Get out your score cards, folks, The Amazing Spider-Man 2 has added yet another potential villain.

At this point in the game, you’re going to need to be handed a guidebook to the characters of The Amazing Spider-Man 2 when you enter the theater. In addition to Andrew Garfield (Peter Parker/Spider-Man), Emma Stone (Gwen Stacey) and Sally Field (Aunt May) returning for the new film, we have Jamie Foxx (Electro), Paul Giamatti (Rhino), Shailene Woodley (Mary Jane Watson), Dane DeHaan (Harry Osborn) and Felicity Jones (Unknown – rumors abound she is The Black Cat) joining the cast of characters in the sequel. Why not add another?

Chris Cooper has been announced by Variety to be playing Norman Osborn, possibly one of the most important characters in the entire Spider-Man mythos.

If you’ve seen the other Spider-Man films, you know that Norman eventually becomes the Green Goblin, Spider-Man’s main villain. While there is no indication as of yet that this will take place in the new film, the possibility is definitely there. It also means that even more screen time will be taken up with introducing characters.

At this point, with this many new faces on screen, my hope is that a lot of them are there to set up the third film. If you’ll remember in the three Sam Raimi films, we saw Dylan Baker as Dr. Curt Connors in all three films. This character would have gone on to be the Lizard had that series continued, but having him as a background character helped set up that impact. It was one of the nicer touches of those three films, and could have had a massive pay off. If this new film is going to go that route, okay, I can live with it. But if all of these characters will play significant roles, they will all be short changed, and, in turn, so will the audience.

While some films have carried off multiple villains without issue – The Dark Knight comes to mind – others have fumbled it horribly. (I’m looking at you Spider-Man 3!) My gut tells me we’re going down the road of the latter here, and that will just be a damned shame.

Noomi Rapace has started talking about her excitement for Prometheus 2. Well, that’s nice someone is excited for the project.

This past summer saw the release of Prometheus, a prequel to the entire Alien series of films. While it was set up to give numerous answers, it ended up being a frustrating mess of a film that made little to no sense and left you with more questions than it answered. While a sequel has already been discussed, we really didn’t know if it would happen due to the fairly weak box office results of the first film. ($126,477,084 domestic/$276,877,385 foreign off of a $130 million dollar budget)

Whatever the case may be, Noomi Rapace, the star of the first film, is excited for the follow-up. “They’re working on the script. I met Ridley [Scott] in London a couple of weeks ago,” Rapace told The Playlist. “I would love to work with him again and I know that he would like to do another one. It’s just like we need to find the right story. I hope we will.”

This comment alone worries me. The first film ended with a cliffhanger, so how could you not have “the right story” already in mind? Did they not have a resolution plotted out? Now is a good time to figure this out?

Whatever the case, Rapace is very up for diving back into this mess of a story. “I love working with Ridley. It was pure joy. It was really hard work sometimes. My body was a complete mess – I had bruises and cuts and emotionally I was a bit slammed. But being in his world and his universe was such an amazing experience.”

Beyond her anticipation of going through this experience again, she is also interested in how the audiences will react to it. “[It's] interesting because people, most people I’ve talked to who see the movie, see things that are quite different. Some people who see the movie many times and discover new things. There are all these religious aspects and there are very interesting conversations. And for me, if we do a second one, there are a lot of things to explore in there and to continue. I would love to do it.”

I did see something in the original. It’s called a mess of a film that had no clue where it’s going.

Either way, it’s looking pretty likely Prometheus 2 will indeed be making its way to theaters to keep audiences angry and confused.

Ready for another helping of Spider-Man? Amazing Spider-Man 2 is now in production, and we’re getting our first look at the slightly modified costume.

There is nothing hugely different about the costume Peter Parker will be sporting in The Amazing Spider-Man 2, but fans of the comic will be happy to see the eyes have changed. For whatever reason in the first film, not only were Spider-Man’s eyes too small, they were also gold. The eyes have been enlarged this time and made in to the correct white color.

