Amazon’s Gold Box Deal of the Day is heavy discounts on Joss Whedon‘s TV series.  Today only, you can save up to 79% on Firefly: The Complete Series on Blu-ray plus other Joss Whedon titles like Dollhouse, Angel, and Buffy the Vampire Slayer.  If you’ve been holding off on buying complete collection sets, now would be a good time.  Whedon’s commentary tracks alone make these sets worth the purchase.

Hit the jump for more info.

With New York Comic-Con starting later today, just a few minutes ago I went over to pick up my badge and managed to take a number of pictures.  While the doors don’t open until later today for professionals and press, a number of cool things were on display in the lobby and I used my phone to snap about twenty pics.  Included were movie logos for Screen Gems Carrie and Evil Dead (both of which of panels on Saturday), a huge display for Aliens: Colonial Marines,  a bunch of Chevy cars that have been painted with TV and comic book characters like Buffy the Vampire Slayer, Locke & Key, Bravest Warrior, and a few other random things.

Hit the jump for the pics and check back later today for a massive image gallery featuring everything on the convention floor.  In addition, Matt Goldberg and I are here all weekend and we’ll be covering all the panels and conducting a number of exclusive interviews, so look for extensive NYCC coverage on Collider all weekend.

As I’ve said again and again,  Drew Goddard and Joss Whedon‘s The Cabin in the Woods is one of the best “horror” movies I’ve ever seen, and it’s easily one of my favorite films this year.  While many of you might love the horror genre, I find it repetitive and stale.  It seems like the genre is stuck in neutral, and no one is making any progress forward.  But that all changed after I saw Cabin in the Woods.  Without spoiling anything, let’s just say the film turns “horror” on its head, and I loved every second of it.  For more on the film, here’s Matt’s glowing review and interviews with Richard Jenkins and Bradley Whitford as well as Anna Hutchison, Jesse Williams & Kristen Connolly.

Right before this year’s SXSW, I sat down with co-writer and director Drew Goddard for an extended video interview. Since we both didn’t want to spoil any of the twists and turns of the movie, our conversation is spoiler free.  During the wide ranging conversation we talked about making The Cabin in the Woods, the status of the Cloverfield sequel, Alias, Buffy, Angel, Lost, (he was a writer on all four series) Steven Spielberg‘s Robopocalypse (which he’s writing), his reaction to seeing The Avengers, and a lot more.  Hit the jump to watch.

Based on the popular UK series of the same name, Free Agents (premiering September 21^st on NBC) is a romantic comedy that explores the trials and tribulations of finding love and companionship, the second time around. Newly divorced Alex (Hank Azaria) is missing his kids and trying to keep himself together. His co-worker Helen (Kathryn Hahn) thinks she has it together, but drinks too much in order to cope with her fiancé’s untimely death. After these two overworked PR executives share one night of passion, they are forced to cope with the awkward aftermath, while surrounded by an array of co-workers – which includes office boss, Stephen (Anthony Stewart Head, reprising his role from the original) – who are both helpful and meddling, at the same time.

During an interview to promote the new series, actor Anthony Stewart Head talked about the differences in the American version of the series, how fun it is to play someone who doesn’t have a care in the world, and that the comedy comes from human emotion and the messiness of real life. He also talked about how he still keeps in touch with his Buffy the Vampire Slayer co-stars, and what a hideous idea he thinks it is to remake the original film without any involvement from Joss Whedon. Check out what he had to say after the jump:

For five years now, the people behind Fandom Charities Inc. and Whedonopolis.com have been screening the musical episode of Buffy the Vampire Slayer as a farewell event for Comic Con. As this was their first year in Hall H, more people sang along to the fan-favorite “Once More with Feeling” than ever before. It was a great way to celebrate the end of a week filled with all things geeky and give one last chance for Con-goers to say goodbye. It also allowed me to reflect on my first ever Comic Con experience. While Matt Goldberg recently posted an article full of tips for first timers, I want to throw my own hat in the ring. Hit the jump for my wrap-up.

Earlier this month, it was announced that Warner Bros. bought the rights to Buffy the Vampire Slayer and hired Whit Anderson to reboot the franchise in her screenwriting debut. This news led to internet outrage that Warner Bros. was going through with a Buffy film without involving Joss Whedon in any way whatsoever in their plans.  Whedon released a statement, saying

“I always hoped that Buffy would live on even after my death.  But, you know, AFTER.  I don’t love the idea of my creation in other hands, but I’m also well aware that many more hands than mine went into making that show what it was. And there is no legal grounds for doing anything other than sighing audibly.”

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Whedon was reportedly approached about the Buffy reboot, but he passed.  Read why after the jump.

