Summit Entertainment and OddLot Entertainment announced today that production has begun on director Ivan Reitman’s sports dramedy Draft Day.  The film takes place within the span of one day, the day of the NFL Draft, as Kevin Costner plays a general manger who has the opportunity to save football in Cleveland when he trades for the number one pick.  As the day’s events unfold, “he must quickly decide what he’s willing to sacrifice in pursuit of perfection as the lines between his personal and professional life become blurred on a life-changing day for a few hundred young men with dreams of playing in the NFL.”

Filming is underway in New York, where the production will shoot some scenes at the actual 2013 NFL Draft.  Once that is complete, filming will move to Cleveland.  The ensemble includes Jennifer Garner, Denis Leary, Ellen Burstyn, Frank Langella, Josh Pence, Rosanna Arquette, Timothy Simons and 42 star Chadwick Boseman, and the start-of-production press release notes that Terry Crews and Sean “P. Diddy” Combs have also joined the cast.  Hit the jump to read the full press release, which includes the entire cast listing.

Check out the latest casting news below:

• Frank Langella (Frost/Nixon) has signed on for director Mike Newell’s political drama Reykjavik as Paul Nitze, the U.S. Secretary of the Navy and Ronald Reagan’s senior adviser.
• Kevin Durand (Real Steel) reunites with Devil’s Knot director Atom Egoyan for Queen of the Night, starring Ryan Reynolds, Mireille Enos, Scott Speedman, Rosario Dawson and Alexia Fast.
• Cody Horn (End of Watch) joins the untitled thriller written by James Wan (Insidious) and directed by Will Cannon (Brotherhood).  The paranormal pic already stars Frank Grillo (The Grey) and Maria Bello (A History of Violence).

Hit the jump for more on each picture.

By the mid-80s a He-Man movie was inevitable. Boys at this time were living for the He-Man and the Masters of the Universe cartoon and drowning in Mattel’s action figures (myself included). He-Man and the rest of the Eternia posse were in parades, a live show called the “Power Tour”, and every other facet of merchandising you can imagine. After much anticipation, Cannon Film’s Masters of the Universe came out in summer of ’87. Critics laughed it off and children were left a little confused. It’s looked back on by many as a fun and campy film that managed to thrill young fans despite its deviations from the cartoon. It’s the 25th anniversary of the film so Warner Bros. released it on Blu-ray. Hit the jump for my review.

[This is a re-post of my review from the 2012 Sundance Film Festival.  Robot & Frank opens in limited release today.]

Not even ornery old men can resist the lure of a special robot friend. Robot & Frank‘s hook is in its title, but it goes beyond what could have been the premise for a weekly sitcom. Instead, the film puts together a strong juxtaposition between a man who’s started to forget everything and a robot who can remember anything. It’s a familiar story about memory being tied to personality, but Robot & Frank throws in the importance of teaching and passion as a way to keep remembering (if only for a little while longer). With the exception of a confused epilogue, director Jake Schreier and screenwriter and Christopher D. Ford have managed to build a warm, funny, and charming movie around a thoughtful premise.

Here’s another casting round up for you:

• Tim Roth (The Incredible Hulk) and Frank Langella (Robot & Frank) have both landed roles in Grace of Monaco, Olivier Dahan’s picture which stars Nicole Kidman as Grace Kelly.
• Tobey Maguire (Spider-Man) is set to produce and star in Z for Zacharia, a post-apocalyptic drama from director Craig Zobel (Compliance).
• Dale Dickey (True Blood) has been cast in writer/director Shane Black’s Iron Man 3, starring Robert Downey Jr.

Hit the jump for all the details.

The first trailer for the indie comedy Robot and Frank has been released.  The buddy comedy stars Frank Langella as a retired jewel thief who seeks to resume his criminal ways with the help of a companion robot, voiced by Peter Sarsgaard.  Steve and Matt caught the film at this year’s Sundance Film Festival and both of them thought it was great (you can read Matt’s review here).  The trailer definitely seems sweet and warm-hearted, but I wonder if they’ve revealed too much of the plot.  I sincerely hope that’s not the case, as the premise sounds neat and I’m eager to experience the film for myself.

Hit the jump to watch the trailer.  You can read Steve’s interviews with director Jake Schreier and screenwriter Christopher D. Ford, as well as Langella himself.  The film also stars Susan Sarandon, James Marsden, and Liv Tyler.  Robot and Frank opens on August 24th.

Two new posters have arrived for a pair of September releases that I’m really looking forward to. First up is a new poster for The Words, a romantic drama from debut directors Brian Klugman and Lee Sternthal that stars Bradley Cooper, Zoe Saldana and Jeremy Irons. Cooper plays a young writer who passes off another author’s work as his own and deals with the consequences that inevitably arise. The Words opens September 7th. 

A second poster comes to us today for director Jake Schreier’s Robot and Frank.  The buddy comedy stars Frank Langella as a retired jewel thief who seeks to resume his criminal ways with the help of a companion robot, voiced by Peter Sarsgaard.  Robot and Frank opens August 24th.  Hit the jump to check out the new posters.

You’re driving down the street, and it’s suddenly blocked off.  You notice these weird yellow signs with nonsensical letters or numbers.  There’s unusual glow lighting up a neighborhood you can’t usually see from your house.  What you might have here is a film company shooting in your town.  It happens a lot, and you never know where they might pop up…until now.

