With The Avengers winning the hearts of millions and breaking box office records, it’s no wonder why people are already looking forward to the Blu-ray/DVD release to bring the power of the action-packed flick to your home. In a interview with Collider, director Joss Whedon revealed The Avengers Blu-Ray / DVD will have 30 minutes of deleted scenes which will put the total run time just under three hours. EPIC! Hit the jump to see the interview with Whedon.

Here is the Joss Whedon interview:

The exhausted Whedon seems almost deaf to the praise he receives in the Collider interviewer, which is understandable as he worked his ass off to get this movie completed. And the positive result is apparent of that. Matt’s review praised the film. I also really enjoyed the film for many reasons, but the main one was simply how much fun it was.

Now we have the Blu-ray/DVD to look forward to. What die-hard fans wanted was a mammoth 3 hour long masterpiece that will entertain for years and years. To put something like that in the theater is almost unreasonable. But to do an extended cut for home pleases not only the fans, but makes for a much more enticing buy to take the movie home. So now all we have to do is wait for the release so we can enjoy the 3 hour long epic at home. There is no current release date set for The Avengers on Blu-ray/DVD.

Are You Excited To See The Extended Version Of The Avengers On DVD?

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The sequel to The Hunger Games now has a new director, something we have expected since Gary Ross stepped down in early April. Of course, this is great news to me considering the deepest flaw in The Hunger Games was the lack of technical quality — shaky camera to the tenth degree. I’m glad to see a competent director is taking over this beloved franchise. Not that Ross isn’t competent, because his work on Seabiscuit and Pleasantville was great, but it will be refreshing to see a new artist’s take on this series. The directing could not possibly get worse than Ross’ effort on the first film. Now Franchise Lawrence will take the lead, presenting the second film set to debut on November 22nd, 2013.

Lawrence is most well-known for his directing efforts on Constantine, I Am Legend, and most recently Water for Elephants. All three of those films were pretty damn good, especially I Am Legend. The tension in this film was palpable in the absence of light – every time I watch Will Smith following Sam into the overwhelming blackness of that abandoned building, I tense up. And while Water for Elephants does have Mr. Twilight Robert Pattinson, it is definitely worth a watch with Academy Award winners Christoph Waltz and Renee Witherspoon alongside him. Seriously, the film is underrated.

Anyway, all three of these movies were well shot and feature top Hollywood talent. Lawrence can obviously hold his own. I’m excited to see what he can bring to the table — surely it’s a lot more than Gary Ross’ shaky camera and hyper editing. Catching Fire is set to begin shooting this Fall.

Are You Excited For This Addition To The Sequel? 

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Sometimes with films that are large in budget and on the scale of The Avengers, we get other related films called spin-offs. This is something Mark Ruffalo is going to learn a lot about in the near future.

With The Avengers already making a killing overseas, there has been a lot of talk about Mark Ruffalo’s performance as Bruce Banner/Hulk. It must be a very good performance because Mark has signed a deal with Marvel to appear as The Hulk in SIX FILMS. Hit the jump to see Mark talk about his role.

Check out the video below to see Ruffalo talk about why he decided to play The Hulk.

Six films as The Hulk sounds like a ton, and it is. But we don’t know what role Bruce Banner will play in those films. I would assume the first film in the six picture deal was The Avengers and there will more than likely be a sequel to that. The rest could just be a bunch of cameos in upcoming Marvel films like Iron Man 3, Thor 2 and/or Captain America 2. Mark had expressed interest is doing his own Hulk movie, and there’s no doubt that he will get one. Eric Bana and Ed Norton both gave decent roles as the character, but Mark seems to be getting props for his performance left and right since The Avengers was released overseas (which sucks for us U.S. fans). Hopefully, we’ll have the chance to see more of Mark Ruffalo as Bruce Banner in his own film. Or two.

Would You Like To See A New Hulk Movie With Mark Ruffalo?

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It seems like the news and marketing for The Dark Knight Rises is just about the kick into gear. Over the weekend several sites were reporting that we will get a new trailer for the final Batman film on May 4th attached to The Avengers. There is no word as to how long the trailer will be or when it will hit the web. But this is very exciting news to anyone who has been wondering where Warner Bros. has been on The Dark Knight Rises front.

In other Batman related news, The Wall St. Journal is reporting there will be over an hour worth of IMAX footage used in The Dark Knight Rises. Christopher Nolan is a huge fan of the quality the IMAX brings to the screen, so it should be no surprise that he used the massive IMAX cameras to bring his final Batman movie more to life than before.

If you recall, The Dark Knight had about 30 minutes of IMAX footage. The timing and use of that footage was well worth the extra cost of the ticket. I saw The Dark Knight at a standard theatre before I saw it in IMAX, and the contrast was evident. The scale of those IMAX scenes really made me feel like I was watching something bigger than just a film. Needless to say, I was very excited when I read there would be over an hour of IMAX footage for The Dark Knight Rises.

The Dark Knight Rises comes out July 20th, 2012.

Are You Excited For The New Dark Knight Rises Trailer?

