Though Jurassic Park IV was initially targeted for a very rushed release in 2014, Universal wisely decided not to rush production and recently announced that the production had been postponed in order to give director Colin Trevorrow enough time to adequately prep the shoot.  The franchise entry is a massive undertaking regardless, but it also marks Safety Not Guaranteed director Trevorrow’s first studio film and early word is that his rewrite of the script involves some pretty impressive (and time consuming) set pieces that need careful attention.

Following the postponement news, most assumed that we would likely see Jurassic Park IV hit theaters in 2015 instead.  A new banner for the film at the 2013 Licensing Expo suggests that the film will indeed hit theaters sometime in 2015, and we have also learned that the pic will be shot in 3D.  Hit the jump for more. [Update: Variety has confirmed that Jurassic Park IV will indeed be released in 2015, adding that Steven Spielberg is currently in town working with producers and Trevorrow on the JP4 script before he jumps into pre-production on American Sniper.]

With regard to the sequels to and remakes of your favorite properties from 1982-1993:

• Dan Aykroyd continues to promise Ghostbusters 3, revealing that the sequel plot centers on troubling research by Columbia University particle physicists.
• Director Gil Kenan (City of Ember) has begun to cast his remake of Poltergeist for a September shoot in Toronto.  Plot details have surfaced.
• Sam Neill says it is unlikely he will be a part of Jurassic Park 4, in part because he believes it is a reboot.

More on each project after the jump.

The production delay for Jurassic Park 4 has scuttled Universal’s plans for a June 13, 2014 release date.  But you can’t let a good release day go to waste, and Sony has wasted no time in moving the 21 Jump Street sequel into that vacated spot.  This move makes Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles the only wide release on June 6, 2014.  Filming on TMNT is currently underway with Megan Fox on a trampoline.

As for the sequel to 21 Jump Street, filming is set to begin this fall.  Phil Lord and Chris Miller will return to direct; Jonah Hill and Channing Tatum will reprise their roles as Officers Schmidt and Jenko.  Korean Jesus be praised.

Just last week, Jurassic Park 4 director Colin Trevorrow (Safety Not Guaranteed) tweeted a picture of the first film’s setting, Isla Nublar.  However, the dinosaur embryos may be going into cold storage for a little bit.  AICN recently picked up some tweets from some members of the crew.  Concept Artist Dean Sherriff tweeted “JP4 on hold” while Digital Assets Manager Todd Smoyer was a bit more harsh by tweeting “Hollywood makes and crushes dreams.  Goodbye JP4″.  Despite Smoyer’s depressing tweet, Jurassic Park 4 is reportedly still underway, and the hold is to make the production even bigger.

Hit the jump for more. [Update: Universal Pictures has confirmed that JP4 has been put on hold indefinitely.  Read the studio's statement after the jump, along with news regarding which actors had met for the lead roles.]

Though it only recently landed a director and has yet to fill out its cast, Jurassic Park 4 is still planned to hit theaters next summer.  Safety Not Guaranteed helmer Colin Trevorrow was tapped to direct the sequel last month, and Steven Spielberg is onboard to produce alongside Frank Marshall.  We know that Trevorrow will shoot in 3D and the film has a script by Rick Jaffa and Amanda Silver (Rise of the Planet of the Apes) that includes a new dinosaur, but other than that story details have been kept firmly under wraps.

Will we see the return of original characters?  Is there a new park?  Just how big can the dino droppings get?  These questions have yet to be answered, but it appears that Trevorrow has just offered a major hint regarding the pic’s story, as he shared an image today from a location scout with the caption “Nublar,” which as we all know is the name of the island from the first Jurassic Park.  Hit the jump for more.

I would argue that there is no limit to the mileage a film can get out of velociraptors, but the Jurassic Park franchise is feeling the need to expand.  This doesn’t always work.  Even though the raptors were a major part of Jurassic Park 3, the film was hyped on the Spinosaurus, and that didn’t turn out to be such a big deal in the end.  Now that Jurassic Park 4 is moving forward with Colin Trevorrow (Safety Not Guaranteed) at the helm, the franchise apparently need a new terrifying dinosaur (because the ones that have razor sharp talons and can open doors are so passé), and paleontologist and “dinosaur advisor” Jack Horner says they’ve got just the thing for the new movie.

