A Rosewater release date has finally been set, and it’s in the heart of awards season later this fall.  Jon Stewart’s highly anticipated directorial debut will open in select theaters on November 7th, the same date as Christopher Nolan’s Interstellar.  However, Open Road Films will likely take good care of rolling the film out slowly over the course of the month, so no one’s expecting it to give Interstellar a run for its money.  Written and directed by Stewart, the film stars Gael Garcia Bernal and is an adaptation of BBC journalist Maziar Bahari‘s memoir, Then They Came for Me.  Bahari, who was born in Tehran, went to Iran in 2009 to interview Mir-Hossein Moussavi, but was arrested by the Revolutionary Guard, and then interrogated and beaten for 118 days by a man known only as “Rosewater”.  Stewart had a personal connection to the story as Bahari’s previous The Daily Show appearance was used as “evidence” that he was a spy.

Rosewater is slated to screen at the Toronto International Film Festival in September where I’m eager to finally see it, but it will likely have its world premiere at the Telluride Film Festival one week prior.  Hit the jump for news concerning a slightly delayed horror film called Demonic.

I’m not sure where I come down on this Trash trailer, in part because I can only understand about 10% of it.  Universal Pictures Brazil has released an international trailer for the film, directed by Stephen Daldry and written by British rom-com maestro Richard Curtis.  In the film, “three poverty-stricken boys who discover something unusual, mysterious, and dangerous in a city dump.”

The trailer has some slick visuals and a tone that reminds me of Slumdog Millionaire in the way that it places children in sort of a “safe” feeling criminal world.  Martin Sheen and Rooney Mara star alongside Wagner Moura (Elysium) and Selton Mello.  Rickson Tevez, Eduardo Luis, and Gabriel Weinstein play the three young boys at the center of the mystery.  Hit the jump to check out the Trash trailer.  The film is based on the novel by Andy Mulligan.  There is no word yet on a U.S. release date. 

Amidst a disheartening piracy situation, Lionsgate has released the final The Expendables 3 trailer for director Patrick Hughes’ action sequel.  This time around, Sylvester Stallone and his gang of geriatric action stars must band together to save their protégés, who have been kidnapped by an evil nemesis played by Mel Gibson.  By now you’re well aware of whether this franchise is for you or not, but if you plan on seeing it, I ask that you refrain from being lazy or self-involved and actually pay for a ticket.  Piracy is not only bad for the movie business, it’s bad for the filmmaking community as a whole.  Whatever the quality of the final product, a significant amount of time and money was invested into making this movie a reality, so the least you could do is pony up $10 of your own money to check it out.

Hit the jump to watch the final The Expendables 3 trailer.  The film also stars Harrison Ford, Wesley Snipes, Arnold Schwarzenegger, Kelsey Grammer, Antonio Banderas, Jason Statham, Jet Li, Dolph Lundgren, Randy Couture, Terry Crews, Kellan Lutz, Ronda Rousey, Victor Ortiz, and Glen Powell. The Expendables 3 opens August 15th.

From Academy Award-winning filmmaker Peter Jackson, The Hobbit: The Battle of the Five Armies is the third in a trilogy of films that bring the masterpiece The Hobbit, by J.R.R. Tolkien, to life.  It is an epic conclusion to the adventures of Bilbo Baggins, Thorin Oakenshield and the Company of Dwarves, who have reclaimed their homeland from the Dragon Smaug, but have unwittingly unleashed a deadly force into the world.  And there are even greater dangers ahead, as darkness converges on their escalating conflict, and the races of Dwarves, Elves and Men must either unite or be destroyed while the future of Middle-earth hangs in the balance.

While at Comic-Con for a presentation in Hall H, Peter Jackson, Benedict Cumberbatch, Andy Serkis, Evangeline Lilly, Cate Blanchett and Orlando Bloom spoke to press at a conference, in which they talked about why the title of the third film changed, the progression of the tone, from the first film to this one, perfecting the voices of Smaug and Gollum, the creation of Tauriel, the experience of revisiting characters from The Lord of the Rings trilogy, and how long it might be before any of the films get remade.  Peter Jackson also talked about why The Silmarillion will probably never get adapted for film, and how he feels about a new King Kong film.  Check out what they had to say after the jump.

The unusual premise of the hit Fox series Sleepy Hollow combines supernatural elements with a police drama format.  Marketed as a modern-day retelling of the short story, “The Legend of Sleepy Hollow” by Washington Irving, the show takes the same liberties with history as Once Upon a Time does with fairy tales, as facts and myths are tweaked slightly to fit within the show’s universe.

