With its director and star in place, Spider-Man 4 is about to snare a Pulitzer Prize winner in its web.

David Lindsay-Abaire, the playwright who won the nation's highest literary achievement for his 2006 drama, The Rabbit Hole, is in final talks with Columbia Pictures to pen the latest superhero sequel, per the Hollywood Reporter.

Both director Sam Raimi and star Tobey Maguire signed on last month to the fourth and fifth web-slinger flicks, which will reportedly be shot together à la The Lord of the Rings to keep the budget down. No word yet on whether Kirsten Dunst will be back as Mary Jane Watson.

The plot of the fourth installment is being closely guarded. Lindsay-Abaire will be the latest acclaimed writer to board the blockbuster franchise, following veteran screenwriter David Koepp (Jurassic Park), who wrote the first Spider-Man back in 2002; fellow Pulitzer Prize winner Michael Chabon, who helped craft the story and wrote an early draft of 2004's Spider-Man 2; and two-time Oscar winner Alvin Sargent (Ordinary People, Paper Moon), who wrote the final drafts for Spider-Man 2 and Spider-Man 3.

Rabbit Hole starred Cynthia Nixon and Tyne Daly and won four Tonys, including Best Play. Lindsay-Abaire is adapting a movie version, to star Nicole Kidman, and is also working on the book and lyrics for the upcoming Broadway musical Shrek.

is currently slated for a May 7, 2010, release, while The Avengers is tentatively set to unspool July 15, 2011.

Downey, who after Iron Man made a splash this summer in the raunchy Tropic Thunder, is currently in London shooting his role as the titular sleuth in Guy Ritchie's Sherlock Holmes, costarring Jude Law and Rachel McAdams.

Here's some Stark reality for you.

The rejuvenated Robert Downey Jr. has inked an extensive deal with Marvel Studios that will have him not only suiting up for two more Iron Man films but also reprising the role of Tony Stark and his heavy-metal alter ego in the upcoming superhero all-stars film The Avengers, reports Variety.

While planning for Iron Man 2 has been in full swing for some time, with the most recent announcement being that Don Cheadle will be playing Col. James Rhodes instead of Terrence Howard, Marvel had not confirmed that Downey and director Jon Favreau would be back.

Well, not only will Favreau be behind the camera again, but he will also serve as a producer on The Avengers, featuring the Marvel characters Iron Man, the Incredible Hulk, Captain America and Thor (and not to be confused with the laughable 1998 film of the same name starring Ralph Fiennes and Uma Thurman).

But really, why wouldn't he and Downey want to give it another go?

In addition to mainly positive reviews, Iron Man grossed nearly $580 million worldwide, and sequel talk began before the movie had earned even half as much.

Iron Man 2 is currently slated for a May 7, 2010, release, while The Avengers is tentatively set to unspool July 15, 2011.

Downey, who after Iron Man made a splash this summer in the raunchy Tropic Thunder, is currently in London shooting his role as the titular sleuth in Guy Ritchie's Sherlock Holmes, costarring Jude Law and Rachel McAdams.

With so many different costumes at Dragon Con it's hard to stand out from the crowd. There are many things to consider however, when choosing a costume and one of my main points is ease of use. It's tough going to the bathroom in that Batman costume, so I chose a Pirate as one of my main costumes for CON. Having made that decision, I went about finding the best sites on the internet to build the perfect Pirate costume. Keep in mind that thare are many types of pirates, including the famous to the infamous and, of course the swabby.

Building a pirate costume requires lots of choices and a good amount of time to complete. If your crafty with the sewing machine, you can make a lot of what you'll need yourself. For those of us, myself included, who are tailor-challenged, then cobbling together a costume from bought items is the only way to go. You want to purchase stuff that will stand up to the rigors of CON*life, so make sure you shop around and get the highest quality for the best price. Also, many of the pirate type costume pants and coats DO NOT HAVE POCKETS, so youll want to get a belt bag or pouch to carry your stuff in.

