Disney has released a new trailer for the Monsters, Inc. prequel Monsters University.  The pic focuses on the college years of Mike (Billy Crystal) and Sully (John Goodman), and this new full-length trailer reveals the film’s plot.  The Revenge of the Nerds-esque story finds Mike and Sully joining a fraternity of outcasts, as all of the Greek houses must compete against each other in the Scare Games, which carry dire consequences for the losers.  The film looks like it could be Pixar’s most purely fun movie yet, and early reactions from the screening at CinemaCon had many praising the pic’s heart.  If you missed any of Dave’s coverage from his visit to Pixar, be sure to check out his review from seeing 40 minutes of footage, 35 things to know about the film, and his interview with director Dan Scanlon.

Hit the jump to watch the new trailer.  The film also features the voices of Steve Buscemi, Helen Mirren, John Krasinski, Nathan Fillion, Bonnie Hunt, Dave Foley, Sean Hayes, Joel Murray, Peter Sohn, Aubrey Plaza, Tyler Labine, Bobby Moynihan, Julie Sweeney, Alfred Molina, Beth Behrs, and of course, John Ratzenberger. Monsters University opens June 21, 2013.

Even though Monsters University is only a few months away, Pixar has been keeping the voice cast under wraps.  Today, EW is reporting that Nathan Fillion, John Krasinski, and Bonnie Hunt will be voicing new monsters in the upcoming prequel.  Fillion and Krasinski are newcomers to the Pixar world, but Hunt has been a longtime collaborator with the studio having voiced characters in A Bug’s Life, Cars, Toy Story 3, and Monsters, Inc. (although she’ll be voicing a new character).

Hit the jump for descriptions of Fillion, Krasinski, and Hunt’s characters, along with some new images.  The film also features the voices of Billy Crystal, John Goodman, Steve Buscemi, Helen Mirren, Dave Foley, Sean Hayes, Joel Murray, Peter Sohn, Aubrey Plaza, Tyler Labine, Bobby Moynihan, Julie Sweeney, Alfred Molina, Beth Behrs, and of course, John Ratzenberger.  Monsters University opens in 3D on June 21st.

Some recent casting news to share, as follows:

• Michael Gambon (Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince) and Alfred Molina (Spider-Man 2) will star as a married couple in Love Is Strange, the new film from director Ira Sachs (Keep the Lights On).
• Noomi Rapace (Prometheus) is confirmed to star alongside Tom Hardy in Animal Rescue,  an adaptation of a Dennis Lehane short story to be directed by Michael Roskam (Bullhead).

Hit the jump for more on each casting announcement.

The 2013 Sundance Film Festival recently announced a couple batches of films that will screen at the Fest in January, and today we’ve got some first images and synopses for a few films that will be playing in competition as part of the U.S. Dramatic lineup.  Briefly

• Emanuel and the Truth About Fishes – Written and directed by Francesca Gregorini, starring Kaya Scodelario, Jessica Biel, Alfred Molina, Frances O’Connor, Jimmi Simpson, and Aneurin Barnard.
• Fruitvale – Written and directed by Ryan Coogler, starring Michael B. Jordan, Octavia Spencer, Melonie Diaz, Ahna O’Reilly, Kevin Durand, and Chad Michael Murray.
• In a World… – Written and directed by Lake Bell, starring Bell, Demetri Martin, Rob Corddry, Michaela Watkins, Ken Marino, and Fred Melamed.
• May in the Summer – Written and directed by Cherien Dabis, starring Dabis, Hiam Abbass, Bill Pullman, Alia Shawkat, Nadine Malouf, and Alexander Siddig.

Hit the jump for the images and synopses.  The 2013 Sundance Film Festival runs January 17 – 27.

Let’s start the day with some casting, shall we?  Here are the headlines:

• Elizabeth Banks will topline What’s the Matter with Margie?, a dark comedy from Alan Ball.
• Alfred Molina and Freida Pinto are set to star in Desert Dancer, based on the life of Iranian dancer, Afshin Ghaffarian.
• Sean Bean will join The 4th Reich, an action-horror film set in World War II.

Hit the jump for more on both projects.

Seth Green and his crew behind Robot Chicken have already skewered the Star Wars universe several times over with entire specials dedicated to mocking George Lucas and the classic sci-fi saga. Now the stop-motion animated comedy series has their sights set on DC Comics as Cartoon Network’s Adult Swim will present a Robot Chicken special featuring Seth Green as Batman, Robin and Aquaman, Paul Reubens as The Riddler, Neil Patrick Harris as Two-Face, Alfred Molina as Lex Luthor, Nathan Fillion as the Green Lantern, Megan Fox as Lois Lane, and Breckin Meyer as Superman. More after the jump!

Since it seems like House M.D. might be on the way out, the time is coming for a new medical drama to step up to the plate. Perhaps Alfred Molina will be a good substitute for Hugh Laurie as Deadline reports the Spider-Man 2 star will lead David E. Kelley’s TNT medical drama Chelsea General. The new series is based on Dr. Sanjay Gupta’s forthcoming novel Monday Mornings, a story that follows five surgeons as they push the limits of their abilities and confront their personal and professional failings (sound familiar?) The series takes place during the hospital’s Monday Morbidity and Mortality conference, considered the most secretive meeting in all of medicine, where doctors gather for a confidential review of complications and errors in patient care. More details after the jump.

