The first set photos from The Wachowski Siblings‘ Jupiter Ascending have landed online.  The film follows Jupiter Jones (Mila Kunis), a recent Russian immigrant who has to scrub toilets for a living, but then discovers she has the genetic signature that makes her next in line to be Queen of the Universe.  Channing Tatum co-stars as a genetically engineered ex-military hunter who must track her down.  The costumes and makeup on some of the extras look like 17th century French royalty that had their clothes tailored in Southeast Asia.  I like it.  We can also see some extras who I assume will also be wearing masks/helmets over the non-blackened parts of their faces.  In other Jupiter Ascending news, the production has been shooting at London’s Natural History Museum, and a source tells The Sun, “A skate ramp has been built over the top of the huge dinosaur in the foyer for a climax chase scene.”  I think it’s just a ramp unless someone actually skates on it. If Channing Tatum ends up using a skateboard to jump over a dinosaur, this will be the best movie of the decade.

Hit the jump to check out the set photos.

Shooting has begun on the Wachowski Siblings‘ new sci-fi film, Jupiter Ascending.  The film follows Jupiter Jones (Mila Kunis), a recent Russian immigrant who has to scrub toilets for a living, but then discovers she has the genetic signature that makes her next in line to be Queen of the Universe.  The movie is currently shooting at Warner Bros. Studios Leavesden and will remain in the U.K. until June.  The production will then move to Chicago to finish filming.

Hit the jump for the first full synopsis.  The film also stars Channing Tatum, Eddie Redmayne, Douglas Booth, Tuppence Middleton, Doona Bae, James D’Arcy, and Sean Bean.  Jupiter Ascending opens in 3D on July 25, 2014.

Check out the latest release dates for the following Warner Bros. movies:

• Jupiter Ascending – The new film from the Wachowski siblings, starring Mila Kunis, Channing Tatum, Eddie Redmayne and Sean Bean, will open on July 25, 2014.
• Grudge Match – Peter Segal’s fight flick between aging boxers played by Robert De Niro and Sylvester Stallone will now open on January 10, 2014.

Hit the jump for more on both pictures. 

Opening this weekend is Disney and director Sam Raimi’s fantastic prequel to The Wizard of Oz, Oz The Great and Powerful.  The film centers on a small-time circus magician with dubious ethics (James Franco) who finds himself transported to Oz and drawn into a battle between the three witches Theodora (Mila Kunis), Evanora (Rachel Weisz) and Glinda (Michelle Williams).  Loaded with incredible visuals, amazing 3D, and a beautiful world created by production designer Robert Stromberg (Alice in Wonderland, Avatar), Oz is the type of movie that definitely should be seen on a movie screen and it’s absolutely worth the extra charge to see it in 3D.  Oz The Great and Powerful also stars Zach Braff and Joey King.

Recently, I got to speak with Kunis.  We talked about what it was like to walk on the yellow brick road for the first time, her reaction to the finished film, 3D, the Ted sequel, and the Wachowskis‘ upcoming film, Jupiter Ascending.  Hit the jump to watch.

Composer Michael Giacchino is once again set to work with writers/directors Lana and Andy Wachowski.  The excellent, Oscar-winning composer behind such fare as Lost, Star Trek, The Incredibles and Up previously penned the music for the Wachowski siblings’ underrated Speed Racer, and now Giacchino is poised to compose the music for the Wachowskis’ upcoming sci-fi film Jupiter Ascending, which stars Mila Kunis, Channing Tatum, Eddie Redmayne, and Sean Bean.  The Wachowskis and Tom Tykwer famously composed all the music for last year’s Cloud Atlas before production began, so it’ll be interesting to see if Giacchino has already crafted some music for Jupiter Ascending or if he’ll be putting everything together after filming wraps.  Hit the jump for more, including a sample of some of Giacchino’s work. 

