At long last, the epic, sprawling, best-selling novel The Spoils of Babylon, from author Eric Jonrosh, will be adapted as a six-part mini-series for IFC.  If you haven’t heard of Jonrosh before, that’s likely because he doesn’t exist, rather he is a character being played by Will Ferrell, who is also an executive producer on the project.  Telling the tale of the mighty Morehouse family, The Spoils of Babylon will take viewers on a whirlwind adventure around the globe and across time.

The Spoils of Babylon stars Jessica Alba, Will Ferrell, Jellybean Howie, Val Kilmer, Tobey Maguire, Haley Joel Osment, Tim Robbins, Michael Sheen, Steve Tom and Kristen Wiig with a cameo by David Spade and the voice of Carey Mulligan.  The mini-series (edited down from Jonrosh’s original 22-hour version) will air on IFC starting January 9, 2014.  Hit the jump to watch the trailer.

Ten new images have been released from Robert Rodriguez’ Machete Kills.  The film centers on Machete’s (Danny Trejo) quest to stop an eccentric billionaire arms dealer who has plans to spread war and anarchy across the planet.   Judging by what we’ve seen so far, it looks like more of the same, so if you liked the original Machete, then Machete Kills should be right up your alley of violence and mayhem.  The movie is set to screen this evening as the opener of Fantastic Fest 2013, so expect some reactions to start hitting the Internet later tonight.

Hit the jump to check out the images.  The film also stars Sofia Vergara, Michelle Rodriguez, Amber Heard, Charlie Sheen, Lady Gaga, Antonio Banderas, Jessica Alba, Demian Bichir, Alex Vega, Vanessa Hudgens, Cuba Gooding Jr., William Sadler, Marko Zaror, and Mel Gibson.  Machete Kills opens October 11th.

Here’s today’s round of casting announcements:

• Jessica Alba (Sin City) will play the villain in Kyle Newman’s comedy, Barely Lethal, starring Hailee Steinfeld and Samuel L. Jackson.
• Mike Birbiglia (Sleepwalk with Me) has joined Josh Boone’s The Fault in Our Stars.
• Kathrine Narducci (The Sopranos) joins Clint Eastwood’s Jersey Boys adaptation.

Hit the jump for more on each story.

The first trailer for director Stuart Zicherman’s comedy A.C.O.D. has been released online.  The title stands for “Adult Children of Divorce” and the film centers on a guy (Adam Scott) who has been caught in his parents’ (Richard Jenkins and Catherine O’Hara) ugly divorce for the past twenty years, and matters become even worse when his brother gets engaged.  I caught the film at Sundance and it’s a really nice showcase for Adam Scott as a leading man, with a couple of scene-stealing performances by Jenkins and O’Hara to boot.  In addition to being really funny, the pic also touches on some issues that should hit close to home for fellow A.C.O.D.’s.

Hit the jump to watch the trailer, and click here to read Matt’s review.  The film also stars Jane Lynch, Jessica Alba, Clark Duke, Mary Elizabeth Winstead, and Amy Poehler.  A.C.O.D. opens in theaters on October 4th.

A new trailer has been released for Robert Rodriguez’ Machete Kills.  The film centers on Machete’s (Danny Trejo) quest to stop an eccentric billionaire arms dealer who has plans to spread war and anarchy across the planet.  This new trailer provides more of a “plot” synopsis, but mostly gives us a look at the supporting cast, which includes Lady Gaga, Cuba Gooding Jr., Antonio Banderas, and Mel Gibson as the villain.  Judging by this new trailer, Rodriguez has run out of ways to make Machete fun and interesting, and is now just making a really long Funny or Die video where celebrities briefly take on ridiculous roles.

Hit the jump to check out the trailer.  The film also stars Michelle Rodriguez, Amber Heard, Charlie Sheen, Sofia Vergara, Jessica Alba, Demian Bichir, Alex Vega, Vanessa Hudgens, William Sadler, and Marko Zaror.  Machete Kills will open Fantastic Fest 2013, and opens in wide release on October 11th.

