The nationwide expansion of Harmony Korine‘s Spring Breakers meant that I had the opportunity to catch the film last night at my local theater. We’ll talk a more specifically about our coverage of the film after the jump. For now, I’d like to make a futile attempt at encapsulating my feelings on the pic in the next few sentences. There’s a lot to like about Breakers whether it be the performances (James Franco‘s especially), the music, the slick editing and use of foreshadowing, etc. Nevertheless, for me this isn’t a movie that I “liked” as much as it’s one I respect. It’s beautiful, surreal, challenging, abhorrent, and vapid all at the same time. In other words, it’s art.

I could go on for days about the pic but that’s not why we’re here. In this week’s Top 5 we’ll take a look at our Breakers coverage, some Transformers 4 plot details, Olympus Has Fallen interviews with Gerard Butler and Antoine Fuqua just to name a few, a new trailer and poster for Star Trek Into Darkness, and The Croods interviews with Nicolas Cage and more. As is standard, a brief recap and link to each awaits after the jump.

Opening this weekend is director Antoine Fuqua’s White House actioner Olympus Has Fallen.  The film stars Gerard Butler as a disgraced Secret Service agent called back to duty when terrorists take over the White House and capture the President (Aaron Eckhart).  The film also stars Morgan Freeman, Angela Bassett, Ashley Judd, Melissa Leo, Robert Forster, Dylan McDermott, Radha Mitchell, Cole Hauser, and Rick Yune.  If you’ve been waiting for Butler to return to action, you’re going to be very happy watching Olympus Has Fallen.  Not only is the film a hard R for graphic violence, it features Butler kicking ass in some great action set pieces.  Watch some clips here.

A few days ago I landed an exclusive interview with Eckhart here in Los Angeles.   During our wide-ranging conversation, we talked about making Olympus Has Fallen, the great supporting cast, the violence, how he got into acting, Twitter, how he prepares for a role, the way great directors craft a performance, I, Frankenstein and whether he will join the cast of Divergent.  Hit the jump to either read or listen to the interview.

“It’s Die Hard in the White House” is the high-concept pitch for Olympus Has Fallen.  It’s a good pitch, but it’s only a pitch.  The movie doesn’t understand what makes Die Hard compelling beyond “a hero trapped and alone has to take out bad guys and save hostages”.  It’s about well-written characters and a confident tone, and Olympus Has Fallen has neither.  Director Antoine Fuqua may have his movie paced like a tight action flick, but it’s a confused picture in terms of mood and plot.  Furthermore, it misses the obvious aspect of giving us a hero worth rooting for and a villain worth rooting against.  Olympus Has Fallen sticks us in the crossfire and no one knows how to shoot.

Opening this weekend is director Antoine Fuqua’s (Training Day) White House actioner Olympus Has Fallen.  The film stars Gerard Butler as a disgraced Secret Service agent called back to duty when terrorists take over the White House and capture the President (Aaron Eckhart).  The film also stars Morgan Freeman, Angela Bassett, Ashley Judd, Melissa Leo, Robert Forster, Dylan McDermott, Radha Mitchell, Cole Hauser, and Rick Yune.  If you’ve been waiting for Butler to return to action, you’re going to be very happy watching Olympus Has Fallen.  Not only is the film a hard R for graphic violence, it features Butler kicking ass in some great action set pieces.  Watch some clips here.

During the recent New York City press junket, I got to speak with Eckhart and Bassett.  We talked about how the film is a hard R realistic take on what could actually happen to the White House, the way they prepared for their roles, the great cast, and more.  In addition, I also got updates on I, Frankenstein and Black Nativity.  Hit the jump to watch.

