Earlier today, we reported that Marc Webb’s The Amazing Spider-Man 2 began production in New York.  Now, we have the full press release that reveals the first official synopsis and the principal cast.  We knew that Paul Giamatti was in talks to join the production and can confirm that now, but his role has yet to be specified.  Another new name that joins the sequel’s cast is Colm Feore (Thor), but his role is also unspecified (Norman Osborn?).  Hit the jump to check out the synopsis and read the press release.

There are so many big movie stars in Movie 43 that it’s borderline ridiculous, so a new featurette aims to clarify some things with a little game of “Six Degrees of Separation.”  You can check out 55 images from the movie here and see how Emma Stone, Hugh Jackman, Kate Winslet, Naomi Watts, Terrence Howard, Halle Berry, Jason Sudeikis, Gerard Butler, Kristen Bell, Chloe Moretz, Josh Duhamel, Johnny Knoxville, Elizabeth Banks, Christopher Mintz-Plasse, Richard Gere, Anna Faris, Justin Long, Liev Schreiber, Uma Thurman, Seann William Scott, Kieran Culkin, Leslie Bibb, Jimmy Bennett, Ricky Gervais, Stephen Merchant, Kate Bosworth, Patrick Warburton, Tony Shalhoub, Chris Pratt, Jack McBrayer, Aasif Mandvi and Bobby Cannavale are all connected after the jump.  Movie 43 opens January 25, 2013. 

We recently reported that Guillermo del Toro’s next directorial effort would be the haunted house picture, Crimson Peak.  Now, it looks as if the crimson-haired beauty Emma Stone may take on the leading role in the Legendary production.   Details on the project are slim, but del Toro did speak a bit about Crimson Peak in a recent video interview for his executive produced horror feature, Mama.  Variety reports that the deal is not yet official, but Stone is expected to star.  Stone, who appeared most recently in Gangster Squad, can next be heard in the animated DreamWorks picture, The Croods.  Stone is also expected to start filming The Amazing Spider-Man 2 for Sony later this year.

This collection of images from comedy anthology Movie 43 gives a good look at the actors involved in the movie…and there are a lot of them:  Emma Stone, Hugh Jackman, Kate Winslet, Naomi Watts, Terrence Howard, Halle Berry, Jason Sudeikis, Gerard Butler, Kristen Bell, Chloe Moretz, Josh Duhamel, Johnny Knoxville, Elizabeth Banks, Christopher Mintz-Plasse, Richard Gere, Anna Faris, Justin Long, Liev Schreiber, Uma Thurman, Seann William Scott, Kieran Culkin, Leslie Bibb, Jimmy Bennett, Ricky Gervais, Stephen Merchant, Kate Bosworth, Patrick Warburton, Tony Shalhoub, Chris Pratt, Jack McBrayer, Aasif Mandvi and Bobby Cannavale.  Movie 43 opens January 25, 2013.  Hit the jump to check out all of the above in image form.

What’s the best course of action should you ever find yourself a boring married person who’s hesitant to cash in “movie favors” due to the fear that your return favor will come in the form of the next four Katherine Heigl movies? Align yourself with like-minded boring married people and schedule yourself a significant-other-free triple feature. This advice comes directly from my own playbook and is the reason why this week’s Top 5 is arriving a little earlier than usual; so that I can make time to check out Gangster Squad, Zero Dark Thirty, and Django Unchained all in one glorious day. While you likely didn’t come here for relationship advice, as an added bonus to an already robust palette of content, I’m confident that you’re getting your time’s worth and then some.

All creative thinking pertaining to movies and how we can watch them while in a relationship aside, this week saw the announcement of the 2013 Oscar nominations, a little Evil Dead remake set visit coverage, Gangster Squad interviews with Ruben Fleischer and more, a healthy portion of posters and images from Harmony Korine‘s Spring Breakers, and developing news regarding Christopher Nolan potentially taking on Interstellar as his next directorial effort. All of the above resides in brief recap and link form after the jump.

