Shooting has begun on the Wachowski Siblings‘ new sci-fi film, Jupiter Ascending.  The film follows Jupiter Jones (Mila Kunis), a recent Russian immigrant who has to scrub toilets for a living, but then discovers she has the genetic signature that makes her next in line to be Queen of the Universe.  The movie is currently shooting at Warner Bros. Studios Leavesden and will remain in the U.K. until June.  The production will then move to Chicago to finish filming.

Hit the jump for the first full synopsis.  The film also stars Channing Tatum, Eddie Redmayne, Douglas Booth, Tuppence Middleton, Doona Bae, James D’Arcy, and Sean Bean.  Jupiter Ascending opens in 3D on July 25, 2014.

Oscar season is in full swing, folks.  2012 has been a fantastic year in film so far, and with merely weeks to go before 2013 begins there are still a couple of highly anticipated films that have yet to be seen.  Just like last year, I’ll be running down a preview of the upcoming Oscar race during this fine Thanksgiving week, giving readers a look at what the state of the race looks like right now.  To be clear, this isn’t a personal list but rather an objective look at how things look to be shaping up.  I’ve divided each category into frontrunners, likely to be nominated, and other contenders in order to parse out where things stand at the moment.  There are multiple strong contenders in nearly every category, so this is looking to be a rather heated run to the finish line.

We’ll be looking at a couple of different major categories each day over the next four days, and we’re kicking things off with the Best Supporting Actor and Best Supporting Actress categories.  Hit the jump to read on.

[This is a re-post of my review from the 2012 Toronto International Film Festival.  Cloud Atlas opens today.]

“My life exists far beyond the limitations of me,” a character notes in Cloud Atlas. By the same token, The Wachowski Siblings and Tom Tykwer‘s film exists far beyond the limitations of genre, narrative, identity, and time. It is a work of sweeping ambition, engrossing stories, compelling characters, and powerful emotions. The filmmakers have taken David Mitchell’s novel, and rebuilt it into a captivating sextuplet filled with love, hate, redemption, damnation, bravery, cowardice, and more. Through skillful editing and astounding performances, Cloud Atlas is a cinematic experience like few others, and it will leave viewers in awe.

The wildly ambitious adaptation of Cloud Atlas is a brilliant piece of filmmaking from writers/directors Lana and Andy Wachowski and Tom Tykwer, but it’s also a very hard sell for general audiences.  The film takes place across multiple settings and time periods, with the fantastic ensemble cast taking on a number of different characters.  In order to entice those who may be a bit apprehensive about the film, an extensive 13-minute featurette has been released that features interviews with the directors and the entire cast explaining how the film works.  It’s a fascinating watch not only to see how The Wachowskis and Tykwer pulled this thing off, but also to get a look at the whole cast in their various make-up and costumes.

Hit the jump to watch the featurette, and click here to catch up on all of our previous coverage.  The film stars Tom Hanks, Halle Berry, Susan Sarandon, Doona Bae, Hugh Grant, Jim Broadbent, Hugo Weaving, Jim Sturgess, Keith David, Ben Whishaw and James D’Arcy.  Cloud Atlas opens on October 26th.

Warner Bros. has released a new behind-the-scenes featurette for The Wachowski Siblings and Tom Tywker‘s Cloud Atlas.  The studio has a difficult task of selling the movie because it’s so different than what audiences are used to, and yet the film is surprisingly accessible if you’re willing to go along with its central conceit: six storylines with overlapping themes and shared actors.  The trailers and TV spots are pushing glowing pull quotes and the overarching plot devices, and this new featurette is in line with that marketing approach.  The only hurdle is in trying to get audiences to go in even though they don’t know the individual plotlines.  It’s a challenge viewers need to meet or else they’ll be missing out on one of the year’s best films.

Hit the jump to check out the featurette, and click here for my review of the film.  The movie stars Tom Hanks, Halle Berry, Jim Broadbent, Hugo Weaving, Jim Sturgess, Doona Bae, Ben Whishaw, James D’Arcy, Xun Zhou, Keith David, David Gyasi, Susan Sarandon, and Hugh Grant.  Cloud Atlas opens October 26th.

An insane amount of images from the upcoming adaptation of Cloud Atlas has been released.  The film comes from writers/directors Lana and Andy Wachowski (The Matrix trilogy) and Tom Tykwer (Run Lola Run), and early word has been enormously positive.  Our own Matt Goldberg considers it one of the best films of the year and notes that it’s “an important film in terms of how it breaks the boundaries of cinema and challenges the audience to cast aside preconceived notions of how genres and narratives have to work.”  You can read his full review right here while you patiently await the impeding release date.  Here’s hoping audiences spark to what sounds like a very special piece of filmmaking.

Hit the jump to check out over 80 images.  The film stars Tom Hanks, Halle Berry, Jim Broadbent, Hugo Weaving, Jim Sturgess, Doona Bae, Ben Whishaw, James D’Arcy, Xun Zhou, Keith David, David Gyasi, Susan Sarandon, and Hugh Grant.  Cloud Atlas opens October 26th. 