From director Sam Raimi, Oz the Great and Powerful imagines the origins of the wizard that was first brought to life in author L. Frank Baum’s book The Wizard of Oz, in a fantastical adventure that utilizes 3D to enhance what is truly an awe-inspiring movie-going experience.  When small-time circus magician Oscar Diggs (James Franco) is unexpectedly carried from Kansas to the vibrantly beautiful Land of Oz in a tornado, he soon meets three witches – Theodora (Mila Kunis), Evanora (Rachel Weisz) and Glinda (Michelle Williams) – who are unsure about whether he truly is the great wizard that they’ve been expecting.  In one of the biggest tales of fake it ‘til you make it, Oscar must use his magical skill and a little ingenuity to help good triumph over evil.

At a press conference at the film’s press day, actor James Franco talked about working with Sam Raimi again, getting to learn magic from Lance Burton for the role, why he enjoys working with Mila Kunis, the inner journey his character goes on and finding a balance in his eclectic career, while actress Mila Kunis talked about playing Theodora as a normal girl who gets her heart broken, making the character her own, the best part about playing a witch, and how much she enjoys doing wire work, which she says she’ll be doing a ton more of on her next project, the Wachowskis’ Jupiter Ascending.  Check out what they had to say after the jump.

Check out the latest casting news for the following pictures:

• Ralph Fiennes (Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows: Part 2) is in talks to topline James Foley’s fantasy drama-romance Sands.  The modestly-budgeted picture is a supernatural love story penned by novelist Renata Bovara.
• Tuppence Middleton (Cleanskin) has joined the impressive cast of the Wachowski siblings’ Jupiter Ascending in an unspecified role.
• Danielle Bisutti (True Jackson, VP) has been added to the cast of James Wan’s Insidious: Chapter 2 as Michelle, whose character details are being kept under wraps.  Insidious: Chapter 2 opens August 30th.

Hit the jump for more on each casting announcement.

A couple of casting additions have been announced.  First up, Joel McHale, Lauren Graham, and Robin Williams will topline the dysfunctional family holiday comedy A Friggin’ Christmas Miracle.  Per THR, the story follows “Boyd Mitchler (McHale) and his wifeLuann (Lauren Graham), as they spend a dreaded Christmas with Boyd’s father Mitch (Williams) and his family of misfits. Upon realizing that he has left all of his son’s gifts at home, Boyd hits the road with his father and younger brother in an attempt to make the 8-hour round trip before sunrise.”

Tristram Shapeero (Community, Workaholics) will make his feature directorial debut on the project, with production looking to begin in late March in Atlanta.  Community vets and Captain America: The Winter Soldier directors Joe and Anthony Russo are producing the film.  Hit the jump for casting information regarding Lana and Andy Wachowski’s Jupiter Ascending.

Directors Lana and Andy Wachowski are gearing up to begin production on the sci-fi pic Jupiter Ascending, and some Game of Thrones royalty has now joined the cast.  The story “is set in a time where humans are at the bottom of the evolutionary ladder and follows a woman who has been targeted for assassination by the queen of the universe.”  Channing Tatum and Mila Kunis are already set as the leads with Eddie Redmayne also poised to star, and now Deadline reports that Sean Bean has joined the cast.  Bean will play a character named Stinger who is described as a Han Solo-type, and he should add some “gruff” to the cast that’s been assembled thus far.  Bean is a fine actor and I’m eager to see him play around in the sci-fi realm, but I guess it’s time to start taking bets on how long his character will last in the film before dying.

Though he ultimately didn’t land the Harry Osborn role in the upcoming The Amazing Spider-Man 2, it appears that burgeoning newcomer Eddie Redmayne  will be just fine.  The actor was in the running for the pivotal role in the Spider-Man sequel that eventually went to Dane DeHaan, but now the Les Miserables star has landed an equally (if not more) exciting role: a part opposite Channing Tatum and Mila Kunis in writers/directors Lana Wachowski and Andy Wachowski’s sci-fi film Jupiter Ascending.  Hit the jump for more.

