A&E’s Psycho prequel series will be continuing for at least another year.  The network announced today that it has ordered a second season of Bates Motel, which premiered a couple of weeks ago to solid ratings and positive reviews.  The drama series comes from Lost co-showrunner Carlton Cuse and Friday Night Lights alum Kerry Ehrin and centers on the relationship between a teenage Norman Bates (Freddie Highmore) and his mother (Vera Farmiga).  The show is similar to Lost in that it has set up a number of mysteries in its first few episodes, some of which may or may not be resolved by season’s end.  Hit the jump for more, including the full press release.

This week, Bates Motel was a lot more low-key than last, but it was no less strange.  I gave most of the kudos to Vera Farmiga for her wacky, totally creepy performance as Norma, but already Freddie Highmore is really starting to find his own inner creep, from his nascent violent tendencies to his obsession with snuff manga.  In fact, there are very few things about White Pine Bay that aren’t creepy, and this is where the Twin Peaks comparisons start to gain traction (ever so slightly, or did I confuse that with Top of the Lake? So many creeper shows on right now).  The town is described by Deputy Shelby as being fake (how could people without real jobs have such fancy homes and drive such fancy cars?) with a vigilante underground.  Will the Bates fit in, or will they be targeted?  Hit the jump for why “I’m your mother, it’s not like it’s weird or anything.”

A&E has gathered together some formidable talent to creates its Psycho prequel series Bates Motel, with Carlton Cuse (Lost) and Kerry Ehrin (Friday Night Lights) producing, and Vera Farmiga (Up in the Air) and Freddie Highmore (Finding Neverland) as Norma and Norman Bates.  The series is billed as a “contemporary” prequel to Hitchcock’s 1960 classic, and while the show does take place in that familiar setting with a few winking call-backs to the original film, it’s clear that it wants to be its own thing.  The show is seeking to straddle that difficult line of basing itself off of very familiar material (which guarantees an audience, if just from the curiosity) — though which also burdens it with the fact that things have to end up at a certain place at a certain point — and doing something new with the story.  Things have started off slowly and strangely in the first hour, with the show seeming to not quite find its tone, but there are also some legitimately promising elements.  Hit the jump for why “we belong to each other.”

The new A&E drama series Bates Motel gives viewers an intimate portrayal of how Norman Bates’ (Freddie Highmore) psyche unravels through his teenage years.  This contemporary prequel to the genre-defining film Psycho reveals the dark, twisted backstory and shows first-hand just how deep the relationship with his mother, Norma (Vera Farmiga), truly goes, as she helps forge the most famous serial killer of them all.  The show also stars Max Thieriot, Nicola Peltz, Olivia Cooke, Nestor Carbonell and Mike Vogel.

During this recent exclusive interview with Collider, show star Freddie Highmore talked about why he was intrigued by the show and the character, why it’s alright to identify with Norman Bates, who this version of Norman is when the story picks up, working with co-star Vera Farmiga, what it was like to see the sets for the house and the Bates Motel, how throwing a brother (Thieriot) into the mix affects things, and just how dark things will get with the show.  Check out what he had to say after the jump.

The first full trailer for A&E’s upcoming Psycho prequel series Bates Motel has been released, and it’s sufficiently tantalizing.  The drama comes from executive producers Carlton Cuse (Lost) and Kerry Ehrin (Friday Night Lights) and centers on the relationship between a young Norman Bates (Freddie Highmore) and his mother (Vera Farmiga).  This trailer gives us our first look at extended footage from the show, and it appears to be equal parts intense, mysterious, and nuts.  I have high hopes for this one.

Hit the jump to watch the trailer.  The series also stars Nestor Carbonell, Max Thieriot, Olivia Cooke, and Mike Vogel.  Bates Motel premieres on A&E on March 18th.

A&E has released a new teaser and poster for its upcoming Psycho prequel series Bates Motel.  The drama comes from executive producers Carlton Cuse (Lost) and Kerry Ehrin (Friday Night Lights) and centers on the relationship between a young Norman Bates (Freddie Highmore) and his mother (Vera Farmiga).  This teaser trailer is the creepiest yet, unless you think sitting on a bed with your mother and staring ominously is normal behavior.

Hit the jump to check out the new trailer and poster, and click here to check out five more tantalizing teaser posters.  The series also stars Nestor Carbonell, Max Thieriot, Olivia Cooke, and Mike Vogel.  Bates Motel premieres on A&E on March 18th. 

The first full trailer for the upcoming A&E series Bates Motel has been released.  The show comes from Lost co-showrunner Carlton Cuse and Friday Night Lights’ Kerry Ehrin and serves as a prequel to Alfred Hitchcock’s classic film Psycho, with Freddie Highmore as a young Norman Bates and Vera Farmiga as his mother.  We previously saw a couple of moody teasers that were more than a little reminiscent of Twin Peaks, but this full trailer really ups the ante on the creepiness.  The second half of the trailer actually plays more like a featurette, with the cast and crew discussing the series.  Farmiga notes that they’re not remaking Psycho, they’re “using it as an inspiration.”  My interest is sufficiently piqued.

