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.

The Wachowski Siblings are headed to TV by developing the 10-episode series Sense8 for Netflix.  The series will be co-developed with J. Michael Straczynski (Babylon 5).  There are currently no plot details aside from the vague description of “a gripping global tale of minds linked and souls hunted”, but in a press release, the Wachowskis said, “Several years ago, we had a late night conversation [with Straczynski] about the ways technology simultaneously unites and divides us, and out of that paradox ‘Sense8′ was born.”  I’m not a big fan of Straczynski’s work, but I’ll see anything the Wachowskis put together.  Netflix is also continuing their savvy decision to pair with recognized talent like they did with David Fincher on House of Cards.

Hit the jump for the press release.  Sense8 is set to arrive on Netflix Watch Instantly in late 2014.

Composer Michael Giacchino is once again set to work with writers/directors Lana and Andy Wachowski.  The excellent, Oscar-winning composer behind such fare as Lost, Star Trek, The Incredibles and Up previously penned the music for the Wachowski siblings’ underrated Speed Racer, and now Giacchino is poised to compose the music for the Wachowskis’ upcoming sci-fi film Jupiter Ascending, which stars Mila Kunis, Channing Tatum, Eddie Redmayne, and Sean Bean.  The Wachowskis and Tom Tykwer famously composed all the music for last year’s Cloud Atlas before production began, so it’ll be interesting to see if Giacchino has already crafted some music for Jupiter Ascending or if he’ll be putting everything together after filming wraps.  Hit the jump for more, including a sample of some of Giacchino’s work. 

Directors Lana and Andy Wachowski are gearing up to begin production on the sci-fi pic Jupiter Ascending, and some Game of Thrones royalty has now joined the cast.  The story “is set in a time where humans are at the bottom of the evolutionary ladder and follows a woman who has been targeted for assassination by the queen of the universe.”  Channing Tatum and Mila Kunis are already set as the leads with Eddie Redmayne also poised to star, and now Deadline reports that Sean Bean has joined the cast.  Bean will play a character named Stinger who is described as a Han Solo-type, and he should add some “gruff” to the cast that’s been assembled thus far.  Bean is a fine actor and I’m eager to see him play around in the sci-fi realm, but I guess it’s time to start taking bets on how long his character will last in the film before dying.

Though he ultimately didn’t land the Harry Osborn role in the upcoming The Amazing Spider-Man 2, it appears that burgeoning newcomer Eddie Redmayne  will be just fine.  The actor was in the running for the pivotal role in the Spider-Man sequel that eventually went to Dane DeHaan, but now the Les Miserables star has landed an equally (if not more) exciting role: a part opposite Channing Tatum and Mila Kunis in writers/directors Lana Wachowski and Andy Wachowski’s sci-fi film Jupiter Ascending.  Hit the jump for more.

Here’s where things get interesting.  Over that past few days we’ve been taking an early look at the 2013 Oscar race, running down the contenders in a number of categories including Best Supporting Actor and Actress, Best Actor and Best Actress, and Best Animated Feature, Screenplay, and technological category quick picks.  We’ve now come to our final installment, Best Picture and Best Director, and these two races are shaping up to be incredibly interesting. Hit the jump for the full rundown.

Earlier today, IMAX announced that it had signed a 20-picture deal with Warner Bros., revealing a few upcoming IMAX releases in the process.  Now the large-format company has updated its official site with a few interesting additions that seem to confirm a couple of 3D releases and another IMAX release.  Briefly:

• All You Need Is Kill – The Doug Liman-directed sci-fi action film starring Tom Cruise will be released in 3D, presumably through a post-conversion.
• Jupiter Ascending – Lana and Andy Wachowski will apparently be making their 3D debut with the upcoming sci-fi film starring Channing Tatum and Mila Kunis.
• Transcendence – Dark Knight and Inception cinematographer Wally Pfister’s directorial debut will, unsurprisingly, be released in the IMAX format.

Hit the jump for more details.

Tonight the wife and I are hosting an inaugural Halloween gathering for three primary reasons: 1) it’s an excuse to hang out with friends, 2) it’s an opportunity to watch horror classics with said friends and 3) our street name is Elm and we can’t pass on the chance to christen the get together with the least original Halloween party name of all time (I’ll let you do the math). All of this in mind, I was finding it difficult to strike a healthy balance of scary movie goodness that was equal parts frightening (for fans of the horror genre like myself) and fun/of the “Halloween spirit” (for those who don’t necessarily enjoy the genre but can appreciate the season). That was until I remembered that we owned Ernest Scared Stupid on Blu-ray. Now the biggest concern I have is making sure no one walks out of the house at the end of the night with that little gem in hand.

All Hallows Eve 2012 party plans aside, in this week’s Top 5 we’ve got a lineup that includes a visit to the New Zealand set of The Hobbit, the first trailer amongst other new assets from Iron Man 3, Cloud Atlas interviews with Tom Hanks, Halle Berry and more, the first red band trailer for director Fede Alvarez‘s Evil Dead remake, and a heartfelt plea for a Hollywood adaptation of The Legend of Zelda. A brief recap and link to each lives on after the jump.

