Director Brad Bird’s secretive project at Disney looks to have found its villain.  Previously referred to as 1952, the possibly sci-fi project was co-written by Bird and Lost co-creator Damon Lindelof and recently landed the new title of Tomorrowland.  The plot has been kept firmly under wraps, but we know that George Clooney is the film’s star and the story has been described as being in the vein of Close Encounters of the Third Kind.  Now, as the film marches towards a production start-date later this year, Bird has settled on the actor to play his villain: House star Hugh Laurie.  Hit the jump for more.

After taking some well-earned time off following the series finale of the long-running drama House, M.D., it looks as if Hugh Laurie is ready to jump back into television.  Deadline reports that Laurie is in negotiations to star in NBC’s drama pilot Crossbones.  The action-adventure series comes from Luther creator Neil Cross and takes place in 1715 on the Bahamian island of New Providence.  The story follows pirate Edward Teach, aka Blackbeard, as he reigns over “the rogue nation of thieves, outlaws, and miscreant sailors.  Part shantytown, part marauder’s paradise, this is a place like no other on earth – and a mounting threat to international commerce.”

Cross wrote the script and will executive produce alongside Walter Parkes, Laurie MacDonald, and Ted Gold.  Laurie is poised to star as the legendary pirate Blackbeard in the 10-episode run, a role for which he’ll be using his native British accent.  Pirates are apparently in this pilot season, as Michael Bay is developing a pirate series of his own for Starz called Black Sails.

Opening this weekend is Julian Farino’s The Oranges. The film is about two families who are best friends and neighbors- until one of the daughters (Leighton Meester) begins an affair with her father’s best friend (Hugh Laurie), and the comical and emotional aftermath of that affair. The all-star cast includes Catherine Keener as Laurie’s wife who finds a new purpose in life, Allison Janney and Oliver Platt as Nina’s bewildered parents and Alia Shawkat as Laurie’s daughter- and Nina’s former best friend turned arch rival. It also stars Adam Brody and up-and-comer Sam Rosen.

At the press junket for the film, I was able to speak to Laurie and Keener about their breakfast preferences, how they got involved in the film, working with an ever-present screenwriting team, and of course, Doctor House.  Hit the jump to watch.

In what may be the most dysfunctional family holiday film since the Griswolds took on National Lampoon’s Christmas Vacation, a new red-band trailer for The Oranges has landed.  Directed by Julian Farnio (Entourage), The Oranges centers on two suburban families who are the best of friends and the most boring and predictable of people.  That all changes when the daughter of the Ostroffs starts an affair with the father of the Wallings.

Starring Hugh Laurie, Catherine Keener, Oliver Platt, Allison Janney, Adam Brody,  Alia Shawkat and Leighton Meester, The Oranges opens October 5th.  Hit the jump to check out the red-band trailer.

While things haven’t exactly been going smoothly for director Jose Padilha’s RoboCop reboot lately, the acquisition of Michael Keaton (Batman) as the villain will surely go a long way to remedy that.  Hugh Laurie (House, M.D.) was previously attached to play the antagonist but talks recently broke down.  Keaton would be playing Raymond Sellars, the CEO of Omnicorp, the corporation that builds RoboCop.  The reboot of Paul Verhoeven’s 1987 cult classic stars Joel Kinnaman in the title role.  Hit the jump for more on the remake and to read what Padilha had to say about Keaton coming on board. 

The script for the RoboCop remake may have gotten panned, but the movie still has an incredibly strong cast: Joel Kinnaman, Samuel L. Jackson, Gary Oldman, Jay Baruchel, Abbie Cornish, Michael K. Williams, and Jackie Earle Haley.  We previously reported that Hugh Laurie was in negotiations to play the film’s villain, but now Variety’s Jeff Sneider is tweeting that Laurie won’t be squaring off against the cyborg police officer.  According to Sneider, Laurie was never really “in” since he was still in negotiations for the part, and those talks have now fallen apart.  It’s a bit of a bummer since I’d like to see more Laurie especially now that House, M.D. is over, but hopefully he’ll land another big role soon.

RoboCop is set to open on August 9, 2013. [Update: Deadline reports that MGM is now looking at a small group of actors to fill the villain role, and one of them includes Clive Owen.]

Tony Award-winner Jennifer Ehle (The King’s Speech) is in negotiations to join director Jose Padilha’s RoboCop remake.  Thespian would be playing the role of Liz Kline in the film, per Deadline.  Ehle’s addition is the most recent in a cast that includes Jackie Earle Haley, Hugh Laurie, Gary Oldman, Samuel L. Jackson, Abbie Cornish and possibly Jay Baruchel.  The remake of the 1987 Paul Verhoeven classic features Joel Kinnaman in the title role.  Look for the RoboCop reboot to hit theaters on August 9th, 2013.

