The first trailer for director Joseph Kosinski’s (TRON: Legacy) sci-fi film Oblivion has been released.  At first blush, it’s not exactly what I was expecting and I think that bodes well for the picture. Rather than a straight shoot-em-up actioner or a generic survival story, Oblivion looks to have elements of mystery and betrayal all tied into Tom Cruise’s character, Jack Harper.  Olga Kurylenko looks beautiful even dressed-down and Morgan Freeman channels his own version of Laurence Fishburne’s Morpheus. The all-white aesthetic looks sharp and clean against a backdrop of chaos and destruction and the overall design definitely has some nods to TRON. There are also elements of The Fifth Element, Minority Report and The Matrix presented in this introductory trailer, but Oblivion looks to be something all its own. (But what is up with that creature that looks like Darth Vader and sounds like a Tusken raider?)

The film also stars Andrea Riseborough, Nikolaj Coster-Waldau, and Melissa Leo.  Oblivion opens on April 19, 2013.  Hit the jump to watch.

Up-to-the-minute casting information follows below:

• Emmy Rossum (The Day After Tomorrow) is in negotiations to join Hilary Swank (Boys Don’t Cry) in You’re Not You, directed by George C. Wolfe (Nights in Rodanthe).
• Nikolaj Coster-Waldau (Game of Thrones) will join Juliette Binoche (The English Patient) in the indie drama A Thousand Times Good Night for co-writer/director Erik Poppe (Hawaii, Oslo).
• Derek Jacobi (The King’s Speech) will be tasked with refining Grace Kelly (Nicole Kidman) from an American movie star into a princess in Grace of Monaco, directed by Olivier Dahan (La vie en rose).
• Finally, Tye Sheridan (Tree of Life) has joined Joe, a drama starring Nicolas Cage (National Treasure) and directed by David Gordon Green (Pineapple Express).

Hit the jump for more on each picture.

As we are currently inundated with “found footage” jump scares in mainstream theaters, it’s refreshing to get back to the bloody roots of good old fashion horror.  I’m wagering that nothing you’ve seen this year is as creepy as Mama.  From producer Guillermo del Toro and director Andres Muschietti comes a new international trailer for Mama, starring Jessica Chastain and Nikolaj Coster-Waldau.  Centering on a man (Coster-Waldau) and his girlfriend (Chastain) who take care of his nieces after they are found in the wild, the trailer reveals (perhaps too much) that they did not survive on their own.  Check out the previous trailer for Mama here and hit the jump to compare it to the newer, creepier (and perhaps more spoilery) one. 

It’s been a couple of weeks since our last round of Marvel rumors, but today a new batch of possible information has popped up concerning both Guardians of the Galaxy and Captain America: The Winter Soldier.  While director James Gunn is currently busy rewriting the script for the other-worldly Guardians, we may now have a clearer idea of which characters from the comics will be in the spotlight when that film rolls around.  Additionally, another rumor throws Mary Elizabeth Winstead and Lost actor Josh Holloway into the possible casting ring for Captain America: The Winter Soldier.

Hit the jump for all the details.

The first trailer for the Guillermo del Toro produced horror movie Mama has been released. Directed by Andres Muschietti, the film stars Jessica Chastain and Nikolaj Coster-Waldau as a couple who takes in two sisters discovered living alone in the woods  five years  after the mysterious death of their parents.  The couple gets more than they bargained for when it turns out a supernatural presence follows the girls into their home. The trailer has some serious tension and a couple of genuinely eerie images, and though she’s relatively new to Hollywood, Chastain has displayed an impressive knack for picking quality projects. Factor in Guillermo del Toro’s involvement and you’ve got a movie worth keeping your eye on.  Check out the trailer, the first poster and new images after the jump. 

