Green Hornet's Costume, Edward James Olmos' Role Revealed

We had a behind-the-scenes glimpse at Seth Rogen's upcoming Green Hornet project a few weeks ago, when set photos surfaced. Those photos gave us a taste of the film's look, and notably revealed what Kato's costume would look like. Now, courtesy of Splash News (via CHUD), we also have a blurry look at the Green Hornet's costume (above). Moreover, an interview with Edward James Olmos this morning at the LA Times reveals a few tantalizing tidbits about certain plot elements of the film. Note that the Splash News video and the LA Times interview both contain potential spoilers, so be warned before you click through to the video or click through to the jump.

The video shows a fairly impressive explosion, as well as what appear to be a brief glimpse of Kato and the Green Hornet. We also see a bulldozer dropping on top of a car. Note that while the above photo is probably an accurate representation of the Green Hornet's look, it may in fact be Seth Rogen's stunt double in the costume and not Rogen himself. The video is embedded below, but I've had mixed results viewing it in different browsers so head on over to Splash if if you're having trouble with it.

From this brief shot we have, I'm kind of a fan of the look. It's simple and elegant, not overly elaborate or ostentatious. I think it bodes well for the film.

Actor Edward James Olmos certainly agrees that the film is coming together well. In an LA Times piece published this morning, Olmos crowed,

I'll put it to you this way — it's quite a fun journey…It's my first time doing this kind of a movie. 'Blade Runner' is the only thing that comes close to this. I'm having a lot of fun. People are really going to like what we've done.

Olmos also revealed that he will play the character of Michael Axford, a reporter at The Daily Sentinel, the paper run by Britt Reid's (AKA The Green Hornet's) father:

We're the backbone of the paper. Things go awry, and I end up having to try to sustain what's going on in our lives. And of course the Green Hornet doesn't make it any easier. I don't want to give anything away.

Discuss: What do you think of the Green Hornet costume, and Olmos' role as Michael Axford?

• Casting: Zach Galifianakis in It's Kind of a Funny Story; Nicolas Cage Explains (Disses?) The Green Hornet
• Christoph Waltz From Inglourious Basterds Cast as Green Hornet Villain?
• First Green Hornet Set Photos
• Tron Legacy Challenges The Green Hornet?!
• Tom Wilkinson and David Harbour Join The Green Hornet
• The Green Hornet Release Pushed Back Five Months

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Gaga Pulls Out, 'Hills' Premiere, 'Survivor' Tsunami, Diddy Did It, 'Rape-Rape' & More

What happened in the wide, wonderful world of celebrity news & gossip today? Here's a quick recap of the top stories in Starpulse News for Wednesday, September 30, 2009:

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Hugh Jackman in Talks For Real Steel

Hugh Jackman is in talks to star in Shawn Levy's futuristic robot boxing movie Real Steel. The film tells the story of a father and his estranged 13-year-old son who enter the world of robotic boxing. You see, in the future, human boxing has been outlawed, replaced with sports combat between human-trained 2000-pound heavy steel robots.

According to Variety, Jackman would play the father, an ex-fighter turned promoter whose "access to sub-standard robot parts hampers his hopes for glory in Robot Boxing, until he discovers a discarded robot that always seems to win."  The concept is something we've never seen before on the big screen, and in the right hands, could be a good Summer tentpole film.

Real Steel is based on a short story by Richard Matheson, which was made into a Twilight Zone episode featuring Lee Marvin. The screenplay adaptation was originally scripted by Dan Gilroy (The Fall), but has since been rewritten by Leslie Bohem (Taken, Dante's Peak) and John Gatins (Summer Catch, Dreamer).

Shawn Levy is best know for directing mediocre or bad comedies, the Night at the Museum series, Cheaper By The Dozen, The Pink Panther, Just Married, and Big Fat Liar. This could mean that the family sci-fi actioner might be redeveloped with more of a comic tone.

• Shawn Levy To Direct Robotic Boxing Movie Real Steel
• Christopher McQuarrie To Write Wolverine Sequel
• Hugh Jackman Says Early Work Has Begun To Bring Wolverine 2 To Japan
• Fox and Hugh Jackman To Create Musical PT Barnum Biopic
• Guys and Dolls: Guy Ritchie Version is (Surprise!) BS; Hugh Jackman Could Remake
• A Day in the Life of Director Shawn Levy

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Lindsay Lohan Shows Signs Of Aging?

