The first trailer for Now You See Me has been released.  The film follows an FBI squad on the heels of a team of bank-robbing magicians who share their profits with the audience.  Sounds like Ocean’s Eleven with a magical twist, right? Well, the trailer shows that that’s certainly the case, but the “magic” tricks rely heavily on spectacle and computerized effects, throwing practicality right out the window. So it appears to be more of an action adventure flick with magical elements than any kind of head-scratcher; still could be fun though!

Hit the jump to watch the trailer.  Directed by Louis Letterier (Clash of the Titans), the film stars Jesse Eisenberg, Woody Harrelson, Mark Ruffalo, Isla Fisher, Melanie Laurent, Dave Franco, Morgan Freeman, and Michael Caine.  Now You See Me opens on June 7, 2013.

Fresh off some much-deserved awards buzz for his work in this year’s The Sessions, character actor John Hawkes is looking to tackle another real-life role.  Variety reports that Hawkes is set to replace Mark Ruffalo as jazz pianist Joe Albany in the indie drama Low Down.  Commercials director Jeff Priess is set to make his feature film debut on the project, which tells the story of Albany’s life from the perspective of his 11-year-old daughter, Amy.  The musician found success early in his career playing with the likes of Charlie Parker, Miles Davis, and Charles Mingus, but later struggled with heroin addiction.

The film will apparently tell the story of Amy’s unconventional childhood “with a talented but strung-out father in the shadowy world of cocktail bars and transient hotels.”  Ruffalo had been set to play Albany but was forced to drop out when the production was pushed and caused scheduling issues.  Filming will begin in March 2013.

While walking the floor of the American Film Market (AFM) this morning, Steve was able to grab some images and synopses for a few upcoming films.  Briefly:

• Rush – Director Ron Howard’s 1970s drama focuses on the rivalry between Formula 1 racers James Hunt (Chris Hemsworth) and Niki Lauda (Daniel Bruhl).  The film opens September 20th, 2013.
• Can a Song Save Your Life? – This uplifting music-centered drama comes from Once director John Carney and centers on the relationship between a struggling musician (Keira Knightley) and a music producer (Mark Ruffalo) in New York City.  The cast also includes Hailee Steinfeld, Adam Levine, and Catherine Keener.
• Thérèse – This adaptation of the classic novel stars Elizabeth Olsen as a young woman trapped in an arranged marriage who conspires with her lover (Oscar Isaac) to dispose of her sickly cousin husband (Tom Felton).  Jessica Lange also stars.

Hit the jump to check out images and detailed synopses for all three films.

More casting notes today.  Check them out in brief below:

• Michelle Williams (My Week with Marilyn) is in talks to topline the period drama, Suite Francaise, from British writer/director Saul Dibb (The Duchess).
• Anthony Michael Hall (The Dark Knight) is the latest addition to Bennett Miller’s Foxcatcher, which already stars Steve Carell, Channing Tatum, Mark Ruffalo and Sienna Miller.

Hit the jump for more on the above-mentioned films. 

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.

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.

We’ve been sharing a number of deleted scenes and featurettes from the upcoming Blu-ray release of The Avengers over the past week or so, but arguably the most exciting extra yet has just been released online: an alternate opening to the film.  This deleted scene actually opens the film up with Cobie Smulders’ Agent Maria Hill being interrogated following the events that happen in the film’s finale, setting up the rest of the movie as a flashback.  We see glimpses of New York City destruction, a solemn Captain America, and a tease of Hulk that would have proved ridiculously tantalizing had we seen this alternate opening on first viewing.  I actually think I might prefer this scene to how the movie opens now, as it hints at the grave nature of what’s to come before being thrown into the somewhat confusing research facility sequence.  That said, it doesn’t really fit with the lighter tone that Whedon and Marvel settled on for the theatrical release. Hopefully the Blu-ray also comes with a commentary and/or featurette with Whedon discussing why he opted not to use this opening.

Hit the jump to watch the deleted scene.  The Avengers hits Blu-ray, DVD, and digital download on September 25th.

The upcoming Blu-ray of The Avengers will include a 90-minute behind-the-scenes documentary, and we’ve previously shown you parts of the doc focusing on Chris Evans, Mark Ruffalo, and the Helicarrier.  Today, a new clip showcases Robert Downey Jr. aka “The leader of the band,” according to Joss Whedon.  It’s light and fun, but it’s also one of those clips that makes me wonder how much of the documentary is just going to be the cast and crew complimenting each other.

Hit the jump to check out the clip.  The Avengers hits Blu-ray, DVD, and digital download on September 25th.

