The infamous Riddick has been left for dead on a sun-scorched planet that appears to be lifeless. Soon, however, he finds himself fighting for survival against alien predators more lethal than any human he’s encountered. The only way off is for Riddick to activate an emergency beacon and alert mercenaries who rapidly descend to the planet in search of their bounty.

Directed by David Twohy, Riddick is released in US cinemas on 6 September 2013 from Universal. It hits Australian cinemas on 12 September from Roadshow.

Atwell told the publication:

“Fans of the first film really wanted to find out what happened to Peggy afterwards, so Marvel are also making a short film, which is basically ‘What Peggy Did Next’, which will be shown at Comic-Con [the annual international pop culture convention held in San Diego] and be on the DVD extras of the second film.

So as well as doing a bit in the new film, I’ve got a whole new spin-off short film. It has been great to be back in training with the stunt co-ordinators, kicking some butt again.”

Previous One-Shots have included The Consultant, A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to Thor’s Hammer and Item 47.

Marvel’s Captain America: The Winter Soldier will be released on 4 April 2013 from Disney.

IT IS ACCOMPLISHED! First draft of CLERKS III is 137 pages. Plays like the EMPIRE STRIKES BACK of the… instagram.com/p/ZQR3qqxywh/

— KevinSmith (@ThatKevinSmith) May 13, 2013

Smith had been fairly open about the production process and some of the legal difficulties around this film on his podcast Hollywood Babble-On, which is co-hosted with Ralph Garman.

Some of the cast, including Jeff Anderson, believe that they are still owed money from the Weinsteins from the profits of Clerks II. This means it is still possible that the film may not see the light of day. Either way, a new old-school Smith film, reportedly about dealing with the gang in their 40s, is something to get excited about.

Joss Whedon’s fresh take on William Shakespeare’s Much Ado About Nothing has received wide critical acclaim, praised for its humour and “inspired” interpretation of the Bard’s comedic play (Variety). Empire magazine described Whedon and Shakespeare as “a perfect match”.

Joss Whedon’s (The Avengers, ‘Buffy the Vampire Slayer’, Cabin in the Woods, Toy Story) modern re-telling of Much Ado About Nothing stars Whedon film and television regulars Amy Acker (‘Angel’, ‘Dollhouse’), Alexis Denisof (‘Buffy’, ‘Angel’, ‘Dollhouse’), Clark Gregg (The Avengers), Fran Kranz (Cabin in the Woods, ‘Dollhouse’) and Nathan Fillion (‘Buffy’, ‘Firefly’, Serenity).

Using the original text, adapted by Joss Whedon, the story of sparring lovers Beatrice (Acker) and Benedick (Denisof) offers a dark, sexy, funny and occasionally absurd view of the intricate game that is love.

Much Ado About Nothing was shot in and around Joss Whedon’s own home in Santa Monica, California, while he was still working on the blockbuster superhero film The Avengers. Co-produced by Whedon’s wife Kai Cole, the film was made with close friends and a sincere love for the classic text.

World War Z, revolves around United Nations employee Gerry Lane (Pitt), who traverses the world in a race against time to stop a pandemic that is toppling armies and governments and threatening to decimate humanity itself.

The film is based on the novel World War Z: An Oral History of the Zombie War by Max Brooks, son of Mel Brooks and Anne Bancroft!

World War Z will release in Australia on 20 June 2013 from Paramount.

The duo is among a select group of artists from six countries who received a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to have their work featured in the upcoming film from Paramount Pictures.

For the first time ever in a Paramount live-action film, lyricists, vocalists and music producers from around the world were invited to add their creative talents and a local flavour to a track written for a major motion picture, which will be featured in the film during its theatrical run in each of the artists’ respective countries.

So, moviegoers in the countries that participated will hear a unique and different soundtrack than the moviegoers in other countries.  This opportunity, in which the artist’s own song will play during a pivotal scene with Star Trek’s iconic character Scotty, drew interest from the world’s hottest talent, including Australia’s Conley and Austin—who as of today will now hear their work in the soundtrack in every movie theatre in Australia.

