When you want to bring some attention to your movie marketing, you get Beyoncé to post it on her social media account.  It’s not like Fifty Shades of Grey, the feature adaptation of E.L. James’ erotic bestseller, needed any additional attention from its target audience, but hey, a little extra exposure is what this picture’s all about.  While this is a nice tease for fans, the full first trailer for the film drops on the 24th.

Directed by Sam Taylor-Johnson, Fifty Shades of Grey stars Jamie Dornan, Dakota Johnson, Jennifer Ehle, Luke Grimes, Marcia Gay Harden, Max Martini, Eloise Mumford, Dylan Neal, Rita Ora, Victor Rasuk, and Callum Keith Rennie, and opens February 13, 2015.  Hit the jump to take a look and listen to the new 50 Shades of Grey teaser.

Normally when we bring you audience reactions from early screenings of highly anticipated movies, we try to bring a balance of positive and negative responses in an attempt to paint an unbiased picture.  In the case of Marvel’s Guardians of the Galaxy, that proved more difficult than usual since reactions were overwhelmingly positive.  Praise flowed for director James Gunn and his successful balance of humor and action in the difficult space opera genre.  Oddball characters Groot and Rocket Raccoon (voiced by Vin Diesel and Bradley Cooper respectively) got a fair share of the spotlight, and Dave Bautista’s Drax was called “better than Superman” by one viewer.  Overall, things are looking very, very good for the Guardians‘ debut, and for a possible sequel in the years to come.

Also starring Chris Pratt, Zoe Saldana, Lee Pace, Karen Gillan, Glenn Close, Benicio Del Toro, Michael Rooker, John C. Reilly, and Peter Serafinowicz, Guardians of the Galaxy opens in 3D on August 1st.  Hit the jump to take a look at some early reactions to Guardians of the Galaxy.

Gotham’s marketing machine has been ramping up in anticipation of the pilot’s world premiere at Comic-Con later this month.  Just a couple of days ago we got a new TV spot to go along with these new character posters.  You can get a sampling of the villains that will appear in the show here, or just read our preview to get a feel for the overall show.  Today’s latest contribution to the early looks comes via a handful of new images, one of which reveals the first glimpse of Wayne Manor.

Starring Ben McKenzie, David Mazouz, Donal Logue, Barbara Kean, Jada Pinkett Smith, Robin Lord Taylor, Camren Bicondova, Sean Pertwee, Cory Michael Smith, and Zabryna Guevara, Gotham debuts on Fox this fall.  Hit the jump to check out the new images.

If you’re like me, you remember quite clearly the first time you saw Heath Ledger as the Joker in Christopher Nolan’s The Dark Knight.  In fact, that entire opening sequence is rather memorable, but the appearance by the Clown Prince of Crime was the cherry on top.  Now, you can reenact the scene itself (scaled down, and in the relative safety of your own home, that is) with the new Joker collectible figure from Hot Toys and Sideshow Collectibles.  This bank-robbing version of the late Ledger’s now-iconic character comes with interchangeable heads, 30 points of articulation, and way more weapons in his pockets than simply knives and lint.

Hit the jump for more images and a list of specifications for Hot Toys’ Joker or click here to pre-order on Sideshow’s website.

Marvel really wants you to know all about the title characters in Guardians of the Galaxy before you ever set foot in the movie theater.  Two new TV spots for the James Gunn-directed action film were released today which shed light on the origins of Star-Lord (Chris Pratt), Gamora (Zoe Saldana), and Drax (Dave Bautista).  While there are also quite a few tidbits of new footage, dialogue, and humor, it’s starting to feel like they’re trying too hard.  You’ve convinced me!  Now please let me enjoy some of the remaining footage during the actual movie.

Also starring Lee Pace, Karen Gillan, Glenn Close, Benicio Del Toro, Djimon Hounsou, Michael Rooker, John C. Reilly, Peter Serafinowicz, and the voices of Bradley Cooper and Vin Diesel, Guardians of the Galaxy opens in 3D on August 1st.  Hit the jump to check out the two new TV spots.

A new TV spot has emerged for Fox’s upcoming comic book series, Gotham, which hammers home the fact that it’s a prequel set in the title city well before Batman cleans up the streets.  It puts the focus squarely on James Gordon (Ben McKenzie), which is exactly where it should be since he’ll be the protagonist taking viewers along on his journey.  Now, while the show does include some unique versions of the comics’ villains, the greatest of them won’t be showing up right away.  Much like Batman himself will take some time to grow into his cape and cowl, Gotham’s version of the Joker will also be a slow burn.  And now we’ve got some details of how he might come about.

Hit the jump to watch the new TV spot and for more on Gotham’s handling of the Joker.

Jonathan Liebesman’s Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles reboot is sneaking up on us like the stealthy ninja that it is, but it hasn’t exactly hit us over the head with its marketing just yet.  That’s a good move, because they’ve shown just enough to get a sense of the movie’s tone and story without giving everything away.  Everything I’ve seen so far has actually been pretty impressive, so it’s no surprise that the film’s latest TV spot is more of the same, even if it does appear to share a little more on the plot side of things.  Dubbed “Created as Weapons,” the short commercial teases what is possibly a unique origin story for the title characters.

