Trailer - Zack Snyder's 'Legend of the Guardians'

I'm not so fond of the new name for the film formerly known as The Guardians of Ga'Hoole. The young adult book adaptation is now going by Legend of the Guardians. I guess it won't suffer from an identity crisis, though; how many animated movies about owls are headed to theaters anytime soon?

It's directed by Zack Snyder, coming off the love-it-or-hate-it Watchmen. There are over a dozen books in the series, so if it's a hit, we might see a few more of these over the next several years. However, the young adult category has proven more difficult to crack than Hollywood thought. Only Potter and Twilight are really smashes. Narnia is one-for-two commercially, and that's a good average in this category. Even the new Percy Jackson isn't really doing well enough to merit a sequel. Here's the new trailer. I'm not sure it makes Legend of the Guardians look like a great film, but the CGI is very good:

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More Movies Deploying Earlier DVD Release Dates

Around the time we wrote about Did You Hear About the Morgans? shortening the traditional four-month wait before arriving on DVD and Blu-ray - something Christmas releases Sherlock Holmes and Alvin and the Chipmunks are also doing, but not quite as aggressively - Disney announced that Alice in Wonderland would only be in theaters for 89 days, so that the company could take advantage of DVD sales.

Now The Hollywood Reporter says Warner Bros. is going that route, as well, keeping this September's Guardians of Ga'Hoole in release for only 86 days. That will allow the studio to release Zack Snyder's film on home video in time for Christmas. Exhibitors are not going to let the studios implement this practice across the board, however; in addition to "concessions" that the studios will make to theater owners for films they want to rush into the DVD market, if it becomes a problem, the big chains can refuse to book a film for a three-month run. But would they?

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Sturgess, Rush Are New 'Guardians of Ga'Hoole'

Zack Snyder will follow up Watchmen with the animated Guardians of Ga'Hoole, based on the series of children's books by Kathryn Lasky. We already knew that Hugh Jackman and Hugo Weaving were among those supplying their voices, and now, four new names have been added to the cast.

Variety swears, by God, that Jim Sturgess, Geoffrey Rush, Rachael Taylor, and David Wenham are on board, and with Ga'Hoole currently in production in Australia, it's probably good to get the cast lined up. Even though it's a children's title, Ga'Hoole has some pretty grown-up stuff in the story - kidnapping, brainwashing, battles - so it's certainly not for really young tykes. Don't get suckered into that once the trailers pop up with animated owls everywhere.

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