The Week in Geek: Wonder Woman Found? Bruce Wayne Comes Out (As Batman’s Money Man) And More
The First New Wonder Woman TV Series Casting Rumor Emerges
Right now it seems the top contender for the part of Wonder Woman in the new television series being developed by David E. Kelley is said to be South African super model turned actress Tanit Phoenix. Having recently crossed over from modeling to acting, she is starring in the upcoming Death Race 2 and the straight to DVD Lost Boys: The Thirst. (we all gotta start somewhere, right?)
Apparently, the folks at Warner Bros (who produced Lost Boys and are behind the Wonder Woman show) are very keen on her for the part, and she is apparently the early front runner. Although Hollywood is littered with “Model/Actresses”, just watching clips of her online I can totally see her playing the part… she has the Mediterranean looks (she has some ancestry tracing back to that region) a slight but not overpowering South African accent that suggests exoticness, and drop dead gorgeous beauty and a killer body. At 5’9, she may be a tad bit short to play Diana, but Lynda Carter was also 5’9, and if it was good enough for her, then it works for me. And at age 30, she is certainly a woman, and not a teenage girl. Now it remains to be seen if she can actually act.
But if in fact she can act, then Tanit Phoenix may have been born to play Wonder Woman. Her IMDB page reveals that her hobbies include skydiving, scuba diving, bungee-jumping, mountain biking, Muay Thai/kick boxing, and yoga. She is a Reiki Practitioner, and is studying Anthropology, Metaphysics, The Quantum Mind, Quantum Mechanics, the Science of Imagery, Hypnotherapy/Guided Meditation, Alternative Natural medicine, Organic farming and Self Sustainable living. She is very Active in promoting awareness about unknown global situations, has “an especially unique gift of understanding the behavior of animals and with her intuitive experience she is likened to an animal whisperer” And finally, her name, Tanit, means ‘Goddess of love’ in Phoenician. I mean, this chick might not just be playing Wonder Woman…she might actually be Wonder Woman.
Oh, and she fire dances. For reals.
Like A Magic Lasso, But Better
Bruce Wayne Comes Out (So To Speak)
Speaking of DC Comics characters, over in the actual comics this week, the recently returned from the dead/other timelines/whatever Bruce Wayne revealed to the world that he is the man behind Batman’s technology, and has been bankrolling him all these years in secret. This is a clever move on writer Grant Morrison’s part, as it deflects suspicion off Bruce actually being Batman, and yet now ties Bruce Wayne to Batman to the overall DCU at large, making for all kinds of interesting story possibilities.
It also makes Batman a lot like the 60’s thru 80’s Iron Man. Back then, everyone in the Marvel Universe though Iron Man and Tony Stark were two seperate people, and that Stark merely created and funded Iron Man. Hopefully this will not be undone like Peter Parker’s unmasking a few years ago. Remember that waste of your time?
True Blood’s Ryan Kwanten To Play Ridiculously Sexy Cult Murderer
Jason Stackhouse from HBO’s True Blood, Ryan Kwanten, is set to play Charles Manson in a new movie called “The Family” which is set to start filming next year.
This will be the passion project, as well as the directorial debut, of screenwriter Scott Kosar (The Machinist and The Crazies) In speaking to Shock Till You Drop, Kosar had this to say about the movie – “I will be making my directorial debut from a script I wrote. The movie won’t focus on the Manson murders. Nor is it a Manson biopic. It’s a family biopic. A movie about a surrogate family of wayward teenagers who, through extraordinary circumstances, came together and were transformed into the most notorious American family of the 20th century. Hence the title.“
While the Helter Skelter murders have been the subject of a million Biography/History channel specials and tv mini series, there has never been a real honest to goodness film made on the subject (ultra low budget exploitation fare like Manson Family Movies and Charles Manson: Superstar do not count) The notion that this crazy ex con took a bunch of white middle class teenage girls (and some boys) and turned them into sadistic killers is endlessly fascinating to me.
The Manson Murders effectively put and end to the peace and love 60’s, and scarred the Baby Boomer generation forever, making certain that no matter how safe their middle class neighborhood might be, they never forget to lock the doors at night, because you just never know when a crazed group of strangers might bust in and kill you for no reason.
Jon Favreau Freaked Out About Summer 2011 Geek Movie Bloodbath
If summer 2010 was a bit quiet on the geek movie front (with Inception, Toy Story 3 and Iron Man 2 being the exceptions) next summer is looking to put the hurt on geek wallets BIG time. And Cowboys and Aliens director Jon Favreau is going on record saying that Summer 2011 is going to be a competition for your geek dollars the likes that Hollywood has never seen. Speaking to the LA Times, he said “It’s Omaha Beach, it’s going to be a blood bath. There’s never been a summer like this next summer. It’s going to be bloody [for filmmakers and the studios]. As we were sticking thumb tacks in a calendar we realized that this is going to be looked back upon as Omaha Beach.”
Looking at the calandar, he’s right…there are SO many huge properties coming out within a three month span, there are bound to be some massive casualties… in terms of sure to be huge sequels, we have Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows Part 2, Transformers 3, Pirates of the Caribbean: On Stranger Tides, X-Men: First Class and The Hangover 2, then all new superhero movies that are insanely anticipated like Green Lantern, Thor and Captain America, family animated movies like Pixar’s Cars 2, and Kung Fu Panda 2. And don’t forget JJ Abram’s and Spielberg’s Super 8, Rise of the Apes, and probably some more that I’m having a hard time remembering.
That leaves very little room for a pretty unknown property like Cowboys and Aliens to really break out, even if it turns out to be good. Still, as a geek we sure as hell have a lot to be excited about next summer, so yay for us. Sorry Favs. We’ll keep our fingers crossed for ya.
Presenting Aunt May and Uncle Ben, Take Two
And Finally, moving even further on to Summer 2012, We have some of our last big pieces of casting news for Mark Webb’s Spider-Man reboot (who here wants to bet this movie is simply gonna be called The Amazing Spider-Man?) – Sally Field and Martin Sheen as Aunt May and Uncle Ben.
This not only confirms that we are going to be getting the Ultimate Spider-Man versions of the characters (old yes, but not like doddering “on death’s door” old like the Stan Lee versions. Modern “we still have sex” old) but also confirms that this is not only going to be a reboot, but also a re-do of Spidey’s origin, for which I am less excited. But nevertheless, these casting choices are pretty hard to complain about.