Here is my collection of excellent sites that sell pirate gear. I have purchsed items from many of thses ellers and I can tell you, these are the best-of-the-best! If you have any links that you would like to share, email me at webtodd@hotmail.com and I'll share them with the community.

http://www.nativearth.net/custompage.html
http://www.sodhoppers.com/
http://www.pendragoncostumes.com/
http://www.armory.net/Clothing_Header.cfm/SectionId/clothing_men/start/25.htm
http://www.kristismart.com/index.php
http://www.twinrosesdesigns.com/index.html
http://www.caboots.com/
http://tobeapirate.com/
http://www.topnotchcostumes.com/index.html
http://www.centerstagecostumes.com/
http://tudorshoppe.com/Merchant2/merchant.mvc?Screen=SFNT
http://www.bestbuyswords.com/movieproducts.html
http://www.dearbloodymary.com/goth_products.html
http://www.captjackspiratehats.com/hats/original/blackbeard/
http://majesticvelvets.com/index.html
http://stores.ebay.com/Midnight-Breeze-Designs_Ladies-Medieval-Renaissance_W0QQcolZ2QQdirZQ2d1QQfsubZ3QQftidZ2QQtZkm
http://stores.ebay.com/ALTERED-EGO-COSTUMES_W0QQssPageNameZstrkQ3amefsQ3amesstQQtZkm
http://www.authenticwardrobe.com/Pirate/pirate.html
http://carlislesonline.com/
http://jas-townsend.com/index.php

Thanks for stopping by and enjoy the links!
Master Andre

Spock (Zachary Quinto) shows a bit of emotion.

My man Tony C., aka Blister Chicken, has just produced, directed and starred in his own short film! Slash Fiction is a 2 minute short created by Tony for the "Gimme that Gibson Les Paul" "Go for the Gold" Youtube Video Contest sponsred by Gibson and Slash himself. The grand prize is a brand new Gold Gibson Les Paul just like the one Slash uses on stage.

Check out the Video Here - Don't forget to Give it the 5 Stars it deserves!

The video opens up like a famous movie we have all seen and loved. It makes use of some pretty cool special effects added in by my man Tony C. in Adobe's After Effects. When Tony called me up and told me his plans for this film I have to admit, given the extremely short time frame he had to work in, I did not think he was going to complete the film in time for the contest. Low and behold, not only did he complete the filming, editing, sound and special effects, the damn film is AWESOME. Whether or not he wins the contest, it was still a tremendous effort done in an amazingly short time. PROPS and best of luck to Tony!

Additionally, Tony C. has another short film Minx Labrada's Untamed Forest up on youtube and is in production on a third feature length film, affectionately named CONTOURAGE. Keep it tuned in for more info on CONTOURAGE the movie.

Los Angeles (E! Online) - It seems Terrence Howard just didn't have the mettle for another Iron Man.

The Oscar-nominated actor is out of his role as Jim "Rhodey" Rhodes, Tony Stark's BFF and would-be flying partner War Machine, in Iron Man 2, after negotiations with Marvel fell through, per the Hollywood Reporter, due to "financial differences."

Don Cheadle has been tapped as Howard's replacement for the second go-round, in which Rhodes and his heroic alter ego War Machine get a much meatier part.

But while Howard is out, the rest of the players remain unchanged.

Robert Downey Jr. is, of course, back as the titular metal-suited man, and Gwyneth Paltrow is also expected to reprise the role of his assistant, Pepper Potts. Jon Favreau returns to the director's chair.

No start date has been set, though Iron Man 2 has been slated for release in April 2010.

Starting Saturday at the Henry Ford Museum, "Out of This World: Extraordinary Costumes from Film and Television" will showcase outfits and other memorabilia from science fiction and fantasy blockbusters. The show, organized by the Science Fiction Museum and Hall of Fame in Seattle, runs through Jan. 11.

For sci-fi geeks, standing in the presence of Darth Vader's black-on-black cape and mask from the original "Star Wars" is like discovering the Holy Grail. And come to think of it, that's part of the exhibit, too, or at least the one that Indiana Jones chose correctly at the end of "The Last Crusade."

What intrigues you most about the show may depend on your age. My boys, 7 and 9, loved seeing Indy's leather jacket and whip, while my wife and I gravitated toward stuff from the original "Star Trek" series. Best is the costume of the Gorn, the lizard creature that William Shatner was once forced to battle to the death. The only things missing are the Styrofoam boulders.

And yes, that "Star Wars" stuff is pretty awesome, including a light saber, storm trooper helmet and even Luke's severed hand from "The Empire Strikes Back." Look closely for tiny holes in Obi-Wan Kenobi's long brown cloak. You'll see that it has proved no match for Tatooine moths.

"Batman" artifacts include a garishly colored Robin costume from the old TV show, a Batmobile piloted by Michael Keaton and the so-called nipple suit worn by George Clooney in 1997's "Batman and Robin."

