New Frost/Nixon & Transporter 3 Trailers!

While there have been previous international teasers released, the new official domestic trailers for Jason Statham's action 3-quel Transporter 3 and Ron Howard's drama Frost/Nixon have hit the 'net to coincide with their debut in front of Universal's remake of Death Race in theaters now.

Check out the trailers by clicking on the respective title above, and you can also see some new pictures from Howard's historical drama starring Frank Langella and Michael Sheen (The Queen) here and IGN has some new pictures from Transporter 3 that can be viewed here.

More Kick-Ass Casting

Nicolas Cage, Aaron Johnson and Lyndsy Fonseca are set to star in Kick-Ass, Matthew Vaughn's adaptation of the violent Mark Millar comic book, says The Hollywood Reporter.

Written by Millar and drawn by John Romita Jr., the Marvel Comics' Icon imprint book centers on a high school dweeb named Dave Lizewski who decides to become a superhero even though he has no athletic ability or coordination. Things change when he eventually runs into real bad guys with real weapons.

Johnson plays title character, while Fonseca plays the object of the teen's infatuation who believes Dave is gay. Cage is a former cop who wants to bring down a druglord and has trained his daughter (Chloe Moretz) to be a lethal weapon.

Max Payne Posters

As fantastic as these look, I'm still not completely excited for Max Payne based off of the quality of footage that I saw at Comic-Con. One thing is for sure: if the movie turns out bad, at least we'll have some beautiful posters to make us smile. I just hope director John Moore was able to make the actual movie look like these. I suppose we'll find out in October whether the movie lives up to the hype of the posters. Now that's an odd thing to say…

I've put up both posters below full-size courtesy of IMPAwards. I just couldn't put them side-by-side, they need to be seen in all of their high res glory to be appreciated!

Max Payne is directed by Irish filmmaker John Moore, of Behind Enemy Lines, Flight of the Phoenix, and The Omen previously, with a screenplay written by first-time writer Beau Thorne. The film is based on the popular Max Payne series of third-person-shooter video games that first arrived in 2001. Fox is debuting Max Payne in theaters on October 17th just before Halloween. I'll be there!

New Body of Lies Trailer Hits

Warner Bros. Pictures has debuted the new trailer for the Ridley Scott-directed Body of Lies, opening in theaters on October 10. The thriller, written by William Monahan, stars Leonardo DiCaprio, Russell Crowe, Mark Strong, Golshifteh Farahani, Oscar Isaac and Simon McBurney.

You can watch the trailer using the player below or in High Definition QuickTime here.

Based on Washington Post columnist David Ignatius' 2007 novel about a CIA operative, Roger Ferris (DiCaprio), who uncovers a lead on a major terrorist leader suspected to be operating out of Jordan. When Ferris devises a plan to infiltrate his network, he must first win the backing of cunning CIA veteran Ed Hoffman (Crowe) and the collegial, but perhaps suspect, head of Jordanian intelligence. Although ostensibly his allies, Ferris questions how far he can really trust these men without putting his entire operation - and his life - on the line.

Shia Returns to Transformers 2 Set Today?

Last week it was reported that Shia LaBeouf’s hand injury would put the first unit of Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen out of production for a month. Rejects passes along word that Shia might actually be returning to the set tomorrow, this according to Entertainment Tonight’s sources. If true, this news must come as a relief for the many crew members involved in the first unit production of the Michael Bay sequel.

'Valkyrie' Returns to '08

MGM Pictures and United Artists have decided to release Bryan Singer's Valkyrie starring Tom Cruise before the end of the year after all, announcing today that it will be released on December 26 after the political thriller tested well with audiences.

Based on a true story, Cruise plays Colonel Claus von Stauffenberg, a proud military man who serves Germany while hoping to stop Hitler before he destroys Europe and Germany, and it reteams Singer with his Academy Award-winning screenwriter for The Usual Suspects Christopher McQuarrie. It also stars Kenneth Branagh, Bill Nighy, Tom Wilkinson, Carice van Houten, Thomas Kretschmann, Eddie Izzard, Christian Berkel and Terence Stamp.
Source:Comingsoon.net

Conan fast on Track

A new Conan movie is coming faster than we thought it might. With the popularity of the new online game and with all the buzz about a spinoff character prequel Thulsa Doom and the loosely related Red Sonja (I said loosely!) Lionsgate is eager to get the ball rolling on this.

