The Hero Complex Film Festival always manages to put together a great line-up with fantastic speakers, and 2013 is going to be no different.  The L.A. Times has sent out a press release announcing that this year’s Hero Complex Film Festival will celebrate horror and sci-fi by screening films from and talking to John Carpenter, Frank Darabont, Chris Carter, Roland Emmerich, and Guillermo del Toro.  There will be showings of Halloween, They Live, The Mist, Pan’s Labyrinth, The Devil’s Backbone, and Independence Day.  Also, to celebrate the 20th anniversary of the X-Files, the film festival will show three of the series’ best episodes uncut: “Pilot”, “Clyde Bruckman’s Final Repose”, and “Jose Chung’s from Outer Space”.

Hit the jump for the full press release.  The 2013 Hero Complex Film Festival runs from May 10 – 12th.

News on the Godzilla reboot continues to roll in with new comments from Frank Darabont concerning his impending rewrite.  Earlier this month, the three-time Oscar-nominated screenwriter/director (The Shawshank Redemption, The Green Mile) came on to do a final draft of a script previously turned in by Max Borenstein.  While the shortlist of actors for the lead may have Aaron Taylor-Johnson (Kick-Ass) in the front of the pack, Darabont is more concerned with the elephant giant gorilla-whale in the room.  He recently mentioned returning Godzilla to his origins as “a terrifying force of nature.”  Hit the jump to see what else he has in store. 

Gareth Edwards‘ reboot of Godzilla just got a monster screenwriting boost, but there could be a rampage behind the scenes.  First, the good news: Deadline reports that Frank Darabont (The Shawshank Redemption) has come on board to do a final rewrite on the script, which was previously written by Max Borenstein (Seventh Son).  That’s not intended to slight Borenstein’s script (which I haven’t read), but I have faith in Darabont even though he seemed to struggle with The Walking Dead in its first season.  Nevertheless, the guy has a great track record with Shawshank, The Green Mile, and The Mist.  I assume that his involvement in Godzilla means the entire movie will be about the importance of hope or else monsters will obliterate everything you know and love.

While Darabont is working on bringing drama to the screen, drama is already brewing behind the scenes between Legendary Pictures and producers Dan Lin and Roy Lee.  Hit the jump for more.  Godzilla opens in 3D on May 16, 2014.

Last night, after a months of speculation (and—for those that slept outside the Mondo Gallery in anticipation of the event—after a few restless nights on the sidewalk lining 41^st and Guadalupe in downtown Austin, TX) the good folks at Mondo finally opened the doors on their Universal Monsters Gallery show.  With nearly 20 new prints on sale, over 50 original pieces of artwork, and surprise appearances from legendary poster artist Drew Struzan and Shawshank Redemption director Frank Darabont, the show was a smash success.

Wanna see some images from the show and hear what Limited Paper thought about the whole thing?  Meet me after the jump, folks.

TNT is looking to further reshape the television landscape by developing Dean Koontz’s best-selling Frankenstein novels into a series and putting a six-episode series order on L.A. Noir, officially returning Frank Darabont (The Walking Dead) to TV.  James V. Hart (Dracula, Hook) and his son Jake Hart will script the modern-day retelling of the Mary Shelley mythology for the Frankenstein series.  Set in New Orleans, the story centers on a war between Dr. Victor Frankenstein and his monstrous creation, Helios. Each survived a fight in the arctic 200 years ago, but the not-so-good doctor has been busy crafting an army of creatures that answer only to him.  The two sides resume their war with New Orleans caught in the middle. Deadline reports that the elder Hart makes his series writing debut with Frankenstein, making him the most recent feature talent to transition to the small screen.  Hit the jump for more on Frankenstein as well as news on Darabont’s L.A. Noir.

We’re about a month away from the premiere of the third season of The Walking Dead on AMC, but that doesn’t mean you have to wait that long to go inside the infamous prison.  In what’s sure to be the centerpiece of the upcoming season, the prison will act as a safehouse of sorts for our remaining heroes.  But for how long?  Well, before the living start staking claims and the dead start wandering its halls, The Walking Dead creator, Robert Kirkman is here to take us on a behind-the-scenes tour of the prison.

The Walking Dead, starring Andrew Lincoln, Norman Reedus, Chandler Riggs, Sarah Wayne Callies, Steven Yuen, Michael Rooker and IronE Singleton, returns to AMC starting Sunday, October 14th.  Hit the jump to take the tour.

As we reported a few months back, writer/director Frank Darabont cushioned his ousting from AMC’s The Walking Dead by swiftly landing a gig with TNT to helm their period drama L.A. Noir. The project is based on the book L.A. Noir: The Struggle for the Soul of America’s Most Seductive City which focuses on the decades-long conflict between Los Angeles police chief William Parker and mobster / former boxer Mickey Cohen.

Darabont already succeeded in pulling several exited cast members from his former series to his new project (to avoid spoilers for anyone behind on their viewing, names will be revealed after the jump). Now, Darabont is in talks with Thomas Jane (Hung), whose HBO series was recently cancelled after three seasons, to play mobster Bugsy Siegel.  For more on the project, hit the jump.

