One of the oddest franchises of the last couple of years is the Journey series. The first film, Journey to the Center of the Earth (which starred Brendan Fraser) managed to make $100 Million domestic, and inspired a sequel with Dwayne ‘The Rock’ Johnson stepping if for Fraser. It too made over $100 Domestic and much, much more internationally. Journey 2: The Mysterious Island stars Johnson, Josh Hutcherson, Michael Caine and Vanessa Hudgens in an adventure on an island that reveals itself to be Atlantis. Our review of Journey 2 The Mysterious Island on Blu-ray follows after the jump.

After Journey 2: The Mysterious Island proved to be an international box office smash, New Line Cinema was quick to get all the behind-the-scenes folks back on board for a third go-round in the franchise.  Reports indicated that they were quite keen on getting the front-of-camera contributors back under contract as well, and now, it looks like Dwayne “Don’t call me ‘The Rock’, because I’m an actor now” Johnson is in talks to reprise his role as Hank, stepfather to Sean Anderson (Josh Hutcherson); Johnson first came aboard the franchise to replace Brendan Fraser, who was felled by a tragic case of not wanting to do the second film.  Hit the jump for more.

It looks as though New Line has a bona fide franchise on their hands with the Journey to the Center of the Earth movies. Journey 2: The Mysterious Island just passed $270 million worldwide, besting the Brendan Fraser-fronted first movie’s $242 million total gross, and now Heat Vision reports that New Line is moving forward with Journey 3. The studio has closed deals with Journey 2 director Brad Peyton and writers Brian Gunn and Mark Gunn to return for the third (and likely not final) installment. Peyton commented that they’re going to “grow the mythology,” and said that while Journey 2 was definitely a franchise reboot, Journey 3 will be about “making the seminal work in the franchise.” Alrighty then. The film is on a fast track with a targeted 2014 release in mind.

No deals have been discussed with returning cast members, but I wouldn’t be shocked if Josh Hutcherson opts to stick with The Hunger Games instead of the Journey series. Apparently kids really like the 3D franchise, and I’m totally fine with them continuing the series as long as they feature burly action stars or legendary thespians gleefully riding giant CGI creatures in each and every installment.

After a strong debut on Friday, Act of Valor went on to win the weekend with an estimated $24.7 million from 3,039 locations.  Considering that this is an R-rated feature without any major stars, that’s a pretty remarkable start. Then again, with the fistfuls of cash Relativity devoted to marketing this Navy SEALs drama, anything less than first place would have felt un-American.

Far from ending 2012’s winning streak, this weekend is on track to become the biggest February frame of all time as each of Hollywood’s three new releases outstrip their financial forecasts by astonishing margins. Meanwhile, the 3D reissue of The Phantom Menace did not embarrass itself on Friday but it didn’t blow away early expectations either. Details after the jump.

With director Brad Peyton’s Journey 2: The Mysterious Island opening February 10, we’ve been provided with some Journey 2 movie swag to giveaway to some of our readers.   As the synopsis says, “in this follow-up to the 2008 worldwide hit Journey to the Center of the Earth, the new 3D family adventure Journey 2: The Mysterious Island begins when 17-year-old Sean Anderson (Josh Hutcherson) receives a coded distress signal from a mysterious island where no island should exist. It’s a place of strange life forms, mountains of gold, deadly volcanoes, and more than one astonishing secret. Unable to stop him from going, Sean’s new stepfather, Hank (Dwayne Johnson), joins the quest. Together with a helicopter pilot (Luis Guzman) and his beautiful, strong-willed daughter (Vanessa Hudgens), they set out to find the island, rescue its lone inhabitant and escape before seismic shockwaves force the island under the sea and bury its treasures forever.”  Hit the jump for what you can win and how to enter.

A new trailer for Journey 2: The Mysterious Island has gone online. The film is a follow-up to Journey to the Center of the Earth 3D sans Brendan Fraser’s zany antics. This new trailer isn’t incredibly different from the first trailer (except for the music), and the visual effects still look make the film look like Spy Kids: Dinosaurs! What this new trailer does have is Dwayne Johnson riding a giant bee. The trailer is preceded by an uncomfortable intro by Johnson and star Josh Hutcherson that’s saved by the duo’s charm and some pec flexing by the former.

Hit the jump to check out the trailer. The film also stars Michael Caine, Luis Guzman, and Vanessa Hudgens. Journey 2: The Mysterious Island opens in 3D February 10th.

The trailer for the Journey to the Center of the Earth sequel, Journey 2: The Mysterious Island, makes the movie look cringe-worthy, but director Brad Peyton has already lined up another movie.  Variety reports that Peyton has sold his sci-fi action pitch Invasion to Reel FX.  J. Daniel Shaffer will write the script, which centers on “a group of unarmed and unprepared students from Philadelphia that find out they’ll have to become soldiers to survive an attack from a supernatural force.”  So Red Dawn with aliens or ghosts or some such.  Got it. It’s also being described as “Cloverfield-esque” and I hope that doesn’t mean “found-footage”.

Invasion will be Peyton’s first non-family film.  He previously directed Cats and Dogs: Revenge of Kitty Galore and he’s also closed a deal to direct Journey 3.  It may be unfair to harshly judge Peyton since he’s had to work with crap material for not crummy family films, but the sequels to crummy family films (cue Center of the Earth fans).  Invasion will be straight from him so we’ll see if he can succeed with adult fare. Journey 2: The Mysterious Island stars Dwyane Johnson, Josh Hutcherson, Vanessa Hudgens, and Greendale Community College graduate Luis Guzman.  The film opens in 3D on February 10th.

