Yesterday production began on director Brett Ratner’s actioner Hercules, with Dwayne Johnson playing the titular role.  The ensemble is described as “a revisionist take on the classic myth set in a grounded world where the supernatural does not exist,” and finds Hercules traveling Greece with five faithful companions until they are called upon by the benevolent ruler of Thrace to defeat a savage and terrifying warlord.  The pic has been a bit of a passion project for Johnson, and the actor has taken to Twitter to tease a bit of his transformed look for the character, for which he undergoes three hours of makeup every day.  Intimidating is probably going to be an understatement as soon as we see Johnson’s Hercules in full.

Hit the jump to take a look at the image of Johnson in the makeup chair.  The film also stars Ian McShane, Rufus Sewell, Joseph Fiennes, Peter Mullan, John Hurt, and Rebecca Ferguson.  Hercules opens on July 25, 2014.

Fast & Furious 6 is a machine running close to peak performance.  The Fast & Furious franchise has been stripped down and rebuilt through six iterations.  It’s gone from racing to revenge to a heist and now it’s forced to find its own identity.    After finding a good group of characters and upping the stakes in the action scenes, there’s finally a level of confidence instead of simply watching fast cars drive around.  The new movie struts into the room and proudly proclaims, “If we’re going to be goofy and loud, we’re going to be the goofiest, loudest movie we can be!”  It’s almost admirable in its own twisted way.  After four films, Justin Lin‘s direction has finally matched the ambition of his set pieces, and aside from indulging in the “family is everything” treacle, Fast & Furious 6 is easily the best film in the franchise yet.

Universal Pictures has release nine clips from director Justin Lin’s upcoming sequel Fast & Furious 6, amounting to around nine minutes of footage from the pic.  The follow-up to 2011’s Fast Five moves the action to Europe, where Hobbs (Dwayne Johnson) is trying to stop a group of mercenary drivers led by an unnamed mastermind (Luke Evans) and Letty (Michelle Rodriguez).  Hobbs recruits Dom (Vin Diesel) and his crew to help bring down the criminal outfit, and in exchange will provide pardons for the Rio heist.

Hit the jump to watch all of the clips, and click here to check out 46 high-resolution images.  The film also stars Paul Walker, Jordana Brewster, Tyrese Gibson, Sung Kang, Gal Gadot, Chris Bridges, Elsa Pataky, and Gina Carano.  Fast & Furious 6 opens May 24th.

Opening later this month is director Justin Lin’s Fast & Furious 6.  The adrenaline-fueled high-octane action franchise continues in this installment that sees Dom Toretto’s crew teamed up with Agent Hobbs in order to bring down an international criminal with military training.  We’ve got over 40 hi-res images from the film to share with you after the jump!

Starring Vin Diesel, Paul Walker, Dwayne Johnson, Jordana Brewster, Michelle Rodriguez, Ludacris, Tyrese Gibson, Joe Taslim, Sung Kang, Gina Carano and Luke Evans, Fast & Furious 6 opens May 24th.  Hit the jump to check out the images.

Another Pain & Gain reunion is already in the works.  Deadline reports that Dwayne Johnson is set to star in and executive produce a half-hour dramedy pilot for HBO about the lives of athletes, with his Pain & Gain co-star Mark Wahlberg also onboard to executive produce alongside Steve Levinson.  The project takes place in Miami and “chronicles the lives of athletes—some retired, some still active.”  Johnson will play one of the athletes, but at this time it sounds like Wahlberg is only producing.  Levinson—who wrote many episodes of the Wahlberg-produced HBO series Entourage—wrote the pilot, which will be directed by Friday Night Lights helmer Peter Berg.  Production is slated to begin this fall.

This marks another move for the very busy Johnson, who is next set to shoot his starring role in Brett Ratner’s Hercules.  The actor is also in talks to return for Fast & Furious 7 should his schedule allow.  This also marks the second HBO pilot that Berg is helming this season, as he will also direct the pilot for Lost co-creator Damon Lindelof’s potential series The Leftovers.

