Ellen Page (Juno, Inception) is set to make her directorial debut. Variety reports that she will step behind the camera for Miss Stevens, and that Anna Faris (Movie 43, The Dictator) is set to star. The screenplay was penned by Julia Hart, which tells the story of "a high school teacher (Faris) on a cross-country trip to a drama competition."

Page is going to be fairly busy this year. She can be seen in Woody Allen's To Rome with Love and Zal Batmanglij's The East. As we recently reported, she will reprise the role of Kitty Pryde in Bryan Singer's X-Men: Days of Future Past.

Gary Gilbert and Jordan Horowitz of Gilbert Films are set to produce, and Doug Wald of Anonymous Content with Anonymous Content's Trevor Adley and Nicole Romano executive producing. 

Page is a solid actress, and I would hope she has picked up some insight from being on set. Stay tuned for more news on future casting.

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Source: Variety (http://www.variety.com/article/VR1118065853/)

Disney has released another poster for Sam Raimi's Oz The Great and Powerful, this one features the flying monkey named Finley, voiced by Zach Braff, and China Girl, voiced by Joey King.

Finley accompanies Oz on his journey, but doesn’t have a high opinion of Oscar and lets him know it. Ultimately, he becomes a loyal ally and helps Oz discover his true self.

As for China Girl, she's from the village of China Town, where everything, including the inhabitants, is made of china. When destruction befalls her land, the brave, resilient China Girl encounters Oz and they strike up an unlikely friendship. 

The movie is set to be released on March 8th.

"Oz The Great and Powerful," directed by Sam Raimi, imagines the origins of L. Frank Baum's beloved character, the Wizard of Oz. When Oscar Diggs (James Franco), a small-time circus magician with dubious ethics, is hurled away from dusty Kansas to the vibrant Land of Oz, he thinks he's hit the jackpot—fame and fortune are his for the taking—that is until he meets three witches, Theodora (Mila Kunis), Evanora (Rachel Weisz) and Glinda (Michelle Williams), who are not convinced he is the great wizard everyone's been expecting. Reluctantly drawn into the epic problems facing the Land of Oz and its inhabitants, Oscar must find out who is good and who is evil before it is too late. Putting his magical arts to use through illusion, ingenuity—and even a bit of wizardry—Oscar transforms himself not only into the great and powerful Wizard of Oz but into a better man as well.

Check out this incredibly awesome poster art for the crazy Japanese film Battle Royale. The poster was created by Bryan Lee O'Malley and Kevin Tong for Mondo in celebration of a screening of the film that Mondo is hosting at the Alamo Drafthouse Vintage Park in Houston, on February 16th. Check out the full press release below for details! This is just such a cool poster, and I want one! 

Tugg, Inc. ("Tugg"), a web-platform that enables individuals to choose the films that play in their local theaters and create their own events, and Mondo, the collectible art division of the Alamo Drathouse, team up to bring the cult classic Battle Royale to theaters along with a brand new print from artists Bryan Lee O'Malley and Kevin Tong.

Battle Royale, long available in the United States only as an import DVD, has been added to Tugg's library for fans to create their own screenings at their local theater nationwide. Additionally, for those screenings that happen, Tugg promoters will be given a quantity of Mondo's Battle Royale posters for themselves and to be given away to attendees at the events (while supplies last). Request a screening now here - http://www.tugg.com/titles/battle-royale.

This is the first collaboration between Mondo and famed comics artist Bryan Lee O'Malley. Working with artist Kevin Tong, O'Malley presents a perfect marriage of design and subject for the Battle Royale print with his distinct visual style from Scott Pilgrim vs. the World.

To celebrate the film and this incredible print, Mondo is hosting the first Tugg screening of Battle Royale as part of the opening weekend festivities at the Alamo Drafthouse Vintage Park in Houston, a brand new, state-of-the art theater. The screening will take place on February 16, and tickets must be purchased via Tugg here - http://www.tugg.com/events/3035.

The ticket price of $85 includes the cost of one variant poster (edition of 225). The regular edition will be sold via MondoTees.com at a future date and will be the version used for the limited quantity of posters at subsequent Tugg screenings.

Officially released in North America last year by Anchor Bay Entertainment, the four-disc BATTLE ROYALE: THE COMPLETE COLLECTION DVD and Blu-ray™ sets have drawn universal acclaim from both reviewers and fans of the modern cult classic.

