CBS Films has done a bit of release date shuffling for two of their upcoming releases.  First up, director Michael Hoffman’s remake of the 1966 caper comedy Gambit has been moved up from January 11th, 2013 to October 12th of this year (per Box Office Mojo).  Cameron Diaz and Colin Firth star as partners in a con to sell a fake Monet painting, and the film has a script by Joel and Ethan Coen.  Given the caliber of talent involved, the January date was always a bit of a puzzler.  The film will now square off against Ben Affleck’s stellar looking period thriller Argo and the Kevin James “comedy” Here Comes the Boom.  Hit the jump for more, including release date news concerning The Grudge director Takashi Shimizu’s airplane thriller 7500.

Air travel is already annoying enough without supernatural terror going down.  There’s not enough leg room, they now charge you for every little thing (in our lifetime, major airlines will charge you to use the bathroom), and it does everything in its power to diminish the magic of air travel.  I suppose we’ll have to settle for dark magic or whatever freaky thing is attacking the passengers of 7500, the new film from Takashi Shimizu (The Grudge).  I really hope that it’s attacking because some guy didn’t turn off his electronic device during take-off. Please let that be the reason.

Hit the jump to check out the trailer.  The film stars Ryan Kwanten, Leslie Bibb, Nicky Whelan, Jerry Ferrera, Christian Serratos, Jamie Chung, and Amy Smart.  7500 opens August 31st.

The first image from The Grudge director Takashi Shimizu’s thriller 7500 has been unveiled. Described as “a haunted house movie on an airplane,” the film centers on a group of passengers who begin to experience supernatural phenomena after a passenger mysteriously dies during their international flight. Star Ryan Kwanten (True Blood) appears sufficiently perplexed in this first image from the pic alongside castmembers Jerry Ferrera (Entourage) Amy Smart (Road Trip), and Leslie Bibb (Zookeeper). Not much else is known plot-wise about the thriller, but Lost scribe Craig Rosenberg penned the screenplay so we should be in for a few twists and turns.

Hit the jump to check out the image. The film also stars Jamie Chung (Sucker Punch), Christian Serratos (The Twilight Saga), and Scout Taylor-Compton (Halloween). 7500 opens August 31st.

We’ve got a couple of casting stories for you this afternoon. First up, Amy Smart, Ryan Kwanten (True Blood), and Leslie Bibb (Zookeeper) have signed on for the thriller 7500. Takashi Shimizu (The Grudge) is directing the pic from a script by Craig Rosenberg (The Uninvited). Yesterday we brought you some first synopses from a number of films being sold at AFM this week, and 7500 was among them. The pic tells the story of a group of passengers who begin to experience frightening supernatural phenomena after a passenger mysteriously dies in flight. Those remaining are left to wonder if they’re next. Variety reports that Kwanten and Smart will play a married couple who board the flight with two of their longtime friends for a trip to Japan, while Bibb will play “a stewardess involved in a complicated and secret relationship.”

Hit the jump for casting news concerning the indie thriller The East, which stars Brit Marling and Ellen Page.

We’ve been sent an exclusive image from George Gallo‘s upcoming thriller Columbus Circle starring Selma Blair, Amy Smart, Giovanni Ribisi, Jason Lee, and Kevin Pollak.  Here’s the synopsis:

Columbus Circle is a stylish and riveting thriller about a reclusive young heiress, Abigail, (Blair) who lives a guarded and sheltered life in a luxurious New York penthouse. But when she is befriended by Lillian and Charlie (Smart and Lee), the glamorous new owners of the apartment next door, Abigail’s safe and secure existence is suddenly threatened.

Lightning Entertainment will be premiering the film at the American Film Market in order to sell the film to international buyers.  You won’t really learn much about the movie from this image, but hopefully we’ll be able to get a better sense of the film in the near future.  Hit the jump to check out the image.

CBS Films acquired a pitch from The Grudge director Takashi Shimizu this summer under the reported title Flight 75.  Bloody Disgusting reports the studio is currently in talks with Ryan Kwanten (True Blood) and Amy Smart (Crank) to star in the “claustrophobic thriller,” now going by the title Flight 7500.  (100x better!) [Update: We have been informed that the title is actually 7500.]  The story is set on “a transpacific airliner from Los Angeles to Tokyo where the passengers encounter what seems to be a supernatural force.”   Smart would play one of the passengers; the specifics of Kwanten’s role are unknown.  Taka Ichise and Roy Lee are reuniting with their Grudge director to produce 7500.  The premise is fertile, and Kwanten and Smart are amiable stars: CBS may have something on their hands.

Hit the jump for news of Dylan McDermott‘s casting in Dog Fight.

The seductive supernatural thriller Dead Awake is set against the backdrop of a mysterious tragedy that shattered the lives of three people a decade ago, and which sets them on a path to uncover the truth that lies between the living and the dead. When Dylan (Nick Stahl), a depressed assistant at a funeral parlor, decides to fake his own funeral to see who will show up, he ends up befriending a mysterious street junkie named Charlie (Rose McGowan) and is reunited with an old love from his past (Amy Smart), whom he abandoned 10 years prior. He then must confront his past and get the answers to an old mystery before he can proceed with the business of living his own life.

In this exclusive interview with Collider, actress Amy Smart talked about her desire to work with the film’s director Omar Naim, how much she enjoyed working with Nick Stahl and Rose McGowan, that psychological horror can often be much scarier than outright gore, how she would love to emulate the careers of Meryl Streep and Kate Winslet, and how she’s hoping to do another comedy soon. Check out what she had to say after the jump:

The History Channel’s WWII in HD is an epic ten-part documentary that comprehensively details America’s participation in the Second World War. It originally aired from November 15 to November 19, 2009 before being released on Blu-ray and DVD. It features ten hours’ worth of rare and never-before-seen color footage shot across the globe throughout WWII, all of which has been converted for presentation in glorious HD. And you NEED to watch it on Blu-ray. Hit the jump for more.

Crank: High Voltage is a movie with a limited target audience. It is not for those who go to the theaters to make out with their dates. It is not for those who pop in a DVD to relax after a hard day’s labor. It is not for small children, those with heart conditions, or women who are pregnant or may become pregnant. And frankly, it’s vile enough that I would not be at all surprised to discover it were carcinogenic. But, like a pack of Marlboro Reds, it is not something without a certain charm and appeal. More after the jump:

Crank caught a lot of people by surprise, including me. I was not sure what to expect from the Lionsgate film, which arrived with little publicity, and didn’t seem to get too much press beforehand. The film was a combination of the film D.O.A. and Grand Theft Auto, with Chev Chelios (Jason Statham) trying to avenge his own death, only keeping himself alive by stimulating his adrenal gland. But keeping high on life is a moment to moment struggle, so the film keeps raising the stakes. My Review of Crank 2 after the jump.