Earlier today, we reported that Warner Bros have bought the rights to Buffy the Vampire Slayer with Whit Anderson set to write the film.  If you’re like me, you immediately think of Joss Whedon when you think of Buffy the Vampire Slayer.  Sadly though, the show runner of the original beloved series will not be involved with this upcoming film in anyway whatsoever.  Judging by the comments left on a number of sites, this has frustrated and angered many Whedonites and fans of the original series.

Now, only a couple of hours later, Joss Whedon has made a statement regarding his thoughts on the upcoming Buffy the Vampire Slayer reboot.  You can read his clever and very Whedonesque comments after the jump.

In May 2009, we reported that Fran and Kaz Kuzui were going to re-launch Buffy the Vampire Slayer as a feature film but without the input of Joss Whedon (and after reading Buffy: Season Eight, that might be a good thing).  In a press release, it was announced that Warner Bros. has now optioned the rights from the Kuzuis and that Atlas Entertainment and Vertigo Entertainment will produce.  Whit Anderson has been brought on to write the script.  Atlas’ Charles Roven said of the new take “Details of the film are being kept under wraps, but I can say while this is not your high school Buffy, she’ll be just as witty, tough, and sexy as we all remember her to be.”  Hit the jump for the full press release.

After the release of Eclipse, we’re more than halfway through the Twilight Saga, but gothic teens need not fear the end of the vampire craze anytime soon.  Producers Don Murphy (Transformers) and Michael Preger (Village of the Damned) are teaming to adapt Vampire Academy, the six-part series from Richelle Mead.  The novels are centered around Rose Hathaway, a 17-year-old half human/half vampire who… well, the logline should really be printed in full, so we’ll save it for after the jump.

Would you want to know the exact moment you would meet your soulmate? In the unusual and very original new sci-fi romantic comedy TiMER, Oona O’Leary, played by Buffy the Vampire Slayer star Emma Caulfield, is desperate to find “the one” who is meant for her.

In this alternate version of present-day Los Angeles, a reasonable installation fee and moderate monthly charges allows anyone to have a timer implanted in their wrist, which accurately displays the number of days, hours, minutes and seconds until you will meet your soulmate. However, Oona faces the rare dilemma of a blank timer, meaning that her soulmate – whoever and wherever he is – doesn’t have one. At nearly 30, Oona is searching for her perfect match, wondering if she can just give in and let herself experience the unpredictability of the unknown, when it comes to love.

We recently caught up with actress Emma Caulfield on the phone, and she shared her gratefulness for being able to play such a well-written character in a great indie film that has something to say. She also talked about her role in Marti Noxon’s new television series for TeenNick, called Gigantic (premiering in July), which takes a fictional look at the complicated lives of children of Hollywood celebrities, as well as her original comic Contropussy, about an ordinary house cat looking for excitement in the world outside. Check out what she had to say after the jump:

With Sundance/Slamdance set to start later this week, I’m being flooded with a ton of assets from the Festivals.  Since there is so much to post, I’m going to try and keep the intros brief.  Also, it’s hard to write a lot about movies no one has seen yet.

Anyway, one of the many films premiering at Slamdance is Drones.  The film was directed by Amber Benson and Adam Busch and it’s a sort of reunion of cast members from Buffy the Vampire Slayer as well as Freaks and Geeks.  That’s because it stars Jonathan M. Woodward, Samm Levine, James Urbaniak, Dave (Gruber) Allen, Tangi Miller, Marc Evan Jackson, Angela Bettis and Paul F. Tompkins.  Drones features music from Dan Bern and Common Rotation.

To help promote the film, we’ve landed a high resolution version of the Slamdance poster and the trailer.  If you’re going to Park City and want to check the film out, plenty of info is on the poster.  Hit the jump for more:

I know the idea of a “Buffy the Vampire Slayer” motion picture re-launch without Joss Whedon shouldn’t surprise me but it does.  He fully crafted the character completely apart from its 1992 screen debut (which I enjoy but Whedon disowns) and built Buffy Summer and her gang of Scoobies over the course of seven seasons, the “Angel” spin-off, a couple of videogames, an eighth season if you count the comic books in addition to all the other comic tie-ins that Whedon briefly overseas but doesn’t maintain direct involvement.  And with all that, “Buffy” has never quite cracked the mainstream despite its fiercely devoted fanbase and actors like Sarah Michelle Gellar, Alyson Hannigan, and David Boreanaz being able to crack the mainstream with summer movies and TV shows like “How I Met Your Mother” and “Bones”.

But while “Joss Whedon” and “Buffy the Vampire Slayer” may seem inextricably tied to one another, Whedon doesn’t actually own the rights.  Those belong to Fran Rubel Kuzui (who directed the 1992 film) and her husband, Kaz Kuzui and according to The Hollywood Reporter, they’re thinking of joining up Roy Lee and Doug Davidson of Vertigo Entertainment to relaunch the character into a new franchise.