Here's a fan theory going around that will be of particular interest to fans of our favorite neighborhood webslinger: maybe, just maybe, we could end up seeing Venom in Marc Webb's sequel to The Amazing Spider-Man.

Webb tweeted this picture of a locker recently with the hashtag "#happybirthday" attached. Eagle-eyed writers at ComingSoon (via Slashfilm) have pointed out that this same locker (down to the number and everything) can be seen in Marvel's Ultimate Spider-Man comic series as an Oscorp locker where the Venom symbiote is kept. So what's with the Happy Birthday wish?

It could be that this month is technically the 25th anniversary of the Venom Character, or, as Crave Online suggests, Webb could have been leading us to assume that Dane DeHaan will play Venom as it was Dane's actual birthday when the photo was posted and he's already been hired to play the new Harry Osborn. That would certainly differentiate Webb's Spidey series from Raimi's, and give DeHaan a chance to not have to try to recreate James Franco's performance (not to mention altering the trajectory of the character so he doesn't ultimately become the Green Goblin, which we've already seen plenty of in the previous films). But it's still too early to know anything for sure.

Keep in mind, Webb already has Jamie Foxx as Electro and Paul Giamatti as Rhino locked down as two of the sequel's villains, so we'll have to wait and see if he can cram even more villains into this second movie, if he's just planting the seeds for Venom to take hold in the third film, or if he's just messing with us all entirely. Do you want Venom in The Amazing Spider-Man 2, or is that too much too soon?

The new Pixar film being directed by Pete Doctor previously titled, Untitled Disney•Pixar Inside The Mind Film, has been given the official title of Inside Out. The title is very appropriate given the subject matter. 

All we know about the story so far is that is will take us inside the world of a little girl's mind. Where all the emotions that we feel will play certain characters. 

The movie comes out on June 19th, 2015, and here's the teaser synopsis:

Pixar takes audiences on incredible journeys into extraordinary worlds: from the darkest depths of the ocean to the top of the tepui mountains in South America; from the fictional metropolis of Monstropolis to a futuristic fantasy of outer space. From director Pete Docter (“Up,” “Monsters, Inc.”) and producer Jonas Rivera (“Up”), the inventive new film will take you to a place that everyone knows, but no one has ever seen: the world inside the human mind.

Source: Comingsoon (http://www.comingsoon.net/news/movienews.php?id=100108)

Here's a fun animated video created by 1A4 Studio in which they tell the whole story of Back to the Future in only 60 seconds. I thought some of you Back to the Future fans might enjoy this.

Columbus is much the same, except that he tracks down his grandma and grandpa (Bubbie and Peepaw) only to find them recently zombiefied. Also, Columbus is trying to deal with his newfound relationship with Wichita, after their first kiss. He has started calling her "Krista," her real name — but there are some problems, especially after she finds him reading a book about fatherhood. He tries to organize a romantic scavenger hunt for her in the IKEA they're camping out in, but it goes kind of horribly.

Little Rock seems actually kind of excited about meeting Columbus' grandparents, before they turn out to be zombies. And she shares some of her own backstory, about how her dad parked her at a school while he went off grifting on his own — and then yanked her out of school right before a dance that she was looking forward to.

What do you get when you combine one of the most iconic Nintendo video games and one of the coolest sci-fi adventure movies? You get Super Mario Busters, a Super Mario and Ghostbusters Mashup. The video is pretty damn cool, and a great way to start off the weekend.

Check it out and share your thoughts in the rant back section below:

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After the first initial wave of excitement came over me when I first heard that there was talk of a stand alone Yoda film, I thought that there was no way they could do it without Frank Oz whovoices Yoda. I wasn't even sure if he'd be interested in coming back to the franchise, but I've got some good news for you! If this movie does actually happen, Oz recently talked with Hero Complex, and revealed that he is interested in reprising his role,

He’s in my heart. I know Yoda very deeply.

It's safe to say at this point that Yoda will be a CG animated character from here on out. I seriously doubt they will go back to using a traditional puppet, and Oz agrees, 

I think it depends on the story, but I think at this point you can’t go back to the puppet. The reason George [Lucas] did the CGI, which I supported, was that he wanted to tell a story that would have been hampered by the physical limitations of the puppet.

