Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen - Today Paramount Pictures announced that they have bumped up the release date for the action-packed sequel from June 26 to a whole two days earlier on June 24. That has to be such better placement for box office positioning. I'm making my sarcastic face right now.

The Matarese Circle - Variety announced today a collaboration between Tom Cruise and Denzel Washington to work on this adaptation of a thriller by Robert Ludlum (author of the Bourne Trilogy books). Film focuses on "two bitter enemy spies who, after spending two decades trying to kill each other, grudgingly team up against the Matarese, a powerful group at the root of a conspiracy." Writers Michael Brandt and Derek Haas (Wanted) are updating the book's Cold War elements for modern times. Distributor MGM also has the rights to the follow-up book The Materese Countdown for a potential sequel.

Jonah Hex - John Malkovich has been cast to do battle against Josh Brolin in this adaptation of a DC Comics publication. Josh Brolin has been set as the facially deformed former Confederate soldier-turned-gunslinger Jonah Hex for awhile now and Malkovich's casting places him opposite Brolin as Quentin Turnbull, a plantation owner who apparently has sworn vengeance against Hex for causing the death of his son during the Civil War. Horton Hears a Who director Jimmy Hayward is directing

The Adventurer's Handbook - Universal has acquired the rights to a high profile spec script written by Jonah Hill and his writing partners Max Winkler (Henry "The Fonz" Winkler's son) and Matthew Spicer. Variety says the film is a "comedy in which a quartet of pals go on a global adventure, inspired by the hardcore stories of explorers whose tales are chronicled in [Mick] Conefrey's book [The Adventurer's Handbook]. Multiple studios were interested in the film bidding back and forth until the deal went to universal for a seven figure sum. The script was so high profile that EW reports, "The script was sent over on red, watermarked paper so it couldn't be photocopied. Multiple studios were interested in the project described as an edgy, broad comedy." Jonah Hill and Jason Scwartzman have already signed on to star.

Untitled Social Networking Teen Thriller - This one speaks for itself in that "WTF Really?!" kind of way. Hollywood Reporter announced that Dimension Films is looking to make some bank off the popularity of social networking sites like Facebook by mixing up a teenage thriller based around one of these sites. Bob Weinstein commented, ""Online social networking is a widespread phenomenon that interests me greatly. Combining it with a suspense thriller is a new and fresh way to explore this new trend." Almost as fresh as having cell phones being the killer. Oh wait...

H2: Halloween 2 - Heroes speedster girl Brea Grant has been cast in Rob Zombie's slasher sequel. Bloody Disgusting reports that Grant will be playing "Mya Rockwell, Laurie Strode's co-worker at Uncle Meat's Jave Hole. " Whatever that means. She's been a breath of fresh air on Heroes despite the cast being unable to sustain its big numbers. Should be interesting to see her in this type of film.

Cinema Bits is a recurring installment here at Screen Rider providing you with brief snippets of casting, production and all things newsworthy in movies and television.

Labels: Adventurer's Handbook, Brea Grant, Cinema Bits, Denzel Washington, Halloween 2, Jason Schwartzman, John Malkovich, Jonah Hex, Jonah Hill, Josh Brolin, Matarese Circle, Tom Cruise, Transformers 2

Let's be honest here, Ron Howard's adaptation of Dan Brown's best selling novel The Da Vinci Code, was nothing to marvel at. It wasn't terrible by any means, but it wasn't captivating either. I was expecting more of the same when it came time for the prequel, Angels and Demons, to go into production. The teaser trailer and the Super Bowl spot for the film pretty much confirmed that for me.

And then comes this new trailer that sweeps the rug out from under me. Whoever edited this trailer should edit every trailer from here on out. It does exactly what a trailer is supposed to do: get people excited to see the movie (and that's coming from someone who had little interest and no excitement to see it). My friends and I have talked before about how trailers are better than the movies most of the time, and are inherently misleading. I hope this isn't the case with this one. Check it out below. Does this get you excited for Angels and Demons?

