Showtime has released the first trailer for the third season of Homeland, and it pretty powerful. This series is incredible, if you haven't started watching yet it I suggest you do, because you're missing out on some pretty damn good storytelling. As you'll see in the trailer, next season is going to be packed full of intense drama. 

Homeland returns for season 3 September 29th. The emmy-award winning series stars Claire Danes, Damian Lewis, Mandy Patinkin, Rupert Friend, Morena Baccarin, and Morgan Saylor.

The trailer is set to the song, “To Build a Home” by The Cinematic Orchestra.

Today at their D23 Expo, during Disney's live-action movie panel, they showed fans the first footage from Angelina Jolie's highly anticipated film Maleficent. The movie is being directed by Robert Stromberg from a screenplay written by Linda Woolverton (The Lion King, Beauty and the Beast). The movie looks so freakin' amazing! The visuals in this movie are going to be incredible, and Jolie was born to play this villainous role. She absolutely kills it in the scene from the film that they showed.

The scene we were shown starts out at the famous Christening of baby Aurora. The three fairies, Flora, Fauna, and Merryweather fly through the castle to bless the child with their special gifts. When the green fairy, Fauna, starts to present her gift, a dark presence enters the room, the candles are snuffed out, and the evil witch Maleficent enters the room with the line of dialogue... “Well, well, I must say. I felt quite distressed not receiving an invitation. What an awkward situation,” which is accompanied by a villainous, whispered cackle. The king (Sharlto Copley) tells her “You’re not welcome here.” She then proceeds to epically place the famous curse on Aurora, with the green flames of death engulfing the villain as she does it. It then cuts to a scene of Aurora (Elle Fanning) as a teenage girl touching the spindle which put her in to the deep sleep. You all know how this scene plays out, it's in the animated movie, but seeing it in this live action form was amazing.

The film focuses on Maleficent, and the story is told through her eyes. It follows her as a young teenage fairy, and will show us what exactly drove her to her evilness. The movie will depict King Stefan, whose ruthlessness and betrayal have a hand in driving Maleficent to the dark side. It was also said that the three fairies aren't so good at raising a child afterall. Over time, Maleficent becomes intrigued by Aurora after she casts her curse. One of the interesting things revealed was that we might just be rooting for Maleficent at the end of the film. 

“Maleficent” is the untold story of Disney’s most iconic villain from the 1959 classic “Sleeping Beauty.” A beautiful, pure-hearted young woman, Maleficent has an idyllic life growing up in a peaceable forest kingdom, until one day when an invading army threatens the harmony of the land. Maleficent rises to be the land’s fiercest protector, but she ultimately suffers a ruthless betrayal—an act that begins to turn her pure heart to stone. Bent on revenge, Maleficent faces an epic battle with the invading king’s successor and, as a result, places a curse upon his newborn infant Aurora. As the child grows, Maleficent realizes that Aurora holds the key to peace in the kingdom—and perhaps to Maleficent’s true happiness as well.

The film also stars Sam Riley, Imelda Staunton, Miranda Richardson, Juno Temple, and Lesley Manville. It opens in theaters on July 2nd, 2014.

Remember the viral video last year that surfaced right after The Amazing Spider-Man was released, and right before The Dark Knight Rises premiered? It was of Spidey and Batsy fighting it out in the streets of Toronto. Well that video was the brain child of none other than Mr. Sean Ward, a comic book artist, as well as an avid Youtube'er and he's just released a new video that I personally got a kick out of, and I'm almost certain you will as well. Vader and Obi JUAN Kenobi fight it out on the streets, in the middle of traffic, and more. Prepare yourselves for the fight of the century, and may the Force be with you.

The tears, bandannas wrapped around the arms, the broken sword smeared in blood...this is truly a sad Ninja Turtles art piece. Deadpea on DeviantArt did this illustration along with 3 others depicting the reactions of the Turtles would have if all their brothers were to die with them being the sole survivor. Very sad, but at the same time, wonderful art work.  

Immortals director Tarsem Singh has lined up a really cool sounding new film project called The Panopticon. It's an original action-thriller featuring sci-fi elements written by Craig Rosenberg. I love Singh's wild, imaginative style. The visuals he brings to the big screen are out of control! I'm not sure what went wrong with Mirror Mirror, but that movie sucked. This sounds like it will be a much better film project.