Starring Megan Fox, Will Arnett, William Fichtner, Alan Ritchson, Pete Ploszek, Jeremy Howard, Noel Fisher, and Danny Woodburn, with Johnny Knoxville and Tony Shalhoub voicing Leonardo and Splinter respectively, Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles opens August 8th.  Hit the jump to watch the new TV spot.

Though directors Anthony Stacchi and Graham Annable make their stop-motion animation directorial debut on Laika’s The Boxtrolls, the duo was more than up to the task.  Stacchi brings co-directing and writing experience to go along with a career in the animation, art, and visual effects departments.  That paired quite well with Annable’s story work in the art and animation departments on Laika’s Coraline and ParaNorman, as well as his video game directing experience.  It’s no surprise that the two worked so well together cracking the “Here Be Monsters!” adaptation, especially considering just how important collaboration is within the stop-motion studio.

During my set visit to Laika, I got to sit in on a lengthy interview with Stacchi and Annable, which included commentary from producer David Ichioka.  They talked about the arduous story-cracking process, delegating responsibilities among the animators, the insane amount of planning that goes into a stop-motion production, just how creative their artists can be, and using motion-capture and extensive visual effects on this production.  Hit the jump for the extensive interview, and be sure to check out The Boxtrolls when it opens September 26th.

Todd McFarlane might be best known for his work in the comic book world, from drawing the Spider-Man villain Venom, to forming the independent publisher Image Comics, to creating the iconic anti-hero Spawn.  But in more recent years, McFarlane’s been known for his toy production company, which produces highly detailed action figures from comics, movies, and television.  One such property the company handles is AMC’s hit drama, The Walking Dead, but you’ve never seen Rick and Co. quite like this.  Coming this fall exclusively to Toys “R” Us, McFarlane Toys will release new building block sets and characters pulled directly from The Walking Dead, allowing collectors and fans alike to recreate their favorite scenes on their very own shelves.  Hit the jump to get an early look at the sets and to hear more from McFarlane.

Matt Reeves’ Dawn of the Planet of the Apes easily claimed the top spot in its debut weekend, leaving its competition in the dust.  While the Apes sequel will likely end the weekend with a mid-$70 million haul, the closest contender was Michael Bay’s Transformers: Age of Extinction, which brought in $16.5 million.  While the weekend performance for Optimus Prime and Co. wasn’t all that impressive, the movie did cross the $200 million domestic watermark, as well as three-quarters of a billion dollars at the global box office.  Let that sink in for a second before you check out the rest of the weekend’s top flicks.

Here are how the top ten stand:

Hit the jump for more.

The Apes rule Friday’s box office as Matt Reeves’ Dawn of the Planet of the Apes dominates the competition.  That being said, its Friday debut is nowhere near that of this week’s second place film’s opening total; Michael Bay’s Transformers: Age of Extinction, pulled in over $41 million in its debut just a couple of weeks ago.  These numbers appear to be par for the course of 2014′s summer box office, which has been under-performing compared to recent years.  With praise raining down on Dawn from critics and fans alike, it’s possible that positive word of mouth could help keep it atop the box office for the rest of the month.  Hit the jump for more on its chances, as well as the rest of Friday’s box office report.

When last we spoke of the planned television adaptation of Terry Brooks’ fantasy series Shannara, it was headed to MTV with Jon Favreau directing.  The good news is that the network has decided to go ahead with the series and has placed a 10-episode order.  The not-so-great news is that Favreau will no longer be directing due to scheduling issues, though he’ll retain his executive producer credit.  Word has it that Jonathan Liebesman, the director of the upcoming Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles reboot, will be directing the first two episodes of the series and will act as executive producer.  Hit the jump for much more on this ambitious adaptation.

Up until today, we’ve been referring to Robert Zemeckis’ untitled 3D picture as To Reach the Clouds, since it was adapted from high-wire artist Philippe Petit’s memoir of the same name.  Now, courtesy of social media and stars Joseph Gordon-Levitt and Charlotte Le Bon, it looks like the film has been retitled The Walk.  Gordon-Levitt plays Petit, whose “artistic crime of the century” saw him and his co-conspirators sneak to the top of the World Trade Center in 1974 in order to make his famous attempt at crossing between the two towers.

Also starring Ben Kingsley and James Badge Dale, The Walk is slated to open October 2, 2015.  Hit the jump to check out a behind-the-scenes image of Gordon-Levitt and Le Bon on set of The Walk.

These days, comics legend Stan Lee might be known more for his Marvel movie cameos than his creation of the self-same heroes seen in the flesh on the big screen.  With the latest news that Lee just wrapped his cameo in Joss Whedon’s upcoming sequel Avengers: Age of Ultron, that status isn’t likely to change.  This past year has been relatively slow for Lee’s acting career, especially since the previous 13 years saw him cameo in 17 different movies.  And with Lee’s 92nd birthday coming up at the end of this year, he shows little sign of slowing down.  He even reached across the comic book aisle to offer up some advice to Zack Snyder’s DC superhero film, Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice.  Hit the jump for that and more.

A few weeks ago we brought you the news that AMC’s Breaking Bad spin-off prequel series Better Call Saul would be delayed until early 2015, but also earned an early second-season renewal.  Now that co-creators Vince Gilligan and Peter Gould are at the Television Critics Association’s press tour, they took a little side time from Breaking Bad talk to share some new details on the upcoming prequel series.  In addition to info on the show’s cast, cameos, and timeline, we’ve also got two new images featuring star Bob Odenkirk.  Hit the jump to check it all out.