Labels: Angels and Demons, Ron Howard, The Da Vinci Code, Tom Hanks, Trailers

It's been known for several years now that Steven Spielberg has planned on doing a biopic about the arguably greatest president that our country has ever seen: Abraham Lincoln. It has also long been known that Liam Neeson would be filling in the shoes of Honest Abe when this historical drama panned out. But what hasn't been known is when Lincoln would actually get made.

We got a bit of a hint and some hopes earlier this week when screenwriter Tony Kushner (who is writing Spielberg's Lincoln) spoke at a discussion in a Harvard University Institute of Politics panel discussion called Looking For Lincoln: In His Time and Ours -- A Conversation on the Meaning of Abraham Lincoln.

Jeffrey Wells over at Hollywood Elsewhere broke the story when he received an e-mail from one of his readers highlighting some new info on the picture.

• "the decision will be made on Lincoln next week" and that if the green light is given the film will be "out by Christmas."
  
  
• The film "only covers two months of his life," my guy says, and that "the first draft covered four months and [was] 500 pages."
  
  
• The 13th amendment -- the abolition of slavery and involuntary servitude -- "is a big thing in the movie."
  

This is certainly some interesting news, but I'm not entirely confident that Spielberg can get this film off in time for a Christmas release. I know he worked a near miracle in starting Munich in June of 2005 and having it ready for release in December, but Lincoln will be a period drama on a much more epic scale, especially if Civil War enactments come into play. The driving force behind this fast track is most likely Liam Neeson's strong presence at the box office when Taken took the number one spot in the box office a couple weeks ago. I'm not going to hold my breath on this happening, but if it does I'll be glad to see it finally go into production. We'll keep you posted.

Labels: Liam Neeson, Lincoln, Spielberg, Tony Kushner

The teaser poster for Rob Zombie's follow-up to his 2007 franchise reboot Halloween has just hit the nets. It's a pretty basic teaser poster with a creepy, newsprint looking close-up of the signature Michael Myers mask and a title dubbing of H2. I'll admit I'm not a fan of Rob Zombie's films, but for some reason I enjoyed a decent portion of Halloween.

My one complaint about the film should be reason enough for me to hate it, but for some reason I don't. I hated the fact that the origin story of Michael Myers reduced him to a prototypical serial killer who murders because of his terrible childhood. It turns Myers into an emo kid with parental issues rather than keeping the mystery and fear of a character who has no method to his madness. What saved the film for me was it's tone and style in the slasher elements of the film. Myers has a much more threatening presence and his gritty, dirty mask adds to that scary demeanor. All I know is that the original sequel to Halloween is one of the best horror sequels ever made, and this once again has a lot to live up to.

Labels: H2, Halloween, Halloween 2, Posters, Rob Zombie

NBC's Heroes has had some struggle maintaining and attempting to recreate the great first season of television they provided us with. Unfortunately Heroes has fallen privy to cliches and plots take straight out of other comics and I have become increasingly less interested in a majority of the cast (only Sylar has kept my interest throughout the series entire run).

Luckily two other networks are throwing their hats into the ring with a couple different takes on the superhero genre.

First up MTV reports that FX is bringing established comic book series Powers to the small screen. The comic is "set in a world where superpowers are relatively common but not mundane. It follows the lives of two detectives, Christian Walker and Deena Pilgrim, police officers in a homicide department devoted to cases that involve "powers" (people with superpowers). Walker himself used to be a costumed superhero named Diamond, but became a police officer after he lost his abilities. Though stripped of his powers, he still retains his contacts within the superhero community." I hope this turns out to be the show that Heroes desperately wants to be.

So it's basically Law & Order meets Heroes. Could you imagine District Attorney Jack McCoy with superpowers? His fists would undoubtedly be named Law and Order and his superpower would be Justice.

ABC's foray into the superhero world is a bit lighter, but also takes a cue from other TV shows as well. The Hollywood Reporter says the network is adapting the British television show No Heroics for American television. Series follows a group of superheroes and their lives outside of being heroes, smoking cigarettes, paying the Sidekick Tax (even if they don't have a sidekick), and hanging out at the local bar The Fortress (where everyone has to follow these rules: "No Masks, No Powers and No Heroics." Series' like The Tick (also based off comics) have tackled the superhero genre as comedy before, and the less than stellar film Mystery Men made some sort of effort. I think this is a show I can get behind, but I'm always leery at some American adaptations of British television (fortunately The Office found its footing after the first season). I'd love to check this series out before its adaptation hits America.

