It’s hard to say when the troubles started for John Carter.  Though others have speculated that people had it out for director Andrew Stanton, there’s no denying that the film never cracked how to sell itself to the public, and the advertising – from the original trailers to the film’s name change from John Carter of Mars to John Carter, to selling the film on the white apes who only appear in the third act of the movie – did the film no favors.  It was known to be a very expensive film, which went through a couple rounds of reshoots and when it emerged in March it flopped domestically. A nd though the film is flawed, there’s a lot to like about it – as much for what it is as what it aspires to be.  Watching it at home, there’s a fun film in there, and it’s mostly good.  Taylor Kitsch stars as the titular Carter, and our review of the Blu-ray follows after the jump.

Some quick casting updates for you today.  Here they are at a glance:

• Michael Emerson (Lost) has joined the cast of Woody Allen’s next film, an untitled picture that he plans to shoot in the US.
• Big Bang Theory co-star Melissa Rauch will join the romantic dramedy, You Are Here, the directorial debut of Mad Men creator, Matt Weiner.
• Ben Schwartz (House of Lies) joins Ben Affleck and Justin Timberlake in the gambling drama, Runner,Runner.

Hit the jump for more info on each of these projects and an update on Taylor Kitsch’s status on a possible role as Finnick Odair in The Hunger Games sequel, Catching Fire.

Recently, Robert Pattinson (Twilight) put rumors to rest and confirmed he would not be jumping franchises to join The Hunger Games sequel, Catching Fire.  The role in question was that of Finnick Odair, a fellow contestant in the games of the second book from Suzanne Collins’ bestselling trilogy.  It’s now looking like the frontrunners for the role may be Taylor Kitsch (Battleship), Garrett Hedlund (TRON: Legacy) and Armie Hammer (Mirror Mirror).  While the casting might seem a bit premature at the moment, The Hunger Games: Catching Fire is on a bit of a short schedule owing to star Jennifer Lawrence’s prior commitments and a screen debut of November 22nd, 2013.  Presumably returning for the sequel to Lionsgate’s newest moneymaker are Josh Hutcherson, Liam Hemsworth, Woody Harrelson, Elizabeth Banks, Stanley Tucci, Lenny Kravitz and Donald Sutherland with director Francis Lawrence.  Hit the jump for more on the casting of Catching Fire.

Just yesterday we posted the very first TV spot for Oliver Stone’s upcoming crime drama Savages, and now a number of images and behind-the-scenes photos have gone online.  The official images were taken using Instagram (naturally), but the behind-the-scenes photos are actually the more intriguing set.  We see Taylor Kitsch and Aaron Johnson doing prep work at a shooting range with Stone, Blake Lively with blood-soaked hands, and more.  For those unaware, Kitsch and Johnson play two Laguna Beach marijuana kingpins who encounter a world of trouble when their shared girlfriend (Lively) is kidnapped by a Mexican drug cartel.

Hit the jump to check out the images. The film also stars Benicio Del Toro, Salma Hayek, Demian Bichir, Emile Hirsch, Uma Thurman, and John Travolta.  Savages opens July 6th.

The first TV spot for director Oliver Stone’s Savages has gone online.  The film stars Taylor Kitsch and Aaron Johnson as two Laguna Beach marijuana kingpins who encounter a world of trouble when their shared girlfriend (Blake Lively) is kidnapped by a Mexican drug cartel.  Though Stone’s recent output hasn’t exactly been stellar, Savages looks to put him back in Platoon/Natural Born Killers territory and I’m eager to see his version of a large-scale action pic.  This TV spot does a fine job of setting up the plot, but I’m not the biggest fan of song choice.  Nevertheless, I like the footage we’ve seen thus far and the very talented Kitsch deserves to have at least one successful release this year.  Here’s hoping for the best.

Hit the jump to watch the TV spot.  The film also stars Benicio Del Toro, Salma Hayek, Demian Bichir, Emile Hirsch, Uma Thurman, and John Travolta.  Savages opens July 6th.

