A collection of six new clips is now available for Playing with Keeps, a romantic comedy starring Gerard Butler and Jessica Biel. Directed by Gabriele Muccino (The Pursuit of Happyness), Playing for Keeps follows a washed-up soccer star (Butler) who drifts back to his hometown to put his life back together. Wrangled into coaching his son’s soccer team, he tries to balance the relationship with his ex-wife (Biel) against the relentless soccer moms who pursue him at every turn.

Playing for Keeps, also starring Dennis Quaid, Uma Thurman, Catherine Zeta-Jones and Judy Greer, opens December 7th. Hit the jump to watch the clips.

If you like your movie trailers short on plot, heavy on the ad-libbing and redder than a Romney state, then you’ll love this new red-band effort from Movie 43.  The Peter Farrelly ensemble comedy stars everyone you’ve ever heard of in Hollywood and even some you haven’t.  Movie 43 has released another red-band trailer previously, but the new one mostly focuses on a stream of improv from Jason Sudeikis who is admiring Kristen Bell’s crotch.

Starring Elizabeth Banks, Kristen Bell, Halle Berry, Leslie Bibb, Kate Bosworth, Gerard Butler and everyone else, Movie 43 opens on January 25th, 2013.  Hit the jump to see the new red-band trailer.

Gerard Butler had a huge miss this weekend with Chasing Mavericks, but he’s already setting up for another sports film.  According to Deadline, Bulter will star in Dynamo, based on Andy Dougan‘s non-fiction novel Dynamo: Defending the Honour of Kiev.  The story has a terrific premise: during World War II, there was a soccer match between the Ukrainian soccer team and their Nazi captors.  Nikolai Trusevich, the team’s goalie and leader, inspired the city to rally behind the team, so the Nazis put together a “super team” of German players to create what is still known to this day as “The Death Match”.  Butler will play Trusevich.  Good luck with that Scottish brogue.

Eli Richbourg penned the script, and while the project is still looking for a director, shooting is expected to being in Europe next year.  Butler already has some soccer in his future by starring in the romantic comedy Playing for Keeps, which opens December 7th.  He’ll also be seen next year in the action flick Olympus Has Fallen.

It looks like Antoine Fuqua’s Olympus Has Fallen will get a chance to take down the White House before Roland Emmerich’s White House Down as it is now slated to open first by about three months.  Starring Gerard Butler as a disgraced Secret Service agent called back to duty when terrorists take over the White House, Olympus Has Fallen will star Aaron Eckhart as the President in Peril. (Emmerich’s film stars Channing Tatum as the heroic Secret Service agent with Jamie Foxx playing the President.)

Olympus Has Fallen also stars Morgan Freeman, Angela Bassett, Robert Forster, Cole Hauser, Ashley Judd, Melissa Leo, Dylan McDermott, Radha Mitchell and Rick Yune and will open April 5th, 2013. Hit the jump to read the press release.

When we invent screenwriting programs that can write a screenplay from start to finish, it will crank out something like Chasing Mavericks.  The script is so cynically calculated in its plot beats and character motivations that it’s easy to forget the story is based on a person’s real life.  The biopic of surfing prodigy Jay Moriarty comes off as a disservice to his memory as his character, like everyone else in the movie, is one-dimensional and saddled with stilted dialogue.  The only times when Mavericks truly comes alive is when it embraces the act of surfing; everything else is a wipeout.

Chasing Mavericks is based on the inspirational true story of surfing phenom Jay Moriarty (Jonny Weston), who enlists the help of local legend Frosty Hesson (Gerard Butler) to train him to surf the mythic Mavericks surf break near his home in Santa Cruz.  The quest to surf one of the biggest waves on Earth leads them to form a unique friendship that transforms their lives.

At the film’s press day, actor Gerard Butler talked about what drew him to try his hand at surfing for the film, when fear started to kick in, the accident that almost claimed his life, his own personal pillars to live by, how talking to Frosty really helped him capture the essence of the man, and the aspects of the story that he found himself relating to.  Check out what he had to say after the jump.

The first red-band trailer from the R-rated ensemble comedy Movie 43 has gone online.  I ran out of room to list my thoughts because there’s so Goddamned-many people in this movie!

The films in the collection were directed by Brett Ratner, Elizabeth Banks, Mike Judge, Peter Farrelly, Bob Odenkirk, Steve Baker, Damon Escot, among others.  Here’s a crazy rundown of the 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, and Bobby Cannavale.  Movie 43 opens January 25, 2013.

