After Emma Stone (The Amazing Spider-Man) departed Guillermo del Toro’s haunted house story Crimson Peak last month, Mia Wasikowska (Stoker) is now in talks to replace her.  Stone cited scheduling issues for her departure from the film, which also stars Jessica Chastain, Benedict Cumberbatch and Charlie Hunnam.  If Wasikowska’s own schedule works out, she would play “a young author named Edith Cushing who discovers that her charming new husband is not who he appears to be,” according to The Wrap.  Hunnam will play another lead while Cumberbatch and Chastain star as aristocratic siblings.  Crimson Peak is expected to begin production early next year.

Every once in a while I use this space to tout a recently released Blu-ray/DVD that I missed in theaters but, via the magic of home video, was finally able to check out from the comfort of my couch (click here to see me gush about The Perks of Being a Wallflower). Today I’ll do the same by encouraging you to check out co-writer/director Scott Derrickson‘s horror pic Sinister. There’s nothing spectacular going on here, it’s just an effective movie with several scenes that I found genuinely frightening/disturbing. Moreover, it’s probably the last widely-released horror entry since Insidious that left me turning some of the lights on in the house shortly after it ended.

With my “Super Cool Blu-ray Pick of the Week” out of the way, this week’s Top 5 includes interviews from the set of The Incredible Burt Wonderstone, some drama-inducing first set images from The Amazing Spider-Man 2, a set visit recap and interviews for Park Chan-wook‘s Stoker, Jack the Giant Slayer interviews, and the first trailer and poster for director James Wan‘s The Conjuring. As you may expect, a brief recap and link to each of these can be found completely free of charge after the jump.

[This is a re-post of my review from the 2013 Sundance Film Festival.  Stoker opens today in limited release.  Click here to find out when the film will be playing near you.]

In Chan-wook Park‘s Stoker, the hunt is more rewarding than the kill. Park has beautifully crafted an unnerving, slow-burn mystery-thriller that delves into a bloodline destined to shed blood. In his English-language debut, Park takes his immaculate yet eerie style, and uses it to enhance a relatively simple tale of a disturbed girl who begins a bizarre and disturbing relationship with her recently-discovered uncle. Through Park’s lens and the tremendous performances of stars Mia Wasikowska and Matthew Goode, Stoker may not cut deep, but it slashes hard.

Park Chan-Wook’s (Old Boy) American debut Stoker, an odd little film if ever there was one, has the Asian auteur taking on Hitchcock.  Ostensibly a remake/reimagining/updating of Hitch’s own Shadow of a Doubt, Stoker centers on a young pubescent girl, whose father has recently died under ‘mysterious’ circumstances.  Enter an equally ‘mysterious’ long lost uncle (Mathew Goode), a series of murders, a distant never-present mother (Nicole Kidman) – and Park has all the ingredients he needs to make a pretty damn efficient thriller/melodrama.  Ol’ Hitch would be proud.

Mia Wasikowska (Alice in Wonderland) is the standout here.  As India, the fatherless young woman who comes to suspect her ‘Uncle Charlie’ is a murderer, Wasikowska deftly uses her delicate features as a counterbalance to her character’s darker and more perverse proclivities — for the film is less a mystery about who Uncle Charlie is and more so who India really is.  In the following interview with Wasikowska, she discusses working with Park Chan Wook, India’s ‘self-discovery’, a potential sequel to Alice in Wonderland and her upcoming vampire Jim Jarmusch film Only Lovers Left Alive.  For the full interview, hit the jump.

Another clip from Park Chan-wook‘s Stoker has been released.  In the clip, the newly-widowed Evelyn Stoker (Nicole Kidman) seduces her deceased husband’s brother, Charlie (Matthew Goode), while her daughter India (Mia Wasikowska) looks on.  In addition to this new clip, Fox Searchlight has released Clint Mansell‘s terrific score for the film, and you should definitely give it a listen.

Hit the jump to check out the clip and the score.  Click here for my review of the film and click here to read about Adam’s visit to the set.  Stoker opens in limited release on Friday.

It’s a breezy fall day in Nashville, Tennessee. Leaves are falling over an expansive estate that’s as haunting as it is gorgeous, and South Korean director Park Chan-wook—the man behind Oldboy, Sympathy for Lady Vengeance, Thirst, and many others—is directing his English-language feature film debut in the country music capital of the world.

In September of 2011, Collider was invited to the set of the horror drama Stoker, which stars Mia Wasikowska, Matthew Goode, Nicole Kidman, Jacki Weaver, and Dermot Mulroney.  The production had opted to film most of the pic’s scenes in and around a rather gothic-looking estate in Nashville, so along with a small group of journalists, we were able to spend a day on set and to get a look at how Park Chan-wook was making his Hollywood debut.  Hit the jump for my full set visit report.

For his English-language debut, acclaimed Korean filmmaker Chan-wook Park has crafted Stoker, a macabre coming-of-age tale set amidst the eerie, improbable and self-contained world of the Stoker family whose quiet, secluded life is suddenly shattered by a tragic accident that reveals a dark family history and lots of bad blood.  Directed from a script by actor Wentworth Miller, this deliciously twisted psychological thriller with nods to Dracula and Hitchcock opens in theaters on March 1st and stars Nicole Kidman, Mia Wasikowska and Matthew Goode.

At the film’s recent press day, Kidman, Wasikowska and Goode talked about what drew them to play their unusual characters, their first impressions upon reading the script, collaborating with director Park, their most memorable moments during filming, and their reaction after seeing the completed film.  Park discussed what it was like helming his first English-speaking film and how his Hollywood experience compared to directing in Korea.  Kidman also commented on her upcoming role in Grace of Monaco.  Hit the jump to read more.

