A new international trailer for Interview with the Vampire director Neil Jordan’s upcoming vampire drama Byzantium has been released online.  The film stars Gemma Arterton and Saoirse Ronan as a mother/daughter vampire duo who arrive in a small British town where their secret doesn’t stay kept for long.  This latest trailer certainly highlights the film’s impressively stylish visuals, while also showcasing the intensity of the story.  Matt caught the film at TIFF last year and expressed his disappointment with the finished product in his review, and I’m interested to see how Jordan sets this pic apart from Interview with the Vampire, which also explores the notion of cursed immortality.

Hit the jump to watch the trailer.  The film also stars Sam Riley, Caleb Landry Jones, and Jonny Lee Miller.  Byzantium opens on June 28th.

A new international trailer for director Neil Jordan’s (Interview with the Vampire) new film Byzantium has been released online.  The film stars Gemma Arterton and Saoirse Ronan as a mother/daughter vampire duo who arrive in a small British town where their secret doesn’t stay kept for long.  This trailer makes the film look very much like a companion piece to Interview with the Vampire, as we see the duo’s struggle play out over multiple time periods and situations.  As a fan of Jordan’s previous entry into the vampire genre, I’m very much looking forward to seeing how the story unfolds.

Hit the jump to watch the trailer, and click here to read Matt’s review.  The film also stars Jonny Lee Miller, Caleb Landry Jones, and Sam Riley.  Byzantium is currently awaiting a U.S. release date.

One of the many films to premier at this year’s Toronto International Film Festival was director Neil Jordan‘s vampire movie Byzantium.  Starring Gemma Arterton, Saoirse Ronan, Sam Riley, Caleb Landry Jones and Jonny Lee Miller, the film’s about the tension between mother and daughter vampires over their code of secrecy.  Here’s the full synopsis and the first clip.

Shortly before the premiere, I was able to speak with Neil Jordan.  We talked about TIFF, how Byzantium came together, did the film change during production, the current popularity of the vampire genre, his opinion of the first Twilight movie, his love of the ARRI ALEXA digital camera, deleted scenes, extended cuts, The Borgias, and a lot more.  Hit the jump for what he had to say.

We’ve got a few acquisition stories regarding films screening at the Toronton Film Festival to share this afternoon.  Briefly:

• Lionsgate has acquired U.S. distribution rights to the comedy Imogene, which stars Kristen Wiig, Annette Bening, Matt Dillon and Darren Criss.
• Lionsgate also picked up the sex addict dramedy Thanks for Sharing starring Mark Ruffalo, Gwyneth Paltrow, and Tim Robbins, directed by The Kids Are All Right scribe Stuart Blumberg.
• Roadside Attractions has acquired the U.S. rights to Sarah Polley’s (Take This Waltz) much buzzed-about documentary Stories We Tell.
• IFC Films picked up director Neil Jordan’s (Interview with the Vampire) vampire drama Byzantium, starring Gemma Arterton and Saoirse Ronan.

Hit the jump for more details.

The possibilities of the vampire story have become increasingly limited.  The story has been around for so long, and has been done so many ways, especially of late, that it’s difficult for a storyteller to come in and find a new spin within the predefined parameters of what we all agree is a “vampire”: a bloodsucking immortal.  In his new film Byzantium, director Neil Jordan has seized upon the “immortal” part and how a vampire would always be, in a sense, frozen in the past and unable to move forward.  Consequently, Byzantium has trouble gaining any momentum.  As its protagonist moans about telling a story hundreds of times but never finding anyone to listen, the film struggles to find a rhythm and gets bogged down in some cringeworthy dialogue.  But the most frustrating aspect of Byzantium is how it fails to pursue a thoughtful, gender-related idea that holds far more potential than another exploration of how vampires are accursed creatures sentenced to wander the earth alone forever and ever anon.

The first clip from the vampire drama Byzantium has landed online.  Directed by Neil Jordan (Interview with the Vampire), the film stars Gemma Arterton and Saoirse Ronan as a mother/daughter vampire duo who arrive in a small British town where their secret doesn’t stay kept for long.  This clip is a scene between Ronan and X-Men: First Class star Caleb Landry Jones, and it’s not exactly Twilight.  We see Ronan’s character react in slow motion to Jones dropping a fair amount of his blood on the ground.  It’s a bit haunting, a bit strange, and slightly disturbing, but I’m wholly intrigued.

Hit the jump to take a look.  The film also stars Sam Riley and Jonny Lee Miller.  Byzantium will premiere at the Toronto Film Festival, which is currently underway.

The jaw-dropping lineup for the upcoming Toronto Film Festival was announced this morning, and a number of images and synopses have been released for films that will be screening at the prestigious fest.  Briefly, here’s a batch of new images:

• The Perks of Being a Wallflower (Directed by Stephen Chbosky) Starring Logan Lerman, Emma Watson, Ezra Miller, Nina Dobrev, Melanie Lynskey, Paul Rudd, and Dylan McDermott.
• Jayne Mansfield’s Car (Directed by Billy Bob Thornton) Starring Thornton, Robert Duvall, Kevin Bacon, and John Hurt.
• The Impossible (Directed by Juan Antonio Bayona) Starring Naomi Watts, Tom Holland, Samuel Joslin, Oaklee Pendergast, and Ewan McGregor.
• Byzantium (Directed by Neil Jordan) Starring Gemma Arterton, Saoirse Ronan, Sam Riley, and Jonny Lee Miller.

