Complete Character Poster Series for Shane Acker's 9

These posters count up from 1 all the way to 9 featuring a new character from the movie on each one. If you've seen the trailer than you know that it's about this group of ragdoll heroes and 9, voiced by Elijah Wood, is the final key to saving the world. This is a cool little poster campaign, a lot like Coraline's A to Z posters, and I wanted to make sure we featured all of them! Thanks to everyone who helped find everyone last one.

9 takes place in a world parallel to our own, in which our very humanity is threatened. A group of rag dolls living a post-apocalyptic existence find one of their own, 9, who may be the key to their survival.

9 is both written and directed by visionary filmmaker Shane Acker, of two previous animated shorts The Hangnail and The Astounding Talents of Mr. Grenade. The screenplay was co-written by Acker and Pamela Pettler (Corpse Bride, Monster House). 9 was first an animated short that debuted in 2005 and received an Oscar nomination. Focus Features will be debuting 9 in theaters everywhere starting on September 9th.

I'l be back soon

4 New Character Banners and 18 Photos from Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince

With yesterday’s release of the final trailer for Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince, Warner Bros has a set of four new character banners and eighteen new production photos (which are essentially screenshots from the new trailer). Check out the new photos after the jump.

Behind-the-Scenes Photo from Tintin

Just like James Cameron's Avatar, the powers that be have tricked us yet again with the very first photo from The Adventures of Tintin: Secret of the Unicorn. Revealed on Empire yesterday, the photo is another simple behind-the-scenes shot of Jamie Bell and Andy Serkis in their motion capture outfits with Steven Spielberg and Peter Jackson standing by. As a reminder (and if you couldn't tell by reading the names on their outfits), Bell plays Tintin, Serkis plays Captain Haddock, and they're joined by Daniel Craig, Simon Pegg, Nick Frost, Tony Curran, and a few others. Click on the photo below for more from Empire.

If this is only our first shot now, when they just finished shooting for 32 days back in early March, then I'm sure it'll be a very long time until we see a fully rendered finish frame from the movie. This photo does come from the 20th anniversary issue if Empire, though, and they promise, "more pictures, and more on the cast involved," so who knows? I'm not sure a set photo like this is really going to make me any more excited for this, even if I am excited to see Bell and Serkis working again (since they were last in Peter Jackson's King Kong together). We'll be sure to let you know if any more photos, finished or not, pop up anytime soon.

Awesome Poster for Sam Raimi's Drag Me to Hell!

A loan officer (Alison Lohman) ordered to evict an old woman (Lorna Raver) from her home finds herself the recipient of a supernatural curse, who turns her life into a living hell. Desperate, she turns to a seer to try and save her soul, while evil forces work to push her to a breaking point.

Drag Me to Hell is co-written and directed by Sam Raimi, of everything from Evil Dead to Army of Darkness to Darkman to all three Spider-Man movies. The script was written by Sam and his brother Ivan Raimi, who has helped him before on the scripts for Darkman, Army of Darkness, and Spider-Man 3. Universal will be releasing Drag Me to Hell in theaters everywhere on May 29th this summer.

Star Trek Sequel Already In the works

In advance of its May 8th release, Paramount has already preemptively greenlit a sequel to J.J. Abrams' Star Trek, and has confirmed that screenwriters Alex Kurtzman and Roberto Orci will be back. Joining those two, however, will be Damon Lindelof, a Paramount producer and writer for "Lost" who helped get this Star Trek reboot off the ground with J.J. Abrams to begin with. No decision has been made on whether Abrams will return to direct the sequel. Although we can expect to hear a lot more about this in May, soon after it hits theaters. It looks like Abrams has indeed already successfully rebooted this franchise!

While Paramount is hoping to get this made for a summer 2011 release, no ideas for a story have been solidified just yet. Kurtzman, Orci, and Lindelof will wait to hear from the fans before deciding which way to go next. "Obviously we discussed ideas, but we are waiting to see how audiences respond next month," Kurtzman said. "With a franchise rebirth, the first movie has to be about origin. But with a second, you have the opportunity to explore incredibly exciting things. We'll be ambitious about what we'll do." For someone who is truly excited for this reboot this summer, I can say this makes me even more excited.