Hit the jump to watch the 2-minute trailer.  The series also stars Nestor Carbonell, Max Thieriot, Olivia Cooke, and Mike Vogel.  Bates Motel premieres on A&E in March 2013.

We recently got our first look at A&E’s highly anticipated Psycho prequel series Bates Motel by way of a couple of images of stars Freddie Highmore and Vera Farmiga as Norman and Norma Bates, and now a large batch of new images from the series has landed online.  The drama from Lost co-showrunner Carlton Cuse and Friday Night Lights alum Kerry Ehrin centers on the relationship between a young Norman Bates and his mother, and the show looks to feature an appropriately colorful cast of characters.  There’s a bit of a Twin Peaks feel from these images, so hopefully Cuse and Ehrin have crafted a creepy and fun take on the burgeoning serial killer.  A&E ordered Bates Motel straight to series instead of waiting to see a pilot first, so the show is poised to debut in Spring 2013.

Hit the jump to check out the images which feature Max Thieriot as Norman’s older brother Dylan, Olivia Cooke as classmate and fellow outcast Emma Decody, Mike Vogel as Deputy Zach Shelby, and Lost alum Nestor Carbonell as town Sheriff, Alex Romero.

Legendary filmmaker Alfred Hitchcock is having a banner year popularity-wise between two feature films and a fantastic Blu-ray set, and it looks as if the sudden Hitch boom is likely to extend well into 2013.  The first image from the A&E TV series Bates Motel has landed online, giving us a first look at Freddie Highmore (Finding Neverland) as young Norman Bates and Vera Farmiga as his loving (?) mother.  Developed by former Lost showrunner Carlton Cuse and Friday Night Lights’ Kerry Ehrin, the series will explore the relationship between future psycho Norman Bates and his mother Norma.

Hit the jump to check out the first image.  Bates Motel will debut on A&E in Spring 2013.

New posters have been released for the Sundance films Buck, The Art of Getting By (formerly titled Homework), and The Ledge.  There’s also a new poster for the Anna Faris romantic comedy What’s Your Number?  Hit the jump to check out the posters along with a synopsis for each film and its release date.

Fox Searchlight has released the trailer for the coming-of-age drama The Art of Getting By (formerly titled Homework).  I caught the film at Sundance and kind of loathed the hell out of it, but maybe you like cloying movies with underdeveloped characters whining about how hard life is for white upper-class teenagers living in New York City.  If you enjoy movies like that, you will love The Art of Getting By.

Hit the jump to check out the trailer plus two new images from the film.  The Art of Getting By also stars Michael Angarano, Rita Wilson, and Blair Underwood.  The film opens in limited release on June 17th.

We’ve got three posters tonight from films that have hit the festival circuit in the past few months.  Max Winkler’s Ceremony premiered to positive notices at the Toronto International Film Festival in September, led by Michael Angarano, Uma Thurman, Lee Pace.  Like Ceremony, Homework centers around a young writing talent, but wasn’t received quite as well at Sundance despite the affable presence of Freddie Highmore and Emma Thomas. Fellow Sundance entry The Devil’s Double isn’t about youth so much as it’s about Saddam Hussein’s son Uday and his body double Latif Yahia, but by all accounts it’s a solid twist on the gangster genre.  If that sounds interesting, you should definitely check out Steve’s interview with Dominic Cooper, who plays both Uday and Latif in the film.  View all three posters after the break:

Take every awful indie coming-of-age movie cliché, cram it into one film, fill it with terrible dialogue and bored-looking actors and you are starting to approach the disaster that is Gavin Wisen’s Homework.  If someone were making a parody of the modern art-house coming-of-age film, this would be it.  Despite a relatively-short 84 minute runtime, Homework is an interminable slog as we’re forced to suffer yet another movie about a privileged teenage who’s life is so perfect that he’s forced to conjure his own misfortune.

With the Sundance Film Festival premiering in a little over a month (48 days to be exact), new images from the films in competition have begun to emerge. As such, we are pleased to bring you a few screenshots from Gavin Wiesen’s Homework, starring Freddie Highmore, Emma Roberts, Rita Wilson and Blair Underwood; and Sean Durkin’s Martha Marcy May Marlene, with Elizabeth Olsen, Brady Corbet, Hugh Dancy, John Hawkes, and Sarah Paulson.

Homework finished shooting in New York last April and marks Wiesen’s feature length debut as writer and director. Likewise, Martha Marcy May Marlene is the first for Durkin, who wrote and directed the film. Hit the jump to see the pics and for a brief synopses:

Freddie Highmore (Finding Neverland) and Emma Roberts (Nancy Drew) are finishing the filming of their new film Homework this week in New York. Variety is reporting that the movie is currently underway, with a supporting cast that includes Alicia Silverstone, Elizabeth Reaser, Blair Underwood and Rita Wilson, with Michael Angarano (Gentlemen Broncos) set to play one of the graduates of the High School Roberts and Highmore attend. This is the first movie for writer-director Gavin Wiesen, which is about a young boy’s relationship with a girl he’s fallen in love with from a distance. Gigi Films’ Gia Walsh and Kara Baker, Darren Goldberg and Mint Pictures’ P. Jennifer Dana are producing. There is no release date yet for the movie.