The first trailer for the family comedy The Oranges has been released.  The film centers on two families who are both best friends and neighbors.  Their tight relationship is strained when it’s discovered that the father of one family (Hugh Laurie) is having an affair with the grown daughter of the other family (Leighton Meester).  The film looks like a pretty great comedy, and Allison Janney is unsurprisingly fantastic.  The cast—which includes Catherine Keener, Oliver Platt, Alia Shawkat. and Adam Brody—has great chemistry, and director Julian Farino appears to have crafted a solid comedy.

Hit the jump to watch the trailer.  The Oranges opens later this year.

We knew that RoboCop was getting a hard reset with the upcoming reboot starring Joel Kinnaman, but thanks to a new press release, we now have some details about the plot itself.  The original 1987 Paul Verhoeven picture starred Peter Weller as a cybernetically-enhanced super-cop who dealt swift justice in Detroit.  The new version keeps the same city and the same nucleus of the story, but introduces new elements.  From director Jose Padilha, RoboCop, also starring Gary Oldman, Hugh Laurie, Abbie Cornish and Samuel L. Jackson, opens August 9th, 2013.  Hit the jump to read the full press release.

In an awesomely developing story, Hugh Laurie (House, M.D.) is in talks to play a villain in Jose Padilha’s upcoming Robocop reboot.  The former sarcastic doctor on Fox’s long-running series is in negotiations to play a cold, sarcastic CEO of Omnicorp, a mega-corporation responsible for the creation of Robocop.  Laurie certainly has the swagger to play a CEO and I’m thrilled at the prospect of him playing a villain.  Details are scarce at the moment, but it seems as if his character would be similar to the one played by Ronny Cox in the 1987 Paul Verhoeven original.  Hit the jump for more.

Hugh Laurie (House M.D.) and Stephen Fry (V for Vendetta) will lend their voices to the animated Oscar Wilde adaptation, The Canterville Ghost.  Wilde’s novella, set in late 1800s rural England, tells of the Otises, an American family that moves in to Canterville Chase, an old country house.  Sir Simon de Canterville (Fry) has been haunting the residence for hundreds of years alongside his resident nemesis, Death (Laurie) in the guise of a lowly gardener.  Comedic stars of the 80s and 90s series, A Bit of Fry and Laurie, the duo have collaborated on a number of projects; this will be their first such reunion in 13 years.  Hit the jump for  more on The Canterville Ghost.

After much speculation, the producers of House M.D. have finally come to a smart decision. The current eighth season of the medical drama series starring Hugh Laurie will be the last. With Lisa Edelstein opting not to come back this season, the writing was on the wall for Dr. Gregory House to end his practice, and now it’s official. While the show certainly should come to an end at this point, this season has been surprisingly decent, especially with new cast members like Charlyne Yi and Odette Annable. The most recent episode, a departure from the show’s usual formula, was one of the best of the season, and while the writers certainly still have some fight left in them, it’s time to give House and his team a respectful exit. Does that mean we’ll see some old faces stop by for a clean wrap up? We’ll have to wait and see. Hit the jump for a heartfelt thanks and farewell from producers David Shore, Katie Jacobs and Hugh Laurie, as well as a statement from Kevin Reilly, President of Entertainment, Fox Broadcasting Company.

In Aardman Animation’s animated family film Arthur Christmas, Hugh Laurie voices Steve, Santa Claus’ (Jim Broadbent) eldest son and who pushes the North Pole into using newer technology to help Santa make his deliveries in one night.  However, when one child is accidentally overlooked on Christmas Eve, the entire Claus family has to come together to make things right.  As you might expect from Aardman Animation, it’s loaded with jokes for adults and kids will love it.  Here’s Matt’s review.

Recently, I sat down with Laurie and we talked about how he got involved in the project, what was it like to work for Aardman Animation, how the process compared to his previous experiences on Hop and Monsters vs. Aliens, and who is his favorite actor and director.  Hit the jump to watch.

I’ve always been slightly perplexed when people ask “How does Santa deliver all his presents in a single night?”  It’s as if the possibility of a fat and jolly gentleman who lives in a hostile climate and has consumer goods made by an army of elves is completely plausible, but there’s no getting around the physics of the delivery.  And if that’s the hang-up, then why not simply answer back, “Magic,”?  Aardman Animation’s Arthur Christmas has fun indulging the question of “How?” but knows that it can be funny and heartwarming if you let Christmas night be magical.

Aardman Animation—the studio behind Chicken Run and the charming adventures of Wallace and Gromit—has sent over 5 clips from their latest effort, Arthur Christmas.  The film reveals the answer to the age-old question: “So how does Santa deliver all those presents in one night?”

For more on Arthur Christmas, check out Steve’s thoughts on the first 30 minutes and interview with director Sarah Smith.  James McAvoy, Hugh Laurie, Jim Broadbent, Bill Nighy, Imelda Staunton, and Ashley Jensen comprise the voice cast in the November 23 release. Watch the clips after the jump.