FROM MTV.COM: It's the big enchilada, the supreme dream, the prize on which the entire movie-loving world will be focusing its eyes: Best Movie at the MTV Movie Awards. Past winners have included such instant classics as "Pulp Fiction," "Titanic," "Gladiator" and all three "Lord of the Rings" movies. But which film will close out tonight's live ceremony by joining their hallowed ranks?

This year's contest promises to be tighter than Zac Efron's pants. We have the dueling superheroes of "Iron Man" and "The Dark Knight," Oscar winner "Slumdog Millionaire," the final installment of the beloved "High School Musical" franchise and arguably the most significant film of the year for teenagers: "Twilight."

Continue reading "'Twilight' Vs. Superheroes, Teens And 'Slumdog': Who Will Win Best Movie?" at MTV.com.

I bet you thought I forgot about yesterday's category previews. That wasn't what happened though; time just got away from me. Lot of major developments yesterday on the 2009 MTV Movie Awards front. The big news for you Twilighters of course was the revelation that the "New Moon" clip premiering this Sunday will actually be the movie's debut trailer. There was also the revelation that there's still a to-be-announced mystery presenter, as well as the launch of our awards countdown widget, which will magically transform into a streaming video of the show when the clock strikes zero at 9pm EST this Sunday.

In short: it was a busy day. Here I am though, fresh and ready to tackle today's load of crazy. What better way to start than with a round-up of yesterday's previewed categories, along with a few predictions on the same. As always, I welcome your thoughts on my choices, your own choices or anything under the sun really in our comments section below. Read more...

FROM SPLASH PAGE: What do "Batman," "Superman," "Akira," "Hellboy," "The Hulk," "Iron Man," "The Punisher," "Spider-Man," "The Spirit," "Dragonball," "Wanted," "X-Men" and "Watchmen" all have in common? Easy!

It's no secret that the comic-to-movie translation can be hit or miss. On one hand, you have someone like the Punisher — one of the most intense, complex and dark characters ever created in the comic book universe — so you would have thought his story and swagger alone would be enough to make a great action movie with maybe even a good sequel. Apparently not! The movie studios messed up that franchise not once ... not twice ... but three times (once with Dolph Lundgren, then Thomas Jane and most recently with some guy called Ray Stevenson).

(Read more about the roller-coaster world of Sam Jackson's upcoming comic book roles on our Splash Page blog.)

FROM SPLASH PAGE: When it comes to casting movies based on the comics world, it's always interesting to play the "What If?" game when we hear about actors who were almost chosen to play certain roles. For example, what if Harrison Ford had indeed become Superman? What if Sam Rockwell had landed the Tony Stark gig in the first "Iron Man" (instead of playing the villainous Justin Hammer in "Iron Man 2")? What if Mark Ruffalo was offered the part of Harvey Dent in "The Dark Knight"?

Now you can add this one to the list of almost-casting points to ponder, folks: What if Billy Bob Thornton played Tony Stark?

Read more about Billy Bob Thornton almost becoming Tony Stark in "Iron Man" over at SplashPage.MTV.com.

FROM SPLASH PAGE: The Internet damn-near gave Robert Downey Jr. a standing ovation when news broke last month about the actor not only signing on for "Iron Man 2," but also officially joining the cast of the absurdly-anticipated "Avengers" movie. Naturally, we had to get Downey's take on the upcoming film that's destined to be the Holy Grail for Geekdom, and you can rest assured knowing that the actor is well-aware of how important the film will be to not only Marvel, but the comics community as a whole.

"If we don’t get it right it's really, really going to suck," said Downey. "It has to be the crowning blow of Marvel’s best and brightest because it’s the hardest thing to get right. It’s tough to spin all the plates for one of these characters."

Read more about Robert Downey Jr.'s thoughts on the "avengers" movie on SplashPage.MTV.com.

FROM SPLASH PAGE: We may never know what ultimately led to the Don Cheadle/Terrence Howard switch on "Iron Man 2," and if Robert Downey Jr. knows, well, he isn't talking (at least to us).

But one reason it definitely did NOT happen is because the character of Jim "Rhodey" Rhodes was scaled back for the sequel, "Iron Man 2” screenwriter Justin Theroux told MTV News. "I can't really speak to the plot stuff and all the rest of it but Rhodes is completely present in a very strong and big way," Theroux said of the man who would be War Machine. "He's COMPLETELY present."

Read more about the Don Cheadle/Terrence Howard shift and the future of War Marchine in the "Iron Man" sequels over at SplashPage.MTV.com.

With the big-screen debut of "Twilight" looming, author Stephenie Meyer recently offered up a list of 12 of her biggest inspirations for the wildly popular series to EW.com. While she name-checks quite a few bands among her muses when scripting stories of forbidden love and vampire relations (the series has inspired an entirely new music genre, "Twi-Rock," after all), there are definitely a few surprises in the bunch.

Meyer heaps praise on actor Robert Downey Jr. and describes "Iron Man" as "the best superhero movie that's ever been done," adding that she considers the Marvel Studios blockbuster to be a great model of "how you should feel coming out of a movie."

But that certainly wasn't the most surprising project she listed. Read more...

FROM SPLASH PAGE: After a morning of breaking news about Don Cheadle taking over the role of Col. James "Rhodey" Rhodes from Terrence Howard in "Iron Man 2," we recalled a recent interview with Cheadle where we asked the actor if he ever considered taking a role in a comic book film, and if so, who he'd like to play. His answer may astound you...

"Vanilla Man!" the actor laughed. However, Cheadle quickly followed up his reply with his thoughts on comic films and whether he had any interest in landing a role in one.

"I’d love to do that, I love comic books," replied Cheadle. "Unfortunately, there’s not a lot of black superheroes that they’ve made comic books about, so maybe we have to go the other way, create one in the film and then create a comic book about him."

Or, in his case, land a role as Col. Rhodes, Tony Stark's right hand man who will most likely don the sleek silver armor of War Machine in the upcoming sequel to "Iron Man."

Read more of "Iron Man 2" star Don Cheadle's thoughts about superhero films over at SplashPage.MTV.com.

"Iron Man," one of the year's biggest blockbusters in the theater (and the best-selling Blu-ray in the history of the format), will be minus one of its original marquee cast members when sequel production begins now that actor Terrence Howard has been replaced by Don Cheadle in "Iron Man 2."

The news of Howard's departure broke late last night, and came as a surprise to, well... just about everyone. For months, the actor had been telling anyone who would listen how excited he was about reprising his role and possibly donning the "War Machine" armor at some point in the franchise. Read more...

FROM SPLASH PAGE: Everything in the Marvel Film Universe is leading to the eventual superhero tag team-up, “The Avengers,” with Iron Man, Ant-Man, Thor, and Captain America all fighting side-by-side. What possible villain could compete with that?

“The Incredible Hulk” director Louis Leterrier told MTV News this past June that he didn’t think any villain could, and suggested that they use a hero instead: his.

“Iron Man” writers Mark Fergus and Hawk Ostby, who themselves may be writing another Marvel movie in the near future, couldn’t agree more, they told MTV News, insisting that everything is building towards making The Hulk the villain in the eagerly anticipated 2011 movie.

Read more about Hulk as the villain in "The Avengers" movie at SplashPage.MTV.com.