Hit the jump to check out the images and synopses.

The line-up for this year’s Toronto International Film Festival has been announced and it is a doozy.  The festival will play host to some of the year’s biggest world premieres including Rian Johnson‘s Looper (which will be the festival’s opening night film), The Wachowskis and Tom Tykwer‘s Cloud Atlas, Ben Affleck‘s Argo, David O. Russell‘s The Silver Linings Playbook, Derek Cianfrance‘s The Place Beyond the Pines, Joss Whedon‘s Much Ado About Nothing, Noah Baumbach‘s Frances Ha, and Neil Jordan‘s Byzantium.  Films making their International/North American debuts (which means that they’ll like show up at the Venice Film Festival first) include Terrence Malick‘s To the Wonder, Joe Wright‘s Anna Karenina, Robert Redford‘s The Company You Keep, and Billy Bob Thornton‘s Jayne Mansfield’s Car.

Hit the jump for the first wave of announced films.  The 2012 Toronto International Film Festival runs from September 6 – 16th.

We’ve got a few new posters to share with you today.  Briefly:

• The Dictator – A new poster for the Sacha Baron Cohen comedy plays up the character’s visit to New York City.  The film opens on May 16th and also stars Anna Faris, Ben Kingsley, and John C. Reilly.
• Piranha 3DD – A new poster for the gore and breast-filled genre sequel takes a page out of the horror posters from the 80s.  The film opens on June 1st and stars Katrina Bowden, Ving Rhames, and David Hasselhoff.
• Byzantium – The first poster for director Neil Jordan’s (Interview with the Vampire) new vampire film.  The story focuses on a daughter (Saoirse Ronan) and mother (Gemma Arterton) vampire pair who arrive in a small 18th century British town.  No release date has been set, but the film also stars Sam Riley and Jonny Lee Miller.

Hit the jump to check out the posters.

New images from The Hunger Games and Byzantium have gone online along with a new set photo from Riddick.  The image from The Hunger Games gives us another look at Donald Sutherland as the villainous President Snow.  Reading the books, I thought Sutherland was a fine choice because A) he can convey the heartlessness of the character; and B) the role will probably keep to the unofficial rule that after the year 2000, Donald Sutherland can’t be in a movie for longer than 15 minutes.

Hit the jump to check out the image along with more on Byzantium and Riddick.  The Hunger Games is due out on March 23rd; no release date has been announce for Byzantium and Riddick.

We’ve got a bunch of new images for you from the following projects:

• Safe, starring Jason Statham, opens April 27th.
• Abraham Lincoln: Vampire Hunter, starring Benjamin Walker, opens June 22nd.
• Casa de mi Padre, starring Will Ferrell, opens March 16th.
• Aftershock, starring Eli Roth, opens next year.
• Byzantium, starring Saoirse Ronan and Gemma Arterton, opens later this year.
• The Lords of Salem, from writer/director Rob Zombie, opens later this year.
• The Croods, starring Ryan Reynolds, Emma Stone and Nicolas Cage, opens March 22nd of 2013.

Hit the jump to check them out.

Tom Hollander (Hanna), Jonny Lee Miller (Dexter), and Sam Riley (Control) have joined Saoirse Ronan and Gemma Arterton in Neil Jordan‘s vampire movie Byzantium. Ronan and Arterton play a daughter and mother who are vampires who arrive in a small 18th century British town.  Ronan’s character begins a relationship with a young man (Caleb Landry Jones) who’s dying of leukemia, which in turn forces him to struggle with his mortality and her to question her immortality.

Daily Mail doesn’t have any details on who the actors will play, but I’m happy to see Hollander in any movie.  He’s a scene stealer and I’m curious to see what he’ll bring to the production.

Caleb Landry Jones (X-Men: First Class) has landed the male lead role in Neil Jordan’s vampire drama Byzantium.  The film stars Saoirse Ronan and Gemma Arterton as a daughter and mother who are vampires who arrive in a small British town.  According to Variety, they reveal their secret to the town and the daughter begins a relationship with teenager dying of leukemia (Jones) which in turns forces him to struggle with his mortality, causing Saorsie Ronan’s character to struggle with her own immortality.  When we first reported on the film back in May, the cast also included Helena Bonham Carter, Ralph Fiennes, and Jeremy Irvine (War Horse), but there’s no mention of them in Vulture’s story.  Hopefully Fiennes and Carter are still on board (I haven’t seen Irvine in anything so I can’t really judge either way).

Jones was one of the weaker cast members in First Class, but in all fairness his character was broadly drawn and he didn’t get much screen time. He’ll next be seen alongside Mark Wahlberg in the crime-thriller Contraband.

News out of the Cannes Film Festival suggests that vampire movies are not quite dead yet. Director Neil Jordan and producer Stephen Woolley will reteam for the all-in-the-family vampire pic, Byzantium. Based on an original script by Moira Buffini (Jane Eyre), Byzantium is the story of a deadly pairing of a mother vampire (Arterton) who turns her daughter (Ronan). In addition to the principal cast members, Byzantium also stars Helena Bonham Carter, Ralph Fiennes and Jeremy Irvine (War Horse).

For more information on Byzantium, hit the jump.