FX has made a series commitment to one of its more interesting pilots.  The network announced today that it has ordered a 13-episode first season of the drama The Bridge, which stars Demián Bichir and Diane Kruger.  The show is based on the Scandinavian series Bron and centers on two detectives from the United States and Mexico who must work together to hunt down a serial killer operating on both sides of the American-Mexican border.  Meredith Stiehm (Homeland) and Elwood Reid (Hawaii Five-0) created the series and wrote the pilot with Bichir in mind for the male lead, and they will act as executive producers on the show.

The most compelling storytelling is currently happening on cable television, and viewers are moving outside network television more and more, as evidenced by this past Sunday’s record-breaking numbers for AMC’s The Walking Dead.  FX’s The Bridge sounds like a promisingly swell addition to the current cable landscape, and I look forward to checking it out when the series debuts this July.  The pilot was directed by Gerardo Naranjo (Miss Bala) and production on the remaining episodes begins in April.  Hit the jump for the press release.

Director Robert Rodriguez’s sequel Machete Kills now has a release date, as the continued adventures of the titular Machete will commence on September 13th of this year.  The pic is the second in a planned trilogy (the third film supposedly takes place in space) and centers on Machete’s (Danny Trejo) quest to stop an eccentric billionaire arms dealer who has plans to spread war and anarchy across the planet.  On the September release date, the pic will open opposite the dancing film Battle of the Year and the Aaron Eckhart-led action horror adaptation I, Frankenstein.

Hit the jump to read the full press release.  The colorful cast includes Michelle Rodriguez, Sofia Vergara, Amber Heard, Charlie Sheen, Lady Gaga, Antonio Banderas, Jessica Alba, Demian Bichir, Alex Vega, Vanessa Hudgens, Cuba Gooding Jr., William Sadler, Marko Zaror, and of course Mel Gibson.

The first trailer for Bridesmaids director Paul Feig’s comedy The Heat has been released.  The film stars Sandra Bullock and Melissa McCarthy as an uptight FBI agent and a foul-mouthed Boston police officer, respectively, who must team up to take down a drug lord.  The “mismatched partners” buddy cop premise may seem a tad stale, but this trailer proves that the comedic talents of Bullock and McCarthy (not to mention Feige) are enough to turn the basic logline into a really fun ride.  The two appear to have some excellent chemistry, and it’s especially neat to see one Thomas F. Wilson (ie. Biff Tannen from Back to the Future) back on the big screen.

Hit the jump to watch the trailer.  The film also stars Demian Bichir, Tony Hale, Taran Killam, and Michael Rapaport.  The Heat opens on April 5, 2013.

A double-barrel of good news on the Machete Kills front, as the Robert Rodriguez-directed and Danny Trejo-starring sequel has been picked up for North American distribution in 2013 by Open Road Films and has released its first official image!  The second installment in a planned trilogy features Trejo as the former Mexican federale out to stop a madman and a billionaire arms dealer from unleashing war across the globe.

The crazy cast which crowds Trejo out of his screen time features Michelle Rodriguez, Sofia Vergara, Amber Heard, Charlie Sheen, Lady Gaga, Antonio Banderas, Jessica Alba, Demian Bichir, Alexa Vega, Vanessa Hudgens, Cuba Gooding, Jr., William Sadler, Marko Zaror and Mel Gibson.  Hit the jump to check out the first image of Machete Kills.  Mr. Machete, what are you doing to Miss San Antonio?

A couple of TV casting stories of interest have surfaced today.  First up, 21 Jump Street star Brie Larson has been tapped for a guest stint on the upcoming fourth season of Community.  Larson joins an impressive list of actors set to appear in the new season, including James Brolin, Malcolm McDowell, and Matt Lucas (Bridesmaids).  TV Line reported the news of Larson’s involvement, but her role is being kept under wraps for now.  She’ll pop up during the show’s seventh episode, in which Dean Pelton plans a “Sadie Hawkins” dance at Greendale.  Naturally, Britta (Gillian Jacobs) plans her own “Sophie B. Hawkins” dance in protest and completely misses the point.

Hit the jump for a casting coup for the promising new FX serial killer drama pilot The Bridge.  The fourth season of Community returns on October 19th at 8:30/7:30c.  For more on what to expect in the new season, check out our interview with Danny Pudi.

