Here’s today’s latest casting news:

• Chris Pine (Star Trek) and Jake Gyllenhaal (Donnie Darko) are in discussions to join Into the Woods, the Rob Marshall-adaptation of the Broadway musical that stars Johnny Depp and Meryl Streep.
• Christoph Waltz (Django Unchained) has joined Stephen Gaghan’s The Candy Store, which stars Robert De Niro, Jason Clake and Omar Sy.
• RZA (The Man with the Iron Fists) and Catalina Denis (Sleepless Night) will join Paul Walker in Brick Mansions, the Camille Delamarre-directed remake of Luc Besson’s District B13.

Hit the jump for more on each casting announcement.

A new international trailer and TV spot for director Jon M. Chu’s delayed sequel G.I. Joe: Retaliation have made their way online.  The spots feature bits of new footage, and they’re both pretty focused on showcasing the film’s wall-to-wall action and stunts—now in 3D!  Hit the jump to check out the new spots, and click here to read Steve’s set visit preview.  The film stars Dwayne Johnson, Bruce Willis, Adrianne Palicki, Walton Goggins, Ray Park, Byung-hun Lee, Elodie Yung, RZA, Ray Stevenson, and D.J. Cotrona.  G.I. Joe: Retaliation  opens in 3D on March 27th.

A new trailer for director Jon Chu’s sequel G.I. Joe: Retaliation has been released.  As you’ll see, not much has changed other than the addition of more of Channing Tatum, which was one of the reasons for the film’s reshoots.  The other reason was for a 3D post-conversion, but we won’t know how that worked out until the trailer plays in theaters.  Ultimately, I can’t help but wonder if audiences will be scratching their heads as they ask, “Wasn’t this supposed to come out in last summer?”  Paramount is tasked with selling the movie all over again, and I do not envy them.

Hit the jump to watch the trailer.  The film stars Dwayne Johnson, Bruce Willis, Adrianne Palicki, Walton Goggins, Ray Park, Byung-hun Lee, Elodie Yung, RZA, Ray Stevenson, and D.J. Cotrona.  G.I. Joe: Retaliation opens in 3D on March 27, 2013. [Note: the trailer auto-plays so adjust your speakers accordingly]

Though much of the East Coast is still a ruin, Hurricane Sandy did not dampen enthusiasm at the weekend box office. Disney’s Wreck-It Ralph was the easy winner with $49.1 million from 3,752 locations. In half as many venues, Paramount’s Flight beat all pre-release projections with its $25 million launch. And while Argo continued to exhibit amazing staying power in third, Universal’s The Man with the Iron Fists was less impressive. The martial arts debut earned an estimated $8.2 million from 1,868 runs for fourth place.

With RZA’s kung-fu homage, The Man with the Iron Fists, set to debut on November 2^nd, we thought we’d take a look at some iconic weaponry used in martial arts films over the years.  After all, RZA’s character, the Blacksmith, makes a bunch of weapons for the warriors in the movie, but nothing stands out quite like his own iron fists.  So we’ve put together some clips of iconic weapons used in martial arts movies: some you know, some you may have heard of and some you’ve never seen before.

The Man with the Iron Fists, also starring Russell Crowe, Lucy Liu, Cung Le, Jamie Chung and Dave Bautista, opens November 2^nd.  Hit the jump to check out the weaponry!

We’re happy to bring you an exclusive clip from the upcoming Blu-ray set, Tarantino XX 8-Film Collection (Pulp Fiction/Inglourious Basterds/Reservoir Dogs/Kill Bill Vol. 1/Kill Bill Vol. 2/Jackie Brown/Death Proof/True Romance).  It features RZA talking candidly about asking Quentin Tarantino to be his teacher and mentor.  That conversation led to RZA’s visit to the set of Kill Bill to learn from Tarantino and, eventually, his own directorial debut in this weekend’s The Man with the Iron Fists, presented by Tarantino himself. 

The 10-disc Blu-ray set includes all of Tarantino’s directorial films of the past twenty years— Reservoir Dogs, Pulp Fiction, Jackie Brown, Kill Bill: Vol. 1, Kill Bill: Vol. 2, Death Proof and Inglourious Basterds—as well as True Romance, which he wrote.  Check out the trailer here, and hit the jump to see the exclusive clip from the collection.

A new international trailer for G.I. Joe: Retaliation has gone online.  You may recognize some of the footage from earlier trailers.  That’s mostly due in part to the film being pushed back from a June 29th, 2012 opening to a March 29th, 2013 release.  Call it time to work on the 3D post-conversion, or time to do reshoots to include more Channing Tatum, but at the end of the day the film still looks like a lot of fun.  Plus, you can’t really go wrong with Dwayne Johnson and Bruce Willis leading the way.

Jon Chu’s G.I. Joe: Retaliation also stars Adrianne Palicki, Walton Goggins, Ray Park, Byung-hun Lee, Elodie Yung, RZA, Ray Stevenson, and D.J. Cotrona.  G.I. Joe: Retaliation opens on March 29, 2013.

After years and years of work, Wu-Tang Clan member RZA’s writing and directorial debut, The Man with the Iron Fists is finally hitting screens on November 2nd. The film, co-written by Eli Roth and presented by Quentin Tarantino is a cross-cultural mashup of 70s Kung Fu, 90s gangsta rap and 00s comic book logic. While it might seem odd for a famed rapper to spend almost a decade working on a movie set entirely in feudal China, just one listen to any Wu record will clearly show that Rza has been building to this moment for almost two decades.  For more on the film, here are three clips.

