George Clooney to Play George Clooney in Brad Bird's '1952'

If there's one actor today that consistently gets away with playing different characters yet basically plays himself every time, it's George Clooney.

From that all too familiar smirk, to that typical head tilt, to that recognizable voice we all know and love; George Clooney has made a career out of playing himself (somehow he's been nominated for an Academy Award 3x and won once too!).

With that said, it should come as no surprise that the man has lined up another lead role, this one coming in the form of director Brad Bird's Close Encounters of the Third Kind-esque, 1952.

Plot details are scarce but the story is said to revolve around a man - in the year 1952 of course - who makes contact with aliens on earth.  Clooney obviously will play that man (maybe he'll greet them with a smirk and head tilt).

It should be noted that Disney - the studio behind the project - is yet to officially greenlight the film which could have something to do with Brad Bird's rumored contention to direct the new Star Wars film.

We should know soon enough.

Source: Variety

Do You Hear the People Sing? International Les Miserables Trailer

It's finally here!  After this trailer debuted in front of UK showings of Skyfall last month, bootlegged versions have been popping up all over the interwebs...and getting taken back down just as quickly.  Now it's officially here, and it looks pretty damn awesome.  As gut-wrenchingly amazing as it's been to see and hear Ann Hathaway singing "I Dreamed a Dream" in the first teaser and TV spots, this new trailer finally gives us a taste of some of the rest of the score, including young Cosette's "Castle on a Cloud", the show's Act 1 closer "One Day More", and damned if I didn't nearly start tearing up when "Do You Hear the People Sing?" started up towards the end:

That was also our first look at Sacha Baron Cohen and Helena Bonham Carter as the Thernardiers, and of little Daniel Huttlestone as the street urchin Gavroche (along with Samantha Barks, who plays Eponine, Huttlestone also played his role in the London stage production of Les Miserables).  Fans of the stage show will also notice the original stage Jean Valjean, Colm Wilkinson, appear as the Bishop of Digne early in the trailer too.  And how incredible does that barricade action look?

Les Miserables can't get here soon enough, but we'll still have to wait until December 25 for it to open in theaters. 

Michael Bay is a Terrible Liar

Michael Bay denied Twitch's Mark Wahlberg Transformers 4 scoop. He was blowing smoke. Why I never updated the news-item. He reacted too swift. Bogus reports are generally ignored. Why bother wasting your time on something you know is crap? Unless you know it isn't.

Bay's official site confirms the casting (no mention of his original rebuttal, of course) along with the Transformers 4 and Pain & Gain logos.

Not much to add to what I said on the initial news. Wahlberg is a good fit to a machine (no pun intended) the masses enjoy. And he's an upgrade from the douchey/ungrateful LaBeouf.

First Image From 'All You Need Is Kill'

Collider have nabbed the first official image from the Doug Liman Manga adaption starring Tom Cruise. The premise is essentially a sci fi war movie version of Groundhog Day.

The image itself is pretty damn cool, the practical mech suit looks great. Tom Cruise has quite the line-up over the next year and a half with 'Jack Reacher' followed by 'Oblivion' next April and then this beast, two big sci fi films back to back is certainly a bold choice.

There's No More Room in Hell - World War Z Trailer

I am the easiest lays for zombie cinema. Throw out decent makeup effects, amp up the apocalyptic vibe and I'm a happy camper.  I even love Hell of the Living Dead, the Italian import that ripped off Dawn of the Dead right down to reusing the Goblin score.

World War Z should be easy for me to like. Alas. The trailer does everything to make me hate it. They don't acknowledge its zombies, they're barely showcased and what we see are, record-scratch, CG zombies. George Romero must be rolling in his grave...

Trailer for 'Warm Bodies' Looks Surprisingly...OK

When I first heard about this film, I basically thought, "So it's just Twilight with zombies instead of vampires, right?"

Not going to lie though, this looks not half-bad.  Obviously, you've got the teenage-love factor in there, but it looks both amusing and entertaining at the same time.  Probably because it's being directing by Jonathan Levine (the excellent 50/50).  With zombie interest peaking at an all-time high (thanks nonetheless to AMC's The Walking Dead), I can see this thing being a big money maker when it hits in February.