Here’s today’s latest casting news:

• Christopher Walken (Pulp Fiction) will join Clint Eastwood’s Jersey Boys adaptation as mobster Angelo “Gyp” DeCarlo.
• Kellan Lutz (The Twilight Saga) is in talks to join the all-action cast of The Expendables 3, directed by Patrick Hughes (Red Hill).  Other newcomers include Ronda Rousey and Victor Ortiz.
• Jessica Alba (Sin City) will board Joe Carnahan’s action-comedy, Stretch.
• Danny McBride (Eastbound and Down) has signed on for writer-director Cameron Crowe’s new project, a rumored reimagining of his Deep Tiki script.

Hit the jump for more on each casting announcement.

Open Road Films has released the first trailer for director Robert Rodriguez’s sequel Machete Kills.  The film centers on Machete’s (Danny Trejo) quest to stop an eccentric billionaire arms dealer who has plans to spread war and anarchy across the planet.  This trailer was released on Yahoo!’s Spanish-language site, but the dialogue is in English.  It looks like fun, but so did Machete, which made Trejo a supporting character in his own movie.  A large cast is fun, but Rodriguez always seems to have trouble finding the right balance (he had the same problem with Once Upon a Time in Mexico).  Hopefully, Machete Kills will be an improvement on the first film. [Update: We've added the English-language version, which is the same except now English-language speakers can understand the narration]

Hit the jump to watch the trailer.  The film also stars Sofia Vergara, Michelle Rodriguez, Amber Heard, Charlie Sheen, Lady Gaga, Antonio Banderas, Jessica Alba, Demian Bichir, Alex Vega, Vanessa Hudgens, Cuba Gooding Jr., William Sadler, Marko Zaror, and Mel Gibson.  Machete Kills opens September 13th.

Here’s more of today’s casting news:

• Dominic Cooper (Captain America: The First Avenger) is in negotiations to join Luke Evans in Dracula, the Universal picture directed by Gary Shore.
• Alicia Vikander (Anna Karenina) is in talks for The Man from U.N.C.L.E., the Guy Ritchie-directed adaptation of the TV series that stars Tom Cruise and Armie Hammer.
• Pierce Brosnan (The Thomas Crown Affair), Jessica Alba (Sin City) and Kristin Scott Thomas (The English Patient) will star in How to Make Love Like an Englishman for director Tom Vaughan.

Hit the jump for more on each casting announcement.

The comedy A.C.O.D., which premiered at the Sundance Film Festival earlier this year to positive reviews, has been picked up for distribution by The Film Arcade and Paramount Home Media.  The title stands for “Adult Children of Divorce” and the Stuart Zicherman-directed film centers on a guy (Adam Scott) who has been caught in his parents’ (Richard Jenkins and Catherine O’Hara) ugly divorce for the past twenty years, and matters become even worse when his brother gets engaged.  Then the details of the feud are revealed in a definitive new book on children of divorce.

I caught the film at Sundance (read Matt’s review here) and it’s a solid comedy with a big heart, and as a fellow A.C.O.D. it hit really close to home for me in quite a few parts.  It also features scene-stealing performances by Catherine O’Hara and Richard Jenkins, with other nice turns from Clark Duke, Amy Poehler, and Mary Elizabeth Winstead.  The Film Arcade will be handling theatrical distribution in North America, while Paramount Home Media will manage domestic home entertainment, television licensing and digital distribution, as well as international distribution.  Hit the jump for the press release.

Now playing in theaters is the 3D animated feature, Escape from Planet Earth.  The story centers on some aliens who get captured during a mission to Earth and are tossed into the secure holding site of Area 51, but they quickly find that they are not alone.  Escape From Planet Earth features the voices of Rob Corddry, Brendan Fraser, Sarah Jessica Parker, William Shatner, Jessica Alba, Jane Lynch, Sofia Vergara, Craig Robinson, George Lopez, Steve Zahn, Chris Parnell, Ricky Gervais and Jonathan Morgan Heit.

During the recent Los Angeles press day, I landed an exclusive interview with Jessica Alba.  We talked about making Escape From Planet Earth, the recording process, her experiences at this year’s Sundance (where she co-starred in the indie comedy, A.C.O.D.), Sin City 2 and how it compares to the first film, what else is coming up in 2013, and more.  Hit the jump for what she had to say.

