For a movie about a man who championed innovation, Joshua Michael Stern‘s Steve Jobs biopic, jOBS, is awfully safe and conventional.  By the end of the movie, most viewers will know as much as they previously did about the tech innovator or possibly even less.  Stern and screenwriter Matt Whiteley‘s depiction of Jobs makes one of the most influential figures in American business seem like nothing more like a savvy salesman who bullied people into following his vision.  Ashton Kutcher‘s lead performance veers between convincing and distracting, and while Josh Gad impresses as Steve “Woz” Wozniak, jOBS is a bland biopic that never provides any insight into the man behind the Apple.

We’ve got a pair of first clips from the following movies to share today:

• jOBS – Starring Ashton Kutcher as Steve Jobs and Josh Gad as Steve Wozniak, this first clip shows off the passionate vision and understated genius of the respective Apple co-creators.  jOBS opens this April.
• Bullet to the Head – Starring Sylvester Stallone as hitman Jimmy Bobo, this first action-packed clip reveals Bobo’s bathroom brawl with Keegan (Jason Momoa), a precursor to the eventual ax fight.  Walter Hill’s Bullet to the Head opens February 1st.

Hit the jump to watch both clips.

We’ve got a few release date announcements to share today, and two of them are on the same date.

• jOBS – The Ashton Kutcher-fronted Steve Jobs biopic premieres at the Sundance Film Festival this Friday, and now Open Road has set a firm April 19, 2013 release date.
• The Counselor – Director Ridley Scott’s drama, written by Cormac McCarthy, will land in theaters on November 15, 2013.  The top-notch cast includes Michael Fassbender, Javier Bardem, Penelope Cruz, Cameron Diaz, and Brad Pitt.
• Grudge Match – Also opening on November 15, 2013 will be this Sylvester Stallone/Robert De Niro boxing movie.
• Ghosts – A new horror/thriller from Lionsgate and Paranormal Activity producer Jason Blum will open on January 10, 2014.

Hit the jump to read the press release for jOBS and look for our review on the site later this weekend.

We’ve got another round of Sundance-bound biopic images today:

• jOBS – Starring Ashton Kutcher as the late Steve Jobs with Josh Gad as Steve Wozniak, jOBS chronicles the rise of the titular co-founder of Apple Computers.  Look for this picture to open sometime in April.
• Lovelace – A biopic of porn star Linda Lovelace (Amanda Seyfried) reveals the darker side of her rise to infamy.  Lovelace debuts at Sundance on January 22nd.  The report also tells us that Sarah Jessica Parker’s role as feminist Gloria Steinem has been cut.

Hit the jump to see the new images.

The upcoming Steve Jobs biopic jOBS is slated to premiere at the upcoming Sundance Film Festival, but it appears that the film has already secured distribution ahead of its public screening.  Open Road Films announced today that it is partnering with Five Star Feature Films to distribute the film, which stars Ashton Kutcher as the legendary innovator.  Directed by Joshua Michael Stern, the pic covers Jobs’ life from 1971 through 2000 and promises “an immensely personal portrait” of the Apple guru.  Open Road has slated an April release date for the film, so fans won’t have to wait too long to see Kutcher’s portrayal.  Sony has a competing Jobs biopic in the works from screenwriter Aaron Sorkin, but that project is still a ways from coming to fruition.

Hit the jump to read the press release.  jOBS will serve as the closing film for the 2013 Sundance Film Festival, which runs from January 17 – 27th.

Today, Sundance announced their stellar Premieres line-up and we have the first images from a few of the movies playing in the category:

• Big Sur – Written and directed by Michael Polish, starring Jean-Marc Barr, Kate Bosworth, Josh Lucas, Radha Mitchell, Anthony Edwards, and Henry Thomas.

• Breathe In – Written and directed by Drake Doremus, co-written by Ben York Jones, starring Guy Pearce, Felicity Jones, Amy Ryan, and Mackenzie Davis.

• The East – Written and directed by Zal Batmanglij, co-written by Brit Marling, starring Brit Marling, Alexander Skarsgård, Ellen Page, and Patricia Clarkson.

• jOBS – Directed by Joshua Michael Stern, written by Matt Whiteley, starring Ashton Kutcher, Dermot Mulroney, Josh Gad, Lukas Haas, J.K. Simmons, and Matthew Modine.

Hit the jump for the images and synopses.  The 2013 Sundance Film Festival runs January 17 – 27.

Last week we saw the 2013 Sundance Film Festival announce lineups for its competition and Spotlight/Park City at Midnight programming, and today they have unveiled the list of films that will screen as part of the Premieres lineup.  It’s one hell of a program, as films that will screen include the Ashton Kutcher-fronted Steve Jobs biopic jOBS, Joseph Gordon-Levitt’s directorial debut Don Jon’s Addiction, director Richard Linklater’s trilogy-completing Before Midnight with Ethan Hawke and Julie Delpy, the ensemble comedy A.C.O.D., director Park Chan-wook’s English-language debut Stoker, and much, much more.

Hit the jump to check out the full lineup for the narrative and documentary premieres.  The 2013 Sundance Film Festival runs January 17 – 27th.

The indie drama Trade of Innocents shines a spotlight on the horrific and brutal realities of child exploitation, all over the world. Alex (Dermot Mulroney) has recently moved to Southeast Asia with his wife, Claire (Mira Sorvino), so that he can investigate human trafficking while his wife volunteers in an aftercare shelter for rescued girls. Still struggling with their own grief after losing a child years earlier, they both become very passionate about restoring freedom and dignity to those who are directly affected by such atrocities.