As we move closer to the release of The Avengers on Blu-ray, we’re slowly getting a peek at more and more special features that will appear on the disc.  We previously saw a wonderful deleted scene between Mark Ruffalo and Harry Dean Stanton, and now a clip from a new featurette has landed online that’s basically just people saying nice things about Ruffalo and Chris Evans.  We see Marvel’s Kevin Feige tout Evans’ ability to inhabit the character of Steve Rogers, and Joss Whedon enthusiastically states that he had a very short list of actors he wanted for The Hulk and Mark Ruffalo was at the very top.

Hit the jump to watch the clip.  The Avengers hits Blu-ray, DVD, and digital download on September 25th, at which point you’ll likely lose most of your day rummaging through the bounty of supplemental material.

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.

The Avengers is a little over a month away from hitting Blu-ray/DVD/Digital Download, and now the first deleted scene has been released.  [Spoilers ahead]  The scene expands past Bruce Banner’s conversation with the security guard (Harry Dean Stanton) where the guard remarks, “Well, son, it looks like you have a condition.”  The deleted scene features Banner arguing with himself on whether or not he should head back into the fight, and receiving some wise council from the kindly security guard.  It’s a nice scene, but it’s also easy to see why it was cut.  I’m always happy to see Mark Ruffalo do more of his Bruce Banner, but the scene is a bit unnecessary since we know the Hulk is going to show up for the climactic battle.

Hit the jump to check out the scene, and click here to watch Joss Whedon talks about deleted scenes.  The Avengers hits Blu-ray, DVD, and digital download on September 25th.  You can also pre-order the set right now on Amazon.

When Margaret finally arrived in theaters in the fall of 2011, it had been sitting in a can for years. In fact, the prints that screened came with a 2008 copyright mark, and the film was shot in 2005 (going by the theater marquees in the film). It was a wounded bird and it was cut down to two and half hours in ways that felt arbitrary. Kenneth Lonergan’s film is the story of a young girl (Anna Paquin), who witnesses a bus accident that she may have had some part in, and how that changes her life. Margaret was dumped in theaters and barely did any business, but then a funny thing happened: Critics began to champion the film, and Margaret is now on Blu-ray in the both the theatrical cut and an extended edition. And now it’s being hailed as a masterpiece. Our review of the Blu-ray of Margaret follows after the jump.

If you can’t wait for September 25th, Marvel has you covered; they have just unveiled seven clips from The Avengers in anticipation of its Blu-ray and DVD combo pack release.  Most of the clips are action scenes, with the exception of a scene from the original trailer of Loki (Tom Hiddleston) and Iron Man (Robert Downey, Jr) having a casual conversation about Loki’s chances at taking over Earth.

Though most of the focus is on action sequences, each clip still manages to include some of the film’s trademark humor, much of it coming from Captain America (Chris Evans).  In addition, the mid-credits scene that teases the sequel’s villain is part of the bunch, as is Item 47, a clip from a companion short film that will be part of the DVD, featuring Lizzy Caplan (Party Down).  To see the seven clips, hit the jump.

When a movie like Disney and Marvel’s The Avengers crosses the $600 million mark domestically and approaches $1.5 billion globally, studios can afford to add in extra special items to go along with their Blu-ray/DVD sales.  This time around, the bonus item comes via a new app called “The Avengers Initiative: A Marvel Second Screen App.”  The app will give users access to exclusive content leading up to the release of The Avengers on Blu-ray/DVD with new downloads available bi-weekly in July and August, with weekly updates in September.  The content includes “special access to the S.H.I.E.L.D. database, becoming a S.H.I.E.L.D. agent, invitations to “special missions” either remotely or in the field, links to character profiles, stories and scenes, interactive Marvel digital reader comic books and more.”

Joss Whedon’s The Avengers hits shelves on September 25th on Blu-ray 3D, Blu-ray, DVD, Digital and On-Demand, but the app will be available starting in July.  Hit the jump for details. [UPDATE: Check out a new trailer for the Blu-ray after the jump.]

We may be nearing the halfway point of the summer movie season already, but Marvel’s The Avengers is still looming over the 2012 “blockbusters” that have come and gone like the slightly older yet much more successful brother of the bunch.  We’ve seen moderate box office successes from films like Men in Black 3, Snow White and the Huntsman, and Madagascar 3, but nothing has come close to the behemoth box office giant that was Marvel’s mother of all superhero movies.

The film shattered the opening weekend record with over $200 million in three days, and now Disney has announced that The Avengers is expected to cross the $600 million domestic mark today, making it only the third film in history to reach that number.  Hit the jump for more, including a rundown of what the all-time box office chart looks like now.