Jessica Alba and George Lopez star in Cal Brunker’s hilarious animated space adventure, Escape from Planet Earth, about what happens when aliens respond to a distress signal from the Dark Planet.  Alba voices Lena, the beautiful, intelligent but extremely duplicitous chief of BASA’s mission control.  Lopez plays Thurman, a three-eyed, four-armed slug-like alien who leaves a trail of goo wherever he goes.  Opening February 15^th, the film also features the voices of Brendan Fraser, Rob Corddry, William Shatner, Sarah Jessica Parker, Jane Lynch, Sofia Vergara, Craig Robinson, Ricky Gervais, Jonathan Morgan Heit, Steve Zahn and Chris Parnell.

At our recent roundtable interview, Alba and Lopez talked about their characters and what drew them to the project.  Lopez described how Harvey Weinstein tracked him down in Las Vegas to play the part and was instrumental in putting together the terrific cast.  Alba explained why she loved playing a villain in her first animated feature, how she found the recording process and enjoyed playing over the top and crazy, what she thought of the script’s strong female characters, and how being a mom has affected the roles she takes.  She also discussed the Honest Company and her new book.  Hit the jump to read on.

We have three new clips and five character posters to share from Cal Brunker’s animated sci-fi family film, Escape from Planet Earth.  Brendan Fraser and Rob Corddry voice two alien brothers who get into all sorts of hijinks when a mission leads them to the notoriously dangerous title planet.

Also featuring the voices of Jane Lynch, Craig Robinson, George Lopez, Sofia Vergara, Steve Zahn, Chris Parnell, Jonath Morgan Heit, James Corden, Jessica Alba, Sarah Jessica Parker and William Shatner, Escape from Planet Earth opens February 15th.  Hit the jump to check out the clips and posters.

Director Robert Rodriguez’s sequel Machete Kills now has a release date, as the continued adventures of the titular Machete will commence on September 13th of this year.  The pic is the second in a planned trilogy (the third film supposedly takes place in space) and centers on Machete’s (Danny Trejo) quest to stop an eccentric billionaire arms dealer who has plans to spread war and anarchy across the planet.  On the September release date, the pic will open opposite the dancing film Battle of the Year and the Aaron Eckhart-led action horror adaptation I, Frankenstein.

Hit the jump to read the full press release.  The colorful cast includes Michelle Rodriguez, Sofia Vergara, Amber Heard, Charlie Sheen, Lady Gaga, Antonio Banderas, Jessica Alba, Demian Bichir, Alex Vega, Vanessa Hudgens, Cuba Gooding Jr., William Sadler, Marko Zaror, and of course Mel Gibson.

A new trailer has landed for director Cal Brunker’s animated space adventure, Escape from Planet Earth.  If you enjoyed Hoodwinked and its sequel, then Escape from Planet Earth is right up your alley as it’s from the same creative team.  The story centers on alien beings who get captured during a mission to Earth and are tossed into the secure holding site of Area 51.  But they quickly find that they are not alone.

Escape from Planet Earth, featuring the voices of Sarah Jessica Parker, Jessica Alba, Brendan Fraser, James Gandolfini, Craig Robinson and Rob Corddry opens February 14th, 2013.  Hit the jump to check out the new trailer.

A double-barrel of good news on the Machete Kills front, as the Robert Rodriguez-directed and Danny Trejo-starring sequel has been picked up for North American distribution in 2013 by Open Road Films and has released its first official image!  The second installment in a planned trilogy features Trejo as the former Mexican federale out to stop a madman and a billionaire arms dealer from unleashing war across the globe.

The crazy cast which crowds Trejo out of his screen time features Michelle Rodriguez, Sofia Vergara, Amber Heard, Charlie Sheen, Lady Gaga, Antonio Banderas, Jessica Alba, Demian Bichir, Alexa Vega, Vanessa Hudgens, Cuba Gooding, Jr., William Sadler, Marko Zaror and Mel Gibson.  Hit the jump to check out the first image of Machete Kills.  Mr. Machete, what are you doing to Miss San Antonio?