What's Gonna Come Of The Man Of Steel?

I've had a great tip off that traces back to a decent source with links within Warner Bros. It reveals quite a bit of exciting info about how The Man of Steel is going to go down when Brian Singer steps back behind the camera next year.

Apparently, Singer and Mike Dougherty have crafted a killer pitch and 'concept draft' that had the suits eating out of their hands and even had a knock-on effect for the plans for JLA (I'm told). Several key story points were made clear by the pre-production conceptual art, and here are some SPOILERY details of what those images revealed:

There's a new Kryptonian character coming to Earth as a result of Supes' pilrgimage to Krypton that took place before Returns.

Lex makes a deal with "a new villain" (I read this as new to the films, not new to the mythos, and indeed I have some idea who it is...) in order to have Superman eradicated. This villain double crosses Lex and takes over Lexcorp (yep - sounds like Brainiac to me too). What's more, Jason is a key part in the plot to trap Superman and...

Poor little Jason. He's snuffed out. That should have some of you cheering, you fiends.

So, there's a basic draft of the script (a scriptment?), pre-production art and several sequences storyboarded and, as far as I've been told, it's all going down very well with the execs. Nothing's gonna stand in the way of this film, I'm sure. And, reportedly, this one is really quite action packed with a threatening, smart double team of villains. Can't fail.

Treat this as rumour, sure. If you must. I'm buying it entirely because I know where it comes from.

[And if you don't find this exciting, maybe the big, big Buffyverse splash of the day will float your boat...]

Direct Download Link For Better Quality, Non-Tagged Version Of The Trick'r Treat Trailer

My dogged determination to plug Trick'r Treat for no reason other than I expect it to be very, very good continues. I hope Mike Dougherty doesn't let me down.

Download a better quality Quicktime version of the trailer.

First Chance To See The Trick'R Treat Trailer

The IESB are housing a fairly badly encoded version of the Trick'r Treat trailer, but I want to send you over right away as this is very much one of my most eagerly anticipated films.

Expect a direct download link when I can source one.

Oh - and note that the trailer announces a release date of October. Seems that Box Office mojo had us all worried over nothing.

[EDIT: Verbal supplied the direct download link for this dodgy encode - I was meaning we'd hold out for something better than a tagged flv. But, actually, it's pretty cool Verbal did this. So say thanks to him]

Trick'r Treat Out Of Season?

This Halloween's great white hope wasn't the Halloween rehash, if you ask me, but Mike Dougherty's Trick'r Treat. According to Box Office Mojo, however, the film may have had it's release bumped into next year.

And that very possibly means October next year - it is called Trick'r Treat after all. Would any studio squander that potential be pushing it out in February, say? Or May?

There's a chance that Box Office Mojo have made a mistake, but in my experience, they're pretty bang on with these things. I suspect Warner Bros. are fearing that Halloween is only big enough for one Halloween picture and that will be... er... Halloween.

I'm feeling a little deflated by this news, I have to admit. I don't want to be left with only 'the rehash' and Saw IV this all hallow's eve.

Trick'R Treat Trailer Description

The Trick'R Treat trailer is coming very soon and is currently being market tested. I was actually invited to take part in this online survey but it wouldn't agree with my Mac at the point the trailer was supposed to stream. Thankfully, Tyler got through the technological flaming hoop and has provided me with a full description.

It sounds great. I'm really expecting the best from this one. Here's my edit of Tyler's run-down:

The trailer opens with a small TV frame inside the widescreen frame with a black and white reel film playing by "Warner Educational Films". The reel shows kids trick or treating. A voice-over says:

"During the spookiest time of the year, there are some guidelines all ghosts and goblins should follow. Always stay on the sidewalks. Never go to a stranger's house. And never go out alone..."

As the last line finishes it echoes and a Little Red Riding Hood character walks across the black and white frame, which slowly turns to color and expands to the full 2.35 ratio. This is Anna Paquin. She looks over her shoulder, spooked at something, then turns around and screams.

The Warner Bros. and Legendary Pictures logos come up.

There is a montage of quick shots that end with a hand pressing a doorbell and kids yelling "Trick or treat!"

Caption: THIS OCTOBER.

Dylan Baker's voice is heard over footage of someone egging Brian Cox's house, saying "This is the one night that all sorts of things roam free." He is cutting the eye into a jack-o-lantern and pulls the knife out sharply. His kid (the kid from Bad Santa) looks startled, so he says "Sorry."

Caption: BEHIND EVERY DOOR

Kids saying "Trick or treat" trail off as a creaky door swings open ominously. Brian Cox screams "Help me!" Anna Paquin screams back.

Caption: THERE'S A STORY

There is a voice over from some unidentified character saying merely "The School Bus Massacre". We see a school bus filled with children, shot in sepia tone - as per the storyboards we saw some months back.

Two girls, one of which is Paquin, get their Halloween costumes. Paquin, as previously mentioned, is dressed as Little Red Riding Hood. The other girl is dressed like the Disney Cinderella. Paquin says "What do we do now?", to which her friend replies "We get our dates."

Caption: DYING TO BE TOLD

Brian Cox yells "Get the hell out of my house!" at someone unseen on his lawn as he steps out onto his porch. His entire house is covered with jack-o-lanterns. There is a shot of Cox inside an old house (probably just his house).

Then there is another montage.

Caption:FROM WARNER BROS.

From here on, the song "Dead" by My Chemical Romance plays over the rest of the trailer and ends on the title lyric.

There are more montages, though nothing Tyler can be specific about - he only got one chance to see this trailer.

Captions: HAVE THE TIME OF YOUR LIFE and then BEING SCARED TO DEATH

Brian Cox appears to be on a bed, acting afraid of something. A masked-thing pops up over the edge of the bed.

There is another shot of Cox in the entryway to his house and something is on the ceiling above his head crawling around.

A boy says dramatically to Paquin: "Look at me, it's not a trick, it's real!"

We see Dylan Baker covered in blood, stabbing something. Somebody comes to his door and offers him a knife, saying "Is this your knife?" He takes it back. "Happy Halloween," he says.

A monster roars. Brian Cox mumbles, "You've gotta be kidding me." The title comes up.

After the title card, a girl is in the backyard, doing laundry. "I hate Halloween." She goes to grab some sheets and something pops through them.

The last frame says OCTOBER.

Superb. I can't wait until this thing pops up - or, more to the point, until October and we get to see the full film.

Thanks to Tyler for sharing this with us.

Pumpkinhead Carve Up

Mike Dougherty is offering a nice large version of the below Trick'r Treat teaser poster on his MySpace page. He's also peppered it with themed sketches, a few of which I've included beneath the poster.

Trick'r Treat is the only horror film this Halloween that strikes me as anything to get excited about. I hope Dougherty delivers on his promise.