Marc Guggenheim Offers An Update On ‘Green Lantern’ Film

Last month, we posted some fanboy-friendly information about the script for the “Green Lantern” film, written by Marc Guggenheim, Michael Green and Greg Berlanti, who is also directing the film. COMICON recently spoke with Guggenheim about how the film is progressing, and received an update of sorts on the ring-bearing hero’s big-screen debut. 

“I will tell you it features Hal Jordan and is an incredibly faithful rendition of the character,” said Guggenheim, who played it very, very safe with his status report, remarking that he had “sworn a blood oath of secrecy” regarding the film. 

As for the timeline on the script, Guggenheim told COMICON that the trio charged with bringing Hal Jordan and his willpower-fueled ring to theaters is currently “doing a rewrite for the studio with Greg [Berlanti] and Michael [Green].” 

“We’ll turn that in next week,” said Guggenheim. “We just keep moving forward.”

Thursday Ratings: Bigger Brother, Hot Flashpoint and More

Thursday's ratings highlights: 

• The penultimate installment of Big Brother 10 delivered 7.93 million total viewers, a week-to-week gain of 24 percent. 

• An audience of 5.37 million squeezed Hole in the Wall into their schedule, a slight improvement on the gamer's most recent sneak peek. 

• Kitchen Nightmares' regular time-period premiere ruled the 9 pm demos and trailed only a CSI repeat in total viewers (with 6.14 million). 

• Flashpoint, long-benched by this convention and that one, returned to an audience of 8.55 million — an 18 percent increase over its previous outing and a series high.

Gordon Ramsay’s Cooking Up More for Fox

We're going to be seeing a lot more of Gordon Ramsay in the next few years on Fox. 

The brash and brutally honest Brit has signed a deal with Fox for two more seasons of Hell's Kitchen and Kitchen Nightmares. The deal also includes a blind commitment for a third series and a live cooking show special, reports Variety. 

What's the bleep-happy chef's take on his new deal? He's thrilled because "they let me be me — that's the key to our success." 

Ramsey's new series, which is based on the British show Man Camp, is like a boot camp for men, whose "ladies are slightly concerned about how feminine they're becoming." 

No doubt this tough cookie will whip these men into shape faster than he can say, "Shut up, you donkey!" 

Have we had too much Ramsay in the kitchen? Or are you psyched for his third show?

Wednesday Ratings: Is Bones Still Crackin'? How Many Got Disturb'd?

America's Got Talent's seemingly endless season continued on Wednesday with another night-topping 11.74 million total viewers. Bones, however, won the 8 o'clock hour in the 18-49 demo, and delivered 8.91 million viewers (dipping 800 thou from its premiere). Top Model gained 350K, hitting 3.84 mil. 

At 9 pm/ET, the season premiere of 'Til Death did 6.36 mil, while lead-out Do Not Disturb debuted to 4.88 mil. (Both Fox sitcoms trailed AGT and a Criminal Minds repeat.) A 90210 repeat reaped 2.29 mil.

Kevin Smith wants Seth Rogen As Superhero

Director and comic-book writer Kevin Smith told SCI FI Wire that he wants Seth Rogen to star in a superhero movie he's developing, an original science fiction visual-effects extravaganza. 

"First, I'm going to do a 180 turn and do a horror movie called Red State," Smith said in an interview Sept. 7 at the Toronto International Film Festival. "It's going to be a total horror-political-psychological movie without a funny line in it. Then I'm going to do the science fiction superhero movie. It's going to be an original superhero that I've created. It's stewing right now. I want to do it, though, and, God willing, it will star Seth Rogen." 

Rogen is the star of Smith's next movie, Zack and Miri Make a Porno, in which a group of characters decide to make a Star Wars porn spoof called Star Whores. 

Smith said he was delighted with the Toronto audience's reaction to the film's debut and added that the movie tested well in Kansas City before a mainstream American audience. 

Smith (Clerks, Dogma) has also written comic books for Marvel and DC. "I haven't written a comic book for about three years, but I am going to write a Batman soon," he added. 

Some websites connected the dots to a project that Smith has been referring to for a few years as Ranger Danger. I contacted Smith to get clarification and here is what he said: 

1. “I don’t think I’ve ever called it a ’sci-fi superhero movie’; I’ve always referred it a ’space comedy’.”
2. Smith also confirmed that the space film and Ranger Danger are two entirely different projects. 

