The West Coast is finally going to get punch drunk on Butterbeer.  Warner Bros and Universal Studios have formally announced that The Wizarding World of Harry Potter, the theme park attraction which has been doing gangbusters business in Orlando, Florida, will be getting a counterpart at Universal Studios in Hollywood.  That's right, just because the theatrical franchise concluded with Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows: Part 2 doesn't mean that JK Rowling's world of the Boy Who Lived can't continue to be a cash cow with golden teats.  Not only will Hogwarts and Hogsmeade show in Los Angeles, but the original location is also set for an expansion.  The space previously occupied by the Jaws Amity Island attraction at Universal Studios Orlando will soon be home to Harry Potter's London, Diagon Alley, and The Hogwarts Express.

One of the many pleasant surprises in Matthew Vaughn's prequel X-Men: First Class earlier this summer was Kevin Bacon's turn as arch-villain Sebastian Shaw.  From his first scene as a Nazi scientist, Bacon hits exactly the right tone as a Bond-style baddie who toots around in  swankily-decorated nuclear submarine.  The actor also recently played less-than-loveable figures in Super and this weekend's Crazy, Stupid, Love., so it's not hugely surprising that he's currently in final negotiations to play the bad guy in R.I.P.D., the supernatural action comedy starring Ryan Reynolds and Jeff Bridges.

So far, toy conglomerate Hasbro's most successful translation of its properties to film has been, without a doubt, the Transformers franchise, which has been hugely profitable at multiplexes and in toy aisles everywhere.  It's not terribly surprising then, that the teaser trailer for Battleship – the first of a slew of planned board game adaptations that includes Risk, Monopoloy Ouija, and Candyland – recalls the Transformers films in look and content, with gorgeous cinematography, loving shots of military hardware, lots of ridiculously good-looking actors, and big, dangerous alien ships intent on blowing stuff up.  Instead of a stammering teen as the hero, though, Battleship has Taylor Kitsch (also next year's John Carter) as a naval maverick.

Well, it's Monday, which means that this year's Comic-Con International is officially over and downtown San Diego will promptly go back to being another American city, not the capitol of all things nerdtastic.  In a trailer for the Morgan Spurlock-directed documentary Comic-Con Episode 4: A Fan's Hope, no less a luminary than Guillermo del Toro described the Con as a Russian nesting doll, defined by seemingly endless Comic-Cons contained within.  This year was no exception, providing fans of every stripe with a multitude of different experiences to suit their enthusiasms, whether they be in realms of comics, movies, television, videogames, action figures, cosplay, or anything else. 

Within the nesting doll that was Comic-Con 2011, IAR had a very specific experience, devoted to bringing the best possible coverage of cinematic goings-on in San Diego.  Now that it's all over, we present Con-a-Rama, a breakdown of our coverage from all over the Con, including new information on Immortals, The Amazing Spider-Man, Prometheus, and more.  Click on anything blue to find the coverage.

In 1977, Star Wars irrevocably changed the look and feel of cinematic science fiction.  The influence of George Lucas' storytelling and his "used future" philosophy of production design is still evident on any number of huge movies, including Peter Jackson's take on JRR Tolkein's Lord of the Rings Star Wars trilogy.  Much like before it, that fantasy trilogy has changed the way modern audiences perceive the genre, and seemingly every subsequent fantasy film owes a debt to the saga of the One Ring.  As Universal prepares to commence production on Snow White and the Huntsman, the studio prepared a panel presentation for San Diego Comic-Con, and its evident that this film will be a Lord of the Rings-flavored take on the familiar fairy tale.

The panel included in person appearances from director Rupert Sanders, along with producers Joe Roth and Palak Patel, as well as principal cast members Kristen Stewart, Chris Hemsworth, Charlize Theron (making her second panel appearance after Thursday's Prometheus event), and Sam Claflin. 

For awhile there, it really looked like Universal Studios was going to show some cajones of unparalleled size by financing The Dark Tower, an adaptation of the seven-novel series by Stephen King that would span a hugely expensive  motion picture trilogy and two limited-run seasons of a television series.  Along with his writer Akiva Goldsman and producing partner Brian Grazer, director Ron Howard was zipping through preproduction, even snagging Oscar winner Javier Bardem to play the principal character, Roland Deschain.  In May, they hit some serious budgetary speedbumps, but the project was not yet dead at Universal until now, as Deadline reports that the studio has opting against proceeding with The Dark Tower.

So Universal is zipping along with The Bourne Legacy, a franchise continuation that will not star Matt Damon or feature the character of Jason Bourne, but will leave the door open for his possible return at some later date.  After an extensive search that at one point seemed to include every possible leading man within a twenty-year age range, the studio and writer-director Tony Gilroy settled on Jeremy Renner to play a fellow graduate of a covert CIA assassin program who gets in some trouble.  With Rachel Weisz on board to play the leading lady, it looks like Edward Norton will also join the project, making The Bourne Legacy his most commercial endeavor since The Incredible Hulk back in 2008.

In the last weekend of April, Fast Five opened to a huge $86.2 million, ensuring that we would see a sixth entry in the Fast and Furious franchise sooner as opposed to later, particularly given that star Vin Diesel and producer Neal H. Moritz have publicly stated their intent to continue vigorously milking this cash cow.  Universal Studios has announced a release date for as-yet untitled Fast and Furious 6, so presuming we survive the imminent Mayan apocalypse, we can look forward to more automotive mayhem on May 24, 2013.

A week ago, news broke that Universal Studios had halted pre-production on The Dark Tower, director Ron Howard and writer Akiva Goldsman's massively ambitious adaptation of the novel series by Stephen King.  Reportedly daunted by the huge budget required for a huge fantasy western film trilogy and two limited-run television series to connect the films, the studio abandoned the planned autumn production start and was likely to put the project into turnaround, but now it looks like The Dark Tower will remain at Universal, albeit with a reduced budget.

Director Ron Howard, producer Brian Grazer, and writer Akiva Goldsman recently locked down Javier Bardem to play the gunslinger Roland Deschain in The Dark Tower, their hugely ambitious adaptation of the Stephen King novel series that will encompass a trilogy of films and pair of limited-run television series, but it appears that Universal Studios has gotten cold feet.  Dripping flop sweat over the fantasy project's necessarily huge budget, the studio has temporarily put the kibosh on preproduction and may abandon the endeavor, allowing Howard and Co. to shop it to other studios.