Avengers Director's Cut, Dark Knight Rises & More: The Week in Movie News

Last week may not have been gangbusters at the box office, but that doesn't mean there wasn't stuff going on in Hollywood. And--as per usual these days--much of what was going on there was of interest to the comic book-reading audience. Since we know we're updating much faster these days and a lot of our readers are missing some material, take this opportunity to look back on last week and see what you might have missed. While we usually try to keep these recaps a bit more readable and conversational, there are a few movies where so much was happening so fast, that in order for the reader to be able to navigate our links, we'll just list them off in those cases. We started out the week with what has become a pretty big story for us here at ComicBook.com: the question as to whether the original, three-hour cut of Joss Whedon's The Avengers would eventually make its way to theaters. We're hearing a lot of people, including some who should know, saying that it's going to happen but of course Marvel can't comment. The fact that the rumor started circulating the week The Avengers was finally outpaced by Avatar, and even the most optimistic observers now believe it's statistically eliminated from eclipsing either Titanic or Avatar for the all-time #1 at the box office, probably played into why the news broke when it did. You know what Disney actually might be making, by the way? A Marvel/Pixar animated feature.

While Marvel's big summer movie might be seeing the insides of (even) more movie theaters, it appears as though The Dark Knight Rises will actually be appearing in fewer. Christopher Nolan's final (still!) Batman film doesn't have any advance screenings planned at this stage, and it's getting pretty late. Some people are speculating that in order to protect the film's plot, the kind of advance screenings that usually happen on a film of this scope have been scuttled. Of course, you can already buy tickets for the movie, so they'll have a pretty good idea soon whether it needs the extra boost that good word-of-mouth can bring. Maybe they're counting on fans being engaged once they find out they can make their own trailer for the film. There was a pretty cool new TV spot, made up mostly of original material, that hit last week. And a pair of video games announced. While all of that was going on, Batman Begins (Nolan's first Bat-film) was being prepped for its big IMAX reissue on July 19, to be screened alongside The Dark Knight and midnight screenings of The Dark Knight Rises. You know what else will come out in IMAX, but this time IMAX 3D? Star Trek 2. You're welcome. The Amazing Spider-Man kicked off the week with a set of new promotional stills, and ended it with an exclusive (but not too exclusive) release of a scene from the movie on DVD at Wal-Mart. In the middle, we found out that the film was originally intended to tie in with The Avengers, bringing the dreams of so many fanboys one step closer to fruition. A number of clips from and behind the scenes of the film were released last week, as well, bringing fans a more complete look at what to expect in three weeks: Slam Dunk I Created Him Garfield on villains Warner Brothers' Superman reboot Man of Steel is finally starting to creep into the public consciousness in a big way; at last week's Las Vegas Licensing Expo, costumes from the film were on display at the Warner staging area. Fans also learned that the film would likeliy screen some footage at next month's Comic-Con International in San Diego. Iron Man 3 will do the same, but The Dark Knight Rises won't, according to sources. Walt Disney Animation's Wreck-It Ralph had a pretty active week, with a new video game based on the in-story game that the main character ostensibly comes from debuting online as a free-play, 8-bit game.  The studio also bought first-look rights for Stuff of Legend,  intended to be made as a live action/animation hybrid.

We also got some good looks at Dredd, which will drop its trailer on Thursday of this week, and at The Dark Knight Returns, the animated feature DC is rolling out in two parts starting soon. The final Twilight film showed us some of what it's got, including a 90-pound Bella toying with some musclebound dude in an armwrestling match. While those vampires got beat up by a girl, some others got taken down a peg by our sixteenth President, and had video to prove it. There's also some footage of Honest Abe training, and a little behind-the-scenes goodness from the film's special screening aboard the USS Abraham Lincoln. Kevin Smith announced a new Jay & Silent Bob animated feature film, by the way, which is apparently almost done and will follow Smith around the country in 2013. Disney is sending Lone Ranger back to the drawing board to be rewritten amid a skyrocketing budget. Same thing for Ninja Turtles, which hasn't even started filming yet. You know what else never got made? E.T. II or Steven Spielberg's episode of Twin Peaks. Guaranteed at least one of those would have been good. The latest installment of the Resident Evil film franchise, which brings back both Milla Jovovich and Michelle Rodriguez, got a trailer. Meanwhile, Disney/Pixar's Brave (which screened for the Olympic archery team) had a new clip debut just about every day this week; you can check them out below: Advice to Elinor/The Suitors The Games Begin Fathers' Day