So there you have it. The only other detail we know is that at Comic Con he said that the film “will test [his] abilities as a visual filmmaker.”

Kanye West arrested after scuffle at airport

Police say rapper smashed photographer’s $10,000 camera at LAX 

Police say they have arrested Kanye West at Los Angeles International Airport on suspicion of vandalism after an altercation with a photographer. 

An airport spokesman says police also arrested West’s bodyguard shortly before 8 a.m. on Thursday.

Airport spokesman Marshall Lowe says early reports are that West got into an altercation with a commercial photographer and a camera valued at more than $10,000 was broken. 

The celebrity Web site TMZ.com is reporting that West smashed the camera of a photographer in the American Airlines terminal at LAX. TMZ says one of its photographers began videotaping the scene and the bodyguard stopped him and asked for the camera. The bodyguard then grabbed the video camera and threw it to the ground. 

The incident happened before West and his bodyguard, who was not identified, cleared a security screening at the airport. 

Lowe says police are continuing to interview witnesses and West may be booked later Thursday morning.

McQuarrie's First TV Series, Persons Unknown!

Fox TV Studios is gearing up production on "Persons Unknown," the first TV series from Oscar winner Christopher McQuarrie, says The Hollywood Reporter. 

FtvS has partnered with Mexican media giant Televisa to make 13 episodes of "Persons," which will start filming Oct. 27 in Mexico for the U.S. marketplace. Additionally, Televisa will air "Persons" in Mexico, and FtvS also is negotiating with a leading Italian broadcaster. 

"Persons" is executive produced by The Usual Suspects writer McQuarrie, his wife and producing partner Heather McQuarrie and the series' showrunner Remi Aubuchon. 

"Persons" is a mystery drama about seven strangers -- four of them played by Alan Ruck, Chadwick Boseman, Gerald Kyd and Kate Lang Johnson -- who wake up in a deserted town with no recollection of how they got there, only to realize that they are watched by omnipresent security cameras and that there is no escape. To survive, they must come together to solve the puzzle of their lives. 

Decors for the fictional town are being built in Ajusco near Mexico City, where "Persons" will be filmed.

Tuesday Ratings: Fringe Benefits from the Best Demos; 90210 Loses Zip

See what a tiny bit of promotion and publicity can do? The Tuesday premiere of J.J. Abrams' Fringe averaged 9 million viewers over its 90-minute premiere, trailing America's Got Talent in total audience but besting all comers in the 18-49 demographic. Fringe represents Fox's highest-rated drama series debut in two years (excluding those that followed sports or American Idol). 

Fox will re-air the Fringe pilot Sunday at 8 pm, preceded by sneak peeks at the film The Day The Earth Stood Still and the TV-movie prequel 24: Redemption. 

Big Brother (6.97 million) gained 470,000 week-to-week, but lagged just behind ABC's Wipeout (7.1 million) in the 8 pm time slot. 

Elsewhere, 90210 lost some of its zip, delivering 3.31 million viewers — or 67 percent of its debut audience. The CW's Privileged subsequently opened at 9 pm to 2.93 million, shedding 11 percent of its lead-in.

Zack and Miri Red Band Movie Trailer

The official red band movie trailer for Kevin Smith’s Zack and Miri Make a Porno has been released online. If there was any more that required a red band movie trailer, it is Zack and Miri. We get the big reveal of the porno movie within the movie, Star Whores, the genius that is The Office’s Craig Robinson, the amazing evolving cinematography of David Klein (who woulda thought the same guy shot Clerks?!) and Traci Lord’s secret talent. 

The film premieres at the Toronto International Film Festival next week, but I might’ve gotten a chance to see the film a little while back. The only thing I will say is the first 30 minutes of Zack and Miri has more laughs per minute than any of Smith’s films thus far. As always, please leave your opinion in the comments below! 

Zack and Miri Make a Porno hits theaters on October 31st 2008.

More X-Men Spin-Offs, New Daredevil Film?

In an article at Variety talking about Fox's not-so-hot summer, the trade touches on some possible projects the studio is in talks about: 

Though Fox has no plans for a major overhaul, the studio has scheduled a strategy meeting to assess the status of its superheroes, a group sorely missed this summer. On the agenda, Fox will mull the possibility of more "X-Men" spinoffs, including a young-X-Men project as well as "Deadpool," based on a character played by Ryan Reynolds in "Wolverine." The studio is even considering reviving the "Daredevil" property.