I've been a fan of Joss Whedon ever since I sat down in the sun, flabbergasted at the thought of a Buffy television show, to catch a re-airing of "Welcome to the Hellmouth." Once I was hooked in permanently, it became clear that the man loved not only the idea of defying stereotypes and praising strong women, but honoring his cast members. When Firefly fell, a few found themselves in the Buffy and Angelverse. But one who didn't, Summer Glau, had already popped up as a ballerina on Angel (look above!). But it looks like that wasn't enough for Joss, because now Glau is getting a short film, Whedon-style.

MTV reports that Joss has written a short film/ballet called The Serving Girl for the current Terminator, full not only of Whedon plot, but more Whedon music. This entire project is completely at the whim of scheduling, but the pair have teamed up with a choreographer, so that's promising for the short. Also promising -- the fact that Terminator might get canceled and leave Glau open to dance her toes off for the short.

What say you? Should Glau stay on TV kicking butt, or head to the short film world to dance once again?

But was he ever considering it in the first place? Not long ago it seemed a Lethal Weapon 5 was all but a lock, what with Shane Black writing the script and Columbus Short supposedly in talks to play Danny Glover's son -- but now, according to a recent interview with Richard Donner in the LA Times, it looks like the whole thing might just go away. Thank God. That's because, in Donner's world, Mel Gibson has already passed on the project. (And here we thought Glover passed over a year ago.) The director notes, "Mel turned it down. I would like to think that Mel turned it down because I wasn't involved. Knowing Mel, I would like to think that. Would that be the kind of thing he does? It sure would be."

Though "Gibson's people" refused to comment, the LA Times is pretty confident in their findings. Donner, who directed all four previous Lethal Weapon films, seems a bit "I toldja so" in the interview, regarding Warners decision to follow Joel Silver's lead: "It's too bad, actually, because Channing Gibson, who wrote the fourth one, and Mike Riva, a designer on three of them, and myself and Derek [Hoffman, an associate at The Donner Company] had an incredibly strong story for the fifth movie. But we weren't given the opportunity and I think maybe I could have convinced Mel to do it. But Warners chose to go with Joel Silver." He later adds, "Yes, the project is pretty much dead in the water unless someone had the sense to come to me."

Of course, Donner could be talking out his rear end ... though, on the surface, it seems like a reach for both Gibson and Glover to agree to a fifth film, especially one without Donner behind the camera. But what do you think? Would you actually be down for a Lethal Weapin 5? Or are these guys just too old for this sh*t?

Okay, for this story I need you to try to remember something that happened, like, two years ago. Can you do that for me? Can you take your brain back that far, or do we need to call in McFly and the Doc? Anyway, remember all the hoopla surrounding James Frey's very popular book A Million Little Pieces? How Oprah used the so-called "memoir" to re-launch her book club, and how it turned into this huge success -- so much so that Warner Bros. desperately wanted to make a film out of it -- and how it later came out that Frey made up a good portion of the book ... and then Oprah smacked him around on TV ... and then the film went bye bye. Remember?

Well, that's what happened -- and now, two years after the fact, comes a film called A Million Little Pieces, based on the book by James Frey and directed by Nigel Tomm. And no, it's not being developed -- it's actually done ... in the can ... and available on DVD. Who's in it, you ask? Well, unlike the previous in-development adaptation, you're not going to see stars like Jake Gyllenhaal, Orlando Bloom, Josh Hartnett or Ryan Gosling (all of whom were interested in starring in the other flick). Nope, this one, according to its tagline, is -- wait for it -- "70 minutes and 41 seconds of pure turquoise screen. Nothing more, nothing less." On a budget of $345. Ahem. Confused?

Keep reading ...

Happy New Year to all my brothers and sisters. May 5769 kick a whole lot more ass than 5768. While over 98% of Hollywood takes the day off, here's what's happening:

Variety reports that Michael Bay has taken a page from Christopher Nolan and will shoot "at least three action set pieces" using IMAX cameras during Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen. Usually I'd reserve this spot for a Bay joke, but I truly think this is a great thing for a film like Transformers. The action scenes in the last one felt claustrophobic (especially toward the end), and so utilizing IMAX would allow Bay and Co. to open it up and really have fun with the thing. Visually, this could add a lot to the film. Hopefully they'll use it for some massive robot battle. Other films also mentioned in the article as possible contenders for a similar IMAX approach include Iron Man 2 and Y: The Last Man.

Looks like the old gang is making a play for Spider-Man 4 (and 5?), as Kirsten Dunst told MTV that she's "in" when asked whether she'd be returning to the mega-franchise as Peter Parker's old lady, Mary Jane. However, she did follow that up with "I'm not saying anything. I know there's rumors ..." -- which, in actor-speak, means "We're still negotiating and I'm not really allowed to open my big mouth." I'd expect a big announcement soon stating the return of Sam Raimi, Tobey Maguire and Kirsten Dunst for a back-to-back shoot of Spider-Man 4 and 5.

Thomas Dekker (aka that dude who stars in Terminator: The Sarah Connor Chronicles) is in talks to snag a lead role in MGM's remake of Fame, so says The Hollywood Reporter. The original 1980 film, which was nominated for six Oscars, follows several aspiring young performers and teachers at the prestigious New York Academy of Performing Arts. Considering the times we live in, I envision this update to feel like a mix between Step Up, You Got Served and American Idol: The Movie.