The story follows "a seemingly ordinary man who receives a mysterious package containing a pre-recorded message from himself, warning that the world is about to end and only he can save it. He must race against the clock to piece together the puzzle before time runs out for mankind."

I'm sure Singh will be able to take advantage of his visual style for the film and have some fun with it. I'm interested to see what he is planning for it! 

Via: The Wrap

We've got another photo from the set of Brett Ratner's Hercules, featuring Dwayne Johnson as the title character holding a big ass club. I'm sure he'll use it to beat someone to death with. If he doesn't, that's a waste of a good beating club.  

Johnson sent out the photo on Twitter with the following note, 

"No 'over-intellectualized actor speak,' Straight gut talk..bring it on."

The movie also stars Ian McShane, Rufus Sewell, Joseph Fiennes, Peter Mullan, John Hurt, Rebecca Ferguson, Ingrid Bolsø Berdal, Aksel Hennie, Reece Ritchie, and Tobias Santelmann.

The movie is based on the graphic novel Hercules: The Thracian Wars. The story is described as a "revisionist take on the classic myth set in a grounded world where the supernatural does not exist." I might actually be excited for this movie if Ratner wasn't directing; I just don't like his stuff. 

Here's a synopsis for the film:

Everyone knows the legend of Hercules and his twelve labors. Our story begins after the labors, and after the legend… Haunted by a sin from his past, Hercules has become a mercenary. Along with five faithful companions, he travels ancient Greece selling his services for gold and using his legendary reputation to intimidate enemies. But when the benevolent ruler of Thrace and his daughter seek Hercules' help to defeat a savage and terrifying warlord, Hercules finds that in order for good to triumph and justice to prevail... he must again become the hero he once was... he must embrace his own myth... he must be Hercules.

The movie is set to be released on July 25th, 2014

Mondo Poster by Anthony Petrie

Look, I understand there was a lot of hype for Sharknado, but when I watched it, I couldn't wait for it to end. The movie was terrible in every way, and I don't think it even falls into the "so bad, it's good" territory. I didn't like the movie at all, but I know a lot of you did. It made for a great trailer, but that's it. I just think it was a waste. 

Now they're making the sequel, which is even more of a waste! It will be called Sharknado 2: The Second One, and it will be released July of 2014.  

I just don't like the fact that people are making poorly made movies on purpose. It's like, "Hey! Let's take a few million dollars and make a bad movie on purpose!" That just sounds like a terrible plan, especially when they could take that money and actually try to make a decent movie. If they actually tried to make Sharknado a good movie, then it would probably fall into that "so bad, it's good" territory. The fact that they force it to be bad is just stupid. 

Agree with me or not, you're all entitled to your own opinion, and I respect that. But damn, I just don't understand why these guys can't at least make an effort to make good movies. It's the same reason I can't stand those stupid ass parody films like the Scary Movie franchise. 

Here's the full press release: 

A decision has been reached! After reviewing more than 5,000 Twitter submissions to its Name Sharknado 2 social media contest, Syfy announced that the title of the eagerly anticipated Sharknado sequel is…

SHARKNADO 2: THE SECOND ONE

Said Thomas Vitale, Executive Vice President, Programming and Original Movies, Syfy: “Since Twitter played such a huge role in the success of the original movie, we wanted to use that platform to ask our fans to name Sharknado 2. This response is another reminder of how Sharknado has become a pop culture phenomenon. We want to thank all our viewers for their wonderful contributions to keeping up the shark-mentum.”

Sharknado 2: The Second One, which will also be produced by The Asylum, hits land July 2014. The movie will be set in New York City.

In Sharknado, regulars of a beachside bar including owner Fin (Ian Ziering/Beverly Hills 90210), bartender Nova (Cassie Scerbo/Make It Or Break It) and local drunk George (John Heard/Home Alone) teamed up with Fin’s ex-wife April (Tara Reid/Scrubs) to investigate the ecological nightmare that has sharks swimming through the streets of Los Angeles and falling from the skies.