Some debut images from a couple of upcoming releases have hit the web.  First up, the first two images from director Allen Hughes’ (The Book of Eli) political thriller Broken City highlight stars Russell Crowe, Catherine Zeta-Jones, and Mark Wahlberg.  The story centers on a private detective (Wahlberg) who is hired to identify the lover of a powerful politician’s (Crowe) wife.  Zeta-Jones is onboard as said unfaithful wife, and Wahlberg—who also serves as a producer on the film—compares the pic’s elements of “really strong characters [and] plot points you didn’t see coming” to Roman Polanski’s classic Chinatown.  The pic opens on January 18th, 2013.

We’ve also got the first images from the horror film Mama, which was directed by Andres Muschietti based on his own short film.  Jessica Chastain and Game of Thrones star Nikolaj Coster-Waldau topline the thriller as a couple who take in their neice and nephew after the children mysteriously surface five years after disappearing on the day of their mother’s murder.  The supernatural pic comes from producer Guillermo del Toro and also opens on January 18th, 2013.  Hit the jump to take a look at the images.

 We recently brought you the release date shuffle for Universal pictures Oblivion, starring Tom Cruise and Olga Kurylenko, and Mama, the horror film directed by Andres Muschietti and produced by Guillermo del Toro.  Now we can actually tell you what those films are about!  An official synopsis for each film has dropped and we share that with you after the jump.  Joseph Kosinski’s Oblivion opens April 19th, 2013 with an IMAX-only run-up starting on April 12th, 2013.  Mama, starring Nikolaj Coster-Waldau and Jessica Chastain will open January 18th, 2013.  Hit the jump to read the synopses.

The first set photos of Tom Cruise in costume for Oblivion have gone online.  We previously brought you these rather generic-looking set photos of Cruise and co-star Olga Kurylenko filming in New York.  This time, Cruise was to be found in June Lake, California sporting a futuristic military uniform with a gun slung over his shoulder.  As is usually the case in set photos, these images are out of context and have no sense of dramatic lighting but, hey, cool jacket, right?  Oblivion, also starring Morgan Freeman, Andrea Riseborough, Nikolaj Coster-Waldau and Melissa Leo, hits theaters July 19th, 2013.  Hit the jump to see the new set photos.

The first official synopsis for TRON: Legacy director Joseph Kosinski’s sci-fi pic Oblivion has landed online.  The film is described as “an original and groundbreaking cinematic event,” and Tom Cruise stars as one of the last remaining drone repairman stationed on a future Earth.  He works as part of a mission to extract vital resources from the ground following a decades-long war with a threat known as the Scavs, which lead to humans moving civilization to the skies thousands of feet above.  When Cruise’s character rescues a beautiful stranger (Andrea Riseborough) from a downed spacecraft, events are set in motion that force him to “question everything he knows and puts the fate of humanity in his hands.”

It’s an ambitious follow-up to the (visually) spectacular TRON: Legacy, and having Cruise onboard as the lead is a major plus.  The synopsis release also notes that Kosinski is shooting Oblivion in digital 4K resolution in the U.S. and Iceland.  The supporting cast includes Nikolaj Coster-Waldau, Olga Kurylenko, Melissa Leo, and Morgan Freeman.  Oblivion hits theaters on April 26th, 2013.  Hit the jump to read the full synopsis.

The first crop of set photos debuted today from director Joseph Kosinski’s Oblivion, starring Tom Cruise and Olga Kurylenko.  Though the plot of the sci-fi pic features Cruise as a veteran soldier banished to the surface of a ruined, post-apocalyptic world, these images are fairly bright and sunny (okay, maybe a little rainy) with a lot of smiling faces and intact infrastructure in the background.  Are these pre-apocalyptic scenes from the opening of the film, a flashback within the story or just stars coming to work and smiling at the waiting cameras?  Hard to tell at this point.  It’s also hard to tell exactly what this film is about without an official synopsis.  Hit the jump for more on the story of Oblivion and a look at the first set photos.

