Dominic Monaghan Returns to Middle Earth for The Hobbit

Cate Blancett, Orlando Bloom, Ian Holm, Christopher Lee, Ian McKellen, Andy Serkis, Elijah Wood, and (knock on wood) Hugo Weaving - whether or not their characters were prominent in J.R.R. Tolkien's book, they'll appear in some fashion in The Hobbit as we've heard over the last several months.

ThinkMcflyThink has received word of another Lord of the Rings alum joining the cast: Dominic Monaghan. No word on how big or, most likely, small his appearance will be or if we can also expect to see Sean Astin or Billy Boyd as well.

I can't argue against the logic of getting as many original LOTR cast-members as possible to return. It's all there from a marketing standpoint. Bring them down to New Zealand, throw good money their way and get them onscreen for a couple of minutes. Then you can slap them on all the trailers and TV spots and thus be easier to re-familiarize audiences with the franchise and segue into their new protagonist, Martin Freeman.

Production is slated to begin on March 21^st.

"Limitless" Super Bowl TV Spot

"Limitless" is a film about a writer named Eddie Morra (Cooper) who’s offered the opportunity to try out MDT, a top-secret drug which unlocks the full potential of his brain, essentially offering him superhuman intelligence and intuition. Confident and cockey, Eddie overcomes writer’s block and finishes novel in days, against all expectations of his girlfriend (Abbie Cornish), before moving on to profiting big off the stock market and earning the attention of a ruthless business man (Robert De Niro) who sees to take advantage of Eddie’s special skills.

"Drive Angry" Super Bowl TV Spot

Nicolas Cage is Milton, a hardened felon who has broken out of hell for one last chance at redemption. Intent on stopping a vicious cult who murdered his daughter, he has three days to stop them before they sacrifice her baby beneath a full moon.

He’s joined by Piper a young, sexy waitress who liberates her ex-boyfriend’s cherry-red muscle car in order to help Milton. Now, the two of them are hot on the trail of the deadly leader of the cult, Jonah King, who believes it is his destiny to use the baby to unleash hell on earth.

But the bloodthirsty cult is the least of Milton’s problems. The police are after him too. And worse, an enigmatic killer known only as "The Accountant" who has been sent by the Devil to retrieve Milton and deliver him back to hell. With wicked cunning and hypnotic savagery, the Accountant will relentlessly pursue Milton at high speed across the country until his mission is accomplished.

Fueled by high octane and pure rage, Milton must use his anger to go beyond all human limits to avenge his daughter’s murder, before his last chance at redemption is revoked.

"Just Go With It" Super Bowl TV Spot

Danny (Adam Sandler) is a successful plastic surgeon who pretends to be unhappily married to get women. When he finally meets a girl (Brooklyn Decker) he believes to be the woman of his dreams, he doesn't use his method on her, but she soon finds the wedding band he uses. Afraid of telling her the truth, he tells her he's getting a divorce, to which she requests to meet his soon-to-be ex. He asks his office manager Katherine (Jennifer Aniston) to pose as his wife in order to prove his story, but one lie turns into another that brings Katherine's children into his scheme, resulting in a trip to Hawaii that will change all their lives.

"Super 8" Super Bowl TV Spot

“To me, all people need to know is that it’s an adventure about a small town and it’s funny, it’s sweet, it’s scary and there’s a mystery: What is this thing that has escaped? What are the ramifications of its presence? And what is the effect on people? But I know that’s not enough. Look, I feel we need a little bit of a coming-out party because we are up against massive franchises and brands and most people don’t know what ‘Super 8? means. We’re a complete anomaly in a summer of huge films … and we don’t want to be so silent or coy that people don’t care or don’t hear about it.”

“This is a movie about overcoming loss and finding your way again and finding your own voice,” Abrams said. “A boy whose lost his mother and the man whose lost his wife. There’s this father who, because of the era, never really had to be the parent. He’s a good man, he works hard, he’s a deputy in the town, but he’s never stepped up as father.”

"Priest" Super Bowl TV Spot

Priest, a post-apocalyptic sci-fi thriller, is set in an alternate world -- one ravaged by centuries of war between man and vampires. The story revolves around a legendary Warrior Priest from the last Vampire War who now lives in obscurity among the other downtrodden human inhabitants in walled-in dystopian cities ruled by the Church.

