For a while there, it looked like the Wolverine might have been the movie I wanted X-Men Origins: Wolverine to have been. Now, that’s falling apart.

First, the director, Darren Aronofsky, left the project. Then natural disasters and their aftermath scourged Japan, where the Wolverine was to be filmed. Now it looks like Hugh Jackman may be looking for other work until the movie gets back on track.

While we will likely have First Class to keep us going until the Wolverine gets made, the fact that Jackman is going to be involved in another production means that we will likely be waiting two years—optimistically—for the Wolverine to arrive, if it ever does. The sad thing is that maybe what made this movie anticipated will be lost in the interim. All it takes is a mediocre director, or one with a vision at variance with what is in the script to change it into another Origins fiasco.

Please, no.

And to add insult to injury, it looks like the Deadpool movie is languishing as well. Should Green Lantern make money, Ryan Reynolds will likely be back on for the sequel production quickly—with little or no time for Deadpool. And that’s even if a director can be found in the near future.

Things are looking grim. Thanks Hollywood—or the Fates, Satan, whomever—for taking my dreams and drilling them in the pooper.

And so, the date for 3D Phantom Menace is 10 February 2012. While this is not the date of the Mayan apocalypse, perhaps it should be.

While I doubt this will be an apocalypse, there is no way Lucas is going to get me to put any more money down on the prequel trilogy. However, if we expect one movie a year, that puts Star Wars (you can’t make me write A New Hope, there is no way I’ll . . . never mind) coming out around 2015. My eldest will be 8 and my youngest will be 6.

Yup, I see a family event taking place.

Let me take my two girls to see Star Wars and Empire Strikes Back on the big screen, and I will forgive all else, Mr. Lucas. All. Else.

If you care, the announcement is here.

What character could Alice Eve, Diane Krueger and Rosamund Pike be vying for in the new Superman movie? Well, apparently—and, of course, it’s all just rumours—it ain’t Lois Lane, though she is in the pic. Nope, this very attractive trio are vying for the role of Ursa, General Zod’s right hand.

I remember her very well from Superman II. I have no idea if she’s been in comics, cartoons, or other Superman properties since that movie. I don’t really follow Superman. However, the possibility of Ursa brings about the possibility of Zod, and we all know daddy likes his General Zod.

Of the three, I’d go for Alice Eve or Rosamund Pike. Diane Krueger as Helen was a very painful part of Troy. I’m not looking to see her again any time soon.

Now, bring on Zod. And for extra points, get Terence Stamp to play him again. That man is fukin’ Golden.

My previous Zod gushing here.

It is entirely possible that the Hobbit movie production is cursed. The newest delay is based on prime mover Peter Jackson’s hospitalization and surgery for a perforated ulcer (that’s when you get an actual hole in your stomach that leaks acid into the rest of your body . . . argh!).

I haven’t been a huge cheerleader of Jackson directing this movie, but I do actually hope it gets made. Listen, I’ve got all of the Lord of the Rings movies in their special extended versions on DVD. I may have made different choices, but I cannot deny the quality and entertainment value of the series, and I hope we’ll get the same out of the Hobbit.

Get better, Mr. Jackson. God speed, the Hobbit.

Oh please, baby Jebus, no.

The horror. The horror.

Rumours have hit the Intartubdules that Keanu Reeves has spoken of two more Matrix movies, written and directed by the Wachowskis. Now, this is basically a: “I heard it from a guy I barely know who said he was there when . . .” so this is weak as even Internet rumours go, but I felt it my solemn duty to warn you so you could be prepared.

Now excuse me while I go start digging the foundations of the bunker in which I will protect my family and my RPG books when the final horseman comes.

UPDATE: Are we at all shocked to hear that this rumour is, in fact, false? Not totally shocked, no. Relieved? Hells yeah.

Now what do I do with that big hole in my front yard?

Production of Peter Jackson’s the Hobbit apparently steams ahead. The latest news is that Elijah Wood will be reprising his Lord of the Rings role as Frodo Baggins. Apparently there is going to be a frame that bookends the movies (remember, there will reportedly be two movies, the second one including some bridging material between the Hobbit and the Fellowship of the Ring). Frodo will be part of that structure. I would imagine, as well, that Frodo might have some role to play near the end of the bridging material, bringing us up to FotR’s doorstep.