Universal Pictures has released a final trailer for Fast Five director Justin Lin’s sequel Fast & Furious 6, and it’s chock-full of summer blockbuster goodness. This trailer does a great job of showing off the film’s ginormous scale, as we get some extended looks at Lin’s many action sequences.  Car chases through the streets of Europe, brutal fistfights in which The Rock pulls some legit wrestling moves, and a car chase/fight sequence involving a tank are all things we can look forward to with Fast & Furious 6.  Producer Neal Moritz recently told us that the film features two or three of “the best action sequences you will ever see” and noted that Fast 6 is the best film of the series yet.  We’ll get a chance to judge for ourselves in a few short weeks, but this trailer definitely makes the film look like one hell of a ride.

Hit the jump to watch the trailer.  The film stars Vin Diesel, Paul Walker, Dwayne Johnson, Jordana Brewster, Michelle Rodriguez, Ludacris, Tyrese Gibson, Joe Taslim, Sung Kang, Gina Carano, and Luke Evans.  Fast & Furious 6 opens on May 24th.

Last night I had the opportunity to check out a late showing of Pain & Gain during which I encountered a few thoughts that I couldn’t shake: 1) I wish Michael Bay would make more films like this and less of the transforming car variety. 2) Why can’t Dwayne Johnson be in every movie? 3) This is probably the craziest “Based on a True Story” movie I’ve ever seen. I’ve heard Bay say that some of the most extreme elements of the plot are also the most true to the original story. This is good to know because had someone written a lot of what shows up in the film I would likely call it too farfetched for my suspended disbelief to withstand. Make no mistake, this is a wild, entertaining ride that utilizes layers of action, crime, comedy, sex, and even a touch of sadism to keep you invested from beginning to end.

My mini-review aside, this week’s Top 5 includes the first trailer for Thor: The Dark World, Pain & Gain interviews with Michael Bay, Mark Wahlberg, and more, a recap of our visit to Pixar for Monsters University, news that Zack Snyder could take the helm of Justice League pending Man of Steel‘s success, and the first entry in a new interview series from Steve: “Breaking Down the Movie” with The Place Beyond the Pines director Derek Cianfrance. As is customary, a brief recap and link to each of the above is ready and waiting after the jump.

Entitlement is a central facet of the American Dream. If you work hard, you should be rewarded. We believe we live in a meritocracy despite all evidence to the contrary. In some walks of life, you can get out what you put in. It’s a truth in exercise, and it’s mostly been a truth for the films of Michael Bay. He is a director completely without subtlety and grace, and is one of the most financially successful directors in American history. His films are cinematic excess in their purest form; indifferent to story and character, they have disgustingly large budgets pumped in and grandiose spectacle pumped out. His new film, Pain & Gain, may not have the funds of his recent blockbusters, but it wholeheartedly shares the cocky and reckless spirit of his controversial oeuvre. Sympathetic to his meathead protagonists, Bay has crafted a picture that is energetic, fun, and almost too large for life.

Opening this weekend is director Michael Bay’s fantastic dark comedy Pain & Gain.  The film is based on a crazy true story and stars Mark Wahlberg and Dwayne Johnson as two bodybuilders who get caught up in an extortion ring and kidnapping scheme that goes terribly wrong.  Pain and Gain also stars Anthony Mackie, Rebel Wilson,  Tony Shalhoub, Ed Harris, Rob Corddry, Ken Jeong, and Bar Paly.  For more on the film, watch some clips or the red-band trailer.

Recently, I landed an exclusive phone interview with Johnson  and Wahlberg.  We talked about how the craziest stuff is true, the way they prepared for the role, whether they were nervous to play these characters, collaborating with Michael Bay, future projects like Ted 2, Hercules, G.I. Joe 3, and more.   In addition, I asked Wahlberg if we can get Johnson walking around in the background of Transformers 4 so that there can eventually be a G.I. Joe/Transformers movie.  Hit the jump for what they had to say.

As we approach the release of the sixth film in the Fast and Furious franchise, it’s a bit crazy to think that the series is actually at the top of its game this far in.  The worldwide box office total of 2011’s Fast Five doubled that of the second-highest grossing entry in the series, Fast & Furious, and now director Justin Lin’s Fast & Furious 6 is poised to be one of the biggest films of a very crowded summer.