Filmjunk Says:

we now have confirmation this week that Lionsgate are definitely fast-tracking the project. They’ve hired Dirk Blackman and Howard McCain to do a rewrite on the script, and are currently in search of a director.

Paradox Entertainment CEO Fredrik Malmberg had this to say: “We all want this movie to go into production as soon as possible. It’s a fast-tracked movie. Lionsgate felt the process was enhanced by having a second team come in and do a script.” He also said: “There’s no reason there couldn’t be a Conan movie every two years. He’s almost like Batman: He’s a dark hero. He’s a hard hero. He has to be badass, but we also have to like him.”

Who knows if this remake will be any good, but the excitement around it is ripe right now, and if they can make some announcements to keep people interested by the time this comes out it could be huge.

Jolie to take Cruise movie role

Angelina Jolie is to play the lead role in an action thriller which was previously earmarked for Tom Cruise, according to a report.

The film will be a screen return for the star, who recently gave birth to twins, says Variety.

The script of espionage action flick Edwin A Salt will be reworked and the title changed, it adds.

Universal made Jolie's role in the film more high profile and focused its promotion on her, reports Variety.

Russian spy

Cruise had a long-standing connection to Edwin A Salt and several other male actors wanted to replace him before Jolie expressed an interest in the script.

The newspaper added that the screenplay would not require radical rewriting to fit Jolie.

She will play a CIA officer who is accused of being a Russian spy and goes on the run until she can prove her innocence.

The actress is close to a deal to secure the role, while another forthcoming film, Atlas Shrugged, is also being touted as a return vehicle for the actress.

Jolie, 33, gave birth to Vivienne Marcheline and Knox Leon in France last month.

The new film has yet to go into production and is not expected to be released until at least 2010.

Gore Verbinski to Adapt Bioshock

Gore Verbinski is set to direct an adaptation of Take-Two's hugely popular videogame title Bioshock. According to Variety, this is the first project in the recent three-year first-look deal that the director signed with Universal Pictures.

The Aviator screenwriter John Logan is adapting the story for the big screen. The events in the film will revolve around a mysterious event that happens to the underwater world known as Rapture. Verbinski stated, "The people here have a genuine passion for filmmaking and a deep appreciation of the cinematic experience. I look forward to taking my own productivity up a notch both as a producer and director, by building a brand that will focus on my core business while synergizing multiple forms of entertainment."A sequel to the videogame is being produced for release in 2009, and will make its appearance before the film is finished shooting. The film is looking at a potential 2010 release date.

The Dark Knight defeats The Dragon Emperor

It was touch and go for a day or so, but according to estimates, Christopher Nolan's The Dark Knight (Warner Bros.) has won the weekend, narrowly defeating the third installment of the "Mummy" franchise, The Mummy: Tomb of the Dragon Emperor (Universal) starring Brendan Fraser and Maria Bello.

Racking up its third weekend at #1, The Dark Knight added an estimated $43.8 million to its staggering $395 million take after just seventeen days, putting it in line to cross the $400 million mark tomorrow, the first movie to ever make that amount in just 18 days. (Shrek 2 was previously the fastest movie to hit $400 million, which it grossed in 43 days, so "Dark Knight" did the same two and a half times faster.) Currently, The Dark Knight is the eighth-highest grossing movie of all-time and Warner Bros.' top grossing movie, but by this time next weekend, it's likely to be the fifth or sixth highest grossing movie domestically as it starts targeting Star Wars Episode IV: A New Hope and E.T.: The Extra-Terrestrial. From there, it's only $70 million away from becoming only the second movie in over 80 years of filmmaking to gross $500 million domestically, not accounting for inflation.

Internationally, The Dark Knight added $37 million for a total of $202.5 million overseas and a worldwide total of $597.5 million.

Directed by new helmer Rob Cohen, The Mummy: Tomb of the Dragon Emperor brought in an estimated $42.5 million in its opening weekend in 3,759 theaters, an average of $11,300 per site. To put those numbers in perspective, the third "Mummy" movie grossed less its opening weekend than the original movie in 1999, while The Dark Knight made more in its THIRD weekend than Tim Burton's Batman made its opening weekend 19 years ago.

"Dragon Emperor" opened in first place internationally with $59.5 million at 3,559 theaters.

Click here for the full box office estimates of the top 12 films.