From the casting news universe come these two tidbits today:

• Lake Bell (No Strings Attached) has signed on to star alongside Jon Hamm and Aasif Mandvi in the Disney sports drama Million Dollar Arm.

• Jeremy Irvine (War Horse) and Phoebe Fox (One Day, Black Mirror) will star in The Woman in Black: Angel of Death, the sequel to 2012’s Daniel Radcliffe-led horror flick The Woman in Black.

Hit the jump for more on each project. 

Back in November, we mentioned that Divergent was rounding up the likes of Jack Reynor (What Richard Did) and Brenton Thwaites (Blue Lagoon: The Awakening) to star opposite Shailene Woodley in the Neil Burger adaptation.  Reynor just landed a lead in Transformers 4, so he’s likely off the table, but newcomers Lucas Till (X-Men: First Class), Alex Pettyfer (Magic Mike) and Jeremy Irvine (War Horse) are now vying for the coveted role.  Lionsgate is hoping that the property will be the next Twilight and/or The Hunger Games, which is a reasonable goal seeing as the Divergent novels lift themes from both series.  Hit the jump for more.

A new U.K. trailer for director Mike Newell’s (Four Weddings and a Funeral) adaptation of the Charles Dickens classic Great Expectations has landed online.  The film stars Jeremy Irvine as Pip, a young man who comes into a fortune, but whose heart is continually broken by Estella (Holliday Grainger), who was taught to do so by her pathetic mother Miss Haversham (Helena Bonham Carter).  Though Dickens’ story has been retold countless times, Newell has assembled a fine cast for this latest iteration that includes Ralph Fiennes, Robbie Coltrane, Jason Flemyng, and Sally Hawkins.

Hit the jump to watch the latest U.K. trailer.  The film is slated for release in the U.K. on November 30th and was recently picked up for domestic distribution.

Let’s take a look at some acquisitions today, shall we?

• Mike Newell’s Great Expectations, starring Jeremy Irvine, Holliday Grainger, Helena Bonham Carter, Ralph Fiennes and Robbie Coltrane, has had domestic rights picked up by Outsource Media Group.
• Funeral Kings, from Kevin and Matthew McManus, stars Dylan Hartigan, Alex Maizus and Jordan Puzzo and was recently acquired by Freestyle Releasing.
• Michel Gondry’s The We and the I, starring Michael Brodie, Teresa Lynn and Raymond Delgado, has been picked up by the partnership of Paladan and 108 Media.

Hit the jump for images, posters and full press releases. 

A new clip from Mike Newell‘s Great Expectations has gone online.  The upcoming adaptation of Charles Dickens‘ novel stars Jeremy Irvine as Pip, a young man who comes into a fortune, but whose heart is continually broken by Estella (Holliday Grainger), who was taught to do so by her pathetic mother Miss Haversham (Helena Bonham Carter).  In this clip, we see an uneasy reunion between Pip and the escaped convict, Magwitch (Ralph Fiennes).  Like the trailer, this clip makes me wonder what Newell is doing to make his adaptation of Great Expectation standout other than hire talented actors to play the parts.

Hit the jump to check out the clip.  Great Expectations will make its world premiere at the Toronto International Film Festival.

The first international trailer has debuted for Mike Newell’s Great Expectations.  The adaptation of Charles Dickens’ literary classic will make its world premiere at TIFF this September, but the trailer gives quite an extensive look at the film.  Great Expectations stars Helena Bonham Carter as Miss Havisham, Ralph Fiennes as Magwitch, as well as Jeremy Irvine (War Horse) as Pip, Holliday Grainger (The Borgias) as Estella, with Robbie Coltrane (Harry Potter), Jason Flemyng (X-Men: First Class), and Sally Hawkins (Happy Go Lucky).  Hit the jump to watch the new international trailer.

Steven Spielberg had two movies come out within days of each other at the end of 2011, and it’s weird how neither got the attention they deserved. War Horse was the best picture-nominated of the two, but the film made less than $80 Million at the box office. It deserved better, and now the film is on Blu-ray to be discovered. Jeremy Irvine stars alongside a horse in an episodic film about how his equine pal Joey goes through World War I. Our review of War Horse on Blu-ray follows after the jump.

The first trailer for the drama Now Is Good has gone online. The film stars Dakota Fanning as a 17-year-old girl who is dying of leukemia and decides to forgo treatment in order to live out her last days to the fullest. While the premise may seem a bit derivative, I was actually quite impressed by the trailer. Fanning sports short hair and a British accent, and it’s refreshing to see her tackle adult material. She’s joined by War Horse star Jeremy Irvine, as the two strike up a presumably doomed romance and set out to fulfill her bucket list. As I said, it’s not the most original of stories but I’m intrigued enough to catch the film at some point down the line.

Hit the jump to watch the trailer. Now Is Good opens in the UK on May 25th, but is currently without a US release date.

Nicole Kidman has replaced Rachel Weisz to play Colin Firth‘s wife in Jonathan Teplitzy‘s The Railway Man.  Per Variety, the movie is “based on Eric Lomax‘s autobiography about his horrific experiences as a Japanese prisoner in World War II, and his remarkable reconciliation with one of his captors 30 years later.”  Patty Lomax was instrumental in helping her husband deal with his psychological damage and brought him together with one of the Japanese officers who was responsible for his torture.  I assume the reconciliation wasn’t along the lines of a “My bad, man—All good, bro” exchange.  Jeremy Irvine (War Horse) will play the younger Lomax.

