Warner Bros. has released a batch of new high-resolution images from some upcoming summer films.  Briefly:

• The Hangover Part III – A new image from Todd Phillips’ trilogy-closer teases a familiar scene as Zach Galifianakis, Bradley Cooper, and Ed Helms ride an elevator.  The film opens on May 24th.
• The Great Gatsby – A couple of new images from director Baz Luhrmann’s colorful adaptation highlight Leonardo DiCaprio’s titular character flanked by his new friends.  The film also stars Carey Mulligan, Tobey Maguire, and Joel Edgerton and opens in 3D on May 10th.
• The Conjuring – Director James Wan’s new horror film debuted a ridiculously creepy teaser trailer earlier last month, and these new images feature Patrick Wilson and Vera Farmiga’s psychic investigator characters.  The film also stars Lili Taylor and Ron Livingston and opens on July 19th.
• Getaway – A new image from this car-set thriller gives us a canted look at Ethan Hawke and Selena Gomez’s lead characters.  The film opens on August 30th.

Hit the jump to check out the images and synopses.

Undoubtedly one of my most anticipated films of 2014 is The Lego Movie.  The animated film comes from writers/directors Phil Lord and Chris Miller (Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs, 21 Jump Street) and features a fantastic ensemble voice cast that includes Chris Pratt, Will Ferrell, Elizabeth Banks, Liam Neeson, Will Arnett, Nick Offerman, Alison Brie, and Morgan Freeman.  Today, Warner Bros. has unveiled the first logo for the film along with the announcement of a neat-sounding contest that gives fans the opportunity to have some of their own work appear in the film.  Hit the jump for more and to get a good look at the logo.

Warner Bros. and Legendary Pictures announced today that filming has begun in Vancouver on director Gareth Edwards’ (Monster) new Godzilla film. Aaron Taylor-Johnson, Elizabeth Olsen, and Juliette Binoche lead a cast that also includes David Strathairn and Bryan Cranson.  Additionally, the press release notes that Ken Watanabe has now joined the film as well.  Though plot details are firmly under wraps, we know from the film’s brief Comic-Con appearance last year that Edwards is taking a grounded, realistic approach to the classic monster.  His take attempts to answer the question, “What would it be like if all of this really happened?”

Edwards is working from a screenplay by Max Borenstein, Frank Darabont, and Dave Callaham.  Hit the jump to read the full press release.  Godzilla opens in 3D on May 16, 2014.

I’ve patiently waited for the opportunity to include Veronica Mars in the Top 5. As one of my favorite pop culture artifacts, I’m thrilled that this past week has finally afforded me the chance. That said, I’ll reserve any and all debate regarding the impact and merit of its now famed Kickstarter campaign for after the jump. For now, I’ll just say that, as much as I loved the show, I didn’t feel shortchanged by its somewhat abrupt finale. Moreover, I never felt like I needed a movie to bring some sort of closure to that world and its characters. Don’t get me wrong, by series end I wanted more VM in my life. But maybe that’s a good thing. Looking back I’d much prefer a series leave me wanting more than continually ask me back every week when it can barely muster even a shadow of its former self (cough…The Office…cough).

In addition to more Mars talk, this week’s collection also includes our G.I. Joe: Retaliation set visit, the first red-band trailer for Kick-Ass 2, Jurassic Park 4 naming its director, and all of our SXSW 2013 coverage to date. Keep reading for a brief recap and link to each.

Yesterday, Rob Thomas launched a Kickstarter for a film adaptation of his cult TV series, Veronica Mars.  The goal was 30 days to reach $2 million.  The Kickstarter quickly reached its goal in less than a day, and of this posting has received $2.8 million in donations.  Some people celebrated this not only as a way to finally get a Veronica Mars movie, but as a new dawn for financing mainstream feature films.  Personally, I felt everything about it was a bit…off.  I couldn’t quite place my finger on it, but as I’ve spoken with more people and read other editorials discussing the Kickstarter’s success, I’ve become more inclined to believe that Warner Bros., the studio that owns Veronica Mars, has gamed the system, misled fans, and opened a door to diminishing the spirit of Kickstarter in order to serve corporate interests.

If you haven’t already written me off for being an inherently pessimistic person, hit the jump for why I’m against Kickstarting Veronica Mars.