Merely a few weeks out from the start of filming, production has been halted on the revenge drama Motor City.  The film, from director Albert Hughes (The Book of Eli), has had a rather rocky development, with a number of actors (Dominic Cooper, Jake Gyllenhaal, Jeremy Renner) flirting with the lead only to subsequently drop out.  Gerard Butler was finally set in the starring role of a felon who, after being released from prison, begins tracking down the men who framed him, with Adrien Brody onboard as the villain and Mickey Rourke in a supporting role.  Filming was set to commence on September 17th, but the crew has now been told to go home due to some complex issues that have arisen behind the scenes.  Hit the jump for more details.

Everyone loves a villain, especially when those villains are played by Adrien Brody (Predators) and Jason Momoa (Conan the Barbarian). Brody is in talks to antagonize Gerard Butler (300) in Motor City, a revenge thriller scripted by Chad St. John (The Punisher: Dirty Laundry) and directed by Albert Hughes (Fro Hell).  Momoa will star in Wolves, the directorial debut of David Hayter, the writer of 2000′s X-Men. The supernatural flick has Lucas Till (X-Men: First Class) going up against Momoa in a battle of werewolves (Good luck, Till).  Hit the jump for more on both pictures.

The first trailer for Gabriele Muccino‘s (The Pursuit of Happyness) comedy-drama Playing for Keeps (formerly titled Playing the Field) has been released.  Gerard Butler stars as a former soccer star who decides to coach his son’s little league soccer team, but ends up becoming the object of attraction for the local town’s women.  The schmaltzy trailer is kind of all over the place, as Butler is seen alternatively cracking jokes and being depressed.  The supporting cast is fine, with Jessica Biel playing Butler’s ex-wife and Catherine Zeta-Jones playing a love interest who could also revitalize Butler’s career, but the story seems to be covering the well-worn territory of a single dad who pines for the greatness of his earlier life at the expense of his relationship with his son/family.  That said, the film might prove fairly enticing to families looking for a light, heartwarming story during the holidays that doesn’t involve short hairy half-lings or a singing Hugh Jackman.

Hit the jump to watch the trailer.  The film also stars Dennis Quaid and Uma Thurman.  Playing for Keeps opens on December 7th. [Update: We've updated the article with high-resolution images and the film's poster]

The first trailer for Curtis Hanson and Michael Apted‘s Chasing Mavericks has gone online.  The film is based on the true story of the relationship between legendary surfer Jay Moriarty (newcomer Jonny Weston) and his mentor, local legend Frosty Hesson (Gerard Butler), and how Moriarty made his name surfing the waves of Mavericks in Northern California.  Judging by the trailer, this looks like a nice movie that won’t blow anyone away, but could make for an enjoyable time at the pictures.  However, I’ve never surfed in my life, so I’d like to know what surfers think of this trailer.

Hit the jump to check out the trailer.  The film also stars Elisabeth Shue and Abigail Spencer.  Chasing Mavericks opens October 26th.

Today’s cast additions include two White House themed pictures for the price of one:

• James Woods (Casino) is in early negotiations to join Roland Emmerich’s White House Down, starring Channing Tatum and Jamie Foxx.
• Chris Cooper (American Beauty) is in talks to board the John Wells‘ adaptation of August: Osage County, with Meryl Streep and Julia Roberts.
• Cole Hauser (Good Will Hunting) has joined the Antoine Fuqua actioner, Olympus Has Fallen, opposite Gerard Butler and Aaron Eckhart.

Hit the jump for more details on each picture.

Here are some recent casting additions at a glance:

• Justin Long (Live Free or Die Hard) is in talks to star in the adaptation of Stephen King’s short story, The Ten O’Clock People.
• Dylan McDermott (American Horror Story) is the latest addition to the White House thriller Olympus Has Fallen, starring Aaron Eckhart and Gerard Butler.
• Oscar Isaac (Drive) is in negotiations to star opposite Viggo Mortensen in Hossein Amini’s The Two Faces of January.

Hit the jump for more on each picture.

Some brief casting notes for you here with more details after the jump:

• Angela Bassett (Malcolm X) is set to join Gerard Butler (300) and Aaron Eckhart (The Dark Knight) in Antoine Fuqua’s Presidential thriller, Olympus Has Fallen.
• Derek Luke (Antwone Fisher) will star opposite Paula Patton (Mission: Impossible – Ghost Protocol) in Baggage Claim, from writer/director/producer David Talbert.
• Robert Baker (Out of Time) and Brian Howe (The Pursuit of Happyness) are the most recent additions to the cast of Atom Egoyan’s Devil’s Knot, based on the true life saga of the West Memphis Three.

Hit the jump for more on each picture.

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.