With director Chris Wedge’s animated adventure comedy Epic set to debut at the end of May, we were recently granted a behind-the-scenes preview of the Blue Sky and 20th Century Fox production.  While the trailer gives a nice idea of the world the film exists in, the footage we were shown – some of it still a work in progress – was absolutely beautiful.  On a storytelling note, many have drawn comparisons between Epic and that of 1992′s FernGully: The Last Rainforest and 1989′s Honey, I Shrunk the Kids and those comments are certainly not unfounded.  Though Epic is aimed at audiences too young to have seen either of those films when they opened, there is much more to the story here than just a rehashing of familiar elements.

Featuring the voices of Amanda Seyfried, Josh Hutcherson, Christoph Waltz, Beyonce Knowles, Pitbull, Jason Sudeikis, Steven Tyler, Aziz Ansari, Blake Anderson, and Judah Friedlander,  Epic opens in 3D on May 24, 2013.  Hit the jump for more on our behind-the-scenes preview and here’s the new trailer. 

A new trailer has been released for the animated film, Epic.  The story tells of a hidden land deep in the forest where the battle between the forces of good and evil continues under our very noses.  A teenage girl is magically transported into their secret universe by shrinking down to their size, where she must combine forces with an assortment of colorful characters in order to save both worlds.  This trailer doesn’t give me much hope for the movie.  The main focus is “Look at all the celebrities we gathered to do voice work!”  Instead, that voice work comes off particularly distracting at points since I’m not seeing characters but seeing Aziz Ansari and Christoph Waltz in a recording booth.

Hit the jump to check out the trailer.  The film also features the voices of Amanda Seyfried, Josh Hutcherson, Colin Farrell, Pitbull, Jason Sudeikis, Steven Tyler, Blake Anderson, Judah Friedlander, and Beyoncé Knowles.  Epic opens in 3D on May 24th.

A new trailer for the 20th Century Fox animated film Epic has been released.  The story tells of a hidden land deep in the forest where the battle between the forces of good and evil continues under our very noses.  A teenage girl is magically transported into their secret universe by shrinking down to their size, where she must combine forces with an assortment of colorful characters in order to save both worlds.  The pic still looks a little like Ferngully 2013, but I’m not entirely sure that’s a bad thing.  There’s more humor in this trailer than in the first, and the “miniaturized” story device should provide for some fun set pieces in the forest.

Hit the jump to watch the new trailer.  The film features the voices of Amanda Seyfried, Josh Hutcherson, Christoph Waltz, Beyonce Knowles, Pitbull, Jason Sudeikis, Steven Tyler, Aziz Ansari, Blake Anderson, and Judah Friedlander.  Epic opens in 3D on May 24, 2013.

The second full trailer for Ice Age: Continental Drift has been released.  The fourth installment in the Ice Age franchise finds the kooky characters attempting to survive the breakup of Pangea, when Earth’s supercontinent begins to rift.  Though I’m not the biggest fan of the series, there are more than a few laughs to be found in this latest trailer.  The MVP of the franchise has always been John Leguizamo’s Sid the Sloth, and he shines in this latest clip.  We also get a glimpse of the film’s antagonists, a gang of pirates led by a prehistoric orangutan voiced by Peter Dinklage.

Hit the jump to watch the trailer.  The voice-cast includes Ray Romano, Queen Latifah, Denis Leary, Jennifer Lopez, Chris Wedge, John Leguizamo, Aziz Ansari, Nick Frost, Joy Behar, JB Smoove, Alan Tudyk, Heather Morris, Josh Gad, Kunal Nayyar, Alain Chabat, and hip/hop artist Nicki Minaj. Ice Age: Continental Drift opens in 3D on July 13th.

