The Hollywood Reporter hired a disaster-cost prediction firm, Kinetic Analysis Corporation, to estimate approximately how much damage was caused by the recent dust-up between our heroes, The Avengers, and Loki with his Chitauri army. By using computer models and comparing the damage to previous attacks, including the Gozer event in 1984 and Godzilla’s various attacks, KAC estimated that due to about $60 billion in physical damage, $90 billion in economic damage and clean-up, and the thousands of lives lost, the bill would likely end up being more than $160 billion. It’s a good thing the team is backed by the government, though even this might lead to liability issues, in much the same way the Gozer event did for the Ghostbusters.

Read the whole report.

According to Deadline, Wright has joined with Working Title for a September start date on the new film, titled The World’s End. Once again, Wright and Pegg wrote the script and while there doesn’t seem to be a genre parody in here yet, that will likely change as we get more information.

20 years after attempting an epic pub crawl, five childhood friends reunite when one of them becomes hell bent on trying the drinking marathon again. They are convinced to stage an encore by mate Gary King, a 40-year old man trapped at the cigarette end of his teens, who drags his reluctant pals to their home town and once again attempts to reach the fabled pub, The World’s End. As they attempt to reconcile the past and present, they realize the real struggle is for the future, not just theirs but humankind’s. Reaching The World’s End is the least of their worries.

So there are hints that something might not be right in that hometown. But for now, we can at least take comfort in the fact that this is looking for a release in spring 2013.

Yeah, I’m ready for July 20.

The Dark Knight Rises hits theaters on July 20, 2012 and will presumably make eleventy gazillion dollars.

According to Deadline, Disney has picked up the rights from British effects studio Framestore to Gaiman’s The Graveyard Book. A reimagining of The Jungle Book, the novel follows a young boy named Bod who grows up, raised by ghosts, in a graveyard, after his parents are murdered. Naturally, sinister forces are looking for him and he must eventually face the person who killed his family.

The rights were first bought by Framestore right after the book came out, but Disney stepped in and made Framestore associate Wayfare a producer, while Framestore has stepped down. The ball is rolling on this and it is reportedly a priority for the studio.

According to The Hollywood Reporter, Fox has picked up popular webcomic Axe Cop for a 15 minute show. The comic, which was started by siblings Ethan and  Malachai Nicchole, aged 29 and 5 at the time, is pretty much just as absurd as you’d expect for a story being written using little kid logic.

According to former Adult Swim executive Nick Weidenfeld (who along with another former Adult Swimmer, Hend Baghdady, will be overseeing the shows):

Axe Cop is one of the most creative, hilarious and naturally viral comic properties to emerge in the last decade. I’ve hoped someone would adapt Axe Cop for television for years and couldn’t be happier that we get to be that someone. Axe Cop has all the makings of an iconic animated series and it will help set the tone for Fox’s new late-prime Saturday animation lineup.

The shows, a 90 minute block, will launch at 11 pm, Saturdays of next year.

HeyUGuys, a British media site, has posted an interview with Marvel’s President, Kevin Feige. While talking about the future of the world of Marvel, Feige mentioned a few characters that are potentially a problem, licensing wise: Quicksilver and Scarlet Witch.

Referring to Fox, Feige said:

If they want to use them in the X-Men movies they could, if we want to use them in The Avengers movie we could.

Though not stated explicitly, this is presumably because the heroes, children of Magneto, have appeared as members of both super teams in the past and are therefore shared custody.

Watch the whole interview. There are some pretty good teasers for what might be coming next.

According to The Hollywood Reporter, the other prizes were awarded as usual. Poetry was taken by Tracy Smith’s Life on Mars, History by Manning Marble’s Malcolm X: A Life of Reinvention, Biography by John Lewis Gaddis’ George F. Kennan: An American Life, and general Nonfiction by Stephen Greenblatt’s The Swerve: How the World Became Modern. But the three nominees in Fiction, Swamplandia! by Karen Russell, Train Dreams by Denis Johnson and The Pale King by David Foster Wallace all walked home without prizes.

What happened?

Unfortunately, the board of the Pulitzer committee didn’t offer any reasons for why they declined to award the prize this year. The jury who picked the three finalists, NPR’s Maureen Corrigan, former-editor at the Times Picayune Susan Larson and The Hours author Michael Cunningham are, as the jurys always are, left out of the final decision.

Read more about the Pulitzers at their website.

For the record I always thought Bella should ditch the pouty, sparkly bloodsucker and run with the wolves, though as a grown-up film critic I know I’m supposed to remain neutral. But I have to say that it did not occur to me, watching The Hunger Games,” to think very much about who Katniss’s boyfriend should be. She seemed to have more important things to worry about — and also, to bring it back to Leatherstocking and his kind, to be a fundamentally solitary kind of heroine.

—New York Times film critic A.O. Scott on what makes The Hunger Games movie (and book) different from Twilight.

