs to the throne vacated by Steven Seagal and Jean-Claude Van Damme.”

Alleged assailant in Harry Potter T-shirt may face serious charges

(NEWSER) - A dispute before a Comic-Con panel discussion ended with one attendee in police custody and another in the hospital being treated for a stab wound near the eye, the San Diego Union-Tribune reports. The alleged assailant was armed with a pen and wearing—look away, kids—a Harry Potter T-shirt. "The room was very crowded and the males argued over one male sitting too close to the other," a police officer told CNN . More»

'Tropic Thunder' leads the way

(NEWSER) - The decade had lots of lousy movies, but 11Points rounds up the most disappointing—those that didn't live up to their promise:

• Tropic Thunder (2008): Amazing cast, great premise. Slam dunk, right? Not when "your go-to bit is a retarded joke." Such a lazy waste.
• Bruno (2009): Sacha Baron Cohen's Borat follow-up "didn't expose homophobia—it manufactured homophobia."