If I have one complaint, it's that the show isn't comprehensive enough. There's a 25-year gap between Margaret Hamilton's witch hat from 1939's "The Wizard of Oz" and the "Batman" TV series of the 1960s. Where are Klaatu's traveling duds from "The Day the Earth Stood Still" and Raquel Welch's scuba suit from "Fantastic Voyage"?

That said, "Out of this World" is definitely worth the trip, if only to give you fresh costume ideas for Halloween.

The exhibit is free with museum admission ($14, $13 seniors, $10 children) to the Henry Ford Museum, 20900 Oakwood Blvd., Dearborn. 313-982-6001 or www.TheHenryFord.org.

With all of the prep for Dragon Con, I almost missed this story. Universal Pictures has acquired the film rights to one of my favorite epic fantasy series, "The Wheel of Time"!

Red Eagle Entertainment (who published graphic novel adaptations of the series) will be producing the movies. They have a seven-figure deal that includes the rights to all twelve books in the series, including the soon-to-be published twelveth book. Author Robert Jordan passed away while writing the final book in the series. But, he left copious notes, and author Brandon Sanderson has completed the novel, which will be available in Fall 2009.

Obviously, I am happy about the news. I absolutely love the "Wheel of Time" series. However, I do have mixed feelings about a movie adaptation.

First of all, there is no way that they can produce twelve movies. Just look at "Harry Potter" - even with just seven books and movies, the actors have aged. Twelve movies will just take too long to make to keep the same actors.

The second reservation that I have concerns the complexity of the novels. Jordan has literally hundreds of characters in these novels. The modern film audience is not usually expected to keep up with more than a handful of main protagonists - and these novels have fully functional, separate storylines, each with its own hero. The task of adapting these novels is gigantic.

Finally, it seems that Robert Jordan did not care for the Red Eagle Entertainment folks. Here's a quote from what is reportedly Jordan's last blog post:

I hear things now and then floating out in the air. For instance, I hear that word was floating about ComicsCon in San Diego that I am displeased with Red Eagle. Too true. Too very true. ...Red Eagle thought they could tell me they spit in the soup, or pee in it, if they wanted to and there wasn’t anything I could do to stop them. You can’t apologize your way out of that with me, not that they tried. There isn’t enough money in the world to buy your way out of it with me. Not that they tried that either. So they get no further help from me. Once they are completely out of the picture, we’ll see what happens.

My initial excitement has been tempered. My prediction: I bet Red Eagle attempts to make this an animated movie series - which would not be good, considering Jordan's previous comments. I think an HBO-style mini-series would be the only true way to do the series justice.

GREAT NEWS! We just got word from Beth, the coordinator at Frolicon that CON*tourage will indeed have a party suite at Frolicon 2009. This will be our first year as a team coming to Frolicon and we are really excited about it. We are in the planning stages of some super-wild parties to throw into the mix so stay tuned for more info.

From what Bama Spyder has to say, there are a lot of parties at Frolicon, so there is a sort of competition between groups to throw the most outrageous party. The way I undertand it, all the party rooms are connected forming one huge party, although I may be wrong about that. We intend to do our very best to throw the most kick @$$ party of the entire CON. More word to come on our plans...

Elf Fantasy Fair - The Netherlands
by Master Andre

My man Tony C. sent me a link to this amazing CON held twice annually in the Netherlands and also starting next year in Germany. This CON is for the most serious of Hardcore CON*goers. It is held on the grounds of a picturesque castle and from what I have seen on thier website, it is a CON*tourage wet dream.

Outrageous costuming is one of the main activities here and the costumes get more and more creative every year, says their website. The next Elf Fantasy Fair will be held on 25 & 26 April 2009 at the Castle de Haar near the City Utrecht in the Netherlands. The first Elf Fantasy Fair Arcen will take place on 19 & 20 September 2009 at castle Arcen near Mönchengladbach in Germany.

What is the Elf Fantasy Fair?

Every year in April since 2001, a substantial number of 25,000 people from all over Europe and the U.S. come to the largest Fantasy event on the European continent: the Elf Fantasy Fair.

Two-thirds of the visitors have transformed into orcs, magicians, dragons, knights, vampires, elves, unicorns, gothic lolita, manga comic hero or a combination of these. Every year the costumes are getting more resourceful and more artistic.

