As George Clooney ramps up pre-production on his next directorial effort, the WWII drama The Monuments Men, he’s starting to focus on casting the film.  Based on the book of the same name by Robert M. Edsel, the story centers on a group of art experts selected by the US Government to chase down the stolen art of Europe during World War II.  Clooney is producing, writing, directing, and starring in the film, and The Artist star (and Best Actor winner) Jean Dujardin is now being eyed for a supporting role in the pic.  Hit the jump for more.

Director Peter Jackson kicked off Tolkein Week with an introductory video on Sunday and a batch of new images from The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey yesterday, and today the fun continues with a new image that teases tomorrow’s premiere of the film’s new trailer.  Martin Freeman looks quite small as young Bilbo Baggins, but he’s too enamored by something in the sky to be bothered by his tiny size.  An Unexpected Journey will be the first installment in what is now Jackson’s The Hobbit trilogy, and I’m beyond thrilled to return to Middle Earth in just a couple of short months.

Hit the jump to see the image, and be sure to check back here tomorrow morning to view the new trailer for the film.  The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey opens in 3D on December 14th. [Update: Warner Bros. has released 10 more high-resolution images, including two stunning looks at Gollum, which are now included after the jump.]

You know a movie is getting close to opening when the studio releases an app.  Welcome to Warner Bros.’ “Hobbit Movies,” the official app for Peter Jackson’s The Hobbit trilogy, starting with The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey.  The program is chock full of behind-the-scenes media, story information, a ton of character images and production stills and even the famous map of Middle Earth.  We’ve wrangled up an image gallery, which features a lot of great looks at the dwarves in the party and the first look at Lee Pace (Pushing Daisies) as the Elvish king, Thranduil (and Legolas’ father).  Hit the jump to check out the images and to find out where you can download the app.

The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey, starring Martin Freeman, Ian McKellen, Richard Armitage, Benedict Cumberbatch, Cate Blanchett, Orlando Bloom, Hugo Weaving and Andy Serkis, opens December 14th.

We’re only a few short months away from the release of what is now the first in a trilogy adaptation of The Hobbit, and a few images from Peter Jackson’s film have surfaced by way of a calendar tie-in for The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey.  The front cover features Martin Freeman’s Bilbo flanked by a few of his dwarven companions and Ian McKellan as our old friend Gandalf.  The inside of the calendar, however, includes some more close-up images of the film’s characters, including Hugo Weaving’s Elrond, Cate Blanchett’s Galadriel, and Orlando Bloom as Legolas, as well as our first look at Sylvester McCoy as Radagast the Brown.  Some of the backgrounds are a bit cheesy, and I would have enjoyed a more old-fashioned look to the pictures inside the calendar, but I guess the kids enjoy flashier versions of the Middle Earth heroes.

Hit the jump to take a look at the calendar images.  The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey opens on December 14th.

When director Peter Jackson touted the high frame rate of 48 frames per second for his upcoming fantasy epic, The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey, we were understandably excited.  However, the reality of the technology had the unexpected consequence of looking too real, as if one were standing on set watching a movie being filmed.  While Warner Bros. still believes that 48fps is the way of cinematic future, they’re being careful with their first major release by limiting the sites that will screen The Hobbit at the higher frame rate.  There is talk of expanding the release of future installments in 48fps dependent on audience reaction.  Hit the jump for more.

Production is currently underway on Woody Allen’s still untitled next film, and as per the norm plot details have been scarce.  We do know that the cast includes Cate Blanchett, Sally Hawkins, Louis C.K., Alec Baldwin, Peter Sarsgaard, Andrew Dice Clay, Michael Emerson and Bobby Cannavale,  and that the story takes place in San Francisco and New York City.  Now a few more plot details have surfaced, as the romantic comedy apparently centers on a woman whose “posh New York City lifestyle” comes crashing down so she makes a move to San Francisco.  Hit the jump for more.

A new trailer for The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey has gone online.  As it’s only subtly different from the one that was previously released, folks are referring to this one as The Hobbit 1.1.  Regardless, I’ll take any new footage of Martin Freeman and Ian McKellan I can get at this point.

The film also stars Cate Blanchett, Hugo Weaving, Elijah Wood, Orlando Bloom, Andy Serkis, Luke Evans, Benedict Cumberbatch, Evangeline Lilly, and Stephen Fry.  The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey will be released on December 14, 2012.  Hit the jump to check out the new trailer.

I was already looking forward to The Hobbit panel at this year’s Comic-Con just because Peter Jackson’s an affable guy and I’m eager to (possibly) get a look at this 48fps business, but after recently rewatching Jackson’s glorious extended edition versions of The Lord of the Rings trilogy, I’m doubly excited to delve back into Middle Earth.  We recently got a look at a gorgeous Gandalf-centered poster for the film that will be handed out to Comic-Con goers, and now a ginormous poster banner has been released.  We get teases of quite a few scenes from the pic, including the return of Hugo Weaving as Elrond and Cate Blanchett as Galadriel and our first look at the character of Beorn.

Hit the jump to check out the banner in all its glory, and be sure to check back later this week for our full recap of The Hobbit panel at Comic-Con.  The film also stars Martin Freeman, Ian McKellan, Richard Armitage, Andy Serkis, and Elijah Wood.  The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey opens in 3D on December 14th.

