Guillermo del Toro explains what's up with GlaDOS in Pacific Rim. Plus another X-Men star wants to return!

Guillermo del Toro acknowledges a very familiar voice in the Pacific Rim trailer and updates us on two long-simmer projects. Rachel Weisz explains the delights of evil in Oz the Great and Powerful. Plus the latest Man of Steel image! And tons of hints for Evil Dead, Revolution and Once Upon a Time!

Spoilers from here on out!

Top image from Pacific Rim.

Man of Steel


Here's the full version of a recently released promo image from Zack Snyder's Superman movie. [Coming Soon]

X-Men: Days of Future Past

Original X-Men star Famke Janssen confirms she wants to return for Bryan Singer's latest X-Men movie, though she does understand why that might not work:

"I'm sitting by the phone waiting, call me up Bryan! I think their challenge is that I died as Jean Grey and I died as the Phoenix, so what else can they do. If they bring a younger version back, they'll have to get a younger actress, so what is there left to do?"

Fair enough really, though if there's any superhero that can come back from the dead like it's no big thing, surely it's all of them the one called Phoenix. [Coming Soon]

Pacific Rim

Director Guillermo del Toro confirms that he cast Ellen McLain as the A.I. in the movie because of her iconic role as GLaDOS in the Portal games, though that connection won't be nearly as explicit in the film as it was in the trailer:

"I wanted very much to have her, because I'm a big Portal fan. But just as a wink. She's not cake-obsessed. She's not out to destroy humanity. I said, ‘Look, there's no A.I. I'd rather have than GlaDOS. The filter we're using [in the film] is slightly less GLaDOS. Slightly. The one in the trailer I wanted to be full-on GlaDOS."

[Toronto Sun]

Oz the Great and Powerful

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Here's the latest batch of promo images from Sam Raimi and James Franco's Wizard of Oz prequel. [Coming Soon]

The Constant Gardener's Rachel Weisz discusses her role as Theodora, the Wicked Witch of the East:

"It was a fun idea to be playing someone who is really, really bad. I can't think of any roles that I've had like that before. My character is more than mean, she's really evil. She is a pathological liar, she's a narcissist, an egomaniac and a megalomaniac. She's really, really a bad person and she revels in being bad. She enjoys it, like the meaner she is the more pleasure she gets. It's a Disney film, so I shouldn't say she is ‘turned on' by evil, but that's what it is like."

[The Sun]

At the Mountains of Madness

Guillermo del Toro confirms he still wants to make his R-rated, big-budget, Tom Cruise-starring H.P. Lovecraft adaptation, which might become significantly more or less likely to happen depending on the success of Pacific Rim:

"I'm going to try it one more time. Once more into the dark abyss. We're gonna do a big presentation of the project again at the start of the year and see if any [studio's] interested... Yeah, Tom [Cruise] is still attached. I think it would be so fantastic to make it with him. He's been such a great ally of the project."

[The Playlist]

Evil Dead

Producer Rob Tapert explains how director Fede Alvarez got the ball rolling on this remake by removing the original's most important element:

"We were working with Fede on another project called Panic Attack, but it became very apparent that there were other movies that had similar storylines that were going to get to the theaters beforehand. We liked working with Fede and we really enjoyed the experience and Sam [Raimi] thought that we should hear what he had to say about Evil Dead. He brought us a pitch that was very different, but was scary. The beauty of that pitch and what got Bruce Campbell on board was that there was no Ash character. Fede actually dealt with that lynch pin of getting the project made by deciding not to deal with the Ash character."

Cast member Lou Taylor Pucci discusses how he expects fans will react to the film:

"I think, as far as fans of the original film, half of them are going to love it and half of them are going to hate it, so they are going to talk about it. It takes some of the best things from the old film and brings some totally new ideas. You don't care anything about those original characters at all. Some people love that you don't and some people would rather follow an actual story. That's what this is. It's got something for the original audience and something for a new audience."

There's more at the link. [Shock Till You Drop]

Doctor Who

Here's an interview with showrunner Steven Moffat conducted by his son Josh.

The Incredible Hulk

ABC's long-planned Hulk TV show seems to have taken a total backseat to Joss Whedon's S.H.I.E.L.D. show, and Guillermo del Toro pretty much confirms the thing is in hibernation for the time being:

"After 'The Avengers' there's been complete radio silence. I had one more meeting after 'Avengers' with Jeph Loeb from Marvel and he said, 'We're working on it, we're waiting for a writer,' he gave me the name of the writer and their resume and I said, 'That sounds great, let's wait for him' because we had delivered a teleplay and I haven't heard since then."

[The Playlist]


Executive producer J.J. Abrams says that just because the show has reintroduced power, that doesn't mean the show can't go back to energy-free storytelling (yeah... there's probably a better way to phrase that):

"The genie is put-back-in-the-bottle-able. They are able to tell stories that will give us these moments and peaks that you know this power exists, and this power is out there, and it's a part of what this incredible struggle is and the conflict that you'll see. You'll be able to see that really what the goal is, is that the power is possible. Will it remain on constantly all the time way too early? Based on what Eric has brilliantly pitched to us, the answer is no."

There's more at the link, including creator Eric Kripke's promise that the show will eventually travel beyond the Monroe Republic to Georgia and the West. [TV Guide]

The rest of the first season has been pared down from twelve episodes to ten, which is likely a result of some budgetary concerns and a need to fit an uninterrupted block of episodes into NBC's schedule. And since they're for some reason locked into the March 25 premiere thing, that doesn't leave them a whole of room to squeeze in ten episodes, let alone a dozen. [The Futon Critic]

Once Upon a time

Here's a promo for this Sunday's episode, "The Outside."

Terriers star Michael Raymond-James has confirmed via Twitter that he will be back as Neal Cassidy for episode 14, and he should be sticking around for the rest of the season. He also says that the third season is a possibility, but it all depends on scheduling. [TV Line]

An upcoming two-parter will flashback to Snow White's childhood — meaning Bailee Madison will reprise her first season role as young Snow White — and introduce Snow White's mother, who according to showrunner Adam Horowitz "has a surprising connection to someone we know." Fellow showrunner Edward Kitsis adds:

"The Snow White story usually begins with the stepmother trying to get rid of her, so we thought it would be fun to explore what Snow's mom was like. Her name is Eva, and she's the person who taught Snow White how to be Snow White."

[TV Guide]

Edward Kitsis previews Regina's arc the rest of the way:




There's plenty more at the link. [TV Guide]

Elsewhere, Kitsis says not to expect an appearance from Ariel of The Little Mermaid fame this season:

"Probably not this season. We've taken a lot of toys off the shelf, so we're probably not going to see her this year. We do have a plan for her, if there is a Season 3."



Syfy's upcoming series, which sounds in the best-case scenario like Deadwood with aliens, will reportedly premiere on April 15. [TV Line]

Additional reporting by Amanda Yesilbas and Charlie Jane Anders.