Computer generated imagery has revolutionized movies, of which there’s no doubt, but one of the side effects it that it’s made spectacle boring. You can destroy anything, create fantastical creatures, and combine different takes into one without audiences noticing at the click of a button. The one thing you can’t create with a computer is a compelling story, which is why The Darkest Hour is such a dull slog. Emile Hirsch, Olivia Thirlby, and Max Minghella lead a pack of Americans who are stuck in Russia when an alien invasion hits. Our review of the Blu-ray follows after the jump.

Summit Entertainment has released two new clips and a ton of new images from the upcoming alien invasion pic The Darkest Hour. From producer Timur Beckmambetov (Wanted) and director Chris Gorak, the film centers on a group of young tourists who find themselves trapped in Moscow during a worldwide alien attack. The catch is that the aliens are invisible and feed off of electricity, so flashing lights and car alarms signify that it’s time to get the eff out of dodge.

Hit the jump to check out the clips and images. The film stars Emile Hirsch, Max Minghella, Olivia Thirlby, and Joel Kinnaman. The Darkest Hour opens in 3D on December 25th.

A new trailer for The Darkest Hour has gone online. The film centers on a group of young tourists who find themselves trapped in Moscow following a worldwide alien attack. The pic takes the alien invasion genre and turns it on its head, as the aliens are invisible. They feed off of energy, so lightbulbs flashing or electronics going wonky are signs that they’re near. It’s a cool concept, and this trailer highlights some of that along with some intensely disturbing kills. Seriously, how would you like to turn to dust in a matter of seconds feet-first? The cast is impressive and it’s a neat idea, so I’m excited to see some electricity-fueled carnage this holiday season.

Hit the jump to watch the trailer. If you missed any of Steve’s coverage from the set, check out his interviews with producers Timur Beckmambetov and Tom Jacobson,  Emile Hirsch, Joel Kinnaman, and director Chris Gorak. The Darkest Hour opens in 3D on Christmas Day.

In September of 2010, straight from the Toronto International Film Festival, I got to do something very cool: I went to Moscow and visited the set of Summit Entertainment’s alien invasion movie, The Darkest Hour.  Normally when I say I got to visit the set, it involves going to a huge soundstage and sitting around conducting interviews.  However, The Darkest Hour was a bit different: the production was filming in 3D on the streets of the city and in and around some of the most famous landmarks on the planet.   It was a set visit unlike any I’ve ever been on and it should make for some awesome visuals in the finished film.  While I already posted the group interview I did with producers Timur Bekmambetov & Tom Jacobson, Emile Hirsch and Joel Kinnaman, it’s time for the one with director Chris Gorak.

During the interview, Gorak talked about how he got involved in the project, working with a bigger budget, filming in Moscow and in 3D, how his design background influenced his choices on the film, the cast, and a lot more.  Hit the jump to check it out.

At this year’s Comic-Con, I had the chance to sit down with director Chris Gorak for an exclusive interview about Summit’s upcoming sci-fi thriller, The Darkest Hour.  While I could’ve posted the interview a lot sooner, I decided to wait until the studio released the cool looking trailer.  Hopefully you’ve all had a chance to check it out.  What’s important to know is the entire movie was filmed on location in Moscow, was filmed in 3D, and produced by Wanted director Timur Bekmambetov.

During the interview, Gorak talks about bring at Comic-Con, filming in Moscow, the aliens and what happens to the humans that encounter them, editing, test screenings, and did they decide to explain the alien motivation for attacking Earth or did they go the route of revealing as little as possible.  Hit the jump to watch.  The Darkest Hour opens December 23rd.

Coming December 23 is The Darkest Hour a new 3D alien invasion movie starring Emile Hirsch, written by Jon Spaihts (the first scribe on Prometheus) and directed by Chris Gorak (Right at Your Door, art director of Fight Club). Whereas most invasion films focus on the military battle against the invading extra-terrestrials, this one focuses on what happens after the aliens have already won.