Orci and Kurtzman Talk Transformers 2

SCI FI Wire talked to Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen screenwriters Roberto Orci and Alex Kurtzman about coming up with the new story, about what robots you might see and about possibly getting Leonard Nimoy to voice a character. Here's a clip from the interview:

The theme started coming out of Sam leaving home, now. It's two years later, he's going to college. ... What are the responsibilities and the cutting off that goes on when you leave home? And that mirrors the fact the Transformers themselves are away from home. And in a new home. And what are your responsibilities as you kind of step out into the world on your own without your support system?

Check out the full interview here!

What If...

What would Pixar’s WALL-E look like if it was an anime series starring human characters instead of robots? Or what about Finding Nemo set on land instead of the ocean? These two Pixar/Andrew Stanton reimaginings were found on 4chan. The Finding Nemo art (available after the jump) is credited to Andrew Kalko, but I’m not sure who created the Wall-E piece.

Nic Cage and Jay Baruchel in Sorcerer's Apprentice

So here's my argument for these photos. We all knew that they'd update this somehow, it's not like we'd literally see Jay Baruchel in a Mickey Mouse outfit. Just like in Enchanted, it's best to just let Disney and director Jon Turteltaub do whatever they want, let their imaginations run wild. And if this is what they came up with, for a specific scene which we have no context for (it could be the beginning, when the two first meet), then so be it. It's in our nature to be judgmental, as I am all the time, but I really don't have any complaints yet. I've still got high hopes for this, as some fun Disney entertainment.

Pixar's UP: Discovering a Lost World

Disney has released a new featurette titled Inside Up: Discovering a Lost World on IGN today that looks at what went into creating the South American jungle that Carl and Russell end up at in Pixar's Up. This is why I love Pixar and everything they do. And yes, I'm happy to give more exposure to a Pixar movie on the very day that DreamWorks Animation's Monsters vs Aliens hits theaters, because they have such an extreme amount of passion for what they do. And if you're one of those people that are skeptical about Up, then please watch this, as it'll give you a better idea of the story and inspiration behind Pixar's latest work of art.

Watch the Inside Up: Discovering a Lost World video:

By tying thousands of balloon to his home, 78-year-old Carl Fredricksen sets out to fulfill his lifelong dream to see South America. Right after lifting off, however, he learns he isn't alone on his journey, since Russell, a wilderness explorer 70 years his junior, has inadvertently become a stowaway on the trip.

Pixar's Up is directed Pete Docter, one of the original Pixar members who directed Monsters, Inc previously and wrote the stories for Toy Story and Toy Story 2. The film is co-directed and written by Bob Peterson, who also wrote Finding Nemo. Disney will debut Up in theaters everywhere on May 29th this summer.

Paramount extends deal with Abrams

Paramount Pictures has extended its overall deal with J.J. Abrams' Bad Robot Prods., keeping the company on the lot through 2013.

The deal comes as the studio moves into promotional warp speed for the May 8 release of "Star Trek," which Abrams directed and produced.

Abrams and long-time producing partner Bryan Burk set the company at Paramount in July 2006.

Bad Robot is growing into an important supplier of the Paramount film slate. The company's first release was "Cloverfield," which grossed $170 million worldwide. "Star Trek" is the company's second film, and Bad Robot begins production in June on "Morning Glory," the Roger Michel-directed film that stars Harrison Ford and Rachel McAdams to be released in 2010.

"Today's announcement is meaningful to me in many ways," Paramount Pictures Corporation chairman/CEO Brad Grey said. "Bad Robot was one of the first deals we made to help rebuild the studio. J.J. has since become part of the fabric of Paramount, and we look forward to continuing our fruitful creative collaboration for many years to come."

"Bad Robot has had an incredibly fun and productive collaboration with Paramount," Abrams said. "We feel like we're just getting started."

Six More Harry Potter 6 Character Posters

It seems as if the stare-down is the new "in thing" on posters. They used it on those Star Trek posters, and now they've got Dumbledore staring you down, too. Warner Brothers has debuted a batch of new characters posters for Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince on MSN today, so check all of them out below. At this point, it's just a matter of waiting five more months to finally see Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince, which was pushed back to the summer from November last year. Seeing these new posters is actually making me excited for the summer movie season again, lots of good new movies to see this year!

Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince is again directed by British filmmaker David Yates, of Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix previously, and is written by Steve Kloves, who also wrote the adaptations of Sorcerer's Stone, Chamber of Secrets, Prisoner of Azkaban, and Goblet of Fire, but did not write Order of the Phoenix. This is the sixth book in J.K. Rowling's immensely popular series. Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince arrives in theaters worldwide this upcoming summer on July 17th. Be there!

