Just in time for Halloween, a new red band trailer and poster for Hansel & Gretel: Witch Hunters have been released.  The action-fantasy film stars Jeremy Renner and Gemma Arterton as the titular fairy tale characters, though in this story they’re all grown up and out for some very bloody witch payback.  The pic actually looks like it could be a fun ride, with plenty of gore and inventive kills to keep genre fans happy.  I’m a little disheartened by the reliance on CGI effects vs. practical work as the story provides the perfect opportunity for some great physical effects.  It’s also a tad disappointing to see the “damsel in distress” role that Arterton appears to be thrown into while Renner is painted as the “sexy hero,” but we’ve only seen brief glimpses of the characters in the trailers so hopefully she holds her own in the full film.

Hit the jump to check out the red band trailer and poster.  Directed by Tommy Wirkola, the film also stars Famke Janssen and Peter Stormare.  Hansel & Gretel: Witch Hunters opens in 3D on January 11th, 2013.

Quite the ensemble cast has been put together for the rocker drama Imagine.  THR reports that Julianne Moore, and Jeremy Renner have joined Al Pacino star in the pic, which will mark the directorial debut of Crazy, Stupid, Love. scribe Dan Fogelman.  The story centers on an aging 1970s rocker (Pacino) who discovers an undelivered letter written to him when he has 19 by John Lennon that spurs him to straighten his life out and connect with the son (Renner) he’s never known.  Moore will play the owner of a small New Jersey hotel where the rocker takes up residence.

It’s certainly a different kind of role for Pacino, but with talent like Moore and Renner aboard one assumes the story isn’t too schmaltzy.  Steve Carell was previously attached to the Renner role when the project was set up at Warner Bros., but the pic will now be shopped to foreign buyers at the upcoming American Film Market.  A Spring 2013 productions start date is planned.

While The Fighter director David O. Russell’s latest feature Silver Linings Playbook heads into awards season as an early frontrunner, the filmmaker is currently busy firming things up for his next feature.  Previously referred to as American Bullshit, the film is based on a real-life undercover sting operation set up in the 1980s by a con artist working for the FBI who rooted out corruption in Congress.  There’s been a bit of confusion regarding who’s playing what role, with Jeremy Renner recently reported as replacing Christian Bale in the film, but today the producers have announced that Renner, Bale, Bradley Cooper, and Amy Adams will all be starring in the pic.

Hit the jump for the details regarding which characters the actors will be playing.

The Avengers was 2012’s biggest hit, and is now the third highest grossing film of all time both domestically and worldwide (it’s hard to top James Cameron). And now that summer’s over, it’s fair to say it was the most entertaining blockbuster and the most entertaining superhero film of the summer. It’s also got huge problems, though they ultimately don’t matter. Robert Downey Jr., Chris Evans, Chris Hemsworth, Scarlet Johansson, Jeremy Renner, and Mark Ruffalo assemble here to fight an army of aliens led by Tom Hiddleston. Joss Whedon writes and directs, and our review of the four-disc 3D Blu-ray set follows after the jump.

An international trailer for Hansel and Gretel: Witch Hunters has gone online, and gives us our first look at the movie.  The action-fantasy flick stars the eponymous fairy tale characters all grown up (played by Jeremy Renner and Gemma Arterton), and looking to take down witches everywhere.  Part of me really wants to give this movie the benefit of the doubt and hope it will be some goofy dumb fun, but the trailer just makes it look dumb minus the fun.  The film was supposed to come out this past March, but was delayed to January 2013, and this trailer kind of explains why.  The effects look shoddy, the dialogue is cringeworthy, the story sounds rote, and it just seems like it’s trying way too hard to be cool.  Yeah, your movie has gatling guns even though it takes place before gatling guns were invented.  My mind remains intact.

Hit the jump to check out the trailer.  The film also stars Famke Janssen and Peter Stormare.  Hansel and Gretel: Witch Hunters opens in 3D on January 11, 2013.

[Update: The film's official U.S. trailer is also now online along with a poster, both of which are now included after the jump.]