Seven new poster banners for the epic adaptation of David Mitchell’s sprawling novel Cloud Atlas have gone online.  The film comes from writers/directors Lana and Andy Wachowski and Tom Tykwer and features a large ensemble cast of actors who play multiple roles across different time periods and settings.  These banners help to delineate some of the storylines, as they appear to be highlight the separate time periods.  We learned yesterday that the film will be getting an IMAX release, which is good news since the pic looks to be absolutely epic in scope.  You can read Matt’s positive review right here.

Hit the jump to check out the banners along with two new TV spots.  The film stars Tom Hanks, Halle Berry, Hugh Grant, Jim Broadbent, Hugo Weaving, Jim Sturgess, Doona Bae, Ben Whishaw, James D’Arcy, Xun Zhou, Keith David, and David Gyasi.  Cloud Atlas opens on October 26th.

“My life exists far beyond the limitations of me,” a character notes in Cloud Atlas.  By the same token, The Wachowski Siblings and Tom Tykwer‘s film exists far beyond the limitations of genre, narrative, identity, and time.  It is a work of sweeping ambition, engrossing stories, compelling characters, and powerful emotions.  The filmmakers have taken David Mitchell’s novel, and rebuilt it into a captivating sextuplet filled with love, hate, redemption, damnation, bravery, cowardice, and more.  Through skillful editing and astounding performances, Cloud Atlas is a cinematic experience like few others, and it will leave viewers in awe.

A new trailer for Cloud Atlas has arrived, and it’s unsurprisingly great.  Directed by Lana and Andy Wachowski (The Matrix) and Tom Tykwer (Run Lola Run), this ambitious adaptation of the David Mitchell novel features an all-star cast taking on multiple roles across numerous time periods and locations.  This trailer is a shorter version of the phenomenal first trailer that was released in late July, but it includes a few enticing new bits of footage as well as a Susan Sarandon voiceover that attempts to put this original take into perspective for unfamiliar audiences.  We recently learned quite a bit about the incredibly tough road to production for the film, but if these trailers are any indication then The Wachowskis and Tykwer have crafted a worthwhile, sprawling epic unlike any other.

Hit the jump to watch the new trailer.  The film also stars Tom Hanks, Halle Berry, Hugh Grant, Jim Broadbent, Hugo Weaving, Jim Sturgess, Doona Bae, Ben Whishaw, James D’Arcy, Xun Zhou, Keith David, and David Gyasi.  Cloud Atlas opens on October 26th.

Writer/directors Lana Wachowski, Andy Wachowski, and Tom Tykwer recently unveiled their ridiculously ambitious adaptation of David Mitchell’s Cloud Atlas with an awe-inspiring extended trailer, directors’ commentary, and poster, and now we’ve got a closer look at some of the film’s characters.  The pic spans multiple time periods and locations, with the cast assuming numerous roles across different races and genders.  The idea is that we’re all connected, and relationships can play out the same way no matter the time or place.  The official site has now released images of the actors in all their character makeup, and it’s a sight to behold.  Where else can you see Hugh Grant playing a futuristic tribesman, Tom Hanks done up as a gangster, and Halle Berry as a white woman?

Hit the jump to take a look at the images.  The film also stars Jim Broadbent, Hugo Weaving, Jim Sturgess, Doona Bae, Ben Whishaw, James D’Arcy, Xun Zhou, Keith David, David Gyasi, and Susan Sarandon.  Cloud Atlas opens on October 26th.

Warner Bros. has released a six-minute trailer for Cloud Atlas along with a director’s commentary video and a poster.  The ambitious movie is based off David Mitchell‘s novel of the same name, and tracks how the lives of multiple characters intertwine across multiple eras.  Yesterday, we showed you the first images from Cloud Atlas, but they’re nothing compared to what this trailer shows in terms of the film’s scope and visuals.  Of course, no one expected directors Andy Wachowski, Lana Wachowski (The Matrix Trilogy), and Tom Tykwer (Run Lola Run) to go small, but it looks like they’ve made something that’s truly a sight to behold.  My only concern is with how the dialogue will be executed.  If it’s done in narration, then it will probably be okay, but if it’s conversation, then we might want to prepare for the “Let me read you a philosophy textbook” dialogue from The Matrix Reloaded.

Hit the jump to check out the trailer, directors’ commentary, and poster.  The directors’ commentary explains the difficulty in getting the film made and why they chose to make an extended trailer. It’s also noteworthy since the Wachowskis never comment on their movies.  The film stars Tom Hanks, Halle Berry, Jim Broadbent, Hugo Weaving, Jim Sturgess, Doona Bae, Ben Whishaw, James D’Arcy, Xun Zhou, Keith David, David Gyasi, Susan Sarandon, and Hugh Grant.  Cloud Atlas will play at this year’s Toronto International Film Festival, and open on October 26th.

Cloud Atlas, the first movie to be released by the Wachowski Siblings since 2008′s Speed Racer, now has an official domestic release date of October 26th, 2012.  The movie will open to international territories in early 2013.  The story, adapted from David Mitchell’s best-selling book by the Wachowskis and Tom Tykwer (Run Lola Run), explores how a person’s actions impact lives across time and space.  Cloud Atlas stars Tom Hanks, Halle Berry, Hugo Weaving, Jim Broadbent, Susan Sarandon and Hugh Grant. Hit the jump to read the press release.