The controversy surrounding Terrence Howard’s replacement in Iron Man 2 just won’t go away. Speaking with Entertainment Weekly, Robert Downey, Jr. said that he had nothing to do with the decision to replace Howard with Don Cheadle, and that he quote “loves Terrence very much.” There is speculation that director Jon Favreau and some of the film’s producers were unhappy with Howard’s performance in the first film, and had planned to scale back his role, and paycheck, in the sequel. Now that Don Cheadle has taken the role, it should be interesting to see where things go. Interesting to note, Howard was the highest paid actor on the first film, yes even more than Robert Downey, Jr. Goes to show what a good agent and Academy Award nomination can do.

We’ve got some good news if you’re one of those people who hates reading subtitles. Steven Spielberg and Will Smith are planning to do an American remake of the South Korean film Oldboy. The original, released in 2003, follows the story of a man mysteriously locked in a room for 15 years, only to find himself released into a strange world of conspiracy. Spielberg will direct with Will Smith playing the lead, and this will officially be the millionth Asian thriller to be remade in the US.

Happy Anniversary, Sandman. This year marks the 20th anniversary of the release of The Sandman, the beautifully surreal comic by Neil Gaiman. The series, which chronicles the adventures of Morpheus, lord of dreams, is one of the few comics to make it to the New York Times’ Bestseller list, and the only comic to have won the prestigious World Fantasy Award. To celebrate, Vertigo Comics is releasing Absolute Sandman Volume 4, a collection of the final 19 issues and The Sandman: The Dream Hunters, a four part miniseries.

Another full album is making its way to the Rock Band store. The Colour And The Shape by The Foo Fighters will join Rush and The Red Hot Chili Pepper tomorrow when Harmonix releases the remaining 12 songs from the album to the online Rock Band store. The song Everlong is included on the Rock Band 2 disc, and as usual gamers can download individual songs or all 12 at a discount. And don’t forget, Harmonix is bringing you a Beatles music experience sometime next year.

It seems you really can’t stop the spread of Jeffersonian Democracy, because now its making it’s way into the game world. The MMO EVE Online is holding elections for its Council Of Stellar Management, a group of elected players that will represent the views of all EVE gamers to the online developers. Cool idea. The polls will close on November 21st, so make sure you do your civic duty soon. As we always say, vote early and vote often.

Looks like you just can’t keep good zombies down, especially not the kind from Capcom. Dead Rising 2 info has started to spread, with Vancouver-based developer Blue Castle Games rumored to be making the sequel. Although our contacts have refused to comment on the rumors, this would be a big change of pace for the studio, their previous games include baseball titles The Bigs and MLB Front Office Manager. If you don’t feel like waiting for the sequel, Dead Rising: Chop Til You Drop, the Wii port of the original, will be out in January.

Don’t feel like paying five or ten dollars for every download of your favorite classic games? SEGA’s got you covered. Coming for the PS3 and 360, Sonic’s Ultimate Genesis Collection will be released in early 2009. The compilation will feature more than 40 classic games from the 16-bit Genesis era, including Sonic The Hedgehog 1 & 2, Ecco The Dolphin, and all three Streets Of Rage titles. Sonic’s Ultimate Genesis Collection will be released under the name SEGA Mega Drive Ultimate Collection overseas, to account for the original console’s different names. Every game will be presented in HD, and we’re really hoping that Night Trap will be included in the package.

No more rumors. No more speculation. The Ghostbusters are now officially back in business. Atari has confirmed that it will release the new Ghostbusters game to coincide with the 25th anniversary over the release of the movie. The game features the voices of virtually everyone from the movies, including Bill Murray, Harold Ramis, Ernie Hudson, and Canadian Dan Aykroyd. In fact, Aykroyd and Ramis who wrote the original movies, also wrote the script for the game, essentially making this the third film. Ghostbusters had been floating in limbo every since the Vivendi/Activision merger left the game without a publisher, but now they’ve finally got home. Expect the game sometime next year.

Last night the launch of what will undoubtedly be the biggest 360 game of the year, Gears Of War 2, kept game stores across North America open until way past midnight. Here in Canada, Future Shop had long lines of excited gamers, waiting to get their hands on Markus Phoenix’s latest adventure. As part of the celebration the store was giving away exclusive Cog Tags and a Splatter Head collectable, don’t worry, if you didn’t line up last night and you still want those collectables, Ebay’s a good bet, any guesses on the number of gamer’s who showed up for work today?