Good news, everyone!  Though the Blu-ray/DVD release of Marvel’s The Avengers is less than a month away, the film is returning to theaters so fans can experience Joss Whedon’s brilliant superhero saga on the big screen one more time.  The announcement was made on the film’s Facebook page that The Avengers will be back in theaters this Labor Day weekend (ie. this coming weekend).  So round up your friends and carve out two hours this weekend to go see Hulk smash on the big screen, if you so please.

If you’ve missed any of the deleted scenes/featurettes that Marvel has been releasing over the past few weeks in anticipation of the home video release, you can catch up right here.  Be sure to check out the film’s alternate opening and a wonderful deleted scene between Mark Ruffalo and Harry Dean Stanton.  The Avengers will be available on Blu-ray, DVD, and digital download on September 25th.  Hit the jump to rewatch the first trailer for the film, and be sure to read what Whedon has to say about the film’s deleted scenes and the new S.H.I.E.L.D. series right here.

Yesterday, we showed you a deleted scene that will be on the upcoming Blu-ray/DVD for The Avengers.  Today, the gag reel and a behind-the-scenes clip have gone online.  Cobie Smulders absolutely steals the gag reel, and it makes me wonder when we’ll get to see her in some comedic roles other than Robin Scherbatsky from How I Met Your Mother.  As for the behind-the-scenes clip, if you’ve ever wanted to hear famous people say nice things about Samuel L. Jackson, this is the clip for you.

Hit the jump to check out the special features.  The Avengers hits Blu-ray, DVD, and Digitial Download on September 25th.

Yesterday it looked like Universal’s The Bourne Legacy might get as high as $45 million by the end of its first weekend. That was not to be; although the re-born Bourne did open to a very respectable $40.2 million from 3,745 locations. Also falling in the ‘respectable’ range with $27.4 million was The Campaign, starring Will Ferrell and Zach Galifianakis. The comedy did well enough from 3,204 locations to keep The Dark Knight Rises in third.

Considering the 2012 election cycle is currently in full swing, I feel compelled to lend my endorsement to a truly worthy candidate: The Campaign. As someone who unashamedly enjoys a majority of Will Ferrell‘s manchild cinematic escapades, I expected to like the pic. That said, I’m now putting The Campaign just behind Anchorman, Step Brothers, and Elf in my personal “Ferrell Top 4″: something I didn’t expect to be writing the day after seeing it. Sure, the film borrows a ton from Talladega Nights and Ferrell’s take on President Bush. It also manages to combine relevance, irreverence, and humor in a way many mainstream comedies can only promise and ultimately fail to deliver on.

Political endorsements aside, this week’s Top 5 contains a considerable share of The Bourne Legacy coverage, Joss Whedon returning to write/direct The Avengers 2, The Campaign interviews with Will Ferrell, Zach Galifianakis, and more, the first trailer and new poster for the Red Dawn remake, and the news that some of Bane’s backstory was left on The Dark Knight Rises‘ cutting room floor. A brief recap and link to each awaits after the jump.

The Bourne franchise is at a crossroads. Does the success of each movie depend on Matt Damon, or can Universal turn Bourne into Bond, an evergreen series that rotates in fresh blood every few movies? To explore that question, I tried to capture how the series has evolved over the last decade with Bourne by the Numbers. The feature provides a numbers-based snapshot of each movie and its place in the filmography by looking at the box office, critical reception, and miscellaneous facts.

Hit the jump for a comprehensive review of the Bourne movies, featuring The Bourne Identity, The Bourne Supremacy, The Bourne Ultimatum, and The Bourne Legacy.

