I realize that it’s a little too March to be discussing my favorite holiday gifts, but I only recently had the opportunity to dive into one of mine and, as a result, I feel the need to share it’s greatness with our readers. The ESPN 30 for 30 Collector’s Set Blu-ray is an outstanding collection of sports documentaries that is rife with social commentary and almost sure to have something for sports and/or documentary fans alike. Before I get accused of paid programming, I’ll disclaim that all thirty of its films aren’t home runs (that’s right, a sports pun). Moreover, I’m fairly sure that all of the series’ entries are available to watch instantly on Netflix right now making the physical collection redundant for some. Regardless of how you partake, I encourage you to sift through the series, find a topic that interests you, and give it a shot.

All recommendations aside, this week’s Top 5 features a healthy portion of Iron Man 3 coverage (including the new trailer), Oz the Great and Powerful interviews with Sam Raimi, James Franco, Mila Kunis, and more, the first trailer for The Hangover Part III, a sizable Justice League movie rumor, and the new trailer and poster for Will Smith and Jaden Smith‘s After Earth. As you may be expecting, a brief recap and link for each of the above waits after the jump.

Sony Pictures has released a new trailer and poster for director M. Night Shyamalan’s sci-fi film After Earth.  The film stars Will Smith and Jaden Smith as a father and son who crash land on a post-apocalyptic Earth, and it’s up to the son to fight for survival when the father is seriously injured.  This trailer reveals a ton of new footage as well as the reason behind the duo’s crash landing.  It’s a bildungsroman for not only Jaden Smith’s character, Kitai, but for the actor himself.  Will Smith takes a back seat in this actioner and guides his on-screen and off-screen son through its paces, allowing him to take metaphorical (and literal) leaps on his own.  Will we accept the younger Smith as an up-and-coming action star?  Will we allow Shyamalan back into our good graces?  We’ll find out this summer.

Hit the jump to watch the new trailer.  The film also stars Zoe Kravitz, Sophie Okonedo, and Isabelle Fuhrman.  After Earth opens June 7, 2013.

Fox has unveiled a few newsworthy items during the Television Critics Association winter press tour, including the announcement of a new series by M. Night Shyamalan, Wayward Pines, which the network says should be evocative of Twin Peaks (how many times have we heard that before?)  Additionally, a new series called Blood Brothers is also on the slate, focusing on a true story of the West Point Class of 1861.

A few more points of interest:

• The networks’ veteran procedural Bones has been renewed for its ninth (ninth!) season.
• Seth Rogen (Knocked Up) is set to to guest-star on an upcoming episode of The Mindy Project as Mindy’s “first kiss” (The show returns February 19th at 9:30pm)
• Fox is unveiling “Animation Domination High-Def,” a new bloc for “alternative” comedy (translation: more super short-form, Adult Swim kinda stuff)

Before the world presumably ends tonight (or is it tomorrow?), we have some new images and information to share with you from M. Night Shyamalan’s dystopian sci-fi epic, After Earth. While they might not be much help in the way of surviving the coming apocalypse, they should provide some interesting background on the picture should the world continue to spin on. After Earth stars Will Smith and Jaden Smith as a father and son team of explorers who crash land on a hostile Earth and attempt to survive. The new images flesh out details of Earth before the fall as well as how things stand in the film’s contemporary time. After Earth opens June 7, 2013. Hit the jump to check out the new images. 

Columbia has released the first trailer for M. Night Shyamalan‘s After Earth.  As you can see from the trailer, the plot centers on a father (Will Smith) and son (Jaden Smith) who crash land on a post-apocalyptic Earth, and it’s to the son to fight for survival when the father is seriously injured.  If there was another director at the helm, I would give this film the benefit of the doubt, even though Jaden Smith fighting digital animals for two hours seems less-than-exciting.  Even though Stephen Gaghan (Traffic) and Gary Whitta (The Book of Eli) had a hand in the screenplay, I simply can’t get my hopes up due to Shyamalan’s involvment.

The film also stars Zoe Kravitz, Sophie Okonedo, and Isabelle Fuhrman.  After Earth opens June 7, 2013.

Recently, M. Night Shyamalan landed a put-pilot series at SyFy and now it looks as if he’s doubled up with some network television support.  NBC has reportedly agreed to another put-pilot drama series from Shyamalan and writer John Glenn (Eagle Eye).  The series, titled Lost Horizon, draws inspiration from Herman Melville’s classic whale tale, Moby Dick (which seems to be a popular source lately). The premise of the series is under wraps, but Deadline reports that it centers on a small East Coast fishing village and deals with themes of obsession and the unknown.  Shyamalan is attached to direct the potential pilot, which will be written by Glenn.

