If you haven’t seen anything from Joe Johnston’s (Jumanji, Hidalgo) The Wolfman, then you are missing out big time. A remake of the classic monster movie from 1941, the movie looks like it keeps a lot of that old school charm while utilizing today’s technological advancements to bring some fantastic tones and realism to the party.

Most second trailers have a nasty habit of using almost the entirety of their initial first trailer, with a few small new bits sprinkled in from time-to-time. This new Wolfman trailer is having none of that, they make sure that you get your money’s worth before you even have to pay for anything with a trailer composed of almost all new images and clips that we haven’t seen yet. Another thing the trailer does is use modern music to a period setting with some guitar melodies accompanying the old Victorian setting — always a cool little mix.

Click over for a full, detailed new synopsis and to watch the trailer, which was released via Apple. [...]

We’re now officially in October and the 30th is only right around the corner. On that day, we will finally get the sequel of the decade: Boondock Saints II: All Saints Day, and there’s a buzzing excitement in the air we breathe! To fuel this excitement, Sony has released an official poster, a few new images to peek at, as well as the new Green Band trailer for all to see. The first and only trailer that we saw was of course the Red Band trailer that was released last month, so this new trailer is the first safe for work look at the movie.

The trailer is basically the same as the Red Band offering, but there are differences and there’s definitely some new shots we haven’t seen yet, making it absolutely worth watching in full oogle-eyed fashion. The poster can be seen at the upper-right (click for full size) and it’s the high quality version of the poster that we’ve seen photographed at conventions. [...]

If you visit the site everyday (or any movie site, for that matter), you know that recently there was a massive shower of Disney-related news announced at their D23 Expo — most of which were revealed by Disney Chairman, Dick Cook. Most of the news was very exciting, including big news about a Muppet takeover, information on big Pixar sequels Toy Story 3 and Cars 2, and the official title for the fourth movie in their Pirates franchise: Pirates of the Caribbean: On Stranger Tides.

After this Christmas morning of announcements, the last thing you would expect to top it all off would be bad news, but that’s just what we’ve been given. It’s being reported by Nikki Finke that after 38 years of service, and an impressively popular reputation, Chairman Dick Cook has now been fired by Disney President and CEO Bob Iger. There are reports that the two weren’t exactly seeing eye-to-eye, as well.

It was initially reported that he had innocently just “stepped down” from his position, which Disney is standing by, even though Finke has multiple updates on her report that quote various Disney insiders who are saying that it was a firing, and not one that is being taken lightly. [...]

Walt Disney Studios made some big announcements yesterday at their D23 Expo. One of which is the reveal that they have entered into a collaboration with none other than visual genius Guillermo del Toro, and will be launching a special new production label called Double Dare You. The goal for this new label: create a slew of new animated feature films for people of all ages, that are a lot more on the dark and scary side of things. The projects will all be overseen and produced by del Toro — who originally came up with the concept and design of the label — with some even being directed by him personally.

This is fantastic news for fans of animated movies. Guillermo del Toro is the absolute king of visually sensational cinema, and to have his hand and his style going into some darker animated films could be truly wonderful. It would be expected that the movies will have something of a Monster House feel to them. [...]

If you’re not familiar with the story, for a long while now, the plan to build a gigantic new movie and TV studio on the East Coast has been fast in motion. The goal was to have this huge facility similar to that of a the legendary Hollywood production studios that would allow the big time film and television producers out there a legitimate option to always shooting out West. It took quite a while to get things lined up, and changes had to be made in the state’s former tax and financial set-up to make it appealing enough, but all hurdles were cleared and the massive project was approved. The development is currently moving right along at its Plymouth, Massachusetts location, and the $500 Million Plymouth Rock Studios is heading straight for a Fall 2010 opening planned.

So what exactly will this brand new high-tech, completely “Green,” eco-friendly LEED studio complex offer to those who set up shop there for big projects? [...]

Daniel Craig has been around for quite some time, but didn’t really catch eyes until 2002’s Road to Perdition. Since then, he’s appeared in movies like Layer Cake, Munich, The Golden Compass, and of course, as the latest and greatest James Bond in Casino Royale and Quantum of Solace. Craig has now added a new job to his schedule with the announcement that he’ll star in the Universal Pictures and Morgan Creek psychological thriller, Dream House.

The movie will be directed by Jim Sheridan, the celebrated writer and director of critically acclaimed films like My Left Foot: The Story of Christy Brown, In the Name of the Father, The Boxer, and In America — three of which featured Daniel Day-Lewis, who’s well-known for choosing his roles very cautiously. He’s currently working on the film Black Mass, which tells the story of the infamous and elusive fugitive mafia godfather, Whitey Bulger. Sheridan has been nominated for an impressive six Academy Awards, but has yet to win one. [...]

