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It sounded like a terrible idea then, when director Tim Burton cast Nic Cage as The Man of Steel for his take on Supes (screenplay by Kevin Smith as well!), and it’s evident now just how bad the movie would have been now that test shots of Nic Cage in the Superman outfit have been discovered. 

“A Japanese Tim Burton fan site, however, seems to be blowing the whole thing open again… if you believe the site’s legitimacy. They have a picture that seems to show a Nic Cage costume test for “Superman Lives,” although the suit he’s wearing bears little resemblance to the aforementioned concept art we’ve seen online. This photo features an odd, squished “S” on the chest, a hard plastic suit, and a large section of what looks like flesh-colored material towards his neck,” writes Drew Taylor.  “It’s only one photo and devoid of context it’s just another piece of oddball “Superman Lives” ephemera, but it’s still fun to think about what this project would have ended up becoming.” 

From the looks of the autopsy photo above, it’s possible Cage was actually set to play Eradicator.  We know the title was Superman Lives (Smith’s script is easily found online for your reading pleasure) and so it’s not unreasonable to assume it would have been based on the death and resurrection of the iconic character.  [via]

It’ll be interesting to see what the reception of Kevin Smith’s new relationship-sex comedy Zack and Miri Make a Porno will be.  Partly, one wonders if his latest movie will be called a Judd Apatow rip off and also wonders if it will be as commercially viable as a Judd Apatow comedy – what with starring Seth Rogen and Elizabeth Banks.  

Using a red band trailer is probably the best way to promote a filthy Kevin Smith movie.  The movie premieres next week at the Toronto International Film Festival and then opens stateside on October 31.  

Peter over at Slashfilm has seen the movie, lucky bastard that one, and all he’ll say is that “the first 30 minutes of Zack and Miri has more laughs per minute than any of Smith’s films thus far.”  Other than trying to sound like a poster quote, that’s pretty positive and awesome to hear, since um, well, Kevin Smith has made a few funny movies in his day.  

Fanboy favorite Kevin Smith is currently working on what could become his most mainstream hit to date by having Seth Rogen and Elizabeth Banks star as the title characters in Zack and Miri Make a Porno.

But will the word porno become a problem for potential moviegoers? Probably not as we have loads of other reasons to not go see movies in the theaters. Just look at the abysmal returns for Will Ferrell’s latest flick Semi-Pro. Regardless, USA Today gets down and dirty to find out.

“We’re just hoping that by the time the movie comes out, if the marketing people do their jobs right, it’s a word that people will kind of get over,” he says.

Industry analysts say Porno fits right in. “It’s one of the best titles of the year,” says Jeff Bock, an analyst with movie tracking firm Exhibitor Relations. “It sells the film for exactly what it is.” It helps, he notes, that Smith (Clerks, Dogma) has a dependable fan base. “They’ll follow him anywhere. I don’t think anything is too risqué for Kevin Smith fans.”

But that base is somewhat limited; Smith’s films tend to gross $20 million to $30 million. (Knocked Up brought in nearly $150 million.) With star-on-the-rise Rogen and the success of Knocked Up, “expectations are up for this particular film,” Bock says.

“What’s weird about it is, it’s dirty. But it’s so incredibly sweet,” Smith says, noting that Porno will be rated R (obviously, there’s no actual porn in it). Banks says grown-ups are mature enough for immature jokes. “These kinds of comedies, these sweet and sexy comedies, have all started to push the envelope. This movie takes it even further, that’s definitely true. But if you’re over 15 years old … you know what sex is, and in comedy you’re always trying to find those taboos that you can break for a laugh. Sex in America is a huge one.”

It’ll be interesting to see how this movie plays out. Afterall, something like this could make or break the appearance of Seth Rogen’s moviestar-ness and could possibly catapault Kevin Smith to greater heights.

Still, the story of two friends who make a porno to get out of financial troubles and end up falling in love sounds like a hipster formula for the rom-com.

And you thought it would end with Jimmy Kimmel and Ben Affleck after starting with Sarah Silverman and Matt Damon. But noooo…. If you order now you’ll get Elizabeth Banks and Seth Rogen.

To capitalize on this f*cking craze, director Kevin Smith has shot a video with the stars of his new movie Zack and Miri Make a Porno. We get Elizabeth Banks serenading Seth Rogen, with appearances by Jason Mewes, Jeff Anderson and Craig Robinson.

And honestly, this might be funnier than the other two. The bit about “You know how I’m not gay?” just straight killed. Take the jump to watch or head over to Quick Stop Entertainment. MORE »

Lotsa stuff to get to this morning and rather than try to do each of these by giving them the space to breath, we’re gonna smash them into one extended post and hope we hit everything. Today’s my birthday and per tradition that started in college I take the day off to celebrate me, which usually ends up in me getting drunk at noon and watching bloody disgusting movies that no one else will watch with me. I’m thinking about doing a Hostel Part 2 and 28 Weeks Later movie marathon.

So I’ll be shutting things down after leaving you with some good stuff today. We’ve got two movies reviews from the NW Film Fest to get up and a music premiere that I think you won’t enjoy, but you should find endearing.

I’d also like to give a warm happy birthday greeting to Dwight Gooden and Maggie Gyllenhaal.

On with the news:

- Kevin Smith is getting his inner Judd Apatow on. He’s cast Seth Rogan and Elizabeth Banks as the leads in his upcoming flick Zack and Miri Make a Porno. It’ll be nice to see some fresh faces from one comedy universe transplanted to another one.

- Tim Burton returns to Disney to direct a motion-captured version of Alice in Wonderland! Really would you want any other director doing this. He’s also going to direct a feature length version of Frankenweenie. All I can say is Johnny Depp for the Mad Hatter…

- MTV has footage from the upcoming DVD of Harry Potter and The Order of the Phoenix.

- Speaking of Harry Potter, Worst Previews has a behind the scenes video of the now-filming Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince. They’re just cranking these badboys out aren’t they?

- Hulk get angry and smash pretty girls! Just kidding, but the first trailer for the Eric Bana, Natalie Portman, Scarlett Johansson starring The Other Boleyn Girls has arrived.

- Guud, director McG has been locked into to direct the fourth Terminator flick: Terminator Salvation: The Future Begins.  Which was going to be called “Straight To Video” in its original draft.

- Speaking of cool trailers, did you like that transition?  How does this sound: Jackie Chan and Jet Li kick some ass in a martial arts picture titled The Forbidden Kingdom.  

- The latest Cloverfield trailer has been pirated by a camera cellphone.  It’s not difficult to find on YouTube, but we seriously recommend you waiting for the non-pirated version when it hits either today or Monday.

- Jeff Bridges hints there may be a sequel in the works to everyone’s favorite movie growing up: Tron.  

- Persepolis is an animated movie from France about the Iranian revolution and it’s in subtitles and it looks like American animation from 1935 but if you can get past all of that it also looks frakking awesome.

Tim Burton’s latest musical-murder opus with Johnny Depp seems to be appealing to both the musical lovers out there (see the first trailer here) and the serial killer lovers out there.  The latest trailer plays up the revenge and violence of the picture.

That’s all well and good, and given Tim Burton’s and Johnny Depp’s history together you can bet that we’ll be in the theater that first weekend.  Sweeney Todd slashes it’s way into theaters on Christmas.

Truth be told though, I’m having a hard time taking this movie seriously.  Find out why after the jump. MORE »