While I am a fan of director M. Night Shyamalan’s story ideas, his feature film track record has fallen off precipitously since 1999′s The Sixth Sense.  Perhaps a dip in the small screen pool will get him back on track, as Shyamalan is heading to SyFy with the scripted series, Proof.  Based on an original idea from Shyamalan (+1), Proof revolves around the orphaned son of billionaire parents who offers a reward if someone can present proof of life after death; Shyamalan will also direct (-1?). Hit the jump for more.

The licensing expo is set to get underway next week in Las Vegas, which means that we’ll be seeing a number of synopses, promo images, and posters in the coming days.  Today we’ve got our first look at a promo image from director M. Night Shyamalan’s upcoming sci-fi pic After Earth, as well as the first synopsis for the Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs sequel Cloudy 2: Revenge of the Leftovers.  After Earth stars Will Smith and his son Jaden Smith as a father-son duo who crash-land on Earth 1000 years in the future and must navigate the abandoned planet to find salvation.  The promo image is small, but it does give us a nice look at the film’s logo and some of the atmosphere that Shyamalan is reaching for.  You can check out some pristine set photos for After Earth right here.

Additionally, the synopsis for Cloudy 2 reveals that our hero Flint Lockwood and his pals are forced to return to their food storm-ravaged hometown of Swallow Falls to battle sentient food beasts that have overrun the island.  You had me at “sentient food beasts,” Cloudy 2. Hit the jump to check out the image and synopses. 

Opening this weekend is the third film in the Men in Black franchise.  Barry Sonnenfeld returns as director and the story finds Will Smith’s Agent J travelling back in time to save Tommy Lee Jones’ Agent K.  In addition to Bill Hader as Andy Warhol, Josh Brolin plays a younger version of Jones’ character and does an incredible job.  You’ll absolutely think you’re watching Jones as a young man.  Men in Black 3 also stars Jemaine Clement, Alice Eve, and Emma Thompson.  In addition, make-up effects artist Rick Baker returns to the franchise and you can see some of his creature work here.  For more on the film, here’s all our previous coverage.

Last week I got to speak with most of the cast and every day this week I’ll be posting a new interview.  Yesterday was Tommy Lee Jones and today I’ve got Will Smith.  During the interview we talked about when he knew they could make another Men in Black, the impact Star Wars had on him as a kid, how many takes he likes to do, and more.  In addition, we talked about future projects like M. Night Shyamalan‘s After Earth, and I tried to get updates on Independence Day 2, Bad Boys 3, I Am Legend 2 and Hancock 2.   Hit the jump to watch.

Last week, we showed you some photos from the set of M. Night Shyamalan‘s sci-fi film, After Earth.  The movie stars Jaden Smith as a young boy navigating “an abandoned and sometimes scary Earth to save himself and his estranged father (played by Will Smith) after their ship crashes.”  Smith the Younger has now posted a picture of himself in full costume, and while I’m not crazy about the costume design, it does reinforce the notion that Jaden will probably be as big a movie star as his father.  He’s got the look and The Karate Kid showed he had the talent.  Unfortunately, After Earth is an M. Night Shyamalan movie so none of that really matters.  His movies could suck the warmth out of sunshine.

Hit the jump to check out the image.  The film also stars Zoe Kravitz, Sophie Okonedo, and Isabelle Fuhrman.  After Earth opens June 7th, 2013.

Production is currently underway on M. Night Shyamalan’s new sci-fi project After Earth, and the director and star Will Smith have been sharing a few photos from the set with fans eager to see how Shyamalan will ruin yet another movie. The good news is that Shyamalan got help on the script from Gary Whitta (The Book of Eli) and Stephen Gaghan (Traffic), so hopefully the story is being reigned in. Previously titled 1000 A.E., the film is set 1000 years in the future and centers on a young boy navigating “an abandoned and sometimes scary Earth to save himself and his estranged father after their ship crashes.” Smith stars alongside his son Jaden Smith, who toplined the recent Karate Kid remake. The premise is interesting enough and the inclusion of Gaghan gives me hope that maybe After Earth will serve as a much-needed comeback for the Signs director.

