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Amidst all of the hullabaloo surrounding the landmark box office achivement that is James Cameron's sci-fi epic "Avatar," one notable figure has been conspicuously absent. "Titanic" star Leonardo DiCaprio. Now that the sinking ship's box office records have been sunk, how does DiCaprio feel about his breakout movie now playing second fiddle to Cameron's latest monumental success?

"I'm okay," DiCaprio said to MTV's Josh Horowitz during the press tour for this week's big release, "Shutter Island." It's not just a front either; he really does seem okay with it. Might have something to do with the soaring success he experienced in the years that followed the release of "Titanic." As someone with experience, perhaps DiCaprio has some advice for "Avatar" star Sam Worthington, who is experiencing a similar sort of breakout success now. Read more...

Tags avatar, james cameron, Leonardi DiCaprio, sam worthington, shutter island, Video

FROM SPLASH PAGE: "Percy Jackson & The Olympians" didn't quite wield the power of the gods when it arrived in theaters this weekend and came in second at the box office to "Valentine's Day," so what does that mean for its star, Logan Lerman, and rumors that he's up for the lead role in Marc Webb's "Spider-Man"?

As regular readers are already aware, Lerman set the 'Net on fire recently when he mentioned in passing that he was in talks to play Peter Parker. Even though Lerman backed off that statement a bit in a subsequent interview with MTV News, we pondered exactly what might be at stake when Lerman makes his debut in "Percy Jackson" — and now it's time to figure out whether playing a god means he'll be playing a superhero.

Continue reading What Does The 'Percy Jackson' Opening Weekend Mean For Logan Lerman's 'Spider-Man' Chances?

Tags Logan Lerman, Percy Jackson & the Olympians: The Lightning Thief

The history of television is rife with unjustly canceled programming. These days, everyone likes to rant on about the loss of "Arrested Development," and rightfully so. Before that, the cancellation of "Family Guy" caused an uproar that led to the series being revived a few years later. And before that there was "Freaks and Geeks," an early effort from Hollywood goldenboy Judd Apatow. Together with creator Paul Feig, the two put out a critically acclaimed series that NBC nonetheless canceled before even the first season order of 18 episodes had aired.

There was no second life for "Freaks" as there was for "Family Guy," but perhaps there will be one in spirit. Today brings the news that Feig and Apatow will reunite for an untitled Universal comedy starring Kristen Wiig. The story comes from a script by Wiig and Annie Mumolo, a relative newcomer whose only prior writing credit is for an episode of TV's "In the Motherhood." Read more...

Tags judd apatow, paul feig

FROM MTV.COM: Madonna wants to make a movie. The pop superstar will direct "W.E.," a biopic focused on the love affair between King Edward VIII and Wallis Simpson, Variety reports. The real-life couple caused quite a stir in 1936, when Edward's decision to marry the American socialite led him to abdicate the British throne.

No casting has been announced yet, but the report reveals that "Up in the Air" star Vera Farmiga is interested in the Simpson role. Madonna, whose acting credits include "A League of Their Own," "Who's That Girl?" and "Swept Away," will write the script with Alec Keshishian, who was her director for the 1991 tour documentary "Madonna: Truth or Dare." There's no word on whether the pop star intends to take a role in the movie as well.

Continue reading Madonna To Direct Film About King Edward, Wallis Simpson Affair

Tags madonna, W.E.

I'm having a hard time processing this morning's Daily TwitPic. There's something brain-meltingly fantastic about the image you'll find after the jump.

Brett Ratner is a staple on our Twitter-Wood feed and he may well also hold the honor of having the most Daily TwitPic posts thanks to his generous sharing of archival materials on the Internet. It's a close race between him and John Stamos. In today's twitpic, we find a fresh, young '80s-era Ratner hanging at the Palladium with Duran Duran. Simply amazing. See for yourself after the jump. Read more...

