With J.J. Abrams Star Trek Into Darkness now playing around the world, we recently landed an exclusive phone interview with John Cho.  During the interview, he talked about making the sequel, how things changed on set, who was the one who broke the most while filming, his preparation process, did he take anything home from set, deleted scenes, and a lot more.  He also talked about the status of Harold and Kumar, Get a Job, working with Matthew Perry on Go On, Bryan Cranston, and working on the pilot for Sleepy Hollow.  Hit the jump for what he had to say.

Academy Award-winning director Alex Gibney’s We Steal Secrets:  The Story of WikiLeaks is a riveting, multi-layered tale about transparency in the information age and our ever-elusive search for the truth.  Unfolding like an exciting political spy thriller with a cast of complex characters, the film confirms that real life is often more compelling than fiction as it chronicles the creation of Julian Assange’s controversial website which facilitated the largest security breach in U.S. history.  The enigmatic Assange’s rise and fall are paralleled with that of PFC Bradley Manning, the brilliant, troubled young soldier who was the source of all the documents that WikiLeaks is famous for.

In this exclusive interview, Gibney talked to me about his reasons for doing the film and how they evolved as he learned more, his impressions of Assange, why Manning was central to the story, how not being able to interview the two key players led to a more powerful film, the challenge of making a documentary that appeals to both men’s supporters and detractors, his response to Oliver Stone’s criticism, his thoughts about the role of media, transparency and the issue of privacy in the internet age, and his upcoming documentary, Lance Armstrong:  The Road Back.  Hit the jump to read more:

Paramount Pictures has released a new teaser trailer for director Adam McKay’s sequel Anchorman 2: The Legend Continues.  Much like the initial teaser trailer that was unveiled before the film even began production, this trailer doesn’t show any actual footage. In fact, it actually looks like it may have been shot at the same time as that initial teaser, but it’s no less hilarious.  We get individual greetings from Will Ferrell, David Koechner, Paul Rudd, and Steve Carell all in character, but unsurprisingly it’s Carell’s Brick who steals the show.  This movie cannot get here fast enough.

Hit the jump to watch the new trailer.  The film also stars Christina Applegate, Kristen Wiig, James Marsden, Dylan Baker, Meagan Good, Greg Kinnear, and Harrison Ford.  Anchorman 2: The Legend Continues opens December 20.

We’ve got a few release dates to share today.  Briefly:

• Labor Day – Writer/director Jason Reitman’s drama starring Kate Winslet and Josh Brolin will hit theaters in limited release on December 25th of this year (just in time for awards season, natch), before expanding wide on January 31st.
• Exodus – Director Ridley Scott’s Biblical epic about the life of Moses has been dated for a prime holiday release of December 12, 2014, confirming that this will indeed be Scott’s next project.  Christian Bale may star.
• Assassin’s Creed – The feature film adaptation of the popular video game series has been dated for Memorial Day weekend of 2015, with a firm May 22, 2015 release date.  Michael Fassbender is producing the film and will also star.

Hit the jump for much more on all of the aforementioned projects.

No surprise here, but J.J. Abrams’ Star Trek Into Darkness looks to take the top box office spot before heading into the weekend.  Once expected to bring in a $100 million opening weekend, estimates are now hovering around the $70 million mark.  Shane Black’s Iron Man 3 was a distant second with almost $10 million.  Baz Luhrmann’s The Great Gatsby dropped off 61% from its opening weekend to grab $7.7 million this Friday.  Jackie Robinson biopic 42 and the Tom Cruise-starring sci-fi flick Oblivion rounded out the top five.

We’ll have full details and the weekend’s top ten when you check back tomorrow!

Check out today’s casting news:

• Andy Garcia (The Untouchables) and Rob Riggle (21 Jump Street) have joined Luke Greenfield’s action-comedy Let’s Be Cops.
• Marton Csokas (The Bourne Supremacy) will star opposite Denzel Washington in Antoine Fuqua’s The Equalizer, also starring Chloe Grace Moretz.
• Jonny Weston (Chasing Mavericks) and Sofia Black-D’Elia (Skins) are in negotiations to join Michael Bay’s found-footage film, Almanac.

Hit the jump for more on each casting announcement.

Red 2 isn’t due out for another month, but Summit has already tapped the screenwriting duo of Jon and Erich Hoeber to pen the threequel.  The siblings certainly know their spy stuff as they’ve written both the original film and the sequel, which is testing high and giving the studio confidence of another go-round.  News of Red 3 may take a bit of the tension out of the plot of Red 2, which sees retired CIA operatives going back into the field in order to track down a portable nuclear device.  Heat Vision reports that production on Red 3 could start as early as January 2014, pending script approval; no deals with the cast have been made as of yet.

The Dean Parisot-directed sequel stars Bruce Willis, John Malkovich, Helen Mirren, Anthony Hopkins, Catherine Zeta-Jones, Mary-Louise Parker and Byung-hun Lee.  Red 2 opens July 19th.

If you missed the red-band trailer for director Paul Middleditch’s horror comedy Rapture-Palooza, you can check out the newly-released toned-down version here.  There’s only a little bit of new footage and it keeps the same jokes from the first trailer (minus the profanity), but star Anna Kendrick (Up in the Air) is certainly worth a second look, don’t you think?  She plays the object of affection sought after by the Anti-Christ (Craig Robinson) when the Rapture befalls Seattle.  Her boyfriend (John Francis Daley) will do anything he can to stop her from becoming Satan’s bride.

