Here are today’s casting updates:

• Kevin Macdonald’s (The Last King of Scotland) new feature Black Sea, a hot ticket item coming up for Cannes, has Jude Law set to star.  Focus Features has snapped up worldwide rights to the film.

• Nicki Minaj will jump from her American Idol hosting duties to the big screen, making her live-action debut opposite Cameron Diaz, Leslie Mann, Kate Upton, and Nickolaj Coster-Waldau in the Nick Cassavetes-directed The Other Woman.

• Julia Stiles (The Bourne Ultimatum), Scott Speedman (Last Resort), and Stephen Rea (V for Vendetta) will star in the supernatural thriller Out of the Dark, from Spanish director Lluis Quilez.

Hit the jump for more on each project.

Director Werner Herzog is looking to get his Gertrude Bell biopic Queen of the Desert back on track.  The film has Naomi Watts set to star as Bell, who worked extensively in the middle east and was responsible for establishing what would become the modern framework for Jordan and Iraq. She worked for British Intelligence during World War I, and was key in the dismantling of the Ottoman Empire and subsequent founding of Iraq.  Jude Law had previously been set to co-star, but he subsequently left the project due to scheduling conflicts, providing quite the stumbling block for a production that was looking to start filming last month.

Now Deadline reports that James Franco is circling the project, in which he would fill the role that Law vacated.  There’s no guarantee that he’ll sign on (Franco is, to say the least, a busy guy), but if he does then that would put Queen of the Desert back on the path towards production.  Robert Pattison is also attached to star in the film as T.E. Lawrence.

Tackling a seminal work of fiction always presents a filmmaker with a unique set of challenges, even more so than book adaptations in general.  For director Joe Wright and screenwriter Tom Stoppard on Anna Karenina, those included not only condensing a mammoth book into a slightly over two-hour movie but doing so in a manner that stood out from the numerous previous adaptations.  The result is a mixed bag with many parts to love individually but a whole that simply falls short. 

More bad news for the Western Jane Got a Gun.  Yesterday we learned that the film’s director, We Need to Talk About Kevin’s Lynne Ramsay, had decided to drop out of the film by not showing up to set on the first day of filming.  Warrior helmer Gavin O’Connor was quickly brought in as a replacement, but now another exit is taking place as Jude Law is dropping out of the film as well.  Law was to play the film’s antagonist, the outlaw husband of Natalie Portman’s Jane who squares off against his wife and her ex-lover (Joel Edgerton).  Now Law has apparently left the film due to Ramsay’s exit.  Hit the jump for more.

A rather unfortunate situation has arisen on the promising drama Jane Got a Gun.  The Western drama has a Black List script by Brian Duffield and an outstanding cast that includes Natalie Portman, Joel Edgerton, and Jude Law, and production was set to begin yesterday with We Need to Talk About Kevin director Lynne Ramsay at the helm.  However, it appears that Ramsay has decided to announce her dropping out of the project by simply not showing up to set on what was to be the first day of filming.  Hit the jump for more on this supremely disappointing news.

The production of Jane Got a Gun, a Western led by Natalie Portman, has been delayed several times.  It was finally scheduled to begin shooting next week, but a last-minute casting swap will push production back to April.  Michael Fassbender was set to play the male lead, but his X-Men: Days of Future Past schedule creates a conflict that will pull him off the project.  Normally, that would be terrible news, but director Lynne Ramsay (We Need to Talk About Kevin) has a mighty fine backup plan.  THR reports Joel Edgerton, who was looking to play the villain, will switch sides to assume Fassbender’s role.  Jude Law will come on board to play the villain and round out the lead cast.  If you can get two out of three with Fassbender, Edgerton, and Law, you win.

Scott Steindorff (The Lincoln Lawyer), Aleen Keshishian (Our Idiot Brother), and Terry Dougas (The Box) are producing.  The script by Brian Duffield follows good girl Jane (Portman), who runs away from her outlaw husband (Law) and teams up with on old flame (Edgerton) to protect her family.  Read the full synopsis for Jane Got a Gun after the break.

Every year, Jimmy Kimmel Live follows the Oscars with a star-studded sketch.  Last year, audiences were treated to a trailer for Movie: The Movie, which featured dozens of movie stars parodying every film genre and cliché.  Naturally, every hit needs a sequel, and JKL has delivered with Movie: The Movie 2V.  I’ll let you be the judge between which trailer is better, but I would say the sequel surpasses the original when it comes to the obligatory Matt Damon joke.

Hit the jump to check out the trailer.  Movie: The Movie 2V opens Arbor Day.

We’ll dedicate more time to this topic after the jump, but in just a few sentences I want to share a quick thought I had while watching Netflix’s House of Cards last weekend. It’s not just that I think the show is great. When you involve talents like Kevin Spacey and David Fincher, it’s hard to imagine a scenario where quality work is in short supply. It’s that this level of material was birthed by and is only consumed via the Internet. I’ve been in debates where the question was whether or not the web would foster an age of amateurs. A future in which the training and dedication required to further perfect one’s craft would fall by the wayside leaving audiences with less than stellar work produced by those made lazy by the eased production and distribution technologies afforded by the Internet. While the fact that I’m writing to a considerable audience today via this site is evidence to that very argument, the overall quality of HOC is a strong rebuttal against those concerned about the quality of entertainment work in a digital age.

