At this point it almost seems like that every mutant to ever be associated with the X-Men will be appearing in X-Men: Days of Future Past.

Okay, that’s an exaggeration. No film could hire that many actors, but it still seems like this movie is growing at an insane pace with the number of mutants we will see. And while I normally blast films for adding too many characters, just because a mutant will appear in an X-Men film doesn’t mean they will do much, or have a storyline of their own.

That being said, Daniel Cudmore will be returning as the metal mutant from Russia, Piotr Nikolaievitch Rasputin/Colossus. He previously appeared in X2 and X-Men the Last Stand as the strongman of the team, but he was very much a background character. Fan Bingbing wil also be joining as the teleporter Blink, and Booboo Stewart has joined in an unknown role.

Colossus has been a staple of the X-Men team for decades, but he has been highly under utilized in the films thus far. He plays a fairly emotional note in the Days of Future Past comic storyline, but we’ll see how this plays out in the film.

Blink was in the X-Men series for… well… a blink. She was killed off early in her time, but later reappeared in an alternate universe storyline.

X-Men: Days of Future Past opens in theaters on July 18, 2014.

X-Men: Days of Future Past Cast

• James McAvoy as Professor Charles Xavier (young)
• Michael Fassbender as Magneto (young)
• Sir Patrick Stewart as Professor Charles Xavier (old)
• Sir Ian McKellen as Magneto (old)
• Hugh Jackman as Logan/Wolverine
• Anna Paquin as Rogue
• Halle Berry as Ororo Munroe/Storm
• Daniel Cudmore as Piotr Nikolaievitch Rasputin/Colossus
• Jennifer Lawrence as Raven Darkholme/Mystique
• Ellen Page as Kitty Pryde/Shadowcat
• Shawn Ashmore as Bobby Drake/Iceman
• Nicholas Hoult as Hank McCoy/Beast
• Fan Bingbing as Blink
• Peter Dinklage as ?
• Omar Sy as ?
• Booboo Stewart as ?

Cool your jets everyone, Serenity 2 is not coming to Kickstarter any time soon.

As soon as everyone saw the success of the Veronica Mars movie on Kickstarter, talk of a new Firefly movie was circulating the Internet in no time flat. Would Joss Whedon mobilize his Browncoat army to get another adventure of the crew of the Serenity on the big screen?

Sadly, the answer is no.

Speaking with BuzzFeed today, Whedon addressed the subject of whether or not fans should expect to back a Serenity 2 project any time soon.

My fourth feeling when I read about [the Veronica Mars Kickstarter campaign] was a kind of dread. Because I realized the only thing that would be on everybody’s mind right now. I’ve said repeatedly that I would love to make another movie with these guys, and that remains the case. It also remains the case that I’m booked up by Marvel for the next three years, and that I haven’t even been able to get Dr. Horrible 2 off the ground because of that. So I don’t even entertain the notion of entertaining the notion of doing this, and won’t. Couple years from now, when Nathan [Fillion]‘s no longer [on]Castle and I’m no longer the Tom Hagen of the Marvel Universe and making a giant movie, we might look and see where the market is then. But right now, it’s a complete non-Kickstarter for me.

[...]

For me, [Kickstarter] doesn’t just open the floodgates. God knows, things are cheaper now than when we made even Serenity. Good effects can be done in a different manner. Nor is that universe all about spectacle either. But it is a tad more expensive — and a little all-consuming! And of course, there’s the other fear: What if it’s not that good? I can do something that’s not that good — that’s fine. But if I do thatand it’s not that good, I’m going to feel really stupid.

Because I’m too busy to deal with it, I did have a moment of just, “Oh my god! I’m in trouble now.” I’ve always said, “Yes, I’d love to do another one,” and it’s still true. But I sort of got slapped in the face with it. Or probably will.

This is pretty much what I expected. Whedon is in a long term commitment with Marvel right now, and we can’t expect him to drop every thing because one of these projects worked.

As much as I would love to see another story set in the Firefly universe, I believe that door has been shut for good at this point. It’s unfortunate, but it’s also the nature of Hollywood. With or without new adventures, they can “never stop the signal.” (yeah, I just went all geeky on ya.)

Veronica Mars fans want a movie to wrap up the stories of the canceled series, and they’re willing to put their money where their mouth is.

Kickstarter – the crowd funding site that seems to be the home for every crazy idea you can think of – as has been put to use for a lot of different causes. Typically you see it used to fund the concepts of designers who have an idea for a new product, but as of late I have seen more and more movie projects popping up there as well. The latest is an effort to get the often delayed Veronica Mars movie, based on the television series of the same name off the ground.

Veronica Mars ran on The CW network from 2004 to 2007, and ever since the final episode aired fans and those connected to the show have longed for a movie. Numerous studios have turned down the idea, but it appears that Warner Brothers hit on an idea every one could get behind. A Kickstarter project was started on Wednesday with a goal of reaching $2 million dollars within 30 days. If they could do it, the studio agreed to put the movie into production and distribute it.

In 10 hours it surpassed its $2 million dollar goal.