The photos don’t show anyone in costume, but we do get a look at the Smiths and Shyamalan on the gorgeous Costa Rica set. Shyamalan reveals through comments on the photos that this is the first film he’s shooting digitally and he’s using the Sony F65. Hit the jump to check out the photos. The film also stars Zoe Kravitz, Sophie Okonedo, and Isabelle Fuhrman. After Earth opens June 7th, 2013.

How’s this for a career track? At the age of 12, Isabelle Fuhrman got the attention of critics for her portrayal of a deranged woman with hypopituitarism in Orphan, and more recently landed a spot in Gary Ross’s upcoming The Hunger Games as Clove, a knife-wielding “contestant” that is sure to share screen time with Jennifer Lawrence. Now, it’s being reported that Fuhrman is in talks to star opposite Jaden Smith in M. Night Shyamalan’s After Earth, which also stars none other than Will Smith himself. The sci-fi epic, previously titled 1000 A.E., is set in a future where humans can no longer survive on the inhospitable Earth. While the elder Smith is playing the part of a warrior, his son has inherited the role of “failure.” But that all gets turned around when a crash landing forces the son to save the father. Fuhrman is expected to play Rayna, a friend of Jaden Smith’s character. Hit the jump for more on Fuhrman, The Hunger Games and After Earth.

Earlier this year, we reported that Will Smith and his son, Jaden Smith would be co-starring in director M. Night Shyamalan’s new sci-fi project, 1000 A. E. Now, Zoe Kravitz (X-Men: First Class) and Sophie Okonedo (Hotel Rwanda) are in early talks to join the picture as well.  Depending on whether or not the deals are worked out, Kravitz would play Smith’s daughter and Okonedo would play his wife (take that, Willow and Jada).

The plot of 1000 A. E. is “set 1,000 years into the future, where a young boy navigates an abandoned and sometimes scary Earth to save himself and his estranged father after their ship crashes.”  The script was co-written by Gary Whitta (The Book of Eli), Stephen Gaghan (Traffic) and, you guessed it, Shyamalan himself.  1000 A.E. is schedule to hit theaters on June 7^th, 2013.  Hit the jump for more.

Despite the fact that his past few scripted projects were undeniably terrible (like really, truly terrible), writer-director M. Night Shyamalan is still making movies. His latest is a sci-fi pic called One Thousand A.E. starring none other than Will Smith and his karate-kicking son Jaden. The film centers on a father-son duo who crash-land on Earth one thousand years after humans have abandoned the planet. With his father seriously injured, the young boy must set out to find help on the now strange and harsh planet. The project was initially scripted by Gary Whitta (The Book of Eli), but since Shyamalan is so good at making movies he decided to take a crack at the script himself to tailor it to his own interest (ie. terribleness).

However, Variety now reports that Academy Award-winning screenwriter Stephen Gaghan (Traffic) has completed a polish of Shyamalan’s draft. The Syriana writer-director was tasked with getting the script into shooting shape, and may continue to work with Shyamalan to fine-tune his draft up until production begins. While I still have little faith in the project, Gaghan’s a fine writer and his input certainly can’t hurt. The scribe recently set up two new films, a cartel drama and an adaptation of Snakehead. Production on One Thousand A.E. begins in February, with a February 24th, 2012 release date.

Three years have passed since Will Smith’s last movie, Seven Pounds, but he’s still the biggest star in Hollywood.  High demand has led to Smith being linked to an uncountable set of projects for his follow-up to Men in Black III.  One of the standouts is 1000 A.E. (may be a working title), the proposed sci-fi project that unites Smith, his son Jaden Smith, and M. Night Shyamalan.  That combination: Smith, Smith, Night—it feels so made up.  I was not prepared for 1000 A.E. to rise to the top of Smith’s to-do list.  Yet  Columbia has committed to a June 7, 2013 release date, meaning there’s about a 95% chance this will make it to theaters.  It’s hard to trust Shyamalan, but I can’t help but be drawn in by the big sci-fi tentpole with the world’s biggest movie star.  The premise: “Set 1,000 years into the future, a young boy navigates an abandoned and sometimes scary Earth to save himself and his estranged father after their ship crashes.”  I’m encouraged that Gary Whitta, who penned the sharp The Book of Eli, co-wrote the screenplay.  Problem is he co-wrote it with (sigh) Shyamalan.  Prepare for the worst, hope for the best.

Details on the new release date for Wanderlust after the jump.