I could make another joke about how Hollywood is out of ideas, but why bother? However, as further proof of the concept, a live-action/CGI Yogi Bear movie is in the works based on the Hanna-Barbera cartoon from way back when. Dan Aykroyd will be lending his voice for Yogi and Justin Timberlake will be the voice of Boo Boo. Did anyone else just feel a cold shiver down their spine?

Anna Faris will also be in the movie as a documentary filmmaker. I like Anna Faris even when she's in crap movies, but I don't think her presence is going to make me like this one.

I'm sorry to say that this movie will likely do well and the kids will eat up. Look at Hollywood's history of similar movies (most of which have actually spawned sequels): The Adventures of Rocky and Bullwinkle, Garfield, Alvin and the Chipmunks, Scooby Doo ... the list goes on.

So what do you think of this idea?

Fox will use football this Sunday to help tall, blue aliens take over our televisions.

On November 1, Fox is shooting for the "world's biggest live trailer viewing" when it airs the new preview of James Cameron's Avatar live on TV and in the Dallas Cowboys' home park on the world's largest video display -- the Cowboy Stadium's Diamond Vision Screen before the Lone Star State's heroes take on the Seattle Seahawks.

A Fox press release explains that the Fox Sports NFL Sunday pregame show will present the new trailer live on the network. Meanwhile, those Cowboy fans still sober enough at noon to enjoy the brief glimpse of the sci-fi epic will take it in on a screen larger than some Far Eastern countries.

Putting the TV network's football viewing figures to work is the kind of bold step Fox needs to take to publicize Cameron's $300 million dollar movie. Though obviously ambitious and technically groundbreaking, special previews of the 3D fantasy flick left some viewers less than thrilled. While the film will be 3D in theaters, the trailer will stick to a simpler 2D TV image for the big event.

The upcoming A-Team movie has released its first cast photo (a larger version can be seen here), and I'll give credit where credit is due. Not only has Fox cast the movie perfectly, but they've gone out of their way to make the cast look like their 80's television equivalents. Okay, Rampage Jackson isn't wearing gold chains, but that's about it.

They even made Liam Neeson look like George Peppard. How cool is that? And of course that's the classic van in the background. Even if this movie ends up being a mindless action flick, then it's still following in the footsteps of its originator and will likely make $100 million that weekend.

I just wonder if anybody is actually going to be shot and killed in the movie. It never seemed to happen during the television show. More importantly, will any of the original cast members make a cameo?

The new Columbia Pictures disaster epic, 2012, proposes what many New Age folk believe is inevitable. The Roland Emmerich movie looks ahead to December 21, 2012 as the end of the world because the Mayan Calendar cycle ends on that day.

So, the cinematic seas rise, and the ground shakes -- sending scores of mid-range stars scrambling for their lives. Syfy previews both the movie and its long-held cataclysm theory on a new special, 2012: Startling New Secrets. Premiering Sunday, November 8 at 9 p.m., the two-hour show "delves into the Mayan Mystery surrounding 2012."

I'm going out on a limb here and predicting the show will fail to ask the obvious question: If the Mayans were so adept at looking centuries into the future to predict the end of the world, why weren't they clairvoyant enough to foresee the end of their long-extinct civilization and prevent its collapse?

It seems these days when anyone talks about Arrested Development, the conversation inevitably turns to the still up-in-the-air film sequel -- something that's proven to be more elusive than finding your own Cornballer. Last we heard, the film was actually in development (a term that only loosely means what it's supposed to in Hollywood), but in the meantime, though, there is some good news - IFC has picked up the off-network rights to Arrested Development.

Before Speed Racer offered an anime slant to Saturday morning cartoons in the 1970s, and before G-Force or Voltron made kids rush home from school in the 1980s, there was Astro Boy.

Widely considered the original manga comic, Astro Boy was conceived and written by the recognized pioneer of the genre, Osamu Tezuka in 1952.

From the franchise's diminutive launch pad, the endless chain TV anime franchises took flight. Without Tezuka's creation, there's no Lupin III, no Golgo 13, no Ghost in the Machine, no Cowboy Bebop, etc. The strange thing is, some of those TV shows from different eras pack more U.S. pop culture recognition than the franchise that set the table.

Almost a year ago, it was announced that there would be a movie sequel for the hit TV series Sex and the City. It took years for producers and actresses to agree to a first movie, but a few months to decide a sequel was needed. Then again, with the popularity of the Sex and the City movie, it was inevitable that a sequel would follow.