Also starring Rob Corddry, Rob Huebel, Paul Scheer, Thomas Lennon, Ana Gasteyer, John Michael Higgins, Tyler Labine and Ken Jeong,  Rapture-Palooza opens in theaters and on VOD June 7th.  Hit the jump for the green-band trailer, image, synopsis and poster.

The good news is that a number of Marvel comics properties are back in the hands of Marvel Studios and may once again be seen on screen.  The bad news is that the feature treatment ain’t happening for all of them.  Marvel’s Kevin Feige talked about a number of planned and possible superhero films coming up in the next few years, including an adaptation of the lesser-known property Inhumans.  More recognizable names – like Blade, Punisher, Ghost Rider and Daredevil – are also under Marvel’s control once again, but will have to find the right time, place and treatment to fit into the studio’s current plans.  Hit the jump for updates on the above-mentioned properties and more, including the chances of a Marvel Zombies one-off.

There have been lots of rumors flying around about two potential films on Marvel’s upcoming Phase Three slate: a standalone Hulk film and a Doctor Strange origin story.  Marvel’s Kevin Feige recently talked about plans for a number of upcoming films, including these two standalone projects.  In short, Feige said that there are no current plans for a solo Hulk movie, but they are talking about it and he isn’t opposed to keeping Mark Ruffalo in the role.  For Doctor Strange, the property is expected to be a top priority for the studio and will feature the first film fully devoted to “a world of pure magic.”  Hit the jump for much, much more from Feige. 

Though Iron Man 3 only just hit theaters a couple of weeks ago (and crossed the $1 billion mark at the box office today), many of the conversations surrounding the film have revolved around the prospect of Iron Man 4.  A fourth film in Marvel’s most prominent—and successful—franchise seems like a no-brainer, but there’s the tiny matter of star Robert Downey Jr.’s contract.  His agreement with Marvel is currently up for renegotiation, meaning there is no guarantee that he’ll don the Iron Man suit again.  The actor is said to be in negotiations to return for The Avengers 2 and The Avengers 3, but an agreement has yet to be made regarding another standalone Iron Man film.

Downey and Marvel Studios President Kevin Feige recently talked a bit about the prospect of seeing Iron Man 4 pop up in Marvel’s Phase Three slate of films, and while Feige is confident that the character will live on no matter what happens, Downey seems keen on taking a break from Tony Stark for a bit.  Hit the jump for more.

With Iron Man 3 crossing the $1 billion mark at the box office today, Marvel is currently enjoying its status at the top of the superhero movie food chain.  The studio has a full slate of films hitting theaters over the next couple of years as part of its Phase Two plans, culminating in The Avengers 2 in 2015.  However, even with the prospect of Thor and Captain America sequels and Guardians of the Galaxy on the horizon, fans are still clamoring for more, more, more.  The studio’s Phase Three is a giant question mark at the moment, with only one film firmly slated for release to kick off a new batch of superhero movies: Ant-Man.

Director/co-writer Edgar Wright recently talked a bit about the film and why it’s taken so long to come to fruition, revealing that production will finally get underway next year.  Hit the jump to read on.

Magnolia Pictures has released the first trailer for the new sci-fi film Europa Report.  Directed by Sebastian Cordero, the film follows a contemporary mission to Jupiter’s moon Europa to investigate the possible existence of alien life.  Naturally, when the crew lands on the surface and starts digging below the ice, they find themselves in dire circumstances.  The film isn’t exactly found footage, but most of the pic is framed using cameras inside the spacecraft, on the external vehicles, and in documentary-style interviews with the crew members.  The practical effects approach is definitely impressive, and there’s a strong horror undercurrent that looks to be quite effective.

Hit the jump to watch the trailer.  The film stars Sharlto Copley, Michael Nyqvist, Christian Camargo, Embeth Davidtz, Dan Fogler, Anamaria Marinca, Isiah Whitlock Jr., Karolina Wydra, and Daniel Wu.  Europa Report will be available on iTunes on June 27th and hits theaters on August 2nd.

With J.J. Abrams Star Trek Into Darkness now playing around the world, we recently landed an exclusive phone interview with Karl Urban.  During the interview, he talked about making the sequel, his reaction to reading the script, how things changed on set, who was the one who broke the most while filming, filming with IMAX cameras, the 3D, and more.  He also talked about the possibility of a Dredd sequel, his upcoming Fox TV show Almost Human, and The Loft.  Hit the jump for what he had to say.

The twin brother-sister superheroes Quicksilver and Scarlet Witch have been likely contenders to join The Avengers 2 since April when Joss Whedon teased, “I’ve got these two characters, two of my favorite characters from the comic book, a brother-sister act. They’re in the movie.”  Kevin Feige followed that even though the characters fall into a legal grey area (The characters are mutants, Magneto is their father, and Fox could have possession since they own X-Men), they would be available.  Today, Whedon has confirmed that the characters will be in The Avengers 2.

Hit the jump for more including what Whedon had to say about bringing Iron Man into The Avengers 2.