Are you guys looking forward to some fresh fuel for the superhero fire on television?

Labels: ABC, FX, Heroes, No Heroics, Powers, Supeheroes, Superpowers

Not everything warrants a full fledged blog posting all by itself, and thus The Screen Rider presents to you: Cinema Bits. This feature will be a collection of briefs over small tidbits of news you may have missed.

Star Trek - Paramount Pictures announced that it will be attaching a new trailer for the J.J. Abrams directed franchise reboot with copies of Watchmen when it is released on March 6. Both the first trailer and the Super Bowl spot were pretty intense, but I wonder how many people will suddenly be excited about this film when the target demographic seeing Watchmen, more than likely already knows about Star Trek

Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen - From Transformer World 2005 (I'm not sure why their website is called this) comes the first picture of the titular Transformer known as Fallen. The picture is that of some sort of toy that will be released. This should be a pretty epic villain considering the villains who don't get title focus are GINORMOUS as was seen in the Super Bowl TV spot.

X-Men: First Class - The last time we heard about this upstart, it was announced that Josh Schwartz (creator of series like Chuck, Gossip Girl, and The OC) would be writing the script, and there was much speculation about whether he would make his directorial debut with the film. Well Schwartz recently talked to MTV and told them he hasn't been asked to direct and "would be terrified to have the first thing I direct be a giant franchise movie." He did go on to rule out any focus on the Dark Phoenix storyline, which is the crux story of the X-Men universe, simply because it was done (albeit poorly) in X-Men: The Last Stand. Still no word on who this young, first class of X-Men will be.

Untitled Woody Allen Project - Variety reported that Josh Brolin and Anthony Hopkins will star in Woody Allen's next film set to shoot in London this summer. They are the first to join what is said to become an ensemble cast, but in typical Woody Allen fashion the script, plot and even title are being kept under tight wraps. I loved Vicky Christina Barcelona, and look forward to any Woody Allen project.

Untitled Adam Sandler Ensemble Comedy - Variety announced negotiations with Kevin James, Chris Rock, Adam Sandler, Rob Schneider and David Spade to all star in a comedy directed by Dennis Dugan (who nailed comedy with Happy Gilmore and then gouged out its eyes with You Don't Mess with the Zohan). The film will follow "five best friends from high school who reunite 30 years later on a Fourth of July weekend." Dugan and Sandler's Happy Madison Productions have made some real agonizing comedic films, but I'll wait for a trailer before I rain on this parade.

The Rum Diary - The film based on the Hunter S. Thompson novel of the same name just picked up recently Academy Award nominated actor Richard Jenkins, and Aaron Eckhart to join the cast (according to The Hollywood Reporter). Similar to Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas (a film that made me feel like I was on drugs, but not in a good way) the film follows journalist Paul Kemp (Johnny Depp) on a drug and alcohol binge as he comes to term with the fact that his life may never get any better as he sulks away in 1950's San Juan.

Cinema Bits is a recurring installment here at Screen Rider providing you with brief snippets of casting, production and all things newsworthy in movies and television.

Labels: Aaron Eckhart, Adam Sandler, Chris Rock, Cinema Bits, David Spade, Johnny Depp, Kevin James, Richard Jenkins, Star Trek, The Rum Diary, Transformers 2, Woody Allen, X-Men, X-Men: First Class

If there's one thing I hate, it's when movie advertising creates a swarm of misinformation in an audience with all of the name dropping that is done in trailers. Who knows how many people still think Tim Burton directed The Nightmare Before Christmas. While that's not an earth-shattering mix up, when you mention a name like Burton or Steven Spielberg as the producer of a film, the only thing that registers is the name. Obviously that's how to sell a movie, but that's not how you create respect and real recognition for a film or its director.