Syfy is a media destination for imagination-based entertainment. With year round acclaimed original series, events, blockbuster movies, classic science fiction and fantasy programming, a dynamic Web site (www.Syfy.com), and a portfolio of adjacent business (Syfy Ventures), Syfy is a passport to limitless possibilities. Originally launched in 1992 as SCI FI Channel, and currently in more than 98 million homes, Syfy is a network of NBCUniversal, one of the world's leading media and entertainment companies. (Syfy. Imagine greater.)

I found a pretty cool GIF online of Matt Smith's face turning into Peter Capaldi's. Granted, the actual regeneration will have a lot more sparks and pizzazz but it's cool to see how well the two faces can change into each other! Who knows? With the increased production value we might actually be able to see some of the morph take place!  Is it November 23rd yet?! 

Joey Paur and I talk about all the cool Pixar stuff we saw at the Pixar panel during the D23 Expo. We talk about The Good Dinosaur, Inside Out, Toy Story of Terror, Monsters University: Party Central. Watch us geek out and share our thoughts.

Image via: The GodDamnBatman

With all the buzz about the epic Batman/Superman team-up flick from SDCC 2013, its no surprise that fellow nerdy fans are putting their creative talents to work! This particular image is 5 of the 7 JLA members we know and love from the comics and/or T.V. shows, excluding Martian Manhunter and Aquaman.

If you've stayed current with DC Comics and their reboot of the universe, you know that Cyborg is now one of the founding 7, and that Martian Manhunter was booted off. In your opinion, for the future Justice League movie, who should be on the team? Should the newbie Cyborg get his shot in the limelight? Or should Martian Manhunter reprise his role as a member of the magnificent 7?

Joey Paur and Elijah Reyes talk about what they saw during the Disney Animation panel at the D23 Expo. They talk about Big Hero 6, Zootopia, and Frozen. They also talk about how D23 panels differ from Comic-con panels.

As part of YouTube's Geek Week, Machinima invited a ton of famous gamers and cosplayers to take part in this fun video presentation called Let's Play IRL: Battle of the YouTube Gamers. It's set to DJ Cole Plante's new single "Forever", and includes gamers Seannaners, Syndicate, and iJustine, as well as Nerdist legend Chris Hardwick. Check it out!

Joey Paur and I talk about the Disney Studio panel at the D23 Expo. The live action movies we talk about are Cinderella, Tomorrowland, and Maleficent. I butcher the pronunciation of Maleficent a few times, and we gripe about how boring the Tomorrowland presentation was.

Art by Alan Lathwell

Here's a quick bit of movie news for you. Game of Thrones writer Dave Hill and Hanna writer David Farr are teaming up to develop a new live-action Merlin movie for Warner Bros.

The movie will be produced by Donald De Line, who has been taking pitches for a Merlin film, and he apparently loved what the two guys brought to the table. 

There's no director attached, or details on the story, but it centers on Merlin so it shouldn't be too hard to imagine what it could end up being.

During Disney's D23 Expo presentation for their upcoming live-action films, they revealed the logos forTomorrowland,  Maleficent, Muppets Most Wanted, Into The Woods, Cinderella, and more. Check them out below!

The D23 audience was treated to a glimpse into the mysteries surrounding Disney’s “Tomorrowland” as Sean Bailey and filmmakers Brad Bird (director, co-writer, producer) and Damon Lindelof (co-writer, producer) talked about the inspiration of the secrets of the black box, which was featured in a short behind-the-scenes piece screened for the audience about the visionary Walt Disney. Although the audience was buzzing with questions, Bailey remained coy, but then announced a special, surprise “Tomorrowland” exhibit opening in the afternoon on the D23 floor that would reveal the contents of the box and more. Starring George Clooney, Hugh Laurie, Britt Robertson, Raffey Cassidy and Thomas Robinson, the action-packed adventure hits theaters December 12, 2014.

Sean Bailey thrilled the D23 audience with an exclusive, very early, sneak peek at the vision of Disney’s “Cinderella,” courtesy of director Sir Kenneth Branagh. Though many of the elements are still in development and pre-production, like Cinderella’s gown, the audience enjoyed getting a taste of what they could expect when Disney’s live-action version of the classic fairy tale opens in theaters on March 13, 2015.

