Here are today’s casting notes at a glance:

• Christina Ricci (Black Snake Moan) is set to join the cast of drama, Mother’s Day (not the awesome horror movie with Rebecca De Mornay).
• Johnny Galecki (Big Bang Theory) and Taylor Hawkins of Foo Fighters are set to join CBGB’s cast.
• Ashley Tisdale (The Suite Life of Zack and Cody) will star in the fifth installment of the Scary Movie franchise, ingeniously titled Scary Movie 5.

Hit the jump for more details.

After Sony’s The Smurfs grossed a grand total of $563 million at the global box office last year, they waited a grand total of 12 days before green lighting a sequel.  The studio has released an official logo (above) for the sequel, titled The Smurfs 2, but there was another surprising Smurf-related development today.  Apparently, Sony has enough confidence in their sequel writers Karey Kirkpatrick and Chris Poche, that they’re now giving the go-ahead on The Smurfs 3. Given that the production of The Smurfs 2 is already underway with much of the original cast returning (plus a few new faces), things must be coming along quite nicely.

Raja Gosnell, who helmed the first Smurfs film, returns as director for the sequel which also stars Sofia Vergara, Jonathan Winters, Alan Cumming, Fred Armisen, George Lopez, Anton Yelchin and John Oliver. The Smurfs 2 is set for release on July 31st, 2013.  Hit the jump for news on The Smurfs 3.

In case you forgot, a sequel to last year’s The Smurfs is on its way (sigh).  Nearly the entire cast from the first pic—including Neil Patrick Harris, Jayma Mays, Hank Azaria and Katy Perry—are returning, and now THR reports that Brendan Gleeson and J.B. Smoove will be joining the cast as newcomers.  In addition, THR noted a few days ago that Christina Ricci will also come onboard.  Ricci will be playing Vexy, an evil version of the lovely Smurfette (Perry), while Smoove will voice a new character named “Hackus” who is described as “naughty” (the Smurfs have always walked a fine line between children’s fare and inappropriate).  Gleeson, meanwhile, will play Harris’ stepfather, Victor Doyle.  Given that this is a kids’ film, I can only assume that the stepfather will be somewhat evil.

Raja Gosnell, who helmed the first Smurfs film, returns as director for the sequel which also stars Sofia Vergara, Jonathan Winters, Alan Cumming, Fred Armisen, George Lopez, Anton Yelchin and John Oliver. The Smurfs 2 is set for release on July 31st, 2013.

The domestic trailer for the adaptation of Guy de Maupassant’s 1886 novel Bel Ami has gone online.  The film stars Robert Pattinson as an ambitious young journalist who works his way up the social and professional ranks through a series of affairs with influential women.  The trailer basically highlights Pattinson getting his seduction on, then tries to shoehorn in a bit about his character being redeemable.   Call me crazy, but I don’t really find the tale of a liar wooing a bevy of women to be that interesting.  I’m sure Pattinson’s fans will get a kick out of watching his bedroom eyes for two hours, but I’m eager to see the actor stretch his dramatic chops on a project that isn’t focused entirely on sex (or the lack thereof).

Hit the jump to watch the trailer.  The film also stars Uma Thurman, Kristin Scott Thomas, Christina Ricci, and Colm Meaney.  Bel Ami will be available VOD on May 4th and opens in theaters on June 8th.

Now that the film has a firm U.S. release date, the U.S. poster for the adaptation of Guy de Maupassant’s novel Bel Ami has gone online. It’s pretty terribly done, with Robert Pattinson front and center surrounded by the very photoshopped Uma Thurman, Christina Ricci and Kristin Scott Thomas against an ugly background. Furthermore, Pattison appears to be giving the viewer either his bedroom eyes or a death stare.

Hit the jump to check out the poster, and if you missed it be sure to watch Steve’s interview with Thurman about the film. Bel Ami will be available VOD on May 4th and opens in theaters on June 8th.

We can only imagine that Team Edward-ers the world over are eagerly awaiting the opportunity to watch Robert Pattinson have his way with the finest beauties 19thC Paris has to offer in Bel Ami. Well, now they’ve got a date to circle, as Magnolia Pictures announced today that it’s acquired the steamy drama with eyes on a June 8 theatrical release.

Based on the celebrated 1886 Guy de Maupassant novel, Bel Ami focuses on ambitious young journalist Georges Duroy (Pattinson), who works his way up the social and professional ranks through a series of affairs with influential women. Directed by theatre vets Declan Donnellan and Nick Ormerod, the film also stars Uma Thurman, Kristin Scott Thomas, Christina Ricci, and Colm Meaney. Hit the jump for more, including the full press release.

Don’t say I never did anything for you, Robert Pattinson fans.  19 new images and a TV spot have been released for the period drama Bel Ami.  The film takes place in 1890s Paris and centers on an impoverished man (Pattinson) who discovers that he can climb the social ladder by having sex with rich women.  Looking at the images and watching the TV spot, Bel Ami strikes me as Robert Pattinson porn.  I don’t think there’s going to be graphic sex in the movie, but basically the story and characters are simply a pretext for Pattinson to seduce every single straight woman in the audience.  If that’s why you want to see Bel Ami, I doubt you’ll be disappointed.  If you want to see Bel Ami for its costume design, then you’ll also probably like what you see.  So to recap: Bel Ami appeals to 1) fans of Robert Pattinson; 2) fans of 1890s Parisian couture.

Hit the jump to check out the images and TV spot.  The film also stars Uma Thurman, Christina Ricci, and Kristin Scott Thomas.  Bel Ami opens in the UK on March 9th.  Sony acquired the film at AFM but it’s currently without a US release date.