Season 2 begins on September 22^nd, and has been bumped up in size from 13 to 18 episodes, so that fans can get even more monsters.  Before greeting their fans at the panel, co-stars Tom Mison and Nicole Beharie, along with showrunner Mark Goffman and executive producer Alex Kurtzman, spoke with press about what to expect in the upcoming season.  Hit the jump for highlights from those interviews.

Disney has released the first trailer for the fairy tale musical Into the Woods, directed by Rob Marshall (Chicago).  James Corden and Emily Blunt star as a couple who encounter Brothers Grimm characters while on a quest to reverse a curse that keeps them from starting a family.  This is very much a teaser trailer, which unfortunately means we don’t get to hear any of the songs just yet; this trailer is very much focused on introducing the cast and the magical world.  Marshall’s first foray into tentpole moviemaking with Pirates of the Caribbean: On Stranger Tides was a bit of a misfire, but Into the Woods looks to combine the large-canvas sensibilities of that film with the theatrical quality of Chicago.  He’s assembled an incredibly talented cast to bring Into the Woods to fruition, so if he can deliver from a directorial standpoint (and if the songs turn out well), we could be in for something quite special.

Into the Woods stars Meryl Streep, Anna Kendrick, Chris Pine, Johnny Depp, Lilla Crawford, Daniel Huttlestone, Tracey Ullman, and Christine Baranski, and opens December 25th.  Hit the jump to watch the first Into the Woods trailer, and click here to see the recently released images.

Even knowing next to nothing about the Daniel Schaffer graphic novel, with a cast including Katie Cassidy, Garret Dillahunt, Eliza Dushku, Michelle Trachtenberg, Sasha Grey and Michael Imperioli, John Suits’ big screen adaptation of The Scribbler quickly got my attention.  The film focuses on Cassidy’s Suki, a character who opts to use a new form of treatment to annihilate her multiple personalities caused by a dissociative identity disorder.

The concept is interesting and the brand new trailer has some curious imagery to go along with it, but as someone with no prior knowledge of the source material, I’m still having a tough time wrapping my head around who The Scribbler is and what she’s capable of.  There’s something intriguing about it, but nothing concrete enough to establish much of a draw.  Check out The Scribbler trailer for yourself after the jump.  The film arrives on iTunes and On Demand on September 19th.

I was quite bummed I never made it into Hall H for one of the big winners of San Diego Comic-Con 2014, Mad Max: Fury Road, but luckily, ever since SDCC, Warner Bros. has been making more and more material public.  We’ve got a full recap of the Mad Max Comic-Con panel right here, but if you’d like to check out bits of the film for yourself, not only do we have those character posters and the new trailer, but now we’ve got a few new photos as well.

Hit the jump to catch those Mad Max: Fury Road images, which include a behind-the-scenes shot of Tom Hardy with director George Miller as well as two stills from the film featuring Hardy and Nicholas Hoult.  Mad Max: Fury Road is due in theaters on May 15, 2015 and also stars Charlize Theron, Hugh Keays-Byrne, Zoe Kravitz, Riley Keough, Rosie Huntington-Whiteley and Nathan Jones.

Fox Searchlight has released a new international full-length Birdman trailer for director Alejandro González Iñárritu’s ambitious black comedy.  The film stars Michael Keaton as an actor who once played an iconic superhero, and now faces troubles with his ego and family as he prepares to mount a Broadway play in a bid to reclaim past glory.  The previous trailers have all been fantastic, but they’ve simply teased the plot without giving much away story-wise.  This new international trailer digs deep into the descent of Keaton’s character, and the actor looks to be giving a truly tour de force performance as a man on the brink of a career meltdown.  Moreover, it’s fantastic to see the kinds of camera tricks that Iñárritu uses to make the film appear to be one continuous shot.  I seriously can’t wait to see this movie.

Hit the jump to watch the new Birdman trailer, which is slightly NSFW for a couple of f-bombs.  The film also stars Edward Norton, Naomi Watts, Emma Stone, Zach Galifianakis, Andrea Riseborough, and Amy Ryan.  Birdman (or the Unexpected Virtue of Ignorance) will premiere at the Venice Film Festival and opens in theaters on October 17th.

Well, this looks ridiculous, but I guess that’s been the point of SpongeBob SquarePants since day one.  The very first trailer for The SpongeBob Movie: Sponge Out of Water 3D has arrived and it’s got Bikini Bottom in ruins post-apocalyptic-style, Slash from Guns N’ Roses, Antonio Banderas hamming it up as a pirate, and SpongeBob, Patrick, Squidward, Sandy, Plankton and Mr. Krabs dressed up as superheroes trying to save the day in a live-action world.  I can’t say it’s my thing, but the trailer is in the vein of the TV show and kids love that, so this thing’s got to be on the right track.

