Here’s today’s latest casting news:

• Comedian T.J. Miller (She’s Out of My League) is set to join Michael Bay’s Transformers 4 as a pal of star Mark Wahlberg’s character.
• Joel McHale (Community) will take a dramatic turn in the supernatural thriller Beware the Night, starring Eric Bana and directed by Scott Derrickson.
• Danny Huston (X-Men Origins: Wolverine) is in talks to join Tim Burton’s Big Eyes, the comedic drama based on the relationship between Walter and Margaret Keane.
• Katharine McPhee (Smash) is set to star in the Paul Tamasy-directed thriller Depravity, scripted by Dennis Lehane.

Hit the jump for more on each casting announcement.

While the networks have been announcing their new series over the past few days at the upfronts, HBO is making a couple of announcements of its own.  The pay cable channel has order two pilots to series: a comedy from Mike Judge and a dramedy series centering on a group of gay men in San Francisco starring Jonathan Groff (Glee).  Judge’s dark comedy is a single-camera project that takes place “in the high-tech gold rush of modern Silicon Valley, where the people most qualified to succeed are the least capable of handling success.”  The series stars T.J. Miller (Seeking a Friend for the End of the World) and Thomas Middleditch (The Campaign).

Per THR, Judge wrote and directed the pilot and will executive produce the series with John Altschuler, Dave Krinsky, and Scott Rudin.  Judge previously created and ran King of the Hill on Fox and Beavis and Butthead on MTV, and I look forward to seeing his sharp wit soar outside the confines of network TV.  Hit the jump for news regarding another new HBO series from Weekend director Andrew Haigh.

We’re happy to bring you the first clip from DreamWorks new animated series, DreamWorks Dragons: Riders of Berk.  Based on the Academy Award-nominated film,  the series follows the continuing adventures of Hiccup and his faithful dragon, Toothless, along with their human and dragon friends alike as they soar over the Viking island of Berk.  The series features the returning vocal talents of Jay Baruchel, America Ferrera, Christopher Mintz-Plasse and T.J. Miller, as well as some veteran newcomers, such as Tim Conway and Mark Hamill.  The sequel to How to Train Your Dragon is set to debut in theaters on June 20th, 2014, but the series airs on Cartoon Network starting Tuesday, September 4th.  Hit the jump to see the clip and view the full press release.

Earlier this week I literally dreamed about The Dark Knight Rises. Not that I was in the movie. Not that I was Batman. Just that I was in the theater watching it for the first time. And I woke up with a sense of joy that followed me around for hours. Even now I can’t decide exactly what this says about me or whether it’s a good or bad thing that I’m so excited for a single moviegoing experience. Part of me is a little disappointed in my subconscious for dreaming on such a micro level. Another part is encouraged that it finds such joy in the “little things”. Regardless, those precious two hours and forty-five minutes or so on midnight of July 20th can’t get here soon enough.

All personal issues aside, this week’s iteration of the Top 5 includes the new trailer for Paul Thomas Anderson‘s The Master, Brave interviews with John Lasseter, director Mark Andrews and more, Brendan’s latest Cinemath feature, Seeking a Friend for the End of the World interviews with Steve Carell, Keira Knightley and more, and Abraham Lincoln: Vampire Hunter interviews with Tim Burton and co. The search for a brief recap and link to each concludes after the jump.

Earlier this week I got to speak with Gillian Jacobs & T.J. Miller for Lorene Scafaria‘s offbeat romantic comedy Seeking a Friend for the End of the World.  The film focuses on two neighbors (played by Steve Carell and Keira Knightley) who bond during a road trip as they both try to reconnect with lost loves and family before a meteor destroys the Earth.  In the film, Jacobs and Miller play two of the offbeat characters they meet along the way.  For more on the film, click here for seven clips.

During the interview Jacobs and Miller talked about how they made the characters their own, improv, how they prepare for their roles, future projects like How to Train Your Dragon 2 and The Incredible Burt Wonderstone, and more.  Hit the jump to watch.