Steve recently spoke with producer Neal Moritz for an extended interview, and during their conversation he talked extensively about what fans can expect from Fast & Furious 6 as well as the progress on the very fast-moving Fast & Furious 7, which was recently announced for a summer 2014 release.  Moritz confirmed that James Wan will be directing the next installment and talked about why they chose the Saw director to step into the franchise, and he also assured us that Dwayne Johnson will indeed be returning.  Hit the jump for much, much more.

Universal Pictures has released a new featurette for director Justin Lin’s upcoming sequel Fast & Furious 6, and it features a whole lot of new footage from the film.  The follow-up to 2011’s Fast Five moves the action to Europe, where Hobbs (Dwayne Johnson) is trying to stop a group of mercenary drivers led by an unnamed mastermind (Luke Evans) and Letty (Michelle Rodriguez).  Hobbs recruits Dom (Vin Diesel) and his crew to help bring down the criminal outfit, and in exchange will provide pardons for the Rio heist.  This featurette has basically the entire cast and Lin discussing the story of the sixth installment in the franchise, and we’re treated to a host of new footage that highlights some seriously intense action/racing/fighting sequences.

Hit the jump to watch the new featurette.  The film also stars Paul Walker, Jordana Brewster, Tyrese Gibson, Sung Kang, Gal Gadot, Chris Bridges, Elsa Pataky, and Gina Carano.  Fast & Furious 6 opens May 24th.

Though 2009’s G.I. Joe: The Rise of Cobra was a sizeable success at the box office, Paramount decided to retool their approach to the franchise with this year’s sequel G.I. Joe: Retaliation.  The studio’s secret weapon for the follow-up was Dwayne Johnson, who has quickly become a kind of “human steroid injection” for film franchises in need of a punch-up (see also: Fast Five and Journey 2: The Mysterious Island).  Johnson took the lead this time around as Roadblock, and the result was an impressive $40.5 million opening weekend with a worldwide total currently sits at a little over $270 million.  Understandably, Paramount officially greenlit yet another G.I. Joe sequel mere days after Retaliation opened in theaters.

Steve recently spoke with Johnson in anticipation of Michael Bay’s upcoming black comedy Pain & Gain, and the actor talked briefly about the preliminary plans for G.I. Joe 3.  Hit the jump to see what he had to say.

Universal has released a few new posters for director Justin Lin’s upcoming sequel Fast & Furious 6.  The film moves the action of the franchise across the pond to Europe, where Hobbs (Dwayne Johnson) is trying to stop a group of mercenary drivers led by an unnamed mastermind (Luke Evans) and Letty (Michelle Rodriguez).  Hobbs recruits Dom (Vin Diesel) and his crew to help bring down the criminal outfit, and in exchange will provide pardons for the Rio heist.  These new posters highlight the characters played by Johnson, Tyrese Gibson, Ludacris, Sung Kang, and Gal Gadot.

Hit the jump to take a look at the new posters, and click here if you missed the posters Steve found at CinemaCon.  The film also stars Paul Walker, Jordana Brewster, Elsa Pataky, and Gina Carano.  Fast & Furious 6 opens May 24th.

While the highly anticipated sequel Fast & Furious 6 doesn’t hit theaters until next month, Universal has made no secret about the fact that they are already moving right along with plans for Fast & Furious 7.  Though director Justin Lin—who has altogether helmed four films in the series including Fast Five and 6—recently declined to return to helm the seventh installment, the studio quickly made other arrangements and entered negotiations with Saw and The Conjuring director James Wan to take the reigns of Fast 7 just last week.

With a 2014 release date planned, star Vin Diesel suggested that filming on Fast 7 would begin this summer.  Steve recently spoke with new franchise addition Dwayne Johnson in anticipation of Michael Bay’s upcoming black comedy Pain & Gain, and the actor raised some doubts about that potential summer start-date.  Hit the jump for more.

Paramount has released a bunch of new images for Pain & Gain.  Director Michael Bay turned up the saturation for the sun-soaked Miami setting, and it looks great, especially with the bulked-up stars Mark Wahlberg, Dwayne Johnson, and Anthony Mackie holding the frame.  They play “three personal trainers in 1990s Miami who, in pursuit of the American Dream, get caught up in a criminal enterprise that goes horribly wrong.”

Ed Harris, Tony Shalhoub, Rob Corddry, Rebel Wilson and Bar Paly also star.  Pain & Gain opens April 26.  See the images after the jump.