Production is underway for the movie, set to be released at the end of May 2010, which means spoilers are leaking on the web! As expected, all four main ladies are back. But what is in store for them? Who, besides the ladies, will star in the movie?

Spoilers coming up!

If you fondly remember watching the first Simpsons Movie hoping that the sequel would bring you equal amounts of life affirming excitement, keep hoping.

Matt Groening and Al Jean said an interview with Morgan Spurlock, the Super Size Me star and director hired for the show's big anniversary extravaganza, that they have no plans to start doing another Simpsons movie anytime soon.

They didn't rule out the possibility of another movie, but it certainly won't be in the foreseeable future. The pair said the process for the first movie was so frustrating that they couldn't fathom even starting a second one without some kind of heavy duty anti-psychotic medication.

Does it seem like every other month there's some talk about the proposed Arrested Development movie? Perhaps that's because it's an idea that simply won't go away until the film is actually in theaters and fans of the Emmy-winning Fox series will finally be satisfied. Well, satisfaction may be just around the corner. The Arrested Development movie is really developing now. Creator Mitchell Hurwitz is at work on the screenplay -- working with co-executive producer James Vallely -- and the Bluths are creeping closer to big screen reality.

Huh. I didn't even realize they had finished casting the big-screen A Team movie let alone started to film it. But above is the first pic from the set. That's Liam Neeson as Hannibal, Bradley Cooper as Face, Quinton Jackson as B.A. Baracus, and Sharlto Copley as Murdock (here's a bigger version of the picture). The film comes out next June.

[via Pop Candy]

The popular children's book character Thomas the Tank Engine is once again heading to the big screen, proving that Hollywood has no original ideas left whatsoever. Or that the industry will put anything on screen it thinks will make money. Or both. Thomas and his gang of anthropomorphic vehicles currently appear on PBS on Thomas and Friends.

The character has already starred in the movie Thomas and the Magic Railroad starring Alec Baldwin (who also narrated the television stories for years). Is that really enough time between revamps? Is it the fact that the youngest generation recycles every seven years, which has kept Disney in business forever?

Given his association with the franchise, it would be a crime if Baldwin didn't at least get a voice-over role in the movie (and preferably a full cameo). In the meanwhile, he'll have to content himself with his Emmy-winning role on 30 Rock.

Movies are great, and Encore Western has feasted on showing lots of theatrical features and shorts. However, the premium channel has wisely veered from its bread and butter, by mixing in TV shows. The channel will soon be adding to the TV fare when Gunsmoke, Rawhide, and Have Gun Will Travel join Encore Westerns.

These are three classic TV westerns that had significant long runs and big name stars. They'll be a nice addition to shows like Cheyenne and Maverick currently on the net, as well as the Roy Rogers and Gene Autry programmers that run through the day.

You know, ever since Friends went off the air, rumors have cropped up again and again that there would be a big screen version of the show, presumably picking up the storylines from the grand finale. Of course, if you remember the great stories on Joey, maybe post-Friends storytelling isn't such a grand idea after all.

However, at least one person is sure that a feature film is coming. James Michael Tyler, who poured the coffee at Central Perk as Gunther (he also ogled Rachel), was asked about the movie version and Tyler said that Friends: The Movie is definitely on.

It appears that District 9 star Sharlto Copley is in talks to play "Howling Mad" Murdock in the big-screen version of The A-Team. Jessica Biel is also in talks to play an army general pursing the covert team, which is a nice change of pace considering that the token female character of Amy in the original series didn't seem to do much (so much so that her character was eliminated late in the series and nobody noticed).

If the talks are successful, Copley will join UFC star "Rampage" Jackson, Liam Neeson and Bradley Cooper as the other members of the team. Biel may join the team as well as it's been revealed that she is a former romantic partner of Cooper's "Face" character. If her first name is Amy, that would clinch it.

The movie cast is sounding pretty good. Hopefully there can be cameos by the surviving original television actors. However, if the movie wanted to truly capture the spirit of the original television show, then ten thousand bullets will be fired and nobody will die.

You can watch full episodes of the original television show on SlashControl.

I love it when a cast comes together, except this one.

Joe Carnahan's cast for the big screen A-Team remake has three out of the four main team members cast and is awaiting confirmation on the fourth.

So far, Liam Neeson has been confirmed to play Hannibal, Bradley Cooper has been fingered for Faceman, and mixed martial arts and UFC fighter Quentin "Rampage" Jackson will play B.A. The director has approached but not yet confirmed Sharito Coplay to play Murdock, debunking rumors that Jim Carrey, Robert Downey, Jr. or Woody Harrelson would be the team's fourth man.