During this recent exclusive phone interview with Collider, actor Dermot Mulroney talked about how he came to the role, why the subject matter became so important to everyone involved, the research he did to bring his character to life, working with co-star Mira Sorvino, and how he hopes he film will raise awareness of such a critical issue, around the world. He also talked about his current role in August: Osage County, adapted from the Broadway play, his roles in the upcoming films Stoker (from director Chan-wook Park) and Jobs (about the life of Steve Jobs), whether he’d consider doing work on television, and how he’s more focused on acting right now than trying his hand at directing again. Check out what he had to say after the jump.

New images from the respective sets of Martin Scorsese‘s The Wolf of Wall Street and Joshua Michael Stern‘s (Swing Vote) jOBS have found their way online. The Wolf images give us our first look at Leonardo DiCaprio in his turn as Jordan Belfort, a former financial rock star of sorts whose own memoir of the same name is the basis for the film. While we’ve already seen pics of Ashton Kutcher doing his best Steve Jobs impersonation while wearing a turtleneck and on LSD, today’s images give us a better idea of how well he can pull of the “button-up, cardigan, sweater vest” look.

Check out the images after the jump. The Wolf of Wall Street is aiming for a 2013 release and also stars Matthew McConaughey, Jon Favreau, and Jon Bernthal (The Walking Dead). jOBS co-stars Dermot Mulroney, Josh Gad, Matthew Modine, Ahna O’Reilly, and Lukas Haas while also staring down an unspecified 2013 release.

We’ve got a couple of casting stories to share this afternoon.  First up, Oscar winner Melissa Leo and Rick Yune (Die Another Day) have been added to the cast of the White House actioner Olympus Has Fallen.  Not to be confused with the similarly plotted White House Down, which has Roland Emmerich directing and Channing Tatum starring, Olympus Has Fallen has Gerard Butler playing a secret service agent who becomes the country’s only hope when the White House is overrun by terrorists.  Antoine Fuqua directs, and Heat Vision reports that Leo will be playing a tough Secretary of State while Yune has landed the film’s villain role.  In addition to Die Another Day, Yune played an antagonist in the original The Fast and the Furious.  No other details are known regarding his nefarious plot or why he feels the need to break into the President’s home.

Hit the jump for details on a number of additions to the cast of the biopic Jobs. 

A few set photos from the Steve Jobs biopic jOBS have surfaced, giving us a look at Ashton Kutcher doing his best “Steve Jobs on acid” impression.  The Apple visionary made no secret of his past experimentation with LSD, and it appears that director Joshua Michael Stern’s indie biopic has at least one scene in which Kutcher’s Jobs goes tripping in a field.  Noah Wyle did a hell of a job portraying Jobs and tackling his fascination with LSD in the TV movie Pirates of Silicon Valley, so Kutcher has his work cut out for him.

Additionally, a couple more images of Angelina Jolie in character in Disney’s Maleficent have surfaced.  The story centers on the Sleeping Beauty villain and “reveals the events that hardened her heart and drove her to curse the baby, Aurora.”  Yesterday some set photos landed online that gave us a look at Jolie performing some flying stunts, but this batch is much less death-defying.  Hit the jump to check out the set photos from both jOBS and Maleficent.

Here are some recent casting additions at a glance with more information after the jump:

• James Marsden (X-Men) will board Universal’s 2 Guns, joining Mark Wahlberg and Denzel Washington.
• James Woods (Casino) and Ron Eldard (Sleepers) join the Steve Jobs indie biopic jOBS, starring Ashton Kutcher.

Hit the jump for more on each picture.

We’ve got a couple of casting stories to share this afternoon.  First up, Judy Greer and Portia Doubleday (Youth in Revolt) have been added to the cast of director Kimberly Peirce’s Carrie remake. Chloe Moretz is set as the lead in the adaptation, which will apparently adhere closer to Stephen King’s novel than Brian De Palma’s 1976 adaptation.  We first heard about Greer being considered for a role a few weeks ago, but the studio denied that any casting decisions had been made at the time.  Now MGM/Screen Gems has confirmed that Greer will play gym teacher Miss Desjardin while Doubleday will take on the role of bad girl Chris Hargensen.  Julianne Moore is set to play Moretz’s troubled mother in the pic, which begins production in a few short weeks.

Hit the jump for casting news concerning the Steve Jobs biopic Jobs.

We’ve got a couple of casting stories to share this afternoon.  First up, director Roland Emmerich (2012) continues to impress with his casting choices for his next film, White House Down, as Maggie Gyllenhaal is now considering the project.  The story is described as “Die Hard in the White House” and stars Channing Tatum as a secret service agent who must protect the president when a group of parahijackers infiltrate the White House.  We learned yesterday that Jamie Foxx is being courted to play the president, and now Deadline reports that Gyllenhaal is in talks to take on the female lead role (which I’m assuming is some sort of White House staffer).  Production on White House Down is set to begin this August, with the film racing another similarly plotted pic called White House Taken starring Gerard Butler.

Hit the jump for news concerning the Steve Jobs biopic Jobs.

Some easy on the eyes casting additions today.  Here they are at a glance:

• Malin Akerman (Watchmen) will star as “Blondie” front-woman, Debbie Harry in director Randall Miller’s indie, CBGB.
• Emily Browning (Sucker Punch) is in talks to join Plush, a psychic story from director Catherine Hardwicke (Twilight).
• Ahna O’Reilly (The Help) will star opposite Ashton Kutcher in the Steve Jobs indie picture, Jobs, from director Joshua Michael Stern (Swing Vote).

Hit the jump for more on each film.