I absolutely loved Cloud Atlas.  I loved the way directors Andy & Lana Wachowski and Tom Tykwer broke the conventional rules of storytelling.  I love the way all the actors played multiple roles.  I love the combination of genres.  Finally, I loved that even though the film plays out over hundreds of years and it features a variety of characters and races, Cloud Atlas reminds us that everything is connected.  While everyone loves to complain that Hollywood is only about remakes, reboots and telling the same stories again and again, Cloud Atlas is a shining light showing us what’s possible in cinema and I implore all of you to see it as soon as possible.

Last week I did an exclusive phone interview with the Wachowskis and Tykwer.  Since they’ve done a number of interviews to promote the film, I tried my best to ask all new questions.  We talked about their favorite movies, how long was the first cut, if they believe in test screenings or friends and family screenings, deleted scenes, what will be on the Blu-ray, how many takes do they like to do, how much changed during pre-production due to budget, how the finished film compares to what they thought they were making, and more.  In addition, one of my favorite movies from 2008 was Speed Racer.  At the end of the interview I asked if they had plans for a sequel (had the film been a hit at the box office) and why it didn’t connect with moviegoers.  Hit the jump to listen or read the transcript.

Cloud Atlas is one of my favorite films this year, but I’m not ready to declare the best film I’ve seen this year.  Even though 2012 isn’t over, there have been other films that I enjoyed more and worked slightly better for me.  But Cloud Atlas is definitely the most important film I’ve seen this year in terms of what it represents from an industry perspective.  It is an independent film with a major budget.   The film had the technical resources to meet its grand ambition.  The Wachowski Siblings and Tom Tykwer have been able to successfully craft their vision and do so outside the Hollywood system, which is good because Hollywood never would have made a movie Cloud Atlas.  And if Cloud Atlas tanks, they never will.

You have the power to change that.

From acclaimed filmmakers Andy & Lana Wachowski (The Matrix trilogy, Speed Racer) and Tom Tykwer (Run Lola Run) comes the stunning, epic and powerful Cloud Atlas, based on the best-selling novel by David Mitchell. Through various genres and time periods, spanning 500 years, and with the actors playing a variety of characters that cross genders and races, the story contains drama, mystery, action and love, interwoven in such a way that illustrates how everything is connected and that the actions and choices in one era can have consequences in another. The film stars Tom Hanks, Halle Berry, Susan Sarandon, Hugh Grant, Jim Broadbent, Hugo Weaving, Jim Sturgess, Ben Wishaw and James D’Arcy.

At the film’s press day, actor Hugo Weaving spoke to Collider, in both a roundtable and 1-on-1 interview, about what it was like to finally get to see the film all put together, how he hopes people will be willing to get it a chance , his impression of the book when he first read it back while shooting V for Vendetta, what made this such a special and unique experience, which character he was most excited to embody, and the roles that fans approach him about most often.  Check out what he had to say after the jump.

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.

From acclaimed filmmakers Andy & Lana Wachowski (The Matrix trilogy, Speed Racer) and Tom Tykwer (Run Lola Run) comes the stunning, epic and powerful Cloud Atlas, based on the best-selling novel by David Mitchell.  Through various genres and time periods, spanning 500 years, and with the actors playing a variety of characters that cross genders and races, the story contains drama, mystery, action and love, interwoven in such a way that illustrates how everything is connected and that the actions and choices in one era can have consequences in another.  The film stars Tom Hanks, Halle Berry, Susan Sarandon, Hugh Grant, Jim Broadbent, Hugo Weaving, Jim Sturgess, Ben Wishaw and James D’Arcy.

At the film’s press day, the previously press-shy Wachowskis and German filmmaker Tom Tykwer, who also composed the music, talked about what made them want to engage in discussions of this film, striving for a boldness in their storytelling, having breakthroughs about how to adapt the story for film, and collaborating as a group.  Tykwer also talked about what it was like to compose The Cloud Atlas Sextet, while the Wachowskis said that they’re not thinking about Jupiter Ascending yet, but that they like their material to be reflective of where they are, at that point in their lives.  Check out what they had to say after the jump.

Check out the offerings from our latest poster round-up:

• The U.K. poster for Ang Lee’s Life of Pi, starring Suraj Sharma, Rafe Spall, Gerard Depardieu, Irrfan Khan and Adil Hussain. Life of Pi opens in 3D November 21st.
• A huge banner poster for Cloud Atlas, from directors Lana and Andy Wachowski and Tom Tyker.  Starring Tom Hanks, Halle Berry, Hugo Weaving, Hugh Grant, Jim Broadbent and more, Cloud Atlas opens October 26th.
• A teaser posters for Warm Bodies, a zombie romance (zomance? zom-rom?) starring Nicholas Hoult and Teresa Palmer, which opens February 1st, 2013.

Hit the jump for the posters and synopses. 

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.