Access Week In Geek: Tom Hardy’s ‘Dark Knight Rises’ Villian Revealed (May 20, 2011)

In the Access “Week In Geek,” Tom Hardy is revealed as Batman villain “Bane”… Armie Hammer gets ready to saddle up as the Lone Ranger next to Johnny Depp’s Tonto… Wonder Woman loses another live action opportunity… and James Cameron’s “Titanic” in 3-D sets a release date.

TOM HARDY’S “DARK KNIGHT RISES” VILLAIN REVEALED – Hot on the heels of Warner Bros.’ announcement this week that principle photography began on “The Dark Knight Rises,” the studio followed up by releasing an image of Tom Hardy in costume as the villain Bane on the movie’s official website.

In the comic’s lore, Bane is a masked, drug-enhanced muscle man, responsible for taking down Batman by breaking the black-suited superhero’s back over his knee. The image reveals that Hardy has indeed bulked up for the role and the character looks very true to the comic’s source material. “The Dark Knight Rises” is set for a July 20, 2012 release and stars Christian Bale as Batman/Bruce Wayne, Anne Hathaway as Selina Kyle, Marion Cotillard as Miranda Tate and Joseph Gordon-Levitt as John Blake.

ARMIE HAMMER LANDS “LONE RANGER” LEAD – According to Variety, “The Social Network” star Armie Hammer will be saddling up as the Lone Ranger along side Johnny Depp’s Tonto in the re-imagining of the iconic radio and television series.

The film, from the team of uber-producer Jerry Bruckheimer and his “Pirates of the Caribbean” director Gore Verbinski, is expected to start production after their stars wrap their next projects.

Depp will next re-team with director Tim Burton on the “Dark Shadows” reboot as the vampire Barnabas Collins. Hammer will star as the Prince in “The Brothers Grimm: Snow White,” alongside “The Blind Side’s” Lily Collins (as Snow White) and Julia Roberts (as the Evil Queen).

“GHOSTBUSTERS” HQ TARGETED TO CLOSE ITS DOORS? – The New York Post reports that the iconic Tribeca firehouse that served as the exterior of the Ghostbusters home base in both big screen films is in danger of being shut down due to NYC budget cuts.

Sadly, Ladder Co. 8 is on a list of 20 firehouses in NYC being considered for closure.

The proposed third “Ghostbusters” film has been in development for years, but the project has yet to be officially green lit for production. Script details are mostly speculative at this point, so there is no word yet on whether Doctors Venkman, Stantz, and Spengler would still be using the NY landmark as their base of operations on the big screeen.

“WONDER WOMAN” NOT ON NBC’S FALL SCHEDULE – One of the more high profile fall pilots that had the full attention (and scrutiny) of internet fans was David E. Kelley’s take on “Wonder Woman.” NBC ultimately passed on green lighting it to series. Entertainment Weekly caught up with NBC Entertainment Chairman Robert Greenblatt who explained why the show ultimately didn’t fit into the schedule.

“I hate to disappoint anybody. I know there are legions of fans of the original show,” Greenblatt said. “I don’t know if it’s cursed or what. I just have this one experience. They made a really fine pilot and Adrianne Palicki did a fantastic job. You look at what you have, what you need, and it just didn’t seem to fit in with what we were doing.”

After years of development for the big screen, Joss Whedon and producer Joel Silver both threw in the towel in trying to reinvent the character in a way they felt would do her justice. With the TV show now a no-go, the iconic DC heroine may be ready to head back for a big screen version. Warner Bros. already has its eye set on a “Justice League” movie, where the Amazon princess could appear next to their other big screen superheroes: Superman, Batman, and Green Lantern.

MICHELLE WILLIAMS HEADING TO “OZ”? – Variety reports that Michelle Williams will join James Franco and Mila Kunis in director Sam Raimi’s prequel film “Oz, the Great and Powerful.” Williams will reportedly play Glinda, the Good Witch, and Franco is set to portray the young Wizard of Oz when he is first transported to the magical realm.

HE MUPPETS ARE RETURNING TO THE BIG SCREEN – Check out the new teaser poster at USA Today. Click HERE to see it.

“TRANSFORMERS” TO ROLL OUT TWO DAYS EARLIER – “Transformers: Dark of the Moon” will roll out two days earlier according to Deadline.

The third film in the franchise will now hit IMAX 3-D and 2-D theatres on Wednesday, June 29th (up from Friday, July 1st), giving it a bigger lead in on what will likely be a monster July 4 box office weekend for the film.

‘TITANIC’ RE-RELEASE IN 3-D DATE ANNOUNCED – Paramount Pictures, Twentieth Century Fox, and Lightstorm Entertainment announced this week that 1997’s “Titanic” will be re-released into theatres in 3-D on April 6, 2012 (marking the 100th anniversary of the date the ship set sail, which was on April 10, 1912).

Director James Cameron said in a statement: “There’s a whole generation that’s never seen ‘Titanic’ as it was meant to be seen, on the big screen. And this will be ‘Titanic’ as you’ve never seen it before, digitally re-mastered at 4K and painstakingly converted to 3-D. With the emotional power intact and the images more powerful than ever, this will be an epic experience for fans and newcomers alike.”