Although Disney’s magical and amazing “Cinderella” promises to be faithful to the original fairy tale, the filmmakers will elevate the story, the characters and the visuals to take audiences on a sweeping dramatic journey never seen before. 

Disney’s “Into the Woods” celebrated its first public introduction as Sean Bailey shared some details with the audience about the highly anticipated musical. Rob Marshall, the talented filmmaker b

ehind the Academy Award®-winning musical “Chicago” and Disney’s “Pirates of the Caribbean: On Stranger Tides” is set to helm “Into the Woods,” which stars Academy Award®-winning actress Meryl Streep, Johnny Depp, Anna Kendrick, Chris Pine and Emily Blunt. Marc Platt, who produced the multiple Tony Award®-winning musical “Wicked” on Broadway, will produce “Into the Woods,” along with producers Marshall, John DeLuca and Callum McDougall.

“Into the Woods,” based on the Tony®-winning original musical by James Lapine and Stephen Sondheim, surrounds a baker and his wife’s quest to break a witch’s curse in order to start a family. Along the way, they encounter several well-known fairy tale characters and together they learn what happens after “happily ever after.” 

The film is slated for a December 2014 holiday release.  

Academy Award®-winning actress Angelina Jolie joined Sean Bailey on stage after the audience had an exclusive first look at Disney’s “Maleficent.” Starring as the title character in the highly anticipated live action film, Jolie chatted with Bailey about the film before exiting to wild applause.

“Maleficent” is the untold story of Disney’s most iconic villain from the 1959 classic “Sleeping Beauty.” A beautiful, pure-hearted young woman, Maleficent has an idyllic life growing up in a peaceable forest kingdom, until one day when an invading army threatens the harmony of the land. Maleficent rises to be the land’s fiercest protector, but she ultimately suffers a ruthless betrayal—an act that begins to turn her pure heart to stone. Bent on revenge, Maleficent faces an epic battle with the invading king’s successor and, as a result, places a curse upon his newborn infant Aurora. As the child grows, Maleficent realizes that Aurora holds the key to peace in the kingdom—and perhaps to Maleficent’s true happiness as well.

The film also stars Sharlto Copley, Elle Fanning, Sam Riley, Imelda Staunton, Miranda Richardson, Juno Temple and Lesley Manville and is produced by Joe Roth and directed by Robert Stromberg. Linda Woolverton, the screenwriter of “Alice in Wonderland,” “The Lion King” and “Beauty and the Beast,” wrote the screenplay. “Maleficent” opens in theaters on July 2, 2014.

Sean Bailey set up the story and talented cast of Disney’s “Saving Mr. Banks,” the extraordinary, untold backstory of how Disney’s classic “Mary Poppins” made it to the screen, and reminded everyone that “Mary Poppins” is about to celebrate its 50thanniversary. After showing two clips from the movie to the D23 audience, Bailey introduced Jason Schwartzman and B. J. Novak, who portray the famous composing team of Richard and Robert Sherman, respectively, in the film. In a big surprise moment, Schwartzman and Novak welcomed “Mary Poppins” composer Richard Sherman on stage to greet the excited audience. The two talented actors then engaged the crowd in a rousing, confetti-filled, grand finale sing-along performance of “Let’s Go Fly a Kite,” the classic song from “Mary Poppins.”

Two-time Academy Award®–winner Emma Thompson and fellow double Oscar®-winner Tom Hanks topline Disney’s “Saving Mr. Banks,” which is directed by John Lee Hancock (“The Blind Side,” “The Rookie”) and produced by Alison Owen, Ian Collie and Philip Steuer. Kelly Marcel and Sue Smith wrote the screenplay.