The following is a semi-comprehensive list of films currently shooting, what they’re shooting, and where they’re shooting.  We’ll be telling you where you might get to see the very famous, the kinda famous and (if all goes well) the soon-to-be famous. While we can’t list every single movie, television show, or student film in production, you’ll get a pretty good idea of what the heck is going on where all those people are buzzing about.  Want to know where in the world are Matt Damon, Harrison Ford, Sylvester Stallone, Woody Harrelson, and Leonardo DiCaprio? Hit the jump for more.

We’ve got some shuffling of release dates for two Warner Bros. distributions and a new release date for one of our favorite films from this year’s Sundance.  Here’s a glance:

• Warner Bros. pushes back The Seventh Son from February 15th, 2013 to October 18th, 2013.
• Another Warner Bros. film, Beautiful Creatures, has taken Seventh Son’s place by moving back two weeks to open on February 15th, 2013.
• Starring Frank Langella, James Marsden, Liv Tyler, Susan Sarandon and a robot (voiced by Peter Sarsgaard), Robot and Frank will open on August 24th of this year.

Hit the jump for more on each film.

This past week brought us a story that is near and dear to me. While I briefly give my own thoughts regarding DC Comics’ Watchmen prequel comic series after the jump, I want to use the “Top 5′s” opening paragraph space to invite readers to voice/type their own opinions on the announcement in the comments section. As a fervent fan of the series, I’m always interested to hear fellow fans’ take on Watchmen adaptations, prequels, and the like. So, with that said, what do you think? Does the creative talent involved interest you? Is it the best idea ever? The worst? Somewhere in between? Sound off in the comments.

In addition to DC’s Before Watchmen announcement, this installment of the “Top 5″ includes interviews with the cast and director of superhero/found-footage pic Chronicle, a “What If?” look at a 16-Bit Breaking Bad RPG, ten things to know about Dr. Seuss’ The Lorax, and Sundance 2012 video interviews with Bradley Cooper, Paul Dano and more. A brief recap and link to each follows after the jump.

One of my favorite films at this year’s Sundance Film Festival was director Jake Schreier‘s Robot and Frank.  The film is set in the near future and centers on an elderly ex-jewel thief (Frank Langella) whose kids (James Marsden and Liv Tyler) give him a caretaker robot (voiced by Peter Sarsgaard), sparking an unlikely friendship. Susan Sarandon plays a librarian who serves as Langella’s only friend.  Since premiering at the Festival, Sony Pictures Worldwide Acquisitions and Samuel Goldwyn Films picked up the film for distribution, so you can expect to see it for yourself later this year.  For more on the film, you can read Matt’s review.

Right after seeing the film I got to sit down with Frank Langella for an exclusive interview.  During our extended conversation we talked about how he got involved in the project, how the script changed along the way, the design of the robot, the quick shooting schedule, filming on location, premiering it at Sundance, and a lot more.  In addition, Langella talked about writing his first book.  He told me, “It is called Dropped Names and it is about famous men and woman as I knew them from the age of 15 up to now, and I am dropping their names because they have dropped dead.  It is about famous people who are dead.”  Hit the jump for more.

Based on titles alone, Robot & Frank was the most intriguing film out of Sundance.  I was thrilled to hear the movie is great, and star Frank Langella unsurprisingly kills it.  Coming out of the festival buzz, Deadline reports Langella has signed on to his next project, The Time Being.  Wes Bentley co-stars as Daniel, a struggling artist who accepts a series of bizarre commissions from a dying, eccentric millionaire (Langella): “Daniel can’t quite ascertain whether his new ‘mentor’ is a monster who is intent on destroying Daniel’s life and marriage, or a savior who will teach him the true meaning of art.”  The Time Being will be the directorial debut of Nenad Cicin-Sain.  Cicin-Sain co-wrote the script with Richard Gladstein (Paper Man), who is also producing.

Hit the jump for details on Josh Peck and James Ransone‘s starring roles in The Timber.

Not even ornery old men can resist the lure of a special robot friend.  Robot & Frank‘s hook is in its title, but it goes beyond what could have been the premise for a weekly sitcom.  Instead, the film puts together a strong juxtaposition between a man who’s started to forget everything and a robot who can remember anything.  It’s a familiar story about memory being tied to personality, but Robot & Frank throws in the importance of teaching and passion as a way to keep remembering (if only for a little while longer).  With the exception of a confused epilogue, director Jake Schreier and screenwriter and Christopher D. Ford have managed to build a warm, funny, and charming movie around a thoughtful premise.

From Sundance 2012, Robot and Frank, was recently acquired by a partnership between Sony Pictures Worldwide Acquisitions and Samuel Goldwyn Films. The festival (and Collider) favorite stars Frank Langella, James Marsden and Liv Tyler in a near-future buddy comedy about an elderly ex-jewel thief (Langella) and his companion robot (voiced by Peter Sarsgaard). Steve loved Robot and Frank and will soon be posting exclusive interviews with director Jake Schreier, writer Christopher D. Ford and Langella himself. Hit the jump to check out the press release.

Yesterday, Sundance announced the line-up for their Premiere’s category.  This is where the biggest films will play but not necessarily the best.  The best movies I saw at Sundance this year were Project Nim and Martha Marcy May Marlene and both have stayed with me the past 11 months.  But there’s no reason great films can’t be part of the premieres category (Win Win was terrific), and hopefully 2012 will have more selections that leave a strong impression.

After the jump you’ll find images for Jake Schreier‘s Robot and Frank (starring Frank Langella and Susan Sarandon), Michael Walker‘s Price Check (starring Parker Posey), and Rodrigo Cortés‘ Red Lights (starring Cillian Murphy, Sigourney Weaver, Robert De Niro, Elizabeth Olsen, and Toby Jones).  The 2012 Sundance Film Festival runs from January 19 – 29th.