A huge rumor set fire to the ‘net yesterday, claiming that Brad Pitt had joined the cast of Guy Ritchie’s Sherlock Holmes as suspiciously-missing Moriarty. The report came from London’s not-so-trustworthy tabloid, The Daily Mirror, and within hours, Warner Brothers had issued a statement denying the report.

No word yet on if the well-known villain will be cast at all in the movie. Considering it’s an origins movie and they have a villain in Lord Blackwood (Mark Strong), one would assume that if Pitt (or someone like him) was cast as Moriarty, they would likely show up in Nick Fury fashion, at the end or after the credits, in order to set up the sequel. We already know that this has every intention of becoming a franchise, so it would make sense to do. Better yet, the statement issued by Warner Bros. confirms that they will be shooting some extra scenes for the movie, though they are still planning a Christmas Day 2009 release. So while the Brad Pitt report is completely false, it wouldn’t be shocking if they were putting together some kind of Moriarty introduction cameo. [...]

Just this past weekend at San Diego Comic Con 2009, James Cameron made the mega-announcement that August 21, 2009 would be Avatar Day, and that fans would be able to head out to participating IMAX theaters to see 15 whole minutes of glorious 3-D footage from the upcoming movie (Read: SDCC 09: See 15 Minutes of James Cameron’s ‘Avatar’ In 3D Imax For Free On August 21), which will be released on December 18, 2009. This gives movie-goers the chance to really see what the movie is all about and how it hopes to change the cinema experience as we presently know it.

Now comes details via a press release that there will indeed be a whole lot more to Avatar Day than just the 15-minute preview that was announced — in fact, a multitude of Avatar goodies are on the way on August 21!

For those of us who aren’t able to get our hands on tickets to the epic preview, the official trailer will in fact also be released on August 21. That’s right, every single one of us will be able to finally get a look at the movie, whether it’s in theaters on any type of screen, or even just online. Of course, it won’t look nearly as good on a little computer screen in 2-D, but it will give us a small idea of what to expect, in the very least. [...]

In quite the unexpected move, the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Science has announced that next year’s 82nd Academy Awards ceremony will have a massive adjustment to it: the normal 5 Best Picture nominees will instead be 10 Best Picture nominees.

This is another apparent move for the Academy to try and bring in new viewers after their shake-up last year, bringing in Hugh Jackman to host instead of the usual comedian host (which I still personally prefer). As mentioned, the typical number of movies that were nominated each year was five, but way back in the early years of the Oscars, there were many more — sometimes as many as twelve, so this is a really a return to classic form. The last year that this format was used was in 1943, when Casablanca took the top prize.

This is shocking to me, but something that I’m pretty excited about seeing. You can’t help but think of all the movies in past years that people wanted to get a Best Picture nomination and didn’t; namely — using 2008 as an example — the animated features like Wall-E, the not-so-traditional contenders such as The Dark Knight, as well as the flat-out snubbed movies like The Wrestler. [...]

One of the most legendary movie attractions ever to exist was the King Kong movie ride at Universal Studios Hollywood. Sadly, the attraction and much, much more property was lost in that devastating backlot fire in June of last year. Now that the fire is a distant memory and Universal has made huge plans to completely makeover the experience for tourists, including the recently-announced Creature From the Black Lagoon stage show (Read: ‘Creature From The Black Lagoon’ Gets A Rockin’ Stage Show At Universal Studios Hollywood) — they’re ready to bring the mighty Kong back to the fans.

While the King Kong attraction is making a return, it will not be that classic robotic ape we know so well. Kong is embracing the technologies of today and getting the complete makeover treatment. This time around, the experience will be based on Peter Jackson’s 2005 King Kong and it will present fans with a groundbreaking 4-D (yeah, 4-D!), multi-sensory experience with mind-blowing effects and Earth’s largest Surround Digital projection system. This already sounds like something that has to be added to my bucket list. [...]

If you’ve yet to hear, Steven Spielberg and Peter Jackson are directing a trilogy based on the popular Tintin character. Spielberg is directing one, then Jackson will direct, and then they may co-direct the third or maybe even find someone new to do the honors. The movies will be shot using motion-capture technology and they will be released in the booming 3-D format. The first movie in the trilogy is happily titled The Adventures of Tintin: The Secret of the Unicorn.

U.S. distributor Paramount Pictures and international distributor Sony Pictures have officially announced that Secret of the Unicorn will be released on December 23, 2011 in the U.S., with the movie opening in late October and early November of 2011 internationally.

The Adventures of Tintin follows a determined young reporter who stops at nothing to get his story, a trait that sees him always in wild predicaments and encounters. The movie stars Jamie Bell as Tintin, Daniel Craig as Red Rackham, Simon Pegg and Nick Frost as Thompson and Thomson, and Andy Serkis. [...]