International Star Trek Poster Online

A new International Poster has been posted online via IESB.net who posted the Empire Exclusive release.

The post is alright and hits on the important elements of a character centric franchise, showing the Enterprise in its prelaunch construction state. It conveys enough about the movie to get the point across, but its the same images we have seen splashed everywhere promoting this movie.

They manage to just barely dodge the “floating photoshop heads” but only just barely. And they are not even new pictures of the faces. They are the same recycled images we have already been exposed to a dozen times.

I am excited for this movie, and I hope that soon we might actually see a poster that matches my enthusiasm.

While browsing through some of the collections of international posters, I came across TrekMovie.com and found one from Germany that looked great. This poster here is probably my favorite one so far.

A chronicle of the early days of James T. Kirk and his fellow USS Enterprise crew members.

Star Trek is directed by J.J. Abrams (of "Lost" and Mission: Impossible III) and is written by Alex Kurtzman and Roberto Orci (of The Island, Mission: Impossible III, Transformers, and Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen). This is the 11th movie in the Star Trek universe, following most recently Star Trek: Nemesis in 2002. Star Trek is set to land in theaters everywhere on May 8th, 2009 this summer!

New Ice Age Trailer

The second trailer for Ice Age: Dawn of the Dinosaurs courtesy of MSN. Manny, Sid, Diego, Ellie, and Scrat encounter a dinosaur population which survived extinction in its tropical paradise, which existed below the thick layers... until now. Meanwhile, Crash and Eddie are up to their usual crazy selves. Manny and Ellie have since become an item are going to have their first baby, and Manny wants everything to be perfect when his baby arrives. Diego is tired of being treated like a "House-cat" and ponders the notion that he's being too laid back. Sid starts to wish for a family of his own, and so steals some dinosaur eggs which leads his herd to go and to try to rescue him while dodging dinosaurs and facing danger left and right; they also meet up with a new friend who's a one-eyed weasel known as Buck, who hunts Dinosaurs intently. Scrat also meets a squirrel named Scratte and could find a possible romance with her.

Newest Poster For Angels and Demons Poster Hits

This newest one features Tom Hanks as Robert Langdon standing in a crowded Vatican Square surrounded by Cardinals all wearing red. I really love the very minimal use color in this, with the focus on red, as it actually brings out Hanks a lot more. As great as all this looks, I just hope it leads to a successful opening.

Angels & Demons is directed by prolific filmmaker Ron Howard, of everything from Willow to Backdraft to Apollo 13 to A Beautiful Mind to the previous The Da Vinci Code. The script was written by veteran screenwriter Akiva Goldsman, of Lost in Space, A Beautiful Mind, Cinderella Man, The Da Vinci Code, and I Am Legend most recently. This film is based on Dan Brown's popular bestselling novel of the same name. Sony Pictures will be debuting Angels & Demons in theaters everywhere on May 15th this summer.

New Ice Age Trailer Today on TODAY

Denis Leary and John Leguizamo will debut the trailer of their new movie, Ice Age: Dawn of the Dinosaurs, on Wednesday morning, March 25, live on TODAY from The Rink at Rockefeller Center.

The "icing" on the cake for this debut will be ice sculptures of Diego and Sid and the beloved Scrat carved live by acclaimed performance ice artists Fear No Ice.

In the new "Ice Age" film, sub-zero heroes Diego the sabertooth tiger and Sid the sloth, voiced by Leary and Leguizamo, fall from their frozen Ice Age world into a tropical jungle where they meet their match in prehistoric counterparts... dinosaurs!

In Ice Age: Dawn of the Dinosaurs, much-loved characters from the worldwide blockbusters Ice Age and Ice Age: The Meltdown are back, on an incredible adventure... for the ages. Scrat is still trying to nab the ever-elusive nut (while, maybe, finding true love); Manny (Ray Romano) and Ellie (Queen Latifah) await the birth of their mini-mammoth, Sid (John Leguizamo) the sloth gets into trouble when he creates his own makeshift family by hijacking some dinosaur eggs; and Diego (Denis Leary) the saber-toothed tiger wonders if he's growing too "soft" hanging with his pals. On a mission to rescue the hapless Sid, the gang ventures into a mysterious underground world, where they have some close encounters with dinosaurs, battle flora and fauna run amuck – and meet a relentless, one-eyed, dino-hunting weasel named Buck.