A tragic loss to the world of entertainment. Author Michael Crichton has died of cancer at age 66. Crichton wrote several classic sci-fi novels that were turned into films, including The Andromeda Strain, Congo, and the megahuge Jurassic Park series. Crichton also studied at Harvard Medical School, which inspired him to create the long-running TV drama ER. He also tried his hand at directing with The 13th Warrior, and even wrote original screenplays for Twister and Runaway. He will be missed, and we extend our sympathies to his friends and family.

Now that he’s finished rocking out for Barack Obama, the boss is heading back to the studio. Bruce Springsteen is expected to have a new album out in January. At a recent concert, Springsteen debuted a new song called Workin’ On A Dream, which is expected to appear on the new album. And don’t forget The Boss will play during half-time at the Super Bowl on February 1st.

The gears have already started turning on a sequel to last summer’s Wanted. Screenwriter Chris Morgan has confirmed that he’s working on a sequel to the blockbuster action movie starring Angelina Jolie. Although the first film was based on the comic series by Mark Millar, the sequel will follow its own original story-line and take the characters in new directions. Also look for the Wanted video game sometime soon.

Jack Black’s newest comedy project has been announced, and it might surprise you. The Kung-Fu Panda and Tropic Thunder star will play the lead in a new film version of Gulliver’s Travels, based on the book published in 1726. Black will play a travel writer who visits the Bermuda Triangle but ends up in Lilliput, a village of very tiny people. No word yet on if he teaches the people of Lilliput how to rock.

The US Navy is looking into building a real life hazard suit like the one Gordon Freeman wears. First seen in Half-Life back in 1998, Dr. Freeman’s hazard suit protects him from radiation, gunfire, and alien monsters. The real life version is planned to automatically administer medication, and may also contain communications equipment and even bulletproof armor. Almost sounds a little bit like Iron Man, but the real question is, does it come with a free crowbar?

The newly-released LittleBigPlanet is about to get a whole lot bigger. After releasing the game just last week, Media Molecule has launched LittleBigWorkshop.com, a companion website for their insanely fun side scroller. Logging in with your existing PlayStation Network ID, you’ll be able to view tutorials, forums, the status of your account, and even make blue-prints for future level designs. While we’re on this LittleBigPlanet note, make sure you check out the first downloadable add-ons for the game, which were released yesterday.

There may be help on the way for those of us having problems with the glass trackpad on the new MacBooks. Many users have reported issues with the clicking function on the new trackpads, which launched a few weeks ago with the new MacBooks and MacBook Pros. According to a one-sentence message from Apple CEO Steve Jobs, you can expect a quote “software fix coming soon.” Let’s hope so.

Looks like 20th Century Fox wants to travel back to the Planet Of The Apes. The new project, titled Genesis: Apes, would be a loose remake of the fourth apes film, Conquest Of The Planet Of The Apes. The story would follow a young genetically engineered half-chimpanzee, half-human slave who sparks an ape revolution on our world. After Tim Burton’s lack-luster 2001 ape remake, it would be interesting to see where this kind of unique re-imagining goes.

There’s some bad news for everyone involved in the making of Batman’s most recent big-screen adventure. A coroner\'s inquest in England has officially ruled that the death of Conway Wickliffe on the set of The Dark Knight was a preventable accident. Wickliffe was a special effects supervisor who was tragically killed during the filming of one of the many vehicle stunt sequences in the film. The ruling means that Britian’s Health And Safety Executive, an organization that monitors workplace safety, could now prosecute the movie. Wickliffe\'s partner, Dee Chase is also calling for all productions to add health and safety supervisors to oversee every stunt in order to prevent further tragedies.

Let the countdown commence! 24 is coming back. The series will return for a seventh season after two years in hiatus, kicking things off with a four-hour season premiere spread over two episodes. The series faced several delays including problems while shooting in Africa, as well as the big writer’s strike last year. Now that things are settled, Jack Bauer will return soon, and I’ve already set my PVR. The first new episode airs on January 11th.

A new game is sparking controversy, and you’ll never guess which one. The E rated Samba De Amigo is drawing fire from PETA, the People For Ethical Treatment Of Animals. It seems they’re angry over a few online ads showing a chimpanzee playing the game with a family of humans. PETA claims that cruel and inhumane techniques are often used in the training of chimps to perform, and contacted SEGA asking them to pull the ads.