All thinking out loud aside, this week’s Top 5 features an editorial response to Disney’s announcement that Star Wars spinoff films are in the works, Side Effects interviews with Steven Soderbergh and more, a word about Hulk’s movie future, Matt’s editorial on Netflix and the affect time shifting has on viewing habits, and the latest news out of The Amazing Spider-Man 2 camp. As you’re probably expecting, a brief recap and link to each waits after the jump.

For better or for ill, we’re living through chemistry.  It is not a new phenomenon, but it is one that has drastically accelerated, and one with dangerous consequences we can’t escape.  Arguably the most dangerous is the field of anti-depressants/anti-anxiety drugs.  These drugs have value, but their effectiveness, and more importantly, their prescription, is always uncertain.  We’re flawed individuals who are asking for psychological help from other flawed people.  Steven Soderbergh‘s Side Effects spends its first-half exploring this fascinating and complicated issue, but in its second-half, the film ceases to explore the mind, and becomes a mind-numbingly idiotic thriller.

Opening this weekend is director Steven Soderbergh’s psychological thriller Side Effects.  Written by Scott Z. Burns (Contagion, The Informant!), the film is about “a successful New York couple (Rooney Mara and Channing Tatum) whose world unravels when a new drug prescribed by Emily’s psychiatrist (Jude Law)—intended to treat anxiety—has unexpected side effects.”  The film also stars Catherine Zeta-Jones.

At the recent Los Angeles press day I landed an exclusive interview with Jude Law.  During our wide ranging conversation we talked about old projects like Gattaca, eXistenZ, and A.I., how he got involved with Side Effects, what it was like to work with Soderbergh again, how he prepares for a role, and more.  In addition, we also talked about future projects like Sherlock Holmes 3, the new Wes Anderson movie The Grand Budapest Hotel, Dom Hemingway, Queen of the Desert, his thoughts on the comic book genre and whether he’s interested in doing one, and a lot more.  Hit the jump to either read or listen to the interview.

Open Road Films has released a new trailer for director Steven Soderbergh’s psychological thriller Side Effects.  The film stars Rooney Mara as a troubled young woman who develops a dangerous love triangle between her doctor (Jude Law) and her newly paroled husband (Channing Tatum).  The engaging thriller aspect of the film is still very effective in this trailer, but we also get a better look at some of Soderbergh’s gorgeous camerawork as well.  Can we all mount a last-ditch effort to stop him from retiring?

Hit the jump to watch the new trailer, and click here to enter to win passes to an early screening.  The film also stars Catherine Zeta-Jones.  Side Effects opens on February 8th.

We recently spoke with Jude Law at the press day for his upcoming film Side Effects, and he provided some brief updates on his upcoming projects plus details about his role in Wes Anderson‘s Grand Budapest Hotel.  Regarding his minor updates, Law says that the script for Sherlock Holmes 3 is still in development, but he hasn’t heard anything yet.  “But you know what it’s like, it’s going to be about scheduling, it’s going to be about the right time for the studio and it is about keeping the bar raised,” says Law, “you know, coming up with something that’s really smart and making sure it keeps getting better.”

Hit the jump for what Law had to say about Queen of the Desert, Dom Hemingway, and Grand Budapest Hotel.

We are always interested in the latest Steven Soderbergh offering, no matter how opaque.  I think Side Effects is about pharmacology and sexiness, but I know I want to see it.  It seems as if the story centers on the too-perfect couple from the unnerving pharmaceutical ad (played by Rooney Mara and Channing Tatum) whose life falls into shambles if you explore any deeper than their 30-second bliss.

We are proud to premiere a new TV spot for Side Effects, which doesn’t shed much more light on the plot specifics, but continues to highlight the appeal.  Jude Law and Catherine Zeta-Jones also star in Side Effects, set for release on February 8.  Watch the spot after the jump.

A new U.K. trailer for director Steven Soderbergh’s upcoming psychopharmacology thriller Side Effects has been released online.  The film stars Rooney Mara as a troubled young woman who develops a dangerous love triangle between her doctor (Jude Law) and her newly paroled husband (Channing Tatum).  This new trailer sets up the pharamacology portion fairly quickly, but then we get some promising looks at just how dark, sexual, and crazy Soderbergh looks to be going.  There’s quite a bit of new footage to thumb through, and I’m hoping that this trailer doesn’t show too much.

Hit the jump to watch the trailer.  The film also stars Catherine Zeta-Jones.  Side Effects opens on February 8th.

A new trailer for director Steven Soderbergh’s possibly final theatrically released film Side Effects has been released.  Rooney Mara stars as a troubled young woman who develops a dangerous love triangle between her doctor (Jude Law) and her newly paroled husband (Channing Tatum).  I love the fact that Soderbergh is tackling a psychological thriller for one of his last features, and the director’s use of close-ups and handheld definitely gives this trailer a feeling of clausterphobia and unease.  It should be mentioned, though, that the filmmaker has been a fan of pulling a bit of a bait-and-switch with his recent trailers, marketing Haywire and Magic Mike as a straightforward action film and flashy stripper movie, respectively, when both films actually turned out to have much more going on.  I look forward to seeing what kind of twist Soderbergh has in store for Side Effects.

Hit the jump to watch the new trailer.  The film also stars Catherine Zeta-Jones.  Side Effects opens on February 8th.