Even though none of this is confirmed other than we will see several Star Wars spin-off films, I think it's safe to say that we'll eventually see Yoda, Boba Fett, and Han Solo movies. All the popular characters will have their day in the sun, and I'm sure we'll see some new ones as well. 

I'm just happy that Oz is willing to come back as Yoda if Disney/Lucasfilm ends up asking him back!

Check out this great blood filled trailer for the amazing documentary on The Shining called Room 237. This is a must watch documentary for any fan of Stanley Kubrick's The Shining, it will seriously open your eyes to this film, and could end up blowing your mind! This was one of my favorite movies at Sundance last year, and I've been wanting so badly to see it again, so I can try and soak more of it in. There's just so much information, and a lot of secrets that still reside in the Overlook Hotel! Make sure to check out our review of it here if you haven't already!

After the box office failure of Barry Lyndon, Stanley Kubrick decided to embark on a project that might have more commercial appeal. The Shining, Stephen King’s biggest critical and commercial success yet, seemed like a perfect vehicle. After an arduous production, Kubrick’s film received a wide release in the summer of 1980; the reviews were mixed, but the box office, after a slow start, eventually picked up. End of story? Hardly. In the 30 years since the film’s release, a considerable cult of Shining devotees has emerged, fans who claim to have decoded the film’s secret messages addressing everything from the genocide of Native Americans to a range of government conspiracies. Rodney Ascher’s wry and provocative Room 237 fuses fact and fiction through interviews with cultists and scholars, creating a kaleidoscopic deconstruction of Kubrick’s still-controversial classic.

The movie hits theaters on March 29th, 2013... enjoy the trailer!

Here's a set of photos of some Man of Steel action figures that have hit the internet recently, and one of them gives us our first look at General Zod's henchwoman Faora, played by Antje Traue in the film. The other action figures include Superman, Jor-El, and Zod. 

I'm very excited about this Superman movie, and I'm looking forward to the next trailer. I've liked what I've seen so far, I just want to see more! Apparently this movie is supposed to be insanely action-packed, and I want a taste of that action! 

Movie Masters® figures are designed with the ultimate authentic detail and supreme quality to bring fans' favorite characters to life. This assortment features heroes and villains from the movie “Man of Steel™.” A high level of articulation lets fans of all ages pose the figures in countless ways for fan-tastic fun! Includes one figure and one display base. Each sold separately, subject to availability.

ARP: $14.99 Ages: 4+ Available: June

What do you think of these Kryptonian costume designs that they've come up with?

SoundTRAX this week features a film that may not have flourished in the box office, but flies on the score! This soundtrack was a treat to listen to. Listen below!

A couple of months ago Disney and Lucasfilm hired Lawrence Kasdan (Empire Strikes Back, Return of the Jedi) and Simon Kinberg (Sherlock Holmes, X-Men: The Last Stand) to work on developing the new Star Wars trilogy and some stand alone films to get the franchise back in action and kicking ass! 

They recently did a great interview with IGN where they talked about all things Star Wars, such as their roles in the process, the rumors, revisiting characters and more! I seriously can't wait until we see J.J. Abrams' Star Wars: Episode VII, that's going to be one hell of a good day, and it will be the first of many incredible Star Wars movies!

Kasdan On His Reaction To Being Offered A Role In The New Star Wars Movies: 

I was pleased that there would be new ones, that there was a chance to capture some of the spirit of the original trilogy that I’d worked on. I thought there’s an audience out there -- my grandchildren, lots of original Star Wars people -- and there always will be. It’s only good that we try to do some more great ones.

Kasdan On Fans And Inevitable Rumors: 

They’re going to be fun. J.J. (Abrams)’s a great director for the first sequel. Perfect. We’re very happy to have him. The writers I’ve been working with -- Michael Arndt, who’s going to write the sequel, and Simon Kinberg, who has, like me, been sort of consulting -- they’re great. I’ve never really collaborated a lot, and I’ve never been a room with a bunch of writers thinking, “Well, what should this thing be?” It’s fun. It’s really fun. And J.J.’s a writer. Yeah, lovely guy. I’d met him but didn’t know him. But now I’m totally enamored by him. He’s really funny and so enthusiastic.

