Movie News

Briefly: It has been confirmed by Paramount Pictures and Skydance Productions that actor Tom Cruise will once again return and star as Ethan Hunt in another Mission: Impossible movie. We've known since last year that Paramount was working on a follow-up to Brad Bird's MI: Ghost Protocol, and is looking to get Christopher McQuarrie in the director's chair, but he's not entirely set yet. In the meantime, this is much more Cruise's franchise and he's important to have back if they want to keep making successful M:I movies. No other details have been release about M:I:5 yet. It's now in development with Cruise and McQuarrie, who last worked together on Jack Reacher. I'm curious to see how they keep this series fresh with one more.

"Dark times call for dark deeds." Magnet Releasing has debuted the trailer for Hammer of the Gods, an intense Viking drama about a son who must take an epic journey across hostile territory to find the "king who will lead us to victory." Newcomer Charlie Bewley plays the young Viking warrior Steinar, and the film is directed by Farren Blackburn, who has also been directing "Doctor Who" episodes this season. There aren't many Gods in this and there's barely a hammer in the trailer, but it does look like a gritty, grounded Viking flick about a son who must come into his own. At least this looks much better than Valhalla Rising. ›››

Continue reading Watch: Viking Film 'Hammer of the Gods' Intense Red Band Trailer

It's time to get out. Hasn't it been time to get the hell out since the first one? Ah, this has double meaning. The Spanish [REC] horror series continues with another sequel this year, believe it or not, titled [REC] 4 Apocalypse to follow-up [REC] 3: Genesis from last year. Our friends at Bloody-Disgusting have debuted the first teaser poster and first teaser trailer which, of course, contain copious amounts of blood (and some gore) because that's what this series is all about. It continues the story from the first film, with the young TV reporter who came with the firemen and made it out, but is she infected, too? From this teaser, that's a yes! ›››

Continue reading First Bloody Poster & Teaser for '[REC] 4 Apocalypse' Debuts Online

Well, here we are almost seven years later, we just published our 20,000th post on FirstShowing. I still remember when it all began. I went to camp out for Superman Returns in 2006, but discovered two pesky people had decided to beat me to the first spot, so in response I decided to start a company. That was June of 2006. Now it's summer of 2013. Zack Snyder's new take on Supes, Man of Steel, is about to hit theaters in June. We're in the middle of a new Hobbit trilogy, more Star Wars are on the way. And we've been there every day, every big story, publishing our 20,000th post after seven years of covering movie news non-stop. ›››

Continue reading Whoa! Seven Years Later and We Just Published our 20,000th Post

"They are fearless in their performances." After listening to that State of Cinema speech (which I still love) from Steven Soderbergh, I'm even more intrigued to finally see Behind the Candelabra, his newest film debuting on HBO after premiering at Cannes this month. We've featured teasers and trailers for the film, but now we have a fantastic 12-minute long behind-the-scenes featurette that's must watch for anyone who enjoys the filmmaking process. Not only does it spend plenty of time with Sodebergh, Matt Damon and Michael Douglas, but also Debbie Reynolds, who knew Liberace, and writer Richard LaGravenese. They show a lot of footage in this video, but I'm impressed with the focus on the making of side of things. ›››

Continue reading Watch: Steven Soderbergh's 'Candelabra' Behind-the-Scenes Featurette

Though last month brought news that Tom Hiddleston was in talks to take the lead in F. Javier Gutierrez's remake of The Crow, a deal was never finalized. Alexander Skarsgard was apparently also tapped for the part, but that never came to fruition either. Now Deadline reports Relativity Media has landed on Fast & Furious 6 villain Luke Evans to play Eric Draven, who's resurrected as The Crow to avenge his wife's murder so he can reunite with her in the hereafter. Evans is currently negotiating a deal, and it sounds like this will be the one that comes through for a film that has gone through several potential leads. More below! ›››

Continue reading 'Fast & Furious 6' Villain Luke Evans Steps Up to 'The Crow' Remake

Well, this is very disconcerting. Initially, the villain in Despicable Me 2 was supposed to be voiced by Javier Bardem, but Al Pacino ended up taking the role for his first role in an animated film. However, it sounds like there was trouble at Universal Pictures and Illumination Entertainment as Deadline reports Pacino has departed the film due to unspecified creative differences. And with just a couple months before the release, Benjamin Bratt (Miss Congeniality, Snitch) has stepped up to voice Eduardo, a new super-criminal causing problems for The Anti-Villain League, which recruits Gru (Steve Carell) for help. Read on! ›››

