09.04.08: Del Toro Signs Four-Picture Deal, Millar Reveals 'Superman' Reboot Scheme, Trailer Guy Dies

Guillermo Del Toro is officially a big movie hog. As if getting his mitts on a two-movie adaptation of The Hobbit weren't enough, he's just signed a four-movie directing deal with Universal that basically ties him up until 2017. The four movies in the deal are remakes of Frankenstein, Dr. Jekyll And Mr. Hyde and Slaughterhouse-Five, plus an adaptation of an upcoming novel by Dan Simmons titled Drood, which fictionalizes Charles Dickens' life after he survived a horrific train crash by claiming that it plunged him into the depths of London depravity. The studio tips Drood as the first film Del Toro's likely to make for the pact, after he wraps up his Hobbit duties a few years down the line. On top of that, Universal is also keen on del Toro's pet project, an adaptation of H.P. Lovecraft's At The Mountains Of Madness. "I consider the new deals the renewal of my marital vows with Universal," cooed del Toro, aiming to become the most prolific and exhausted filmmaker in the 21st century. More at Variety

Millar Reveals Superman Reboot Scheme
Comic-book brainiac Mark Millar (Wanted) has revealed in an interview with G4 that he might be scripting the next Superman project – with a new director at the helm, a name filmmaker who approached Millar about rebooting the Supes franchise (with, one has to assume, Warner Bros.' blessing). The director's name has been shrouded in mystery so far, presumably over concerns that, with Bryan Singer still attached to a Superman Returns sequel according to his camp, Warner Bros. doesn't want to upset its own apple cart. (We've been sworn to secrecy over his identity although we will say he bakes a good cake.) "I've had this plan for like 10 years for a big three-picture Superman thing, like a Lord Of The Rings epic, starting over from scratch with a seven-hour Superman story, one to be released each year," Millar told G4. The comic-book author hasn't been signed to any deal yet but the fact that he's going public would seem to be another nail in Singer's chances of moving forward with his Returns follow-up.

Milk Trailer
The first trailer has been posted for the Gus Van Sant-Sean Penn collaboration, Milk, about the gay San Francisco city official Harvey Milk, who was gunned down by one of his colleagues in the late '70s.

Trailer Guy Dies
The famed, much-satirised movie trailer voiceover artist, Don LaFontaine, died on Tuesday from complications due to the delayed diagnosis of a tumor. Here's a tribute from his close friend Scott Feinstein including a few clips of Don in action…