When any recognizable comic book character is coming to the big screen, everybody loves to do some fantasy casting, imagining just who could bring a familiar hero or villain to life.  Well, Lobo might not be as ubiquitous a comic book fixture as Spider-Man or Superman, nor is his first cinematic outing guaranteed, but the DC Comics anti-hero is nonetheless a big personality and a Lobo movie is in development.  And it looks like Warner Bros. and company have a good mind to get Dwayne Johnson to play the intergalactic biker.

The DC Comics character of Lobo has, somewhat improbably, been the subject of numerous attempts at cinematic adaptation, including the long, long-ago rumored Superman movie that would pit the Kryptonian against the big blue alien biker.  Unlike many of the squeaky clean inhabitants of the DC Universe, Lobo is a different beast, a grizzled alien with no morals and a love of the old ultra-violence.  So it's somewhat surprising that Warner Bros has hired the director of Cats & Dogs: The Revenge of Kitty Galore to develop Lobo.

For a long, long time, the conventional wisdom regarding sequels was that they were inherently endeavors of diminishing returns, with each entry making less money than the one before.  Of course, these days juggernaut franchises have proven that to no longer be the case; the seven biggest movies of 2011 have all been sequels, starting with Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows: Part 2 and down through Cars 2.  The two widest releases this weekend made a case that certain properties lead to franchise fatigue faster than others, as both Sherlock Holmes: A Game of Shadows and Alvin and the Chipmunks: Chipwrecked, couldn't equal the debuts of their predecessors.  Still, the limited released of Mission: Impossible - Ghost Protocol could indicate that, after fifteen years, the Mission: Impossible franchise could still have some kick.

Sherlock Holmes: A Game of Shadows arrives at a theater near you in a matter of mere days, You've probably noticed, based on the ubiquitous nationwide advertising campaign touting Robert Downey Jr. and Jude Law reprising their roles as Holmes and Watson, Sir Arthur Conan Doyle's quintessential detective duo.  Over the last week, TV spots for the sequel to 2009's Sherlock Holmes have been in frequent rotation and have featured many a quotation of critical praise from print and online journalists.  Two of those television spots include quotes from IAR's own Managing Editor Jami Philbrick, who enthuses in one that Game of Shadows is "Even better than the original."

So to commemorate IAR's formal recommendation of the new release from Warner Bros. hitting theaters this Friday, check out both TV spots below, and keep your eyes peeled for the words of Jami Philbrick and the sight of IAR's namesake:

Joel Silver is without a doubt one of the most successful Hollywood producers of all-time. His career goes back over thirty-years and he is responsible for some of the most popular movies ever including 48 Hrs., Predator, Die Hard, the Lethal Weapon series, and The Matrix franchise.

Producer Susan Downey first worked with Silver on the 2002 film Ghost Ship, and their collaboration continued on such films as Cradle 2 the Grave, and House of Wax. But it was the movie Gothika that probably had the biggest impact on Susan Downey personally, as that is where she met her now husband, two-time Oscar-nominated actor Robert Downey Jr.

Silver had first worked with Downey Jr. in the early ‘80s on Weird Science, and was no stranger to the actor’s brilliant, yet unusual body of work. Silver and the Downeys would eventually go on to make the 2005 cult classic comedy Kiss Kiss Bang Bang together, but after the actor’s inexplicable success in a series of films based on a certain Marvel Comics superhero (Iron Man, Iron Man 2, and next summer’s The Avengers), Silver and the married couple wanted to create their own movie franchise at Warner Bros. They began with ‘2009s smash hit action-mystery Sherlock Holmes, and now hope to continue that success with Sherlock Holmes: A Game of Shadows, which opens in theaters on December 16^th.

If you happen to be making a tentpole movie with a budget over $100 million, you might want to be mindful of the bottom line.  Not too long at after news that Legendary Pictures is postponing the start of production on Paradise Lost due to a budget that has swelled from 10% to 15% over its initial $120 figure, we're now hearing that Warner Bros is so concerned about the budgetary waistline of Arthur & Lancelot that the studio will simply opt out of the project if it can't be made cheaper.

Opening in theaters on December 16th is the long awaited sequel to '2009s hit action mystery Sherlock Holmes, entitled Sherlock Holmes: A Game of Shadows. Director Guy Ritchie returns to helm the second film of the franchise that once again stars Oscar-nominee Robert Downey Jr. (Iron Man 2) in the title role and fellow Oscar nominee Jude Law (Hugo) as his faithful sidekick Dr. Watson. Also making a return are actors Rachel McAdams (Midnight in Paris), Eddie Marsan (Hancock), and Kelly Reilly (Me and Orson Welles), who are joined by series newcomers Noomi Rapace (Prometheus), Stephen Fry (V For Vendetta), and Jared Harris (TV's Mad Men) as the villain Professor Moriarty. 

IAR's managing editor Jami Philbrick recently had a chance to sit down and chat with writers Kieran and Michele Mulroney (Justice League) about their work on Sherlock Holmes: A Game of Shadows. The writers discussed the new film, joining the franchise, the "bromance" between Holmes and Watson, limiting Rachel MacAdams' role and creating a new female character, developing Moriarty's evil scheme, and introducing Sherlock's brother Mycroft Holmes. 

Sherlock Holmes: A Game of Shadows is just a few weeks away from hitting theaters from coast to coast, so Warner Bros has obliged with its very last poster for the sequel.  2009's Sherlock Holmes established a pretty easy to understand formula, taking Sir Arthur Conan Doyle's famous detective and liberally adding speed-ramping action, big visual effects, the skewed charm of Robert Downey Jr., and plenty of barely-repressed homoeroticism.  In keeping with this philosophy, the final A Game of Shadows one sheet is pretty simple, with Downey Jr. and Jude Law as Holmes and Watson on the streets of Paris.  You know for sure its Paris because of the Eiffel Tower in the background, as has been the standard means of denoting Paris onscreen since time immemorial.

Much in the same way that Batman Begins ended with a teasing promise that a sequel would introduce The Joker, 2009's Sherlock Holmes concluded with assurances that another round of ass-kicking and detective work would find Sir Arthur Conan Doyle's detective going head-to-head with his nemesis, Professor Moriarty.  A new featurette promoting Sherlock Holmes: A Game of Shadows gives our most extensive look at Jared Harris as Moriarty, along with plenty of other new footage and interview snippets featuring Robert Downey Jr., Jude Law, and returning director Guy Ritchie.

Rather than focusing on Holmes finally meeting his intellectual match, the marketing for this sequel has thrown oodles of speed-ramping action at audiences, demonstrating again and again that Holmes and Watson will continue to beat bad guys senseless and get shot at.  A lot.  This new featurette isn't too different, but it sprinkles in some tiny ideas of the actual plot.  Not many, but a few.

Two years back, Warner Bros made a blockbuster out of the world's most famous detective in Sherlock Holmes by giving Sir Arthur Conan Doyle's brilliant investigator a more robust physicality and sending him through a bunch of large-scale action and fight scenes.  Though there was absolutely no doubt in anyone's mind that the upcoming sequel Sherlock Holmes: A Game of Shadows would provide more of the same, the marketing campaign is singlemindedly focused on showing audiences that this sequel will indeed feature no shortage of speed-ramping, gun-firing action.  Since it's impossible to put speed-ramping action on a poster, four new character posters for the film show Robert Downey Jr., Jude Law, Noomi Rapace, and Jared Harris each wielding a weapon, from a club to throwing knives and couple of handguns.