Regarding Johnny Depp.

As expected, there are several what's-going-wrong entertainment media articles on Johnny Depp's affinity for payday jobs in would-be franchise starters like THE LONE RANGER (which would have been immeasurably better if Depp and Gore Verbinski created a lower-budget, non-Disney/Bruckheimer product feeling obligated to hit familiar PIRATES marks) and MORTDECAI (haven't seen it, but marveling at how Depp passed on Wes Anderson's GRAND BUDAPEST HOTEL to work for David Koepp yet again).

The only upcoming Depp projects that hold interest for me are the Whitey Bulger biopic (though it's being directed by the I-love-Formula Scott Cooper) and Depp's own still-in-the-works Keith Richards documentary.

Then it's back to the safety of being acceptably eccentric in two more PIRATES sequels and a sequel to ALICE IN WONDERLAND (the low point of the Depp/Tim Burton collabotations).

Your chance to choose the next director of Marvel's ANT-MAN.

With Adam McKay passing on the job of directing the soon-to-be-in-production ANT-MAN after negotiations with Marvel, here's a list of potential directors to consider:

A. EDGAR WRIGHT (should Marvel/Disney change its collective mind)
B. JOE DANTE (who has experience with films about miniaturization e.g. SMALL SOLDIERS, INNERSPACE)
C. PATTY JENKINS (almost tapped to direct the THOR sequel which went to Alan Taylor)
D. DAVID WAIN (experience with directing Paul Rudd e.g. ROLE MODELS)
E. MIMI LEDER (experience directing big-budget studio actioners e.g. THE PEACEMAKER AND DEEP IMPACT)
F. LOUIS D'ESPOSITO (Marvel producer who directed a couple of Marvel One-Shot shorts, including prototype for upcoming AGENT CARTER TV series)
G. RUBEN FLEISCHER (director of ZOMBIELAND and GANGSTER SQUAD; still mentioned for projects such as the yet-to-be-made GHOSTBUSTERS 3)
H. RAWSON MARSHALL THURBER (auteur of DODGEBALL and WE'RE THE MILLERS)

Film blogger Devin Faraci on Marvel, Disney and ANT-MAN.

Excerpted from Devin Faraci blog post:
"Marvel's always been autocratic - this is the house that (Kevin) Feige built, and he's been leading it with an iron fist - but things have been getting uglier over there for some time, especially now that Disney is getting involved. Why would the studio fuck with the division that's making money and having a huge cultural impact right when they're at their best? Because of dumb egos. Hollywood is dumb, run by dumb, venal people, and the executives who aren't creative resent the people who are, and want to get their stink on the movies. And you have to understand that Disney doesn't care about the movies - they want the Marvel IP so they can sell diapers and shirts and bedsheets. The movies are just commercials for the IP."

Full article can be found at:
http://badassdigest.com/2014/05/24/is-this-the-end-of-the-marvel-movie-age/?utm_content=buffer9775a&utm_medium=social&utm_source=twitter.com&utm_campaign=buffer

Warner Brothers likely to get even more safe post-WATCHMEN.

[NOTE: The post below is to be read strictly for entertainment value. Irresponsible behavior is not encouraged.]

It's a reasonably safe guess that you, the reader of this blog entry, could conceivably make a prank call to Warner Brothers in the guise of a talent agent or producer. And you could even talk yourself into a chance at securing a meeting to pitch either a superhero project (preferably DC) or an adaptation of a self-help book or even a remake of an in-house property. Maybe you could say something like: "I know exactly how to make WONDER WOMAN a durable four-quadrant franchise."

With the box office underperformance of WATCHMEN (an uneven--sometimes effective, sometimes ubersilly--film which was probably the best attempt at ultra-adult comic book fare since the original, and definitely superior, ROBOCOP in 1987), it's safe to say that Alan Horn and the good folks of WB will be even more tippy-toe careful in what they greenlight in the future (another bellwether of whether "edginess", even the manageable budget variety, gets more chances to be bankable at Warners: the box office performance of the reportedly-megaraunchy OBSERVE AND REPORT with Seth Rogen and Anna Faris--opening next month).

At this point, potential pranksters could consider pitching WB on a PG-13 comedy adaptation of the 70s self-help book I'M OK, YOU'RE OK--and suggest Rainn Wilson as a hippieish 70s Marin County shrink who gets cryogenically frozen and thawed out in the late 2000s.

The cynic in me thinks that Alan Horn and Jeff Robinov would pay top dollar for such a pitch.

And, don't forget, the 70s sex manual JOY OF SEX came very close to getting made at Paramount in the early 80s as a vehicle for John Belushi. (It did get produced a few years later as a low-budgeter directed by Martha Coolidge and starring quirky cult-actress Michelle Meyrink. And it flopped.)

Safe to guess that lightning could strike twice.