Summit Entertainment and OddLot Entertainment announced today that production has begun on director Ivan Reitman’s sports dramedy Draft Day.  The film takes place within the span of one day, the day of the NFL Draft, as Kevin Costner plays a general manger who has the opportunity to save football in Cleveland when he trades for the number one pick.  As the day’s events unfold, “he must quickly decide what he’s willing to sacrifice in pursuit of perfection as the lines between his personal and professional life become blurred on a life-changing day for a few hundred young men with dreams of playing in the NFL.”

Filming is underway in New York, where the production will shoot some scenes at the actual 2013 NFL Draft.  Once that is complete, filming will move to Cleveland.  The ensemble includes Jennifer Garner, Denis Leary, Ellen Burstyn, Frank Langella, Josh Pence, Rosanna Arquette, Timothy Simons and 42 star Chadwick Boseman, and the start-of-production press release notes that Terry Crews and Sean “P. Diddy” Combs have also joined the cast.  Hit the jump to read the full press release, which includes the entire cast listing.

An American, a Canadian and a German each found work in the movies today. Here’s who was cast in what:

• Denis Leary has been added to the ensemble of football drama Draft Day.
• Carrie-Anne Moss (The Matrix) has signed up for Pompeii, Paul W.S. Anderson’s latest 3D actioner.
• Antje Traue (Man of Steel) will get her Ancient Greek on as the latest recruit for Brett Ratner’s Hercules: The Thracian Wars.

Hit the jump for more on each project.

With Marc Webb’s The Amazing Spider-Man set to release on DVD/Blu-ray next week (it’s currently available on VOD), a new Honest Trailer has debuted just in time.  The trailer takes shots at Webb’s origin story and hilariously points out the film’s shortcomings, all in good fun.  We’ve had a wealth of news on The Amazing Spider-Man sequel as of late, with Jamie Foxx in talks to play the villain Electro, Shailene Woodley’s role as Mary Jane Watson and Steve’s recent interview with Webb, which revealed quite a bit about the upcoming film.

The Amazing Spider-Man stars Andrew Garfield, Emma Stone, Rhys Ifans, Martin Sheen, Sally Field and Denis Leary.  Hit the jump to see the new honest trailer.

As much as I enjoy film, my first entertainment love will always be music. As such, this weekend finds me in Chicago in anticipation of what could be my final Warped Tour appearance. That’s right, I’m a 26 year-old man (I use the term “man” lightly, of course) who still finds immense joy in the pop-punk genre. Nevertheless, it’s becoming harder and harder for my oldness to blend in with a predominantly sub-18 crowd without looking like a total creep and, therefore, today may very well be my last Warped experience. On the bright side, I still have XBox Live to remind me that I’ve never completely grown up.

Maturity issues aside, on tap in this week’s version of the Top 5 is a slew of interviews for The Amazing Spider-Man, the first trailer and new images for Tom Cruise‘s Jack Reacher, our most anticipated movies from July to September, Savages interviews with Oliver Stone, Blake Lively, etc., and more The Dark Knight Rises coverage than most humans are capable of comprehending. Links and brief recaps for each reside after the break.

Several weeks ago, Sony Pictures invited us to attend the press junket The Amazing Spider-Man.  The reboot takes a grittier, more realistic approach to Peter Parker’s journey to becoming your friendly neighborhood Spider-Man, and sees the wall-crawler struggling to come to grips with the mysterious of disappearance of his parents.  For more on the film, click here for all of our previous coverage.

During my on-camera interview with Denis Leary, who plays Police Captain George Stacy, we talked about how director Marc Webb made working on a blockbuster film feel like an indie feature, if he’s seen any merchandise he’s liked, playing Armor O’ Malley in Gunmen, and the response to the Detroit firefighters documentary, Burn, which he executive produced.  Hit the jump to check out the interview, and click on the corresponding links for my interviews with co-stars Andrew Garfield, Emma Stone, and Rhys Ifans. The Amazing Spider-Man opens in 3D on July 3rd.