For the third week in a row, The Avengers dominated the box office. Marvel’s superheroes added another $55 million to their domestic total – putting the film over $450 million in a record-breaking seventeen days. Meanwhile, the three new releases that lined up to challenge The Avengers all struggled in the blockbuster’s wake.

Opening this Friday is director Peter Berg’s adaptation of the board game Battleship.  The action-adventure pic takes place on the seas and centers on a group of Naval officers who must fight to keep an alien force from destroying our world.  Taylor Kitsch leads a cast that includes Alexander Skarsgard, Brooklyn Decker, Rihanna, and Liam Neeson.

Our partners at Omelete recently got the chance to speak with Kitsch, Skarsgard, and Decker about the film, and the actors addressed the pic’s Pearl Harbor connection, Berg’s improvisational directing style, sci-fi, chicken burritos and more.  If you missed our interview with Berg, click here.  Hit the jump to watch the interview with Kitsch, Skarsgard and Decker, but be advised that there are minor spoilers for the film.

A new clip from Battleship has gone online.  The movie features alien invaders coming to Earth but first having to deal with some naval warfare.  I can buy aliens fighting sailors.  I can’t buy a bartender refuses to sell a burrito to a woman who looks like Brooklyn Decker (who plays the film’s love interest) because the “kitchen’s closed.”  And rather than have Decker’s character tell him that the “kitchen” is a microwave, she appears to just stand at the bar aimlessly until Taylor Kitsch‘s wayward slacker comes over to woo her.  It’s tough to believe that this movie is getting poor reviews from its overseas debuts.

Hit the jump to check out the clip.  The film also stars Alexander Alexander Skarsgard, Rihanna, Asano Tadanobu, and Liam Neeson.  Battleship opens May 18th.

After yesterday’s brief teaser, the full trailer for Oliver Stone‘s Savages has gone online.  The film stars Taylor Kitsch and Aaron Johnson as two Laguna Beach marijuana kingpins who encounter a world of trouble when their shared girlfriend (Blake Lively) is kidnapped by a Mexican drug cartel.  The movie looks like a fun change of pace for Stone, and a bit of a throwback to Natural Born Killers, but without the muddled message on violence and media.  I wouldn’t be surprised if Stone has worked in a comment on America’s War on Drugs, but at least it looks like he’s surrounded it with a slam-bang action flick.

Hit the jump to check out the trailer.  The film also stars The film also stars Benicio Del Toro, Salma Hayek, Demian Bichir, Emile Hirsch, Uma Thurman, and John Travolta.  Savages opens July 6th. [Updated: We've updated the article with a new image from the film]

Earlier this week, we showed you the first poster for Oliver Stone‘s crime-thriller Savages.  Today, teaser footage from the film has been released.  The film stars Taylor Kitsch and Aaron Johnson as two Laguna Beach marijuana kingpins who encounter a world of trouble when their shared girlfriend (Blake Lively) is kidnapped by a Mexican drug cartel.  You won’t gather any of that from the 15-seconds of footage, but you will pick up that Stone has taken a page from Tony Scott‘s playbook of sweaty characters and over-saturated cinematography.

Hit the jump to check out the footage.  The film also stars Benicio Del Toro, Salma Hayek, Demian Bichir, Emile Hirsch, Uma Thurman, and John Travolta.  Savages opens July 6th.

The first poster for Oliver Stone’s adaptation of Don Winslow’s crime novel Savages has gone online.  The pic stars Taylor Kitsch and Aaron Johnson as two Laguna Beach marijuana kingpins who encounter a world of trouble when their shared girlfriend (Blake Lively) is kidnapped by a Mexican drug cartel.  I was already intrigued by the impressive cast Stone assembled, then Universal moved the film to a prime summer release date after apparently being wowed by a test screening.  This poster hints at an epic and entertaining crime saga, and I’m eager to see Stone have some fun.  I haven’t been wowed by the director’s recent output but when he’s on, he’s on, and I’m hoping Savages is a summer crowd-pleaser.