A batch of new images and a poster for the long-delayed thriller Erased have been released online.  Directed by Philipp Stolzl, the film stars Aaron Eckhart as a former CIA agent who moves to Belgium with his estranged 15-year-old daughter (Liana Liberato) and takes a job as a security consultant at a multinational corporation.  He soon discovers that his co-workers are gone, the corporation no longer exists, and his assistant is actually a trained operative trying to kill him.  The film was originally shot a couple of years ago and received a foreign released under the title The Expatriate last fall, but now the pic is finally getting a release stateside this year.  If you missed the first trailer, click here.

Hit the jump to check out the images and poster.  The film also stars Olga Kurylenko and Alexander Fehling.  Erased will be released VOD on April 5th and hits theaters on May 10th.

It’s a casting bonanza for director Neil Burger’s (The Illusionist) anticipated adaptation of the popular YA novel Divergent.  The past couple of days have seen the likes of Jai Courtney (A Good Day to Die Hard), Maggie Q (Nikita), Zoe Kravitz (X-Men: First Class), and Ansel Elgort (Carrie remake) join the film’s cast, and now another slew of actors are signing on.  The story takes place in a futuristic society where people are divided into factions based on their personalities, and Shailene Woodley (The Descendants) has long been set in the lead role of Tris Prior, a young girl who doesn’t fit into any of the pre-assigned groups and faces termination due to her status as a “Divergent.”

Though the film’s plot has drawn similarities to The Hunger Games, the book received a fair amount of praise from critics, and it’s telling that the film has attracted such talent as Woodley and Kate Winslet.  Now some other impressive actors are signing on, including Theo James who has nabbed the highly coveted male lead.  Hit the jump for more.

FilmDistrict has released ten new clips from director Antoine Fuqua’s (Shooter) upcoming White House actioner Olympus Has Fallen.  The film stars Gerard Butler as a disgraced Secret Service agent called back to duty when terrorists take over the White House and capture the President (Aaron Eckhart).

Hit the jump to check out the clips, and click here for over 25 high-resolution images from the pic.  The film also stars Morgan Freeman, Angela Bassett, Ashley Judd, Melissa Leo, Robert Forster, Dylan McDermott, Radha Mitchell, Cole Hauser, and Rick Yune.  Olympus Has Fallen opens on March 22nd.

FilmDistrict has released a batch of new high-resolution images from director Antoine Fuqua’s (Training Day) White House actioner Olympus Has Fallen.  The film stars Gerard Butler as a disgraced Secret Service agent called back to duty when terrorists take over the White House and capture the President (Aaron Eckhart).  The pic is one of two similarly-plotted action films that take place in and around the White House that will hit theaters this year, with the other being Roland Emmerich’s White House Down.  Thus far, this film looks like it has a slightly larger scope than Down, but we’ve yet to see a full trailer for the latter.

Hit the jump to take a look at the images.  The film also stars Morgan Freeman, Angela Bassett, Ashley Judd, Melissa Leo, Robert Forster, Dylan McDermott, Radha Mitchell, Cole Hauser, and Rick Yune.  Olympus Has Fallen opens on March 22nd.

The first trailer for director Philipp Stolzl’s long-delayed action thriller Erased (formerly titled The Expatriate) has finally been released online.  The film stars Aaron Eckhart as a former CIA agent who moves to Belgium with his estranged 15-year-old daughter (Liana Liberato) and takes a job as a security consultant at a multinational corporation.  He soon discovers that his co-workers are gone, the corporation no longer exists and his assistant is actually a trained operative trying to kill him.  The trailer gives off a very strong Taken vibe, and certain aspects of the pic actually look pretty interesting.  That said, when a film has been sitting on the shelf for over two years, it’s usually not a good sign.  One thing’s for sure, though: messing with people’s daughters is a good way to provoke a disproportionate (and unfortunate) response from the father.

Hit the jump to watch the trailer.  The film also stars Olga Kurylenko and Alexander Fehling.  Erased opens on May 10th.