Last weekend I sat down with RZA and Eli Roth back stage at the House of Blues in Hollywood to discuss the film. During the interview we talked about autobiographical influence, the director’s cut, how the story would work without the Kung Fu, a mysterious flying character and much more.  Hit the jump to watch.

RZA‘s feature film The Man with the Iron Fists doesn’t open until Friday, but he’s already piling up a slate of future projects.  Earlier this month, we reported that RZA had signed on to direct an adaptation of Grant Morrison‘s new comic book series, Happy!.  Today, THR reports that he has two more projects on the horizons.  First, he’s boarded the John Milius‘ long-in-development script Genghis Khan, which tells the story of the famous 13th century Mongol emperor who held the largest contiguous empire in history.  He did this less-than-peacefully.  The story will reportedly be told from the point of view of Khan’s son and grandson.  Take your kid to work day was a memorable experience.  Since RZA has already shown he has no problem with violence, at least to the point of punching out a guy’s eyeball, this seems like a good fit for the rapper-turned-director.

Hit the jump for details on RZA’s other project, No Man’s Land.

We have three new clips to share with you today from writer/director/star RZA’s kung-fu epic, The Man with the Iron Fists.  First up is Bronze Lion (Cung Le) taking on Madame Blossom (Lucy Liu), followed by a bloody introduction to Jack Knife (Russell Crowe) and finally, a clash between the wrought iron fists of the Blacksmith (RZA) and the zinc and copper alloy of Brass Body (David Bautista).  The clips do a nice job at showcasing the fighting styles of each of our characters, but also give a glimpse into the overall tone of the film.  Part kung-fu cliche and part homage, The Man with the Iron Fists looks to mix in a fair dose of humor alongside the action (if Crowe’s craziness is any indication).  The Man with the Iron Fists opens November 2nd.  Hit the jump to check out the clips.

If you can’t wait the two weeks to see writer/director/star RZA’s The Man with the Iron Fists, perhaps this animated prequel will suffice for now.  Narrated by RZA, the short follows the Blacksmith (RZA) traveling on his path to China and shows that not all of the fighting is confined to Jungle Village.  While it’s more of a compilation of concept art than actual animated film, it’s got a great feel to it (similar to Afro Samurai) and even establishes a history between the Blacksmith and one of the other characters from the feature film.

Also starring Lucy Liu, Russell Crowe, Jamie Chung, Cung Le and David Bautista, The Man with the Iron Fists opens November 2nd.  Hit the jump to check out the prequel. 

Just yesterday we saw a new trailer for director RZA’s crazy-lookin’ kung fu film The Man with the Iron Fists by way of a character trailer for Cung Le’s Bronze Lion, and today it’s Lucy Liu’s turn.  The story follows a group of warriors, assassins, heroes, and villains who unite to take down a clan traitor in order to prevent their own destruction.  This trailer centers on Liu’s Madame Blossom character, showing off some impressive fight sequences and a fun tease of the relationship she has with Russell Crowe’s character. The first featurette for the film has also been released, in which RZA talks about his lifelong love of martial arts movies and the impact of producer Quentin Tarantino.

Hit the jump to check out the new trailer and featurette.  The film also stars RZA, Byron Mann, Rick Yune, David Bautista, Pam Grier and Jamie Chung.  The Man with the Iron Fists opens on November 2nd.

A new trailer from writer/director/star RZA’s kung-fu action flick The Man with the Iron Fists has dropped and it features UFC fighter Cung Le in character as the Bronze Lion.  The story follows a group of warriors, assassins, heroes and villains who unite to take down a clan traitor in order to prevent their own destruction. RZA’s directorial debut made my most anticipated list and I’m encouraged by the crazier and crazier footage being released.  If you missed the previous red-band trailers, you can get caught up here and here.

Hit the jump to watch the new trailer.  The film also stars Russell Crowe, Lucy Liu, Byron Mann, Rick Yune, David Bautista, Pam Grier and Jamie Chung.  The Man with the Iron Fists opens on November 2nd.

RZA‘s directorial debut, The Man with the Iron Fists, will hit theaters next month, and he’s already set to work on his follow-up.  According to Heat Vision, RZA is set to direct an adaptation of Grant Morrison‘s new comic book, Happy!  Morrison will write the script, and RZA will produce alongside Reginald Hudlin (Django Unchained).

Hit the jump for more details on Happy!  The Man with the Iron Fists stars RZA, Russell Crowe, Cung Le, Lucy Liu, Byron Mann, Rick Yune, David Bautista, and Jamie Chung.  The film opens November 2nd.

Universal Pictures has released 16 stunning posters for RZA’s kung-fu film The Man with the Iron Fists.  The film takes place in feudal China and centers on a small village’s weapon-maker who must defend its people.  If the movie is half as good as these posters, it will be a success.  Their styles ranges from 80s punk flyers, classic art, retro Asian cinema posters, and more.  I wouldn’t mind having a couple of these on my wall provided A) I liked the movie; and B) I had any wall space left.

Hit the jump to check out the posters.  The film stars RZA, Russell Crowe, Cung Le, Lucy Liu, Byron Mann, Rick Yune, David Bautista, and Jamie Chung.  The Man with the Iron Fists opens November 2nd.