Director Marc Webb’s The Amazing Spider-Man is primed for a big Fourth of July weekend opening, but that doesn’t stop him from thinking ahead.  In a recent interview, Webb talked about potential sequels for the superhero film, saying that he departed from canon just enough to allow successive iterations to “withstand…[and] anticipate future storylines.”  Who does Webb think would be a good villain for Spidey in the future?  Well, he does stress that Spider-Man already has an impressive rogues gallery, but also suggested an original villain of his own creation.  You can find out who that would be after the jump.

The Amazing Spider-Man, starring Andrew Garfield, Emma Stone, Rhys Ifans, Martin Sheen, Sally Field and Denis Leary opens July 3rd.

With The Amazing Spider-Man opening next week on July 3rd, you may feel like you’ve seen the entire movie through the recent marketing barrage.  Well, you have seen about twenty-five minutes of it, because someone’s gone through the trouble of editing all the footage together into a mini-film for your viewing pleasure.  Add to it a new clip, TV spot and featurette and you can watch nearly a third of The Amazing Spider-Man without paying a dime.  Check out all of our previous coverage for The Amazing Spider-Man here.

Marc Webb’s The Amazing Spider-Man, starring Andrew Garfield, Emma Stone, Rhys Ifans, Martin Sheen, Sally Field and Denis Leary, opens in 3D on July 3rd.  Hit the jump to check out the new clip, TV spot, featurette and 25 minutes of footage.

Early reviews are in for the overseas release of The Amazing Spider-Man and so far they are generally positive.  The common theme seems to be broad support for Andrew Garfield’s performance as Peter Parker, lending a nervier version to the highschooler than Tobey Maguire’s character.  Reviewers also praised Emma Stone, Martin Sheen, Sally Field, Denis Leary and, to an extent, Rhys Ifans for their performances, but decried the narrative for being a bit thin and lacking dimension.  Interestingly, The Amazing Spider-Man is coming across as more of a romantic drama with action elements than an action movie with a love interest thrown in; this observation was taken to the extreme with one reviewer calling it, “the superhero film for the Twilight generation.”  Hit the jump for much more from the early reviews.

A few new bits of marketing from The Amazing Spider-Man have now gone online.  Two TV spots highlight the “vigilante” aspect of Andrew Garfield’s Spider-Man as well as the web-swinging action, while a new featurette focuses on Rhys Ifans’s villain The Lizard.  The latter is interesting in that it gives us our first taste of what it looks/sounds like when The Lizard speaks.  I’m still wary of the villain being made up entirely of CGI, and this featurette doesn’t exactly ease my concerns.  It’s possible that The Lizard plays better in context, but there still seems to be a disconnect in this featurette with the antagonist; he looks like a computer animated character, therefore he doesn’t feel very threatening.

Hit the jump to take a look at the TV spots and featurette.  The film also stars Emma Stone, Denis Leary, Martin Sheen and Sally Field.  The Amazing Spider-Man opens in 3D on July 3rd.

Andrew Garfield is set to swing into action in Marc Webb’s The Amazing Spider-Man when it debuts July 3rd, but how did they make all that web-swinging action come to life?  Sony has released about 25 minutes of B-roll footage that shows the behind-the-scenes workings of the production.  Sure, this clip of Gwen Stacy (Emma Stone) being all heroic is nice and it’s fun to watch Spidey swing away from pursuing cops with the greatest of ease, but the impressive “making of” footage really shows off the physical demand that was required.  It’s definitely worth a watch for you web-heads who just can’t get enough.  The B-roll also features Rhys Ifans, Denis Leary, Sally Field, Martin Sheen, Chris Zylka and some awesome stunt performers.  Hit the jump to check it out.

The second full trailer for Ice Age: Continental Drift has been released.  The fourth installment in the Ice Age franchise finds the kooky characters attempting to survive the breakup of Pangea, when Earth’s supercontinent begins to rift.  Though I’m not the biggest fan of the series, there are more than a few laughs to be found in this latest trailer.  The MVP of the franchise has always been John Leguizamo’s Sid the Sloth, and he shines in this latest clip.  We also get a glimpse of the film’s antagonists, a gang of pirates led by a prehistoric orangutan voiced by Peter Dinklage.