When his niece is abducted by a murderous pack of vampires, Priest breaks his sacred vows to venture out on a quest to find her before they turn her into one of them. He is joined on his crusade by his niece's boyfriend, a trigger-fingered young wasteland sheriff, and a former Warrior Priestess who possesses otherworldly fighting skills.

"Fast Five" Super Bowl TV Spot

Vin Diesel and Paul Walker lead a reunion of returning all-stars from every chapter of the explosive franchise built on speed in "Fast Five." In this installment, former cop Brian O'Conner (Paul Walker) partners with ex-con Dom Toretto (Vin Diesel) on the opposite side of the law. Dwayne Johnson joins returning favorites Jordana Brewster, Chris "Ludacris" Bridges, Tyrese Gibson, Sung Kang, Gal Gadot, Matt Schulze, Tego Calderon and Don Omar for this ultimate high-stakes race.

Since Brian and Mia Toretto (Brewster) broke Dom out of custody, they've blown across many borders to elude authorities. Now backed into a corner in Rio de Janeiro, they must pull one last job in order to gain their freedom. As they assemble their elite team of top racers, the unlikely allies know their only shot of getting out for good means confronting the corrupt businessman who wants them dead. But he's not the only one on their tail.

Hard-nosed federal agent Luke Hobbs (Johnson) never misses his target. When he is assigned to track down Dom and Brian, he and his strike team launch an all-out assault to capture them. But as his men tear through Brazil, Hobbs learns he can't separate the good guys from the bad. Now, he must rely on his instincts to corner his prey... before someone else runs them down first.

"Transformers: Dark Of The Moon"

"Transformers: Dark of the Moon" features Sam Witwicky (LaBeouf) taking his first tenuous steps into adulthood while remaining a reluctant human ally of Optimus Prime.

The Autobots learn of a Cybertronian spacecraft hidden on the Moon, and race against the Decepticons to reach it and learn its secrets, which could turn the tide in the Transformers' final battle.

James Franco Wants to Knock On Your Door

It looks like this weekend's SNL spoof that had James Franco taking up every job from coat-check to rabbi to cuecard assistant wasn't that far off from the truth.  He really will do just about anything, including possibly adapting a 70s sitcom into a feature film.

TV Guide is reporting that Franco is seriously considering developing a feature film and off-Broadway play of the TV comedy Three's Company.  The Oscar nominee (and co-host) turned heads at the Sundance Film Festival last month when he hosted a 70s theme party to introduce his short film reenactment of a Three's Company episode.  The film featured Franco as Jack Tripper (the role immortalized by the late great John Ritter), his assistant as Jack's roommate Janet, and a bearded man as the ditzy other roommate, Chrissy.  

Not sure how that must have looked, but it was apparently good enough for the estate of the show to start talking to Franco about developing a full-length film/play.  Plays of popular sitcoms have been done before, with reenactments of The Golden Girls and The Brady Bunch both having successful off-Broadway runs, and the material in Three's Company, which was about the shenanigans between three single friends sharing an apartment in Los Angeles in the 1970s...could work.  The reruns of the show are still pretty damn hilarious.

But a movie?  Wow.  Never saw that coming.  And we probably won't either, at least not for awhile.  I think the bigger question is:  will the landlords be The Ropers or Mr. Furley?

Pirates 4 Extended Superbowl Spot

Mermaids, zombies, Blackbeard...and a longer version of the Pirates of the Caribbean: On Stranger Tides Superbowl spot from last night:

Nope, I'm still not sick of Captain Jack.  Pirates will open in 2D/3D-IMAX theaters on May 20th. 

Johnny Depp returns to his iconic role of Captain Jack Sparrow in an action-packed tale of truth, betrayal, youth and demise. When Jack crosses paths with a woman from his past (Penelope Cruz), he’s not sure if it’s love—or if she’s a ruthless con artist who’s using him to find the fabled Fountain of Youth. When she forces him aboard the Queen Anne’s Revenge, the ship of the formidable pirate Blackbeard (Ian McShane), Jack finds himself on an unexpected adventure in which he doesn’t know who to fear more: Blackbeard or the woman from his past.