It’s a bit disappointing that Ruben Fleischer‘s Gangster Squad can live in such a rich setting and still feel so light.  As seen through a grand tradition of films dating back over 70 years, post-war Los Angeles was boozy, hedonistic, dangerous, and dark.  Gangster Squad waters down this colorful world, and simply coasts on being an amusing, frivolous action film.  There’s nothing wrong with that, and with a strong cast at his disposal, Fleischer finds a nice blend between the style he brought to Zombieland and the spirit of the time period.  Unfortunately, a thin plot and even thinner characters make Gangster Squad as intense as a drive-by shooting and just as fleeting.

With the film set to hit theaters tomorrow, a final extended trailer for director Ruben Fleischer’s crime drama Gangster Squad has been released online.  It looks to be mostly made up of footage that we’ve seen before, but this is the most comprehensive look at the film we’ve been given thus far.  If you missed any of our recent coverage, be sure to check out Steve’s extended interview with star Josh Brolin and Christina’s coverage of the press conference that included Fleischer, Brolin, Ryan Gosling, and Emma Stone.  Look for more interviews over the next few days.

Hit the jump to watch the new trailer.  The film also stars Sean Penn, Nick Nolte, Anthony Mackie, Giovanni Ribisi, Michael Peña, Robert Patrick and Mireille Enos.  Gangster Squad opens on January 11th.

From director Ruben Fleischer (Zombieland), the crime drama Gangster Squad is set in Los Angeles in 1949, when ruthless mob king Mickey Cohen (Sean Penn) made a business out of drugs, guns and prostitutes, all thanks to the police and politicians being on his payroll.  He thought no one and nothing could stop him, until a small, secret crew of LAPD officers, led by Sgt. John O’Mara (Josh Brolin) and Sgt. Jerry Wooters (Ryan Gosling), came together to take back the city and tear Cohen’s world apart.  The film also stars Emma Stone, Nick Nolte, Anthony Mackie, Giovanni Ribisi, Michael Peña, Robert Patrick and Mireille Enos.  For more on the film, be sure to check out our set visit coverage here, and watch six clips.

During a press conference at the film’s press day, actors Josh Brolin, Ryan Gosling and Emma Stone, along with Fleischer, talked about finding the tone of the film, the most challenging scene to shoot, what they did to get into the time period, how they viewed their characters, assembling such a talented supporting cast, working with an actor as intense as Sean Penn, having a sensitivity about extreme violence in films, and the decision to reshoot one of the more intense scenes.  Check out what they had to say after the jump.

Warner Bros. has released six clips from director Ruben Fleischer’s upcoming period crime drama Gangster Squad.  The movie is set in 1940s Los Angeles and stars Sean Penn as real-life gangster Mickey Cohen, who became the target of special task force known as the “Gangster Squad”.  If you missed it, be sure to check out our set visit coverage here, and a bounty of images from the film right here.

Hit the jump to watch the clips.  The film also stars Josh Brolin, Ryan Gosling, Emma Stone, Nick Nolte, Michael Peña, Anthony Mackie, and Giovanni Ribisi.  Gangster Squad opens on January 11th.

The comedy omnibus Movie 43 has something for everyone with its enormous, star-studded cast: Emma Stone, Hugh Jackman, Kate Winslet, Naomi Watts, Terrence Howard, Halle Berry, Jason Sudeikis, Gerard Butler, Kristen Bell, Chloe Moretz, Josh Duhamel, Johnny Knoxville, Elizabeth Banks, Christopher Mintz-Plasse, Richard Gere, Anna Faris, Justin Long, Liev Schreiber, Uma Thurman, Seann William Scott, Kieran Culkin, Leslie Bibb, Jimmy Bennett, Ricky Gervais, Stephen Merchant, Kate Bosworth, Patrick Warburton, Tony Shalhoub, Chris Pratt, Jack McBrayer, Aasif Mandvi, Bobby Cannavale.

Movie 43 opens on January 25, 2013, so Relativity sent over an exclusive TV spot.  If you can handle jokes about homeschool incest and inappropriate uses for hot sauce, watch it after the jump.  And make sure to check out the red band trailer.

A new behind-the-scenes featurette has gone online for director Ruben Fleischer’s Gangster Squad. In addition to a wealth of new footage, the video features commentary from the cast as they talk about gangster movies, the plot of Gangster Squad specifically and the lengths to which each of their characters will go to rid their city of crime, even becoming close to criminals themselves. Be sure to check out a host of images here and get caught up on Andre’s set visit here.