Seth Rogen is currently making his co-directorial debut with writing partner Evan Goldberg on the apocalypse comedy The End of the World (aka The Apocalypse), and with this first batch of set photos it’s clear that they weren’t messing around when they said they wanted a lot of celebrity cameos.  The main cast includes Seth Rogen, Jay Baruchel, Danny McBride, Jonah Hill, James Franco, and Craig Robinson, and the story finds the aforementioned actors attending a party at Franco’s house (playing himself) when the apocalypse begins.  We recently learned that Emma Watson, Jason Segel, David Krumholtz, Michael Cera, Aziz Ansari and Rihanna would be cameoing in the pic, and these set photos feature all but Krumholtz, with Paul Rudd thrown in for good measure.  The film is based on a short that Rogen and Baruchel made a few years ago in which they essentially played themselves, so I’m inclined to believe that everyone might be playing themselves in this feature version.

This is a pretty epic cast as far as comedy goes, and I’m incredibly excited to see how everyone will interact.  Moreover, it should be fun to see how some of the aforementioned actors perish during the apocalypse.  Hit the jump to check out the set images.  The film is slated to open on June 14th, 2013.

Twentieth Century Fox Animation and Blue Sky Studios have announced the all-star voice cast for their new 3D CG action-adventure comedy, Epic.  The film, from the creators of Ice Age and Rio, will feature Beyonce, Aziz Ansari, Colin Farrell, Josh Hutcherson, Amanda Seyfried and Johnny Knoxville.  The story tells of a hidden land deep in the forest where the battle between the forces of good and evil continues under our very noses.  A teenage girl is magically transported into their secret universe where she must combine forces with an assortment of colorful characters in order to save both worlds.  In addition to the stellar voices behind the characters, Epic will be directed by Chris Wedge who won an Academy Award for his 1999 short, Bunny and co-director of 2002′s Oscar-nominated  Ice Age.  Epic will transport into theaters May 24, 2013.  Hit the jump for more.

The aptly named The Apocalypse is looking more and more like The Avengers of comedies with each casting story.  Seth Rogen, Jay Baruchel, Danny McBride, Jonah Hill, James Franco, and Craig Robinson are already set to star, with Rogen and his writing partner Evan Goldberg making their directorial debut on the project.  Now Aziz Ansari has revealed that he’ll be appearing in the pic as well.  Moreover, Ansari said that everyone is basically playing themselves in the comedy.  The story concerns all the aforementioned actors showing up at James Franco’s house for a party, then the apocalypse starts happening.  Hit the jump for more.

When the NBC comedy series first started, Parks and Recreation only seemed to be riding on the coattails of The Office with its mockumentary style and somewhat weak start in the first season. However, two season later the show has quickly found its footing, crafted some spectacular characters, fantastic comedy and a series that has actually surpassed the quality of the series it once seemed to simply copy. Aside from previous series regulars like Amy Poehler, Nick Offerman and Aziz Ansari consistently delivering some of the best comedic performances on television, the addition of Adam Scott and Rob Lowe as series regulars also bring some magic to Pawnee, Indiana. For a more in-depth analysis of the third season of Parks and Recreation, hit the jump.

Star Wars: The Complete Saga hits Blu-ray tomorrow, which means the Lucasfilm marketing machine is in full swing. While many may be deriding the changes that The Almighty Tinkerer has made this time around, not everything Lucasfilm does is nerd-angering. The studio has launched an initiative to benefit the charity Stand Up to Cancer, and they’ve recruited some big names to help out. The Use the Force For Good intiative has kicked off with a video tribute featuring a number of celebrities reenacting scenes from the series. The clip is actually pretty funny, and includes Aziz Ansari, Zach Galifianakis, Bill Hader, Ed Helms, Ken Jeong, Jaime King, Seth Rogen, Andy Samberg, Emma Stone, and of course Samuel L. Jackson.

Hit the jump to watch the video. Unsurprisingly, Hader is the highlight, as his penchant for impressions leads to some fantastically goofy reenactments.