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Anthony Hopkins is one of the most iconic actors that has ever been on film. He has tackled some of the most challenging characters from Hitler to Hannibal Lector. With a very impressive resume that spans from the 1960’s to today, it’s not hard to say that he is one of the greatest actors ever. Now he’s playing one of the most influential directors/storytellers ever in Alfred Hitchcock. Hit the jump to check out the full spread of Hopkins in Hitchcock and our first look at Tom Hardy in Lawless.

Check out the picture below of Anthony Hopkins in Hitchcock.

Who’s on make-up duty? Give them a huge raise, right now. The likeness of Hopkins to Hitchcock in this photo is unreal. It’s obvious they really had to do a lot of work on the lower half of Hopkin’s face, but the result is amazing. Hitchcock supposedly surrounds the making of the 1960 hit Psycho. While I’m not a huge fan of movies that are about making movies, there is no doubt that Hopkins will absolutely dominate this role as Alfred Hitchcock. He’s got the class, the delivery, and the style to portray the legend with pinpoint accuracy. Other cast members include Scarlett Johansson, Jessica Biel, Danny Huston and Helen Mirren. It’s being directed by Sacha Gervasi who made some big splashes by writing the screenplay for The Terminal and directing the very entertaining documentary Anvil: The Story Of Anvil.

Hitchcock does yet have a release date.

Another dynamic actor who has a new film coming out is Tom Hardy, and I’m not talking about The Dark Knight Rises. I’m talking about Lawless. The film is about three brothers in Virginia who find their bootlegging business under threat in the Prohibition-era. Check out the first images from the film.

Lawless is based on a novel called The Wettest County in The World by Matt Bondurant. The film has gone through its fair share of name changes. First it had the same titled as the book, then it was briefly titled The Promise Land, then it was simply called The Wettest Country before the film eventually settled on Lawless. Whatever it’s called, it’s going to be great. With a cast that features Tom Hardy, Shia LaBeouf, Gary Oldman, Guy Pearce, Jason Clark and Jessica Chastain, it would be hard to imagine the film being bad.

Lawless is to be released on August 31st.

Are You Excited For These Upcoming Flicks?

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Today…is a great day. After bitching and moaning for months of the complete silence from Warner Bros. releasing anything official of The Dark Knight Rises, today Entertainment Weekly unveiled their annual Summer Movie Preview issue featuring Catwoman (Anne Hathaway) and Batman (Christian Bale) on the cover. The issue is apparently on newstands now (although I couldn’t Effing find it anywhere). Anyway, check out A LOT of TDKR goodies after the break.

Now, first and foremost, check out the full EW cover featuring Batman and Catwoman’s full suits, looking, of course, badass.

This TDKR-centric issue features a pretty juicy plethora of interviews where Nolan discusses the nuances of Selina Kyle, Tom Hardy puts the “voice issue” into context, and Anne Hathaway spills on the intense physical preparation she had to go through for her role as Catwoman:

Christopher Nolan on Bane and Selina Kyle/Catwoman

[Bane] represents formidable physical strength, combined with absolute evil of intention. [Selina Kyle] has a very strong way of protecting herself and those she cares about, which implies an underlying darkness.

Tom Hardy on Bane and his voice

It’s a risk, because we could be laughed at — or it could be very fresh and exciting,” says Hardy, adding that the voice he developed was influenced by many factors, including a desire to honor the comic book character’s brains and Caribbean heritage. “The audience mustn’t be too concerned about the mumbly voice,” says Hardy. “As the film progresses, I think you’ll be able to tune to its setting.

Anne Hathaway on training for Catwoman

I had to physically transform,” says Hathaway, calling from London, where she’s currently shooting Les Misérables with Hugh Jackman and Russell Crowe. “Chris sat me down at the beginning and said, ‘Joseph Gordon-Levitt did all of his own fighting in Inception. That one zero-gravity fight? He trained for two months.’ I basically left his office and went to the gym and just came out about five minutes ago.

So there you have it folks. Selina Kyle is going to be a very nuanced, sympathetic yet a mysteriously motivated character, Hathaway is going to kick some ass, and we all just need to take a breath on Bane’s voice. Nolan & Hardy got this.

Lastly, thanks to the good folks at NolanFans, we have some scans of the EW TDKR spread with productions stills of Catwoman breaking into a safe, Bruce Wayne and Lucious Fox discussing the chaos in Gotham, John Blake (Joseph Gordon-Levitt) wielding his 9mm and finally, the most intriguing and certainly the most badass, Bane standing menacingly in the middle of the Gotham stock exchange. Hinting that his destruction of Gotham will not just be that of physical damage, but that of crippling the city’s economy. Click the images below to enlarge.

The Dark Knight Rises into theaters July 20th.

[via Batman News, NolanFans, EW]

What Do You Think? Discuss.

It has been quite some time that we have had any significant news on TDKR. Some would say the lack of any press, news, or viral marketing for Christopher Nolan’s last Batman film has been more than disappointing. Frustrating to say the least. Well, at least this is something.

Over the holiday weekend we got a tid-bit of news on the upcoming finale. Collider is reporting that The Dark Knight Rises will be given a PG-13 Rating for ”intense sequences of violence and action, some sensuality and language.” This should come as no surprise to anyone as Batman Begins and The Dark Knight had the same rating. Batman Begins was PG-13 for “intense action violence, disturbing images and some thematic elements.” The Dark Knight was given the same rating for “intense sequences of violence and some menace.” So the ultimate difference between the first two Batman films and The Dark Knight Rises would be “some sensuality.” I would assume that Selina Kyle/Catwoman would be the reasoning for that.

This movie was never going to be rated anything else. I’ve read some blogs hoping the film would be rated R. But Christopher Nolan has never been big into gore or bad language. Plus Warner Bros. was never going to make this film with R rated content, cutting out a huge portion of its viewing audience and keeping people under 17 out of auditiorum seats this Summer.

Nolan’s track record has been pretty split between PG-13 and R films. His first 3 movies, Following, Memento and Insomnia were rated R. Following could have been rated PG-13, but that’s a different topic. Every movie he has done since Insomnia has been rated PG-13. So if you thought there would be bloody nerve endings and muscles hanging from a head that Bane ripped off with his bare hands, you were wrong.

What Do You Think Of The Dark Knight Rises Being Rated PG-13?

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The picture above is Gary Ross working on The Hunger Games — it’s a funny image because you can see him using a tripod. Despite the tripod in the picture, the use of one was absent for almost the entirety of the film. Read my review of The Hunger Games and you will see my biggest gripe with the film was the amateur looking shaky camera work from Ross.

The sequel to the smash hit, Catching Fire, was inevitable. With that in mind, everyone just assumed Gary Ross would be on board for the second and third films. For the first, the man adapted the screenplay and directed. He was passionate about making a good adaption. He’s got to be on board for more right? Well now The Playlist has confirmed Gary Ross “has officially exited the franchise,” and he will not return to Panem.

Ross reportedly was in negotiations with Lionsgate to work on Catching Fire as his involvement with the project was already discussed by the studio. Simon Beaufoy has already be hired to write the sequel and was said to be doing so under the supervision of Ross. Clearly that is not going to be the case anymore. The delay over Ross not signing onto the second film seemed to revolve around financial compensation negotiations — it appears now that Ross was actually leveraging his The Hunger Games success to pitch a film he’s been developing for some time.

Personally, this is good news to me. It will be nice to see a new director take hold of this world, because the way Gary presented this film hurt its overall success in my eyes. Hopefully the sequel will find some new editors too, because that was the The Hunger Games other glaring flaw.

The Hunger Games sequel will shoot in the Fall so Jennifer Lawrence can also film another anticipated sequel in early 2013, the follow-up to X-Men: First Class.

Catching Fire is set for release on November 22, 2013.

What Do You Think About This News?

Follow Matthew on Twitter: @matthewdeery

Christoph Waltz has been one of the busiest actors on the planet ever since he stole the show in Inglorious Basterds. Since his Oscar-winning performance he’s been in The Green Hornet, Water For Elephants and The Three Musketeers; all of which he played a villain. Currently, he is working on a new Quentin Tarantino film titled Django Unchained.

The film is about a man named Django played by Jamie Foxx. Django is a freed slave who travels across America with the German bounty hunter Dr. King Schultz (Waltz) to rescue Django’s wife Broomhilda (Kerry Washington) from a sadistic plantation owner Calvin Candie played by Leonardo Dicaprio. Hit the jump to get our first look.

Here are the first set photos from Django Unchained.

I am super excited for this movie. The fact that it’s a Tarantino film with Dicaprio, Waltz and Jamie Foxx makes it that much better. On top of that we’re also gonna be getting doses of Sacha Baron Cohen, Kurt Russell and Samuel Jackson. Django Unchained is stacked with talent.

UPDATE: Due to scheduling conflict, Joesph Gordon-Levitt had to drop out of the film. Sad day for all. 

Django Unchained is scheduled to be released on Christmas Day 2012.

Are You Excited For Tarantino’s latest?

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For years the sequel to Anchorman has been stalled by what seemed to be a brick wall built of scheduling conflicts, budget problems, and Adam McKay not being on the same page with Paramount. It all seemed to add up to Anchorman 2 never being realized. Enter Ron Burgandy. Last night Will Ferrell, dressed in one of his “suits so fine,” came out from the shadows with his jazz flute in hand to make a major announcement. Hit the jump to hear it from Burgandy himself.

Mr. Ferrell on the matter:

This is very good news for anyone who appreciated Anchorman. I enjoyed it from start to finish. It’s currently listed on IGN’s top 25 comedies ever at number 11. The film was released in 2004 and seeing that the sequel is just getting the green light, there will more than likely be at least a ten year gap between the two films.

Reportedly, Director Adam McKay had wanted the sequel to be a full-on musical, but Paramount turned that idea down. Paul Rudd and Steve Carell are officially confirmed, with David Koechner and Christina Applegate expected to join as well. Judd Apatow is also on board to produce. There is no release date at this time, but this will for sure be a film to keep your eye one.

Are You Excited This Is Finally Coming Together?

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