Once upon a time, after the decent but so-so successful TMNT, it was rumored that a brand new live-action Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles may be on the way with some computer animated turtles instead of guys in suits.

Well, ladies and gentlemen of the ’80s — that dream is now a shiny reality. A press release has been sent out to the masses announcing that The Mirage Group has officially given the greenlight to the development of a new Ninja Turtles movie with the goal of a 2011 release.

The announcement was made as our favorite martial arts-trained turtles are celebrating their big 25th anniversary in New York City, lovingly titled “Shell-ebration.” For the event, the Empire State Building will be going turtle-green and the showing of the first movie outdoors at the Tribeca Film Festival’s Drive-In theater.

The movie has a strong producing team including Galen Walker, who produced TMNT; as well as Scott Mednick, who has a blockbuster resume that features: 300, Superman Returns, 10,000 BC, and the upcoming Where the Wild Things Are. [...]

Fans of the show know it and its group very well, but others may not even know it exists. In any case, MTV’s cult sketch comedy show, The State, will be finally coming to DVD on July 14, 2009. The set is expected to include five discs with every episode, as well as special features including: the pilot episode, outtakes, and over 90 minutes worth of un-aired sketches.

The show was known for its incredibly odd and random humor, which may or may not have cause an awkward feeling in the room once in a while, but always made you laugh hysterically. Some of their best work included things like Muppets, bearded men in space, and one messed up version of The Last Supper. I’m a big fan of the bearded men skit…classic.

After The State, many of its cast went on to shine. A bunch of them write and star as the main characters in Comedy Central’s Reno 911!; Michael Ian Black, Michael Showalter, and David Wain went on to star in another sketch comedy show called Stella; Wain also wrote and directed the recent hit, Role Models; and most of the gang reunited to make one f’d up and hilarious little movie called The Ten. [...]

If you watch TV at all, you’ve probably seen previews for Comedy Central’s new show, Kröd Mändoon and the Flaming Sword of Fire. The show takes the comedy that’s obviously fitting for the network and places it in a very fantastical, very Lord of the Rings type of world. In case you haven’t seen previews or forgot all about it, we’re here to remind you all to check it out tonight…it should be a good time.

The show stars Sean Maguire, who’s best known as the dude who says “You got served!” in the trailer for Meet the Spartans, but there’s no doubt Kröd Mändoon will be much, much more entertaining.

Here’s the show’s press release and description:

What is that strange burning sensation? It’s “Kröd Mändoon and the Flaming Sword of Fire,” COMEDY CENTRAL’s epic half-hour, live-action series chronicling the adventures of Kröd Mändoon (Sean Maguire) and his hopelessly inept band of freedom fighters in an ancient fantasy realm. Marking the all-comedy network’s first foray into fantasy-comedy, the groundbreaking series premieres on Thursday, April 9 at 10:00 p.m. marked by a special one-hour episode with limited commercial interruptions. [...]

In case you’ve never heard of it, George Lucas has had a movie called Red Tails that he’s wanted to make for many, many years now. This movie would be set in World War II and tell the story of the Tuskegee Airmen. Now, it’s beginning to look like Lucas finally has the pieces that he’s been waiting for to move forward on the project.

The newest additions to the cast are WWII movie veteran Cuba Gooding Jr. and rapper/actor Method Man. They join a cast that already includes the former War Machine-to-be Terrence Howard, Breaking Bad’s Bryan Cranston, Ne-Yo, and a chunk of the cast of The Wire in Tristan Wilds, Rick Otto, Michael B. Jordan and Stacie Davis. The movie is to be directed by Anthony Hemingway, who has all kinds of TV show experience, but little in the world of film. He’s been heavily involved in The Wire (explaining the group of cast from the show being used here), acting as Director for two of the episodes as well as an Assistant Director on 23 other episodes. He’s also directed episodes of ER, CSI (NY and Miami), True Blood, Heroes, and Battlestar Galactica. [...]

New York, NY, April 1, 2009 — MTV Games and Harmonix’s Rock Band® are joining forces with Paramount Pictures and Spyglass Entertainment to celebrate the May 8th theatrical release of the film STAR TREK from director/producer J.J. Abrams. The first-of-its-kind collaboration will fuse together the massive cultural followings of both STAR TREK and the video game phenomenon Rock Band to engage fans with free music, an in-game battle of the bands, and futuristic avatar creation contest.

Beginning today, fans can register for a 15-day sweepstakes that will give away 500 free

Rock Band Music Store downloads each day from April 7th through April 21st for the Xbox LIVE Marketplace for Xbox 360® and PlayStation®Store for PlayStation3.