Hollywood wild-child Lindsay Lohan has partied so hard she has the skin of a woman in her mid-30s, according to a leading celebrity surgeon.

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Tera Patrick Splits From Rocker Husband

Porn star Tera Patrick has split from her rocker husband Evan Seinfeld. The couple wed in 2004 after a two-year courtship.

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Preview of 'Melrose Place' 1.05: Canon

Lauren is deep in hot water as the client she sleeps with wants to go beyond ordinary sex.

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Chris Brown's 'I Can Transform Ya' Feat. Lil Wayne

Chris Brown does not only team up with Lil Wayne but also join forces with Swizz Beatz on new song 'I Can Transform Ya'.

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Powerful Player Joins Polanski Team

Roman Polanski's American legal team has recruited the lawyer Reid Weingarten, a well-known Washington power player and a friend of Attorney General Eric H. Holder.

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Terminator Franchise Rights For Sale...Again

No major film franchise has been owned by as many people as the Terminator series. The future of the franchise was called into question recently when current owners Halcyon were forced to file for bankruptcy, but as a new piece in the LA Times points out, rights shuffling almost seems like standard operating procedure if you're in the Terminator business.

Halcyon Holding Group's Derek Anderson and Victor Kubicek bought the Terminator rights in 2007, paying $25m for the privilege of making Terminator: Salvation.

The Terminator rights had been split prior to 1997, with Gale Anne Hurd owning 50% and a variety of companies owning the balance at different times. In 1997 former Carolco producers Mario Kassar and Andrew Vajna unified the rights by purchasing the stake from the bankrupt Carolco as well as Hurd's half. Then, ten years later, they sold the total package to Halcyon. But despite the relative success of Salvation ($370m worldwide — never suspect that questions of Hollywood accounting aren't to be taken seriously)  Halcyon couldn't pay back money borrowed from a hedge fund called Pacificor to make the Terminator purchase. (Halcyon claims they only owe $4m to Pacificor, which claims it is owed $32m.)

Because the Terminator rights are Halcyon's chief asset, they'll be the primary item sold to cover the debt. Anderson and Kubicek now claim the package is worth $60m, or twice what they paid two years ago.

So, two things. First, the Terminator series is one of the only major film series in Hollywood not owned by a major studio. (Star Wars is another.) But this sale could put rights in the hands of a studio like Warner Bros. or Sony, which would put an end to the series' independent prospects. And finally, if you're concerned about whether or not there will be another Terminator movie, rest assured there will be, sooner or later. (A fifth film is in development, though things are moving slowly.) The only question is from whom.

• Cool Stuff: Movie and Television Time Travel Timeline

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Fantastic Mr. Fox Movie Trailer #2

Fox Searchlight has released a second movie trailer for Wes Anderson's animated adaptation Fantastic Mr. Fox. When the first trailer was released, I'll admit that I didn't quite think Anderson's visual style translated well to stop motion animation. But the more I've seen from clips, featurettes and tv spots, the more I'm beginning to come around. Do you agree? Watch the trailer embedded after the jump, and leave your thoughts in the comments below.

Fantastic Mr. Fox is visionary director Wes Anderson's first animated film, utilizing classic handmade stop motion techniques to tell the story of the best selling children's book by Roald Dahl (author of Charlie and the Chocolate Factory and James and the Giant Peach).

Mr and Mrs Fox (George Clooney and Meryl Streep) live an idyllic home life with their son Ash (Jason Schwartzman) and visiting young nephew Kristopherson (Eric Anderson). But after 12 years, the bucolic existence proves too much for Mr Fox's wild animal instincts. Soon he slips back into his old ways as a sneaky chicken thief and in doing so, endangers not only his beloved family, but the whole animal community. Trapped underground and with not enough food to go around, the animals band together to fight against the evil Farmers - Boggis, Bunce and Bean - who are determined to capture the audacious, fantastic Mr Fox at any cost. The film also stars Bill Murray, Wally Wolodarsky, Eric Anderson, Michael Gambon, Willem Dafoe, Owen Wilson and Jarvis Cocker.

Watch the trailer in High Definition on Apple.com. Fantastic Mr. Fox hits theaters on November 13th 2009.