Earlier today, IMAX announced that it had signed a 20-picture deal with Warner Bros., revealing a few upcoming IMAX releases in the process.  Now the large-format company has updated its official site with a few interesting additions that seem to confirm a couple of 3D releases and another IMAX release.  Briefly:

• All You Need Is Kill – The Doug Liman-directed sci-fi action film starring Tom Cruise will be released in 3D, presumably through a post-conversion.
• Jupiter Ascending – Lana and Andy Wachowski will apparently be making their 3D debut with the upcoming sci-fi film starring Channing Tatum and Mila Kunis.
• Transcendence – Dark Knight and Inception cinematographer Wally Pfister’s directorial debut will, unsurprisingly, be released in the IMAX format.

Hit the jump for more details.

From acclaimed filmmakers Andy & Lana Wachowski (The Matrix trilogy, Speed Racer) and Tom Tykwer (Run Lola Run) comes the stunning, epic and powerful Cloud Atlas, based on the best-selling novel by David Mitchell.  Through various genres and time periods, spanning 500 years, and with the actors playing a variety of characters that cross genders and races, the story contains drama, mystery, action and love, interwoven in such a way that illustrates how everything is connected and that the actions and choices in one era can have consequences in another.  The film stars Tom Hanks, Halle Berry, Susan Sarandon, Hugh Grant, Jim Broadbent, Hugo Weaving, Jim Sturgess, Ben Wishaw and James D’Arcy.

At the film’s press day, the previously press-shy Wachowskis and German filmmaker Tom Tykwer, who also composed the music, talked about what made them want to engage in discussions of this film, striving for a boldness in their storytelling, having breakthroughs about how to adapt the story for film, and collaborating as a group.  Tykwer also talked about what it was like to compose The Cloud Atlas Sextet, while the Wachowskis said that they’re not thinking about Jupiter Ascending yet, but that they like their material to be reflective of where they are, at that point in their lives.  Check out what they had to say after the jump.

I can’t wait to see the Wachowski Siblings and Tom Tywker‘s Cloud Atlas again.  It’s a stunning piece of filmmaking, and one of the best films I’ve seen all year.  The ambition, thoughtfulness, and majesty of the picture are a wonder to behold, and I’m glad that the filmmaker took some time to talk about the movie.  The Wachowskis are notoriously press shy, but they’ve really opened up when it comes to Cloud Atlas, first with a piece in the New Yorker and now an extended interview with Hitfix.  In the interview, they talk about the music, establishing the film’s tone, keeping the tonal balance across six different genres, the structure, casting Tom Hanks, their next picture Jupiter Ascending, and much more.

Hit the jump to check out what they had to say.  Cloud Atlas opens October 26th.

A lot of actors have had a pretty good year, but Channing Tatum might have had the best so far.  He’s changed the opinion of plenty of folks (myself included) with 21 Jump Street and Magic Mike, and The Vow was also a hit at the box office.  Now he’s attached to numerous projects, and he talked about a couple of them while walking the red carpet for his new film, 10 Years.  While Tatum has been rumored to direct Magic Mike 2, he clarified that he doesn’t want the gig.  He also talked about The Wachowski Siblings‘ upcoming sci-fi film, Jupiter Ascending.

Hit the jump for more.

The Wachowski siblings, directors of The Matrix trilogy, are finally returning later this year with their first directorial feature since 2008’s Speed Racer.  This next directorial outing is an ambitious adaptation of Cloud Atlas, but Andy and Lana are currently prepping for a big return to sci-fi with Jupiter Ascending.  Plot details on the film have been under lock and key other than the fact that it’s an “action sci-fi” film and Channing Tatum and Mila Kunis are set to star.  Now quite a few plot details have apparently leaked, along with the information that the pic is the first in a planned trilogy and an offer may be extended to multitasker extraordinaire Joseph Gordon-Levitt.  Hit the jump for more.