The first trailer and poster for director Fernando Meirelles’ (City of God) 360 have landed online.  The film was written by Frost/Nixon scribe Peter Morgan and tells the interconnected stories of characters played by Jude Law, Rachel Weisz, Ben Foster, and Anthony Hopkins.  The film actually premiered at last year’s Toronto Film Festival and—given the talent involved—was surprisingly met with a lukewarm response (read Matt’s review here).  I kept an open mind after reading reactions, but this trailer doesn’t inspire much confidence in the film.  It invokes the played-out plot device of using a bunch of apparent strangers’ interwoven stories to tackle some grand theme, but it just feels a bit too much like Babel or Crash to rouse any enthusiasm.

Hit the jump to check out the trailer and poster to judge for yourself.  360 will be available on iTunes on June 29^th and hits theaters August 3^rd.

Director Fernando Meirelles has yet to match his 2002 breakthrough film City of God, but he’s cranked out some quality films since with The Constant Gardener and Blindness.  While I found his latest film, 360, to be incredibly disappointing, Meirelles is already looking to his next film: a biopic of Aristotle Onassis, the controversial shipping magnate who married JFK’s widow Jackie in 1968.  As we reported back in April, Meirelles sees the film as “a sort of Godfather, with Onassis at the center.”  The film is based on the Peter Evans book Nemesis and Meirelles says he plans to start shooting sometime next year.

Hit the jump for some encouraging words from the Brazilian director on why his next film will be like his breakthrough film as well as details on distribution for 360.

360 is not a movie I’d expect from Fernando Meirelles and I don’t mean that as a compliment.  Mierelles’ previous films (City of God, The Constant Gardener, Blindness) have an energy to them and they tackle serious subject matter in a way that’s tense, gripping, and unexpected.  360 is none of those things.  It’s another tired anthology of uninspired vignettes that show us how we’re all connected especially if the script is written that way.  The movie manages to waste a talented cast, its director’s abilities, and two hours of the viewer’s time.

More images from Fernando Mierelles 360 and Kenneth Lonergan’s Margaret have gone online.  360 has an impressive cast that features Jude Law, Ben Foster, Anthony Hopkins, and reunites Mierelles with his The Constant Gardner star.  The movie is billed as an “uncompromising dramatic thriller fuelled by the notion of how sexual relationships can transgress social boundaries.”

There are also a couple of new images from the long-delayed Margaret.  The movie will always be described as “long-delayed”.  That’s what happens when you shoot it in 2005 and it sits on a shelf because the director can’t get it out of the editing room and the studio has to call in the lawyers to get it out.  The upside is that movie nerds want to see it out of sheer curiosity.  Having a cast that features Matt Damon, Anna Paquin, Mark Ruffalo, and plenty of other great actors doesn’t hurt either.  Hit the jump to check out the images from both films.  360 will play at this year’s Toronto International Film Festival (Sept. 8 – 18th).   Margaret opens in limited released on September 30th.

Continuing our assault of all the new movie images that hit the net this morning, we’ve got our first official looks at Steve McQueen’s Shame (starring Michael Fassbender, Carey Mulligan, James Badge Dale and Nicole Beharie), Fernando Meirelles 360 (starring Jude Law, Anthony Hopkins, Rachel Weisz and Ben Foster), Jamie Linden’s Ten Year (starring Channing Tatum, Rosario Dawson, Justin Long, Kate Mara, Anthony Mackie and Chris Pratt) and Ralph Fiennes’ directorial debut Coriolanus (which stars Fiennes and Gerard Butler).

While many Film Festivals hope to land a few big movies, this year’s Toronto International Film Festival is an insane lineup that’s loaded with huge actors and high profile projects.  Like the past few years, I’ll be at TIFF, so you can expect plenty of reviews/interviews during the Festival which runs from September 8-18th.  Hit the jump to check out all the new images.

In my article yesterday about the Venice Film Festival, I made some predictions on which films would make their world premiere at this year’s Toronto Film Festival and not Venice.  It turns out a few of my guesses were only the tip of the iceberg.  Moneyball, 50/50, and The Descendants are all going to premiere at TIFF.  But my lord, does Toronto have an incredible line-up this year.  I’m praying my application gets approved because when you hit the jump and check out this line-up, you’ll understand my agony if I’m stuck in Atlanta while these films are premiering.