We have one last set of images and synopses from the comprehensive preview of Warner Bros. 2012 slate. Some of the images are new: Bryan Singer‘s fairy tale Jack the Giant Killer, The Lucky One starring Zac Efron, and Ben Affleck‘s Argo. Many of the images we have seen before: Leonardo DiCaprio as The Great Gatsby, Dwayne Johnson in Journey 2: The Mysterious Island , Sam Worthington in Wrath of the Titans, the cast of Dark Shadows led by Johnny Depp, Sean Penn as period gangster in The Gangster Squad. But all the images are in beautiful high resolution. Check out all 11 images along with the official synopsis, release date, and cast/crew for each film after the jump.

Apparently New Line Cinema is pleased with the team behind the scenes of Journey 2: The Mysterious Island because they’ve decided to keep the same group on board for a potential third installment. If plans for Journey 3 move ahead, director Brad Peyton will carry over, along with writers Brian Gunn, Mark Gunn and Richard Outten, and producers Beau Flynn, Charlotte Huggins and Tripp Vincent. This bodes well for the sequel (which releases on February 10^th) since we can assume it tested well over the weekend. The film, based on Jules Verne’s “Mysterious Island” follows Sean Anderson (Josh Hutcherson) as he searches for his missing grandfather (Michael Caine) on an island crawling with dangerous wildlife. Hit the jump for more.

Previously, we brought you the first trailer for Brad Peyton’s Journey 2: The Mysterious Island and a behind-the-scenes featurette soon followed. They both showed off the beautiful scenery and creature effects of the sequel to Journey to the Center of the Earth, starring Brendan Fraser. Now we have some new character posters for you that showcase, not only the human stars, but other inhabitants of the island as well.

Journey 2: The Mysterious Island features the return of Josh Hutcherson as Sean Anderson, who is accompanied by his new stepfather (Dwayne Johnson) as they head off in search of Sean’s missing grandfather (Michael Caine). To get to “Mysterious Island,” the duo will need the helicopter pilot, Gabato (Luis Guzman) and his daughter, Kailani (Vanessa Hudgens) to help guide them.  Hit the jump to check out the posters for each of these characters.

Not long after the first trailer for Journey 2: The Mysterious Island hit the web, Warner Bros. has released a new featurette for the sequel to Journey to the Center of the Earth. Though Brendan Fraser will not be returning, Josh Hutcherson is, along with new cast members Dwayne Johnson, Luis Guzman, Vanessa Hudgens and Michael Caine. This featurette highlights some blurbs from the cast, including Johnson giving us a rule for the island (“That which is small becomes large, that which is large becomes small.”), Caine’s thoughts on 3D and Hudgens revealing the use of the Jules Verne submarine, the Nautilus. Hit the jump to check it out.

With the release date of February 10, 2012 quickly approaching, Warner Bros. has rolled out a new trailer for Journey 2: The Mysterious Island 3D. The sequel to the 2008 original starring Brendan Fraser, Journey 2 sees the return of Sean Anderson (Josh Hutcherson) as he sets off in search of his grandfather (Michael Caine). Accompanied by his stepfather, Hank Parsons (Dwayne Johnson) and guided by the helicopter pilot Gabato (Luis Guzman) and his tough daughter Kailani (Vanessa Hudgens), the group sets off to find “Mysterious Island.” Hit the jump to check out the trailer.

Now that the superhe—er—summer movie season is coming to an end, Warner Bros. is readying its end of year slate for its awards season hopefuls. We previously reported that Clint Eastwood’s biopic J. Edgar and Stephen Daldry’s Extremely Loud and Incredibly close had been set for October and December respectively, but now the films have firm release dates. Per Deadline, Leonardo DiCaprio-starred J. Edgar will open in limited release on Wednesday November 9^th, with a wide release set merely two days later on November 11^th, opposite the Adam Sandler comedy Jack and Jill and Tarsem Singh’s action film Immortals.

The studio has also dated the drama Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close for a limited release on December 25^th. Starring Tom Hanks and Sandra Bullock, the Scott Rudin-produced film will open nationwide on January 20^th against Steven Soderbergh’s Haywire and the George Lucas-produced Red Tails. Alfonso Cuaron’s highly anticipated 3D film Gravity has been given a release date of November 12^th, 2012. The sci-fi flick stars Bullock and George Clooney. Additionally, Journey 2: The Mysterious Island has been pushed back from January to February 10^th where it squares off against the Ryan Reynolds/Denzel Washington thriller Safe House and the release of Star Wars Episode I: The Phantom Menace in 3D.

We’ve got a few release dates to report on today, via Box Office Mojo. First up, Warner Bros. has scheduled a trio of its films for 2012. Tim Burton’s Dark Shadows will hit theaters on May 11^th 2012. The remake of the 1960’s gothic soap opera stars Johnny Depp, Eva Green and Chloe Moretz. Journey 2: The Mysterious Island 3D, the sequel to the Brendan Fraser adventure flick, will be released on January 27^th, 2012. Josh Hutcherson reprises his role from the original, with Dwayne Johnson, Michael Caine and Vanessa Hudgens rounding out the cast.

Additionally, Jay Roach’s political comedy Rivals (previously referred to as Southern Rivals) is slated for August 10^th, 2012, just in time for election season. The film pits Will Ferrell and Zach Galifianakis as opposing political candidates in the South. Lionsgate also decided to get in on the release date game today, as they’ve set the due date for What to Expect When You’re Expecting on May 11^th, opposite Dark Shadows. That film currently has Cameron Diaz set to star.