The movie stars Josh Brolin, Ryan Gosling, Emma Stone, Nick Nolte, Michael Peña, Anthony Mackie, Giovanni Ribisi, and Sean Penn as the villainous Mickey Cohen.  Gangster Squad opens January 11, 2013. Hit the jump to check out the new featurette.

Warner Bros. has released a large batch of new images from director Ruben Fleischer’s upcoming period drama Gangster Squad.  The movie is set in 1940s Los Angeles and stars Sean Penn as real-life gangster Mickey Cohen, who became the target of special task force known as the “Gangster Squad”.  If you missed it, be sure to check out all of our set visit coverage including 15 things to know and our interviews with Fleischer, Josh Brolin, Anthony Mackie, Robert Patrick, Giovanni Ribisi, and producers Dan Lin and Kevin McCormick.

Hit the jump to check out the images.  The film also stars Ryan Gosling, Michael Pena, Nick Nolte, and Emma Stone.  Gangster Squad opens on January 11th.

For the set visit to Gangster Squad, we were driven from Hollywood to the middle of Bellflower, California, which had been dressed to look like 1940’s Hollywood. It was a cold night, but before we can get to set, we were hustled around the hundreds of onlookers near the edges of the shoot. Ryan Gosling was shooting that day, and that meant many of the people from the neighborhood wanted to have a look, and were trying to take picture or film him with their phones. It was impressive to that many people at considering that it was already ten at night and the weather was already cold.

We were on set October 20, 2011, and at the time we had no idea that Gangster Squad would ever become controversial. But how could we know that a shooting in the summer of 2012 would change and delay the film?  Such will explain why they talk about shooting a shooting in Grauman’s Chinese Theater, and why these interviews didn’t run months ago. At the time, spirits were high as they were halfway through the shooting process and Sean Penn has just started filming, though he wasn’t on set that night. To find out more about the things we learned on the set of Gangster Squad, read on after the jump.

A new trailer for DreamWorks Animation’s upcoming film The Croods has been released online.  Written and directed by Kirk De Micco (Space Chimps) and Chris Sanders (How to Train Your Dragon), the film takes us back to “a previously undiscovered era in the history of our planet” and centers on the culture clash between a family of cavemen and a more evolved young man named Guy (Ryan Reynolds).  This trailer is much more DreamWorks-y than the first teaser in that it relies heavily on physical comedy and gags.  That said, there are a couple genuine laughs to be found and the animation looks great.

Hit the jump to watch the new trailer, and click here to read Dave’s recap from DreamWorks Animation’s recent sneak peek at their upcoming slate.  The film also features the voices of Nicolas Cage, Emma Stone, Catherine Keener, Cloris Leachman and Clark Duke.  The Croods opens March 22, 2013 in 3D.

Today, DreamWorks Animation presented a sneak peek at the three films set for release in 2013: The Croods, Turbo and Mr. Peabody & Sherman. While the films are in varying stages of completeness, clips from each movie were screened to give the audience a sense of tone, story and aesthetics. Not familiar with the movies in question? Here’s a look at the relevant directors and voice casts:

• The Croods – Directed by Chris Sanders and Kirk DeMicco, and featuring the voices of Nicolas Cage, Emma Stone, Ryan Reynolds, Catherine Keener, Cloris Leachman and Clark Duke, The Croods opens March 22, 2013 in 3D.
• Turbo – Directed by David Soren and featuring a voice cast including Ryan Reynolds, Paul Giamatti, Michael Peña, Luis Guzman, Bill Hader, Richard Jenkins, Ken Jeong, Michelle Rodriguez, Maya Rudolph, Ben Schwartz, Kurtwood Smith, Snoop Dogg and Samuel L. Jackson, Turbo opens July 19, 2013 in 3D.
• Mr. Peabody & Sherman – Directed by Rob Minkoff and featuring the voices of Ty Burrell, Max Charles, Ariel Winter, Allison Janney, Stephen Colbert, Stephen Tobolowsky, Mel Brooks, Leslie Mann and Stanley Tucci, Mr. Peabody & Sherman opens November 1, 2013 in 3D.

Hit the jump for a recap of the sneak peeks.