Warner Bros. has unveiled the first poster for director Todd Phillips’ trilogy capper The Hangover Part III, and it’s a pretty great take on another wildly popular Warner Bros. franchise.  The one sheet features a battle-worn Zach Galifianakis and Ken Jeong face to face below the tagline “It All Ends,” which is a nice reference to the posters for the final film in the Harry Potter series.  The poster also teases a return to Las Vegas, though it appears that the Wolfpack has done quite a bit of damage there.  It’s crazy to think that we’ve still yet to see a trailer for a movie this big that opens in a mere two months, but WB is finally set to change that tomorrow.

Hit the jump to take a look at the poster, and check back here on Collider tomorrow to see the first trailer.  The film also stars Bradley Cooper, Ed Helms, Heather Graham, Justin Bartha, John Goodman, Jamie Chung, Mike Epps, Mike Tyson, Jeffrey Tambor and Melissa McCarthy.  The Hangover Part III opens on May 24th.

The guys over at Latino-Review have decided to spend this fine evening dropping an atomic-bomb-level rumor that will send fanboys into a tizzy.  The site is reporting three major developments when it comes to Justice League and Warner Bros. trying to figure out how they’re going to combat Disney’s one-two franchise punch of Marvel and Star Wars.  So far, Warners has been struggling with their superheroes.  They’re all out of Batman, and while there’s some very early positive buzz on Man of Steel, their highly-anticipated Justice League movie reportedly had to go back to square one early last month when Will Beale‘s script was tossed out.

But Warner Bros. isn’t giving up, and according to Latino-Review, Christopher Nolan is coming to the rescue.  And so is Zack Snyder.  And they want Christian Bale to put the cape and cowl back on.  Hit the jump for more.

If one were to take a poll of the most anticipated film of 2013, director Zack Snyder’s Superman reboot Man of Steel would likely find itself towards the very top.  It’s been seven years since the character was last seen onscreen, and Warner Bros. is hoping that Man of Steel kicks off a new franchise for the studio following the conclusion of the Harry Potter series and Christopher Nolan‘s Batman trilogy.  We’ve already seen a couple of trailers for the film, but the majority of the pic is still being kept tightly under wraps; Snyder only just recently confirmed that Michael Shannon is playing General Zod.

With the pic’s June release date looming, Warner Bros. recently got its first look at the full film by way of some early private studio screenings.  Reactions to those screenings appear to be highly positive, as a recent report sheds some light on what fans can expect from the pic.  Hit the jump to read on.

Although Warner Bros’. Justice League has had to go back to the drawing board, Guillermo Del Toro doesn’t mind the idea of pursuing Justice League Dark.  For those unfamiliar with the unconventional superhero team, the title launched in September 2011, and it’s comprised of John Constantine, Madame Xanadu, Deadman, Shade, Zatanna, Mindwarp, and Enchantress.  Del Toro tells Total Film, “I am going to be presenting my storyline to DC and Warners of where I want to take this universe. We do have a writer, but until that is firmed up, I have to keep it a secret. I hope it happens.”  While Total Film refers to the project as “Justice League Dark”, the project shares multiple characters with Heaven Sent, which we reported on back in November.  It’s likely that it’s the same project, but TF is probably referring to it as “Justice League Dark” since that’s the name of the comic book.

Hit the jump for more.  Del Toro’s new film, Pacific Rim, opens in 3D on July 12th.  He’s set the gothic haunted house film, Crimson Peak, as his follow-up.

Leonardo DiCaprio recently said that he was planning to take a “long, long break” from acting to pursue environmental activism, but a break isn’t retirement, and studios are going to keep trying to get him in their movies.  According to Deadline, Warner Bros. recently acquired Michael Armour‘s upcoming novel The Road Home as a potential starring vehicle for DiCaprio.  Scott Cooper (Crazy Heart) has come on board to write, direct, and produce with DiCaprio and Jennifer Davisson Killoran‘s Appian Way production company.  The company and Cooper recently teamed up for the writer-director’s upcoming revenge thriller, Out of the Furnace.  When the spec script was first acquired, DiCaprio intended to lead the flick with Ridley Scott attached to direct.  The screenplay was later rewritten by Cooper, and now Christian Bale will star alongside Woody Harrelson and Zoe Saldana.