Their song ‘The Dark Collide’, which Conley co-wrote with Austin, who also performs on vocals, will be heard on the Star Trek: Into Darkness soundtrack, which also features Academy Award®-winning composer Michael Giacchino’s score, in every theatre in Australia.

You can listen to the full version of ‘THE DARK COLLIDE’, on Spotify or buy it now on iTunes.

Directed by Don Hall (Winnie the Pooh), it follows the adventures of Hiro Hamada, a  robotics genius who joins a group of reluctant international superheroes to save the world from certain destruction.

The original team first appeared in Sunfire and Big Hero Six #1 (September 1998), and later had a very short lived series written by comics legend Chris Claremont.

The strain of running a website takes its toll eventually, and negotiating the landscape of studios, PR and the social media landscape is just too much for one needlessly hairy man. Basically, it’s just not fun any more.

For some other great local sources of news and reviews, check out our friends at Spotlight Report for literally everything in the Australian entertainment industry. Almost every Australian critic worth reading, and a few who aren’t, are aggregated on Choc Bomb. Of course, we can still be heard semi-regularly with our good friends on the Geek Actually podcast network, with some specials coming out between now and next year before rebooting in 2013.

There’s always a chance I’ll change my mind, but it’s not like we’ll be missed in any way.

Farewell to the footnote of the Internet, and thank you to everybody who has supported us over the years.To everybody else, you know what you can do.

We love movies. We love comics. We love television. As Fight Club says, “That old saying, how you always hurt the one you love, well, it works both ways”. We use the royal editorial “we”, but this is mostly a one-man show, and currently that one man doesn’t have his head in the game. We need a damn break.

It’s not completely over for the year. There may still be a few key reviews – we probably can’t get away without doing The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey – and anything else we’ve committed to over the last few months that we just can’t think of an excuse to get out of, including a chat at the MCA and probably a bit more ABC Overnights stuff before the year is done. We also look forward to bringing you our best of 2012 list next month, which will admittedly be less informed than in years gone by.

For some other great local sources of news and reviews, check out our friends at Spotlight Report for literally everything in the Australian entertainment industry. Almost every Australian critic worth reading is aggregated on Choc Bomb. Of course, we can still be heard semi-regularly with our good friends on the Geek Actually podcast network, although these too are under assessment until 2013.

See you all on the other side?

If you have any further questions, please drop us a line by emailing the editor (Richard Gray) with any comments on info@thereelbits.com.

The Reel Bits is one of Australia’s leading independent online sources for cinema, home and comic book releases. Established in 2010 as a branch of the popular DVD Bits (1998 – 2011), The Reel Bits is now dedicated to bringing you the best cinematic offerings from around the world. The Reel Bits also co-hosts the podcasts Behind the Panels, Film Actually and Film Actually News.

As pre-production of Star Wars: Episode VII begins, Lucasfilm has confirmed that award-winning writer Michael Arndt will write the screenplay for the new Star Wars film. As revealed in the ongoing video series posted here on StarWars.com, Kathleen Kennedy and George Lucas have begun story conferences with Arndt. Arndt won an Academy Award® for Best Original Screenplay for writing Little Miss Sunshine (2006), and was nominated for Best Adapted Screenplay for writing Toy Story 3 (2010).

The immediate difference between Arndt and Lucas should be obvious. Arndt took a collection of toys and gave them life, love and allowed the audience to invest time in them. Meanwhile, Lucas took characters that we loved and had invested time in, and turned them into toys. The chance of somebody who isn’t Lucas working on the films is exciting, as the last time that happened, we got Empire Strikes Back.

Of course, Lucas isn’t completely out, with ol’ George still talking about having a hand in the creative process. The last time that happened, we got Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull. According to the new video below, producer Kathleen Kennedy is looking for people who have  ”enthusiasm, having a sense of how to tell stories in a complex world…who don’t already have an affinity to Star Wars“.

We already know that list won’t include Steven Spielberg, Quentin Tarantino and Zack Snyder, and we predict that until an official announcement is made, we’ll just be working this out via a process of elimination.