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Given the topic at hand, I'd like to make it clear up front that neither I nor Cinematical are taking sides in this story about Roland Emmerich's forthcoming All Landmarks Must Die opus, 2012; I just find it a curious insight into the mind of the man who knows how to make a building fall over but good.

The trailer for 2012 plays like a highlight reel of civilization falling apart all over the world, but it's religion that gets the brunt of Emmerich's digital pounding: A Buddhist temple gets hit by a tidal wave. The Sistine Chapel crumbles to pieces as a split tears right down the middle of Michelangeo's painting of God touching Adam's finger. St. Peter's Basilica rolls over onto a crowd of devoted worshipers. Rio de Janeiro's iconic Christ the Reedemer statue falls to earth as its wracked by shockwaves. The White House is even crushed by, of all things, an aircraft carrier. But eagle eyed fans of watching organized religion get its disaster porn comeuppance will have noticed that there are no Islamic landmarks on the CGI chopping block.

That wasn't always the plan, however. Emmerich explained to SCI FI Wire that he had originally hoped the Kaaba, one of the holiest sites in the Islamic religion, would join the visual wrath of 2012, but that his co-screenwriter Harald Kloser talked him out of it:

The rights to the Terminator franchise have only been up on the auction block for about as long as it takes Arnold Schwarzenegger to emerge naked from a time bubble, but a veteran Hollywood mogul has already expressed interest in taking the brand off the hands of the now-bankrupt Halcyon; and that vet is none other than Toy Story, Alien: Resurrection, and Titan A.E. screenwriter Joss Whedon (oh, and he created Buffy the Vampire Slayer and "Firefly"/Serenity, but I don't think anyone has ever heard of those).

Mr. Whedon took the time out of his busy schedule running his latest TV show, the Eliza Dushku starring "Dollhouse", to write an earnest letter to Halcyon making the case for why he's the right man for the job. And as with all things Whedon, his proposal has its fair share of the funny.

In it, he outlines the six possible directions he'd take the franchise, which range from simply adding more Summer Glau ("There's a reason they're called "Summer" movies.") to sending a Terminator to Middle Earth ("because he's a cyborg and he doesn't give a s#&% about the ring -- it has no power over him! And he can carry it AND Frodo AND Sam AND f@%& up some orcs while he's doing it. This stuff just comes to me. I mean it.").

Now his opening bid of $10,000 may be a smidge lower than the estimated $200,000 Halcyon is asking for the rights, but with a formal business plan as detailed as Whedon's, I'd be flabbergasted if they turned it down. Read on to check out the full letter, which may or may not contain similar offers to also buy Batman and Lord of the Rings.

Back in August, we reported that the Terminator franchise was in some serious legal and financial trouble. The rights are currently owned by the Halcyon Company, who have managed to make more court appearances than they have films. They were in danger of losing the rights to their hedge fund, Pacificor, who was poised to claim them if Halcyon defaulted on their loan.

But according to The Financial Times, Halcyon has now filed for bankruptcy after their lawsuit with Pacificor, and is selling off the rights to Terminator. It would appear that filing for Chapter 11 afforded their precious franchise some protection from the hedge fund, and they can now sell it to bail themselves out. The sale will be conducted by FTI Capital Advisors, and does not cover rights to the earlier Terminator films.

The Times notes that this auction is coming at a particularly tough time for Hollywood, who is feeling the economic crunch just like everyone else. But it notes that Terminator is one of the rare "blockbuster brands" not controlled by a big studio, and that alone has may drooling at the chance to control future properties. Summit is said to be particularly interested (they can probably pay for it just out of Twilight proceeds), as is Sony and Media Rights Capital. But remember, this is America! Everyone has a chance at destroying mankind, and if you have millions (estimates put the sale beyond $60 million, the benchmark set by the sale of the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles), you can buy them for yourself. I would have faith in something other than John Connor if a Cinematical reader took the reins of this franchise.

Avatar
A paraplegic marine from Earth has his consciousness transferred into an alien body so he can infiltrate the native people of a distant planet. More so than the teaser, this one gives a better idea of what the story is all about rather than just showing off the digital effects (which ARE pretty awesome). James Cameron's latest hits theaters on December 18.