Hit the jump for a synopsis of Armour’s The Road Home.  DiCaprio will next be seen in Baz Luhrmann‘s The Great Gatsby and Martin Scorsese‘s The Wolf of Wall Street.  Out of the Furnace opens later this year.

Alcon Entertainment and Warner Bros. have announced the start of production of director Denis Villeneuve’s (Incedies) dramatic thriller Prisoners.  The film stars Hugh Jackman as a working-class Boston father who sets out to track down the man he believes is responsible for kidnapping his daughter and her friend. Along the way, he runs up against the big city detective (Jake Gyllenhaal) assigned to the case.  Filming is underway in Georgia, with an impressive supporting cast that includes Paul Dano, Maria Bello, Terrence Howard, and Viola Davis.

The screenplay was written by Aaron Guzikowski (Contraband), and Mark Wahlberg is onboard as one of the film’s executive producers.  Moreover, genius cinematographer Roger Deakins (Skyfall, No Country for Old Men) is handling the camera work.  Hit the jump to read the full press release.  Prisoners opens on September 20th of this year.

Double-dipping is a dirty word among movie fans, who have grown increasingly weary of shelling out more money for a multiple versions of a given film. There can be a benefit to the practice, however, especially for consumers eager to pick up multiple movies quickly and efficiently without a lot of fuss. Warner Bros – one of the most notorious practitioners of double-dipping – has recently dived into its archives for a series of “Best of” DVD Collections. Their Best Picture compilation – consisting of 20 films that snagged the top trophy their respective years – ranks as one of the most reliable, marred by a few embarrassing hiccups. Hit the jump for my full review.

Ever since Marvel stuck their landing with the $1.5 billion grossing Phase One-capper The Avengers, a number of other studios have been making moves to try and mimic the studio’s “Cinematic Universe” model.  One of the most notable reactions to The Avengers came by way of the announcement that Warner Bros. was going to finally try to mount their Justice League movie for a 2015 release.  When a major update on Justice League first broke last summer, we learned that WB had enlisted scribe Will Beall (Gangster Squad) to tackle the screenplay.

The studio has yet to nab a director since then, and a few weeks ago we learned that WB was waiting to see how Man of Steel does this summer before giving Justice League a greenlight.  Now it appears that WB is having an even harder time with JL than we previously thought, as a new report claims that Beall’s script is being entirely tossed out.  Hit the jump for more.

Zac Efron is heading into fantasy territory.  Fresh off his role in Lee Daniels’ The Paperboy, Heat Vision reports that Efron is teaming up with producer Akiva Goldsman for a mystery supernatural project at Warner Bros. called The Falling.  The logline is being kept under wraps for now, but the story is said to be “an edgy thriller centering around an otherworldly being.”  Efron will star in the film and will produce alongside Goldsman, Tory Tunnell, and Joby Harold (All You Need Is Kill).

The story idea was brought to Goldman’s attention by Warner Bros., and Goldsman then hammered out a full story with Harold.  The search now begins for a screenwriter to pen the script.  Goldsman most recently wrapped his directorial debut, a fantasy pic called Winter’s Tale.  A screenwriter by trade, Goldsman won the Oscar for penning A Beautiful Mind and was also responsible for writing I Am Legend and I, Robot.

Fresh off his Academy Award nomination for Best Actor in Silver Linings Playbook, Bradley Cooper is understandably fielding a rather high amount of interest at the moment.  Just a couple of weeks ago we learned that Warner Bros. was developing the spy-thriller adaptation Dark Invasion as a star vehicle for the actor, and now the studio has set up yet another property for Cooper to headline.  Deadline reports that WB has acquired author James Renner’s mystery novel The Man from Primrose Lane and will develop it as a star vehicle for Cooper.

The story centers on a true crime writer who becomes obsessed with investigating a serial killer known as “the man with a thousand mittens” (Mr. Rogers?).  As he becomes further embroiled in the case, he realizes that in order to capture the killer “he must look outside the parameters of what he believed to be true about time and space.”  I’m not really sure if this belongs under sci-fi, thriller, or both, but I’m sufficiently intrigued.  Chad Feehan (Southland) will pen the script.  Hit the jump to read the book synopsis.