When Walt Disney’s daughters begged him to make a movie of their favorite book, P.L. Travers’ “Mary Poppins,” he made them a promise—one that he didn’t realize would take 20 years to keep. In his quest to obtain the rights, Walt comes up against a curmudgeonly, uncompromising writer who has absolutely no intention of letting her beloved magical nanny get mauled by the Hollywood machine. But, as the books stop selling and money grows short, Travers reluctantly agrees to go to Los Angeles to hear Disney’s plans for the adaptation. For those two short weeks in 1961, Walt Disney pulls out all the stops. Armed with imaginative storyboards and chirpy songs from the talented Sherman brothers, Walt launches an all-out onslaught on P.L. Travers, but the prickly author doesn’t budge. He soon begins to watch helplessly as Travers becomes increasingly immovable and the rights begin to move further away from his grasp. It is only when he reaches into his own childhood that Walt discovers the truth about the ghosts that haunt her, and together they set Mary Poppins free to ultimately make one of the most endearing films in cinematic history.

“Saving Mr. Banks” releases in theaters December 13, 2013, limited, December 20, 2013, wide.

With San Diego Comic-Con not far in the rearview mirror and many projects still early in production and post production, Marvel didn't have mass quantities of exclusive material to debut at the D23 Expo. However, there was still some fantastic footage shown to get excited about. In this video, we describe the new action-packed clip that was shown for Captain America: The Winter Soldier, and the plot revealing scene for Thor: The Dark World.

Other than what is discussed in the video, everything else that was shown again is described in greater detail in our Comic-Con footage description for Guardians of the Galaxy and our other Marvel coverage. In case you missed it, you can also watch the latest Thor trailer here.

Check out this awesome piece of Star Wars fan art by Gris Grimly called "The Jedi Showdown. " To purchase a print clip here.

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Director James Gunn is currently in the process of shooting Marvel's Guardians of the Galaxy, which is going to be an amazingly awesome film! Some photos from the London set of the film have actually surfaced featuring some members from Nova Corps, which I thought was really cool because you get to see some of the costumes and makeup. 

The are shooting the scene on London's Millennium Bridge, and it seems like they are guiding some alien civilians from some kind of danger. Some of those alien costumes are cool looking. Check out the photos!
 

Based on the Marvel comic book that first appeared in 1969, Marvel’s “Guardians of the Galaxy” is produced by Kevin Feige, directed by James Gunn from a story by Nicole Perlman and Gunn and screenplay by James Gunn, and stars Chris Pratt, Zoe Saldana, Dave Bautista, Lee Pace, Michael Rooker, Karen Gillan, Djimon Hounsou, with Benicio del Toro, John C. Reilly and Glenn Close. 

The film is slated for an August 1, 2014 release.

Kick-Ass 2 finally hits theaters this week, and the movie looks like it could end up being even better and crazier than the first one! Here's a new TV spot for you watch, which has some fun new footage. 

The movie stars Aaron Taylor-Johnson, Chloë Grace Moretz, Morris Chestnut, John Leguizamo, Olga Kurkulina, Clark Duke, and Donald Faison.

Kick-Ass, Hit Girl, and Red Mist return for the follow-up to 2010’s irreverent global hit: Kick-Ass 2. After Kick-Ass’ (Aaron Taylor-Johnson) insane bravery inspires a new wave of self-made masked crusaders, led by the badass Colonel Stars and Stripes (Jim Carrey), our hero joins them on patrol. When these amateur superheroes are hunted down by Red Mist (Christopher Mintz-Plasse)—reborn as The Mother F%&*^r—only the blade-wielding Hit Girl (Chloe Grace Moretz) can prevent their annihilation.

 Vin Diesel may have revealed that he's going to be the voice of Groot in Guardians of the Galaxy. Not long ago Diesel took a meeting with Marvel but didn't say what it was for. We've heard rumors of him playing Vision, which Joss Whedon debunked, and I've speculated that he will play Thanos, which I'm still really hoping for! But yesterday the actor posted this picture on his Facebook page. There was no explanation for the image, and the dialogue was whited out, but the character's signature line is "I am Groot!" In fact, I think that's the only thing he says!

He could have also just posted it as a way to tease that he'll have a role in Guardians of the Galaxy, maybe as Thanos? Maybe he posted it to throw everyone off the scent of who he's really going to play in the Marvel universe. 

Only Marvel and Diesel know the truth, but if he did end up being the voice of Groot, that would be cool! After all, he also famously voiced the robot in Iron Giant. I won't complain, but I still think he'd make a better Thanos.  

What do you think Diesel is trying to hint at?