The first trailer for director Roland Emmerich’s presidential thriller White House Down has been released.  While the trailer (and plot) have lots of elements in common with Antoine Fuqua’s Olympus Has Fallen, our first introduction to White House Down comes through the lens of various news outlets reporting an attack on Washington, D.C. rather than centering on the heroic lead; we don’t even seen Channing Tatum until about half-way through.  Emmerich’s usual flare for the dramatic is evident, but then he goes and does something interesting by allowing silence to fill a good portion of the trailer.  It also looks like the danger will come not from an outside enemy, but from within.  There are moments that appear to be more Die Hard in nature (and a few glimpses that could be considered spoilers), but there’s just enough here to warrant some interest even after a movie with the exact same plot was just released.

Hit the jump to watch the trailer.  The film also stars Jamie Foxx, Maggie Gyllenhaal, James Woods, Richard Jenkins, Jason Clarke, Jake Weber, Lance Reddick and Joey King.  White House Down opens on June 28th, 2013.

What happened in 2008 with America’s economy could have been the sort of disaster that sent the country (and possibly much of the world) into a depression. America – through deregulation and bad planning – created toxic assets where people were given loans that they had no real hopes of paying them off. Too Big to Fail attempts to turn how Treasury Secretary Henry Paulson (William Hurt) dealt with the problem. The cast is studded with people like James Woods, Bill Pullman, Billy Crudup, Topher Grace, Paul Giamatti, and many more. Curtis Hanson directed the film, though he can’t get over the massive amount of exposition. Our review of the Blu-ray of Too Big to Fail follows after the jump.

Today’s cast additions include two White House themed pictures for the price of one:

• James Woods (Casino) is in early negotiations to join Roland Emmerich’s White House Down, starring Channing Tatum and Jamie Foxx.
• Chris Cooper (American Beauty) is in talks to board the John Wells‘ adaptation of August: Osage County, with Meryl Streep and Julia Roberts.
• Cole Hauser (Good Will Hunting) has joined the Antoine Fuqua actioner, Olympus Has Fallen, opposite Gerard Butler and Aaron Eckhart.

Hit the jump for more details on each picture.

Here are some recent casting additions at a glance with more information after the jump:

• James Marsden (X-Men) will board Universal’s 2 Guns, joining Mark Wahlberg and Denzel Washington.
• James Woods (Casino) and Ron Eldard (Sleepers) join the Steve Jobs indie biopic jOBS, starring Ashton Kutcher.

Hit the jump for more on each picture.

A trio of swell actors have signed on to star in the drama Jamesy Boy. Mary-Louise Parker, Ving Rhames, and James Woods will star in the feature debut of director/co-writer Trevor White. The film tells the story of a young suburban street gang member who gets sent to a maximum-security prison. Once inside, he strikes up an unlikely friendship with a convicted murderer (as one does) who ends up becoming the boy’s mentor “and ultimately defines and changes the course of his life.” Newcomer Spencer Lofranco will play the young prisoner.

Parker is gearing up for the likely final season of Showtime’s Weeds and will next be seen on the big screen alongside Ryan Reynolds and Jeff Bridges in R.I.P.D. Rhames recently booked a prominent role in David E. Kelley’s pilot Chelsea General, and should the show be picked up to series he’ll have himself a prime spot on weekly television. Hit the jump to read the full press release.

The trailer for Rod Lurie’s remake of Sam Peckinpah’s Straw Dogs has gone online.  The remake transplants the story from rural England to the deep South where a screenwriter (James Marsden) and his wife (Kate Bosworth) relocate to her hometown.  Like in the original, they encounter hostility from the locals and matters get increasingly worse for the couple from there. I’m not familiar with Lurie’s original but I’m liking the Southern setting in the trailer, and Skarsgård is positively creepy as the antagonist.

Hit the jump to check out the trailer.  The film also stars Alexander Skarsgård, Dominic Purcell, Laz Alonso, Walton Goggins, and James Woods.  Straw Dogs opens September 16th.

In 1983 David Cronenberg’s strange, lyrical, and indelible Videodrome was released, and over 20 years later the question remains “What is Videodrome?” Following up the four films that cemented his reputation as the master of venereal horror (from 1975′s Shivers to 1981′s Scanners), Videodrome was the apex of Cronenberg’s career at that point, as both an experimental film (which his early college films were) and a horror movie. James Woods stars as Max Renn, a cable TV producer looking for the hottest latest and sleaziest new show, and runs across a show that just features people being torture with no plot or explanation. He and his girlfriend Nikki Brand (Deborah Harry) are fascinated by it, but the byproducts of watching it cause Max to hallucinate, and perhaps become a murderer. My review of Criterion’s Blu-ray of Videodrome follows after the jump.

With some major casting additions, HBO’s telepic Too Big to Fail now lives up to its name.  William Hurt has already signed on to star in the behind-the-scenes look at the 2008 financial crisis, directed by Curtis Hanson (L.A. Confidential).  James Woods, Paul Giamatti, Billy Crudup, Ed Asner, Kathy Baker, Cynthia Nixon, Ayad Akhtar, Topher Grace, Dan Hedaya, Michael O’Keefe, Tony Shalhoub, and Joey Slotnick have now joined the cast.  Hit the jump to see the real-life personas they’ll assume.

Warner Home Entertainment’s newest animated effort featuring DC Comics Heroes and villains: Justice League: Crisis on Two Earths, arrives on DVD February 23^rd, 2010.  The film features villains from the classic DC Crime Syndicate.  Check out an image and the trailer after the jump.