Continue reading Benjamin Bratt Suddenly Replacing Al Pacino on 'Despicable Me 2'

We're just over a month from seeing the return of Superman to the big screen in Man of Steel from director Zack Snyder. Everything we've seen from the anticipated film so far has been spectacular, and the trend continues with this new TV spot. But this time, we finally get a glimpse of Supes (Henry Cavill) in action, and he even has Lois Lane (Amy Adams) in his arms this time, flying away from some unseen danger. Plus, there's some cool new shots of General Zod (Michael Shannon) and Jor-El (Russell Crowe). As a bonus, we've also got a new banner featuring a very heroic shot of Superman. Look below! ›››

Continue reading Superman Flies with Lois Lane in Great New 'Man of Steel' TV Spot

"We're going to die if we do nothing." How about a bit of wacky, contained horror to kick off the week. Our friends at horror site Bloody-Disgusting found the trailer for a film called Beneath, the latest from actor-turned-filmmaker Larry Fessenden. The contained horror-thriller involves a concept with five high school friends trapped on a rowboat in the middle of a lake infested by a giant man-eating fish. If you think this looks straight-to-TV quality, that's because it pretty much is, as it's being released by Chiller TV. It doesn't look that great, but horror fans may get a kick out of the crazy concept and gore-on-a-boat idea. Have fun! ›››

Continue reading Watch: First Trailer for Larry Fessenden's Rowboat Horror 'Beneath'

With the first trailer one day away from arriving online, Summit has launched their new viral news website for Ender's Game, called the I.F. Sentinel. The Sentinel is a news blog built on Tumblr that is posting updates from the International Fleet, which is the military organization that Ender trains under in the movie. At the moment it only contains a few postings with info about the world and happenings around, including "looking back at the great invasion", the first bugger war, and a breakdown of "thirds" and what that means (if you haven't read the book) and more. It's a cool viral site and one worth pointing out to fans. ›››

Continue reading Keep Informed: I.F. Sentinel 'Ender's Game' Viral News Site Launches

Prepare to get annihilated. Yes, The World's End is coming soon, and we're all going down with to see it! The first official trailer will be online later this week, but in the meantime, an explosive new UK quad poster has debuted for the Edgar Wright movie starring Simon Pegg and Nick Frost. This one isn't particularly revealing, considering we've seen a few photos from the apocalypse comedy already, but I am intrigued by the guys with the glowing blue eyes in the background. Who the heck are they? They can't be more zombies, right? Aliens? Robots? All of the above? Not the best poster, but at least something to hold us over for now. ›››

Continue reading New UK Quad Poster for Edgar Wright's 'The World's End' Movie Hits

Happy Star Wars Day, movie fans! And it's also Free Comic Book Day! It's May 4th, which means it's the only day where everyone can freely say "May the 4th be with you" and not get laughed at (or maybe you still will, who knows). Since we've entered a new era with a bunch of new Star Wars movies on the horizon, it's especially worthwhile making mention of the geeky holiday to keep everyone in high spirits as we wait two more years until Episode 7 hits theaters in 2015. If you're near any Disney Theme Parks, they're hosting events, or you can stop by a comic book store and I'm sure it'll be easy to start a discussion about Star Wars. ›››

Continue reading May the 4th Be With You - Happy Star Wars & Free Comic Book Day

It's Free Comic Book Day! Someone please tell me they're handing these posters out at comic book stores. We've been building up hype for James Mangold's The Wolverine, based on the Frank Miller comic book arc, which continues with this new poster for the villain - Silver Samurai. The big, bad samurai super villain that Wolvie goes up against was first revealed in the CinemaCon footage earlier in the week, showing him in a fight with the indestructible Marvel superhero. The new art is in the same beautiful watercolor style as the first teaser poster showing Wolverine. I like the look, and I'm getting more excited to see this movie. ›››

Continue reading The Silver Samurai Gets His Solo Poster for 'The Wolverine' on FCBD

Now that you've seen it, what did you think? Prepare for a heavy metal! He's back. The Iron Man. Tony Stark, returning for Round 3 after teaming up in The Avengers. In theaters nationwide this weekend is Marvel Studio's latest sequel, Iron Man 3, once again bringing back Robert Downey Jr. as Stark. They set the stakes with Avengers, can Shane Black take the character to new heights? Key characters this time include Gwyneth Paltrow as Pepper, Don Cheadle as Rhodey, and Guy Pearce as Killian. Best one yet or worse than Iron Man 2? Once you've seen it, post a comment with your thoughts on Shane's Iron Man 3. ›››

Continue reading Sound Off: Marvel/Shane Black's 'Iron Man 3' - What Did You Think?

