Fox Searchlight has released 8 new images from the upcoming drama Hitchcock.  Directed by Sacha Gervasi, the film stars Anthony Hopkins as legendary director Alfred Hitchcock and chronicles the development and production of Psycho, specifically focusing on Hitchcock’s strained relationship with his wife and collaborator Alma Reville (Helen Mirren).  These new images give us fresh looks at the prolific couple as well as the Psycho cast: Scarlett Johansson as Janet Leigh, Jessica Biel as Vera Miles, and James D’Arcy as Anthony Perkins.  The film received a mixed-to-positive reception following its world premiere at AFI Fest, though Mirren’s performance as Reville has drawn near universal praise.

Hit the jump to check out the images.  The film also stars Toni Collette, Michael Stuhlbarg, Danny Huston, and Kurtwood Smith.  Hitchcock opens on November 23rd.

The first trailer and a new poster for director Sacha Gervasi’s Hitchcock have been released.  The film looks absolutely fascinating, with killer performances from stars Anthony Hopkins and Helen Mirren as the legendary director and his wife.  The story chronicles the troubled production of Psycho, but there’s a great deal of humor sprinkled throughout this trailer to balance the more dramatic material.  The chemistry between Hopkins and Mirren is palpable, and the makeup work on Hopkins is simply stunning.  Though the fall movie season is already packed with some fantastically promising films, this swell first trailer has rocketed Hitchcock towards the top of my most anticipated list.

Hit the jump to watch the trailer and check out the poster.  The film also stars Scarlett Johansson, Jessica Biel, Toni Collette, Danny Huston, Michael Stuhlbarg, and Kurtwood Smith.  Hitchcock opens on November 23rd.

A batch of new images from director Sacha Gervasi’s Hitchcock and a new look at Emmy Rossum in the fantasy adaptation Beautiful Creatures have landed online.  We previously saw a few low-quality images from Hitchcock last week, but this new crop gives us a much better look at Anthony Hopkins as the legendary director, Helen Mirren as his wife, Scarlett Johansson as Janet Leigh, and James D’Arcy as Anthony Perkins.  The highly anticipated film takes place during the production of the horror classic Psycho and centers on the relationship between Hitchcock and his wife.  The pic opens on November 23rd.

Additionally, a new image of Emmy Rossum in director Richard LaGrevenese’s Southern supernatural romance adaptation Beautiful Creatures has surfaced.  The story centers on two mystically charged teens who are mysteriously drawn to one another despite never having met, and uncover some unsettling secrets about their families and the small southern town in which they live.  The film opens on February 13th, 2013.  Hit the jump to check out images from Hitchcock and Beautiful Creatures.

A few new images from the real-life drama Hitchcock have landed online.  The film stars Anthony Hopkins as the legendary director and centers on his relationship with his wife Alma Reville (Helen Mirren) during the troubled production of Psycho.  Fox Searchlight recently pushed the film into a prime awards season November release date, and the pic is slated to make its world premiere at the AFI Fest on November 1st.  These images give us a look at Scarlett Johansson as Janet Leigh, Jessica Biel as Vera Miles, and James D’Arcy as Norman Bates himself, Tony Perkins.  We also get a look at Hopkins and Mirren as Mr. and Mrs. Hitchcock.  Backstage stories are always fascinating and I can’t wait to see what director Sacha Gervasi has put together.

Hit the jump to check out the images.  The film also stars Toni Collette, Michael Stuhlbarg, and Danny Huston.  Hitchcock opens on November 23rd.

When director Sacha Gervasi’s drama Hitchcock entered production this year, most assumed that we wouldn’t see the pic until next awards season.  However, after getting a look at the finished film, Fox Searchlight just recently decided to throw the Anthony Hopkins-fronted pic into this year’s awards race with a November release date.  Now the American Film Institute has announced that Hitchcock has been selected as the AFI Fest’s opening night film, where it will make its world premiere.  The film takes place during the troubled production of legendary filmmaker Alfred Hitchcock’s Psycho and centers on the relationship between Hitchcock and his wife Alma Reville (Helen Mirren).

The stacked cast includes Scarlett Johansson, Jessica Biel, James D’Arcy, Toni Collette and Michael Stuhlbarg, so I’m eager to hear first impressions of the film from the festival.  AFI has also chosen Steven Spielberg’s Lincoln as the festival’s closing night film, so AFI Fest is shaping up to be one hell of an event.  Expect the first reactions to Hitchcock on November 1st, when it premieres at the festival.  The film hits theaters on November 23rd.  Hit the jump to read the full press release.

Let’s take a look at a year in the life of composer Danny Elfman: he’s already crafted scores for Tim Burton’s Dark Shadows and Frankenweenie, plus another for Men In Black 3.  He has David O. Russell’s upcoming Silver Linings Playbook, plus Fox’s animated pic Epic and a reunion with Sam Raimi for Oz The Great and Powerful.  So, what the hell, let’s add two more on the list!  Reports have Elfman attached to compose the scores for director Gus Van Sant’s Promised Land as well as Sacha Gervasi’s biopic, Hitchcock.  Hit the jump for more on both projects.

You may know him as Remus Lupin from the Harry Potter films, but now David Thewlis is set to join another franchise.  Thewlis will be a newcomer to Red 2, a sequel to director Robert Schwentke’s 2010 actioner.  Dean Parisot (Galaxy Queset) is taking the helm this time around, but original stars Bruce Willis, Helen Mirren, John Malkovich and Mary-Louise Parker will be reprising their roles.  Other new cast members include Catherine Zeta-Jones, Byung-hun Lee, Neal McDonough and Anthony Hopkins.  Hit the jump for more on Thewlis’ character and a breakdown of the roles we know so far. 