We all know him as the lovable bastard on Game of Thrones (who should have taken a roll in the snow with Ygritte (Rose Leslie)), but Kit Harington may soon lend his voice to a more villainous character.  Harington is up for a role in DreamWorks Animation’s How to Train Your Dragon 2.  The sequel to the 2010 hit features the return of Jay Baruchel, Gerard Butler, America Ferrera, Christopher Mintz-Plasse, Kristen Wiig, Craig Ferguson, T.J. Miller, Jonah Hill and more in the vocal cast, in addition to the fine assortment of scaly beasts on screen.  Hit the jump for more on this potential casting addition.

Focus Features has released seven clips from Lorene Scafaria‘s dark romantic comedy Seeing a Friend for the End of the World.  The movie takes place a few weeks before a meteor wipes out all life on Earth, and mild-mannered Dodge (Steve Carell) strikes up a friendship with his neighbor Penny (Keira Knightley) as the two go on a road-trip to find Dodge’s true love and get Penny back home to see her parents.  Along the way, they meet a cast of colorful characters and situations as people react differently to the coming apocalypse.

Hit the jump to check out the clips.  The film also stars stars Adam Brody, Derek Luke, Melanie Lynskey, T.J. Miller, Patton Oswalt, Rob Heubel, Connie Britton, Gillian Jacobs, Rob Corddry, and Melinda Dillon.  Seeking a Friend for the End of the World opens Friday.

New images from the Keira Knightley movies Anna Karenina and Seeking a Friend for the End of the World have gone online.  Knightley plays the title character in Joe Wright‘s adaptation of Leo Tolstoy‘s classic tome about late 19th-century Russian society.  Seeking a Friend is far more light-hearted fare, and has Knightley playing a woman who sets out on a road-trip with a guy (Steve Carell) who’s trying to find his high-school sweetheart during Earth’s final days (it doesn’t sound light-hearted, but you can see from the trailer that it’s a comedy).

Hit the jump to check out the images.  Anna Karenina opens November 9th.  Seeking a Friend for the End of the World opens June 22nd

Focus Features has released new images for Wes Anderson‘s Moonrise Kingdom (premiering at Cannes, and then opening in limited release on May 25th),  Seeking a Friend for the End of the World starring Steve Carell and Keira Knightley (opening June 22nd), and the stop-motion animated film Paranorman (opening in 3D on August 17th).  Note that the image from Moonrise Kingdom is probably promotional and not from the movie.

Hit the jump to check out the images, and click on the corresponding links to learn more about each movie.  You can also find synopses after the jump.

Though his TV efforts may never quite measure up to the glory that was Uncle Jesse on Full House, the forever young John Stamos is going to try his hand at leading yet another comedy series. Deadline has word that Stamos will lead Little Brother, the new comedy pilot on Fox that also features comedian T.J. Miller. Coming from Mike Royce (Everybody Loves Raymond) and director Shawn Levy, the series follows Stamos as a man who finds out that he has a half-brother (Miller) he never knew who also happens to be an ex-con. Honestly, pairing Stamos with a hilarious comedian like Miller sounds like a great move, but Fox loves killing decent shows, so even if it’s good, the effort may be all for nothing. We’ll keep our eye on this one.

Details on Ellen Barkin joining Ryan Murphy‘s new NBC pilot after the jump.

After stealing scenes in films like She’s Out of My League and Get Him to the Greek (and staying behind the camera as Hud in Cloverfield), hilarious comedian T.J. Miller has landed his own series in the form of Fox’s comedy pilot Little Brother. Deadline reports Miller will lead the multi-camera comedy from Everybody Loves Raymond writer Mike Royce who will also executive produce the series with British writer Fintan Ryan, who wrote the original script before Royce was brought in to rewrite it after two seasons of being stuck in development. The series follows a man who finds out that he has a half-brother (Miller) he never knew about. The catch? His half-brother is an ex-con. Sounds like the perfect role for Miller who is a bit of a strange guy with some great stand-up. If you haven’t seen any of his film appearances, check out a clip from his recent Comedy Central stand-up special No Real Reason after the jump.