Now that I have detailed Spider-Man’s eyes to you… I shall and go and deal with just how big of a geek I truly am.

Oscars weekend is always quiet at the box office, but this one was especially quiet with a 22 percent drop from last year.

Identity Thief regains the top spot at the box office this weekend with $14 million. This brings its domestic total to $93.6 million off of a $35 million budget. Apparently this movie is going to have some legs to it.

The latest Dwayne “The Rock” Jonson vehicle, Snitch has a soft opening with $13 million. He has some pull at the box office, but it’s beginning to look like he’s better off not being the lead.

Escape from Planet Earth had a fairly strong weekend by the metric of anything under a 50 percent drop is considered good. The new animated comedy slid 30.7 percent to bring in $11 million. This brings its domestic total to $35 million off of a $40 million budget.

Coming in fourth was Safe Haven with $10.6 million to bring its domestic total to $48 million off of a $28 million budget.

Rounding out the top five was A Good Day to Die Hard which took a massive 59.7 percent hit over last weekend to bring in $10 million. It is now trailing well behind Live Free or Die Hard, but international business will probably still push this one into profit.

Bullet to the Head numbers were again not reported this weekend, but The Last Stand brought in another $56,000 for Schwarzenegger. That is actually a gain of 116 percent over last weekend, and it added 60 theaters. In other words… it’s hit the dollar theaters in its sixth week. It’s domestic total now stands at $12 million off of a $45 million. I just can’t turn away from this train wreck.

And now we may have another disaster on our hands. Beautiful Creatures fell 55 percent to bring in $3.4 million and land in 10th place. It now stands at $16.3 million off of a $60 million budget.

Next week has a slew of new releases with 21 and Over, Jack the Giant Slayer, Phantom and The Last Exorcism Part II.

Curious how I think these new films will do? Check out my first quarter films of 2013 predictions.

UPDATE: Bullet to the Head numbers are in! It was down to 105 screens and brought in $39,071 in its fourth weekend. That puts it at $9.3 million off of a $55 million budget.

Awards season is upon us, and the most prestigious of them all was held last night, the Razzies.

Each year, the night before the Oscars is reserved for the Razzies, the awards that honor the worst the film industry has to offer. And the big “winner” was Twilight: Breaking Dawn Part 2 with a whopping seven wins. Congrats to the end of the sparkly vampire franchise!

I’m surprised Battleship didn’t pick up more.

WORST PICTURE

• Battleship
• The Oogieloves in Big Balloon Adventure
• That’s My Boy
• A Thousand Words
• Winner: The Twilight Saga: Breaking Dawn – Part 2 

WORST ACTOR

• Nicolas Cage, Ghost Rider: Spirit of Vengeance and Seeking Justice
• Eddie Murphy, A Thousand Words
• Robert Pattinson, The Twilight Saga: Breaking Dawn – Part 2
• Tyler Perry, Alex Cross and Good Deeds
• Winner: Adam Sandler, That’s My Boy

WORST ACTRESS

• Katherine Heigl, One for the Money
• Milla Jovovich, Resident Evil 5: Retribution
• Tyler Perry, Madea’s Witness Protection Program
• Winner: Kristen Stewart, Snow White and the Huntsman and The Twilight Saga: Breaking Dawn – Part 2
• Barbra Streisand, The Guilt Trip

WORST SUPPORTING ACTOR

• David Hasselhoff, Piranha 3DD
• Winner: Taylor Lautner, The Twilight Saga: Breaking Dawn – Part 2
• Liam Neeson, Battleship and Wrath of the Titans
• Nick Swardson, That’s My Boy
• Vanilla Ice, That’s My Boy

WORST SUPPORTING ACTRESS

• Jessica Biel, Playing for Keeps and Total Recall
• Brooklyn Decker, Battleship and What to Expect When You’re Expecting
• Ashley Green, The Twilight Saga: Breaking Dawn – Part 2
• Jennifer Lopez, What to Expect When You’re Expecting
• Winner: Rihanna, Battleship