And if that’s not enough – fans will want to fire up Rock Band 2’s online Battle of the Bands mode to participate in the STAR TREK Ultimate Battle. Bands of three to four players can battle the Rock Band galaxy. The band with the highest score will win a STAR TREK hometown movie screening for their band and their friends. Additionally, twenty randomly selected players will win an awesome STAR TREK/Rock Band prize pack equipped with STAR TREK and Rock Band gear. The Battle of the Bands component will begin on April 20th and run through April 27th [...]

Disney has shared some new information on the upcoming 3-D re-release of two of the most important movies in the evolution of computer animated movies — Toy Story and Toy Story 2. On October 2, 2009 for a limited time, you will have the opportunity to run out to theaters and see the cherished pair of movies together in double-feature fashion.

The re-release is for everyone to experience the two movies for the first time with their new 3-D makeover — a makeover that many older animated movies are getting, including Disney’s Beauty and the Beast.

Another reason this is being done, is to get folks more excited than they already are (which is tough to do) for the highly-anticipated June 18, 2010 3-D return of Buzz, Woody, and the rest of the gang in Toy Story 3. The first teaser trailer for Toy Story 3 is expected to be shown at the double feature event in October as well (instead of the usual Summer before tradition), in case you needed another reason to go. The third installment is directed by Lee Unkrich, who was a co-director on the first two films. [...]

In another exciting cinematic event announcement, Disney has informed the world that their new half live-action, half motion capture take on the classic Alice in Wonderland tale will be presented in IMAX 3-D along with its regular wide theatrical release on March 5, 2010.

Alice in Wonderland is directed by Tim Burton and stars Mia Wasikowska as Alice, Anne Hathaway as the White Queen, Stephen Fry as the Cheshire Cat, Helena Bonham Carter as the Red Queen, Crispin Glover as the Knave of Hearts, Alan Rickman as the Caterpillar, and Johnny Depp as the Mad Hatter. It is based on the story by Lewis Carroll.

President of Disney Studios Motion Picture Group, Mark Zoradi had this to say about the announcement:

If ever there was a film that cried out to be presented in Disney Digital 3D(TM) and the premium IMAX 3D format, Tim Burton’s fantastic interpretation of Alice in Wonderland is that film. This is going to be an eye-popping cinematic experience as Tim takes moviegoers down the rabbit hole and into the dimensional world filled with incredible characters, sly humor, and wild adventures. Disney’s partnership with IMAX is taking shape with two amazing films already on the schedule. We look forward to working with them in bringing exciting new experiences and quality entertainment to IMAX screens around the world. [...]

The cast and plot for Ridley Scott’s upcoming take on the tale of Robin Hood (formerly known as Nottingham) has come together finally. The movie is currently in production in the U.K. with leads Russell Crowe as Robin Hood and Cate Blanchett as Lady Marion.

Joining the two stars will be legendary actress Vanessa Redgrave (Julia, Atonement) as Queen Eleanor; Mark Strong (Stardust, Sunshine) will play Sir Godfrey; Scott Grimes (ER, American Dad) will play Will Scarlet; Oscar Issac (Che, Body of Lies) as King John; Léa Seydoux (Inglourious Basterds) will play French Princess Isabella; Kevin Durand (Mystery, Alaska, Lost) will handle the duties of Little John; and lastly, Alan Doyle as Allan Adayle.

Along with the impressive cast, Universal also put out an official synopsis of the movie, so we know what to expect. It paints a decent picture of the more realistic and less fairy tale world that Ridley is aiming for. [...]

Principal photography commences this week on the Columbia Pictures production Salt, an espionage action thriller starring Angelina Jolie (Wanted, Changeling, Mr. & Mrs. Smith, The Bone Collector). Phillip Noyce (The Bone Collector, Patriot Games, Clear and Present Danger) directs. The original screenplay is written by Kurt Wimmer (The Recruit, The Thomas Crown Affair), with a current re-write by Brian Helgeland (Mystic River, Man On Fire, The Taking Of Pelham 1 2 3). Salt is produced by Lorenzo di Bonaventura (Transformers, 1408, G.I. Joe) and Sunil Perkash (Enchanted). Executive producers are Ric Kidney and Mark Vahradian.

In Columbia Pictures’ Salt, Angelina Jolie stars as Evelyn Salt, a CIA officer who swore an oath to duty, honor, and country. When she is accused by a defector of being a Russian sleeper spy, Salt goes on the run to clear her name and ultimately prove she is a patriot. Using all her skills and years of experience as a covert operative, she must elude capture and protect her husband or the world’s most powerful forces will erase any trace of her existence.

Liev Schreiber stars as Winter, Salt’s boss and friend on the Russian desk at the CIA, and Chiwetel Ejiofor plays Peabody, a CIA counter-intelligence officer [...]