Take a look:

Opening in theaters on February 1, the zombie love story stars Nicholas Hoult, Teresa Palmer, Rob Corddry, John Malkovich, Analeigh Tipton, Dave Franco and Cory Hardrict.

A funny new twist on a classic love story, Warm Bodies is a poignant tale about the power of human connection. After a zombie epidemic, R (a highly unusual zombie) encounters Julie (a human survivor), and rescues her from a zombie attack. Julie sees that R is different from the other zombies, and as the two form a special relationship in their struggle for survival, R becomes increasingly more human – setting off an exciting, romantic, and often comical chain of events that begins to transform the other zombies and maybe even the whole lifeless world.

First White House Down Images

Back in 1996 Roland Emmerich created one of the most memorable money-shots ever when he blew the White House up in the sci fi blockbuster 'Independence Day'. Now; 16 years on his new movie is about saving the same iconic building in a film that really does sound like Die Hard in The White House, which is cool in my book.

What I am less sure of is Emmerich, who hasn't directed anything to shout about since the aforementioned ID4, and lead star Tatum, who may be basking in the glory of his success with 21 Jump Street and that film where Rachel McAdams couldn't remember him. Whether he really has the charisma needed to headline a blockbuster aiming for a summer release is still a big question mark.

The Last Stand - Final Trailer

This is pretty much everything a new Arnie action movie needs to be, it's self aware without being smug about it and has it's tongue firmly in cheek.

For me the best Arnie movies have always had an element of humour about them with the exceptions of Terminator and Predator. Here Jee-woon Kim seems to have created a cool and over the top action romp that is perfect for the aging action icon, it's closer in tone to his "The Good, the Bad, the Weird" than his masterpiece "A Bittersweet Life."

Until Proven Otherwise: Michael Arndt Likely Penning Star Wars Episode VII

Disney was so quiet keeping the Lucasfilm acquisition under wraps. That "For Few Eyes Only" status applied to assigning writers for their planned Star Wars sequel trilogy too.

Vulture originated the info so they win linkage. Michael Arndt (Strong ties to the Mouse, penning Toy Story 3 and Pete Docter's Untitled Pixar Movie That Takes You Inside the Mind) is the favorite. The Force is strong enough with the Oscar-winning scribe he's reportedly penned treatments for the new trilogy and assigned full-on scripting duties on Star Wars: Episode VII. If "TOLDJA" is to be believed on the latter.

The studio is keen for the return of principle leads Mark Hamill, Harrison Ford and Carrie Fisher. Their terminology ("high ambitions to sign up Mark Hamill") suggests Luke Skywalker is the priority. Han Solo and Princess Leia, we’d love to have you back, but if push comes to shove, we're going with the Jedi-in-training protagonist of the original trilogy.

There's also stuff about how Arndt's treatment is "crossing the desks" of J.J. Abrams, Brad Bird and Steven Spielberg. Nope (Exclusive to Paramount and already doing his own "A Long Time Ago..." thing on Star Trek), maybe and Hell no (Lots of reasons but we’ll go with “Too expensive”). Zack Snyder also told the LA Times he's not interested... but then again he wasn't interested in Superman either.

Jurassic Park 3D Trailer: Same Movie, Slightly New Logo

No, there's no real reason to re-release Jurassic Park in 3D, other than it being an obvious cash-grab and because there still isn't a Jurassic Park 4. 

But, it's happening anyway, and let's face it:  it's Jurassic Park on the big screen - in 3D!  You'd have to be a truly soulless creature devoid of joy to not to think that's going to be a total blast. 

The trailer is here, and while it's obviously the same movie we've known for nearly 20 years (?!) now, just imagine what this will look like with the dinosaurs running at you, and you'll get the idea of how this is going to look:

Fine, go ahead.  Take my money, Universal.  Jurassic Park 3D opens in theaters on April 5, 2013.