Kinberg On Working With Lawrence Kasdan And His Filmography: 

Raiders and The Empire Strikes Back were the two reasons I wanted to get into movies when I was a kid. I didn’t know that you could write movies, I didn’t know what the process was of making movies. I just knew I wanted to make movies like that. Then I found out he wrote Jedi, The Big Chill and ten other classic movies. He’s been an idol of mine from when I was a kid, through high school, through film school. I studied Raiders and Empire more than any other movies. I’ve watched each of them probably one hundred-plus times. He’s a lovely guy, and I’ve gotten to know him a bit. He’s as good a guy as he is a writer, which doesn’t happen all the time with your idols. 

It’s an amazingly surreal thing, to imagine Larry as a colleague, because he has been my idol my whole life. It’s like, if you grew up wanting to play basketball, and suddenly you’re on the team with Michael Jordan. Larry’s mind for screenwriting is sharper than anybody’s I’ve met. He’s the guy that wrote Raiders and Jedi and Body Heat and The Big Chill and Silverado -- he just has an innate understanding of storytelling, an essential understanding, unlike anything I’ve seen. ... It’s so very surreal for me to spend time with Larry and for Larry to know my name. Every time he says my name, I’m a little surprised and it feels like a thrill. So yeah, I’ve asked him questions, and he is great at telling stories about the process of making those movies that were the classics of our time and the bedrocks for us growing up.

Kinberg On His Approach To Film Projects As A Screenwriter: 

I honestly try to approach all of these movies -- whether it’s a title like X-Men or Sherlock Holmes or Star Wars -- as a fan. I try to block out the anxiety I feel if I worry too much about the responsibility, and I just try to focus on the fun of it and the reasons why I grew up reading X-Men comics and watching Star Wars movies and reading Sherlock Holmes stories, that first time I read or watched any of those things and why they were so magical to me. I try to honor that and return to that as I would a fan. That’s the way I feel. When I wake up in the morning and I’m working on an X-Men movie, it’s insane for me every day because I’m so excited to get to work.

Kinberg On The Rumors And Fanboys: 

I understand the interest in the movies, because I would be interested and I am interested as a pure fan. I’ve never seen a level of attention for a movie that isn’t in theaters yet as I have for Star Wars movies, and I understand why, because they are arguably the greatest stories and the biggest cultural benchmark of our time. They’re, for our generation, the movies that made many of us want to get into movies in the first place. So there is a level of passion and emotion connected to Star Wars that may be greater than other franchises. I try to not worry about speculation about the movies. I just think it’s great that there’s excitement about the movies. I’ve worked on movies where you have to generate excitement. This is one where the excitement is built in.

Kinberg On Working With Either New Or Establish Characters: 

This is what I would say: as a fan, I wouldn’t want to know too much. I know that’s impossible because it’s not the '70s or '80s anymore, but part of what was so exciting about A New Hope for me was I was entering into a universe I didn’t know. Even in Empire, I was surprised by a twist I never would have seen coming. But it’s different nowadays. I understand the excitement, and I’m happy that people are interested, obviously. But I’d rather people have something left to discover when they go in.

There are days when I come across something amazing on the internet that just brings a huge smile to my face. Today is one of those days with these amazing real-life photos that include Calvin & Hobbes superimposed in. They were created by Redditor nite4awk, and they're are simply beautiful. I grew up reading Calvin & Hobbes and I own all of the comic collections. Calvin was my inspiration as a kid, and I'd have to say that the comic played a good sized role in shaping me into the kind of person that I am today. I hope you enjoy this beautiful awesomeness...

Here's a solid first trailer for an intense looking new film called Hours, which stars Paul Walker. The story centers on a father who is struggling to keep his infant daughter alive in the wake of Hurricane Katrina. His baby is on a life support machine in a hospital when the power goes out, and it's running on a reserve battery that is draining. The film is set to premier at SXSW this year, and I think it looks like it's worth checking out. I like movies where the characters have to race against time. Check out the trailer!

Marvel's Guardians of the Galaxy seems like it's coming together pretty quickly. Chris Pratt was recently cast as the lead character Star-Lord in the film, which is a perfect choice! I've been really curious on how they're going to handle the characters Rocket Raccon and Groot in the James Gunn directed film. In a recent interview (Via: Crave Online) producer Victoria Alonso gives a little insight on bringing these characters to life saying,

We’re going to do it the best way possible. We are going to hopefully wow [you]. The beautiful thing about it is technology is always on our side, so we’re I would say very deeply into developing the look and hopefully some motion tests are happening so that we can figure out how they move, but I think that we will put all hands on deck to make sure the fans are proud of those two characters.

