I’ve patiently waited for the opportunity to include Veronica Mars in the Top 5. As one of my favorite pop culture artifacts, I’m thrilled that this past week has finally afforded me the chance. That said, I’ll reserve any and all debate regarding the impact and merit of its now famed Kickstarter campaign for after the jump. For now, I’ll just say that, as much as I loved the show, I didn’t feel shortchanged by its somewhat abrupt finale. Moreover, I never felt like I needed a movie to bring some sort of closure to that world and its characters. Don’t get me wrong, by series end I wanted more VM in my life. But maybe that’s a good thing. Looking back I’d much prefer a series leave me wanting more than continually ask me back every week when it can barely muster even a shadow of its former self (cough…The Office…cough).

In addition to more Mars talk, this week’s collection also includes our G.I. Joe: Retaliation set visit, the first red-band trailer for Kick-Ass 2, Jurassic Park 4 naming its director, and all of our SXSW 2013 coverage to date. Keep reading for a brief recap and link to each.

Late last year, director Colin Trevorrow (Safety Not Guaranteed) was a dark horse candidate in the running for the director’s chair of Star Wars: Episode VII; now it looks as if he’ll be helming the fourth installment of the Jurassic Park series.  Trevorrow had teased fans about directing a film with a significant fan base and the rumor mill quickly lumped him into the Star Wars discussion.  Not long after that, word came out that Trevorrow would be writing and possibly directing a remake of Flight of the Navigator; nothing to scoff at, but certainly not Star Wars.  With today’s news that he’ll be directing Jurassic Park 4, now we know the fan base he was hinting at all along.  Hit the jump for more.

Hey, remember when we were getting all silly over the idea of Colin Trevorrow (Safety Not Guaranteed) directing Star Wars Episode VII? Well, it turns out that he’ll be writing and possibly directing Disney’s Flight of the Navigator reboot instead. Way back in 2009 when we reported of Disney’s plans for the remake, Brad Copeland (Wild Hogs) had been hired to pen the first draft. Now, Trevorrow will do a rewrite along with his Safety Not Guaranteed writer, Derek Connolly. Hit the jump for more on the project, including a comment from Connolly and another mysterious project the duo have in development at Disney.

There has been a firestorm of speculation on who will direct Star Wars: Episode VII ever since word broke that Disney purchased Lucasfilm and the rights to Star Wars with plans to churn out a new sequel trilogy starting in 2015. Big name directors including Steven Spielberg, Quentin Tarantino, Zack Snyder and Brad Bird have disavowed any involvement with the picture, but Colin Trevorrow (Safety Not Guaranteed) is a name that keeps popping up. We recently reported on some of Trevorrow’s comments about the new movie as a Star Wars fan. Now, a new video interview has surfaced with Trevorrow talking about possibly helming a movie with a significant fan base. Hit the jump to check out the video.

[Update: Trevorrow has reached out on Twitter to clarify his statement, denying that he's involved with the new Star Wars. More after the jump.]

With a director yet to be announced, speculation has run rampant.  Two possible contenders for the job, J.J. Abrams, Jon Favreau, Guillermo Del Toro, and Colin Tervorrow (Safety Not Guaranteed) have chimed in on whether or not they would want to get behind the camera for Star Wars: Episode VII.  Hit the jump for what each director had to say as well as a recap of recent Star Wars news.  Star Wars:  Episode VII is due out in 2015.

One of the breakout films of this year’s Sundance Film Festival was the indie comedy Safety Not Guaranteed.   That film is currently playing in select theaters (watch the trailer here), and the filmmakers behind Safety are lining up a follow-up project that’s not entirely dissimilar genre-wise.  Deadline reports that Colin Trevorrow and Derek Connolly are set to write an original script that Trevorrow will direct called The Ambassador.  Here’s the logline:

“The film is set in the United Nations Office of Outer Space Affairs, which not only monitors the universe for signs of life, but is prepared to represent humanity if and when aliens arrive on earth. A shy, low-ranking staffer unwittingly makes first contact when he meets a mysterious beautiful woman and must risk more than his job when they are threatened by forces of this world and beyond.”

Hit the jump for more on this sci-fi follow-up.

FilmDistrict has released a trailer and poster for Colin Trevorrow‘s indie comedy Safety Not Guaranteed.  The movie stars Aubrey Plaza as a magazine intern who goes undercover to investigate a man (Mark Duplass) who placed an ad looking for a time-traveling partner.  The movie was based on a real newspaper ad that was passed around the Internet in 2005.  I caught the film at Sundance and thought it was slight but still charming and funny.  The trailer goes a bit too far in revealing the plot, but it also shows that Plaza can absolutely kill in a lead role.

Hit the jump to check out the trailer and poster.  The film also stars Jake Johnson and Karan Soni.  Safety Not Guaranteed opens June 8th.

One of the many films that premiered at this year’s Sundance Film Festival was director Colin Trevorrow‘s Safety Not Guaranteed.  Written by Derek Connolly, the film’s about a trio of magazine employees investigate a classified ad that seeks a partner for time travel. One employee develops feelings for the paranoid but compelling loner and tries to discover what he’s really up to.  It’s based on a real ad that was passed around the internet in 2005 and the movie stars Aubrey Plaza, Mark Duplass, Jake Johnson and Karan Soni.  Shortly after premiering, FilmDistrict bought the film, so you can look forward to seeing it at some point in the future.  For more on the film, you can read Matt’s review.

After seeing the movie, I got to sit down with Colin Trevorrow and Derek Connolly for an extended interview. We talked about premiering at Sundance, how they first met, casting, how they secured financing, filming multiple endings, using the brand new Sony F3 to shoot the film, and a lot more.  Hit the jump to watch the interview.

Even without the magic of nostalgia, there’s a belief we can find love not by looking forward but by looking to our past.  The past has the love we were guaranteed, or at least the love we thought we could have if we hadn’t made mistakes.  The future only holds uncertainty and heartbreak.  Colin Trevorrow‘s Safety Not Guaranteed shows its characters indulging their fantasies to turn past love into present love.  Sadly, that’s about as deep as the film goes, but the film still works thanks to the charming performances, light humor, and a tinge of melancholy.

Warner Bros. has decided to go to war at some point in the future and/or past.  Variety reports that the studio has purchased Colin Trevorrow’s script World War X and set it up at Silver Pictures.  According to Variety, the story centers on “a man recruited by a team of government agents to stop a terrorist from the future who is using time travel to reshape history.”  I don’t know if it’s a serious action film or a goofy action comedy, but I hope it’s the latter because it sounds hilarious.  The fact that “Trevorrow and Derek Connolly sold an action comedy pitch earlier this year to Walter Parkes and Laurie MacDonald,” gives me hope.

Joel Silver and Andrew Rona will produce.  The Warner Bros.-based Silver Pictures is currently developing the horror flick The Apparition and Sherlock Holmes 2.