WORST SCREEN ENSEMBLE

• Battleship
• Madea’s Witness Protection
• The Oogieloves in Big Balloon Adventure
• That’s My Boy
• Winner: The Twilight Saga: Breaking Dawn – Part 2

WORST DIRECTOR

• Sean Anders, That’s My Boy
• Peter Berg, Battleship
• Winner: Bill Condon, The Twilight Saga: Breaking Dawn – Part 2
• Tyler Perry, Good Deeds and Madea’s Witness Protection
• John Putch, Atlas Shrugged: Part II

WORST REMAKE, RIP-OFF, OR SEQUEL

• Ghost Rider 2: Spirit of Vengeance
• Madea’s Witness Protection
• Piranha 3DD
• Red Dawn
• Winner: The Twilight Saga: Breaking Dawn – Part 2 

WORST SCREEN COUPLE

• Any combination of Jersey Shorecastmembers, The Three Stooges
• Winner: Mackenzie Foy & Taylor Lautner, The Twilight Saga: Breaking Dawn – Part 2
• Robert Pattinson & Kristen Stewart, The Twilight Saga: Breaking Dawn – Part 2
• Tyler Perry & His Drag Get-Up, Madea’s Witness Protection
• Adam Sandler & Leighton Meester/Andy Samberg/Susan Sarandon, That’s My Boy

WORST SCREENPLAY

• Atlas Shrugged: Part II
• Battleship
• Winner: That’s My Boy
• A Thousand Words
• The Twilight Saga: Breaking Dawn – Part 2

How do you know your network is in trouble? When you come in fifth out of four major networks.

The major networks in this country are considered ABC, CBS, NBC and Fox. Sometimes people include The CW in the top five, but then everyone regains their senses and remembers no one cares about The CW.

That being said, there are two major sweeps periods, November and February, where the networks pull out all the stops to get the best ratings they can to set new ad rates. So imagine the dismay that must be happening over at NBC right now when Deadline revealed that the peacock network will be coming in fifth in the all important adults 18-49 category behind Univision.

Yes, Univision.

It did better in the November sweeps thanks to football, but this has just turned into a disaster now. You can thank the likes of Do No Harm setting a record low rating for a series premiere – and then being canceled – and other shows like 1600 Penn and Smash just sitting there like lumps.

Things are not good at NBC, so of course it decided the best course of action was to tinker with Up All Night, a show with moderate success, to the point that its lead actress leaves the show.

Yep, the network that once ruled the airwaves is now a complete train wreck.

It appears Megan Fox crawled back to Michael Bay and apologized for saying he was like Hitler. Meet April O’Niel in the new Ninja Turtles movie.

Remember how Megan Fox apparently talked herself out of being in Transformers Dark of the Moon by likening Michael Bay to Hitler in an interview? Well, it seems that perhaps Fox has realized her career went to hell after that because Bay took to his blog on Thursday to make an announcement.

TMNT: we are bringing Megan Fox back into the family!

It seems that Fox will be playing April O’Neil, the female friend of the Turtles through out the various incarnations of the franchise.

Just in case this movie wasn’t already doomed by having its name changed to Ninja Turtles, and the fact the main protagonists will have their origins altered to make them be aliens, adding the acting “skills” of Fox to the production have just about guaranteed to me this will be a disaster.

So, congratulations to Fox, my condolences to all of us out there who actually care about the Turtles wether it be from the original comic books or the cartoons.

Apparently Bryan Singer is really excited to be working on another X-Men film and is taking every opportunity he can to share images of the work that’s being done.

The picture above showed up in Bryan Singer’s Twitter feed with the message:

How many days until @Comic_Con? #XMen #DaysofFuturePast #SDCC

While he doesn’t explain the image, anyone who has seen the first three films will know what it is immediately: The hallways of the X-Men HQ in Xavier’s mansion.

