'District 9' Director Posts Amazing Concept Art for Unofficial 'Alien' Project

Well, this is bound to piss off the Prometheus haters out there and fill them with ideas of what might have been. District 9 and Elysium director Neill Blomkamp posted a bunch of photos to his Instagram of what LOOKS like some kind of abandoned project set in the world of Ridley Scott's Alien, and boy are they awesome.

Here's the thing, though: they aren't anywhere near official. They appear to be just some concept art for something Blomkamp was doing personally, maybe with the hope something would come of it. He even admits as much in a tweet....

“Ps this has nothing to do with the studio. I just feel like I might do something else instead. In which case why not show some work- They didn't really even know I was working on it ha.”

Regardless, these are pretty cool and don't seem to fit in as any kind of true sequel, or at least not a modern one. In one case you have what appears to be a younger version of Sigourney Weaver's Ripley, but you also have the return of Corporal Hicks sporting some serious acid burns. That would have been amazing all by itself to see how that played out. And apparently Blomkamp thinks Alien could have used his guiding force, too, stating...

“Woulda rocked. Was a mental stroll into the world Ridley Scott created."

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Disney Reveals Ocean-Set Animated Comedy 'Moana' for 2016

Walt Disney Animation is poised for a huge hit in a couple of weeks when Big Hero 6 opens, but they already looking further down the line to their next projects. The studio has announced the CG-animated comedy Moana to be released in 2016. They've also dropped a piece of concept art that shows it to be a grand sea-faring adventure. Here's the synopsis:

In the ancient South Pacific world of Oceania, Moana, a born navigator, sets sail in search of a fabled island. During her incredible journey, she teams up with her hero, the legendary demi-god Maui, to traverse the open ocean on an action-packed voyage, encountering enormous sea creatures, breathtaking underworlds and ancient folklore. 

Directing will be the duo of  Ron Clements and John Musker, whose previous work on Aladdin, and The Little Mermaid, two Disney classics. Moana is expected to open in late 2016, possibly taking the November 23rd date Pixar set aside earlier this year.

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Is this the First Look at the 'Star Wars: Episode VII' Villain?

Over the last couple of days a number of concept images have been released for Star Wars: Episode VII, trickling out in a most calculated fashion by the site Indie Revolver. They've been pretty cool; showing off designs for the Stormtroopers and Han Solo, both fitting nicely with some big plot reveals about the movie's villain. Whether any of these are truly legit we probably won't know for some time, but the latest image claims to be our first look at that villain, who promises to be a major presence in the Star Wars universe. Turn away now if you don't want anything spoiled.

This piece of "official" concept art also comes from Indie Revolver, and it's one of the Inquisitors, the villains of Star Wars: Episode VII. They'll be introduced first in the animated Star Wars Rebels, or at least one of them known as the Inquisitor will be. The Inquisitors are an order of the Sith obsessed with Darth Vader, and in a flashback sequence with Luke Skywalker we see them serving a young Vader. This particular Inquisitor appears to be at least partially cybernetic, and is holding the remnants of Vader's mask. The site says he has a red lightsaber which is pretty standard for those walking the Dark Side, but they didn't offer an image of that.

I have my doubts about the legitimacy of much of this stuff and will continue to be skeptical until J.J. Abrams releases something official. What do you think? Is any of this stuff real? And if so, what could the Inquisitors be doing with Vader's armor?

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'Avengers: Age of Ultron' Concept Art Reveals Scarlet Witch, Quicksilver, and the Hulkbuster Armor

Last night ABC and Marvel aired Marvel Studios: Assembling a Universe in place of Agents of SHIELD. It's a documentary offering behind-the-scenes looks at the upcoming films in their cinematic universe, and as promised it also gave us a first look at concept art for Avengers: Age of Ultron. The images show us the designs for Elizabeth Olsen's Scarlet Witch and Aaron Taylor-Johnson as Quicksilver. We also see Iron Man decked out in his Hulkbuster armor (glimpsed briefly in Iron Man 3) squaring off against, who else, the Hulk.

When I look at that shot of Iron Man battling Hulk, it reminds me of past rumors the sequels would be based on the World War Hulk storyline. They were debunked before, but maybe some element of it holds true?

Check it all out below. Avengers: Age of Ultron opens May 1st 2015.

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Comic-Con: 'Guardians of the Galaxy' Poster Shows Off the Team

Today Marvel put on a banner show during their Hall H panel, showing off very impressive footage from Thor: The Dark World, Captain America: The Winter Soldier, and the one we were most shocked to see, Guardians of the Galaxy. The film has only been in production for a few days, but what we saw looked very good, and the tone was as quirky as expected. If anything, it can probably best be compared to Joss Whedon's Firefly, spacey humor and a touch of a spaghetti western vibe. Check out the poster art below...


Concept art had been all we'd seen up to this point, and those were basically designs taken from the comics. But now we also have a poster which more accurately reflects how the characters looked in the footage, and also recreates its closing scene. The image shows Dave Bautista as Drax the Destroyer, Zoe Saldana as Gamora, Chris Pratt as Star-Lord, the plant creature Groot, and the ever-popular Rocket Raccoon. The crowd burst into cheers every time Raccoon was on screen, and even more during a shot when he was blasting away while on Groot's shoulders. Unfortunately, we didn't find out who would be voicing them, but that announcement will likely come very soon.

Guardians of the Galaxy opens on August 1st 2014.

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Comic-Con: 'The Crow' Reboot Concept Art and Details

The plan by producers to drum up good vibes for The Crow reboot was to bring on the comic's creator James O'Barr as a "creative consultant". He and director F. Javier Gutierrez have been at Comic-Con talking it up, and when asked about his job entails, O'Barr's answer wasn't exactly clear....


O'Barr: Well, all of the details haven't been ironed out other than creative consultant. But what brought me around after 20 years was Javier. Before talking with him, I was 110% against it. There was no point or need for a reboot. In my mind, you could throw a $100 million at it, put Johnny Depp in it and had Ridley Scott direct and it wouldn't top what Alex Proyas and Brandon Lee did. I explained all of that the minute Javier arrived, "Remaking the movie was a terrible idea and you'll never work in American again."

The plan is to begin pre-production in October, but they are far enough along to provide some early concept art of star Luke Evans in the title role. [STYD]

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Concept art for The Crow shows how Bradley Cooper might've looked

Curious to know how Bradley Cooper might have appeared as the spirit of vengeance in Juan Carlos Fresnadillo's version of The Crow? Then look no further. Artist Diego Latorre has released a number of concept images from the planned reboot, which is now completely stalled for two very good reasons. 1. Bradley Cooper left the project so there's no star. And 2. Juan Carlos Fresnadillo left it as well in order to direct Highlander. I always thought the choice of Cooper to play the goth hero was a an odd but inspired move, and these images make me sorta sad at all the lost potential. Oh well. Check out the full batch of pics below, courtesy of our friends at Shocktilyoudrop....

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