Things appear to be looking up for one of the longest gestating projects out there.

Despite being presumably dead on arrival, WB’s long talked-about adaptation of the iconic graphic novel-turned-anime film AKIRA may have just found a second life. After losing director Albert Hughes, Showblitz is reporting that WB has tapped UNKNOWN helmer Jaume Collet-Serra to direct the project.

The film is being “reenvisioned as $90 milion tentpole, and will feature the manga’s author, Katsuhiro Otomo, on board as a producer." Originally eyed as a film with a $230 million budget, this version is a far less expansive project it sounds, and thus should be seen as something of a total reconstruction. (more...)

Ethan Hawke has now signed on to star in Scott Derrickson's next horror film, a not-yet-titled horror-thriller written by himself and C. Robert Cargill. Producing the film will be Jason Blum of Blumhouse/Possessed Pictures, who was also responsible for producing INSIDIOUS and PARANORMAL ACTIVITY. Also producing is Brian Kavanaugh-Jones' Automatik Entertainment, which is made up of Alliance Films and IM Global. Executive producing on the film is Charles Layton.

According to The Hollywood Reporter, the film will have a small budget and will begin shooting on September 19. No word as of yet what the plot is going to be.

Derrickson was responsible for the 2005 horror film, THE EXORCISM OF EMILY ROSE. He most recently directed the remake of THE DAY THE EARTH STOOD STILL in 2008. (more...)

Please note: I have not seen TOTAL RECALL.

Hooray! I've been waiting so long for this day to come and it's finally here. The first official image of Colin Farrell in the TOTAL RECALL remake has arrived thanks to Entertainment Weekly (via Film Stage)! I remember so much about the original TOTAL RECALL. I really like Arnold Schwarzenegger's performance in it. Also, that thing that happens in space? The future? I think the idea of recalling all that stuff was really interesting. (more...)

Writers: Steve Kloves (screenplay), J.K. Rowling (novel)
Director: David Yates
Cast: Daniel Radcliffe, Emma Watson, Rupert Grint, Ralph Fiennes, Helena Bonham Carter, Alan Rickman, Jason Isaacs
Studio: Warner Bros.

In halving the final book of J.K. Rowling’s Harry Potter series, director David Yates and veteran Potter screenwriter Steve Kloves have been given the chance to double the impact of the boy wizard’s final battles. HARRY POTTER AND THE DEATHLY HALLOWS: PART 2 mostly delivers on that conceit, but it intermittently grasps at wands, not quite sure where to aim its many spells.

The film will surely play best when preceded by a viewing of PART 1, as this last film takes a while to get its footing, beginning where the first left off without pause. We return to Bill and Fleur’s seaside cottage, as Harry (Daniel Radcliffe) and his closest cohorts (Emma Watson and Rupert Grint) attempt to make sense of what has just happened to them at Malfoy Manor. In piecing things together, Harry seeks counsel with other survivors, including goblin Griphook. In a throwaway moment of pleasantry, Harry simply asks Griphook how he is, to which the goblin responds with one word – “alive.” And that small exchange pretty well sums up where we are in the opening of PART 2, having faced so much loss and upheaval, just being alive is a statement. (more...)

I still think "A STUFF" would've been a better prequel name.

With Comic-Con on the horizon, some of the more interesting projects coming out over the next year are going to be getting some face time. Today, MSN has released the first official trailer for THE THING (prequel). The trailer shows off some of the practical effects as well as Mary Elizabeth Winstead's super hot lady hotness. Check out the trailer after the jump. (more...)

This contest is now over.

Gordon and the Whale and Warner Bros. invite our Austin readers to attend a free advance screening of their new film CRAZY STUPID LOVE, starring Steve Carell, Ryan Gosling, Emma Stone, Julianne Moore, Marisa Tomei, and Kevin Bacon.

The screening will take place on Monday, July 25th, 2011 at 7:30PM in Austin, Texas. To redeem passes, follow the link below. But you better act fast...the link is only good for so many passes so once they're gone, they're gone. Good luck, movie lovers! (more...)

This contest is now over.

Gordon and the Whale and Warner Bros. invite our Dallas readers to attend a free advance screening of their new film CRAZY STUPID LOVE, starring Steve Carell, Ryan Gosling, Emma Stone, Julianne Moore, Marisa Tomei, and Kevin Bacon.

The screening will take place on Monday, July 25th, 2011 at 7:30PM in Dallas, Texas. To redeem passes, follow the link below. But you better act fast...the link is only good for so many passes so once they're gone, they're gone. Good luck, movie lovers! (more...)

Update: Check out even more images from the Entertainment Weekly spread after the break! Thanks to ComingSoon.net.

ComicBookMovie (via Movies.com) got their hands on the spectacular special SPIDER-MAN issue of Entertainment Weekly before it hits newsstands tomorrow and it by far gives us our best look yet at Marc Webb's redux, not to mention Andrew Garfield as our friendly, neighborhood wall-crawlin' superhero. That is until next week, when (according to SuperHeroHype) we will finally get the first trailer for the film, to be attached to CAPTAIN AMERICA: THE FIRST AVENGER and reportedly clocking in at a 2 minute and 30 second runtime! And then of course there's Comic-Con, where all kinds of news will pour out once the proverbial flood gates are opened at the film's panel. But, until then, this should hold you over.

Along with the lot of gorgeous photos are some revealing tidbits about the film, like a nice little blurb about Spidey's mechanical web shooters and Webb's choice to right what many saw as the wrongs of Raimi & Co. when they gave the webhead organic shooters (I'm with that camp. Mechanical web-shooters reveal the genius that is Peter Parker!).

Check out the photos after the break, along with some pulled quotes from the article by Webb and star Andrew Garfield in which they discuss their new approach to a film adaptation of Spider-Man. (more...)

Alexander Skarsgård might be known to most for his turn on HBO’s vampire drama True Blood, but he’s looking to make a big-screen breakthrough with a particularly interesting project. Variety reports that Skarsgård is set to produce and star in a Viking epic, which will derive from a pitch by screenwriter Chris Boal recently acquired by Warner Bros.

Tentatively titled THE VANGUARD, the film will focus on Viking brothers who attempt a return to Sweden upon being exiled to North America. The current aim is for the film to be in the vein of action-oriented epics like BRAVEHEART and GLADIATOR. Just yesterday, we reported on Warner Bros. picking up another pitch from Boal, which focuses on Julius Caesar and is set to be in the hands of Jonathan Liebesman. (more...)

Following just hours after it was announced that Christina Hendricks had garnered an Emmy nomination for her turn on Mad Men, she’s found herself a brand new big screen gig.

Variety is reporting that Hendricks, Dermot Mulroney, and Sarah Hyland have joined the cast of the upcoming comedy STRUCK BY LIGHTNING. The cast already included Chris Colfer, Allison Janney, Angela Kinsey, Allie Grant, Ashley Rickards, Polly Bergen, Brad Henke, Robbie Amell, and Carter Jenkins.

LIGHTNING will follow the story of a young man struck and killed by lightning, whose life is told through flashbacks. Hendricks will next be seen on the big screen in films like I DON’T KNOW HOW SHE DOES IT and the absolutely amazing Nicolas Winding Refn film DRIVE, and while that performance didn’t hit me too hard having seen the film back during Cannes, this is definitely an interesting move for the great actress. (more...)