Hit the jump to check out the poster.  The film also stars Benicio Del Toro, Salma Hayek, Demian Bichir, Emile Hirsch, Uma Thurman and John Travolta. Savages opens on July 6th.

A new featurette for Battleship has gone online, giving us a better idea of the story and of what to expect from the action pic. Some new footage is sprinkled throughout, with Taylor Kitsch, Rihanna and director Peter Berg talking about the basic idea behind the film. The more I see of the aliens from Battleship, the more I’m convinced that this movie will actually be kind of fun. We’re not exactly gonna get high minded art from a board game adaptation, but Berg’s involvement gives me hope that he’s crafted a fun action/sci-fi film that isn’t as visually exhausting as Michael Bay’s eye raping Transformers series. The director describes this batch of aliens in Battleship as on a “sort of recon mission,” so it’s safe to assume that even if Tim Riggins and Co. blow this group all to hell, a full-scale invasion might be in store for Battleship 2: We’re Fucked.

Hit the jump to watch the featurette. The film also stars Liam Neeson, Brooklyn Decker and Alexander Skarsgard. Battleship opens May 18th.

The epic action-adventure Battleship, from director/producer Peter Berg, is about a fleet of ships forced to do battle with an armada of alien origins, in order to discover and prevent their destructive goals for the planet. Kicking off the summer blockbuster season, the movie opens on May 18^th.

After their panel presentation at WonderCon 2012 (click here for our recap), model-turned-actress Brooklyn Decker and Peter Berg talked about the decision to start revealing more glimpses of the aliens and the machinery in the film, the fact that the aliens don’t act unless acted upon, the balance between the action and the love story with Taylor Kitsch and Decker’s characters, the Naval warfare aspect and what went into the decision of which ships to use, the process of designing the aliens, how much the board game is actually an inspiration for the film, Steve Jablonsky’s score, and the mini Friday Night Lights reunion, with both Kitsch and Jesse Plemons in the film. Check out what they had to say after the jump.

Here at Wonder-Con 2011, Universal Pictures was kind enough to stop by with some new footage from their upcoming action film, Battleship. The recently released new trailer was just the tip of the iceberg as director Peter Berg came loaded with two new clips highlighting drastically different tones of the film. We got to see another side of Taylor Kitsch’s character as well as a good look at the alien menace in Battleship known as the Regents. We also got a very fine look at Brooklyn Decker and man how I’ve been waiting for that (she’s a supermodel, for God’s sake. Use her in your marketing!) Alexander Skarsgard also told a funny story about being shot in the face with a 25-foot-long air cannon. Just another day at WonderCon.

Director Peter Berg’s Battleship, starring Taylor Kitsch, Liam Neeson, Alexander Skarsgard, Brooklyn Decker and Rihanna opens May 18th. Hit the jump for more.

It’s safe to say that Disney’s sci-fi epic, John Carter, has been a box office disappointment thus far. But given that the movie has been out less than a week and that a rabid fan base is lending its support, there may yet be hope for the survival of the franchise. Recently we were contacted by the folks who cut this awesome fan-made trailer and run this John Carter fan site to let us know about the rapidly-expanding fan base behind the film. Started by fans, the Facebook group “Take Me Back to Barsoom! I want a sequel!” is recruiting followers in an attempt to make enough noise to encourage Disney to greenlight a sequel.

While I personally wouldn’t mind a return voyage to Mars, the thing that’s going to make the biggest splash and get the studio’s attention is plain and simple dollar bills. Social media goes a long way these days to resurrect things like NBC’s Community, but the roughly $250 million budget on the first John Carter is going to demand more than a Facebook page. I encourage fans of the source material to check out both of the above sites and by all means go see the film a second (or more) time to lend your support. In the mean time, you can get caught up on all of our previous coverage of John Carter here. Hit the jump to check out another awesome fan-made trailer (and if Disney is listening, please consider hiring these guys for your marketing team next time around…seriously).