Having said that, I really hope people learn the name Henry Selick (the guy who actually directed The Nightmare Before Christmas) because he's truly a filmmaker with a unique vision, and has a very secure niche in the increasingly impressive realm of stop-motion animation. It's his creativity and dedication to stop-motion that shines in the mesmerizing adaptation of Neil Gaiman's best selling children's book Coraline.

From the opening credit sequence, the intricacy of the animation and tone of the film is easily seen. This is a twisted world where even the simple stitching of a small doll, and the placement of black button eyes has a creepy and ominous feel to it. Our story follows Coraline, a slightly misunderstood and ignored girl who is just looking for some social interaction. Her parents aren't neglectful, they're just not entirely interested in Coraline's endeavors (for that matter they aren't that interesting themselves). Coraline and her family share a large house (like a tri-plex) with two fat old stage performing women, and a crazy rat circus trainer and live down the road from an adventurous boy named Wybie and his grandmother.

These characters don't exactly entertain or occupy Coraline more than a fleeting instant and she's bored beyond belief until she finds the door; a small door, barely big enough for a person to fit through. The door is bricked shut during the day, but then at night, it leads to a house not entirely different from her own...at least at first. She finds her family in the house but much more loving and caring, (even exciting and at times wacky) almost like a dream. Even the characters who live in the tri-plex are better versions of themselves. Oh, and they all have buttons for eyes. There's good food, gifts, and magical wonder, all for Coraline. But then things get weird when her "other parents" in this world ask her to stay, on the condition that she replace her eyes with buttons.

From then on, the dream isn't what it once was. Coraline quickly begins to learn the lesson of being be careful what you wish for. Her once sweet "other mother" becomes a twisted, sullen version of herself, and is nothing more than a witch-like (or maybe spider-like) woman. Coraline soon finds herself in peril and realizing the horrifying thought that she may not see her real parents again.

Similar in style to The Nightmare Before Christmas, Henry Selick crafts this amazing world for the story to exist in with gothic imagery and dingy colors contrasted to the saturated and bright "other world". In this world, it's normal for Coraline to have blue hair, and her friend Wybie to drive around with some sort of skull painted camera-helmet. The animation is flawless. I can't even count how many times I was taken aback by the action on screen and just filled with awe and respect for the amount of time that goes into crafting each scene. These animators workdays usually consist of getting about 3 or 4 seconds of the film shot in a day. That's unbelievable. Dakota Fanning provides a perfect mature and wise-for-her-age voice for Coraline, and Teri Hatcher is great transforming from Coraline's bland real mother to the threatening "other mother." Their voices bring these characters to life right along with the smooth stop-motion animation.

And what really immersed me in this film is seeing it in Real D (the new 3-D). It adds so much depth to the picture like you're watching it happen in front of you. 3D has lost it's gimmick of just having things come flying at the screen (though that's all the more cool with the great progress 3D technology has made). But I had the most childlike wonder and feelings when the door to the "other world" opened and the passage literally stretches backwards into the screen. Coraline shines and can blow many computer animated movies out of the water with it's attention to detail and well crafted story. Just like Coraline, you will find yourself enamored by this new world. However, you won't have to take your eyes out and replace them with buttons. But you might want to do that if you see The Pink Panther 2.

Labels: 3D, Coraline, Dakota Fanning, Henry Selick, Real D, Reviews, Teri Hatcher

We highlighted it last week when the single hit the nets, and here it is in all its video glory. From the upcoming album Incredibad, here's The Lonely Island with their single featuring T-Pain, "I'm on a Boat." The video speaks for itself (NSFW language).

Labels: Andy Samberg, Incredibad, Saturday Night Live, SNL, SNL Digital Short, The Lonely Island

In Hollywood there's this sort of phenomena that happens every few years, where two movies are remarkably similar and are released right around the same time. Two will enter, only one will leave. We've seen it with disaster films (Armageddon vs Deep Impact). We've seen it with magician period dramas (The Prestige vs The Illusionist). We've even seen it in family films (Antz vs A Bug's Life). This year there's another of these battles, but luckily these two weren't released so close together, and it's already clear that one will be far superior to the other.