Additionally, earlier in the week he tweeted this image.

With the message:

Hello old friends #XMen #DaysofFuturePast

Yep, wheelchairs. On the left is the one for the older version of Prof. Xavier (Patrick Stewart), and the younger version on the right (James McAvoy).

It looks like things are shaping up nicely for the latest film in the X-Men franchise.

A new report states that Mark Hamill and Carrie Fisher are indeed returning for Star Was Episode VII to hand the story off to a new generation of characters.

That sound you just heard was the Internet going, “Thank you for joining the party from weeks ago.”

Hot on the heels of the rumors Harrison Ford will return to the role of Han Solo, Showbiz 411 reported on Tuesday that Mark Hamill and Carrie Fisher are both on board as well. Additionally the report said that the story will revolve around the story being handed off to their children.

Look, at this point nothing is known officially, and this story has been circulating for weeks now in various forms. Yes, Hamill and Fisher have confirmed they talked to George Lucas last year about Episode VII, but that doesn’t mean they are in it. It is also pretty well established that the overall Star Wars saga has revolved around the legacy of the Skywalker family. In some way, shape or form, that is sure to continue in the next trilogy.

End of discussion.

Until Disney comes out and confirms these three are back, nothing is official. Seeing as J.J. Abrams still has to wrap up Star Trek Into Darkness, and Michael Arndt is still working on the script, it’s going to be a while before anything is confirmed. I would say expect some official news by the end of the summer. But just remember, until Disney/Lucasfilm issues a press release, it’s all just speculation.

It appears that ABC is fast tracking the S.H.I.E.L.D. pilot which means it’s almost a lock for the fall, but what can we expect from it in terms of the characters, tone and its place in the Marvel Universe?

While it almost seems like a no-brainer that S.H.I.E.L.D. would be a lock for ABC, you just never know about these things. It seems things are looking up for the potential series, however, and that means series creator Joss Whedon is sure to start talking. TV Line caught up with the prolific creator at the Streamy awards this weekend and had the oppurtunity to pick his brain a bit about what exactly the show will be.

“I’m excited about the show because it’s a very hopeful show,” said Whedon. He went on to expand, “It’s not about murder, and it’s not about crime, and it’s not people looking into their own belly buttons. It’s about people who are trying to help each other, and that’s one of the things I loved about comic books. They had costumes and the villains were cool [but] they stood for something, and I like doing a show that does that.” As anyone who is familiar with Whedon’s past TV shows such as Buffy, the Vampire Slayer or specifically Firefly, this should ring very true with you.

While the fact Clark Gregg is back as Agent Coulson might give you some hope for seeing a lot of known Marvel characters, you may want to reign those in a bit. “Right now, I want to involve people in the characters that we’ve created for the show, and then we’ll worry about [the other stuff].” So don’t expect to see a lot of costumed heroes showing up too soon in the series.

The one exception may be Cobie Smulders as Agent Maria Hill, but Whedon warns her schedule “will permit very little” involvement, “but if we can get a hold of her anytime, we will.” My guess would be with How I Met Your Mother ending after next season (finally!), she would be a prime candidate to become a regular in season 2 of S.H.I.E.L.D. should it go that far.

If anyone had told me years ago we would even be this far along on a series such as this, I would have laughed at them. Now I’m just excited and can’t wait to see what the story holds for us.

Apparently some people still are up for seeing Bruce Willis get into horrible situations, but not as many as used to.

A Good Day to Die Hard took the weekend with $25 million bringing its total to $33.2 million. It’s currently pacing behind the last film, Live Free or Die Hard. It’s only about $5 million behind, but that when you factor in inflation of ticket prices, things aren’t going swimmingly for the franchise.

Coming in second was Identity Thief with a very strong hold from last weekend, slipping only 32.2 percent to land $23.4 million. It now stands at $70.7 million off of a $35 million dollar budget, and some estimates say when the President’s Day totals come in, it may surpass Die Hard.

