Dark 'Cowboys & Aliens' Teaser Poster arrives

Empire has unveiled another dark, shadowy teaser poster for Jon Favreau's Cowboys & Aliens featuring Daniel Craig once again. This compliments the first teaser poster (which Favreau recently complained was too similar to the I Am Number Four poster, and I agree totally with him) as well as the badass teaser trailer.

Check out the new poster!

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'Cowboys & Aliens' Teaser with Jon Favreau Commentary

"I'm already doing a commentary track on a movie that I'm in the middle of the director's cut," laughed Jon Favreau. One of the most popular trailers of last week was easily Cowboys & Aliens, the badass new comic book movie starring Daniel Craig, Harrison Ford and Olivia Wilde, among others. MTV asked director Jon Favreau to record a commentary track for the trailer, talking about certain scenes and what it shows, what it doesn't show, and so much more to get you hyped up for this awesome action western next summer. In additional videos on MTV, Favreau also talks about casting and much more. Definitely can't wait for this!

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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."

The Full Indiana Jones Trailer!

The full trailer for Steven Spielberg and Lucasfilm's Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull debuted with Iron Man on Thursday night but it's now available on the official site and you can watch it in Flash format here and in High Definition QuickTime using the following links - 1080p, 720p, 480p! Unlike the previous trailers, this one shows more of the characters played by Cate Blanchett and Shia LaBeouf as well as Karen Allen returning as Marion Ravenwood, plus it also shows a few more of the precarious situations that Harrison Ford's Indiana Jones will find himself this time around. Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull opens everywhere on May 22.

Story details and new pics for Indy 4 online

It's refreshing to see that the two most anticipated films of the Summer - "Indiana Jones" and "The Dark Knight" - have kept their publicity to surprisingly modest levels so far (although most of their serious spoilers can be found online with only minor digging).

Well to add to those spoilers comes a swag of new pics along with some new information from the next Indy adventure - what looks to be segments of the press kit have leaked online. Of course Lucasfilm spreads disinformation like rabbits breed (ie. copiously and quickly), so be cautious. On the whole though, this does seem to match everything we've heard so far though.

First up, the official synopsis - some spoilers ahead:

"This newest adventure begins in the desert Southwest in 1957 - the height of the Cold War. Indy and his sidekick Mac (Ray Winstone) have barely escaped a close scrape with nefarious Soviet agents on a remote airfield.

Now, Professor Jones has returned home to Marshall College - only to find things have gone from bad to worse. His close friend and dean of the college (Jim Broadbent) explains that Indy's recent activities have made him the object of suspicion, and that the government has put pressure on the university to fire him.

On his way out of town, Indiana meets rebellious young Mutt (Shia LaBeouf), who carries both a grudge and a proposition for the adventurous archaeologist: If he'll help Mutt on a mission with deeply personal stakes, Indy could very well make one of the most spectacular archaeological finds in history - the Crystal Skull of Akator, a legendary object of fascination, superstition and fear.

But as Indy and Mutt set out for the most remote corners of Peru - a land of ancient tombs, forgotten explorers and a rumored city of gold - they quickly realize they are not alone in their search. The Soviet agents are also hot on the trail of the Crystal Skull.

Chief among them is icy cold, devastatingly beautiful Irina Spalko (Cate Blanchett), whose elite military unit is scouring the globe for the eerie Crystal Skull, which they believe can help the Soviets dominate the world ... if they can unlock its secrets.

Indy and Mutt must find a way to evade the ruthless Soviets, follow an impenetrable trail of mystery, grapple with enemies and friends of questionable motives, and, above all, stop the powerful Crystal Skull from falling into the deadliest of hands."

Other pertinent facts revealed in the notes include that the map with the red line element is definitely back. Also John Hurt's character is named Professor Oxley and is inspired by Ben Gunn in the Robert Louis Stevenson classic Treasure Island. This comes as a surprise as he was previously listed as Abner Ravenwood on the official site awhile back.

Meanwhile a gushingly positive review of the film has gone up at Hollywood Elsewhere, claiming it's "the best of the Indy sequels". Editor Jeff Wells admits he's hesitant about running the review (as its a 'friend of a friend' style comments). The review also comes a few days after Variety's best columnist Anne Thompson wrote an article which indicates that the first screenings for the film will be both at Cannes and for press in the US on May 18th.

Also reports of a 140 minute runtime for "Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull" are now said to be in error. Producer Frank Marshall confirmed to Paramount publicity (via HE) that the film is just a tad over two hours - making it about equal with the 127 minute runtime of 'The Last Crusade'.

Finally comes all the new photos. Just click on the thumbnails below:

Ford would consider fifth Indiana Jones movie

Though the most likely possibility is Shia LaBeouf carrying on the series, "Indiana Jones" star Harrison Ford tells USA Today that "Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull" might not be the character's final film appearance - if George Lucas and Steven Spielberg can get get their asses in gear and have a fifth "Indiana Jones" film ready soon - rather than in another twenty years - Ford says he'd consider playing the Man in the Hat again.

Ford tells the stone tablet that Indiana Jones, as a character, hasn't changed much since we first met him in 1982. "He's a guy who is pretty clear from the beginning," the actor says. "He has not changed so much between films. But we've learned more about him, through various plot devices, such as the introduction of his father. And we'll learn something more about him in this film. I think it's required. If you're going to bring back a character, you'll have to supply the audience with something more and different.''