A Tropic Thunder reunion may be in the cards.  Robert Downey Jr. has been trying to mount a new feature film version of Pinocchio for some time now, and most recently he had discussions with Tim Burton to possibly direct.  The film is based on an idea by Downey himself, and the actor would tackle the role of Geppetto as well as produce the pic alongside wife Susan Downey.  While on the Iron Man 3 press circuit, the actor recently hinted that his Tropic Thunder director Ben Stiller would be a great fit for the Pinocchio director’s chair, and now it appears that discussions between the two have materialized into something a bit more concrete.  Hit the jump for more.

A few days ago at CinemaCon, Ben Stiller premiered the first footage from his upcoming movie, The Secret Life of Walter Mitty.   In the film, Stiller stars as the eponymous LIFE Magazine proofreader who, incapable of standing up for himself in the real world, retreats to a fantasy where he becomes his poised, confident opposite.  On his quests, he seeks to find a missing image taken by a photographer played by Sean Penn.  The movie stars Kristen Wiig as his love interest, and Adam Scott, Shirley MacLaine, Patton Oswalt, and Kathryn Hahn.  While Stiller is known for his great work behind the camera on Tropic Thunder and Zoolander, Walter Mitty is definitely his most adult work to date and the footage I viewed show heart, humor and restraint.  Look for this to be an Awards contender at the end of the year.

Shortly after premiering the footage, I participated in a small press conference with Ben Stiller and Kristen Wiig.  They talked about balancing fantasy and reality, Steve Conrad‘s script, comparisons to the original, the tone, filming in Iceland, David Bowie (the song Major Tom plays a role in the film), how the script changed when actors signed on, and more.  Hit the jump to either listen to or read what they had to say.

A remake of 1947′s The Secret Life of Walter Mitty has been in development since 1996, but Ben Stiller is the one who finally made it a reality.  In addition to directing, Stiller stars as the eponymous LIFE Magazine proofreader who, incapable of standing up for himself in the real world, retreats to a fantasy where he becomes his poised, confident opposite.  On his quests, he seeks to find a missing image taken by a photographer played by Sean Penn.  The first image from the film has been released, and we see a haggard Mr. Mitty holding a skateboard on terrain that doesn’t seem particularly suited to skateboarding.

Hit the jump to check out the image.  20th Century Fox will be showing 15 minutes from the film at CinemaCon, so we’ll be on the lookout for reaction to the footage.  The movie also stars Kristen Wiig, Adam Scott, Shirley MacLaine, Patton Oswalt, and Kathryn Hahn.  The Secret Life of Walter Mitty opens December 25th.

We’ve got a couple of interesting casting stories to share this afternoon.  First up, add Ben Stiller to the long list of guest stars that will be appearing on the upcoming fourth season of Arrested Development.  EW reports that Stiller will reprise his role as magician Tony Wonder in one episode of the resurrected show on Netflix, but further details are unknown.  Though it was recently confirmed that this will be the one and only new season of the show, creator Mitch Hurwitz certainly does seem to have put together one hell of a run of episodes.  Other guest stars include Seth Rogen, Kristen Wiig, Conan O’Brien, Isla Fisher, Andy Richter, John Slattery, and Terry Crews.  All 13 episodes will be released at the same time on Netflix in May.

Hit the jump to find out who will be playing the chief antagonist in the upcoming third season of American Horror Story.

Though the film has been rumored for quite some time, it appears as though Night at the Museum 3 is officially a go.  The film has been scheduled for release on December 25, 2014, and Shawn Levy will be returning to the director’s chair while Ben Stiller reprises his lead role.  Levy most recently helmed the Vince Vaughn/Owen Wilson comedy The Intership and is also attached to direct Stiller and Jonah Hill in the comedy Aloha, but with the Christmas 2014 release date imminent, it looks like Museum 3 is his next film.  Here’s what he had to say about the story when Levy spoke with Steve last year:

“It’s really funny, it’s very poignant, and it’s not just ‘Oh what museum are they going to this time?’ it’s a much meatier story than that.”