Speaking to USA Today, Horner says “I can’t actually tell you who that will be, but you’ll want to keep the lights on after you see this movie.”  Is the new dinosaur Truckasaurus?  Because you should keep the lights on for Truckasurus so you can see him devour cars.  Fingers crossed for Truckasaurus.

I’ve patiently waited for the opportunity to include Veronica Mars in the Top 5. As one of my favorite pop culture artifacts, I’m thrilled that this past week has finally afforded me the chance. That said, I’ll reserve any and all debate regarding the impact and merit of its now famed Kickstarter campaign for after the jump. For now, I’ll just say that, as much as I loved the show, I didn’t feel shortchanged by its somewhat abrupt finale. Moreover, I never felt like I needed a movie to bring some sort of closure to that world and its characters. Don’t get me wrong, by series end I wanted more VM in my life. But maybe that’s a good thing. Looking back I’d much prefer a series leave me wanting more than continually ask me back every week when it can barely muster even a shadow of its former self (cough…The Office…cough).

In addition to more Mars talk, this week’s collection also includes our G.I. Joe: Retaliation set visit, the first red-band trailer for Kick-Ass 2, Jurassic Park 4 naming its director, and all of our SXSW 2013 coverage to date. Keep reading for a brief recap and link to each.

Late last year, director Colin Trevorrow (Safety Not Guaranteed) was a dark horse candidate in the running for the director’s chair of Star Wars: Episode VII; now it looks as if he’ll be helming the fourth installment of the Jurassic Park series.  Trevorrow had teased fans about directing a film with a significant fan base and the rumor mill quickly lumped him into the Star Wars discussion.  Not long after that, word came out that Trevorrow would be writing and possibly directing a remake of Flight of the Navigator; nothing to scoff at, but certainly not Star Wars.  With today’s news that he’ll be directing Jurassic Park 4, now we know the fan base he was hinting at all along.  Hit the jump for more.

Universal Pictures just announced that Jurassic Park IV will open in 3D on June 13, 2014.  While many are quick to speculate that Steven Spielberg will direct, having just shelved the  sci-fi adaptation Robopocalypse for an indefinite period of time, no director is attached as of yet.  Spielberg will return as a producer, however.  Screenwriters Rick Jaffa and Amanda Silver, both of Rise of the Planet of the Apes, just turned in a fresh draft of the film earlier this week.  For those of you keeping score at home, that gives Universal less than 18 months to do all the pre-production, shooting and post-production visual effects (these are dinosaurs in 3D after all).  You can get a glimpse at what the original Jurassic Park looks like in 3D when it opens on April 5th, including a one-week IMAX run.  Hit the jump for more on Jurassic Park IV.

I’m not exactly sure why we need a fourth Jurassic Park film, but Universal has been trying to get one for years.  At one point, John Sayles (Lone Star) wrote a script that took an Island of Doctor Moreau bent, and created genetically engineered human-dinosaurs mercenaries that could wield guns.  What’s more dangerous than a velociraptor?  A velociraptor with an AK-47 (clever girl).  The project was eventually scrapped due in part to concept art by Carlos Huante that has now been leaked online.  Some of it just looks like The Lizard from The Amazing Spider-Man, but there are some seeds of a cool idea, like the triceratops, since he’s the only one with opposable thumbs.  I don’t know if this would be a good fit for the Jurassic Park franchise, but I can absolutely see it working for a SyFy movie.  They should hire Lorenzo Lamas, shoot it this weekend, and release it next week.  I’d watch.

Hit the jump to check out the concept art, and click here for what producer Kathleen Kennedy had to say about the current status of Jurassic Park 4.

