As we approach the release of the sixth film in the Fast and Furious franchise, it’s a bit crazy to think that the series is actually at the top of its game this far in.  The worldwide box office total of 2011’s Fast Five doubled that of the second-highest grossing entry in the series, Fast & Furious, and now director Justin Lin’s Fast & Furious 6 is poised to be one of the biggest films of a very crowded summer.

Steve recently spoke with producer Neal Moritz for an extended interview, and during their conversation he talked extensively about what fans can expect from Fast & Furious 6 as well as the progress on the very fast-moving Fast & Furious 7, which was recently announced for a summer 2014 release.  Moritz confirmed that James Wan will be directing the next installment and talked about why they chose the Saw director to step into the franchise, and he also assured us that Dwayne Johnson will indeed be returning.  Hit the jump for much, much more.

We already knew that Universal was wasting no time in moving forward on Fast & Furious 7, and today at the studio’s CinemaCon presentation, Vin Diesel announced that the next installment is due out on July 11, 2014.  No details are known other than filming begins this summer, Diesel will return alongside Paul Walker, and James Wan (Insidious) is set to direct.

While I assume Universal would try to round up cast members other than Diesel and Walker, the involvement of Dwayne Johnson is a bit up in the air.  In a recent interview with Steve, Johnson seemed doubtful that production would begin so soon, but if Universal wants to hit that July 2014 release date, filming has to begin ASAP.  Johnson could be a little out of the loop on this, so either his character won’t be in the seventh installment, or it will be a minor role since filming on Fast & Furious 7 will conflict his shooting schedule on Brett Ratner’s Hercules.

With CinemaCon starting tomorrow in Las Vegas, I arrived earlier today to take pictures of the new posters on display.  For those unaware, CinemaCon is a convention put on for theater owners in order to get a look at what the studios have to offer for the rest of the year, and where vendors can show new products for theaters to buy.  It’s basically Comic-Con for theater owners.  Besides showing off never before seen footage, the studios often bring the cast and the filmmakers.  Over the course of a few days, Hollywood comes to Las Vegas.  So over the next few days expect tons of updates.  I’ll have new posters, thoughts on the new movie footage, and exclusives interviews.  It should be a fun week.

To start things off, I just spotted the first posters for Spike Lee’s Oldboy and James Wan’s Insidious: Chapter 2.  Hit the jump to check them out.

We learned last week that Justin Lin, the director of the last four Fast & Furious movies, will not return to direct the seventh movie in the series after Fast & Furious 6.  This is a big franchise for Universal—the studio may shoot as early Fast Seven this summer for a 2014 release, but to do so they need a director.  Universal reportedly spoke to Baltazar Kormakur (Contraband), Jeff Wadlow (Kick-Ass 2), and Harold Zwart (The Karate Kid) about the job, but Deadline expects James Wan to sign a deal by the end of the week.  Wan made his name as the director of Saw.  His last film was the surprise hit Insidious, and Wan is currently in post-production on Insidious: Chapter 2.

Hit the jump to read what Lin had to say on the choice of Wan, plus a rundown on what we know about Fast & Furious 7 so far.

Warner Bros. has released the first full-length trailer for director James Wan’s (Saw, Insidious) upcoming horror film The Conjuring.  The first trailer for the film was a genuinely terrifying clip that showcased the kinds of scares Wan has crafted for this latest horror pic, and this new full trailer is no less terrifying.  The film is based on the story of the Perron family who inhabited a haunted Rhode Island farmhouse in the 1970s.  Lili Taylor and Ron Livingston play the Perrons, and Vera Farmiga and Patrick Wilson play a husband and wife team of psychic investigators who encounter the most horrifying case of their career.  Wan recently told the audience at WonderCon that the film received an R-rating simply for being “too scary,” and I’m now fairly certain that I’ll be watching this one through covered eyes this summer.

Hit the jump to watch the new trailer, click here to read Dave’s recap of the film’s WonderCon panel, and click here to read our interview with Wan.  The pic also stars Joey King and Mackenzie Foy.  The Conjuring opens on July 19th.

James Wan, the talented filmmaker behind Saw and Insidious, was on hand this at WonderCon (ComicCon’s little brother) this weekend to promote his newest horror/ghost-story The Conjuring.  Much like Insidious, the film focuses on the haunting of a family and the paranormal investigators tasked with ending such woes.  However unlike Insidious, The Conjuring purports to be a true story.  There really was a Perron family – and they (per Andrea Perron’s book and recollections) really were haunted by the supernatural for close to nearly a decade.  The validity of such claims seems like a moot point – as based on the quick teaser and footage shown, the film seems terrifying enough on its own be it fictional or not.

In the following video interview with Wan, he discloses his fascination with ‘true’ supernatural tales, the testing process on The Conjuring and when the next trailer for the film is set to premiere.  Hit the jump to watch.

Today at WonderCon, the Warner Bros. panel featuring a presentation from James Wan’s The Conjuring.  Wan set the tone for the panel by presenting two creepy clips that sent waves of nervous energy coursing through the audience.  The footage got great crowd reactions and will certainly create some buzz leading up to the film’s summer release date.  Also on hand were members of the real-life victims of this particular haunting and the original paranormal investigators upon which the film is based.

The Conjuring, opening July 19th, stars Vera Farmiga, Patrick Wilson, Ron Livingston, Lili Taylor, Joey King and Mackenzie Foy.  Hit the jump for our panel recap. 