The tragically successful mind numbing family comedy (I can only assume from secondhand remarks, I personally have not and will not see it) Paul Blart: Mall Cop brought in audiences and even got a sequel greenlit shortly thereafter. But there's a far more promising film highlighting the noble profession of the mall cop. That film is Observe and Report.

The plot synopsis from IMDB: At the Forest Ridge Mall, head of security Ronnie Barnhardt (Seth Rogen) patrols his jurisdiction with an iron fist, combating skateboarders, shoplifters and the occasional unruly customer while dreaming of the day when he can swap his flashlight for a badge and a gun. His delusions of grandeur are put to the test when the mall is struck by a flasher. Driven to protect and serve the mall and its patrons, Ronnie seizes the opportunity to showcase his underappreciated law enforcement talents on a grand scale, hoping his solution of this crime will earn a coveted spot at the police academy and the heart of his elusive dream girl Brandi (Anna Faris), the hot make-up counter clerk who won't give him the time of day. But his single-minded pursuit of glory launches a turf war with the equally competitive Detective Harrison (Ray Liotta) of the Conway Police, and Ronnie is confronted with the challenge of not only catching the flasher, but getting him before the real cops do.

Below we've embedded the Red Band trailer (NSFW) for the film that isn't exactly outright hilarious, but sets up for a film that will be very similar to Pineapple Express in it's treatment of action meeting comedy in a sort of quasi-realistic world. We see Danny McBride in there for a bit, and I hear Patton Oswalt even makes an appearance. But the most intriguing casting choice from me is Michael Peña as what looks to be Ronnie's sidekick. You might remember Peña from his breakthrough role as the locksmith from Crash. I'm really interested in seeing what his comedic talents are like and this is a movie that I'm looking forward to, and hope to see more on it soon.

Labels: Anna Faris, Danny McBride, Michael Peña, Observe and Report, Patton Oswalt, Paul Blart: Mall Cop, Ray Liotta, Seth Rogen, Trailers

This past weekend I had the chance to check out Henry Selick's Coraline in 3D (my review is on the way), and I was mesmerized by a trailer that I hadn't seen before. The movie is called 9 and it comes from producers Tim Burton and Timur Bekmambetov (director of last summer's Wanted). An official plot synopsis follows below courtesy of IMDB.

9 takes place in a world parallel to our own, in which the very legacy of humanity is threatened. A group of sapient rag dolls, living a post-apocalyptic existence find one of their own, 9 (Elijah Wood), who displays leadership qualities that may help them to survive.

All humans are gone, and it is only by chance that he discovers a small community of others like him taking refuge from fearsome machines that roam the earth intent on their extinction. Despite being the neophyte of the group, 9 convinces the others that hiding will do them no good. They must take the offensive if they are to survive, and they must discover why the machines want to destroy them in the first place. As they’ll soon come to learn, the very future of civilization may depend on them.

The conflicted, but resilient group includes 1 (Christopher Plummer), a domineering war veteran; 2 (Martin Landau), an aged inventor; 5 (John C. Reilly), a stalwart mechanic; 6 (Crispin Glover), a visionary and artist; and 7 (Jennifer Connelly), a brave warrior.

The film is based off of a 2005 Academy Award nominated short film by Shane Acker (a former artist for Peter Jackson's WETA Digital, the effects team behind the Lord of the Rings trilogy and King Kong, who is also directing the feature length version) and you can check out the original short here. These characters are very similar to the Sackboy characters created for the Playstation 3 game Little Big Planet.

The trailer for the feature length film is action packed, and looks like one of the most original concepts for a computer animated film outside of every film Pixar tosses at us. This is definitely one of the few that could hold a stick to Pixar's seemingly never-ending hits. On a personal note, what really cranked this trailer up to 11 for me was the use of rock band Coheed and Cambria's song Welcome Home throughout nearly the entire trailer. We've embedded the trailer below. What do you guys think?

Labels: 9, Christopher Plummer, Crispin Glover, Elijah Wood, Jennifer Connelly, John C. Reilly, Martin Landau, Nine, Shane Acker, Tim Burton, Timur Bekmambetov, Trailers