The first trailer for Antoine Fuqua’s Olympus Has Fallen is now available online.  In the first of two White House-centric action flicks this year, Fuqua strikes hard and fast to bring down the President of the United States and the symbolic building of his power.  At the same time, he establishes a great foundation for the protagonist’s heroic arc, which makes for a welcome return to action for star Gerard Butler.  There’s a bit of Expendables-style flair and over-the-top effects that are more in line with what we can expect from Roland Emmerich’s White House Down, but Fuqua’s pedigree of bringing out the truth in his characters gives me faith that this will be more than just “Die Hard meets Air Force One on steroids.”

Starring Aaron Eckhart, Ashley Judd, Morgan Freeman, Dylan McDermott and Angela Bassett, Olympus Has Fallen opens on March 22nd.  Hit the jump to check out the first trailer and poster.

It looks like Antoine Fuqua’s Olympus Has Fallen will get a chance to take down the White House before Roland Emmerich’s White House Down as it is now slated to open first by about three months.  Starring Gerard Butler as a disgraced Secret Service agent called back to duty when terrorists take over the White House, Olympus Has Fallen will star Aaron Eckhart as the President in Peril. (Emmerich’s film stars Channing Tatum as the heroic Secret Service agent with Jamie Foxx playing the President.)

Olympus Has Fallen also stars Morgan Freeman, Angela Bassett, Robert Forster, Cole Hauser, Ashley Judd, Melissa Leo, Dylan McDermott, Radha Mitchell and Rick Yune and will open April 5th, 2013. Hit the jump to read the press release.

Hot on the heels of the news that Universal is shifting Les Miserables to Christmas Day this year, a few changes and debuts set for some 2013 releases have been announced.  Briefly:

• I, Frankenstein – The graphic novel adaptation of the eponymous monster, played by Aaron Eckhart, has been pushed from February 22nd to September 13th, 2013.
• Battle of the Year – The breakdancing (or “B-boy”) film starring Josh Holloway, Josh Peck, and Chris Brown has been pushed from this January all the way to September 13th, 2013.
• Snitch – The action thriller starring Dwayne Johnson has been set for release on February 22nd, 2013.
• No Good Deed – The thriller featuring Idris Elba and Taraji P. Henson has been given a pre-Halloween release of October 18th, 2013.

Hit the jump for more details.

Today’s cast additions include two White House themed pictures for the price of one:

• James Woods (Casino) is in early negotiations to join Roland Emmerich’s White House Down, starring Channing Tatum and Jamie Foxx.
• Chris Cooper (American Beauty) is in talks to board the John Wells‘ adaptation of August: Osage County, with Meryl Streep and Julia Roberts.
• Cole Hauser (Good Will Hunting) has joined the Antoine Fuqua actioner, Olympus Has Fallen, opposite Gerard Butler and Aaron Eckhart.

Hit the jump for more details on each picture.

Here are some recent casting additions at a glance:

• Justin Long (Live Free or Die Hard) is in talks to star in the adaptation of Stephen King’s short story, The Ten O’Clock People.
• Dylan McDermott (American Horror Story) is the latest addition to the White House thriller Olympus Has Fallen, starring Aaron Eckhart and Gerard Butler.
• Oscar Isaac (Drive) is in negotiations to star opposite Viggo Mortensen in Hossein Amini’s The Two Faces of January.

Hit the jump for more on each picture.

Some brief casting notes for you here with more details after the jump:

• Angela Bassett (Malcolm X) is set to join Gerard Butler (300) and Aaron Eckhart (The Dark Knight) in Antoine Fuqua’s Presidential thriller, Olympus Has Fallen.
• Derek Luke (Antwone Fisher) will star opposite Paula Patton (Mission: Impossible – Ghost Protocol) in Baggage Claim, from writer/director/producer David Talbert.
• Robert Baker (Out of Time) and Brian Howe (The Pursuit of Happyness) are the most recent additions to the cast of Atom Egoyan’s Devil’s Knot, based on the true life saga of the West Memphis Three.

Hit the jump for more on each picture.