Orci and Kurtzman will not Write Transformers 3

The team of Orci and Kurtzman have taken a bow out on Transformers 3, choosing to leave to pursue other projects. This leaves a job opening to pen Bay’s next scene of giant robots making splodey messes and selling GM cars.

/Film offers:

“Time for fresh blood!” writes Orci. “The main reason we would move on is because we risk getting stale and comfortable. If you only sing one song for too long, you miss the opportunity to sing news songs. We’ll see.”

I agree that it is a wise career move to get off the train at the stop while the engine is still running instead of getting tied down and too comfortable that it makes it hard to get other jobs.

You have to have a lot of confidence to let go of a paycheque like that on your own terms before the stigma of being removed from a project hinders your future.

I wonder what this holds for Transformers 3, already in the batting order?

The article also touches on Leonard Nimoy (who voiced the Fallen) who may return in 3 as well, suggesting that like Megatron, no Transformer is ever truly defeated.

New Astroboy Teaser Poster and Trailer

Summit Entertainment has debuted the second teaser trailer for Imagi's Astro Boy animated movie on Hulu. This is a vast improvement over that original teaser, with more scenes, more footage, and less of the cheesy animation that I'm so worried about. I'm actually really digging the way this looks now and have a feeling we're all going to be in for a treat in October. I know I'm going to get torn to shreds by making this comparison, but in a very basic sense, Astro Boy seems a lot like Iron Man for the kids, with a kid who is actually a robot, not inside of a robot, first getting his bearings and everything. Anyway, check this out!

Watch the second teaser trailer for Astro Boy:

Set in futuristic Metro City, AstroBoy is about a young robot with incredible powers created by a brilliant scientist to replace the son he has lost. Unable to fulfill the grieving father's expectations, our hero embarks on a journey in search of acceptance, experiencing betrayal and a netherworld of robot gladiators, before he returns to save Metro City and reconcile with the man who had rejected him.

Astro Boy is directed by ex-Disney animator David Bowers, of Flushed Away previously, with a screenplay written by Timothy Harris, of Brewster's Millions, Kindergarten Cop, and Space Jam previously. Imagi Animation, the studio behind TMNT last year, is developing this animated film which is based on Osamu Tezuka's manga series. Astro Boy will arrive in theaters everywhere on October 23rd this year.

Knowing - What Did You Think?

Now that you've seen it, what did you think? Director Alex Proyas is best known and loved for two films from his past - The Crow and Dark City. When he directed I, Robot in 2004, many people thought he finally hit the bottom of the barrel, but now he's back, five years later, with another edgy new dark thriller. So is this Proyas' triumphant return? Did Nic Cage make a comeback, too? Was this as formulaic and as boring as most people seemed it would be? Or was Knowing as edgy and thrilling as Proyas' two prior cult classics? Sound off below, leave your thoughts, and let us know what you thought of Knowing!

To fuel the fire, I'd say Proyas is definitely back. In fact, he was never gone, as I even enjoyed I, Robot. But as for Knowing, despite Nic Cage's marginal acting, it really was one hell of a unique cinematic experience.

Watchmen and Wall-E Mashup Video

I know that we are pretty much done talking about Watchmen for the moment, but this is just cool, and I wish I would've seen it earlier in the year before Watchmen had hit theaters. I'm not normally a fan of most YouTube trailer mashups, but this one featuring Wall-E visuals and the Watchmen trailer audio is just plain awesome. Thanks to YouTube user TM2Megatron we can see what it would be like if Zack Snyder had made Wall-E in the same style as Watchmen (or so that is the joke). Being a big fan of both movies, I did get a kick out of watching this, and it's just one of those funny weekend videos you've got to check out.

"In anticipation of the upcoming release of Watchmen, I decided to take a crack at what many have done for other films; and set the audio from Watchmen's epic IMAX teaser to scenes from one of my favourite films of all time. So sit back, and enoy WALL•E redone in Watchmen's style!" The entire trailer was done in very high resolution, so I've got to give props to TM2Megatron for doing such a great job on putting this together. Even if you hated one or both of these films, you should still be able to enjoy this either way. And if anyone else comes across any other cool trailer mashups that are this well done, please let me know!