Tags brett ratner

Awhile back, it was reported that Vin Diesel was doing some early work towards getting the "Riddick" series moving once again. The news became official last week, when it was reported that Universal had given the go-ahead for series creator David Twohy to write and direct what will be the third movie in the franchise, after "Pitch Black" and "The Chronicles of Riddick."

At the time, all we heard was that this next movie would fall closer in tone to the first movie, a taut sci-fi thriller, than the second, which went for more of a big, overblown action spectacle. Now, thanks to a report on the foreign sale of the movie in The Hollywood Reporter, we have our first real plot details. And they weren't kidding about the shift in tone. Read more...

Tags david twohy, Pitch Black, The Chronicles of Riddick, vin diesel

Editor's note: Josh is out of town this week, so I'll be covering the recap. Don't worry-- he'll be back next week with the same insightful commentary and didn't-see-'em-coming theories.

Episode Title: "The Substitute"

Written by: Elizabeth Sarnoff & Melinda Hsu Taylor

Story: The focus this week is Locke, and hallelujah for that. On the island, Fake Locke -- Flocke --seeks recruits for some purpose... which is actually made clear by the end of the episode! More than that, a great big question-raising bomb drops in the final minutes, with half-revelations which are sure to send "Lost" theorists into raving hysterics. Meanwhile, in the parallel reality, Locke is back from Australia to his quiet life with fiancee Helen (Katey Sagal). Some questions at work arise regarding his trip to Australia, leading to an unfortunate turn of events. The resulting chain of events leads to some surprising encounters, with an Oceanic 815 passenger and... another familiar face. Very familiar. Read more...

Tags lost

The Winter Olympics have been entertaining plenty of Twitter-Wood citizens this week, but they've also been interfering with Seth Meyers' ability to understand who the captured Taliban leader Mullah Abdul Ghani Baradar is. Furthermore, they'll be going up against "Lost" on Tuesday night, but Damon Lindelof officially shrugged off the competition yesterday.

As for Kevin Smith's public Twitter tussle with Southwest Airlines over the weekend, plenty of his fellow tweeters have stepped up in support, including film critic Roger Ebert. You can check out Ebert's photo evidence, a comparison of "Twilight" to "Splash" and what actor Justin Chon looks like following cardio exercises after the jump. I'm @brianwarmoth, and this is Twitter-Wood for February 16, 2010. Read more...

Tags brett ratner, brian lynch, damon lindelof, jon favreau, justin chon, penn jillette, Roger Ebert, seth meyers, Twilight

I just watched this clip three times. I'm still not sure what's going on. My brain definitely melted a bit though, so that's good.

"Splinterheads" hits DVD today, an improv-heavy indie comedy which follows Justin Frost (Thomas Middletitch) as he falls in with the wacky folks who work for a traveling carnival. Justin joins in on the madness when he falls for one of the crew, and an offbeat brand of hilarity ensues.

The below clip actually comes from the DVD's bonus features, a video featuring Middletitch and fellow star Jason Rogel. The duo take some time out to let us all know about the magical Wayne Chng and his fabulous landscaping services, capable of fending off snakes, bears and hawks.

Like I said... melty brain. Enjoy!

Tags Splinterheads, Video

When it comes to 19th century literary monsters, Bram Stoker's Dracula seems the bigger inspiration on modern Gothic tales thanks to the current vampire craze, but the creature from Mary Shelley's "Frankenstein" is definitely the more relevant to the 21st century, as long as man continues pursuits towards human perfection.

Cashing in on this potential are "X-Men" franchise producer Ralph Winter and Terry Botwick ("Jonah: A VeggieTales Movie"), who are adapting Dean Koontz's ongoing series of "Frankenstein" novels, according to Variety. In the series, which continues this May with the release of a fourth book, Koontz updates and re-imagines Shelley's classic novel for present-day, New Orleans-set stories focused on two detectives working cases involving synthetic biological super-humans. Read more...

Tags Dean Koontz, frankenstein, Prodigal Son