Four clips from Our Idiot Brother have gone online.  I dug the film when I saw it at Sundance (back when it was called “My Idiot Brother”–to hell with you, Possessive Singular!) and it’s a great showcase for Rudd who is too often stuck playing the straight man.  The film’s also got a terrific supporting cast that includes Elizabeth Banks, Zooey Deschanel, Rashida Jones, Adam Scott, Emily Mortimer, Steve Coogan, Kathryn Hahn, and T.J. Miller (who steals almost every scene he’s in).

Hit the jump to check out the clips.  Our Idiot Brother opens August 26th.

It’s funny how Hollywood works. As long as it makes big bucks, sometimes your worst work will lead to your biggest break. Case in point would be screenwriter Scot Armstrong, a longtime collaborator of director Todd Philips who will now be making his directorial debut thanks to his script for The Hangover Part II bringing in record-breaking box office for a comedy. Armstrong will be stepping into the director’s chair for the first time on Columbia’s Road To Nardo. The film is about a pair of roommates who go to ludicrous lengths (that’s where the laughs come in) to find their friend Nardo who is stranded in Mexico bare ass naked (additional laughs are sure to come from the nudity).

The concept sounds suspiciously similar to The Hangover, which is probably why it’s getting made. Armstrong himself described the film as “Traffic plus Superbad,” and stated that he’s looking to fill the cast out with young up-and-comers and relative unknowns. THR reports that hilarious stand up comic TJ Miller has signed on to play the lead role, finally breaking his streak of playing wacky best friends in movies like She’s Out Of My League. Hit the jump for more info on the upcoming comedy.

The cast for the pre-apocalyptic rom-com Seeking a Friend for the End of the World has just kind of exploded.  The film was already set to star Steve Carell as a man who is joined by a woman (Keira Knightley) to find his old high-school sweeheart before the world is destroyed by an asteroid.  Yesterday, we learned that the talented Gillian Jacobs had joined the film and now we’ve received a press release announcing that a truckload of other great actors have signed on as well.  Check out this line-up: Connie Britton, Patton Oswalt, Rob Huebel (who yesterday signed on to another apocalypse-based comedy, Rapturepalooza), Melanie Lynskey, T.J. Miller, Melinda Dillon as well as Aaron Brown (The District), Tonita Castro (The Sarah Silverman Program), Mark Moses (Desperate Housewives), and Bob Stephenson (Jericho).  And this is all in addition to the previously announced cast-members William Petersen, Adam Brody, Rob Corddry (also in Rapturepalooza), Derek Luke, and Lindsay Sloane.  How can the movie squeeze in this kind of ensemble?  It’s a road-trip picture, which means most of these folks will probably only have a scene or two, but it’s better than nothing.

Lorene Scafaria (Nick and Norah’s Infinite Playlist) is making her directorial debut from her own script.  Production on the film begins this week. Hit the jump to check out the press release.

[Update: We've updated the article with a couple of set photos featuring Carell and Knightley. Check them out after the jump]

When it comes to kids’ movies, modern parents are to be pitied.  For every Pixar film that hits theaters, five terrible kids’ movies drop at the same time.  One can only imagine the dread and self-loathing that these poor, baffled souls must feel whenever they see a trailer for something like Alvin and The Chipmunks:  The Squeakuel or Marmaduke.  Anyone without kids has to wonder:  do these parents grow immune to the terrors of bad kids’ movies over time, or does a film like Yogi Bear– which just arrived on Blu-ray– make them yearn for the sweet, sweet release of death (or, barring that, their kids growing up)?  Maybe, if we watch the film ourselves, we’ll know what it’s like to be one of these parents, and maybe we’ll even discover that Yogi Bear isn’t as bad as we expected.  Maybe, but not probably.  Full review after the jump, folks…