No other plot details are known at this time, but I assume we’ll hear more soon.  Hit the jump for release date news concerning the adaptation of The Maze Runner.

Writer/director Wes Anderson has a close relationship with the wonderful folks at the Criterion Collection, and now one of his films that previously got the Criterion DVD treatment has finally gotten the Blu-ray upgrade.  When The Royal Tenenbaums opened in 2001, it marked Anderson’s first major film as a “known” director.  He burst onto the scene with 1996’s Bottle Rocket, but it was Rushmore that really launched his career.  As such, The Royal Tenenbaums came with some pretty lofty expectations.  Anderson honed the script with his partner Owen Wilson and went about assembling a truly remarkable ensemble cast.  The results are kind of a mixed bag of humor, drama, and wit, but the film works more often than it doesn’t.

Hit the jump for my review of The Royal Tenenbaums Criterion Blu-ray.

As you’re likely aware, the 2012 Summer Olympics kicked off in London yesterday. In other words, it’s time for me to care about competitive swimming and gymnastics for the first time since the 2008 Summer Olympics in Beijing. To all of our readers, especially those internationally-based, I’m interested in hearing your thoughts on the Summer Olympics. Is it an event that evokes your inner-patriotism and love of otherwise obscure athletic feats? Do you take great joy in defeating the ol’ U.S. of A. in something other than Math and Science scores? Sound off in the comments.

This Saturday brings us the Man of Steel teaser trailer set to John Williams‘ original Superman score, coverage from our visit to the set of Will Ferrell and Zach Galifianakis‘ The Campaign, an extended trailer and first official images from Cloud Atlas, interviews with the fellas of The Watch, and Brendan’s latest By the Numbers installment covering The Caped Crusader from Batman: The Movie to The Dark Knight Rises. Unless you’re a Top 5 noob (in which case, welcome aboard!), you know that a brief recap and link to each can be found after the jump.

Director Tom McGrath (Megamind) may make his live-action debut directing denizens of the afterlife in Rentaghost, starring Ben Stiller.  The picture, inspired by a British children’s TV series, follows “an American turnaround consultant who is sent to the UK to reinvigorate a failing company,” and finds jobs for ghosts and ghouls. Having co-directed all three of the wildly successful Madagascar movies, McGrath would reunite with Stiller, who voiced Alex the Lion in the animated films.

Before Fox picked the picture up from Warner Bros., it had starred Russell Brand in the lead role.  With Stiller attached and Night at the Museum scribes, Thomas Lennon and Robert Ben Garant writing, McGrath’s addition could further seal up box-office gold as families will likely head to the theaters in droves when the movie opens next year.  McGrath’s entry into negotiations comes via Variety.

“Let’s keep it 1950s, kids,” Vince Vaughn‘s character says to his teenage daughter and her prom date in Akiva Schaffer‘s The Watch.  That sentiment could be applied to the film’s cherished values, and the characters’ drive to protect the most boring of places: the suburbs.  The suburbs are where white flew after African-Americans began moving into the cities, and now it’s a safe haven where nothing happens or will ever happen.  The paradox of The Watch is in seeing the heroes (played by Vaughn, Ben Stiller, Jonah Hill, and Richard Ayoade) go on a comic adventure to keep the status quo.  But in the dull trappings of Schaffer’s bland direction, Stiller’s killjoy character, and Ayoade’s wasted talented, there’s no comedy or thrills to be found.  It’s a movie where rocking the suburbs won’t wake the neighbors, and only the chemistry between Vaughn and Hill provides any levity to the tame R-rated comedy.

Opening tomorrow is director Akiva Schaffer’s (Hot Rod) sci-fi comedy The Watch (previously titled Neighborhood Watch).  The film stars Vince Vaughn, Jonah Hill, Ben Stiller and Richard Ayoade as a group of neighbors who form a local neighborhood watch group and end up stumbling onto an alien plot to destroy the world.  The film also stars Billy Crudup, Will Forte, Rosemarie DeWitt, and Nicholas Braun.  For more on the film, here’s the latest trailer, a red band trailer, an outtake reel, my video interview with Schaffer, and all our previous coverage.