HBO’s Game of Thrones comes at an interesting time in geekdom, and its success speaks to the barriers that have been broken. Though fantasy and science fiction have often been popular cinematically, on television it’s been stuck in a Stargate-esque ghetto. But now we’ve got one of the most thoughtful shows currently on air on one of the most prestigious networks that also happens to be about dragons and swordplay. Perhaps the better arbiter of what crosses over to the mainstream and what doesn’t is quality, and Game of Thrones is definitely an engrossing show even for those who’ve never picked up a twenty sided die. Sean Bean, Lena Headey, Mark Addy and Peter Dinklage lead a mostly British cast in a tale about warring families in a fantastical middle age. Our review of Game of Thrones on DVD follows after the jump.

Valentine’s Day may have passed, but you can still share your mutual love of Game of Thrones with your significant other. The first three posters from the hit HBO show, based on George R.R. Martin’s novel series, show some of our favorite characters from past and present with various pseudo-romantic one-liners (the last poster is quite a bit darker). If you’ve missed our recent coverage on Game of Thrones, you can get caught up by checking out the season two trailer, a behind-the-scenes production trailer, a host of images from the upcoming season and even some hilarious Valentine’s Day cards. If you’re a fan of the show and would love to be an on-screen part of it, you’ll want to check out the new behind-the-scenes look at what the experience is like for the team of extras. Game of Thrones returns for its second season on April 1st at 9pm on HBO. Hit the jump to check out the posters and the featurette.

Director Joseph Kosinski’s (Tron: Legacy) upcoming sci-fi flick Oblivion (formerly titled Horizons) recently added Morgan Freeman to its increasingly impressive cast, and now Game of Thrones star Nikolaj Coster-Waldau is poised to co-star alongside Tom Cruise. Cruise plays a veteran soldier who’s banished to the surface of a post-apocalyptic Earth and tasked with repairing ships that hunt down the aliens who destroyed our planet. When a mysterious woman (Andrea Riseborough) crash-lands nearby, their encounter sets off an eye-opening chain of events. Olga Kurylenko also stars.

Deadline reports that Coster-Waldau will play “Sykes, a battle-hardened, physically imposing, intelligent and extremely athletic military technology and weapons expert.” The actor is best known for playing the sinister Jamie Lannister on HBO’s stellar series Game of Thrones. He’s incredibly effective on the HBO series, and I’m interested to see how he’ll fare as a decidedly less-evil character. He recently wrapped the Guillermo del Toro-produced horror film Mama alongside Jessica Chastain. Production on Oblivion begins in March in Louisiana.

Jessica Chastain now has a co-star for her upcoming horror film Mama. Nikolaj Coster-Waldau, who is positively menacing as Jaime Lannister on HBO’s Game of Thrones, is now set to topline the Guillermo del Toro-produced horror film alongside Chastain, per Heat Vision’s report. The film tells the story of a couple who take in their niece and nephew after the children were found living in the forest for five years. As horror stories tend to go, murderous events unfold and it’s clear that some supernatural force is bent on tormenting the kids. Andres Muschietti is directing the film, expanding the story he created with his short film of the same name.

Chastain is quickly becoming Hollywood’s “It Girl,” and I am wholeheartedly onboard. So far this year she’s starred in Terrence Malick’s The Tree of Life, the Sundance drama Take Shelter, box-office king The Help, and the thriller The Debt. But that’s not all, as she’s still got the all-star adaptation of The Wettest County in the World and Al Pacino’s opus Wild Salome to come. Coster-Waldau turned heads as one of the devious villains on HBO’s smash-hit series, and is sure to have people yelling at their TV screens once again when the show returns for its second season next year.

At the Game of Thrones panel at Comic-Con, author George R. R. Martin moderated select cast and crew (Lena Headey, Peter Dinklage, Jason Momoa, Emilia Clarke, Kit Harrington, Nikolaj Coster-Waldau, and creators David Benioff & D.B Weiss) as they discussed the forthcoming second season and beyond, special features on the first season’s bluray/dvd, what initially hooked them to the show and how they would end the book series – if they were Martin. For highlights from the panel, read beyond.