Hit the jump to watch the trailer.  The voice-cast includes Ray Romano, Queen Latifah, Denis Leary, Jennifer Lopez, Chris Wedge, John Leguizamo, Aziz Ansari, Nick Frost, Joy Behar, JB Smoove, Alan Tudyk, Heather Morris, Josh Gad, Kunal Nayyar, Alain Chabat, and hip/hop artist Nicki Minaj. Ice Age: Continental Drift opens in 3D on July 13th.

A new clip from The Amazing Spider-Man has gone online, and I like to think it’s called “Gymnast Spidey.”  Said clip highlights a lot of the practical effects work that director Marc Webb and the producers have been touting, and it’s definitely obvious that a lot of the web swinging here was done practically.  If some of these shots look familiar, it’s because much of this sequence was captured via a bevy of web swinging set photos.  Though it seems like Spidey has been overshadowed quite a bit by the big, dark elephant in the room, I’m looking forward to seeing Webb’s visuals and the take that talented star Andrew Garfield has on the character.  Moreover, Emma Stone as Gwen Stacey makes the film doubling enticing.

Hit the jump to watch the clip.  The film also stars Rhys Ifans, Denis Leary, Martin Sheen and Sally Field.  The Amazing Spider-Man opens in 3D on July 3^rd.  [Update: We added a second clip after the jump.]

The Australian trailer for The Amazing Spider-Man has gone online, and it contains a few bits of new footage.  The new footage provides a little more humor (I love the gag with Peter Parker (Andrew Garfield) tossing Gwen Stacy (Emma Stone) out a window) and little more Curt Connors/Lizard (Rhys Ifans).  The reboot is definitely turning into something where the more I see, the more I like, and I just really hope it all comes together.

Hit the jump to check out the Australian trailer.  The film also stars Denis Leary, Sally Field, and Martin Sheen.  The Amazing Spider-Man opens in 3D on July 3rd.

If you needed an additional excuse to go see Will Smith, Tommy Lee Jones and Josh Brolin in Men in Black 3 this weekend, how about this one: you’ll also see a six-minute preview of The Amazing Spider-Man.  Theater-goers who attend Thursday’s midnight showings of Men in Black 3D in IMAX will also get a sneak peek of one of the most anticipated movies of the summer.  Perhaps the trailers, clips, featurettes, images, posters, viral videos and interviews weren’t enough for you; maybe even this four-minute extended trailer hasn’t satiated your appetite.  If that’s the case, go buy your tickets for the midnight showing of MiB3 and get set to enjoy six minutes of Spidey!

Oh yeah, there’s also the third installment in the Men in Black franchise to enjoy.  Directed by Barry Sonnenfeld, Men in Black 3 also stars Emma Thompson, Jemaine Clement, Alice Eve, and Nicole Scherzinger. Hit the jump for more information on the preview of  The Amazing Spider-Man and Men in Black 3.

A day after the 4-minute “super preview” for The Amazing Spider-Man showcased the film’s explosive, high-flying spectacle, we’re being treated to something a bit more intimate. Director Marc Webb, relating his Sony NEX camera-sponsored ”makedotbelieve story,” gives us a little insight into his filmmaking process—the importance of protecting your core notion of what this film is, allowing for inspiration, what it’s like watching words on a page come to life. There’s also plenty of behind-the-scenes footage of Webb interacting with his cast and crew.

Hit the jump to check it out. Prior to catching the third trailer for the film, I was still pretty “meh” on this particular reboot. Since then, it’s been a firm #3 on my list of the year’s need-to-see superhero flicks (prove me wrong, Dredd). The Amazing Spider-Man stars Andrew Garfield, Emma Stone, Rhys Ifans, Denis Leary, Martin Sheen, and Sally Field.  It opens in 3D on July 3rd.