Much more after the jump ...

Though the film is not quite finished yet, a post-production teaser/behind the scenes video for Terry Gilliam's The Imaginarium of Dr. Parnassus has arrived online via QuickStopEntertainment. Watch as Gilliam introduces his fantastical new world -- showing artwork, set design and brief glimpses of actual scenes -- all while briefly explaining the film's bizarre storyline ("it feels like some of the films I made when I was younger," he notes).

Gilliam says, "The film begins in modern London. Parnassus (Christopher Plummer) is a thousand years old. Parnassus as the power to expand your mind beyond anything you've ever dreamed of. For centuries he's been traveling the planet with his traveling theater, The Imaginarium. Parnassus is a prophet; he has a secret he made once long ago with the devil -- and that secret will possibly destroy all their lives or possibly save them. It depends on who they meet ... and who they meet is a man named Tony (Heath Ledger, Johnny Depp, Colin Farrell, Jude Law), hanging from a bridge in London. They save his life. Is he there to save them? Or is he working for the devil? These are the things we unravel as the story unfolds."

Yup. Makes about as much sense as most of Gilliam's work, but the visuals he reveals in the video look amazing and beautiful and definitely pique my interest. Not to mention the Tim Burton-esque score quietly playing underneath it all. Check it out above, and thanks to Matt for sending it our way. The Imaginarium of Dr. Parnassus is due in theaters next year.

It's the end of the world as we know it ... and I have a good feeling about Chris Pine.

Terminator Salvation: Will the Governator show up in the new Terminator film? While Arnold won't be officially reprising his role in the flesh, word has it the legendary action star turned Governor of California was on set providing voice work so that those Hollywood effects wizards could take his old face and put it on someone else's bulked-up body ... and still have the Arnold we all know and love. Latino Review is currently hosting a photo that shows Arnold talking to Christian Bale behind the scenes. Is it a real photo? A photoshop job? We can't tell, but I wouldn't put it past McG to have more than a few surprises up his sleeves. Terminator: Salvation hits theaters on May 22.

Star Trek: While we won't be getting a brand new re-booted Star Trek movie for Christmas (thanks for nothing Santa!), the new look Trek will eventually touch down next May. However, one filmmaker has seen the almost-finished product and he's spilling only one or two of the beans. Speaking to MTV, Kevin Smith said "It's really strong. [J.J. Abrams] was rejiggering the opening few scenes. It's one of those things where you first heard about it and were like no they're not going to redo 'Star Trek'! And then you see the movie and you think, wow he did pull it off! He turned it into a viable renewed franchise." According to Smith, Chris Pine steals the show as the young Captain Kirk and Zoe Saldana is "really great" as Uhuru too.

After the jump: Paging Dr. Watson, a cocky Irish chain-smoker is waiting to see you in the lobby ...

Fox has not had a good year -- and as with most drama-filled issues, they really have only themselves to blame. Variety points out that they were the only studio this summer that didn't have a $100 million domestic earner. What they did have was a lot of widely-derided flops like The Happening, Space Chimps, and Meet Dave. They also had films that might have done well, had they chosen to actually sell them, like The X-Files: I Want to Believe. They were also dealt a bit of bad luck when it came to X-Men Origins: Wolverine, which was supposed to come out this summer, making it the greatest superhero year ever, but was delayed due to Hugh Jackman's commitment to Australia. (A film which the studio is really hoping bails them out come fall, along with Marley and Me.)

Faced with so much failure and drama, what is a studio to do? Well, turn to superheroes, of course! As you read this, they're holding strategy meetings to dust off or create some new franchises off their comic book properties. They're looking at more X-Men spinoffs, including a young X-Men project that might just be X-Men First Class. They're also looking at giving Deadpool his own movie -- which seems a no-brainer when you have Ryan Reynolds playing him in Wolverine. Why, they're even looking at reviving Daredevil. (Frank Miller and Jason Statham, call on line two.) It's enough to wind up any Marvel fan.

Continued after the jump...

I'm in the camp of people who enjoyed the recent big-screen CGI version of Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles, but some fans complained it was too kiddie and cartoony, while others demanded a return of the live-action heroes. Good news is everyone might just to get to have their cake and eat it too, as MTV spoke to TMNT co-creator Peter Laird who claimed they're close to making a deal to create a "hybrid" film -- meaning part CGI and part live action. Remember Alvin and the Chipmunks? Yeah, like that ... except more pizza and more kick ass.

Laird explains, "As it stands now, there is no intention of doing another live-action film like the first three, with actors and stuntmen in actual Turtle suits, contrary to what was said by Kevin. We have pretty much decided that the next "TMNT" movie should be what we've been calling a "hybrid" - that is to say, live-action humans and sets combined with very realistic CGI Turtles (and possibly some other CGI characters)." Check our more over on MTV's Splash Page.

This seems like the best way to go about things, because you have to admit that guys in turtle suits just won't work today like it did back then. A combination of live action and CGI could look cool assuming the right budget is in place, and while old school fans will want a more serious and adult storyline, there's certainly a way to give everyone a traditional TMNT story that's equal parts strong, slick and silly.

What do you think? Ideally, where would you want to see the TMNT franchise go?