In the futuristic action thriller Looper, time travel will be invented – but it will be illegal and only available on the black market. When the mob wants to get rid of someone, they will send their target 30 years into the past, where a “looper” – a hired gun, like Joe (Joseph Gordon-Levitt) – is waiting to mop up. Joe is getting rich and life is good… until the day the mob decides to “close the loop,” sending back Joe’s future self (Bruce Willis) for assassination.

Directed by Rian Johnston (Brick, The Brothers Bloom) and starring Bruce Willis and Joseph Gordon-Levitt, the film hits theaters on September 8, 2012.

According to Variety, that young American is very close to being cast. Elle Fanning, who wowed in Super 8 is in negotiations to play Cass. Also in negotiations for one of the leads, is Olly Alexander who was in recent (and very strange) Enter the Void.

The film owes a fair amount to that current internet darling, Kickstarter. Producers were able to raise more than 100,000 dollars and will start production in June.

Fanning has a lot on her plate, having just finished Bomb with Annette Bening and scheduled to join Angelina Jolie for upcoming Maleficent.

Check out one of the tracks below, “Funny Little Frog.”

(This link may be taken down, so I’ll replace it if need be)

From IMDB:

Jack is a children’s author turned crime novelist whose detailed research into the lives of Victorian serial killers has turned him into a paranoid wreck, persecuted by the irrational fear of being murdered. When Jack is thrown a life-line by his long-suffering agent and a mysterious Hollywood executive takes a sudden and inexplicable interest in his script, what should be his big break rapidly turns into his big breakdown, as Jack is forced to confront his worst demons; among them his love life, his laundry and the origin of all fear.

The film is directed by first time directors Crispian Mills and Chris Hopewell. We should be seeing it sometime this year.

Is there ever a year when things go calmly for the “Top Gear” boys?  It seems that, whenever you turn around, one of them has said something that’s managed to land them in hot water with viewers or foreign dignitaries or the BBC itself.  Well, in this case, both Jeremy and Richard had managed to get themselves relatively disliked beforehand — to the point that Jeremy’s episode of “QI” this past series was pulled just in case his mere presence offended people.  Once a new series of “Top Gear” starts, though, things tend to fall by the wayside as we watch them blow up cars and fight with each other.

And much as “Doctor Who” has its Christmas specials, “Top Gear” now has its road trips pretty much without fail.  This series kicks off with a trip to India which, while still full of the usual mad antics, does keep in line much more with recent years’ promise to move away from the “characters” they’ve developed and just let the guys be themselves.  The trip was theoretically to improve economic relations between Britain and India (as much as any of their trips ever focuses on its good intentions).  Yes, cars get painted and people get left behind and awkward (very possibly staged) things happen in front of locals.  But the ending of this special in particular is rather sweet, and it’s a nice reminder of when the show is perfectly happy to just pause for the good things in life — not just car-related ones.

The series as a whole this year?  Well, the various challenges and feature segments take them all over the place — Texas for an education in NASCAR, China to learn about their growing car industry, and Florida on a trip to learn about hybrids that turns into a drag race with AC/DC’s Brian Johnson.  There’s always been a fair bit of globetrotting in the past, yes, but there was a lot more by way of “mini road trips” this series.  Perhaps with a little time having elapsed since the “Top Gear” world tour (which completely ignored the US, sadly), they’ve developed a bit more of a world view when it comes to their week-to-week content.

That especially shows in their choice of stars to put in their Reasonably-Priced Car (still the Kia Cee-apostrophe-d).  There have been international guests before, both from the racing world and the entertainment world.  But this year?  Try Ryan Reynolds, Michael Fassbender, Matt LeBlanc, and … well, the final-episode guest is a doozy.  Let’s just say that having Matt Smith in the Car was not their one and only big draw.

One doesn’t expect “Top Gear” to make major changes year-to-year.  One just sort of generally expects it to stay good (if one likes it in the first place).  But this series, it almost felt like there was a sort of thematic expansion.  I remember Jeremy talking about big Hollywood celebrities on their “little car show” a while back — a silly-seeming thing to say when tickets are drawn by lottery from a massive reserve list — but it seems that by becoming a bit more self-aware they’re expanding their sights.  What does this mean by way of future challenges and future guests?  Anything and everything, most likely.

Series 18 of “Top Gear” will air on BBC America starting April 16 at 8/7 c.  Or you can always check out Tumblr for massive amounts of gifs chronicling Michael Fassbender’s lap.

According to THR’s Heat Vision blog, Sean Daniel, producer of the three films of the first reboot, will return to produce this one as well. As for writing talent, the screenplay will be written by John Spaihts who cowrote the upcoming Prometheus. There is no word on shooting dates.

While the original Total Recall was a lot of fun, it didn’t strictly follow its source material, Philip K. Dick story We Can Remember it for You Wholesale. The upcoming remake, titled Total Recall of all things, will apparently do this better. And while I have a love of the campy feel of the original, this is a nice looking update. We’ll see how things turn out on August 3, 2012.

Directed by Len Wiseman (Live Free or Die Hard) and starring Colin Farrell, Bill Nighy, Jessica Biel and Kate Beckinsale, here is the trailer for Total Recall.

What reboots or remakes are you anticipating or dreading? Let us know in the comments.