She also briefly touched on the special effects that we'll see in Thor: The Dark World, hinting at a couple of CG characters that she won't reveal yet,

There are a couple of CG characters there that I couldn’t reveal at the moment but very soon I will. There's a lot of work in Thor because don’t forget, Thor is not of earth. So every time we’re into his world we’re in a completely different environment.

Who do you think these two full CG characters could be? 

There's not a lot of details surrounding why former Walking Dead showrunner Glen Mazzara was let go from the AMC series other than creative differences. It looks like one of those creative differences could have been killing off Rick. If you've been watching the show then you know that none of the characters have been safe in the series. Mazzara explained in a recent interview with Hero Complex that he uses death as a way to drive the story forward and affect those left living. So if killing Rick meant it would make for a compelling story Mazzara would have done it. Obviously AMC wasn't on board with Mazzara's main character killing spree, but here's what he had to say about it,

Every day I get tweets from people saying, ‘If you kill Daryl, we riot.’ I’ll say this: I would never kill a character just to shock the audience. It’s about finding further story. When Dale was killed that put Shane in motion, when Shane is trying to kill Rick, Rick ends up stepping up as leader, that puts his marriage in jeopardy. It affects Carl. Carl was also affected with Lori’s death. All these deaths are very meaningful. So if there was a story in which killing Rick or Daryl or Hershel or anybody, the Governor, Andrea, Maggie, really affected the surviving characters and led to other stories I would do it. That would obviously be a big deviation from the book but in my mind when I’ve said no one is safe, I’ve been 100 percent sincere.

I swear if Daryl dies I'll riot! I know he doesn't do it to shock the audience, but let's face it... it's shocking! I'll also admit that the show has been getting better and more intense even with all the crazy deaths. I can't wait to see how season 3 ends. If Daryl does end up dying, there's really nothing we can do, we know that there will be more deaths by the time the season ends. 

What do you think about killing off Rick to move the story? He is as main a character as you can get in the show. 

J.J. Abrams directing Star Wars: Episode VII is one of the coolest things that could have possibily happened to the franchise. I seriously doubt he'll be back to direct another Star Trek movie at this point, which is a little sad, because he did an awesome job with them! But he's under contract with Paramount to at least produce the next film. I think the cast and crew of the Star Trek franchise have accepted the fact he may not be back to direct them on the Enterptise. In the new issue of EW actor Zachary Quinto and writer Roberto Orci share their thoughts on Abrams taking on the Star Wars universe,

Orci had this to say,

For J.J. this is achieving a childhood dream. Star Wars is what got him in the business. So watching him go to his Super Bowl like this? It’s genuinely joyful for me. [But] as a guy who is in love with Star Trek and in love with this version of it? It puts a scared lump in my throat. It’s like hearing one of the band members is going to do a solo album. I know Star Wars is going to be better for it, and I suspect Star Trek will be fine with the rest of us still here.

Qunito added,

I don’t think anybody feels like he’s going. We feel like he’s growing. J.J. surrounds himself with talented people, and if the day is coming where he has to hand off the director’s chair to someone, then we will all embrace that person and trust that [the new director is] the next best choice. We’re excited that is is being so bold and so declarative about what he wants to do and sees ways to bring his talent to a classic franchise — like Star Trek four years ago — that can use a fresh injection of new perspective. And we all benefit as moviegoers. And he’ll be around. He’ll still produce our movie even if he doesn’t direct it. And maybe there’s some version of this where [an upcoming Trek film] fits in [to the release calendar] in a way where he can come back around as director for us as well.”

Check out this great collection of poster art created by several different artists celebrating the nine films nominated for Best Picture this year for the 2013 Academy Awards. They were commissioned by Gallery1988. Here's a breakdown of all the artists that contributed to the series,

AMOUR by artist Matt Owen, ARGO by Anthony Petrie, BEASTS OF THE SOUTHERN WILD by Rich Kelly, DJANGO UNCHAINED by Mark Englert, LES MISÉRABLES by Phantom City Creative, LINCOLN by Jeff Boyes, LIFE OF PIby Tom Whalen, SILVER LININGS PLAYBOOK by Joshua Budich and ZERO DARK THIRTY by Godmachine.

This is only the beginning. Gallery 1988 will be releasing even more, so stay tuned!