Let’s take a look at some recent casting additions:

• Demian Bichir (Savages) and Emilia Clarke (Game of Thrones) have joined Jude Law (Sherlock Holmes) in Dom Hemingway, director Richard Shepard’s crime comedy about the titular safe-cracker who’s out of prison and seeking what he’s owed.
• Devin Ratray (Buzz from Home Alone) has been cast as a villain in Alexander Payne’s black-and-white drama, Nebraska.  The picture stars Bruce Dern (Monster) as an alcoholic father to his estranged son (Will Forte) as they embark from Montana to Nebraska to claim a million-dollar Publishers Clearing House sweepstakes prize.
• Up-and-comer Boyd Holbrook (Milk) will topline the indie drama Little Accidents, a feature adaptation of writer/director Sara Coangelo’s award-winning short film by the same name which centers on a coal-mining town left devastated by a mining accident.

Hit the jump for more details on each film.

Get out your fishing rod because it’s time for some casting:

• John Leguizamo signed up for Kick-Ass 2 and will star opposite Michael Fassbender, Brad Pitt, Penelope Cruz, and Cameron Diaz in Ridley Scott‘s The Counselor.
• Demian Bichir will join Melissa McCarthy and Sandra Bullock in The Heat, directed by Paul Feig (Bridesmaids).
• Christopher Smith will star with Julia Louis-Dreyfus and James Gandolfini in the latest film from writer/director Nicole Holofcener (Please Give).

As much as I enjoy film, my first entertainment love will always be music. As such, this weekend finds me in Chicago in anticipation of what could be my final Warped Tour appearance. That’s right, I’m a 26 year-old man (I use the term “man” lightly, of course) who still finds immense joy in the pop-punk genre. Nevertheless, it’s becoming harder and harder for my oldness to blend in with a predominantly sub-18 crowd without looking like a total creep and, therefore, today may very well be my last Warped experience. On the bright side, I still have XBox Live to remind me that I’ve never completely grown up.

Maturity issues aside, on tap in this week’s version of the Top 5 is a slew of interviews for The Amazing Spider-Man, the first trailer and new images for Tom Cruise‘s Jack Reacher, our most anticipated movies from July to September, Savages interviews with Oliver Stone, Blake Lively, etc., and more The Dark Knight Rises coverage than most humans are capable of comprehending. Links and brief recaps for each reside after the break.

The drama Savages, from three-time Oscar-winning filmmaker Oliver Stone, follows entrepreneurs Ben (Aaron Johnson) and Chon (Taylor Kitsch), and their shared girlfriend O (Blake Lively), who run a lucrative business raising some of the best marijuana ever developed.  But, the legendary weed of these Laguna Beach heroes soon catches the interest of the Mexican Baja Cartel, headed by the merciless Elena “La Reina” (Salma Hayek).  Along with her brutal enforcer Lado (Benicio Del Toro) and her head attorney Alex (Demian Bichir), Elena demands a partnership which she ensures by kidnapping that which they love most, and what was once a peaceful and easy lifestyle becomes a high-stakes battle of wills.  For more on the film, here’s six clips.

At the film’s press day, co-stars Benicio Del Toro and Demian Bichir talked about what it was like to work with each other again (they had previously co-starred in Che), the freedom that director Oliver Stone gave them in portraying their characters, what resonated with them about the men they were playing, and their concerns with playing this type of role.  Check out what they had to say after the jump.

The drama Savages, from three-time Oscar-winning filmmaker Oliver Stone, follows entrepreneurs Ben (Aaron Johnson) and Chon (Taylor Kitsch), and their shared girlfriend O (Blake Lively), who run a lucrative business raising some of the best marijuana ever developed.  But, the legendary weed of these Laguna Beach heroes soon catches the interest of the Mexican Baja Cartel, headed by the merciless Elena “La Reina” (Salma Hayek).  Along with her brutal enforcer Lado (Benicio Del Toro) and her head attorney Alex (Demian Bichir), Elena demands a partnership which she ensures by kidnapping that which they love most, and what was once a peaceful and easy lifestyle becomes a high-stakes battle of wills.  For more on the film, here’s six clips.