Weisz had to drop out of the role due to additional shooting for the blockbuster films The Bourne Legacy and Oz: The Great and Powerful.  Kidman is also attached to star in My Wild Life and The Family Fang, and she will be seen later this year in Lee Daniels’ The Paperboy.

With awards-season upon us, I’ve been doing my best to catch up with any potential contenders that I may have missed up to this point. Without a doubt, the standout of late has been writer/director Tate Taylor‘s The Help. I had heard from several friends that the pic was solid but nothing special. After finally getting a chance to sit down with it myself, I have to say that I disagree. I think it’s better than that. Not only is it filled with great performances, but it also finds a way to be more than a story of how a caring white person can help those otherwise hopeless black people. If only 2009′s The Blind Side could go back in time and take note.

But enough of my own cinematic experiences, in this week’s “Top 5″ you’ll find a recap of our visit to the Romanian set of Ghost Rider Spirit of Vengeance, Benedict Cumberbatch talking about his villainous role in J.J. Abrams‘ Star Trek sequel, our interview with Mondo creative director Justin Ishmael, the possibility of a Bridesmaids world without Kristen Wiig, and video interviews with War Horse‘s Jeremy Irvine, Emily Watson, Tom Hiddleston and more. Hit the jump for a brief recap and link to each.

Now playing in theaters is director Steven Spielberg‘s fantastic new movie, War Horse.  Based on the Award winning play (which is based on Michael Morpurgo’s book) and set during World War I, War Horse tells the story of “the remarkable friendship between a horse named Joey and a young man called Albert (Jeremy Irvine), who tames and trains him.”  And don’t just take my word for it, early screenings have been very positive and the drama is heading into Oscar season with very positive buzz, especially after the National Board of review named War Horse one of the best 10 films of the year.  The film also stars Emily Watson, David Thewlis, Peter Mullan, Niels Arestrup, Tom Hiddleston, Benedict Cumberbatch, Patrick Kennedy, and Toby Kebbell.  You can watch the trailer here and here’s seven clips.

To help promote the film, DreamWorks recently held a press junket in New York City and I was able to talk with Irvine and Watson on camera.  While I only had a few minutes, they each talked about how they got cast in War Horse, what it like to work for Spielberg, deleted scenes, and a lot more.  Check out what they had to say after the jump.

“A Boy and His Pet” stories can be immensely charming.  Pets are sweet and they look up to the boy (or girl, but usually it’s a boy in these stories) and the boy loves his faithful friend.  The genre started out as a “A Boy and His Dog”, but has expanded to “A Boy and His Robot” (The Iron Giant) and “A Boy and His Dragon” (How to Train Your Dragon).  Steven Spielberg‘s War Horse pulls it back to terrestrial creatures and starts out trying to tell the story of a boy and his horse.  But then the movie changes gears, separates the two and rather than show the struggle of both to get back to the other, the story uses the horse to try and tell a series of vignettes about life during World War I.  However, those vignettes lose their honesty when Spielberg refuses to show the devastating horror of war.

We have 7 clips from War Horse, one of two Steven Spielberg films that will see release this holiday season.  Set during World War I, War Horse tells the story of “the remarkable friendship between a horse named Joey and a young man called Albert (Jeremy Irvine), who tames and trains him.”  Based on early screenings, the drama is heading into Oscar season with very positive buzz, especially after the National Board of review named War Horse one of the best 10 films of the year.

Tom Hiddleston, Emily Watson, David Thewlis, Peter Mullan, Niels Arestrup, Benedict Cumberbatch, and Toby Kebbell also star.  War Horse opens on December 25.  Watch the clips after the jump.

Today in Steven Spielberg news, we have a couple of stories.  First off, Variety reports that Spielberg will reunite with his longtime composer John Williams for the Abrham Lincoln biopic Lincoln.  It would be more newsworthy if Spielberg wasn’t going with Williams, but why mess with something that’s worked 24 times before?  Williams scored both of Spielberg’s upcoming films, The Adventures of Tintin and War Horse, and it will be interesting to see what he has in store for those movies and for Lincoln.

Speaking of War Horse, 17 new images from the movie have gone online including several set photos.  The movie takes place during World War I and centers on a horse and his owner, Arthur (Jeremy Irvine), trying to reunite after the horse is requisitioned for battle.  Judging by these images, Arthur really likes that horse.  Hit the jump to check out the images.  War Horse opens December 25th.  Lincoln opens in late 2012.

More promotional material from AFM, y’all—and Now Is Good has to be one of the more intriguing projects to come out of the convention.  Dakota Fanning stars as Tessa, a 17-year-old diagnosed with a terminal illness: “She determines to use every moment, compiling a catalogue of what normal teenager would experience, including losing her virginity and taking drugs.”  Fanning has been a talented actor since she was in utero, and she will surely put together a great performance with this meaty role.  But I’m drawn to the young supporting cast.  Anyone who watches Skins can speak to the screen presence of Kaya Scoledario.  And Jeremy Irvine is poised to be The Next Big Thing, groomed by none other than Steven Spielberg in his debut feature War Horse.

Olivia Williams and Paddy Considine also star in Now Is Good, written and directed by Ol Parker.  Hit the jump for the images, promo poster, and synopsis. [Update: The images have been removed at the request of the studio.]