Milo Ventimiglia (Heroes) is making the jump from network to cable television in Frank Darabont’s (The Walking Dead) TNT drama pilot, L.A. Noir. Set in the 1940s and 50s, L.A. Noir is billed as a fast-paced crime drama based on the book, “L.A. Noir: The Struggle for the Soul of America’s Most Seductive City” by author, John Buntin. Darabont will write, direct and produce L.A. Noir and will reunite with a cast member from AMC’s hit series, The Walking Dead. Hit the jump to see more on L.A. Noir and just who may be leaving The Walking Dead. We’ll warn you before any potential spoilers.

Talk about a doozy. A certain star from AMC’s immensely popular zombie series The Walking Dead is now in early negotiations to join ex-Walking Dead showrunner Frank Darabont’s new period crime drama show at TNT. As this likely means said Walking Dead castmember won’t survive past the current second season, I’m keeping things spoiler-free here on the front page. Darabont was shockingly fired from the smash hit cable series after sparring with AMC over budget cuts and creative issues concerning the record-breaking show, but quickly recovered and is now working on a new series.

The Shawshank Redemption filmmaker wasted absolutely no time moving on, as we reported earlier this month that he’s set up an incredibly ambitious pilot at TNT called L.A. Noir. The show takes place in 1940s L.A. and chronicles the battle between the Los Angeles police and mobster Mickey Cohen. If you want to know, hit the jump to find out which Walking Dead castmember may be headed for the exit door. Be forewarned MAJOR SPOILERS for The Walking Dead lie after the jump.

After being forced out of AMC’s The Walking Dead over creative issues, writer/director Frank Darabont assured fans that he wouldn’t be absent from television for long. The man spoke truth, as today TNT has announced that they’ve ordered a pilot for a drama series called L.A. Noir that Darabont will write, direct, and executive produce. The project is based on the book L.A. Noir: The Struggle for the Soul of America’s Most Seductive City which focuses on the struggle between Los Angeles police chief William Parker and mobster Mickey Cohen. Darabont described the project thusly:

“The goal is to deliver on the tone that the title L.A. Noir promises: a smart, gritty, authentic, period noir drama.”

Hit the jump for much more.

Many were surprised to learn yesterday that series creator/executive producer/director Frank Darabont had stepped down as showrunner on AMC’s massively popular series The Walking Dead. Refusing to let the news hamper business as usual, the network has now promoted Darabont’s number two, Glen Mazzara, to the position of showrunner. Mazzara joined the series near the end of 2010 (penning the episode “Wildfire”) and has previously worked on shows such as The Shield, Criminal Minds: Suspect Behavior, and Hawthorne.

News of Mazzara’s promotion comes courtesy of EW. The report mentions that it is still unclear what role Darabont, who is currently under a two-year contract, will contribute to Dead (perhaps a consultant?). The show is currently shooting its second season in Georgia with the premiere scheduled for Sunday, October 16th.

In an incredibly surprising development, series creator/executive producer/director Frank Darabont has stepped down as showrunner on AMC’s smash hit The Walking Dead. This comes as a huge shock, as Darabont was just present on Friday at the show’s Comic-Con panel and seemed fine. Moreover, the show is currently in the middle of production on season two. There’s speculation that he may be off the show completely, but talks are still ongoing about him staying on in some capacity. Hit the jump for more.

After their wildly successful first season, the cast and crew of The Walking Dead shambled into Ballroom 20 at Comic Con to thank the fans for their support and share some info about the upcoming season. First to arrive was the creative team of series creator/writer/director/executive producer Frank Darabont, executive producers Gale Anne Hurd and Robert Kirkman (creator/writer of The Walking Dead comic book series) and makeup artist and consulting producer, Greg Nicotero. Next came the principal cast, including Andrew Lincoln, Jon Bernthal, Sarah Wayne Callies, Laurie Holden, Norman Reedus, Steven Yeun and Jeffrey DeMunn. Hit the jump to see what cast and crew have in store for fans in season 2, plus a new trailer.

We’ve already gotten a look at the first image from the anticipated second season of AMC’s hit drama series The Walking Dead, and with October inching slowly closer, now we have this awesome new teaser trailer as well. It’s nothing too mind-blowing, but it accomplishes just what any good teaser trailer should and leaves you wanting Halloween to get here sooner than later for the second season premiere. The cut to the title complete with some splatter is a nice touch, but you’ll see what I mean when you watch the trailer after the jump.
[Update: Comic creator and series executive producer Robert Kirkman has confirmed via Twitter that this trailer is indeed fan made. No official season two trailer exists at the moment. Nevertheless, whoever made this teaser did a damn fine job]

It’s that time of the week again: a time when I completely overlook the plethora of coverage we’ve provided our readers with in the preceding week, all in the name of bringing you the best stories we have to offer. In this week’s “Top 5″ installment you’ll find all kinds of premium content such as Michael Caine’s potential The Dark Knight Rises spoiler, our set visit coverage of The Muppets, the first images from Peter Jackson’s The Hobbit, producer Dean Devlin talking about potential sequels for Independence Day and Stargate, and our exclusive interview with Frank Darabont and producer Gale Anne Hurd regarding AMC’s The Walking Dead.

Hit the jump to find brief recaps and links to each.