While Robert Pattinson fans have been waiting in vain for the domestic release of his new film Bel Ami, ten minutes of scenes from the pic have now hit the web with Pattinson’s lady-wooing skills on full display. The film is an adaptation of the 1885 Guy de Maupassant novel and stars Christina Ricci, Uma Thurman, and Kristin Scott Thomas. This Bel Ami tease comes by way of a sizzle reel intended to pique interest at the Berlin Film Festival where the film is premiering. If Bel-Ami nabs distribution at the fest, the film will finally get a US release date. It’s currently set to open in the UK in March.

Hit the jump to check out the Bel Ami scenes.

A new trailer for the period drama Bel-Ami has gone online. Based on Guy de Maupassant’s 1885 novel of the same name, the story centers on a poverty-stricken soldier who climbs the social ladder in Paris by manipulating a number of mistresses. The trailer is basically Robert Pattinson bedding a bunch of involved women, then being surprised at the fact that his “Imma sex every girl in Paris” attitude brings him trouble. His conquests include Uma Thurman, Kristin Scott Thomas, and Christina Ricci. I haven’t read de Maupassant’s novel, but the story doesn’t exactly look all that appealing based on this trailer.

Hit the jump to check out the trailer. Directed by Declan Donnellan and Nick Omerod, Bel-Ami opens in the U.K. on March 2nd and is currently awaiting a domestic release date.

In 1963, air travel represented the height of luxury and Pan Am was the biggest name in the business. The pilots were rock stars and the stewardesses were the most desirable women in the world, and to represent Pan Am, they also had to be educated, cultured and refined. The women formed a powerful sisterhood, partaking of one of the few career options that offered them empowerment and respect, as they enjoyed the rare opportunity to travel outside the country.

On ABC’s new drama series Pan Am, actress Christina Ricci plays Maggie, a rebellious young woman who has to keep her wilder side in check, in order to be a workplace professional and pass the beauty checks that will allow her to stay on the flight crew. During a recent interview to promote her new Fall show, she talked about her desire for the consistency of work that TV provides for an actor, how she was attracted to breaking the misconceptions about what stewardesses were at that time, and how fun and exciting it is to portray a period in time when air travel was glamorous. She also talked about what it was like to be seduced by Robert Pattinson in the upcoming feature Bel Ami, and how gritty that material is. Check out what she had to say after the jump:

A batch of new images from the adaptation of Guy De Maupassant’s 1885 novel Bel Ami have gone online. The film stars Robert Pattinson, Uma Thurman, Christina Ricci, and Kristin Scott Thomas and centers on a man who uses his wits and powers of seduction to rise from poverty to wealth in 1890’s Paris. The images feature Pattinson in passionate embrace with both Thurman and Ricci (you dog, you), so I’m expecting the film to be chock full of Pattinson’s bedroom eyes.

Hit the jump to see the images. Directed by Declan Donnellan and Nick Ormerod, Bel Ami is currently without a U.S. release date.

We at Collider have been thinking a lot about Robert Pattinson in the last couple days thanks to Twilight‘s presence at Comic-Con.  If I may borrow your attention for a second, the trailer for another Pattinson project, Bel Ami, is now online.  The logline says it all:

Bel Ami is the story of Georges Duroy (Pattinson), who travels through 1890s Paris, from cockroach ridden garrets to opulent salons, using his wits and powers of seduction to rise from poverty to wealth, from a prostitute’s embrace to passionate trysts with wealthy beauties, in a world where politics and media jostle for influence, where sex is power and celebrity an obsession.

Uma Thurman, Kristin Scott Thomas, Christina Ricci, and Colm Meaney also star in Bel Ami, directed by Declan Donnellan and Nick Ormerod.  Watch the trailer after the jump.

Terry Gilliam is one of the most undeniable directors to ever work in the medium. I say that in the sense that when you watch his films you feel the master’s fingerprints all over, and sometimes that makes the film a bit blurry. Gilliam is one of those directors that it is often hard to relax into because he’s so there; it’s hard to ignore what he is doing. Which is why The Fisher King strikes as one of his strongest works in the sense that it is accomplished without shoving itself down your throat. He was brought in last minute to direct an adaptation of Hunter S. Thompson’s novel Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas, and took the project up only to have stars Johnny Depp and Benecio Del Toro already locked in as his leads, had to rewrite everything that came before, and do it (perhaps as it should be done) as a no-holds barred, gonzo, “let’s shoot this fucker” kind of film. My review of the Criterion edition of Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas on Blu-ray after the jump.

15 years after starring in Casper, Christina Ricci has become Casper in After. Life (shout out to Michael Walchalk for the observation). Or has she? Or, hasn’t she? Are you confused, because after viewing the movie multiple times I sure as hell was.  I was even more flabbergasted by the abundance of zombie boobies, and the police cop that groped them.  Director Agnieszka Wojtowicz-Vosloo’s movie posits some intriguing criticisms of people searching for love and acceptance when its clearly smack in front of their self absorbed eyes. But, like my momma always tells me, it’s not what you say but how you say it. Hit the jump to read my after thoughts on After. Life.

The first official images from Bel Ami starring Robert Pattinson, Uma Thurman, Kristin Scott Thomas, Christina Ricci and Colm Meaney have been released and we’ve got them in high resolution after the jump.  The film which also stars Philip Glenister and Holliday Grainger was shot on locations in and around London and Budapest during an eleven week shoot. Shooting wrapped on April 22nd.

Directed by Declan Donnellan and Nick Ormerod, the film is an erotically charged story of ambition, power and seduction. Georges Duroy (Robert Pattinson), travels through 1890s Paris, from cockroach ridden garrets to opulent salons, using his wits and powers of seduction to rise from poverty to wealth, from a prostitute’s embrace to passionate trysts with wealthy beauties, in a world where politics and media jostle for influence, where sex is power and celebrity an obsession.  Hit the jump for more: