The Weinstein Company has released the first trailer for director Lee Daniels’ (Precious, The Paperboy) historical drama The Butler.  Based on a true story, the film stars Forrest Whitaker as Cecil Gaines, a butler who served at the White House from 1952 to 1986.  The trailer plays up the film’s awards prospects as we see a flash of famous faces playing the many notable persons who walked the halls of the White House throughout this period (Alan Rickman is particularly striking as President Reagan), and that’s balanced with an overview of Gaines’ life in a racially tense America.  While the film certainly looks like it has the potential to be powerful, cautious optimism is key whenever Lee Daniels is involved.

Hit the jump to watch the debut trailer.  The film also stars Oprah Winfrey, David Oyelowo, Mariah Carey, John Cusack, Jane Fonda, Cuba Gooding Jr., Terrence Howard, Minka Kelly, Lenny Kravitz, Melissa Leo, James Marsden, Alex Pettyfer, Vanessa Redgrave, Liev Schreiber, and Robin Williams.  The Butler opens on October 18th.

Director Lee Daniels is currently at work on his period drama The Butler, and some images of his star-studded cast taking on famous historical figures are starting to trickle out.  The film tells the true story of Eugene Allen, a butler who served at the White House from 1952 to 1986.  Forest Whitaker plays Allen, Oprah Winfrey is set as his wife, and David Oyelowo will star as Allen’s son.  Butler has cast a number of familiar faces to play the notable persons who walk the halls of the White House throughout this period, and now we have our first look at Alan Rickman and Jane Fonda as First Couple Ronald and Nancy Reagan.  I wasn’t quite sure how Rickman would physically pull off Reagan, but the resemblance here is striking.

Hit the jump to take a look at not only Rickman and Fonda alongside Daniels, but also Winfrey and co-star Lenny Kravitz in old-age makeup.  Click here to see James Marsden and Minka Kelly as John and Jackie Kennedy.

Direct from the ongoing shoot in New Orleans comes the first look at Forest Whitaker in costume as Eugene Allen, the man behind the title role in director Lee Daniels’ The Butler.  We also have some new set photos of James Marsden and Minka Kelly in costume as John F. Kennedy and his wife, Jackie Kennedy.  The ensemble drama about the life of the White House servant who looked after eight first families was based on Wil Haygood’s 2008 Washington Post article about Allen.  The picture also stars Oprah Winfrey, David Oyelowo, John Cusack, Alex Pettyfer, Aml Ameen, Alan Rickman, Jane Fonda and Robin Williams.  Hit the jump to check out the images. [Update: The set photos have been removed at the request of the pictures' owners.]

Two bits of casting news today for some lovely leading ladies (although only one of the roles is actually a lead).  Here are the headlines:

• Mia Wasikowska (Alice in Wonderland) is set to join Tracks for director John Curran (The Painted Veil).  The Australian-set picture is based on Robyn Davidson’s trek across the heart of the island continent.
• Minka Kelly (Friday Night Lights) will join Precious director Lee Daniels‘ historical drama, The Butler, based on the life of Eugene Allen, who served on the White House staff from 1952 to 1986.

Hit the jump for more.

The first official poster has been released for Aaron Sorkin’s new HBO drama, The Newsroom. The series stars Jeff Daniels as the primary anchor of a failing 24-hour news network who is ready to break the monotony of cable news and go back to the roots of informing his audience. We already saw his character have a fantastic (and much publicized) outburst in the first trailer.  Then, The Newsroom followed up with a series of additional trailers that developed a bit more of the storyline and also introduced us to the rest of the cast:  such as Daniels’ character’s new executive producer (Emily Mortimer), his newsroom staff (John Gallagher, Jr., Alison Pill, Thomas Sadoski, Dev Patel, Olivia Munn) and their boss (Sam Waterston).  Now, we have the first look at the official poster (in addition to some shorter trailers, in case you’ve missed the previous ones).  Hit the jump to check out the slick official poster for HBO’s The Newsroom, which debuts Sunday, June 24th at 10PM.

We’ve got a couple of casting stories involve two more senior actors to share this afternoon.  First up, Morgan Freeman has been added to the cast of the “Hangover with old people” comedy Last Vegas.  The story centers on four old friends who decide to throw a Las Vegas bachelor party for the only one of them who has remained single.  Michael Douglas stars as the groom-to-be, and Robert De Niro was recently added to the cast as the wet blanket of the group.  Christopher Walken has also been rumored to be circling a role, but he has yet to officially sign on.  Jon Turtletaub (National Treasure) is set to direct, and I can’t decide if this movie will be terrible or amazing.

Hit the jump for casting news concerning the impressive ensemble in Better Living Through Chemistry. [Update: We've added the press release confirming Morgan Freeman in Last Vegas]

A new trailer for Oscar-winning screenwriter and The West Wing creator Aaron Sorkin’s latest series, The Newsroom, has gone online.  This builds on the basic set-up introduced in the previous two trailers gets a bit more into what the plot may look like in the first few episodes beyond the pilot.  Jeff Daniels stars as the primary anchor of a floundering 24-hour news network who’s ready to break the monotony of lazy and gutless cable news.  I’m a self-professed Sorkin nut so I may be a bit biased, but I really like what we’ve seen from the series thus far.  My only concern is that the show could become too much of a soapbox for Sorkin’s worldviews a la Studio 60, but hopefully his knack for snappy dialogue and romantic characters reigns the preach-factor in a bit.  Moreover, this new trailer has 100% more David Krumholtz which is almost never a bad thing.

Hit the jump to watch the trailer (complete with Dave Krumholtz cameo!), and count down the days until The Newsroom premieres on June 24th on HBO.  The show also stars Emily Mortimer, Sam Waterston, Jane Fonda, Alison Pill, Olivia Munn and Dev Patel.

A new trailer for Aaron Sorkin‘s upcoming HBO series The Newsroom has gone online.  The first trailer played to the dramatic aspects of the series, but the new one hits on Sorkin’s whip-smart dialogue almost to the point of self-parody (when Alison Pill‘s character talks about mixing up Georgia the state with Georgia the country, I could easily hear the dialogue coming out of Donna Moss’ mouth).  The new trailer also does a better job of laying out the plot and establishing the different characters and their relationships.

Hit the jump to check out the trailer.  The show stars Jeff Daniels, Emily Mortimer, John Gallagher Jr., Thomas Sadoski, Dev Patel, Olivia Munn, and Sam Waterston.  The Newsroom premieres June 24th at 10/9c.

Right about now, HBO subscribers are probably in a high over the debut of the second season of Game of Thrones or the impending summer return of season five of True Blood. But there is a new series on the premium network you should keep an eye on. It seems that Aaron Sorkin (The West Wing) has a lot of venting to do and he gets everything off his chest in this brilliant first trailer for the new HBO drama, The Newsroom. Starring Jeff Daniels, Sam Waterston and Emily Mortimer, The Newsroom keeps a familiar politico-centric feel to Sorkin’s The West Wing but now features a newsroom setting replacing the White House. In this first trailer, nationally recognized news anchor Will McAvoy (Daniels) loses his objectivity (and possibly his audience) when responding to a question from the crowd at a college panel. Daniels immediately won me over by saying everything a rational and informed human being should say in spite of the political backlash it was bound to incur. Hit the jump to check it out.

We’ve got a couple of casting stories to share with you this afternoon. First up, Precious director Lee Daniels continues to fill out the impressive cast for his passion project The Butler. The film tells the true story of Eugene Allen, a butler who served at the White House from 1952 to 1986. Daniels is casting a slew of stars to take small roles as the famous men and women who come through the White House over the years, and Variety reports that Jane Fonda will be taking on Nancy Reagan. Forest Whitaker is set as Allen, with Oprah Winfrey in talks to play Allen’s wife and David Oyelowo up for the role of Allen’s son.

Liam Neeson and John Cusack are apparently circling roles as Lyndon B. Johnson and Richard Nixon, respectively, and we also heard that Mila Kunis is eyeing the role of Jackie Kennedy. It’s an ambitious project, and one that’s sure to draw considerable awards buzz. I’m interested to see how Daniels pulls off the “revolving door” aspect without the cameos taking over control of the story. Daniels is directing from a script he co-wrote with Game Change writer Danny Strong. Hit the jump for casting news concerning the indie Small Time.

Leonardo DiCaprio‘s Appian Way has hung onto the rights to adapt Josh Bazell’s suspense novel Beat the Reaper for a few years now.  We last heard about development on the project in February, when D.J. Caruso was on board to direct a feature film version and DiCaprio was looking for a space in his schedule to star.  Much has changed since February.  THR reports Beat the Reaper is set up at HBO as an ongoing drama series.  DiCaprio will executive produce, but is out of the equation as an actor.  And Caruso’s name is not mentioned.  Brian Koppleman and David Levieen (Ocean’s Thirteen) will write and executive produce the series about “a young ER doctor whose life is upended when a patient comes through his ward that recognizes the internist from his old life—when he used to work for a notorious crime family.”  HBO: where even the medical dramas are about the mafia!  I kid, because I am intrigued.  Last Sunday’s Boardwalk Empire finale/Luck sneak peak reiterated that HBO has returned to their creative heights.  Beat the Reaper joins a promising crop of HBO shows in development including Da Brick, The Corrections, Hobgoblin, and Newsroom.

Speaking of that last show—Jane Fonda has joined the cast.  Hit the jump for details.

Kyle Maclachlan (Twin Peaks) and Rosanna Arquette (Pulp Fiction) have now signed on to star in Peace, Love, & Misunderstanding.  Directed by Bruce Beresford (Driving Ms. Daisy), the film tells the story of “an uptight New York City lawyer (played by Catherine Kenner) who is in desperate need of an escape after her husband asks for a divorce.”  Maclachlan has signed on to star as Keener’s husband while it’s unknown which role Arquette will be playing.  Both actors join the cast which already includes the likes of Catherine Kenner, Chace Crawford, Jeffrey Dean Morgan, and Jane Fonda.  Hit the jump for the full press release and more info:

Gossip Girl star Chace Crawford has signed on to play a hunky local butcher opposite Jane Fonda and Catherine Keener in the farmhouse vacation film Peace, Love, & Misunderstanding.  Director Bruce Beresford (Double Jeopardy) is set to direct the tale of “an uptight New York City lawyer who is in desperate need of an escape after her husband asks for a divorce.”  Keener stars as the lawyer, while Fonda will play her hippie mother.  Hit the jump for the full press release.