After three weeks on top, The Dark Knight Rises fell to third place on Friday behind a pair of new releases. First up was The Bourne Legacy, the fourth entry in the successful Universal franchise previously associated with Matt Damon. Now with Jeremy Renner in the lead, The Bourne Legacy earned an estimated $14 million from 3,745 locations on Friday. Weekend projections for the revamped Bourne are close to $45 million: well above initial expectations. Friday’s runner-up was The Campaign, the R-rated comedy starring Will Ferrell and Zach Galifianakis. It hasn’t been the best year for star-studded comedies (see The Watch) so expectations were scaled back to a modest $23 million opening. After earning an estimated $10.3 million on Friday, however, it looks like The Campaign will come closer to $28 million by Sunday. Finally, Hope Springs took a cue from last summer’s surprise hit The Help by opening on Wednesday. With a Friday estimate of $4.7 million from 2,361 locations, the Meryl Streep dramedy is on track for a five-day cume of $20 million.   We’ll have full details tomorrow.

Opening tomorrow is writer/director Tony Gilroy’s The Bourne Legacy.  For those unfamiliar with the franchise reboot, this time around, a government task force led by Edward Norton‘s character is assassinating all their genetically-modified assets to prevent another Bourne situation.  However, one member of the program, Aaron Cross (Jeremy Renner), manages to escape with a scientist (Rachel Weisz), and the two go on the run for their lives.  The film also stars Oscar Isaac, Joan Allen, David Strathairn, Albert Finney, Stacy Keach, Scott Glenn, Corey Stoll, and Donna Murphy.  For more on the film, here are five clips.

During the recent Los Angeles press day, I did an exclusive interview with producer Patrick Crowley.  If you’re a fan of the Bourne films and want to hear some great behind the scenes stories about all four movies, you’re in the right place.  During our extended conversation we talked about the making of Bourne Legacy, did they ever consider 3D, Easter Eggs, test screenings, will future Bourne movies have Bourne in the title, coming up with new and exciting action scenes, deleted scenes, reshoots,  and so much more.  Hit the jump for what he had to say.

Originally scheduled for release in March of this year, Paramount made the decision back in January to push the fantasy actioner Hansel & Gretel: Witch Hunters all the way to January of 2013.  We heard relatively little about the film in the meantime, but yesterday reports from IMDb users popped up suggesting that the studio was testing both R-rated and PG-13 versions of the film. Reactions to both versions differed, with most users preferring the supposed R-rated cut to the PG-13 iteration.

It appears that the IMDb users were mistaken, as trusted sources now tell us that both versions of the film used in test screenings were the R-rated versions, and Paramount absolutely plans on releasing Hansel & Gretel: Witch Hunters as R.  Hit the jump for more.

Director Paul Greengrass created what it meant to be a “Bourne” movie with The Bourne Supremacy and The Bourne Ultimatum.  If the James Bond movies are girls, gadgets, cars, and supervillains, then Bourne was going to be about intense action scenes, desperate chases, paranoia, and political commentary.  Sadly, Greengrass did not return to the Bourne franchise, and co-writer and director Tony Gilroy has set the series back with the flabby and forgettable The Bourne Legacy.  Gilroy attempts to write his own set of rules by playing against a traditional three-act structure, which is fine in theory, but in practice it creates a film that’s constantly losing momentum, and never sure where to focus its energy.  The movie’s saving grace is Jeremy Renner, who gets to be in the mold of Jason Bourne but find new strengths and weaknesses that set him apart from the eponymous spy.  Sadly, the rest of The Bourne Legacy never follows Renner’s lead to find a fresh direction while still retaining what worked about the past two movies.

Hansel and Gretel: Witch Hunters got a big knock back on the release schedule when Paramount moved the 3D fantasy-action film from March 2, 2012 to January 11, 2013.  The movie stars Jeremy Renner and Gemma Arterton as the eponymous characters who are all growed up and looking for a little payback against the witch community.  In an interview last December, Arterton said the flick was “as much Pulp Fiction as fairy tale.”  The studio has been test-screening the picture, and it seems like they’re not sure what they have on their hands.  According to recent reports from IMDb users, the studio is showing two versions of the film: one is R-Rated and the other is PG-13, and the R-rated cut is getting the positive feedback.

Hit the jump for more.  Hansel and Gretel: Witch Hunters also stars Famke Janssen and Peter Stormare.