Steven Spielberg’s cross-hitting family classic E.T. needs no introduction.  Do I need to summarize the plot? – How a lonely boy discovers an abandoned wide-eyed friendly alien and their resulting burgeoning friendship.  It’s the rare film that exceeds the barriers of twenty-four frames per second.  I can say Reese’s Pieces or bike or phone home without any sort of context and millions will know exactly what I’m talking about.  It’s a juggernaut – and it’s been so for over thirty years.  It’s a picture that wears its heart on its sleeve – and it remains the most true and personal of Steven Spielberg’s ridiculously compelling oeuvre.

So it’s crazy to think E.T. hasn’t yet been released on Blu-ray.  That slight will be corrected Tuesday October 9^th, as the picture finally gets the Blu-ray treatment. And in honor of such an occasion and to celebrate E.T., Producer Kathleen Kennedy and Star Henry Thomas (Elliott) spoke with select press for over ninety minutes about the affect E.T. had on their career, the shooting process, working with Spielberg and dealing with the phenomena the film became.  In addition, Kathleen Kennedy discussed her new role as chairman of Lucasfilm, Jurassic Park 4, an upcoming adaptation of Roald Dahl’s B.F.G. and Spielberg’s next Lincoln.  For the full interview, hit the jump.

A fourth entry in the Jurassic Park franchise has been in various stages of development for quite some time now.  While the prospect of the film moving forward seemed to dwindle as time went on, there have been some major developments on the Jurassic Park 4 front as of late.  Steven Spielberg announced at last year’s Comic-Con that they had a story in mind and hoped to make the film “in two or three years.”  Late last month Rise of the Planet of the Apes screenwriters Rick Jaffa and Amanda Silver were brought onboard to pen the script, and now we’ve got an update from Spielberg’s longtime producer Frank Marshall.

Steve got the chance to speak with Marshall in anticipation of the release of The Bourne Legacy, and the producer talked a bit about Jurassic Park 4, revealing that they plan on having it in theaters within two years.  Hit the jump for more.

Many of us are tentatively excited about Jurassic Park 4, but good execution is a dubious prospect.  The franchise has been gathering dust since 2001′s mediocre JP3, and Steven Spielberg confirmed he will not return to direct.  Ideally, Universal could find screenwriters who are experienced in rebooting a long-dormant, creature-based franchise with surprisingly successful results.  Well, we’re in luck!  Deadline reports the studio hired Rise of the Planet of the Apes writers Rick Jaffa and Amanda Silver to pen the sequel.  The best part of Rise was how Jaffa and Silver treated the ape Caesar as a legitimate main character—with clear motivation and a captivating emotional journey, no less—when they arced out the story.  I am excited to see what they can do with the whip-smart velociraptor.

If you’re itching to see the world of Jurassic Park on screen again, you’ll get an early opportunity when the 3D conversion of Jurassic Park hits theaters on July 19, 2013.  Hit the jump for producer Kathleen Kennedy‘s comments about their goals for the script.

“You want me to speak French to you? That wouldn’t be a good career choice for me. I got a lot of fans here. I don’t want to lose them with one bad accent!” Steven Spielberg joked when the French media asked him to say a few words in their language at a press conference in Paris this week, where he was promoting War Horse.  All kidding aside however, the legendary director does not like to talk about uncompleted projects.  Yet he did offer some insight into four of his upcoming movies.

While he spent much of the 45 minutes answering questions about his new film, he also discussed Lincoln, Robopocalypse, the Adventures of Tintin sequels and Jurassic Park 4.  Hit the jump for more.

Opening on Christmas Day 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, 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 land an exclusive interview with producer Kathleen Kennedy.  As the longtime producing partner of Spielberg (she produced A.I., Munich, E.T., and Jurassic Park just to name a few), she talked about the way they make movies, how they pick projects, who gets to see the movies first, and the making of War Horse.  In addition, Kennedy gave me updates on Jurassic Park 4, a 3D re-release of the original Jurassic Park, the status of the Tintin sequel, Lincoln, Robopocalypse, and a lot more.  Hit the jump to watch.