At the film’s press day, actor Aaron Johnson spoke to Collider for this exclusive interview about how Oliver Stone wanted him for the film but didn’t immediately know for which role, how he enjoyed being challenged by the director, and the journey he went on with co-star Taylor Kitsch.  He also talked about the type of roles he wants to play, having read the Kick-Ass 2 script, which he says is definitely a hard R and that he expects will go into production in the Fall, and he addressed the recent statement that American Psycho author Bret Easton Ellis made on Twitter about how he would be a good choice for the male lead in the film adaptation of the much-talked-about erotic novel 50 Shades of Grey.  Check out what he had to say after the jump.

The drama Savages, from three-time Oscar-winning filmmaker Oliver Stone, follows entrepreneurs Ben (Aaron Johnson) and Chon (Taylor Kitsch), and their shared girlfriend O (Blake Lively), who run a lucrative business raising some of the best marijuana ever developed.  But, the legendary weed of these Laguna Beach heroes soon catches the interest of the Mexican Baja Cartel, headed by the merciless Elena “La Reina” (Salma Hayek).  Along with her brutal enforcer Lado (Benicio Del Toro) and her head attorney Alex (Demian Bichir), Elena demands a partnership which she ensures by kidnapping that which they love most, and what was once a peaceful and easy lifestyle becomes a high-stakes battle of wills.

At the film’s press day, actor Taylor Kitsch talked about his reaction to director Oliver Stone wanting him for the role of Chon, how he prepared for the more intimate scenes in the film, what it was like to shoot his intense confrontation with John Travolta, the incredible attention to detail on set, how he felt about the ending, and his desire to stay away from projects with a lot of green screen for awhile.  Check out what he had to say after the jump.

14 new images from Oliver Stone’s crime drama Savages have gone online.  The story centers on two Laguna Beach marijuana kingpins (Taylor Kitsch and Aaron Johnson) who encounter a world of trouble when their shared girlfriend (Blake Lively) is kidnapped by a Mexican drug cartel.  These images highlight Stone’s impressive supporting cast which includes Salma Hayek, Benicio Del Toro, John Travolta and Demian Bichir.

Hit the jump to check out the images.  Savages opens on July 6th.

Many were surprised, yet pleased, when Demian Bichir’s named appeared among last year’s Oscar nominees for Best Actor.  He’s been doing great work for years, but he was singled out for his fantastic performance in the drama A Better Life.  As one can surmise, an Oscar nomination leads to plenty film offers, and now it appears that Bichir has settled on a duo of projects to shoot in the near future: Robert Rodriguez’s sequel Machete Kills and William Friedkin’s thriller Trapped.  Furthermore, Bichir was apparently very much in the mix for the villain role in the Star Trek sequel that eventually went to Benedict Cumberbatch.  Hit the jump for more.

After yesterday’s brief teaser, the full trailer for Oliver Stone‘s Savages has gone online.  The film stars Taylor Kitsch and Aaron Johnson as two Laguna Beach marijuana kingpins who encounter a world of trouble when their shared girlfriend (Blake Lively) is kidnapped by a Mexican drug cartel.  The movie looks like a fun change of pace for Stone, and a bit of a throwback to Natural Born Killers, but without the muddled message on violence and media.  I wouldn’t be surprised if Stone has worked in a comment on America’s War on Drugs, but at least it looks like he’s surrounded it with a slam-bang action flick.

Hit the jump to check out the trailer.  The film also stars The film also stars Benicio Del Toro, Salma Hayek, Demian Bichir, Emile Hirsch, Uma Thurman, and John Travolta.  Savages opens July 6th. [Updated: We've updated the article with a new image from the film]

Earlier this week, we showed you the first poster for Oliver Stone‘s crime-thriller Savages.  Today, teaser footage from the film has been released.  The film stars Taylor Kitsch and Aaron Johnson as two Laguna Beach marijuana kingpins who encounter a world of trouble when their shared girlfriend (Blake Lively) is kidnapped by a Mexican drug cartel.  You won’t gather any of that from the 15-seconds of footage, but you will pick up that Stone has taken a page from Tony Scott‘s playbook of sweaty characters and over-saturated cinematography.

Hit the jump to check out the footage.  The film also stars Benicio Del Toro, Salma Hayek, Demian Bichir, Emile Hirsch, Uma Thurman, and John Travolta.  Savages opens July 6th.