Check out Patrick’s ice cream-eating superpower, a cannonball ballet and loads of other other silly antics in The SpongeBob Movie: Sponge Out of Water 3D trailer after the jump.  The movie arrives in theaters on February 13, 2015 and features the voices of Tom Kenny, Clancy Brown, Rodger Bumpass, Bill Fagerbakke, Carolyn Lawrence and Douglas Lawrence.

Lionsgate has acquired the suspense thriller Down a Dark Hall and set Rodrigo Cortes (Buried) to direct.  The young adult novel by Lois Duncan centers on Kit, a new student at Blackwood Boarding School: “It is the opportunity of a lifetime, but Kit quickly realizes something strange is happening behind its walls as she confronts the darkly seductive powers of Blackwood’s headmistress and comes face to face with the supernatural powers that could make her great or destroy her.”  Michael Goldbach (Daydream Nation) adapted the first draft—Chris Sparling (Buried) has joined the team for additional writing.

Stephenie Meyer, Meghan Hibbett, Wyck Godfrey, and Marty Bowen will produce Down a Dark Hall.  Check out the press release for more details after the break.

Having wrapped up its second season and being well into production on the third, cast and creators from History Channel’s historical drama Vikings took time out of slamming each other with swords and shields to visit Comic-Con to host a panel for the fans and hint at what’s coming up for Season 3.  During the Con I was able to attend a roundtable interview with show creator Michael Hirst to discuss what is in store for the upcoming season.  During the interview Hirst discussed the role of strong female characters in the show, how religion and mysticism are treated and used in the show, what is in store for Ragnar now that he’s come into his own power and the struggles of keeping the show as historically accurate as they can.

Hit the jump for our Vikings Season 3 Comic-Con interview with Michael Hirst.

Even in a year full of excellent science-fiction fare, Joon-ho Bong’s Snowpiercer stands out.  The film—which has become notable for its ambitious multi-platform release, courtesy of The Weinstein Company’s RADiUS—as much as for its stellar reviews tells the story of a post-apocalyptic world where all life on Earth is contained to a single luxury train that circles the frozen planet once yearly.  Within the train, a tightly controlled caste system has developed.  When members of the train’s underclass attempt a rebellion, all hell breaks loose and long held secrets of this world come to light.  The movie stars Chris Evans, Tilda Swinton, The Host’s Kang-ho Song and Ah-sung Ko, Ed Harris, John Hurt,, Jamie Belle, Octavia Spencer and Alison Pill is available in theaters and most every VOD marketplace now.  But it really, really should be seen on the big screen.

Last weekend at Comic-Con, Collider sat down with Evans and Co-Producer Dooho Choi for an intimate press conference to discuss the film.  During the small group chat, Evans and Choi described Bong’s artistic vision, the elaborate fight scenes, avoiding the Harvey Scissorhands treatment, why a film with so many stars and such good reviews hit VOD two weeks after theatrical, the magic of Tilda Swinton, crooked-necked giraffes, watching a cut of the first two acts before the final day of principal photography and more.  Hit the jump for the full transcript.

What happens if you round up the nation’s most brilliant scientific minds, seclude them in a makeshift city in the middle of the desert, and drown their lives in secrecy?  These are the questions addressed in Manhattan, the new historical drama from creator Sam Shaw (Masters of Sex) and director Thomas Schlamme (The West Wing).  Manhattan offers a semi-fictionalized version of the infamous Manhattan Project – the clandestine research and development project that resulted in the creation of the atomic bomb.  While the events of the show are based on history, Manhattan largely steers clear of iconic figures like J.  Robert Oppenheimer and Leslie Groves, and focuses instead on the interpersonal drama between fictitious characters as they contend with the costs of secrecy and isolation.  Manhattan stars John Benjamin Hickey, Olivia Williams, Daniel Stern, Rachel Brosnahan, Ashley Zukerman, Harry Lloyd, Michael Chernus, Christopher Denham, Katja Herbers, Alexia Fast, and Eddie Shin.

I recently visited the set in Santa Fe, New Mexico where the labs, homes, and barracks of Los Alamos have been recreated from the ground up.  While I was there I had the chance to sit down with Sam Shaw and Thomas Schlamme for a video interview.  They talked about why the Manhattan Project was the perfect story for a serialized TV drama, balancing the line between history and fiction, and why their putting a priority on emotional honesty over historical accuracy.  Hit the jump to watch.

Sean Bean stars in Legends, a crime drama about an FBI agent working in the Deep Cover Operations division, who has a gift for assuming different identities, but begins to question his own identity after a chance encounter that makes him question everything about his life.

Just before the show’s Comic-Con premiere, stars Ali Larter, Tina Majorino and Morris Chestnut spoke to the press about the new show.  Legends will air on TNT beginning August 13^th at 9 p.m. Hit the jump for interview highlights.