On this episode of The Golden Briefcase Breakdown, hosts Tim & Jeremy are joined by Alan Cerny aka "Nordling" from Ain't It Cool News for a spoiler-filled discussion on Joel & Ethan Coen's gangster film Miller's Crossing, starring Gabriel Byrne, Albert Finney, Marcia Gay Harden and John Turturro. The purpose of Breakdown episodes is to to ponder, discuss and challenge the films that we feel often need more than just a simple review. We breakdown the film to discuss plots and theories in order to better understand the director's vision and hopefully challenge our listeners at home to re-evaluate the way they watch cinema. ›››

Continue reading TGB Breakdown Ep 13: Coen Brothers' Miller's Crossing (Guest: Alan Cerny)

A release date has finally been set by distributor CBS Films for the new Coen Brothers film, Inside Llewyn Davis, starring Oscar Isaac as musician Llewyn Davis. We've already featured one great trailer, and the film is set to premiere at the Cannes Film Festival later this month, but CBS Films has now set an official release date for the US. Posted on their Twitter, they state that "Inside Llewyn Davis will be released limited on December 6, 2013; Expansion December 20, 2013." Sounds like perfect awards season fodder, of course. I wouldn't expect anything less from the Coens, back three years after True Grit. The film does look outstanding and I'm looking forward to seeing it. However, it is another seven months until it hits theaters. ›››

Continue reading The Coen Brothers' 'Inside Llewyn Davis' Set for December Release

From Scarface to Return of the Jedi to WarGames. The summer of 1983 was a good one. Maybe not the best ever summer of movies, but a fun one for sure. Last year the Alamo Drafthouse hosted a series of events as part of the epic Summer of 1982. They're back again for "the sequel to the greatest summer of movies... ever" with the Summer of 1983, from thirty years ago. They've organized another summer-long series of screenings kicking off with Return of the Jedi's 30th anniversary May 25th, and more from Trading Places, Risky Business to National Lampoon's Vacation. This will be a great summer if you live by a Drafthouse. ›››

Continue reading Alamo Drafthouse Announces Their New Summer of 1983 Line-Up

I love Danny Boyle. He's a bloody brilliant filmmaker that makes very unique movies. His latest is Trance, which hit theaters back in April, and it's very much an "adult movie" with a complex characters, violence, and full frontal nudity to boot. Ever since Steven Soderbergh gave his very poignant speech about the "State of Cinema", the industry has been abuzz in discussion on Hollywood and cinema. Our friends at SlashFilm found this recent interview clip with Boyle from VodkasterOfficiel where he makes an interesting claim: thanks to the "Pixarification" (he explains what that means in the video and it isn't a diss to Pixar) the "adult movie" is going away. He makes a convincing argument referencing cinema of the 70's as a starting point. ›››

Continue reading Danny Boyle Claims 'Pixarification' of Movies is Killing 'Adult Movies'

Welcome back to another edition of Kickstart This, FirstShowing's weekly column dedicated to spreading the word about cool indie projects that need your help to become a reality. This week, we want to turn your attention to a fantasy short film project called Delve. Combining elements of magic, science, and sci-fi, this ambitious short utilizes awesome production designs, some cool practical costume pieces, and even an elaborate CG dragon who becomes a main character in the story. But they need our help. Take a look at their pitch video below, leave us a comment, and don't forget to donate a few bucks if you can. Check this out! ›››

Continue reading Kickstart This: Fantasy Short Film 'Delve' Blends Magic and Science

All across the Internet there's plenty of lists chronicling the best films from every decade, genre, director, actor, etc. Basically, you can search for the best movies with cameos from Rip Taylor and you'll probably find a list somewhere (Wayne's World 2 would be at the top). But some people like to get creative, and that's what David Honnorat did with The Best Movies of All-Time Map, a subway map presentation of the best movies in the history of cinema, with the tracks representing various genres from sci-fi to comedy, and even more specific categories like dramas about tolerance or masterpieces about show business. It's huge! ›››

Continue reading Awesome Subway-Style Map to Some of the Best Movies Ever Made