Hit the jump for the line-up of Galas and Premieres for this year’s festival.  The 2011 Toronto International Film Festival runs from September 8th – 18th.

Opening next weekend is director Mikael Hafstroem’s (1408) supernatural thriller The Rite and it stars Anthony Hopkins, Colin O’Donoghue, Alice Braga, Ciaran Hinds, and Toby Jones. “Inspired by true events, The Rite follows skeptical seminary student Michael Kovak (O’Donoghue), who reluctantly attends exorcism school at the Vatican. While in Rome, he meets an unorthodox priest, Father Lucas (Hopkins), who introduces him to the darker side of his faith.”  For more on the film, watch some clips here.

I recently got to participate in a roundtable interview with Hopkins.  During the extended interview, Hopkins talked about what drew him to this project, how does he work with directors as most could be intimidated, how is he so good at scaring people, upcoming projects like Thor and 360, and he also talked about painting, composing music, and so much more.  Hit the jump to read or listen to what he had to say:

If you’re a fan of Jason Statham action films, you’ll be happy to know his latest movie, a remake of The Mechanic, opens this weekend.  Like the 1972 Charles Bronson film that it’s based on, Statham plays a ‘mechanic’, which is “an elite assassin with a strict code and unique talent for cleanly eliminating targets.”   Unlike some remakes that stray far from the original, Statham’s remake uses the same plot, but updates all the technology and kills.  Also, Simon West directed (Con Air, Lara Croft: Tomb Raider) the film so the action is well done.  I actually thought the remake was a lot of fun and casting Ben Foster to play the apprentice was a smart move as he’s an awesome actor that brings a lot to the role.  For more on the film, watch 4 clips here.

Anyway, I recently got to participate in a roundtable interview with Foster and you can either read a transcript or listen to the audio after the jump.  During the interview, Foster talked about working alongside Statham and what it was like to make The Mechanic, the nasty injury he landed as a result of doing his own stunts, how he prepares for each role, why he tends to play tough guys, and he gave us updates on Contraband, Fernando Meirelles’ 360, and Oren Moverman’s Rampart.  If you’re a fan of this great actor, you definitely should check out the interview:

Following his interview with Jason Statham, Steve had a chance yesterday to speak with the other star of The Mechanic, Ben Foster.  It just so happened that Foster had been announced as a cast member of Fernando Meirelles’ 360 about an hour before the interview, which came as a surprise to the actor.

Foster has quite a few projects on the horizon in addition to Meirelles’ 360.  He stars opposite Mark Wahlberg in Contraband.  The romance Here is set to premiere at Sundance later this month.  And he’s reuniting with The Messenger director Oren Moverman and co-star Woody Harrelson for Rampart.  Hit the jump for his updates on these projects and more.

With Warner Bros. The Rite arriving in a few weeks, the studio held a press day for the film this morning.  With Anthony Hopkins starring in the film, I was able to ask him (in a roundtable interview) about his work on Kenneth Branagh’s Thor and Fernando Meirelles next movie 360. For those not familiar with 360, the “project is based on the 1900 play Reigen that inspired French drama La Ronde and has provided the dramatic structure for scores of plays and films.”  Screenwriter Peter Morgan (Frost/Nixon) is handling the script.

While neither update is major, if you’d like to hear what he said about both projects, hit the jump.

Development on 360, an adaptation of the 1900 Arthur Schnitzler play La Ronde, has been shaping up splendidly.  The script from Frost/Nixon scribe Peter Morgan (+1) has lured director Fernando Meirelles (+1) and Rachel Weisz (+1) on board the project.  According to Production Weekly, Anthony Hopkins has signed on to co-star (+1), with Frances McDormand (+1) and Eminem (+1) in talks to join.  For those keeping score, that’s five “Brendan Points,” an impressive total at this early stage in production. More after the jump.

Rachel Weisz is re-teaming with her The Constant Gardner director Fernando Meirelles for the psychosexual drama 360.  According to Variety, the story is about airs of characters and their sexual encounters and that the “project is based on the 1900 play Reigen that inspired French drama La Ronde and has provided the dramatic structure for scores of plays and films.”  Screenwriter Peter Morgan (Frost/Nixon) is handling the script.

Weisz won an Oscar for Best Supporting Actress for her work in Constant Gardner.  She recently wrapped filming on the drama Dream House with Daniel Craig.  Last month, Weisz signed on to costar in Terrence Malick’s new film, which is currently filming in Oklahoma.