A number of actors have been added to the cast of Francesca Gregorini’s (Tanner Hall) indie Emanuel and the Truth About Fishes. The film stars Kaya Scodelario (Clash of the Titans) as a troubled 17-year-old named Emanuel who agrees to babysit her new neighbor Linda’s “baby”, though the baby turns out to actually be a life-like doll. “She goes along with the delusion while befriending Linda (Jessica Biel), who happens to be the splitting image of Emanuel’s late mother.” Now Alfred Molina (Spider-Man 2), Frances O’Connor (A.I. Artificial Intelligence), Jimmi Simpson (Date Night), and rising star Aneurin Barnard are set to join the cast. Hit the jump for more.

We have three clips from Taylor Lautner’s upcoming actioner Abduction to bring you today. Directed by John Singleton (Four Brothers), the film centers on Lautner’s character as he attempts to find out why his baby photo is posted on a missing persons website.  Lily Collins, Alfred Molina, Sigourney Weaver and Jason Isaacs also star in the pic which will act as the first true gauge of Lautner’s solo box office prowess.  Check out the clips after the jump. Abduction opens on September 23rd.

The second trailer for The Lautner Iden—er—Abduction has hit the web. The film pegs Taylor Lautner as an action hero and centers on a young man who’s out to uncover the truth as to why a baby photo of himself wound up on a missing persons website. While the first trailer focused on telling the story, this one plays much more like a fast-cut TV spot that’s very heavy on the action and light on dialogue. I think Lautner only speaks once. The supporting cast is pretty impressive, but I still have trouble taking Lautner seriously as an action star.

Directed by John Singleton, the film stars Lautner, Lily Collins, Sigourney Weaver, Danny Glover, Alfred Molina, Michael Nyqvist, Maria Bello, and Jason Isaacs. Abduction opens on September 23^rd. Hit the jump to watch the trailer.

The first trailer for the action thriller Abduction, starring Taylor Lautner, has been released. Directed by John Singleton (Boyz n the Hood) the thriller centers around a young man who sets out to uncover the truth after finding a baby photo of himself listed on a missing persons website. While Lautner’s acting still seems a bit too ham-fisted to be taken seriously, the supporting cast is fairly impressive and some of the action sequences actually looked pretty cool. I understand Lautner’s desire to move on to bigger and better things post-Twilight, but the guy’s no Tom Cruise.

Abduction stars Lautner, Lily Collins, Sigourney Weaver, Danny Glover, Alfred Molina, Michael Nyqvist, Maria Bello, and Jason Isaacs. The film is set to be released on September 23^rd. Hit the jump to watch the trailer.

A new clip from Gore Verbinski’s Rango has landed online.  I really hope this movie ends up being good because I like the look of it, I like the way it was made, and I like the goofy tone that I’m seeing in this clip and in the trailer.

Hit the jump to check out the clip.  The film features the voices of Johnny Depp, Alanna Ubach, Abigail Breslin, Isla Fisher, and Alfred Molina.  Rango opens March 4th.

Paramount has released a new behind the scenes featurette called “natural acting experience” from Gore Verbinski’s Rango.  While I was already excited to see ILM’s first feature length animated movie due to the trailer, this featurette has me even more amped.  The reason is, unlike most animated movies which feature the actors delivering their dialogue alone, Verbinski had the entire cast acting out the scenes like a play, which I’m sure led to a lot of discovery with the script and many improvised moments.  I wonder if the Blu-ray release will feature a split screen so you can see the animated scenes next to the actors recording the dialogue.  Trust me, the way they captured Rango is as radical a process for animation as I have ever seen.  You definitely want to check out this feturette.  Rango hits theaters March 18,2011.

A new trailer for the animated flick Rango has gone online.  Directed by Gore Verbinski (Pirates of the Caribbean), the film features the voice of Johnny Depp as the title character, a chameleon who becomes the unlikely hero of a Wild West-type village after he accidentally slays a hawk.  While I previously didn’t have much interest in the film, this trailer made me chuckle and it looks like it could be a fun little movie.

Hit the jump to check out the trailer.  Rango also stars the voices of Alanna Ubach, Abigail Breslin, Isla Fisher, and Alfred Molina.  The film opens March 18th.

The development process is such that something that may have started out as a fairy good idea can mutate to serve too many masters. This much is certain, 2010’s The Sorcerer’s Apprentice seems to have begun as an idea to turn the beloved short in Walt Disney’s Fantasia into a feature length film. But that short can’t really lead to a narrative, only one set piece. So instead the creators had to borrow from the popular myths of the time, specifically Harry Potter. And so Jay Baruschel is Dave, the hapless college student who experienced magic as a child (but no one believed him), but is actually a secretly awesome magician. He is taken in by Balthazar Blake (Nicholas Cage) to be Blake’s apprentice and to learn the ways of magic to protect himself from Maxim Horvath (Alfred Molina). My review of Jon Turteltaub’s The Sorcerer’s Apprentice on Blu-ray follows after the jump.