In a summer packed with R-rated comedies, 30 Minutes or Less is the last one out the gate.  It’s not the most emotionally fulfilling (Bridesmaids), it’s not the one that delivers the most laughs (Horrible Bosses), and it’s certainly not the worst (The Hangover Part II).  What 30 Minutes or Less has working for it is that it’s short.  There’s hardly an ounce of fat on it and it races from scene to scene trying to get as many laughs in as possible.  The comic ensemble does a terrific job and while director Ruben Fleischer doesn’t show off the visual flair he demonstrated in Zombieland, he keeps the movie crass, fast, and funny.

As part of Sony’s massive Hall H panel today, we were treated to a presentation of Zombieland director Ruben Fleischer’s new film 30 Minutes or Less.  Moderator Ralph Garman began by bringing out Fleischer, Nick Swardson, Michael Pena, and Aziz Ansari. Fleischer explained that Jesse Eisenberg is currently shooting a Woody Allen movie and Danny McBride is busy with Eastbound and Down. However, McBride treated us to a pre-recorded message that began with the actor stating, “If you are viewing this, the apes have won.” In his gut-busting video he proceeded to call every one of the other actors on the panel assholes.  Hit the jump for my full recap.

With director Ruben Fleischer’s (Zombieland) 30 Minutes or Less opening August 12, Sony is using this week’s Comic-Con to help promote the very funny film.  Starring Jesse Eisenberg, Danny McBride, Aziz Ansari, Nick Swardson, Dilshad Vadsaria and Michael Pena, the film centers on a pizza delivery guy (Eisenberg) who is kidnapped by two men (McBride and Swardson) and forced to rob a bank at the risk of being blown up.

Anyway, Sony is holding a free screening this Friday night at 8pm and we’ve got tickets to give away to some of our readers.  Since I know no one wants to see a movie by themselves, every person getting tickets will get a +1.  In addition, Ansari, Swardson, Pena and Fleischer will intro the film and then participate in a Q&A following the screening!  Hit the jump for details on how to enter, and you can also watch video messages from Eisenberg and Ansari, as well as McBride and Swardson.

New posters have been release for Final Destination 5, Killer Elite, and 30 Minutes or Less.  What’s great about each of these posters?  Final Destination 5: You can’t go wrong with exploding skulls.  Killer Elite: Clive Owen ‘stache.  30 Minutes or Less: Absolutely nothing.

Hit the jump to check out the posters.  Final Destination 5 opens August 12th.  Killer Elite opens September 23rd.  30 Minutes or Less opens August 12th.

A new green band trailer for director Ruben Fleischer’s (Zombieland) comedy 30 Minutes or Less has been released. It’s more or less a clean version of the most recent red band trailer, but it’s still a lot of fun. Everything I’ve seen from this movie so far has been pretty much spot-on. Fleischer’s put together a great cast, and the pairing of Eisenberg and Ansari is fantastic.

Starring Jesse Eisenberg, Danny McBride, Aziz Ansari, Nick Swardson, Dilshad Vadsaria and Michael Pena, the film centers on a pizza delivery guy (Eisenberg) who is kidnapped by two men (McBride and Swardson) and forced to rob a bank at the risk of being blown up. Hit the jump to watch the trailer. If you missed it, check out Steve’s set visit report/video blog, in addition to his on-set interviews with Eisenberg, Ansari and Vadsaria, Swardson and McBride, and Fleischer. 30 Minutes or Less hits theaters August 12th.

A new red band trailer for director Ruben Fleischer’s (Zombieland) comedy 30 Minutes or Less is now available online and it rings of nostalgia for the time “you and I worshiped the devil for like two weeks.” Starring Jesse Eisenberg, Danny McBride, Aziz Ansari, Nick Swardson, and Michael Pena, the film centers on a pizza delivery guy (Eisenberg) who is kidnapped by two men (McBride and Swardson) and forced to rob a bank at the risk of being blown up. Thus far, everything I’ve seen from the film has made me laugh and I can’t wait to check it out in theaters on August 12th. Watch the new restricted trailer after the jump.