As with all Kickstart projects there are rewards for donating various amounts, and the top dog for this one was a $10,000 level that would see one lucky person win a speaking role in the film. The funny thing is, yes, it has been filled, but by someone who is more of a fan of the crowdfunding idea than the series itself. What is even odder… I’ve pledged to fund as well and I have never watched so much as one second of the series.

Why would I fund something I don’t even have a vested interest in? Because of where this could lead.

If this concept can be proven to work, what other properties could be resurrected in a similar fashion? Most of the shows I care about that are no longer with us are too far gone now to bring back, but I am thinking long term now. Imagine if this had existed when Firefly or Arrested Development went off the air? Yes, we eventually got the Serenity movie and a new season of Arrested Development is coming to Netflix, but what if those things had never happened? Could a Kickstarter have brought them back to life? Maybe, who knows. But now, thanks to this project, someone can walk in to a studio and say, “Hey, the Veronica Mars crew proved it to Warner Brothers, let us at least try.”

That, my friends, is why I have put $35 into a movie that I really have no motivation to even watch.

This is a brave new frontier for films, and one I am very anxious to see how it plays out.

The “red band” trailer for Kick-Ass 2 has been released, and it looks like it will be another fun trip into this world.

While I loved Kick-Ass, it wasn’t exactly a box office hit. ($96.1 million globally off of a $30 million budget) Luckily it was a huge hit on home video, and that led to the second comic series also getting the film treatment.

From the trailer I recognize the majority of the scenes from the comic with only one or two new ones thrown in. There are also a couple of scenes, which if played as they were in the book, is assuring this film a really hard R rating.

I normally try to keep this blog “clean,” but as this is behind an age verification, I felt it wasn’t too much of a push to post it. Enjoy, and make sure you see this one in the theaters!

Disney is returning to its roots with a series of 19 new Mickey Mouse shorts to air on Disney Channel beginning this summer.

It’s been quite some time since Disney gave much, if any, love to its most famous character, Mickey Mouse. While he has shown up in video games such as Epic Mickey 2, he has been completely absent from the animation field. Well, it seems the House of Mouse is about to change all that and put him back where he belongs which is in short form cartoons.

Disney released a teaser short on Tuesday entitled Croissant de Triomphe to give everyone a taste of what to expect, and while the art style is somewhat new, it just felt right. Mickey, Minnie, Daisy and assorted other characters were there, and it just felt right. I had actually commented to a friend on Monday how I’ve missed the company doing short form animation spots of its key characters, and now my wish has been granted.

It’s about time Disney paid some respect again to the character that launched the corporate juggernaught we know today. Welcome back, Mickey, we’ve missed you.

The 2012-2013 TV season is coming to a close, and CBS has announced when your favorite shows will be wrapping up their seasons.

Fox and The CW already announced their respective season finales, and now CBS has joined in. No word yet on ABC and NBC. Seeing as the network has already said it won’t go heavy on new programming next fall, expect most of these to return next year.

• 2 Broke Girls: Monday, May 13
• The Amazing Race: Sunday, May 5 (2 hours)
• The Big Bang Theory: Thursday, May 16
• Blue Bloods: Friday, May 10
• Criminal Minds: Wednesday, May 22 (2 hours)
• CSI: Wednesday, May 15
• Elementary: Thursday, May 16 (2 hours)
• Golden Boy: Tuesday, May 14
• The Good Wife: Sunday, April 28
• Hawaii Five-0: Monday, May 20
• How I Met Your Mother: Monday, May 13
• The Mentalist: Sunday, May 5
• Mike & Molly: Monday, May 20
• NCIS: Tuesday, May 14
• NCIS: Los Angeles: Tuesday, May 14
• Person of Interest: Thursday, May 9
• Rules of Engagement: Monday, May 20
• Survivor: Caramoan: Sunday, May 12 (2 hours)
• Survivor Reunion Special: Sunday, May 12
• Two and a Half Men: Thursday, May 9
• Vegas:Friday, May 10

Thus far 2013 has not been a good year at the box office, but things may be changing slightly thanks to a wizard.

Oz the Great and Powerful had a successful first weekend, and it needed it as some estimates have the budget at around $215 million, and at least $100 million spent on a TV advertising blitz. The tentpole – and apparently the start of a new franchise – took in $80.2 million domestically. It took in a somewhat low $69.9 million internationally to bring its worldwide gross to $150.1 million. Critics haven’t been overly kind, but a B+ CinemaScore means it should have some life to it and it will probably win its second weekend.

Perhaps the bigger story is circling the second place finish of Jack the Giant Slayer. You know things can’t be going well when you’re being compared to last year’s mega-flop, John Carter. The $195 million mega-budget film slipped 63.2 percent and came in with just $10 million to bring its domestic total to $43.8 million. With the $13.7 million its brought in internationally the film is only at $57.5 million. It looks like we have a flop on our hands.

Third place went to Identity Thief with another $6.3 million to bring its domestic total to $116.5 million off of a $35 million dollar budget.

Dead Man Down opened in fourth place with $5.35 million.

Rounding out the top five was Dwayne Johnson’s Snitch with $5.1 million bringing its domestic to $31.8 million. The budget is unknown at this time.

Next week’s big releases are The Incredible Burt Wonderstone and The Call, neither of which I expect great things from.

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