Green Zone
Military action flick starring Matt Damon as a U.S. soldier searching for weapons of mass destruction in Iraq. The story is inspired by the book Imperial Life in the Emerald City: Inside Iraq's Green Zone by Rajiv Chandrasekaran. The bit about Damon's character wanting to know why things are happening seems kind of heavy handed and I half expected Jack Nicholson to pop up and tell him "you can't handle the truth." Still, this looks like it's got a lot going for it. Watch for this one on March 12.

What's happened to all the great movie nudity lately? Billy Crudup started the year off with a bang, so to speak, with his big blue penis in Watchmen, and Marcus Nispel's Friday the 13th reboot featured sweaty sex and generous amounts of naked female flesh, but the summer and fall seasons have been curiosly bereft of talked-about sex scenes or body parts. Jessica Biel's bravely-bared breasts and backside in Powder Blue went direct to video, Hayden Panetierre nonchalantly limited her exposure to 'side boobage' in I Love You, Beth Cooper, and Megan Fox decided to keep her nipples to herself in the proudly feminist relationship drama ('cause it sure wasn't horror) Jennifer's Body.

In my youth, movies educated me about the wonderful diversity of naked bodies. Today, television and the Internet have stolen much of the thunder once claimed exclusively by the theatrical experience. (Case in point: Susan Sarandon's daughter, Eva Amurri, just made a big splash by going topless in Californication.) No wonder Terminator: Salvation director McG teased the audience at WonderCon earlier this year, bringing actress Moon Bloodgood up on stage and asking: "Who wants to see Moon's boobs in the picture?" She later said: "I'm a woman, I have boobs, it's a beautiful shot." As anyone who saw the movie in a theater knows, though, her toplessness was cut, reportedly as part of Warner Bros.' effort to secure a PG-13 rating.

The unrated director's cut is due out on DVD and Blu-ray on December 1, and the deleted scene has, apparently, hit the Internet (watch it after the jump). The verdict?

No super-successful comedy series can stay away for long. Back in April, ShoWest brought news that the aliens were coming back for Men in Black 3. There was no word on which stars would return, or anything other than the faintest murmurings of a plan, but now things are coming together. THR's Risky Biz Blog reports that Etan Cohen, the scribe behind Tropic Thunder, will pen the script while director of the first two, Barry Sonnenfeld, returns for the third bout.

With a script and director slotted into place, naturally, the next question revolves around Will Smith. As of now, the actor has no solid plans to return, but buzz says he is interested. As for Tommy Lee Jones -- his involvement is "uncertain." Smith has nothing pressing right now, so he's wide open (save from helping along his son's blossoming career), and Jones has only got two in-development features in his future.

Read the rest at SciFi Squad

After weeks of breathless speculation as to who would be riding George Miller's bleak highways of Mad Max: Fury Road, there's been a conformation. Variety reports that Charlize Theron has boarded the film, but that it'll be Tom Hardy (Bronson) who takes over the coveted lead. The script is being kept under tight wraps, so we still don't know if Mad Max: Fury Road will be a reboot or a sequel. Speculation has been rampant for more than twenty years, and as is the case with so many revived franchises, we'll probably end up being terribly wrong. Hopefully for the better.

So, we only know that Hardy is playing "the male lead. Will it be the Mad Max, made so iconic by Mel Gibson? Or will Max have taken on some kind of mythological, Robin Hood like status in the barren wasteland, and someone simply takes on the title? It could go either way (but hopefully not the way of Kevin Costner's The Postman), and I'm excited that Hardy has the part. He's been one of those actors lurking under The Really Big Time, and this could be the film that pushes him into stardom.

Theron's role might be the biggest and coolest surprise. She's a big enough name that I can't believe she'll be shoved into a corner as The Wife of Mad Max. Will she be a post-apocalyptic warrior too? I hope so. With so few remnants of humanity left, you need all the badasses you can get. It would be nice to see that reflected beyond Tina Turner.