Every once in a while I use this space to tout a recently released Blu-ray/DVD that I missed in theaters but, via the magic of home video, was finally able to check out from the comfort of my couch (click here to see me gush about The Perks of Being a Wallflower). Today I’ll do the same by encouraging you to check out co-writer/director Scott Derrickson‘s horror pic Sinister. There’s nothing spectacular going on here, it’s just an effective movie with several scenes that I found genuinely frightening/disturbing. Moreover, it’s probably the last widely-released horror entry since Insidious that left me turning some of the lights on in the house shortly after it ended.

With my “Super Cool Blu-ray Pick of the Week” out of the way, this week’s Top 5 includes interviews from the set of The Incredible Burt Wonderstone, some drama-inducing first set images from The Amazing Spider-Man 2, a set visit recap and interviews for Park Chan-wook‘s Stoker, Jack the Giant Slayer interviews, and the first trailer and poster for director James Wan‘s The Conjuring. As you may expect, a brief recap and link to each of these can be found completely free of charge after the jump.

Warner Bros. has released the incredibly creepy first trailer and poster for director James Wan’s (Insidious, Saw) horror film The Conjuring.  The pic is based on the story of the Perron family who inhabited a haunted Rhode Island farmhouse in the 1970s.  Lili Taylor and Ron Livingston play the Perrons, and Vera Farmiga and Patrick Wilson play a husband and wife team of psychic investigators who encounter the most horrifying case of their career.  The film’s release date was moved into the middle of the summer after some through-the-roof test screening responses, and from this trailer I can most certainly see why.  Horror films rarely frighten me, but I found this incredibly well-cut trailer to be extremely effective and just a little bit terrifying.

Hit the jump to check out the trailer and poster, and click here to read Matt’s positive recap of the film’s New York Comic-Con panel.  The film also stars Joey King, Mackenzie Foy, and Shanley Caswell.  The Conjuring opens on July 19th.

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.

Check out the latest casting news below:

• Rosario Dawson (Sin City) will join Queen of the Night, the Atom Egoyan thriller that stars Ryan Reynolds, Scott Speedman and Mireille Enos.
• Frank Grillo (The Grey) and Maria Bello (A History of Violence) will star in a James Wan-presented thriller, possibly titled House of Horror, to be directed by Will Canon (Brotherhood).
• Peter Facinelli (The Twilight Saga) and Yuliya Snigir (A Good Day to Die Hard) join the cast of Freezer, an action/thriller directed by Mikael Salomon and starring Dylan McDermott.
• Richard Cetrone and Revard Dufresne, who each had stunt/small roles in Sucker Punch, will fill out the villainous contingent of Zack Snyder’s Man of Steel presumably as General Zod’s henchmen.

Hit the jump for more on each casting announcement.

Things are moving quickly on the sequel to 2011’s horror hit Insidious.  We learned this February that director James Wan and screenwriter Leigh Whannell were reteaming for the follow-up, and FilmDistrict announced today that Insidious Chapter 2 will be hitting theaters on August 30, 2013.  Wan is again directing from a script by Whannell, and Jason Blum is back to produce through his Blumhouse Productions company.  Moreover, the first film’s cast of Patrick Wilson, Rose Byrne, Lin Shaye, and Ty Simpkins will also be back to reprise their roles.

Not plot details are given, but production on the low-budget sequel is set to begin on January 15, 2013.  Hit the jump to read the full press release.

The first images from Saw and Insidious director James Wan’s supernatural thriller The Conjuring have been released.  The film has become a curious point of interest as of late, as Warner Bros. recently moved the film from its upcoming January release date to a prime summer spot following some wildly positive test screenings.  Patrick Wilson and Vera Farmiga star as a husband and wife team of demonologists and psychic investigators who enter the most horrifying case of their career, spirits in a Rhode Island farmhouse.  The pic is based on the true story of the Perron family who encountered a similar situation in the 1970s.  Ron Livingston and Lili Taylor star as the couple who unknowingly move into the house, and I’m interested to see how one of these small-budget horror films fares in the midst of the blockbusters of the summer.

Hit the jump to check out the first images, and click here to read Matt’s recap from the film’s New York Comic-Con panel.  The Conjuring opens on July 19, 2013.

Maria Bello has been set as the female lead in an upcoming untitled thriller produced by Insidious and Saw director James Wan.  The Untitled ‘James Wan Presents’ Thriller (previously referred to as House of Horror) takes place during the aftermath of a horrific massacre of five college students who were brutally murdered inside an abandoned home.  Bello will play the police department’s psychologist who, after interviewing one of the survivors, learns that the students were amateur ghost hunters who stumbled across “something truly terrifying” inside the house.

We previously heard that Bello was eyeing the role, but today Dimension Films confirmed the casting with a press release.  The project is based on an idea by Wan and was scripted by Max La Bella.  Wan will produce alongside Lee Clay (Beautiful Boy), with Will Cannon (Brotherhood) set to direct.  Production is slated to begin January 2013 in Baton Rouge.  Hit the jump to read the full press release.

New Line is finally moving forward with their MacGyver movie, and they’ve made a surprising director choice on the project.  Variety reports that Saw and Insidious director James Wan is now in talks to helm the adaptation of the 1980s TV series, which already has an existing script by Jason Richman that was recently reworked by Brian and Mark Gunn.  For those unaware, the premise of MacGyver centered around the title character (played by Richard Dean Anderson) bringing together random everyday objects in order to save the day.  Wan recently directed the supernatural horror film The Conjuring for the studio, and execs were so pleased with the results that they recently moved the release date from this coming January to a prime July date.

A MacGyver movie is all well and good, but the film adaptation will surely have to make some tweaks in order to make the series feel relevant in the modern era.  Moreover, it’ll likely be difficult to get audiences to take the premise seriously in the wake of Jorma Taccone’s brilliant comedy MacGruber.