Third place went the new romance Safe Haven with $21.4 million. It has a healthy launch on Valentine’s Day and now stands at $30.2 million.

Escape From Planet Earth, the latest in a slew of totally forgettable animated films, took fourth place with a disappointing $16 million.

Warm Bodies rounded out the top five with $9 million bringing its domestic total to $50.2 million.

Jumping out of the top five for a new release, Beautiful Creatures absolutely bombed. It brought in $7.46 million off of a $60 million dollar budget. Just goes to show you that not every young adult novel should be turned into a movie.

So, where did my current favorite train wrecks land? Well, The Last Stand came in… somewhere not good. It wasn’t even assigned a position number. In its fifth week of release Schwarzenegger’s latest bomb brought in $22,600. Yes… that number is not a typo. That brings its domestic total to $11.9 million off of a $45 million dollar budget.

Bullet to the Head is in its third week of release, and it brought in… I have no idea. It seems the studio chose not to report it, but I am now hearing rumblings that its budget was around $55 million, and as of Thursday it had done around $8.9 million.

Next week sees the releases of Dark Skies and Snitch.

Curious how I think these new films will do? Check out my first quarter films of 2013 predictions.

UPDATE: Once the weekend actual numbers came out, Bullet to the Head had lost 1,934 screens and pulled in a meager $240,819 in its third week of release. This put its domestic total at $9,234,498 off of a reported $55 million dollar budget. This is a disaster of epic proportions.

When you have a moderately successful sitcom, does it seem like a good idea to tinker with it to the point that your stars leave the production?

Up All Night is in its second season on NBC, and while it hasn’t been burning up the ratings chart, it hasn’t been a complete disaster. NBC decided, however, that perhaps it’s formula needed to be changed up. Instead of a comedy about parenting, maybe it should be a workplace setting. And instead of a single-camera show, it should be a multi-cam production.

Now, let me explain the camera difference to you as that is actually the biggest speed bump here. Single-cam shows are shot from one camera angle (they actually use multiples, but you only see it from the best angle) and shoots a bit more like a movie. Shows such as The Office, Modern Family and Arrested Development are examples of single-camera fare. Multi-cam is shot with multiple cameras and in editing they will cut back and forth between them, or even live at the recording. Shows such as How I Met Your Mother, The Big Bang Theory and Two and a Half Men are good examples of this style. These also tend to film in front of an audience which will completely change the vibe.

The differences in shooting styles, writing and delivery couldn’t be more different. So, essentially, NBC was talking about relaunching Up All Night as a completely different series.

The plan was that the show would go on its winter hiatus and it would come back and shoot five multi-cam episodes as a test. During this news, series creator Emily Spivey left the series. This is not uncommon for a TV series, and they can usually survive it.

What most shows can’t survive is the departure of their main star. Yes, Two and a Half Men made it through Charlie Sheen’s departure, but that is the exception to the rule. Christina Applegate announced on Feb. 8 that should we be leaving the series. “It’s been a great experience working on Up All Night, but the show has taken a different creative direction and I decided it was best for me to move on to other endeavors.” She went on to add, “Working with Lorne Michaels has been a dream come true and I am grateful he brought me into his TV family.  I will miss the cast, producers and crew, and wish them the best always.”

With three months of nothing having been filmed, the show’s creator departing, Applegate jumping ship and Will Arnett – the male co-lead – eyeing a pilot over at CBS, it looks like the series is all but dead.Supposedly the writers are still working with NBC to tinker with the concept, and the network is continuing to hold the other actors to their options for the time being. It’s looking more and more like the series is dead, but no one wants to sign the death certificate quite yet.

What can we learn from all this? Network executives really have no clue what they are doing. Sure you can tinker with series a little bit, but completely changing its concept is just insanity. They were basically going to launch an entirely new series and they thought everyone who worked on it would just go along with it? I can’t say as I blame everyone for leaving.

Is it any wonder why NBC is the fourth place network?