Comic-con may be the first place that a lot of us will get to see Peter Jackson’s The Hobbit in motion before we get closer to its December 14th release, but for now we’ll have to settle for this new image of Bilbo (Martin Freeman) and Gandalf (Ian McKellen) on the cover of Entertainment Weekly.  The magazine’s annual Comic-Con issue also features interviews from Jackson and the actors.  The story of The Hobbit, which will be split into two parts (The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey and December 13, 2013′s The Hobbit: There and Back Again) tells the story of a younger Bilbo Baggins, before the adventures of his nephew Frodo (Elijah Wood) in The Lord of the Rings. Hit the jump to check out the cover image and to read some tidbits from Jackson and McKellen.. 

Barbra Streisand has directed as many feature films (Yentl, Prince of Tides and The Mirror Has Two Faces) as she has concerts/documentaries, but now she aims to tip the scales by returning to the director’s chair for the epic love story, Skinny and Cat.  Penned by Linda Yellen, Skinny and Cat tells of the true romance between author Erskine Caldwell and Margaret Bourke White, a photojournalist.  Colin Firth (The King’s Speech) and Cate Blanchett (The Curious Case of Benjamin Button) are set to star in what will be Streisand’s first feature film in 16 years.  Hit the jump for more on Skinny and Cat.

Woody Allen looks to have finalized the cast for his next film, and a few exciting additions have been announced.  We already knew that Sally Hawkins and Cate Blanchett would be leading a cast that also includes Alec Baldwin, Michael Emerson and Bobby Cannavale, and now Variety reports that Louis C.K., Peter Sarsgaard and Andrew Dice Clay will round out the cast.  Bradley Cooper was mentioned as a possible addition at one point, but he may have run into some scheduling issues.  Max Casella and Alden Ehrenreich are also listed in the announced cast.

Though story details are under wraps, Louis C.K.’s casting is interesting for a number of reasons.  First off, C.K. has great comedic timing as well as dramatic talent so he’s a welcomed addition, but he’s also been hailed as a bit of a successor to Allen with his New York-centric, critically hailed series Louie.  I’m beyond eager to see how he fits into Allen’s next film, and the writer-director has assembled an unsurprisingly impressive ensemble for his next effort.  The untitled film will shoot this summer in San Francisco and New York City.

Writer/director Woody Allen’s follow-up to last year’s Midnight in Paris, the Italy-centered To Rome With Love, is due out in theaters this summer, but as he’s wont to do, Allen is already gearing up to start production on his next project.  Last month we learned that Bradley Cooper and Cate Blanchett were being eyed to star in the currently untitled film, but now some solidified casting has been announced.  Variety reports that Sally Hawkins (Happy-Go-Lucky) is in talks to play one of two female leads in the dramedy, a “neurotic who’s fun and rough around the edges.”

Hawkins, who was most recently seen in last year’s Jane Eyre and Submarine, has worked with Allen before on 2007’s Cassandra’s Dream.  Though Copenhagen was previously rumored as Allen’s next location, Variety confirms that he’ll return stateside for this effort and shoot in New York and San Francisco this summer.  Blanchett is still eying the other female lead, a sophisticated woman who has her life together, while Cooper is circling a role in the ensemble.

Although Woody Allen earned himself another Oscar for his last film, Midnight in Paris, and currently has To Rome With Love due out in theaters in June, the director is currently considering cast members for an upcoming project. On his radar are Cate Blanchett (The Curious Case of Benjamin Button) as a leading lady and Bradley Cooper (The Hangover) as part of the ensemble. As far as locations go, after Paris and Rome, Deadline also reports that Allen is reportedly looking at Copenhagen for the setting of his next shoot. Details and confirmations are in short order at the moment and there has yet to be a titled assigned to the project. Might I suggest, “Beautiful People in Copenhagen?”

Cate Blanchett, Mia Wasikowska, and David Wenham are set to make their directing debut alongside 14 other directors in the adaptation of Tim Winton‘s collection of short stories, The Turning.  The three actors will be joined by directors Benedict Andrews, Jonathan auf der Heide, Tony Ayres, Shaun Gladwell, Rhys Graham, Justin Kurzel Ian Meadows, Yaron Lifschitz, Claire McCarthy, Ashlee Page and Stephen Page.  Each of the 17 directors will handle a separate chapter of the book.  Per THR, “The linking and overlapping stories, while self contained, explore the extraordinary turning points in seemingly disparate but connected people’s lives.”  I hope the film’s theme isn’t “We are all connected,” because it’s meaningless when done in a fiction.  Characters can be connected by a writer, but connections between real people usually illicit nothing more than a, “Huh.  Small world,” and then they move on with the rest of their day.

This is the second Australian anthology film to move into production.  As we previously reported, Russell Crowe, Alex Proyas, Toni Collette, and eight other directors will helm Sydney Unplugged, which is in the vein of New York, I Love You and Paris, je t’aime.  Hit the jump for a synopsis of Winton’s novel.

For a guy who’s made only five films in almost 40 years, director Terrence Malick is becoming incredibly prolific as of late. Last year he released the long-awaited The Tree of Life, he’s still in post-production on an untitled romantic starring Ben Affleck that he shot in 2010, and he recently committed to shooting two movies this year: Knight of Cups and Lawless. We know next to nothing about both films except for the cast, but today an official logline for the latter has been unveiled that gives us some insight into what Malick has planned for stars Ryan Gosling, Rooney Mara, and Christian Bale. Hit the jump to see what’s in store for Lawless.