The other day I got to speak with Stiller, Vaughn, Hill and Ayoade.  We talked about the filthy dialogue, what was in the script versus improv, what scene had the most takes, and who broke the most during filming.  In addition, at the end of the interview I got updates on the 21 Jump Street sequel, Zoolander 2, The Internship and The Double.  Hit the jump to watch.

A new red-band trailer/outtake reel for The Watch has gone online.  For those unfamiliar with the film, it follows a neighborhood watch gang who stumble upon plans for an alien invasion.  There are some regular clips that have appeared in other trailers, and then the outtakes are more like alternate takes that are followed by the actors cracking up at their shenanigans.  I’ll have my review online tomorrow, but I’ll say now that if you want to avoid spoiling some of the jokes for yourself, maybe hold off on watching this until after you’ve seen the movie.

Hit the jump to check out the red-band trailer/outtake reel.  The film stars Ben Stiller, Vince Vaughn, Jonah Hill, and Richard Ayoade.  The Watch opens Friday.

Ben Stiller invaded the zeitgeist like few have with 2001’s Zoolander, and fans have been clamoring to see the dimwitted male model character make his triumphant return ever since.  Movement on the follow-up finally began in 2010, with Tropic Thunder scribe Justin Theroux set to co-write the script and direct.  All seemed well and good until Paramount decided it had budgetary issues with the script, and the project has been in a state of limbo for the past couple of years.

Steve recently got the chance to talk with Stiller at the press day for the sci-fi comedy The Watch, and the actor gave a minor—yet slightly optimistic—update on Zoolander 2.  Hit the jump to see what he had to say.

Though we’ll see Ben Stiller and Jonah Hill team up for next month’s sci-fi comedy The Watch, the duo is already planning another project together.  THR reports that Stiller and Hill are attached to star in the comedy pitch Aloha, with Night at the Museum director Shawn Levy set to helm.  Plot details are under wraps, but the story is described as an island-set comedy.  Hill hatched the idea for the project himself, which was then further fleshed out by Hill, Stiller, and Levy on the set of The Watch (which Levy produced).  Hit the jump for more details.

It almost seemed like Fox had forgotten about Akiva Schaffer‘s comedy The Watch (it received the blandest poster of the year thus far), but with about a month to go until the film’s release, it looks like the marketing is beginning to ramp up.  A new international trailer has gone online, and it’s got some good laughs throughout.  The plot centers on a group of neighborhood watch guys (played by Ben Stiller, Vince Vaughn, Jonah Hill, and Richard Ayoade) who stumble upon an alien invasion plot.  Stiller and Vaughn seem to have settled into their standard personas (uptight guy and fast-talking guy, respectively), but I like seeing Hill as a little bit psycho, and it looks like British actor Ayoade (The IT Crowd) has a chance to steal the show in his big American debut.

Hit the jump to check out the international trailer.  The film also stars Rosemarie DeWitt, Will Forte, and Billy Crudup.  The Watch (formerly titled Neighborhood Watch) opens July 27th.

We’ve got a couple of new posters for two all-star lineup films to share today.  First up, the final poster for The Expendables 2 has landed online.  The one-sheet highlights the film’s ensemble of hardened action stars and lots and lots of explosions.  The message here is clear: Sylvester Stallone, Arnold Schwarzenegger, Bruce Willis and co. are so bad ass that they’re impervious to fire.  The film’s story finds Stallone’s crew up against baddie Jean-Claude Van Damme who is in possession of weapons-grade plutonium (that bastard!).  The film opens on August 17th.

Additionally, a new poster for the sci-fi comedy The Watch has landed online.  Previously titled Neighborhood Watch, the film stars Vince Vaughn, Jonah Hill, Ben Stiller and Richard Ayoade as a group of neighbors who form a local neighborhood watch group and end up stumbling onto an alien plot to destroy the world.  While the poster isn’t much, I’m encouraged by the fact that Akiva Schaffer (Hot Rod) directed the pic and the film’s red-band trailers are really funny.  The film opens on July 27th.  Hit the jump to check out the posters.