Columbia has released the first trailer for M. Night Shyamalan‘s After Earth.  As you can see from the trailer, the plot centers on a father (Will Smith) and son (Jaden Smith) who crash land on a post-apocalyptic Earth, and it’s to the son to fight for survival when the father is seriously injured.  If there was another director at the helm, I would give this film the benefit of the doubt, even though Jaden Smith fighting digital animals for two hours seems less-than-exciting.  Even though Stephen Gaghan (Traffic) and Gary Whitta (The Book of Eli) had a hand in the screenplay, I simply can’t get my hopes up due to Shyamalan’s involvment.

The film also stars Zoe Kravitz, Sophie Okonedo, and Isabelle Fuhrman.  After Earth opens June 7, 2013.

Back in August, we brought you the trailer for Studio Ghibli’s From Up on Poppy Hill, written by Hayao Miyazaki and directed by his son Goro Miyazaki.  Now, we have word that the English version has a planned theatrical release of March 15th, 2013.  Lending their voices to that version will be such top talent as Gillian Anderson, Ron Howard, Christina Hendricks, Jamie Lee Curtis and Beau Bridges, among others.  Hit the jump to see who else is joining the party, along with the synopsis for From Up on Poppy Hill.

A few casting updates, hot off the press:

• The Hunger Games competitor Isabelle Fuhrman will star in David Gordon Green‘s Suspiria remake
  
• Oliver Cooper will follow up Project X, his feature debut, with a role opposite Ben Affleck and Justin Timberlake in Runner Runner
• Frank Grillo will re-team with his Warrior co-star Joel Edgerton on the SEAL team that hunted down in Osama bin Laden in Kathryn Bigelow‘s untitled drama

Hit the jump for details on each project.

In The Hunger Games, adapted for the big screen from the best-selling novel by Suzanne Collins, actors Alexander Ludwig, Isabelle Fuhrman and Amandla Stenberg play three of the Tributes competing in the Games. Cato (Ludwig) and Clove (Fuhrman) are ruthless killers who are the two most fearsome Career Tributes, while Rue (Stenberg) is the youngest Tribute from District 11, who also becomes a close ally of Katniss Everdeen (Jennifer Lawrence).

At the press day, the three co-stars made it obvious just how tight-knit the cast had gotten while making the film, as they shared stories about training together, the practical jokes they played on each other, what it’s like to interact with fans, and what they learned from this experience. Check out what they had to say after the jump:

Calling all Hunger Games fans: we’ve got a good deal of Panem-related material to wade through today. A batch of new images and an IMAX banner from the film have been released, and Lionsgate announced that advanced tickets for the film go on sale tomorrow. Additionally, the studio is planning a national mall tour to give fans a chance to meet the actors from the film at their local shopping mecca. Director Gary Ross, stars Jennifer Lawrence, Josh Hutcherson, Liam Hemsworth and more will be popping up at malls across the country to participate in fan Q&A’s. I’m not exactly sure The Hunger Games needs a mall tour in order to drum up awareness (it feels very 80s pop star), but I guess it gives superfans a chance to interact with the cast.

Hit the jump to check out the images and banner, as well as the full list of participating mall tour cities which includes information on which actors will be at which events. The Hunger Games opens March 23rd.

How’s this for a career track? At the age of 12, Isabelle Fuhrman got the attention of critics for her portrayal of a deranged woman with hypopituitarism in Orphan, and more recently landed a spot in Gary Ross’s upcoming The Hunger Games as Clove, a knife-wielding “contestant” that is sure to share screen time with Jennifer Lawrence. Now, it’s being reported that Fuhrman is in talks to star opposite Jaden Smith in M. Night Shyamalan’s After Earth, which also stars none other than Will Smith himself. The sci-fi epic, previously titled 1000 A.E., is set in a future where humans can no longer survive on the inhospitable Earth. While the elder Smith is playing the part of a warrior, his son has inherited the role of “failure.” But that all gets turned around when a crash landing forces the son to save the father. Fuhrman is expected to play Rayna, a friend of Jaden Smith’s character. Hit the jump for more on Fuhrman, The Hunger Games and After Earth.

The basic premise behind The Hunger Games is a fight to the death between 24 kids (ages 12-18) — two “tributes” selected from each of the 12 districts of Panem, the dictatorship of the future.  Lionsgate has spent the last month steadily rolling out the young cast that will play the kids, saving two of the most important tributes for today’s final announcement.  You can gauge their relative importance by their names — known not as “Tribute Boy” and “Tribute Girl,” but rather as Cato and Clove of District 2.  Alexander Ludwig (Race to Witch Mountain) will play Cato, Isabelle Fuhrman (Orphan) will play Clove.  I can’t speak for Ludwig’s talent, but the Fuhrman casting is excellent.  She wowed us all in Orphan in 2009, but  screen credits since have been minimal (The Cleveland Show?).  Fuhrman is perfect for Clove, who is great with a knife and, um… not very nice.

Virtually all of the principal roles are filled: Jennifer Lawrence as Katniss, Josh Hutcherson as Peeta, Woody Harrelson as Haymitch, Liam Hemsworth as Gale, Wes Bentley as Seneca Crane, Elizabeth Banks as Effie Trinket, Stanley Tucci as Caesar Flickerman, Willow Shields as Primrose, and Paula Malcomson as Mrs. Everdeen.  Find a Cinna (perhaps Lenny Kravitz?) and a President Snow, and you’re pretty much set.  Director Gary Ross (Seabiscuit) ought to begin production soon to make the planned March 23, 2012 release date.  Hit the jump for the official synopsis the full tribute casting rundown.

“Orphan,” Warner Brothers’ deliciously demented recent updating of the vile-child genre, slashes its way onto Blu-ray and DVD this Halloween. Although horror fans familiar with its long list of movie predecessors will likely anticipate some of its initial storytelling tricks, “Orphan” features a truly twisted third act twist that should make it a surprise treat for even the most wintered horror fan.  My full review after the jump:

Opening this Friday is Warner Bros. new thriller “Orphan”. The film was directed by Jaume Collet-Serra (“House of Wax”) and it stars Vera Farmiga, Peter Sarsgaard, Isabelle Fuhrman, CCH Pounder and Jimmy Bennett. If you aren’t familiar with the film, it’s about an evil orphan that comes to live with Vera Farmiga and Peter Sarsgaard’s family….

So to help promote the film, we’ve been provided with six clips and they’re after the jump – along with the full synopsis. Take a look. Also, in the next day or so expect interviews with Vera Farmiga and Peter Sarsgaard, director Jaume Collet-Serra, and producers Joel Silver and Susan Downey.