I can’t say that I am as excited about this project as I was about the LotR series. I was a lot more excited when Guillermo del Toro was on board, but I’ve bitched about that elsewhere. I will say that I am glad that Elijah Wood is getting more work. It’s too bad that neither he nor Sean Astin were able to capitalize on their work in the LotR series to become more bankable. Both are still working, but both are very solid actors and should be getting much more. That’s true for Billy Boyd and Dominic Monaghan as well—Pippin and Merry—though Dominic did get some time on Lost.

A little bit of casting news for Friday.

There are reports floating around out there—or are they rumours?—that Martin Sheen and Sally Field have been cast in the Spider-man reboot as—who else?—Uncle Ben and Aunt May.

Now this would be quite a casting coup, though—honestly—I think Cliff Robertson has more of the “Uncle Ben” vibe than Martin Sheen. Sheen, to me, has too much Apocalypse Now and West Wing for me to ever think of him as Uncle Ben. He’s too distinct. These days, he just carries too much intrinsic gravitas to be kindly Uncle Ben.

Sally Field as Aunt May I might buy, though for a visual likeness from the comics, Rosemary Harris totally won. I can’t see Sally Field doing the same. Then again, maybe they are going for a younger Aunt May.

What all this means—sadly—is that we’re going to see another origin story, that is unless all the Uncle Ben scenes are flashbacks. For the number of people who will see this movie who don’t know the Spider-man mythology, re-doing the origin is a waste of time. It’s a waste of time that could be used selling us on this new Spider-man. Seriously, I don’t want to see origins of Spider-man, Superman, or Batman ever again.

Someone like Green Lantern, who is a little off the mainstream media radar, okay. He also hasn’t had an origin movie (or two) already. Think of X-Men. That movie showed the origin of Rogue, in a manner of speaking, but it was over quick and the movie got on doing what we wanted it to do.

It’s too bad that this Spider-man reboot can’t do the same.

So Christopher Nolan says no 3D for the next Batman movie, given that he wants it to be faithful to what had come before.

Thank you, sir.

I almost want to tack on a “for now,” given that I man sure the studio will apply a fair amount of pressure (read: dump truck full of money) to try to get him to change his mind. If he does not, he proves himself a man of integrity. If he does, well, he’s just another cool dude in Hollywood.

He’s also said the title of the movie will be the Dark Knight Rises, so I assume there will be plenty of yeast. That or porn. Either makes me happy it won’t be 3D.

It’s also possible that this will be Nolan’s last Batman movie. And while that would be a shame, better to go out on a high note.

Did you hear that, Raimi?

So there are a bunch of actresses up for the female lead in the Alien prequel. Some of the names include Natalie Portman and a bunch of other people.

I vote for Natalie Portman.

Listen, I’m sure everyone else is an outstanding actress. They are all varying levels of hot, from extremely to eyesocket burningly. But, c’mon, it’s Natalie Portman!

We know she can act. We know she can do action. And just envision her in a soaking undershirt.

See? I was right, right?

Anyway, I’ll be in my bunk. Don’t forget, Natalie Portman for Presi . . . for the lead role in the prequel.

In case you actually want to consider others for the role (you are dead to me), the article is here.

Apparently, and I don’t know how much weight to put on this, the Alien prequel script has leaked. I actually haven’t read the synopsis or followed the link to the more detailed article, but I’ve linked to both below.

I can’t say I’m excited by this. The last to ventures into the Alien universe (those would be Alien Vs. Predator and AVP2) really sucked ass. I mean, they sucked so much they cleaned colons, stomachs, entire gastrointestinal tracts.

Now, this one has Ridley Scott, who did such great work with Alien. And I am one of the people who actually enjoyed Alien Resurrection (that would be IV), so I figure if it is a straight ahead Alien movie made by the original Alien director, it can’t be all that bad.

Then again, it certainly can. I love Ridley Scott . . . most of the time. He’s honestly hit and miss. And if the script doesn’t have depth, he’s not a director to add it. Visuals? Stunning. But he needs to work with a good script and good actors.

Let’s hope he gets both for the prequel.

You can read the synopsis here.

The full article is here.