Yesterday, Gorak and the film’s producers sat down to talk with us about the film. After hearing what they had to say and seeing some production art and the first trailer, I think The Darkest Hour could well be the one Hollywood alien invasion movie that everyone remembers from 2011.

Hit the jump to find out why, plus see new concept art from the film.

Summit Entertainment has released the first image of Emile Hirsch in director Chris Gorak’s (art director on Fight Club) alien invasion pic The Darkest Hour. Starring Hirsch, Olivia Thirlby, Rachael Taylor, Joel Kinnaman, and Max Minghella, the film centers on five people who become stranded in Moscow (notice the beautiful architecture in the background) following a crippling alien attack.

Check out the image after the jump. The Darkest Hour opens later this year on December 23rd and will be part of Summit’s Hall H panel which runs from 11:15 – 12:15 on Thursday, July 21st. Make your way back here tomorrow for Matt and Adam’s roundup of the panel and for all of our continuing Comic-Con coverage.

Summit previously scheduled the 3D The Darkest Hour for August 5, a fairly typical summer release date for a sci-fi thriller.  Per Box Office Mojo, the studio has pushed the film to December 23, a less natural holiday season bow.  On the new date, The Darkest Hour must vie for 3D theaters against The Adventures of Tintin: The Secret of the Unicorn; the date also holds The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo and We Bought a Zoo.

Emile Hirsch, Olivia Thirlby, Rachel Taylor, Max Minghella, and Joel Kinnaman star as young tourists who find themselves stranded in Moscow, fighting to survive in the wake of a devastating alien attack.  Chris Gorak (Right at Your Door) is directing from a script by Jon Spaihts.  Timur Bekmambetov (Wanted) is among the producers.

Doug Liman’s Fair Game will begin playing in limited release on November 5th.  The film is based on the true-story of the Valerie Plame affair.  The film stars Naomi Watts as Plame and Sean Penn as Plame’s husband Joseph Wilson.  According to Variety, distributor Summit Entertainment will expand the movie’s release over the following two weekends.  Fair Game played at this year’s Cannes Film Festival to positive notices.  To learn more about the Plame affair, hit the jump.

The studio has also set Chris Gorak’s 3D sci-fi thriller The Darkest Hour for August 5, 2011.  The film stars Emile Hirsch, Olivia Thirlby, Rachel Taylor, Max Minghella and Joel Kinnaman as young tourists who find themselves stranded in Moscow, fighting to survive in the wake of a devastating alien attack.

Olivia Thirlby (Juno, The Wackness) will play one of the leading roles in the sci-fi action film The Darkest Hour.  According to Heat Vision, the film “is set in Moscow and follows a group of Americans traveling in the city when an alien invasion occurs.  Thirlby will play “a trust fund girl trying to survive the attack who teams up with others to try to defeat the invaders.”  The way it reads from Heat Vision, it sounds like a group of Americans are the ones teaming up to defeat the aliens while the Russians flee in terror.  Of course, I’m pretty sure it’s not going to be like that since Russian filmmaker Timur Bekmambetov (Wanted) is producing.  Chris Gorak (Right at Your Door) will direct.

This will be Thirlby’s first big foray into action films.  Her previous work has been in indie, character comedy/dramas.  While filming on Darkest Hour is set to begin in the summer, Thirlby will first co-star in the lesbian-romance-werewolf-drama Jack and Diane this spring.

New Regency and Summit are coming together to produce The Darkest Hour, a thriller about a group of kids in Russia struggling to survive after an alien invasion.  Deadline is reporting that Summit will be taking care of the domestic release of the film while New Regency and Fox International look to cover the foreign release.  New Regency purchased the script back in 2007 and now it looks like they’re moving ahead with the project.

The films director, Chris Gorak, has only directed one film entitled Right at Your Door which was released in 2006, about the aftermath of a Los Angeles terrorist attack.  However, he has worked as an art director for such films as Minority Report, Fight Club, Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas, and Tombstone, which gives me a bit more confidence about the movie.  The article claims that The Darkest Hour is in the style of 28 Days Later. If that’s the case, I’m all in.  The film is set to start filming in Russia this June.