While we recently learned that Galaxy Quest director Dean Parisot would be taking the helm of Red 2 (the sequel to the 2010 hit Red), we still didn’t know which original cast members would be returning for the follow-up.  Well Summit has made one big casting announcement today, confirming that Bruce Willis, John Malkovich, Helen Mirren, and Mary-Louise Parker will be reprising their roles from the first film alongside newcomers Catherine Zeta-Jones and Byung-Hun Lee.

The story for the follow-up will find the team of retired CIA operatives taking on a new set of enemies all across Europe.  The nature of Zeta-Jones’ role isn’t disclosed, but I wouldn’t be surprised if she plays the film’s villain.  I have yet to see Red, but I love the hell out of Galaxy Quest and this is certainly an impressive cast so I’m definitely going to have to rectify that sooner rather than later. Hit the jump to read the full press release.  Red 2 opens on August 2nd, 2013.

Sacha Gervasi‘s Alfred Hitchcock and the Making of Psycho has picked up a new title, and begun principal photography.  The film will now simply be entitled “Hitchock“, which is probably better since the previous title sounds more fitting for a documentary.  Hitchcock is being billed as a love story between the legendary director (played by Anthony Hopkings) and his wife and partner Alma Reville (Helen Mirren).  The movie also stars Scarlett Johansson, Jessica Biel, Toni Collette, Danny Huston, Michael Stuhlbarg, Kurtwood Smith, Wallace Langham, Richard Portnow, and Michael Wincott.

Hit the jump for the press release.

The long gestating adaptation of Stephen Rebello’s book Alfred Hitchcock and the Making of Psycho looks like it’s finally coming to fruition. Not only has Anthony Hopkins (The Silence of the Lambs) signed on to play the famous director, but Helen Mirren (The Queen) has joined the cast as Alma Reville, Hitchcock’s wife. With the behind-the-camera casting set, it’s now being reported that Scarlett Johansson (Lost in Translation) will step into the shoes of Psycho star, Janet Leigh. James D’Arcy (Master and Commander: The Far Side of the World) will co-star beside Johansson as Anthony Perkins/Norman Bates. Hit the jump for more.

About a month after getting confirmation from producer Lorenzo di Bonaventura that Red 2 (the sequel to Summit’s 2010 hit Red) is a go, it looks like the project has found a director. Dean Parisot (Galaxy Quest) is in final talks with the studio to helm the follow-up to the $90 million domestic grossing original. Starring Bruce Willis, Helen Mirren, Morgan Freeman and John Malkovich, the original Red (Retired. Extremely Dangerous.) followed a retired black-ops agent (Willis) as he reassembled his former team in an effort to flush out an assassin. While the original writers Jon and Erich Hoeber are back for the rewrite, there’s no word on when (or if) the original cast could reunite for the sequel. Hit the jump for more on Red 2.

Tis the season for dead drops and tricked out gadgets. 2011 is ending with a bang thanks to a few big name spy movies coming out at the end of the year Mission: Impossible – Ghost Protocol is a perfect fit for the action junkies.  Tinker, Tailor, Soldier, Spy appeals to those looking for more double crosses and trust issues.  Another spy film just hit DVD and Blu-Ray from earlier in the year. The Debt comes packed with big-name English actors, an Academy Award winning director and a story that spans three decades. Is it worth accepting this mission? Check out our review after the jump.

Just yesterday we reported that BBC2 was planning a film based on legendary director Alfred Hitchcock’s obsession with his The Birds star Tippi Hedren, and today we’ve got casting news on another Hitchcock movie currently in the works. Helen Mirren is apparently eyeing the role of Hitchcock’s wife in the drama Alfred Hitchcock and the Making of Psycho. The project has been in development for years with Anthony Hopkins attached the played the famed filmmaker, and now it looks like a production start date is finally looming. Hit the jump for more.

This has been Jessica Chastain’s year as far as ubiquity goes.  She’s co-starred in The Tree of Life, The Help, Take Shelter, and she’s still got Texas Killing Fields and Coriolanus on the way.  However, of the films I’ve seen her in so far, she’s never been front and center.  She was overshadowed by Brad Pitt in Tree of Life, everything was overshadowed by Michael Shannon in Take Shelter, and she did a fine job in The Help hinting that she was the real deal.  But her latest film, The Debt, gives her the lead and she’s never able to hold the screen with any intensity or subtlety.  She’s once again overshadowed by her fellow actors and this time around she must struggle with a movie that tries to be an intense spy-thriller and ignores its strengths as a claustrophobic pressure-cooker and thoughtful moral drama.

With director John Madden’s (Shakespeare in Love) The Debt finally getting released August 31, Focus Features has provided us with six clips from the film.  The reason I say finally, is that Focus acquired the flick from Miramax, so it’s release date was pushed back from last year.  Starring Helen Mirren, Tom Wilkinson, and Ciaran Hinds as older versions of the characters played by Jessica Chastain, Sam Worthington, and Marton Csokas, The Debt is about three retired Mossad secret agents and what happened to them in the past.  From what I understand, the film cuts back and forth between 1966 and 1997, which is the reason you have two actors playing the same character.  Hit the jump to watch the clips.