In the midst of the budding nature of the Castle park which belongs to the largest castle in the Netherlands - Kasteel de Haar - fantasy lovers indulge themselves in all that is offered and coveted: medieval music, dancing, lectures, theatre plays, and parades.

Every year internationally renowned authors, actors, artists and musicians visit the Fantasy realm Elfië, which is how the Elf Fantasy Fair is sometimes called. Since 2008 the themes, which include Fantasy, Medieval and Witchcraft have been extended with areas especially focusing on Manga, Sci-Fi and Gothic.

In 2009 an extra theme will be added: the Apocalypse. Prepare yourself for: angels and demons invading Elfië; lectures about the Mayan calendars and the ancient Egyptians; mythical prophets and oracles prophesizing either impending doom or a hopeful future.

FOR MORE INFO, CLICK HERE TO VISIT THE WEBSITE

Ghostbusters 3 Movie

Two writers from the US version of The Office have been recruited to write a third instalment of Ghostbusters, according to trade newspaper Variety.

Lee Eisenberg and Gene Stupnitsky's hiring is seen as a sure sign the long-mooted comedy will finally be made.

Ghostbusters and its 1989 sequel saw Bill Murray, Dan Aykroyd and Harold Ramis as bumbling scientists who rid New York of paranormal threats.

It is hoped the new film will reunite the original cast.

Columbia Pictures has declined to comment on whether a third Ghostbusters was in development, Variety reported. But director John Landis, who worked with Aykroyd on The Blues Brothers and Trading Places, has said the film would definitely be made.

"I'm not involved but I know it's happening," he told the BBC News website at the Venice Film Festival.

Eisenberg and Stupnitsky recently collaborated with Ramis on the script for his new film Year One.

Computer game

Last year the original Ghostbusters cast signed up to lend their faces and voices to a computer game based on the hit film series.

The game's storyline was being written by stars Aykroyd (Ray Stantz) and Harold Ramis (Egon Spengler), who also scripted the first two films.

But the game's future was thrown into doubt when publisher Activision announced it would not be releasing the finished product.

Developers Vivendi insisted the game had not been cancelled, and that it would be published by another company.

Tim Burton has cast a little known Australian actor for the title role in his big-screen adaptation of Alice in Wonderland.

The Canberra-born, 18-year-old Mia Wasikowska will disappear down the rabbit hole in Burton's take on the Lewis Carroll classic, which is to be presented in 3D using a mix of live action and performance capture CGI.

Alice in Wonderland is the latest example of Burton's passion for fantasy tales, following his earlier films Charlie and the Chocolate Factory and Edward Scissorhands.

"It's such a classic and the imagery is so surreal," Burton has said in the past. "The stories are like drugs for children. It's like, 'Whoa, man'. So I think it's an interesting challenge." Screenwriter Linda Woolverton, who previously penned The Lion King, is adapting the novel.

The decision to cast Wasikowska brings to an end a long casting process for the role of Alice. The actor got her screen debut in the Australian TV series All Saints in 2004 and 2005. She is currently working on Amelia, the biopic of aviation pioneer Amelia Earhart helmed by Monsoon Wedding's Mira Nair.

Wasikowska will next be seen opposite Daniel Craig in Defiance, a drama about Polish Jews escaping the Nazis to join Russian fighters in the forests of Belarus.

Tim Burton's Alice in Wonderland is due to hit cinemas in 2010.

Actor Johnny Depp will be returning to his most recognized role, that of Captain Jack Sparrow for a fourth film in the “Pirates of the Caribbean” film franchise.

When the third film closed out with such huge numbers, many fans wondered if the reclusive star could be coaxed back for a fourth. Then rumors really spread when Depp himself indicated during a red carpet interview that he felt the character still had a lot to say and do and wouldn’t shy away from taking him on again sometime in the future.

After accepting the role of Tonto for the next “The Lone Ranger” remake and the part of the Mad Hatter for a Tim Burton reimagining of “Alice in Wonderland,” Depp said that he will definitely be reprising Captain Jack for another “Pirates.” Jerry Bruckheimer is also on board to produce the Disney sequel and also the “Ranger” film. Depp is has also been tapped to star in “Sin City 3.”

Eactly when the next Pirates film will come to pass is anybody’s guess. Depp’s slate is pretty full with a total of 9 new films (not including “Pirates 4″) on his docket at various stages of development.

To date, all three “Pirates of the Caribbean” films combined have grossed well over $2.5 billion worldwide.