• Wes Anderson's Fantastic Mr. Fox Photos
• Your First Look At Wes Anderson's Fantastic Mr. Fox
• Bill Murray and Jason Schwartzman join The Fantastic Mr. Fox
• George Clooney and Anton Corbijn's A Very Private Gentleman Becomes The American, Begins Filming in Italy
• Clooney to Direct Hamdan v. Rumsfeld Film, Matt Damon to Star?
• VOTD: Bored To Death Pilot Episode

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First Look At Mel Gibson's Beaver

Pretty near the top of my most-anticipated list is Jodie Foster's next directorial effort, The Beaver. She's put together an interesting cast with Jennifer Lawrence, Anton Yelchin and Mel Gibson who is starring as a somewhat stressed fellow who decides to communicate only via a Beaver glove puppet that he found in the trash. The real reason I'm excited, however, is that Kyle Killen's screenplay is brake-slammingly awesome and definitely deserved its spot atop the 2008 Black List of the best unproduced screenplays in Hollywood.

Some more images of the Gibson/glove puppet double act after the break.

Explaining the film's premise previously I said:

[The lead role is] Walter, troubled father and husband and CEO of a stalling toy company [who gives voice to] The Beaver, a glove pupper that Walter finds, starts to wear without pause, and adopts as a kind of avatar through which he carries out all of his communication. Almost all of the dialogue given to the lead actor throughout the entire screenplay will have to come from the Beaver, and be delivered in what Killen describes as a "crisp English accent".

These pictures are still leaving me unconvinced of Gibson's casting, but they've sold me pretty solidly on the design of the puppet. Killen's script introduces him like this:

ANGLE ON the garbage reveals a half buried BEAVER PUPPET, its large plastic eyes staring out from under some refuse. Walter squints, then reaches for it. It turns out to have a large bushy tail and big happy grin. He holds it up. He and the beaver seem to stare blankly at one another for a long time, as if each reading a story in the other's eyes.

It seems endearingly ratty in these snaps. Can anybody out there tell us who designed it? I must stress that it really is the lead character in the film so the look and physical characterisation is crucial, and I'm thoroughly relieved that it seems to be such a great design from these images.

The following pictures were snapped yesterday during the film's New York location shoot and you can see the rest of them at Gossip Center. They come from a scene that doesn't even fill two lines in the screenplay.

• Mel Gibson To Star In The Beaver?
• Jim Carrey Takes The Beaver From Steve Carell?
• Cool Kids Casting - Anton Yelchin in The Beaver, Sarah Polley in Queen Kristina
• /Filmcast Ep. 59 - Brüno (GUEST: Eric D. Snider)
• Mel Gibson On The Edge of Darkness in New Pic
• Mad Max Four To Be Animated, 3D And Free Of Mel Gibson

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Diet Advice From The World's Oldest Man

At 113 years of age, Walter Breuning has seen a lot (and I mean A LOT) of fad diets come and go. So what's the dietary secret to his longevity?

Eating less... yup, that's pretty much it!

Breuning was born in 1896. Before we get into how he defies father time, let that sink in for a minute... eighteen freaking ninety-six! Here's what was going on around the time Walter was born:

Continue reading...

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Lady GaGa Named Billboard's Rising Star

On October 2, Billboard will honor Lady GaGa with Rising Star title and Beyonce Knowles with Woman of the Year prize.

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'The Princess and the Frog': Extended Clip and Featurette

As the cast and crew talk about the essence of the movie in the new featurette, Prince Naveen of Maldonia tries to convince Tiana to break the spell in the fresh clip.

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Taylor Lautner Feels Uncomfortable With His Muscular Body

Praised by many people for his muscular body, Taylor admits he feels uncomfortable to go shirtless in upcoming "The Twilight Saga's New Moon".

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'One Tree Hill' 7.04 Preview: Believe Me, I'm Lying

Nathan's cheating scandal escalates when Renee refuses to back off and gives the story out to the media.

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Claire Danes and Hugh Dancy Have Got Married

The pair, who announced their engagement in February, is said to have wed in a low-key ceremony earlier this month.

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Marilyn Manson Doesn't Have Swine Flu

Marilyn Manson's concert promoters have contradicted the shock rocker's confession he's been diagnosed with swine flu.

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