A new clip has been released from Park Chan-wook‘s Stoker.  The film centers on a young girl (Mia Wasikowska) who encounters her mysterious uncle (Matthew Goode) while mourning the death of her father (Dermot Mulroney).  This clip does a terrific job of showing off Chung-hoon Chung‘s gorgeous cinematography (you’ll notice how this clip is done in one shot).  I quite liked the film when I saw it at Sundance, and I’m looking forward to seeing it again.

Hit the jump to check out the clip.  The film also stars Jacki Weaver and Nicole Kidman.  Stoker opens in limited release on March 1st.

Fox Searchlight has released the first clip from Oldboy director Park Chan-wook’s English-language debut, Stoker.  The film centers on a young girl (Mia Wasikowska) who encounters her mysterious uncle (Matthew Goode) while mourning the death of her father (Dermot Mulroney).  The majority of this clip is actually silent, as we’re treated to a quiet scene between Wasikowska and Goode’s characters.  An overall air of creepiness is prevalent, and it goes hand-in-hand with Chan-wook’s precision photography.  Matt caught the film at Sundance and enjoyed it, describing it as “an unnerving, slow-burn mystery-thriller that delves into a bloodline destined to shed blood” in his review.

Hit the jump to watch the clip.  The film also stars Nicole Kidman and Jacki Weaver.  Stoker opens in limited release on March 1st before expanding in the following weeks.

Fox Searchlight has released a batch of new images from director Park Chan-wook’s (Oldboy) English-language debut Stoker.  The film centers on a young girl (Mia Wasikowska) who encounters her mysterious uncle (Matthew Goode) while mourning the death of her father (Dermot Mulroney).  These images highlight Park’s colorful yet sinister imagery, teasing the curious relationship between Wasikowska, Goode, and Nicole Kidman’s characters.  Matt caught the film at Sundance and really enjoyed it, calling it “an unnerving, slow-burn mystery-thriller that delves into a bloodline destined to shed blood.”  Count me in.

Hit the jump to check out the new images.  Stoker opens on March 1st.

In Chan-wook Park‘s Stoker, the hunt is more rewarding than the kill.  Park has beautifully crafted an unnerving, slow-burn mystery-thriller that delves into a bloodline destined to shed blood.  In his English-language debut, Park takes his immaculate yet eerie style, and uses it to enhance a relatively simple tale of a disturbed girl who begins a bizarre and disturbing relationship with her recently-discovered uncle.  Through Park’s lens and the tremendous performances of stars Mia Wasikowska and Matthew Goode, Stoker may not cut deep, but it slashes hard.

While the Sundance crowd is enjoying Park Chan-wook’s Stoker in its entirety, the rest of the internet is being treated to a new trailer.  This sixty-second cut plays up the film’s weirdness, eroticism and outright violence in time with an overt bit of music that’s just as strange.  It’s reminiscent of the trailers for Requiem for a Dream and the more recent Savages from Oliver Stone.  It’s a nice tonal introduction for a film from the director of Oldboy. 

Starring Mia Wasikowska, Nicole Kidman and Matthew Goode, Stoker opens in limited release on March 1st.  Hit the jump to watch the new trailer.

The first clips have landed online for two Sundance 2013 premieres: Chan-wook Park’s Stoker, starring Nicole Kidman and Mia Wasikowska, and Francesca Gregorini’s Emanuel and the Truth About Fishes, starring Jessica Biel, Kaya Scodelario and Alfred Molina.  Both movies deal with issues of motherhood, though the first clip from Stoker reveals Kidman’s character as rather aggressively unstable while Biel’s character is merely a dead-ringer for the protag’s own dead mother.  Check out both clips after the jump (be forewarned: both clips are annoyingly set to auto-play).

Check out the latest posters for the following films:

• Stoker – From director Park Chan-wook comes another family portrait poster featuring Nicole Kidman, Mia Wasikowska and Matthew Goode. Stoker opens March 1, 2013.
• Side Effects – Director Steven Soderbergh’s next film stars Channing Tatum, Rooney Mara, Jude Law and Catherine Zeta-Jones embroiled in a drug thriller. Side Effects opens February 8, 2013.
• The Incredible Burt Wonderstone – The magician comedy from director Don Scardino stars Steve Carell, Jim Carrey, Steve Buscemi and Olivia Wilde. The Incredible Burt Wonderstone opens March 15, 2013.

Hit the jump to check out the new posters along with their synopses.

The 2013 Sundance Film Festival just announced an absolutely stacked lineup of films for their Premieres program, and we’ve got some new/first images from a few of the included films to share.  Briefly:

• The Look of Love – Directed by Michael Winterbottom, written by Matt Greenhaigh, and starring Steve Coogan, Anna Friel, Imogen Poots, and Tamsin Egerton.
• Lovelace – Directed by Rob Epstein and Jeffrey Friedman, written by Andy Bellin, and starring Amanda Seyfried, Peter Sarsgaard, Hank Azaria, Adam Brody, James Franco, and Sharon Stone.
• Prince Avalanche – Written and directed by David Gordon Green, starring Paul Rudd and Emile Hirsch.
• Stoker – Directed by Park Chan-wook, written by Wentworth Miller, and starring Mia Wasikowska, Matthew Goode, Dermot Mulroney, Jacki Weaver, and Nicole Kidman.

Hit the jump to check out the images and synopses.  The 2013 Sundance Film Festival runs from January 17 – 27th.